1) The “insider comedian interview” format has gone viral… big time. Forget about shoddy camera work in green rooms and back alley studios that double as living spaces. Bigger names are coming out of the woodwork. First Marc Maron w/his “WTF Podcast”. Recently, Dave Holmes and “A Drink with Dave”. Most recently, Bill Maher and “12 Mile”. Did I mention that everyone should be watching/listening to these?
2) Everyone will be live tweeting during the Oscars and I will be here in our cavernous office keeping everyone up to speed as to what’s the funniest things written during the show. We hand pick our featured tweets here and I almost suggest that you don’t need to watch the Oscars because the Comedy Bureau Twitter feed will be almost more entertaining (only because you need to watch the telecast to put it into context).
6) OPEN MIC RUN SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Starts 2PM/people usually give feedback at end of set SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/one item min. WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATRE 1323-A 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA (in alley between 3rd and 4th St.)/Sign-Up 6PM/Starts 6:30PM SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min. MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/5PM to 11PM/$5/multiple sets allowed
7) This is the 127th Day of the Comedy Bureau and both my arms are still here. Take that James Franco.
Recently: It has been said that Tiger Woods might have to settle for mediocrity. According to Bill Hicks, it’s going to have a get lot worst before that happens. A lot worst. RIP Bill Hicks.
The name “Heart of Darkness” promoted as a live comedy show might make many people a little queasy, thinking perhaps, that if they attend, they will be made uncomfortable on what is performance art attempting to be Andy Kaufman. Though there is a higher brow in the brand of comedy that producer/host/comedian/ringleader Greg Barris wrangles for his show, one will never find themselves laughing only because they’re uncomfortably lost in the “Heart of Darkness”.
Taking place at unusual and unique venues that are a far cry from the traditional comedy club around the country, Greg Barris purposely makes his show more of an organic experience (he touches and forgives audience members) rather than another one of the stand up showcase shows that has spread like a virus across the face of Los Angeles. In fact, at both the Burbank Moose Lodge or in the back room of Meltdown Comics for the recent two-show stint in LA, audience members got more the sense that they were hanging out after school and some really amazingly talented and hilarious friends rather than the $8 you paid to sit in a crowded room and see a “planned-enough performance”. With a small line-up, all the performers got to play loose and at their pace, keeping the easy-going, laid-back vibe present throughout the duration of “Heart of Darkness”.
The Comedy Bureau was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the Meltdown Comics edition that had a stellar line-up of comics including the incomparable Reggie Watts (as only briefly caught on tape here) floating between a multitude of accents, jokes, and songs, the painfully, but hysterically honest stories of Sean Patton, and the anxiously funny Chelsea Peretti as well as the head of the whole operation Greg Barris and his right hand man in the form of band Dima and Doctor Juchins. The show was sold out and packed to the gills as I gladly stood the whole time.
For anybody that has groaned when they have heard the joke set-up, “So I’m half…,” wondered if that was all that stand up comedy has become and why you’re possibly not having a good time, perhaps you should catch Greg Barris’ Heart of Darkness next time it’s in town to restore your faith in that there is indeed an alternative to stand up comedy that’s been stuck in the hey-day 80’s and it’s pretty damn funny.
A Drink With Dave Matt Braunger Box Set… This beautiful “Preview Weeks Box Set” features all five Matt Braunger episodes in one easy to carry 19 minute collector’s edition.
2) New Open Mic Tomorrow: D’amore’s-Monday, February 28th. D’Amore’s Pizza. 8369 W. 3rd St. Between Sweetzer and Orlando. Sign-up is 8:00pm – 8:15pm, lottery shortly thereafter. Purchase required. They’re gonna do a special. 2 slices for $3 dollars! See you there! Hosted by Jason Helfgott.
8) OPEN MIC RUN PALMS 8572 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min. SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/one item min. MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5/multiple sets allowed
9) Much thanks to Matt Knudsen for his donation to the Comedy Bureau. I’ll be able to eat today.
There are so many reasons I could have given Eddie Pepitone a “Tip of the Hat”. There’s Eddie’s hilarious Twitter feed where he posts his “to do lists” and/or “signs things aren’t going well” or his performance nearly a month ago as Sven the Clown at the Tomorrow Show where he played a clown running laps around stage just so he could plug his interior painting services at the end, but “Puddin” that premiered just over a week ago puts Eddie and his uproarious character in the person in the perfectly unassuming situation leaving nothing but laughs the whole way through.
No matter how many times I see Eddie take the stage or watch an online clip over and over, he is one of those comedic voices that are so unique and so brilliant and just so damn funny, I keep laughing every time almost to the point of my vision going blurry. As a character comic, Pepitone has perfected his onstage persona of an “unrelenting manic prophet of an apocalypse that he believes is coming in the next second” so well that he can tell jokes, do bits, riffs, engage with audience members, and it will seem flawless and you’ll have no idea whether this was prepared or not.
Literally, it’s magic. Well, it’s magic that yells at an empty stage in at attempt to heckle yourself.
