I had only seen Tom Segura perform once, cause he’s an LA guy, so I went down to catch him headlining at Gotham, and I was glad I did. He’s really funny, which is a big plus when you’re in comedy! I can’t emphasize it enough, how important that is! (LOL)
Tom Segura onstage at Gotham Comedy Club in NYC!
I was very glad to see Marion Grodin MC’ing the show. She’s really great and a consummate pro!
Marion Grodin making a point while MC’ing the Tom Segura show at Gotham!
Marion used to produce shows all over town, sometimes with Danny Cohen down at The Duplex, on 7th Avenue, and always invited me to perform, except in those days I wasn’t as experienced as I am now, and was often reluctant to go up on big shows.
Marion Grodin and Jeffrey Gurian down at The Duplex in 2001!
I remember one in particular with Adam Ferrara at the old Gotham. I agonized over whether to do it or not, and wound up not going up. I wish she was producing shows now, cause now I’m ready for anything! (LOL)
Marion Grodin with her Dad, the legendary Charles Grodin!
Marion was followed by Wali Collins, which as I’m writing it sounds very weird. He followed her on stage, not like on the street, like a stalker or something. What I meant to say was that he was the next act. Wali is always enjoyable and a real crowd pleaser.
Tom Segura has a very interesting delivery. Very relaxed and very laid-back, yet very matter-of-fact!
He started out by saying he recently did the fattest thing he ever did, and then corrected himself because he said the fattest thing he could ever do would be to eat another fat person!
He talked about unusual inventions like a toilet that makes turkey sandwiches, and a shoe that’s also a plane. It reminded me of my own inventions, like the 24 hour stapler, where when most staplers stop working at midnight, my stapler works 24/7, … and the battery operated beard, which took the beard-wearing world by storm!
Another view of Tom Segura saying very funny things onstage at Gotham Comedy Club in NYC!
He said sex is the only thing he’s been doing so long that he’s not better at. He generally ends every session by saying “I’m sorry!”
And he talked about his cousin who’s so dumb, that they went out to eat and he ordered a jerk chicken and his cousin said, ” Oh man, I wanted to order that!” in a very disappointed tone. So Tom explained, ” Well go ahead. You still can. We’re in a restaurant. I didn’t order the last one!
Comedy Juice regularly puts on a great line-up every Tuesday night at Gotham, at 10:00 P.M. I’ve become kind of a regular because it’s a reliably good show, and I always write about it! I just wish Mark Serittella would re-post it somewhere! (LOL)
Jared Logan is often the host and he’s always funny. He’s great with crowd work and very quick, and he comes up with appropriate references, like when speaking to audience members from Australia he not only referenced the Duckbilled Platypus, but kangaroos, and boomerangs as well!
He’s from West Virginia and hates when people don’t know it’s it’s own state. It’s not just the Western part of Virginia.
And I liked his bit on the fact that 90 countries have a national bird. That’s something I would definitely talk about, because it’s true and it’s so absurd. Not even one bird knows to be proud of such a thing! Even if they did, birds don’t usually brag anyway!
Tom Papa just being very funny at the Comedy Juice show at Gotham!
I was glad to see Tom Papa there. Not only because I enjoy his work, but I wanted to send him an advance copy of my book “Make ‘Em Laugh” and we wound up sitting next to each other so it was a perfect opportunity to broach the subject. Chris Rock wrote the intro besides being in the book with his own interview, and Tom’s best bud Jerry Seinfeld is in it too!
Tom has the ability to make anything funny. His comedy is very relatable to everyone, and he’s always a crowd pleaser!
John Mulaney is also always a treat to watch. Lots of comics try and describe themselves to the audience. Show business and comedy specifically is the only area in life where you WANT people to laugh at your appearance. Comics do very self-deprecating material.
No one wants to laugh at someone who’s perfect or looks like they’re doing too well in life. They don’t relate. Like I tell the audience I’m a mix between Phil Spector and Elton John and they love it. If someone said that to me in real life, I’d probably be pissed!
John Mulaney, onstage, killing it at the Comedy Juice show at Gotham Comedy Club!
John describes himself as looking like a very tall child. He also says he has a girlfriend which is weird since he’s probably gay, based upon the way he’s acted for the past 29 years. He says that having a girlfriend is like having a lawyer in every day life. Before his girlfriend, he had no idea of how he should be treated in his life. She gets offended FOR him, and tells him when and how he should respond, like, ” You ordered your food an hour ago. It should be here already”, and that way he knows to complain to the waiter.
I can’t wait to see the sketches I did with John and Nick Kroll out in LA for Nick’s new show coming up on Comedy Central, tentatively called “The Nick Show Kroll” (until further notice!)
George St. Geeland (John Mulaney), Jeffrey Gurian, and Gil Faizon (Nick Kroll) on set in LA for the taping of Nick’s new show on Comedy Central!
And then I got to see Nick Griffin who I had heard of but not seen before. It always amazes me when someone escapes my comedy radar! I also liked the way he wears his hair. From the front. I don’t know how he did it, but he managed to have two different hairstyles at the same time. From the front it looks spiky and hip. From the side it looks like a totally different guy. See if you can tell what I mean from the photos.
Nick Griffin from the front, very hip spiky hairdo!
Nick Griffin from the side. Totally different hair attitude!
