pittsburgh – The Comedy Bureau

The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 107: Chris Copen & Small Market Comedy Economics

April 13, 2022

bbc comedy festival, bottlerocket social hall, chris copen, gilbert gottfied, pittsburgh

While the primary focus of The Comedy Bureau is in LA and NYC, there is plenty of great comedy to be had and shared all around the country (and the world). In fact, there are so many folks in smaller cities/markets that would love to see more than whatever the comedy club in the biggest city near them offers them that there would seem to be a niche to be filled.

That’s where Chris Copen and Bottlerocket Social Hall come in.

Copen, a la Field of Dreams, is opening up an indie comedy theater, following in the footsteps of Philly’s Good Good Comedy Theatre, that will be a forward thinking, “hip”, multi-faceted comedy and performance theater. After trying a traditional industry route that was upended by the pandemic, Chris followed his dreams down a long, very winding road to open a dreamy, 70s inspired comedy spot. Copen shares his journey as well as the lay of the land of how comedy works in smaller markets and what the future holds with TCB’s Jake Kroeger for this week’s Field Report.

Also, “hot” takes on the passing of Gilbert Gottfried & Sara Mostajabi, The BBC Comedy Festival, and more.

Follow Bottlerocket Social Hall @bottlerocketpgh across platforms and Chris @chris_copen on Twitter & @typicalwhitegiant on IG

The Comedy Bureau @thecomedybureau across platforms and please, please support TCB via GoFundMe, Patreon, or on Venmo (@jakekroeger).

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and KT

Pick of the Day: Abortion Fundraiser Online Comedy Show

July 9, 2020

News

abortion, benefit show, clare o'kane, dsa, francesca fiorentini, jourdain searles, kate willett, pittsburgh, rachel mccartney

Though the Supreme Court did just make a recent decision in favor of abortion, there, as with everything right now, is still plenty of work to do in letting women not have their bodies legislated.

Thus, great comedians from all around the country including Francesca Fiorentini, Clare O’Kane, Jourdain Searles, Kate Willett, and Rachel McCartney are virtually assembling from coast to coast in collaboration with the Pittsburgh DSA Socialist Feminist committee to raise money for the Western PA Fund for Choice (@WPAFund4Choice). This fund actually services abortion access to Western PA, West Virginia, and Ohio, FYI.

This Abortion Fundraise Online Comedy Show is set for Fri. July 10th at 6PM PT/9PM ET and ought to be both worthy of your time and money for a great cause. They’re asking for $10 donation, but you can give what you can. Get more details/RSVP here.

The 2018 Pittsburgh Comedy Festival Is Taking Submissions for Stand Up and Improv

April 27, 2018

Uncategorized

comedy festival, improv comedy, long form improv, pennsylvania, pittsburgh, stand up

If you’re scouring for a new comedy festival to submit to around the country, The Pittsburgh Comedy Festival is only asking for a $20 submission fee for stand-ups or improv teams along when applying. If you’re looking to perform outside of LA (or closer to the East Coast/Pittsburgh depending on where you are when reading this), this might be a good chance for you to get an experience in that regard.

You have until Sun. May 27th to submit and the festival itself is set for Aug. 22nd-26th.

Get more details here.

Aparna Nancherla Is Going on a Big “It’s Me Again” Tour Across North America

March 19, 2018

Uncategorized

atlanta, ausrtin, brooklyn, chicago, denver, detroit, honolulu, los angeles, new orleans, philadelphia, phoenix, pittsburgh, portland, seattle, tucson

Well America, here’s your chance to see Aparna Nancherla headlining live.

She’s one of the best around right now and you shouldn’t make the mistake on missing out on one of these dates from August 18th-November 29th, if not more.

Get more details, tickets, and more here.

Poster by Andrew Shearer.

Watch David Rees’ Road Diary for His “Analog Social-Media Tour”

October 28, 2015

Uncategorized

analog social media tour, cincinnati, david rees, going deep, indianopolis, pittsburgh, road diary, st louis

Part of the genius of David Rees doing so-called an “analog social media tour” for his show Going Deep is the digital video he’s uploading of him going out, posting flyers, and meeting all sorts of lovely people.

Technically, he’s flyering the whole Internet while actually going out and doing old school flyering.

Watch how his stops in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Indianopolis, and St. Louis went and if you want to get involved in making America deep again, do so right here.

Kyle Kinane Going on a “Meat and Cheese Tour”

We hope that Kyle commemorates each stop on this tour by getting local cheese and/or meat and making a bit out of it, perhaps like this brilliant pizza bit.

From Mar. 28th (that’s tomorrow) to Jun. 5th, Kyle Kinane will be hopping around from Athens, GA to Chattanooga, TN to Madison, WI to Portland, OR, to St. Louis, MO to Omaha, NE to Ames, IA to Minneapolis, MN to Milwaukee, WI to Chicago, IL to Ft. Wayne, IN to Grand Rapids, MI to Lansing, MI to Detroit, MI to Cleveland, OH to Pittsburgh, PA to Columbus, OH to Cincinnati, OH to Bloomington, IN.

Get more details as well as your tickets here.