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LA Comedy Rundown 7/25/12

ON THE HORIZON
Channel 101 Screening @ Downtown Independent Theater Sat. Jul. 28th 8PM/10PM FREE 
The Walsh Brothers Show @ UCB Theatre Sat. Jul. 28th MIDNIGHT $5 

COMEDY CRAWL 
Point Break + Greg Proops Podcast @ Cinefamily 8PM $12
Not For Nothin’ @ Little Modern 8PM FREE
Meltdown @ Nerdist Theater 8:30PM $8
Nancy & Beth ft. Megan Mullally & Stephanie Hunt @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 9PM $30
PBR Presents: The Ed Galvez Punk House 6 Year Anniversary @ Westside Comedy Theater 9PM $8
Hamclown! @ Little Modern 9:30PM FREE
Facebook @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5 (stand by only)
For Shame! @ Hollywood Improv Lab 10:30PM $5 

OPEN MIC RUN
FLAPPERS BURBANK 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Starts 6PM/3 min./No purchase necessary
GRINDHOUSE CAFE 1051 N. Havenhurst, West Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/First come, first served/No purchase necessary
CLUB FORBIDDEN 8512 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/First come, first served/One item min.
REDWOOD BAR & GRILL 316 W. 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA (Downtown)/Starts 6:30PM/No purchase necessary
SET LIST @ RAFAS LOUNGE ART GALLERY 1836 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6:30PM/Lottery/Set list of topics provided to improvise off of/No purchase necessary
THE SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Starts 7PM/lottery/No purchase necessary
DAVE’S CHILLIN’ AND GRILLIN’ 2152 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
TRIBAL CAFE BEVERLY 3253 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/First come, first served/6 min./No purchase necessary
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/mixed mic
LIQUID ZOO 7214 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM/Starts 9PM/first come, first served/7 min.
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts  

Eric Andre Brings The Eric Andre Show to Conan

Eric Andre goes crazy on the set of his own show and it’s awesome. There’s little reason he shouldn’t do that during his interview panel appearances on real talk shows like Fallon, The Daily, or this latest one on Conan. 

Does his unbridled comedic presence have anything to do with him joining a Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson movie? Well, you decide (hint: it sure does).

Variety’s 10 Comics to Watch 2012 Is Now Official

                       

The Daily Variety issue featuring their 10 Comics to Watch for 2012, which was leaked, is now officially out/announced in news stands to talk freely about Moshe Kasher, Rory Scovel, Jillian Bell, Kurt Braunohler, and more even though you were probably doing that anyway. 

Congratulations (again) to those who made the list.

Day 2 of JFL Montreal

There’s so much going on, so much to see, laughs to be had by some of the most talented comedians on the planet at the JFL Montreal that there’s little time, at least yesterday, for sampling the local cuisine of Quebec. We literally just saw as many shows as possible and only left enough time in between to walk to the next one and nothing else.

Namely, Glenn Wool, the nomadic comedian brings a ferocity to comedy that’s rarely seen ever. With his ragged denim jeans and his gatsby hat, Wool maintained a swagger normally reserved for lead singers in touring stadium acts during his whole show “No Land’s Man” at the Cleopatra Cafe. His presence is so commanding and, at times, it feels as though he is bellowing the comedic truths of the world with no need for a microphone. Yet, with such a powerful persona, Wool’s makes a point to be inclusive as possible with his material, ensuring at every turn that it’s OK to laugh since he’s a citizen of the world and has a greater knowledge than most what the world is really like.

At one of the coolest venues at JFL, Katacombes, which is a bar with an ancient mass grave theme, Sean Patton, Brendon Walsh, and Ali Wong took the stage one at a time as a part of the hilarious Triple Theat show. This was definitely a great opportunity to see some very talented comedians (they share several late night credits between them) do 20 solid minutes a piece before they, hopefully, “break”. We love that we can say, “We saw Brendon Walsh once take the stage to the Game of Thrones theme and just wave his hands and have that kill.”

