Comedy Matters with Bobby Lee, Jeffrey Ross and more

CHRIS ROCK STEPS UP

In 1986, Chris Rock was discovered at the Comic Strip by owner Richie Tienken and Eddie Murphy. The story goes that Chris was setting up chairs and cleaning up in exchange for stage time, in a deal he made with Lucien Hold, the legendary manager of the club. One night Eddie Murphy came in to see Tienken, who was his manager for 11 years, and asked if there were any Black comics he could see. In those days there weren’t many.

Richie didn’t want Eddie to leave so he told Lucien to put Chris Rock on even though the room was packed and Chris had never performed for more than 12 people. He usually went on around two in the morning. Legend has it that Chris got up there and killed. Chris himself told me he just did ‘Okay.’ What he said was, “I wasn’t Joe Bolster. Nobody beats Joe Bolster on stage at the Comic Strip.”

That being said, he did well enough that Eddie befriended him, leading to his groundbreaking role in Beverly Hills Cop 2 in 1987. When Chris was leaving LA after the shoot was over, he was walking down this long corridor, turned to Tienken, and yelled back “Hey Richie, don’t forget about me!” And Richie didn’t.

Richie Tienken, Chris Rock, and I at The Strip.

He immediately called Lucien back in New York and told him to make sure to give Chris Rock good spots, which he did. Aside from liking Chris, Tienken knew that Chris was going be big, and he wanted to have both Eddie and Chris performing at the club. Chris never forgot about Richie’s kindness, and now that we’re working on the book and documentary film in honor of the 35th anniversary of the club, Chris Rock stepped up to the plate and accepted the position of executive producer of the film. He had already given us a two hour interview for the book. This is a guy who didn’t forget where he came from.

Chris was also very glad to see Richie re-gaining his strength, and recovering from his recent illness. Now there’s a new Rock hanging out at the Comic Strip. Chris’ little brother Jordan, who’s following in the footsteps of his brothers Chris and Tony, is there almost every night. He hangs out at the bar and does “latenight” at the same place where both of his brothers made names for themselves. He definitely has the Rock smile, if not the Rock beard.

Jordan Rock hanging out at The Comic Strip.

Letterbox Pictures, the Emmy award winning company based in NY and LA, is shooting the documentary film, and is helmed by Abby Russell, who’s producing, and her partner Brent Sterling-Nemetz who’s directing. Abby is known for having created The Hamptons Comedy Festival, which I had the honor of co-producing with her in 2004. It’s the fund raising arm for Comedy Fights Cancer, the organization that brings comedy shows to people in hospitals. I myself performed in her shows at Sloane Kettering a couple of times, and thank G-d no patients got worse as a result!

(L-R) Brent Sterling-Nemetz, Abby Russell, Richie Tienken, and Jeffrey Gurian on the set at The Strip.

One day we shot a table of comics reminiscing about their histories with The Strip, Lucien, and Richie. It was Danny Cohen, (who was there without his broach!), Lenny Marcus, Barry Weintraub, Bernadette Pauley, Cory Kahaney, and Dan Naturman. When we went to take the photos at the end, Lenny Marcus said he didn’t feel the shot would be complete without me in it, so I jumped in because basically I’m not happy till Lenny Marcus is happy. (I have him brainwashed into believing no shot is complete if I’m not in it!)

From L-R –Danny Cohen, Cory Kahaney, Barry Weintraub, Richie Tienken, Lenny Marcus, Bernadette Pauley, Dan Naturman, and I.

GOTHAM HAPPENINGS

A couple of comedy clubs have had TV shows in the past, but the only one still happening is Gotham’s Live at Gotham on Comedy Central. Live at Gotham features the best new comic talents from all over the country. Each show features a star comic host and six really funny comedians.

This hit show taped it’s 4th season recently, and some of the hosts were Jim Jeffries, Rob Riggle, Charlie Murphy, Jo Koy, Doug Benson, Paul F. Tomkins, and one of my personal favorites Judah Friedlander, the World’s Greatest Champion and star of NBC’s 30 Rock. I went to catch the show hosted by Bobby Lee, a really funny comic I saw recently headlining at Carolines. Bobby got his big break one night in 1995 when Pauley Shore saw him on stage and asked him to open for him in Las Vegas.

Bobby Lee and I backstage after his show.

Bobby wound up being a regular at The Comedy Store where he met Carlos Mencia and wound up going on the road with him as well. He was a longtime cast member on Mad TV, and has been in films like Harold and Kumar and Kickin’ It Old Skool. I’m a sucker for accents, and I love it when he imitates his Korean Dad who once got him a job selling corn on the side of the highway. One day when business was slow, his father told him he had to yell out the word “corn.” To see him on stage screaming the word “corn” at imaginary cars passing by doing 70 mph was definitely a comedic treat.

Stand-outs on the show were Dustin Ybarra, who may possibly have stranger hair than I do, and who is very funny and got huge applause. L.A. comic Patrick Keane, the white guy from MY TV’s Tony Rock Project, was also a stand-out. He said he played ball in high school but wasn’t that good. The coach sat him so far down the bench, the other team thought he was on their team.

I also liked his take on Cain, from biblical brothers Cain and Abel, which reference once lead me to a good Roast joke. “He treated me like we were brothers, ‘Cain and Abel.’” He said that when Cain was around there were only a handful of people on Earth. Cain killed one of the three people he knew, which meant that if you knew Cain, you only had a 66 1/3 percent chance of surviving. Very clever.

L.A. Comic Don Friesen holds the honor of being the only comic to ever win the prestigious San Francisco International Comedy Competition twice, in it’s 30 year history. That’s the competition that helped launch the careers of Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, Ellen DeGeneres and Sinbad. Don said his wife told him he had to be stricter with the kids. They have to know that “No” means “No.” He said, “Well, what if I’m raising them to be sales people?” My thought was, what if he was raising them to be rapists?

JACK CHEESE AND MARTY FROMAGE

There’s a special bond between comics who start out together, and come up through the ranks at the same time. (Like Tony Rock and Sherrod Small for example!) Once you endure torture with someone, it brings you together in a way most people wouldn’t understand. It was that way with Bobcat Goldthwait and Robin Williams.

Bobcat Goldthwait and I in front of the poster for World’s Greatest Dad.

