• I feel like the thing that holds most of us back from really spreading our wings as comics is not having representation. Everyone with a few years of telling jokes into a microphone or writing screenplays or acting or writing sketches or improvising has started to put the necessary hours in and the only thing missing from their comedy or career tool belt is an agent that a.) can get them high profile industry gigs suited to their talents or b.) a manager that is their cheerleader who reads their work, watches their tapes and discusses career development in great depth with them. Unfortunately, I am no agent but I have realized that I can be a manager of sorts to people. Earlier this summer, I informally engaged in what I call comedy therapy where I DM’d with folks for hours about their career and now I think I’m ready to take it to the next level and move to talking to people virtually for an hour for a small fee (not much I swear) about whatever they may want to discuss whether it be me reading their screenplays and having an ongoing conversation about your work, talking about jokes of yours in great depth, what you want your career to be or anything troubling you within comedy. I’ve had a very limited amount of success in the comedy world but I do think about it nonstop and with compassion. If you are interested in an hour long managerial session of sorts (it can be a one-time thing or ongoing or whatever you want it to be), hit me up and we discuss rates that both parties feel are appropriate (no insurance necessary). Think of it as therapy for your comedy that’s super cheap. Let me know and I’ll set up a time for you ASAP. Seriously. This ain’t no bit.
• For someone who regularly identifies as a comic, I haven’t done a lot of it live since the pandemic hit. However, this week, I couldn’t help myself from indulging in my performative side and hitting the New York Times famous Tiny Cupboard for the first time to get onstage for Marcus Cardona’s meticulously produced comedy award show The Bombys. Got to the show right on time (well, three minutes late), climbed the slippery, narrow stairs that take you to the roof and saw a number of faces I hadn’t seen in months. I even reintroduced myself to people saying, “I’m Matt Levy. You might remember me from comedy eight months ago.” Once the awards show with presenters, special guests and music was underway, it was a delight to see the familiar rhythms of a comedy show in action. What I missed most was the democratization of jokes; audiences laugh when something is good and when something is bad on a roof the bomb feels even more real than it does in an enclosed space. I’ll be honest- I didn’t truly bomb but I was far from having a good set. My gig for the night was to present the “Best Twitter Writer” award. Here is the speech I wrote and a quick dissection of it:
Did you guys see? The Bombys is not trending on Twitter. What is trending? It’s a thirst trap of Tyler Perry (This line that I came up with while in the wings did pretty well with audible laughs and I felt like I was off to a great start)
There are a lot of comedians with great Twitters. And none of them are here (If I recall, this was met with relative silence; I don’t know if it was the mic or reading bits off my phone but I felt the energy sap from my set. I plowed on when I should have known the next bit wouldn’t work)
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s an absolute honor to be presenting the best Twitter account award. I know what you’re all thinking right now. “But I have the best Twitter writer. How did they not pick me?” Well, I can tell you. I thought the same thing and then I read some of my Tweets like:
Mike Pence looks like robot with fly on hair
Help, I can’t stop having sex with the fly
And my pinned Tweet
This Tweet deserved more (All of the above was met more with confusion than laughter. It’s a bit conceptual and not quite hard hitting enough; the irony of the lameness of Mike Pence fly jokes is probably already a bit stale but when walking onstage I thought people would be doubled over. Nah. More just confused with scattered laughter)
Let’s all go follow for follow. Your nominees are... (The deadeyed influencer speak of “follow for follow” got a laugh and I felt somewhat vindicated. I then read the nominees and dipped out as fast as I could).
Brought me right back and I remembered one of my old favorite adages which is, “After a bomb, no matter what the next set will feel better.” Always made me feel better.
• Now for a bit of quick hit comedy news. Here goes with a few things in my life from this week:
- Every single day at noon, I compete in the ComedyWire daily writing contest for a $25.00 Amazon gift card. Two punchlines a day to guarantee I wrote something. Haven’t won anything in forever; my punchlines might be too easy sometimes or a bit slapdash as they’re written during my lunch break. Somehow, my easiest and most slapdash joke won this week. The prompt was “Worst things to do on a Zoom call.” I wrote, “Comedy.” Boom. Made $25 for that. Comedy DOES pay. Sometimes, literally just the word does.
-My mom Susan Levy (smartly not on Facebook) has been working at Native Health Phoenix for the past 15 years building out their social media and community presence all throughout Arizona and recently began incorporating comedy into the non-profit’s get out the vote message. I’ve linked a fun video featuring Native comic Mark Yaffee reading a brilliant poem about why you should cast your ballot. Give it a like (it’s in the comments and my Mom will be infinitely grateful).
- There is a brand spanking new profile live on the A Profile About You site about Houston-based pop culture commentator Alex Munguia. This one was written by my pal Dave Stolz and features a complete picture of this generation’s next Dick Clark. If you want a glimpse of the future of commentary, look no farther and check the link in the comments.
