Video: Quiet Desperation 20

As Rob Potylo gets heavier into the band side of his creativity (he's playing Great SCott May 31 with his band), Quiet Desperation is back to focusing on the music side of things, although there are still plenty of comedians in different roles in the current episode. Here's QD 20, posted earlier today. I have more from the Quiet Depseration Rumble show to post soon, so keep checking back.

Video: Rob Potylo (AKA Robby Roadsteamer) Interview

For the first time in his career, Rob Potylo is truly himself. He's no longer Robby Roadsteamer, the over-the-top rock and roll character he created for himself roughly five years ago. He's out of the comedy clubs, and tonight will play a two-hour set at Great Scott by himself, as himself, covering material from his first "solo" album, Worried All the time I'll Make Mistakes. The show starts around 8PM.

After his last project, Super Time Pilot, released an album, on Ernie Boch's label, the band imploded, and Potylo is now self-releasing albums again (visit www.roadsteamer.com for more info). And Mistakes features songs not played for laughs, which might surprise a few fans.

I caught up with Roadsteamer in the place most really big comedy interviews happen, outside of the Texas Roadhouse in Danvers on Route 1, a short walk from a Staples (one of Roadsteam-- er Potylo's former employers). He discusses the new album, his fantastic line-up of guest musicians, his webcom Quiet Desperation, and tonight's show. And if you're watching at work, turn the sound down a tad.

Quiet Desperation Episode 17

Robby Roadsteamer/Rob Potylo has a new solo album to promote. So obviously, the thing to do is visit Santa in New Hampshire and eat a big bag o' mushrooms. Also, the return of Chippah!

It's all here in Episode 17 of Quiet Desperation.

Super Time Pilot's "Real Nice Rock"

Robby Roadsteamer has a new band called Super Time Pilot, and as previously reported, a new sound. Robby and Nikki turn in some nice work at the end of this. Stay tuned for more news abou the band and their new album.



The folks over at the Examiner spoke with Robby about the album and Quiet Desperation.

Quiet Desperation at Great Scott, Coxen's "The Camaro Whisperer"

Very few people would have ever thought of putting Bigg Nez and Joe Wong together as a hip-hop duo called Tin Tin Buffet, as Robby Roadsteamer has done in Episode 7 of Quiet Depseration, a faux reality show about the Boston arts and entertainment scene. It's those sorts of combinations that have made Quiet Desperation so appealing, throwing a couple of dozen of Boston's talented comics together in one story and seeing what happens.

Friday night at Anderson Comedy's show, The Gas, at Great Scott Roadsteamer celebrates Quiet Depseration with some of the show's contributors -- Mehran, Chris Coxen, Tom Dustin, Erin Judge, Shaun Bedgood, Ken Reid, and Joe Madaus.

Here's Episode 7, introducing Boston's newest hip-hop comedy team, Nez and Wong.



Coxen is one of Boston's most reliable character comics, and has a considerable collection of whackjobs and goofballs (there's a very fine difference, I would have to cite sources) including Ripps McCoxen. McCoxen has just added the title "Camaro Whisperer" to his resume, as demonstrated in the latest video from Coxen.

A few wods on the Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival with Chris Coxen

You may not be used to looking for comedy on Mondays in Boston, so you may not have noticed that Chris Coxen and Robby Roadsteamer have opened up shop downstairs at the Cantab every Monday for what they're calling the Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Sleepoever. They'll be bringing along friends from the other Greater Boston Alternative shows Roadsteamer has been putting together over the last six months.

A few comedy shows have come and gone in that space, but few of them have had the kind of committed hosts the Sleepover has in Coxen and Roadsteamer, or the type of scene that is coalescing around them. I had the chance to speak to Mr. Coxen about the show recently by e-mail.

How do you and Robby plan to be the first comedy show not dumped from the Cantab?

Ha! That's a good one. If keeping our show at the Cantab means Bobby (Robby) and I have to drink up a juicy bar tab by ourselves each Monday night to keep the Cantab happy, then that's what we'll do. In addition, we may also try to make the show good. Good shows don't get dumped. Geeks get dumped.

With all of the shows both of you are currently involved in, why add a free show on a Monday?

