Jenny Slate: DEAD MILLIONAIRE @ UCB 5.7.09

So due to the weather, but mostly laziness, I haven’t been writing about any of the shows I’ve been to lately.  But that changes right here, right now.  Last night I saw Jenny Slate’s one woman show: “Jenny Slate: DEAD MILLIONAIRE” and loved it!  Jenny is not only one of the host’s of one of my favorite stand up shows ever: Big Terrific (now at Cameo in Williamsburg), but she also appears on a lot of VH1 shows making fun of celebrities doing ridiculous stuff. 

The show was based on “eccentric millionaire Jenny Slate’s ‘I’m Dead Now Party'” AKA her funeral.  She has left 300 million dollars to her Bichon Frise and the whole world waits to hear who inherits the dog.  The show goes back in forth between friends/family/Gloria Estefan talking about what Jenny meant to them, and Jenny’s video will.  The characters in attendance range from her lawyer, Ruth Diamond Phillips, to her blind and stupid cousin Gina, to her nerdy niece Misty, and even Gloria Estefan makes an appearance.  All of the guests are completely different, interesting and hilarious in their own way and are all performed by Jenny Slate.  By the end of the show, we not only learn a lot about each of these characters and Jenny herself, but also we find out who the lucky new owner of the dog and the $300 million is!

The entire show made me feel like I was watching a really good episode of Saturday Night Live, but with just one sketch.  Her characters were all hilarious and unique.  I would recommend that everyone go to the next performance of “Jenny Slate: DEAD MILLIONAIRE” on May 21st, 2009 at 8 PM.  It only costs $5!  Also there is another show, BriTANick: The Infinity Prison, right after, which your admission also covers.

‘Rescue Me Comedy Tour featuring Denis Leary’ 4.2.09

c'mon baby light my fire

Last night I the ‘Rescue Me Comedy Tour featuring Denis Leary’ at Radio City Music Hall.  While I am aware of Denis Leary, I really didn’t know much about him, so I was not sure what exactly to expect.  The show started by the president of FX giving a little background about the show ‘Rescue Me’, which I had never seen before.  What happened next was totally unexpected by me.  They played the season premiere (appearing on April 7th on FX) of ‘Rescue Me’.  At first I was really confused as to why we paid $75 a ticket to watch TV, and to be honest kind of pissed.  But then I gave in and started to watch the show and actually really enjoyed it, almost forgetting I had intended to see some stand-up comedy.

But after ‘Rescue Me’ ended, that’s when the real show began (in my opinion).  The curtains opened, showing a full band, complete with back up singers.  Denis Leary rose up from a secret compartment below the stage and began singing a song about celebrities and rehab in a calypso style.  The song was complimented by large video screens featuring, in a karaoke style, the lyrics, as well as photographs of celebrities at their lowest moments.  After that, Leary spoke of critics who felt the ‘Rehab’ song was mean-spirited and mentioned he decided to write a nice song for those critics.  The song made me feel like I was in a lounge in the 1950s and the song was nicely titled “Fuck You” and was great.  He did his set, which was hilarious–mentioning everything from hormones in Hollywood to being caught by two old ladies while jerking off in a jacuzzi at a health spa.

Three other comedians joined Leary for the ‘Rescue Me Comedy Tour’: Nick DiPaolo, Lenny Clarke and Adam Ferrara.  All of which, were absolutely amazing.  It’s hard for me to think of my favorite moments for each of these guys because literally everything each of them said was laugh out loud funny.  The ‘Rescue Me Comedy Tour’ will be going around the country so I really suggest that you reserve your tickets today because the show was just fantastic.  Check out upcoming tour dates here. 

In addition to being a fantastic show, all the proceeds went to The Leary Fire Fighters Foundation, which has donated over $10 million toward equipment that firefighters across the United States desperately need.  Toward the end of the show some brave members of the FDNYjoined Leary on the stage to present him with an honorary fireman’s jacket to thank him for all he’s done to help firefighters.  Leary closed the show by singing his famous song ‘Asshole’, which was wonderful.  Thanks to the magic of the internet you can watch last night’s performance of asshole below!

Improv 101 Show 3.28.09

For the past eight weeks, I have been taking an Improv 101 class at the UCB Training Center.  Besides being extremely fun, I learned a lot about improv and also met a lot of awesome people.   But in the spirit of time flying when I’m having fun, the class is now over.  This past Saturday, my class and I, got to perform at the UCB Theater!  Our show was at 2:30 PM and I was extremely nervous since the last few times I was on a stage (I used to sing) I got scared and forgot everything I was about to do.  My biggest fear for this show was that I was going to pee my pants.  Luckily, I did not end up wetting myself, nor did I forget how to speak.  I think that the show went pretty well overall, especially for all of our first efforts.  A friend video taped it and once she gets me the files I will try to upload them here.   Everyone in my class made a huge impact on me.  I just want to say thank you guys for being so inspirational and hilarious.  Also thanks to everyone that attended the show, I really appreciate it!  I’m planning on taking the other class levels at UCB, and will make an announcement for future shows, but I didn’t want to be too nervous this time.

