Guest Blogger: The Studio

More from Lucas Lewis, because it's Lucas Lewis Week. Today's piece is about The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square. - Nick
 By Lucas Lewis

Other clubs say, “Tell all your friends about us.” We want you to keep this quiet, because we’re not sure the Chinese know we’re here.
— Rick Jenkins

Rick Jenkins of The Comedy Studio

CAMBRIDGE — Tucked away on the third floor of the Hong Kong restaurant in Cambridge, across Massachusetts Avenue from the gated majesty of Harvard Yard, sits what many funny people consider to be the greatest comedy club in the world.

Among them are Eugene Mirman, who has released three comedy albums, written a book (“The Will to Whatevs”) and acted in the HBO show “Flight of the Conchords”; Joe Wong, a Letterman favorite; Shane Mauss, who had a Comedy Central special and released an album on the station’s imprint; and Frank Smiley, the senior producer (and talent scout) for Conan O’Brien.

But unless you’re a comedian, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of The Comedy Studio. That’s by design. When owner Rick Jenkins starting doing Sunday night shows at the Hong Kong 15 years ago, he didn’t set out to create the kind of cookie-cutter, two-drink-minimum comedy club that proliferated in the 1980’s.

At first, he didn’t set out to create a comedy club at all.

“I was almost 35 and had not made it as a standup comic, and clearly wasn’t going to make it as a standup comic,” Jenkins says, “and I got a day job at a bookstore for minimum wage figuring, ‘Alright, I got to do comedy for 10 years and now I have to start the real world.’”

Instead, his Sunday night shows starting doing well, so he added Friday and Saturday night shows. There’s now a magic-themed show on Tuesday nights, and Wednesdays and Sundays tend to feature less polished comedians than weekend nights, but the format — about 10 comics doing 5-7 minute “feature” sets — has remained relatively constant.

That’s one thing that separates The Comedy Studio from some of the bigger clubs downtown, such as Nick’s Comedy Stop, which more often than not follow the standard format of feature performer (doing about 30 minutes), out-of-town headliner and maybe an emcee.

Another is the crowd. Jenkins likes to joke that he doesn’t want the audience to tell their friends because “we’re not sure the Chinese know we’re here...and for the first 10 years that was really true,” Jenkins says. “People would call the Hong Kong and they would have no idea what they were talking about.”

Jenkins is quick to point out that it’s not generally overrun with Harvard people, but the Cambridge location does lend itself to a smart, hip crowd.

“Boston is a thinking person’s town, and it’s counterbalanced with a rich and delicious tradition of a**holeism,” says the comedian Mehran, who grew up in Lexington (and attended high school with Mirman). “The right Bostonian will point out exactly why you don’t need to be so psyched to be alive, tell you to go f*ck yourself and somehow invigorate your day with that information. I love it.”

Smiley is the senior producer for The Conan O’Brien Show. The first time he went to the Studio, he looked at 10 comedians and had three on the show in the following two weeks.

“That's pretty much unheard of,” says Jenkins. “Usually it takes at least a year of them tracking someone, and out of 10 they might find one they want to track.”

Not surprisingly, Smiley returns often, and he's quoted on the club’s program:

I consider it the greatest comedy club on earth. It’s a return to the days of smart audiences, which I find are rare, and I’ve been everywhere. You go to the Comedy Studio and then you come back to the New York clubs and you fall into a depression.

“The Studio has such a good crowd,” says Ahmed Bharoocha, a Boston (by way of Rhode Island) comedian who moved to Los Angeles earlier this year. “They’re usually smart and they’re going to like you. It’s not like a road room where you have to bang it into (their) heads — which is a good thing to learn, too. I think Rick really wants you to get your set ready for what you think it’d be on TV.”

And that is the most crucial ingredient of The Comedy Studio: Jenkins himself.

***

“Seven chairs on that side,” Jenkins tells a comedian who’s helping him transform the third floor of the Hong Kong into a comedy club.

There are four 20-foot long tables plastered with snapshots and press clippings that constitute the bulk of the seating at the Comedy Studio. Six nights a week, Jenkins is here to set up, though mercifully he only has to break down four of those nights. Every show starts at 8 and ends by 10.

Girl Talk is playing over the speakers while a comedy DVD menu circles repeatedly in silence. Along the back walls is additional seating, and after setting up the tables, Jenkins takes to arranging a handful of promotional signs from over the years along the back wall. One features a black and white photo of a much younger-looking Jenkins, when the Buffalo native, who’s approaching 50, still had a full head of hair.

Then, as now, when he dons a dark suit for his hosting duties (he emcees most of the weekend shows), Jenkins seems surprisingly straight-laced for the proprietor of a hip club considered to be a bastion of “alternative” comedy (see “Indie Comedy”). He credits comedian Eugene Mirman, who was a staple of The Studio for four years before moving to New York in 2000, with shifting things in an experimental direction.

“He’s really the one that took my mainstream instincts and pushed them towards the gorilla operation,” Jenkins says.

But Jenkins’ mainstream instincts and appearance are in part what allow The Studio to thrive. Audiences who wander in off the street might be put off by the bizarre antics of one comedian, but 5-to-7 minutes later they have Jenkins up there smiling and delivering the kind of setup/punchline jokes they expect during the segue.