Bobby (again Robby - I get to call him Bobby) and I need a weekly show that we have complete control over and just like the Peanuts cartoon, there can be no adults around telling us what to do. This is how maniacs like Bobby and I grow our artistic figures; a small, humble, creative, intimate, casual but quality performance environment. Much of what my act is stems from loose, creative environments like the Great and Secret Show. We're looking to replicate that feel. Why free? Do you know someone with money? If that's the case, we'll start charging. It seems like we only know people that are too poor to shower much less pay for comedy. Besides, we want to give folks a strong incentive to keep coming back to the show. We want to make a nice, free hangout for them.

With all of the new clubs and new shows opening up, do you think we’re reaching a level of saturation? What niches do you think still need to be filled?

You're completely right. There are a lot of clubs opening up and saturation is always a potential issue. Whether there were 100 clubs in Boston right now or two, we feel like our show will be unique. The success of Bobby's Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Shows have made it clear that there are people out there who want more alternative comedy. Also, the two of us feel like we fall between multiple genres. We feel like it's a harder for us to succeed because people in the industry don't know quite know what to do with us. When you feel like this, you have two choices: 1) start drinking bad whiskey and lament or 2) do your own thing, create your own scene for your own artistic enjoyment and hope for the best.

Who will be on this week?

The lineup is Shane Mauss, Mehran, Matt Wilding and Sara Heggan. Should be a taste-worthy show.

Do you have a stable of people you expect to see regularly?

Indeed so. You'll probably always see the bartender and the same few chairs. The chairs will always be "plants" in the audience. No one will see it coming. Beyond that, I hope to include Nate Johnson and Sean Sullivan doing sketch/character items. Ken Reid, Mehran, Nicole and few others will appear frequently as well.I've already booked most of the shows into August. Brian Longwell, Shane Mauss, Joe Wong and MC Mr. Napkins are some other heroes that are scheduled to make it so.

Will you and Robby perform together at the shows?

No plans have been made yet for this but it may happen inadvertantly.

Will we be seeing the new character from Quiet Desperation?

Maybe. Once issue with that is that Renaldo is a dead ringer for Barry Tattle. I don't want to start a Bermuda cat fight between the two lads.

New video from Robby Roadsteamer

Robby Roadsteamer has not one but two new videos posted on his site -- Episode Four of Quiet Desperation, his YouTube sitcom about the local comedy and music scenes, and a video for his song "Swamps of Sadness."

Here in Episode Four, sessions for the new album are heating up:


And bonus relationship angst in "Swamps of Sadness":

Robby Roadsteamer creates a comedy monster

Robby Roadsteamer has created a franchise in Boston with his Greater Boston Alternative Comedy shows, gathering his favorite comedians and a band or two and putting on shows at venues like the Paradise and the Middle East (see my interview with Roadsteamer from the first show in December). Tonight, he brings the Greater Boston Alternative Mayday! Mayday! Comedy Show to the Middle East Upstairs with Joe Wong, Mehran, Erin Judge, Ken Reid, Chris Coxen, Anderson Comedy, and Sean Sullivan.

The shows have fostered a sense of community, which Roadsteamer immediately looked to showcase in a new YouTube-based sitcom called Quiet Desperation (see the first three episodes below). I caught up with Roadsteamer last week to talk about the shows and the Boston comedy monster he’s creating.

How have the Greater Boston Alternative shows been going?

Personally, for me, they’ve been a blast, just because it’s definitely an audience that doesn’t normally go to a comedy club. I, with the exception of shows at the Comedy Studio, have been burned out by conventional comedy shows. It’s nice to have a crowd that’s just open to anything. A lot of times, crowds at comedy clubs are, “make me laugh,” there has to be much more give onstage to win them over before you can actually enjoy doing your set.

These last couple of shows have been people who don’t normally go to comedy shows. A lot of them usually go to music shows and like that. There’s a much looser [feel to] the audience. You can tell it’s going to be a good show. And the comedians, I’ve seen some unique performances at these things, because they just open up a little bit. They don’t have to be delivering every ten to twenty seconds. They can take their time telling stories and developing other things onstage.

How are you pulling those audiences into the shows?

