The Bomb Shelter: Tonight @ 18th & Red

Just a quick reminder to everyone that The Bomb Shelter is coming back STRONG tonight. The show starts at 9:00pm at the local Adams Morgan watering hole 18th & Red. Please come out and support the reopening of a great local comedy showcase.

The line-up:
John McBride
Jake Young
Bryson Turner
Nick Turner
Mike Way
Jay Hastings

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Steal This Show

Boom, People! That's the sound of DC continuing to explode with awesome new comedy shows. Let the naysayers be damned! March 24th sees the debut of an open mic/showcase hybrid in Clarendon produced by comedians(!).


Where: O'Sullivan's Irish Pub - 3209 Washington Blvd at the intersection of Washington and Clarendon Blvds - Clarendon Metro station
When: Mondays 7:30-9:30
What: Stand up, experienced comics and newcomers welcome. We will also be having a weekly "headliner" that will perform 15mins.
E-mail: sign up via e-mail at stealthisshow@gmail.com
Hosted by: Kyle Martin and Mike Blejer

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Plea for DC's Help

DC-now-NYC comic Ryan Conner received some troubling news regarding his adopted Chinese brother Dong recently. Please read his blog, write your representative in Congress, and let people know.

From a post dated 3/4/2008:
"My mom called this morning with different news. Dong was arrested at his house at 6AM by DHS officials, and taken into custody. He called my mom and told her not to worry about him. He insisted that everything would be fine. We all know what will happen if he's sent back to China. The US Government knows. Anyone who wants to know, knows. South Park did an episode about this. The information is out there, but ignored."

"Not only was he taken into custody, but they won't tell him, or my family, where he'll be held, for how long, why, or anything. All they'll say is that his earlier deportation order trumps his work permit. My mom hasn't been able to speak to any DHS official, only voicemail. Dong wasn't able to speak to his lawyer directly. But the lawyer was given the order to do whatever he has to do.

The irony of this is that there are millions of American criminals in this country. There are countless Americans who hate the country. There are tens of millions of Americans who don't know how lucky they are to live here. They take it all for granted. There are also thousands of illegal immigrants who are criminals. Millions of illegal immigrants don't pay taxes. Dong was arrested this morning because he does everything by the book. That's how DHS knew where he was. He pays taxes. The government knows who he is and where he is, because he pays taxes. He never hid anything because he's trusted the government to do the right thing. Dong does everything a citizen should do, and he's been prosecuted, while the murderous Snake-Heads roam free."

Here is a link to Ryan's full post and updates.
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Top Shelf 3-4-08, in pictures

I'd like to thank Noel Waghorn for being so kind as to photograph last nights show. And also for drinking with us before going to work.

The audience


Was happy.

See pictures of all of the performers after the jump!

Nick Turner hosted but the whole time he was DJing the party in his head.


Erin Jackson dresses for success. Barack Obama's success.


Jay Hastings does his best Buckwheat impersonation.


Tyler Sonnichsen wants you to finish his Sudoku for him.


The coolest photos only come from the classiest people. Mike Way holds it down aesthetically.


Aparna uses some jackass as an easel while she describes all the different types of people you can meet in LA


Randolph T tries to make the pain go away


Larry Poon has a pensive moment before the evening turns into an all out "Dance Party"


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Someone Define “Alternative” Comedy for me

By: Eli Sairs

“My mother-in-law is quite over-bearing,” “my, how white folks misunderstand our culture,” “what if (insert thing someone at a profession does) did that thing in an OTHER situation, like (insert crazy mis-matched situation, rendering former activity outrageous), that’d be like, whoa!”

