Posts Tagged Buddy Fitzpatrick

Ted Alexandro Packs ‘Em In At Gotham Comedy Club

Those in the know love Ted Alexandro. The man is just so clever. I’m in awe of Ted’s delivery. I was laughing with him about it the other night. If he was any more relaxed onstage he’d pull up his blanket and go to sleep!

Ted Alexandro with Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV at The Comic Strip with Ted’s photo peeking out over his left shoulder!! Coincidence? No one actually knows!

Sometimes he pauses so long, I wonder, ” Will the man ever speak again?” And he makes it work, because it’s who he is. Most comics, me included are afraid of the silence. Ted welcomes it! He has no fear! He knows his stuff is funny, and you’ll just have to wait for it until he decides to share it with you! (LOL)

It’s a sign of supreme confidence, and I always admire that in a person! On top of that Ted is a super nice guy! I was happy to see such a packed crowd for him at Gotham. His reputation must have preceeded him, because the main room at Gotham is pretty big, and it was full.

Sherry Davey was the host, and the audience not only loves her material, but they love her English accent. Her business card says,”I’m not Mary Poppins” and believe me she isn’t! Mary Poppins would have passed away if she heard some of the language that Sherry uses so elegantly in her act! It all sounds good with an English accent!

Sherry Davey onstage hosting the show at Gotham Comedy Club!

I couldn’t believe her youngest child is 9 already, because I remember very clearly going to watch her perform downtown when she was still with the late Marty Fischer, and she was pregnant. So that was ten years ago! That’s crazy!

Buddy Fitzpatrick was bemoaning getting older and said he took a fall recently. He said when you fall as a kid, you say to yourself, ” Gee I hope nobody saw me!” But when you fall as an adult you say to yourself, ” Gee, I hope someone saw me! I need help getting up!”

Buddy Fitzpatrick with headliner Ted Alexandro waiting to go on at Gotham Comedy Club!

He also said he had more money in high school than he does now! Buddy Fitzpatrick is a reliably funny act. He always brings it!

Mike Yard is another dependably funny act. His style goes well with Ted Alexandro. Very laid back and relaxed! It’s a product of many years of stage time.

Mike Yard doing his thing onstage at Gotham Comedy Club! He has such an angelic look he makes Kyle Grooms look gangsta!

And when Ted took the stage he spent the first few minutes on a guy in the audience who was facing away from the stage. The guy took the time to get good seats and then sat not facing the stage. And Ted milked it for every laugh, and there were plenty!

He even did something I had never seen him do before! He imitated a Walkman slowing down when it needed batteries, while singing the song “Don’t Stop Believing.” It was very funny.

He wondered why Classical music has no song titles, but yet they do tell you the key it was written in, as if you were planning to play along at home! (LOL)

He also says he would never hit a woman, but he’s been provoked to the point where he says to himself, ” This is where some guys would hit a woman!”

And when he talks about the term “sexual preference” I think it’s one of his most clever lines. He says he doesn’t believe in the term sexual preference, as if it’s a true preference. He explains it like this, ” I prefer direct flights, but if there’s a layover somewhere and that’s the only flight available, I’ll still take the flight. But if I book a flight to “Vagina”, and they intend to make a stopover in “Men’s Ass” I’m cancelling the trip!” That is hysterical!

And I don’t know what’s funnier, the thought of having two cities called “Vagina” and “Men’s Ass” or the creativity to put those two thoughts together in a sentence!

And on a joke that didn’t get the response he expected he said,”That joke’s not for everybody. Just think of it like the specials in a restaurant. You don’t have to order them, but you do have to listen to them!”

And that’s why Ted Alexandro gets a packed room! Cause he’s that good!

P.S. Ted has also been opening for Craig Ferguson lately, and touring parts of the country with him on a huge tour bus! They’ve been in places like Phoenix, Tucson, California, and San Diego, and sometimes drive all night to get to their next destination. Since they’re both kind of low-key guys, Ted says instead of sex, drugs and rock and roll, it’s more like naps, multi-vitamins, and light reading! He’ll be performing on Craig’s show this month!

