For Comedy, Please See

Okay, I'm moving the comedy blogging to a for-real website - https://comedygroupie.squarespace.com/ (Pretty soon, you'll be able to get there just by going to comedygroupie.com, but apparently it takes up to 5 days to register a domain name).  Not sure what that means for this blog, but I do have a history of leaving many an abandoned blog in my wake so that seems like the likely outcome here.

Thanks for all your support!

Naughty 13: Lucky Me

Finally got to see Sam Tripoli's Infamous Naughty Show at the Holywood Improv last night.  I think last night finally sealed my opinion on the Improv, but I'll save that for another post.

The show was full of pole dancing, porn stars, very funny folks and very special guests.  Sam opened the show with some of his best stuff.  I'm pretty sure I'll never get sick of "Crimes of Awesomeness" and "High hoof, high hoof".  That was followed by incredible acrobatic feats on the pole by Annemarie Davis.  By that time, everyone finally had their drinks at the table and the show was off and running.

Surprise special guest Margaret Cho killed, as did everyone's favorite stoner Doug Benson.  I especially liked his bit about how women are lying when they say they are looking for a good sense of humor, but we say that "because it wouldn't be polite to say 'I like cocks and money.'"  For a second great surprise, Jefrey Ross dropped by and did some of his Hasslehoff roast material.

Poor See Hang tried to give it to volunteer Zoe as per porn acting coach Roger Star's (Eddie Pepitone) instructions - "Be like the banks, like the oil companies, like Lehman Brothers"  But Ron Jeremy came out, banished him back to toiling in tech support obscurity, and showed the audience just how it should be done.

Speaking of tech support, the AV system was completely screwed last night.  We were able to catch a couple of the prepared videos, but it just completely died in the middle of the very promising Strippers Guide to Fighting Terror starring Taylor Vixen (Sam promised it'll be online soon).






And there was more!  Bunny Fever, Shawarma the Ass Eating Persian, Kagney Linn Karter, Soma Snakeoil, the Silver Schlong award... oh and we learned the fun fact that in his younger days, Sam was a towel boy at Crunch. ha ha!

It was great, sort of like an old-fashioned variety show, if it took place in Sodom & Gomorrah.

Names Night!

Last night, in conjunction with Mitzi Shore's 80th birthday, the Comedy Store held it's first Names Night in over 8 years.  It was incredible.  New and old Names came by, many with family and friends, did a set in the Original Room and then came to the party in the Main Room and recorded a message of gratitude and reminiscence for Mitzi & The Comedy Store Archives.

Behind The Names: Jeff Scott

One of the names that will be painted on the wall during the Names Night at The Comedy Store this Sunday is that of Jeff Scott, the piano player for over 15 years.  Jeff not only plays the comics on and off the stage, often providing witty remarks along the way, but he is what Mitzi calls her "Social Butterfly" going around the club all night, talking to each of the comedians, the staff and those of us who just hang out, like the big brother glue holding the place together.

He's also a walking repository of the history of the Comedy Store, going all the way back before it was Ciro's.  During the very first conversation I had with Jeff, he pointed to the wall between the Main Room and the Original Room and told me that when this was Ciro's, there was no wall, just one enormous show room where the likes of Frank Sinatra and Lana Turner would enjoy dinner, dancing and entertainment.  Since then, I've been privy to such gems as :

Open Mic

I have been remiss about blogging since I started doing Open Mics around LA.  I've also been remiss about sleeping, so there's that.

My first open mic was at Sal's Comedy Hole - a newish spot in Hollywood that has been transplanted from its successful roots in New York.  It's rapidly becoming my favorite non-Store place to catch a show and it's definitely my favorite open mic so far.  The vibe is fantastic - kind of like the Store - it's role as creative incubator trumps being an uptight place of business.  But Sal's gives its performers even more free range and, since it's new, hasn't yet been bogged down by politics and tradition.

Just a Saturday Night

Last night was a good night at The Comedy Store.  It's funny because the crowd was much larger on Friday and this one was a little apathetic, but they came around.  I have to admit, I snuck into the Main Room to catch Stephen Rannazzisi's set before the show started in the Original Room and I was pretty happy I did.

Chris Millhouse is my Hungarian Parlament of Comedy

Despite having lived there for two years and made about half a dozen visits besides, it took an entire decade for me to actually visit the Hungarian Parlament building.  And it wasn't for lack of trying, I was just foiled at every turn.  Kind of like trying to see Chris Millhouse do a set.  I first saw Chris on LiveAndOutLoud and thought he was pretty amusing, started following him on Twitter and saw him tweet about being up at the Comedy Store for Potluck.  I completely missed him that night and I keep missing him every other time I try, so now this has become a quest.  A quest which was foiled again this Sunday when I actually made it to Potluck early.

