Comedy Matters with Sarah Silverman, Chris Rock and more!

by Jeffrey Gurian

Comic Strip Action

Chris Rock, who got his start at The Comic Strip, made his Broadway debut in a hard-hitting and fantastic new show with one of the strangest names ever to hit Broadway, The Motherf**ker With The Hat.

What’s particularly funny to me as a comedy writer and something I’ve thought about since The Vagina Monologues came out, is that as a writer you can call your work anything you want, and people HAVE to say it if they want to see it.

Before The Vagina Monologues, no one used the word “vagina” in regular conversation. It felt too weird. As a matter of fact, when I saw it, the next day my mother asked me what play I saw the night before, and I felt so uncomfortable I told her I didn’t remember. She said ” How can’t you remember? You just saw it last night!”

And that’s when I realized I would rather my mother thought I had brain damage than that I knew the word “vagina.”

Anyway, this play was superb. It’s only in previews so by the time it opens officially it will supposedly be even better although I don’t see how that can happen. Now I’m not a critic, so I look at a performance as to whether I enjoyed it or not.

I don’t notice things that critics tend to notice. When I use a camera, I leave it on “Auto”. If I can see the picture I think it’s a good camera. When people rave about audio systems, it means nothing to me. If I turn on my CD player, and I can hear the song, and it sounds good to me, that’s all I need to know.

That being said, this cast is superb. Every one of them is a shining star, Chris Rock, Annnnbella Sciorra, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Yul Vazquez, and Bobby Cannavale.

Chris Rock plays a guy named Ralph who’s the A.A. sponsor of a career criminal named Jackie, fresh out of jail, and trying to stay sober and do the right thing, played by the incredible Bobby Cannavale.

I know Bobby from my old friends Ethan Hawke and Peter Dinklage and I didn’t even recognize him. He changed himself physically for this role. Even standing next to him, I had to struggle to visualize that it was actually him.

Chris Rock acts like he’s been on a Broadway stage all his life. It’s his first show but he’s been on stages all over the world, so he says it didn’t intimidate him at all.

I went to the show with Richie Tienken, the owner and co-founder of The Strip. Richie discovered Eddie Murphy and went on to manage him for 11 years and in 1986 they jointly discovered Chris Rock, so Chris is always happy to see Richie.

Watch the little interview I did with Chris backstage after the show. Richie is in it as is Chris’ friend, hilarious comic Ardie Fuqua, who happened to sit right near us in the audience.

On the way up the 6 flights of stairs to Chris’ dressing room, ( and I’m not kidding about that!) we ran into the rest of the cast and brought them with us to take the photos you’re seeing here.

Annabella Sciorra has been a favorite of mine since The Sopranos. She’s so talented and plays the long suffering wife of Ralph, Chris Rock’s character, in this, her Broadway debut as well.

She was running home to take care of her kids but was kind enough to come upstairs for a group photo for Comedy Matters, and that’s why she was wearing her hat and coat!

Chris plays a guy so cold he actually tells a guy in detail how he’s been with his girlfriend and when I say in detail, I mean “IN DETAIL”! It was COLD, bro’!

Elizabeth Rodriguez plays Jackie’s girlfriend Veronica, a “Boricua Taino Princess” in Jackie’s words. She’s done lots of theatre and television, with recurring roles on NY Undercover, The Shield, and All My Children, besides numerous roles on other shows. She’s also been in films like “Miami Vice”, “Jack Goes Boating”, and “Acts of Worship”.

Even more amazing to me, a day or two after I met her I found out she’s the next door neighbor of my dear friend Mary Elizabeth, who just happened to call and excitedly ask me if I heard about this play, telling me her friend and neighbor Elizabeth is in it. I’m like ” Elizabeth Rodriguez?” That can’t even happen!

She plays a girl who’s tough as nails on the surface, but really just wants to be loved like everyone else. All in all this is a play not to be missed!

Fundraising At The Strip

The Comic Strip hosts a lot of fundraisers. I’m doing one for Diabetes on Thursday April 14th at 8 P.M. featuring the great Elayne Boosler, Goumba Johnny the afternoon host of WKTU, Cipha Sounds the morning host from Hot 97, plus comics from late night TV shows like Eddie Brill from Letterman, Jon Fisch from Comedy Central and VH1, Sherrod Small from VH1’s Best Week Ever, Jeff Pirrami from The Friars Club, Macio from The Chapelle Show, national headliners like Jim Mendrinos and Louis Ramey and many more.

They recently did one for the Red Cross, in which Colin Quinn and Louis CK both dropped by to do spots, and the evening was a great success. Louis CK will also be honored this summer in Montreal at the Just For Laughs Festival, as “Comedy Person Of The Year.” Last year he hosted one of the galas.

Everybody loves Louis and everyone at The Comic Strip is glad he’s planning on coming by to work out.

Gotham Happenings

Aside from having star-studded shows, Gotham runs one of the best sources of new comedians in the biz, and comic Yonah Ward Grossman, as well as Jessica Kirson, can be thanked for running many of the New Faces shows as well as the open mic evening on Thursdays. Yonah runs the Friday and Saturday night New Faces Shows at 7:30 P.M., in the downstairs lounge.

Yonah is a one man crew, and runs the event, during which comics are even offered feedback from other comics, ( oftentimes whether they want it or not! LOL) They even have comics who are willing to follow you home, insisting that you take their advice!

I’ve performed there many times and Yonah is a nurturing presence. You can hear his laughter from the back of the room, and that is very important to a new entertainer. He works the sound, the DVD taping, and even sets up the bar for the performers to have a coke while they’re waiting to go on.

I checked out the All Star show on a Sunday night and came across Angel Lozada who was MC’ing and did a great job. Ryan Hamilton who for some reason always reminds me of Jerry Seinfeld, or maybe a caricature of Jerry Seinfeld, (and I mean that in a good way!)

Ryan talked about hot air ballooning not being a reliable mode of travel. No one’s ever said, “ I gotta go to the store. I think I’ll take the balloon.”

He stayed in a hotel, and asked for a wake-up call. The operator said, “ You make 16 thousand a year and haven’t had a decent date in months. How’s that for a wake-up call?”

Harrison Greenbaum, winner of The Andy Kaufman Award and one of Comedy Central’s choices for Comics To Watch, and who will be appearing at my Diabetes fundraiser, talks about how people think he’s gay. I thought he was gay too. He’s also hilarious, and very likeable on stage!

Rodney Laney was the headliner, and in talking about crime said he was so afraid of the police, he practices “freezing” in the mirror. He wonders about mounted policemen on horseback functioning in the hood. What do they do it they do if they arrest a brother, say “ Hop on? ” Great visual of the perp having to hold onto the cop around his waist! (LOL)

Rodney’s girlfriend moved out on him, and even took his window sills. (Great line!)

One girl he went out with talked so much, she used up his unlimited minutes! Rodney Laney is a funny dude!

At Michael Loftus’s show, Helen Hong stood out talking about her name being the third most un-f**kable name, behind Ethel and Gertrude. I’m sure that somewhere there are well meaning Chinese parents who called their daughters Ethel and Gertrude. At least they didn’t call their sons Ethel and Gertrude. That would have been much worse!

Helen says, “I’m Asian. We’re very flat people.” Maybe she should hang out with Flat Stanley, who I heard may actually be Asian!

She says that white people think all Asian people can tell where other Asian people are from, like we have some kind of “squint-o-meter!” That’s hysterical! Helen is one of those comics who has gotten really funny from working so hard.

Speaking of Asian comics, Sheng Wang is a new favorite of mine. He killed as part of Anthony Anderson’s monthly Mixtape Show, which I try never to miss.

In speaking of his name he admits it’s a great name for pursuing comedy, but wasn’t that great for pursuing childhood!

He says he lives in Chinatown cause that’s where he got assigned. I have a feeling he fits in well there!

Royale Watkins, Anthony’s partner hosted this month, and had his middle son Royce open the show for him. What a well poised and talented kid. He really had stage presence and knew how to handle himself. Royale’s youngest son Ross also came out and did a cute bit translating the show into Spanish.

He’s got a whole family of talented entertainers!

And then Capone came on and destroyed the room. He started out by saying he didn’t know what to say cause he was asked to work “clean”, but he proved he could be just as funny being clean as he is with his usual non-G-rated stuff.

