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Tuesday Night Comedy At The Friars

Posted by on April 15, 2012

The flier for Tuesday night comedy at The Friars Club!

I’ve been going to The Friars Club since the late 70’s, and it’s as exciting today to walk in there as it was then. Granted, I don’t run into Milton Berle, Henny Youngman, or Joey Adams anymore, but I do run into people like Richard Belzer, Richard Lewis, and even people not named Richard, … like Alan Zweibel!

Friars Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV and Richard Lewis in the dining room of The Friars Club!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Richard Belzer in the dining room at The Friars Club!

In the last year alone, I shot video interviews there for Comedy Matters TV with Friar Lisa Lampanelli who made her singing debut at the club, Friar Richard Lewis who came to town to headline at Carolines, and Friar Brett Ratner, who was honored at the club, and you can see these videos on my Comedy Matters Channel at http://www.youtube.com/guriannewsnetwork

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Friar/director Brett Ratner at an event at The Friars in his honor!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Lisa Lampanelli at The Friars Club for her singing debut in preparation for her upcoming one-woman Broadway show!

The Friars is like a museum of show biz, and if you’re a comedy fan, you can’t help be excited to be within it’s walls. The club itself is a beautiful 6 story mansion on East 55th Street between Park and Madison, with a pool room, a well stocked gym, a couple of cool bars, like the downstairs Billy Crystal Bar, a fantastic dining room, a card playing room, and several gorgeous meeting rooms.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Billy Crystal in Billy’s office in Beverly Hills!

Once a month, comic/producer Aaron Haber puts on a comedy show in where else, “The Milton Berle Room” on the 2nd floor. Aaron is the busiest guy. He also produces shows at Al Martin’s Broadway Comedy Club, and also just launched www.evilnewsdaily.com

Jeffrey Gurian with Milton Berle in 1985 at the LA Friars, the year he sponsored me into the club!

This month he invited me to participate and in all my years at The Friars it’s the first time I performed stand-up comedy there.

I’ve been hosting shows at the legendary comedy club The Comic Strip for about a year now, so I felt I was ready to do The Friars. It was a great show. Aaron, who could have been the inspiration for Chris Rock’s play, “The Mother-Fuc*er With The Hat”, is a perfect MC, and somehow reminds me of Kevin Nealon, with his delivery. He’s very funny.

Aaron Haber or as he’s known, The Motherfu**er With The Hat, MC’ing his show at The Friars Club!

Also on the bill was Moody McCarthy, and I always mean to ask him how he got the name “Moody” cause he’s always in a good mood when I see him. He agreed to go on first which is always a tough spot, but not so much when you’re funny, and he is. It’s a very appreciative and supportive audience, and they loved him.

Moody McCarthy entertaining Friars in the Milton Berle Room!

Then my old friend Maureen Langan went up and killed it. Comics always reminisce about going on road trips together where they travelled to their gigs in the same car. Maureen lives on my block so we walked over together all the way from East 54th Street! What a reminiscence that will be some day! (LOL) Hey Mo, remember the time we walked three blocks together to get to that gig? And it was a little windy too! Remember that??? My hair almost got all messed up.

Maureen Langan making a comedy point to the audience at The Friars Club!

I followed Maureen and felt pretty good about my set. At least no one threatened to take away my membership, … and General Manager Michael Caputo was there, and was even kind enough to shoot the group photo you see below!

(L-R_ Moody McCarthy, Maureen Langan, Jeffrey Gurian, Aaron Haber, and in the back Josh Spear! ( A Spear in the back sounds painful! LOL)

The next comic up, Josh Spear, was an old friend of mine from the club scene days, where he used to promote hot parties. I hadn’t seen him in quite a while and was glad to see we were going to be on the same show, so it gave us a chance to catch up! He had a really good set, and told me he had to leave on the early side, because he was actually going back to college to pursue the education he never took the time to get previously. I thought that takes a lot of courage, and is very commendable since he already has a career in comedy.

Josh Spear being funny onstage at The Friars Club!

Friar Steven Scott doing his thing onstage at The Friars Club!

And closing the show was the always entertaining Steven Scott, who’s a perfect closer, cause he does so many things. Not only does he tell jokes, but he does imitations, voices, sound effects, and can even imitate music with his voice. Once we were on the Joey Reynolds radio show together, and he acted as an entire band, making the sound of each instrument with his mouth. It was truly amazing.

