WICF Spotlight: Mad Men and Milkshakes – Storytelling

Jess Sutich hosts Mad Men and
Milkshakes: Storytelling tonight as
part of the WICF

There are a lot of stand-up festivals popping up all over the country. But the Women In Comedy Festival is unique in many regards. First, in the quality of its organization – it has progressed amazingly quickly leading up to this year’s third installment. Second, in its focus on women. And third, in the variety of genres it presents.

That’s where Jess Sutich comes in. Sutich hosts a regular storytelling show at ImprovBoston called A Night of Oral (Tradition), which happens again next month on April 7. Tonight, she is part of opening night festivities hosting the storytelling show, Mad Men and Milkshakes.

Some festivals give a nod to storytelling with a show or two, but the WICF features a storytelling show almost every night, tonight through Sunday. Sutich knows the better players in the storytelling scene, and she’s impressed with the names on this year’s schedule. “There are such great acts here this year that it can only lead to increased exposure and hopefully even more storytelling festival submissions for next year,” she says.

As a storyteller, Sutich is happy to see so many other storytellers on the bill, but also sees a benefit for the pure stand-up acts. “It's nice to see that variety on the stage and it allows comedians to see other things going on in the comedy and performance world,” she says. “Storytelling is infectious also. When you hear someone tell a story it reminds you of stories that you have so it's great to be a part of a festival and lure all of these great performers in, you know get them to drink the Kool-Aid.”

The line between stand-up and storytelling is a bit blurred. Sutich has experience with several different comic formats, all of which share at least some similarities. “I think that to some extent all forms of comedy can inform each other,” she says. “I started as an improvisor and I bring that skill to my stand-up as much as I bring my stand-up to storytelling and vice-versa. I think that a lot of comedians get started with comedy because they can just tell really funny stories. You can have a stand-up style where you include more stories and real life events but storytelling gives you more of a relaxed timeline. Instead of having to go through a bunch of different jokes you are really there to get people involved in one particular moment.”



According to Sutich, audiences at A Night of Oral (tradition) have been laid-back and open to hearing something different. Storytelling is in a bit of a boom period now, with shows like The Moth expanding in New York, LA, and around the country, and This American Life becoming a staple on NPR. “Storytelling is growing in the performance community, in large part due to the influence that The Moth has had,” she says. “I feel like I can actually feel the audience leaning forward to listen when people tell their stories. Also, although A Night of Oral (tradition) is definitely comedic, a wide range of topics have been brought to stage and the audience is really game for it. They aren't afraid to let it get real.”

And now, abruptly, two questions:

Who are you looking forward to seeing?

I feel like I should use this question to hit on people. I am definitely looking forward to Giulia Rozzi and Margot Leitman's Stripped Stories on Friday, and Sara Benincasa's Family Hour With Auntie Sara on Sunday. Those are both great shows. On Thursday at Mottley's I am going to check out the Dress-Up show. I have seen Ophira Eisenberg host The Moth in New York so it will be fun to see her do stand-up AND in fancy clothes. I am excited that Rachel Dratch will be on of course, and after seeing Flight of the Conchords I was really excited that Kristen Schaal would be here. Beyond that there are just a lot of awesome comedians that I love seeing perform so I will get out to see as much as I can! I hope all of the people I have mentioned read this and consider this a formal pick-up line.

Why should people come to see your show?

People should come to see my show because it's great. If you are into schadenfreude I overshare a lot about my life and it really can make you feel a lot better about the decisions you are making, if you have a great story and you want to see what it's all about while you build your nerve to take the stage it's good for that too. The people who are on the show at the festival and each month are always delightful and funny. My show will make you laugh while you drink beer and when you go home you will feel strangely closer to other human beings. I suggest that everyone try it at least once.