Sarah Silverman Visits The Friars Club

So I went to The Friars Club to see the new film “Peep World” starring Sarah Silverman, Michael C. Hall, Rainn Wilson, Taraji P. Henson, Leslie Ann Warren, Ron Rivkin, and Ben Schwartz.

It was presented as part of the new film program created by Charlie Prince who also produces the very successful Friars Club Film Festival. Assistant Executive Director of The Friars, Michael Caputo made sure things ran smoothly as he always does.

Sarah attended with co-star Ben Schwartz to do the Q&A and was accompanied by her close friend comic Todd Barry, one of the few who makes me laugh out loud! I don’t even make ME laugh out loud, but he does!

Anyway, the movie was very funny. It’s actually a family comedy that stars the great Ron Rivkin as the head of the highly dysfunctional Meyerowitz family. Sarah plays Cheri, the only sister to three brothers, pursued for 8 years by a funny Orthodox Jewish character played by Stephen Tobolofsky.

Ben Schwartz plays Nathan the youngest brother who destroyed the family by writing a tell-all about their lives. Cheri is suing Nathan for ruining her life. They all get together once a year for their father’s birthday and they all seem to hate each other.

The film screened at the Toronto and Austin film fests last fall, and IFC Films released it March 25. So Ben and Sarah showed up at The Friars to do a Q&A after the film. Sarah never seems comfortable with that kind of stuff.

But while they were in front of the room answering questions, and people were snapping photos of her, she took out her camera and said, ” I’m gonna take a picture of Jeffrey Gurian”, and snapped a photo of me sitting up front. It was very unexpected, and very funny. I hope somebody was shooting video so I can get a copy! Michael Caputo, I’m calling you about this!!! (LOL)

Then I decided to ask my own question for the Q&A, so I asked Ben how he prepared for the erection scene, and he said he was very proud of his erection work, and tried to stay hard for a few weeks in order to prepare.

It was a fun evening and I look forward to attending the next film that Charlie has coming up.

Trump Gets Roasted (Again!!!)

Comedy Central had a couple of incredible events this month and one of them was the Roast of Donald Trump. It was held at the Manhattan Center on West 34th Street , and Comedy Central went all out. Even The Donald himself said they paid him a lot of money to encourage him to subject himself to another Roast, after he survived the one from The Friars Club.

He’s donating all the money to charity. I happened to see him just before the Friars Roast and he asked me,” Do you think I’ll be able to handle it?” And I said to him, “Donald, if anyone can it’s YOU!”

So it was candy-filled gold coins, gold balloons on the ceiling, gold lame (pronounced Lamay not lame!!! ) pillow cushions wherever you sat. It was all about money, and rightfully so when you’re talking about The Donald, one of the most well known billionaires on the planet.

As you might imagine it drew a star studded audience, starting with Doug Herzog, President of MTV Networks Entertainment Group, and a friend of Richie Tienken and Bob Wachs.

Seth MacFarlane, the super successful creator of Family Guy, was the Roast master. On the dais were Whitney Cummings, Snoop Dogg, Anthony Jeselnik, Larry King, Lisa Lampanelli, Marlee Matlin, Mike ” The Situation” Sorrentino, and Jeffrey Ross. Also in attendance were Ivanka Trump, Russell Simmons, John Legend, Donald’s beautiful wife Melania, and Comedy Central executive, V.P. JoAnn Grigioni.

Aileen Budow, the head of press, was in charge of running the red carpet which she did so well, (as always!) and was helped by Eve Kenny.

Mike ‘The Situation” Sorrentino found himself in a very difficult situation to say the least. Having to compete with hardened, experienced comics is basically impossible, but he kept laughing through the whole, painful thing, which is how I am characterizing his set. You have to give the guy credit for even attempting something so difficult.

It’s always great to see Lisa Lampanelli. When she saw me and went to introduce me to her husband Jimmy, she actually remembered he and I had already met, which was very interesting to me.

She said, ” you guys met at my book party at Carolines.” It was for her book,”Chocolate Please!- My Adventures In Food, Fat, and Freaks” which I think came out in 2009. She remembered that I came out to support her, which I think is very important to do for your friends. You need to get out and support people in their efforts.

And it shows how people remember those things, even successful, busy people like Lisa, because I didn’t think she would. And she was right. I did meet Jimmy that day and they weren’t married yet, just engaged, but we all took pictures together, so we could prove she was dating someone white! (LOL).

It really shows how some people appreciate and remember those who come out to support them. And hopefully she’ll drop by my fundraiser to fight Diabetes on April 14th ay 8 P.M. at The Comic Strip. She said if she was in town she’d be glad to come.

Some of the highlights:

Seth on Trump – Now there’s a Donald Trump cologne that never fails with women. You pour it on a cloth and hold it over her face until she stops struggling.

Seth on Lisa Lampanelli – Lisa recently appeared on The View, and blocked it!

Seth on Larry King – Seth referred to Larry as ” a chattering pirate skeleton, on loan from Disneyland.”

Lisa led off the Roast which is a hard spot to fill, but she killed it as always. She referrred to Anthony Jeselnek as Anthony Jism-neck, and Seth said that Anthony was only there because Greg Giraldo was dead.

Lisa on Jeff Ross – Jeff is in as much demand as the treadmill in Zsa Zsa Gabor’s house.

Lisa on Trump – You’ve ruined more women’s lives than Bulimia.

Lisa on The Situation – The Situation wrote a book which is being sold on Amazon. When you bring up the book it says, ” People who have bought this book have also bought a rope and a stool.”

Snoop referred to Lisa as Notorious P.I.G. which was hysterical, and referred to Anthony Jeselnik as “Anthony Jizzleneck”.

Snoop on Anthony – The last time I saw him on the mic he forgot to order my Chicken McNuggets.

Snoop on Donald – He’s rich but very cheap. The last check ( Czech) he ever picked up was Ivana!

Anthony Jeselnik is a great joke writer. He said, “Look at this dais. You got a pimp, a drug dealer, a pornographer, a murderer, and 8 white people.”

Anthony on Larry King – Larry’s so old, he’s actually one of the Jews that killed Christ.

Anthony on The Sitch – Mike Sorrentino, sometimes known as The Situation. Never known as The Education. He has a book, a video, a tanning salon, … he has his name on everything but a high school diploma.

Jeffrey Ross closed the show and came out wearing a signature jacket befitting the Roastmaster General, with medals and epaulets, and something about it reminded me of something that Georgie Jessel might have worn.

I’m concerned that no one will know who Georgie Jessel was. He was a comedian during The Civil War. I think his original name was Georgie Jeselnik, but he changed it to Jessel for show business reasons.

Jeffrey on Whitney – (Whitney by the way is the brunt of a lot of sex jokes in which she plays “the slut”! She’s a sexy girl who seems to act that way naturally!) Whitney is working on three pilots at the same time, and that was just on the flight in!

And finally The Donald got his turn and had some really funny things to say. Btw, I hope he runs for President. I think he’d be amazing, and would put the country back on track. That being said, …

Trump – What a great honor it must be for you to honor me tonight!

Trump about the dais – Look at this dais. None of these people can even get arrested, .. except for Snoop Dogg.

I did a little video on the red carpet with Roasters Jeffrey Ross, Lisa Lampanelli, Anthony Jeselnik, Whitney Cummings, Snoop Dogg, Marlee Matlin,and guests like comic/TV host Amy Schumer, Actor Ice-T and his wife Coco, Russell Simmons, and even MTV President Doug Herzog. And Gilbert Gottfried was the surprise guest! You can see it here!

Want more Jeffrey Gurian? Check out his official site here.

Matt Walsh: High on improv

by Jake Kroeger

Improvisation in cinema has been tried a few times over history. The films of auteur Robert Altman were noted to use a script as merely a blueprint from which the actors improvised from. As the sophistication of certain audiences has risen, improvisation on screen has become more frequent with shows such as Larry David’s cult status show Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Matt Walsh, one of UCB’s founder, is now stepping into the arena by making his directorial debut with an improvised alternative ensemble road rom com High Road telling the story of Fitz, played by UCB perfomer James Pumphrey, a pot dealer who decides to go on the lam after a pot deal gone bad.