All in all it was a fantastic show, and all The Friars had a great time. You have to either be a Friar or a guest of a Friar to attend, so if any of you in the biz ever wanna come to a show, let me know and I’ll sponsor you for membership!

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Posted in: Cabaret, Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Nightlife Events, Red Carpet Events, Variety Show

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My Cabaret Debut With 2 Time Mac Award Winner Dana Lorge

Posted by on April 14, 2012

Most people wouldn’t want the reputation of being a two-timer, but for Dana Lorge it’s quite an honor. She’s a two time Mac award winner for 2012, and it’s only April! (LOL) By the end of the year that could multiply!!!

Dana Lorge, 2 time Mac Award Winner does a weekly show at Iguana every Wednesday!

Dana does a really fun variety show every Wednesday at a beautiful place called Iguana on West 54th Street, right near the theatre district in NYC.

As a matter of fact it’s directly around the corner from where David Letterman shoots his show for CBS. And the best part is that I had the honor of being part of it!

Another Mac Award winner, my old friend Joan Jaffe vouched for my comedic capabilities, and Dana added me to her show. I guess one Mac Award winner feels safe trusting another!

Dana Lorge and Joan Jaffe, a couple of multiple Mac winners at Iguana for Dana’s show!

It was billed as a “Variety” show, and I was lucky enough to be “the variety” cause I was the only comic, … which is just the way I like it! (LOL)

Joan is currently starring in her own show called Man-ha-ha-ha-Tan, coming to “Don’t Tell Mama” on West 46th Street, on May 6th at 7:30. Joan is a real talent and mixes her own brand of comedy with some very funny comedy songs. It’s a real treat to hear her, so I hope you’ll all join me there on May 6th.

Joan Jaffe mid-performance in Dana Lorge’s show at Iguana! What great hair she has! (LOL)

Dana is a spitfire and just before I went onstage I caught her doing an incredibly energetic version of “The Pony” a dance from a while back which only those in great shape can do, if you’re over 35. All she needed was white boots and a cage and I would have thought I was back in the 70’s again!

I can see why she won two Mac awards, not only for her talent, but also for the energy she puts out to her audience. They love her!

Dana was so relieved to see I was funny, we spontaneously started dancing! There wasn’t even any music at the time! (LOL)

The show was just one great singer after the next and the audience was first rate, and very upscale. I have to say my comedy went over well, and I had what you might call ” a killer set”! LOL I think I finally found my niche! Just in case you doubt me, I’m attaching the set for you to listen to, so you can see for yourselves!

Here’s the link:

DanaLorge_IguanaShow_4_11_12

One of the treats of the evening for me, among the many I had, was getting to hear Gary Russo, the construction worker, who spends his time building the 2nd Avenue subway, and who draws crowds during lunch hour with his Sinatra renditions. His You Tube video got over a million hits, and since I had read about him in the paper recently, when they announced who he was I was looking forward to hearing him and introducing myself. ( Not at the same time! I was planning on waiting till he was finished singing! LOL)

Gary Russo, singer/construction worker/You Tube phenom, singing Sinatra at The Iguana!

He was really great! What a gift he has, and before I could approach him, he was nice enough to come and say hello to me. We may even be doing something fun together coming up soon! More on that to come!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with You Tube singing sensation Gary Russo at Iguana!

In the meantime, I guess I did well enough that Dana invited me back on her show for Wed. May 2nd, so come out and support! Hope to see you all there!

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Posted in: Cabaret, Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Red Carpet Events, Variety Show

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Mike Wallace Gone at 93

Posted by on April 9, 2012

I was shocked to see in the NY Post that Mike Wallace had passed away. I really thought he’d go on forever. The last time I saw him in person was in 2004 when he featured me in an episode of “60 Minutes” focussed on mentalist Marc Salem called ” How Did He Do That?”

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with the late Mike Wallace at The Lyceum Theatre for a “60 Minutes” special on Marc Salem, in 2004!

At the time Mike was 86, and I marveled at how good he looked. As you can see in the photo, he was tan and fit and really sharp, and I thought he looked like he was in his 60’s.

Marc Salem is a “mentalist” who had a show called “Mind Games” that is really beyond description, and Mike Wallace was determined to find out if he was on the level. I was in the audience to observe and had been invited by some PR person, who was involved with the show.

