• On April 28 of this year (a week from Tuesday), I was supposed to audition at The Comic Strip. The very first stand up I saw in New York was at The Strip with my old roommate David Kurihara. I saw Jerry Seinfeld shoot his latest special there. I used to live five minutes away. I’m fond of the place. However, I do have a beef with it. I’ve auditioned four times and never gotten passed. This is the process for those not in the know. You wait outside in early March to get a date to perform in a year or so (this is detailed in a very old Stray Notes). Then you do a spot after the regular comics on a Tuesday night in front of the booker/manager (?) Richie Tinkin. It’s very frustrating because he doesn’t really think anyone is ready (there are a handful of comics who have gotten passed and more power to them but Richie rejects A LOT of really great comedians). He tells everyone they have “great stage presence” but “they’re not ready.” Other notes for me have included, “Don’t talk about cancer. What if someone in the crowd has cancer?” to which I replied, “I HAD CANCER.” Another choice remark of his was, “You need to talk to your Mother more.”
I wanted to make a sketch (it’s 1 minute and 56 seconds long) about my experience auditioning at The Comic Strip while quarantined since my audition where I would get rejected is not happening this year. This is me auditioning to get passed at my apartment by my booker wife Anna E. Paone. Scroll for five-eight seconds and you’ll find that link in the comments.
• Did my first Zoom show this week and it went really...well? All credit goes to Alex Davenport for booking, hosting and running the show with skill and grace. He built up a nice audience of people from Idaho which technically makes it my first Idaho show. Stayed strong and didn’t make too many potato jokes. It was nice to see old friends Jon Moskowitz and Rebecca Kaplan doing their thing and seeing other comics that Alex loves from all over the country. I read all of my Coronavirus Tweets that I thought were worthy of being said out loud and I give myself a generous 7/10. First set I haven’t taped in eight years (for those who don’t know I’m the weird dude that brings his DSLR to every open mic). As fun as it was, I don’t need to tape me on a Zoom mic.
• My dude Neil Rubenstein asked me to do his podcast this week. He called me at 11 PM on Wednesday and we talked pretty earnestly about my new favorite show that I love and hate “I’m Dying Up Here,” what the future of comedy is (who knows but I think content is better than ever online) and what we’re cooking (I’m turning everything in my apartment into chips. Potato chips, carrot chips, broccoli chips, tortilla chips, zucchini chips, all roasted with cayenne pepper and honey on them with a side of roasted pecans. Delicious). There’s more if you’re interested; I had a great time and Neil is insanely easy to talk to. His is a good podcast to listen to if you’re looking for a new one to keep you busy while doing dishes. There is a link below just for you!
• Gonna keep these short and sweet but here’s a speedy round up of some of my peers regularly churning out great stuff and where you can find it:
- Major credit goes to Matt Hyams for pulling off the impossible. He’s raising a kid AND making funny content? On top of that, the mini sketches he puts out star his child? Insane. They’re short, he’s putting them out at a consistent clip and they keep getting better. Folks, you may be seeing the next great comedy duo here: Dad and Baby. If you’d like to see them on Facebook or Instagram, take a lookie. Here are them links:
https://www.facebook.com/matt.hyams.5
https://www.instagram.com/matthyams/
- Another one of my favorite Matts is Matt Rain. Pre-Cats he had a running joke on Facebook where EVERY single status of his would be followed with the comment “Cats: In Theaters Nationwide December 20!” Made me laugh like 150 times. He continually puts out great, silly Tweets written in a voice all his own. You should follow the dude. And you can! Here’s his handle: https://twitter.com/Matt_Rain
- My friend Dave Stolz is not on Facebook (he’s one of those). However, he did put out a very fun one-minute sketch this week. It’s called “Quarantine Highlight Reel” and really made me laugh. The link is in the comments. Watch! It’s only like 59 seconds.
- Blair Dawson is killing it on every platform right now. Every time I look, there’s new, good stuff. However, her newest bit that’s her pinned Tweet and also on her Instagram is hilarious. I showed it to Anna and we both laughed really hard (also, it incorporates TikTok in a hilarious way). Really smart and funny bit and all it takes you to see it is to click on this lil link: https://www.instagram.com/blairsimone or this one https://twitter.com/urgirlblair/status/1251164409747124224 (follow her on both platforms too).
- Dan Wickes is one of the fastest wits in the comedy game. If this was 1930s New York, he’d be recognized as our Dorothy Parker (but a man). He had a run of Tweets this week about how he couldn’t believe his roommate was “having sex on Easter Thursday” (and every other day of the week). For more greatness, here’s his handle: https://twitter.com/dan_wickes Give the fella a follow.
- Myles Toe hit the ground running when he moved to NYC. At first, he was a new guy and he quickly became a fixture in the NYC scene. Loved his stuff right out the gate. Now he’s doing his best work of all on Instagram. His posts lampooning life in outside NYC now are so on point. If you’re not in NYC and want to see what it’s like, check this out, follow and you’ll see: instagram.com/myles_toe/
• Geez, I watched a lot of movies and TV this week. Not all of it was good. Here’s a quick rundown:
“Mister America” (2019): This one didn’t get a true proper release and I really wish it did because it’s low key as funny as “Borat.” For those who missed it, this is a mockumentary of sorts about a campaign for San Bernadino District Attorney. It stars Tim Heidecker (of “Tim and Eric”) as the candidate running for office who is wildly unqualified for the job. That’s not what makes it so funny. What makes it so damn funny is the small details it gets right about a self-absorbed person. He tries to be well meaning for his own gain but is completely selfish. I saw shades of myself I’d never seen before in this movie and felt exposed. This movie kills me and I think EVERYONE SHOULD SEE IT (streaming on Hulu).
