Comedy Stray Notes September 18, 2019

• When people ask me where the best place to run a show is, I always say Under Saint Marks. First of all, it’s a great way to brag and say I did my half hour there. Secondly, it really is a swell place to do a show. It’s intimate, has a classic showbiz feel and the laughs sound incredible in there. It’s even better when there’s a fantastic show inside. That was the case on Monday night when Max Weinbach and Nicky Weinbach put on the two-year anniversary show of their monthly “Vintage Basement.” This one was special. The room was totally packed out (had to stand on the side) and the performances were top notch. Max and Nicky opened with an audacious powerpoint (don’t want to spoil it) that got an applause break and then kept going. They sing, they dance, they whistle, they do one-liners, they do slapstick. They’re a comedy total package. As for the rest of the show, it was all headliners. I only saw two (Phoebe Robinson and Judah Friedlander, since it was getting late and the L train had limited service) but they both brought the house down as well. Judah’s crowd work where he tells the crowd he’s running for president and asks people to yell out issues to hear his stance on them is so fun and genius that I wouldn’t mind seeing it every day because it would be different every time. Go hang at their next show if you get the chance (and stay longer than I did), it’s a great time.

• Everyone’s talking about SNL. To be fair, I’m always talking about SNL but right now everyone in particular is talking about the hiring and subsequent firing of Shane Gillis. Should he have been fired? I don’t know (but probably yes, we don’t need to give such a negative voice a platform) and don’t really care to debate. My major takeaway is a.) as a major fan of the show, I’ve never seen a new hire get attention like this ever. Maybe it happened in 84-85 when Billy Crystal, Christopher Guest and Martin Short after they’d already been well known joined the cast or when other celebrities joined (Janeane Garofalo, Chris Elliott, Anthony Michael Hall come to mind) but those are for totally different reasons. This had to have been a stunt move by Lorne and co. for sure. We’re all going to watch the premiere to see how they handle it, right? Secondly, b.) Shane Gillis getting SNL (whether or not it is legitimate) shows all of us that average stand up comics can get on the show. If anything, we should all be pumped to know that you don’t need to be a master impressionist or virtuosic improvisor, they’ll just hire a guy that might be forgettable on a bar show. This should be a glimmer of hope. Finally, c.) Gillis will be fine. Dude will definitely get a special and has more of a fanbase than he would have had as a one season-and-done cast member. I’m not bringing anything insightful to the table here but these are the genuine thoughts of a guy who cares way too much about SNL.

• For a person with so many thoughts about the industry, I did shockingly little comedy this week. What I did get in was a very fun, packed mic at Halyards hosted by Kyle Turner and Clayton Williams which is one of those sweet cool kid mics that’s also a welcoming environment. Also, Library Mic is back in full swing. In related news, my pal Seth Pompi who graciously runs the mic from the library will be out for awhile on paternity leave (his wife is due soon). That’s a good a reason as any to not host a mic.

• Had a big weekend watching HBO (if that’s how you define big weekend) and saw the hourlong pilot for “The Righteous Gemstones” with Andrew Tavin and Liz Michelle (we also had a nice Thai dinner). It has some really nicely realized moments about the hypocrisy and excess of mega churches and then surprisingly veers off into thriller territory toward the end of the episode. I would definitely recommend if you have time- plus you get to see John Goodman kill it as the patriarch. For pure curiosity factor, you can also stream “Welcome to Marwen,” a movie Anna E. Paone and I really wanted to see in theatres based on how strange and potentially bad it looked. Well, after having seen it, I can confirm it was both of those things. Still, I cautiously recommend. You can see Steve Carell do some wild overacting and a lot of famous actors made up to be miniature dolls. Finally, not HBO, but I watched the official finale of NBC’s “Bring the Funny.” Surprised SNL didn’t just use these people as this season served as a season-long audition for sketch troupes essentially. Either way, the final episode came down to a sketch team vs. a stand up and America voted....and the sketch team won. They were fine but not necessarily better. I guess the five of them had more people voting than the comic (who is just one person).

• Finally, big shout out to my pal Brian Bahe getting featured in Vulture (it's a great interview about his great Twitter). His Twitter is fire (I just said that, I know) and you should definitely read this piece on him if you missed it. It’s just as funny. I mean it’s hard to top “Brian Bahe Bases His Comedy on His Long, Wide Nipples" as a title for an article. The link is in the comments.

• Happy to announce I’m doing my pal Brandon Daniel Garner’s show at Starliner tonight at 9 PM. Other than that, I have a lot of HBO watching planned.

Can’t believe you read this again.

Comedy Stray Notes September 11, 2019

• One of the most surprising parts of NYC comedy is that there is a thriving competitive rec sports scene from wiffleball to flag football (maybe touch football? I don’t play) to pick up hoops. The centerpiece of this sports world is the March Madness-style annual Big Walkowski put on annually the Saturday after Labor Day by Jake Marshall Head and Joel Walkowski. The Big W has been going for four years and I played in my second one last Saturday. It all starts with a draft on Friday night (didn’t make it out this year. My excuse? Rewatching Season 2 of “Breaking Bad”) and games at Bushwick Park on Saturday. This year, I was drafted by Mike Coscarelli’s Brick City Razor Blades. Our team was comprised of number two overall pick and Zion Williamson-esque Noah Savage, team rock Patrick Schroeder and defensive bruiser Ronnie Lordi. There was a guy named Brian too but I didn’t catch his last name. He had a man bun and hit two clutch threes. Our team made it to the Final Four of 16 teams but lost in a 12-10 heartbreaker. That’s not what matters though. The whole event is such a brilliant way to bring comedians together and the attention to detail (everyone got a jersey, Richie Tolway shooting footage with a drone, a GoPro and a DSLR, oranges with basketball lines drawn on them and a National Anthem where almost everyone kneeled) makes it even better. It didn’t go unnoticed. Long live the Big Dub.

• Last Thursday, my tiny wife Anna E. Paone and I attended an ingenious mic/hybrid show called Stoked run by Amber Rollo, Kelly Bachman and Davidson Boswell at Mad Tropical. It might be the smartest set up for a bar show I’ve seen in New York. What they do is simple. They host a mic before the show. Then they have pizza. The open mic’ers (I was one of them) stay and enjoy the show. Crowd comes in because it’s already packed. The show was electric and all three hosts had standout sets. I will be back (the room rules, there’s pizza, the hosts are great, can’t ask for more) and you should make it a priority to go to this one too if you haven’t already.

• Some great stuff on streaming. First of all, you should definitely check out the Mindy Kaling movie “Late Night” on Amazon Prime if you haven’t already. There are some fantastic bits built into the movie and although the storyline is telegraphed from a mile away it’s more enjoyable than almost any other variation I’ve seen on this story. There are a few cringe-y moments that feel a little out of touch (the dudes in the writer’s room make up almost all of them) but don’t let that stop you from checking it out. Equally great is the 2014 Netflix doc “Battered Bastards of Baseball.” It’s very brief clocking in at 80 minutes and is a zippy sports doc detailing the can-do spirit of an independent minor league team run by Kurt Russell’s dad Bing (who was in 100-plus episodes of “Bonanza”). There are a ton of great 70s moments like Jim Bouton (“Ball Four” author who pretty much invented this writing style I’m using right here) appearing on the team and the guys on the team inventing Big League Chew. If you like baseball, it’ll be the easiest watch in the world.

• Hit three very interesting open mics this week that were all very different. The first was Felicia Madison’s Westside Comedy Club Friday Feedback mic. I rarely participate as someone that gives feedback because I don’t want to sound like an idiot but I should. It’s essentially a chance to exist in a writer’s room. Also, you are exposed to comics that you don’t really run into because it’s noon on a Friday. After I went to that one of Friday, I went to Otto’s Shrunken Head for Jimmy Peoples’ new challenge mic. You have to get six laughs per minute (LPMs, baby) or you get booted off the stage. Jimmy will actually give you a thumbs down and kick you off if you don’t make it. If you DO make it five minutes, you get five extra minutes. It’s a real challenge AND Jimmy streams the entire thing. Somehow, I made it to the five minute mark. I didn’t want to go past that because that’s painful for anyone sitting through a mic but it was a cool honor. Finally, I hit up the Sunday Queen Vic Mic on the Lower East Side on Sunday at 7. It’s the first mic I’ve been to since Late Mic that had live music at a mic and these dudes playing jazz (a band called Contemporary Adult) classed up the joint. Very cool that all these different kinds of mics can exist. Makes doing comedy so much less of a slog and something to get excited about all the time.

• How Brooklyn am I? I spent $90 to see Malcolm Gladwell have a chat last night at King’s Theatre. I’d listened to a few episodes of his podcast “Revisionist History” and was curious to see what he would be like live. Well, he was interviewed by Brian Lehrer for 60 minutes and there was a Q & A and it was really nice to see someone be funny at the top of their intelligence for so long. A few of my favorite excerpts from the interview/Q & A were him talking about how dumb it was that the LSATs were timed since lawyers are encouraged to spend all the time in the world to work on cases; how he spends most of his time in NYC in coffee shops avoiding talking to people; he discussed how he has no sympathy for those swindled by Bernie Madoff because who is dumb enough to give someone all of their money; lastly, he talked about how biased interviews were which led to a great moment where the interviewer said if you don’t believe in interviews or the LSATs, how would anyone go to law school? I haven’t said this since 2009, but he PWNED Gladwell.

• Got zero comedy things planned for the week. Freedom.

If you read this, you’re the real hero.

Comedy Stray Notes September 4, 2019

• Well, I finally saw the Dave Chappelle special that spawned 158,000 think pieces. I give it a 7/10. Say what you will about “Sticks and Stones” but it got the internet talking. I think I liked it. I mean it’s hard not to just enjoy Dave talking. He’s one of the most naturally funny people ever and he just makes me laugh with a face or a silly voice. However, he loves to just walk that line. He’s one of those guys that wants to dig the biggest hole in the world and see if he can get out of it. It’s admirable. In a way, he’s saying, “Comedy is easy. I want to make it as hard as possible and take the least likable stance I can on EVERY topic and see if they’re still with me.” Some of it rules. Like, his bit on gun control in the special is next level. No need to spoil it here. However, there’s some downright tone deaf material in there no matter how hard he defends it (the race transition bit comes to mind). I could give more examples but great comic and friend Shalewa Sharpe actually wrote a really great piece about this on Vulture. Read that. The link is in the comments.

* Also, it should be noted that if you finish the special, there is an epilogue of sorts where he sits down and does Q & A with audience members. It’s a weird companion piece but a must-watch if you want to hear Dave’s thoughts on his own work and also see a million people ask, “How do you get started in comedy?” like they always do.