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Sebastian Maniscalco With Sold Out Show at Gotham

The packed room that came to see Sebastian Maniscalco last night at Gotham Comedy Club got an extra little treat, a surprise performance by Jim Gaffigan. After MC Buddy Fitzpatrick’s great warming up of the crowd, which is a rare talent as anyone who’s ever had to warm up a cold crowd can attest to, Jim came on and killed it for ten minutes.

Sebastian Maniscalco destroying the audience on stage at Gotham Comedy Club in NYC!

I’ll never forget when I interviewed Jim for my book, he told me he suffered with severe stage fright for the first six years of his career. You’d certainly never know it and I think of that a lot before I go on stage when I’m feeling a little anxious! You never know what you say to someone that resonates with them and has an affect on their lives.

Jim’s favorite topic seems to revolve around food, and he did a lot of material about McDonalds. Like about how good McDonald’s fries are, but if you try and reheat them in the microwave they become packing peanuts! He even comments on that one loose fry it’s so exciting to find at the bottom of the bag. He calls it “the bonus fry!” It’s always long and you find yourself wondering, ” How did I miss you?”

(L-R) Sebastian Maniscalco, Jim Gaffigan and Gotham owner Chris Mazzilli at Gotham Comedy Club!

He commented on hotels providing stationery, because like me, the moment he checks into a hotel the first thing he likes to do is write a letter!

Next up was Rajiv Satyal, an Indian comic from LA. Russell Peters gave a lot of Indian guys the courage to show they can be funny! (LOL) Rajiv talked about how different ethnicities mispronounce certain sounds in English, like the Asians with “R’s” and “L’s” and the Indians with “V’s” and “W’s”. He went into a Subway looking for a healthy sandwich and the Indian guy behind the counter offered him a “Weggie”, ( pronounced Wedgie!) I think I laughed out loud at that one! Great visual of a guy behind the counter grabbing a customer by the underwear!

Rajiv Satyal on stage at Gotham proving more than one Indian guy can be funny!

Then Sebastian took the stage. The first time I met him was on the Kandy Kruise from LA to Mexico. Five hundred guys and 1500 girls all from Maxim, Playboy and Penthouse. It was sick. and he was one of the “Playboy comics”. Just to get people just to show up for the show at all was a big accomplishment when there’s that many gorgeous girls to look at!

I saw him again this past July in Montreal when he was on Russell Peters’ show “Best of the Fest”, which Russell described as just another night of comedy in LA! (LOL) We were hanging out backstage after the show, where I took the photo below.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Sebastian Maniscalco backstage with Russell Peters in Montreal!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV backstage with Russell Peters at his show in Montreal, “Best of the Fest”!

The thing about Sebastian is that he makes comedy “hip”! Some comics play off their “lameness”, but Sebastian is cool. He slips into his Jersey Shore Italian voice, when he’s talking about the dancing and meeting girls on the club scene, and almost becomes Vinnie Barbarino, for those of you who remember John Travolta in those days. he’s so relaxed, and very physical which I never expect him to be. He dances around and often acts out his material, which is great! Most of the time, I stand there like I’m nailed to the stage! (LOL)

He started out talking about Customer Service at the airport, and how the people who work there look upset that you even showed up to fly. And what if your bag happens to be four pounds over the weight limit? They make you take four pounds of clothing out? And where are you supposed to put it? In your carry-on! It’s still going on the plane!!!

That actually happened to me, but it was about ten pounds I had to take out. Unlike most people, I don’t often travel with a clothing scale, so I’m guessing on the weight of each thing while people are walking by and I’m frantically grabbing things out of my bag and mentally weighing them! Trust me, it’s only funny afterwards!

He’s always busy, so he wonders about these people that have the time to demonstrate in the street, or to show up every day to follow a trial like the Michael Jackson trial. ” Whatta youse people do when there’s no trial? You got nothin’ else to do?

