Washington D.C. may not be a city that embraces comedy with open arms, but you knew that already. That is why you found us. Here you can get information, interviews and insights on the best local stand-up, improv and sketch comedy this city has to offer... 4 Now. You can reach us at dccomedy4now(at)gmail.com. LET'S DO THIS, DC!
Sad to see that you had to take down the blog everyone was commenting on, but I get it, most weren't positive. Thought I'd like to contribute something that says nothing negative about comedy or our area. I'll understand if you don't use it, but I thought it might be a change of pace. See you guys around.
Cause I'm in love: I could hang out with old friends more I have no idea who any one is on American Idol We can go ahead and add Dancing with the Stars to that I really feel like $#!t when I say goodbye to my dog after I just get home Gas prices actually matter to me now I change my oil every time that I turn around I get to laugh at everyone for free when a lot of people have to pay to see you guys... or they will I'm single and often feel very alone then the Fowlest calls with a new joke to listen then he tells me to get my @ss out and on a stage I've seen what can happen to people in very little time Aparna I've also seen that time can be a good thing Seaton Had some spats (do the names matter?) Later I remembered that we're all here to laugh why should comics beef? Had people do me great favors Odyssey I keep that in mind for the moment someone needs something from me Watched people develop great jokes from thin air Found laughs in old jokes when I was pretty sure nothing was there I've shaken like a tree before a contest I've lost I've won Met LOTS of people who are where I wanna be Almost every one was incredibly kind to me I think almost every one experiences "Groupie Love" in some form I've watched Seaton get A LOT of love.... not jealous (you believe me right? nah) Every boss or co-worker says "Don't write a joke about me" Do we ever? I've complained about how Curt or someone else runs their room I try to keep that feeling in mind with Spy Lounge Eli is the man I'm pretty sure I remember seeing Hampton's first time at Wiseacres feels weird looking back on that now I remember when Kojo and Tim were like Siamese twins they might be less cohesive now but still went the same way There was a time that I never wanted to go to open mics without a friend now a lot friends are already there I worry a lot less about women I worry more if my jokes will be funny enough to walk offstage and get one Rascals, Baltimore Improv, Riot Act - I remember
[hit the jump for more prose before hoes]
I remember seeing Rory on TV with Herbie Can't wait to see Erin's turn I'm pretty sure I hit on Ayanna Dookie one night if I can't remember well, clearly it didn't go that well On two occasions I've slept on the streets on Times Square both of those are probably my favorite nights in comedy... didn't even perform those nights I've been heckled in front of my mother, I've bombed horribly Had audiences laugh so hard they confused me I used to get lost, literally, every time I left the house for comedy Now I park without paying everywhere I go I get stuck sometimes thinking "What's next" Second looks at old jokes can give them breath I've spanked Schlegel in Gears of War that was 10 minutes after he held my hand through Rainbow Six Vegas... I sucked Been handed a check Been handed a handshake Some of these things are terrible But the joy I feel from remembering the good is irreplaceable I have a feeling that most of you know what I'm talking about I'll see you guys around...
You've heard them. You've been at a show when they are bitching about not being able to get on stage. You've heard them complaining about how a certain guy books his show and how it isn't fair. You know who I'm talking about. It's the guys who think they are entitled to something simply because they've told their co-workers and friends 'I do comedy'.
The people I'm talking about are not necessarily bad people. My argument is that they just don't realize how selfish and short sighted it is to bitch about how someone books their show or complain about not being able to get up. Someone might post a counter to this about how comics need an opportunity to get better and it isn't fair if the bookings they want constantly are going to the more established comics while they are left to wonder why.
To quote Jack Nicholson from the Departed: 'No one gives it to you. You gotta take it.'
[hit the jump, bitch]
Let me be clear about something. Performing comedy is, inherently, a dependent art form. In order for one to perform somewhere successfully, a comic is dependent on several factors (booking, venue, audience). At no time, from a guy who is going on for the first time all the way to Brian Regan/Bil Burr, is a comic entitled to anything. He/she should consider it a blessing every single time all the right things happen to allow for a successful performance. It's even more of a blessing once all those external factors allow you to make a living doing something as trivial as standing on a stage, speaking into a microphone at a glorified diner/bar. Comedy clubs make money by selling food and booze. It's nice when they take an active interest in the comedy community by developing and showcasing talent, but it certainly isn't the norm. We as comics need to remember that there are more ways than ever for people to spend their entertainment dollar. We often overestimate the market for live comedy. It's way too easy for consumers to get their entertainment from a myriad of mediums for us to presume that people will just show up at the venue we will be performing at without any work being put in.
Having recently left the DC scene and moved to New York City, there are a number of differences. The most glaring departure I have seen thus far is that the majority of comics up here seem to understand the idea that you have to create your own breaks. If you want stage time, start a show. Your level of involvement is up to you. You can do 0 work, have your show last a couple months, get it canceled and start anew. You can put in a ton of work, build it as best you can, still have it canceled and move on. The point here is that I bet that most of the guys who are pissed off at what they perceive as a small group getting all the work, haven't done near as much work as they think they have. How many shows have you started? Have you gotten a room going so that you can exchange stage time with someone else who has a room? Have you put in work pounding the pavement finding a a great venue where you can eventually get comics some $ for performing? Have you taken it upon yourself to stop waiting for someone to give you something and gone out after it yourself?
No one is responsible for getting you stage time. It's up to you. Instead of bitching about not being able to get on a show, go make a better show. Take responsibility for your own destiny and stop bitching.
I recently did two shows, the likes of which I will document for you here.
About two weeks ago, I did a college show. Now, you know how I feel about college shows. Actually you probably don't, but here's a helpful, yet condescending reminder. So one was a college show and the second was a bar show. Ah yes, the versatility of the stand up experience! From the glowing halls of universities lit with lamps of knowledge to the Miller-lighted, wood-paneled taverns of sports spectatoring! To be fair, the college show was an outdoor luau event. There was nothing academic about it, son...unless you consider "Cupcakes for the Cancer Cure" and free t-shirts educational!
Neither show went quite as spectacularly as anyone hoped (speaking on behalf of the organizers, myself, the other comedians, and the audience members), but I think we all had unreasonable hopes involving mild success. However, the pertinent question was raised: How do you make the most of a bad show (speaking only as a perfomer this time)? Now let it be known that I mean no offense to any of the show organizers involved here. Let's be honest, you can only control so much when it comes to the conditions of nature and human temperaments. Still though, is there any way to salvage some good from a show that occurs under less than ideal circumstances?
[Hit the jump for foolhardy hypotheses, show rec(r)aps, blasphemous conclusions, and other assorted ballyhoo!]
1. COLLEGE SHOW So this college's spring luau event committee made one costly decision. They expected the D.C. metro area weather to cooperate with their revelry efforts. Sierra optiMists! Fair enough if you're only about eating, drinking, and general behavior wherein communication is not a priority. However, the art of stand-up comedy solely depends on the ability to communicate "jokes" to an "audience", preferably a seated one, but hey, we're not choosy. So when I saw the small platform of a stage with a microphone (albeit a working one, thanks goodness) at the bottom of a giant hill (i.e., nature's own audience arena), and witnessed the scattered nature of the event, I started to feel a tid bat anxious (dyslexia intentional).
But when it was time for the show to start, a beautiful and attentive medium-sized crowd did assemble (shout out to flyering on college campuses). Unfortunately, right at about this time, also entered: A mighty wind. That's right. Cut to a small-scale Hurricane Higher Education. The MC handled it beautifully. He did some crowdwork with the kids, but also with the wind. From what I could hear anyway, and he generally got the crowd on the same page as the stage. Two comics later, people were starting to leave, and I had yet to go up (the "headliner" of the evening, weehoo?!) By the time I was onstage, I couldn't even hear my own voice let alone speak the start of a premise without some huge piece of equipment losing its footing behind me. Buckets were rolling (you can cross them all off yer bucket lists), signs were flapping, people were huddled together into one large amoeba of warmth. Needless to say, I lost my bearings several times, both in my set and literally onstage because of the turbulence. The remaining crowd was magically supportive and the organizers were thoroughly apologetic afterward, but nonetheless, it still felt a bit like Stand Up Boot Camp.
My only thoughts are I could have done more wind jokes or pantomimed more vivid despair, in real time. This one seems to fall under the ever-popular "Just Suck It Up" method of handling difficult shows. I liked the "Is she going to fly away?" closer though. I might keep that. Oh! I should have also worn more layers.
2. BAR SHOW So there were a few problems with this show, but nothing insurmountable. The show was inside! Huge plus! There was a working microphone. It was in the back room of a bar so nothing in the way of ambient noise pollution. The lighting was a little iffy. It was a new lighting system, and it still had some kinks in it. Other than that, the only poo factor was a typical one: small crowd. Not tiny actually, but not huge. But in terms of response, definitely a small crowd. There were some card-carrying non-reactors/default expressionists. And one back table was holding up the entire audience in terms of any audible laughter.
