dr brown – The Comedy Bureau

Pick of the Day: Dr. Brown Beturns (in LA) 2/28

January 30, 2023

clowning, dr brown, los angeles comedy, ucb

When it comes to clowning in LA, the ever-burgeoning, exciting, rebellious corner of comedy that has sparked the imagination and inspiration of a growing number of performers and shows and venues, one of the bigger figures around is Dr. Brown (Phil Burgers). A perennial international comedy award winner at such prestigious festivals as the Edinburgh Fringe and the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Dr. Brown was and is a big part of clowning now being an integral part of the LA comedy scene.

That said, it has been quite some time since he’s down his own show. It has been years (even before COVID probably?) since that has happened.

Thankfully, the tides are changing and Dr. Brown is venturing out once again, often at PDA in Altadena, but specifically at UCB Franklin on Tues. Feb. 28th at 8:30PM for the aptly named Dr. Brown Beturns. Tickets are $20 and you’re going to want to snag them before they sell out here.

February 10, 2020

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clowning, comedy show, dr brown, los angeles, lyric hyperion, natalie palamides, silverlake

The Lyric Hyperion has become a destination to see comedy that’s different, boundary pushing, genre-blending, eye-opening, and, of course, so much damn fun.

One of the pillars of the theater is the occasional runs of the “Monday Nights” crew of Bill O’Neill, Courtney Pauroso, Natalie Palimides, Chad Damiani, Juzo Yoshida, Max Baumgarten, Ian Bratschie, and Christina Catherine Martinez led by Lyric Hyperion ringleader and artistic director Dr. Brown. They are the best of the best of their clowning/solo performers banded together for some top shelf tomfoolery (plenty have won awards and they even got to be featured on FX’s Cake last year).

Mon. Feb. 17th at 7PM will see the return of the Monday Night Crew for a special fundraiser benefit for the Lyric Hyperion (as a non-profit, it needs all of our support). Tickets are $15 and you can (and very much should) get them here.

Your Lyric Hyperion Favorites Present Two Pink Doors (as Part of FX’s “Cake”)

November 21, 2019

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bill o'neill, cake, chad damiani, christina catherine martinez, courtney pauroso, dr brown, fx, fxx, ian bratschie, juzo yoshida, max baumgarten, natalie palamides, phil burgers, two pink doors

FXx’s experimental anthology series Cake invites plenty of the most exciting voices in animation, comedy, etc. to make some really stellar short form pieces.

Courtney Pauroso, Ian Bratschie, Christina Catherine Martinez, Chad Damiani, Natalie Palamides, Bill O’Neill, Juzo Yoshida, and Max Baumgarten all make up many of the most frequently featured and oh so talented performers at the magical Lyric Hyperion Theatre along with artistic director Phil Burgers/Dr. Brown at the helm.

This damn fine troupe got to do a portion of Cake, which centers, quite literally, around two pink doors and they’re pretty great. Start off with this morsel here.

September 29, 2018

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clowning, comedy shows, dr brown, los angeles, silverlake

Dr. Brown and his company of clowns (Natalie Palamides, Juzo Yoshida, Chad Damiani, Courtney Pauroso, Bill O’Neill, Ian Bratschie, and Christina Catherine Martinez with live music from Braedon Speakman) are back on Mondays for awhile to give you that fix for all of your absurdist comedy desires.

Tickets are $5 and they begin this Monday, Oct. 1st. Go get tickets here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, screenings, open mics, maps, and more can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Lyric Hyperion Is Holding Its Very First Lyric Hyperion Short Film Festival

July 2, 2018

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dr brown, film festival, josh turek, los angeles, lyric hyperion, open call, short film, submissions

One of favorites venues in town is doing yet another cool thing by throwing their very first short film festival.

The Lyric Hyperion Short Film Festival, produced by Philip “Dr. Brown” Burgers & Joshua Turek, will be an all day-and-night affair that’ll showcase the best shorts they can find, which ought to be pretty good considering the sorts of shows and screenings that they’ve been doing at The Lyric Hyperion over the years (just go through our listings here at TCB if you’re not familiar and you’ll notice plenty of Lyric Hyperion events).

The submission deadline is Wednesday, August 1st with a more than reasonable fee of $10 and films are to be no longer in running time than 30 minutes. The festival itself will take place on Saturday, September 1st.

Get more details and submit here.

June 3, 2018

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dr brown, fred melamed, ismael loutfi, jetzo, los angeles, mo collins, natalie palamides, please understand me, punkie johnson, ron lynch, rory scovel, screening, silverlake, steph tolev, web series

We’re still smiling about the new web series Please Understand Me from Steve Feinartz and Ahamed Weinberg, EP’d by Sarah Silverman that was released this week on Facebook Watch.

Seriously, it’s fantastic.

Anyhow, if you’re in LA and don’t want to wait in the coming weeks for new episodes, you can go to a live screening of the whole series (including episodes for the pilot presentation) at the Lyric Hyperion in Silverlake (2106 Hyperion Ave., Los Angeles, CA) on Saturday, June 9th at 8PM. We were lucky enough to go to the premiere screening and it’s such a damn good time watching it in a crowd.

Tickets are $10 and you really ought to get them here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, screenings, open mics, maps, and more can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Our 7 Year Anniversary/”Staff” Fundraiser Is Tomorrow!

October 21, 2017

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anniversary, byron bowers, candice thompson, comedy bureau, donny divanian, dr brown, fundraiser, guy branum, james adomian, james fritz, los angeles, meltdown comics, moses storm, natalie palamides, nerdmelt, stand up

From what we hear around the “office”, this should be a really good time. Tickets available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-comedy-bureaus-7th-anniversary-show-and-fundraiser-tickets-38546826596

Posters by Jenny Chalikian and Jenn Scott respectively.

