Drennon Davis not only takes you back to the days of turning the dial of terrestrial radio, but does so with the such cleverness in his Imaginary Radio Program.
This will be a taping for Seeso’s Comedy Show Show featuring comedy formats that really push the comedy envelope.
It’s free to attend so long as you RSVP.
The rest of our listings for comedy shows/events and open mics along with corresponding maps are embedded at www.thecomedybureau.com
Drennon Davis and Karen Kilgariff finally sing out what several of us are thinking, but too afraid to say something about art that’s permanently drawn onto someone’s body.
Yes, you’re going to want to get both of these.
We thoroughly enjoyed I Don’t Care, I Like It from brilliant comedy music duo Drennon Davis and Karen Kilgariff and Union Delegate from NYC’s Mike Recine and think that you should buy these instead of indulging in pre-Black Friday sales.
They’re two vastly different albums, but we have a feeling that you’ll do a spit take laughing or literally slapping your knee when listening to them like we did.
Get I Don’t Care I Like It here and Union Delegate here.
If you’re in the comedy know, you’re probably more than familiar with the incredible musical comedic talents of Drennon Davis and Karen Kilgariff. If not, you should catch up here and here.
Now, you should know that the two of them together, along with their refreshing angle on musical comedy, is as close as we’ve gotten to a musical comedy supergroup in recent memory. Their first album together I Don’t Care, I Like It really puts their abstract playfulness paired with their impressive musical chops wonderfully on display from GPS voices done by rockstars to a love song for Godzilla and more.
Get a taste of their songs “You’re Gone Be Fine (High Song)” and “Tattoos” and you’ll understand what we’re saying.
I Don’t Care, I Like It comes out this Fri. Nov. 20th off or AST Records, but you can pre-order it on iTunes right now, right here.
From what we saw, Denver has a good thing going in its comedy scene.
As you might imagine, we don’t get out of LA often or, really at all since there is so much to cover around the scene.
However, last month, we found our way to Denver, Colorado for the 3rd Annual High Plains Comedy Festival and we sure didn’t regret taking a week to explore the ins and outs of comedy in Denver. The Grawlix, which created the upcoming truTV series Those Who Can’t, rose to their current station from Denver and following in their stead is a great bunch of comics operating in what seems to be a well-balanced eco-system of comedy.
With the bureau’s budget, we could only send one person to Denver, so here’s the highlights of what they were physically able to catch at High Plains as well as bit of the local scene on the eve of the festival:
-Everything we’ve heard about Comedy Works in Downtown Denver being one of the best comedy clubs in the entire country, which comes from so many respected people that we and everyone know, is absolutely true. The set up of low ceilings and no tables and stadium seating eliminated any possible distraction from the person on stage. We got to see Ron Funches warm up for his album taping and it was electric.
–The Fine Gentlemen’s Club has established as another solid, rising grouping of stand-ups in Denver. Chris Charpentier, Sam Tallent, Bobby Crane, and Nathan Lund made quite the showing at their own weekly show at The Deer Pile as well as their High Plains show at Three Kings Tavern.
-The storytelling showcase The Narrators, created by The Grawlix’s own Andrew Orvedahl, ran the gamut of emotions from hysterical to sobering to hysterical again. They just branched out to San Diego FYI.
-The three primary venues for High Plains were The Hi-Dive, 3 Kings Tavern, and Mutiny Information Cafe, which were all about two blocks from each other. That’s always a big plus at any comedy festival.
Sean Patton, photo by Carlos Madrid
–Sean Patton got to headline several shows throughout the festival, which is a real treat to see his rich and deeply colorful comedy for both fans and first timers alike.
Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl, and Ben Roy, photos by Emily Coates
-Hometown heroes The Grawlix (Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl, and Ben Roy) got a rousing, rollicking homecoming when they headlined at 3 Kings. At one point, Roy lead almost half the crowd, pied piper like, up on stage and through the green room just for the hell of it.