This show plainly fell under the "I'll just have fun messing around" clause. Unfortunately, my "just mess around" skills need some severe work. I tried commenting on a framed picture of beer in the room, but that went flat quickly. I tend to deflate suddenly in the face of disinterest so of course, chalk it up to a learning experience (I have so many...me so lucky). I thought the other comics handled it very swell. In fact, the illustrious Jon Mumma did one of the most beautiful impromptu act outs I've ever seen where he went and tickled a grown man's belly in the hopes of eliciting anything in the way of a positive emission. Now that's commitment.
I realize this whole post comes off as extremely whiny and high-maintenance, but stand up comedy is a whiny and high-maintenance art form. Yeah I said it! I'll self-deprecate an entire art form if I feel like it.
Anyway, please share your thoughts about particularly trying shows, and whether you were able to emerge with both your dignity and your resolve intact. Links to previous blogs are acceptable, you lazy clods.
Classic American Comedy Parker's Classic American Bistro in Bethesda, MD 10pm FREE This is one of the greatest showcases in the country. If you are a fan of watching great comedy, or performing on great comedy shows, please check out Parker's tonight. It is a young show and as all young shows are, on a probationary period. We need to pack the room to tell the owners that stand up is as important as we the readers think it is. Do it for your country (or at least your friends.) Tonight, check out John McBride, Brandon Ivey, Nick Turner, Shotgun Tom, Andy Haynes, and Tyler Sonnichsen
TOMORROW NIGHT, SATURDAY APRIL 10!
DCC4N presents: DC Comedy Festival Showcase DC Improv Comedy Lounge 8pm $10 Featuring the best stand-up comics in DC auditioning for spots in the DCCF '08. Line up includes: Jason Weems, Aparna Nancherla, Jay Hastings, Bryson Turner, Kojo Mante, Nick Turner, Tony Gracyk, John McBride, Tim Miller, & Hampton Yount. Buy tickets here
WIT's F.I.S.T. Tournament FINAL ROUND w/ JACKIE Flashpoint Theater in Chinatown 9:30pm $12 The Final Two Teams in the 2008 F.I.S.T. tournament go head to head to crown the ULTIMATE CHAMPION. The audience votes for the winner! Buy tickets here
Curt Shackelford: the man, the hero, the WaPo legend. For the past six years, Curt has been producing live stand-up comedy shows all over the D.C. metro area through his company, "Stand-Up Comedy to Go". And when I say producing, I am not talking about finding some dive bar w/a PA system so you can bring your dumbass friends, dress in a suit, and splash PBR in their faces. No, instead Curt brings a serious business approach to his comedy ventures. Anyone who has seen Curt pull up in his patented yellow truck knows exactly what I mean.
For inside it, Curt has everything he needs to put on a comedy show. Mic stand and mic? Check. Stage? Check. Fake brick wall? Check. 200 pens? Check. Just give Curt the go ahead and he will put up a show, like some sort of "big top" ringmaster.
These shows have been the launching pad for many local comics. Some have jumped to bigger and better places for comedy. Others are just thankful for the opprotunity to have consistent shows at which to perform. Either way, Curt has been an instrumental force in helping young comedians find their voice in D.C. for many years.
Curt has found his niche, and because of that, he won't budge on how he feels a comedy show should be run, and has no problem telling you that in almost every way possible. From the novella-sized attachment he emails to comics; to his grade school–like roll calls; to the "Everyone's a Comedian" audience-prying conclusion to his shows; you know it is Curt's three-ring circus, and he will run it as he pleases. Even if the clowns get upset.
And there have been many upset clowns over the years. Each one having their own reasons for why particpation under Curt's tent is not worth the price of admission. You may have heard some of them already. You may have not. But, this is not a post about them.
This is a rare interview with Mr. Shackelford. A no-holds barred event where Curt has the opprotunity to answer some of D.C.'s biggest questions as well as give his take on how the D.C. scene has changed, and how he views the world of comedy. Grab your popcorn, folks, you are in for a spectacle!
[Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, children of all ages.....hit the jump.]
For the unfortunate minority who have never heard of you or what you have done in D.C. over the years, please introduce yourself.
Hello, my name is Curt Shackelford….and I’m a compulsive organizer.
I started my first open mic at Parkers in Bethesda 5 or 6 years ago after tiring of schlepping to Wiseacres from Bethesda to compete with 20 other comics for 12 slots. I wanted my own show that I could MC, guaranteeing stage time each week. I found a local Bethesda bar that was game, and proceeded to run the absolute worst open mic ever—made many mistakes but really learned to run a room. The show ultimately sank for many reasons. The primary reason being that it was on a Monday night. Only alcoholic single people go out on Mondays.
Ironically the new Friday show at Parkers will prolly be a huge success cuz it’s on a great night—
What rooms do you currently run ?
Ri Ra Irish Pub in Clarendon, VA; Wed nite open mic
Topaz Hotel in Dupont Circle, DC; Thurs nite open mic
Hyatt Hotel in Bethesda, MD; Saturday nite showcase
What is your comedic background?
I did stand up for a couple years then started running my own shows to guarentee myself stage time cuz there was only one open mic back then—Wiseacres. Quite by accident, I discovered I was the greatest comedy show producer that ever lived.
Who are some of your influences comedic or otherwise?
Martin Short, Todd Glass, Brian Regan, etc.—goofy/silly comics—Will Ferrell—are some of my faves.
What's hacky comedy to you?
Not so much material-wise cuz that’s obvious—everyone agrees what is hacky—but what really annoys me is the hacky lines that comics feel they need to say:
“Keep it going for…..”
“Are you guys having fun?”
“How you guys doin tonite?”
“Who’s drinkin tonite?”
...and a dozen others that only annoy the audience and eat up the clock.
You give us your reasoning for producing shows over performing, but why do it at all? What drives you to be involved in comedy?
I went to the Ticonderoga Pencil Factory when i was a kid—the sight of all these yellow pencils rolling out on the assembly line was mesmerizing, cranking out perfect pencils by the hundreds every minute—they had to pull me away from the viewing glass. Aspergers again?—a fondness for systems, uniformity, and patterns...
Anyhoo, there's something satisfying about cranking out a fine product every week, whether it's a pencil or a show; in that respect, it's "fun."
What do you look for in a space when you approach a venue?
Separate room away from the main room is the big thing. My big mistake with Parkers was it’s a big open space. I naïvely thought that everyone in the place would be enthralled and thrilled to hear great comedy for free. Nope. Some people would rather not hear comedy—even great comedy. They’re on a date or they’re with a friend they haven’t seen for a while, and wanna chat, etc. So you need that separate room so these folks can have a place to go to get away from the show. At Parkers, it was seen as an intrusion by some folks…like “Hey…I’m eatin' here!!”
Let's just get to it, shall we? Recently, you wrote to me that you "[are] responsible for the renaissance of the DC open mic scene...five years ago there was only one open mic at Wiseacres...I copied them and made some improvements on their system...then people copied me, made some improvements on my system, and it snowballed from there."
I have to qualify that by saying Chris White’s starting of DC Standup was what made the renaissance possible. That site was like erecting a giant canvas, and suddenly everyone started throwing paint on it. I started Parkers, and I think other comics saw how easy it was to open a room of their own, so they followed suit in their respective neighborhoods. My shows were way better cuz I brought “real show” production values (stage, spotlight, etc.) to the venue. I wanted to copy that aspect of Wiseacres as well even though Parkers was just a bar.
Maybe you answered this already but you have also said that "open mics that are run by comics instead of non-coms like me will eventually & inevitably fail." Well Curt, you are actually right, because ALL open mics eventually fail/close.
So why then do you feel rooms run by non-coms are better?
If a comic splits his energy between practicing/perfecting his craft and running a room (read “selling food and beverages to justify your show's existence”), his craft will suffer. Every minute a comic spends on running a show is a minute he could have spent writing, rehearsing, or performing. This will eventually annoy the comic to the point he/she gives up in disgust, and turns his focus solely to his craft.
I tried to perform and run at Parkers, and I did both of them perfectly half-assed cuz it’s too taxing to do both well. I gave up in disgust but chose running shows over performing cuz I was great at it. I was a good comic, but a great producer. You gotta be great at what you do or forget it. Good is not good enough.
Then, please explain the success of an open mic like "Soho Coffee & Tea", which from what DC Standup has said was the longest-running DC open mic of all time (and that website is never wrong), and also happened to be run by a comic.
Soho—Paul Schorsch shut his show down fed up and disgusted. He wrote a blog about it called “Curt is right—I’m fed up and disgusted.”
What do you look for in comics when you book Topaz? How about the Hyatt?
Silliness, silliness, silliness.
You have expressed some strong feelings about new comics, in which you have said, "more stage time will *not* make you funnier. You are funny right out of the gate or not...and all the stage time in the world will not help you cuz 99.9% of what makes you funny is *beyond your control*".
This statement is gonna get me assassinated, but I firmly believe this.
