Archive for Comedy Events

Oui 2 PR Firm Rocks Two Huge Events In One Day

For the past 15 years Rob Goldstone and David Wilson founders of Oui 2 Public Relations have been creating HUGE events and representing even bigger stars! They have a national and international network of connections.

Even in his early days, Rob was a force to be reckoned with. Originally from the U.K., (which is where he got that great accent! LOL) he traveled with Michael Jackson, as the only journalist personally chosen by Michael to cover his “down under” tour in Australia, and was chosen to accompany Bob Geldof to Ethiopia for his Band Aid Relief Fund concert back in 1985.

While living in Australia Rob represented almost every major international artist touring that country; from Cyndi Lauper to Julio Iglesias, James Taylor, Tracy Chapman, BB King, Marianne Faithful and Poison! Among his corporate clients were Saatchi and Saatchi, The Hard Rock Cafe, Chess: The Musical, Richard Branson’s Virgin Megastores, and HMV Music Stores.

After returning to England in 1991, he moved to The States the following year as the Head of International Marketing for HMV Group, (part of EMI Records)- a position he held until 1998. In this capacity, he oversaw the international marketing for the world’s largest music retail corporation, from the U.S. and Canada, to the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Japan, and Australia. His work led to close working relationships with artists, managers, and record labels across the globe.

David Wilson made similar moves, starting out in Northern California where he grew up, and winding up in Sydney, Australia, where he began his PR career at Rob Goldstone’s company, Crawford Goldstone Corporation, which at the time was one of the leading entertainment/lifestyle PR firms in the country. He moved first to London and then to NYC where he worked with a cross section of both music and entertainment heavyweights including Joe Cocker, Lisa Stansfield, Warner Bros. TV, Atlantic Records, HMV Records, and the New York Friars Club.

Which brings me to the purpose of this post. Yesterday I personally witnessed the talent of these two Oui 2 guys as they pulled off two HUGE events in the same day! I first attended the red carpet event for the Friars Club Roast of Betty White, and finished off the day by covering the red carpet for the Caron Foundation event at Cipriani’s on 42nd STreet, in honor of Clive Davis and Judy Collins.

Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV with Gilbert Gottfried at the Betty White Roast!

Needless to say, (then why am I saying it? LOL) both were star-studded events, and packed with press. David and Rob made sure that everything ran smoothly, and you could see how hard David was working by how wet his shirt was! LOL Despite the tremendous pressure, and various demands made on him, he was still very accomodating.

The actual red carpet was so crowded with photogs and press, that David was kind enough to set me up with a spot at the end, so I could get some great video interviews for Comedy Matters TV with legends like Dick Cavett, Larry King, and Abe Vigoda, as well as Prior of The Friars Club Stewie Stone.

Larry King, making a point to both Uggie from The Artist, and Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV at the Betty White Roast!

Old friends Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV and actor/singer Dominic Chianese at the Friars Roast for Betty White!

Although I didn’t get to talk to Betty White or some of my old pals like Norm Crosby,(who just didn’t hear me when I called out to him! LOL), and Liza Minelli, I did get to talk to Donny Deutsch, who was shocked that I had met his parents at a comedy event I produced at the Westbury Country Club, Dominic Chianese who was shocked that we hadn’t seen each other in so long, and legendary talent agent Don Buchwald who was just plain shocked that I wanted to do an interview with him, (he’s just very humble!LOL)

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Donny Deutsch at the Friars Club Roast of Betty White!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with the legendary Liza Minelli at an earlier event! I missed her at both the Roast and the Caron event!

After the Roast, I went home to change my clothes so I wouldn’t be dressed the same in both events, got hold of a second DP to shoot the Clive Davis/Judy Collins event, and headed over to Cipriani’s where I got to interview not only Clive, and reminisce with him about the time I got him invited to his first Friars Roast, but also Laurie Dhue the MC for the evening, my old friend Chris Lawford, Geraldo Rivera, and Judy Collins, who pleasantly surprised both Geraldo and I by coming over to join us during our red carpet interview. It turned into a fantastic three-way, you should excuse the expression!

