Note from: Tyler Sonnichsen and TDC Radio

Uh...surprise! For some of you, at least. Our first official TDC Radio Compilation is out now on TDC Records. It's actually TDC1 in our catalogue. So, that's kind of a big deal. If things play out the way we hope, it'll be every bit as valuable as Nirvana's "Love Buzz" 7" in about 20 years ($1,800 and counting--I think). It includes some of the highlights from the first couple years of The Big Takeover summer show on Georgetown Radio, featuring a ton of DC comics both present and past.

TRACK LISTING

1. Show Intro


2. Hobo Justice


3. A Visit from "Gator n' Tha Gooch" Part I


4. 'Billy Karate Calls in!


5. Worst Rapper Ever, Discovered [in the WGTB promo bin]


6. Surprise Visit from John Fogerty aka Worst Fogerty Impression Ever


7. Tyler and Joey Erg talk Simpsons!


8. C&C Music Factory Lady and Fogerty


9. Millionaire 'Maxwell Money' Calls in!


10. Muscle Confusion...


11. A Call from Iraq!


12. A Visit from "Gator n' Tha Gooch" Part II


13. Anupama's Run-in on NY Ave


14. 'Glen Feinman' Calls in from the Frederick Towne Mall


15. Spokesperson Extraordinaire 'Billy Mays' Calls in!


16. A Visit from "Gator n' Tha Gooch" Part III


17. "Summertime" by Tim & Herbie

The first pressing of the CD was basically handmade by myself and Jake Young, including limited edition artwork by the man himself! I can't encourage you all to support DC Comedy and pick up a copy of this compilation at a show, from tdcpresents.com, CD Cellar, Smash!, or hopefully in the future iTunes or CDBaby! The money will go to help us recover material costs, but mostly go into funding the continuation of "The Big Takeover" podcast as it grows and becomes and even greater worldwide outlet for DC Comedy, great interviews (both with real and hilarious made-up people), quality music, and who knows what else. Get 'em while they're hot. For now, it's available from, well me, but soon will be for sale at fine local retailers such as CD Cellar in Arlington, and Smash! in DC, as well as right here from the website. The CD is $5 Postage Paid. Please email me if you want to request a copy shows@tdcpresents.com . I'm offering a special low price for comics, mostly because I hate asking people for money. You know how it is.

-- Tyler Sonnichsen

http://www.tdcpresents.com/

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The Big Takeover Continues...!

TONIGHT (and every Tuesday Night this summer), Tyler Sonnichsen pumps a high quality radio show across the web with his ragtag team of other DC comics, including but not limited to Herbie Gill, Jake Young, Anupama Pillalamarri, Will Hessler, Damone (formerly known as Tim) Miller, and others. "The Big Takeover" features the best, most eclectic variety of music, talk, and ridiculous call-in segments (featuring even more comics).

Now, after dragging their feet on it for forever, Tyler and Jake have finally entered the year 2005 and have officially launched THE BIG TAKEOVER PODCAST. Mp3s of most every episode, along with complete playlists, are available on Tyler's website, but this way you can embed each episode in your iTunes and make sure not to miss out on one.

iTunes may soon pick up The Big Takeover podcast into their store, but for now, here's how to get it:

Go to iTunes.

Go to Advanced...

Hit up "Subscribe to Podcast"

and enter this in the field:

http://www.tdcpresents.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/podcastblaster-1.xml

See how easy that was? Now you've got The Big Takeover all up in your iTunes and iPod and everything is iWonderful.

For now, listen to The Big Takeover tonight at 10pm on WGTB Georgetown Radio.

Catch the livestream here.

IM the crew here:
wgtb requests

Any questions? shows@tdcpresents.com

Thanks for listenin'.

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DC Comedy Spotlight: Tyler Sonnichsen

Tyler Sonnichsen, is a native New Englander who moved to DC after college, in mid-2005. He soon began the Saturday comedy showcase at the Laughing Lizard Lounge, that has been running since then (minus a three-month hiatus this year). But it's back again and the DC comics are rejoicing, as it's been a favorite spot to perform for many for a while now. He's performed all over the area, including the Baltimore Comedy Factory (with Nick DiPaolo), the DC Improv, Jokes On Us in Laurel, headlined the 955 club in Richmond, was featured in a pair of comedy showcases in Connecticut, performed at Standup NY with Jim Norton and Gary Gulman, various shows at the University of Maryland.

He also hosts and produces a weekly radio show with Jake Young, Herbie Gill, Tim Miller, and whoever else decides to show up every summer on WGTB (www.georgetownradio.com) and hopefully this summer on WMUC in Maryland (www.wmucradio.com).

Last weekend Tyler performed at the Baltimore Comedy Factory this weekend with Tony Woods and Mike Aronin.

Other upcoming appearances include:

The Laughing Lizard show on the 24th, and the Arlington Drafthouse Comedy Challenge on May 28th.