Just one example:
Andy Haynes—it’s not his writing, his delivery, his whatever—it’s his default facial expression that has to do with genetics that makes everything he does/says “funny.”
Many more examples upon request.
You have also expressed to me your usual hesitation for putting up improvisers having a go at stand-up.
Not at all—I actually love improv comics who come into standup—they are usually stronger comics because of their improv background (yourself, Scovel, etc.)
It’s the actual art of improv that I find tedious beyond belief; it's like waiting for lightning to strike—too hit or miss. With standup, you just have more chance of regular laughs via punchlines.
As a former comic yourself Curt, what is your reasoning on the harsh approach you take with booking really funny, established comedians who have proven themselves time and time again vs. the notion that "newbies and their audience" dictate the success of a locally run comedy show?
When I ran Parkers five years ago I used nothing but the best comics—I promoted the hell out of the show, but we never got a decent size audience with any regularity. Newbies were not gonna get on my “quality” show cuz I didn’t wanna dilute it.
The show eventually died cuz we couldn’t bring in enough bodies—even though I did a solid year with nothing but the best comics. Ironically, the show would have *eventually* caught on and it would have been packed, but the word “eventually” does not sit well with venue owners. They no understanding of “eventually.” They only understand “within this quarter.”
Now my shows are a mix of newbies who bring the audience and veterans who make them laugh.
Every time I try to tamper with the mix, the show sucks.
Great lineup of too many veteran comics equals playing to six people.
Shitty lineup of too many newbies equals playing to a packed house of folks that will never come again.
So it’s a mixed bag—a combined approach. As the Devil Himself (manifested as Dick Cheney) said, "sometimes the answer is 'both'."
You have butted heads with many comics during your time of booking shows. Some have voiced their opinion, others have not. What are your feelings about Jay Hastings and the dispute that erupted between you two last year?
Art versus commerce—Jay is a comic who naturally champions art over commerce. I am a greedy producer who favors commerce over art. I try to keep a balance though; but commerce comes first.
“You can’t have a cupboard if there ain’t no wall.”
Comedy is supposed to be fun. When comics first receive your pre-show list of rules, they tend to think "holy shit, what have i gotten myself into." So my question is, why not get rid of them? Especially since some parts, like the dress code (no Timbalands, no doo rags, no black skin) seem to be targeting a certain group.
There were no rules when I started. Everytime I got reprimanded by the venue, I made it a rule to prevent it from happening again.
The rules are there to "set the tone," and the tone is, "This is not just another shitty open mic with seven TV's on and three drunk guys who don't even realize there's a show going on."
I want comics to treat it like a *real show*. I certainly do, and they should too. The 345 rules say that loud & clear.
Thankfully, there are 15 other shows in town where you can get stage time—but they aren't as good as mine, precisely cuz they lack "structure" (another word for rules). I don't want to make it seem like the Big Bad Venue made me institute that dress code; that was all my doing.
My shows are in white neighborhoods. White folks are frightened by the gangsta look—white-black-Latino-whatever; it's intended to look threatening and it works. "Threatening" is not a good vibe at a comedy show.
Ironically, I lifted the dress code language verbatim from a flyer put out by FUR nightclub, a black club, that read "no Tims, no skullies, etc."
My one black friend (I have pictures of me shaking his hand) had to explain to me what that stuff was, but I knew if the black clubs themselves didn't want that in their venues then I didn't either.
Some people in the community feel like you avoid comics who run their own rooms. Any comment?
This is true, but not for sinister reasons. They have their own rooms so they no longer are as “needy” as other comics. They have a guaranteed weekly slot; so I prefer to use comics who are more in need of stage time cuz they [don’t have] their own rooms.
Do you think there is ANY correlation between the success of Rory Scovel, Ryan Conner, and Danny Rouhier, and the constant rotation you kept those three comics in at all of your shows? Are you trying to do the same for comics presently? If so, throw out some names. Go ahead, who does Curt like nowadays?
We fed off each other. It was a perfectly symbiotic relationship—very win-win.
I think I speeded up their ascent to the NYC level by providing them with enough bodies in the audience (non-com bodies) every week so they could get real feedback on their performances, tweak them in time for next week’s show, etc.
My current fave—Hampton. Again it’s the way he looks, walks, stands, sounds, his mannerisms—all stuff beyond his control.
And he was blessed with the silliness gene—again something beyond his control.
Why don't you like watching basketball games?
Sneakers suction-cup “thwick-thwick-thwick” sound of running down the court plus the squeaking from the sudden stops, turns, and starts. I have mild Asperger's Syndrome that makes me sensitive to certain sounds.
Solution: Moccasins.
Why the hell don't you ever come out to other shows? I know you are a busy guy, but how can you expect to be on the pulse of the comedy scene in town without seeing it?
I would love to come watch other shows cuz I can’t really enjoy my own shows cuz I’m “working” and can never fully focus on enjoying a comic’s set. But I’m just too wiped out at the end of the day. I’m asleep by 8pm and up by 4am the next day to go pore over the topographical map of the DC Open Mic scene in my bunker’s war room in my poofy Field Marshall pants…pushing little plastic tanks around with one of those plastic tank pusher stick–thingies.
What is with the email blasts, really? Why ignore so many emails? Don't you think that it is mean and it undermines people's confidence?
I’m running my shows in the cracks and crevices of my day job. I gotta cram all my comedy work into very limited time; efficiency rules the day. If I had someone to do the booking, it would be great. They could take the time to be a bit more human about the whole booking process, but until I can afford to hire someone it will have to be mass email cattle-call style.
Aparna does a swell job running the lights at your shows, doesn't she? Quite the gal.
I picked her cuz she’s small, and can fit in the tiny crevices I reserve for the light lady—not taking up any unnecessary square footage that the audience could use.
Swell job?
She routinely falls asleep, talks during the show, gives more time to her friend-comics, but thinks I don’t notice cuz I am old and senile. But until a smaller comic comes along, her job is safe. I don’t like young people.
How do you see the open mic scene changing five years from now, and what are you doing to make sure you are a part of it?
There are shitty cover bands playing live “music” on every street corner. I’d like to see a comedy night on every corner alongside this plethora of live music. It should be as prevalent as live music. But live comedy is seen as a “wild animal” and also a “black sheep of the arts,” so venues are very afraid of letting this wild rabid dog into their fine establishment. But they have no problem letting in a lame cover band—safer I guess.
But the more rooms there are, the easier it will be for the next room to open, cuz you can point to the other rooms and say “Hey look Mr. General Manager, that place across the street is doing comedy!” So then it can snowball even bigger and bigger.
Now, we all know that comedians are the scum of the earth, yet every time you tell someone that you're a comedian you somehow get treated better than you did mere seconds before the revelation. Why is this? Because people haven't seen your act yet. It's that simple. You suck, you know it, but they have no idea until they see it for themselves. This window from when they first hear that you're a comedian until they first see you bomb is what I call the "sweet spot." But the good news is that the assholes at your office aren't the only ones who can be tricked into thinking you're not a loser. You can trick yourself, too! Here are a few helpful delusions that can put you on the path to not slitting your wrists after you've made the terrible, terrible decision to pursue comedy.
Delusion #1: It's fine that you're a 27-year-old receptionist/college dropout because at night, you make people laugh! You aren't just the guy answering phones for the people with degrees/wives/kids/money/lives because almost 8 people will be forced to hear your thoughts on the MySpace revolution tonight. Who IS this Tom guy, anyway?
Delusion #2: You aren't watching too much television; you're doing research! How are people gonna know that I detest Rock of Love, unless I watch Rock of Love, and then tell you guys how much I didn't enjoy watching Rock of Love while setting my Tivo to record the most intense elimination round yet on Rock of Love?
Delusion #3: I have tons of friends because everyone says hi to me at open mics! Those people definitely aren't just saying hi because they're nice, and I'm standing in front of the sign up sheet. They are my friends. They could be anywhere tonight but chose to be here because they know that I'm probably gonna have a pretty sweet joke about the final four. The black teams did better than the white teams!
Delusion #4: I would be getting laid tonight if it weren't for the fact that I had a show! Well, I mean, I don't have a show per se, but I do have to go to a show. Well, I guess I don't HAVE to go to a show, but I really want to check out Flip Orley at the Improv because then I can figure out how to get a stand up comedy career without actually doing stand up comedy!
Delusion #5: I'm gonna make it one day!
Do guys have any delusions that you use to help yourselves get through the day? Let me know in the comments because everyone is definitely gonna read the comments, and it will be worth the time spent writing them.
Screw you guys. I don’t care what you “young people” think! With your Death Cabs and your backpacks with the seatbelt buckles on the strap and your new ways of shaking hands...you clench fists then hit them together? Bah! I am old school! You know why? Because some people never stop being funny. Some people just know comedy from the get go and ain't nothin' gonna change that. One of these people is Mr. Shawn Westfall.