Women In Comedy Festival - Mad Men and Milkshakes: Storytelling: 9PM, $10. Mainstage, Hosted by Jess Sutich with Mad Men and Satan Drank My Milk: Tales of Co-Habitational Hell.ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect Street, Cambridge, Ma, 02139. 617-576-1253

Wilbur Giving Away Last Pair of Tickets to Shaq’s All-Star Comedy Jam

The Wilbur is giving away tickets to
Saturday's show via Twitter

Both shows for Shaq’s All-Star Comedy Jam this Saturday have been sold out for weeks, but the Wilbur has been holding one last pair of tickets to the 10PM show to give away. Starting at noon today, you can enter to win the tickets by going to The Wilbur’s Twitter site and Tweeting “Hey @The_Wilbur get me in the #SHAQALLSTARCOMEDYJAM.” The winner will be picked at random on Friday by 5PM.

The Wilbur hasn’t released the line-up for the shows, which will apparently be a surprise. The last Shaq Jam in October included DeRay Davis, Aries Spears, Corey Holcomb, and Michael Blackson. Three television specials have also been produced under the All-Star banner, including last year’s Shaquille O’Neal Presents: All-Star Comedy Jam – Live From Dallas, which included Mo’Nique, Mike Epps, George Wilborn, Paul Mooney, Blackson, and Holcomb.

The trailer for Live From Dallas:

WICF Spotlight: Beards & Broads Tonight at ImprovBoston

Matt Kona - the "beard"
in "Beards & Broads"

The Women In Comedy Festival kicks off tonight with shows at ImprovBoston and Mottley’s Comedy Club, the beginning of a five-day schedule that includes Jen Kirkman, Kurt and Kristen, and Morgan Murphy at the Brattle and, newly added, Rachael Dratch performing on Friday’s 7PM show at ImprovBoston. Performers are coming from all around the country for stand-up, sketch, storytelling, improv, and musical comedy. I will be spotlighting a few of the shows as the week goes on, including tonight’s Beards & Broads stand-up show.

Not everyone on the bill is a woman. The “Beard” in “Beards & Broads” is Matt Kona, a person of alternate genitalia by the standards of the WICF. It’s an inclusive Festival, which means men were encouraged to submit for acceptance. This will be Kona’s first comedy festival. He says he’s excited to see the shows, the panels, and the workshops, and to hang out with the out-of-towners. “It’s a good vibe, all around,” he says.

Though Kona is hosting, he didn’t put together tonight’s show. “I was kind of amused/flattered when not only was I chosen to be the host, but my facial hair was a part of the name for the night,” he says. “Either that or it's because all the women on the show are married to secretly gay men. I'm pretty sure that's what ‘beard’ means in some circles.”



How does it feel to be one of a handful of men on the bill? “It's cool,” he says. “Last year Josh Gondelman was the only non-female, and he's back this year in addition to a lot of hilarious comics that are blowing up in the scene at the moment like Kyle Ploof, Matt D., Gary Petersen, Rob Crean, Tim Vargulish and more. So it's good company to be in.”

Kona went to last year’s WICF, and says it was a learning experience. “[I] had a blast and met a lot of great people, both those involved in running the shows and performing,” he says. “I definitely benefited from Jackie Kashian's road comedy workshop and the intimate Free Open Mic/Workshop that Maria Bamford put on in particular. I was there at 8AM to make sure I was one of the nine people to get a spot, along with Jenny Zigrino and Matt Donaher who were also braving the cold to be a part of it.”

And now, abruptly, two questions:

Who are you looking forward to seeing, both on your own show and at the festival in general?

I'm excited to see Jessica Brodkin, she's from D.C. and is the only out of town comic on the Beards and Broads show. I've only seen video of her so I'm looking forward to seeing her live and to talk to her about the burgeoning scene down there. I hope to make it over to The Dress Up show the next night (the 10th) at Mottley's. It's a monthly show run by Bethany Van Delft and Erin Judge, and it's consistently great and fun to see people get decked out for comedy. I'm glad that it's a part of the WICF and I'm sure it will be mutually beneficial to the festival audiences, performers and the show going forward in the months. I'm really looking forward "Kurt and Friends" and Kelly MacFarlane at IB 8pm on 3/11 as well as Giulia Rozzi (who killed it earlier this year at Mottley's) doing her famous Stripped Stories show with Margot Leitman later that night on the 11th at 11:30pm at IB. The big show at The Brattle Theater of course goes without saying. People should buy tickets for that now because it will set out soon.