Taking a kid played by fresh face Dylan O’Brien that he’s mentoring, Fitz goes to meet his Dad, played by Rich Fulcher, while trying to maintain his rock opera band and finding out his girlfriend Monica, played by Abby Elliot is pregnant. Also, Ed Helms, Horatio Sanz, Zach Woods, Kyle Gass, and many more in the movie.

Needless to say, Matt Walsh’s High Road is becoming one of this year’s most highly anticipated comedies, even though it’s just running through the film festival circuit right now. I had a chance to speak to Walsh about the movie, it’s unique approach to story and performing, and where he’ll go next as a filmmaker.

How did the idea for High Road come about?
It’s loosely based on a friend of mine from Chicago who was a part time pot dealer who through certain circumstances ended up not doing it anymore.

Did you take that experience and develop a sketch and eventually wanting to develop it as a feature?
No, it was written as a screenplay with a friend of mine, Josh Weiner. He was kind of the character it was based on and my friend was sort of the idea to start it. We wrote a screenplay and then, for High Road itself, I always liked that story, so we decided to sort of strip it down to its story elements and so it became an improvised movie.

There are writing credits including Josh Weiner and yourself for High Road. How improvised exactly is this movie?
The dialogue is pretty much 100% improvised. We had 65, roughly, scenes tight. We cracked the story and spent a lot of time on breaking the story. At the end of the day we had 65 scenes, character arcs for the main characters, and locations and all of that figured. So, we had a solid story. Beneath each scene heading would be a paragraph description of what should happen.

Like Curb Your Enthusiasm?
It’s a little more detailed than Curb. Curb is very thinly written. This is a little more written than that. There’s a pretty good paragraph of who comes in and what information gets passed on before ’so and so’ comes in. It’s at least a paragraph of description beneath each scene, which will say the plot points and everything else., but the lines were all improvised.

A big element of High Road is “Triangle Theory.” What exactly is the Triangle Theory and its role in High Road?
Triangle theory probably came out of me being a Chicago Bulls fan. The Phil Jackson triangle offense was something I always read about in Chicago and that’s probably somewhere in the back of my mind and probably where it comes from. The way it applies in our movie is basically it’s kind of a crackpot theory on the world invented by a stoner, but it does sort of apply to his life because he has a mom, a dad, and himself and that was his “triangle,” then when his mom passed away, his life broke apart.

He just had some events happen in his life and through pot usage, he came up with this “triangle theory”. At any moment, there’s three forces or three things in play that make a triangle. I love how everyone in the movie has their own take on Triangle Theory despite what Fitz thinks.
Everybody has their own “triangle.”

“The Triangle Theory” speaks to the improvised nature of the movie, which makes me wonder how would you actually going about shooting scenes in production?
Well, we kind of shot the movie documentary style. I had Hilary Spera, my DP, and she’s done a lot of documentaries. So we really had people that knew how to capture things that are unplanned. Then, we spent a couple weeks of rehearsal in the theatre working on improvising characters and relationships, spending a lot of time understanding who we the characters were. It was scenes that won’t appear in the movie, but more just exercises that really hone down who the characters are, what their relationships are, and what their histories are.

Then, on set, if we’re going to do a scene where Monica (Abby Elliot) and Fitz (James Pumphrey) have a fight, and in the middle of it Uncle Creepy (Kyle Gass) comes over, we’d start the scene with Fitz and Jimmy (Dylan O’Brien) and we would talk it through, then they would have real conversation in the moment on what they’re doing or what’s going in the movie. Then, we would have Monica come in and sort of say that you have this thing to talk about, the couch fight, and then we would give Uncle Creepy a cue to come in.

It was very loosely talked about. Then, we would just block a little for camera and then just shoot it. You make tweaks as you go. You shoot what you need “informationally” and looks most useful, what’s most pleasing to the eye. When you go in for coverage if we had time, we’d discover things and find that that’s a good riff and go back and do it again. That’s when you direct and explore or even rewrite lines.

Did you ever feel that it unraveled at any point like it became a David Fincher production with 70-80 takes?
I definitely have a litmus or an internal clock that says this feels self-indulgent, let’s move on.

That’s good. I like that…
If you have 60 different jokes and we’re only going to use one, let’s move on. There were times where people were being really funny and I was hoping that it would fit into the reality of our movie and it did, fortunately. There were times when I just went with it and it was pretty crazy, like when I had Horatio Sanz for a day and he was really funny.

I imagine that must be tough with people like Horatio Sanz or even Rich Fulcher who I’ve only seen live once, but imagining him getting carte blanche to improvise, I think, can just go off the deep end.
Yeah. He’s great because his character needs to be crazy and loopy. His story is that he lost his mind when the mother died; he plays James Pumphrey’s/Fitz’s dad and went off the deep end, which we see later in the movie.

What exactly is Rich’s role as he, in the trailer, is wearing drag?
Rich is the estranged father of Fitz. He plays Arnie Fitzgerald and Fitz is his son Glen Fitzgerald. They haven’t been in touch and supposedly Arnie has cleaned his life up, but Fitz is still mad at him for bailing on the family, basically, or bailing on his childhood. So, because Fitz has nowhere to run because of pot deal gone bad, he thinks, “Fuck it, i’ll go see my dad,” that kind of thing.

With all of that in mind in how you would go about shooting, how many cuts of High Road are there?
There’s only one. There’s the 83 minute final cut. There are additional jokes that will make the DVD. We had another guy, Alex Hanawalt; he was the editor. He helped me sift through everything.

I was just curious as High Road is all improvised dialogue and you don’t really know if it’ll work until you put it all together.
You cut it to story. We had our outline, so we knew what story we had to tell, but then, there’s so much more additional information you want to find out if you have time for it. All the jokes are improvised, but there are small storylines developed through improv because once you catch onto something like we discovered this guy’s a libra or something for the rest of the film we would stick to that. I knew that was really funny quality or a really funny idea, so let’s make sure we pay tribute to that in other scenes in the movie.

I love that there’s organic approach to High Road, but it’s not like a “mumblecore” movie, is it?
No, it’s not that. I’ve seen some of those movies, but this is more of a hard outline. I mean were going for comedy, it’s not some existential exploration of relationships through conversation. Like we have a scene where Monica finds out Fitz is a pot dealer and the game of that scene is that everyone knows that Fitz is a pot dealer. So she has a conversation with her friend where she tells her that she found out that Fitz deals pot and her friends suprised, “you didn’t know that he dealt pot?

Everyone knows that. He deals tons of pot,” then she gets it, but they keep pounding it home how much we weed was selling. That’s the game and that’s in the story/script. So, I guess that each scene, comedically, has a game or a dynamic that hopefully the actors can explore.

There’s a mountain of recognizable talent in High Road with this cast from Ed Helms, Kyle Gass, Zach Woods, Lizzy Caplan, Horatio Sanz, Rob Riggle, and even more. How did you make it all come together?
I know most of these people. The only person I never met or hang out with was Dylan O’Brien, the boy that Fitz mentors in the film, and we had straight ahead casting calls for 25 young actors that can look 16 that are 18 so we can work them. Everyone else was just a phone call from me. “I think we’re doing this movie in July, do you have a couple of weeks? No money. everyone’s paid the same, but it’s a fun movie and a fun cast.” People were very cool about doing it.

They’re all UCB, right?
Most of them are. Matt Jones, and of course, James Pumphrey, Zach Woods all studied at the theatre. Helms did UCB a little bit, but he was more of a stand up.

Ed still does a lot of stuff at UCB LA.
Yeah, he’s definitely a big part of the theatre. Whenever he’s in town, he loves to do stuff for the the theatre.

As mentioned before, there’s a lot of recognizable talent in this movie, big names, and though I think James Pumphrey is hilarious from his performances at the Midnight Show, he’s relatively unknown. So, I’m curious, why you chose him as the star?
James sort of has a unique, natural quality where things I’ve written or created, his talents applies to. I did a TV show for Spike called Players and we cast him as the bartender whose not a bumpkin, but sort of a simple minded guy and he was perfect for that role. He has a good look and he’s a really talented improviser, which lends itself to the things I’m doing. So, James, to me, once I had written it and having worked with James on the TV show, I thought that he’d be perfect. I think a lot of what he was asked to do was “writerly” a lot of the time.

He had to carry the movie in his head, knowing it better than anyone, while playing a straight man to all these crazy characters he would meet. People like Ed Helms would come in for a day or Kyle Gass would come in for a day. So, he would basically just be reacting that he would be introduced to. He didn’t have to necessarily be funny, but he had to play it real and listen. He’s really funny and he’s also a really good actor, so he can play it real.