Big Terrific @ Cameo 3.18.09

Anyone who has read this blog before is aware that ‘Big Terrific’ is one of my favorite weekly stand-up shows, so when I heard that Soundfix Lounge was closing down to become and Urban Outfitters that sells only toe rings, needless to say, I was sad. But luckily for everyone, ‘Big Terrific’ was not turned into an Urban Outfitters, nor a toe ring. They just switched locations and times. The show is now located at Cameo (93 N. 6th Street, Williamsburg) and is on Wednesday nights (instead of Thursdays). Some things have stayed the same: it is still free, starts at 8 o’clock sharp, and is still hilarious. The place is kind of hard to find because #93 on the street is just a grey door that does not open, but if you look closely at a paper taped to the door you see that you can enter through the resturant nextdoor (The Loving Cup). But don’t expect it to be easy to find once you get into the resturant. The show may be free, but if you’re not smart enough to figure out how to get to the performance space, then you’re shit out of luck. There are no signs for Cameo once you are inside, but the trick is to walk to the back (as if you are going to the bathroom), pass the bathrooms, go behind a curtain, answer a riddle from a leprechan, cross the bridge and viola (!) there you are! Okay you don’t have to answer a riddle or cross a bridge, but it’s complicated. The new space has very high ceilings and two large canvasas with what I would call abstract art (I know little to nothing about art), a stage and several benches and chairs. It definitely has more of a interesting vibe than Soundfix does, although it may have less seating (as if that is even possible).

The show started with the always entertaining Max Silvestri. He told some new jokes, that mostly centered around “black cum” (not as in a black person’s cum, but if semen were the color black), which actually paired well with one of the pieces of art, which looked like an explosion of black cum (or paint, depending on how dirty you are…in my mind, it was cum). Anywho…this week’s show featured Julian McCullough (Comedy Central), Jena Friedman, Joe Mande (Totally J/K & Best Week Ever), hosts Gabe & Jenny and Michelle Collions (editor of bestweekever.tv). A recurring theme last night was dreams. Whether or not they are interesting, terrible ones, dreams where you wake up covered in urine, etc. I’ve seen Julian McCullough and Joe Mande before, but they were both really great tonight. Gabe and Jenny performed pieces about cats that they had worked on separately (gasp!) and then performed a hilarious script they wrote about a married couple, with some issues, named Renee and Gene. The final performer, Michelle Collins, is not only the editor of BestWeekEver.tv, but also just recently won the ECNY Award for Best Female Comedian! Not only that, but she works in my office, on my floor. She really stole the show. She talked about basically everything awesome: Britney Spear’s and her pussy, throwing up, and getting condoms lodged into your vagina.

Overall, a great night. If you’re looking to laugh, I suggest you go to Big Terrific next Wednesday at it’s new location. Do it.

Chris Gethard’s Magic Box of Stories 3.4.09 @ UCB

Last night I went to a show that I’ve been thinking about going to for awhile. At first I just wanted to go because I liked the name ‘Magic Box of Stories’, and then I wanted to go because I realized that the host’s last name spelled out GET-HARD. But I didn’t go see it at first, because those were kind of superficial and stupid reasons to go pay to do something. After all this thinking with virtually nothing to show for it, Chris Gethard hosted a Harold night that I attended. In between each Harold (group performance, for those of us not familiar with the UCB), Gethard came out and gave the audience a little taste of what his show was like…and I was sold. Being the stalker that I am, I found out that he is from West Orange, NJ. Since I am from neighboring South Orange, at this point there was no way I was not going to this show. I recruited two friends (one from West Orange) to accompany me.

The main premise of the show is that a lot of crazy/awkward/funny/random shit has happened to Chris Gethard in his life and he wants to share these experiences with whoever will listen. He writes part of the experience down on multi-colored notecards and puts them inside a box (…a magic box) and lets the audience pull cards from the box, to determine what he shares that evening. I don’t want to give away any of the stories, but to give you an idea of what you’ll be getting yourself into, we heard about how he lost his virginity, drove down to Princeton to beat the shit out of someone he didn’t know for “IM-bombing” him during his freshman year at Rutgers University, being raped by a girl and his short-lived career as a pro-wrestling manager (in my hometown of South Orange…woo woo represent).

As aforementioned, he asks the audience to pick cards. My friend, Danielle, yells out, “I want to pick it! I’m from West Orange too!”. Which leads to him asking her how she knew this, leading to her pointing at me (also a stranger) and then the two of them realizing that they grew up litterally one block from each other, and Danielle realizing that she knows the person who he has described as, recently, having been arrested for child pornography. It was a great moment in time.

This show occurs semi-often at the UCB and is worth the 500 pennies ($5) it costs for admission. Check it out people.

Harold Night @ UCB Theater 2.17.09

So tonight I went to my first Harold Night at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade (UCB). ‘Harold’ is a technique for long form improv developed by Del Close, and it is very funny. I am taking a class at the UCB training center and it is required that you attend two improv shows before the last class session (students get in free woop woop), and I’m really glad that it was required of me because I went early in the ‘semester’ and enjoyed it a lot, so now plan on integrating more UCB shows into my weekly schedule. They have usually 3 totally different shows each night of the week, the shows cost at most $10 (though most are $5) and there is no drink minimum, but there is a bar with very reasonable prices (not just for NYC, but even if you were at dive bar in Minnesota or some equally irrelevant state). So it’s good.