DCC4N'S INTERVIEW WITH TYLER:
Where did you first perform?
Aside from scattered show appearances in high school, I was one of the founding members of a sketch comedy troupe at Syracuse called Penguins without Pants. Most of us acknowledged that 95% of college comedy was terrible, so we tried to transcend it, with a decent level of success I suppose. Of course, by the time we started to get genuinely watchable, we graduated. Sketch was a lot of fun, especially the occasional video aspect, but I'm more at home with standup at this point. A few of my friends from Pw/oP wound up in New York, in various improv and sketch outfits, including Cleanest River in America, who were amazing the times I've gotten up there to see them.

[hit the jump for more from Tyler]

When did you realize that you wanted to do comedy?

I've been a wiseass for most of my life, really. I've been 'doing comedy' in one form or another for as long as I can remember. When I was 11 or 12 my cousin Alex and I started making short films and radio sketches. I think he even had one of those Talkboys like Macauley Culkin in Home Alone 2. A bunch of his friends from western Massachusetts and some of mine from CT did, and that led to the formation of TDC Productions in the later 90's. That was the platform we used for just being creative and doing comedy for a while. Growing up with the general ambition to create funny things pretty much ingrained comedy in me.

Who were some of your earliest influences?

I remember reading 'Calvin & Hobbes' and 'Garfield' (before Jim Davis ran out of ideas) when I was a kid and learning how to write simple jokes from that. I remember two episodes of 'Ren & Stimpy' changing my life (for no good reason): the one where they get jobs guarding the Abe Lincoln statue, and the one where Stimpy becomes a cartoonist and makes the most ridiculously bad cartoon imaginable. Of course the Simpsons was big for me by the time it peaked in the mid-90's; the episode where Homer attends Clown College is absolutely brilliant. 'I Love Lucy,' 'In Living Color,' anything muppets, and anything Dan Aykroyd ever did on SNL too.

What about them captivated you?

At the time, whatever made me and my friends laugh hard enough to talk about during class at school the next day I still remember. We still quote those episodes and characters incessantly. In retrospect, those cartoons, shows, and comic strips were pretty envelope-pushing and genuinely good works of art. It looks like kids are wallowing in a wasteland today with the crap they have.


What was your first paid gig?

I don't remember. The first time I may have been paid to do standup was...wait for it...get this..the Hyatt. Seriously, though, that Curt Shackelford makes magic happen.

Do you prefer to write on or off stage?

Writing on stage can be embarassing, since I have this habit of obnoxiously pointing out when I'm writing on stage, but its easy to put your brain to the test when you're under the gun like that. Off stage is great when you're just BSing with friends; tags will come flying, inevitably.

Do you enjoy the process of writing?

Sort of. I tend to do my best writing after bad sets, so I guess that's the silver lining part of writing new material. Sometimes I'll just sit there, pen in hand, notebook open, for a while and get nothing, so the occasional off night is more helpful than I usually anticipate.

What about performing live do you enjoy?

I love how standup comedy is the most simple, stripped down, back to basics form of entertainment there is. The idea that people have essentially been doing this for thousands of years is neat. You have the weight of everyone's eyes on you, and it gives you this unique power while you're on stage. Also, some of the shows are usually a great time in general that you spend weeks looking forward to, particularly the Laughing Lizard shows and the comedy free-for-all that is College Perk's open mic.

Do you ever want to convey a message?

There's no point in being in entertainment if you don't convey a message, even unintentionally. But people will only laugh at stuff they agree with on some level, so you're conveying some form of message anytime a joke hits. It doesn't have to be topical to be political, and the same goes vice versa.

What's hacky to you?

A place next to CVS in the mall. They copy keys for you. Comics who don't challenge their audience or write jokes about what's important to them are also hacky. Actually, so was that joke about the key duplication stand.

Were your parents supportive of you doing comedy?

Yeah, if I were trying to risk everything to "make it" in the 'Jazz Singer' sense (minus the blackface, religious tension, and Neil Diamond remake) they'd probably advise me against it, but I hope to have some sort of positive professional career that isn't necessarily comedy-related. So they think it's a riot. Not my comedy, the idea that I'm actually doing this. But they support it and love watching me perform.

Where do you plan on moving next?

It pains me to think about leaving DC since a) I love this town and the friends I have here, and b) I can't stand the shitheads who clog this city for a couple of years, complain endlessly about it, then take off not having even seen anything outside of Adams-Morgan. That's a pretty large chunk of DC's young professional population, but it's a transient place, like it or not. You just have to make the most of it while you're here.

To actually answer your question rather than be a misanthrope, probably the Bay Area, Austin, New Orleans, or abroad. Not necessarily for comedy but I would still find someway to do it even if I'm somewhere with no real scene.

How do you feel about the comedy scene in DC?

It's been great. I think everyone knows everything and knows nothing at the same time, since it's pretty easy to get trapped in a bubble. It almost spoils you since stage time isn't really THAT painfully hard to get, and you don't have to pay to perform, or sit around for 3 hours watching dreamers who are destined to fail. I like how almost all of us work day jobs so comedy is something we spend all day looking forward to, generally. Also, having to perform in front of the same people day in and day out around open mics pushes you to write and write and constantly improve your jokes, delivery, risks, etc.

What would you change?