He even talks about “kids these days” without sounding like a comic from the Ed Sullivan days. If his father took him and his family out to eat there was no such thing as saying you didn’t like the food. “Chicken and broccoli? One look from his father and he’d be like, ” Don’t worry, I’ll get it down.” These days kids complain they don’t like the menu, and a Mom might say something like, “Timmy, is that a good choice?”

But when he talked about his Dad not being too tech savvy and he was trying to guide him onto the internet over the phone, that was hysterical! Especially when his Dad asked what to do with the foot pedal! He had put the mouse on the floor trying to work it with his foot! Sebastian had to tell him, ” It’s not a sewing machine Dad, it’s a computer!”

I hope I get to see him again soon! He was really great!

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Jimmy Fallon In Rare Stand-Up Appearance at Gotham Comedy Club

The sold-out crowd at Gotham got themselves a real treat, … 2 headliners for the price of one! Bobby Slayton, known as “the pitbull of comedy”, (for good reason), packs them in on his own, but combined with Jimmy Fallon opening the show, it was a guaranteed sell-out!

I had just seen Bobby in Montreal the week before at the Just For Laughs Festival, where he also performed. It’s the biggest comedy festival in the world, and needless to say a very prestigious place to perform.
(So if it’s needless to say, then why did I say it??? LOL )

Bobby Slayton, the "pitbull of comedy", on stage at Gotham Comedy Club!

Even he was excited about performing with Jimmy, and he was the one who told me they’d be on the same bill. Turns out Jimmy was excited to perform with Bobby as well, plus crowd pleaser Buddy Fitzpatrick was the MC, so it was really a guaranteed success.

As soon as I got back to New York, I called Chris Mazzilli the owner of Gotham, and told him to please save me my usual table. Chris advised that I get there early because everyone knew it would be packed.

It’s been 2 1/2 years since Jimmy took over Late Night from Conan O’Brien, and the show is up for 3 Emmy’s. Jimmy is ecstatic, but one of the most humble guys you could ever meet. As well as one of the most talented. He not only does stand-up, and plays the guitar and harmonica, but his characters are amazing, as are his impressions. It’s no wonder that he got SNL when he did. He’s one of those rare “triple-threat plus” guys, ( more like quintuple plus! ) but he cautioned me that he doesn’t dance. I’m pretty sure he could if he tried!

He does singing impressions of Neil Young and Bob Dylan that are so good you really think it was them. And then he did an impression of every comic who ever performed at Gotham starting with Jerry Seinfeld, who he once had to follow as a young comedian.

I went to both the Friday night and Saturday night shows. That wasn’t the original plan. I was originally supposed to interview him after his Friday night set, but he had to leave immediately after the show, so we decided to do it on Saturday night instead. I got the unexpected benefit of being able to see him twice! And Robin Williams showed up at the Saturday show, came down to visit Jimmy, and then saw Jimmy do an impression of him.

At the last minute my DP Sean Mannion wasn’t able to show up, so I was left to my own devices in terms of filming. Everyone I called was busy, so I wound up at the show myself with my camera equipment, wondering how it would all work out.

Jeffrey Gurian and Jimmy Fallon backstage after Jimmy's killer set at Gotham Comedy Club on West 23rd Street, in NYC.

After Jimmy’s set he invited me down to the Green Room backstage, where he introduced me to his lovely wife Nancy, who just happens to be a TV producer. Problem solved! Nancy was kind enough to film our interview.

Jimmy was so gracious. I only expected to do about 5 minutes and he gave me 22. Foolishly I was using a tape that only had 23 minutes left on it, so The Universe was watching over me, because when we finished, the camera was blinking on 0:01 minutes.

He shared some great stories with me which you’ll see in the upcoming video, and they included how he auditioned for Lorne Michaels for SNL, and was told by everyone there from the make-up person to the director, not to worry because Lorne never laughs. But when Jimmy did his Adam Sandler impression, Lorne laughed and put his head in his hands. I told Jimmy, he was probably trying to hide the fact that he was laughing or it would spoil his reputation! Then Jimmy and I laughed! (LOL)

Stay tuned for the video coming shortly!

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