So it’s great we have an escape from this kinda stuff, in the form of what alota folks call “alternative” comedy. But I wish those alota folks could clearly define for me what that is. Here are the surface differences, as far as I can tell:

A. Performances are often at music venues, or places that aren’t specific to comedy.

B. You get to/have to stand up.

C. The subject matter and style are consciously different than what you’d find at a mainstream comedy venue.

So A and B are mostly based on Comedians of Comedy/Invite Them Up type shows I’ve seen/been to. The third is the main issue I want to explore. Some comics and fans I’ve talked with claim to prefer alternative comedy, some say it’s just an arbitrary label. I can see where they’re coming from. How different is it? “what if (insert Star Wars/Goonies reference) did that in an OTHER situation, like (insert location from a semi-obscure movie/comic)?!” -or- “Here’s Gandalf as a crossing guard: YOU. SHALL NOT. PASS!!!...and now, Gandalf as a teacher flunking a student…). Of course, there are more than just references (which can be enjoyable, even if a bit esoteric). Some alternative comics play around with structure, which I really do respect. Jon Benjamin and Jon Glaser do two-man hybrids of sketch and stand-up, and play around with characters, which comes as a relief if you’ve sat through too many slick, mass-appeal comics and predicted every twist half-way through the premise. I think it was Hampton who I talked to about how discovering the “Invite Them Up” album was a minor revelation for both of us. “There are people who get my sense of humor!”

[hit the jump for more from Eli's take on comedy from the fringes]

Eugene Mirman (brilliant) claimed that he knew from the get-go that only a specific portion of comedy crowds were going to be into him, and he focused on appealing towards this demographic. Sorry to weave personal details into this, but I’ve deliberated fairly hard on this statement. Some comics and crowd members have referred to my “comedy” as “alternative.” When I try to figure out why, I’ve been given vague answers like “it’s quirky” or “off-beat” (which I do appreciate, though others could claim ‘weird to compensate for lack of talent’). At the Improv competition, I had fun, but the crowd wasn’t really feeling a lot of it. I’d never say it went over their heads, cause then I’m an ass, but at the same time, I’ll defend the material. I’ll say it sometimes goes to the side of people’s heads. All comics can relate to this. I realize that all crowds vary, but I have noticed that mainstream (again, a hard word to define in this context) crowds don’t react the way younger crowds (age-ism!), people who I may relate to more personally, react. Should comics like this take after Mirman’s claim, and say screw the people who don’t get it? Why perform at the Improv for 150 people if you only care to make the 20 or so of “your people” laugh? A laugh from someone who I can’t relate to, with a different sense of humor, is much more of an accomplishment. I want to learn how to bridge that divide. Emo Philips is as weird as it gets, and he could appeal to the mainstream. For his time, was there anyone more alternative in approach then Steve Martin? He became a national phenomenon.

A lot of this seems to be putting down the idea of alternative comedy. I would like to say there’s no difference. But when it comes down to it, if given the choice between seeing or performing a show described as alternative, or a packed, rigidly produced comedy club, I would choose the former in a heart-beat. For some reason, I enjoy the thrill of snagging the attention of a conversing and indifferent crowd at College Perk, with no stage or promise anyone’s there to see comedy, more than I like going up at a place that’s comedy-specific, with lights, a great sound system, and an audience waiting attentively for the first joke.I think lots of “alt” comics could kill at the Improv, and similar places. Funny is funny, it’s the comic’s job to communicate why, even if the communication line is harder to find due to an off-center approach. However, if Zach Galifianakis, who’s said he doesn’t like comedy clubs, feels more comfortable at music venues, in front of the people more likely to be open to his style, should he jump through hoops to impress people looking for something obvious and easy to digest? This just leads to asking what drives the comic to do comedy, and what he/she considers to be “success.” It’s becoming increasingly obvious that this post offers no kind of answers; it’s just a question I wanted to frame, and I’d like to hear how others would pose or answer it.

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The Bomb Shelter...It's BACK!!!

Hello Libertines of The District of Columbia, the mighty Bomb Shelter is BACK IN ACTION at the Adams Morgan watering hole, 18th & Red. The show had been on a long vacation due to the writers strike (not true). But, the important thing is that we are back and better than EVER! Due to customers calling in and demanding the comedy show come back, the management is allowing us to bring the full force of The Bomb Shelter back, and bring it back UPSTAIRS! This is huge. We'll once again have our own performance space, free from bar noise and unfortunately; the hot bartender. Please mark you calanders for the return of The Bomb Shelter this Thursday, March 6th, @ 9pm. It's going to be a great show.