I was with a beautiful model named Sonya Gignac, and we both unexpectedly became the focus of the show. I even wound up in the video promo, which aired leading up to the show, and people from all over the country were calling and asking me why I was going to be on “60 Minutes”

I was in the audience as a journalist, to cover the show for my Comedy Matters blog, and Mike and I had known each other casually from The Friars Club.

Marc Salem does a thing where he stops his pulse, and Mike wanted a medical doctor to verify it. He asked the audience ” Is there a doctor in the house”, and no one responded. How rare is that? Literally not one doctor on the house! Obviously not a Jewish crowd! (LOL)

Then he said, ” There’s no one here with medical experience?”, and to save the day I was forced to “out” myself as a doctor, and was called up on stage. Mike was surprised to learn of my other life, since he knew me from the entertainment business. He greeted me warmly, and in between shots he grilled me as to what I thought was going on.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with mentalist Marc Salem who was the focus of a segment on “60 Minutes”.

I wound up assisting with a few different amazing things that Salem did, at one point sealing coins over his eyes with a bandana, and taking random objects from audience members that he identified, down to reading the driver’s license number off of someone’s out of state license, just by passing his hand over it. Truly incredible!

But it was when Salem claimed to have stopped his pulse that I really came in handy. I had been taking people’s pulses for years, … and had quite a collection of them at home! (LOL) But seriously, I was used to taking people’s pulses, so when I took his and suddenly it stopped, Mike asked me what I felt, and I told the audience that Salem had just passed away! It got big laughs.

Now unfortunately Mike Wallace has passed away, and no one’s laughing. He will be missed, and I’m so glad I knew him! R.I.P. Mike!

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Posted in: Breaking News, Celeb Photos, Celebrity Death, Celebrity Passing, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Important News

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Artie Lange-Backstage Video At Gotham Comedy Club

Posted by on April 9, 2012

When I heard that Artie Lange would be making a guest appearance at the Comedy Juice show at Gotham, I made sure to get down there. Artie is an old friend and I hadn’t seen him since before he went to rehab. I went in hopes of shooting a little video with him for Comedy Matters TV, and we were able to do that in the Gotham’s downstairs green room.

Artie Lange with Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV in the green room at Gotham Comedy Club!

It was a great interview where Artie spoke candidly about his 3 month stint in rehab, kicking heroin, and how he’s now focussed on just getting healthy, and losing the 70 pounds he gained while he was there. Food is definitely a drug as many people can attest to!(LOL)

One of the most interesting facts that Artie shared with me on video is that after 25 years of performing stand-up, he almost prefers when he does a bit and the audience DOESN’T laugh! I found that insight fascinating.

He also had some great things to say about Jimmy Fallon!

You can see it all right here :

And check out our previous story on Comedy Juice and Artie Lange as well!

http://wp.me/p1pHIm-Qf

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Modern Family’s "Lily"- Aubrey Anderson-Emmons At Home

Posted by on April 9, 2012

I’ve interviewed lots of people, and lots of big stars, but one of the most exciting for me was the one I just did with Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, who plays “Lily” on Modern Family. I was out in LA acting in some sketches for Nick Kroll’s new show on Comedy Central coming up this summer, and I went to visit my old buddy Kent Emmons who created “All Comedy Radio” and owned National Lampoon Radio for a time.

Jeffrey Gurian, holding Aubrey Anderson-Emmons. I don’t usually pick up the people I interview, but in this case I made an exception!

The last time I was out there was last July and his 4 year old daughter Aubrey was going for the audition for Modern Family. It wasn’t until I got back to New York that I found out she had gotten the role. It was so exciting!

As Lily, she plays the adopted daughter of gay couple Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cam,(Eric Stonestreet). In real life, Ferguson is openly gay, and Stonestreet is openly heterosexual!(LOL)

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons being held by her screen Dad, Mitchell, played by Jesse Tyler Ferguson!

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons with her real Dad, Kent in the family kitchen. (L-R) Jeffrey Gurian, Aubrey Anderson-Emmons, Kent Emmons, Kent’s assistant Sarah House, and family friend Doug in the back!

