• Started the week off strong by doing Mike Guild’s always POPPIN’ SoHo Playhouse show. Mike hosted the show this week and did a bit with some people that came from Reddit (smart marketing idea). Was a brilliant way to include them in the show and must be seen in person if you haven’t been to his show. Smartest crowd work I’ve seen in a minute.
• Finally had the opportunity to catch a show at The Grisly Pear with Anna E. Paone. That place is the true, next great hub for stand up in New York City. Kenny Warren brings in an amazing crowd night in and night out AND through the course of a very fun show, the place got steadily more and more packed. It was a marvel to witness. This place truly has that “Field of Dreams” ethos: if you build it, they will come. And they did. This is the future.
• Taped a bunch of sets for people all over the City. Had the honor of taping Amanda Hurley and Maddy Smith at Mad Tropical during an insane show with a heckler that wanted to “express herself” (her words) which made for a truly memorable show. The day after that I taped Brian Bahe making his Butterboy debut. Also, got to tape Will Miles who wore the freshest suit in comedy. Dude is breaking the rules of how cool you can be in comedy. Then the day after that, I taped Julia Shiplett’s Breakout Show at Caroline’s. She tore it up! Extremely strong 45 minutes and her bit on “Womanhattan” has to be seen to be believed. It’s late night ready, IMO. Kenice Mobley, Drew Anderson and Emily Winter also brought the heat as her opening trio. It was an honor to even be there to tape them. Let me know if you want a set taped. I’ll make it happen.
• Had the pleasure of doing TWO podcasts these past two Saturdays. The first one was Frank Terranova’s Terradome (http://terradomepodcast.libsyn.com/) with Anna E. Paone where we wax poetic on our favorite movies of the year. I call it early on in the episode- all of his movies feature young women prominently. Give it a listen, very fun stuff. The second one was Danny Rathbun’s “Na Na Na Na Podcast” (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-podcast/id1133009666?fbclid=IwAR3vtpP_6OTcVYy53SMJb38LIVL1SykIjVUvIQudm80DQ4Kig_76mkg0LFs&mt=2). He and his co-host Jacob Wright watch every single Batman film and then discuss them. There have been 100-plus episodes so far. It’s kind of fascinating to see just how far the Batman is stretched and these dudes are so damn funny about it. We watched a direct to DVD Lego Justice League thing and they took it completely seriously. If you’re looking for great podcasts to listen to, both of these are great options.
• I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Jay Welch hosting Karma on Sundays at 6 PM is a master class in hosting open mics. He has a HOT riff in between literally every comic. One time I laughed so hard, my back hurt for two days. This is not made up. If you haven’t been, it’s worth going just to see what he’ll say about your set afterwards.
That’s all for me this week.