Back to Harold Night. It’s every week and 5 improv groups (8 people each) work their magic to create 5 completely original and hilarious long-form improv shows for only $5 (which in my opinion is worth more than a footlong from Subway). Each show, within the show, is about 30 minutes, with a 5 minute intermission between each. You can stay for all 5, or leave whenever you want. I stayed for three groups: ‘The Fucking Kennedys’, ‘Bastian’ and ‘Ragnarock’. At the start of each show they take a one-word suggestion from the audience. The suggestions of these shows were picnic basket, California, and pinata. By using the Harold techniques, they create a very smart show, usually there is a consistent theme throughout the performance that is much deeper than the original prompt, and also very funny. It just impresses me so much that these 8 people (and I’m talking about all the Harold teams in general) went on stage with nothing prepared and came up with something so clever right off the cuff.

My favorite Harold team tonight was ‘Ragnarock’. The team had 3 girls and 5 guys and their prompt was pinata, which led to themes of the political and economic situation in the world through situations about family, sex and kittens taking over the world (to name a few).

I just recently finished a book about long-form improv, Truth in Comedy. While reading it, the techniques made sense to me, but I had no idea what it the end result would be like. Tonight, while watching this show, so much of what I had read clicked into place. I’m really glad that I grew the balls to start this class because so far it has been an extremely positive experience and who knows? Maybe one day I’ll be skilled enough to join a Harold team myself. Time will tell.

Chelsea Handler @ Carnegie Hall 1.23.09

I’ve been looking forward to this show for so many months that writing this blog post is almost hard, mostly because it’s over.  But the longer I wait the less amazing the experience is going to come off so here I go.  

I first got into Chelsea Handler several years ago through my Chelsea-obsessed cousin, Michele, who has seen Chelsea’s shows more times than I can count and has risked her life by driving through snowstorms to see her stand up, way before her popularity skyrocketed through her late night show, Chelsea Lately.  Michele showed me everything Chelsea had done (up to that point) and once I saw it, I knew I was hooked (although obviously not as much as she was).  Since then I’ve followed Chelsea’s career by religiously watching Chelsea Lately, as well as reading both of her books, ‘Are You There Vodka, It’s Me Chelsea’ and ‘My Horizontal Life’, which are both amazing and I would recommend them to everyone that knows how to read.  Unfortunately, I had never been able to see her perform stand up, as she now lives in L.A. and performs in New York infrequently.  So, way back in October, when I saw that she would be performing stand up at Carnegie Hall on January 23rd, I called up Michele and informed her that I had to come with her this time, and gladly forked over $50 for the tickets.

Carnegie Hall is not your typical stand up comedy venue, as it exudes class.  However, the beautiful venue only enhanced the experience by giving it a more fancy feel.  The house was packed and our seats were on the third tier, but in the first row on the far right, so it almost felt as though we had our own V.I.P. box (we didn’t) because our view was fantastic.  I was super excited and almost peed myself before the show started, but luckily for Carnegie Hall, it’s a classy place so I felt bad and used the ladies room before the show.

The show opened with a familiar face to anyone who regularly watches Chelsea Lately, Heather McDonald.  Heather’s set was a mix of personal experiences and impersonations, and it was hilarious.  Many of her jokes centered around parenting her two sons and step daughter, which I appreciated greatly, though it will probably scar the children later in life.  She impersonated Drew Barrymore’s lisp to the T (or should I say to the thsssss), the Kardashian-Jener posse, the ever-annoying Aliana Lohan, Celine Dion and even took it as far to parody her husband’s Korean baby mama telling her to make sure little McKenzie eats her broccowi (not a type-o, sound it out grammar police assholes).  Heather’s set was great and I found out that she co-wrote one of the most ridiculous, over-the-top and hilarious movies of our generation, the incomporable, White Chicks, which makes her 10x more awesome in my book!

When Heather introduced Chelsea Handler, the crowd went wild.  The crowd consisted mostly of girls and gay men, so the noise was high pitched and piercing.  What can I say about Chelsea besides that she is amazing and it’s no wonder she has had her own show, twice.  Chelsea is relatable, to me, in that she hails from New Jersey (less than 10 minutes from where I live), she is jewish (I am half) and she’s not socially awkward.  She says, aloud, things that I get embarrassed even thinking about.  For example, a significant segment of her set was based on her discovery of masturbation, at age 8, at a sleepover.  Around the time she told, and acted out, this very detailed event, a young boy approached the stage with a very large bottle of Grey Goose AKA Chelsea’s signature vodka.  While thanking the young boy (maybe 12 years old), she also told his parents that it probably wasn’t the best parenting to have their young son at a clearly R-rated show.  Many of her jokes related to stories she told in both of her books, some of my favorite, being those about her father, who actually graced the stage with his presence.  It was a family affair, even Chelsea’s boyfriend, Ted, was in attendance.  Seeing Chelsea Handler do stand up, exceeded my expectations by a lot (which I can’t believe due to my extremely high expectations).  After the show, my cousin, her friend and I went to the stage door to try and sneak a peek at Ms. Handler, and in an awesome twist of fate, we actually went to the correct door and got to meet Chelsea herself!  She was super nice, even with a growing crowd of fans surrounding her.  I was extremely lucky in that I got to speak with her and tell her how much I enjoyed reading her book and recognizing the places she referred to in Jersey.  I expected her to be like “OK GREAT MOVE OUT OF MY WAY”, but she was extremely friendly, even asking me if I’m familiar with more places in our surrounding areas.  My cousin, Michele, was snapping pictures away and randomly got one of me actually speaking with Chelsea.  While it is not the best photo, this website is about attention so here you go: 

Also, she signed my copy of “Are You There Vodka, It’s Me Chelsea”.  Her inscription says illustrates exactly why I am such a big fan: “Jill –  Suck It  – Chelsea”.

