Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
3 Chord Comedy at The Velvet Lounge
This Friday, come check out Justin Schlegel, Seaton Smith, Aparna Nancherla, Eli Sairs, Jake Young, and Hampton Yount at the Velvet Lounge. The musical guest is Matt Hemmerlein. It may be one of the best moments of your life (at the Velvet Lounge).
July 10
7 pm
$2
($2 Natty Bohs, $4 rail)
7 pm
$2
($2 Natty Bohs, $4 rail)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Planet Washington Show 6/27
WHEN: SATURDAY JUNE 27
Entertainment from 8 PM-9:30 PM
Two 35-minute sets with Intermission. Cash Bar.
WHERE: Fireplace Room in the
The Westin DC City Center
1400 M Street, NW 20005
TICKETS: Show Tickets $20
Click This Box
PayPal
Or buy them at the door, if available,
recent shows have been Sold Out!
Ticket Information: 202 360 5056
DINNER OPTION: Come Early! Good Eats!
Three Course Pre-Show Dinner
Seatings from 6pm - 7 pm
The 1400 North Restaurant
In The Westin - Just Steps from the Show
Dinner: $35
Please RSVP for dinner directly to the
Restaurant. Call 202 429 9156 or 429 1700
Show and Dinner Sold Separately
Laugh. Chill. Repeat.
Wicked funny song parodies and yuks including:
What Happens In Vegas (Sen. Ensign)
Barack Obama Superstar! The Drama of Bo Obama
My Nominee Has A Last Name It's S-O-T-O-M-A Y-O-R
Nancy Pelosi Sings to CIA "Your Lyin Eyes"
Starbucks (I'm a Barista) Still Cheney After All These Years
Yes Sir, That's My Baby (Sen Edwards) Breaking News Means "Be Afraid"
Deficit Tomorrow! Stimulus Tonight! Warren & Jimmy Buffett in Margaritaville
Someone to Watch Over Me (Madoff & The SEC ) The United States of Walmart
T. Boone Pickin n Grinin Aide Misbehavin' (Scooter's Lament)
California OctoMom New Reality TV: Ask Mr. President
Love Client No. 9 (D-NY) The Toe Tappin' Senator in Terminal B (R-ID)
We are Family (Adamses, Clintons, Bushes) The Decider
Limbaugh Rock Charlie on the Metrorail
I'm a Lobbyist DC Think Tanks
and
whatever is in the day's news.
Spoof Everyone. Burn No One. 90 minutes of post-partisan fun!
Now Every Saturday...If It's Saturday, It's Planet Washington!!!
But No Show 7/4. AFTER JUNE 27, NEXT SHOW ISN'T Until JULY 11!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Get to Palace of Wonders TODAY (6/21)
SHOW 9pm
There will be talent scouts there...and by talent scouts I mean people who scout talent and then decide whether they should seek out this sort of entertainment in the future, synonymous with: customers, audience members, dudes and chics.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Artomatic!
Every weekend, there's comedy to be had at Artomatic. 55 M St. SE, on the 9th floor, in the poetry lounge.
This weekend we've got Mike Way, Mikael Johnson, Adrian Rodney and several more to be announced. These have been fun.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Loving Comedy? TOM TOM TODAY 6/17
Venue: Tom Tom
2333 18th St NW
(Neighborhood: Adams Morgan, between N Belmont Rd & N Kalorama Sq)
Washington, DC 20009
2333 18th St NW
(Neighborhood: Adams Morgan, between N Belmont Rd & N Kalorama Sq)
Washington, DC 20009
3,000+ comics scheduled to perform:
yeah, we're bigger than bonaroo...