And it largely operates like a real comedy club, apart from the fact that the comedians don’t get paid, so there is a professionalism and efficiency to everything.

“Rick does a great job running it,” Mirman says. “It has a wonderful spirit to it. It’s got so many elements that come together that make it great place.”

Comedians are able to experiment; the audience is exposed to different kinds of jokes than they might see on TV without being pushed out of their comfort zone for too long; and Jenkins gets to feature a variety of comedic acts and styles.

“You’ll hear a lot of comics say you need a place to fail,” says Nick Zaino III, who has covered the Boston comedy scene for more than a decade (for The Boston Globe, among others) and runs the Boston Comedy Blog (bostoncomedy.blogspot.com). “The Studio is often that place, where people are supportive enough that you can really swing big and whiff sometimes.

“But if you make contact, you’ll really have something. That’s not something you can get everywhere. And the Studio isn’t a big club, but it’s an established place, so it means something to people to get to a certain point there.”

***

Jenkins’ willingness to try new things and let comedians experiment is unusual for a legitimate comedy club, especially one that generally pulls a good crowd, but it’s central to his mission. He doesn’t just select talented and unique voices; he helps to foster them, often from the beginning.

When comedians contact him about getting on a show, he’ll send out a welcoming care package, replete with a filled letter, articles on The Studio, a listing of open mics and a free pass to the club. It’s not clear what Jenkins gets out of this, but for aspiring comics it’s a great primer for the scene.

“Comics really develop here,” Jenkins says of Boston generally, but he could be talking about his club. “It’s really more like a graduate school.”

He rarely offers advice without being asked, but he has it at the ready. Jenkins even has a Comic-in-Residence program, a sort of finishing school for young comedians. Every night for a month, the Comic-in-Residence does a set at every show, hosting or taking the bullet (going first) for crowds that range from teenagers to tourists to grizzled veterans of the Boston comedy scene.

One of the first Comics-in-Residence was Myq Kaplan, the Last Comic Standing finalist. When Kaplan first performed at the Studio 10 years ago, he was an aspiring singer-songwriter who just thought he'd try some of his funnier songs onstage. He was crestfallen when he found out he only had seven minutes.

Also on the bill that night were Jonathan Katz and Louis C.K., though at the time neither name meant very much to Kaplan. Later, when he became serious about comedy, he hosted a show at the Studio with Micah Sherman before moving to New York a few years ago.

“Basically Rick was the first person to put me on stage,” Kaplan says. “The Studio I think of as my home club. That's where I got started, I love going back there. It's just a really great place with great audiences and Rick is great.”

“I don't want to blow smoke up his a**hole one more time, but The Comedy Studio was a really important terrarium for me to do stuff,” adds Zach Sherwin, who performs — and recently released his first CD on Comedy Central Records — under the moniker MC Mr. Napkins. “Rick gave me that weekly hosting spot and then I'd do a couple other spots a month, and it just was a really good community of smart, appreciative people who gave me a lot of good feedback early on. The Comedy Studio was huge.”

Sherwin and Kaplan are among the latest batch of Boston comics to find success only to skip town. Another is Shane Mauss, who now lives in Austin. Mauss' rise was downright meteoric (see “Onward”), but like Mirman and Kaplan before him, it really started with the Comedy Studio.

“I think of the Studio as my home club,” Mauss says. “As far as actually performing, it's my favorite club in the country. It's not always super intelligent comedy that you see on stage, but the audiences are usually up for whatever — dumb jokes and smart jokes alike.
It's one of the few places where I can do my really weird alternative stuff, but then I can also do my blue collar-y stuff talking about drinking or my old construction job...I haven't really seen that in too many clubs.”

For his part, Jenkins thinks the recipe is simple: “If you have good audiences, comics will want to be here, and if you have good comics, audiences will want to be here.”

***

You can point to many things as evidence of the Studio's central place in the Boston comedy landscape, the respect it engenders among comics in particular. The club has sustained itself without a single professional promotional push. Smiley and other scouts regularly look to Jenkins to produce showcases so they can locate the town's top talent.

But one of the most impressive things is this: The Comedy Studio occupies this elevated space despite the fact that it doesn't pay its comedians. The space is too small and the tickets too cheap to support anything more than Jenkins and his Hong Kong restaurant overlords. But it doesn't seem to matter. The best out-of-town comics often try to make a pit stop at the club, even when they're playing far bigger, far better paying (and this would include anything that's paying) gigs downtown. Todd Barry and Gary Gulman have recorded CDs here.

Whether it's the crowd, Jenkins, the space itself or some combination in between, the alchemy has worked for 15 years. When asked what sacrifices he's made to make that happen, his dismisses the idea entirely.

“I'm making a living doing something I love, instead of making a decent living doing something I hate,” he says.

In The Comedy Studio, Jenkins has created the kind of club he’d want to attend.

Just don't tell your friends.

The Comedy Studio's Comic In Residence Interview - Dave McDonough

Dave McDonough is the April
Comic In Residence

Every month, The Comedy Studio picks a comedian to be the “Comic In Residence,” playing every show on the schedule. For April, the Studio has chosen a bit of a ringer in Dave McDonough, who starts his run tonight. McDonough won the Boston Comedy Festival’s competition in 2009 and has opened for Doug Stanhope and others. He’s got a deadpan style that has drawn natural comparisons to Steven Wright, but McDonough has more of a scatological bent.