Robin is starring in Bobcat’s new film, World’s Greatest Dad playing Lance Clayton, a high school poetry teacher who has learned to settle for his lot in life, despite having dreams of being a famous writer. When his son dies in a “sexual-gratification accident,” he’s suddenly faced with the possibility of achieving everything he has always wanted, through a bizarre series of events created by Bobcat Goldthwait’s inventive mind.

Bobcat made the transition from stand-up and acting to working behind the camera as a writer/director when as he put it, “my retirement from acting came at the same time people weren’t hiring me, so it wasn’t such a bold move!” He said he had started doing stand-up at only 15 years old in Syracuse, (which was strange because he was living in Indiana at the time !), and then at 18 he moved to Boston and would come down to New York to audition for Letterman and other shows. “When I was in San Francisco as a young performer, with Robin Williams, sometimes I appeared using the name Jack Cheese. And sometimes when we played clubs together in San Francisco, which was thanks to him and not to me, since he was already pretty well known, he didn’t want to publicize his appearance, so he used the name Marty Fromage.”

There were some clubs that tried to cash in on the connection to Mork and Mindy, so they advertised him as “Marty From Mars” instead of “Marty Fromage.” Robin also had a cameo in Goldthwait’s film Shakes The Clown, in which he was again billed as Marty Fromage. (For those of you who never took French in high school, “fromage” means “cheese.”)

Bobcat gets offered lots of reality shows but he prefers to work behind the scenes. His favorite job of all time was directing Jimmy Kimmel Live. He had had many jobs going back to high school, where he worked as a janitor, which he said facetiously was a great way to get lots of girls. On my way to this interview with Bobcat, I got caught up in midtown traffic and was really afraid I’d be late, but as often happens to me, for whatever reason, as I got to the door of Magnolia Pictures where the interview was taking place, a car pulled up, and who stepped out but Bobcat and his publicist. So I wound up riding up in the elevator with him, and was able to invite him to be in the Comic Strip book and documentary film, just cause I got there late.

It’s happened to me many times. Once years ago, I attended the premiere of the Richard Lewis film Drunks. My goal was to see Richard, but I didn’t let him know I was coming. I got there late, ran down the wrong staircase, and wound up running right into Richard walking up the stairs. He looked at me and said, “What the f*+% are you doing here?” I told him I had come to see the film and bring him some unsolicited comedy material, which I gave him right then and there. Richard has never used any one else’s material, but I felt so strongly that I could write for him, that I decided to try anyway. The worst that could happen was that he’d have me deported and threaten my family, right?

Richard Lewis and Jeffrey backstage at Joe’s Pub

Later that very same night there was a message on my home answering machine from Richard, thanking me for the material, and explaining that he never used anyone else’s material but that if he did, he would use this, and somewhere in there he used the word “brilliant.” I actually have that call on my website as it was such an honor to get that kind of compliment from Richard Lewis. I’ve always been a huge fan of his work. Make sure to go see World’s Greatest Dad.

COMEDY MATTERS QUICKIES

Comic Sue Costello is on the move. She recently finished shooting a feature film called The Fighter, which is a boxing movie based on the true life story about the step brothers from Lowell, MA. Mickey Ward played by Mark Walhberg, and Dicky Ward, played by Christian Bale. Dicky fought Sugar Ray Leonard then developed a crack addiction. He then trained his brother Micky to a welterweight championship. Sue played a crack addict with Christian Bale.

(L-r) Jeffrey, Jackie Martling, Sue Costello, and Ray Ellin at Sue’s performance at Barney’s Penthouse.

She also has a one-woman show called Minus 32 Million Words, about growing up fighting in Boston and then moving away and learning to use her words, instead of her fists, after reading an article in the New York Times that said that poor kids hear 32 million less words than rich kids.

BRIMSTONE ROAST

Brimstone, the wrestler/actor/philanthropist was roasted for his 35th birthday, as a way of raising money to help poor kids break into the arts, through the help of The Brimstone Foundation. I was the Roast coordinator, and worked the red carpet interviewing the celebs that attended the event. My co-host was Josaine Espinal Coba, who you might have seen on WE TV’s Bridezillas. Josaine was “the Dominican Bridezilla” which meant she “out-Bridezilla’ed” the other girls using just her head motions alone, while she was yelling at people, and telling her bridesmaids to massage her feet.

Leilene Ondrade from Charm School and I on the red carpet.

Josaine and I had a great time together. Contrary to her on-screen presence she’s a very sweet girl with a great sense of humor. We got to interview a lot of the reality stars that showed up like Sarah Hartshorne, and Claire Unabia from America’s Next Top Model, and Leilene Ondrade from Flavor of Love, Charm School, and I Love Money. And we also got to interview Pablo Escobar Jr., the actual son of Pablo Escobar Sr.

Pablo Escobar Jr. and I on the red carpet.

Junior was larger than life and was a very funny roaster. He was carrying a magazine with a photo of his father on the cover, and told me of his plans to do a movie about his Dad, showing the good side of him that not many people ever saw. I figured he would have no trouble getting it made because when you think about it, who says “No” to Pablo Escobar Jr.? (It’s a rhetorical question that needs no answer!)

ECNY SHOWCASE

The ECNY awards were created in 2003, and used to stand for “Emerging Comics of New York” awards, Now according to Jon Friedman, from Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, and the creator of The Rejection Show, (something I know lots about!) it no longer means that. He’s not sure what it means but he knows it no longer means that.

I brought Sarah Hartshorne with me from America’s Next Top Model, who is actually very funny and should be doing stand-up. The show was great, with Michelle Collins from Best Week Ever as a stand-out stand-up. Her rapid fire delivery and powerful stage presence really won me over.

Michelle Collins and Sarah Hartshorne at Comix.

Then there was a video from Nick Kroll and John Mulaney that knocked me out. It was a 1930’s style newsreel called “Cavalcade of Personalities” and when I get a minute I have to call them and find out how they did it. It was fantastic.