You’re one of the founders of the UCB and have been a figure in sketch comedy for years. Why now have High Road be your directorial debut?
I think I’ve always wanted to direct an improvised movie. I’ve done friends movies and some legit movies where they let you improvise inside the script. I feel like I’ve garnered enough experience to feel comfortable. Then, on the TV show, Players, I was allowed to direct a few episodes and I think I was beginning to understand what you need to do when you’re directing improv.

I’ve done stage shows and stuff over the years, obviously. I think it was just a combination of timing because I had some time open up and this script that I had that I really liked and my exposure to directing stuff for television. It all really came together and I really wanted to do this.

How did you manage to get High Road into production?
Well, I was originally was just going to do it for no money and then my manager said, “Let me make a call.” He set up a meeting at the Gersh Agency. They heard the idea and then had someone in line that was interested in projects like this that’s very low budget. So these guys from North Dakota, Northern Lights, they’re called; I had a meeting with one of the guys and they loved it. Fortunately, for me, they understood the sort of movement that is UCB or the movement that is alternative comedy. Then, I mentioned the sort of guys that would probably do it, but no guarantees, that kind of thing. We were very lucky as they were very few meetings. I think it was because it was small.

So you avoided “development hell?”
I really did. In my mind, I was going to make it for $0 or whatever we got. I knew I had a window of time and I told my manager to not book anything, I’m going to make this movie and I’ll use my own money. My manager said, “hold on a minute,” and he put us in a room with people that had sort of the same comedy taste as us and we were very lucky. Once we had the money, I’ve worked with enough D.P.s and art people that I could kind of make calls and say, “This is what were doing, are you available?”

That’s amazing when everything comes together like that.
I don’t want to piss anybody off that’s pushing their script up a hill, but we were very lucky. I do feel kind of blessed that it came together so easily.

As you hinted at earlier, would you label this as an “alternative comedy” movie?
It could be an alternative romantic comedy movie. I don’t think that personally fits in, but it’s a big part of it. It’s also an improvised comedy and it’s also an ensemble comedy, so it has all of those elements.

I kept watching the trailer and I thought, on the surface, you could call it a stoner road comedy, but that’s not entirely indicative of the movie.
I think it’s pretty smart or at least realistically played for a concept comedy. We do get out of the stoner world pretty quickly like finding he’s a pot dealer, his life doesn’t change, and he’s in danger of getting stuck then all of sudden he’s forced out on the road and then there’s a kid who has problems at home and ends up going on the road with him for various reasons. Basically by the end of the road trip, they both grow up. But, once they get out of the stoner world, which is pretty much the first act, it’s pretty turns into a road movie.

High Road is debuting at the Newport Beach Film Festival on April 29 and is going to play at the Seattle International Film Festival. Do you have any traction with distribution yet?
Not yet, but fortunately it was a modest budget for us so I feel like it will be a success for the investors on some level. Still, we don’t have anyone who has tried to buy the movie yet. Literally, I’m finishing the movie this week, so it’s not ready.

Are you trying to get it into other festivals?
I don’t know what else there’s talk of. Northern Lights has their own plans as to how to break this movie in regards to the festival route. In a perfect world, we would get in touch with sort of the underground audience or the comedy nerd audience and that would be the starting point. Then, hopefully we would get into smaller theaters somehow and if we’re lucky enough it catches on and if not, all of our fans got to see it.

It sounds like you had a great time making High Road. Are there any more movies in your future?
I have a screenplay that I wrote with a friend of mine that I’d like to turn into an improvised movie, which means boiling it down to the story points and then maybe keeping some of the jokes or throwing them away on set during filming. It’s basically taking the Charles Dicken’s story A Christmas Carol, then really subverting it and making it much stranger than it is on paper. It’s called Mr. Christmas.

For more info on High Road and where else it will be playing, check out highroadmovie.com.

Nick Di Paolo: Questioning your beliefs

by Dylan P. Gadino

There are certain comics — Marc Maron, Greg Giraldo (RIP), Greg Proops, for instance — who I seek out for catharsis– to hear and to feel a much more artfully-produced version of my own thoughts. I, like others, find comfort in reaffirmation.

That’s natural, right?

Then, there’s other comics I listen to with whom I don’t fundamentally align. At least, I don’t think I do. Until I realize, that after an hour of watching a comic like this onstage, I have more in common that I had originally thought.

If there were a list of comedians of this ilk, Nick Di Paolo would top it; the dude seriously pushes me to question my entire belief system. And maybe more importantly, reminds me that labels are dangerous.

Also, he’s fucking hilarious.

And finally, that will all be on display in his first ever hour-long special, Raw Nerve, which premieres on Showtime on April 30 at 9 pm EST.

New Wave Dynamics will release the audio version of the special with eight bonus tracks on May 2.

I was lucky enough to catch up with Nick recently to chat about his new hour, where and why he falls politically and socially, why certain networks are afraid of his act and much more. Check it out!

Why has it taken so long for a Nick Di Paolo hour special to surface?
Because the people in the industry are dumb fucks. They’re too busy looking for, you know, for the next funny chick or funny gay guy. I’m just another white guy in the mix. And there are certain networks who – and this is just my opinion – you know what their politics are and they certainly aren’t what my politics are. HBO? Come on. You know what I mean?

Yeah.
I mean, Bill Maher’s their hero, so you think they’re going to put somebody like me on?

They should if they want to try to cast their net wide.
No, but they don’t. The point is they’re closed minded fucks, you know? I know who they are. I worked over there. It’s the same people. I worked at HBO in the late 90s and 2000 with Chris Rock and some of the same people are over there making the decisions and I know they’re living in an insular world, you know? Thank God Showtime doesn’t feel that way.

Yeah, I guess not.
But that’s my answer to it. You can’t tell me I’m not funny enough and haven’t put out enough material since my last half hour.

It boggles my mind because you would think from a business perspective, you would think networks would try to feature a wide range of comics to get as many viewers as possible.
HBO gave Denis Miller his show years ago. But that’s before he became a real conservative.

Yeah, true.
Have you seen any conservative comics on there since? You gotta ask yourself why. It’s pointy-headed, fuckin douchebags. But I’m happy it’s Showtime because Showtime’s getting a good rep for comedy and I check out the people who have had specials on there and I’m proud to be in the mix, to be honest with you.

Absolutely. They’ve really stepped it up and embraced the comedy game.
Look what Colin Quinn had to do, not to keep bashing HBO; but look what he had to do to get on HBO. I mean he had to do a fuckin’ one-man show that was a hit on Broadway before they’d put him on, you know. And Comedy Central throws on people who’ve been doing comedy for two years and have what they think is an hour of material. It blows.

I put it on at two in the morning. I don’t recognize any of these people. You know? And then I do background checks and literally some of them have been doing comedy for five years. And they have an hour? But that’s the way life works, I guess, in showbiz. But you’re right: I think I should have had three of these under my belt by now. At least two.

Maybe this is the start of something.
Yeah, I mean, that’s true , too you know? Maybe people will have a real appetite for something a little different. At least, I think it’s different. Who knows?

So how did the taping of this special come together?
This was meant to be like a DVD followed up to the Funny How? album. And I originally shot it at the Wilbur Theater in Boston in like December of 2009, but I didn’t really like the way it came out. The way it looked, the way it sounded. And I, you know, how these things work in show business. The wheel turns very slowly. So it wasn’t until October of 2010 that I had the chance, the opportunity, to reshoot it. And I noticed that I was at Foxwoods Casino and I looked at my schedule and I was like hey I betcha’ that’s a nice room, cuz it’s brand new.

So, I said, ‘hey you know what? I wanna reshoot this thing at Foxwoods,’ which was kind of risky. And then I saw pictures of the space and it was like ‘oh my god, fuck, it’s perfect.’ It’s more intimate. It was just beautiful. It looks great. So, there’ll be material on there that was some of the material from Funny How? But there’s a whole bunch of new shit, so it’s kind of the best of both worlds, you know?

Cool.
So some of those bits were half developed on Funny How? And now fully developed and then, like I said, there’s a whole bunch of new shit. And it came out beautifully. New Wave Entertainment did it. I called them and said ‘Can we do this?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, we’ll do it!’ And they came and shot it and then they sold it to – they shopped it around and Showtime bought it.