Born and raised in Indiana, Shawn Westfall has performed improvisational comedy for over 14 years with a number of professional improv troupes as well as founding some of his own such as the sketch comedy troupe, Pretentious Actors Collective (P.A.C.), which played to audiences in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC and most recently Bright Young Things, an improv troupe specializing in long-form improv that played to audiences in Washington, DC (headlining at the DC Improv) and at the UCB Theater in New York City.
Shawn has also performed stand-up comedy in Texas and throughout the Washington, DC area, and has opened for comedian Adam Ferrara at the DC Improv.
In addition, this May will find Shawn marking five years as the exclusive improv instructor at the DC Improv. His classes (and the numerous DC Improv shows they've generated) have been featured in the pages of The Washington Post, The Washington Post Express and Washingtonian magazine and as well on Washington Post Radio, DC 101, WTOP, and on Mix 107.3’s “The Jack Diamond Morning Show.” He’s also the founder and primary facilitator of Improv Comedy Delivered, an improv-focused event-based business.
Shawn knows his shit, people. Sit down and pay attention. Learn something for once. Quit with your “hatin'” and your “just sayin'” for one gosh darn second.
(BTW, this is my cranky bitterness spewing forth, youngsters. Shawn always greets everyone he meets with warmth and vitality)
Shawn can also sing? What!? Fuck yes. Catch Shawn this weekend in: iMusical Friday 8pm $15 Flashpoint Theater buy tickets here
"I'm always stunned and amazed how this troupe of improv geniuses creates a musical in front of our eyes. Get thee to the iMusical." -DC Theatre Reviews
DCC4N interview with Shawn: When did you realize that you wanted to do comedy?
Not sure the exact age, but I suppose it was very early on that I learned that I could get attention (especially from girls — and that’s really what it’s all about, right?) by indulging in what appeared to be a god-given gift for mimicry, making a fool of myself, and getting laughs. Some guys could dribble basketballs or throw footballs. I could do bad Steve Martin imitations. Though I did, and still do, a spot-on version of Burt Ward’s Robin.
But once you’re past that, comedy is something you sort of fall into it by default, isn’t it? You discover your tendency to locate the humor in the mundane, boring, banal, and irritating. You start giving in to this tendency at work, in the grocery line, with friends, with your girlfriend, etc. And suddenly what started as an occupational hazard then becomes an occupation, or at least a vocation. It’s weird. For most comedians or comic performers, comedy is something they discover that they can’t *not* do.
[Hit the jump for one of our most insightful interviews yet. Plus, there is a video for you Gen X-ers!]
Who were some of your earliest influences?
Well, two of my earliest influences were my parents, who saw fit to bless me with a downright awful childhood. Nothing, in my experience, is more useful to comedy than a bad childhood. When reality is alternately boring and horrific, one’s imagination tends to vividly intensify. At least mine certainly did. Just the way it is, I suppose.
That said, my parents, perhaps because they were too drunk to care, allowed me to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live during its very first season, and those first shows — indeed, the first show — stayed with me, are with me even now. I once won a trivia contest by being able to name the person who spoke the first words on the first episode. Most think it was Belushi. But it was actually the late Michael O’Donahue — twisted, crazed genius that he was — in a sketch where O’Donahue’s character is teaching Belushi’s character to speak English using phrases like “I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines.” For weeks I went around repeating this. I was ten.
Where did you first start doing improv?
I was fascinated by SNL and from the Midwest, but because of my rather insular upbringing I didn’t discover until late in life that there was a career-track to getting on the show, and that it, generally speaking, went through something called “improv,” which was done, generally speaking, in some place called “Chicago.” My first exposure to it was about 14 years ago: I was studying acting with a guy named Kent Bateman (Jason and Justine’s father) near Park City, UT. He attempted something approximating improv by occasionally asking his students, as an exercise, to take the characters we were working on for scene study and put them in audience-suggested situations with other actors’ characters. The results were usually monumental failures, my improv scenes in particular.
A few months after working with Kent Bateman I saw a show on the A&E channel, late at night, where some very gifted actors were doing short-form improv. Lights went on, bells went off, etc. The moment I saw that I knew I was born to do this style of comedy/acting, and that I’d find a way to get involved.
From Utah I moved to Hawaii. Just as I arrived I saw an ad in the auditions section of the Honolulu Advertiser: a local improv troupe was seeking additional actors to flesh out their numbers for a 12-hour non-stop improv marathon to benefit a local theater. I auditioned, was told that my tenure would only be for this one show, got in, and was then given a six-week crash course in improv. The day of the show, though scheduled for only two hours, I ended up doing four hours non-stop, since the other actors refused to let me off stage. The troupe, Loose Screws (still extant and thriving, by the way) figured that since I had undergone this improv trial-by-fire, it was only appropriate to ask me to officially join. I’ve been involved in improv ever since.
What would you say is your improv-comedy style? What do you enjoy bringing onstage?
Given that I’m not really all that good at being me, and prefer, in fact, to be someone else, my improv is character-based, so I enjoy bringing as many unique, differentiated characters as I can to a performance. I’m very fond of Groundlings-style improv, where they seem to encourage strong, distinct character choices as the through-line for improv and sketch comedy. Some of my favorite comedic actors trained there, notably the late Phil Hartman, who is, in my opinion, the most gifted comedic improv or sketch actor we’ve ever produced, someone who could effortlessly go from persona to persona. People often forget just how brilliant Larraine Newman, another Groundling product, was on those first seasons of SNL. She created a different character for every sketch she was in. I also admire Peter Sellers, another character-mad genius, playing three (almost four!) different characters in “Dr. Strangelove.” And I don’t think it’s any accident that my favorite writer is the comic novelist Kingsley Amis, whose novels are basically catalogues of unforgettably rendered characters with distinct voices. Practically everyone who knew him testifies that in real life, Amis was an excellent mimic of voices and sound effects; one of his most requested parlor pieces was an impersonation of Franklin Roosevelt delivering one of his many fireside chats as heard on shortwave wartime British radio, complete with the buzzes, cracks, and whistles of signals fading in and out as they’re transmitted across the ocean. I actually heard a recording of Amis performing this. He could have easily been a master improvisational performer.
Do you enjoy the process of writing? How do you think your improv training has affected your writing style/process?
Well, no one enjoys the process of writing. Nearly every writer I know enjoys *having written.* However, about six years ago, I was involved in a sketch comedy troupe here in DC (Pretentious Actors Collective) and, had we not all had improv backgrounds and brought that to our collaborations, we would have killed each other (we did end up killing each other, but not over the creative process). It was basically understood that whatever sketch we individually brought was never a finished product, that others were given license to improve upon the premise in any way. In fact, there were a couple sketches I wrote that I was, at one time or another, ready to abandon when one or both of my partners would find ways to improve it, either at the writing stage or in rehearsal. We did this constantly. And that’s the collaborative nature of improv at work. You don’t own the comedy. And you have to be willing to check your ego at the door to find it.
What about performing live do you enjoy? Do you ever want to convey a message?
Basically discovering the right in-the-moment piece of information or character that I can bring to a scene. I’m usually listening intently for ways to help the scene or further the story (I’ve got an MA in English lit, so “story,” “three-act structure,” and narrative are things I’m kind of obsessive about). I took a workshop with Owen Burke of UCB last year, and he basically said that an improviser’s job is to serve the scene. Again: not to “be [individually] funny,” but to look for what the scene needs and bring it, so that the funny in a scene becomes something you create together.
Regarding messages: I have little patience for political art, “message art,” etc. Anytime I feel that I’m being exposed to propaganda, I just want to take a shower. And I don’t really care for overtly political comedians (standup or improv), either. Some do, but I don’t. I don’t think there’s any difference between comedians who walk on stage saying in essence, “wow, George Bush sucks” and getting a reaction and their saying “wow, isn’t DC [or geographic location X] great?” You’re just pandering. Of course, these tend to be the same comedians who mistake that for a successful gig, too. Plus, it’s all been done. Go look at Mort Sahl’s stuff from the late ‘50s, early ‘60s. Take out whatever politician he was trashing back then, insert one of today’s politicians, and you’re basically telling the same joke.
You have been involved with DC comedy for years now. What are some of the biggest changes you've seen occur since you started here?
The biggest changes? More venues. More opportunities. A more vibrant and thriving community all around.
Eight years ago, there were only a handful of places where one could perform. The DC Improv hadn't started its open mikes yet, and if you wanted to do stand-up, generally speaking you went out to Wiseacres on open mike night, signed up, and got on a huge list of like 15 comedians who were given 6 minutes a piece. Then they added an extra night and you did the same thing. The improv scene wasn't much different. ComedySportz was in transition; when I got involved there, Liz Demery had just bought it, and was searching for a place to call home (one of my first tasks when I got involved in CSz was helping repaint the Victoria's Secret in Ballston to transform it into the Comedy Spot theater…we geeky theater types called it "The Old Vic"). And Mark Chalfant and Topher Bellavia were in the process of reenergizing WIT.