“Ishtar” (1987): Man, this has been on my list forever. Been meaning to catch all of Elaine May’s stuff but this is her first movie that she directed I’ve seen. I wanted to love it and it started so promisingly. Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman play Simon and Garfunkel wannabes and are a riot going from gig to gig in NYC. Then, they go overseas to the Middle East and get caught up in espionage, militaries and the gags are fewer and farther between. I understand why it was a major flop. It just didn’t connect. See it if YOU REALLY WANT TO (streaming on Showtime; we got the free 30-day trial just for this).
“Yoga Hosers” (2016): I do not recommend this movie. This is Kevin Smith more than jumping the shark, nuking the fridge or selling out. It’s just plain offensively bad. He casts his daughter, kinda sexualizes her and Johnny Depp’s daughter too while they’re minors, makes everyone have Canadian accents and there are Hitlers that are a foot tall called Bratzi’s because they look like sausage. John Field watched this movie with us and brought up Roger Ebert’s famous, “I hated it” quote and I wish Ebert was alive to review this one. It was fun trashing the movie over text with Field and comedy pals Danny Rathbun and Sam Zelitch. STILL, I DO NOT RECOMMEND (paid $4.00 on Amazon like a fool for this).
“Iliza Schlesinger Sketch Show” (2020): This one went down nice and easy and I watched all six 20-minute episodes back to back. Reminiscent of “Chappelle’s Show” in that it showcases one performer’s point of view with a great supporting cast, the show has some really fun bits in it like “Fat Muscular Dude Workout,” “Female Jackass” and a sketch where everyone eats tangerines VERY intensely. Even cooler is the segues between sketches which is set up like clickbait with links. Even cooler is it features NYC comics Dan Perlman, Eric Neumann, Kerry Coddett and Emily Lynne. I TOTALLY THINK YOU’LL LIKE IT (streaming on Netflix).
And here are two quick curiosities:
- The first Conan episode from NBC way back in 1993 is online. The opening three minutes about people telling him he “better be good” and there’s “a lot of pressure” was BRILLIANT. Then, you get a very funny bit with Bob Costas and the original cast of “The Wizard of Oz.” Also, watch Conan nervously interview John Goodman (who leg wrestles George Wendt AKA Norm from “Cheers”), Drew Barrymore (man, this is awkward as he hits on her) and Tony Randall who OWNS him. The link is in the comments which is just a short scroll away since you’re almost done reading this thing.
- “Sex House” from The Onion (former Onion intern here- what up Class of Summer 2010) is one of my favorite webseries of all time. Pretty sure Matt Klinman (one of my favorite Onion people) worked on it too. I won’t spoil it but it’s EXTREMELY relevant to our current reality and not at all what you expect. It also sends up reality TV in a way that I find especially funny now that I’ve seen almost all of “90 Day Fiancee,” “Love is Blind” and “Too Hot to Handle” with Anna. The link for the first episode is in the comments. I always found it funny that the first episode had SO many views because people thought it was about sex and Episodes 2-10 get fewer and fewer views. It gets weirder and better and you should watch the whole thing.
• Got myself a brand spanking new Viral Tweet (https://twitter.com/MattLevy51/status/1251513963424051201) this week (if you consider 1700 favs viral). Here’s what it’s like to go viral on Twitter:
01.) Random thought pops in your head in bed. This one was: I wonder what the “I don’t watch TV people” are up to.
Not that funny.
02.) Somehow, it catches on. I think it was when Kelly Bachman commented on it (Kelly is a damn good comic you should follow- she has a major Twitter following. You can do that here: https://twitter.com/bellykachman).
03.) The “not watching TV community” all decides to comment which is cool. They all say they’re on YouTube which they classify as “not watching TV.”
04.) Expecting a meme account to steal it and I’ll fight them about it for no money.
05.) Random people who have like 8 followers like it. There are many Twitter accounts where people just Retweet it. It’s kind of nice. They’re not there for self promotion. They just want to support random stuff that already went viral. Gotta figure out how to monetize these people!
Not much planned this week. Or the week after. Here’s what I got: listening to the Strokes album way too much, getting back into Lou Reed (man, he’s SO good and sounds great live), watching Catherine Lamoreaux and Anna’s Dragonfly Zoom play of “The Hitcher” on Tuesday night, going to the Creek for Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday (it’s pick up) and watching “Saved” with the movie text crew Thursday. I guess I actually do have some cool stuff going on.
I made a mashup this week if you’re still reading and love amateur Girl Talk. Musician friends have described it as “Not good.” You can judge for yourself. I sample swing music, Daft Punk and Eminem. That’s the last link of all.
Au revoir, Shoshanna
01.) Quarantine Comedy Club Audition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtJbVW9F5fg&t=
02.) Neil Rubenstein Podcast https://anchor.fm/neilrubenstein/episodes/The-Quarantine-Qhronicles-Vol--5-Matt-Levy-Comedian-ecrl2v
04.) Dave Stolz Sketch https://twitter.com/DaveStolz/status/1249765176481656832
05.) Conan Episode https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_q471WB5Tgw&t=
06.) Sex House https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0App7QizQCU&has_verified=1
07.) My mashup: https://soundcloud.com/matt-levy/little-bitty-pretty-ritz
