Dave McDonough is the 2009 winner of the Boston Comedy Festival. Congratulations Dave!
Dave McDonough is the 2009 winner of the Boston Comedy Festival. Congratulations Dave!
Last edited by Alex Mac; September 5, 2009 at 10:14 PM.
- Lots of personal craziness here friends! Gonna give you the big weekly update later on but for now I will tease you and say that I intend to cover the starting show of Doug Benson and Graham Elwood's Medical Marijuana Tour which kicks off in RI on Thursday.
- Chris Coxen announced the line up for tonight's Alternative Comedy Sleepover. Here's what he has to say:
The state of tonight's Sleepover? Electric. We get to absorb the delight of Matt Donaher, Nate Johnson, Peter Bowers, and fresh off an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show...Joe Wong! We also get to enjoy joy from Robby Roadsteamer and Ryan Douglass. Show is free, starts at 8, and is in the basement of the Cantab in Central Square.
13 shows. 13 states. 13 days. For any comedian the task sounds like a daunting one. For Doug Benson and Graham Elwood, it is the reality of the Medical Marijuana Tour. The tour, conceived by everyone’s favorite Pot comic, takes the pair to every state that currently allows medical marijuana: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. Starting off in the nation’s smallest bastion of medical marijuana, Rhode Island, the tour’s first show took place at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence.
For all my love of alternative comedy, I never have really been to what could be considered an “alternative” show. All of my previous stand up comedy experiences have been at theaters or clubs. And even with the case of less traditional clubs like Mottley’s, there has always been a lack of that inexpressible je ne sais quoi that I had felt seeing clips of my favorite comedians at places like Largo or the UCB theater. While I don’t really think the venue makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of a comedy show, after seeing Doug Benson and Graham Elwood at Lupo’s I can speak to the interesting sense of informality that such a venue offers instead of more traditional ones. Lupo’s is a large venue, best suited to an appearance by Collective Soul, AFI, or a host of other rock bands. Somehow, the contrast between the sprawling venue and the comedians only served to make the event seem more like a special secret that the audience members had stumbled upon, a private show for those who had the good sense to seek it out.
No one in the audience last night did not know what they were in for. It was a crowd of fans attending a show for fans. The air before the show was palpable with anticipation and excitement. For all of its lack of size, the audience made the night an amazing success due to their overwhelming enthusiasm. In fact, the only person in the audience who seemed out of a place was an old man who asked me to move a chair for him…at least until I eventually found out that he was Graham Elwood’s dad. The only poor thing before the show was the delay. The show, meant to start at 8PM, was delayed for fifteen minutes as the house held to let more people into the audience. Throughout all of this, I was able to see backstage from my seat in the front. Tiny glimpses of Elwood and Benson taunted me as I waited for the show to begin.
When it did, however, it was a show to remember! A quick introduction by Benson launched us into a whirlwind set by Graham Elwood full of yellow belt palm strikes and Eddie Vedder riffs as he scaled the side speakers singing “Even Flow”. A couple of longer bits included recounting attempts to snowboard and being tricked by soldiers in the Middle East. Throughout the set, Elwood never slowed down and showed a frantic pacing that was masterful in the places where it slowed down. A continuous wave of laughter washed over the crowd as Elwood roamed the stage. A particularly strong riff had to do with Rhode Island’s law which legalizes prostitution as long as it is under a roof (“As long as you have a musket, you can take another man’s property!”). All in all, Elwood was more than just an amazing warm up to Benson’s set but gave an amazing set worth the ticket price in and of itself.
Following this, it was Benson’s turn to take the stage (“My name is Doug Benson and I am here to recruit you!”). Performing a great deal of material from his most recent CD, Unbalanced Load and a little from Professional Humoredian. Benson was in top form, obviously excited for the start of his tour and fully ready to stray into various riffs and bits of audience interaction when he felt the desire to. The highlight of the night was a new riff about a show Benson did for deaf people, which eventually ended with the creation of a new word (inspired by the sign language of his interpreter): “hand cunt”. Doug proceeded to write down this new joke for later use. Interactions with a high couple up front throughout the show led to Jim Gaffigan like audience voices. But while the highlight of the night, joke wise, was “hand cunt” then the biggest change was his decision to do his cleanest joke (“I was a dog with a sign that said “I bite”…) and his dirtiest (“…and grandma is fingering herself?”) at the same time. Alternating between the two jokes, the audience was treated to a weird Mab Libs like presentation that had us all rolling on the floor. This ended the night with a suitable bang.
After the show, the two comedians could not have been nicer, mingling with the crowd and chatting about various things. I offer Graham a quick “Bag ‘o corn, friend!” and he immediately returned it and started chatting with me for a fair amount of time. Before I left, I was able to sneak a picture with both of the comedians: a small souvenir of an amazing night of comedy and an amazing first show to the Medical Marijuana Tour.