• Had a relatively slow week doing actual comedy these past seven days. The crazy thing about New York is that if you really, really apply yourself you can go up 30 times in a week. It’s not easy but you can. That’s why I feel like comics from here kick themselves when they don’t take advantage of how many opportunities for stage time we have. I went up just four times this past week. It’s not the worst and better than zero but I think everyone who does stand up can attest to how out of touch you feel if you don’t go up every day. Luckily, each mic was good. The best was yesterday’s monthly Pete’s Candy Store mic hosted by Sam Zelitch which I attended with Anna E. Paone. I’ll be honest, I only stayed for two groups but they were very fun. Plus, a radio reporter came and recorded our sets (if we agreed to it). It was pretty funny the way she recorded it. She would point her microphone at the comic while performing and at the audience during laughter. I had a joke not hit at one point though and she didn’t move the mic toward the audience. What a burn.

• Finally got around to seeing Julio Torres’ HBO special. Man, it is wildly different than Chappelle’s. It’s about Julio’s favorite shapes. He sits at a conveyor belt and does jokes about squares and toys that roll past him. It took a minute or two to get into but honestly, it’s one of the most unique, brilliant specials I’ve ever seen. Julio’s really smashed what we think of as a special. The jokes are still there and still hit really hard but it has a completely different presentational style than any stand up I’ve ever seen. It’s more of an art installment than anything. It’s a great watch and ends with a silly but rewarding visual callback. On top of that, it’s especially cool to see someone who used to do mics around the City reach a totally new stratosphere. I remember when Julio would go up at Pine Box and just absolutely kill so hard. I was a fan then and a bigger fan now. Cool to see the early beginnings of what is now a fully realized vision.

• One of the best things about being a baseball fan is there seems to be a lot of funny movies and TV made about the game. In the past two weeks, I saw two great baseball docs on Netflix. The first one was called “Jack of All Trades” and is about the boom and bust of the baseball card industry. If you collected cards at all in the late 80s-90s, you will LOVE this movie. Otherwise, I’m not so sure. It really struck a chord with me and the ending is surprisingly emotional. If you’re on the fence about it, just know that the subject of this 80-minute doc is also the voice of Arnold in “The Magic School Bus.” The second noteworthy doc is the very impressive and innovative “Screwball.” It’s about the PED scandal from the early ‘10s in Major League Baseball and is filled with colorful characters and re-enactments done by children for no reason other than it makes the movie somehow 50x funnier. Doesn’t matter if you’re a baseball fan for this one, you should definitely see it for the shocking story and dark humor. Also, Porter Fischer. What a wild character. Hard to believe that guy is a person.

• Got a cool comedy week ahead with the Big Walkowski three-on-three tourney and Malcolm Gladwell at King’s Theater (I expect to learn how you actually need 20,000 hours to be good at something).

Adios for the week

Comedy Stray Notes August 28, 2019

• This past Saturday, I had the distinct pleasure of filming two of my favorite NYC comics Christiana Jackson and Ben Miller’s half hours at DBA Studios in midtown Manhattan. The room was sweltering with no AC since it would affect the sound quality but it didn’t matter because the show was so fire that the crowd didn’t care. Bobby Sheehan opened the show with masterful crowd work that was equal parts dirty, probing and insightful. This led really nicely to Ben’s brainy 30. It deftly moved from personal to observational material and led to a killer closer. I hope he releases it online someday soon. Christiana, who I’ve known since I moved to NYC back in 2013 and have been a fan of forever, followed him to close out the show and killed it so hard. She worked in the title of her show into the half hour in a poignant and funny way and her set moved incredibly quickly. She was fast, frenetic, funny and engaged the crowd with questions and confrontations. All the performers on the show really were totally different styles but together made for an incredible night of comedy.

• When I was doing comedy in Phoenix, there were a few big fish in the scene. One was the incredibly kind and talented Matt Storrs. I was pleasantly surprised when he moved to New York a little while back. It’s nice to see the guy flourishing in NYC with his show The Storrs Objection at QED too which I performed on this week with my favorite person Anna E. Paone in attendance. There really isn’t any other show like it in the City. This week’s show was centered around the theme of “space.” Each comic has to prepare a 7-minute set based on the topics Storrs gave us (samples include “solar sails,” “worms in space” and “micro hotels”) which was a difficult but rewarding task. Once you’re onstage performing the severely undercooked material, Matt is there with you riffing about the topics and punching things up. It really is like the SATs of comedy; a true test of your abilities. Somehow, it all still works. All the comics on the show pulled the feat off with relative ease and it was really fun seeing everyone go outside of their comfort zone. Don’t wanna brag too hard (yes, I do) but my set ended with the crowd chanting “PERFECT JOKE” which is how I’d like every set to end. Also, it should be noted that not only was the show a great time but also an AZ reunion with Hattie Hayes, Kirsten Alberts and Dan Miller all in the room. It wasn’t mentioned but was a really cool byproduct of the show.

• Took in a minimal amount of content this week. First, I caught the underappreciated 2018 indie “Arizona” starring Danny McBride (in maybe his best role, seriously), Rosemarie DeWitt, Seth Rogen, Luke Wilson, Kaitlin Olson and others. Man, what a weird, hilarious and violent take on the 2008 housing crisis. Kind of plays as a dumber, funnier “Breaking Bad.” It’s streaming on HBO and I recommend you check it out. It’s worth your while. Not as worth your while is the 2004 Coen Bros. movie “The Ladykillers.” I’m a massive fan of theirs but this is a really strange misfire. It’s sporadically funny with quirky performances but the subpar story and subtle racism in the movie are not at all what I expect from some of my favorite directors. They definitely rebounded but this is a weird footnote in their career. Guess that happens. Finally, wanted to shout out a great Medium article I read by friend Ginny Hogan (who was great on The Storrs Objection show as well) about the differences between Millennials and Gen Z’ers. Great satire and the link as always is in the comments.

• Filmed a very fun show last Wednesday for Jora Nefferies and Paige Smith-Hogan at Velvet Brooklyn located next door to Peter Luger. It was my favorite kind of show which is a showcase for a ton of different comics that I was actually seeing for the first time and was being blown away by how many great, new people I’d never seen before. The show went extremely smoothly except for one thing. My camera wasn’t fully charged. It’s never happened before and I made the hosts set up an impromptu intermission. Honestly, that was kind of genius. However, when my battery started to die again and I made them set up a second intermission, it wasn’t as genius. Luckily, Nora and Paige handled it with relative ease doing some very fun crowd work guessing people’s jobs based on the neighborhoods they resided in.

• One last show for the week for me. Got to tape sets at the extremely packed, high energy party of a show Dyking Out at Stonewall Inn hosted by Carolyn Bergier. The show is an arm of Carolyn’s podcast and has a massive following. She’s doing it right. Not only that, she also books stellar lineups. The sets from Wanjiko Eke, Melody Kamali, Samantha Ruddy, Chewy May and Kate Willett varied in tone but all got major laughs. This is the future of comedy right here and it was pretty cool to witness it.

• Finally, wanted to say a New York goodbye to my friend and former cohost of “It’s Everybody’s Birthday” Jesse Swatling-Holcomb. The dude is moving west with his incredibly funny and talented girlfriend Emily Austin and they will be missed in the NYC scene and as friends. Looking forward to seeing them on the West Coast sometime soon though.

As for what I’m up to this week, I’m doing my pal Greg Suarez’s show on Monday and hosting Sam Zelitch’s mic on Tuesday. Both should be tight.

I’LL BE BACK

Comedy Stray Notes August 21, 2019

• I try to watch every hour special that comes out and like every person that does comedy, I compare myself to what I see. Sometimes, I’ll be honest, I’m like, “Yeah, I could do that.” Other times, I see a special that is doing something so different, so unique, so of the time that I’m like, “Well, now I have to try harder.” I certainly felt that this week while filming Christi Chiello’s “It’s Christi, B*tch” hour at Joe’s Pub. Honestly, it’s Netflix/Hulu/HBO ready. Without spoiling anything, the show is not only incredibly funny, original, moving, full of song and dance (first hour I’ve seen of someone’s that appeared to be choreographed), crowd work, commentary on other specials and faith, archive video and photos but also has great jokes. The hour felt short which is the greatest compliment an hour can receive.

• Participated in my first Comedy Fight Club since it relocated to The Stand last night. First of all, The Stand looks damn good. It’s like really nice and modern. Honestly, it’s nice enough that I would bring my parents there which is the highest compliment I can give a comedy club. Joe Harary and co. really turned the place into something special. As for Fight Club itself, it was really cool to see the show’s evolution. The energy from the original back at Lovecraft Bar to Lucky Jack’s to The Stand has not changed as the show has grown. Gotta give Matt Maran all the credit for that. He had a vision and saw it through. As for the Roast, I lost. That’s generous. The very funny Boris Khaykin DOMINATED. All of his jokes were on point and one of mine felt really soft which led to my defeat. Even though my loss was unanimous from the judges and audience, it was great to have Anna E. Paone there to break the rule of “No pity claps.” She clapped. What a wife. Made it all good.

• Watched so much comedy stuff this week as always. First off, after a month of watching, I finally finished “Broad City.” Man. What a show. They did what everyone in our generation wanted to do. They got to do the heartwarming, absurd show we all dreamed of making and had the best celebrity cameos of any show maybe ever. Each episode toward the end started to feel like an event. The show really is a great snapshot of NYC in the 2010s. Ilana and Abbi are one of the all-time great friend duos (really respect how they make Ilana so problematic too; she goes way farther than almost any character on TV) and the show rarely hit a false note. I genuinely teared up when it ended. Not as good is the tone deaf, phoned in reboot of “Rocko’s Modern Life” on Netflix. What a weird 45-minute cash grab. The jokes are flat, the commentary about computers being impersonal is dated and the trans storyline felt forced and insensitive. Seek it out if you’re curious but don’t go in expecting to love it. On the opposite end, definitely do check out Colin Quinn’s new hour “Red State, Blue State” (also on Netflix). It’s a staggering commentary on the country that peaks with its beyond impressive closer (Spoiler alert: a joke about all 50 states) that I actually dreamed of doing as a special long ago but now that he’s done it better than I ever could have, it’s been rendered useless for me to try. Finally, I watched Matt Ott, Jack Comstock, Kenice Mobley, Shane Torres (who I also listened to on a great episode of “You Made It Weird” this past week), Derek Humphrey, Carmen Lagala, Chloe Radcliffe’s series “The Alley” (might have forgotten some people. Sorry!). It’s a really fast, fun webseries that will leave you wanting more. Kind of like “Cheers” in a bowling alley. The link for Episode One is in the comments.

• Shout out to Randy Epley for running what was the best Comedy Dungeon show I’ve been to yet this past Sunday. As mentioned numerous times before, it’s Anna’s and my favorite show in the City and Randy delivered his sharpest material yet this past week. Very fun to riff with audience members from France, China and Poland too. Also, surprisingly fun this week was the Queen Vic Sunday 7 PM mic. An audience member was turning 30 and she brought a group of friends who self-identified as “Sex and the City” types (the birthday girl was Charlotte). Every comic did crowd work with them and it was a really great change of pace for a mic to see comics treat the room more like a show than a “see what sticks” kind of thing. On a high note, I won $10.00 on ComedyWire with a joke about working out from Nicholas Pappas. If you aren’t writing jokes every day on ComedyWire, you should be. There’s money to be made from writing jokes, guys. Finally, I shot stills of old friend John Field Hohensee promoting his tour guide company this past Saturday at the Brooklyn Bridge. John is a killer tour guide (second favorite in the City after Anna Paone) and also makes great videos. Check out this one in the comments too. Just hit 100K views and is really damn funny and smart.