So this time when I went to visit Kent, I brought along my camera equipment, which I try to always have with me, and was able to get a really cute interview with little 4 year old Aubrey, who is so smart, and so well-poised. She knows me as “Uncle Jeffrey”, and she invited me on the set next time I’m out in LA!

Jeffrey Gurian interviewing Aubrey Anderson-Emmons for Comedy Matters TV in her home in LA!

Aubrey Anderson-Emmons at home in her cowboy hat, singing for her Uncle Jeffrey!

I asked her if she’d introduce me to Sofia Vergara and she said she would. Sofia’s boyfriend Nick Loeb is an old friend, so I’m sure he won’t mind if I come and say “Hi!”!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Nick Loeb, a great guy who just happens to be the boyfriend of Sofia Vergara! They make an AMAZING couple!

Check out Aubrey’s video interview right here:

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Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, New TV Show, Nightlife Events, Red Carpet Events

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Nick Kroll and John Mulaney Video as the "Oh, Hello" Boys in LA

Posted by on April 8, 2012

At the request of Nick Kroll, I flew out to LA to be in some sketches with Nick and John Mulaney for Nick’s upcoming show on Comedy Central. For right now it’s being called “The Nick Show Kroll”, but according to Nick that could change. I brought my camera equipment with me, hoping I’d be able to film something fun on set for Comedy Matters TV.

Nick Kroll, Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV, and John Mulaney the way they usually look!

But when I got there, it was such a busy set, with so much going on that I didn’t want to impose on anyone by asking. Frankly, I was just glad to be there. I thought about asking Inman Young the producer, but held off thinking that at some point, when the time was right I’d ask Nick myself, since he was already familiar with the fact that I document everything I do with photos and video for my Comedy Matters Vlog and my Comedy Matters TV channel.

Jeffrey Gurian on set in LA with Gil Faizon, one of the “Oh, Hello” boys!

I had already asked if I could take stills during the shoot, and got the ok from Nick, so every once in a while, when I felt sure I wouldn’t ruin a scene being shot, I whipped out my ever-present camera and took some shots.

I am the guy, by the way, who accidentally put my camera down on the doctor’s sterile instruments while one of my daughters was being born, accidentally breaking the sterile chain, and had everyone in the delivery room screaming at me, while they rushed to rectify the situation. They told me it was ok to take photos, and I was so engrossed that when the baby came out, I got so excited I put my camera down on their instruments!

So it wasn’t that far fetched for me to picture accidentally taking a flash photo on Nick’s set, and ruining a scene that was being shot! I live with that fear of always doing something stupid! (LOL) Anyone else relate???

So anyway, on the second day of the shoot, I asked Nick and he said it would be cool at the end of the shoot. The thing was that everyone’s on the clock so at the end of the shoot, he and John were still in costume, and it would have taken a while for them to have their make-up removed and all, so we went into Nick’s trailer, and shot it with them still in character.

George St. Geegland, Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV, and Gil Faizon on the set of Nick Kroll’s show in LA!

I didn’t realize how confusing it would be for me since I had planned on interviewing Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, and thanking THEM for having me on the show, and here I was interviewing Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland. This fact hit me right after my intro when I said, ” Hey this is Jeffrey Gurian for Comedy Matters TV and I’m here with Nick Kroll, or should I say Gil Faizon, and then I didn’t even say “John Mulaney”, I just said “George St. Geegland”, cause I realized that that’s who I was with.

So I’m trying to interview them, and thank them as themselves while they’re staying in character. It actually turned out very funny! See for yourselves!

The previous post on my trip to LA is right here:

http://wp.me/p1pHIm-Ou

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Posted in: Breaking News, Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, New TV Show, Nightlife Events, Red Carpet Events, Sketch Comedy

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Comedy Fundraiser at The Actor’s Temple

Posted by on March 31, 2012

When Bob Greenberg puts a show together, he puts a show together! I flew back from LA just to be in it! (Well actually, I was due to come back that day, but one of the reasons I decided to return that day was to be in Bob’s show and to host the late show at The Comic Strip, which I do every Sunday and Monday!)

Bob Greenberg, Jeffrey Gurian, Sandy Ehlers, and Mike Fine at The Actor’s Temple!

There is a fabulous Temple on West 47th Street that each year is the beneficiary of a comedy event produced and MC’ed by Bob Greenberg, whose impressions of Jackie Gleason, Ed Norton, Oliver Hardy, and Stan Laurel just to name a few are killer! I’ve had the pleasure of performing with Bob several times and he’s always so funny!