- My wife Anna Paone is a gifted impersonator (seriously, it’s scary how accurate her Gilbert Gottfried is) and this week, she appeared on Harmon Leon’s Joke-E-Oke show on the Twitch “Comedy History 101” channel portraying such diverse voices as Woody Allen (she owned the nebbishness), Bill Hicks (she got the aww shucks Southern cynicism down pat after watching just a short clip and then finally Don Rickles (nailing the faux-bitter bravado with ease). It’s amazing to watch her transform her voice on command and this is a fun, quick watch in game show format. Definitely check that link in the old comments.
• I spent a bunch of time parked on a comfortable yellow chair this week watching films and television. Here’s a short series of notes I wrote while watching assembled into mini-reviews:
“Borat 2: Subsequent Moviefilm” (2020): The idea of a Borat sequel makes one groan. How will they ever capture that magic in a bottle again? We all KNOW Borat; the shock value of the first is impossible to replicate. I’m happy to report that these fears are unfounded. This moviefilm is a comedic masterpiece and easily the best satire of the year. Let’s avoid spoilers and graze over the storyline: It’s 2020, Borat has embarrassed the nation of Kazakhstan and has been imprisoned for the past 14 years to make up for his transgressions. The country’s premier releases him to make inroads with the heads of the American Republican party sending him back to the States with the country’s number one star, Johnny the Monkey. Instead of Johnny, his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova delivers one of the all-time great comedic debut performances) meets him and he needs to re-calibrate his plan to get close to the heads of state. So yeah, somewhat similar story (Borat was after meeting Pamela Anderson in the original) but it doesn’t recycle any of the bits and pays homage smartly (look out for what they do with Azamat). The whole time you’re left wondering whether the people Borat runs into are actors in on the joke or have no idea who he is. After awhile, the bits are so outrageous like the confusion over eating a baby and the fertility dance at the debutante ball you simply don’t care; you just go with it. Cohen and Bakalova are such nimble comic forces, no matter what happens their innocence leads to gold. My one gripe (ugh, sorry) is that Cohen and Bakalova don’t wear masks and attend anti-mask rallies. Yes, very funny but I’ll be honest, a bit irresponsible. Sue me for being sensitive! This is non-PC comedy at its best; laugh out loud funny and it actually has something to say exposing the misguided ignorance from the far right. Also, stay until the end. My favorite joke of the year takes place in a sweatshop in the last minute of the movie. COME FOR THE RUDY AND PENCE STORYLINES, STAY FOR THE TOUCHING FATHER/DAUGHTER INDIE DRAMA AT ITS CORE (Streaming on Amazon Prime).
“The Boys” (2019-): I don’t know if it was the marketing blitz but it felt like I couldn’t stop hearing about this show online for months. Like a sheep, I figured I wanted to see what all the hype was about. Turns out this is another smartly written Amazon-produced satire (just like moviefilm from above) this time tackling those in power while dismantling our preconceived notions about the superhero genre. In its sprawling two seasons, we see the ragtag group of “Boys” (led by Dennis Quaid’s son Jack who is a dead ringer for a young Rainn Wilson AKA Dwight Schrute) take on the heroic but secretly evil Avengers surrogate “The Seven.” The Boys all have a vendetta against The Seven for various reasons that unfold throughout the two seasons that would be silly to spoil in such a short review so let’s just focus on what makes this show great. While at first glance, this seems like a typical Amazon program with padded out runtimes a la “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” the show hits its stride a few episodes into Season One refusing to waste a moment and in the process ends up making the tongue in cheek “Deadpool” look tame by comparison with a near drowning by baptism, a drug called Compound V which is clearly a metaphor for steroids that give superheroes their powers, a chilling moral dilemma on a plane as it crashes and a Nazi infiltration story line in Season 2 (sorry for that spoiler) that couldn’t be timelier. Plus, there are a billion ironic Billy Joel references. Yes, the show steals the cast of “Breaking Bad” for Season Two (Giancarlo Esposito AND Jessica Hecht reunited took me out a tiny bit) but it didn’t bother me too much. This is what I imagine the “Watchmen” movie aspired to be. Now, I have to see the “Watchmen” show and compare notes. YOU’RE OVER SUPERHEROES TOO? GOOD. THIS IS FOR YOU (Streaming on Amazon Prime).