Why should people see your show?

There are a multitude of reasons for people should see my show. For one, it's opening night and that means there will be an undercurrent of excitement that will simply not be there on "night after premiere night." It's fun to see people waltzing around with their newly printed festival lanyards pretending they’re back stage passes for a heavy metal shows and it's the best time to buy a festival t-shirt before they run out of it in your size. Also because the ImprovBoston main stage is a great room, and I may or may not open my set by reaching into a bag of tongue in cheek over the top sexist jokes/phrases to say and then attempt to dig myself out of and win back the audience. Will I be able to pull it off? Will I pussy out? Only one way to find out…

Women In Comedy Festival - Beards & Broads: Stand-up: 8PM, $10. Mainstage. Hosted by Matt Kona with Kristin Seltman, Theresa Condito, Shea Spillane, Tari Fanderclai, Niraj Shah, Erika Kreutzinger, and Jessica Brodkin ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect Street, Cambridge, Ma, 02139. 617-576-1253

The Comedy Studio Hosts Auditions for Eddie Brill, Mosaic

Eddie Brill is at the Studio tonight scouting
for the Great American Comedy Festival

When I first started covering comedy in Boston more than a decade ago, you didn’t hear much about auditions. They might happen once in a while, but the biggest industry-related event in town seemed to be Comedy Central’s Laugh Riots. Comedy Centreal doesn’t do the Riots anymore, but this week, The Comedy Studio is hosting auditions for Eddie Brill, who is scouting for the Great American Comedy Festival and Letterman, and for the artist management group Mosaic.

According to Colleen McGarr, who co-owns Austin’s Cap City Comedy Club and is organizing the trip for Mosaic, this trip is more about familiarizing the agency with the local talent for the future than adding clients immediately. She is sending scouts to a showcase at the Studio on Thursday. McGarr calls it “just a good opportunity for people to familiarize themselves with the level of talent in Boston, live. Boston comics do seem to put a lot of clips on the internet. A lot of scouting is done that way these days.”

McGarr has been a frequent judge at the Boston Comedy Festival, and has also scouted here for the Just For Laughs Festival. She now scouts for Mosaic’s TV department, and says she has always been impressed with the Boston scene. “Love the intelligence, the attitude, the accent, the originality, the characters, the willingness to try something different, the joke writing,” she says. “Lots of stuff! It is better to experience it live and in person.”

Brill, an Emerson alum, is a frequent visitor to Boston. He held a workshop out at Showcase Live just a few weeks ago. Brill books the comics for the Late Show with David Letterman and organizes the talent for The Great American Comedy Festival, which takes place every summer in Johnny Carson’s home town of Norfolk, Nebraska.

He’s at the Studio tonight, and says he is looking for what he always looks for – “Great, smart, one-of-a-kind, poised, clever and funny artists.”

Brill found that in Joe Wong, who made his Letterman in April of 2009. Wong has been on the show twice, and he and Brill are working on getting him on for a third time, something Brill said could happen “very soon.”



Since Brill has been to Boston a lot, he will be seeing comedians he has seen before, which adds a twist to the audition process. He says those comics shouldn’t necessarily try to do anything different to impress him. “If they are themselves, with a nice confidence and an attitude that they are very good at what they do, I will see it,” he says.

He expects a certain growth among the comics he has already seen, even comics he saw as recently as last year. He notes that comics try to reinvent themselves as they grow and get more experience. “It is natural that most comedians are much sharper and funnier a year later because of more stage time,” he says. “If I see a comedian one year and they are making a lot of rookie mistakes – taking the easy way out with their jokes, pandering to the crowd, acting like a comedian instead of being one – I don't hold that against them. I did the same things they did. I am excited when I see a comedian a year later and they have taken leaps and bounds. It is exciting to know that they love comedy so much, they invested the time to do the work it took to find stage time, to take risks and to sharpen their skills.”

