Lamont Price uses the word "emerging" to describe the group of comics he's hosting tonight at Club Oberon as part of his Comedy Is King showcase. It's worth noting that Price, Tony Moschetto, and Dan Crohn are well-known to avid Boston comedy fans. They are currently staples of the scene. But that doesn't mean all of you reading this know them, or could rattle off your favorite of their jokes. But more of you might be soon.
"The term 'emerging' is basically a good way to let the audience know that the comedians they are seeing are at the forefront of breaking huge and this is a great chance to see them now before they get expensive," says Price. "I mean, Tony Moschetto, Dan Crohn and Mikey Walz on one show? Wont be $15 in a few years!"
Walz is the other comic on the line-up, and he'll be making his East Coast debut. Price speaks highly of him. "He's a hilarious comedian in a very competitive San Francisco comedy scene and he has Boston roots, so this figured to be a no brainer," he says. "Also, we want this to be a show comedians from all country want to perform at."
There are plans for more editions of Comedy Is King. Price says there will be another one in January, and the hope is to do it every month. "You figure it makes for a great show when you have hilarious comedians that all get along," he says. "I want a carefree environment."
Nate Johnson turns the 1919 Molasses
Flood into comedy.
On January 15, 1919, a giant storage tank burst in Boston’s North End, flooding the area with roughly two and a half million gallons of molasses, killing 21 people and injuring more than 150. A little less than a hundred years later, Nate Johnson figures we are ready to laugh about it.
Johnson brings his Great Boston Molasses Comedy Disaster Show to Mottley’s tomorrow, with stand-up from Matt Donaher, Dan Boulger, Ken Reid, and Lamont Price, and sketch featuring Johnson, Tim Vargulish, Ryan Douglas, Maria Ciampa, and Sean Sullivan. Apparently, there will also be a group called the Burnin’ Love Sauces on hand to hawk 1919 Molasses BBQ Sauce, and a local band called Hot Molasses.
I caught up with Johnson by e-mail to get a few more details.
What led you to write a show about the Great Boston Molasses Disaster? Are you a history buff?
Yeah, I’ve always been a kind of history nerd, especially as I’ve gotten older. The molasses flood I’d known about for a while and really wanted to do something about it-whether it was a bit or a character or video or whatever. Doing an entire show about it provided all those options.
This was actually a tragedy at the time – how do you turn it into comedy?What’s the structure of the show?
There’s a little thing I like to say-time plus tragedy equals Thursday night comedy show. It’s always tricky writing anything about something that people could potentially find offensive. But if you’re just going with your reaction-which in this case, for me, was, “Wha? Seriously? Molasses?!”, then, ideally, the audience will get that and understand the intention isn’t malicious or disrespectful. The show is structured so there’ll be bits about the actual event, broken up by comics, with the goal being that people learn about this weird thing without feeling beaten over the head by it.
How does the stand-up fit with the overall theme? Are Matt, Dan, Ken, and Lamont going to taper their sets to the night?
Of the comics on the show, I think Ken’s the only one I heard do a bit about the molasses flood and Dan has some great history material. But the comics are really there to kinda break up the show and not make it too molasses-heavy. I’m just shooting for a funny show that I’d want to go to.
How did you put Tim, Ryan, Maria, and Sean together for the sketches?
I’d had them all in mind when I was putting the show together and knew I wanted some sketch. Doing sketch at Mottleys can definitely be challenging, but I feel pretty confident because I’ve done stuff with all of them before and they know the space pretty well. Also, they can all do excellent ethnic accents that no one will find offensive.
Who are the Burnin’ Love Sauces?
They’re a local saucier that makes a BBQ sauce called 1919 and molasses is an ingredient in it. It’s a great sauce and I thought it’d be fun to have them sell their stuff at the show. Plus, I don’t think there are enough shows with barbeque sauce vendors at them.
Who is Hot Molasses?
I’d really wanted a band to play at the show and found these guys online. They’re from Somerville and sound kinda like the B-52s. They’ve got a new EP coming out soon and they’re debuting a song about the flood at the show. Yeah.
Any plans to visit other Boston tragedies? Race riots? The 1986 World Series perhaps? Stephen Tyler?
Totally. I’m actually working on an operetta about the Charles Stuart murder and a 2-act play about the Blizzard of 78 performed by puppets.
The crowd got a free autographed
Chris Coxen headshot.
