The rest of our listings for comedy shows/events as well as open mics and corresponding maps are embedded at www.thecomedybureau.com.
Morning Debriefing 12/18/10
1) Jokes from the Underground @ The Hollywood Improv Lab is simply the start of something good. Within the bounds of Hollywood where you can literally walk from one comedy venue to another, Jokes from the Underground manages to distinguish itself from just being another straight stand up show as one of the show’s producers Orlando Bishop told me that he wanted to have a show that no matter the circumstances, he and show producer/host Ed Greer would just enjoy the show themselves. The idea of booking a live comedy show based actually on who is legitimately funny and who will actually entertain any audience is seemingly becoming one of those “novel ideas”. Thus, there was a great variety of performers from all of the “sub-scenes” in comedy around LA county and beyond, which, as the show’s name suggests, proves that there are plenty of fantastic comics who don’t have a single TV credit that can “leave the place in a heap of dust” after their set. With such integrity in putting a comedy show together, Orlando and Ed actually got people to fight through traffic, rain, Christmas parties to actually have an audience on this first edition of Jokes from the Underground, which made it for a splendid evening both as an audience member and as one of the performers. Such a notion is yet another “novel concept”. With host Ed Greer living up to his Twitter handle @EdGreerDestroys, the intimate crowd at the Improv Lab enjoyed the likes of Zach Ames, Gabbriella Gatto, Gail Gramlich, Scott Bowser, Orlando Bishop, Charles Allen, Plug McEnroe, Jake Kroeger (yeah, that’s me, if you haven’t figured that out by now), and Paul Danke. It’s a line-up that shouldn’t be missed no matter how “underground” it is. Jokes From the Underground will be on one Friday a month at the Hollywood Improv Lab 8:30PM $5. Check back at the Comedy Bureau for details on the next one.
2) Tonight’s COMEDY CRAWL will probably be better than most Christmas gifts I get. This will be especially true if it’s another round of gift baskets from Hickory Farms and the actual bottom of the bargain bin at Best Buy. Start with Two Milk Minimum @ Flappers Burbank 12:30PM $10/2 item min., then go to Space Boners Christmas Spectacular @ Silverlake Lounge 7PM FREE, then Adam Carolla @ Irvine Improv 7PM/9PM $30/2 item min., then Bill Burr @ Brea Improv 7PM/9PM $20/2 item min., then This American Mistake @ Meltdown Comics 8PM $5, then Comediaplex @ Westside Comedy Theatre 9PM $10, then ASSSSCAT @ UCB Theatre 8PM $10, then Paul F. Tompkins Show @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 8:30PM $25 SOLD OUT (in case you needed to know), then The Annual Christmas Sweater & Mustache Party @ The World Famous Comedy Garage 9PM Party 10PM Show FREE, then Hook-Up w/Ron Lynch @ Steve Allen Theater MIDNIGHT $8.
3) OPEN MIC RUN: SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/one item min., WESTSIDE ECLETIC 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.
4) Trick in LA Times. Seriously. If you were expecting a “PSYCHE!” here, you obviously don’t know what Brandie Posey’s and Emily Maya Mills’ Trick @ Bordello Bar 8PM FREE has in store. Read and find out WHY DON’T YA!?!
5) The Big Trouble in Little Tokyo Open Mic doesn’t take a holiday (mostly because we didn’t land on one). Next Tuesday, we have a special guest performance in THE LOVELY AND UPROARIOUS MARIANNE SIERK!!! Dec. 21st/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/Happy Hour until 9PM/You will FEEL empty for the rest of your life if you miss it/not really.
5) The Comedy Bureau “Tips Its Hat” today to EDDIE PEPITONE-“@eddiepepitone Greatest achievements- I once made a small lie into a crisis so big that I had to get plastic surgery done and relocate.” Eddie is in consideration nearly every day for a “Tip of the Hat” and it’s no surprise why as he’s one of the funniest people I have ever seen, which is why this is his second “Tip of the Hat”. From him yelling about people in Glendale to doing impressions of lounge singers that have Vietnam flashbacks, LA’s lucky to have Eddie Pepitone around. SO GO CHECK HIS WEBSITE and please, please, please follow him on Twitter.
6) From the You Should Have Been There Lagoon: Doug Stanhope-This Generation Sucks
7) Wonder where the Comedy Bureau’s going to be? Follow us/me on Twitter because we don’t have a Comedy Bureau “Light” and if you want one, donate here.