The Line-Up:
John McBride
Mike Way
Nick Turner
Jake Young
Bryson Turner
and hosted by: Jay Hastings

Check out the "Comedy Matters" clip:


[don''t click it; skip it]

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Dr. Showlove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love to Bomb

So on Sunday night, I was lucky enough to be part of a pretty stunning line-up of comedians at the DC Improv Comedy Lounge for an audition showcase for The Great American Comedy Festival (booked by Eddie Brill from The Letterman Show) and the Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival. I only write of its prestige because it felt surreal to be on the line-up.

I was performing with comedians that made me gurgle carrot nubs of wonder onto my preemie bib when I first started comedy (Schlegel, Jackson, Myers, Smith, Maher, Mumma, Conner, White...the list goes on...Mante, Weems...that's it, I included everybody! Don't come hunt me!) I'm sorry, that should also be present tense. They still make me burp up pea fluff and awe on my baby bib when we are in the same room (it's awkward for me mostly).

So I was on this show, and I wanted to do a good job at least for myself, but also for my peers because their respect means a lot to me. I went up relatively early in the show and completed a solid set...for a bombing! A pretty solid bombing through and through. Mediocre response? Check. Audience interest wavering? Check. Manage to utterly disenchant a roomful of people within six minutes? CHING CHING CHING!


this man especially hated me!
photo courtesy of Flickr and rileyroxx

That's right. After a good deal of traveling, and "ooh look Aparna is gone and off conquering the world!" (which is not a rumor I started but rather Curt's light lady du jour, whoever that lucky dame may currently be...you have my blessings), I come back to do everyone, including myself, not proud via a less-than-stellar showing for a crowd that decided I am to comedy as rice is to the Atkins diet. I brought back an Atkins metaphor! No? Nothing? I accept your silence, and raise you one cricket farm. I actually didn't mind bombing. I'm pretty new to audition sets, and suddenly I've had to do several in the span of a few weeks so I think it's only natural the quality starts to peter pan off into NeverCleverLand.

Mostly I was bummed out the audience didn't like me at all. And by at all, I mean, really, they were actively polling each other for how they felt about me during my set. I got a copy of one of the handouts, and it read: "Do you like her? Check No, Hell Naw, or Not Even Comfortable Quantifying my Dislike in a Mere Two-Dimensional Square" They also instigated ways to get me off of stage quicker such as blank stares, talking incessantly in the corner, and hesitant pity laughter, all of which, they'll be apathetic to know, moderately worked.


the jokes felt wooden. i felt wooden.
photo courtesy of Flickr and julianrod (PBUH)

But once you realize you really did try and do your jokes justice, and you still couldn't really muster up any positive crowd sentiment, it gets kind of liberating after that. I've seen all of my favorite comics bomb. And honestly, it's more inspiring to me than seeing them do well, because I realize they are just as good with their bad sets as they are with their good ones. And that, to me, is part of what comedy is all about. After the show, everyone was gracious and nice in either avoiding eye contact with me, which is usually how I deal with comics who had bad sets (a cheap parlor trick to impress your enemies), and/or giving me conciliatory butt pats, which is how I usually self-medicate anyway.

So I am lucky! I am lucky to have failed and blogged about it. I am lucky to have amazing peers who do not disown me at the first smell of "this joke's not taking." I am lucky to have seen some of the amazing sets that people did have Sunday night. And I'm lucky that I got a swell opportunity, and I got to learn from it. *cue stage moms awwwing* *cue stage dads punching holes in walls* *cue stage babies looking 'on' as always*
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"Top Shelf" Tuesday

The rest of the world called and asked us why all of the great comics in the world are at this show tomorrow night. We told the world to shut the fuck up and then we raced motorcycles for like an hour and then we had sex with our hot ass girlfriends.