show starts at 9'ish. everyone gets ten minutes, don't go over. thanks.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Planet Russell
COME TO OUR NEXT DC SHOW! (Special Guest Mark Russell!) ************************** JUNE 20 (Saturday) in DC at The Westin JUNE 27 (Saturday) in DC at The Westin Westin DC City Center 1400 M Street NW in The Fireplace Lounge. GROUP RATES AVAILABLE $20 Tix Call 202 333 3599 to guarantee your seat (Last 4 shows SOLD OUT! Thank You DC!) "Great Show! Potent, Pithy, & Funny. And you have a better piano player than I do." - Mark Russell "Political Comedy's New Kid on the Block." - Rachel Ray Comedy Central's The Daily Show - with music! A musical political satirical view of news from your nation's capital hosted by Ken Rynne of Planet Washington, a former Capitol Step and Hill staffer and piano accompanist and co-conspirator Sean Collins. An open site for friends, fans, and contributors to comment, send pics, or ideas for parodies to help us remain up-to-the-tweet bipartisan and equal opportunity roasters. We'll gladly take your ideas and make them our own. Planet Washington, When News Breaks We Fix It. |
Contact Info
| Email: |  |
| Website: | |
| Location: |
Type rest of the post here
Friday, June 12, 2009
bL.A.h, bL.A.h, bL.A.h, Trip
Bronchitis + New Job + Travel = No blogging. However, I was able to go out to Los Angeles for a couple of auditions plus to have a look around to see if its the kind of place that I could move to for a few years. Verdict= Maybe. Not dying to be out there and in fact, it made Chicago more attractive.
Highlights of Trip:
1.) Flew Delta out to Salt Lake City and then connected on a flight to Los Angeles. I don't know what it is, because I can't remember the last airline I flew out to Salt Lake City, but each time on the back of the seat in front of me was a small Television, where I had my choice of Cable and Network TV Channels along with a good assortment of Movies at $2 a pop. Last time I was this excited about an amenity was when I was 8 and flew for the first time out to Chicago. Tha'ts when I discovered salted almonds. If they would had this TV layout when I was 8, I'd be a pilot right now. Other than that, I hate flying and it seems as if my fear is chronic. Turbulence scares the shit out of me and all I can think of is the 7:49 minute mark into the movie, "Alive". John Madden has the right idea.
2.) My car rental...E-Z Rent-A-Car in LA was pretty solid. I decided to "Go Green" and rent a Prius but when they said they were all out, I decided to go with the Isuzu Axiom SUV. Good choice. A Prius is foo-fooey anway. The only thing that sucks about this E-Z--is trying to find it. You fly in, you'll have to take another shuttle to a place nearby, ask someone when you stop where it is and then, they'll drop you off...maybe close to it. Other than that...strong reccommend. And yes, the previous description is how I found the place.
3.) First celebrity sighting, Reddman , at LAX. It didn't hit me who he was until about 2 or 3 minutes later standing next to him...we were both waiting for cabs or shuttles or a ride or something, but nothing was like coming you know, for real, it took like bowf of us like, you know 10 minutes before we could even sniff a ride, you know what I'm say'n?! I finally just said, "Fuck it", and hopped on a Hertz Shuttle.
4.) Stayed with my friend Joe who works for Current TV ...heard a couple of good stories from him. He helps produce a lot of interviews with actors, musicians and comedians. 1.) After they finished interviewing Jared Leto, the entire crew surmised that his actual age must be really around 13 or 14, 2.) Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant, were some of nicest, most professional and not mention funniest guys he's ever met. 3.) If you are backstage at a Tool concert or anywhere close to Tool, within an earshot, do not look at them. I repeat. Do not look at them. HEY! DID YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!?! DO NOT FUCKING LOOK AT TOOL.
5.) First morning that I had some time to myself, I checked Wilford Brimley's blood pressure. 120/80, remarkable.
6.) Auditioned for "The Groundlings" class conservatory. If you are in LA, it might be something fun to do if its going on that day. Go to their website and where they post a schedule. If you move to LA and plan to take classes with them you have to audition. If you pass, its good for a year before you have to re-audition. If you don't pass, you have to wait 6 months. The audition consists of about 45-50 minutes doing a quick warm-up and then two person scenes round-robin style so everyone goes twice. Basically, you have to show up and formulate audible and coherent sentences in order to pass. The one person who did not pass basically failed because when he was called upon to come up, his response was, "No, I don't think so".