I’m pullign them a lot from basically the music side of the tracks. At WBCN, I built up a fanbase of people from all walks of my creative life. I usually do a lot Facebook blasts and things like that. But I know these people are all… it’s very hard to get people to shows these days. Everybody always flyers and stuff, but really, even shows I’ve seen a lot of flyers for, I can still name everybody in the audience at a lot of these shows.

People’s time is very valuable apparently now these days. You’ve got to fight for them to not go home and update their status and all that. The only way to get to those people is to go on their little thing and be like, “Hey, I know you’re on Facebook right now, why don’t you go out to a show? I know that comedy shows sometimes suck, I know sometimes you have to be quiet for two hours, but there’s a bar right in the room and everybody’s going to have fun and it’s all a bunch of people that you know.” It’s turned into a thing where, yeah, people see great comedians, but it’s also a social group, too. It’s people who normally are awkward, people who are kind of withdrawn, I mean, myself indictable.

I’m having a lot of fun with these shows, and I know these shows are gaining a lot of momentum. We’re, after this, doing a three-night stand in Provincetown this summer at the Arthouse Theatre. They’re bringing the whole show down there. And I actually just opened for Jon Lejoie last week at the Wilbur Theatre –

How was that?

Oh, I absolutely crushed. I was not nervous and I realized I feed better off of, when I know there’s a lot of people in the room. It made me step it up. Bill, the owner of the Connection came up afterwards, he wanted me to bring the Greater Boston Alternative Show there for September. So we’re negotiating that now.

I’m really starting to enjoy the vibe, because the first time I did it at the Paradise, I don’t know, I think a lot of people were wondering what it was all about. I think comedians are starting to realize that, yeah, it’s not about the term “alternative comedy,” it’s just about the idea that there can be a different sort of platform for people to go to a show and not expect a typical comedy show.

Do you have an overall plan of what you’d like to see happening as you do more and more of these shows?

There’s already some comedians from this sort of vein starting to get breaks here and there. Maz Jobrani for Mehran, had him open up at the Berklee Performance Center. And that’s because one of the talent scouts came to the Paradise show. And in return for that, Mehran opened up for him in Washington D.C. and crushed in front of 1600 people, and they want to bring him on tour. And it’s like, what I’d like to see is comedians I’ve seen rough it out in the trenches of the Emerald Isle and all these crappy open mic nights have their chance to shine and have their breaks, because I feel they’ve got so much to offer, but they need the right opportunities.

This goes beyond just doing the comedy shows for me. It’s like that show I sent you this morning, Quiet Desperation. I’m using the same pocket of comedians to show how they would be in an outside of the box TV show that pretty much lampoons the whole Spinal Tap meets the D.I.Y. scene and stuff like that. I want it to be across the board, because these people, I don’t just talk about comedy with. We’re all sort of intertwined with other things, too. It could be philosophies, the way we enjoy life. It’s so weird how, accidentally, all these comedians turned out to be really close friends. I could tell you stories on everybody who does these shows. Like, how I met them and what I’ve shared with them. And it’s weird that I also happen to find them amazingly brilliant onstage.

I just actually last week closed the deal, I guess MTV’s putting together another Beavis and Butthead type of show, and it’s going to be based on YouTube videos and stuff like that, and one of their people approached my publishing company and they’re paying us a thousand dollars per episode, I mean, it’s one right now, but if people like the videos, they’ll purchase for other episodes for permission to use all the YouTube videos on each episodes.

Going back to Quiet Desperation, is that just made for friends and people in the scene? It seems like a lot of stuff would fly over people’s heads if they’re not into the local comedy or music scenes.

My opinion is this, I think you show it to anybody in terms of the type of character Tom Dustin is, the type of character Mehran [is]. Yeah, we’re using local locations and stuff, but I don’t expect somebody to gut laugh when they hear somebody performing at Great Scott. And I don’t expect people to gut laugh when they see Erin Judge is reporting for the Boston Globe, but somebody performing at a sports bar in front of five people after I’ve just explained how much that sucks? There’s not, I fell, a lot of inside.

It’s the type of show, it’s like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Arrested Development. I think on its own as a YouTube video, I don’t think it holds its own, because those types of shows, you need to watch them. That’s going to be our only handicap. I mean, I know it’s not going to be a five to eight million hit video because people just want stuff on YouTube to make fun of, the retarded kid who can’t sing Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” the right way.