As for this next week, I’m gonna continue basking in the fact that I’ve lived in NYC for six (!) years now as of Monday and have the good fortune of doing fellow Arizona native Matt Storrs’ show “The Storrs Objection” this Sunday at QED.

Signing off for this week, folks. See you soon

Comedy Stray Notes August 14, 2019

• People say comedy is hard and it really is (for evidence, please see my past few sets this week) but it’s nothing compared to all the moving pieces that make up community theater. This past Friday, I got to see a great example of a comedic play called “The Government Inspector” in Metuchen, NJ that pulled it off and made it look easy. The play is a Russian farce written in the 1830s and allegedly influenced “Waiting for Guffman.” This version was directed with aplomb by Catherine LaMoreaux (Anna E. Paone assisted) with modern punch ups alluding to our current administration. Most impressive to me though was the slapstick comedy on display. The energy and joy exuded onstage is typically reserved for professional shows and this felt like one. There were pratfalls, ensemble moves and jumps onstage. The show has ended its run but you should definitely check out Dragonfly’s one-act plays being put up in November.

• I was very kindly asked to open a really fun improv show at The PIT this last Sunday. I began with a bit of innocuous crowd work and discovered perhaps my greatest audience member yet. It was a guy who went to England this summer. He spent his last night there sleeping with three separate people in three different beds in a totally legal way. It was way more fun discovering this insane story with this person than just doing jokes. As for the improv show after my set, it was a GAS. Unfortunately, I only knew one person involved with the teams (the standup/improv do it all Lauren Davis who killed it) but I wish I knew more. The first team (My Brother’s Girlfriend) only had three players and got so much mileage out of their scenes. The best was about a Renaissance-era king that just wanted to hoop all the time. Lauren’s team (We’re Cousins) was just as great using a fact as their suggestion to get the show started. Their scenes were grounded (the best one was about a woman reconnecting with her mother she hadn’t seen in years and her husband barely participated) and made me remember just how much skill and prowess improv takes. Not only do you have to be funny at all times but you have to make sense and be on the same page. It’s an incredible talent and it was cool to see both of these teams make it look easy.

• Few shout outs to cool things people are doing that I’ve noticed this past week. First goes to Daniel J Perafan’s monthly show at the Creek Instatacular. I swung by on Saturday night and not only did it have a great turnout but the show was really damn good too. Perafan is a great host and it was fun to see him riff so effortlessly in between comics. Guy is a pro. Second shout out goes to my friend Clayton Russell Porter for his short story, “This Is Not Working” about pickup basketball. I’ve read three drafts and it keeps getting smarter, tighter and funnier. The dude is cornering the market on hoops humor. Props should also go out to Danny Vega’s “Am I The Asshole” corner of the internet. If you’re not following it already, it’s an amazing detour into modern social etiquette where anybody can chime in on anything. He’s created a little society and it’s a fun, always funny and educational way to spend your time on social media. Finally, props to my friend Talib Babb for showing up with a really hilarious piece on binging TV in the New Yorker. No need to spoil any jokes. The link is in the comments (if you still have New Yorker articles left to read this month, that is).

• Didn’t watch a ton of movies or TV this week but I have been slowly catching up with the latest season of “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” The Eddie Murphy episode felt like watching myself after having taken two weeks off stand up. He’s just a little rusty. Interesting to see him dip his toes back into the comedy world. The Matthew Broderick episode was great too. Really nice they didn’t let Broderick drive (very deep cut joke- you can Google it) but overall a really fun watch and cool to see behind the scenes at Citi Field and live your MLB fantasies if you’re a baseball fan. Finally, Amazon keeps recommending I watch the Dane Cook movie “Good Luck Chuck,” so I did in a moment of weakness this weekend. Man. Not here to rag on people but Jessica Alba delivered what I think was the worst performance I've ever seen in any movie. And I've seen Dane Cook in "Good Luck Chuck." Definitely skip this movie.

• I started working a bit with Gideon Klein and Stephanie Houng on their insanely ambitious company BonMo that connects comedians to projects that are tailored toward them. If you’re interested in being on the site, hit me up. I can help you out and maybe get you paid gigs. Doesn’t matter your skill level, experience, etc. Everyone fits a different project and we want as many people on the site as possible.

• Got a few things going on this coming week. Gonna bring my DSLR to a few things for a few people, gonna do a podcast, gonna do a show on Sunday, gonna do Comedy Fight Club with Boris Khaykin next Tuesday. Should be a good week.

Start your timers now because you can expect another one of these in approximately 168 hours

Bachelor Party/Comedy Stray Notes August 8, 2019

• Well, this was quite a week. I did a little bit of comedy stuff over the past eight days but more interestingly, I had my bachelor party in Oregon. I went with five of my best friends Ben Levy, Sam Levy, Clayton Russell Porter, Nate Abdo and Evan Sorosky (all fellow ASU grads and great people). It wasn’t your typical bachelor party. The first day, we hit the Nike HQ (Russ Westbrook has a parking space), the Nike employee store (very easy to drop a ton of coin in there; we all did), hooped (since it was my bachelor party, Evan let me score way more than I had any right to), had a steak dinner (just five bros sharing beignets for dessert) and went to a dueling piano bar to close the night (I made a fool of myself). Days two and three, we went to the Pickathon Music Festival. Day two of the trip at the Fest was incredible. There were three different stages at the festival campgrounds and each one was cooler than the last (see attached photos). The food was exceptional (it was a bummer that you had to pay $10.00 for a bowl and $6.00 for a cup but it was way more environmentally conscious than every other fest I’ve been to). As for the entertainment, we saw semi-obscure bands like Bodega, Miya Folick, B Boys and bigger groups like Lucius and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats. Every act felt incredibly authentic and no one came close to phoning it in like you might usually see at a festival. Couldn’t have asked for a better day. Day three was a mess though. It’s my fault. I burnt out fast at the fest (dehydration, lack of sunscreen like an idiot...other factors) and my friends nursed me back to health at the hotel. It was a lame ending to the trip on my part but in terms of friends looking out for you, it couldn’t have been nicer.

• As for comedy this week, I hopped on a very cool weekly show in Portland called Earthquake Hurricane at Ford Food and Drink hosted by Alex Falcone, Mohanad Elshieky and Katie Nguyen. I was late to the show and brought garlic bread for the hosts as an apology. It was a valuable lesson. If you’re running late to something, come with food. People will immediately forget that you inconvenienced them in any way. As for the show itself, it was on point. The room was packed, filling up a huge space which would be daunting to pack out in New York and the lineup featuring Portland comics and Sam Jay (who I had JUST listened to on a podcast that day) was top notch too. The quality of comedy in Portland from the mics I went up at to the shows I did really blew me away. It’s cool seeing the next wave of people that will be moving to NY and LA kill it before they go East or Southwest.

• After being alive for 31 years, I finally got around to seeing “Revenge of the Nerds” (featuring a young John Goodman as a football coach). As always, comedy ages in really strange ways. Some of the jokes in the movie felt just as fresh today as they probably did when the movie was released (making them all sleep on cots in the gym and giving the jocks their dorms was very funny). However, this was a sex comedy made in the 80s which immediately means a lot of it will feel unbelievably dated. There’s spying on women in states of undress (don’t think that would fly as a joke today), slurs, stereotypical characters and major male entitlement to women. The craziest thing is this movie probably felt progressive in the 80s. Can’t wait to see how the comedy of 2019 will hold up in 2050. Watch out, “Stuber.” You may be considered the most offensive movie of the future.

• Hosted Sam Zelitch’s monthly Pete’s Candy Store mic this past Tuesday with Anna E. Paone at my side (she even volunteered to do crowd work for comics at a mic which was saintly). Damn, that mic is always fun. It’s a combination of the space being so tight and the quality of the comics. There were some old favorites of mine (too many to name) but this is a great mic to discover new people I haven’t seen before. There were maybe six comics at the mic whom I’d never seen that all felt like seasoned vets. It’s also possible I’m just out of the loop too.

• Don’t have much planned this week comedy-wise other than seeing Catherine LaMoreaux and Anna Paone’s Dragonfly production of “Inspector General” at Metuchen High School. Hopefully, another thing or two pops up.

Peace 'til next week

Comedy Stray Notes July 31, 2019

• One of the coolest perks of stand up comedy is that if you travel pretty much anywhere, you can perform in other cities and kind of weirdly ingratiate yourself in the scene wherever you go. This week, for me, I’ve been in Portland. It’s been great so far. Before I headed out, great dudes Alex Falcone, Mohanad Elshieky and Jamie Carbone gave me suggestions on what to do. So far, I’ve done one great show hosted by Jake Silberman and Shain Brenden (their banter was so strong up top that it was hard to even think of a riff which made my set weaker; kudos to them for being that funny). It was a weekly with a fantastic turnout and great lineup. I saw locals (Adam Pasi) rev up for the Portland’s Funniest competition going on this week, visiting Denver comics, LA comics and NYC pal Carmen Christopher on the show. It was a nice slice of comedy from all the best places to perform in the US. My biggest take away from the show though was when comics bark in Portland literally EVERY passerby is interested in said show. In fact, they’re excited by the idea of a comedy show. I’ve said this a bunch of times but every time I bark in New York, I feel like I could say, “I’ve got $1000.00, here it is” and people would walk past and say, “No, thank you.” This was a really cool change of pace.

• While out in PDX (the abbreviation for Portland for those not in the know), I’ve hit up two mics as well (can’t be grinding too hard at mics on vacation). The first one at the Haymaker (Mondays at 8) was a very supportive room hosted by Lee Cox where everyone seemed to do well. The mic also had a very cool strategy where they have one male comic followed by a female comic policy. Made for a good mix. Would definitely recommend it if you’re visiting. The second mic I hit was a hot room at a bar called High Dive and run by Ian Albanese. Saw some familiar faces from the previous mic and show already. Overall, I’m super impressed by the Portland scene. There’s a lot of cool stuff going on here and everyone has been extremely friendly. Throw it on the comedy bucket list (Get it? 'Cause it's a bucket) if you haven’t been out here yet.

• The flight from JFK to PDX is a little under six hours. I challenged myself to watch three feature films on the way. You better believe I pulled it off (Delta is honestly the gold standard for movies on flights). Started with the very funny genre-bending “Isn’t It Romantic.” Cool to see New York comedy pop their heads up in it too most notably my old UCB teacher James Dwyer. He has a nice moment early in the movie. Next, I watched “Lego Movie 2: THe Second Part” which is turning into one of the best ongoing franchises there is. They just churn out such high energy, fun, hilarious stuff. The highlight for me was The Lonely Island’s song over the credits. Maybe the best credits gag of all time. Finally, I finished up with the way underseen Stephen Merchant written and directed “Fighting With My Family.” It certainly has comedic moments but is mostly just a great, little sports movie. I’m sad to admit I’m proud that I pulled off the three movies. As for the rest of the week, I caught “Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood” like everyone else. Anna E. Paone and I went running into Frank Terranova, Matteo Angelo Pascale and Kevin Janaway there. It felt like a real event in the theater. Still processing how I feel about the movie as a whole since some of it was a bit TOO far even for QT but overall, I loved it. Leo has never been funnier. Brad has. But man is Leo great in this.