Right.
New Wave Dynamics is putting out an accompanying CD that goes with it. And on that, too, like I said there will be some crossover from Funny How? but it’s mostly brand new stuff.

Were you with New Wave all the while or is that a new relationship?
Well, Barry Katz was my manager years ago. I called him a couple years ago and said I want to do a DVD. And he’s the one who lined up the Wilbur Theatre. It wasn’t ideal circumstances. And he said if you don’t like it, you don’t have to use it. And I happened not to really like it, you know? But Barry Katz is over there, so that’s how I hooked up with New Wave.

Got it.
The other specials I’ve had were on Comedy Central, which were more censored, so here I can be a little freer.

Yeah, it’s hard to get a true sense of a comedian like you on edited television.
It’s absolutely true. So, this is, you know, it’s a little more unfiltered and I like it. It’s socially relevant. I talk about the Obama Administration. I go after Unions a little bit. I talk about me getting older as a comedian. It’s good. It’s a good mix of autobiographical and political.

That’s what I really liked about your last album. I loved the personal stories about you and your wife, and I loved the political stuff. I’m a pretty socially liberal person; but as I get older, I find that I’m thinking more conservatively about other things.
Yeah, we all do. The colleges do a number on us and then we smarten up.

You mentioned unions; and that’s one of the things I’m becoming more conservative about. I would love to get your overarching opinion on contemporary unions and what they’re all about and if it’s working and if not, how are they not working?
To quote the bit I do on the special, I’m sure they had a place 50, 60, 70, years ago when we were chaining a woman to a fucking loom for 18 hours without a shift break so she could make umbrella handles… but now people want $200 an hour to put a bumper on a GM car, you know? Fuck you. We’re going to bankrupt the country ‘cause your kid needs dental? They’re fucking ruining the country. And I got fucking lawyer friends that say the same thing. They used to be very liberal. The tax payers are taking it in the ass, come on! There’s bus drivers in Michigan that are making $186,000 a year.

Really? Really? You’re going to fucking try to argue that? And to try to scale that back makes people bad on the other side? Come on. But once you give somebody something – it’s like giving a child a fucking a breast in the mouth, you try to take that tit out of their mouth and they go shithouse. It’s just human nature. But, you know… and there’s a whole bit in there, I won’t do the whole bit, but you know, I was at a hotel, hotel workers were on strike, picketing, and half the picket signs were in Spanish, which infuriated me.

So, I’m sure there was a need for unions— fucking CEOs used to be greedy fucks and they worked guys through, you know. I worked at a construction company when during college, when I’d come home for the summers. I worked for a construction company that did contract work for Con Ed, the phone company, AT&T. And it was a union construction job and I was just a kid and the money was tremendous. But there was a guy there that, his last name was Jones, he was a foreman. He was nuts. He used to work us right through lunch. He wouldn’t let us take lunch breaks and shit and we literally would get on the job site at seven in the morning. I used to get home 9 at night.

Jokes.com
Nick DiPaolo – Diversity
comedians.comedycentral.com

Holy shit.
He was nuts. He was crazy. And I went back to college. A month after I was back to college the labor relations board busted this guy. So I’ve seen both sides. But now, with all these civil rights groups and lawyers looking out for people’s civil rights? That shit ain’t gonna happen no more…maybe in China. Bits like that, I’m proud of. To make a crowd laugh and you’re talking about unions, that’s a lot harder to do than if you’re talking about your dick.

Very true.
My dick also belongs to a union. But George Carlin used to say about, you know, anytime people start getting into groups and they start getting arm bands and slogans, he goes, he used to say how he hated that. That’s when shit goes awry.

You mentioned Obama. I obviously know where you fall politically. I think a lot of liberals, a lot of democrats, are at the very least, nonplussed with the administration. In all honesty, if you were giving him a grade, what do you think he’s earned so far?
I know this is just going to sound typical of me but, fucking D-minus.

Ok. Ok.
This guy is a college professor who’s never had a real job in the real world. He was a senator for 144 days; he’s so far in over his head. Are you shittin’ me? It’s embarrassing. He knows nothing about business or the economy. I think he’s proved that.

I know there was a big hole when he took over but look how he’s trying to fill that hole. To spend more than Bush did? Four times as much? You don’t have to be a genius to see it. No leadership skills. Foreign policy, forget about it. You know? As far as the war goes, though, I’m with like Ron Paul on that one. Pull everybody out of everywhere. Bring them all home. I’d like to try isolationism, you know?

Yeah.
The rest of the world fuckin’ need our business. As shitty as our economy is, China still needs us to sell us garbage. Tell the rest of the world, hey, we’ll do business with you, but that’s it. And if you try any shit, we’re going to fucking melt you down. That’s what I’d do.

I’d have [Rudy] Giuliani as president and Pat Buchanan as secretary of defense. Who else is in there that’s a real righty? Just to get some balls back. The world doesn’t respect us.. Obama went over there and kissed the Muslim world’s ass; yeah, that’s really helped us. I think he’s been horrendous. I don’t think he hates the country and stuff but the way he handles the economy, it makes me wonder. It feels like he’s deliberately trying to break the system. It’s fucking crazy to me, you know? But, you know, he’s likable.

People used to say oh George Bush is the kind of guy you could have a beer with. I never thought that. I wasn’t crazy about Bush either. I’d rather hang out with Obama and smoke a joint and play hoops. He is a cool cat and very likable, but I don’t give a shit.

Do you think Donald Trump hinting that he’s running for president is a complete joke or what?
I don’t know. I always thought Trump came off as a big doofus. Every time I saw him on TV I’d go, ‘how is this guy rich?’ And it wasn’t just a case of his dad handing him a lot of money, he really grew his dad’s business. He’s definitely a great businessman. But I don’t think he’s what we need right now. What’s he know about foreign policy? ‘Wow, I banged a couple supermodels in Yugoslavia at a car show.’

What’s his foreign policy experience? But it’s kind of refreshing for him to say all this shit about China needing a slap in the ass. A lot of it I agree with, I just don’t want him executing the plan. He’s not a dumb guy. But I like a more well-rounded candidate. I voted for Romney in the last primaries, and I still like him.

Jokes.com
Nick DiPaolo – Spending Money
comedians.comedycentral.com

He seems like a semi-decent dude.
Yeah, Romney looks like if you’re making a movie, and you needed a guy to play the president in a movie, it would be him. He looks like a guy from a 1950s toothpaste ad. Doesn’t he look just like a president? It’s hilarious. It’s too funny. It almost hurts him. And he’s a good business guy and he seems, not to get too political, but I kind of like him.

I’m not as conservative as you may think. If anything, I’m a libertarian. Look, I don’t care if gays get married. I’m pro-choice. I don’t give a fuck about any of that social shit. But a part of me would like to see a guy like Newt get in there—someone who’s a real conservative, just to sort of balance it out when Obama’s done. Have you seen Newt when he laughs. He looks just like fuckin’ Jack Black. See Newt the next time he laughs. That’s what Jack Black is going to look like in 30 years. I’m telling you. It’s uncanny.

For more info on Nick, check out NickDip.com. For a complete airing schedule of Raw Nerve, check out Showtime’s official site.

Comedians You Should Know (the album)

by John Delery

Comedians crave the spotlight the way plants covet sunlight. So Wednesdays at Timothy O’Toole’s in Chicago, their lodge of sorts, Marty DeRosa, Danny Kallas, Joe Kilgallon, Mike Lebovitz, Drew Michael and Michael Sanchez reconvene their six-member comedy club: Comedians You Should Know.

As if on a dimmer switch, the six sets on Comedians You Should Know (Red Bar Comedy Records) go from light to dusky to absolutely Marc Maron–facsimile dark.

Don’t construe that observation as a complaint either. Aside from the jokes, of course, the fun of listening to this mischievous album is the diving contest among Kallas, Kilgallon, Lebovitz, Michael and Sanchez to see who can go lower while remaining highly hilarious. (DeRosa, the emcee, is the relatively light member of this gregarious group.)

Weird (in a fun way) and wired describes all these comics, whose base is Chicago but not the basis of their comedy. This isn’t a provincial “How ’bout dem Bears,” “How ’bout dem Cubbies” CD or a paean to bratwurst. Oh no. All six expose their personalities and peccadilloes to strangers for laughs — and catharsis, perhaps. In the hands of six pros, racial differences and restraining-order sex (Drew Michael track below) sound positively hysterical.