The other night, Seaton Smith, Jermaine Fowler, and I were standing outside of Spy Lounge when councilman Jim Graham walked by. We half-joked and asked him to give shout outs to DC comedy to the press, since we can use all the publicity we can get. I'm amazed but not all that shocked, sadly how often I meet someone, tell them about standup in DC and how much talent there is in this town, and get a genuinely surprised response. I understand that standup isn't for everyone, but a lot of people are missing out, which is the biggest disappointment.


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Guaranteed to Score with These Shows!

If you are going to do anything other than watch NCAA basketball this weekend (forget them, you know your bracket is already fucked up) then head out to these above-the-rim comedy shows.

The Awesome Room
Tonight is The Awesome Room @ McGinty's Pub in Silver Spring, MD. This week's show crosses over and hits the paint with music, comedy, musical comedy and comedy about music.

9pm $4

Starting Lineup:
Tyler Sonnichsen
Bryson Turner
Kojo Mante
Jason Saenz
...and DC funk/fusion powerhouse The Champions!


Washington Improv Theater's F.I.S.T.
Also tonight thru Saturday is the final bracket of WIT's F.I.S.T. tourney @ The Flashpoint Theater. It is teams of 3-on-3 competing for YOUR vote. Shows have been selling out. There is only going to be more madness in March as we approach the final matches.


Tonight:
Yocko Cronkite vs. MimeHunters @ 8pm

Friday:
Blue Cop Town vs. The Achievers @ 9:30pm

Saturday:
Pay Attention To Us vs. Grandma Molly's Wayback Machine @ 8pm

Winner of Thursday's Match vs. Polygamy @ 9:30pm

Buy tickets here.

Note: Basketball puns are like comedy swishes!

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THE ART OF BARKING AND THE FEAR OF COMEDY

BY: Tyler Sonnichsen

This March will mark the two-year anniversary of the Laughing Lizard Comedy Showcase. Like every room, it took time to get going and established. To start a comedy show like it, all you need is some motivation, and a cadre of incredibly talented and supportive friends to keep the shows consistently good. Actually, you need a lot more when it comes to starting a comedy room, but I'm going to get right into a few simple points, and elaborate on exactly one of them.

1. Just fuckin' do it.
2. Run the room the way you would want a room to be run.
3. Get to know as many people at the bar/club/coffeeshop/wherever as well as you can.
4. If there is a sidewalk or visible roadway, SANDWICH BOARD SIGN!! For real.
5. Unless you're in a situation where you absolutely need to charge admission or pay anyone, don't.
6. Deal with the fact that at times, you're going to have to be an asshole.
7. Don't be too proud to bark for the show, ever.

[That last point, strangely enough, has led to some of the most interesting moments in the history of the room so far. HIT THE JUMP!]

Old Town Alexandria is full of all types around 9-10 pm on any given Saturday evening: locals, tourists, old people, young people, different races, languages, religions, and the most otherworldly of the species, Bachelorette Parties. Old Town dwellers are indeed a diverse crowd sometimes, but most of them all have one thing in common- they are terrified of free comedy.

What terrifies people of free comedy so much? They're afraid that the comics are just going to make fun of them. After all, a free comedy show can't be THAT good, can it? My roommate's girlfriend admitted to me that she'd had a similar concern until they finally came out to a show last summer, and they watched Justin Schlegel bring the house down. I appreciated her admitting that to me, and that she's reformed her ways. That prejudice has been the bane of some of the best comedy shows. Honestly, a group of twenty-something barhoppers knows what they're getting into by crossing the street and heading into the Rock It Grill. Sure, hearing someone karaoke-ing out shitty Live songs from 1994 isn't nearly as much fun as going to a standup show full of people you have never heard of, but these people don't know that. Plus, at other places, they can drunkenly shout at each other over the music.

So, the next best thing to prepare for a show and make an event out of it is to assemble in front of the venue, as many comics do before shows, and announce it with an appropriate amount of enthusiasm to potential audience members.

Many of our on-the-street techniques have gained attention. Take, for example, Aparna Nancherla and John McBride doing their best capoeira-style fighting. Sure, it has nothing to do with comedy, but it amuses us.

We often get those jackasses who say, "Oh, are you guys comedians?? Tell us a joke!" We just use that 'in' to say that they need to come in, grab a cheap drink, and pay no cover to watch us do it.

If you're Tyler Richardson, gently imply that someone's racist if they ignore you and don't come to the show.

A couple of times we get people who claim they're funnier than any of the comedians, such as one woman last November, who, as Doug Powell commented, looked like Rod Stewart came in her hair. (That makes perfect sense if you saw her). These people are nearly shoe-ins to be hecklers, but everyone deserves a chance, since an audience member is an audience member is an audience member. And people do surprise you and settle down a lot once they sit down.

The amount of people who came in expecting nothing and wound up amazed is one of the greatest assets to running a comedy room. Like my friend Jake Young, who just started the successful first installment of the Awesome Room in Silver Spring, so frequently says, we need to do what we can to awaken the sleeper cells of DC comedy fans out there who don't realize yet what a gold mine of entertainment they're sitting on. And as friend and DCC4N founder Nick Turner says so much that it's starting to lose its meaning, "Let's Do This, DC!"

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