The Marshfield native has always loved watching stand-up, and it came natural for him to transition from class clown to comedian. He says he likes to listen to Bill Burr, Louis CK, Rodney Dangerfield, and Don Rickles, a mix of edgier local comics and classic comedy idols. “Pretty much any comic who says whatever they want,” he says. “I like edgy comics. Not that you can’t be clean and funny it's just that I think it's more fun to be a jerk sometimes.”

I gave McDonough the usual Comic In Residence Questionnaire.

When did you start doing comedy?

I did my first show in 2000 then I quit until 2004. I quit because it was much harder than I thought it would be. I didn't realize how much work you had to put into it. I came back because I couldn't stop thinking about it and I thought I might be good if I put the time in. Also I lived far from the city at the time and that also dissuaded me a little.

How often have you played the Studio?

I play the studio fairly often, probably every other month or so.

What other clubs do you play?

I also play at Mottley's, Dicks Beantown Comedy Vault, and Nick’s Comedy Stop. My favorite club to perform at is the Studio because of the room itself and the audience and I'm not just kissing ass.



What local comedians have influenced you?

Tony Moschetto and Gary Gulman. I saw Gary before he did Last Comic Standing and you could just tell he was going to be big. He really made it look easy just a really good writer. And Tony was really dry and kind of out there, extremely clever and approachable. Watching him made me realize that being really dry and appearing like you don't care can sometimes draw the biggest laughs.

What's the average number of gigs you've played in a month before this?

I'm pretty lazy, so the most I've ever done before this is probably between fifteen and twenty.

How will you approach your time -- work on new stuff, refine older stuff, or a mix of both?

I plan on trying a lot of different sets, some new stuff, some clean stuff and some dirty stuff.

What do you expect to have gotten out of the experience when the month is over?

My timing and work ethic are two things I need to work on. If I develop some new jokes or tags then I'll be happy but I'm really just trying to get down what I have to a point where I can't screw it up.

Do you plan to make comedy a job, or is it something you do as a hobby?

I don't do stand up for a hobby, I take it very seriously so hopefully within the next few yrs I'll be doing it full time.

Mottley's: Ken Reid on Firsts of Fury and The Comedy Studio

Ken Reid's Firsts of Fury

Ken Reid debut's his new show Firsts of Fury tomorrow at Mottley's Comedy Club. He'll be talking about firsts in his life, continuing his trend of storytelling comedy, joined by Mehran, Lamont Price, Jenny Zigrino, and musician Mark Lind. If all goes well, you'll see this show regularly at Mottley's. And more of Ken Reid is a good thing.

I spoke with Reid last night in this interview, a tribute to Mystery Science Theater 3000. We talked about Firsts, Reid hosting at The Comedy Studio, and dipped into the Bag of Pop Culture to test Reid's considerable knowledge.

I learned a lot. My own first -- this is where I learned that I look like a Walt Kelly drawing in profile.



Ken Reid's Firsts of Fury: 8PM, $12. Ken Reid hosts a night of comics talking about their "firsts," with Mehran, Lamont Price, Jenny Zigrino, and Mark Lind. Mottley's Comedy Club, 61 Chatham Street, Boston, Ma 02109. 877-615-2844

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.

The Comedy Studio's Comic In Residence Interview - Sean Wilkinson

Sean Wilkinson is The Comedy Studio's
Comic In Residence for March

Every month, The Comedy Studio features one comic on every show. For March, it’s Brockton native Sean Wilkinson, starting with tonight's Mystery Lounge show.

Wilkinson says he wrote his first joke at seven or eight and grew up watching Letterman and Conan. He decided in high school he was going to give comedy a shot someday, and has fed himself a steady diet of Louis C.K., Patton Oswalt, and Zach Galifianakis (he lists Oswalt’s Werewolves and Lollipops as his favorite comedy CD – “I've probably listened to that twice as much as any other album,” he says). During the day, he works at what he calls a “big financial services company,” so he can afford to tell jokes at night.

When did you start doing comedy?

Five and a half years ago. I did comedy at my college for three years, about a show every 2 months back then. Then I graduated and started taking it more seriously, getting out to the Boston scene and doing some traveling when I can.

How often have you played the Studio?

One or two times a month over the course of a couple years.

What other clubs do you play?

Mottley's, Nick's, and Grandma's Basement.

What local comedians have influenced you?

All of them/None of them. In all seriousness though it's a great, supportive comedy scene with a lot of talent and everyone is very helpful. I'd say Jason Marcus and Sean Sullivan have influenced me more than anyone. They're both great and I've gotten to watch their entire careers unfold because I went to high school with them. I've done more traveling, writing, and drawing robots with Jason than anyone. Sullivan is good friends with my brother Steve and he's always been hilariously mean to me and I like people like that (in high school he didn't like the idea of there being two Seans, so he called me mini-Steve for the better part of a decade). Both of them have pushed me to get up on stage as much as possible too.

Don't tell Sullivan that I said anything positive about him by the way, he still intimidates me.