The resplendent lineup includes:
Erin Jackson
Larry Poon
Aparna Nancherla
Mike Way
Randolph T
Tyler Sonnichsen
Jay Hastings

And hosted by Nick Turner


Tuesday, March 4th, 2008
8:30pm doors
Show starts at 9
Solly's Tavern
1942 11th St. NW (11th & U St.)
$5

**ALSO, JOIN OUR FACEBOOK PAGE IF YOU DON"T HATE LIFE. OR IF YOU DO HATE LIFE BECAUSE THIS COULD HELP TURN IT ALL AROUND.

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Tales from the Road: Oberlin College

On Friday Hampton Yount, Tim Miller, and I joined Mike Blejer in returning triumphantly to his alma mater, Oberlin College. Oberlin College, where no one is surprised by the number of students that are into men, but Tim is surprised by relatively high number of black people. I think they should definitely use that in their recruitment literature.

Seven hours each way, the whole trip took about a day and a half meaning most of the time was spent not agreeing on musical tastes and deciding which one of us was most racist, but isn't that what all road trips eventually devolve into?

Okay, on to the show, which was in a coffee shop/performance space that could probably hold a good 300 people if you were pushing it, or 40 people if you were putting on a comedy show last Friday. Despite the less than stellar numbers the Oberlin crowd was receptive and seemed to enjoy everything except PowerPoint presentations and Hampton's gay, incestuous suicide fantasy (which happens to be one of my favorite jokes in the world). We probably should have shortened our sets to account for the lack of audience but after seven hours in the car, no one is gonna tell no one that they can't do what they intended to do. Fuck you, English language!

Apparently, much of our problems stemmed from the bad word of mouth after the last stand up performance just one week prior from a bunch of racist, sexist New York stand ups (take that New York!) that we would love to know the names of for no reason in particular (**update** a review of the New Yorkers' show was found online. The last line tells you exactly why our crowd wasn't huge). At any rate, we did so well that we got invited to a rocking college party that we (suspiciously) weren't able to locate, thus ended up drinking at the local watering hole before going back to the hotel to watch my new favorite movie, Beer League. Also, Beer League is the worst movie I've ever seen.

All in all, despite minor setbacks that trip was a blast and would go back to Oberlin in a second, although I should probably wait for an invite.

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Next "Live Humans" Open-Mic Variety Show is March 11 @ Chief Ike's

Enjoy the flyer that you can trip on, with information on next and last week's show.

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other crap

NYC Mainstay "Invite Them Up" ends its 6-year run

I think I finally found the definition of hacky comedy

The March 5th Human Giant show at the Black Cat is cancelled.----The reason it's cancelled

Does anyone know the real story behind Ryan Conner's new Blue Man Group Myspace photo?

George Carlin stars in his 114th HBO special

Yet ANOTHER Chicago Comedy Festival is announced

What else would you call a place with "100,000 pieces of Stoogeabilia?"

The Colonialist ends the popular "Best Onion Article Ever" debate
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Check out Tim Miller's NEW SHOW!!!

Everyone, TIM MILLER is doing some GREAT NEW things and we should all support him. Tim, you're a couragous young man. BRAVO!!

Fast, funny and furious, Tim Miller’s new show Us ricochets between Miller’s love affair since childhood with Broadway musicals to an exploration of gay marriage, exile and the injustices lesbian and gay people face in the United States. Nominated for a 2005 New York Drama Desk Award for Best Solo performance, Us takes us on a whirlwind journey that re-thinks the American Musical as inspiration for radical politics and queer identity. "As a rallying cry for gay rights, Tim Miller's "Us'' contains a sweet-spirited, honest and seriously funny commentary on the power of popular art to shape people's moral, social and sexual development. Miller is, as always, a frisky and charismatic performer (New York Times)."

WHEN: TONIGHT!

WHERE:
Dance Place
3225 8th Street, NE
Washington, D.C., District of Columbia 20017

WEBSITE: www.danceplace.org

TICKETS: $22 general admission; $17 members, students, teachers (PreK-12), professional artists & seniors; $8 for children 17 & under – unless noted otherwise.

Type rest of the post here
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