Brill calls Boston “one of the greatest cities in America for comedy,” and has been thrilled with the level of talent he finds here. “The real hard and satisfying work is to find and develop young talent and watch them grow in the community and become the best in their craft,” he says. “It's like having a kid and he/she makes you proud of them. Rick Jenkins does that so well, and that is why I like to use The Comedy Studio when I am scouting. There is amazing talent in Boston top to bottom – and incredibly enthusiastic and smart comedy fans.”

He still has a soft spot for Boston, having spent his formative years as a comic here. “It is still one of my favorite cities to do stand up in,” he says. “This is where I cut my comedy teeth.”

Great American Comedy Festival Showcase: 8PM, $10. The Comedy Studio, 1238 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, Ma. 617.661.6507

A Very Special Showcase of Boston Comedians: 8PM, $8. Myq Kaplan, Micah Sherman, Kendra Cunningham, Matt D., Ira Proctor, Kelly MacFarland, Mehran, Lamont Price, Tony Moschetto, Sean Wilkenson, and Bethany Van Delft. The Comedy Studio, 1238 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, Ma. 617.661.6507

Maria Ciampa and the Women In Comedy Festival In the Boston Globe

The Women In Comedy Festival is kicking off on Wednesday, running through Sunday March 13. Next week, I will be running a series of spotlights on indivudal shows and attending as many as possible to get some backstage interviews. Until then, you can read my interview with WICF co-founder and co-producer Maria Ciampa in the Boston Globe (registration may be required). This will be in tomorrow's print edition, as well.

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.

Gallery and Review: Eugene Mirman's Pretty Good Friends At the Paradise

Reggie Watts, Kumail Nanjiani, Tom Allen, and
Eugene Mirman at the Pretty Good Friends show
Tuesday at the Paradise

There is an amazing consistency to Eugene Mirman’s shows. Mirman kicked off his Pretty Good Friends tour at the Paradise in Boston last night, but it could have been a show at The Comedy Studio or the Green Street Grill, both places he used to host when he was here. That is to say, it was a night of comics who shared an obvious familiarity and comfort with each other, and a crowd that was up for whatever they presented.

Mirman hosts a version of Pretty Good Friends regularly in New York, and this is a brief, one-week tour before Mirman heads out to the SXSW festival in Austin. His guests are Reggie Watts, whom Mirman called a “vocal trapeze artist,” Kumail Nanjiani, and Tom Allen. The group started the show with a kind of informal, onstage conversation, during which Nanjiani noted that there isn’t really any reason the four of them should even know each other. Nanjiani is of Pakistani descent, Watts is black, and Allen is English and gay (double minority!). Mirman noted they almost called it the “Accidentally Diverse Tour.”

All four were different personalities, but there was a sort of shared sensibility of being something other, or outside. They apparently had a fun time walking around Harvard Square together yesterday afternoon, drawing some strange looks. Didn’t help that Watts had decided to lumber around hunched over, his knuckles close to dragging on the ground, and surprise people by hiding in bushes.

Allen talked about bringing a monogrammed briefcase to school as a child, which only added to his sense of being different from his schoolmates. One kid said he would knock him to the ground. Allen’s solution? Just lay down before he had to take a punch, and no one can knock you down. Kumail spoke of being called “Kumar” as a slur, which is unfortunately close to his real name. He wants to become famous enough that his name becomes the thing the racists use to yell at other people, then he can be happy when they recognize him. Mirman said he always wanted to be the kind of comic who could toss out one-liners while playing guitar or piano, but has no musical ability. His solution? Read some Tweets while playing theremin.