What makes a good comedy club?

As you all know, I love the Comedy Store. I'm starting to think I like it more like a drug than a boyfriend, but regardless, I love it and I hate when anyone speaks ill of the place. Of course, comedians love to bitch about venues and what they do wrong - often onstage - and the Comedy Store is no exception. So being a rational, analytical kind of gal, I try to see both where they are coming from and objectively how much weight the complaints really carry. For comparison, I keep my eyes open when I'm at other shows - whether it's the Laugh Factory or the Improv or a smaller room like the Great & Secret Show or Silent Taco.

Laughter is Power

I go to the Original Room at the Comedy Store a lot. If the Comedy Store were a dude, he would be my boyfriend. Well, no, probably my regular booty call, because the Store doesn't seem like the type to settle down. Anyway, I love that place. But, as they say, show me the hottest woman on earth and I'll show you a guy who's sick of sleeping with her. Sometimes you have to switch things up. So this week, I saw the Great & Secret Show, Storyteller Series Fisticuffs, and the Laughter is Power benefit for the Jenesse Center. Okay, the last one was at the Comedy Store, but it was in the Main Room with a very different group of comedians that I see on a daily basis. And it was amazing.

My Day in (Small Claims) Court

I got to spend this afternoon in small claims court.  I'll cut to the chase and say my case was dismissed, but the plaintiff has the option to re-file so I'm not stupid enough to blog about details with such a litigious fellow at large.  Most of you already know the story anyway.

But, here's the thing, the reason the case was dismissed is that the plaintiff didn't show up, so I was supposed to go at the front of the line for a cursory appearance.  But something got screwed up, so I ended up sitting through every single other case for the afternoon.

The Great & Secret Comedy Show

I try to go catch the Great & Secret Show at the Unknown Theater about once a month, sometimes twice.  Admittedly, the last couple of times I went was motivated mostly by my stalking of Zach Sherwin, but I have loved the Walsh Brothers since Ms E Christi introduced them to me back in Boston.  It's a great show and a nice balance to my mild (ha ha) obsession with the Comedy Store.  As hosts, the Walsh Bros (and friends) are more of a sketch show underpinning, holding the whole show together and often providing the most laughs, rather than emcees who just keep the show moving and the crowd clapping.  The acts are always interesting and a little off the beaten path.  I mean, the sets of Zach Sherwin, Ron Lynch and Erin Judge have very little in common besides being awesome.

Comedy at the House of Blues

Last night was a hard night to choose where to go see some comedy - there were three shows I wanted to see but I ultimately went with the one that was walking distance from my house to support Shawn Halpin.  And, I have to say, Shawn was the pimp of the show, since he brought 200% more women (me and Jen) to the audience than the one other guy who brought a female.  One of the comics even fittingly did a bit about how comics don't know women so there's never any girls at the godforsaken parties they throw.

Why Are You Google Stalking Dan Madonia?

I'm so curious, I get more hits on my site from people Googling Dan Madonia than any other search term - why are you Google stalking him?  For real, post a comment, I'm dying to know.

They Hate Us For Our Freedom

I would like to sincerely thank all Veterans and service members who gave their lives so that I could live in a society that includes Food Trucks and The Sunset Strip... together!

What Happens at the Comedy Store Stays at the Comedy Store

Backstage at the Comedy Store is a weird and wonderful place.  And when I say "backstage" you should know there is not actually a backstage (Ok, there is the Green Room, but that's a tiny trippy mirror-plated room straight out of the Kinnison days).  Backstage is sort of wherever the comics are hanging out - waiting for their set, waiting to watch someone else's set or just having a drink and a smoke.  Could be the hallway, the kitchen, the front bar, the back stairs or the Main Room after it empties out.  In fact, sometimes "backstage" even moves itself into the Original Room as the crowd dwindles down to just the other comics and maybe 2 guys from New Zealand.  That's when you might be treated to an extra special David Taylor set where he goes beyond the fine acerbic/dickhead line he normally treads and lays into everyone in the room, the building or who has ever once crossed his path.  Those are some great times.  Even when you're the one on the business end of his attack.

That's What I'm talking About

As I've mentioned before, I have a soft spot for the late night comedians who can handle it well.  Of course, my  all-time favorite is Don Barris, who can handle everyone from the obnoxious drunks to the dead quiet stone-faced crowds and somehow manages to make The Barris Kennedy Overdrive bit entertaining over and over again.  But there's a lot of other guys giving a good go of it.