-Recent LA transplants via Denver, Kristin Rand and Haley Driscoll put on a display of how spirited and charming they are several times at High Plains as well as at a few shows we caught before the festival.
Kristin Rand, photo by Carlos Madrid
–Mara Wiles and The Funky Brunch was one of our favorite shows at High Plains. It pitted stand-ups to do sets that had to finish with a funk/soul-inspired obstacle/restriction like literally being tied up with rope as a silky smooth love song is playing.
-One of the after parties featured German rock “group” Total Ghost where The Nix Brothers, highly regarded directing duo from Denver, pretending to play their instruments during a crazy multimedia light extravaganza. It was a pretty solid way to kick off an after party of a comedy festival.
–Ian Abramson’s 7 Minutes in Purgatory made yet another great festival appearance that took its concept of isolating performers from the audience with sound proof headphones and made them perform on the street with a whole other random crowd watching. The sheer number of levels of which of which you could enjoy the show on were pretty great.
Ian Abramson, photo by Carlos Madrid
-High Plains’ marquee show The Paramount Theater was a real sight to see with a near 2000 people in attendance to see Anthony Jeselnik headline. As Anthony himself noted, it was nice to see that he didn’t get too high like some folks have gotten at past years of High Plains.
-Denver’s own Aaron Urist was also on that big show at The Paramount and killed with his dark observational humor.
Aaron Urist, photo by Emily Coates
-On a live recording of Kevin O’Brien and Taylor Gonda’s These Things Matter podcast, we really enjoyed Jay Larson not having seen a good majority of the favorite movies and TV of the hosts and guests Ron Funches, Jonah Ray, and Karen Kilgariff, which each guest has to defend why it’s their favorite.
-Hailing from Portland, Wisconsin, and NYC respectively, Sean Jordan, Sammy Arechar, and Noah Gardenswartz gave Denver a great taste of their comedy brand with Sean and Sammy on the more silly side of the comedy spectrum and Noah on the sharper, precise side.
–Guy Branum proved why he’s an exquisite comedy force over the course of several shows on the festival as well as why he deserves to be on way more stages doing comedy than the many he is doing currently.
-The edgy competitive Madlibs adjacent game of Uncalled Four, birthed and grown in Denver, showed why it could become a game show for those looking for something a little darker/more blue/more fun than Steve Harvey’s reactions to answers on Family Feud.
Kurt Braunohler, Matt Braunger, Beth Stelling, Byron Graham, and Guy Branum at Uncalled Four, photo by Emily Coates
-The absurdists Ron Lynch and Andrés du Bouchet had a ball at High Plains, making people double over while probably redefining their entire perception of the art form of comedy.
Ron Lynch, photo by Carlos Madrid
-Recently formed comedy music duo Drennon Davis and Karen Kilgariff have been making a case to rethink you possible prejudices against musical comedy so you can enjoy some of the funniest and best crafted songs, often made up almost entirely from Drennon’s loop pedal, to come along in the last several years. Their performances at the festival furthered that notion.
Drennon Davis and Karen Kilgariff, photo by Emily Coates
-We have to give a big hand to Andy Juett for being at the helm of High Plains as well as Sexpot Comedy, which he co-founded, being a big driving force behind the festival and making something that should become an institution in Denver comedy if it already isn’t one.
Andy Juett, photo by Carlos Madrid
Next week should be a real good time in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
James Adomian, Karen Kilgariff, Drennon Davis, Eddie Pepitone, Chris Cubas, Ben Kronberg, Brendon Walsh, Ron Lynch, Randy Liedtke, Michelle Buteau, Rhea Butcher, and more are headed up North to Winnipeg for their Oddblock Comedy Festival from Aug. 27th-30th.
If you want to go (and you should even if you’re a couple hundred miles outside of Winnipeg), get your tickets here.
According to our sources, there was, all of sudden, an empty slot to fill on the jam packed line-up at The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival this past weekend. Live comedy has its own tent at the festival in San Francisco, which is why Ron Funches, Joe DeRosa, Drennon Davis, and Rory Scovel were there in the first place.