Watts is the most obviously strange of the bunch. His comedy was less about the meaning of his words and more about keeping the audience off balance using mainly the sound of his voice. He took on the voice of a professor giving a conference lecture, launching into convincing sounding scientific gibberish. Then, just when the audience was comfortable with that cadence, Watts changed into some harder-sounding accent (New York? New Jersey?), changing back and forth seamlessly. That was before he went to his music rig, a couple of boxes on a stool that allowed him to record loops of his own voice and play them back on the fly. With those, he was able to build a strikingly accurate parody of a Radiohead song. It’s more about the breath than the voice, he explained.

As odd as any comedian might have gotten, it never felt like the audience was being held at a distance. Mirman had a volunteer up onstage for a bit where he pretended to be an alien and made her explain speed dating. He gave fake mustaches to everyone in the crowd so he could take a photo of it from the stage. Whenever anyone shouted, it was acknowledged by the comic and the set moved on. Other than one woman who seemed a bit confused about why she had yelled in the first place, no one seemed interested in interrupting the kind of apartment party atmosphere. Which is a nice feat to pull off in a club that holds several hundred people.

A few images from the evening:

Nanjiani, Allen, and Mirman discuss their day walking
around Harvard Square.

Tom Allen describes his experience with
playground bullies.

Tom Allen, star of The Cut and The Correspondent,
whom Mirman introduced with his U.K. credits.

Nanjiani, puzzled by Freddy Kruger's racism.

Nanjiani thinks Harry Potter is the best case scenario
for a transfer student.

Mirman Tweets and theremins.

The crowd wearing their new mustaches.

Reggie Watts grooves.

Watts improvises Radiohead.

Watts and his effects rig.

Watts riffs from behind the curtain
for no apparent reason.

The New Redesign Is Here!

Starting today, the Boston Comedy Blog looks a little different. I have ditched the old blocky design for something I hope looks a little cleaner and is easier to read and use. I’ve also retooled some of the features to make this a site you can visit every day for useful information.

The most extensive change by far is the listings, which you can access by clicking the “Comedy Calendar” in the top navigation. These are the most complete comedy listings for the city of Boston and beyond that you will find anywhere. I have made an effort to include every club, open mics, and even TV and radio spots. There are a few more stragglers coming in as the monthly schedules change, but what’s there so far takes up over 60 pages in Word format. If you have any listings for me, click on “Contact” above and e-mail me, including “Comedy Listings” in the subject line.

I also have a box in the upper righthand corner featuring a few shows going on every week, which I will update on Mondays. So if you’re planning your week, look there first. If you don’t see anything that suits you, check the calendar. There’s bound to be something to make you laugh every week (even if you just stay home and watch something like Showtime’s Fierce Funny Women special, which features Betsy Salkind and debuts March 10 at 8:30PM).

I will be approaching some of the content a little differently, as well. I will be writing more feature type pieces – like one about why comedians leave Boston that is forthcoming later this week. I will be out at Eugene Mirman’s show at the Paradise tonight taking pictures to provide a gallery and review. I will still have longer print interviews like I have done with Louis CK, Barry Crimmins, and Dick Gregory. I will also have short, 6-10 minute video interviews. And every so often, I will dip back into the past 13 year’s worth of interviews I have done writing for publications like The Boston Globe and The Boston Phoenix for some unpublished quotes and Q&As.

I have also added to the “Classic Clips” section, which will be a work in progress. Ideally, I will be adding video of comics from different eras in Boston comedy history that either capture a comic at a Boston club or a performance from around the time they were here. If you have a good one, e-mail me. Or if you’re a comic, venue, radio show, or local comedy blog, let me know and I’ll add you to the appropriate list in the top navigation.

Finally, if you’re curious about who the hell spends this much time writing about Boston comedy, I have added an extensive biography in the About Nick section (that’s me – Nick Zaino).

I have a few more ideas for things to add to the site that are still developing, so check back to plan your comedy viewing schedule, to find out what’s going on this week, or to learn a bit about the rich history of the Boston comedy scene.