PARTYING ON THE WENDY WILLIAMS SHOW

Josaine and I got along so well that she brought me as her guest for her appearance on the fabulous Wendy Williams Show on weekdays at 10 A.M. on Fox. After 23 successful years on the radio, for which she will be inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame this November, Wendy now has a hit TV show. Last summer, Wendy made the move to TV, and Fox tested out her show in four markets for six weeks, where it beat out every other show amongst young women, which is the demographic that advertisers look for. (It’s also the demographic that most young men look for! )

As a result, the show launched nationally in July. Wendy is a truly beautiful woman, with an amazing smile, and fabulous voice, who is larger than life, and so comfortable with herself that she even adjusts her wig, (one of many that she proudly owns!) on camera.

Wendy Williams and I in the lounge at Carolines.

She loves being the tallest woman in any room and often adds five inches to her 5’11” height with her Christian Louboutin heels. She has truly embraced herself as a woman, which comes across with her amazing comfort on camera. Wendy is no stranger to comedy as she had a long running show at Carolines every Wednesday night called The Wendy Williams Experience and Wendy held court there as only Wendy can do. So she’s naturally funny and brings out “the funny” in her guests.

Backstage in the green room, everyone’s very chill, and I ran into Wendy’s longtime, loyal assistant Pamela Smith who I had met before at Carolines. Pamela makes sure everything gets done the way it’s supposed to, and she made sure we were all very comfortable.

Josaine and I in the green room at the Wendy Williams Show.

Josaine actually got to open the show and bring on Wendy, while I sat in the front row with her husband Bobby. The show’s like a real party cause there’s a DJ spinning hot music and the audience actually gets up and dances on the show stage before the show actually starts. By the time Wendy comes out everyone is pumped. Make sure to tune in. You’ll have lots of fun. I know I’m planning on going back.

JEFFREY ROSS WRITES A BOOK

Speaking of Roasts, … aside from all the other things he does, like acting, dancing (Dancing With The Stars), and movie making, (Patriot Act) Jeffrey Ross had made quite a name for himself as a “Roaster.” Jeffrey has been a hit on the famed Friars Roasts for many years, as well as the spin-off Comedy Central Roasts, like the most recent one of Joan Rivers. Now Jeffrey has written a book called I Only Roast The Ones I Love – Busting Balls Without Burning Bridges, which I will get to see at the book party at The Friars Club on September 10th. I hope he will write something nice for me in the book, but I won’t count on it!

Jeffrey Ross, with me in front of “the wall” at The Comic Strip.

We interviewed Jeffrey recently for the book and the documentary film we’re doing on The Comic Strip, and when I opened with the question, so how long have you been performing comedy and what are your earliest memories of The Comic Strip, Jeffrey answered by saying, “I started performing the year you bought those sunglasses. (LOL) I think it was about 1989, the same year those Capezios you’re wearing were in fashion.”

And it was then that I realized two things, one that I was actually being roasted by Jeffrey Ross, and that two, I should never try to do a book interview on camera, because as soon as comedians see a camera they start performing. It was a good lesson, and fortunately I still wound up with a great interview, because Jeffrey Ross is a funny man.

Anyway, until next time, remember … COMEDY MATTERS!!!

John Mulaney: Comedian on top

Few other stand-up comedians have made a dent on the national comedy scene as big as the one John Mulaney has– and at such a young age. A near perfect debut album for Comedy Central and a scribe gig at Saturday Night Live leaves little question as to why that is.

In just a few short years, comedian John Mulaney has accomplished more than most comedians twice his age. At 26, he’s already headlined the country’s top comedy clubs, been a regular talking head on VH1’s Best Week Ever, scored a plum gig as a writer on Saturday Night Live — and on March 24, Comedy Central Records is releasing a collection of his distinctive storytelling on everything from drag queens and childhood pranks to his favorite TV shows.

The album, The Top Part takes its name from a throw-away line in one of Mulaney’s most notorious jokes, which raises questions about the King Solomon story in the Bible, in which the monarch settles a dispute between two women over a baby by deciding to cut it in half and giving each a piece. As the fable goes, the true mother is determined when the other woman agrees with the demented strategy and says she’ll take whatever half she can get — and according to Mulaney, the woman is so whacked-out, she actually refers to the baby’s head as “the top part.”

“That Bible story was just one of those things that had bothered me since I was very little,” explains Mulaney from his SNL office on the 17th floor of 30 Rock. “And [the top part] it is my favorite thing in the joke, but I don’t think it gets such a laugh.”

But cricket-filled moments like that don’t happen much during a John Mulaney set. His infamous takes on the obvious in pop culture, like Donald Trump’s “fine golden hair” or how bartenders on Law & Order inexplicably remember every customer they’ve ever served, are the self-proclaimed rat bastard’s bread and butter.

Here, Mulaney raps to Punchline Magazine about his new album, his gig on the world’s most famous sketch show, and naturally, drag queens. Check out his Comedy Central special on April 3 at 10 pm.

How cool is it to have your very own CD coming out?
It’s been really incredible to be involved with Comedy Central Records on this. I was really flattered when they asked me to do it. I certainly knew I had enough material to do one. It definitely struck me as quite a big deal and exciting that there was even an offer to do one with them. Comedy Central is just a great place for stand-up.

Which jokes on the CD are you most proud of?
There are jokes I really like, the one about drag queens and Goth people. I find them real satisfying because they came from real opinions. I wasn’t sure if they’d work as jokes. When something like that happens, when you have an opinion on something for a long time and then it translates well, it’s very cool.

What’s the inspiration behind the drag queen joke— about how they act more like assholes than women?
I was walking near Fifth Avenue the night of the day of the Gay Pride Parade in New York. It must have been the Summer of ‘07. There was a really tall drag queen standing on the street and a car drove by that honked at someone else in traffic, and the drag queen waved and yelled ‘Thank you!’ like the car was honking at her. It was really funny to me. The parade had been over for hours, but she felt like she was a celebrity. Anyway, it got me thinking about how some drag queens I’ve encountered will display a big ego and act like they’re famous.

Are there any jokes that people want to talk about when they meet you?
Definitely the Law & Order one. That one caught on. I think people laugh even when they haven’t seen the show. (Watch the bit below).

Where did that one come from?
I think I first started talking about Law & Order in Columbus, OH in 2005. I was staying in a condo with another comedian named Andi Smith. I was the emcee and she was featuring. We played some game where we gave each other a slip of paper with a word on it and you had to write about that word for three minutes or something. I got ‘police’ and wrote down something about how on Law & Order, the police interview people and they keep going about their business, but in real life, getting questioned by police is a really tense thing. I tried some early version of it that weekend and then gradually made it in to the too-long bit you hear today.