Chris Coxen and Barry Tattle went out with a memorable farewell show Saturday at Mottley’s. The show was Coxen’s last before he and his cast of characters leave for London this Wednesday, and included many old friends. Gary Gulman, Niki Luparelli, Jon Lincoln, Josh Gondelman, Shawn Donovan, Lamont Price, and Coxen’s old sketch partner, Nate Johnson all turned in great performances. The Grown Up Noise provides musical accompaniment.
It was a lot of fun to see Coxen and Johnson again, whether they were harassing Mottley’s owner Lincoln as bicycle cops or playing, respectively, a thunder salesman and a hurricane salesman. Tattle crooned to the crowd (it was his Valentine’s Day Surprise, officially), and sang a duet of “Up Where We Belong” that included a remarkable accurate eagle impression from Luparelli.
Since it was his farewell show, Tattle also gave out prizes gathered from cleaning out his apartment, including a tube of shower calk and a nacho plate shaped like a cowboy hat. Shamefully, the person who won the VHS Biography channel special on JFK, JR left their prize on the table after they left.
The biggest surprise of the night happened in the middle of Tattle’s rendition of “Single Ladies,” when water started dripping, and then outright spouting on the band. The dripping spread along different parts of the ceiling, forcing the crowd to rearrange. Apparently, a sink at the upstairs bar had overflowed while non of the bartenders were watching.
No one died, though, and the added dampness couldn’t ruin the show. Here are a few photos from the evening.
Barry Tattle gets sensual to open the show.
Gary Gulman praises legend Tattle.
Jon Lincoln's set interrupted by bike cops.
A blurry Josh Gondelman (he is much easier to see in person).
The Boston Comedy Festival wrapped up Saturday at the Wilbur with an efficient night of comedy and a strong line-up, basically split into two moving parts – the competition finals, with eight contestants, and two awards, given to Boston Comedian of the Year Joe Wong and the Lifetime Achievement Award going to Robert Klein. There were only two other comedians on the bill, Darryl Lenox and host Jim McCue. And where this event has sometimes dragged in the past, it felt winnowed down to a trim formula this year.
Lenox opened the show before running to do his own headline spot at Cheers. It’s a shame there was so much going on Saturday night – Comics Come Home at the Agganis, Jim Gaffigan at the Wang, Juston McKinney at Nick’s, the Festival finals, Todd Barry at the Hard Rock, and a strong local line-up at Mottley’s. Lennox probably got lost in the shuffle, especially opening on a show against his own show, and he deserves better. If the chance comes around to see him headline again, take it.
Matt D.
It was a pretty strong crop of finalists this year, as well, probably the strongest in recent memory. It was equally split between out-of-towners (Saleem Muhammad, Nate Bargatze, Nick Cobb, and Will Sylvince) and Boston comics (Mehran, Matt D. Lamont Price, and Orlando Baxter). There was no one on the bill for the finals that felt tacked on or not polished enough to have made it onto the show.
Orlando Baxter
The Boston contingent was especially strong, including Baxter, who has improved by leaps and bounds since I last saw him (and it had been a while). I was wondering, before the show, how Matt D. would fit in. He’s a deadpan absurdist, rattling off joke after well-constructed joke. But a lot of the comics had big energy and big personalities. It would be easy for him to get lost in that, but that didn’t happen. Matt D. had a great set dense with one and two line jokes.
In a Boston Comedy Festival first, there was a tie for first place between Nate Bargatze and Saleem. Will Sylvince came second, and Nick Cobb came in third. Which means the Boston comics trailed the field. There was a certain amount of parity among this group, but that doesn’t make the results any less puzzling.
Nate Bargatze and Saleem Muhammad
Contests are always subjective, and it’s impossible to know the mind and tastes of the judges. And the fact there was a tie for first may mean the tally for each comic may have been roughly the same. I’d be surprised if there were more than two or three points difference from the top to the bottom of the bill. And when it comes right down to it, how does two or three points translate into a meaningful comment on someone’s comic talent or ability? That may also be why only Bargatze and Saleem were actually announced at the show – I asked afterwards about the rest of the order.
Joe Wong
The second half of the show was loose and entertaining. Wong had a great set, accepting his plaque for Boston Comedian of the Year. He talked about playing the Festival in 2003, and meeting Eddie Brill, who books the comics for David Letterman in 2005. Wong noted that Brill told him when they first met that Wong was on his way to the Letterman show. Wong addressed the comedians from the competition, saying, “So if Eddie Brill has not told you this yet…”
Robert Klein was fantastic. His resume is long, stretching over more than forty years, and Klein had a little fun with his introduction for his Lifetime Achievement Award. Standing next to McCue and listening to a list of his accomplishments, Klein began to hunch over and tremble, aging as McCue spoke.