Thanks for clicking me.

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.

Michael Showalter's Mr. Funny Pants - At the Brighton Music Hall Tonight

Michael Showalter's Mr. Funny
Pants Tour in town tonight.

Michael Showalter is out at the new Brighton Music Hall tonight with Michael Ian Black on his Mr. Funny Pants tour, which also happens to be the name of his brand new book. You can find more info here.

Mr. Funny Pants has been described in the press as a mix of humor pieces and memoir, which is apt, except the pieces aren't side by side, they're integrated. Before you even get to actual chapters, you have five "About" sections, "Acknowledgments," a "Table of Contents" that is just an illustration of a table, a "Preface," "Post-Preface," "Post-Post-Preface," a "Pre-Post-Post-Preface" (which comes after the "Post-Post-Preface"), an "End of Pre- and Post-Prefaces Preface," and an "Introduction." Then a short bit about Showalter taking ecstasy and peeing on himself (in a chapter titled "Taking Ecstasy and Peeing on Myself," before a couple of different versions of the book proposal for Mr. Funny Pants itself.

The first thing you learn about Showalter from the book is something you already know -- that he is a very, very silly person. There is some personal information in there, some of it fairly frank, but you don't go too long before you hit a chart or a list to illustrate and make light of the topic. As Showalter put it in his chapter, "Book Proposal, Part 3," "I can't write the memoir I want to write if I stick to the facts. My life simply isn't eventful enough for an accurate portrait." Instead, he says, he will write whatever comes to mind, whether it's an imaginary interview with Charlie Rose or writing about a college girlfriend.

Mike Birbiglia summed it up nicely in a quote on the back of the book, "Mr. Funny Pants is unlike any book I've ever read. It's this weird, hilarious, choose-your-own-adventure inside Michael Showalter's brain."

If the more personal stuff becomes a bigger part of the stand-up, it will make for an interesting show.

Scheduling didn't work out for the interview I had planned with Showalter, but I may print that later this week. In the meantime, a thing called Flavorwire has an interesting interactive interview with Mr. Showalter for you to peruse. Take a look here.

And for good measure, here is Kevin Kline reading from the book.

Potylo Playing Last Live Music Show For “A Long While” Tonight At Great Scott

Quiet Desperation Night tonight
at Great Scott

Rob Potylo posted on his Facebook page that tonight’s Quiet Desperation Night at Great Scott will be his “last little musical performance for a loooong while.” That’s not terribly surprising when you realize he is now working on two different shows for MyTV – Queit Desperation, and a children’s show called Worried All the Time that Potylo expects will debut in May or June.

Potylo has been hyping Worried on Facebook as a kind of surreal take on The Little Prince. “Worried All the Time is a kid's show geared towards kids that grew up like me,” he said by e-mail, “Not quite fitting in... Bullied.... Nervous.... Just trying to stay afloat.”

But considering Quiet Desperation has the backing of WBOS 92.9 and music is such a big part of the show, it is surprising to hear Potylo say he’s backing off live shows for a while. When I asked him if he might be planning live shows that weren’t music oriented, he said, “Who knows? I’d rather be creative than social.”

So if you want to see Potylo playing music, get out to Great Scott tonight. He’s playing with Taiwan Typhoon and Hooker Clops.

Here’s the Facebook page for the event.

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

Nate Johnson turns the 1919 Molasses
Flood into comedy.

On January 15, 1919, a giant storage tank burst in Boston’s North End, flooding the area with roughly two and a half million gallons of molasses, killing 21 people and injuring more than 150. A little less than a hundred years later, Nate Johnson figures we are ready to laugh about it.

Johnson brings his Great Boston Molasses Comedy Disaster Show to Mottley’s tomorrow, with stand-up from Matt Donaher, Dan Boulger, Ken Reid, and Lamont Price, and sketch featuring Johnson, Tim Vargulish, Ryan Douglas, Maria Ciampa, and Sean Sullivan. Apparently, there will also be a group called the Burnin’ Love Sauces on hand to hawk 1919 Molasses BBQ Sauce, and a local band called Hot Molasses.

