Megan Amram-Tip of the Hat 3/12/11
The Comedy Bureau “Tips Its Hat” this week to MEGAN AMRAM:
“@meganamram I’m giving up spell check for Lant.”
As far as escalating the art of being funny on the still new canvas of Twitter, there are few people that have mastered it quite like Megan Amram.
I’ve heard many people, especially avid Twitter users express hesitation at following comedians on Twitter as they only want to read gold instead of what’s about to be possibly tried out at an open mic. With Amram, there is no such worry as she has refined her wit to where most everything she tweets “from the hip” usually gets a solid 3 minutes of me busting up in laughter while slapping my knees profusely.
Being featured quite often in “who to follow” lists of who’s the funniest on Twitter, Amram is of a rare breed that has actually found a comedic voice through the microblogging site, often times well under 140 characters, which is a feat that some of the most established and revered comedians have not even developed yet. Perfectly absurd in her precise choice of words, references, and execution of the comedic twist within a joke, it’s no wonder that she has over 25,000 deserved followers without a network sitcom and a deranged personality to back her.
Megan also writes and contributes for other online publications in much longer form, which is equally as farcical and hysterical, as she’ll make a hilarious list of various topics including recently discovered unpublished Shakespeare plays, her own personal “bucket list” (included on that list: die), and stains.
Basically, you should follow anything she does online via Twitter, Tumblr, or anything else, which will most likely find its way somehow to the Comedy Bureau. If you’re wondering what this elusive tweeter/blogger is like live, you can check her out on Dave Holmes and Rob Delaney’s UCB LA show “Mapping the Heavens” Thursday Mar. 17th 9:30PM $5.
Morning Debriefing 3/12/11
1) Have you gotten your Scoomie’s ballot yet? Vote on your favorite open mic’ers in the Greater Los Angeles Area at the hyperlink before 6 PM Monday March 28th.
2) Nerdist Theater dates at Meltdown Comics. Uhh, yeah, you shouldn’t miss any of these really…
3) Another way you can see Greg Proops: Odd News on Yahoo.
4) The Comedy Bureau “Tips Its Hat” to Megan Amram for all her gut-busting excellence on Twitter. Article/Profile to follow soon.
5) ON THE HORIZON
John Oliver New York Stand Up Show on Comedy Central Mar. 24th
TJ Miller @ Hollywood Improv Saturday April 16th 10PM $20/2 drink min.
One Hour of Mayhem with TJ Miller @ Comedy Central Stages Wednesday March 23rd 8PM FREE
6) Tonight’s COMEDY CRAWL
The Anytime Show w/Dominic Dierkes @ Smodcastle 8PM $8
One-Two Punch @ Benton Manor 8PM $2 suggested donation
Magic Bag @ Smodcastle 10PM $8
The Back Room @ UCB Theatre 10PM $10 (stand by only)
The Tomorrow Show w/Ron Lynch @ Steve Allen Theater MIDNIGHT $8
7) OPEN MIC RUN
SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Starts 2PM/people usually give feedback at end of set
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/one item min.
WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATRE 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
8) Note to anyone doing Sendai Earthquake/Tsunami jokes on stage: for at least a week or two, most audience members will be against you.
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Morning Debriefing 3/11/11
1) Once again, congratulations to James Adomian landing a role on an NBC pilot!
2) MORE GOOD NEWS!!! Comedy Central is developing Paul F. Tompkins’ scripted show Evil Genius!!! [via Deadline]
3) Not sure where he’s going with this story/novel, but perhaps comedian Steven Wright is purposely playing against type. Follow him @stevenwright and find out.
4) The Ultimate Free & Cheap LA Comedy List 3/13-3/19. Thanks Wisepix.
5) Mash-Up is finally here, though at midnight, it’s here w/Matt Braunger, Hannibal Buress, Kyle Kinane, Kumail Nanjiani, and Host TJ Miller on Comedy Central! Jay Larson’s Comedy Central Special right before at 11:30PM.