Big Terrific 1.15.09

I couldn’t possibly have come out of my winter cocoon without going to my favorite stand-up show, Big Terrific! I haven’t been able to go in almost a month and it has been the one of the least funny months of my life. Big Terrific, in case you don’t know, is a weekly comedy show at Sound Fix Lounge in Williamsburg (110 Bedford Ave), that takes place each Thursday at “8 o’clock sharp”, which usually means around 8:30. But if you want to get a seat I would recommend arriving a little before 8, since the show is growing increasingly popular each day and the number of seats stays constant(that is the most math I am capable of doing).Anywho…Big Terrific is hosted by Max Silvestri, Jenny Slate and Gabe Liedman. Max opened up the show with some completely appropriate jokes about the plane crash of the day (a plane crashed into the Hudson River yesterday because some geese flew into the engine, but no one was hurt, in case you have no idea what I’m referring to). Max was probably the first person in history to publicly joke about this plane crash, granted it happened hours before, the jokes were new, fresh and weren’t offensive to anyone (except maybe geese, but geese suck anyway so who cares).

Up first was Myq Kaplan, who introduced himself as “a jewish“. His jokes were mostly self-deprecating, but he also threw in a few about abortion and rape, which is always a winning combination. He used a lot of words in his jokes and they often made sentences that were funny when said aloud.

Following Kaplan was Sean O’Connor, who was introduced, by Max, as having started the most stand-up shows in NYC. O’Connor lived up to his name by having red hair. Not only was his set funny, but also informative. For example, did you know that a man can ejaculate with a flaccid penis? Neither did I, until O’Connor explained not only that it was possible, but in detail how he discovered this scientific anomaly. The way I see it the dirtier, the better so I give O’Connor two thumbs up (your butthole).

Following O’Connor was, Rob Lathan of Human Giant and also other things. He began by showing the audience a wonderful skill of his, fast hands. I just tried to youtube “fast hands” and only got a bunch of nerds playing video games, so unfortunately I have no example to show, but it was pretty sweet to watch his face turn beet red while performing this fantastic feat. He also talked about yesterday’s plane crash, but focused more on where was immigration and security when these Canadian Geese were coming into the US. I enjoyed it.

Next was Eugene Mirman of the hit HBO series, Flight of the Conchords. Before Mirman took the stage, Max passed out slips of paper to the audience. The papers had questions on them: name, age, male/female/bothsies, “what are you afraid of?”, “what do you need advice about?”. The papers were collected and handed to Mirman at the beginning of his set. He informed us about he new book, ‘The Will to Whatev’, which offers up life advice that is somewhat to very useful. Before he got to our questions, he showed three short videos that gave advice on high school, getting into college and drugs & rock ‘n roll. The videos were just him sitting in a room talking, but ended up hilarious because what he said, at times, was ridiculous (or ridiculously true?), also because his facial expressions were so serious throughout. Then he got to the audience questions and yippee mine was picked, as was my friend’s. My fear was ‘walking on subway grates on the street’,(which is an actual lifelong fear of mine) and what I needed advice on was ‘how to stay off facebook‘. He told me that my fear was totally irrational because no one ever falls through (even though that is not enough for me to walk on them if I don’t have to and he said it in a much more entertaining way), and his advice for my facebook problem was to get into a horrible relationship so I would have no time to be on the computer because I would be too busy screaming and pressing charges. He was fantastic and it’s no surprise to me that he is on a HBO series.

The final act of the night, was none other than Gabe & Jenny! I’m not sure that it’s possible for me to get sick of them, and this was kind of tested considering I saw them two nights in a row. While some of the material was repeated from the night before (I still laughed and thought it was just as funny as the first time I heard it), they also featured new material and a longer set. The highlight of their performance, however, was probably the video short they showed and the ‘skit’ they performed before pressing play. Recently they were asked to recreate a black and white, silent film from back in the day. Their recreation of it litterally almost made me pee my pants because it was so chocked full of comedy.

All in all, the show was fantastic and I really can’t believe I took so much time off. I’ll try to never let it happen again!

picture courtesy of Max Silvestri

Totally J/K with Joe and Noah 1.14.09

It’s been really cold lately and when it’s cold I prefer not to go outdoors, unless it is absolutely essential, but I made some exceptions this week because I was really missing my favorite activity: watching stand-up. So this Wednesday, I headed down to my favorite place to go for free, and wonderful, stand-up comedy, Sound Fix Lounge.