With a video like this, I feel like if it were budgeted it would be perfect for something like MTV. You’re looking at ten to twenty fake bands of all different genres doing really close to the bone reality comedy songs in each of those genres in that Spinal Tap meets D.I.Y. mode. How many people are struggling musicians trying to pretend they’re bigger than they are in this country? How many people eon the comedy side really have these dreams and visions, too? It’s a lampooning of how a lot of us are living this life of, “Oh god, I really don’t care about the break, but I need it!”

I feel the jokes and the humor, if you give it a real, unbiased watching, I feel the talent is top of the line, the delivery’s top of the line, you don’t feel stupid for watching it. I think the acting is very convincing. And I think more and more, now that we’re getting episodes out and telling the story a little bit more fluidly, there have been a few bites and breaks. The Phoenix is going to host all the newer episodes, including the ones we’ve already got printed up.

Quiet Desperation Episode one



Quiet Desperation Episode Two



Quiet Desperation Episode Three

Random Notes: Jimmy Tingle, Joe Wong on Letterman, Tmomy's to Open in May, Robby Roadsteamer Pilot

For those who don’t do digital downloads, Jimmy Tingle for President: The Funniest Campaign in History is now out on good old hard copy CD. Tingle has been offering the album as a download for a couple of weeks. (You can hear a track, “Cafeteria Catholic,” here).

Tingle has been editing the project for a while now, putting together the best from his shows at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown last year, taking out specific references to the race for the presidency that would date the material. He’ll celebrate the release of the album with a show tomorrow at the Regent Theatre in Arlington (he’ll also play shows there in May and June).

Joe Wong on Letterman

Boston’s own Joe Wong is tentatively set to record a set for the Late Show with David Letterman Monday, which would air next week. Letterman comic booker Eddie Brill, recently in town for auditions for his Great American Comedy Festival, has been working with Wong on his set, and Wong gave a preview of it Sunday at the Comedy Studio.

Tommy’s Comedy Lounge to Open in May

John Tobin and Frank Ahearn completed paperwork this week to open a new club in the Charles Playhouse on May 2. The name “Tommy’s Comedy Lounge” comes from Thomas Wignell, the 18th century actor and humorist for which Tobin also named the Thomas Wignell Award, presented to comedians chosen for the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame, another of Tobin’s projects. The club will run Thursdays through Saturdays, and reach out to college comedy groups for Thursday night shows.

New Pilot from Robby Roadsteamer

Robby Roadsteamer posted his pilot for a new show on the Boston comedy scene, called “Quiet Desperation,” this week, with an assist from Shaun Bedgood, Mehran, and Tom Dustin. And a new character from Chris Coxen, Renaldo. He’s a singer. Kind of. And he’d like to free women from… well, just watch this.

Robby Roadsteamer: I Solved Every Miniquest

Robby Roadsteamer has officially come through his Nebraska period, recording his new album, I Solved Every Miniquest, with a full band. And that’s not the only change. Miniquest also leaves behind the hard rock mustache rock for a more poppy sound, still heavily influenced by his troubadour shtick for the past four solo albums (released within the space of a year and a half). There’s even a hand-clapping sing-along (“Two Week Maine Vacations”) danceable folk rock (“Silverspoon Artist Girl”).

Don’t worry, there are still plenty of Tekken references, and some songs that reference the music industry, although Roadsteamer (and his need to work menial day jobs) is the main target. The best of these is Roadsteamer’s self-penned Wikipedia entry – “Bury that timecard right in the clock/Go clean up dress shirts at Sears.”

Miniquest has a bit more of the party atmosphere that made Roadsteamer’s earlier band albums so much fun (see especially “When We Hang Out”). Which might have something to do with the camaraderie Roadsteamer has worked to engender in the comedy community for the past several months, resulting in a string of comedy/music shows at rock venues.