How do you go about writing jokes? Do you make notes on things as they pop up or do you just sit down and brainstorm?
I’ll kinda make notes all the time. Things will come up throughout the day. Then I try to make a point to sit down with all that stuff and write it out. There was a period of time when I was doing a set a night at minimum, sometimes a couple shows a night, every night of the week so I’d work out a lot more stuff on its feet. One of the good things about coming up in New York when I did — and I still am — there was lots of shows where you could try a lot of new stuff. I almost feel weirder if I’m going into a set without doing anything new. It’s really satisfying when people connect with an opinion you’ve had for a very long time, and that you absolutely believe to be true, that seems very like, ‘Oh wow, people feel the same.’ That’s the special thing.

How did you get involved with SNL?
I auditioned for the show and was hired to write. What’s awesome about the show is that, among the writers, everyone really works together and in lot of different pairs and groups. It was really crazy to come here the first week of August when I was hired. It’s obviously so exciting and the people were so welcoming.

How crazy is your schedule? Take me through your week.
Well, we have Sunday off. Throughout Monday and Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, there’s a lot of writing. And then a read-through on Wednesday. Then you’re rehearsing and rewriting until Saturday.

Which skits have you worked on?
I’ve been lucky enough to get some on. One sketch I liked a lot was this Of Mice and Men one we did with James Franco. I wrote that with a writer named Marika Sawyer. It’ been an extremely fun time. I love it!

How did being on Best Week Ever help jump-start your career and get you noticed nationally?
Well, it helped in that I got to do my own jokes on a weekly television show. I noticed that after about a year of doing it I was recognized more and more when I went on the road. That was definitely a nice thing as I started to headline. I had a lot of fun doing that show and due to the tight amount of time to do different bits I got better at writing more economical jokes.

At seven years old, you were in a sketch comedy group called the Rugrats. Do you remember your first joke?
I did a George Bush impression that was 99% stolen from Dana Carvey. We also did a sketch where it was supposed to be a foreign movie so we were all talking in gibberish and there was a translator, and someone asked someone, ‘Where did you get those shoes?’ and they went like, [gibberish for 10 seconds] and then the translator was like, ‘Penny’s.’ I remember thinking it’s really funny to give a short answer. It was the first time I’d ever heard that kind of joke, and I was like, ‘Yep, that’s good.’

For more info on John, check out johnmulaney.com.

Tracy Morgan, John Mulaney, Nick Kroll team up for movie

Comedian Tracy Morgan will star in a new movie penned by up and coming stand-up comedians John Mulaney and Nick Kroll. The movie, Roommates will center around those famous Nigerian e-mail scams.
According to MTV.com:

The comedy is centered around [those] scams — the ones where a prince, princess, prime minister, or political refugee e-mails you promising [...]

Maria Bamford, John Mulaney, more added to Comedy Central Records roster

As 2008 winds down and Comedy Central Records enjoys the success of another strong year of record sales, we hear that 2009 is going to find the comedy giants releasing another crop of huge names and rising stars. We can report that Comedy Central’s tentative list of albums for next year includes CDs by John [...]

‘The Office’ meets the New York Comedy Festival

It sure feels great to get out of The Office… Sunday night, The New York Comedy Festival hosted B.J. Novak and Friends at Town Hall. It was a night of alternative comedy spirit performing for a mainstream crowd.
The show was hosted by fast-rising NYC comedian and new SNL writer John Mulaney. He anchored the show [...]

Column: Comedy Matters w/ Jim Gaffigan, John Mulaney, more

Once a year, the legendary Friars’ Club holds a  major celebrity roast to raise money for charity. This year they roasted Today show host Matt Lauer; Al Roker was the roast master and Mark Krantz produced the event, as usual. I was part of the writing team, under the leadership of master comedy writer Larry Amoros.

Other roasters not usually known for telling jokes were Katie Couric, Meredith Vieira, Brian Williams, and Jeff Zucker, who performed alongside comedians who often do tell jokes— Richard Belzer, Jeffrey Ross, Bob Saget and Pat Cooper.

Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira at Matt’s roast

John (Goumba Johnny) Sialiano from KTU Radio, was also one of the Roasters as a result of winning the Friars Club competition, “So You Think You Can Roast?”

This event will go down in roast history as one of the most special, since Tom Cruise came out as a surprise guest, and did a very funny bit, about how he and Matt were really good friends, and that when Matt does his famous “Where In The World Is Matt Lauer” shows, only Tom really knows where he is.

Then he proceeded to show computer generated slides of he and Matt doing things together, like floating on rafts, doubling up on a jet ski, and just hanging out, despite their little tiff on air over a disagreement about psychiatry and anti-depressants.

Tom called Matt  “glib” during their on-air spat, and used it again at the roast, when he referred to Matt as a “glib putz.” Matt asked Tom if he could stay, and offered to get him a booster seat! Tom may have left by the time he said that!

Meredith Vieira and I after the Matt Lauer roast

Aretha Franklin opened the event by singing “The Star Spangled Banner” and I’m pretty sure it was Jeffrey Ross who cleverly played on the saying “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings” when he said about Aretha, “That’s the first time I ever saw the fat lady sing at the opening of the show!” Aretha gave him the finger.

A highlight for me was being stopped by Martha Stewart, who called me from the dais, and asked if she could take my picture because she liked my hair. I love a woman with good taste! I should have asked her to take a photo with me, but she took me by surprise, and I didn’t think of it. Of course I said ok, and she whipped out her own little digital camera and took my photo.

Nancy O’Dell and I at the Matt Lauer roast

The dais was filled with gorgeous women like Olympic swimmer Dara Torres, and Access Hollywood co-anchor Nancy O’Dell.   Lots of people referenced Omarosa, who was also on the dais.  Omarosa is probably best known from her appearance on The Apprentice, and again on Celebrity Apprentice, but she has gone on to do so many more shows, and has a new hot book out called “The Bitch Switch.”

Personally I think Omarosa is great. Aside from being a stunningly beautiful woman, I find her to be elegant, sexy, and super-intelligent, and during the Roast when they said some things about her that were “Roast-like” she texted me from the dais with the single word “Ouch!” Watch for her to do something of a comedic nature in the near future!