What's the average number of gigs you've played in a month before this?
It varies, but I probably average 7 or 8 booked shows a month, and then with open mics added in I get up on stage 20+ times a month.

How will you approach your time -- work on new stuff, refine older stuff, or a mix of both?

A mix of both. Older stuff on the weekends, with some newer stuff mixed in on the weekdays.

What do you expect to have gotten out of the experience when the month is over?

I'd be surprised if I didn't feel more confident in my material by the end of the month. They have great audiences and a set there can be a real confidence booster for your jokes. Sometimes I get too comfortable with how I normally arrange a short set, so I'd definitely like to play around with the order of my jokes a bit. It is a huge honor to be able to do this, so other than that I'm just going to try to enjoy the experience.

Do you plan to make comedy a job, or is it something you do as a hobby?
I plan on making it my full-time job, not sure what my timeline for that is yet. Also Mutual Funds Incorporated might not like seeing that timeline on the internet. Until then it is the best hobby in the World... next to scrap booking, of course. A distant second to scrap booking.

What to do tonight: Max Goldberg at the Studio

There are plenty of good options for comedy tonight, if you're browsing and looking for alast minute decision. Ron White at the Wang, Betsy Salkind at MIT, Martin Plant at Mottley's, Jimmy Dunn at the Kowloon in Saugus (featuring Tom E. Morello's last shows -- see the previous post).

Consider heading out to The Comedy Studio, though, to see Max Goldberg. He's back in town doing one show only tonight. Angie over at the Examiner has the interview.

The Boston Comedy Exit Interview: Tom E. Morello

Tom E. Morello has two more Boston
shows at the Kowloon.

The Boston scene loses another one of its own soon when Tom E. Morello
heads to San Antonio. Morello has been a staple here for several years, a regular at The Comedy Studio. He'll say goodbye to Boston with two shows at the Kowloon tonight and tomorrow, opening for Jimmy Dunn.

What made you decide to leave Boston now?

Life intervened in a wonderful way for me, as I met an amazing woman and fell completely in love with her, (while simultaneously planning for our respective moves to Los Angeles together). She is an immigration attorney, and her contract working on the California/Mexico border was expiring in September. California is in the midst of a state-wide hiring freeze, and she was offered a substantial career advancement opportunity in San Antonio. She was emotional about telling me this great news, thinking that it would be a potential deal-breaker between us. It took all of 3 seconds for me to respond to her fortune with a very genuine, "San Antonio sounds perfect!"

For many years, I had let comedy steer where my life was headed, and frankly, that was a strategy that provided me modest success, but the method had outgrown it's usefulness at this juncture. This is the perfect time for me to reverse the course, and let my life dictate where my art goes. Comedy can be packed up and shipped around, but great women come but once in a lifetime.

What are your plans when you get to San Antonio?

I've always been fascinated at the prospect of parachuting my act into uncharted territory, and I'll certainly have that chance! I'm a lifetime New Englander, and my first time ever spent in Texas will be when my car crosses the state line as I move in. My New England-style act will be a change of pace at every show I'm on, and I certainly won't be the only Latino comic on any showcase lineup, a distinction that was both blessing and curse in Boston.

The Tex-Mex comedy scene is alive and well in that belt, and I look forward to carving my niche among the established players there. My act always works well in the "fish out of water" scenario, and I've never been further from the stream than I will be in Spurs country.

What do you think you gained from learning comedy in this scene?

Everything I am as a comic, I owe to the Boston comedy scene. What other kid without a college education or formal training gets to perform in front of Harvard, Boston College, M.I.T. students and faculty, but also entertains construction workers, firemen, and police at a Chinese restaurant in Saugus?

I got to do exactly that for 11 years, and the forced adaptation you develop by telling jokes to academic geniuses seated next to working-class warriors can't be duplicated. A comedian can't survive in Boston with only smoke and mirrors, because it is a no b.s. comedy scene. If you are derivative, mediocre, green, or phony...you're dead in the dirty water.



Any one particular show in Boston stand out in your memory?

The last time I performed with the late, great Kevin Knox will always stand out in my memory. The show itself was fun, (as Kevin made every show a party) but something motivated me to pull Kevin aside after the crowd had left, so that I could tell him how much I appreciated him. I had no idea his health was about to turn for the worse, and though Kevin was great at many things, he always deflected praise with a smile. Kevin allowed me the chance to say my peace, he gave me a big hug, and thanked me for the sentiment. It was the last time I ever saw him, and I'll always treasure that memory.

I was never close friends with Kevin, but I personally viewed him as a scion of the cosmos. On a very spiritual level, Kevin Knox was the comedian I modeled my performing style after. So many comics had callously stolen that man's jokes, or ripped off his stage persona, but I carefully watched him work and always tried to absorb his boundless energy and joy for performing. No one could ever duplicate his act, (and sadly, so many have tried) but Kevin taught me that I could do my own thing and still learn from the way he went about his business. He was a beautiful human being, and I will always be grateful that the geography of performing comedy in Boston allowed us to work together many times.

What will you miss the most?

I will miss The Comedy Studio and Rick Jenkins, who are basically one in the same. Rick is a dear friend, and it was a pleasure being one of the regular players who watched the Studio evolve into a well-oiled machine that produces such great comedians at a nearly break-neck pace. I was never really a comedy "blue chip" prospect, and I didn't have a whole lot in the way of training or natural ability. I was raw, pig-headed, and it took me a long time to reach competence as a stand-up comic.