Every Wednesday at 9:30 PM, Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkle host a show, appropriately titled, Totally J/K. And this week was no different. The BFFs opened the show with the “Totally JK List of Nothing”, which never fails to entertain. If I had to pick, my favorite item on the list of nothing is probably “Clarrissa Explains it: Balls“, which, Noah explained to me, was originally intended to be a sexual education series, starring Melissa Joan Hart, until they realized it was nothing. Although I think that Clarissa (I like Clarrisa Darling, much better than Melissa Joan Hart, so I’m going to call her that) would probably be up for the idea considering her career has amounted to nothing more than Sabrina the Teenage Witch reruns on ABC Family. Anyways, I’m getting off track. My favorite “List of Nothing” item that they actually discussed during the show was “Nut or DoughNut“, which is supposed to be a spin off of Deal or No Deal and is much funnier when they explain it, so thats where I stop explaining this. Moving on..

The first performer was Roger Hailes. Hailes has written for Comedy Central, VH1 and probably a whole lot of other things that I don’t know off-hand, but more than likely would recognize. Hailes’ jokes are mostly observational; he spins an everyday occurance into something relatable, but also hilarious. This is my second, or third, time seeing his stand-up and each time he has brought something new to the table and has never failed to make me laugh

After Hailes, Noah came onto the stage and made jokes about his professor dying. It probably doesn’t sound funny when you’re reading this thinking “OMG, it’s like totally not cool to make fun of dead people”, but you’re wrong because it is funny to make fun of dead people, especially when it’s coming from Noah. So suck it. Anyways, the next act to hit the stage is one of my personal favorites: Gabe and Jenny! This boy and girl duo did jokes, for both, people with a “hangey-downey” or a “puseta” and stayed true to their promise to “entertain 100% of the audience”. Also they showed a short video, from their series “Besties by Bestie”, highlighting aspects of their BFF-ness, and also brought on many laughs from the audience.

Also Wyatt Cenac, from ‘The Daily Show’ and Baron Vaughn of Comedy Central were also there that night, but I was with friends I hadn’t seen in awhile and by the time they came on I was pretty drunk so I don’t want to pretend I remember specifics from their sets. I do remember that both were very funny and I guess I’ll have to see them again, with a little less beer in my stomach, to fully be able to give any sort of review. Sorry about that.

All in all, I had a great night and hopefully will be back next Wednesday. For those of you who don’t know, the show is every Wednesday at 9:30 PM at Soundfix Lounge in Williamsburg (110 Bedford Ave.) and the show is free, and while there is no drink minimum, there is a bar. Everyone should go to it!

Totally J/K with Joe and Noah 12.2.08

This past Wednesday I decided to finally check out Totally J/K with Joe and Noah at Soundfix Lounge, even though I’ve been planning on going for quite some time now.  And I’m super glad that I went because it was a great night filled with laughter.  Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkle host this alt comedy show every Wednesday at 9:30 PM and I really recommend everyone going to it.  They started the show with “Totally J/K’s List of Nothing” (a list of their ideas that turned into nothing) and besides the theme song for this list being fantastic, the list itself juxtaposes everyday words and ideas together hilariously.  The lineup was fantastic.  The guests included Sean Patton, Patrick Borelli, Kristen Schaal, Kurt Braunohler and Donald Glover.

First up was Sean Patton.  I must have been in another world or really high (or both?) when I saw Sean Patton at the VH to the One Comedy show because I didn’t remember watching his performance really, but I’m almost glad I didn’t because it made this performance all the funnier.  Also as I was watching I remembered other material he had said last week that he didn’t use.  So I apologize for not remembering him before, but at least this time I won’t forget. Following Patton, was Patrick Borelli.  Borelli didn’t really perform an act, so much as advertise for his new book, Holy Headshot.  Which was almost better than an actual act.  The 

book, Holy Headshot, is a coffee table type book that includes bizarre, ridiculous and totally legit real head shots and resumes.  Even if you’re not going to actually purchase the book, I would recommend going to the website for it because it’s quite entertaining and funny. 

Next was Kurt and Kristen.  Comedy duos, in general, rank extremely high on my list of favorite things ever, but Kurt and Kristen really took the cake.  Schaal was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Totally J/K tonight.  She is also on the hit HBO series, Flight of the Concords, which I don’t really watch.  “So why did you want to see her then?”, you might ask.  Well, the reason I wanted to see her so badly though is because of a web series that she and Braunohler do called Penelope Princess of Pets.  Everyone should watch it; it’s hilarious.  Anyways, their performance at Totally J/K was so wonderful.  I think it’s something about their voices that makes them so addicting to watch (not like crack addicting, more like sushi addicting)to me.

At this point I really thought very little could top what I had already seen, yet I managed to somehow be wrong once again.  Donald Glover hit the stage and laughter was the constant the entire rest of the show.  Glover writes for the Emmy Award winning program, “30 Rock”on NBC.  That Emmy is clearly well-deserved because Glover was hilarious.  His jokes focused mostly on stereotypes of different cultures, and were completely fresh and non-offensive, which I think is hard to do because in that realm you are really walking on thin ice.  

All in all, Totally J/K with Joe and Noah is something you should Totally G/S (Go See, and yes I knew that was lame before I typed it, but I rebel against my better judgement on the daily).  Here are some reasons you should go a) it’s every Wednesday and when do you regularly have Wednesday plans.. b) it costs $0, so even if you lost your home/job/pet/virginity due to the recession, you can still afford it and c) there is also another free show immediately before it so that’s like two for the price of free.  Every Wednesday, 9:30 PM at Soundfix Lounge Williamsburg, Brooklyn.    