Toke up and joke it up, friends! Or they will palm strike you!
Comedy Returns to Faneuil Hall as Cheers Opens Comedy Club on Oct. 16 Two popular Boston attractions have joined forces to bring comedy back to Faneuil Hall: the iconic Cheers Restaurant and the Boston Comedy Festival.
Beginning Friday, October 16, a... new comedy club will open at the Cheers at Faneuil Hall, just steps away from the space occupied for many years by The Comedy Connection until July 2008. Run by the Boston Comedy Festival -- which hosts approximately 300 comedians and draws thousands of patrons (along with many people in the entertainment industry) for a week of standup comedy each year -- the new Cheers Comedy Club will present shows on Friday and Saturday nights at 9 p.m. The first weekend will feature headliner Jim McCue, founder of the Boston Comedy Festival and a national headliner known for creating jovial interaction with audiences. McCue has been featured on Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, and XM Satellite Radio's comedy channel. He frequently opens theater shows for Lewis Black, and twice a year he does tours of military bases overseas. He wrote about his experiences in 2008 in the book Embedded Comedian.
The Cheers Comedy Club is located at 1 Faneuil Hall Market Place, Boston, MA. Showtimes are Friday and Saturday, 9 p.m. Tickets are just $15. For tickets, call 877-548-3237, or go to www.thecomedyclubatcheers.com
Been a while since I've posted anything but I have been busy with all sorts of things. Hopefully after Thanksgiving break I will be back to giving regular updates to you all about the comedy scene that I love so much. Until then:
Here is a video done by the news about Mottley's comedy club. In just about a year or so, word has really spread about this club and I can't have more good things to say about it. Run by great guys, open to all sorts of comedy, and usually filled with a good crowd. Enjoy a little look at one of my favorite places to perform shows and one of Boston's best mics!
let's face it, there isn't shit going on the night before Thanksgiving, cause everyone's "out of town" which is horse shit - you're all gonna be here, so come to this thing.
You are a month too late for Thanksgiving. Also, I hate you. Please get out.Originally Posted by mibibcap
Patton Oswalt
Wilbur Theatre
Boston, MA
Fri, Feb 5, 2010 07:30 PM
that's like in an hour! yay!
Larry Miles as been described as a cross between George Carlin and Dennis Miller. His no holds barred style has won him the respect of his fellow comedians and the laughter of his audiences. Edgy is his favorite way to work. His act has something for everyone. Larry Myles's comedy has taken him around the world. While performing at Los Angeles' prestigious "Improv" he was discovered by AKA Productions and immediately booked to use his sharp wit and flawless comic timing to bring much needed laughter to our troops around the world. Most recently Larry Myles was a stand out act at the Boston Comedy Festival. While appearing in the Hazardous show Larry was selected to perform at the Best of the Fest showcase. While performing with Bobcat Goldthwait during the Montreal Comedy Festival he was cast to appear with Bobcat in Comedy Central's Pulp Comics. Larry's clean observational comedy makes him a perfect act for just about any venue.
If that's a cut-and-paste from his bio, someone should ask him to decide how he wants his last name spelled.
(I'm also confused how someone can be "no holds barred" and "edgy" yet does "clean observational comedy", but I'm willing to learn.)
Disclaimer: Some of this might seem arrogant or self absorbed. However, considering that I was involved in the show, it is going to be hard to detach from everything. Ideally, this will be a nice little look into a personal experience of mine.
Also, I’ve been lax when it comes to updates about the Boston comedy scene. Things have been hectic for a couple months now with various odd jobs and responsibilities along with my school work but I should be back on top of things and giving updates about my favorite city’s comedy.
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A week ago, Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter came to Providence College to perform a comedy for the institution’s alumni weekend. Prior to this, I had received indication that one of the improv troupes I am a part of was approached by alumni relations to open for the comedians. Naturally, my reaction was one of mixed amazement and fear. I had opened for comedians before in an improv capacity but it was in smaller venues and with less well known individuals. Individuals like Tony V. or Delocated’s Brian Kiley. This time around, the stakes seemed higher. Not only were we opening for comedians who are deeply entrenched in the alternative scene but in the improv/sketch scene as well. Justifiably, I wondered whether or not we were ready. Besides, the whole billing had not been set in stone. I decided to keep things on the down low here on AST, even though I was excited and wanted to brag a bit. I kept the updates in the “Things you did not post…” thread. Mostly because nothing had been confirmed. That wouldn’t come until we spoke with Michael and Michael’s agent. Once we did, we had everything set. We would open for them.