Patrick McMullen’s photo of Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV interviewing both Geraldo Rivera and Judy Collins at the same time!

MC Laurie Dhue with Stephanie Seymour on the red carpet for the Caron Foundation event honoring Clive Davis and Judy Collins!

Geraldo Rivera with his wife Erica at the Caron event honoring Clive Davis and Judy Collins!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with honoree Clive Davis at the Caron event at Cipriani’s!

I also got to reminisce with Geraldo about an evening we spent with Salvador Dali many years before at the St. Regis Hotel in the King Cole Lounge where Dali held court whenever he was in New York!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV reminiscing with Geraldo Rivera at Cipriani’s about an evening long ago with Salvador Dali!

You’ll see lots more when the video is posted, in the meantime I just wanted to give props to Oui 2, and Rob and David, for their amazing accomplishment!

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Al Martin To Open Third Comedy Club in NYC

It’s hard enough to own one comedy club in NYC and make it successful. Two is pretty amazing, but three is completely off the charts. Meet Al Martin the guy who soon will be opening this third comedy club, the Greenwich Village Comedy Club, somewhere on MacDougal Street.

That will mean he has New York Comedy Club on 24th Street between 2nd and 3rd avenue, Broadway Comedy Club on West 53rd Street, which is almost like three clubs in one anyway, with The World, and the upstairs and downstairs rooms going constantly, and now Greenwich Village Comedy.

I have a feeling Al won’t stop until he has a room in every part of the city. The Soho Comedy Club, The Turtle Bay area Comedy Club, … well actually he did have a club in Turtle Bay!

I remember when New York Comedy Club was around 52nd Street and 2nd avenue, and I’d come by to see the variety of shows he had. I recall meeting the late Eric Douglas there, the comedian brother of Michael Douglas, who died very young.

One of the things that Al prides himself on is the variety of the shows he offers. For instance coming up on June 3rd, “The Big Brown Comedy Show” hosted by Aasif Manvi from The Daily Show. Indian comedy is definitely on the rise, as evidenced by the success of Russell Peters, Aziz Ansari, and Kal Penn who plays Kumar in the wildly successful Harold and Kumar films.

The legendary J.J. Walker will be hosting a show there at the end of June, and one night recently, Vinny Parco from the TV show Parco P.I. was there hosting a show called “Naughty Girls”. Despite everything else he does, and with all the reality shows he’s planning, Vinny always makes time to perform comedy, a great love of his.

Vinny Parco of Parco P.I. fame hosting the “Naughty Girls” show at Broadway Comedy Club!

And true to the name of his show he brought a bunch of very naughty girls to do stand-up.

Tatiana, one of Parco’s “Naughty Girls” comics onstage at Broadway Comedy Club!

It was a very fun show including Judy Cianciotto, Maureen Langan, and Jen Raumero!

Vinny Parco with one of his “naughtiest” girls on stage at Broadway Comedy Club!

Al is a funny comic in his own right, so now he doesn’t have to audition at any other clubs. (LOL) He’ll have three stages with which to indulge his passion! Good luck Al. Can’t wait to start hanging out there!

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Prayers and Condolences for Ardie Fuqua

Hands down there’s no nicer guy than Ardie Fuqua and no one who loved his kids more than Ardie Fuqua. What a shock to hear that he lost his 19 year old son Jamal in a car accident a day ago. How does anyone make sense of something like that?

Jeffrey Gurian with Ardie Fuqua in happier times. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ardie!

The last time I saw Ardie and Jamal was last March 31st, at Chris Rock’s The Motherf**ker With The Hat! I was there with Richie Tienken and Ardie and Jamal sat right in front of us. He was so proud he could bring his son with him to see Chris and afterwards we all went up to Chris’ dressing room to congratulate him. Ardie was beaming as he introduced Richie and I to his son. He couldn’t have been prouder and rightfully so. He was a beautiful kid. Very respectful, and just like his Dad.

Most people who experience a tragedy of this magnitude are allowed to grieve, but comedians are in that rarefied place where no matter what happens in their lives they still have to go out and make other people laugh. It’s what they do. It’s all they know how to do. It’s in their DNA.