The Actor’s Temple is actually Congregation Ezrath Israel, which was founded in 1917. The building we were in dates from 1923. Some of their former members were show business greats like Al Jolson, Joe E. Lewis, Sophie Tucker, Jack Benny, Red Buttons, Edward G. Robinson, and even my original sponsor in The Friars Club, Milton Berle. And to show you how powerful this Temple is, none of them were even Jewish! (LOL) Of course they were! In those days, EVERYONE was Jewish! (LOLOL)

Rabbi/Cantor Jill Hausman officiates at The Temple and she is the sweetest, kindest person you could ever want to meet. She thanked each of the performers personally with a big hug, which most comedy club owners don’t do! (Fortunately! LOL)

See if you can guess which ones are Stone and Stone, plus Mike Toro, and how did Mike Fine get in there again??? I guess he thought it was an open “Mike”! (LOL)

The place was packed so tight, you couldn’t even squeeze a Torah in there. We were packing them in by the “minyans!” And there were still almost as many comics as there were audience members! (LOL) This was Bob’s line-up in alphabetical order: Debbie Bazza, Ross Bennett, Sandy Ehlers, Mike Fine, Robin Fox, Joe Franklin, me – Jeffrey Gurian, Harriet Holloway, Rhonda Handome, Doug Kleiman, Dave Konig, Nancy Lombardo, Steven Scott, Stone and Stone, Mike Toro, and Doug Nervik. There were enough jokes to feed a village! And every single one of them did great!

Robin Fox, Ross Bennett and Dave Konig waiting patiently to go on at Bob Greenberg’s Comedy Mishagas at The Actor’s Temple!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with old pal Rhonda ( Passion) Hansome! I got her just before she left, … hence the coat!

(L-R) Debbie Bazza, Rhonda Handsome, and Nancy Lombardo at The Actor’s Temple!

It was especially great for me, cause I got to do a lot of my “Jewish” material, and I got to do it for Joe Franklin, who I don’t think had ever seen me perform, except as a guest on his show several times. Joe and I actually inaugurated a new radio show together last year!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with the legendary Joe Franklin. we were the first two guests on a new radio show from Alycia Kaback called “The It Factor”!

Joe Franklin performing at The Actor’s Temple, and to show you his dedication, he did all of his jokes in the original Aramaic!

I wanted to try and get a photo of ALL of the comics who performed but I didn’t have a wide enough lens! Actually they all scattered like a herd of wildebeestes, when a lion showed up at the watering hole, so I wasn’t able to get one! Hopefully next year, … in Jerusalem!

Thanks Bob for all you do!

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Abel Ferrara, Shanyn Leigh, and Willem Dafoe in 4:44

Posted by on March 31, 2012

The film poster for Abel Ferrara’s 4:44 in theatres near YOU!

I don’t usually like to do anything of consequence the day before I leave on a big trip, but the day before I was set to leave for LA, to shoot some sketches with Nick Kroll, and John Mulaney from SNL, for Nick’s new show on Comedy Central, I got the opportunity to interview famed director Abel Ferrara, and actors Shanyn Leigh, and Willem Dafoe for Abel’s new film 4:44, about the end of the earth.

I had to do it! First of all, Abel is an old friend and I hadn’t seen him in a while. And second of all I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to meet Willem Dafoe, whose work I’ve always respected.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with writer/director Abel Ferrara!

One of the last times I recall seeing Abel was at a great Italian restaurant called La Mela owned by a dear friend of Abel’s named Frankie C. I just happened to have a shot of us together that night, which is a cool reason to ALWAYS take photos wherever you go!

Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV with writer/director Abel Ferrara at La Mela!

Frankie C. has since passed on, but Abel, Shannyn, and I were there to celebrate some film event. Probably of Abel’s! (LOL) I think he was working on a project about The Chelsea Hotel at the time!

Abel always gets a strong cast of people. Good actors respect his work, and the list of his films is impressive, like “The Funeral”, “King of New York”, and “Bad Lieutenant.” He’s worked with Harvey Keitel, Christopher Walken, and Willem Dafoe just to name a few.