7.) Learned that Troy Duffy, writer and director of "Boondock Saints" and star of "Overnight" has not been really humbled by his rise and fantastic fall.
8.) L.A. has the same layout as Ocean City, Maryland. For example, in O.C., every block is Salt Water Taffy, Jolly Roger, Surf Shop, Tattoo Parlor and Big Pecker T-Shirts...in L.A., its Nail Salon, Dry Cleaning, Movie Ad, Tattoo Parlor, and Thai-Restaurant.
9.) Auditioned for "Boom Chicago" (out of Amsterdam, Holland), main reason I went out there. Auditions were at Improv Oylmpic West on Hollywood Boulevard. Walked in, very early, waited with 6 other people for our time-slot to be announced. Everyone was very nice and very chatty. And pierced. It was a lot of nervous, empty talk about nothing. Like two hours of the Today Show, jammed into 20 minutes.
I consider myself friendly but not really talk-for-the-sake-of-talking-because-its-an-audition-and-by-God-we-are-all-in-this-together-and-pulling-for-each-other-and-its-no-big-deal-anyway!
Long-story short, audition went great. I heard back from nobody.
10.) Saw Dasariski at IO West on my last night. I thought the show was improvised, it was not. Which is good because the "improvisation" was so good that I became depressed half-way through the show. Somewhere in the beginning, as the show was being introduced, I missed the part where they explained at the end of each month they take the best of their improvised shows from the previous month, script and present it.
I left early for the airport and since it was a rental and I had a GPS, I drove to LAX via "Florence and Normandy", through Crenshaw and Compton , and stopped for some Brass Monkey next to Randy's Donuts. I dropped the keys back off at E-Z and exclaimed to the guy behind the counter that, "Today was a good day".
Friday, May 22, 2009
FROM DC Craigslist
Recently I responded to an ad for an MC gig at an unspecified conference which I would later find out would be for prospective Au pairs. I applied with my headshot and resume and I received the following immediate response below (I would like to give the scam artist credit for originality on this one):
Dear applicant,
Thank you for replying back to the posting on craigslist. I'm Mr. Nicholas Morgan the director of Global Au Pair Agency 22 The Ridings Norwich United Kingdom. We are specialized in Bringing good and friendly Au pair / Nanny / Care Giver / Tutor and Families together. Au pairs from Germany, France, Spain, Great Britain and Ireland. Families from Central Europe, North / South America and also from Asia and other parts of the Au pair world. View our website for more details http//www.globalaupairagency.
We are relocating to the state to hold an exhibitions / lecture for both adult and youth in the states with World Christian Ministries Association (W C M A). This is based on bringing Au pair and Families and also lectures on how to donate for the orphans.
So We are seeking a MC / A very good speaker to help us coordinate this upcoming Exhibitions which is dated on 23rd of May 2009, Time : 10am till 2pm, Theme: Blue and Purple.
This Job is now offered to you and i hope you should know your duties.
Kindly get back to us with your charges for this hours, so that we can finalize and get the payment to you. Get back to us with the below details:
Are you available on that date ?
FULL NAME:
PHYSICAL ADDRESS
CELL PHONE:
HOME PHONE:
BEST TIME TO CALL:
Kindly get back to us in time as to know if this offer is okay with you?
We will look forward to your e mail with the required information. Call me anytime on my phone number +44 703.190.3983 please dial as presented for international calls.
I will be waiting to hear from you
Thank you.