The latest of these shows, The Greater Boston Alternative Spring Comedy Fling, happens tonight at the Middle East Upstairs with Mehran, MC Mr. Napkins, Chris Coxen, The Steamy Bohemians, Renata Tutko, Anderson Comedy Group, Ken Reid, and emceed by Shane Webb, with musical guest Chris Keating. Doors at 8PM, cover $8. Roadsteamer has also been giving out copies of Miniquest at the shows, so you may be able to snag one there.

You can see a bunch of ths Spring Fling folks in this video for “I Guess It’s All About” (note Mehran’s performance as “stressed out man on phone”).

Roadsteamer on Spotlight on Cambridge

Robby Roadsteamer drops some knowledge, and a few "blueberries," on Spotlight on Cambridge with Peter Bowers. Also revealed -- Mehran is his connection. He also drops blueberries.

A Special Moment with Barry Tattle

Barry Tattle has been boosting romance in Boston, Bermuda-style, for years as part of Chris Coxen's League of Characters. Tonight and tomorrow at Mottley's, he'll be offering a very special date night with Barry Tattle's Valentine's Day Surprise. I thought it was time Boston got to know Mr. Tattle a little better, so I asked him a few questions about the show and his romantic expertise. Scroll down for bonus video (Tattle sings!).

What do you have planned for Mottley’s, without giving away too much of the “Surprise?”

I have tender moments of all varieties that I plan to nurture the audience with. There will also be live music performed by two lady-pleasing musicians from the Grownup Noise (Adam Sankowski and Paul Hansen). On Friday, we'll have guest chuckles from Jon Lincoln, Erin Judge and Dan Boulger. On Saturday, we outsource our ha-has to Robby Roadsteamer, Renata Tutko and Tim McIntire. Also, if the mood is sensual, I will share some dark, delight-filled stories from my Tattle Tales collection.

Why would couples come to see your show?

To reboot their love-drives. Romance goes stale if you don't take it to the shop for tune-up now and again. Modern lovers are easily distracted in a world of email, cell phones and other beeping mechanisms. It's my duty to make sure remind them of their romantic wonders.

Why would single people come?

To learn how not to be single anymore. This is my guarantee with the class I teach - "Love In Today's Unjazzy World". I teach it in the basement of a Unitarian church. It's a Harvard Extension Extension course. I'm not even sure Harvard knows about it.

What are the key elements of romance?

Chardonnay, an oceanside sleepover and precious intentions will get you started in a precious direction.

How long have you been a romance expert?

It would be easier to answer the question, "When did the first breeze ever happen?"

What is the most romantic song ever written?

"I Want To Be Your Man" by Roger. Basically it sounds like a duet between an ebony hero and a fax machine. It's pure beauty.

When did you first fall in love with Bermuda?

When I exited my mommy...you see, I was born in Bermy.

How do you stay breezy in Boston?

I dream and I speak in hushed tones.

How do you get along in a notoriously sarcastic city?

It's more like: how does a notoriously sarcastic city get along with Barry Tattle? My body has a way of altering any climate, bringing with me Bermuda's soft winds and whispery ways.

What is the rest of the Tattle clan like?

They all have figures that were designed in Paradise, forged in the heavens, and exist in your dreams. The gents all wear a sugar broom (mustache) with honor and the ladies smell better than a vacation resort.

How do you usually spend Valentine’s Day?

With a feminine creature who's beauty is so electric, it could power a city in a very modern world.

Barry Tattle's Valentine's Show Promo - watch more funny videos

Shows This Weekend

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.

The Boston Scene: Looking Back and Forward to 2009

This was a year of transition for the Boston comedy scene. The Comedy Connection left Faneuil Hall for the Wilbur. Mottley’s Comedy Club opened to give Faneuil Hall a different, more indie-driven vibe. The Comedy Studio kept chugging despite losing staples like Micah Sherman and Myq Kaplan to New York. Dick Doherty stepped up his programming at the Vault.

There were rumblings about what would become of the scene, the usual concerns about hemorrhaging talent to New York and Los Angeles and speculation about the club scene. But at it’s base, this scene isn’t about the clubs. Never has been. The clubs, like the old Ding Ho and Catch a Rising Star, and more recently the Connection and the Studio, are just the facilitators. This scene is about the comedians, and from what I’ve seen over the past decade covering comedy in Boston, this scene will never lack for good comedians.