Hot In The Presses: Voro Lounge Presents ‘Comedy and Cocktails’ 11.20.08

Recently the editor of my town’s local paper discovered what I was doing here at attention is fun and asked me to write an article for their arts and entertainment section about a comedy show that just got started locally.  So since clearly I believe in attention, I agreed.  I’ve taken the liberty of typing it out for your reading pleasure.  My favorite part about my article appearing in the paper, though, is that it appears next to the ‘Pet of the Week'(not pictured).  Here ya go:    

When one thinks of Voro Lounge, images of its warm atmosphere and friends coming together for a meal or drink come to mind.  While it is one of South Orange’s more upscale drinking holes, residents will soon add comedy club to their description of Voro Lounge.  The venue now hosts a bi-weekly show featuring professional comedians called ‘Comedy and Cocktails.’  The News Record was fortunate enough to have been invited by Voro to check out Thursday’s show.

South Orange resident and senior correspondent for “Inside Edition” April Woodward hosts the show along with Rob Stapleton of “Top Dog’s of Comedy”–and they sum up an evening of comedy that “brings Manhattan right here to Jersey.”

Using front-row audience members as material for his jokes, Stapleton engaged the crowd with one-on-one interactions without bullying or offending any of the singled-out members of the audience

One comedienne to hit the stage was Shatara Curry fo BET’s “Comic View.” Curry came out oozing energy and had the crowd in the palm of her hand in no time.  Her jokes were observation-based, using body movements to illustrate each point.  With jokes based on relationships with her signature line of “Put a ring on it,” Curry had a fantastic set which set the tone for the rest of the show.

The next act, K-Dubb of “Def Comedy Jam” and “The Bad Boys of Comedy,” had the crowd in stitches throughout his entire set.  His humor was observational, but also politcally driven. At one point, K-Dubb mentioned that the Republicans will take hold of the next election, to which an audience member shouted out, “No!”  Instead of becoming aggravated with the audience member’s interruption, he took the opportunity to school her on the history of cyclical politics, impressively and quickly spouting off every president and their political affiliation from George Washington to the present.  K-Dubb is definitely a stand-up performer to look out for in the future, as his comedic timing, skill and intelligence are bound to make him a major player in the comedy world.

While K-Dubb was a tough act to follow, the second headliner, Dean Edwards of “Saturday Night Live” and “Original Kings of Comedy,” easily kept the audience’s attention and kept the laughter continuously coming.  Edwards’ humor relied primarily on his impressions which varied from celebrities, such as Jay-Z, Beyonce and Denzel Washington, to people you would come into contact with on a day-to-day basis at the grocery store.  His impression, paired with the way he used his body to bring his comedy to life, proved to be both successful and hilarious.  Edwards, too, is someone to look out for in the future.

If you are looking to stay local and laugh, Voro Lounge has something for everyone with ‘Comedy and Cocktails.’

[These photos did not appear with the article and are mine.  Also, I had to clean up my language for this a little bit…so just so I can prove I’m still legit: fuck]

VH to the One Comedy Showcase: 11.18.08

As an employee of VH1, I thought it was pretty exciting that we were putting on a comedy show, but I’m using the word ‘we’ very loosely because I had absolutely nothing to do with this show, aside from being an audience member.  Regardless, I thought it made me feel that I was involved in a small way.  The VH to the One Comedy Showcase takes place at The Bitter End, which normally hosts more rock and roll (cough Bob Dylan cough) performances, but welcomes the VH1/stand up crowd with open arms every other Tuesday!  The vibe is dive-ish, but also really classic and full of history.  The show I, personally, attended was it’s maiden voyage so there weren’t as many people in attendance as I expect there to be tomorrow.  The show was hosted by Cassidy Henehan, who did a pretty good job, although at times seemed a little confused as to what was supposed to happen next.  

The first act was Kumail Nanjiani, who I had actually seen before at ‘Big Terrific’.  Nanjiani uses the kind of voice inflections that just makes you want to laugh.  Also everything he says is hilarious.  I was surprised that he was the first act because he has been featured on SNL, and also is fantastic.  In any event, it was a great way to get the audience pumped up and ready to laugh for the rest of the show.  

Next up was Joselyn Hughes.  Her jokes mostly poked fun at her love life, focusing on how all her exes are now out of the closet.  She was funny, but the least so of the group, which really just says how good the show was.  Following Hughes, was Sean Patton.  I remember thinking Patton was very funny, but for some reason the only thing I can remember about his set was that he said he a friend I was there with (sorry for being such a douche, but I really should have written this the next day).