But from this came a groundswell of talent and desire to perform that manifested itself in a kind of DIY attitude. People began starting up open mikes in DC and online communities with information useful to local comedians; ComedySportz found a permanent home in Ballston; WIT began forming additional house troupes; and the DC Improv began offering more open mike opportunities as well as classes in improv and stand-up. Then suddenly we had this fantastic annual comedy festival.
There's not much practical value in pursuing an MA in English, but one of the things you learn is that great artists and performers usually do their best and most lasting work when they're part of communities. The myth of the lone writer struggling away in some garret far away who eventually publishes and is discovered is precisely that: a myth. It's no accident that writers, artists, and performers travel in movements, groups, and communities. The Romantic poets (Byron, Coleridge, and Shelley) all knew each other, vacationed together, and were audiences for each other's work. Post-War Modern artists hung out in the same Greenwich Village bars and championed each other's stuff. Bob Dylan and Richie Havens were buskers on the same New York City street corners.
This is one valuable way the community has grown and an equally valuable benefit of being part of the community. In fact, I tend to think the comedy community here in DC is like a family. Like any family, you're closer to some of your relatives than you are to others; like any family, there's infighting, squabbling, and petty territorial grievances. But we do a good job of defending each other to outsiders. And then on some nights we get together, tell stories about each other, have a few beers, and make each other laugh. And that makes the rest of the bullshit all worth it.
The zone! Every performer craves it. That flight of fancy in which everything seems effortless, innovative and just plain right onstage. You're not even trying, and yet, you're beyond present in each moment. Everything clicks, including cameras later because, guess what? You're famous! No, you're not actually. But you feel like it. You feel better than fan fiction published in a nationally-acclaimed magazine! In fact, before Britney Spears' life went slightly awry, she titled her chart-topping fourth album In the Zone. In other words, the zone = artistic nirvana, or something approaching it.
the zone is difficult to put into words, but easy to picture. some say it looks like a waterfall, others say a swan. photo courtesy of Flickr and Editor B
The zone is hard to describe really. So I'm not going to try. It's not even what this post was supposed to be about. Get back on track, me! This post is about how performers hope to get in the zone...i.e., any pre-show rituals or exercises done to get the ball rolling and to prevent utter awkward pie (Unless that's your act! Heyo! I just called myself out.) Pre-show rituals never guarantee anything, but they at least put our minds in a comfy place where we can deny the jitters and/or dance them away.
[Hit the jump for my pre-show rituals, as well as some perspective from comedic rock stars! And then, if you're brave enough, add your own! We will judge you on them, but you knew that already.]
My own pre-show rituals slightly differ for stand up versus improv, but are rooted in the same channeling of creative focus. Yeah, I did just use the phrase 'channeling of creative focus.' I did also just draw attention to it.
My stand up rituals involve going to the bathroom, being more antisocial than usual, reviewing jokes, stretching, studying the room for potential off-the-cuff bits, trying to write new material in meager amounts of time and annihilating negative thoughts using mental sunshine daggers. I also do a few breathing exercises to prevent the panic attack that inevitably rises in my sternum before any open mic/show/gynecologist appointment (Am I right, ladies?!)
warm ups can be creative, and so can you! girl on far right ain't havin' it. photo courtesy of Flickr and eric.surfdude
For improv shows, there's usually a group warm up with your co-players, which involves getting your energy going and clearing your head of daily dust accumulation. I like warm ups that involve jumping as much as using your noggin. I also try and think of a few characters, lines, voices or scenarios, which some might constitute as "cheating" but no, not really. It's just brainstorming to prevent shitstorming onstage. It's also just to get my clinker thinking. I don't need to justify myself to any of you!
It's important to note that sometimes, none of these things work. And performing feels weird. Really weird. As if someone just gave birth to you right before you got onstage, you came out covered in slime, and then a roomful of people (or also commonly, a room devoid of people) expected straight no-nonsense entertainment (paradox, son!) before you could even blink for the first time. However, that's all to be gained through experience, exposure and lots and lots of uncomfortable times to come. I can't wait.
[Last week, we posted on the topic of hecklers and how to deal with them. Today, Hampton Yount brings the topic up again with his insights on the many faces of the interrupting douche/heckler. Enjoy.]
Hampton here again, ready to bring you new emotions through printed word. Let’s cut to the chase. I made a list of the different kinds of hecklers I have seen or heard about. One of my secret pleasures is writing up lists: Favorite movies, favorite songs, and least favorite memories. If a really eccentric criminal threatens to put me on a desert island, I know exactly which five best Weezer solos to bring. So, in that tradition, I have decided to shine a light on comedy and list the different types of hecklers.
Note: All of these categories are made instantly more annoying if they are a girl. Award them five hundred Fran Drescher points! Herewego! (read that real fast…real fast)
The Oblivious I’ll start with the one that is less a standard heckler but more of an annoyance. This is the guy who doesn’t realize a show is going on. Well, don’t be mad at him; it’s not like you’re on stage with a microphone sending your voice over a PA system. He probably thought God was trying to talk to him, and he lost his faith years ago (Too little too late, God!) The best is when you stop talking or draw attention to this character, and they act like you are being a jerk. I once got a “Sorry” so dripping with sarcasm that I used it as lubricant and jerked off with it. That’s how much I loved that moment.
The Idiot This one might actually be my least favorite. This is the guy who shouts things that are neither good nor bad about your bit. It’s rare, but it makes me slit my mental wrists every time. I’ll give an example; I have a joke about Battlefield Earth (so fucking funny, I’m a genius!), and on several occasions, I have had someone shout loudly, “JOHN TRAVOLTA!!!” midway through my bit. Frustrated, I asked one of these guys “What about him?” and he said “He’s in the movie.” I then shouted at this man for several minutes.
[Hit the jump! He's on to something here, guys!]
The Helper This is the one you hate to hate. He shouts stuff out with the intent, in theory, to help you. Either that or he laughs weird. He’ll shout something like “You are so funny!” or have a weird, show- stopping cackle (In all the cases of the weird cackle, I wanted to stop the show and PAY to watch the person laugh). The problem is that it can make you mad, but you have no idea where to place that anger. You can’t yell at the person because it feels weird to say, “Stop having fun!” The only solution is to hug the life out of him.
The Corrector I think you’re getting the trend here; this is the person who tries to correct your joke. Usually you’ll quote a fact or make an assertion, and they want to make sure the audience isn’t made dumber by your slight misstep. Well, how fucking helpful! No, their help couldn’t have waited until after the performance. They need to make sure everyone knows John Goodman is actually a Virgo, you blasphemer.
The Impresser Finally, a category truly worthy of hate. He is the pinnacle of douchebaggery, the guy who shouts things to impress his friends/date. His parents were two bullies who stopped punching each other long enough to look in each other’s goofy bully eyes and breed on top of a gym mat. Nine months later, they gave birth to something with no manners. The worst is that after this guy shouts something, he goes for “The Confirm” with whoever he is with, and is greeted with sycophantic smiles. Suddenly, your head drowns in memories of high school; how him and his posse laughed at your awkward boners. Not at mine though! I was awesome in high school! I had lots of cool friends, and I was voted Class Boner. Digression aside, The Impresser is just upset someone is funnier than he powerdreams he is. I recommend comparing this specimen to a type of failure. The balance has been restored.
The Leader This is the heckler whose comments are dead on. He is speaking on behalf of the audience, and you can feel it in your pores. Fear this heckler; he is your doom. In an ancient primeval way, this heckler's scent has claimed dominance, and is verbally hitting you in the face with a femur while the audience/apes flap their arms in approval and hurl feces (the tomatoes of the ape world) at you. Maybe it’s time to rethink career choices.
Last week at Chief Ike’s showcased many fine local comedians, but it also featured one obnoxiously drunk patron. While I don’t want to dwell on that incident for too long, I can say that I did not handle the situation well as the Host. It was just something I had not dealt with before and for one reason or another couldn’t smother that vodka fueled fire before it got out of hand. And it did.
It was a learning experience, most definitely.
I have dealt with drunk people in improv shows before. But they don’t interact so much during the show so much as they EXPLODE at the chance to throw out an suggestion at the top.
“DILDOS!! VAGINA!! DRINKING!! SARAH’S TITS!” and then proceed with the typical drunken laughter/snoring.
It was bound to happen for me during a stand-up show, too. Which makes me want to be more prepared for the future. How to do I handle someone like that on stage? How do I handle it as a host, booker, owner? Talking about it with a few folks, there seem to be some rules of engagement.
[Hit the jump for the rest of this "YOU SUCK!!".... post.]
1)The audiences enjoyment comes first. A heckler always undermines that, therefore your loyalty with the one patron ceases to exist. 2)You want to handle it first with grace, second with bluntness and third with a boot out the door. 3)There are different types of hecklers and some can be handled better than others.
Supposedly there are two types of hecklers. Both of them I assume are drunk. The first are those who think they are adding to the show:
“MY SISTER WENT TO GEORGE MASON!” “Great, I didn’t ask. Shut the fuck up.” “BUT SHE DID!”
Or the more abusive types, the ones who want to hurt you and the show:
“YOU SUCK! YOU ARE UNFUNNY!!BAHAHAHA” “THANKS FOR COMING. Show him the door.”