Omarosa and I at the her roast at the Friars Club

Leading up to this big roast were a series of preliminary roasts within a contest called “So You Think You Can Roast?” at which Omarosa was one of the honorees.

There were lots of remarks made about Omarosa’s “endowments” as she recently went, according to her, from a double A cup to a double D cup. She carries them well, as if she’s had them all her life! Back then, she was Omarosa, now she’s The Ponderosa. (I liked that one, but I wrote it).

Speaking of things that come in pairs, there were two winners that evening at The Friars. One was Reese Waters, a great young comic who I recently sponsored in The Friars Club, and who said that when he filled out his race on the application, under “black” it said, “If so please explain.”

Then, in reference to Omarosa, he commended the club on finding the one black person to honor that even other black people won’t defend. Reese is funny, and very clever, and I think he will go far in this business.

Barry Weintraub and Reese Waters at the Omarosa roast

The other winner was the funny, and sexy Christina Galston, who brings great attitude to her performance. Half Puerto Rican and half Jewish, she’s also someone I’d like to see more of! I actually tried to see more of her, but she was wearing the kind of dress where that wasn’t possible.

EAT, DRINK AND LAUGH AT THE COMIC STRIP

When the legendary Comic Strip opened in 1976, the only other clubs around were Budd Friedman’s Improv and Rick Newman’s Catch A Rising Star. The Comic Strip is the only one still in existence in New York, and it was the acknowledged home club for Jerry Seinfeld, Eddie Murphy, Larry Miller, George Wallace, Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. All of them honed their acts at The Strip.

Page 6 of the New York Post, the most powerful gossip column in the country broke the story about the book I’m doing with Strip owner Richie Tienken, with a story of our interview with Gilbert Gottfried. See it here.

Gilbert Gottfried, Richie Tienken and I at Pastis in New York

Gilbert showed up right on time, after we picked him up at his house to make sure he’d get there, and started out the interview by saying he had never heard of The Comic Strip, or Richie Tienken, and certainly had never performed there, and that the only reasons he was there was for lunch. It was the kind of interview you could only get from Gilbert!

So far we’ve spoken to Larry Miller, George Wallace, Paul Provenza, Susie Essman, Colin Quinn, Eddie Brill, Jim Breuer, Pete Correale, Rick Overton, Jackie “The Jokeman” Martling, Lisa Lampannelli, Alan Colmes, and Adam Ferrara, with many more big stars lined up. We’re starting with the NY comics first, and then will go to LA to do the others.

Richie Tienken, Jim Breuer and I at Sirius

COMEDY FIGHTS WORLD HUNGER

Comedy has been known to fight a lot of things. Lately many charities are using the power of laughter to bring their message to the public, and Upright Citizens Brigade partnered with Funny or Die, to hold an event for Mercy Corps  benefitting The Action Center To End World Hunger.It was held at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan, a fantastic space on West 17th Street.

Mercy Corps is an organization that brings aid to people  suffering as the result of natural, or unnatural disasters, and since 1979 has provided over 1.3 billion dollars in assistance to people in 100 nations around the world.

Rachel Dratch and Miriam Tolan in the VIP room of the Highline Ballroom

UCB and Funny or Die, Will Ferrell’s site, is connected to some of the hippest talent in the business, so the hosts of the event were Matt Walsh, founding member of UCB, and Horatio Sanz of SNL who looked like he lost 50 pounds, but gained a beard. I had a beard once, but I had to get rid of it. The elastic band kept irritating my neck!

Also participating were Chevy Chase, who graciously hung out with the VIP guests the whole time, Jack McBrayer, Todd Barry, Miriam Tolan, Rachel Dratch, Seth Myers, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog with his constant companion Robert Smigel, (and it was Smigel who bit me!), and good buddies Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, two really funny guys.

Nick Kroll, John Mulaney and I at the Highline Ballroom

Nick is a stand-up, who regularly appears on Comedy Central and shows like Best Week Ever and Human Giant. He also created the web series Layers with a couple of old friends of mine, The Sklar Brothers, who look so much alike, they should really be twins!  (Seriously Sklar brothers, if you happen to read this, think about becoming twins!  It can only enhance your careers!)

Nick did his fabulous character, Craft Services coordinator, Fabrice Fabrice,  made famous on the Disney Channel’s longest running hit show “That’s So Raven” and he was a big hit. Thanks to him, several people in other lands probably got a lot more food than they had before.

John Mulaney is a regular on VH1’s Best Week Ever and has performed on Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, and Comedy Central’s Live At Gotham.  He’s also been touring as part of the Comedian’s Of Comedy tour, as well as with my buddy Mike Birbiglia on his Secret Public Journal Live Tour.

John and Nick Kroll created the sketch show “Oh, Hello” and John did some really sharp stand-up at this UCB event. I really enjoyed his laid back delivery.  His stuff is funny, and clever of course, but his stage presence is very cool.

JIM GAFFIGAN DOES XM

I popped into Comix comedy club to catch the very pale Jim Gaffigan do a radio spot of all things. Ron Bennington of XM Radio was there taping Jim in front of a live audience for his interview-based show “Unmasked” where he talks with leading comedians of the past and present, and attempts to ‘unmask’ his interview subjects, and reveal their true personalities, if they happen to have them.

Jim Gaffigan at Comix for an XM “Unmasked” taping

Unmasked is broadcast on XM Satellite Radio, airing Saturdays at 8 pm on XM Comedy – XM 150 and Sundays at 2 pm on XM 202 The Virus.

Ron has another show he’s developing called “Unpantsed” where he talks with not so famous comedians of the past and future, and tries to depants them during the interview, just to make them remember what it was like to go to summer camp.

Jim was of course very funny, as always, and will be performing at Town Hall in New York from Wed. Nov. 26 through Sunday Nov. 30, which is part of “The Sexy Tour.” Jim was there with uber-publicist Michael O’Brien, and promised to do an interview for my book.

PUNCHLINE MAGAZINE’S THIRD ANNIVERSARY

Dylan Gadino, founder of Punchline Magazine, who I happen to know personally, along with every member of my family, celebrated Punchline’s third anniversary with a blowout event at Comix, the gorgeous comedy club on 14th Street and 9th Avenue in Manhattan.