Next up were the two headliners: Pete Holmes and Big Jay Oakerson.  Holmes, has apparently, been on tons of VH1 clip shows, as well as Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend”.  Also, I have seen him before at various shows around New York.  Even though I had seen him the week before and remembered a decent amount of his material, it was still just as laugh out loud funny as it was the week before when my mind was fresh.  Holmes’ jokes are relatable to pretty much everyone, unless maybe you don’t speak English, and some have a lot to do with everyday occurrences that only when brought to your attention, by Holmes, are hilarious.  I would recommend checking out one of his performances to anyone that enjoys laughter, or funny things.  The final act, and second headliner, Big Jay Oakerson, was also fantastic.  His style is very different from Holmes in that he is very, very vulgar.  His act also involved a great deal of audience participation.  At one point he asked a girl in the audience to ask him any question about himself, she was bewildered and had no idea what to say so he went on to ask himself how he lost his virginity.  I’m not sure if I believe his rundown of that fateful night, but I don’t even give a shit because it was hilarious.  He also integrated the two other people at my table, separately, and used what they said to create something wonderful.  I really appreciated his no nonsense, not giving a fuck attitude because he came off that way, but never was mean to anyone or even seemed unapproachable. 

Overall, VH to the One Comedy Showcase is a great show, and the comedians and the host change each week, which makes it a show that you should frequent as often as you can.  It is bi-weekly, on Thursdays (The next show is December 4, 2008 and then the following is December 18, 2008).  Also it’s a really good deal for so much funny, as it only costs $5.  The only problem that I had was that it was advertised originally as not having a drink minimum, but once I got there, there was a drink minimum.  I didn’t have a problem with drinking the drinks, but I just hadn’t planned on drinking/spending the extra cash.  However, it is a relatively minuscule problem.  I would definitely recommend your attendance at this show to anyone who enjoys laughter, paying very little money, classic rock and roll joints, and drinking        

[sorry this post is so delayed, it was a busy week]

Comedy Free Williamsburg 11.12.08

In addition to being a record store, a bar, and host to Big Terrific, Soundfix Lounge (is there anything they don’t do?) they also host a myriad of other events. Specifically several other free comedy nights. After months of saying I was going to check another night out, I finally got a chance to do so this week. Wednesday night actually hosts two different shows, but unfortunately (due to the possibility of our driver dying of alcohol poisoning…sort of) I only was able to stay for the first show, called Comedy Free Williamsburg. This show was quite different that what I’m normally used to from Soundfix, in that it featured no media whatsoever, and also a sketch group was also thrown in the mix. I was told the week before that this show featured an open bar, but sadly it was a lie. Well, it used to have an open bar supposedly, so I guess just an un-truth. The host is John Knefel. 

I found the first act quite funny, and I know his name is Rob, but I wasn’t quick enough to get his last name down, which is unfortunate because he was quite funny. I know he has performed in the Marijuana-loges (if you know his name please leave it in the comment section). He had a certain approach that made ordinarily not funny things absolutely hysterical, like the death of his father. Also I appreciated that he was wearing a denim shirt. Then came, Mike Dobbins, had a very interesting style to his act. It really seemed like he didn’t give a fuck, but not in a lazy way, more in the sense that he knew he was funny regardless whether or not the audience agreed. I found some of his jokes to be a little over my head while others were laugh-out-loud funny.

The next act was like nothing I had ever seenup close before, the sketch group, Murder Face. They performed about three sketches that really got the audience going. Their show also involved a lot of shirtless, hairy, man-boob possessing men, which make it pretty tough to go wrong. Their voices boomed across the room and overpowered everyone’s attention. Their sketches were clever. 

Following Murder Face, was a very attractive woman, Tracie Jayne, which I feel is somewhat rare for really funny women, but I’m down with it. Tracie talked at length about her jobs ranging from thong-wearing shot girl at a bar to serving in the United States military. All of her jokes were sharp, clever and highly amusing. The headliner, who didn’t realize he was headlining until Knefel announced it, was Joe Devito. He had the crowd in stitches from the start by talking about smoking weed and lots of it. My personal favorite part of his performance (even though the whole thing was laugh-

out-loud fantastic) was when he discussed one of my top 10 favorite commercials: the ShamWow. His jokes basically described the exact reason why, not only, do I love the commercial, but also why I think its absolutely ridiculous (even though I want to buy it.)

All in all, it was a good show, but I’m not sure if it’s really for me. Next time I’m going to try to catch the later show, ‘Totally J/K with Joe and Noah’ because it seems like it would match my sense of humor a little better. Although I would still recommend checking out this show because I’m pretty sure the acts change each week and it’s still a really fun time.

Caroline’s on Broadway: New Talent Night 11.10.08

Monday nights at the infamous Caroline’s on Broadway are reserved for new talent! It’s pretty exciting because some of the best comedians that have ever lived go their start at Caroline’s, so you never know if the people you’ll see will end up becoming legendary themselves. I have been to Caroline’s several times before, but it was always to see a headliner. This was a totally different experience, but definitely still worthwhile and enjoyable.

There were TONS of comedians that performed. I wish there was a list of their names somewhere that I could access, but unfortunately there were way too many to remember. This doesn’t mean, however, that their acts were forgettable. I was so impressed by so many of the performers. One of my favorites was the only female performer of the night, who made jokes about her roommates criticizing her for smoking weed, which were super relatable and fantastic. Another real stand out was this uber-gay, little (and by that I mean short), blonde boy with a face like Clay Aiken. He, mostly, referenced pop culture and his sexuality, and really got the crowd going. The third person that really stood out to me was an Indian guy who, throughout his act, used many different accents to discuss various racial issues.