• Another great perk of doing comedy in New York is that there are so many of us we’re bound to run into each other everywhere. This happens to me almost every time I take the train, eat, go to the movies (see above), exist in public. It happened again this past Saturday at the JFK airport where I ran into Defne Gencler. We hung for a little bit and she told me about her webseries with Molly Kornfeld which I somehow had missed out on. Watched the whole thing almost immediately and really loved it. If you want to see it too, the link is in the comments. It’s short and great.

• I went to film school a long time ago (2009-11) and used to spend ALL my time on set. It’s decreased significantly after school but I still love helping out with movie projects. This week, I got to do sound on Matthew Tenenbaum and Alexander Payne’s show which was a great time. They pulled off some really cool shots (inspired by my boy Buster Keaton!) using an iPhone with a lens which looks better than most DSLRs and got great performances from Alex and Andrea Allan. Can’t wait to see the finished product. Side note: Tenenbaum is a genius and picks up his cast and crew (he literally was waiting for me outside of Chipotle) so they’re all on time as opposed to waiting for everyone. This is the most genius directorial move I’ve ever seen. Copy it, everyone (if you have a vehicle).

• Upcoming for me this week, I’m doing Alex and Mohanad’s show in Portland tomorrow at 8 PM PST and hosting Sam Zelitch’s mic next Tuesday at 7 PM EST in the world famous Pete’s Candy Store.

Please @ me

Comedy Stray Notes July 24, 2019

• This might be controversial but I am a very fairweather Weird Al fan. I didn’t know if I totally got it growing up. Like is “Like A Surgeon” or “Eat It” really that funny or very easy parody? The later stuff like “Word Crimes” (“Blurred Lines” parody) was definitely a bit more sophisticated but I had never really paid all that much attention. Either way, I was intrigued when I saw he was playing Forest Hills Stadium (an old tennis stadium located in deep Queens; you should definitely seek it out if you haven’t been) this past weekend so I went with Anna E. Paone and met up with Adam Suzan and Joe Gorman. I am happy to admit all my notions of Weird Al being easy parody have been washed away. He’s just fun and you can’t be mad at that. The guy’s fans ranged in age from four (literally the kid sitting next to us) to the elderly. Fun just transcends demographic. Also, what makes him so funny, to me at least, is just how much effort he puts into these silly parodies parading around the stage with insane bravado. He really sells his music/bits no matter how inane it is (the best joke was when the crowd sang along with him and he yelled, “DO IT BETTER” at us). The true highlight of the show for me though was “The Saga Begins,” a “Star Wars” parody of “American Pie.” It felt like a childhood memory I hadn’t experienced being re-lived.

• I’ve said it before but Matt Vita is onto something special with his two-minute stand up competition show at the PIT. So smart to run a show this way with so many comics competing. There’s never any pressure about booking people because you NEED to book people. You have gamed the system. As for this second installment of the show, it was just as fun as the first. Midway through the show, Matt brought me up with the line, “He’s probably going to write about this…” and here we are. I had a fun set doing tried and true material (two minutes of it) and seeing Rachel Lenihan and Dan Wickes both compete to win the coveted body shot. They both really brought it but at the end of the day, Lenihan took it. Major kudos also to the woman who brought her infant daughter and 12-year-old son onstage. She didn’t advance but it was probably wise because her kids needed to go to sleep.

• Caught quite a few major mass media comedy things this week ranging from the spectacular blockbuster “Spider Man: Far From Home” (can’t believe Marvel is making the best studio comedies but it does make sense; why not get all the best comedy people in a superhero movie?) to “An American Werewolf in London” (it’s streaming on Amazon and definitely holds up if you haven’t seen it, nice mixture of funny and horror; the last shot is really chilling) to “Punching The Clown” (2010 movie starring Henry Phillips, an indie I had always wanted to see and more than lives up to the hype. A bit where people in a company go to great lengths to find out where the bagels at the meeting were from was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen). Speaking of movies, you can also hear me and Anna on Frank Terranova’s podcast talking about our favorite movies, Frank’s film school experience as well as ours, his screenplays and tangents about Sally Field. Got the link in the comments if you’re interested. Also, one last thing! I watched Episode Three of “Bring the Funny” and was pumped to see New York improv/sketch master Adrian Frimpong advance to the next round. His group’s (Kids These Days is their name) sketch was very, very funny and the third beat defied all expectations. You can check that link in the comments too.

• Very sad to have found out this week that Jay Welch’s Karma Mic at 6 PM on Sundays has been discontinued. The mic was a true institution and the only one hosted by the same host (the best host in New York I always say and fully believe) from when I first moved here in August 2013. Genuinely feels like the end of an era. I laughed so hard at that mic my body has hurt from Jay’s riffs. The mic really was a master class in learning how a host can mine riff lines from the slightest observation from one’s set. Often, the riffs were much funnier than the jokes onstage. It’s a true shame that it’s over but I’m very happy I got to experience it. On a happier note, Derek Kalteux (½ of the now defunct musical comedy group The Greys that always blew my mind) runs an energetic new monthly mic at Cherry Bar called Cherry Bomb. It really feels more like a show than a mic. Don’t want to promote this too much because it felt so good with just a few people last night but the people should know. Also, it should be pointed out that the lights went out MID-MIC last night and everyone used their phone lights to light the stage. All comedy should be done that way. Yes, it drains the battery out of our iPhones but feels magical.

• I’ve said it many, many times and I don’t mean this ironically. “A Night at the Roxbury” is my favorite movie of all time. So, my family got me his headline grabbing autobiography for my birthday. It’s a good, fast read. Kattan tells a lot of behind the scenes stories I hadn’t heard about (being forced into a relationship with Amy Heckerling which we don’t know if it’s true is the most well known one but it’s way crazier hearing about his neck being broken on the SNL set) as well as stories about being romantically involved with Jennifer Coolidge, Zooey Deschanel and the woman who inspired Maroon 5’s “Songs About Jane” (It was Jane). I don’t know how much I believe and a lot of the jokes in it are VERY flat but worth a read. Couldn’t put it down most nights.

• Late to chime in here but major props to Isabel Hagen, Jordan Jensen, Napoleon Emill, Shapel Lacey, Chanel Ali, Jay Jurden, Kevin Iso and Dan Licata for getting into the Just for Laughs Festival! It is really cool to see people you’ve done comedy with make the next step in their careers. It’s kind of gross to write this because it seems like I’m doing it to associate myself with these people that did something really cool but I truly mean it. Comics rarely praise one another and this is something that should be cherished and remembered as much as possible as sappy as that sounds. Kill it in Montreal, everyone. I look forward to late night sets and big news from all of you in the near future.

• The big news in comedy this weekend was that James Davis doxxed Dina for what I thought was a very funny and ultimately harmless joke. It was clear she meant no ill will and if comics are doing this to comics, there has to be a better way. It was amazing to see the outpouring of support for Dina this weekend from everyone and I hope going forward, people actually speak to one another (or even just DM) rather than do something as gross as that. Everyone has every right to be offended but no one should doxx anyone. This is coming from the guy that read the Chris Kattan book and saw Weird Al in the same week.

I’m headed to Portland for the week this Saturday and I am booked on some very cool shows out there. Notes to follow next Wednesday

Comedy Stray Notes July 17, 2019

• Open mics are widely known to be a slog for most. Everyone is trying new stuff which can be brave to do in front of your peers but yeah, listening to hours of new stuff can be a bit much if you do it seven days a week. That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a new take on the open mic which is what I found in Nat Towsen’s show “New Material Night” at the PIT. I attended with Anna E. Paone and Danny Braff last Sunday (Art Cai, Dominic Leonelli and Jeff Jacobs were there too!) and saw Nat open the show with an impressive amount of new stuff. It’s a tough thing to do stuff that isn’t tried and true in front of an audience but Nat did so with ease and bravado. Milly Tea and Jes Tom followed. They both did sets that felt polished yet fresh. It was a joy to watch. Then Nat brought on the headliner Gary Gulman. He ran about an hour of new stuff (he has a special coming out on October 5 as he reminded the crowd as a running joke) and some of it was truly revelatory. He said, “Staggering” onstage. Never heard anyone say that while performing comedy and that’s what separates him; Gary always plays to the top of his intelligence. A chunk about all of us living in a simulation was perfect. He’s one of the best working comics today and his daily Twitter tips for comics are a goldmine. Gary is incredible and if I ever remake “The Wizard of Oz” (which I have no plans to do so) I can’t think of anyone who could play The Cowardly Lion better.

• Didn’t do much comedically this week but I did make it through sketch packet season alive. I know a lot of my peers like Maura Sateriale, Nate Borgman and Joe Nahme to name a few did SNL packets that were due this past Monday which I thought was an interesting process. For some reason, SNL opened writing submissions to the public this year. Who knows if any of us folks without representation even hear back but it was certainly cool to be part of the world of people who get to submit and feel like a legitimate writer for a second. Similarly, I submitted packets to the Armory Sketch Group and BoogieManja as well. Fingers crossed this goes anywhere.

• If you couldn’t tell from above, I’m a massive SNL fan. I haven’t missed an episode in years and started watching back in 1995 or so (late 90s is the best era followed closely by the late 80s). Anyway, where is this going? Well, last Friday was my birthday and I got a group text from my brother Ben Levy I opened it and it was a Cameo video of Chris Kattan. Basically, my Dad Andy Levy wrote up a script for Kattan to read (excerpts from his Mango character and lines from “A Night at the Roxbury” which is my all-time favorite film) and he went way off. Either way, it was still awesome. Hadn’t really explored Cameo before either; you can get Mr. Wonderful from “Shark Tank” to wish you a happy birthday for $1000.00 if you want. Kattan is much cheaper.

• Watched so much stuff this week so I’ll recap quickly. The first two episodes of “Bring the Funny” are a more high energy, cleaner “Last Comic Standing” and it’s definitely cool to see my pal Ian Lara crush it up there. Also, a guy I sort of barely know Michael Longfellow (we just missed each other in AZ) killed it as well. Excited to see what the following weeks hold as much as the choices for who move on to be fairly strange (not a slight to those who have advanced. The judges just treat some performers unfairly it seems). Also, caught three very funny movies this week. “Airplane 2” (streaming on Amazon Prime) deserves way more credit. The movie is yes, dumb as mud, but incredibly smart too. So many very literal jokes. I really wish there were more parodies made at this level. Also, finally saw “Living In Oblivion (streaming on Amazon Prime too), which is the movie about making movies that every film school kid aspires to make. This one gets it right too and is spot on about making video. It pretty much is film school featuring a youngish Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener and Peter Dinklage. It breezes right past. You should definitely check it. Finally, saw “Toy Story 4” with Anna and Clayton Russell Porter last week. Don’t know how the franchise keeps getting better but it does. Go see it just for Forky. It should also be mentioned that with about ten minutes left in the movie at its emotional climax, a dude walked in looking for his friend (just like the character in the movie was looking for their friend) and it totally took us out of the experience. Paid $17.00 or so for that.