Then there are those who don’t even know they are disrupting the show, the stereotypical LOUD drunks.
“I ALREADY ATE BEFORE THE SHOW!!! I DON’T WANT ANYTHING!!!!”
Do all these types of people need to be dealt with in the same way? I am really interested in what comics & improvisers have learned from their dealings with heckers. I still think it is some of the scariest shit out there. Hell, it’s St. Patrick Day. Share some drunken stories.
BONUS: Cool article on a heckler getting put in his place at a Comedians of Comedy show in NYC. COURTESY DEAD-FROG.COM
In the 4 Then Interview series, DCC4N hopes to answer the question on many DC comic's minds..."What happens when I leave DC?" In this edition, Danny Rouhier "sits down" with us and talks about the ups and downs of getting stage time in New York and the benefits of starting out in a city like DC.
So what have you been up to since leaving DC?
I'm living on the lower east side of Manhattan. It's in New York. The other guys who moved up here don't live in New York. Looking right at you Ryan Conner of Jersey City. I've already had a lot of ups and downs since I've been here. The ups include performing at Carolines, a television show called 'The A List' on Animal Planet, starring in a pilot at the New York Television Festival, and winning a national sketch comedy competition and filming a sketch comedy pilot with Proctor & Gamble Productions. The downs include only performing once at Carolines and having no one email me back ever, my frustration at not being able to secure representation, not knowing that many people or where to go which makes getting stage time hard, and the fact that there are so many cash only places in New York; I like to just use my debit card.
[Hit the jump for more of Danny's interview]
When did you start doing stand up and where did you do your first open mic? How did it go? Who were the people you remember starting out with?
My first time doing standup was at Soho Tea & Coffee in Dupont Circle in October of 2004. At the time, I thought it went great and was hooked. In retrospect, I was probably atrocious.org and would have hated myself if my present self could see that version. I would also tell that version to break up with his current girlfriend because it wasn't going to last. Anyway, Jared Stern was there. I remember him being the nicest and most supportive guy. He still is. For the first couple months, I didn't realize that I wasn't really 'doing' standup. I would perform once every couple of weeks and invite all my friends. I didn't know that you had to work at it. It wasn't until I started hanging out with my boys Rory Scovel and Ryan Conner that I realized what this process was all about. Once I got going, along with those two guys, I met Justin Schlegel and Jon Mumma. We were all just starting out and kind of going through the same things. In that respect, I think we were lucky.
When did you decide it was time to leave DC?
There really wasn't one moment when I realized: 'I have to go now'. It had been in my mind for a while. I felt myself growing complacent in DC. I wasn't as hungry as I could have been. No one has a success story where they say: 'It was really easy and I didn't really have to work at it." Even the people that are really gifted; they still have to bust their butts. If I had to point to a specific time, it was probably after I had featured for Bill Burr at the Columbus Funnybone and had then spent 6 weeks featuring at the premier chain of comedy clubs in Canada. I just felt like there was more out there for me. There's 1 great club in DC and that's hard because everyone is in 1 line. This isn't to put down DC. Far from it. I love DC; it's my home and it always will be. I think DC is an amazing place to start one's career. I just felt that there was only so much I could do there. I was scared for so long to take the step back by moving to a new place. It became clear that I had to take that step back so I could finally go forward.
How did DC prepare you for NY?
DC prepared me by making me funny. I know it sounds simple (and probably arrogant) but it's true. I was able to get up a lot in DC. I was a regular at a lot of open mics; really good open mics that don't exist anywhere else in the country. I got to the point where, if you saw me, you had to say, at a minimum: 'this guy is ok'. That's a big deal. People that don't know you don't want to put new people on if they suck. It's easier to break in if you get your chance and do well. If you aren't ready, you can move to the back of the line and who knows when your next chance comes? The challenge for me is that I was comfortable in DC. I was at the top of a pile and didn't have to do any work to get stage time. Up here? No one cares. 'Wait, you have done 10 minute sets at Topaz? Wow! Come do our show!'
What do you do to get booked?
Getting booked is tough; especially for me. I'm actually kind of a shy person. I don't particularly enjoy networking, meeting people, and hanging out. I prefer to show up, do my time, and go home and play video games. That doesn't fly up here. You have to keep showing your face. You keep showing up and showing up and showing up. You become someone they know. Then you get a spot. You have to introduce yourself to people 100 times. It's ugly. No one tells you about that. I had no idea. I thought I'd send a few emails, go crush and then watch all the bookings come in. No dice. After I got the tv show, 'I thought: here come the bookings'. Still nothing. No one cares. You still have to go through it. You have to get your hands dirty and hustle. There are no short cuts.
Do you run into DC comedians who have made the move, and have they been helpful?
There are a bunch of DC folks up here. It's helpful to get their input and hear about their experiences. It's comforting to know that they are going through it too. I see Rory Scovel, Ryan Conner and Matt Mayer all the time. Erin Conroy, Alicia Gomes, and John Razos are up here too. I don't see them as much because they are hermits. Actual hermits with staffs.
Have you looked into running your own room?
We had a room with a really short life. Rory, Ryan and I ran a show at Soundfix Records. We got 3 shows. Thanks guys. Really? 3 shows? I stopped by there on a Monday and there was no one in there. We at least had like 7 people. 7 vs 0. They didn't even have to pay us. As for other rooms, it's going to happen. There is no better way to get yourself out there than to run a room that comics want to do. A few of us have something in the works that will hopefully get going within a coupe months.
What was your favorite room in DC?
I really liked Topaz. It's a well run room. You do this for a while and you come to appreciate that. A lot of people like to make fun of Curt for being neurotic, but he runs a great show. It's professional. The people that complain about it should run their own rooms. No one is entitled to anything. Everything we as standups do is dependent upon the work and effort of others. You need an audience, a mic, a venue, someone to make the lineup, take the hit as the mc, and so on. If you don't like the rules of a place, don't perform there. Anyway, Topaz is such a cool place. The vibe is great. It's like a downstairs lounge in New York. It was intimate but you could cram a decent number of people in there. The crowd always listens and is respectful even if they aren't dying laughing.
You've been involved with both sketch here in DC (Poonanza) and in New York? How do you like sketch and have you been trying to get more involved in it? How do you like it compared to stand up?
I love sketch comedy. It's a great outlet. As I mentioned above, I was part of a winning sketch team that got to film a tv pilot. Great experience. I've found that it's a great way to motivate yourself to write and create. It's an awesome way to encourage collaboration with other comics and something that can bring people together. I like doing it as an alternative to standup. It will never replace standup but I like it as a release now and again. Really cool shows like the Poonanza are a blast to put on even though it's stressful. There are downsides though. The biggest problem is getting people together. I am always down to write/film or whatever. But other people are busy. It's next to impossible to get people together. Even up here, where everyone is doing comedy stuff full time, I still can't get everyone together for a shoot. That pain in the a$$ factor is prohibitive at times and it's why writing sketches will never replace the complete control I have with standup.
How would you describe your style of stand up and how has it evolved since you started?
When I first started, I didn't know anything. I mean, I knew nothing. I didn't know the rules. No one was there to tell me. I didn't know that it wasn't OK to do someone else's joke. I never happened to do it because it didn't excite me to do that (I wanted to be original) but I didn't know you shouldn't. When I started out, I loved Brian Regan (still do) and Mitch Hedberg (still do). My style was half Brian Regan and half Hedberg. It was a random hodgepodge of poorly written putrid refuse that I cannot believe came out of my mouth. I would alternate between trying to do something with a dry delivery that was really clever like Hedberg and then start talking really loudly and over-emphasizing words in a poor man's Regan. I also mixed that in with some frat-tastic 'I drink a lot'/wouldn't it be funny if this movie character was in this situation? jokes. It was bad. The main difference now is that I also do some Daniel Tosh style jokes.Haha! JK! LOL-ing. The biggest difference between me now and then is that I found my voice. I know what it is I do now. I'll never be a great writer of jokes. It's just not me. I have to put myself out there. I'm funny. I'm the guy in the group of friends that makes all the funny jokes. I balance the self-deprecating with the confidence. I share more of myself with the audience than I did before. I was scared to then. Now it's: 'here is why I was insecure about this'. Then it was more like: 'What if William Wallace was your driver's ed teacher? You'd get to a stop sign and he'd be like: 'Hoooooollllld!.....Hooooolllllllllld!......Hooooooollllllllllld!....Ok, turn right'.
So I'd like to broach a stand up comedy topic, the likes of which has frequently been broached before. The other day I met up with some compadres for a joke-writing session. There were four of us total at the mah-jongg table, minus the combative nature of a good Chinese tile game session. First of all, I think the main purpose for writing with other people is running your ideas by another jokester's brain―similar to lobbing tennis balls over the net easy, hoping for a nice safe validation of a return*. But I face the same problem every time I write with other people. I feel weird sharing my ideas. That's right. The very purpose of getting together with others is wasted because Team Self-Esteem wants to tyrannically rule EgoWorld for another day.
