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sweetlovehotcoffee:

People in the comedy world: please forgive this klutzy attempt to insert myself into your role in society.

I’ve had a peripheral role in the New York comedy universe for a little while, as a musical guest. I went to the old Luna shows on Ludlow Street in the 90s, and it just astonishes me how…

It’s almost a similar situation, as this post about poor coverage of NYC comedy suggests, in LA.  The LA Times and other major LA news publications are starting to get the message, but a play at the Pantages will get more coverage than Doug Stanhope doing 2 nights at the Comedy Store or Patton Oswalt running through his hour before recording his album or the hilarious talents of Jay Larson, Baron Vaughn, or Andres Du Bouchet recording their albums in town (all of this happened/is happening with the span of month).   Every night the top in stand-up, sketch, and improv are out there performing often for little cost and certainly less than $90 or so dollars you’d pay to see “God of Carnage”.   You can see the founders of Upright Citizens Brigade do improv at the UCB Theatre in Hollywood, hilarious sketch shows that could give SNL a run for it’s money if it had a chance usually for less than $10.  

Yet, dedicated comedy fans, for the most part, that are “in-the-know” are the people that go out to see shows. Just like in NYC, comedy in LA is a vibrant movement that with or without anyone saying anything about it that continues to evolve into a more sophisticated and diverse “art scene” every second.  Those moments in history that people often wish that “they were there” is essentially happening right now for all the reasons I’ve listed above and more.  A list of names of people coming up through the ranks, running through open mics, putting on and promoting their own shows would be endless, but that’s why more coverage is needed, certainly beyond the efforts of one incredibly understaffed comedy blog/site.

Here at the Comedy Bureau, we try to be a voice for the creative swell in comedy in LA more and more everyday, but, as of the current moment, we can only reach so many people.  Hopefully (and I’m fully aware of how baseless a word that can be), through that will change soon.

connectedcomedy:

It used to be that the comedy “game” could only really be played one way – in order to succeed you needed to win over the gatekeepers (Hollywood executives, comedy club owners, etc.) and convince them to give you a career.

This was extremely difficult of course, but you could take some level of comfort in its simplicity – there was a clear map to success and understandable rules of the game.

But now, as the comedy business has been disrupted by technology in recent years, the game has changed and you’re forced to figure out for yourself what game you actually want to play.

This is a tremendous opportunity of course, but many comedians don’t see it as such. It’s easier to get frustrated and confused. To get bitter as your peers figure out ways to succeed by playing a game that you didn’t even know existed.

In comedy, just like in life, some people embrace disruptions while others run from them. But nothing good ever comes from running from a disruption.

So faced with this comedy disruption, here’s a question to ask yourself:

Are you playing a game you can win?

Read the rest of the article…

Agreed. You can’t just be a stand-up comedian these days and expect to make it.  The path of the creative in the entertainment industry, not just comedy, is so circuitous, you really have to carve your own path if you expect to get anywhere.  

billymerritt:

Episode #5

Brian Gallivan and Mike Leffingwell Two of the Sassiest Improvisers in LA.