• Had a totally random dude with a ton of followers retweet a very dumb Tweet of mine (A lot of people don’t know this but 21 Savage is Fred and Ben Savage’s little brother) and a bunch of gamers randomly picked it up. Don’t know how or why this happened but I got four random, new followers out of it. I celebrate the small things. Also, as always, if you follow @mattlevy51 if you’re not already, I will follow back and like ten of your Tweets. This was just a plug.

• I really want to bring Genevieve Rice’s excellent show from AZ to life in NYC. The show is called Snark Show and could use a home. I’ll book everyone! It will run for all of time and we will all become wildly successful because of it. If you know a place that I could put it up at (already submitted to the PIT), let me know! I’ll get you on (once it exists that is)!

• Got one sweet show this week that I’m very excited about. It’s Matt Vita’s two-minute competition show tomorrow night. You should go or ask me about it if you don’t know about it already, Matt WILL book you on a future one and I’ll put in a good word with him for you there. Let me know if you want details.

You miss 100% of the punchlines you don’t write

Comedy Stray Notes July 10, 2019

• You ever go down a YouTube video spiral where you watch fifteen video essays out of nowhere? You’re not alone. I do it too (mostly weird easter egg stuff for Tarantino and Jordan Peele movies by their superfans) and so do most Americans. This past week, one of my friends John Field Hohensee (recently retweeted by Rachel Leigh Cook!) made an exceptional video that felt just as good and professional as these videos but much funnier. His is about how “Josie and the Pussycats” is the greatest film of all time. There are funny bits interspersed, commentary on why we consider certain movies great and some frivolous and there was a (SPOILER) fantastic Sarah Kennedy cameo that really made me laugh. If you have 13 or so minutes, you should check it out and see why “Josie and the Pussycats” is the greatest film of all time. Link in the comments.

• It’s that time of year. Comedy anniversary time. The annual reflection. You’ve all been there. This is my seventh consecutive year doing stand up (I did a weird year and a half in high school taking classes with my Dad Andy Levy where I actually threw up Gatorade onstage that I don’t really count). Anyway, the biggest lesson I learned this year was that if you walk onstage smiling you will be better. That’s it. I heard it on a podcast and honestly it works (at least for me). I don’t think it literally has to be a smile either; more just a mindset. If you don’t go up blank but go up in the headspace of what you’re trying to achieve, it’s much easier. Sorry if that's preachy and you're welcome if it's helpful. Having Anna E. Paone in the crowd for a lot of my sets certainly helps too. On a separate note, a friend of mine who isn’t on Facebook asked me how comedy was going recently and I said, “Well, I haven’t really made any major moves in it but I am having more fun than ever.” It’s true. I’m not doing this for success, I’m here because there’s nothing I’d rather spend my free time doing.

• Got a fresh cut from Kenny Warren at his barbershop this past Saturday and I’ve never received so many compliments on a haircut (it was two compliments for people wondering how many). Seriously though, if you live in NYC and are hopping from barber to barber, hit Kenny up instead. He does a damn good job.

• Watched quite a few comedy movies I’d never seen this week. For example, “Kindergarten Cop” or “Rush Hour.” Just never got around to them. Both were fun and now I finally get some references to lines I’d heard for years but never knew the context for. Also, caught “Sling Blade” (would call this a drama with humorous moments) which I didn’t know much about but was really impressed by. It was written, directed and stars Billy Bob Thornton and is a massive achievement. No spoilers from me here. See it if you haven’t already. Wanted to point out that “Under The SIlver Lake” is also available to stream on Amazon (the shelved neo noir from David Robert Mitchell who directed “It Follows”). I could see WHY it was shelved. It’s long, shaggy and doesn’t really fit in a post-#metoo world. Pretty exploitative of women but the movie does make some interesting points about the control media has over us and hidden messages that were too inventive to ignore. Plus, there’s a character who claims he wrote every pop song in history. Honestly, see this movie just for that scene. It’s worth it for that guy. Finally, I watched the Aziz special. What can I say? I was curious. I was curious about one of my all time favorite directors Spike Jonze's newest work behind the camera. I was curious to see if Aziz would own up to his past misdeeds. I was curious to see if it was funny. Here’s my takeaway. I’m going to go against the grain and say it wasn't that bad comedically. I found myself liking it quite a bit. I will say that this special is NOT a proper apology as much as he makes it out to be (his moments of earnestness feel a little false and exist mostly to pat himself on the back) but there are some very smart observations about 2019 knee jerk reactions to news stories and a fantastically realized bit about visiting your parents. Feel free to hate this special and my thoughts on it all you want, (in a way I kind of hated myself for enjoying) but I would say at least give it a shot before knocking it (please don't cancel me).

• I’ve been a semi-regular on Paul Schissler and Nick Jack Pappas' ComedyWire forever now. I’ve said it before but it really is the only productive way to waste time on the internet. Well, this week it wasn’t only productive for me; it was also lucrative. I submitted a one-liner for a Contest to write in the voice of Steve Martin and I somehow won the $200.00 grand prize. It came as a huge surprise and I’m still excited just thinking about it. This is the first time I’ve ever won any writing contest and I’m incredibly grateful to the people at ComedyWire for this.

• Gonna do two quick shout outs this week. The first goes to Madison Allen who I saw perform at Magick Mic on Monday night. He had a bit about girls from his High School that blew me away. Just an incredibly sharp piece of writing that saw a premise I’d seen before finally delivered to its logical conclusion. Seriously book this guy, he’s on fire right now. Second shout out goes to Alvin Kuai. I’ve always been a fan of his from afar and I got to see him do a fun set at the Parish mic last week. The guy writes smart bits. Book him if you can too. The two of these guys together make a great addition to any lineup.

• Finally, see Thom Yorke and PT Anderson’s “Anima” on Netflix. It’s weird, slapstick-y, satirical and full of Thom Yorke sounds if that’s your thing. I loved every second of it and it’s only fifteen minutes. You won't hate yourself for watching it like you did for Aziz's special either.

• No shows for me this week. I bet you I tell you my thoughts on NBC’s “Bring the Funny” next week though.

To be continued next Wednesday

Comedy Stray Notes July 3, 2019

• In New York City, it’s very rare to get an opportunity to be a part of comedy things on a Friday or Saturday night. Maybe that’s just me but every time I am part of a thing on a Friday or Saturday, it feels like a truly special occasion. This week, I got to be a part of the really fun video sketch show “Always Happy Never Sad Comedy Bop” hosted by Nehemiah Markos and Jed Feiman. My sketch was featured on their two-year anniversary show along with other NY sketch heavyweights Dan Harumi, Dominic Leonelli, Nate Borgman and Laura Merli (I didn’t know anyone else in any of the videos but there were a few sketches I really loved). The show also featured stand up from Bowen Yang and Dulcé Sloan. I’ve been a fan of both of theirs from afar for a long time but had never seen either of them live. They’re both so good and naturally funny. The different ways Bowen described NYU got funnier every time and Dulce’s review of Brooklyn Bazaar (where the show was being held) was some of the best riffing I’ve seen this year. It should also be noted that this show has the most interesting chair situation for audiences that I’ve seen in the City. Anna E. Paone and I sat on lawn chairs for the show. This was a welcome change of pace.

• Filmed just one show this week (Anna was there) at the PIT Loft and it was a banger. Stephanie Occhipinti’s sketch show Womedy (featuring friends Emily Austin killing it singing a killer song and Yaari Nadav Tal on piano) sold out the joint THREE nights in a row. That’s like Hamilton-level success for any type of comedy in NYC without a name attached to it and I applaud the group for that. Seriously, that doesn’t just happen. Either way, it was earned because the show itself was 45 minutes of very strong sketches ranging from satire to silliness to social commentary that I won’t spoil because they’re mostly already online. You can check them out at the link in the comments if that’s your kind of thing.

• Had some cool comedy hangs this week. The first was a training session with Jimmy Peoples (of People’s Mic fame) at a gym by Grand Central Station. If you’re not in the loop and looking for a trainer, Jimmy is one of the best I’ve ever had (saying this after just one training session that I was ten minutes late to) and gives you a true workout. My forearms were sore for days. Hit him up if you’re trying to get swole. The other cool hang I had this week was last Wednesday when Anna and I went to the Staten Island Yankees game (they also go by the Staten Island Pizza Rats for six games a year and have Pizza Rat pilsners you can buy) with Jason Planitzer and his wife Sarah Murphy after trying out the international menu at McDonalds (the Stroopwafel McFlurry is a 6.5/10 for me). You just take the ferry to Staten Island and BOOM you’re there to watch some low level baseball. Pretty much every batter was batting under .200 (not that batting average matters) and there were a ton of errant throws in the infield. We weren’t there for great baseball though. We were there for the hang and I can’t recommend a better hang than with Jason and his wife. If you’re a baseball fan, hit them up, there’s no one better to catch a game with. They know their stuff and are both funny as hell.

• On Monday afternoon, I got a message from Matt Vita asking me if I wanted to do two minutes on his new show “Vita’s Variety” at the PIT. I said, “Yeah, dude.” Showed up to the show at 9 with Anna (she went to comedy things FOUR NIGHTS IN A ROW THIS WEEK which sets a record for most shows in a row ever attended by a significant other. She is the true Comedy WAG) not sure what to expect and what I found was a packed out room of people ready to watch 35 comics do two minutes. Everyone killed it with their TIGHT 2. Essentially, he commodified the open mic experience into a fun version of a show. The man is a genius. It was also a competition and Tony Sykowski killed it and ended up winning in an overtime battle. Also, major props should be given to the improv troupe that was thrown up during the show’s intermission and had to do scenes based on what the Comics had done. Never an easy task but they got big laughs and handled it with ease.

• Quick plug for a new mic that I went to this past week. Check out Vivek Netrakanti and Shenuque Tissera-Salazar’s brand new and very fun mic (No Slimers Open Mic- they’ve got a Facebook group) at Easy Lover Bar (formerly Legion Bar). It’s a fun mic and a great space to try out new stuff. Next one is at the end of the month.

• Last but never least, I did Randy Epley’s Comedy Dungeon show at Jazz on the Park on Sunday night. This is Anna’s favorite show and one of mine too. From the set up where Randy sets up a decoy front row so people sit in the true front row which is the second row to seeing every comic (myself included) attempt to do crowd work with people from Australia, Haiti and Thailand at the same time, the show is something else. At the center of it all is Randy firing off absurd one-liners which I can’t get enough of. He sets up and cleans up every week and doesn’t get enough credit for this show that he puts on. Do it if you haven’t. It’s a challenge and worth it. This week, I wanted to give a special shout out to Lee Valentin for speaking three languages in his ten-minute set and showing us all how to properly murder a hostel show. That was one of the most impressive feats of comedy and it was for such a small room. The good sets in the small room are always more memorable.

