• About a month ago, I saw a Buster Keaton documentary on a flight. It really blew me away; I didn’t realize Keaton pretty much set the gold standard for physical humor and slapstick for over the next 100 years. A lot of the sketches I’ve produced are direct descendants of his work and I didn't even know I was ripping him off. The latest one I completed is no exception; however, I do think this is the best sketch I’ve ever made. It’s really simple, has great performances from Usama Siddiquee and Mark King (along with tiny cameos from Barak Ziv and Anna E. Paone), the thing is less than two minutes, looks great (thanks to Kate Nahvi) and makes me laugh on every viewing. I’m really proud of it and I would love for you to watch. I hope it’s 1/10 as good as something Buster Keaton made in 1926. Here’s the sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37foierYdBM.
• Damn, Butterboy is a good show. You all know this. Marianne Ways puts together incredible, unique lineups every Monday evening and the show is always so funny, so positive and so fun, it’s a marvel to watch. This week was really, really great too. I was there to tape Josh Comers (who I think might be the best one-liner comic out there; the guy just writes sharp, sharp misdirections) and also got to see fantastic sets from Calvin S. Cato (he opened the show and brought it to life) as well as Laurie Kilmartin who closed it out with such a masterful set that I’m still thinking about individual jokes from it days later. Her crowd work with an audience member who refused to give her name because white people can’t pronounce it was next level.
• Did a few shows myself this week. The first one was last Wednesday at Niagara and hosted by Paul Spratt and co-produced by Max Fine. It was a nice, intimate show where we performed for an audience that included a couple on their first date. They stayed the whole time and the guy wouldn’t disclose what “major record label” he worked at. I had a great time and would definitely recommend checking this out. The other really great show I performed at this week was Rebecca Kaplan, Maura Sateriale and Dylan Adler’s freewheeling “Hot Licks at CoolBar” show in the Lower East Side. This is such a good time and maybe the best 6 PM show I’ve ever been to. The place felt properly packed, the vibe was wacky and the crowd was up for anything. Dylan even jumped on the keyboard at my request mid-set. I felt like a damn rockstar at this show; these three put on a badass show that you should definitely make time for the next time they put one on.
• Also, wanted to make it known that I am no longer co-producing “The Comic’s Table PRESENTS” at V-Spot due to creative differences mostly me being stubborn. Sorry if I had you booked in the future and we didn't get to you. I'll figure out a way to make it up to you; I promise. Either way, I had a great time doing eleven shows there with Tristan Smith, Alex Carabaño and Jeff McBride. Last week was no different. We had some great comics, an audience member on a longboard who was at their first comedy show and a large crowd. We even raised a bit of money for my friend who passed away this last weekend.
• On that note, I would like to wish my good friend of 15 years Dumindu Meegahawatte goodbye. It might be a little callous to wish him goodbye in a post called “Comedy Stray Notes” with a link to a sketch in the comments. But Dumindu wouldn’t have cared. Dumindu passed away this last week and he’s been one of my good friends since Freshman year at Central High School. He sat at my lunch table with Barron Steele and Alex Ross every day and made us laugh from day one calling us very off-color names that I won’t repeat here out of respect for his family. Over the years, we became friends and stayed in touch years after he moved to Costa Mesa, California and me to New York. Dumindu loved race car driving, wrestling and Seinfeld (he always thought of himself as “Jerry” and everyone else was “Kramer”). He had one of my all-time favorite laughs and I miss him very much. Hope you’re in a better place, big D.
Rest in Peace, Brother.