Klein accepts his award
In the past, the Lifetime Achievement winners have often bantered for a few minutes, done a little shtick, accepted the award and left. Klein, however, is still an active, working comic, and he wasn’t going to let an audience of roughly 600 people get away without some stand-up. Klein accepted his award, and then McCue seemed a bit surprised when Klein took the mic and started doing material. McCue stood in the background, waiting for Klein to wrap up, and when Klein noticed, he asked him if he had anything more to say. McCue slunk off while Klein launched into what would be a 25 minute set.
Klein started to wax nostalgic about coming to Boston with The Apple Tree in 1966, previewing the show before its Broadway run. Not all of the memories were good – Klein stayed at the Avery Hotel, which he called a piece of shit, while the big stars stayed at the Ritz. He was all over the map, material-wise, delivering a loose, casual set. He talked about having to “shtup” Joan Rivers in a movie, and how she tried to sell him bracelets during the scene. Industrious woman.
Klein backstage
Maybe the best part of a show like this is what happens backstage. Klein has always had an affinity for comics, and when the show was over, he was huddled up with the younger crowd, letting them pick his brain a bit. The comics seemed to soak up the advice, thrilled to have a brief audience with a legend, all the better for just having seen that legend crush in front of the same audience they had just played.
Price cracked up at the after party, talking about Klein backstage, busting chops over the price of a scotch at the Wilbur. And no matter how the contest ended, he said, being on that bill was the prize.
Lamont Price is not a quiet comic. He doesn’t scream or yell, but you definitely know when he’s onstage, riffing on Boston’s racial make-up of where Ben Franklin got the idea to fly a kite in a lightning storm. He commands a stage, and the audience for that matter.
But Price has quietly become one of Boston’s best comics. There was no one breakthrough performance, no media throng. He did it the way it’s supposed to be done, working his ass off in the clubs. This year, the Just For Laughs people noticed, and brought Price to Montreal to represent Boston comedy.
I caught up with him by e-mail to talk about the show and Just For Laughs.
What were your thoughts when you found out you were going to Just for Laughs?
I was ecstatic about hearing I was invited to Just for Laughs as its the premier comedy fest in the world and not everyone is allowed to go. So, it was an extreme honor.
What shows were you on?
I, along with Bethany Van Delft and Joe List were representing Boston in Jeff Singers brand new "Comedy Leagues" contest, where we squared off against, Toronto, Montreal and NYC (getting edged out by NYC questionably in the Final)
How did it compare to your expectations?
The show I was on went great. The festival itself was absolutely surreal to me. I'm in a hotel with over 100 of the funniest comedians in the world. And I'm signing autographs and everything. When Paul Provenza walks up to you and says you’re hilarious, you've won. Period.
Are you playing much outside of Boston these days?
Within the past year I've been getting out of Boston to perform a ton. Mostly East Coast stuff, but, as with The Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, I've been venturing into the Midwest more. It's good to see how other people live as a way to help your comedic creativity.
These past few years, you've gotten really strong. Was there a turning point where you felt you really hit your stride?
I honestly think I’ve been really strong for much longer than that, it's just nobody seemed to care. Now that I've decided to do contests and more fests, people are like "Wow, you're taking it to that next level". My attitude is I've always been really good, just not as visible as maybe I should be
Where does "Rude Boyz" come from?
Rude Boyz is something I thought up years ago as a click for myself and some of my closest friends in comedy. Kind of an outspoken group of comics (but if you're a comic, I guess you are outspoken already, LOL).
How do you choose the comics on the bill?
This show started out as a benefit for the late great Kevin Knox and I wanted to have comics on the show that I was friends with, It always makes for a better show when you get along with everybody on the show. It creates a fun, carefree atmosphere. So I normally book people I have a cool relationship with. Nothing too difficult. I just want a fun vibe.
Anyone new on the roster this week you're looking forward to seeing?
The only comics on this roster that havn't done the show yet are Kristin Seltman, who's fairly new on the scene, but she's gotta very good sense of humor and I cant wait to see how she does and Jono Zalay, who's a fast rising star on the Boston scene and I've tried to have him before, but there was always a schedule mix-up of some sort.