Rick was the most consistant voice whom I could trust would look out for my best interests in comedy. He also allowed me to help produce hundreds of shows from the booth, (working sound, timing and filming the comics) which gave me a keen eye for rhythm, and the basic foundations of stand-up. I think that Rick excels in challenging comic sensibilities, and figuring out how things play in regards to the many different audiences that will receive a performance. One producer might find an act too dirty, but a cable network might find the act not edgy enough, and a comedy club audience might totally love that very same performer. Rick is really good at pointing out those distinctions, and has a great mind for the art of building, telling, and ultimately marketing the joke. He's as solid a comedy emcee as there ever was, and his act flies under the radar enough that many don't realize how great a performer he truly is.

I'll also miss late-night drunken shouting matches with Rick on the second floor of the Hong Kong after the Comedy Studio shows, where we loudly called each other out on our respective stubbornness.

Ultimately, I will always value and respect his counsel and our friendship. Rick Jenkins is a really great guy, and I'm sure we'll be yelling into the phone at each other over comedy industry semantics in the near future.

Gary Gulman CD taping at the Studio tonight

Gary Gulmn tapes a CD at the Studio tonight.

According to Comedy Studio owner Rick Jenkins, there are still a handful of tickets left for Gary Gulman's 7PM CD taping tonight. The 9PM show is sold out. The Peabody native will be taping both shows tonight for a new CD. He'll also be doing headling sets tomorrow and Saturday and taping those as a backup, in case the final product needs some touching up. Call 617-661-6507 to snatch up those last tickets for tonight.

Gulman has been tuning up for this for months, showing up at open mics around Boston and playing a number of shows, including several spots at the Studio last week.

Chris Fleming's last Boston shows

Like many Boston comedians before him, Chris Fleming is packing up and hitting the road for Los Angeles this month. He's got a leg up, having signed with New Wave Entertainment after an audition at The Comedy Studio in January. Tonight and tomorrow are his last official shows as a Boston resident.

I spoke to him in March about how he developed his particular physical and tangential style of comedy, his background in dance, and the rooms in Boston that have been important to him.

As is the danger when you interview someone in the street, we get a little noise in the background toward the end in the form of a fairly one-sided shouting match with a musician down the street. No one was harmed. At least during the interview.

Enjoy the interview, and afterwards, a video of Fleming performing at the Studio.



At the Studio:

Gary Gulman tonight at The Comedy Studio

Comedy Studio owner Rick Jenkins has announced that Gary Gulman will be popping in to the club tonight to do some time.

Here's the rest of the line-up:
Sean Sullivan hosts Mike Abramson, Lue Avent, Jessie Baade, Thersea Condito, Shane Copeland, Janet Cormier, Tyler Fischer, Andrea Henry, Chrissy Kelleher, Corey Manning, and Matt Nazarian.

Comedy Studio Comic in Residence Interview -- Corey Manning

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Comedy Studio Comic in Residence Interview - Jason Marcus

Every month, The Comedy Studio puts one comic on every show for the whole month as part of its Comic in Residence program. The idea is to help a comic grow with regular stage time in front of a variety of audiences.

Every month, we here at Boston Comedy ask the CIR the same questions (but they aren’t made up by some pretentious dead dramatist – I came up with the question);

Up this month is Jason Marcus, whose one-sentence bio on his Web site reads, “I was born into a middle class family with a Hawaiian father and white mother...and then there were jokes.” He has been gigging outside of Boston the past couple of years, winning comedy contests in the Detroit International Comedy Festival and at Catch A Rising Star.

Here’s a quick look at Marcus, including a video from the first week of his residency. Catch him later on to see what’s changed.

When did you start doing comedy?

I started doing comedy almost four years ago.

How often have you played the Studio?

A few times a month, Rick Jenkins is always really cool about giving me dates when I'm not on the road.

What other clubs do you play?

I'm at Mottley’s, Nicks and Catch a Rising Star a lot.

What local comedians have influenced you?

There have been so many local comics that have influenced me for different reasons Kevin Knox, Shane Mauss, Ken Reid, Paul D'Angelo, Tom Dustin, Rob "Roadsteamer" Potylo. There's a lot of really great comics/performers that I looked up to in Boston, way too many to name them all.

Kevin Knox would go out every night and SMASH a room of 14drunk people on a Monday night with the same high level of energy as he would a packed house at a great club on a Saturday and he went above and beyond to teach me the things about comedy that you don’t learn on stage. Shane Mauss was huge for me too because he is proof that if you're a good guy and you work hard you can make it, he’s also an amazing comic.



What's the average number of gigs you've played in a month before this?
I usually try to get on stage almost every night, especially if I'm trying to get in shape for a festival or a road gig that I've never done before so I don’t look too bad.

How will you approach your time -- work on new stuff, refine older stuff, or a mix of both?

I asked around to see what my favorite comics did when they had their residency, just to compare and see what worked. From that, I've been working out new material on Wednesday and Sunday doing a mix of old and new on Tuesday and Thursday and trying to beat up the perfect tight seven on Friday & Saturday.

