The Back Page: Shawn Donovan On His New CD, Few Mourn

Shawn Donovan's comedy CD,
Few Mourn

Shawn Donovan doesn’t have much faith in his friends. That’s why he named his self-produced CD Few Mourn and made the cover look like a cheesy tribute for a fallen friend you didn’t know that well on Facebook. It’s a shame – he looks so young.

But that also sums up Donovan’s comic point of view. He would be pessimistic, if it were worth the energy. Over the past year or so, he has been hitting a stride, telling more personal stories onstage that sometimes roam a little. You can catch him tonight out in Lowell at the new Back Page Jazz & Comedy Club on a show with Brian Brinegar. And you can find the CD on CDBaby.com.

I spoke with Donovan by e-mail this week.

So how many people do you think will actually attend your funeral?

No idea. Probably a few enemies coming by just to make sure I'm really dead.

Will any of them be from the audience from this show?

In reality, I don't even want a funeral. I feel the same way about funerals as I do about weddings. What's the point? It seems like a big to do when only a handful of people actually care. I don't want to be buried anyway. I take up enough space as it is now, no need to continue taking up space for eternity. I rent now, so maybe it'll be my only chance to be a landowner. Still, I'd prefer my body to be left to rot in the ocean. Can this blog act as my last will and testament?

More than anyone, Doug Stanhope seems to have been a huge influence on you. Is that something you're aware of as you're writing and performing? Is there anything specific you've learned from listening to him?

Doug's great and obviously a favorite of mine. I've always been drawn to ranty comics like him, Bill Hicks, Marc Maron, Bill Burr, Chris Rock. Ranty social satire is my favorite kind of comedy - don't know why, just a personal preference I guess. In terms writing and performing, something either happens to me that I find funny or I read something that pisses me off then I take it to the stage. I do nearly all my writing on stage. I don't know how effective of a process it is, but that's what I do.

How did you go about producing the CD? Who handled the technical end?

My friend Rob Hughes handled the recording, production and technical aspects of the album. He's a musician in a band called Fishing the Sky. Yup, that's a plug. I think he did a great job. He's recorded bands in studio before, but it was his first time recording a live comedy event like this. I think he did a great job.

How did you decide on Grandma's Basement to tape?

Ha...probably because they're the only ones who would have me. Benny was really on board with me recording an album and it was something I had been thinking about and working towards. That room is small enough where I could actually fill it and if I totally ate my cock, it wouldn't have mattered. It's not like I'd have to answer to anyone afterwards. Total no pressure environment. A perfect setting for a coward like me.

How hard is it to promote a self-released CD like this for a comedian? Musicians can send out to radio, but outside of satellite radio, comedians don't really have that option.

It's nearly impossible. CD Baby is a great resource though. They handled the distribution and provide a lot of resource for independent artists, it's really a great site. I'm the worst at self promotion though. I have no idea what to do. I plug it at shows I do and comics and friends of mine have been really great about passing it around. I think the only hope for something like this is word of mouth. Maybe it'll slowly gain momentum and something good will come of it. Probably not. That's just a pipe dream.

How has it sold?

Sales have exceeded my expectations. I hate myself and have very little self esteem, so the fact that one copy sold is great. I don't know an exact number. I keep getting sales reports every month from the online distributors and I've sold a few download cards after shows. I've made a profit and I consider that a victory at least for me. The consumer is probably losing out.

The CD is under comedy, and also "moods: mood: brooding" on CDBaby. How big do you think the "moods: mood: brooding" crowd is? You seem to be in there with mostly metal and synth bands.

Comedy has such a small market anyway. Is Bauhaus still a band? Maybe I can tour with them.

How is the Back Page as a venue? How did you find out about that?

The Back Page is a cool, little jazz/comedy venue that just opened in Lowell. They're running a comedy open mic on Tuesdays and I believe they just started doing weekend comedy stuff. Nick David, who's a bluesman in the band Mr. Nick and the Dirty Tricks - yup that's a plug - runs the comedy shows. He also runs the comedy open mic up at the Shaskeen in Manchester NH. I met him there and he's had me on a few shows that he's booked. How 'bout it!

The standard overly general closing question -- what'd I miss?

I feel like this is an opportunity for me to make a joke. I got nothing.

Brian Brinegar: 9PM. With Shawn Donovan, Kevin Cotter, Nick Lavallee, Alana Eisner, and Kate Nee. The Back Page, 15 Kearney Sq Lowell, MA. 978.455.4418

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.

