• I have done 30 minutes of comedy exactly one time. It was a cheat too. I broke it up into six five-minute sets so I could have six tapes (didn’t really get a usable tape out of any of them to be honest). Either way, I really admire comics who can do a lot of time; it’s not an easy feat to keep the crowd’s attention and continually be spontaneous for longer than 30 minutes. Well, I got to witness an old pro do it this past week twice. Last Thursday, I taped Dan Perlman’s hour twice. I had filmed Dan’s breakout show at Caroline’s in February 2018 and no offense to that show but Dan has completely leveled up since then. Bits I remember from before have been tightened, extended, punched up, become more thoughtful, introspective, precise and fun all at once. I don’t want to spoil anything because this will be a big album release, but wow. This is how you do it. Most impressive of all, was after performing the hour a second time (a feat in and of itself; it was amazing to see Dan meticulously do act outs in the exact same way as the previous set and both sets came out to roughly 64 minutes), Dan had a bonus chunk ready to go. That’s an entertainer.
• On Sunday night, Veronica Garza and I had our fourth installment of FREE FRIES (we really do give out free fries; it used to be a logistical nightmare to determine who would get fries but it’s almost figured out. They’re really great Cajun fries if you were wondering) and it was easily our most successful show yet. SugarBurg was incredibly generous this past week and set up curtains for our show to give the stage more of a professional vibe. The crowd was light which is much preferred for a show where the audience can be unruly/disinterested. There was a couple visiting from Sweden who had come to NYC just to see the Nets play (they must be the only Nets fan in Sweden) and the husband was celebrating his 30th birthday. We sang “Happy Birthday” to him in Swedish. I wish every show here could be this fun but that just ain’t how bar shows work.
• Didn’t take in a ton of comedy adjacent movies and TV this week but I finally got around to seeing “Shazam!” (streaming on HBOGo). It’s a fun play on the superhero genre and there’s a 20-minute stretch in the middle where the lead kid gets to be a superhero that is incredibly inspired; the scene at the convenience store makes the movie worth watching alone. It was also a smart screenwriting touch to make the story about group home kids. There are some surprisingly touching moments here. The rest of the movie is pretty standard superhero stuff though. Either way, I’m consistently amazed by the evolution of this genre. I thought I was tired of these movies in 2009 post “Dark Knight” but somehow they’ve stuck around in a meaningful way.
• I’m an avid “You Made It Weird” fan. I listen almost every Wednesday to the podcast and was delighted this past week to see the guest was Kenny DeForest (my brother Ben Levy’s favorite comic). It’s extremely cool to see comics that I know show up on big name podcasts and then name check other comics that I know. Makes me feel like an industry insider. The best part of the episode though was definitely Kenny’s spot on Bill Burr and Louis impressions. I was blown away about how Kenny D. captured the nuance of the voices. Either way, if you know Kenny or don’t this is a great, funny three-hour (!) episode that never once felt draggy.
• Hit two shows this past week at Velvet Brooklyn. The first one I taped was Jora Nefferies and Paige Smith-Hogan’s Sweet Treats show. It’s really the smartest show in the City still. They book around 10 or so comics and everyone does exactly five minutes to get a tape. The room is very supportive and creates a great environment for comedy. Special props to Tom Achilles for having one of the most inventive sets I’ve seen this year with a bit involving envelopes. Will leave it at that. You’ll have to see Tom’s tape to get it. The second show I attended was that same night and is called We Put Jokes In Your Face. It’s hosted by Mark Volinski and Marisela Gonzalez. Embarrassed to say I’m that guy that left early during a hang but I still really enjoyed myself. They run a really great show and book top notch comics (Pedro Gonzalez and Bret Raybould on the same lineup is a powerhouse show) and I hope to be back at their next installment.
• Finally wanted to give major props to Sarah Murphy for her show “The House We Never Lived In” that Anna E. Paone and I attended last Saturday. It’s an immersive, interactive theater piece featuring miniatures that ran for three days over the weekend in Long Island City and is a little bit “Twilight Zone,” a little bit gripping short story, a little bit “House Hunters,” a little bit choose your own adventure and a lot of fun. You know how you move to New York to go to unique, intimate, mind altering art and theater shows and then it gets away from you and you never do it? This was that. It was a welcome reminder that if you put enough love and thought into your art that something truly different will emerge.
• Ain’t got any comedy stuff planned for the next week. Going to be on a cruise (for the second time in two months) with my family for the next week. I wish I had an assistant to write this for me while I’m gone but I’ll be back with more stuff on...Christmas.
Happy early Hanukkah to you and yours