Sean Patton, especially, deserves to be more in the spotlight. After seeing him kill it at Katacombes then at Neal Brennan’s Midnight Surprise, his absurdly-colorful and truth-filled comedy is getting very close to, if not already, being undeniable. 

Brennan’s Midnight Surprise was, even as steeped in watching live comedy as we are, truly surprising since John Mulaney (just had a brilliant hour on Comedy Central), Chelsea Peretti (writer on Parks and Recreation and one of the best Twitter accounts out there), Nick Vatterott (performer of one of the best Conan sets this year), as well as Sean Patton on the same line-up. The term “murderers’ row” was definitely applicable here. 

*We’re sorry that we don’t have any pictures of this, but, again, there’s so much great comedy to get lost in and forget to pull out your phone to snap a picture of Nick Vatterott doing a “ring tone sonata” on stage from behind second floor railing. Just visualize that. It was hilarious.

Reggie Watts Once Angered Philadelphia Flyers Fans

It’s hard to imagine that Reggie Watts would really piss anybody watching him perform live. Yet, it’s still possible and, for proof, Watts told the story for The A.V. Club’s Stand Down web series of that exactly happening when he summoned the vicious ill will of Philadelphia sports fans celebrating a Flyers victory.

Spoiler alert: He handles it way differently than Bill Burr.

Mike Holmes and Mike Bridenstine Break Down Every Song Ever

The very funny Mike Holmes and Mike Bridenstine have teamed up to dilute the essence of Every Song Ever. Specifically, they’re getting to what every Eminem, Beastie Boys, Beyonce, Green Day, and Red Hot Chili Peppers song sounds like because all of their songs sound the same, the exact same. 

It may be not literally every song ever, but we’ll say it will damn sure be hilarious.

Fred Willard Addressed Lewd Conduct Incident with Joke on Fallon

The mark of some of the best in comedy is the ability to humorously play off some of your darkest moments and pull it off. Ex. See Fred Willard from last night’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon tackle his lewd conduct in the Tiki Theater incident.

Have Bill Cosby on Fallon, Will Watch

Enjoy your Friday morning watching Bill Cosby dance, talk about his short-lived sports career, and teach Jimmy Fallon how to tell jokes. It’s literally a master at work. Parts One–Two–Three–Four.

Days 3 & 4 of JFL Montreal

Yep, that’s Andy Kindler performing in Katacombes in front of what’s been oft-described by comedians as a skull tree. Also, it’s standing room only leaving me to take a weirdly framed picture like this during Kindler’s Alternative Show two nights ago. That’s only the tip of the iceberg of two days filled with a “call to arms” by Patton Oswalt and watching Marc Maron and The Sklar Brothers do the improvised stand-up show, Set List, like it was regular material.

In short, our 3rd and 4th days at Just For Laughs in Montreal would have been comedy overload had it not been for awesome it has been.

After watching this stacked Alternative Show that had Patton Oswalt, Pete Holmes, Kurt Braunohler, and more, the label “alternative” becomes nearly superfluous when it should be replaced with “funniest thing you’ve seen in quite some time”. Oswalt impersonated Kindler and recounted doing stand-up in Germany, Braunohler presented his altered greeting cards that he places back in the stores he purchased them in, and Jerry Minor had a ridiculous musical trio that danced around dressed half-rap video/half medieval themed casino. It’s not traditional stand-up, or even, traditional comedy for that matter, but it’s unequivocally hilarious, which really should be the only distinction. Everyone killed without regard to how big they were or what their style of comedy. Pete Holmes tells jokes and both Deanne Smith & Sam Simmons throw food to an audience that couldn’t have had been laugh harder because, quite simply, it was just damn funny.