5) On Monday Mar. 7th, there was the Battle of 1739 (Public House), here’s some video of comedian Sean Green murdering one of the hecklers, if you can only imagine just being there…
6) Tonight’s COMEDY CRAWL
Timeline B (Sax Carr’s CD Recording) @ Meltdown Comics 7PM FREE
Risk! True Tales Boldly Told! @ UCB Theatre 8PM $5
Patton Oswalt @ Galaxy Theatre 8PM $25
Featuring @ Hollywood Improv Lab 8:30PM $5
The Also-Ran Comedy Hour @ Hollywood Improv Lab 10:30PM $5
The Garfunkel and Oates Hour @ UCB Theatre 11PM $5
7) OPEN MIC RUN
SET LIST @ FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia, Burbank, CA/Sign-up 5PM/given set list to improv off of
iCANDY 1708 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/$3 min.
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE 2906 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)/Sign-up (lottery) 6:30PM/Starts 7PM
MAX BLOOM’S 200 N. Malden Ave., Fullerton, CA/Starts 7PM
GLENDALE DAYS INN 450 N. Pioneer Dr., Glendale, CA/Starts 8PM
8) On cracking jokes about the Tsunami in Japan-RT @joshcomers When tragedy strikes, jokes on Twitter feel like weird tumbleweeds.
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Morning Debriefing 3/9/11
1) Norm MacDonald’s new hour long Comedy Central Special has moved from this weekend to Saturday March 26th at 11:30PM. This should make up for Charlie Sheen stealing Norm’s Twitter thunder.
2) Comedian Eric Andre on Lopez Tonight.
3) The Nerdist Theater at Meltdown Comics… WHAT?!? Follow @nerdmelt down the comedy nerd rabbit hole to see some of the best comedy shows in LA.
4) Comedian Jesse Case explores the future of indie/alt comedy via what happened indie/alt music. READ IT. IT’S GOOD FOR YOU. [via Antithesis Comedy]
5) So all this Doug Stanhope buzz has recently come about because he’s releasing a new album called Oslo: Burning Bridges to Nowhere. Of course, this veritable wave of Stanhope is really all out-of-nowhere as it happened in Oslo and not anywhere near here, but hopefully the album’s release and distribution will change that.
6) Can’t get enough Action Figure Therapy? Why not get a shirt to show your pride in watching the youtube series sensation? That’s a thing that people do, right?
7) Tonight’s COMEDY CRAWL
“If This Doesn’t Work Out, I’m Moving Home” A Variety Hour @ Harlem Place Cafe 8PM FREE
The Adam Carolla Show w/Bobcat Goldthwait @ The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club 8PM $25/2 drink min.
Thai Rivera @ Irvine Improv 8PM $15/2 item min.
The Fix Up Show w/ J. Keith Van Straaten and special guest Scott Thompson @ ACME Comedy Theatre 8PM $12
Jim Bruce’s Mustache @ The Gardenia 8:30PM $5
Meltdown @ Meltdown Comics 8:30PM $8
The Ed Galvez Punk House @ Westside Comedy Theatre 9PM $8
Beer in the Shower @ Whitehorse Cocktail Lounge Inn 9:30PM FREE
The Mostly Normal Show @ Improv Lab 10:30PM $5
The Jesse Miller Talk Show @ Next Stage Theatre 11PM $5
8) OPEN MIC RUN
THE SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 7PM
CAFE ON 2ND 7 S. 2nd St., Alhambra, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM
CAFE MUSE 6547 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 8PM
LIBRARY A COFFEE HOUSE 3418 Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 8PM/Starts 8:30PM
9) The Battle of 1739 (Public House), a tale of comedy victory on Mar. 7th, 2011 at Keep It Clean Comedy will be posted later today.