8) Sorry fo any typos that you may read here. In trying towrite and perform and do everything that you need to keep afloat in LA Comedy. I’minalittleofarush sometimes. T’anks for reading.
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THE COMEDY BUREAU
Post Brunch Update 11/17/10
1) The Big Trouble in Little Tokyo Open Mic @ Señor Fish thanks everyone for coming out and making it a bigger room. Also, thanks to “cheeseburger cookies” that were raffled off tasting like normal vanilla flavored/chocolate filled cookies. Come next Tues. Nov. 23rd for the mayhem/fun and another random Japanese food item. Sign up 6:30PM. Starts 7PM. 422 E. 1st St. in Little Tokyo.
2) Stripped Stories @ UCB Theatre gave an increasingly rare experience amongst live comedy shows where performers actually talk about themselves as honestly as they possibly can. So much painful/endearing humor can be drawn from the horrible/amazing things that happen in life and Stripped Stories showed, beyond a shadow of doubt, how great that can be. Though the name of the show might lead you to believe it’s just a bunch of vulgar sex stories, I believe that “stripped” is in reference into how every performer on the show strips their normal stage persona and become vulnerable and hilarious in a way that I never expected. In from NYC, Giulia Rozzi and Margot Leitman stopped here in LA with their amazing show at the UCB Theatre and hosted/shared some sensational and hysterical stories with Michelle Buteau, Tony Sam, and a few musical confessions from Wendy Ho. Stripped Stories tours nationwide and check back at the Comedy Bureau for the details for the next show.
3) OK, we’ve talked about cloning and I’m pretty sure traveling through time to get to COMEDY CRAWL in its entirety. Well, you’re going to have to BOTH for tonight’s COMEDY CRAWL: Start off with The Frolic Show! @ Barbarella Bar 8PM FREE, then travel back in time to The Laughing Skull Showcase @ Irvine Improv 8PM $15/2 item min., make a clone, send it to “If This Doesn’t Work Out I’m Moving Home” A Variety Hour @ Harlem Place Cafe 8PM FREE, then have the clone go back in time to Comedy on the Rocks @ Red Rock Eatery & Lounge 8PM FREE, then travel to the future, or present, to Meltdown @ Meltdown Comics 8:30PM $8, then meet up with your clone at Biscuits and Gravy @ Hollywood Improv Lab 8:30PM $5, make another clone and send it to Silver Mullet @ The Hideout 8:30PM FREE, then send the first clone to Punk House @ Westside Comedy Theatre 9PM $8, and go ahead and teleport to Comedy is Dead @ Hollywood Forever Cemetery 9PM $20, then take yourself to Beer in the Shower @ Whitehorse Cocktail Lounge Inn 10PM FREE, and then gather everyone at Anna Lee Lawson Comedy Hour @ The Next Stage Theatre 11PM $5, then kill the clones and destroy the time machines because they turned out to be your doppelgangers bent on making 2010 the new 2012.
4) OPEN MIC RUN: THE BASEMENT 149 Linden Ave., Long Beach, CA/6:30PM, THE SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 7PM, LIBRARY A COFFEE HOUSE 3418 E. Broadway, Long Beach CA/8PM, CAFE ON 2ND 7 S. 2nd St. Sign-up 7PM/Starts at 7:30PM/$3 cover/10 min., MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd. (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5/can go up multiple times.
5) Holy Fuck! The Comedy Bureau “Tips Its Hat” to Dave Ross. “@davetotheross ask not what your country can do for you… ask China. they have money.” Follow him on Twitter here. Great guy/comedian/obsessed with the F word Dave Ross also his year anniversary of his amazing show Holy Fuck! next Tues., Nov. 23rd, 9PM @ Downtown Independent Theatre, which is something not to be missed.
6) The Comedy Bureau will be in at a few open mics, a comedy competition doing only 3 min., and wondering what has become of the comedy scene in Long Beach tonight. Hear all about it as I’ll/we’ll be LIVE TWEETING the whole time here.
7) Donate and I’ll temporarily lift my belief that karma doesn’t exist AND something good will happen to you. Test that theory here.
8) Tony Parker/Eva Longoria divorce jokes vs. more Prop. 19 failing jokes. I’m wondering which of the two I’ll hear more tonight and why I’d rather hear more 9/11 jokes.
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THE COMEDY BUREAU