Download a copy of Comedians You Should Know on iTunes. You won’t be sorry. Unless you like shitty comedy.

Interview: Who are you, Reggie Watts?

by Carrie Andersen

What Reggie Watts does onstage has been described in many different ways the last few years. Mostly it comes down to “comedian” or “musical comedian.” After all, Comedy Central Records released his album Why Shit So Crazy? last year; he’s toured with comedians (Conan, anyone?) and cut his teeth on the national comedy scene.

But he barely tells any jokes.

Onstage it’s all about music– music that’s improvised every night and created under the most unusual circumstances and with an arsenal of modern musical technology But are his songs funny? At times. Does he have a wicked sense of humor? Indeed.

What Reggie really is: a reminder that labels and categories too often distract us from just enjoying art. It’s something to keep in mind while listening to Watts’ latest release Live At Third Man Records. And the way this album was created and is being distributed is almost as telling as the music itself.

Third Man Records, as you may know, was born from the White Stripes’ Jack White, who runs the operation in Nashville, TN. Third Man, like Reggie, is a lot of things and can’t be constrained to a single label: it’s record store, label, live venue, and production house (equipped with a rehearsal and photo studio).

Reggie recently chatted with Punchline Magazine about how this marriage came about, what touring with Conan O’Brien has taught him about show business and how he sees his art evolving. Check it out!

I was hoping you could tell me a little bit about how this new album with Third Man came about.
I rolled through there with the Conan tour, and spoke with Jack [White, of White Stripes] and when they had a moment, just kind of timidly asked him if I could maybe – or just kind of put it in his mind, the idea of me doing a comedy record there at Third Man Records. And then a few months after that, I got an invite from him to do that. It’s kind of a dream come true.

That’s awesome. How was it working with him?
It was awesome. He’s very hands off, for the recording he just made sure things looked good. He’s into not only sonic quality and so forth, but also visual aesthetics. It was cool to see him tweaking the room, making sure it was nice and right for bands to come in and check out the show.

What was playing in the space like?
The space is amazing. The space is very nice, it’s like a multimedia room in a way. Big space, nice walls in the back, so you could do a video shoot there if you wanted to. And it’s got a nice stage, pretty big stage, high stage, with monitors. It’s just a nice, well-balanced, aesthetically minimal, pleasing space.

Third Man is notorious for producing vinyl records in lieu of digital CDs and music. Could you talk a little about why you’re releasing on that medium, are you a fan of vinyl? Have you worked with it before?
I like the idea of vinyl. I’m not like a vinyl fan, I don’t even own a record player. I plan on getting one, actually. But I like the idea of what’s happening with it, what it symbolizes. If it’s never released to digital, at least legally, the value of owning something that has artwork and is large enough that you can put your hands on – it means you actually own that experience. That’s a special experience that you own. You own a physical piece of artwork along with the content that’s on it. I think that is just a great idea for creating a better appreciation for what people are getting into.

Right, and they say that’s the one of the only segments of the music industry that’s really taking off right now.
Vinyl?

Yeah.
Oh, that’s awesome. Good. It’s just ridiculous. All the digital stuff, you can’t keep track of it. It’s good for convenience, but it’s like – I forget what I’ve gotten, I have no record what I’ve gotten.

Is this album a departure in any way from your earlier albums?
No, it kind of encapsulates what I do a little bit more honestly. It’s just a solid live recording performance, and I kind of gave myself permission to be a little bit more abstract. I think it’s the most honest representation of what I do. Not all of it’s perfect, there are some dumb ideas that don’t work, and that’s what I kind of like about it. My shows are kind of part failure, part success.

I guess that would come about if you’re improvising most of it, right?
Yeah, that just happens. It’s a product of improvisation. I’ve become more and more okay with that, not to say that I’m okay with having shitty ideas, but it’s okay to fail if you try for something. In this particular recording, I think it does that fairly well.

Could we talk a little more about the improvisation? Is there a particular reason why you’ve leaned that way instead of doing specific songs and jokes every single time like a more traditional comedian or musician might?
Improvisation is a survival mechanism, really. I can’t memorize anything, even words. It’s very painful and difficult for me to memorize something on a sheet of paper. Or to keep track of things that I want to do, like on a set list. It’s just easier for me to not have to worry about any set list at all, any particular construct. It’s much easier for me to perform under those circumstances.

Have there been any moments in recent memory where relying on that improv spirit has maybe not done so well, or has turned the audience off in any way?
There’s always a risk of that. I’m sure it’s happened on many occasions. I can’t recall any particular incidents, but I’m always thinking about that when I’m onstage. Or sometimes, maybe not always. There are moments when I feel like I’m not quite connecting to an idea, and then I kind of flip it to the audience’s point of view, and I’m like, “Is this kind of shitty right now? Are they bored?” And then I’ll come up with something in that second. It’s always a battle that I’m having onstage, so it’s hard for me to know what was really that way, or what was me projecting it onto an audience.

Right. That, in addition to the fact that you’re sort of in a genre of your own and your content traffics in absurdity and surrealism a lot of the time, has that made it harder to connect with the audience, especially with your greater notoriety these days with the Conan tour?
Yeah. I think that people catch on. It’s not even catching on, it’s more like letting go. I think that people, when they come to a show, and they’re like, “Oh, what am I going to get into? What’s this going to be like?” I don’t have the answer for that. Really, the answer is – I don’t know, let’s just go on a ride together. I think that once people get back, they can really enjoy themselves. It’s not for everybody, I don’t expect everybody to dig it, I’m just kind of going for it. Hopefully it’s something really entertaining. I’m only doing stuff that I think is entertaining for myself and hopefully translates to the audience as well.

This is your first post-Conan tour album. Can you talk a little bit about that touring experience? Has that influenced your music and performance in any way?
It hasn’t really changed what I do necessarily. Because it’s improvised, I don’t really have a format. When I was on tour, I had to figure out what kind of vibe to come out with for the show. My part, when I was opening, I always had to make sure that I came out with a good starting vibe, and left people in a relatively happy state so that they were excited about Conan coming on, which they would be any way. I was really concerned about integrating into the show and not standing out too much.

I saw you in Chicago for the tour, it seemed like people were really into it and that it meshed well.
Yeah, it did. In the beginning, there was a little bit of a question, but it was fine after the second gig. Conan was happy with it, everyone seemed happy with it, the writers seemed happy. And then after that, we just kind of got closer with one another and I just kind of fell in love with the whole Conan family.

And you’ve appeared on the show three times now, since it’s started?
Yeah, that’s right.

How has that been?
It’s a blast. It’s amazing. I want to do more of it, I want to get past the theater thing a little bit more. They’ve been incredibly supportive. I have no complaints, not like anybody would, but it’s a perfect experience. The place is run really well, production is tight, and everybody is laid back and they love each other. It’s good.

I think that comes across on the show too, it seems like a positive environment.
Yeah, it really is. Production always has its stressful moments, but they handle it really well, and it always feels good and positive back in the green room and onstage.

Your act draws in a lot of traditions and genres and sort of crosses a lot of boundaries. Based on that and your performance history, it seems like you have interest in spreading your performance beyond the theater, and perhaps the kind of comedy you’ve done. Do you have any hopes for future projects that leak more into other genres, or that extend beyond what you’re doing now?
Yeah, of course. I’m interested in making as many things in various media as possible. I really enjoy installation, I enjoy dance, I enjoy visual arts, I enjoy all the various performance and performative art forms. I love it all. I just am so excited about making things in all sorts of different ways.

Are there any specific projects that you’re thinking about or working on at the moment that you could share with us?
Well, I’m trying to get involved in an installation in Berkeley, it’s still in talks right now, but I think that’d be interesting to do. Creating an installation is something I haven’t done before, so that could be cool. Other than that, just working on film ideas, that kind of stuff.

I was watching the second Yes Men documentary the other day and was pleasantly surprised to see you playing a part in that. Is that sort of the kind of thing you’re looking to do, or was that more of an anomaly?
That was kind of an anomaly. I definitely like where those guys are coming from. They’re pretty awesome. I love that they coordinate things at such an intense level. It’s great. It still feels punk rock.