Yet, the four stepped up to fill the slot on the main stage apparently as the makeshift christian a capella group Ron Funches and The Five Footprints.
Watch these NSFW (or church for that matter) clips of what might be a literal once-in-a-lifetime performance.
Healdsberg, CA will get to enjoy some of best spoils of LA comedy all in one go over a couple of days.
From Jun. 25th-26th, The Smalltown Comedy Festival will bring Rory Scovel, Emily Maya Mills, Chris Garcia, Andy Haynes, Drennon Davis & Karen Kilgariff, Allen Strickland Williams, James Fritz, Richard Bain, Eric Dadourian, Casey Ley, Kevin Camia, Greg Edwards, James Austin Johnson, Christian Duguay, Caitlin Gill, Barbara Gray, Cory Loykasek, Dave Thomason, Cameron Edmonson, Ray Molina, Steve Ausberne, James Rowan, Donny Divanian to their city limits for what should be one great start to this weekend.
If you’re in or around Sonoma County, CA, put down the wine and get some at this 3rd Annual Smalltown Comedy Festival as well as enjoy some very fine comedy.
Educational drug program in school would be more effective if they were like this.
Karen Kilgariff and Drennon Davis have been two of our favorites for some time on their own, but they’ve recently joined their brilliant musical comedy stylings together and make hilarious and wondrous music together.
Now, the whole country got to see what we’ve been lucky to see for the last few months when they played an anthem for getting too high on Conan.
The amazing Drennon Davis and Karen Kilgariff will joining us in our great big comedy experiment, Wormhole, this Sun. 5/17 at El Cid.
Doors 7PM/Starts 8PM/21+ only/FREE
Don’t miss comedy history.
The short of the long of it is that not that “we’re” vastly understaffed.
On Oct. 25th, 2014, The Comedy Bureau turned 4 years old. Most of you don’t know that because “we” really didn’t say anything. So, almost half a year later, “we’re” making up for that by throwing a belated anniversary show.
So, on Fri. Apr. 3rd, The Comedy Bureau we’ll be approximately 4 and 5/12th years old and we’ll be celebrating that exact time in our history at one of our favorite venues, Echoes Under Sunset.
With special guests:
Maria Bamford
Baron Vaughn
Joe Wagner
James Austin Johnson
Candice Thompson
Drennon Davis
Presented by Jake Kroeger and Brad Silnutzer
Doors 10PM
Starts 10:30PM
Echoes Under Sunset
1310 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA
Donations graciously accepted
1) WTF! w/Marc Maron IS GOING TO BE ON THE TERRESTRIAL AIRWAVES!!! KCRW 89.9FM THIS SUNDAY 11AM!!! (Yes, we are indeed shouting this bit of news)
2) On the small screen tonight, there’s of course Louie on FX 10:30PM, but there’s also, of course, the Green Room w/Paul Provenza on Showtime 11PM, and Nate Bargatze on Conan on TBS 11PM, but let’s not forget the PREMIERE of NTSF:SD:SUV on Adult Swim 12:15AM (which is technically tomorrow morning, but who really buys into that)
3) Ron Babcock is awesome at making people laugh. When it comes to birdhouses… well, it got him into this reality competition, which you should really vote for him (just give the video a thumbs up)
4) The Ballad of Louis C.K. and Sarah Palin-an excerpt from the August issue of GQ
5) Yesterday’s best hashtag game on Twitter was possible names for a Chris Brown inspired romantic comedy: #chrisbrownromcom
“@dubouchet-Shut The Fuck Up Bitch! Met Sally”-Andrés Du Bouchet
“@kevingchristy-Don’t Say Anything”-Kevin Christy
“@shanenickerson-He’s Just Not That Into Punching You. Just Kidding, He Is.”-Shane Nickerson
“@stvschndr-I Think I Love My Wife (Dead)”-Steve Schnieder
“@remainchampagne Something’s Gotta Give (Like Her Jaw)”-Matt Champagne
6) Do Steve Carell and Jon Stewart really miss each other?