Patton Oswalt’s also gave the Keynote Address for JFL this year, which struck a much-needed-to-be-struck chord. In the frame of two letters, one to comedians at the festival and the other to the industry, Oswalt claims that everything he’s learned about comedy has become useless on a regular basis for “there are no more gates to keep” and that the days of being lucky and having stuff given to you as a performer are going away. As Louis CK has changed the entire game with his self-production and distribution, Patton emphatically stated that talent no longer needs industry. Technology for the creators has advanced so far and will continue to do so that a comedian can have the power of a network in their smart phone. So, he suggested that the comedians become more DIY with their career as many are doing right now, recounting Oswalt’s experience behind the Comedians of Comedy, and the industry get more excited, ”I want you, all of the gatekeepers, to become fans, to become thrill-seekers. I want you to be as charged with hope as I am.” As you might have guessed, there was a standing ovation at the end. A full transcript of this address is available at The Comic’s Comic.

We’ve covered a lot of ground thus far, but there’s still plenty to go with New Faces, the Eddie Pepitone documentary, The Bitter Buddha, and more, especially since it’s JFL’s 30th anniversary. 

Children’s Hospital & NTSF:SD:SUV Are Back Soon

On Thursday August 9th at Midnight, Adult Swim is premiering new seasons of both Children’s Hospital and NTSF:SD:SUV and, by the looks of their promos, they’re going to be really funny with blood and punches flying everywhere.

You Really Should Go To The Midnight Show with Pete Holmes Pilot Taping

One of the funniest people on the planet, Pete Holmes, is developing a late night talk series with Conan O’Brien to follow Conan on TBS during the week. There will be tapings later this month at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank and everyone reading this should go because of the first thing we said in the post.

A Quick Rundown of Our Favorite New Faces of Comedy at Just For Laughs

Altogether, there are 40 comedians for Just For Laughs Montreal’s 2012 class of the New Faces of Comedy. Divided up into New Faces, New Faces: Characters, and New Faces: Unrepped, we watched all three groups put their best comedic foot forward. For your ease, we’ll give you a quick rundown of highlights of the funniest stuff we saw of what very well might be, as the festival suggests, the future of comedy.

New Faces
Jared Logan-Jared is more than just a really funny high energy comic. The specificity in detail, which is largely personal observations from living in West Virginia made Logan rememberable amongst this incredibly talented pool of New Faces.
David Angelo-David wore his dapper suit quite well, which perfectly accents the cleverness, and sometimes, cheekiness of his jokes along with his hilarious punctuating of jokes with either a waving of his arms or a “what a beautiful crowd”. His act is almost nostalgic of another era of comedy, but, yet, nothing we’ve seen before.
Will Weldon-We love comedians that tell their jokes as if they’ve drawn a crowd in a public square to tell them the most important and funniest thing ever while having the quality material to actually call for such a scenario. Will Weldon proved he was that comedian here in Montreal.
Adam Cayton-Holland-Simply put, Adam Cayton-Holland has great multi-layered jokes and knows how to tell them flawlessly. That’s all Cayton-Holland needs to make people laugh hard, which he did at this New Faces.
Ron Babcock-The presence and stage persona of Ron Babcock were an absolute delight to watch, even if he’s yelling and showing his devil sticks skills off while doing it.
Emily Heller-Managing to defend feminism and poking fun at it, while not losing an ounce of likeability in the process, Emily Heller showed JFL a razor sharp comedic mind.
Joe Wengert-Joe Wengert’s comedy is confessional and vulnerable, but in the most inviting, enjoyable way possible. It’s a unique brand of introspective comedy that’s genuine and isn’t overwhelming in the slightest.
Mike Drucker-One of the best things about Mike Drucker is that he has quite the edge with his humor and knows how to deliver in spite of his unassuming nerdy looks and self-deprecating sensibilities. 
Jamie Lee-One of the most clever and saucy comics in this New Faces class, Jamie Lee showed that she is quite skilled in getting away with risqué humor with a smile and fantastic wordplay.
The Lucas Brothers-One could describe the delivery of the Lucas Brothers’ jokes as “baked”, but to relegate them into the label of stoner comedy would be a disservice to the wonderful dynamic and presence of their duo, which is completely absent of a traditional straight man and nicely plays with “white space” between jokes.