The real reason I went to this show, beside my obsession and love of stand-up, was to support one of my friends who performed stand up for his second time at Caroline’s. That, in itself, is remarkably impressive. My friend, Josh Senior, and I worked together this past summer on some videos for his website, JoshCollege. On his site, he plays an advice-giving, know-it-all college student, who is actually a little confused. The videos are great and you should definitely check them out. However, I don’t think that the Josh College character really transfers over to the stand-up stage. Had he hit the stage as Josh Senior (versus Josh College), even if he said mostly the same jokes, he would have had the crowd in the palm of his hand. His jokes are witty, and very smart, but it was just hard to follow when he spoke using the character’s trademark voice. I’m looking forward to his next performance as Josh Senior because I know it will be fantastic!

Overall, I had a great time at the show! While this is certainly one of the less expensive options available in NYC when it comes to stand-up comedy, it still was a moderately expensive night. The tickets were only $10 ($5, if you say you’re going to support one specific person), but there is a 2 drink minimum (their drinks are more on the expensive side) and their is also a 15% service fee included. So, I would definitely recommend checking out New Talent night at Caroline’s on Broadway for anyone interested in what’s new/up-in-comming in the comedy world! Also if anyone knows the names of anyone who performed this night please let me know!

NY Comedy Festival: Sarah Silverman & Friends: 11.8.08

Last night I was lucky enough to be able to go see Sarah Silverman and Friends at Hammerstein Ballroom as part of the New York Comedy Festival. The line for this thing spanned two blocks, but the energy of the line wasn’t even one of annoyance, but pure excitement.

My seats were in section 1 so it was super exciting to see the show up close, even though the venue is a little bigger than what I’m used to. The host of the show was forgettable. His name could have been Mark maybe? He did impressions of random historical people singing rock and roll songs, and neither myself nor the rest of the audience thought it was that funny. His performance was worrisome, as he opened the show, and it was unclear as to who the rest of the ‘and Friends’ were going to be. But true to the title, the other acts truly are Sarah’s friends, or at the very least, they play her friends on TV.

The first guy up was Steve Agee, who plays one of Sarah’s gay best friends on ‘The Sarah Silverman Program’. He showed the audience a video that he sent to Comedy Central to get cast on Sarah’s show. The clip showed his love of both Halloween and masturbating. To show his versatility as an actor, he showed another clip that illustrated his love of, this time, Thanksgiving and masturbating. There’s nothing more natural than an overweight man jerking it, dressed like an Indian (circa 1970), to the fondest moments of Thanksgiving: turkey, Indians, small pox, Miles Standish, etc. Overall he was pretty funny, although his set was very short.

The next of the ‘and Friends’ was none other than Brian Posehn, who plays Sarah’s other gay best friend and Steve Agee’s lover on ‘The Sarah Silverman Program’. His self-deprecating brand of comedy really hit the spot. One of my favorite moments was Posehn describing knowing his place in the world and what he will never be able to do due to his massive size. His set was much longer than Agee’s and the audience laughed most at his set, thus far.

While Agee and Posehn were both really funny, everyone was really there for one reason: Sarah Silverman. The crowd went wild when Sarah emerged from backstage and opened by

informing is that this was, “her first time doing stand-up with a black president!” Each word to come out of her mouth was funnier than the last. She also performed some of her musical stylings from her DVD “Jesus is Magic”, as well as some from her show. Most of her material was new to me, but I obviously still enjoyed the bits I had already heard. Sarah’s performance was obviously the longest, as she was the headliner, but the show was only about an hour and a half, which seemed was a little short. I would have liked to see more opening acts to intensify the build up for Sarah, but I guess she wanted to take her post-show monster bong hit earlier (I don’t blame her at all because I bet she gets crazy awesome weed). All in all, the show was a great experience for me. I’ve looked up to Sarah Silverman for many years and to be able to finally see her live really was exciting for me! Look out for me at Sarah’s next show in NYC.

Big Terrific 11.6.08

Thursdays are the highlight of my week. Besides being one day away from the weekend, it’s also, the night of ‘Big Terrific’, a weekly comedy show, at Soundfix Lounge in Williamsburg. I’ve been to the show four or five times so far and have yet to be disappointed.

A really awesome thing about ‘Big Terrific’ is that it’s always different. At last night’s show, Gabe Liedman and Jenny Slate, two of the three hosts of ‘Big Terrific’, opened the night with a hilarious skit about the miscommunication of their love for each other, and, then, Jenny did her boring tunes, where weren’t boring at all but so comically riveting that they demanded an encore from the audience, and Gabe riled up the boys by telling jokes for the men in the room (as long as the guys in the audience were M4M). The Gabe and Jenny duo had a real chemistry that was hard to deny, but as solo acts they were super cool too. The third host, Max Silvestri, did an act accompanied by short movies, photos and other assorted media. Everything that he put on the projector, accentuated by his witty commentary made me laugh.

Each week there are usually four to six comedians who perform. Last night’s lineup was as follows: Arj Barker, Gabriel Delahaye, Noah Garfinkel and Anthony Jeselink. Each one did a great job at perpetuating the funny-bone vibe that kept me and the audience laughing. Big Terrific also does justice to women comedians, like Jenny Slate, who never fails to make me feel like I’m not actually, the most vulgar girl in the room. All in all, I’m addicted and it’s better than crack (almost…). I’ll probably be there next Thursday, hope to see you there!