• Cool, new venues keep popping up all over the City. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Brooklyn House of Comedy changes the game. I didn’t know much about the place before going to a show this past Saturday but I will definitely be back. Joanna Briley runs a super, friendly room that has a cool, hip church vibe (what a Jew imagines a cool church is like) with great crowds and great shows. The show that I went to was no exception. It was Matthew Benjamin’s Philanthromedy, a philanthropy-themed show. This show raised money for cats in distress. There was a great turnout and all comics crushed it; I was extremely impressed that everyone wove in cat-loving bits into their sets. The cat-loving crowd ate it up. If you get a chance, you really should check out Matt’s show, he’s doing something special here. His next one is in July and raises money for 826NYC.
• Wasn’t booked at all this week and only did five or so mics so I watched quite a bit of new comedy stuff. Gotta keep my head in the game. First, I finished off the new Netflix “Historical Roasts.” I really admire that Jeff Ross is continually trying to branch out and redefine the Roast. To me, this is a more fun way to learn about history than Drunk History too. Love the stunt casting as well. Jaleel White as Nelson Mandela is inspired. Also inspired is the new HBO show,”Los Espookys.” It stars NYC locals Julio Torres and Ana Fabrega (they also executive produced) as half of a team that creates spooky scenarios. Plus, it’s all en espanol. That doesn’t hinder the comedy at all. There’s only one episode online on HBOGo at the moment. Definitely watch it before you fall behind. Finally, I’m late to the party on the new Wanda Sykes Netflix special but am very happy I saw it. She’s been one of my favorites since I saw her as Biggie Shorty in “Pootie Tang” when I was 13. She has still got it and does 65 minutes of very strong stand up. One of the best hours I’ve seen and some of the best anti-Trump material I’ve seen as well as she comes out with 15 minutes out the gate about him.
• Taped the show “Oh, Such a Good Show, Oh!” with Anna E. Paone at Union Hall last week for the very funny Django Gold and Tony Zaret. Really dug the show’s vibe; Ethan Beach and Josh Nasser have great chemistry as hosts. They did fun bits in between and the show concluded with a fun song. The best part of the show was a comic had a bit about not wanting to be a part of newsletters. I definitely would have tagged her as she was super funny but as this qualifies as a weekly newsletter of sorts, there won’t be any mention of her.
• A shout out to comics Joe Gorman and Ben Miller. We were talking about making a zine called “Mic Weekly” this past weekend and now I want that to exist so bad. If someone has the ability to make that happen, please do. I’d be happy to write an editorial on "Badslava Vs. Freemics."
• Not on a single show this week but I am seeing the Lonely Island live at King’s Theater on Saturday. I’m at the point where I’m calling that a show.
And it’s back to the Moleskine for now