October 11, 2017

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anniversary, byron bowers, candice thompson, comedy show, donny divianian, dr brown, guy branum, james adomian, james fritz, los angeles, natalie palamides, nerdmelt, sketch comedy, stand up, the comedy bureau

Our 7th Anniversary show is next week! Yep, we’re almost 7 years old (and we actually remembered to do something to celebrate this time around!)

We added Talk Show the Game Show’s Guy Branum, James Adomian, who you might have seen wreak delightful havoc at LA Podcast Festival, and a flyer!

Also, we’ll be raffling some of those fancy enamel pins that are otherwise only available through Patreon and our brand new album from AST Records, Comedians of Interest Vol. 1.

Tickets are $10 if you get them in advance or $15 cash at the door.

Yes, We Are Turning 7 Years Old and (Remembered to Put On a Show to, You Know, Celebrate)

October 5, 2017

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byron bowers, candice thompson, comedy show, donny divanian, dr brown, fundraiser, hollywood, jake kroeger, james fritz, los angeles, meltdown comics, moses storm, nerdmelt

Yes, The Comedy Bureau will have officially served the LA comedy scene for 7 years at the end of this month. That’s 56 years in dog years and (probably 70 in “bureau years”?)

This time, we actually took enough of a break to remind ourselves that we should put on a show (and actually try to make some money doing so).

As you can see from this scrawled upon napkin straight from the very desk of TCB itself, it ought to be a really good time. Also, there will be a raffle that includes fancy enamel pins, our album (more on that later), etc.

You can get tickets now for $10 or $15 cash at door. Get tickets, more details (that are more legible) here.

August 30, 2017

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comedy show, dr brown, experimental comedy, free comedy, incubator, live comedy, los angeles, lyric hyperion, silverlake

One of the best recurring shows at the marvelous Lyric Hyperion Theatre & Cafe is Dr. Brown’s Incubator.

Internationally renowned and award winning comedian Dr. Brown actually does a whole run of shows with a big cast that starts from scratch and grows and develops night after night into a beautifully interwoven interactive live show of experimental characters, sketches, etc.

Incubator’s latest run will be happening all next week in previews that are pay what you can for admission on:
Tuesday, Sept 5
Wednesday, Sept 6
Thursday, Sept 7
Friday, Sept 8

All of this will lead up to a final showcase night on Saturday, September 9th at 9PM for $10. Get your tickets soon here as they do go pretty fast.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, open mics, maps, and more can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

July 9, 2017

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absurdist comedy, clowning, comedy shows, dr brown, live comedy, los angeles, sam simmons

Two of the most critically acclaimed absurdist comedians in the world, Dr. Brown and Sam Simmons, join up together again to do one of their most absurd shows, Ceremony at Silverlake’s Lyric Hyperion Theatre & Cafe.

Rather than try to explain how the show might be a postmodern dissection of the Western notion of what ‘ceremony’ is, means, and enacted, we’ll just tell you that Ceremony is damn funny and has a advisory warning of containing nudity.

Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Get your advance tickets here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, open mics, maps, and more can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

April 16, 2017

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anna seregina, cheap comedy, comedy show, dr brown, jetxo, los angeles, lyric hyperion, natalie palamides, phil burgers, silverlake, sleepover

This week, The Big Sleep Over will combine an old fashioned sleepover with the magic of a comedy show. Some of our favorite performers including Jetzo, Dr. Brown, Anna Seregina, and Natalie Palamides will dazzle with a show, then have pizza, pillow fights, ouija boards and more.

You can tickets for just the show for $5 or both the show and the sleepover for $8 (those are limited). Get them here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, open mics, and maps can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Watch Trailer for Netflix’s “The Characters” Featuring Kate Berlant, Dr. Brown, Paul Downs, John Early, Lauren Lapkus, Tim Robinson, Natasha Rothwell, and Henry Zebrowski

February 1, 2016

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dr brown, henry zebrowski, john early, kate berlant, lauren lapkus, natasha rothwell, netflix, paul downs, the characters, tim robinson

Like they’ve been doing all along, Netflix is upping their comedy game by having an entire series of character based comedy and featuring some of the best in the game right now to boot.

Basically, Kate Berlant, Dr. Brown, Paul Downs, John Early, Lauren Lapkus, Tim Robinson, Natasha Rothwell, and Henry Zebrowski all get their own episode of The Characters, which is not unlike how Comedy Central does The Half Hour.

Watch the trailer for The Characters here, then look for all the episodes to start streaming on Netflix on Fri. Mar. 11th.

Sam Simmons Becomes 2nd Comedian Ever to Win MICF’s Barry Award and Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award in the Same Year

September 4, 2015

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barry award, best show, dr brown, edinburgh fringe festival, foster's edinburgh comedy award, melbourne international comedy festival, sam simmons

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival and The Edinburgh Fringe Festival are two of the biggest festivals showcasing comedy on the entire planet. To win a ‘best show’ award at either is a great distinction and winning both at any time is fantastic.

Winning both is something else altogether.

The only other person to win awards at the MICF’s Barry Award and Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award, honoring the best show at each festival, is one Dr. Brown who deftly blurs the lines between clowning and more modern day comedy.

Sam Simmons’ fantastically absurd show, Spaghetti For Breakfast, got Sam both awards this year making an exclusive two member club of Sam and Dr. Brown.

Thus, it shouldn’t surprise you at all that the pair of them clown around together every once in awhile.

Make sure you catch Sam whenever you can and you’ll find out why his comedy is deserving of international accolade on either side of the globe.