The Boston Comedy Interview: Nate Johnson and The Great Boston Molasses Comedy Disaster Show

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.

Gallery: Barry Tattle's (And Chris Coxen's) Farewell Show

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).

Tattle and Luparelli on "Up Where We Belong."

This is what a thunder salesman looks like.

A hurricane salesman and a thunder salesman.



A hurricane in motion.

Shawn Donovan speaks of his anti-Semitic haircut.

Grownup Noise - band in the shadows.

Fixing a hole where the rain came in.

Mopping up.

Sex ed with the wrestling coach.

Lamont Price in his "civil rights glasses."

The elusive Chris Coxen.

The nacho hat prize left. The VHS tape lingered.

The Walsh Brothers Back In Town to Play Mottley's, Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival

When Chris and David Walsh left Boston for Los Angeles in March of 2007, they left a scene changed for the better by their participation. They created the Great and Secret show at ImprovBoston, which encouraged the participation of a generation of comedians who are redefining the current scene – Dan Sally, Renata Tutko, Nate Johnson, Chris Coxen, Ken Reid, Sean Sullivan and countless others. Their D.I.Y. spirit was inspiring, and the Great and Secret is still at ImprovBoston every Thursday at 10 PM, while the boys have brought their own G&S to the Improv in Los Angeles. The Walsh Brothers are back for the holidays, playing Mottley’s Comedy Club tonight and tomorrow and the Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival Wednesday. I caught up with David by e-mail to talk about life in L.A. and coming home.

Is it important to you to keep coming back to play Boston?

It is very important that we come back to play Boston. Actually, imperative might be a better word. The opportunity to perform in front of Boston audiences is reason enough to make it important. In our limited experience (playing the road a bit and the big comedy cities: CHI, NY, SF, LA), Boston has the best audiences for standup. Their smart, open to whatever we do, and have a long, comedy history (it's important that people remember seeing Don Gavin in 1983 at Stitches and then tell us we remind them of that time).

In addition to the audiences, the city itself is where we're from and what we're about. Every time we get introduced in Los Angeles, the emcee brings us up as from Boston. Most of our comedy and sensibility (Oh the sensibility!) comes from direct experience - true stories, real people and characters, our surroundings - and our whole life was spent here, so it's crucial that we stay connected and involved. And on top of all that, we developed here as comics. The comedy community is the best. We've got friends, a few enemies (which always helps) and great clubs and theaters to perform at. (This whole thing is a mess).

How do you keep in touch with the scene?

We keep in touch with the scene through Hologram technology. And friends. Friends keep us up-to-date on the comings and goings of everyone. Like an isolated mental ward patient, the comedy studio Kvetch Board is good to check in on once in a while. One thing that's cool about having our own show in Los Angeles is that it's kind of a way station for traveling comics. Every Boston person who comes to L.A. usually comes by our show and we put them on stage. Then, in front of our lawyers, they give us a deposition about what's happening with the Boston comedy scene. Most people say it's just Chris Coxen playing with himself.

What are your plans for the Great and Secret West in the new year?

The plans for the Great & Secret West are to do an industry showcase after the new year. We've been doing the show for almost a year and built up a bunch of new sketches, characters and videos and we're ready to show "the people who matter." So we'll get the agents and the executives and the czar of comedy down to the show, see what the feedback is and go from there. It doesn't really matter what they say. We'll continue to do what we do, if only because we don't know how to do anything else.

Other than that, we'll continue to build the show and the audience. And maybe fool around with the idea of a concept show.

How many folks that perform at the G&S in LA have Boston roots?

Aside from a few of the stand-ups that perform at the Great & Secret, most people involved with the show have Boston roots. We write and do the show with James Patterson - who we started out with in Boston. He's kind of become a third Walsh brother, much to his chagrin (which as chagrins go - is very large). And then we got kid from Emerson and the show Zebro doing a lot of stuff with us. His name is Fred Young. He's a great maniac. That's the nucleus of the show. And then we have mostly Boston people on speed dial that we call up to play characters as we need them.

One thing we're always on the lookout for though is a Murray. We can never find a good Murray. Ben Murray used to be our booth guy in Boston and he was the best. He wasn't just a booth guy. He was a presence, an ethos. We keep hiring guys from the tech union and none of them fit.

Do you see a huge difference between Boston and LA audiences?

This is a hard thing to explain because an audience is an audience is an audience. Comedy is a guy with a mic and people paying to listen. However, the people paying can have different agendas. For the most part, a comedy show in Boston has people who want to laugh and experience some sort of release. In Los Angeles, you have the same thing and then a certain amount of people who are filled with self-interest: industry, wannabes, star-f*ckers, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies and dickheads. The self-interest creates a different type of atmosphere. Los Angeles is more of a 'scene'. But that's only a part of it. It goes on and on. Also, I have no idea what the eff I'm talking about. Boston=Better.

Is there any particular place in Boston you like to come back to for the holidays?

The Comedy Studio Christmas Show and party is a great night (Dec. 21). Usually hang out with Keith Lockhart and the Pops one evening. Go to Billy Tse's on Commercial St. for my favorite festive Chinese food. Scope the malls on the North Shore for high school chicks. And a little, bunny hill skiing at the Blue Hills.