Chiefly, I worry about things like this happening:
Comrade: Aparna, why don't you share a joke now?
Aparna: Oh no, it's ok. I'm still trying to get my notes together.
(Repeat this 3 times throughout joke-writing session)
Comrade: Aparna, I have to go in five minutes.
Aparna: (cautiously) Oh! Ok so I did have this one idea...
Comrade: I'm all ears!
Aparna: Alright, so I was walking on the street the other day...[yada, yada, fetus of a premise]
Comrade: (delicately raises one eyebrow then the other, searches for words, suddenly, lightbulb-over-head face) Oh, that reminds me! I have a new tag for my pogostick joke!
That's not to say that happens all that often. In fact, on more than one occasion, I've shared a mere idea blip, and it's been well-received. But then I realize I don't really want anyone else's help in writing out a joke because that feels like cheating. Yeah I said it. Cheating. Because if the other person goes somewhere better with my premise, it feels like it should be their joke, not mine. Even if they say, "no, it's yours, take it. Also, take my wife, please!"―it still feels kind of dirty. One possible solution is trying the joke onstage before taking it into a workshop format. At least that gives me a better idea of where I'd like to go with it, if anywhere, and helps me feel more in control.
Conversely, I don't mind helping other people with their jokes because it would never occur to me to take someone else's idea just because I helped them with it a little. Double standard, me!
there's nothing wrong with teamwork so share the ball. photo courtesy of Flickr and pixeljones
Maybe the real issue here is I expect crumbs of genius to fly out of my mouth regularly during comedy writing sessions, and that's just not realistic. There will be hits, and by George of the Jungle, there will be misses! I still come up with a great deal of my material 10 minutes before I get onstage, or when I'm standing somewhere without a pen or a piece of paper.
Mos definitely, I think I write with other people because I am absolutely 100% bonafide lazy when it comes to making myself write on my own. Believe me, I've tried. Usually, I open up my notebook, smile wistfully at some underdeveloped premise embryos, and then just end up doodling question marks everywhere until the page looks like a 13-year-old's heartfelt 6th-period tribute to the Riddler.
So I think I will continue writing in groups―even if just to create the illusion of friendship. Speaking of which, I forgot to say that part. It helps to write with people with whom you are on good terms. As opposed to people for whom you harbor an intense secret dislike. You're welcome.
*Yes, I like analogies. Analogies are to me what cheese is to a baguette. Vital and sustaining! Read more!
With so many shows popping up, you might be asking yourself how to get booked on them. I've put together some helpful advice from comedians here and there who run shows of the "back of a bar" ilk that may help you when deciding the best way to approach a booker about getting some stage time. I can only assume that the exact opposite approach is what would be needed to get booked in clubs.
John McBride (The Bomb Shelter, Classic American Comedy): "If you want to be booked, you need to be out. Be out everywhere, so people see you. How are folks supposed to book you if they don't know who you are? Also be funny on stage and don't try so hard to be funny off stage, in terms of booking nobody cares if you are funny off stage. Be yourself."
Peter Kassnove (The Comedy Clubhouse @ Telephone Bar in NYC): "Showing up to the show is a lot better then just contacting someone for spots. It makes a much better impression on the bookers, at least in my experience. Plus, you may want to stick around for the show. It really bugs me when someone stops by, asks about a spot, then makes a bee line to the door when they realize that they aren't getting any time on that show."
Greg Johnson (The Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Show @ Rififi in NYC): "I feel like I need to have seen someone's act before they get booked. So if you're uncertain as to whether or not someone's seen your act, make sure you shove it down their throats with a tape or a list of shows they could go to. Mailing out "reels" and things isn't really necessary, but It's confusing to be begged for stage time by someone I've never even seen. Show the person something funny you've done..."
(more advice from Jake Young, Tyler Sonnichsen, Barry Rothbart, Jay Hastings and Nick Turner after the jump)
Jay Hastings(DC Improv Comedy Showcase, The Bomb Shelter): "Much like any other job your trying to obtain, it helps to have a friends recommendation."
"When a booker says "tight and professional", it means NO RIFFING and NO CROWD WORK! That doesn't tell me anything about your act. Also, don't be blatantly filthy."
Barry Rothbart(Village Ma in NYC): "You should not try to pander or be funny when first approaching a booker. It's a sure sign of being amateur when you come off "trying" to be funny in conversation to a booker, it's usually best to get to the point and be straight forward about asking for a spot. It seems like you are a professional and have been around the block more often. Because they usually know the motives when a new comic tries to interact with them."
"Make sure to not go over your time the first time you do a spot."
Nick Turner(Top Shelf): "It helps to come out and watch and say hi. Bookers are eternally grateful to anyone who supports the show."
"Also, it helps to be ready before you start asking for these spots. Generally people want you to have been doing open-mics for a year or so at least."
Jake Young(The Awesome Room): "You have to have a concrete purpose for a booker. If you fill a niche, or are a consistent host/close, or you bring in a crowd because you're new and have friends, these are reasons that outweigh the simple "funny enough" requirement."
Tyler Sonnichsen(Laughing Lizard): "I just like a good balance of confidence and courtesy. I want you to be able to handle an audience with a high bar set, but also don't be a dick. Bring energy, and don't belittle the room or the establishment."
by: Mike Blejer and Jason Saenz First up: The Stand-Up Comic, Mike Blejer
Full Disclosure: I’ve done some improv over the course of my life since I’ve been involved in acting from about the time I was 8 or so, but in the context of comedy I did mostly sketch in college and then writing a satirical blog for a magazine after school before I started doing stand up. My point is, I’m going to be making a lot of assertions about improv and stand up and I’ll own up to my lack of in-depth experience with improv now. Feel free to use that to discredit me without really considering the strength or validity of my argument.
The Gripe: A lot of comedians I’ve seen perform bits that could just as easily be done in improv. For instance they take a two things that are wildly different and juxtapose them in an obvious way and then act out “what it would be like.” (e.g., What if, Captain America went to the Laundromat!?! ‘What is this, steel mesh?! I ain’t steam-cleaning no shield!!’). This isn’t inherently a bad thing, but I just think that stand up comedians should aspire to do things which people can’t do in improv, to play to the strengths of their chosen medium.
So because stand up material is practiced beforehand1 you should be able to do things with it which you just can’t do with improv. This could mean going into a subject matter in greater depth (what is typically thought of when depth is discussed), but it could also mean exploring a concept with more subtlety than would easily be attained in improv. For that matter, it could be structuring a bit with more depth, the most conspicuous example is probably a call back (which also occurs in improv, but again the subtlety factor can be a big differentiator here), but in addition to call backs, there are more interesting structural benefits that can come from prepared material.
[For the rest of Mike's take on Improv and Jason's counterpoint hit the JUMP!]
Comedy Autopsy: Bryson Turner has a bit he’s doing right now which provides a really good example of this. I will try to paraphrase the joke as best I can2:
Premise/Observation: They sell regular and large sized condoms in stores, but not small condoms. “They have every other type of condom except small condoms. They even have mint-flavored condoms, and I highly doubt there are women out there saying, (Act out) ‘man...i wish there was something that made my mouth feel really clean and really dirty at the same time.’” Normal explanation/set-up: No one wants to have to publicly admit they have a small penis by buying one. (Act out: “Hey can I get price check on a 12 pack of mini-P’s? Yeah, the ones for people with small penises. Over in Isle twelve. For this guy.”) Alternate explanation/Twist 1: A man with a small penis doesn’t really need a condom anyway, because if he’s gotten a woman to agree to sleep with him despite his ‘shortcoming,’ he’s obviously cunning and resourceful enough to get out of using a condom anyway. (Act out?) 2nd premise/Twist 2: This is why I think MacGyver had a small dick. Development/set-up 2: (act out) Girl to Macguyver says “what should we do, all I have is this saran-wrap, a rubber ring and some twist ties” (This isn’t quite right, but the supplies will lead the audience to believe Macguyver will turn it into a condom). Twist 3: (also act out) Maguyver says “It’s ok, I’ll take the twist ties and wrap them around the rubber ring, use the saran-wrap as a lens to turn it into a make-shift laser which I can use to render myself sterile.”