“Shithouse: (2020): Saw this film under somewhat odd circumstances. About a month ago, Anna found a cool offer through a company called Fever to see films on the William Vale roof. I invited our pal Sam Zelitch to see the movie “The Nest.” It was a hefty price tag to see a film ($49/person but it came with a free meal) but I hadn’t been to the movies in forever. Remember when MoviePass made movies free? Seems like we’ve moved backwards- Sam pointed out that now we’re paying theater prices. Anyway, the screening of “The Nest” was cancelled. I emailed the company’s customer service to reschedule three times. Never got a straight answer about whether or not I was confirmed for the new date. Ended up going to the screening with Anna and Sam and our name was NOT on the list. They were kind enough to let us in to see “Shithouse,” the movie I thought I had confirmed our party to see (this may have well been my fault). The setup was cozy; there were heat lamps next to each table and the film played on what appeared to a jumbo inflatable screen. OK, so now you have the context in which we saw this movie outdoors. Let’s talk about the movie. The simplistic film follows a socially awkward college freshman (played by 23-year-old writer/director Cooper Raiff) who complains non stop about his awkwardness but somehow makes out with two girls in one night at a party and ends up forming an intense connection with the second one before she ignores him the next day. That’s kind of the gist of it. To be honest, the would-be couple didn’t even have that much chemistry. Anna snarkily called it “modern male neorealism.” Dead on. This low key affair is very talk-y, navel gazing and I’ll admit, inspired in brief spurts. I loved a scene where a stoner walked in on a shouting match telling the couple they were in his room. Still, this was very much the product of a 23-year-old first-time filmmaker. It’s impressive the movie was made so cheaply (I feel like my ticket to see the movie cost more than it did to produce this thing) and won awards at South by Southwest and I’m guilty of some of the same screenwriting tics but my God, this movie could have used a little conflict to breathe some life into it. So little happens that the conversations happening in the audience seemed more entertaining after a while. OK, so the movie isn’t great. The cherry on top to all this is when the credits rolled, someone working tech exited out of Quicktime to reveal the company DOWNLOADED THIS MOVIE FROM ITUNES. I paid $50 to see something I could have downloaded for $3.00. Yes, I knew this ahead of time but seeing it in front of me was a true blow. KIND OF HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS MOVIE AND THIS EXPERIENCE BUT COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING AFTERWARDS MADE ME FEEL ALIVE (Streaming on iTunes and maybe playing on rooftops for $50).
SNL with host Adele and musical guest H.E.R.: The show just did its fourth episode in a row for the first time...ever. They’re doing two more to make sure they don’t miss out on any zeitgeist-y moments. I felt the show’s fatigue while watching this episode. It’s exhausting to cover EVERY Presidential debate (Baldwin’s Trump’s mild slurs aimed toward Maya Rudolph’s moderator were shocking that SNL dared to actually make Trump look as evil as he actually is but the rest of this thing was limp) and I felt tired just watching. Adele was a formidable host but an odd choice. Would have maybe made more sense four years ago. I would have preferred, you know Sacha Baron Cohen or Barack Obama or someone relevant to what’s going on in the world. I digress. There were a few fun sketches (I feel like I’ve seen variations of the “2019 psychic” online before but it was well executed, Adele as Adele on “The Bachelor” was a smart way to let her belt out all of her greatest hits in quick succession while staying funny and the sketch with the hard of hearing grandma talking to her millennial grandchildren about what they’ve been up to felt like an instant classic) but there were major clunkers (sorry, I can’t get behind “Ass Angel Jeans” or the tone deaf “Africa Tourism” ad featuring Adele unable to keep it together) and a few oddities that I don’t know how to classify (I can’t even tell if I find the Pete Davidson “Chad” character funny anymore but I think I do and the funny but potentially harmful “Election Ad” about Biden voters who will miss Trump’s antics in office. Save that bit for after the election). Weekend Update was solid and I hate to be that parallel thought guy but they actually said a joke I Tweeted during the debate almost verbatim about Trump (“I am the least racist person in the room is what the most racist person in the room would say”) and for a second I felt like I was on par with them. Then, Che tagged the joke with “We would settle for just ‘not SO racist’” and I realized I had a long way to go. Props to the two of them; their jokes are consistently sharp and feature real edge. Che’s outrage at college football teams diagnosed with COVID rescheduling their game rather than cancelling is well founded and one that I wish more people would get behind. Next week is John Mulaney’s fourth hosting gig with The Strokes as the musical guest. I am more than a lot excited. SNL, you always keep me coming back for more.
• Important to note that this week, I will be in part one of three of my wife Anna Paone’s Zoom reading of her feature length screenplay “Booklove.” If this sounds like something you’d like to see, the link is in the comments. RSVP and you’ll be treated to the story of a struggling actress who is transported to the fantastical fictional world of a film she was in as a teen. It’s funny, action packed and most importantly written extremely well. Come hang Wednesday at 8 EST. Link to see the show is the last comment below.
Well, we’ve come to the end of this week’s installment of Stray Notes. Hope you’re well and gotten your ballot in already.
That’s my time
01.) Native Health Phoenix comedy clip: https://www.facebook.com/nativehealthphoenix/videos/269062584439943
02.) Alex Munguia Profile:
03.) Anna as Woody, Hicks and Rickles on Joke-E-Oke: https://www.twitch.tv/comedyhistory101
04.) Anna Paone’s “Booklove” reading: https://www.facebook.com/events/3284590324972575/?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A%2229%22%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3A%22plan_user_invited%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D¬if_id=1603670481440465¬if_t=plan_user_invited&ref=notif