That movie has a very overt political ideology beneath it, did you ever feel like that was conflicting with the kind of stuff that you do that’s more apolitical, or not concerned directly with those issues?
No, not really. I view them as – they’re more artists than political activists. They’re politically motivated and highly educated in what’s going on in the world politically, but I still think of them more as artists. They come across as the – their fuel is the things that happen in the world, how governments are affecting things, affecting people’s lives, and corporations and so forth. They use that fuel to make some pretty amazing artistic stunts, and in that regard, there’s a quality of art to it. I’m always behind it. Art is an important ingredient.

For more info, check out reggiewatts.com; you can buy the album here.

Video: Punchline Magazine at the Comedy Awards!

by Punchline Magazine

Comedy fans are anxiously awaiting the broadcast of the first ever Comedy Awards, produced by Comedy Central and airing simultaneously on all of MTV Networks’ properties, including Spike TV, TV Land, Logo, VH1 and CMT.

It all goes down this Sunday at 9 pm EST. But Punchline Magazine was there the night of the taping; and more importantly comedian Lauren Ashley Bishop was there on the red carpet for us asking all sorts of important comedy types hard hitting questions. Check out peeps like Jon Stewart, Louis C.K, Olivia Munn and many more in the video below. Hope you have as much fun watching as we did making it. Enjoy!

Colin Quinn: Finding comfort in chaos

by Dylan P. Gadino

There’s no hope for mankind. We’re all doomed and there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s time we just face that truth.

And the truth is hilarious.

At least it is in the hands of comedian Colin Quinn, who, with his Broadway show-turned television comedy special Long Story Short, has not only reinvigorated his career but has also given comedy goers something serious — and seriously funny — to think about.

Until now, however, his 75-minute one-man show about the recursive nature of failing world empires, was limited to those living in or visiting the New York City tri-state area. On April 9th, the Jerry Seinfeld-produced show will premiere to a national HBO audience. And I highly suggest you carve out some time to check it out.

If you need more convincing, check out the below interview with the man below.

It was the result of a recent conversation I had with Colin at the HBO offices in New York City, where we chatted about transitioning from stand-up comedy to Broadway show headliner, why Ellen DeGeneres is proof all comedians are messed up and of course, how and why we’re all fucked and how we’ll never become unfucked. Fun!

So, have you watched the HBO version of Long Story Short?
Part of it.

Whenever I ask comedians if they’ve watched their stuff, a lot of times they haven’t.
Most of them don’t.

Yeah, why is that?
I don’t know, it’s hard to watch yourself.

Even after all this time?
YES, it gets worse all this time.

So, what did you think? Did it turn out okay?
I can’t tell.

You can’t tell?
I’m too close to it, you know?

Right. So, you’ve been doing this show in some form for a year– in clubs, then on Broadway. Now it’s on HBO. What was the major difference between doing stand-up every night and doing this type of show where you have a director, and there’s other input from other people?
Well, I mean that’s hard to put up with for stand-up. It’s funny because everyone was coming up to me after the show, all the stands-ups, going, ‘How do you go and say the same thing every night?’ And it is kind of a weird thing because even as stand-ups, we don’t say that much different stuff every night but not having the freedom to comment on what’s going on [while doing a Broadway show], not only in the room you’re performing in but in the world or whatever, it does train another muscle. You know what I mean?

Yeah.
I’d like to think that, you know, ‘oh I must be working on something good’ as far as being a performer. I mean, that’s the only way to justify it so I’m always like, ‘oh this is good discipline.’ I don’t know. It’s probably all bullshit.

The main thing I noticed just from watching the HBO version is how polished you are. You’re not known as a guy with a stand-up delivery that’s incredibly scripted or theatrical.
Right. It’s just the opposite.

And that’s a lot of your appeal.
I don’t know if I’d call it my appeal. I’ve heard a lot of abuse online over the years for my fuckin’ stuttering.

Right.
I’ve always felt, and I’m sure this is a rationalization, too. It’s like FUCK YOU. Everybody wants to be, you know, everybody hates pre-fabricated, phony, fucking game show-style comedy, for lack of a better term. So you try to do comedy that’s more about living in the moment and you just make up shit on the spot and everybody’s like, ‘woah what the fuck is that?’ They don’t want to see the cow being slaughtered, really. You know what I mean?

Right. They say they do.
They say they do. A few people really do– like real comedy aficionados, you know?
But for the stage show and the HBO special you really reigned it in.

How difficult was that for you?
Not difficult at this point, you know what I mean? Cause it’s like fuck man, I gotta get my stuff out there somehow. You know, it’s like if my stuff doesn’t get out there, I don’t get much ‘light,’ as we say in the schoolyard basketball games. Give me some light. So I have to get stuff out there somehow, so if reigning it in means people will listen to me, and I’ll be able to say what I want to say, then I have to do it.

And is that something Jerry helped you with?
Yeah, he’s good at that. But it’s also like I decided to speak slower. Everybody’s always like, ‘you talk too fast, you talk too fast. You mumble too much’ and all that. It’s always been a big thing on me. So I was just like aww fuck it, you know what I mean? I can do this shit. But I do like to just mutter my way through a stand-up set sometimes. But, I was definitely out of the fucking loop so I had to do something different, you know what I mean?

Yeah.
It’s not like I stopped a fucking on-fire career where people were like HEY why’s he changing directions now? Nobody gave a shit if I was dead or alive.

You really think that?
Yeah, what the fuck was I doing?

You were doing stand-up.
Yeah, but I wasn’t getting specials or doing shit like that.

Right right. You were doing a lot of the material on Long Story a year or so leading up to it around the city. So at what point was it clear that this could be a cohesive show?
LIke, about a year and a half ago I went to Governor’s [comedy club on Long Island, NY], cause they let me do like an hour, every Wednesday night. I’d do an hour to work it out. Cause I was like, ‘this is what I want to do.’ I’ve always wanted to do this show, or at least for the past few years, cause I like to talk about ethnicity, and I like to talk about global scope things, so that was it. And I did it out there for an hour every Wednesday night. They got the crowd. I just did it for free. And it was great.

It worked well enough where it was like, I could do this as a show. Or at least I really wanted to. Then I did it at Carolines [in New York City] and it didn’t go as well, and I was like ‘fuck this.’ But then I just kept doing it and then I did it in March at Gotham [comedy club in New York City], downstairs, at Gotham and I was like ‘oh yeah, this is great.’ And then Jerry got involved and then it was like shit, now I’m definitely doing it.

Once Jerry signed on?
Yeah, cause he produced it. I had no money to keep it going. I had it at Gotham for a week but you know …

How much World history research did you have to do to kind of plug up the holes? Or was this stuff that was just always kind of laying on your mind?
’Plug up the holes’ is a good point, a good way of putting it. Most of it was laying on my mind but I had to research to plug up the holes. That’s a great phrase. That’s exactly right. So I had to Google little shit, you know. That’s what research is now: Google. But otherwise it was just general knowledge sort of. Like with in England or France. That relationship obviously is based on what I’m thinking about France having this weird relationship somewhere in the back of my mind. I’d say the show is, yes, collective unconscious. It was like — just based on these ideas – England and France’s weird relationship so it’s like all that kind of stuff exists but then little details you have to get. But most of it’s shit that, you know, it’s more of less common, you know…

You would think it’s common knowledge. I mean, I’m not saying I’m the smartest person in the world but there is definitely aspects of the show where I was like oh right, I didn’t quite know that.
Like what?

The Silk Road.
Oh, you didn’t know about the Silk Road?

No, and I was like oh, that’s pretty interesting.
Well, I knew about the Silk Road and I wanted to get that in the show. But then, there was Silk Road exhibit at the Museum of Natural History. So I went down there and saw it when I was doing the show. I was like oh, I’m going to learn. I didn’t get much out of it, though. But I mean, I just knew it was a big trading highway. Salesmen, it really didn’t lead anywhere. But yeah, the Silk Road. And that is where all the religions spread and shit. I don’ t know if i knew that part yet, that the religions spread there. Maybe I found that out when I went to the exhibit or maybe I knew that or I Googled it or something. I don’ t know about that part. But the religions did spread there.

What kind of student were you?
I was a bad student, like most comedians. I feel like most comedians were shitty students, cause they just had ADD. But I guess I shouldn’t say that because a lot of them were good students.