As you’ve might extrapolated from everything written above, Eddie Pepitone is involved in quite a lot of projects AND is one of the funniest people on Twitter meaning you should follow him @eddiepepitone right now, then finish reading this article. He performs frequently in and around Los Angeles, a member of the lovely Long Shot Podcast, and the Comedy Bureau will keep you updated as anything else he’s up to because you should drop whatever you’re doing to see him perform.
Recently: The Oscars happened much to a bore with mostly dull speeches and several failed attempts at humor/entertainment, proving once again, that it should be a private party and not televised for the confused, out-of-context viewing public. That is, unless someone’s acceptance speech was more unhinged and freewheeling like the brilliant James Adomian as Orson Welles merely trying to plug a wine. It’s kind of like Mickey Rourke any time that he wins an award anywhere. That’s how acceptance speeches should be.
1) THIS IS THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT FOR BRIDGETOWN COMEDY FESTIVAL!!!! Details here.
2) Love’em or hate’em, the Oscars took place last night and several of us watched it, and plenty tweeted about it. Handpicked, hometown (LA/Hollywood) favorites were retweeted last night and are now featured here:
“@shanenickerson "Who are you wearing?” ‘Some guy named Ken I murdered.’-serial killer up for an Academy Award, being interviewed by Tim Gunn. #oscars"-Shane Nickerson
“@Puddinstrip I’ve seen Jake LaMotta do a better monologue. #oscars”-Puddin’ Comic Strip
“@kirkfox Strange. Not one nominee was wearing jc penny.”-Kirk Fox
“@NickYoussef "Anne Hathaway thinks Anne Hathaway is hilarious” – Anne Hathaway #Oscars"-Nick Youssef
“@FojasBradley Are the refs watching the #oscars? They don’t seem to be watching this game. #heatvsknicks”-Bradley Fojas
“@sbellelauren "hey everybody, go fuck yourselves” – james franco being interpreted to foreigners"-Lauren Ashley Bishop
“@thatRamosgirl Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi do NOT make me want to pledge money to this telethon. #Oscars”-Vanessa Ramos
“@FrankConniff Billy Crystal at the #Oscars got a standing ovation for everything except his work in movies.”-Frank Conniff
“@pattonoswalt Daniel Day Lewis has the depth of commitment to the craft of acting to die just to liven up next year’s death montage. #Oscars”-Patton Oswalt
“@MrsRupertPupkin I’ve already cried 3 times during the Oscars – Once because I’m out of wine and twice because I’m single. #Oscars”-Lauren Caltagirone
“@moshekasher Who is this jew? #OSCARS”-Moshe Kasher
“@normmacdonald you guys were the 83rd best hosts ever.”-Norm MacDonald
“@paulcibis If the hosts are operating at the level of a high school talent show, why not end with a grade school choir recital? #Oscars”
3) March 12th will probably be the first time in over a decade that I might actually watch SNL in a decade. Zach Galifianakis is hosting. How about that? Someone that has been paid to be funny on a consistent basis to host a program that’s supposed to be funny… what a novel concept… It just might work. Mar. 12th.
6) OPEN MIC RUN CLUB 705 705 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA/Starts 7PM-ish JAKE’S 38 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 7:30PM HARLEM PLACE CAFE 124 W. 4th St. (in alley between Main and Spring St.)/Starts 8PM/e-mail speakeasyopenmic@gmail.com for spots D’AMORE’S 8369 W. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 8PM/Purchase required GROUND ZERO CAFE 615 Childs Way, Los Angeles, CA (USC on campus nestled in between dorms near intersection of Figueroa and Exposition)/USC student Sign-up 9PM/Non Student Sign-up 9:15PM/Starts 9:30PM MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5 Cover/Free coffee & water.
7) Couldn’t have said it better myself: “@kylekinane The idea that art has to have a "best of” category destroys the whole concept.“-Kyle Kinane
@mike_burns_ and I will be podcasting live tonight (yes TONIGHT) at 8PM PST (www.gentlemenscumbags.com) with our producer, Patrick Melton and special guest,@holmesjokes. Here’s his Facebook. He’s a comedian, a chameleon expert and a 1980’s teen heart throb. Sometimes he brags…
Join us for the second in a new series of late-night talk show-like events occurring after-hours at the historic Central Library downtown, featuring well-known and not so well-known Angelenos talking about what they do, how they do it and what it means to be doing it in Los Angeles, with dj’s, live music, Pink’s Hotdogs and full bar. Hosted by Justin Veach.
With internationally acclaimed artist Catherine Opie, comedian Patton Oswalt, novelist Wesley Stace (aka singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding) and more.
I’ll be there! But if you can’t be there in person, you can also watch it online. Internet!
Hey, guy! Look at you! Look who’s all grown up with his own Internet connection! I’m assuming it’s your own Internet connection. I mean, it is your own, right? I suppose it could be your mom’s. Is it your mom’s? Is she right there with you now? Hi, guy’s mom!