I pray that God gives Ardie the strength! My deepest and sincerest condolences to you Ardie in your terrible loss!

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Todd Barry, Kurt Braunholer at Broadway Comedy

On any night at Broadway Comedy you’re liable to be surprised as to who drops in to perform. Recently both David Spade and Steven Wright stopped by and thrilled the audience with a surprise performance.

Dan Soder hosting the show at Broadway Comedy!

On the recent night I stopped by, the very funny Dan Soder was hosting, and had a line-up of funny local comics like Orlando Baxter who I had never seen before but offered his opinion on fire drills in schools. How often does it happen that there’s a fire in a school. He thinks it would be better to have “Hey, that M-F’er’s got a dun drill.” That would probably be more effective!

Orlando Baxter telling the audience about fire drills and what other things strike him funny!

Or Jeff Wesselschmidt, who once he got over his obsession with what I refer to as bathroom type material, had this comment on girls with big butts: “If a girl has a big butt, ,she has to know it cause guys who like big butts are generally not stingy with compliments!”

Jeff Wesselschmidt onstage at Broadway Comedy!

The always popular Jon Fisch came out and killed it for the crowd, but it felt like he was doing a longer set than usual, and it turned out that he was. Whoever was supposed to light him seems to have gone on vacation in the middle of Jon’s set, so being the pro that he is, he just kept coming up with more material, until finally someone noticed, and brought up the next comic! The audience had no idea, but Jon and I had a good laugh about it!

Jon Fisch killing it onstage at Broadway Comedy in a “hyper-extended” set! (LOL)

What Jon didn’t realize was that I caught him standing in what I can only describe as some sort of “ballet position”, which is something I have to ask him about! He seemed very comfortable in that position, so maybe he studied ballet at some point in his past!

Jon Fisch in “resting position”, or some sort of ballet stance onstage at Broadway Comedy! Nice going Jon! (LOL)

Kurt Braunholer, who teaches improv at The Pit, which is also where he co-hosted Hot Tub Variety Show, is another crowd pleaser who still performs with Kristen Schaal, a talented comic and Daily Show correspondent! They host a show together out in Brooklyn, and also do a show together on Sirus Radio called “High Five With Kurt and Kristen.”

Kurt Braunholer performing directly into the mic at Broadway Comedy Club!

The highlight for me was seeing Todd Barry who I don’t get to see perform all that often, but who I always enjoy. His laid-back understated delivery just makes me laugh out loud, which I don’t often do. If most comics had to face an audience filled with people like me, they’d be very unhappy.

I do a lot of smiling, but it takes a lot to make me laugh out loud. Not because I don’t want to, but I like to let it just happen because I can’t help it!

Todd Barry in a surprise guest spot at Broadway Comedy Club!

Todd makes me laugh out loud! His combination of sarcasm, and clever punchlines do it for me.

You’ve seen Todd in Louie, on Sarah Silverman, (not exactly on HER, but on her show!), in the 2nd season of Adult Swim’s “Delocated”, and in films like “The Wrestler.” I try and see him whenever I can. I think he tours a lot and appears in festivals occasionally!

But it was a great night at Broadway Comedy, and it just shows that you never know who’s liable to pop in!

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Red Carpet Video of Comedy Central’s Comedy Awards 2012 Plus Winners

I was covering the red carpet of the 2nd annual Comedy Central Comedy Awards Show 2012, and it was a star-studded event, with comedy legends like Robin Williams and Don Rickles, plus acting legends like Robert DeNiro, who presented Don Rickles with the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence.

From Julie Klausner who hosted the red carpet to Colin Quinn, John Oliver, Kristen Schaal, Randall from The Honeybadger film that got 43 million hits, The Gregory Brothers, (including Sarah, the hottest of the Gregory Brothers), Jessica Williams, the new “hot cutie”,and youngest correspondent on The Daily Show, Jim O’Heir from Parks and Recreation, Hannibal Buress, and so many more, plus private scenes from the press room, it’s all here in the following video!