Nine years ago, I saw the Ding Ho reunion at the Somerville Theatre. I had been in town for about a year, and seen a few shows, but really hadn’t gotten my feet wet in the scene yet. At that reunion, I saw Bobcat Goldthwait, Steven Wright, Barry Crimmins, Jimmy Tingle, Don Gavin, Steve Sweeney, Lenny Clarke, Mike McDonald, Tony V., DJ Hazard, and probably twenty other comics whose roots were firmly planted in Boston.

It was an amazing array of talent, and an exhausting night as comic after talented comic took the stage. People took turns hosting just to get through it. You can read about the history of this scene all you want, but seeing wave after wave of comics of whom I was already a fan and hilarious veterans I had never heard of drove home just how rich the Boston comedy scene is, how deep its history. And the fact that I had laughed for more than three hours was proof this wasn’t just talk – these people were funny, and there seemed to be an endless supply of them.

A few weeks ago, I saw a lot of the same people at Showcase Live when Steven Wright was introduced into the Boston Comedy Hall of Fame. Crimmins gave us a glimpse into what it’s like to tour with Wright (Theme song --- “No Woman, No Press Charges,” and tequila and acid were staples, acid for the audience so they’d better understand the show). Bob Lazarus had the best set I’d seen him do. Ken Rogerson, Tony V, Don Gavin, Jimmy Tingle, Steve Sweeney, Lenny Clarke, Mike McDonald – the audience knew and cheered every one of them. They were old friends, a constant in an ever evolving city.

A few days later, the Paradise Rock Club hosted Robby Roadsteamer’s Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival. Roadsteamer had assembled some of the best of a new wave of Boston comedians. You can debate the term “alternative” if you’d like (in an awkward moment waiting for a sound cue that seemed like it would never come, host Shane Webb questioned alternative – “It just has to be weird, right?”). You can say it’s a false category, call it pretentious, however you perceive it. But what you can’t do is apply that old chestnut that it’s the “alternative to funny.”

Character comic Chris Coxen showed off his “combat dancing” as Danny Morsel (a mix of disco and punching and kicking) and his smoothness as loungemaster Barry Tattle. Mehran, who I was seeing in person for the first time, had a powerhouse set about being both gay and Iranian (the man is not shy about mining either for laughs). Bethany Van Delft was cool and intellectual, the Walsh Brothers told their wild stories about adjusting to LA, Anderson Comedy sang of Christmas with no pants. Shane Mauss pulled off a neat and seamless set of stand-up with a cell phone sketch sown in. And Roadsteamer clearly had the crowd behind him during his set of musical diatribes about the Boston comedy and music scenes, with help from a couple of muscleheads on my favorite of his tunes, “I Got Construction Boots.”

Two shows within three days of each other. Boston veterans, and a new generation of Boston comics. Whatever else might be in transition, the comedians are here, old and new, and they both have helped me laugh my ass off for nearly ten years. And there are continuing efforts to bring the two worlds together. Mottley’s approach to booking has allowed Shane Mauss, veteran Patty Ross, and Baron Vaughn (back home from New York) to headline. Artie Januario hosts a Wednesday night open mic at Giggles that regularly attracts veterans like Tony V (watch for that to start up again January 21).

My hope for 2009 is that people go out to see these comedians, and realize how lucky they are to live in a city where comedy never dies. And you don’t have to go very far to find it.

The Boston Comedy Community Wishes You a NSFW Happy Holidays (Sort Of)

Last night's Comedy Studio Holiday Show was the usual bizarre affair, complete with bathroom wall poetry, gang rivalry, and fresh watermelon. People braved travel bans and packed the house -- it was standing room only by the time I navigated the North Shore to get to Cambridge. The Walsh Brothers, Josh Gondelman, MC Mr Napkins, Ken Reid, Billy Bob Neck (Paul Day), Barry Tattle (Chris Coxen), and Studio owner Rick Jenkins were predictably loose, if not always on topic for the holidays. Jenkins was honored by the comics with a donation to the Boston Food Bank, and a surprise gift -- an original piece of art illustrating one of the jokes he has told almost every night he has hosted. I caught a bunch of the comics (and the house band for the night, the Grownup Noise) after the show at the party to get their holiday greetings.