Pete Dominick, Dylan Gadino and I at the Punchline Magazine 3rd anniversary show

He had a great line-up of comedians including ones that told jokes and said funny things. Present and accounted for were Greg Giraldo, Tom Papa, Judy Gold, Christian Finnegan, Laurie Kilmartin, Robert Kelly, Pete Dominick and Ray Ellin and needless to say it was a great show.  (If it’s needless to say, then why am I wasting your time and mine by saying it?  Shoot me a quick e-mail if you know the answer!)

Greg Giraldo and I at the Punchline Magazine 3rd anniversary show

OPERATION UPLINK, A BIG SUCCESS

Charity once again benefited from comedy at Gotham Comedy Club when comedians got together to do a show benefiting Operation Uplink, a charity whose goal it is to provide our servicemen overseas with free phone cards so that they can call their families at home at no charge. Many of our fighting men and women can not afford to call home, and there is definitely something wrong with that!

The show was in the form of a contest to find the funniest news reporter in New York, and was part of Jim Mendrinos’ NYC Underground Comedy Festival.

Cat Greenleaf and I outside Gotham Comedy Club

I had the good fortune to be coaching Cat Greenleaf, the features reporter on NBC’s “Today in New York.” Cat really surprised me by being such a quick study, and by being so funny. We rehearsed at my place, and up at 30 Rock.

Cat Greenleaf and I during rehearsals

She was used to working with copy, and being brief and to the point, which are two essentials of comedy, and she took the material right off the paper and owned it.

The event was produced by PR whiz, Ryan McCormick, who was also responsible for the longest comedy show on record, 50 straight hours of stand-up at The Comic Strip, earlier this year. Judah Friedlander closed that show and accepted the award/documentation from the Guinness Book of Records on behalf of the club, for the incredible feat, which also benefited our men and women serving overseas!

Cat came in second to Alison Rosen of Page 6 Magazine, who won the contest, and was really funny. She was also a natural!  She was coached by Ray Ellin of LateNet with Ray Ellin fame. Ray, we gotta get you for the book!

My work with Cat wound up on NBC’s “Today In New York” and ran for a week on Taxi TV. I think more people saw me on that than anything else I’ve been in! I never knew I knew so many people who took cabs!

Anyway, until next time, remember … COMEDY MATTERS!

You can read more about Jeffrey at jeffreygurian.com, or you can e-mail him at Jeffrey@jeffreygurian.com.

Louis CK: Comedy legend in the making

Over the last few years, its become clear that Louis C.K. is fast on his way to owning legendary stand-up comedian status. Sharper and funnier than ever, C.K. premieres his new hour-long special, Chewed Up on Showtime this weekend.

When his HBO One Night Stand aired in 2005, Louis C.K. was one of the most well-respected, nationally headlining stand-up comedians— not a bad place to be. In less than three years, the 41-year-old has become something of a major comedy star in the eyes of the masses, not just hardcore comedy fans.

He spent a year writing and playing the title character on HBO’s Lucky Louie, filming another special – this one, a full hour – for the network called Shameless and began touring not only bigger clubs but also began selling out theaters. He’s currently in the midst of yet another national tour (this one dubbed Hilarious) wherein he’s performing all new material; that is, you’ll see no overlap with C.K.’s new hour-long special, Chewed Up, which premieres on Showtime Oct. 4.

The contents of Chewed Up are what C.K.’s fans have come to expect from him: soul-baring honesty, an incredible knack for getting the audience on his side despite his major character flaws and a Carlin-esque surgical strike on the English language (see first video clip below). Perhaps most compelling about C.K., however, is what he represents to middle class Americans: He’s a normal looking guy in a black t-shirt and jeans – and not the trendy kind – who’s afforded the opportunity to tell a thousand or so people at a clip that once when young, he let (or was it made?) his dog lick cottage cheese off his testicles.

We want to do that! But we can’t. We can’t bare ourselves without severe social consequences. We can’t walk into work tomorrow and start telling everyone how we can’t stand the way we look but still find it near impossible to do anything about it because we’re paralyzed by self hatred. But Louie can. And for that, we’re thankful.

We’re also thankful that Louie took some time to chat with Punchline Magazine while he was in Phoenix set to play the Orpheum theater. We talked about his recent split from his wife, why he’s changed the way he talks about his two daughters onstage and much more.

Last we spoke, Lucky Louie was about to premiere on HBO. What’s changed most since then?
I think mostly it’s been that stand-up has become my full-time job again over the last couple of years, which has been great. I really enjoy that— not worrying about whether I have a TV job anymore.

But you’re working on a new pilot for CBS with Pamela Adlon, who played your wife on Lucky Louie. That show was canceled after a season on HBO. What’s different about this show?
For Lucky Louie, outside of the FCC problems, it would probably have worked on CBS. It’s a populous show. It’s a show about regular people. And there really are no shows on HBO that are about anyone normal. They sort of like to reach to this one percentile of people and that’s more and more what HBO has become. The great thing about HBO is they don’t care as much about ratings as networks. They’ll just keep doing the show. Lucky Louie was on the other side of that. Our ratings kept going up each week. And they didn’t give a shit. They still canceled the show anyway.

But they gave me a whole season, they’ve given me a special, they’ve given me everything. The greatest benefactors of my entire life by a long shot is HBO. I owe them more than I owe anybody. This new show is back to being about a family just living in the real world and trying to do it as real as possible. I still think that’s a show that doesn’t exist that needs to. And so CBS came calling. They said we really want something from you. And Pamela and I had always wanted to write something together. We wrote together on Lucky Louie and we collaborated a lot on that series. So CBS bought the show and we’re writing it and hopefully we’ll do it and be in it together. We’ll see; you know how these things go. The odds are is that it will be a pilot that we’ll shoot and no one will ever see it. But I have hope. I feel really good about the material.

Is there less career pressure on you now, since stand-up is your main concern?
If anything, there’s more pressure because the money comes a little slower and I’m on the road all the time. But when you’re in Hollywood and you’re trying to climb up this invisible ladder that has very many colored rungs, it doesn’t add up to much. Now, I have a more pure, simple project, which is trying to be as good as possible onstage. And Lucky Louie and the special I did after it, Shameless, kinda made this possible because all of a sudden I could hit the road and start doing theaters and make real money that I could live on. So that kind of let me focus on stand-up as its own thing. I started now to try to do one special a year; it’s been an obsession for me.