So check it out right here:

Louis CK was the evening’s big winner with 4 trophies, including the awards for Best Sketch/Alternative Series,Best Stand-Up Tour and Best Comedy Special of the Year. Robin Williams was presented with the Stand-Up Icon Award by Patton Oswalt, and Don Rickles received the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence from Robert DeNiro.

The complete list of winners is here:
Comedy Special Of The Year: Louis C.K., Louis C.K.: Live At The Beacon Theater
Stand-Up Tour: Louis C.K.
Sketch/Alternative Comedy Series: Louie
Comedy Directing, TV: Louie
Comedy Series: Parks and Recreation
Comedy Film: Bridesmaids
Animated Comedy Series: Archer
Late-Night Comedy Series: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Comedy Writing, TV: 30 Rock
Comedy Actor, TV: Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Comedy Actress, TV: Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Comedy Actress, Film: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Comedy Director, Film: Paul Feig, Bridesmaids
Comedy Screenplay: Bridesmaids
Club Comic: Hannibal Buress
Viral Original: Songify This, “Winning- A Song By Charlie Sheen”
Stand-Up Icon: Robin Williams
The Johnny Carson Award For Comedic Excellence: Don Rickles

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Jon Stewart’s Daily Show Wins Best Late Night Comedy Show For 2nd Year In A Row

Ed Helms presented the award for Best Late Night Comedy Show after telling people he drank a whole bottle of Tequila, mixed it with four tabs of acid, and just killed Robin Williams backstage with a sword because he thought he was a dragon.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Ed Helms at The Comedy Awards 2012!

The nominees were The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Late Show With David Letterman, and Real Time With Bill Maher.

When The Daily Show was announced as the winner, the whole crew hit the stage and Jon decided to let the correspondents speak. It was Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, John Oliver, and then Jon took the mic back! It didn’t turn out the way he expected! See what happened right here!

http://www.thecomedyawards.com/video/413618/preview—the-daily-show-wins-best-late-night-comedy-series?xrs=pr

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Robin Williams Receives Stand-Up Icon Award at Comedy Awards 2012-Tonight at 9/8c

I hadn’t seen Robin Williams in so many years. We met back in the days when Columbus Cafe was a popular hangout. I was reminiscing recently with Danny Aiello about that place and he told me a story of a night when Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Bruce Willis, Sly Stallone, Mike Tyson and more were all there together!

It was that kind of place, and Robin used to come by as well!

Robin Williams accepting the Stand-Up Icon Award at the Comedy Awards 2012!

But I first met Robin the same way I met Billy Crystal, through Jack Rollins, the legendary manager who managed Billy, Robin, and Woody Allen in those days! We met up in Jack’s office cause Jack thought I was funny and wanted to help me.

Years later I wrote a joke that Robin used at the Friars Roast of Richard Pryor. The joke was “The first time I met Richard Pryor was in the steam room of The Friars Club, and he was standing naked in front of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and I thought he was Jabbar’s c**k! ( Huge laugh!)

“And then he said “Hello” to me and I thought to myself, I always knew Black guys had huge schlongs, but I never knew they could speak!” And the HUGE laugh got even HUGER!(If there even is such a word!)

At the Comedy Awards, Robin was given the Stand-Up Icon Award by comedian/actor Patton Oswalt, who called Robin an “explosion” and “a machine-gun”, which are both appropriate descriptions of Robin’s delivery.

He hits the stage like an explosion, and shoots lines out like a machine gun. I’ve seen some early rare footage of him at The Comic Strip from back in the late 70’s and early 80’s and he was the same back then!

Here’s the clip of him receiving the award and him saying he’s ” one of the luckiest f**ks in the business!”

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Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation Wins For Best Comedy Series-Tonight at 9 on Comedy Central

I remember back around 1996, when UCB first came to New York, seeing them perform at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in the West Bank Cafe, on West 42nd Street, and it was Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.

I understand the original group also included Ali Farahnakian, who went off on his own and opened The PIT, where my photo was hanging on the wall of the Men’s Room! One summer day, a guy who turned out to be Ali asked if he could take my photo, cause he thought I had “an interesting look!”