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THE COMEDY BUREAU/@thecomedybureau
Your Public School theme:
CRINGE : tales of social woes, mild-to-severe embarrassment, and mistakes that were made.
TOMORROW!
This magnificent art was done by Tully Mills
Eddie-Pepitone-Tip of the Hat 2/26
The Comedy Bureau “Tips Its Hat” this week to EDDIE PEPITONE for
“Puddin”-Eddie Pepitone’s Daily Live Action Comic Strip that has Eddie walk into a break room and wreak havoc on a co-worker trying to eat pudding. My personal favorite is this one where Eddie yells at a magazine that has Taylor Swift on the cover.
There are so many reasons I could have given Eddie Pepitone a “Tip of the Hat”. There’s Eddie’s hilarious Twitter feed where he posts his “to do lists” and/or “signs things aren’t going well” or his performance nearly a month ago as Sven the Clown at the Tomorrow Show where he played a clown running laps around stage just so he could plug his interior painting services at the end, but “Puddin” that premiered just over a week ago puts Eddie and his uproarious character in the person in the perfectly unassuming situation leaving nothing but laughs the whole way through.
No matter how many times I see Eddie take the stage or watch an online clip over and over, he is one of those comedic voices that are so unique and so brilliant and just so damn funny, I keep laughing every time almost to the point of my vision going blurry. As a character comic, Pepitone has perfected his onstage persona of an “unrelenting manic prophet of an apocalypse that he believes is coming in the next second” so well that he can tell jokes, do bits, riffs, engage with audience members, and it will seem flawless and you’ll have no idea whether this was prepared or not.
Literally, it’s magic. Well, it’s magic that yells at an empty stage in at attempt to heckle yourself.
As you’ve might extrapolated from everything written above, Eddie Pepitone is involved in quite a lot of projects AND is one of the funniest people on Twitter meaning you should follow him @eddiepepitone right now, then finish reading this article. He performs frequently in and around Los Angeles, a member of the lovely Long Shot Podcast, and the Comedy Bureau will keep you updated as anything else he’s up to because you should drop whatever you’re doing to see him perform.
Comedians’ Guide To Twitter: Tweeting (#articlesnoonecaresabout)
There is something about 140 characters that specifically attracts the comedian and people who want to turn their clever quips that they think are so funny to their friends and co-workers all to the social networking/micro-blogging site Twitter. Whether it be coming up with quick zingers, observing minutia, gleaning the absurdities of your own psyche, or simply promoting yourself, Twitter has almost become a necessary tool for those in the business of being funny.
As this is the unfortunate necessity, the following is the beginning in yet another continuing series on the Comedy Bureau of a crash course guide of sorts to Twitter for the comedian brand new to Twitter, so they can both navigate and understand the terse nature that borders on being an entirely separate language fostered in Twitter land.
TWEETING
As the device that drives the almost certifiable addiction that is Twitter, tweeting will seem inconsequential to you, at first, until someone brings it up in conversation, “Hey, that was a really funny tweet that you had,” which will cause you to tweet more and subsequently get more followers. However, you’ll probably end up going on some type of tweeting bend after seeing a promo on the side of a bus for some show perhaps called, “Episodes”, and then lose a significant portion of the 200 followers that you had because they were just robots anyway.
My advice, thusly, would be simply to be consistent (i.e. have a style/tweet jokes/promote yourself/don’t tweet at all) on Twitter and don’t overcrowd people’s feeds with more than 7-10 tweets-a-day. For the most part, the funniest people on Twitter seem to stick to those basic principles. ex. Jamie Lee (@thejamielee), Matt Knudsen (@matt_knudsen), Lizzy Cooperman (@lizzycooperman), and Jim Hamilton (@jim_hamilton).
Of course, there are exceptions to this; one of them being the one and only Eddie Pepitone (@eddiepepitone), who is so consistent and uproarious with everything that he tweets that I don’t mind that his constant updates of his “to do list”-1) Tamper with brakes on Al’s car so they fail on highway. 2) get wigs and cyanide ready. 3) make Tofu. Having just been nominated as one of the best comedians on Twitter by Punchline Magazine, He can get away with tweeting non-stop.