Gary Gulman tops the bill at Steve Macone's Holiday Show and Toy Drive

Gary Gulman at the Burren's
Slightly Better Christmas
Spectacular Wednesday

The usual Wednesday night comedy contest at the Burren is being pre-empted this week for some special guests and a toy drive to benefit the Somerville-based Toys for Local Children. Macone is calling it his "Slightly Better Christmas Spectacular," because "the toys will be helping children have a slightly better Christmas and people can expect, at the very least, the show to be slightly better."

Gary Gulman is dropping in, supporting his new album, All I Want for Chunukah Is Christmas. Also on the bill, Matt D, Rob Crean, Tim Vargulish, Shawn Donovan, Maria Ciampa, Kate Ghiloni, Matt Kona, and Chris Fleming. Josh Gondelman and Zach Sherwin (aka MC Mr Napkins) may also drop by, depending on if they can get to Davis Square from the Wu-Tang show at the Wilbur in time.

Macone says a few more comedians may wind up stopping by last minute. 

Josh Gondelman and Shawn Donovan's World Tour of America

Josh Gondelman and Shawn Donovan begin their trek across the nation this week, playing everywhere from Chicago to Austin, San Diego to Seattle, all in about a month’s time. They’ll kick off their World Tour of America tonight with a show at Mottley’s Comedy Club with a slate of guests – Jon Lincoln, Tim McIntire, Brian Moote, Dan Boulger, Ken Reid, Chris Coxen, and Renata Tutko. I spoke with Gondelman by e-mail about the tour.

How did you decide to do a national tour together?

I have some good friends in a really great local band (The Grownup Noise), and they do a self-produced tour every summer, so that was definitely an inspiration for me. I had the idea a year ago to do a similar thing. Shawn was my first choice to come with me because my rubric was: Who can I call who will leave his/her job on a moment's notice? And Shawn was the first name that came to mind.

Have either of you done extensive road work in the past?

I've been all over New England and down to New York for shows, one nighters and weekends and stuff, but this is my first serious long-term nation-wide trip. It's an excuse to see the country and meet people and get onstage in front of all sorts of different crowds. We've got some adventures planned, too. Salamander hunting with a nature photographer in Chicago, Graceland, riverboat gambling in Mississippi. Also, Shawn is a bigfoot enthusiast, so the Pacific Northwest will be full of mystery and danger.

How did you book the places you’re going to?

The internet has been a great resource. Just Googling cities and contacting people on MySpace out of the blue has yielded some great results. Also, Boston has become a really cool melting pot for comics who started out in different places. Brian Moote was a big help booking shows in Seattle and Jess Mozes who works at the Comedy Studio got us a gig in San Francisco. Also, there are lots of Boston transplants all over who were very helpful. The Walsh Brothers in particular. Lots of guys who went to Emerson are out in California, too, and they were very cool. Mike McCusker was very supportive. We're mostly crashing on couches of college friends. At this point in my life, no one owes me any favors anymore, though. I better not move anytime soon.

What is your mode of transportation?

1999 Toyota Corolla. Mine. I'm picturing it as a cross between the Blues Brothers ("It's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses, etc.") and the Big Lebowski ("They finially did it; they killed my f---ing car.") But mostly we're putting 8,000 miles on a ten year old car. Fortunately we've got a friend who is a comedian and a mechanic who's taking a look at it for us. Comedy is sort of like the free masons sometimes.

What venues/cities are you most excited to play?

We got hooked up with some really cool showcases in Chicago, which is our last stop on the way home. Plus, I've heard nothing but great stuff about Austin and San Francisco as places to spend time.

What do you think you might learn from playing these other cities?

What I'm hoping for mostly is to broaden my horizons in terms of absorbing comedy. Boston is a great community, but I'm excited to see what the conventions are outside of that community. What makes people uncomfortable in other cities? What sorts of jokes are "hack?" I'm curious to see whether mainstream comedy is sort of like mainstream music, in that what blows up nationally is the most commercially viable iteration of a particular style or dialect. I'm excited to get into the nitty gritty of things. And also to see how my act plays all over, for sure.

Will you be trying to pick up shows as you go along, in addition to what you already have booked?

We're already pretty jam-packed, with something like 17 nights onstage out of 28 days away, so it'll be tough to book additional things, but I'd definitely be up for doubling up and hitting a couple of shows on the same night in cities where there's a lot going on. You know, like Oxford, Mississippi.

What will be your first official gig back in Boston after the tour?

The Monday we return, I retake the helm of my usual Monday night open mic at Sally O'Brien's in Somerville. Then I'm at the Comedy Vault the first weekend I'm back (April 10th and 11th), and then The Gas (Friday) and the Comedy Studio (Saturday) the next week. So I'm hitting the ground running.