I wasn’t completely swayed still, excited as I was. I felt it still was not the best idea, even if my own mind told me it would be something I would be able to put on my comedy resume. It felt like a struggling acoustic act from Akron somehow convincing Rush to let them open for them. It was a coup to be sure. But would we be able to handle the responsibility and trust that we’d been given? Perhaps I am being overdramatic but I really was going into this with a lot of anxiety. In the long run, no one would recall us or me but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to do the best I could.
The night of the show came. The troupe showed up for an early mic check and to warm up. The location? A large open field house with maybe 400 seats. More than any show that I was used to, to be sure. “Backstage” was a few racket ball courts. A room for Mr. Showalter, a room for Mr. Ian Black, and one for the improv troupe. We practiced for a bit before Michael Ian Black showed up eventually followed by Showalter
Meeting any of your heroes is an odd experience. It never quite goes the way that you think it will. Odd scenarios play out in your head filled with lifelong friendships being forged over a line of shared cocaine or something else equally ridiculous. In reality, it is filled with sweaty palms, muttered half phrases, and a heart rate that would kill anyone with a preexisting condition. To be honest, I felt like a fool but did get to talk one on one with both of them. They were accommodating and very open. I got to ask Michael Ian Black about his recent appearances at the SF Sketchfest for a bit and say hello to Showalter. Showalter himself was a bit more removed. He liked to wander around a lot before the show. It was really interesting warming up with my troupe in one of the courts only to look up and see him looking down through one of the observation windows.
But none of this answers how the show itself was. To quickly go over our opening, it was…average at best. It is one thing to perform in front of nearly half a thousand people. It is a whole different ball game when none of those half a thousand care who you or what you are doing on the stage. As such, we did alright. A quick 15 minute set with a few good laughs punctuating a sort of bemused tolerance of our escapades. Better than I could have hoped for but not the amazing show that I had fantasized about in the days preceding the show. Enough to get some compliments from people after the show, at least individually on my part, but not enough that I would willingly delude myself into saying that we killed. We set a nice table but the audience had come to eat a meal.
And the Michaels delivered in every way possible. Opening with a long conversation into recent events on the Providence campus including a mysterious benefactor who handed out condoms to residence halls on campus since the Catholic institution refuses to give them out themselves and a recent bit of trouble with a chapter of “Youth for Western Civilization” (a nationally based borderline hate group), the Michaels effortlessly riffed on school’s image. After this, it descended into all sorts of realms. The tragedy of the fact that Showalter’s girlfriend (who we later found out was Beyonce) had literally no butt but “Invisibility cloak butt.” Or the how Ian Black’s daughter was ill prepared for going to school. “I asked her if she knew what a bully was and she said no, so I pushed her down the stairs and called here a faggot.” Interspersed between these exchanges was footage of a FOX morning show interview the pair had done to promote their show on Comedy Central. The morning show host treats Ian Black like a genius because she has seen him on VH1 while Showalter is treated like a man-child. Though the Moose print sweater he wore throughout probably didn’t help when it came time for the pair to assist in a cooking section of the program. “Michael, you can hold on to this cinnamon.” “Am I holding the cinnamon goood?!”
The greatest thing about this show were the moments when you could tell that the Michaels were playing around with each other. Those small seconds where an unplanned laugh or a small glint in their eyes clued you into their improv. Watching two experts at their craft was an amazing experience. After the show, I was able to meet up with the Michaels and thank them one more time for coming to my school and granting me an amazing opportunity. I had my copy of “My Custom Van” signed while another friend had their DVD set of the State autographed “to Marcus…”
Overall, it was the most humbling, exciting, frightening, painful, and amazing experience I can recall in recent years. And I thank whatever force allowed it to happen.
Last edited by Alex Mac; January 29, 2010 at 2:19 PM. Reason: Image Added
hello boston members of ast. I am wondering what the best open mics are in the boston area, preferably ones that have a decent amount of comics, because I feel weird performing at open mics that are mostly musical acts. Thanks!
There is an entire subforum about upcoming Boston/New England shows and open mics which can be found here.
oh awesome, thanks!
the listing itself is kinda worthless but if you spend some time browsing through the posts for open mics that should give you an idea of what ones are going strong.
generally good turnout ones off the top of my head of sally o'brien's on mondays, tavern at the end of the world on weds, and gma's basement on thurs. but i've also seen all of 'em be dead too. it always depends on what's going on. like some of the ones tonight were slow cuz kyle kinane was in town apparently and up around the same time
still fun as always tho
I'm sorry ... not sorry.
nixoncomic.wordpress.com
april 2 2010 at the wilbur theater - Doug Benson and Graham Elwood
this is extremely good news!
I accept with information: The troupe brought up an audience member for an interview and then seamlessly fell into a performance based on the information gleaned from his answers. So, it was a lot of jokes about Trans Ams and references to Lowell, Massachusetts – Jack Kerouac’s hometown and the black tar heroin capital of, well, at least New England.
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