ASPEN, CO — The finals of Rooftop’s college competition just wrapped (it’s about 7:45 pm here). So here’s some quick thoughts.

I was lucky enough to judge two of the semi-final rounds in New York City some many weeks ago. I have to say, I didn’t expect much from those shows, except for a lot of awkward silences and jittery, fresh-faced college kids. I was impressed.

So I guess that set me up for a little disappointment for tonight. I was expecting a lot… maybe too much.

Tim Ball of Duke University started the show off. Tim was a wild card; that is, he wasn’t originally voted to move on but online voters pushed him through to the finals. Tim’s a big, athleti-looking guy; as it turns out, it’s a big part of his act as he’s incredibly physical and animated. Note: doing a funny or stereotypical dance is an easy way to grab some laughs from an audience looking for a good time.

Ball also relied too heavily on his doing silly voices. He ran the gamut: He did Latina voice, the Latino voice, the black woman voice, etc… It all seemed like a way to distract us from the fact that was little substance in his actual jokes. I’m not an eye-roller. But I rolled them both when he did a joke about dancing with a black woman at a club, wherein he testifies that a sister’s butt is not just for show, it’s practical. He says the woman told him to sit on her but, because, you know, it’s like a seat. Ball’s response: “That’s comfortable.” Her response: You think that’s comfortable? Wait till I put it on vibrate” (Ball turns around and shakes his butt for the audience; he gets tons of laughs).

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ASPEN, CO — Turns out the folks at RooftopComedy thought it interesting to hand out some comedy industry awards. It’s about 6:15 pm here in the Mountain zone and the awards presentations just wrapped at the Wheeler Opera House. The awards were voted on by representatives from RooftopComedy’s 20 partner clubs — that is, the venues where Rooftop film everynight — as well as the 24 comedians who are performing at the festival and finally, Rooftop staff.

GoBananas in Cincinnati picked up two awards in the club category (one for being the best place for young comics to perform; the other for being the best all around club to perform). The likes of Robert Hawkins, Auggie Smith, Tyrone Hawkins, Eddie Gosling and more picked up comedian awards. And even we, Punchline Magazine, picked up an award for best online comedy publication; other nominees were TheApiary, Dead-Frog, and SheckyMagazine.

ASPEN, CO — That final show of the night, Rooftop After Dark, showcased some of the fest’s most offbeat, crude and absurd comics. Cincinnati-based Tyrone Hawkins – small in stature, large in presence – broke the late crowd in with a series of jokes about hairy nipples, tongue bacteria and yes, folks, dreams. Dreams are a lot like turds. Some of us have big ones; some of us have small ones; and some of them are corny…” Gross.

One my favorite up and coming comics Andi Smith followed; it was good to finally see her live. Until last night, it was all Last Comic Standing appearances and clips from Live at Gotham at RooftopComedy for me. Andi didn’t disappoint as she delivered an excellently original and at times hilariously offensive set.

She touched, rather harshly on the dangers of having fake breasts by retelling a tale of a family member who’s boob busted on vacation: “I know we were supposed to ride mopeds and fuck under a waterfall but one of my tits just detonated.” Smith also doesn’t like it when women refer to their breast augmentation as a prosthetic procedure. “It’s not a prosthetic. You didn’t lose your tit in a freak boating accident; you’re just a bit of a whore.” Nice.

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ASPEN, CO — The middle show last night at the Aspen RooftopComedy Festival – Rooftop at Large – showcased some of the bigger names the site has on their long list of comedian videos.

LA-by-way-of-Kansas City comic Chris Porter came to the stage first looking more like a cocksure Chris Robinson than a comic. He delivered a blistering set high on vagina talk, energy and balls: he’s got no fear about dropping more than a few vaguely misogynist jokes, namely is take on rape. “There are moral reasons not to rape,” he admits. He turns the obvious on its ear, though, when he submits a rapist’s greatest reason not to do the deed is all the red tape. “If you’re a rapist, there’s going to be some paperwork,” Porter says.

Twenty-year stand-up veteran and LA-based Vince Morris followed with a set based more in social awareness than dick and pussy jokes. The Ohio native did a well-written extended bit on the idea that there seems to be a need to incorporate hip-hop music in every television ad geared toward black consumers. His point: it’s insulting. My favorite moment, however, was when he tried to convince the crowd that doing away with trying children as minors is a good idea. “You fry one eight year old, and the rest of the kids will obey.”