Rick Jenkins, making a reference to the joke in the illustration.


Jenkins and the illustration.


Renata Tutko


Barry Tattle


The Walsh Brothers


The Grownup Noise (Boston Comedy's house band)


Niki Luparelli (and friend)


Paul Day


Robby Roadsteamer

Comedy Shows Tonight

If you’re still making plans for tonight, there’s a lot of comedy to consider. Over at the Sweetwater Café, Lamont Price is hosting How the Jokerz Stole Christmas with Tony Moschetto, Tom E. Morello, Renata Tutko, Daniela Capolino, Shawn Donovan, Sam Jackson, DJ Reason, and DJ Matt Phipps at 8 PM at the Sweetwater Cafe. Price produces shows at the Sweetwater on occasion, and always has a good line-up.

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.

You’ll have to decide between those shows and the Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival at the Paradise Rock Club. Tough choices. I’ll see you out there.

Robby Roadsteamer's Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival

The Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival with musical guest Campaign for Realtime
December 17, 8 PM.
Paradise Rock Club, 967 Commonwealth Ave, Boston.
www.ticketmaster.com

Robby Roadsteamer knew he was asking for trouble by naming his latest production “The Greater Boston Alternative Comedy Festival.” Having worn a path between Boston’s music and comedy scenes over the past several years, he’s aware of the problems the term “alternative” presents. In the music scene, everything not Top 40 or hip hop became “alternative,” crowding the field until the term became useless.

In comedy, the description is often a dividing line between comics who view themselves as more traditional comedians (a definition that’s almost as useless) and comics who see their work as edgier or more original. But there’s little in the mechanics of what happens onstage, in structure or set-up, that could provide a definite line of demarcation.

Andy Kaufman did character work, but so did Sid Caesar. Jackie Martling does set-up and punchline material, but so does Steven Wright. Margaret Cho and Patton Oswalt may tell stories, but so did Andy Griffith (and if you’re suspicious of dragging out Matlock as an example, dig up a copy of his “What It Was Was Football.”). The structure of doesn’t define the genre, and none of those comics stick strictly to those structures.

“It’s like anything abstract,” says Roadsteamer. “It’s like describing art or love or anything. It’s like, you get to a certain degree where you have an idea of what the differences are, but to even try to define very stripped down – ‘alternative comedy is a comedian who goes up and doesn’t…’ – that’s stuff where you’re going to find a lot of contradictions.”

What you can say about the show is that it is packed with eclectic, immensely talented comedians. The Walsh Brothers put an indelible stamp on this scene with their mix of personal storytelling, rooted in their Charlestown upbringing, and absurdist sketch. Shane Mauss can write a standard joke as well as anyone, but will stretch talking about the strange things he’s experienced with his sudden popularity after his success at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen and his Conan appearances.

Chris Coxen has been developing a set of characters, including the plastic-haired “Future Queer” and lounge singer Barry Tattle for the past several years, and they’ve recently started to mingle in more integrated shows. The Anderson Comedy Group has a taste for bizarre and sometimes tasteless sketch and short film. Shane Webb (who will MC the evening), Bethany Van Delft, and Mehran all mine their personal lives, from very different perspectives. And then there’s Roadsteamer himself, who has moved from a fake-mustachioed hard rock troubadour to something closer to his everyday self with an acoustic guitar.

What they do have in common is that they all come from the Greater Boston – Allston/Brighton/Cambridge – comedy scene. “All these amazing, talented comedy acts are coming from that area,” says Roadsteamer.

If this show is successful, Roadsteamer would like to organize more of them to spotlight what he sees as underappreciated acts. He doesn’t see a place for acts like this to grow and make a living in the current club scene, and he hopes this show will help the cause.

“There is an underground scene going, but it’s always nice to see what you can do with it, and maybe you can bring it to the next level,” he says. “Maybe one day, which obviously seems like a pipe dream at this point, but maybe more comedians of this type can make a living in the area in the area they enjoy living in.”

A sampling of Festival talent.

GBAC Festival Promo


Shane Webb


The Walsh Brothers


Shane Mauss


Anderson Comedy Group


Bethany Van Delft


Mehran
Mehran, 5 tight, 10.25.08