I didn’t think any more about it until one night I was at The PIT in the Men’s Room, standing there taking care of business, when all of a sudden I glanced to my right and saw myself smiling back at me! Right at eye level! It was shocking to say the least, … but funny!

It was the photo he had taken of me, in a line of other photos of people who he thought looked interesting, but mine was right in line with where I was standing, and it just struck me so funny.

The PIT has since moved to West 24th Street, and when I was there I forgot to check the Men’s Room to see if I was still up! (LOL)

Anyway, even in the earliest days, Amy Poehler stood out as a performer. Maybe it was because she was the only girl with three guys, and she was blonde, but I think it was something more than that. I think even in those earliest of days her talent stuck out. I think she may have even had a chipped front tooth in those days, (figures I’d notice that! LOL), but she went on to become one of the most successful women in TV, and that’s incredible. It makes the early memory that much more exciting!

Plus she married Will Arnett and looks fantastic now. Success tends to agree with people!

Anyway, her show, Parks and Recreation, was up for Best Comedy Series at the Comedy Central Comedy Awards 2012, airing tonight. Rob Riggle was the presenter, and it was up against 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Happy Endings, and Modern Family, … all heavy hitters, … and it won!

This little video clip is of the cast’s acceptance speech. Later in the week I’ll be posting more video of them in the press room, but it was Amy Poehler, creator Mike Schur, Adam Scott, Retta, and Jim O’Heir!

(L-R) Mike Schur, Amy Poehler, Retta, Adam Scott, Jim O’Heir accepting their award at Comedy Awards 2012!

Check it out right here and make sure to tune in tonight at 9 P.M. on Comedy Central to watch the show!

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Red Carpet of 2nd Annual Comedy Awards Packed With Stars

I knew the 2nd Annual Comedy Awards from Comedy Central would be exciting, from the experience I had last year at the first annual awards, but it surpassed my expectations.

The beautifully designed Comedy Awards 2012 red carpet!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV ready to do battle on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

Exec Produced by legendary producer Don Mischer, directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller, and with a 32 member Board of Directors that included Brad Grey, Adam McKay, James Dixon, Jon Stewart, Sandy Wernick, Steve Levine, and Rory Rosegarten, you had to know it would be a star-studded event.

The red carpet was staged before the event, at The Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th and 8th, and thanks to Aileen Budow, Eve Kenny and their team it worked spectacularly smoothly.

Everyone went out of their way to be helpful, and steer the talent towards the waiting microphones except some of the talent didn’t make it all the way down the line!

The lovely and talented Julie Klausner, who was the host of the red carpet for the Comedy Awards 2012!

Multi-faceted actress/author/podcaster/comedywriter-performer Julie Klausner was the host of the red carpet, and she was superb! She just lights up in front of the camera! Her first book, “I Don’t Care About Your Band”, was released in February 2010 by Gotham/Penguin Books, and by July 2010, it was announced that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Production Company, Gary Sanchez Productions, optioned the book for HBO.

Actress Lizzy Caplan who I met at a Gen Art Festival a couple of years back is attached to star and co-produce.

In October 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that NBC had picked up a pilot about a woman’s father that dates her high-school nemesis. It was based on Sue Margolis’s novel, Apocolipstick, and Julie is supposed to write and executive produce the series. I hope she has a part in it for ME!!! (LOL)

Julie Klausner interviewing Maya Rudolph on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

She’s also written for Best Week Ever and The Awl. And she came over to say “Hi” and did such a fun interview with me! When we were done the camera crew suggested we talk about our hair, so we did another little thing together. I will be posting that soon as well! ( Really, … I will! LOL)

Even event photographer Larry Fink came over just to take a photo of my hair! I was wondering why he was shooting so close to me, and then he told me he had taken a shot of my hair!

Julie’s podcast, “How Was Your Week” was featured on Rolling Stone’s 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment, so maybe I could be on that too! (LOL)

I got to talk to several of the presenters and nominees for the awards, several of whom won, and even Doug Herzog the Pres. of MTV Networks.