What do you expect to have gotten out of the experience when the month is over?

Hopefully, a solid tape that I can submit to festivals, more minutes of new material and cirrhosis of the liver from hanging out with Rick and the all the comics on the second floor of the Hong Kong.

The Comic in Residence Interview: Matt D

The Comedy Studio’s Comic in Residence program is made for comics like Matt Donaher, known to comedy audiences as Matt D. He’s been doing comedy for less than two years, and is already one of the scene’s sharpest up and coming comics. His deadpan and penchant for one or two line jokes has earned comparisons to Steven Wright, and a friend of mine, Derek Gerry of The Whole Truth on WMFO, has compared him to Woody Allen.

He’ll be playing at the Studio Tuesday through Sunday, every night through the month of June.

When did you start doing comedy?

I started doing comedy in February of 2009.

How often have you played the Studio?

I get to play the Studio about twice a month.

What other clubs do you play?

Mottley's Comedy Club, The Funny Bone, Catch a Rising Star...I end up playing less clubs and more high school graduations and art space type deals.



What local comedians have influenced you?

Myq Kaplan without a doubt. Steven Wright is also a favorite of mine, as well as Jonathan Katz. Sometimes it's hard for me to separate 'people I really enjoy' and 'influences,' but those are the guys I listen to from Boston and say, "I want to be like that someday."

What's the average number of gigs you've played in a month before this?

I am usually out every night, thankfully there are enough places to do that in New England.

How will you approach your time -- work on new stuff, refine older stuff, or a mix of both?

Work on new stuff and trying to solidify a seven minute set, so a mix of both. I'm glad you had that option ready.

What do you expect to have gotten out of the experience when the month is over?

I'm not sure what I expect, what I hope to get is five more minutes of jokes, and be strong enough to kick the show off to a good start every night. I do expect to have a lot of fun though.

The BC Q&A: Kelly MacFarland

Kelly MacFarland is back in Boston after having won Best of Fest at the Rooftop Comedy Festival in Aspen. She'll be gigging around town this summer, headlining at ImprovBoston tomorrow night with Maria Ciampa and Dana Jay Bein and playing The Comedy Studio next week, but if you don't see her for a while after that, she'd probably hunkering down over her new netbook to finish her first book, a compilation of personal essays she's hoping to finish this summer. We spoke briefly by phone earlier this week.

Are you sort of huddled in these days working on the book, or do you still get out to play frequently?

No, I’m still out playing a lot. I was actually just in Aspen at the Rooftop Comedy Festival a couple of weeks ago.

Yes, congratulations.

Thanks! I was voted Best of the Fest, which was awesome. So I’m still out working. But I’m trying to take the summer to really focus on the book. I’m definitely out playing, I’m recording my CD at the end of August at Mottley’s, on August 27 and 28. I’m really excited about that. And I’m doing a couple of things for the Plymouth Rock Comedy Festival next week. I’m still out there and working. And I’m slotted to do a couple of USO tours in the fall.

How is the book coming?

The book’s coming okay. It’s a little bit of a process, but it’s going well.

What is your premise for the book?

It’s a collection of short stories based on my stand-up and my life.

Are they non-fiction stories?

They are based… Well, yeah, they’re nonfiction. Mostly. Yeah, you can say they’re nonfiction. I’m not really making a lot up.

With “mostly” in parenthesis then?

Yes. All facts will be true. I’m trying to think, the last one I just wrote, it’s all true. So it really happened.

What made you decide to go that route?

I was approached by literary agents last winter, and I’m a storyteller, that’s kind of my thing, and I just thought it would be really cool to see it all in print. And they did too, so we decided to work together.

Have you done anything like that before?

No. Not at all. Hopefully this will be the first of many books.

Was it a daunting process?

Yes. It’s daunting because I’m used to being so verbal, so it’s hard to put it down on paper. And I’m also very critical of my own work. I’m like that with my stand-up, too. So I end up rewriting and rewriting and rewriting, which apparently is a big no-no in the book writing world.

No, quite the opposite.

Really?

Well, you’re not supposed to keep rewriting until you’ve finished it.

That’s what I’ve been doing.

You’ve got to get a first draft before you start editing, and then you edit it mercilessly.

Right. I kind of start it, and then go back and decide that I don’t like any of it. And then I end up rewriting before finishing it. I’ve been told, just get it all out on paper, then go back and edit.

Do you have a publisher yet?

Nope. I’m working with my agent. We haven’t even gone to proposal yet. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later, but that really depends on me. I’ve got to kind of buckle down. I just ordered a new netbook to see if maybe that would help. It’s like a new toy. You know when a girl buys a new pair of earrings to make herself look pretty? I’m buying a new netbook to see if I can make my writing look better.

It might work if it allows you to go someplace where you can concentrate.

That’s it exactly. I want to be able to write any time I feel the urge. You buy a new pair of sneakers thinking it will motivate you to run. Well I’m buying a new netbook to see if it will motivate me to write. Something new and shiny.

Are there any particular stories people would recognize from your stand-up that you’re working on?

Maybe. I don’t really want to say yet, just because everything’s so still in the works. But there’ll be some themes. If people like my stand-up then they’ll like the book, for sure.