• No comedy stuff planned for me this coming week. That’s OK. Just means it’s time to try the one new joke I’m working on at like 20 mics.

Happy early fourth and happy right on time July 3

Comedy Stray Notes June 26, 2019

Comedy Stray Notes

• The Lonely Island were in town this past weekend doing live shows and I went to the show out at King’s Theatre in Flatbush on Saturday night (I found the theater by following the throngs of people dressed up for the show in Oakland A’s jerseys and kimonos). Good friends, former “It’s Everybody’s Birthday” co-hosts and fellow fans Jesse Swatling-Holcomb and Emily Austin were there too which made it so much better. The show itself was unlike any comedy show I’ve ever been to. There was so much energy. The crowd was singing along to EVERY song and there were intermittent huge laughs when they strayed from the material we knew and loved. To recap the show: It started normally enough with Mike Birbiglia opening with a fine 20 minutes of stand up. The crowd went wild when they saw him and then settled down once he did his set. A little while later, Stephanie Beatriz from “Brooklyn 99” came onstage to introduce the group and the crowd lost their minds. I don’t want to spoil anything (you really need to see them live if you’re a fan; Samberg is electric) BUT if you’re a fan of the Digital Shorts (Chris Parnell coming out for “Lazy Sunday” was easily the show highlight for me; he and Samberg rocked it so hard) or “Pop Star” or “Incredibad,” this is the show for you. What they did with Laser Cats and Alf in the show will hit you right in the comedy sweet spot of nostalgia mixed with absurdity. Make this a priority the next time they’re in your town. Jesse pointed out that the crowd was made up mostly of people that will “never make it in comedy” and he’s totally right. Still worth it to be one of those people if it means seeing a show this hyphy.

• Had a really rough week comedically. I performed FOUR bombs in a row at open mics which I’m vain enough to admit hasn’t happened in a long time (I sucked at Karma and Queen Vic on Sunday as well as Muchmores and Rosemont on Monday for the record) and had one of those, “Damn, will I ever be good again?” existential crises. I must have stupidly said I “lost my mojo” to Anna E. Paone like ten times. Even sadder was I just had my merch delivered in the mail (patches for holes in your clothing that say, “Caught ya lookin’” with mattlevycomedy.squarespace.com on them) and did a bit at two mics where I TRIED TO SELL THEM. Ya know, it’s a bit but it felt more sweaty and lame than anything else. The audience members at Muchmore’s (there were two!) looked at me like I was insane when I tried to make them buy something that I was associated with after sucking so much. Luckily, I broke the streak yesterday and had a respectable set at Alex Kennedy’s Tamra Tearoom mic off the Utica stop. There was only like five people there but it didn’t matter, a good set is a good set. Also helped that i ate a great meal at the venue before it started. The secret to breaking a slump is going to a mic that serves exceptional Asian stir fry. Even if you don’t do well, you’ll feel like you did because the food was so good.

• Didn’t watch much comedy stuff BUT I did listen to one of the best WTFs I’d ever heard this week with Stephen Colbert. It was laugh out loud hilarious, profound, sad and full of incredible anecdotes. At one point, Colbert even rags on Maron for calling himself an athlete just because he runs. I loved hearing Maron get bullied because everyone bows down to him so much on the show. He’s good but nice to see him knocked off his PODestal (see what I did there?). Besides that, Colbert is a fascinating comedian who I honestly think is more interesting as just a person and hearing about his tragic life story made me have such a deeper appreciation for what he does. I honestly think this episode deserves some kind of special award; it really made my day and I couldn’t stop listening.

• This is BARELY comedy but every year of my life my family has made posters celebrating each other’s birthdays. My Mom and Dad hang them in the kitchen and when you enter, you’re greeted by like 10-15 hand drawn posters about you. It makes your birthday feel really special. Anyway, since I moved to NYC in 2013, June has always been difficult because I miss my brother, Dad and Mom’s birthdays (their birthdays all happen within a span of two weeks). So, every early June, I take on my most creatively taxing project of the year and make 15 posters (five for each person) about them. I get a ton of marker all over my hands but it’s worth it. This year, I did 15 posters with “jokes” on them (they’re very inside and mostly about real estate or hedgehogs) but if you want to see them, you can in the comments.

• Happy belated birthday to my cousin Lisa Harrison. I only give Lisa a happy birthday shout out here (my parents don't get personalized bday shout outs and I use them to talk about posters that I made? WTF?) because she is one of the first people I truly connected with about comedy as we connected over "The Simpsons," Bill Hicks, Kay Cannon among others when I was 10 or so. Was cool to have my first official comedy nerding out with someone I was related to. For that, you earn the first ever Comedy Stray Notes birthday shout out, my friend.

• Wanted to give props this week to John Donovan who I hadn’t seen in a long while go up this week at Muchmore’s. No one tags their jokes with more punchlines and really analyzes word economy than John D. It really is cool to see his bits evolve from very funny to dense masterpieces chock full of laughs. My theory is that jokes are like drawings. You can doodle something and leave it at that or you can keep filling in the blanks and adding detail and it truly feels done. John does that. Kudos, man.

• Got a few things coming up this week. My sketch “Excuse Me” (currently streaming on...YouTube) with Usama Siddiquee and Mark King is playing at the Always Happy Video Comedy Bop on Friday night at Brooklyn Bazaar. Taping a sketch show at the PIT Loft on Saturday. On Sunday, I’m doing Randy Epley’s Comedy Dungeon show. Always an adventure.

Life is a highway, I’m gonna ride it all NIGHT LONG

Comedy Stray Notes June 19, 2019

• 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

Comedy Stray Notes June 12, 2019

• Last night (Tuesday, June 11), I went to Union Hall to film the show The Lesbian Agenda for a number of great comics incuding Sophie Elizabeth Santos, Sabrina Wu, Melody Kamali, Sami Schwaeber, Mindy Raf and Robby Hoffman. I’ll be honest, I’d never met any of these incredible comics before yesterday and now I’m a huge fan of all of them. I’m a huge fan of this show too. I hadn’t been before but was incredibly impressed. They packed Union Hall out, the show had a lot of love put into it (the host Sophie did very funny prepared bits like songs and fan fiction in between comics; my favorite thing in comedy when the host does prepared bits in between acts) and there was a musical act too (Sami Schwaerber who murdered it). Also, a special shout out to Robby Hoffman who closed the show and said, “I’m gonna end on this,” and the crowd audibly “Aww’d.” I’ve never seen a crowd want to see a comic do more time so badly. Check this show out if you get a chance; it’s a good time.

• Had my 27th Roast Battle this weekend against Jon Schuta at Comedy Fight Club and lost dropping my record to 13-14. I had a solid first round but Schuta came out swinging and killed it. Just like applause break worthy jokes every time. By the time we got to the second round, it felt insurmountable to pull off a comeback. I was right. My jokes were good and nothing REALLY bombed but Jon was dishing. Kudos to Schuta. This was not even close to Fight of the Night status though. Our fight was fairly tame next to the incredible battle between Mike Kramer and Steve Girard. Kramer is unlike anyone else in comedy; the dude gets onstage and rips off his shirt like a wrestler, taunts and imitates the judges and delivers his jokes at an exasperated yell. The performance is funnier than any joke anyone could write. It should be mentioned Steve Girard won the fight though. He brought it too.

• Finally got around to watching all three seasons of “Documentary Now!” on Netflix. Can’t believe I’ve slept on it for so long. For anyone that’s not familiar with the concept of the show, it’s simple. Helen Mirren introduces each episode that mocks a different documentary. There are parodies of “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” “Grey Gardens,” “Wild, Wild Country,” VICE documentaries, the LCD Soundsystem/Talking Heads concert docs, Marina Abramovic performance art and my favorite “Searching for Gary Larson” which is a parody of the genre of docs where people seek out their celebrity heroes and find themselves. Also, Anna E. Paone and I saw “Booksmart” at the Roxy Theater on Saturday night. If you haven’t been to the theater, you should go. It’s in an old hotel with a jazz club and feels like something out of the 1940s. Great environment to catch a movie in; the only downside is you can’t sneak in a double feature because there’s only one screen. As for the movie itself, I really dug it but I couldn’t stop thinking about all the ways it paralleled “Superbad” and felt like a commentary on it. From the two best friends, the failed relationships, to the going to different colleges misunderstanding (spoiler!), I just felt like I was watching an inverse funhouse mirror version of the movie. “Booksmart” definitely still stands on its own comedically (maybe the most impressively edited comedy I’ve ever seen) and even improves upon “Superbad” too in a lot of ways. It was just SUCH an homage that I wasn’t even sure if it was intentional or not. Yes, I see the irony in that all of the “Documentary Now!” sketches are parodies and me praising them. The difference is they are clearly making fun of the subject as opposed to maybe or maybe not. 

• This is embarrassing but I spent a good two hours on Saturday morning, updating mattlevycomedy.squarespace.com (yes, I kept Squarespace in the title and it looks horrible on mobile but good on desktop). I threw my half hour in there from last year (if you want to check it out, it’s six five-minute late night sets because I love the five-minute late night format and also didn’t want to do 30 minutes in a row. As a bonus, Brian Baheintroduces me in a different way for every clip) and put up a Comedy Stray Notes Archive if you ever want to go back and read old ones! I realize that is incredibly unlikely/narcissistic of me but you read this far and you might want to know what was going on with me comedically in March 2019? Now you don’t have to scroll through Facebook; it’s all one Command F click away.

• Last Wednesday, Anna Paone and I took the PATH train out to Jersey City to Bobby Dee’s for Brandon Sager’s show. The town is kind of sleepy and people were genuinely curious/excited to see a comedy show going on. Crowd trickled in and a fun bar show manifested itself. Brandon did a hell of a job setting the room up, hosting, promoting (there were fliers in the bathroom in case you were in the bathroom and didn’t know a show was going on) and being a one-man showrunning band. Honestly, he’s doing a service to all of us with the hard work he puts into such a good show. The crowd was something else too. One guy had three wives and was very proud of it. I had a great time; go out to Sager’s show if you get a chance, it’s a nice change of pace from New York City.

• Well, I’m on no shows this week but I am taping a few. Something interesting always comes up too. So I’m banking on that. Always keep faith in something interesting coming up.

See you at the mics, folks!