A very trim-looking Doug Herzog making his opening remarks at the Comedy Awards, 2012!

I also unexpectedly ran into my old friend Noel Casler who was the Talent Logistics Coordinator for the event, sometimes known as the “talent wrangler” whose job it is to make sure all the creative elements are in place and that the talent like Robert DeNiro, Chevy Chase, and Jon Stewart all get where they need to be, and get everything they need to have.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with “talent wrangler” Noel Casler at the Comedy Awards 2012!

I started the interviews with my buddy Colin Quinn,and we agreed that if he lost, we’d drown our sorrows across the street in Dunkin’ Donuts, but we didn’t wind up going, cause neither of us wanted to gain the weight. Nobody really loses at these things anyway, because it’s an honor just to be nominated, and Colin knows that everyone loves him, and his Jerry Seinfeld directed show “Long Story Short”. Colin is one of the few comics to actually star on Broadway, not once but twice!

I also got to speak to John Oliver, and Kristen Schaal who were representing The Daily Show, and I kidded John by asking him why Jon Stewart was leaving The Daily Show! He got a big kick out of that! (LOL)

(L-R) John Oliver, Kristen Schaal, and Jeffrey Gurian sharing a laugh on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

I also spoke with Reggie Watts who was so comfortable wearing whatever he was wearing on his head that he didn’t even respond when I asked him what it was. He answered about something else as if he didn’t notice he was wearing an elegant looking “Kafiyeh” of some kind draped across his head!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Reggie Watts and his elaborate headscarf on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

Then Hannibal Buress stopped by to chat and he wound up winning for Best Club Comic, being up against heavy hitters like Ted Alexandro, Pete Holmes, Anthony Jeselnik, John Mulaney, Kumail Nanjiani, Chelsea Peretti who I just ran into in LA when I was out there appearing in sketches for Nick Kroll’s new show, Amy Schumer, Moshe Kasher, and Rory Scovel.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Chelsea Peretti in LA at The Comedy Store!

Randall “The “Honeybadger Guy”, as he’s known, was there, and to be honest, I hadn’t hear about his film before I met him. That didn’t stop him from hugging me like we were old friends, and he’s really genuine and very sweet. He hugs everyone he meets and he means it. I liked that about him. He seemed very sincere as you’ll see when I edit the video I keep claiming to have! (LOL)

His video about the Honeybadger has over 43 million hits so far, and when you watch it, you might be tempted to think to yourself, ” I could do that.” The difference is that he DID do it! He said he knew he was onto something when he got 1 million hits the first week it was up.

I also spoke to The Gregory Brothers who won for their viral original “Songify This,”Winning-A Song By Charlie Sheen”!

Louis CK won so many awards, that by the 4th one, he was embarrassed to get up and accept them. He even won for Best Sketch Series which he said his show wasn’t! (LOL) Louis happens to be very humble despite all of his well-deserved success!

Louis CK accepting one of his four awards at the Comedy Awards 2012!

A lot of the cast of the Judd Apatow produced hit “Bridesmaids” was there including Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, who unfortunately did not do the red carpet, (or at least the piece I was on! LOL), Wendi McLendon-Covey, and director Paul Feig, and they won for Best Comedy Film!

Best Animated Series went to Archer and a lot of that cast was there including Chris Parnell, and the funny and gorgeous Aisha Tyler who I met at The Friars Club event honoring Brett Ratner. We were supposed to do a video interview but for whatever reason it didn’t happen. At least I got to see her in the Press Room!

Best Comedy Writing went to 30 Rock, and Best Comedy Series went to Parks and Recreation, which was represented by creator Mike Schur, Amy Poehler, Jim O’Heir, Retta, and a few others I wasn’t able to identify!

The cast of Parks and Rec with Amy Poehler second from the left!

This is a little Comedy Central clip of them accepting their award!

The Daily Show, which won for Best Late-Night Comedy Series, was well represented and besides John Oliver and Kristen Schaal, I got to speak to Jessica Williams the newest and youngest correspondent who’s still in college and is really so energetic and soooo cute! She was really excited to be there!