Another frequent phenomenon that has become popular amongst comedians is the advent of “live tweeting”, which is, in essence, a play-by-play commentary on any event in real time via Twitter. The best example of this came this past Christmas Eve when Paul F Tompkins (@pftompkins) live tweeted throughout the entire duration of the Pope’s televised Midnight Mass and subsequently got himself trending in the Greater Los Angeles area. Live tweeting can almost be compared to an extended bit of comedic material focused mostly on punchlines.
Again, those two examples both rely on consistency, as opposed to someone having 10 tweets about how they’re mad how the Lakers lost, then 5 more trying to figure out what exactly a “norror movie” (#norrormovies) is, then 25 more tweets spent in a “fight” with someone that you could call because you have their phone number, but choose not to because of the comfortably think anonymity of the Internet. Still, all of those tangents I just mentioned are actually quite entertaining, but just incredibly annoying to read all from the same person in the same day, often times within the span of 3 hours.
So, in conclusion, in regards to tweeting, pick your poison (as you’ll get addicted to it) and stick with it.
Jake Kroeger/@mfjakekroeger
THE COMEDY BUREAU/@thecomedybureau
Comedians’ Guide To Twitter: Tweeting (#articlesnoonecaresabout)
There is something about 140 characters that specifically attracts the comedian and people who want to turn their clever quips that they think are so funny to their friends and co-workers all to the social networking/micro-blogging site Twitter. Whether it be coming up with quick zingers, observing minutia, gleaning the absurdities of your own psyche, or simply promoting yourself, Twitter has almost become a necessary tool for those in the business of being funny.
As this is the unfortunate necessity, the following is the beginning in yet another continuing series on the Comedy Bureau of a crash course guide of sorts to Twitter for the comedian brand new to Twitter, so they can both navigate and understand the terse nature that borders on being an entirely separate language fostered in Twitter land.
TWEETING
As the device that drives the almost certifiable addiction that is Twitter, tweeting will seem inconsequential to you, at first, until someone brings it up in conversation, “Hey, that was a really funny tweet that you had,” which will cause you to tweet more and subsequently get more followers. However, you’ll probably end up going on some type of tweeting bend after seeing a promo on the side of a bus for some show perhaps called, “Episodes”, and then lose a significant portion of the 200 followers that you had because they were just robots anyway.
My advice, thusly, would be simply to be consistent (i.e. have a style/tweet jokes/promote yourself/don’t tweet at all) on Twitter and don’t overcrowd people’s feeds with more than 7-10 tweets-a-day. For the most part, the funniest people on Twitter seem to stick to those basic principles. ex. Jamie Lee (@thejamielee), Matt Knudsen (@matt_knudsen), Lizzy Cooperman (@lizzycooperman), and Jim Hamilton (@jim_hamilton).
Of course, there are exceptions to this; one of them being the one and only Eddie Pepitone (@eddiepepitone), who is so consistent and uproarious with everything that he tweets that I don’t mind that his constant updates of his “to do list”-1) Tamper with brakes on Al’s car so they fail on highway. 2) get wigs and cyanide ready. 3) make Tofu. Having just been nominated as one of the best comedians on Twitter by Punchline Magazine, He can get away with tweeting non-stop.
Another frequent phenomenon that has become popular amongst comedians is the advent of “live tweeting”, which is, in essence, a play-by-play commentary on any event in real time via Twitter. The best example of this came this past Christmas Eve when Paul F Tompkins (@pftompkins) live tweeted throughout the entire duration of the Pope’s televised Midnight Mass and subsequently got himself trending in the Greater Los Angeles area. Live tweeting can almost be compared to an extended bit of comedic material focused mostly on punchlines.