Comedy Stray Notes June 5, 2019

• Neir’s Tavern (est. 1829) is one of New York’s oldest bars located in Woodhaven, Queens. “Goodfellas” (the legendary Scorsese movie) and “Tower Heist” (the below average 2012 Eddie Murphy/Ben Stiller/Casey Affleck comedy) both filmed there. Also, my good friend and former roommate Chris Castelli runs a monthly show at the bar that, unlike any other show in NY, has a family feel to it. People from the neighborhood come out and you have to make a reservation for the show with the bar over the phone before you go. I’d actually done the show once in February 2017 and had one of the worst sets of my life there. Just did not connect with the audience at all but grew from that majorly sweaty bomb. This week, I went back to watch the show with Anna E. Paone. It was a very fun time (we filled out comment cards saying so) and Chris did an exemplary job hosting as always with quips in between. A true pro. My favorite part of the show though was Daniel J Perafan’s set. He came out guns a-blazing with five minutes of truly dazzling crowd work. Somehow, the entire crowd was made up of attorneys (?) and when he caught onto this it was some of the most fun I’ve seen any comic have onstage all year. The lesson is: book Castelli and Perafan; they’re great for any show.

• I’ve been trying to come up with an idea for merch that I can sell at shows for years. Ya know, just something to have at festivals, the odd road gig here and there. I’ve had a few ideas in the past but everything was too much work to carry to every show. Then, I ripped my pants and realized exactly what I needed. MATT LEVY PATCHES FOR RIPPED CLOTHES. I Googled patches, found a site, had my good friend and talented designer Graeme Metcalf whip up a design (you can see it in the comments) and now I have merch. If you have a hole in your pants or shirt, hit me up. You can wear an official Mattlevycomedy.squarespace.com “Caught you lookin” patch for just $4 ($1 cheaper than I will sell them for at shows)!

• For the past two Mondays, I’ve gone to film great comics at Butterboy at Littlefield. This week I filmed Mohanad Elshieky visiting from Portland who had a tight, late night ready set and Kendall Farrell who crushed as always and also got impressively political in a timely way in his set too. Very cool to see my peers on the come-up; expecting big things comedy-wise from both of these guys in the near future. On a separate note, here’s a major tip to people making the trek out to Littlefield: stop by Wang’s, the fried chicken storefront across the street from the show. They have a sesame aioli sauce that is unrivaled and the best homemade lime soda I’ve ever tried. If fried chicken isn’t for you, check out Taheni, the nearby Mediterranean restaurant. Best shawarma I’ve had in NY. Feel free to let me know if there’s better shawarma (excluding Mamoun’s; I’ve had it many times).

• Participated in another monthly writer’s meeting last Friday with Charlton Jon Villavelez, Camden Pollio and Jason Planitzer. It was only an hour but extremely productive. We punched up a great sketch Jason wrote that I’m hoping to see produced soon, went through an impressive mass of one-liners written by Charlton (some of them were Hedberg/Wright/Demetri Martin-esque), discussed Camden’s bits and riffed out a whole new sketch idea I had that was super rough. Nothing better than comedy meetings. If you want in, I’m down to start a separate one. Don’t want to get too many people in a group and ruin the dynamic. 

• Saved up for a while and went to two concerts this week. Not totally comedy-related but seeing Bob Seger on his farewell tour was one of the best live music experiences I’ve ever had. Slow dancing with Anna Paone to “Night Moves” was the highlight of my year (along with getting a popcorn kernel out of my hind molars that were stuck for like eight hours). On the other end of the spectrum, Governor’s Ball (college lifelong pal Lenni Rosenblum hooked me up with tickets to give Anna and my brother Ben Levy; we went with Ben’s girlfriend Tiffany Wood) was fun but kind of a mess. I had been waiting to see The Strokes for years but it started pouring and they evacuated the premises before that headliner set could happen. It was cool of the Gov Ball staff to refund concert goers but man, getting out of there was one of the craziest experiences I’ve ever had. Just thousands of Gen Z’er’s there for Kaytranada and Beast Coast along with some Millennials there for The Strokes and Nas trying to cross a bridge that was not equipped for it while walking through some of the deepest puddles I’ve ever encountered. I guess that’s the nice thing about comedy- there’s never enough audience that an evacuation scenario is something to worry about.

• Caught up on streaming content this week that I’d been meaning to check out. Here are some fast reviews. Watched “Always Be My Maybe” on Netflix with Anna and Matthew Aaron Holbert. It’s fun, lighthearted and worth checking out for a surprise celebrity cameo I won’t ruin for you if you don’t know about it. Nothing groundbreaking though. “AP Bio” getting canceled came as a surprise since I thought it was doing well for NBC. I watched the first few episodes when the show premiered since I love Mike O’Brien but wasn’t feeling it and stopped. Gave it another shot and went through the entire show last week. I don’t love it but the kids are all great in it and I’m excited to see their comedy character acting careers blossom. “The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience” from The Lonely Island is a must if you are a baseball/sketch fan. This hit my comedy sweet spot. Will leave it at that. “Catch 22,” the 1970 movie is streaming on Amazon and is an underrated classic. Bob Newhart and Orson Welles in the same movie? You have to see it. Excited to check the Hulu series out too. Then, I guess the book if I decide to ever finish a novel again. For podcasts, the David Letterman WTF episode is a fun, fast listen. Finally, I randomly watched the Henry Zebrowski episode of “The Characters.” It must be seen to be believed. So incredibly funny and daring. Everyone should have been talking about this. Also, it filmed right by The Creek and the Cave for an added bit of inspiration if you’re on the fence about watching it. 

• Few quick shout outs here as well. Did Ronnie Fleming and Dave Bergmaññ’s mic at Freddy’s for the first time and it’s one of the most fun in the City. Finally, a mic that encourages applause breaks. Also, I got a shoutout from Eli DiSabato during his set about Stray Notes. He said, “Will this get me in Comedy Stray Notes?” It just did, dude.  Art Cai did the same thing earlier in the week. I'm going viral, baby. Also, major props to Jacob Lie for always having the courage to do crowd work at mics. It’s always funny as hell. Nothing but respect for giving mics a bit of spontaneity.

• Got a few things going this week. First is a show tonight in Jersey City hosted by Brandon Sager. Sager told me that Jersey is the Wild West of comedy. I asked, “Does that mean there are guns?” He said, “Nah. No rules.” Can’t wait to see this in action tonight at his show. Hit me up for details if you’re in NJ/NY and want to come to a great one tonight. Sunday, I’m Roast Battling good friend Jon Schuta at Matt Maran’s Comedy Fight Club. I’m a nerd and went through my record (including Festival Roasts and the occasional New York Comedy Club/Stand Roasts from April 2016-present; I can review since I tape all my sets) and I’m 13-13. Like a journeyman fourth starter in the rotation. This Sunday is the tiebreaker, baby.

I’ll see YOU on the stage

Comedy Stray Notes May 29, 2019

• About a month ago, I saw a Buster Keaton documentary on a flight. It really blew me away; I didn’t realize Keaton pretty much set the gold standard for physical humor and slapstick for over the next 100 years. A lot of the sketches I’ve produced are direct descendants of his work and I didn't even know I was ripping him off. The latest one I completed is no exception; however, I do think this is the best sketch I’ve ever made. It’s really simple, has great performances from Usama Siddiquee and Mark King (along with tiny cameos from Barak Ziv and Anna E. Paone), the thing is less than two minutes, looks great (thanks to Kate Nahvi) and makes me laugh on every viewing. I’m really proud of it and I would love for you to watch. I hope it’s 1/10 as good as something Buster Keaton made in 1926. Here’s the sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37foierYdBM.

• Damn, Butterboy is a good show. You all know this.  Marianne Ways puts together incredible, unique lineups every Monday evening and the show is always so funny, so positive and so fun, it’s a marvel to watch. This week was really, really great too. I was there to tape Josh Comers (who I think might be the best one-liner comic out there; the guy just writes sharp, sharp misdirections) and also got to see fantastic sets from Calvin S. Cato (he opened the show and brought it to life) as well as Laurie Kilmartin who closed it out with such a masterful set that I’m still thinking about individual jokes from it days later. Her crowd work with an audience member who refused to give her name because white people can’t pronounce it was next level. 

• Did a few shows myself this week. The first one was last Wednesday at Niagara and hosted by Paul Spratt and co-produced by Max Fine. It was a nice, intimate show where we performed for an audience that included a couple on their first date. They stayed the whole time and the guy wouldn’t disclose what “major record label” he worked at. I had a great time and would definitely recommend checking this out. The other really great show I performed at this week was Rebecca Kaplan, Maura Sateriale and Dylan Adler’s freewheeling “Hot Licks at CoolBar” show in the Lower East Side. This is such a good time and maybe the best 6 PM show I’ve ever been to. The place felt properly packed, the vibe was wacky and the crowd was up for anything. Dylan even jumped on the keyboard at my request mid-set. I felt like a damn rockstar at this show; these three put on a badass show that you should definitely make time for the next time they put one on.

• Also, wanted to make it known that I am no longer co-producing “The Comic’s Table PRESENTS” at V-Spot due to creative differences mostly me being stubborn. Sorry if I had you booked in the future and we didn't get to you. I'll figure out a way to make it up to you; I promise. Either way, I had a great time doing eleven shows there with Tristan Smith, Alex Carabaño and Jeff McBride. Last week was no different. We had some great comics, an audience member on a longboard who was at their first comedy show and a large crowd. We even raised a bit of money for my friend who passed away this last weekend.

• On that note, I would like to wish my good friend of 15 years Dumindu Meegahawatte goodbye. It might be a little callous to wish him goodbye in a post called “Comedy Stray Notes” with a link to a sketch in the comments. But Dumindu wouldn’t have cared. Dumindu passed away this last week and he’s been one of my good friends since Freshman year at Central High School. He sat at my lunch table with Barron Steele and Alex Ross every day and made us laugh from day one calling us very off-color names that I won’t repeat here out of respect for his family. Over the years, we became friends and stayed in touch years after he moved to Costa Mesa, California and me to New York. Dumindu loved race car driving, wrestling and Seinfeld (he always thought of himself as “Jerry” and everyone else was “Kramer”). He had one of my all-time favorite laughs and I miss him very much. Hope you’re in a better place, big D.

Rest in Peace, Brother.

Comedy Stray Notes May 22, 2019

Comedy Stray Notes

• One of the great perks of doing comedy in New York City is you get to do it in a variety of offbeat venues. There are apartment shows, library open mics, corporate gigs (never seen a laundromat show though like you hear about in the big cities). My favorite though is stopping by the hostel. A long time ago, Gerrit Elzinga told me about this curiosity of a show that he advertised as great stage time. In New York, you often go up an only do three-minute spots and rarely get time to stretch your jokes’ legs. Not at Randy Epley’s show. You do ten minutes. Almost exclusively for audiences that don’t speak much English. So it’s a bit unwise to do your jokes since the people aren’t gonna get them. I estimate I’ve done the show 50 times since first hearing about it in 2015 and each time is an adventure. Randy always does time in between with jokes about his family that I can’t get enough of. And I always learn a lot about people visiting NYC. This last show there was just one audience member from Belgium. So it’s basically a conversation and it ended with the guy telling us (there were comics in the room) that he stole a feather from a bald eagle. That’s a hell of a souvenir to bring home.