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show onstage during his appearance at the Comedy Awards 2012!

Robin Williams came by briefly and shook hands with me. He was presented with the Stand-Up Icon Award, and seemed genuinely grateful to be in the room with all the young talent. He specifically said he was a big fan of Patton Oswalt and would love to work with him.

I was surrounded by friends on the red carpet. On one side of me was Clayton Fletcher and Ben Rosenfeld working as a team, and on the other side was radio guru, and Exec. Producer Jake Ray from Emmis Communications who works with Hot 97, 98.7 Kiss, and Loud Digital Network among others!

And after the red carpet we went to the Press Room where we had food and drinks and got to watch the show on a huge screen TV. Then when the winners were announced a lot of them made their way down to the Press Room for further questions. That was a great new innovation, but unfortunately while we were interviewing the winners, they had to turn down the volume on the TV, so we were missing the show. With all of our technology there’s still no way to do both! (LOL)

One of the highlights for me was running into Ed Helms as we were leaving. Ed is such a great guy and a big talent. I had recently seen him in LA while on the Nick Kroll set, since he was shooting sketches with Nick as well, so we had a chance to talk, and when he saw me this night he asked his companion to take a shot of us. (Not “AT” us, “OF” us! LOL) Then that gave me the opportunity to whip out my own camera and ask her to take a shot of us too!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with renowned actor Ed Helms of Hangover fame!

All I’ll tell you about the show is that Chris Rock was the first presenter for Best Comedy Special of the Year, and when he read the names of the nominees, he prefaced it by saying that three were funny, one used to be funny, and one was NEVER funny and then said that he wasn’t kidding! The nominees were Louis CK, Norm MacDonald, Patton Oswalt, Colin Quinn, and Daniel Tosh, and then Chris noted they were all White and said, ” I guess Kevin Hart didn’t do anything this year, huh?”

First presenter Chris Rock giving the award for Best Comedy Special of the Year!

The show’s climax was the presentation by Robert DeNiro, of the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence, which went to Don Rickles, and they showed a fantastic compilation of his TV and film appearances with Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin among others.

The legendary Don Rickles was presented with the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence!

When the video is edited I’ll write more. Just be ready to watch it on May 6th, at 9 P.M. on Comedy Central and you’ll see all these fabulously talented people for yourself!

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Cipha Sounds and Tony Roberts Birthday Show at Carolines

Cipha Sounds is one of the busiest guys in comedy. He produces about a show a minute these days. At least it seems that way. Every time I check my e-mail there’s another Cipha Sounds show and they’re all good!

As soon as he ends one show he starts another, and for a guy who gets up at 3 A.M. every morning to do his radio thing on Hot 97, that’s not easy!

Cipha Sounds, Ruperto Vanderpool,( the Dominican Tupac !), and Esau McGraw spinning webs backstage at Carolines!

But I knew I had to catch his birthday show. I recently shot a cool video with Ciph at the Comedy Juice show at Gotham, where he finally explained to me what “Don’t Get Gassed” means cause that’s the name of his show. It’s the “Don’t Get Gassed Comedy Series.”

It’s an old school hip-hop expression for don’t get carried away with yourself. He was once interviewing Russell Simmons and DJ Funkmaster Flex yelled out in the background during the interview, “Hey Cipha, don’t get gassed. DON’T GET GASSED!”

And Cipha liked the expression so much, he used it for the name of his show. In the interview he told me about the birthday show, so I knew I had to show up and support!

It was a great line-up of talent, and I got to meet a couple of new guys I had only heard about, but had never seen before, Trixx, Esau McGraw, and Tony Roberts.

Cipha opened the show, and he does a round up of all the races in attendance. He salutes each one in their own dialect, and he does a very good “White” voice, which he explains by saying, ” I speak job interview!”

Then he goes around the crowd asking interesting questions. To one couple who he asked if they were married, and who said “yes”, he said, ” Black married or legally married?” That’s hysterical! He was like, ” How many years are you Black married for?”