New Faces: Characters
Tony Cavalero-Tony’s combination of unbelievable physicality and weirdness in all his characters was hysterical. Not only is he willing to do pratfalls and pull them off, but he knows exactly where to put them.
Tim Baltz-The cleverness and sheer absurdity in Tim’s writing pulled some big laughs from the most unexpected places like being Dracula’s physician giving him a rundown of Dracula’s STDs.
Greg Worswick-Worswick committed to his performance to the point where it was funny just to see him be absolutely in character, no matter if he’s doing angst-ridden spoken word poetry or a clearly in the closet teenage boy giving a speech at his bar mitzvah.

New Faces: Unrepped
Joe Machi-Seemingly tense while on stage, Machi lured everyone in with his brilliant writing and a wonderfully unique cadence that made him one of the best new faces this year.
Ahmed Bharoocha-Undeniable in the craft of his jokes, Ahmed has an uncanny ability to dissect his observations in some of the most original ways we’ve heard.
Nick Mullen-Taking time to build to his punchlines and, at times, self-defeating in his material, Mullen takes a lot of risks with his personal truth-heavy comedy, but definitely made it work here.
Junior Stopka-We can’t get over the well-matched weird look and the sheer strangeness of Junior that makes him incredibly and subversively appealing.

You’ve Seen Stand-Up Animated, But How About Having It Done Live?

There have been plenty of adaptations of great stand-up bits into animated shorts, in essence giving that rich visual that comedians are mostly limited to just painting with words. Picture This, a monthly live show at the wonderful Little Modern Theater, takes this idea one giant step further in that all the presented comedy is animated in real time and projected behind the performing comedian. Here’s an example with the very funny Jake Weisman with Titmouse Animation animator Felicia.

Simply, it’s amazing how fast and detailed some animators can draw, how hilarious in a completely different way a joke becomes, then, how quickly everything devolves into ironic sexuality.

Our Final Days at JFL Montreal 2012

Over our last two days of our stay in Montreal for the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, we briskly walked throughout the Montreal rues to make it to almost too many shows. Even in the final days of the festival, the excitement for comedy is still palpable at the end of the very last shows some time around 1:30AM Sun. morning. From Andy Kindler roasting the industry or watching a wonderful documentary on one of the most under appreciated comedians on the planet, laughs abound and certainly no one is making a non-news story about something being unfunny and controversial. 

Here’s the frosting of the “comedy cake” we ate over last couple of days:

–Bring Me the Head of Adam Riches, one of the few one person shows here at JFL, was mind-bending, hysterical, and thrilling all at the same time. He’s a force that pre-emptively reckons, always involving several unsuspecting audience members in his outlandish set-up which involve lizard costumes, skateboards, tennis balls attached to a pole by a rope for the sole purpose of hitting people with it, and more.

-The Eddie Pepitone documentary, The Bitter Buddha, was not only a well-deserved profile of one the best and most original voices in comedy, but a beautifully crafted film directed by Steve Feinartz. There’s plenty of Pepitone’s hilarious stand-up as well as a great dose of the real life war against himself that many of his contemporaries cite as the source of his hysterical comedy. 

–Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry is a regular fixture, an institution if you will where the most inside baseball jokes of comedy are enjoyed by all those allowed in the dugout, a one man roast of the entertainment industry with no dais. It was pretty fantastic all around, but Kindler’s closer where he attacks the seemingly unchecked worship of Louis CK by talking non-stop like a robot that praises him was spectacular.

–Ari Shaffir’s This Is Not Happening storytelling showcased some of the most hilarious stories from hilarious folks like Pete Holmes, Sean Patton, and Ron Babcock involving crack, mushrooms (the theme was “I was so fucked up…”). It was like the Moth, but without the preening summer camp stories of the one that got away. 

–James Adomian absolutely killed it where ever he went in JFL Montreal this year. In his normal stand-up sets throughout various shows, as Andy Kindler opening for Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry (which Kindler commented that he might not be able to follow himself), as Paul Giamatti hosting the New Faces: Characters showcase, and even as Gary Busey during the This Is Not Happening storytelling show, Adomian thoroughly reminded us that he’s at a level of funny that’s near unstoppable.

Wherever you are, Montreal or not, please try to catch all these acts as soon as possible.