Ok. Look at all the logical steps required to get from point 1 to point 6 there. Look at how 4 serves as both a punch-line and a set up. He draws a logical line, extends it to an absurd place, extends that absurdity to another logical line, and then brings that to an even more impressive level of absurdity. It’s fucking great, and it reflects a kind of depth that could realistically only be achieved by writing it in advance (other requirements include being funny). Ok, sure, the joke is about MacGyver, which means he can’t in good conscience tell it to anyone under the age of 21, but who cares, because people who can’t buy alcohol are too busy obsessing over how to get alcohol to laugh at jokes anyway. Take that collegehumor.com…
The Fight: This is not intended as an insult to improvisers or improv as a format. Leaving aside improv for its own sake, it helps build strong performing skills. Good improvisers exhibit a kind of immediate responsiveness and vibrancy that can be found lacking in more “prepared” performances like sketch and stand up3. I think most people who have been doing stand up for a while will testify that when you start doing it, you’re basically just presenting the material you wrote and hoping it will go over with the audience, but over time you get more comfortable listening, paying attention to what’s going on both in terms of your own material and with the room. You get so you can more easily add stuff that is immediately and sometimes only relevant to that night. And that’s the kind of thing that can leave an audience walking out telling their friends “oh shit, it was awesome, but you just kind of had to be there.” Zach Galifianakis is a good example of someone who does this really well. His material (for the most part) is really strong conceptually, but at the same time he can fly off the handle and bounce in between at one moment being shy and reserved and the next exploding violently at the audience, but in a way that they (usually) understand is (usually) all part of the joke (…usually).
Me! This is about Me!!: My love of stand up comes fundamentally from the fact that it can so deeply explore relationships between concepts, society, and your own life experience in a way that just excites me on an intellectual and emotional level. That said, I recognize that stand up is live performance, and at its best it should represent both the prepared material but also the vital improvised response to what’s happening in the room on any given night. If you’re not going to aspire to that, then why do live comedy at all?
For me, long term I know I need to do more improv. Right now I’m learning on the job, which is proving to be a really exciting challenge, but one I could probably navigate better with more direct experience in improv. For a lot of people improv is what they love doing and just want to keep doing it forever and that’s awesome for them; for me, I think it’s a means to an end. When I look at myself and honestly evaluate why I keep getting up on stage, it’s because I love telling people what I think about things, I love constructing my joke/puzzles as cleverly and tightly as I’m able, I love making people laugh. Bottom line? I love doing stand up. When I don’t hate it.
Next Up: The Improviser, Jason Saenz
FULL DISCLOSURE: Over the past 3 years I have been performing, taking a class or rehearsing long-form improv at least two nights a week. Before that I had performed in ComedySportz type shows i.e. "Whose Line." in highschool and college. I am happy to say though, I have never been in a group that wore the same color t-shirts. I have been digging into the world of stand-up since May 2007 and I strive to find the common ground between the two styles. Writing jokes, in the pure "sit down and write" sense, continues to be a challenge for me.
THE GRIPE: That improvisers cannot make the leap to stand-up as well as others. Also, that anything not pre-planned completely or a bit that inherently requires thinking on your feet is not stand-up comedy. When in fact, the foundations of improv transcend into the world of standup more deeply than most people think and that a good understanding of improv will only help you recognize the strengths and weakness of your set and what you can do to address them.
COMEDY AUTOPSY: Improv schools like The Annoyance and UCB teach game and pattern work as the fun of the scene, and ultimately the reason why you would want to see that scene again. It's the exact same thing with a well constructed joke, i.e. Bryson's small condom joke.
1) Small Condoms= Not a big seller (establishing the game) 2) Guys w/ Small dick = don't need a condom because they are resourceful (still heightening the game of "small condoms don't sell") 3) MacGyver = has a small dick (capping the game by taking it to the most resourceful guy ever and why he would never buy one when he could just make one himself)
Improv gets your brain thinking in patterns, raising the stakes and recognizing why audiences enjoy seeing them. It also in a way, teaches you the Comedy Rule of 3. That the third beat of a pattern is the funniest, if it was properly established and heightened in the first two beats. This is something many good stand-up jokes adhere to. I do believe that this is not only achievable by writing it in advance but that it can be done onstage as well, because a smart comic/improviser could see the 3 beat possibility from just the reaction to the initial premise.
The Fight: This is not to say that writing and working on material offstage is not the best way to be comically creative. It definitely has established itself as the backbone to standup. I know it is something I want to get better at. What I am saying is that audiences react to the same thing, regardless of the medium. In standup, improv and even comedy editing you want to trim the fat and heighten the joke. There are things that are specifically taught in improv that will help any standup comedian. Examples like; realistic character work, having a strong initiation, not dropping your "deal" and being confident. Those are all fundamental concepts that my favorite comedians excel at and also what good improv coaches teach.
Me! This is about Me!: My love of improv comes from the fact that I can create something from nothing, by understanding what makes something fun to watch. I also love that improv teaches you to give and take, how take care of your partner as you bolster yourself as well and to always think of how I can agree and 'Yes And..' something. It puts my mind in the right direction and clears up all roadblocks that take me away from the fun. It excites me, to think a scene literally about nothing at all, can cause people to hoot and applaud and never be able to explain it to their friends. It was just for them.
For me, I am still adjusting to the transition from the group mentality of improv to the solo dependency of stand-up. I can tell you what I see the benefits of each are: improv teaches you to trust your partner and to truly know how they are going to react next. “I set them up, you knock them down.” This translates better to sketch writing and character creation than I believe stand-up does. I mean, just look at the history of the cast members of SNL. The majority are improvisers. Stand-up has taught me though, how to be more confident. That at the end of the day I have just myself to rely on. I don’t think you can truly find your “voice” as a comedian, without performing stand-up. It just forces you to say to yourself “how do I want to present myself, what type of comedian do I want to be?” Stand-up instills self promotion and learning to do that is just something you have to do in the world of comedy.
For me, long term I know I need to do more standup. I always want to continue doing improv, because I really believe it makes me fundamentally a better comedian. But, when I look at myself and honestly evaluate why I keep getting up on stage, it’s because I love sharing something about myself with people that will make them laugh and Stand-up does that for me as well. I just love improv because I can create something out of a mistake, a moment, a gesture or a silence that will resonate with someone else. It's kinda magical. When it doesn't completely suck.
UPTOWN TAVERN in Cleveland Park, DC. Every other Friday @ 9pm
SATURDAYS
DC Open Mics
SUNDAYS
PALACE OF WONDERS in H-Street District NE, DC. Every other Sunday at 8. Sign-up is in advance by e-mailing Robb Loving robbloving@gmail.com or on site by 7:30.
MONDAYS
SPY LOUNGE in Adams Morgan. 8:00pm. Sign-up is on premises. For more info you can e-mail elisairs@gmail.com. Hosted by Eli Sairs. (this is temporarily on hold)
TUESDAYS
ALL STARS COMEDY CLUB in Arlington, Virginia. Located in Listrani's restaurant. Sign up by 8 pm. Anyone that brings 2 guests is guaranteed a spot, also if a comic shows up an hour early to help promote they will be guaranteed the 3 spot or 6 spot. E-mail allstarscomedy@aol.com for more information.
OPEN MIC MOUTH (Variety) @ Solly's Tavern in U-Street District, DC. Sign-up begins at 7:30. Show starts at 8. Runs the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Tuesdays of the month.
JOJO'S in U-Street District, DC. Show runs 9-12pm. Email "the Hossman" @ hossman[at]yahoo.com.
WEDNESDAYS
ALL STARS COMEDY CLUB in Arlington, Virginia. Located in Listrani's restaurant. Sign up by 8 pm. Anyone that brings 2 guests is guaranteed a spot, also if a comic shows up an hour early to help promote they will be guaranteed the 3 spot or 6 spot. E-mail allstarscomedy@aol.com for more information.
RI-RA IRISH PUB in Arlington, Virginia. Shows run 8 - 10. 3 to 10 minutes stage time. Newbies welcome! Free beer for comics. $25 cash prize joke contest for non-coms after the show! Metro friendly. Sign-up: e-mail CurtShackelford(at) verizon.net.
MAD HATTER in downtown DC. Sign-up as early as 5:30, Open Mic starts at 9. Runs from 9-11pm. Email benlong10(at)yahoo.com.
THURSDAYS
COLLEGE PERK COFFEEHOUSE in College Park, Maryland. Hosted by Sariel Lehyani.Every other week at 9pm.To sign up e-mail sloopyjoe@palindromestudios.net.
DC IMPROV on Connecticut, NW. IMPROVISATIONAL OPEN MIC JAM. Hosted by Allyson Jaffe. 8pm. For more info contact her @ allyson [at] dcimprov.com (monthly)
HOT BROTH COMEDY in Arlington, Virginia. At the Comedy Spot in Ballston Mall (off Ballston stop on Metro). All-ages open mic. Sign-up is on location at 7:00pm or by emailing arlingtoncomedy@gmail.com. Hosted by Tyler Sonnichsen and Jake Young.
JAXX NIGHTCLUB in Springfield, Virginia The first and third Thursday of each month. Doors open at 7, show at 8. All levels of comedians are welcome. To sign-up e-mail Justin Kincaid at jkincaidcomedy@gmail.com (do not contact the venue).
THE ISLANDER on U St. Sign up is 8:30 on premises, show starts at 9:00. 1201 U St. NW. Call Hossman at (240) 605-8972.
TOPAZ HOTEL in Dupont Circle, DC. 8pm in lower room. Sign-up: e-mail CurtShackelford@verizon.net.
FRIDAYS
SATURDAYS
OLD ARLINGTON GRILL in Arlington, VA. 10:30pm. Email andykline[at]gmail.com.