What’s the main difference for you about performing theaters as opposed to clubs?
It’s more pressure, and I like pressure. I can also kind of breath more on a big theater stage. I perform material a little more; I put a little more thought into what I’m saying and how it feels as a whole show. That’s opposed to working at a club where I’m fighting for attention a little bit because of the nightclub atmosphere. But I still do both. I have a pattern where I start in the spring and summer doing clubs because the clubs are better for writing; you get a more honest sense for how you’re doing and you could build a momentum that will start to generate its own laughs. If I only did theater shows I think I would start to stink.

Also you do more shows in the clubs. If you’re doing theater, you usually do two shows a week, two cities two shows, but at a club, you camp out there; you’re there two shows Friday, three Saturday and a show Thursday and Sunday so I’m hammering my stuff more.

You performed a lot in England this year for the first time. Did you notice a major difference between performing overseas?
In London, stand-up comedy is more part of their culture. It’s not this separate thing. In the States, a lot of times stand-up is thought of as the dirty old cousin of art. There’s nobody that writes about stand-up in newspapers. Like the New York Times will send one of their TV reporters out and they’ll do a ‘What’s so funny?’ article, every 10 years— and it’s the same shit. But there’s not really any critique and analysis of stand-up in newspapers. And that’s part of what makes art interesting: how people digest it.

When you do a show in London, everyone reviews it. It’s in the London Times and The Guardian and people of all stripes come. And some people are watching you with a finger on their lip, like hmmmm interesting. It’s a whole different approach. And its not so much fans. After shows in the states, I’ll go to the lobby and fans ask for camera phone pictures, so I’ll go out and meet my fans. It’s a small and easy thing for me to do and I know they appreciate it a lot. In London, I come out to the lobby and they’ll all stand around talking about how they liked the show but they won’t come say hi. It’s a different world.

But really, the biggest difference to me is that it wasn’t here. No one knows me there and I don’t sound like them, so I don’t have their trust in that sense; I’m not one of them. I also come from a country that a lot of people think is ruining the world. But I think because I don’t have that trust automatically, I with helps with the material. It makes it better because I had to work on it from the ground up, which is an important thing to do as a stand-up. When I’m in New York, I stop into places like the Comedy Cellar because nobody knows I’m going to be there. It’s not people that were eager to see me and laugh at my jokes. You have to get out of your comfort zone. It keeps you honest.

It’s strange that stand-up is better integrated with the rest of live entertainment in England than it is here, even though stand-up started in the States.
We just have a different culture here. It’s more about money and capital. Comedy gets big in America when it starts making money. That’s when people start writing about it. I’m definitely getting more press now than I ever used to– partly its because I’m bigger and partly its because folks like me and Jim Gaffigan are playing theaters now. That wasn’t always the case. There was always like one or two theater acts in the comedy scene, but now the theaters is sort of a new circuit and its more lucrative now. And in America it something’s making money, you write about it.

It’s the capitalist system. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just different than England. I still would much rather live here. And I like the approach we have to stand-up here The neglects that we get from the press or whatever I’m grousing about is pointless because we have good stand-up here and its well attended. Whatever we’re doing, it’s working.

I watched a screener of your new Showtime special, Chewed Up. In the past, my eyes haven’t teared very many times while watching stand-up, but the bit you do about once you hit a certain age, doctors just don’t even try to fix you anymore hit me hard.
Thanks. Yeah, that bit came about when I was in Cleveland at Hilarities. My ankle had been hurting for ages so I decided to go to the doctor and I had that experience exactly. [The doctor said there was basically nothing he could do to help him]. I went onstage and told the story that night. And that was it. It was imprinted.

So you’ve retired all the material on Chewed Up and you’re touring with your show Hilarious. How is your material changing these days? You’ve recently split from your wife, right?
Yeah, so that’s changed. I don’t talk about that very much. I don’t at all really. I don’t talk about her. I figure that now she’s a private person and her private life isn’t mine anymore, it isn’t part of mine. So I’m not going to talk about her life anymore. My life now is about me and my kids. My wife and I share custody of our kids so I’m with them every week. When I’m with them, we’re alone. It’s just the three of us. There’s more pressure on me as a parent. That’s really changed the way I talk about them onstage. So they’re certainly still part of what I talk about. But everything that happens in your life changes the way you look at the rest of the world.

So when you say you’re still talking about your kids but you’ve changed the way you talk about them, what does that mean?
I’m singled out now and that’s just a vastly different life. And I’m alone with the kids now. And also, my kids have grown up. They’re six and three now. They’re both verbal with personalities now. They’re no longer a toddler and infant.

So is it going to be adorable, endearing comedy now from Louis C.K.?
No, it’s the same. I think I’m less angry about them now than I was. I’m frustrated more now than I was before. I was angrier before because I just wasn’t as good at being a dad to them. But I’ve grown up a lot. Sometimes I look at the older specials and I’m like, ‘You’re unhinged buddy’ and I’ll laugh at it myself. I have a little bit more patience and I know a little bit more about what I’m doing as a parent now.

The older material was born out of this frustration about not knowing what I’m doing. And now my act is more about being a shitty father than it is about having shitty kids. That was actually always pretty much the case. If there’s a relationship problem between a 40 year old and a three year old, you have to blame the 40 year old. My act was never about my daughter being an asshole, it was about a person feeling their daughter is an asshole. It’s a flawed feeling but it feels very real when you’re having it.

Are you in a good place psychologically now, being single, having the kids and all?
There’s a good balance now. I have kind of a stable life now. I go on the road every week now. But it’s basically Thursday through Saturday but I’m with my kids the rest of the week. And when I’m with my kids I dedicate my time to them because I don’t have a job during the day. I probably spend more time with my kids than any other working father. I’m really enjoying my time with them.

I’m starting to realize quickly – because my six-year old is in first grade – that it’s going to be really soon that they don’t give a shit about me, where I become their landlord, a pain in their ass. Right now, when they’re with me, it’s the three of us. We’re a team and that’s who we are. That’s going to go by really fast. By the time they’re like 10, their lives are going to center around their own friends and I’m just going to be this embarrassing fat idiot.