The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook
7) Fortune Feimster gets interviewed by Advocate Magazine!
8) If you have no idea who Drennon Davis or what the Imaginary Radio Program is, here’s an article to help you out (i.e. he’s a hilarious comedian and it’s his live show you should go see)
9) People believe in comedy-even if the show’s double booked and you have to get chairs from business in the immediate area and do it on the roof, people believe in it and here’s photographic proof from Ahm Mingus when weekly live comedy show Holy Fuck had to do exactly that..
10) The Compatish and Chubby Bunny-Grown men, stuffing marshmallows in their mouth, and trying to say Chubby Bunny (just in case you were wondering…)
11) Puddin’-“Porn” w/guest Laura Silverman
12) ON THE HORIZON
Todd Glass Taping @ El Rey Sat Aug. 7th 7PM/10PM $27
13) COMEDY CRAWL
The Super Serious Show 1 Year Anniversary @ Smashbox Studios 7PM $15
Charlyne Yi & Dave Horowitz Present: We Don’t Know @ UCB Theatre 8PM $5
The Imaginary Radio Program @ Nerdist Theater 8PM $10
Bill Burr @ Irvine Improv 8PM $25/2 item min.
The Josh & Josh Show @ Bar Lubitsch 8:30PM FREE
The 3rd Annual High School Talent Show @ Hot House 9PM FREE (invitation only)
Mapping the Heavens @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5 (stand by only)
Live at Carnegie Hall* @ Hollywood Hotel 10:30PM FREE
14) OPEN MIC RUN
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 6PM/$4 minimum/first come, first served
ZAPATA VIVE 101 S. First Ave., Arcadia, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/20 spots available/5 min.
COFEE BEAN 16101 Ventura Blvd., Encino, CA, Suite 180/Starts 7PM/mixed mic/no purchase necessary
SANDWICH SPOT 3101 Ocean Park Ave., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served
CAFE ON 2ND 7 S. 2nd St., Alhambra, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served/10 min.
SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min.
CAFE UNURBAN 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 9PM/No purchase necessary
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 min./multiple sets allowed/first come, first served/coffee and bottled water available
15) It’s funny how we give advice about performing comedy here at the end of Morning Debriefing sometimes (yesterday) and then someone tries to disprove it and then fails miserably (also, yesterday). It’s hilarious.
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THE COMEDY BUREAU/@thecomedybureau
Ever hate what’s broadcast on terrestrial radio these days?
Did you know that terrestrial radio even existed still?
Did you ever just enjoy switching between the radio stations on Grand Theft Auto?
Do you live anywhere near the LA area and need to see something both hilarious and groundbreaking?
Whatever your answers to these questions were, every single one of you reading this should just go and see Drennon Davis’ rehashing of what radio should be, the Imaginary Radio Program as quickly as you can touch the dial on your car radio, which you probably never use anymore.
The Imaginary Radio Program, as a live comedy show, not only lives up to its name, but exceeds expectation in what you could possibly think it is. Producer and host, Drennon Davis takes the audience on a journey through airwaves of his own brilliant comedic mind via innovative beatboxing/singing and a whole host of characters, voices, and impressions. At a given moment, one can be getting into heavy metal song that Drennon samples all from his own voice and efforts, then witness the channel “change” to talk radio of someone who just can’t stop talking about how much they love their cats to a channel that plays every Red Hot Chili Peppers song ever. Despite the interrupting various “radio programs”, Drennon’s highly seasoned skills as a performer both comedically and musically allow for the live show to appear seamless.
Here’s a solo version of the Imaginary Radio Program done at the Meltdown Show a few weeks ago.
As if Davis’ beatboxing a ZZ Top song then turning the dial to the Mexican Hat Dance to Aboriginal music wasn’t amazing enough, the Imaginary Radio Program also includes some of the best comedians, not only in LA, but some of the funniest people working today. Already, Brent Weinbach (Lopez Tonight), Moshe Kasher (John Oliver’s NY Stand-Up Show), and Aisha Tyler (Archer) have been worked into a few of the hilarious “stations” during the show. For the next edition of the program, Davis has enlisted the help of none other than the fantastic and amazing Maria Bamford, who has entire cadre of wildly original and hysterical characters to make for a whole separate edition of the Imaginary Radio.