Video: Chris Coxen comes home from England

If you've noticed a lack of character in the Boston scene for the past few months, that's because Chris Coxen has been gone, bringing Barry Tattle, Rips McCoxen, and his stable of unstables to England. Coxen reports that his characters went over well there, and he was fairly smitten with the scene.

He'll be at The Comedy Studio Friday and Saturday, and back at his usual Wednesday night gig at Mottley's Comedy Club.

I caught up with Coxen at his welcome home party. But since Coxen would never use such a pedestrian phrase, he called it his "Jazzy Persons Convention." He talks about England, and what would make him leave his Boston home for the U.K.

Comedy Studio - The Comic in Residence Interview

Every month, The Comedy Studio hosts a new "Comic in Residence," a comedian who plays the venue every day for a month. It's a program developed by Studio owner Rick Jenkins to help comedians develop their craft by getting onstage as much as possible.

Starting this month, we'll be interviewing the Studio's Comic in Residence at the beginning of each month, finding out how long they've been doing comedy and what they plan to do at the Studio. This month it's Tim Vargulish, a smart up and coming comic from Rhode Island and a regular on the Boston scene for the past couple of years.

When did you start doing comedy?

I started doing comedy four years ago.

How often have you played the Studio?

I've consistently played the studio about 1-2 times for the last two years.

What other clubs do you play?

I also play at Mottley's and Catch a Rising Star.



What local comedians have influenced you?

I'm not sure if any local comedians have influenced me. When I first started out I was influenced by David Cross and Patton Oswalt. There are tons of amazing local comedians that I look up to, Shane Mauss, Joe Wong, Sean Sullivan, Josh Gondelman, sorry but there's just way too many to name.

What's the average number of gigs you've played in a month before this?

Around twelve a month, give or take.

How will you approach your time -- work on new stuff, refine older stuff, or a mix of both?

On Sundays and Wednesdays I want to work on new material. Thursdays I want to work on a mix of new and old stuff. Fridays and Saturdays I want to use to just really perfect a seven-minute set.

What do you expect to have gotten out of the experience when the month is over?

I'm just hoping to have a great experience, performing every night with tons of incredibly funny people and improving my material as much as possible.

The BC Q&A: Myq Kaplan, CD release party at the Studio Saturday

It’s hard to get a straight answer out of Myq Kaplan. The former Boston comic, who moved to New York City in the summer of 2008, is a quick wit. And he jumps to misdirection and word play with a minimum of set-up, and has a knack for structure, which is evident in this e-mail interview.

More people will get to enjoy that wit this week, with the release of Kaplan’s debut national album, Vegan Mind Meld (he self-released his first album, Open Myq Night, recorded at Club Passim). He’ll celebrate the album tomorrow at the Comedy Studio. Also, tonight at 11:30PM, Comedy Central debut’s his half hour Comedy Central Presents special, adding to his Conan O’Brien and Live at Gotham TV credits.

I've heard a lot of the material on Vegan Mind Meld, but there are a lot of new tags for older material. Do you ever consider a joke "done”?

Short answer: Depends.
Medium answer: Not usually. Maybe I used to, but almost never anymore.
Long answer: Most of my jokes are created one step at a time, starting with an initial kernel of an idea, sometimes ending as a one-liner, but more often these days growing larger and larger, as tags and more ideas occur to me on stage or off. So, I might have thought some jokes WERE "done," but in performing them in different situations, sometimes they become UNdone (in the good way, not the falling apart way).
Sometimes, new experiences inform old ideas in a different light, and what was previously one short thought can lead into a longer one, or a story, or a multi-faceted something or other. In fact, I'll probably have an extra-long answer to this question long after it's too late.
(And I might edit out the phrase "multi-faceted something or other."
But feel free to leave this all for now. All part of the process.)

Did you get to preview the Comedy Central special much? Were you able to get everything in as you wanted it to be?

Short answer: Hopefully.
Medium answer: I have not previewed it.
Long answer: I have only seen the clips they put up on the website that everyone can see, and of those, I'm not sure which (if any) of them are actually IN the special or just being used for the web. That said, I was very happy with the taping, so I'll be happy as long as it's not 30 minutes of commercials.

Jokes.com
Myq Kaplan - Exclusive - Super Nice Video
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Futurama New Episodes Funny Demon Zombie TV Show Funny TV Comedy Blog

Boston has produced some fine comedians that work in a style similar to yours, in that quick, two or three lines style. Were you influenced by Don Gavin, Wendy Liebman, or any other local comics, stylistically?

Short answer: No.
Medium answer: Maybe.
Long answer: I love Don Gavin and Wendy Liebman, but I didn't know who they were when I started doing comedy. I've only seen Don Gavin live a handful of times, and I've only seen a few TV spots of Wendy's; I really appreciate what they do, and recognize that we have some stylistic things in common, but I believe that I gravitated towards what I do because it's what comes naturally to me. Obviously we are all influenced by everything around us (except for the hermit comedian, but no one knows who that is because I made him or her up...
or did I? If I did, why didn't I settle on one gender?), that can't be helped, but I mostly just aim to be influenced by myself. I enjoy the work of others, both those similar and those dissimilar to me. And thanks.

How was the transition from Boston to New York?