You’ve got to be pretty organized to take care of your kids and still keep up with touring.
I am. I’m pretty organized. Thursday morning, the last thing I do is take the six-year old to school, and then I go on the road. I have to somehow adjust myself so that my primetime hours are be 9 pm again. So I go fly to a fucking city, try to shake off the crazy exhaustion from the kids, do the show, go to another city, do a show, maybe go to a third city, do a show and then I usually come home Sundays and I’m a wreck. I’ve been up all night and I haven’t been sleeping. I try to catch up Sunday night on some sleep. And then Monday before I pick them up, I try to scramble to get the apartment picked up again, and get groceries. I also take the kids to gymnastics on Monday; that’s another part of the day. It’s a lot.

Who knew you’d be so domestic?
Yeah, I’m organized in terms that I have to do all these things. I have better days than others. There are some days where I’m cracking through it all. Then there are times on Sunday night where I’ll be up and if I go to bed I know I’ll have a good week, but I’m wound up, and I say, ‘Fuck it’ and I watch a stupid movie and I stay up all night. Then I’m really screwed for the week.

How would you describe the state of stand-up comedy?
I don’t know, I think it’s pretty good. I think that we’re all able to do these theaters is pretty good. There are some really funny people out there. It hasn’t grown that much lately as far as new people. But I don’t know. I have seen everyone. That new kid John Mulaney— I think he’s pretty special. He’s probably the next interesting guy from his generation. Harris Wittels, who just opened for me, and Ted Alexandro is a really funny guy. There’s a lot of exciting, new funny dudes. Then there’s a lot of comedy I hate but that’s always the case.

What kind of stuff do you hate?
It’s hard to say that… yeah, I don’t want to get into the shit I hate.

For more info, check out LouisCK.net. To check out when Chewed Up, Louis C.K.’s new Showtime special is airing, check out the network’s official site.

John Mulaney, Chelsea Peretti at next CollegeHumor show

So last month, the folks at CollegeHumor debuted their live monthly comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York. To say the least, it was a success. Christian Finnegan, Pete Holmes and more performed. I was there. It was packed. And the alcohol was cheap… and so was the admission– five bucks!
So [...]

Wednesday stand-up video: John Mulaney

Mike Birbiglia: What he should’ve said …

Days before his hour-long Comedy Central special premieres (Feb. 9 at midnight), Punchline Magazine checked in with quickly rising comedy star Mike Birbiglia.

Do you have any viewing party plans?
I’m going to my girlfriend’s friend’s wedding, so no. Actually, we might have a few friends over to watch it, so maybe. I don’t know.

Is the wedding during the day?
Yeah, it’s at 4 p.m., so it’s kinda borderline. It premieres at midnight after American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile. American Pie is a franchise now where they don’t even make anything; they just present movies.

I watched the network version of the special. Have you seen it yet?
Yeah, my preference of the two versions is the uncut DVD version [out April 8] because it has more of a flow to it. The album that I’m drawing from [My Secret Public Journal Live] is a series of stories that very much tells one story. And on television in the middle of it, it’s like ‘Carlos Mencia is breaking the rules!’ And it breaks the flow of what your soft-spoken comedy is trying to purvey. What did you think? How did it look?

I thought it looked good. I was there at the taping. I think that seeing it live obviously comes across better than something on television. There were parts where I swear I remember you tagging jokes with certain lines and when I watched the special, things weren’t there.
Definitely. What’s so hard is when you turn an hour of content into 42 minutes of content and you’re trying to smoosh it into these formats of a few minutes each. You definitely loose some of the nuance of the performance. This is really smart of me; I’m insulting my own special.

Nah, It’s obvious that something uncut is going to be better. If the heavily edited version is better, then the talent isn’t so good.
Yeah, and hopefully some people will buy the DVD, which is uncut and has the encore, where I do the best of Two Drink Mike. It has a documentary too called Strictly for Fans, which was shot when John Mulaney and I did my campus tour in 2006. So the DVD is definitely worth its weight.

Did you prepare any differently for the Comedy Central hour than you would’ve for any other headlining performance?
I played guitar a lot that week because the secret behind my shows– and this is for true comedy fans — is that I’m not really good at playing guitar. So I have to practice or else it sounds like broken glass. But if I practice, it sounds like what a guitar should sound like. I use the guitar as a means to an end. I think that it’s nice.

The “Put it on Paper” song I like. It brings some closure to the hour of comedy that would be hard to achieve without it. The same thing goes for “Guitar Guy at the Party,” and “Christian Rock.” I could tell those jokes but I do think that the guitar enhances what it is I’m talking about. So I practiced guitar and I jogged a lot. I got in shape.

That’s a very Seinfeldian thing to do.
Yeah, in an interview he had talked about running while getting ready for Carson.

Have you continued working out?
I lost 10 pounds actually. It’s funny. When I’ve done TV specials, I get in shape. Sometimes I let myself go on the road. People are very unveiled in their comments about my weight. They’ll have no discretion in saying something like, ‘You looked different on TV.’ Different, eh? If you need to get in shape for one day, it’s not that bad. It’s hard to do it 50 weeks a year.

The last time I interviewed you, it was a little over two years ago. Before Secret Public Journal was an album, you were developing it for a series on Comedy Central around that time.
That’s right. And that fell apart so we sold it to NBC and then that fell apart. I shouldn’t say ‘fell apart.’ The NBC thing was actually funny. They were really into it and then the president of the network, Kevin Reilly, got fired. And he was our biggest proponent. We were just cooked because the new guy in charge just didn’t know me. Now we’re discussing shooting it with another network. I don’t want to say which one right now.

Besides the hour special, how’s 2008 shaping up for you?
I’m very excited about this year. In the past there’s been a lot of variables. This year, I’m excited about the new live show I’m doing, Sleepwalk with Me and all the paths that could appear from that show. I’m workshopping it now and getting it ready for an off-broadway run. Also, people have started to come to my shows on purpose. That’s a lot of it. As long as people come to the shows on purpose, I’m fine. I don’t need to be a sitcom star or a movie star. I could hopefully just keep doing this and get better.

Mike Birbiglia’s one-hour special, What I Should’ve Said Was Nothing premieres on Saturday, Feb. 9 at midnight on Comedy Central. The uncut DVD version is out April 8. For more info, check out birbigs.com.

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