Now, I should mention, there's really two types of late night crowds that I've encountered.  There's the mid-week and there's the weekend.  At 12:15 on a Wednesday night, there's usually about 4 guys left, and they're always foreigners, usually from some random place like Finland or Estonia.  They are sitting pretty close to the front, so you know they've been there since the start.  I suspect that their guidebooks told them to visit The World Famous Comedy Store and since they aren't American, they're just too polite to just get up and go back to their hotel before the official end.  And occasionally there are the obnoxious drunks (and occasionally I am those obnoxious drunks), but usually only one or two.  And this Tuesday, there were two super bitchy, super drunk Australian chicks by the time Sam Tripoli took the stage.  Now, I'll be honest, I've seen Tripoli perform at least twice before and have no memory of it.  I blame this on The Stripcrawl and too many bullets at The Sunset Trocadero, respectively, and not Tripoli being an unmemorable comic, because he is freaking hilarious and had complete control of the room from start to finish, including repeatedly putting the worse of the two Aussie chicks in her place - a very satisfying thing for the rest of us audience members to watch.

In Praise of the 12:15 Comedian

I have a great love for the 12:15 comic at the Comedy Store.  At first, it was just because that was about the time I'd stroll on in and the crowd was so thin that they'd start talking to the audience, and I was the vast majority of the audience.  But as I have started to spend an inordinate amount of time watching comedy, including the guys who go on at 10 or 11, my love and respect for the 12:15 comedian has only grown.

Hopefully, they had a at least one other slot somewhere earlier in the night, but regardless, they made an effort to get here to go on for what is bound to be a tiny, drunk and possibly surly crowd.  They don't do it for the money (which is shit) and typically they don't really get to work out their material because of said sucky crowd.  But they get up there and do their 15 minutes and work with what the drunk loudmouths (like me) in the crowd start spouting.  It's really a heroic effort.

What Day Is It?

Wherein I attempt to beat Time and discover my new musical guru, that you can't go back to 20 again, and that I have a serious nerdy glasses fetish

Dan Madonia & The Silent Comedy on The Real Sunset Strip

Wow, just wow.  Trina had really been talking up The Silent Comedy for the past couple of weeks and she was not wrong.  Firstly, check out the moustaches!  And then take a listen to the music.  I really don't think any of these YouTube clips do them justice - and everyone at the show on Saturday agreed that this was the best of their recent performances.  Trina had specifically instructed me to wear my dancing shoes and she was not wrong.  I started out standing in the back, sipping my drink and mostly just nodding my head and tapping my feet, but by the second song it was as if my body had taken me right up to the front and started dancing of its own accord.  I had no choice but to give in and boogie down.



I feel like now I'm damning Dan Madonia with faint praise, but he was terrific too.  It's just that The Silent Comedy was mind-blowingly awesome so I had to start with them.  But the night actually started with Dan and he was terrifically funny.  There was one point where the crowd almost turned on him, but he quickly saved it and had pretty much everyone in the place laughing.  And, apparently I can not go see comics anywhere without somehow inserting myself in their act - it isn't just the Comedy Store that brings that out in me.  Dan had this almost throw-away line like "Who's got some tits I can snort some coke off of?" and one guy in the corner was very adamantly raising his hand, so I raised my pointing finger toward him and got "I like how you're volunteering other boobs when you have a perfectly good set, yourself." heh.

Not really sure how The Real Sunset Strip is going to follow an awesome night like that, but heck, I'll settle for about 75% of the awesomeness

Foursquare Mayor of the Comedy Store, Bitches!

I am the Foursquare Mayor (hunh?  What's that?  Read here) of my laundromat and my yoga studio.  Mainly just because I think I'm the only person who has checked in to either place more than once.  Not exactly cool.  So I was incredibly excited when my after-midnight visit to The Comedy Store on Monday night earned me the Mayoral title!

The funny thing is that I had never even been to the Comedy Store until the StripCrawl.  It's stupid really.  I love comedy and this is literally the closest comedy club to my home (just up the hill!) and a pretty awesome one, to boot.  I had tried to go a couple of times, one time we ended up at the Improv instead and the rest of the times the "Let's stop into the Trocadero for a drink first" plan turned into "Let's just stay at the Trocadero until closing time."  But now the place has an irresistible pull for me - especially after midnight.  The crowd thins out and the comics are edgier, drunker and often funnier.  I've also noticed they tend to talk directly to the crowd a lot more.  I don't know if that's considered kind of hacky and a crutch to other comedians, but as an I'm-the-center-of-the-universe egotist in the audience, it's appealing to me.  And, especially since my Jenny Lane Tour, I tend to know at least one or two people hanging out in the back, so I have entertainment if I get bored of the guy on stage.

I was actually starting to get a little self-conscious of my newfound addiction to the 1 am comedians after wandering over there late-night, mid-week last week but now that it confers bragging rights (albeit, nerdy, nerdy bragging rights) I will proudly own up to my secret weakness.