Short answer: Fine.
Medium answer: Difficult at first.
Long answer: Fine and difficult at first. Starting comedy in a new city can often be a challenge, just finding out what places there are to perform, where to see good shows, how to get on shows, who to talk to, getting to know people, becoming a part of the community, etc.
Starting in Boston was great, because it's a decent-sized city with a number of clubs, other venues for standup, and a very welcoming and encouraging and manageably-sized community of working comics of all experience levels. Starting over in New York was more complicated at first, because there are so many clubs (some I haven't even been to yet), so many shows and bookers and venues that come and go, so many communities within the world of New York comedy. I had help a bit, from a few sources: 1) comedians I knew from Boston who were now living in New York and could help direct my efforts a bit, 2) bookers and comedians who were at least somewhat responsive to the fact that I had one TV credit by that point, and 3) not much else. I looked up open mics on the internet, did a lot of trial and error, made a lot of phone calls, hung out at a lot of places, and I'm still in a place where I have to work to get on at some clubs, some shows, which is fine. I like the work. And it's gotten easier, with a few fortunate happenings, a few more credits, a few more comedians and bookers learning who I am (and caring/thinking positively of me). It was definitely a chore at first, getting situated, but I feel very lucky that things went my way relatively quickly.
Extra-long answer: see my autobiography.

What shows do you frequent in New York?

Short answer: None.
Medium answer: Honestly, unlike Boston, where I might perform at the same venue once a week or more, in New York, there are so many shows and places to perform, that I don't necessarily end up any one place "frequently."
Long answer: That said, the club I perform most at is Caroline's.
They've been the most generous with stagetime and support, and I can't be more grateful. Comix is another club that I love, and that I perform at as often as possible. In the non-club scene, UCB's Whiplash show is wonderful, as is Moonwork, and Thursday nights at Kabin, Tell Your Friends at Lolita Bar, Bowery Poetry Club, and many more that I'm probably rude to be forgetting. Sorry!

Jokes.com
Myq Kaplan - Religious Extremity
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Futurama New Episodes Funny Demon Zombie TV Show Funny TV Comedy Blog

Anyone on the bill with you Saturday at the Studio you're especially looking forward to seeing?

Short answer: Yes.
Medium answer: Just kidding.
Long answer: I always love performing at the Studio, no matter who is on the show. I believe I know almost everyone on the show and think very fondly of them.

Any other Boston shows coming up soon?

Short answer: Yes.
Medium answer: Is this joke/concept getting old?
Long answer: I believe I will be performing with Greg Fitzsimmons on his annual BU Alumni show at Boston University's graduation weekend on May 14, and I will be opening for Bo Burnham's DVD taping at the House of Blues on May 21. Looking forward to both of those with great anticipation. But not as much as this Saturday at the Studio, maybe.
CD release!

MC Mr Napkins says TTFN Boston

At about 6AM New Year's Day, Zach Sherwin, a.k.a. MC Mr. Napkins, left Boston on a flight to Los Angeles. But before he left, he hosted one more show at The Comedy Studio, where he has honed his craft these past couple of years. The show featured great sets all around, from Josh Gondelman, Andrew Mayer, Tom E. Morello, and Chris Fleming. Expect to see a Napkins album in the near future on the Comedy Central label.

I caught up with Sherwin in the stairwell of the Studio as he told Boston, ta ta for now.

Show is on tonight at the Studio

There was some doubt earlier this week over whether there would be a show tonight at the Comedy Studio. Just got this from the Studio's Rick Jenkins, confirming there will in fact be a show, with a great line-up, to boot:

We will have a show tonight (Friday, November 6) at the Studio.

The Hong Kong wasn't sure until Wednesday night. So we quickly put together a pretty cool night. Personally, I feel like it's going to be a great time. Like the old days; small turn out; lots of funny friends.

Renata Tutko will host sets from Chris Fleming, Sarah Heggan, Rick Jenkins, Andrew Mayer, Andy Ofiesh, Sean Sullivan and Bethany Van Delft.

Louis C.K. in Worcester Tonight; C.K. on Joe Wong

If you missed Louis C.K.'s show at the Orphem in March, you get a second chance to see him tonight at the Hanover Theatre in Worcester tonight. It's a great venue -- I saw Lily Tomlin there last year. And C.K.'s new material is as strong as anything he's done for his last couple of specials. And since C.K. already taped his third special last month, he may be starting over and working on even more new material. Either way, he is always worth seeing.

Also, it seems C.K. caught up-and-coming Boston comic Joe Wong's set on Letterman last month, and he was impressed. He wrote this in his blog, about the thrill of seeing an unknown comic kill on a national show, his thoughts on the perfect TV spot, and a shout out to the Comedy Studio.

I went to the Comedy Studio the night Wong's set aired to watch it on the second floor with a group of comics and Studio owner Rick Jenkins. I can honestly say that in ten years of covering the Boston scene, I'd never seen anything like it. Jenkins made the announcement that one of Boston's own was about to appear on Letterman, and the place went silent (except for a non-comic or two in the far corners) when Joe took the stage. Comics cheered every punchline, and if everybody hadn't been standing already, Wong would have gotten a standing ovation. It felt like a real victory for everyone in Boston comedy, and I'm glad to see C.K. talk about it. I'm glad it felt that way outside of Boston, too.