With a stellar line-up of comedians as mentioned, the more amazing thing to watch is to see them in a whole different element outside of stand-up or sketch or anything that you’ve really seen before. Though having just started it’s run here in LA, it’s one of those comedy shows that push the art form of comedy to places where laughs happen at the most wonderfully unexpected times and places. That’s why we think it should take the place of what’s actually on the real airwaves.
Though Davis has performed around the country, his show, the Imaginary Radio Program takes place monthly at the Nerdist Theater in the back room of Meltdown Comics. For those that frequent the Nerdist Theater for their insanely popular Wednesday stand-up show Meltdown, be aware that other sensational shows like the Imaginary Radio happen on other days of the week. In fact, you can catch the Imaginary Radio tomorrow on July 21st at 8PM for $10 with Maria Bamford, DJ Douggpound, and more. If you can’t catch this one, check back at the Comedy Bureau for details on the next episode.
“…long white T-shirt. He’s armed with a gun and a knife located at the rear of his backpack.”-random excerpt from LAPD Police Scanner
True to the title of this post, the offices of the Comedy Bureau are currently listening to You Are Listening To Los Angeles, which is an audio mash-up of the LAPD police scanner and a shuffled playlist of ambient music via SoundCloud. It’s the soundtrack to the office, lately. At times, it’s existential and at others it’s slightly disturbing, but, for the most part, I visualize the openings to either Falling Down or Blade Runner on repeat permanently. Why can’t You Are Listening to Los Angeles conjure up images of 500 Days of Summer (despite plenty of you hating that movie, it showed a side of LA that isn’t shown during Lakers games)?
Unfortunately, the film most indicative of You Are Listening to Los Angeles would most likely be Crash, which we hate. Everyone at the Bureau hates that film, which takes its overly heavy handed (bordering on ingenuine) comment on racism and furthers the idea that LA represents 6 or 7 out of the 9 rings of hell described in the Inferno by Dante. As good as it is “white noise” to write to, we can’t help but be aware of the fact that is a real police scanner reporting real incidents that are being investigated, reported, or possibly need back up on against ethereal soundscapes. Perhaps, it’s a call to shut up some pesky kids making some noise in the Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park area where many comedy shows take place in living rooms, garages, back yards, etc.
This is not LA. Many people choose to project the horrible misfortune of their own lives on this city because attribute perceived failure to LA supposedly chewing up their dreams and spitting them out, then pretending to care about you making ends meet. The truth is any major metropolitan center where millions flock to has a certain element of that self-perpetuating misery. When it comes to comedy, you can see people bomb, get bitter, vengeful, break up sketch/improv groups, or steal jokes anywhere.
The opposite of the popular image of LA as a dystopia that never seems to just break down into chaos is also true. There are plenty of people, LA transplants and native Los Angelenos alike, that have found their way in this massive collection of cement, steel, and ceaseless traffic (you’ll never hear true silence in Los Angeles county). People do have souls here. People do make it here. That’s why we’re overcrowded in Los Angeles because everyone’s vying for that slice of the pie chart that makes it. For every comedy show that comes to an end, there’s five to take it’s place. As Patton Oswalt pleaded with people at the independently produced comedy show, the Comedy Palace, a few weeks ago while running through his hour special, you never know when you’ll see the next bunch of comedians to make it to the top at some coffee shop. There are so many coffee shops in the plethora of LA neighborhoods that aren’t Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, East LA, and South Central as so often depicted on TV and movies wher
With that in mind, if you are really listening to Los Angeles, then put down your headphones, and step outside because you have already missed too much (like Drennon Davis’ Imaginary Radio at the Nerdist Theater–simply incredible and only about 12 people saw it).