Natasha Lyonne was also in 4:44 and I was hoping to see her again since I did such a fun interview with her a few months ago. It was at a New Group event honoring Wallace Shawn, but I lost her contact information and was never able to send it to her! Unfortunately she was not able to attend this interview session.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV interviewing Natasha Lyonne at a New Group event in honor of actor/director Wallace Shawn!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with actor/director Wallace Shawn at a New Group event in Wallace’s honor.

I really liked 4:44, even though the concept was “scary”, to use a childish type of word! (LOL) The entire world has accepted that it will end at 4:44 A.M. the next day and that there’s nothing that anyone can do about it. It shows how people spend their last night alive, particularly a couple who live on the Lower East Side, played by Willem (Cisco) Dafoe and Shanyn (Skye) Leigh. It’s a very wild concept, and Abel’s take was very realistic. People are confused. They don’t know how to react because they’ve never had to face certain death before! (Who has??? LOL)

It doesn’t seem real. It’s all going to happen instantaneously, and as a director, I was fascinated by his creative choices, all of which I liked. He also showed some fantastic news-type footage of people gathering in places all over the world, in candle-lit ceremonies, very often to pray, as in the throngs that were shown in St. Peter’s Square.

It also examined the theme of sobriety, since Cisco has been clean for two years, but in the face of certain death contemplates “picking up” and actually goes to score some drugs. I won’t give away what happens, but it’s powerful.

Abel was surprised to see me, and after the press thing we got a chance to hang out and catch up. It was funny when I went to interview Shanyn who besides being a talented actress is also Abel’s girlfriend, she looked at me and said, “I know you!”, and I reminded her that I was an old friend of Abel’s and that we had met before socially!

Willem Dafoe is such a great actor and I was very glad to have the opportunity to meet him.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Willem Dafoe at The Regency Hotel for 4:44!

There will be a video interview to go with this as soon as I get it edited, but in the meantime, go see the film. It just came out, it’s in the theatres, and it got good reviews. I liked it a lot, and I’m sure you will too. It’s a reminder to treasure every moment!

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Artie Lange Serves Up Comedy Juice at Gotham

Posted by on March 31, 2012

I had been hearing about Comedy Juice for a while. It’s one of the top live comedy brands in the world, producing hundreds of All-Star stand up comedy events each year, and run by a comic named Mark Serittella, who lives in LA. Comedy Juice has been called the best standup comedy show in the nation by sources ranging from Sirius Satellite radio to People magazine.

Comedy Juice has featured stars like Sarah Silverman, Daniel Tosh, Aziz Ansari, Dane Cook, and Marc Maron on a regular basis and has consistently been a place to discover new comedy stars before they blow up!

Now, every Tuesday night at 10 P.M. they’ll be at Gotham Comedy Club, so I went down to check it out, and was pleasantly surprised to run into my old pal Artie Lange who came in with a young comic named Chris DeStefano, who I know from performing on Yonah Grossman’s shows in the Vintage Lounge.

Helen Hong making people laugh during Comedy Juice at Gotham!

The show was hosted by Jared Logan who was very funny, and also on the show was Helen Hong who although she lives in LA now I seem to run into on either coast. Last week I was in LA and I ran into Helen, and then I’m back and she’s here too! And that’s a good thing. I love Helen Hong, or should I say “Herren?” LOL

Al Madrigal onstage at Gotham Comedy Club for Comedy Juice!

Besides Herren, they had Al Madrigal from The Daily Show, Rory Albanese, Chris DeStefano, and Donnell Rawlings. Unfortunately I missed Rory Albanese, the producer of The Daily Show, who is also a really funny comic. I first saw Rory perform at the South Beach Comedy Festival and he killed it. I was very impressed that a major producer was also so funny. When you have a serious job like that, the only reason you still do comedy is because you LOVE it! There’s no other reason to do it.

Donnell closed the show and was really strong. The audience loved him, especially Kristen J. Eddy ,the producer of Anthony Anderson’s Comedy Mixtape Show, who sat next to me and was laughing her little butt off!

Donnell Rawlings killing it onstage at Gotham Comedy Club!

Artie went up and destroyed the room. People love to see Artie Lange. He’s one of the only performers I’ve ever seen who got a standing ovation just by walking out on the stage. That was at Town Hall during the NY Comedy Festival.