Nicholas Morgan
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
DCC4N's Interview with Guy Torry of the "1st Amendment Stand-Up" Series
DCComedy4Now was invited by Starz to attend the taping of the 4th Series for Martin Lawrence Presents: 1st Amendment Stand-Up at the Lincoln Theater inside the U Street corridor next to Ben's Chile Bowl last Friday. On the line-up was Guy Torry, a comic who's career I have followed since his role (very underrated) in American History X. I asked if I could grab an interview with Mr. Torry. Starz was kind enough to oblige and I was granted a few minutes of time back stage to ask the performer a little more about his experience with American History X, his background in stand-up and his future plans.
The taping at the Lincoln Theater was a first of its kind for me. The theater has a lot of volume to it and where I was sitting in the front row of the balcony it must have gone back at least 15-20 rows. The sound was the only hinderence to enjoying the show sometimes as the comedians, who were all high-energy, often had a hard time being understood off the acoustics of the theater. I had never been to a taping of a live performance and I found the experience different but not distracting. The entire stage design was for the look on camera not for the live audience. If you were sitting in the audience you could make out "1st Amendment Stand-Up" out of the backdrop that resembled somewhat of a large Lite-Brite. And the big screen TV's image down stage right looked pixilated but would translate crisply to the home-audience. There were aspects of the process, from a performer's perspective, that I found could be an interesting challenge.
The event had 3 MC's.
There was the MC/warm-up who made announcements, got the energy going, did some material then there was the MC for the series, Doug Williams who took over to get the energy rolling for what people were going to see on cable. However, the man controlling the entire flow of the show was the stage-manager. The entire show's flow was start and stop. Both of the hosts had to deal with this "3rd host" who was walking back and forth and even standing right next to them at times while they were doing material. The stage-manager even cut off the MC/Warm-up right at a punch line to give him a message. The comedians were all professional but it had to have been difficult on the timing and in the end, any comic wants to do well in front of what is still a live audience.
Then there was Guy Torry's intro, who came back out immediately after his set when they said they had to redo his introduction. So after he finished his set, they welcomed him back on stage, to which he handled quite professionally with an impromptu "Knock-Knock" joke that ended with "Michael Jackson". It worked well in a pinch.
"Professionalism" was a reoccurring theme that kept popping into my head after seeing Torry's set and speaking with him. He's a pro. He takes his craft seriously, he has had some success but he was incredibly open and gracious.
I caught up with Torry backstage who was still talking to a couple of other guys about his last joke in regards to Fantasia from American Idol. Torry was not gentle with her lack of literary skills and apparently, or at least in the bit, she chased him through an airport to which Torry "tripped" her up with a Scrabble board. Torry seemed to have missed a segue that he wanted to use. He wasn't upset but more like a batter coming off of an at-bat that had just missed the perfect pitch. It was the first thing I asked him about:
"I just used an old segue. I'm all about smooth segues and transitions. I wanna make it flow. In regards to the Fantasia joke, I used an old-set up that flows directly from the Obama material that I have been doing".
Alot of that seemed improvised, were there some improvised moments?
"Some. I've got a skeleton. But you have at least that if you are going to change lanes. And you have to keep it loose so it doesn't sound scripted. I'm all about the moment, being in the moment. You have to know where you are and know where you are going, sort of like what they do in Curb Your Enthusiasm"
Is that a show you would like to do?
"Oh yeah, sure! You know people know me from American History X, I got cred from the dramatic side of things after that role, but as a comedian and as an actor I'm always about being in the moment and that's what that [improvisation] is all about."
Your role in American History X, I don't think you got enough credit. Your character was pivotal in the transformation of Edward Norton's character. You had to walk the fine line of being someone that was going to be real with him but also bring in that comedic element. You really did a lot of work.
"Thank-you, I appreciate that. You know at the time I was a very green actor. Tony K the director gave me and Edward Norton a lot freedom. And this was after some scenes were not hitting right. And Norton cared a lot about the story and talked to Tony and he eventually let us go and said 'You have the green light'.
You mean those scenes were improvised between you and Norton?