I caught up with Johnson by e-mail to get a few more details.

What led you to write a show about the Great Boston Molasses Disaster? Are you a history buff?

Yeah, I’ve always been a kind of history nerd, especially as I’ve gotten older. The molasses flood I’d known about for a while and really wanted to do something about it-whether it was a bit or a character or video or whatever. Doing an entire show about it provided all those options.

This was actually a tragedy at the time – how do you turn it into comedy?What’s the structure of the show?

There’s a little thing I like to say-time plus tragedy equals Thursday night comedy show. It’s always tricky writing anything about something that people could potentially find offensive. But if you’re just going with your reaction-which in this case, for me, was, “Wha? Seriously? Molasses?!”, then, ideally, the audience will get that and understand the intention isn’t malicious or disrespectful. The show is structured so there’ll be bits about the actual event, broken up by comics, with the goal being that people learn about this weird thing without feeling beaten over the head by it.

How does the stand-up fit with the overall theme? Are Matt, Dan, Ken, and Lamont going to taper their sets to the night?

Of the comics on the show, I think Ken’s the only one I heard do a bit about the molasses flood and Dan has some great history material. But the comics are really there to kinda break up the show and not make it too molasses-heavy. I’m just shooting for a funny show that I’d want to go to.

How did you put Tim, Ryan, Maria, and Sean together for the sketches?

I’d had them all in mind when I was putting the show together and knew I wanted some sketch. Doing sketch at Mottleys can definitely be challenging, but I feel pretty confident because I’ve done stuff with all of them before and they know the space pretty well. Also, they can all do excellent ethnic accents that no one will find offensive.

Who are the Burnin’ Love Sauces?

They’re a local saucier that makes a BBQ sauce called 1919 and molasses is an ingredient in it. It’s a great sauce and I thought it’d be fun to have them sell their stuff at the show. Plus, I don’t think there are enough shows with barbeque sauce vendors at them.

Who is Hot Molasses?

I’d really wanted a band to play at the show and found these guys online. They’re from Somerville and sound kinda like the B-52s. They’ve got a new EP coming out soon and they’re debuting a song about the flood at the show. Yeah.

Any plans to visit other Boston tragedies? Race riots? The 1986 World Series perhaps? Stephen Tyler?

Totally. I’m actually working on an operetta about the Charles Stuart murder and a 2-act play about the Blizzard of 78 performed by puppets.

Erin Judge Pitches The Date Rape Squad On Open Salon

Erin Judge, star of
The Date Rape Squad

ABC just cast actress Krysten Ritter in new sitcom called Don't Trust the Bitch, which, according to Deadline.com, "centers on June (Dreama Walker), an earnest, honest, optimistic girl from the heartland who, due to circumstances beyond her control, is forced to move in with Chloe (Ritter), a sexy, unstable New York City party girl who has the morals of a pirate."

This made Erin Judge think, if you willingly cast yourself in the title role of "Bitch," what opportunities might Judge be able to find for herself in Hollywood? She posted her ideas on her Open Salon page today. I especially enjoy idea number two.

Judge is in New York now, but she comes back often to play The Dress Up Show at Mottley's Comedy Club.

Big Sauce Radio with Josh Gondelman and Nick Zaino

Me on Big Sauce Radio
last Thursday.

I appeared on the Big Sauce Radio Show last Thursday with Josh Gondelman, talking comedy and music and playing a couple of songs. The show regularly features comedians, many of whom are covered on this blog, and broadcasts live as part of UnRegular Radio.

I played two original songs, one of which, "Live Through You," is less than two weeks old. The other song was "The Good News," which I wrote as a kind of barroom singalong. Gondelman talked about his stand-up life and also about a hip-hop blog, Guy Raps, Girl Sings the Hook, that he writes with his girlfriend. Here's the link the last week's show in podcast form.