Artie was very upfront about getting off heroin, and spoke about how different people try to give him advice. One guy suggested he start running to get a “runner’s high” which the guy claimed was better than heroin. Artie tried it and was like, ” I’m on my 8th mile. When does it start feeling like heroin?”

Then he convinced the guy to try heroin since he tried running and the guy got addicted to heroin, and wound up living under a bridge!

Artie said he used to be healthy, back around 1974. Now that he’s healthy again, he’s afraid he’ll die from an old time disease like Scurvy or something!”

Artie Lange dispensing laughter to the packed crowd at Gotham Comedy Club!

He did a lot of new material, which I never heard before like analyzing the lyrics to Biggie Small’s rap songs. And he also spoke to me about his new radio show with Nick DePaolo on Sirius Radio, weeknights at 10 P.M. on Extreme Talk XM 165. It’s a mix of sports and comedy.

The reason I missed Rory Albanese is because I was downstairs in the green room shooting a video with Artie. It was a rare opportunity and I couldn’t pass it up.

I really like Artie and I hadn’t seen him since he went to rehab so we had a lot to talk about, and we did it on camera. It was very cool, it ran about 20 minutes, and I’ll be posting it as soon as it’s edited. First I have to decide whether to keep it as one long film or divide it into two parts. People have such short attention spans these days, you may not even have read this post this far down!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV backstage at Gotham Comedy Club with Artie Lange!

Anyway, Comedy Juice was a great show and I plan to become a regular! Maybe I’ll even get to perform one week, … who knows???

Check out www.comedyjuice.com and come check out the show in person!

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Young Talent At The Comic Strip

Posted by on March 30, 2012

The Comic Strip is legendary for the people that came out of that club, like Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, and Eddie Murphy just to name a few. But the nice thing about The Strip is that it also develops young talent who are going to be the stars of tomorrow.

Two that come to mind right away are Pete Davidson who’s only 18 and Jordan Rock who just hit the magic age of 21!

Comedy buddies Pete Davidson and Jordan Rock backstage at The Comic Strip!

Pete is being mentored by Nick Cannon, who’s really taken him under his wing, which is such an incredible thing for a young performer, and Pete deserves it. He lost his Dad in 9/11, and turned his life to comedy. I’m sure his Dad is watching over him, cause he’s doing very well!

He has funny energy, meaning that when he hits the stage you WANT to laugh. He dresses kind of “gangsta” for a White kid, but he explains it by saying that all of his friends are Black. I get it! He’s authentic!

Pete was all excited ’cause he just got back from doing five shows in Miami with Nick, and Kase Glenn at The Miami Improv, while staying at The Mayfair Hotel. Pete opened the show. It was the first time that Pete had to fly to a gig and he told me a very funny story.

The day he was to leave, he had a 10 A.M. flight but didn’t wake up until 9. He threw his stuff together and tried to call a cab but they told him it would be an hour. He got the valet guy to drive him for double the regular price, and offered him an extra $20. if he could make it in ten minutes.

Meanwhile his Mom was calling and yelling at him for being late. He got to the airport at 9:40, ran to check in and found himself on a long line. Just as he was resigned to missing his flight, the Black security guard recognized him, and yelled out, “Hey, you’re that dude from the show!”

Pete said,”I guess he had attended one night, and fortunately I did well!” The guard let him right through and referred to him as “The White Hope!” The other passengers were already aboard, and Pete ran on as they were about to lock the doors. He said he made it by one minute!

I had that happen to me once after having been snowed in the first year of the Aspen Comedy Festival. I had been stuck there for five days, when they gave me less than 30 minutes to catch a plane. I was literally running down the runway with my bags to catch the plane, and everyone stared, and glared at me as I straggled on board loaded down with stuff, and then first had to try and get it in the overhead bins, while everyone waited and rolled their eyes. Very uncomfortable to say the least!

Jordan Rock works The Strip as conscientiously as both of his brothers did, Chris and Tony, and it shows in the quality of his work. Nothing replaces stage time in perfecting your performance. He also hosts the latenight shows on Wed, and Thursdays, and I host them on Sundays and Mondays.

I predict that you’ll be seeing lots of these guys in the future. I wish I had started that young, but if you get famous in your 20’s you gotta be funny for 60 maybe 70 years! That’s a long time. I only wanted to have to be famous for maybe 20, … 25 years tops! Needless to say, I’m still waiting! (LOL)

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