The always solid, always consistent Robert Hawkins (now based in Dallas) closed out the show. Not much to say here. He’s an extremely observational comic who moves from light-hearted fare to absurdly goofy shit. Let’s put it this way. Since he’s such a skilled writer, he makes fart jokes seem a bit highbrow.

ASPEN, CO — Since its launch nearly three years ago, San Francisco-based RooftopComedy.com has been the little comedy site that could. They’ve made a name for themselves by hosting and maintaining thousands of hours of exclusive stand-up comedy clips from comedy clubs across the country.

And now they’ve created the coolest little comedy festival that could. The first night of the inaugural Aspen RooftopComedy Festival has proven that. For sure, Rooftop’s fest operates like a mini Just For Laughs: Some very well-respected comics doing extended sets with a major concentration on some of the best up and comers.

Last night, Rooftop hosted three solid shows at Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House. While the attendance at the 6:45 pm show – dubbed Rooftop Best and Brightest – was what one would expect at such an early hour, those that were there made up for the empty seats.

Geoff Tate opened the show with some finely-tuned marriage material— stuff that I remember hearing the last time I had seen Tate when he opened for Mike Birbiglia on the campus of NYU in Manhattan for the taping of Birbigs’ hour-long Comedy Central Special. No doubt, “my wife does this” material has been done as naseum. But 29-year-old Tate brings a great contemporary spin on it—something for the younger hitched folks to grab hold of. Plus he did a stellar extended Subway sandwich shop bit.

Dallas-based Paul Varghese – who appeared on Thursday’s episode of Last Comic Standing during the Houston showcase – followed Tate. He was nursing a very weak voice. I know that only because it was obvious when I spoke to him earlier in the day at the airport. He let the crowd know up front what he was dealing with, but really, you would never have known if he hadn’t mentioned it. The crowd lapped up his laid-back delivery and sharp one-liners like “I want to work at a miniature golf course and charge midgets regular golf course prices” and “I want to open a Hooters in Bagdhad and rename it Eyebrows.” Well done.

I have to say, though, his bit on the difference between going to church (he’s of Indian descent and is Christian) and watching church on television Sunday morning was most pleasing, especially when he acts out sitting on his couch, dipping a tortilla chip into salsa and says, “body of Christ.”

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In honor of Harvey Korman’s passing, we offer you one of his classic scenes from Blazing Saddles.

Hey, readers: you’re going to want to keep hitting refresh or reload. We’re going to keep all the updates in one entry this week. We’ll see how that works out.

8:39

The LCS crew continued the freak show at the start of the show, showing the more colorful characters. Entertaining, yes– if you have no emotional connection to stand-up comedy, that is. If you care about it as an art form, however, it’s scary because it makes idiots think they could be comics. Not only comics, but comics that’ll end up on network television.
So far, I thought Amber Tozer was decent. Adam Richmond was fine too. Nothing too spectacaular as of yet. To be fair, you’d have to be more than spectacular to impress in the 12 seconds they show each comic onstage.

9:13

Ron G: While his jokes weren’t spectacular he’s got great presence; very smooth and at home onstage, which is more than I can say for a lot of the contestants.

Erin Foley: I liked her statutory rape joke. Looking forward to seeing her set at this weekend’s RooftopComedy Aspen Comedy Festival.

Jacob Sirof: Solid. Funny.

Dana Eagle: I like her style. She’s got a lot of personality on the rest of the typical LCS cookie cutter semi finalists. Though she lost me when she showed her drawers; such a cheap laugh. Don’t know much about her. But she seems funnier than that.

Jennifer Murphy: She’s a fuckin nut job and I like it.

Adam Richmond: Silly goose, are you screaming and flailing your arms around so we don’t notice your jokes aren’t that funny?

9:24

Esau McGraw: Eh.

Amber Tozer: Decent. Though I think her audition was a wee better.

Ben Gleib: Fairly solid bit about Girls Gone Wild.

Meghan Hounsell: She played a goofy song about being a lesbian but not being a lesbian. Eh.