• Everybody is rightly talking about how great the new Netflix show “I Think You Should Leave” is. They’re all right about it too. HOWEVER, there is a better (in my opinion), under-appreciated sketch show sitting on Netflix waiting for you to discover it. It’s called “Hot Date” and my comedy friend Luke Kelly-Clyne executive produced it. Just ran past it (it was unfairly buried by Netflix) and was completely blown away. The sketches are all about modern relationships and one about couples that Venmo back and forth for every purchase hit home harder than anything else I’ve seen this year. Another sketch predicted the song, “Thank U, Next” two years before it came out. If you’re looking for a digestible, extremely funny show, make this your next one.

• SNL finished up their season this week with Paul Rudd hosting and it was pretty fun. Not a classic but respectable. This was an interesting season. There were a few true standout episodes (Matt Damon, John Mulaney were both good all the way through) and some great sketches. I honestly think every single episode had one fantastic sketch. Here’s my list to prove it (Jesus, I’m a nerd):

Career Day (Adam Driver episode)
Baby Shower (Awkwafina episode)
A Frightening Tale (Seth Meyers episode)
America’s Got Talent; Wait, They’re Good? (Jonah Hill episode)
House Hunters (Liev Schrieber episode)
Space Station Broadcast (Steve Carell episode)
Netflix Commercial (Claire Foy episode)
First Impression (Jason Momoa episode)
Weezer (Matt Damon episode- which I believe was written by Steven Castillo who I’ve never met but am Facebook friends with and a huge fan of your stuff; this was my fifth favorite sketch of the season)
Leave Me Alurn (Rachel Brosnahan episode) 
Mr. H (James McAvoy episode)
Valentine’s Song (Halsey episode)
Roach-Ex (Don Cheadle episode)
Chad Horror Movie (John Mulaney episode; favorite sketch of the season: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF6gExZu-2M)
The Impossible Hulk (Idris Elba episode; close second favorite)
Future Self (Sandra Oh episode)
New HBO Shows (Kit Harrington episode)
The Actress (Emma Stone episode; this was my third favorite)
Romano Tours (Adam Sandler episode; this was my fourth favorite)
Etiquette Lesson (Emma Thompson episode)
GoT Tribute (Paul Rudd episode)

I love SNL. Can’t wait until next season.

• In smaller news, I had my weekly show at V-Spot last week and as always, it started small. I think we had six people when it began. I memorized every audience member’s name. There was even a guy named Giancarlo. Never met one of those outside of my knowledge of Esposito and Stanton. Also, our regular, Tonja Fabritz came and won a mug that said, “Improv” on it. Either way, the show rallied and got better as we moved along. There were a lot of standout sets and as the crowd grew the show just got better. The night peaked with Anna E. Paone’s trivia question: “Who wrote Hamlet?” 

• Got a solid week of comedy stuff ahead. Tonight I am on Max Fine, Paul Spratt and Misha Han’s show at Niagara at 8 which I’m very excited about. Tomorrow, I’m doing Rebecca Kaplan’s “Hot Licks at Cool Bar” show at 6 PM as well as my own show at 9 PM at V-Spot with Tristan Smith. Call me “sitcom character who accidentally plans two dates and goes on both of them” because I’m double booked, baby. On a serious note, I have a friend who is very sick and we will be trying to raise money for him and his family at the show this week at V-Spot. Would be amazing if you came and gave a buck or two; it would be going toward a very good case.

Thanks to the cast, crew, Lorne and everyone else- it’s been a great week

Comedy Stray Notes May 15, 2019

• This might be controversial but I think sketch is the best form of comedy there is. Improv can produce the purest laughs in the moment (my opinion), stand up is the most personal and powerful but sketch is the best. With sketch, you can just do so much. You have the visuals that the other forms lack. You have the cohesive, rehearsed teamwork as opposed to spontaneity. I don’t know. I just love sketch above all else. It combines everything good in comedy- the writing of stand up with the fun of improv. Anyway, this weekend, I got to participate in a very fun sketch masterminded by Daniel Ahrens in Central Park with some really great comics like Blair Dawson, Rhett Sever, David Piccolomini, Matt Vita and Rosa Escandón to name a few. Don’t want to spoil the bit here but it was a really cool idea that involved a lot of moving parts and ten-plus comics and I think it was executed really nicely. Keep an eye out for this one. It’s a nice twist on a familiar, always good premise.

• Had a fun, very light show (like eight people or so) at V-Spot with Anna E. Paone last week. Got off to a weird start when a veteran and his significant other really didn’t want to participate in crowd work. Had to soldier on though (The pun was unintentional there but isn’t that horrible). It slowly became a little better when an Israeli guy came onstage to take a selfie which he said he would use as the profile pic he got in America. Also, cool to have visiting comics David Horning and Hayley Beacon on the show. Also, wanted to point out that the backroom at V-Spot finally is complete! All the tables are out and it looks extremely professional- the place feels like a true comedy club. You gotta check it out when you get a chance. They have so many shows and mics there; do yourself a favor and go hang if you haven't already.

• Took part in a little writing session with good friends Camden Pollio and Charlton Jon Villavelez. I’ve always said, “I didn’t get into comedy to do standup to share my ideas with dudes. I got into comedy to work in a writer’s room and share my ideas with dudes,” (definitely open to writing seshes with folks of all gender- this is just a dumb joke/comment on the industry from a nobody) and there is no better practice than actually sitting down and talking about screenplays and sketches with friends. It does feel like a writer’s room and trying to throw out ideas is harder than it looks. If anyone else is having a writing sesh of any kind, I would love to participate. Let me know! I’ll just listen to your ideas and try to contribute- that’s my dream after all.

• Got to participate in the Laughing Devil Festival last Wednesday and Thursday. I’ve helped out with the Festival in the past when Sarah Kennedy was in charge and learned a lot about it from the other side. It’s always a weird thing because as a producer, you have to barge in to a club like Broadway or Greenwich Village and act like you’re in charge while not belittling the people that actually work there even though you’re technically running the show that day. It’s a weird balance that I think Matt Storrs and Tristan Miller did really well with from what I saw. As for my actual experience, I did one show at Broadway for eight audience members in a “Competition Show” and did fine to good but did not advance. I’ve had this experience before where I thought I did pretty well and didn’t make it farther. It’s all good. You really can’t let these things get to you (even though I sometimes do). My second show was a non-competition set hosted by Amber Rollo which was lightly attended as well but fun. My set was kind of rambly but the stakes couldn’t have been lower. It’s honestly kind of cool to have that experience- it’s like getting a free bar show where you can try new-ish stuff. Kind of the best. I could see how that wouldn’t be ideal if you traveled for a festival but for me, it was perfect.

• My honest to goodness comedy highlight of the week was Andrea Allan’s mic last Sunday at the Creek (Mother’s Day). Six comics (Ryan Papazian, Lizzy Faire Cassidy, Colin DiGarbo, Dylan Adler, Andrea and myself) did a mic for a Mother and Daughter who came to the mic to watch. Everyone riffed on them and it was really great. Wish they could all be that weird and fun.

• Got a super light comedy week this week. As always, I have my V-Spot show tomorrow co-produced by Tristan Smith with a very fun lineup and after that, not much. If you need me to film, want me to read something of yours, hit a movie, want to grab food, I’m down.

Deuces

Comedy Stray Notes May 8, 2019

• ”The Importance of Being Earnest” was written in 1895 and it still holds up. However, like any great play, it needs to be performed and directed at a very high level. I’m happy to say that the Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center exceeded all expectations and and knocked the play out of the park. The physical gags, the banter, the absurdism, the pathos, it all worked. Directed by Catherine LaMoreaux and starring Anna E. Paone as Cecily among others, the show was on point this week. In fact, it was so good I saw it twice. If you get a chance, definitely go see their next play. I’ll let you know when it’s on the horizon.

• Had my weekly with Tristan Smith this past week at V-Spot (we actually saw the cast of "Pen15" at Vesselka afterwards too). I honestly think it was our best show yet. The crowd was comprised of 15 or so strangers we barked in plus our steady regulars Willie and Tonja Fabritz who was so hospitable that she coordinated with her husband to get the soaked Rich Kiamco a dry shirt. It was unbelievably nice. The energy was high the whole show and on top of that, a pilot was being shot during our show! Not sure if I can disclose who the directors Thomas Wood and Adriane Scott-kemp filmed but they were very professional and I look forward to seeing where this project leads them.

• Filmed two great shows this week. The first one was last Friday at Broadway Comedy Club. My pal Dan Pyatetsky spread his wings and did a really strong half hour. It was really an impressive feat; the crowd was a little low energy but he got them going and they were into it the whole time. Also, he wove in some callbacks that were truly impressive. Really nice to see longer sets where you can use those tools more effectively. A callback 15 minutes after the initial seed was planted is especially effective as the surprise is that much more potent. Also, filmed at the really fun Tuesday show at Coney Island Baby. I was there to film Mara Wiles and she spat some serious fire. Really loved watching her hone her act in front of a great crowd. Looking forward to seeing her on late night someday soon. She’s really great and going places. 

* ^^Special shout out to two very funny things that happened at the Coney Island Baby show.  Luke Mones and Tommy McNamara had a great riff off the top about the Kentucky Derby and Competitive Eating both involving horse meat that blew me away that they came up with it on the spot. Bravo, good sirs. Also, Liza Treyger’s set was interrupted by a woman bringing in a massive harp that felt like something so purely slapstick it came out of a Buster Keaton film. Never seen such a purely funny distraction at a show.

• I’m still very rusty from taking so much time off stand up and haven’t gone up much since I got back but I’ve had fun experiences at a few mics still. First off, V-Spot is doing a cool new thing with a mic that lasts exactly one hour. It’s hosted by Eli DiSabato and everyone has to stay for the duration of the mic. Nice thing is we know exactly how long it will last. Kind of a cool format where you know exactly what you’re going to get out of it. I liked it. Also, it should be noted that people need to come out and support Jay Welch’s Karma mic on Sundays at 6 PM! It’s one of the best in the City when it’s cooking and it’s so much better when good people (if you’re reading this, I think you’re good and should go) attend. Please go! Also, go to Seth Pompi’s Monday Library Mic at 7 PM! It’s such a good room (well, it’s a room full of children’s books) and a really quintessentially New York comedy experience. Do it if you haven’t been in awhile. Way more fun when you go! Also, if you didn’t catch Seth’s documentary about Alan Shain and Gary Marinoff called “Hysterical” before, you have another opportunity to do so this Saturday, May 11. It’s the best movie about open mics that I know of and is a great snapshot of what doing comedy in the City was like just a few years ago (like 2014-15). If you’re bored on Saturday night, see this instead of “Avengers.” I promise you Alan Shain is funnier than Mark Ruffalo.

• He’s one of the best on Facebook but it’s weird to recommend Facebook friendship so I recommend you follow Micah Walsh on Twitter at @Micah_Walsh. The dude writes pure jokes. Worth your time.

• Got a little bit of comedy stuff myself this week. I’m performing in the Laughing Devil Comedy Festival Wednesday and Thursday night as well as running my weekly on Thursday night at 9. Other than that, my calendar is free. I’m down to get some food if you’re down