He asked another guy, ” What part of Queens are you from, … Riker’s Island? (For those of you from out of town, Riker’s Island is a prison! LOL)

Then Trixx came out, and he’s from Toronto. Funny dude! He had this advice for White people: “Stop inviting Black people to go camping. We don’t wanna go!” And it’s true, you never see Black people camping.

You also don’t see them white water rafting, or bungee jumping, and other stupid dangerous things like that! Only bored White people do those dangerous things.

Andrew Schulz, the token White comic, with Tony Roberts backstage at Carolines! At least he’s wearing a backwards baseball cap!

Thanks to comedic affirmative action, they had a white comic on the show too, and it was Andrew Schulz. He was a big hit, and talked about his three female roommates, and how much hair he finds around the apartment. “It’s like living with three cats”, he says!

He went on to say, ” I don’t know how men go bald. It’s women that are losing all the hair.” He went into the bathroom and pulled what looked like a wolf out of the drain! (LOL)

On Mexicans: Mexicans are hard working people. Just to prove it to you, are there any Mexican’s here tonight? You see, they’re all working!”

People say that Mexicans steal our jobs. If you were going to steal a job, wouldn’t you steal a good job? What do they do, walk into a kitchen with a gun and say “Give me those dishes! This dishwashing job is mine!”

Then I got to see Esau McGraw. I knew I was going to like Esau even before I saw him from what Cipha told me in the video I shot with him the week before. Esau also had a great singing voice and he brought the audience to it’s knees with laughter. He had them gasping for breath, he was that strong!

He told of his uncle, who I think lives in Florida and lost 315 pounds, but now has all that extra skin. He has so much extra skin, when he goes swimming he glides around the pool like a stingray! (LOL) Great visual!

He also just found out that his step-Dad is his real Dad, and he was like, ” All those Sundays I sat on the porch waiting for you to come visit me, and you were here all the time?”

Esau is a Biblical name after the story of Esau and Jacob. I think their father was blind, and Esau was very hairy, and tried to steal his brother’s birthright. In other words, he tried to trick his father into giving him some land that was meant for his brother, but when his father felt his arm and felt how hairy it was he realized he was being tricked! So Esau McGraw is such a cool name. It’s almost like a Biblical cartoon name!

Ruperto Vanderpool, who is always a killer performer, and is so talented, came out as a surprise and did a character piece as “Dominican Tupac”. That man can dance, and has abs of steel! The audience loved it and they had no rehearsal at all. He and Cipha put it together right before the show, and I was backstage with them and saw the whole thing. They just put it together on the spot!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with his son Tony Roberts backstage at Carolines! Can you see the resemblance???

Tony Roberts from Detroit was the closer. After we met and kicked it a bit we found out we were both friends with Frank Holder from Humor Mill Magazine, who hopefully will be posting this article! (LOL)

Tony came out singing this really funny song, which I think he wrote called “You Need Your Ass Beat”, and most songs that people write are lame, but this one wasn’t. It was actually funny the way he did it, and I think it’s on his new DVD, “Bitch Where You Been!” I’m not even sure if he was kidding or not with that, but I guess I can always check it out on Google!

He is so high energy, it’s not common to see someone work a stage like that. He almost makes Chris Rock look lethargic! (LOL)

I laughed my ass off when he mentioned a comedy porn he was working on called ” Not So Fast, Her Tooth Is Loose!” That is hysterical!

But the best part was after the show in the dressing room. A video guy from Hot 97 came in to ask Tony to do a “drop”, (a promo for the station), and right in the middle of it, he pulled me into the frame, and said I was his Dad, and that he was so happy to see me! I can’t wait to get a copy of it and show all you guys!

Needless to say, I had a great time, and I hope to see these guys again soon! (So if it’s needless to say, why did I say it??? LOL)

As a matter of fact, we all had so much fun that we all hung out after the show right outside the club, and talked comedy till my meter ran out and I had to run, cause in NY a ticket is $130. bucks! And that’s really CRAZY!

For more on Cipha Sounds see the previous Comedy Matters post – http://wp.me/p1pHIm-X5

Posted in: Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Red Carpet Events

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