• I’ve been looking forward to seeing Michael Che at Carolines for a long time (like three months). He was one of those guys when you moved to New York that was EVERYWHERE like Mark Normand. I would see him at Whiplash at UCB (he brought a young stand up onstage during his headlining set and the dude fell flat on his face but Che still made it fun), on shows at The Bell House (after that show I went up to him and said, “I’m a big fan!” and he gave me his drink ticket like a mensch)- it seemed like you couldn’t not run into him if you were actively attending the shows in the City. Over the years though, his stock rose and it became way harder to catch him on a show other than, ya know, SNL. My brother Ben Levy would see him at secret shows with star-studded lineups but it was no longer a regular occurence. In fact, I haven’t seen him live in probably three years or something. He may be a bit of a controversial figure (Google “Jack Allison Michael Che” if you’re curious) but he’s still one of the best, most naturally funny, active comics in the USA. Last night, he did not disappoint. The show opened with an incredibly lively, crowd work heavy set from Petey DeAbreu where he riffed on the crowd with ease. No one makes stand up look more fun than Petey. Following Petey was a lineup of heavy hitters like Paris Sashay, Calise Hawkins and Derek Gaines. All brought the goods setting the stage up for Che. He riffed with the piano player he brought for the show (one unplanned moment where said piano player had to pee during an R. Kelly riff made for the biggest laugh of the night), talked about mental health in the Black community, had some hot takes on Trump and closed with sketches he pitched on SNL that didn’t make it to air. Some were even for the RuPaul episode. My favorite rejected sketch was a throwaway line: Law and Order UTI.
• Anna E. Paone performed in a pretty funny reading of a play this past week called “Stay Calm” at the Lamb’s Club in midtown this past Thursday. The play was set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian world in Abilene, TX and had many big laughs. I’d say most came from Anna who gave a really nuanced performance as a 16-year-old girl who is dealing with her pregnancy and difficult Mom. Anna found the pathos for the character and I can’t stress this enough: if you’re looking to cast an actress in a sketch or any kind of video, definitely use Anna. She’s so good in everything she does and I’m not just saying that because I’m her husband. Just don’t cast her in roles where you have to make out with her if you don’t mind.
Special thanks to Tiffany Springle for setting this up too. It was a real treat!
• As usual, I squinted at my phone this week to watch as much comedy as I could. Here’s a quick rundown of everything I saw on screens ranging in size from smaller than the palm of my hand to bigger than me:
-First, was the RuPaul episode of SNL mentioned before. Pretty much the exact opposite of the JJ Watt episode from the week before. I won’t recommend or dissuade you from watching the episode if you haven’t seen it already but here are the five standouts from the episode: (1) Chloe Fineman finally getting to showcase her wheelhouse of impressions during Weekend Update (she does a damn good Streep), (2) Boop It; a parody of Bop It with a Dad who gets increasingly competitive about the kid’s game, (3) The cut sketch that pits Bowen Yang against RuPaul as rival coal miners (link in comments), (4) the check splitting sketch where Heidi Gardner is almost bullied into paying more until Cecily Strong and RuPaul triumphantly stand up for her like she’s been really wronged and (5) Chad. As soon as we see the Pete Davidson character, we know where the sketch is going but it exceeds expectations.
-Tom Papa’s new special “You’re Doing Great” is one of my favorite I’ve ever seen. Filmed in New Jersey, Papa gives the performance of the everyman comic with great observations we all want to be (at least me). From his opening chunk on the different states of “Fat” Americans are in (sounds Gaffigan-y, yes, but this is better) to his material about the ice cream samples one is entitled to at a parlor before choosing ice cream, this is a masterpiece and the early frontrunner for my favorite special of the year. I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND (streaming on Netflix).
-Ronny Chieng’s “Asian Comedian Destroys America” is great too. There are some truly inspired bits here that I’ve seen in his previous late night appearances but they feel more fleshed out here. Also, he has the best take on Amazon Prime I’ve seen to start off the special. I will say I was a bit turned off by how bitter he seems and the last 10-15 minutes were a tiny bit self indulgent (a bit about telling your wife’s friend you do comedy?) and the personal closer about his wedding didn’t feel in line with the rest of his social commentary-heavy set but I will still CAUTIOUSLY RECOMMEND (streaming on Netflix). The coolest part of the whole thing was seeing Comedy Room Producers Michael Nguyen, Fumi Abe, Mike Lebovitz and Saurin Choksi in the credits. Slowly but surely, the kids in the scene are making moves.
-As a Will Ferrell completist, I was very excited for the release of “Downhill.” As a Ruben Ostlund fan (director of the film “Force Majeure” this film is based on), it was doubly exciting. I am excited to say the movie exceeded my expectations. They were pretty low based on the critical reception the movie got. 41% on Rotten Tomatoes had me go in expecting it to be people getting hit in the nuts the whole time. Not the case. This is a quiet, kind of sad portrait of a family falling apart with commentary on American tourism, Europeans vs. Americans, an Oscar-worthy performance from Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and a really funny subplot with Zach Woods and Zoe Chao as a younger couple that meets up with them. Ferrell is amazing too giving one of his most grounded performances ever but with glimpses of his manic persona. On top of that, the movie was written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (the Dean from “Community.”). Seriously. They also wrote “The Descendants” way back in the early 10s and directed “The Way Way Back” which was supposed to be as good as “Little Miss Sunshine” but didn’t quite hit that mark. Either way, see the hell out of this movie. We need more stuff like this in the multiplexes. Plus, if you have AMC A-List, it’s actually super cheap to see it in theaters. HIGH RECOMMENDATION (mainstream theatrical release).
-I fell asleep while watching “Two Popes” on Valentine’s Day. Sorry, Anna.
• Got to perform at Carolines for the first time on Monday at the “New Talent” show. It’s been a dream to go up there since I moved to the City. Always seemed so unattainable but here I was. The set was fine. Didn’t crush but didn’t bomb. You know the type. Start strong, middling laughs for a few bits, get another big laugh and then decide to close on something with a brand new punchline. Probably not wise. Either way, it’s always cool to cross something off the comedy bucket list.
• Very excited for this week in comedy. Tonight is the triumphant return of Free Fries (A Comedy Show): Episode Ten at Sugar Burg at 7:30 as always with Veronica Garza after two weeks off for The Super Bowl and The Oscars. Tonight, we have the pleasure of going up against the NBA All Star Game. Perfect. After that, I’ll be at Narinder Singh’s show at Hi USA tonight around 9 PM. Wednesday, I’m excited to be at Sheba Mason’s Greenwich Village Comedy Club show and finally, I’ll be at YouJean Chang’s Oppa show on Friday.
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