Smart, but maybe shitty students.
Yeah. Just bad, and I didn’t give a shit. I was a class clown, loud mouth, always talking; I didn’t want to hear anything. I didn’t want to learn anything I didn’t like. I was like ahhh… just get me out of here. I just wanted out. And I feel like a lot of comedians are like that. And here’s why I feel that way. It’s cause I watched Ellen DeGeneres once talking and she seems like a goody two-shoes in a certain way. And she fucking dropped out of high school. She’s a high school drop out. And I was like ‘Jesus, Ellen Degeneres? I thought she was like the nice girl sitting in class…’

Right.
So it just goes to show, comedians are just ADD.

Right, so if Ellen’s a fuck-up then every comedian must be a fuck up?
Yes, exactly. That’s how I feel.

Is it important to you that Long Story is seen as a commentary on the what the world is going through now? Or is it just a funny show?
Well, the challenge to me with stand-up is to take whatever you’re talking about, whether it’s a serious thing that you really believe in, or it’s something that’s just you know, like your area, your hobby– fucking stamp collecting — whatever it is and make it funny. That’s the challenge. So it’s almost like I’m saying that it doesn’t matter if I want to make a point or if I don’t want to make a point. The ultimate thing to me is, ‘Is it going to be funny?’ Can I make boring-ass history, my opinion for what it’s worth, you know, can I make that funny? You know what I mean?

So I don’t know that it matters, but I feel like I always want to make a point– but I feel like this about comedy. It’s great if you can make a point, that makes it even better. But ultimately, if you’re not getting laughs, you’re not being a comedian. So it’s like guys that are getting up their, they’re making points but they’re not getting laughs it’s like ‘OK, you’re doing something but it’s not comedy.’ So I feel like if you can make a point and be funny, that’s so much the better. But it’s gotta be getting laughs first or there’s no laughs, then it needs to turn into something else.

Makes sense, yeah.
Of course I’m going to make a point. Like anybody else wants to make their fucking point. Why would people get up on stage for 25 fucking years in front of strangers unless they were trying to say something somewhere, you know what I mean? Some part of every comedian’s motivation is like, ‘Hey listen to me. I’ve fucking got something to say.’

Do you think it’s the type of show that can affect change?
No. I don’t know what affects change. I really don’t think anything affects change. Shows or anything else. Nothing affects change. That’s the point of the show in a way. It’s like nothing changes. Like humanity just stays the same. It just morphs into another fucking thing. Like I don’t think anything really that I’ve seen has affected change really.

I don’t know what kind of music you listen to, but one of my favorite bands is Bad Religion. Do you know them?
Oh yeah, of course I know them. They’re great.

They have so many songs about, ‘Hey, listen, we’re all fucked. Nothing we do is going to matter. You can get as much shit as you want, we’re all going to die in the end.’ And I just felt like I got that sense from the show and I loved it. I mean, I don’t know why I find comfort in it. I think it’s because it’s like well, we can’t do shit about this. So, let’s just admit that we’re all fucked and let’s just try not to be a piece of shit to everybody.
You’re right, I take comfort in that too. I find comfort in the exact same thing.

And why? Why do you find comfort in that?
I feel like it’s a personal thing with you and with me, probably. Where it’s like, all my life I’ve had this slight feeling in my gut that’s something wrong and when I see something that explains why it’s wrong, I’m like ‘oh, now that makes sense.’ You get something in your gut that just feels slightly off and you’re like “oh, I’m relieved. That IS how I feel.” I mean, the whole point of stand-up, I guess, is trying to get what little bit of truth you can. I’m so happy you said that. It’s like a real compliment to me.

Yeah, I love all types of stand-up. But the stuff I’m passionate about is, for whatever reason, comedy that’s doom and gloom mixed in with laughs— because that makes me feel like less of a horrible person.
Yeah, like you’re not just crazy.

In your show, you talk about the origin of unions, basically saying the concept began because some physical laborers wanted to get paid for their work and differentiate themselves from slaves. So what’s your opinion on contemporary unions?
I think the concept of unions is great, but it’s suffering the same disease as everything else I mention in the show. Everything leads to excess. For every hard working union guy there’s like an office full of people petting paid to do nothing. It’s like everything else. Everything becomes corrupt.

I know teachers that are totally anti-union because they she sees how it affects people and the work they do. It becomes more about what your rights are and making sure you’re getting what you’re due than actually doing your job.
Yeah, it’s sad, but I feel like everything’s like that. Some are more blatant than others. Unions are you know, less, you know, offensive than hedge funds, but it’s still… you know what I mean? But everything becomes this weird corrupt thing. Look, the stock market started as a good thing. It was like ‘hey, let’s let average people invest; it’s almost like investing in your community. But it was really always kind of an idea that was destined to be fucking corrupt. It never stops being like this.

So then how are we supposed to live our lives?
There’s not a fucking answer. All you do is try not to be a complete dickhead. The world doesn’t need one more asshole, that’s for sure. I guess it’s all you can do. You know, otherwise, like I say in the show– my favorite part of the show is saying no system of government works. None of them work yet. Nobody’s figured out a fucking system that works. Because all the system are based on humanity: Communism, capitalism, socialism, it’s all based on humanity.

Communism, it’s not going to work because everybody’s like ‘oh good, I’m in charge of this fucking food. I’m gonna get laid for it, I’m gonna get my cousins in,’ just like anything else. And capitalism is like ‘oh you’re giving me the keys to the fucking bank? Don’t worry, I’ll watch your fucking money.’ It’s like everything’s just ridiculous. I mean, the only system that’s worked is like benign dictatorships or something but then you have to worry about the mood of the fucking king. You gotta make sure his meds are correct.

So it’s just…
It’s futility. But that’s the beauty of humanity. I feel like in some ways, we’re not meant to know. We’re just not meant to know what the big point is. That’s why I believe in afterlife and stuff because I can’t believe this is really going to be it. There is no justice in the fucking world. There’s GOTTA be something else. That’s why I love Catholicism. The thing I’ve always loved about being Catholic is that in Catholicism they say ‘Yeah, all these people living good now are going to burn in Hell for eternity,’ and that comforts me. That’s the only part of Catholicism that I’ve really believed in from the beginning—just the thought of people burning for eternity. That’s gotta be so painful, but it’s the only way you can justify Hitler or anybody or just people being shitheads and getting away with it and living happy lives and other good people, like Bosnian eight-year old dying. How much can you justify unless you think that they’re burning in Hell forever?

So that keeps you a little bit more sane?
That’s my comfort. yeah.

Because if you can’t believe that the people making these innocent people’s lives miserable, ultimately suffering, then…
Yeah. It does keep me totally sane.

Are you religious?
No, that’s the only thing I believe in. I love the idea of heaven and hell. So I guess I’m religious in that I want to believe in heaven and hell, so I do. And that’s all religion is, if you want to believe it or not. Pascal’s wager or whatever. I sound like Charlie Sheen now. Pascal’s wager. But yeah, I believe in it because it does comfort me.

So, not to be like completely morbid about life but it seems like it’s just like triage. You go through life and you try to make the best out of the most horrible things and you know that nothing’s ever going to be incredible.
I like that. ‘Triage.’ That’s really deep. That’s good. It’s good. I like that philosophy. It’s’ a good philosophy. It’s a more realistic philosophy than most people have.

But it’s a little…
What? Dark?

I guess it’s a little dark.
But it’s very Irish that way of thinking. It’s like Irish people think. That’s good. It’s dark, but it’s better than just walking, you know, it’s not like you’re not doing things. You’re going ok, jumping into triage. It’s not like you’re saying oh I’ll stay in the house and not doing anything. No. You’re putting out the fires rather than just sitting there and watching them burn or fucking lighting them. There’s three choices and you’re picking the noblest one of the three. Watch it burn, light them, or try to put out little fires.

So what’s next for you?
I’d like to do the show in Europe and stuff. That would be fun. See what they say. See if they like it or not. But I mean I hope they would. If they don’t like it, it would suck, you know— the show’s not working and I have to go on for the next eight nights in Liverpool?

But I love fucking stand-up. You need to take a break from it sometimes. I’ve been doing this show for a year, so getting back into stand-up is good. I can’t wait. I’ll go back to the clubs.

Colin Quinn’s Long Story Short premieres April 9 at 10 pm EST on HBO. Go here for more info.