Again, those two examples both rely on consistency, as opposed to someone having 10 tweets about how they’re mad how the Lakers lost, then 5 more trying to figure out what exactly a “norror movie” (#norrormovies) is, then 25 more tweets spent in a “fight” with someone that you could call because you have their phone number, but choose not to because of the comfortably think anonymity of the Internet. Still, all of those tangents I just mentioned are actually quite entertaining, but just incredibly annoying to read all from the same person in the same day, often times within the span of 3 hours.
So, in conclusion, in regards to tweeting, pick your poison (as you’ll get addicted to it) and stick with it.
Jake Kroeger/@mfjakekroeger
THE COMEDY BUREAU/@thecomedybureau
Morning Debriefing 12/25/10
1) Unlike Judy Carter suggests in one of her bestselling books, dinner with a table full of comedians is not incredibly depressing. It’s actually the antithesis of the stereotype/notion. In fact, two tables of LA comics on a Christmas Eve in Chinatown will turn into a spirited competition of who can order first, who is having more fun, and whether to trade members of each table for another. As comedian Ed Salazar said to comedian Eli Olsberg, “Our table will be blogged about.” For the record, Ed’s table was the better table. Yes, I was sitting at “that” table. Either way, some people think we, comedians, are a depressing bunch, which has a basis in truth, but that’s not all of who we are. As obsessive, impulsive, and condescending distorted caricatures of actual people as we may come off, all of it is all in the goal of going on lit stage and getting laughs in a darkened room full of strangers. So on this Christmas morning, or whenever you happen to be reading this, appreciate comedians, not only as ones that inspire laughter when you need it the most, but also as hard-working real people that strive diligently at their craft through much personal sacrifice. Perhaps, give them a hug, if they deserve it and if they’re OK with their personal space. HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM THE COMEDY BUREAU/JAKE KROEGER TO ALL OF YOU IN THE LA COMEDY COMMUNITY AND JUST GOOD FOLKS THAT LIKE LAUGHING!!!
2) Just one more night without a COMEDY CRAWL as we all, in the LA comedy community, attempt to attain some sort of temporary normalcy.
3) OPEN MIC RUN: ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW? You WANT to do an open mic on Christmas Day? Try working on your material while opening gifts. Does that sound like a good idea? Of course, it doesn’t. That’s why you should just enjoy Christmas.
4) Yesterday, I wrote about James Adomian’s inspired performance that included a painfully hilarious story about opening for Joan Rivers. It’s definitely one of the better “road” stories I’ve heard and there’s actually visual proof of it RIGHT HERE.
5) Paul F. Tompkins was actually trending on Twitter both in Los Angeles and NYC last night.
All of this came about for his live tweeting during the Pope’s Midnight Mass, which, in thinking about it, IS the Christmas gift that Tompkins gives to us all. Follow @PFtompkins and read all tweets with #midnightmass2010.
6) The Comedy Bureau “Tips Its Hat” today to GOOD NEIGHBOR-“best videos contest 3” Making the thought of absurdity in of itself absurd, amazing sketch group Good Neighbor attacks your senses in the best, most enjoyable way possible at such a furious pace that it’s really unimaginable not to get a kick out of them. Featuring seasoned performers Nick Rutherford, Beck Bennett, Kyle Mooney, and non-performer/filmmaker Dave McCary, Good Neighbor is a treat to watch and should not be missed. Check their website or back at the Comedy Bureau for details on their next performance.
7) From the “You Should Have Been There” Lagoon: Blackadder’s Christmas Carol Part 1 of 5 [on Youtube] (My favorite Christmas Special of all time)
8) Donate. It’s Christmas. Even if you don’t celebrate, it’s a pretty convenient time to donate to the Comedy Bureau.
9) Many people thank me for my personal dedication to this blog and to all of them, I heartily say, “You’re quite welcome.”. To anyone who doubts this fact, I am writing this at 2:43AM Christmas Morning.
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