As far as some of the returning comics, I'm looking forward to seeing Josh Gondelman, as we were in Aspen together and Bethany Van Delft, who I was in Montreal with. Sam Jackson, a NYC comic is another I'm looking forward to, as I haven't seen him in awhile. Truth is, the lineup is bananas. I can't wait to see everyone. Ha ha, good save by me ! Way to try to trap me with a question, Zaino! LMAO
For those who haven't been, what kind of a comedy room is the Sweetwater?
Sweetwater is a fun room to play in. They are very accommodating of myself and fellow comics. It's an intimate setting, so, as a performer, you're right on top of the crowd. That usually helps you connect with the audience better, adding to the enjoyment of the show.
When do you think the next Sweetwater gig will be?
Ahhhhhhhhh, the NEXT Sweetwater show? I honestly have zero idea. This is the first one I've done since December. Do I continue it (its a ton of work), do I hand to someone else (DJ Reason, Daniella Capolino? Who knows, but for now, I'm concentrating on having a sick August show. Ultimately, the show is fun enough that even if I can't do it as regularly as I did in the past, I know eventually I will bring it back to Sweetwater, I'm just not sure when.
“This show is strictly to have a good time,” says Price. “I don’t have any rules. Comics will ask me, what should I do? And I say do whatever you want to do. I don’t care what jokes you do, I’m not telling you what to do. There’s no rules here. Let’s just have some fun. If it stops being fun, them I’m going to stop doing it.”
Price will host a mostly local line-up with Mehran, Ed Dominguez (from Providence), Dave McDonough, Daniella Capolino, Sean Sullivan, and Ken Reid. All of the comics are people you will likely see on a bill with Price again at the Comedy Studio or other clubs around town. And while Price will sometimes book an out-of-town comic to network, he doesn’t think much about that aspect. When he says he’s in it for the laughs, he means it.
“Some shows, I’ve had guys I know from New York come down and do time, and I guess that helps me as far as getting booked, share and share alike,” he says. “I’ll go to New York and I’ll have spots because of that. I don’t know if it helps me that much. I just do it because it’s a fun idea. I don’t think it hurts me either. I do it on my terms.”
But don’t let Price’s laidback approach fool you. He has worked hard on his act and to make the most of his opportunities. He has booked more indie film work the past few years, including last year’s Face Dance, produced and directed by Martin writer and producer Topper Carew. “I want to do more,” says Price, “I want to do as much as I can. I’m doing a project coming up with Kevin Bright, the guy who created Friends, doing a little something with him. It’ll be good for my reel.”
Price was also among the handful of comedians who auditioned for Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival last week at the Comedy Studio (another audition was held at Mottley’s Comedy Club), and gives an honest assessment of what was a well-received set. “I think I did fine,” he says. “I don’t think I destroyed the room, but I thought I did well and I presented myself pretty well. As long as I was me onstage, that’s pretty much all I can ask for, really.”
Price has auditioned twice before, in ’04 and ’05, and not surprisingly, he is hopeful but won’t spend the next couple of months waiting by the phone for his call from Canada. He talked to Jeff Singer, and feels confident that he impressed, but that’s no guarantee he’ll get a sport. “He knows that I can murder, basically,” Price said of his post-show talk with Singer. “That’s obvious.We’ll just have to wait and see what they’re looking for.
Three shows this weekend deserve a special highlight. Tonight’s line-up at The Gas at Great Scott is solid from top to bottom – Anderson Comedy hosts Chris Coxen, Josh Gondelman, David Grabiner, Lamont Price, Robby Roadsteamer, MC Mr. Napkins, The Steamy Bohemians, and Mehran. Not bad for five bucks… You may not have heard much about it, but there’s a benefit show with a great line-up tomorrow at the Wilbur at 2PM, with Ira Proctor, Jim Lauletta, Tony V., Jon Lincoln, Dan Boulger, Mike Hanley, Jon Porch, Ahmed Bharoocha, and Roman Pierce. Proceeds benefit a family that lost their father to suicide… Also Saturday, at 7PM, is a great show for comedy and rock and roll fans. Jimmy Tingle is emceeing a show with Mission of Burma and the Neighborhood at the Somerville Theatre. Proceeds will benefit the Center for Arts at the Armory.
Also, for those who miss the old Comedy Connection, some of that old crew are getting together for a show at the Cask n’ Flagon with Robbie Printz, Pete Costello, Corey Manning, and Chris Tabb, hosted by Brian Moote, at 8:30 PM.