Chris Fairbanks: Not horrible. Not too memorable.

I gotta say, compared to last week’ show the talent is generally better… as in, there’s no one that’s so terrible that it makes me angry.

9:36

Dos Spanish Flies: Oh, lord. They’re singing a song about farting. Hilarious. I take back what I just said about no acts not making me angry. These two half-a-tards need to stop doing whatever it is they do.

Jackie Kashian: Solid stuff. Seems it would be a mistake not to pass her to the next round.

Avi Lieberman: Proficient. Confident but not so exciting. The type of

Ruby Wendell: Another comic with another herpes joke. Herpes. It’s funny because its an STD but it doesn’t kill you. Forget that it’s incurable. Dear, would-be comics: stop doing herpes jokes. We get it!

Eddie Pepitone: His bit about him not every being able to be a rapper because he’s too insecure and depressed was original. I feel though, like it could’ve worked even better outside the premise of him performing it as a rapper. Anyway, he’s an obvious pass. Would be wrong if he didn’t move ahead if you’re comparing him to the competition.

9:41

And the comics moving on to the semi-finals:

Erin Foley (good choice), Ron G. (may turn out to be a good choice), Eddie Pepitone (nice), Jackie Kashian (surprised that they passed her, but it was a good choice).

9:51

We’re in Houston and holy shit… it’s Alfonso Ribeiro! And Neil Flynn, the janitor from Scrubs.

Andi Smith! She was our pick to win last year. She didn’t get very far. Here’s to hoping she gets to the finals this year.

10:02

Why is this show two hours?

10:05

Mark Agee’s 12 seconds was funny. Offbeat. I like it.

10:13

Billy D. Washington: Solid but unexciting.

Mark Agee: Not sure what is, but I like him.

Paul Varghese: Love is voice. Writing is strong. Jokes are good.

Andi Smith: Strong as usual. Do the right thing, judges.

10:22

Chris Voth: Hoaky, and not in a good way. Does a jogger-finding-a-dea-body joke. I’m not one to call thief, but I’m calling it now. The premise is just way too specific to have just been accidentally picked up by another comic. And as soon as I remember whose joke it was, this post will make some sense.

10:29

And the folks going to Vegas are: Andi Smith (fantastic) and Bob Biggerstaff (another good choice).

Ok. See you next week.

Starting tomorrow and ending Sunday in lovely Aspen, CO, the inaugural run of the Aspen RooftopComedy Festival is going down. A lot of you will remember that there was a long-running, pretty huge comedy fest in Aspen called the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. As of last year, it has gone bye-bye.

But stand-up video site RooftopComedy quickly picked up where the former fest left off. And we’ll be there this weekend to check it out. So make sure you check the blog for some updates from Colorado. The likes of Tig Notaro, Robert Hawkins, Andi Smith, Jimmy Dore, Auggie Smith and many more are scheduled to perform. Go here for a full list of performers.

The cool thing about this fest is that its being run like a mini Just For Laughs, where there’s focus on some of the brightest up and comers, not to mention a showcase for some of the already well-established comics. It’s not just a parade of giant names at huge venues. We’re looking at you, Vegas.

Did you know you could buy a coffin at Costco? Comedian Lenny Marcus has done the research for you. Check it out.

While most of us know that stand-up comedy is an American tradition (having been invented here) its reach is worldwide. And when I say worldwide, I’m not just talking about American comics making a dent across the sea (read: Chris Rock breaking UK comedy show attendance records) or about the thriving scenes in England or Scotland.

There are much smaller pockets (see Dubai, Cairo, Nigeria) wherein stand-up comedy is still an exciting new prospect, a novel form of entertainment and escapism. Even in the States, you’ll hear a lot of people say they go to live stand-up comedy shows to escape the realities of their world and to blow off some steam.

But how does stand-up comedy affect a place like Lebanon—a country where it seems, its collective steam needs to be blown with much higher frequency and with greater force. It wouldn’t be a stretch to gather that this isn’t a question most of you (if any) have tried to answer. I get it. If it weren’t for my obsession with all things stand-up, I’d have quickly moved along to slightly more light-hearted reaches of the Internet after reading a piece in The National, Abu Dhabi’s daily newspaper.

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