An Impromptu “Mehran Show” Tonight Focuses On Auditions

The Mehran, title character of
The Mehran Show at Mottley's

The Mehran Show usually happens the third Thursday of every month at Mottley’s. This month, that’s getting pre-empted by a St. Patrick’s Day party being thrown by the club’s host bar, Trinity, who will be using all three floors, including Mottley’s basement space, for the drunken revelry. That means The Mehran Show will happen tonight instead, with a line-up made up of comedians practicing for two auditions happening next week at The Comedy Studio.

On Tuesday, Eddie Brill will be in town. Brill will be looking for talent for the Great American Comedy Festival, but he also books the comics for Letterman. Thursday, talent agency Mosaic will be looking at local talent to add to their roster. Tonight’s line-up includes Matt D. (both), Tony Moschetto (Mosaic), Bethany Van Delft (Mosaic), Kyle Ploof (Brill), Andrew Mayer (Brill), Raj Sivaraman (Brill), and Jenny Zigrino (Brill), with a couple of more comics possibly jumping in late.

Mehran, who is on the bill for the Mosaic show, says he has done somewhere between ten and fifteen auditions, which doesn’t necessarily make him feel like a veteran of the process. "It's not like I'm one of these battle-scarred road comics who can tell you about the Vegas cattle-call of '02,” he says. “From the relatively short list of audition showcases I've been on, I can say that the trick is probably not to get too trapped in your head about it, don't forget to stay in the moment and have fun and do your strongest material that sums you up the best but you're also feeling the happiest with on that particular day."

“These auditions are based on a cumulative preparedness,” he adds. “It's not like we got a script that morning or had to write new material to suit the fancies of a particular booker (at least not that day.) These agents come to see what we already do.”

Neither of these auditions is likely to make or break any comedians career. But it could mean a significant step up and open doors for them eventually, to future festival appearances, or even a Letterman spot. What you see tonight at Mottley’s could be the very beginning of a career path toward New York City or LA.