"Yeah! The majority of the work. Ed Norton is very passionate about what he does, about the scene, the project. He cares about the story. And there were some things that were not working. So they [Norton and Tony K] talked about it and he was like, 'Ok, go to it. And again it was about the moment and playing across from Edward Norton, I mean man, he's incredible to play off of".
So the part with the bedsheet...
"Yeah, that was--"
And the other scene as well, where you guys were talking about Lakers vs. Celtics? That was one moment that I really thought was scripted because it seemed so "white (Celtics) vs. black (Lakers)", in fact I even thought it was a little bit, "Do the Right Thing".
"Yeah, I know but really it just turned out that way. But also, what can two men make-up the best? Sex and sports. The Lakers were my team and the Celtics were Norton's team so it just flowed. We just went at it. And then the scene about not letting your girl leave you when shes angry, that is just true for anybody. The arguing, the make-up sex, that is stuff that anyone can relate to".
How did you get the role?
"Well, whenever I talk about 'American History X' and that experience, I just always use the word, 'Karma'. It was total karma man. I used to run this show in L.A. called 'Phat Tuesdays' and it was a chance to do my thing and other guys would come and perform. Well there was this comic that was funny as all get out. And these producers for this movie were coming to check me out for this role. Well this other comic was hot. He took the stage and man he brought the whole place down. And the producers were there that night and chose him, the movie was '5th Element' and the comic was Chris Tucker.
Wow. That must of been tough.
"You know though that role was his [Tucker], I would have hurt it. And I was cool, I was happy that the producers were just coming to check out my show. But again, karma, it came back for me. Because a little while later they were looking to Tommy Davidson to play the part that I played in American History X. And they saw me at my show and I ended up getting the role".
I wish I had the time to talk to you more about this. Alot of the material you did tonight was current?
"Yeah, well, we have a black president, so you have to talk about it. But doing it here tonight for television, once I put a bit on TV, I put it to bed".
I liked your joke about DC, being a city where as you're driving, it goes from "Good-to-Ghetto-to-Gay".
"(Laughs) Yeah, but that joke can work pretty much for any cit you are in, that joke isn't just for DC, you can use that all over the place. But its true, go to any major city and it has all of those parts in it and you can be driving and before you know it, you're in the 'good' then the 'ghetto' and then 'gay' ".
So you were in college in Missouri, was college just something that you felt like you had to do and then you were going to get into comedy full-time?
"You know, I never had any interest in doing stand-up comedy. I used to joke around at the jobs I had but I just liked cheering people up. I worked at department and grocery stores and I would crack on people and co-workers. But I went to LA to finish my marketing degree".
What changed?
Well there was my brother (stand-up comedian Joe Torry) and there was the Russell Simmons Def Comedy Jam generation. I was influenced by all those guys. I also was Production Assitant on the set for Martin Lawrence's show, "Martin", and I was influenced by that. I would be doing little things around the set, getting things for people, all the while saying to Martin when I saw him, 'Hey man check this out, I'm funny too'. I wrote an episode too".
But eventually you were doing it full-time or as much as you could...
"Yeah, I just started studying the great ones, Pryor, Bruce, Berle, Cosby, you name it, Whoopie Goldberg, Dicky Gregory, Redd Foxx, and just tried to asorb as much as I could. And then I got booked for Def Jam by Bob Sumner who was a scout for Russell Simmons."
You do sets regularly while you are out on tour?
"I do sets all the time. All the time. Open-mics, regular shows, coffee houses, I'm always working on new material. And especially now, I'm trying to change or explore where I am at right now in my life. Its whole new period for me".
What are some of the new angles?
"Well, I'm married now, and where I'm at in my life, I'm a little older, so I'm looking a lot now at relationships".
What advice would you have for a young comic?
"Study your craft. Be in it for the show, be it for the love and not anything else."
I have sent Guy Torry's PR rep some follow-up questions, so I hope to have them posted soon.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)