I like guys who take the time to choose a hairstyle. Most men wear their hair like they’re embarrassed for having any. Almost like an apology. “I’m sorry I have hair. I’ll try and wear it in a non-descript, inoffensive way so you won’t notice!” And they do!
Nick was very funny. He said somebody told him that there’s always somebody worse off than you, and now he’s worried about that other guy!
He also said, ” You know you’re getting older when your favorite thing is not to be awake.”
Also on the show was Mara Merrick and the very funny Dan St. Germaine who also brought his beard with him.
The very funny Dan St. Germaine accompanied onstage by his beard!
I’m becoming a “Juice” addict. Every Tuesday around 9:30 I find myself wandering over to Gotham Comedy Club to see the Comedy Juice show. I can’t seem to help it! They always have a strong line-up. (Not a line-up as in what you’d see at a Police station, where you’re expected to identify someone. This is a comedy line-up, where you don’t have to identify anyone! LOL)
Jared Logan hosting the Comedy Juice show at Gotham Comedy Club!
Jared Logan was hosting the show and he’s a really good MC. At one point there was kind of an angry woman in an unwanted dialogue with Jared, and she was saying something negative about New York City, that it made her realize how much she missed the small village near a stream where she came from.
Instead of yelling at her and trying to put her down, Jared made the opposite choice and did a bit of self-deprecatory humor telling her, ” I bet you’re wondering why a fat Lesbian is yelling at you on a microphone!” And that solved the problem. She finally shut up!
I was so glad to run into my boy Cipha Sounds from Hot 97 who came in to do the show. Cipha has to get up at 3 A.M. every day to be on the radio for his show Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg. He considers himself mainly a hip-hop DJ, and only recently began calling himself a “comic” when he felt he had enough experience to own that title.
Cipha’s real name is Luis Diaz and he’s from The Bronx, as he says, the only borough with a “The” in front of it. No one says, “The Queens”, or “The Brooklyn”, only “The Bronx” gets that distinction! I too am from The Bronx, so we had something else to bond over! (LOL)
Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Cipha Sounds of Hot 97 playing rock, paper, scissors backstage after the show!
He is one busy guy, and is always producing a show somewhere. Recently he did his annual April Fools show at Madison Square Garden with Marlon and Shawn Wayans, JB Smoove, Tommy Davidson, and a bunch of other heavy hitters, including a guest spot from a favorite person of mine, the very funny Chaunte Wayans!
Chaunte Wayans onstage doing her thing!
This coming Tuesday, April 24th he’s doing a birthday show at Carolines with Tony Roberts. They both share the same birthday. One year Cipha celebrates and the next year Tony gets to celebrate! (LOL)
Cipha Sounds from Hot 97 and Jay Pharoah from SNL who’s executing a very difficult and very different kind of hand signal I had never seen before, and I’m pretty fluent in hand signals! (Not!)
He also does his Friday night shows at Laugh Lounge with Burt Smooth, and a killer line-up. Everybody wants to perform with Ciph! One of these days, I’m gonna hit him up for a spot! (LOL)
(L-R) Comedy producer Burt Smooth, Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV, and Mike Yard at Laugh Lounge. See if you can spot me! (LOL)
After his killer set, Cipha and I hung out downstairs in the green room of Gotham, and we shot this awesome video interview for Comedy Matters TV where I got to ask him all kinds of cool stuff, and he even answered me! He worked his way up to an on-air guy over 14 years that he’s been at the station. He is one hard-working M-F’er!!! (LOL)
Check out the video right here:
Also on the show was a favorite of mine, Jay Pharoah from SNL who I just added to my book on the 35 year history of The Comic Strip coming out this October from Skyhore Publishing. Jay is not only funny, he’s one of the most talented impressionists around.
Jay Pharoah getting into it onstage for Comedy Juice at Gotham!
He does such a great Chappelle, along with Kanye West, Jay-Z, Weezy, Dreezy, and that other great rapper Obama, (LOL) plus Eddie Murphy and Denzel. When he does Denzel you’d think Denzel was in the room. No wonder he’s such a favorite on SNL. He was there with his manager Shayna.
Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Jay Pharoah from SNL at the Comedy Juice show at Gotham Comedy Club!
Closing the show was a guy I had never seen before, but I’m sure I will see again. His name is Michael Lawrence, and as soon as I saw him I was like, this guy has to live in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn these days it’s important to take on the appearance of a woodsman, or a Civil War era farmer.
Mike Lawrence and his beard, on the loose at Gotham Comedy Club for Comedy Juice!
They seem to be going for the Unibomber look of a guy who lives alone in a cabin in some remote part of the woods, where no one can bother him and he can just sit by the fire and write jokes. I think maybe Zach Galifianakis started this look, and if you can attain that kind of success, I might be trying that beard thing next.
Look at Jason Mantzoukas. He and his beard are starring in the new Sacha Baron Cohen flick “The Dictator.”
Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV, with Jason Mantzoukas and his beard on the Nick Kroll set in LA! Watch for Jason in “The Dictator”!
Anyway, back to Mike Lawrence. This guy was really funny. He said he recently got into a fight with a homeless guy, who thought that HE was a homeless guy trying to cut in on his turf!
Mike Lawrence, not only a funny comic but one of the pre-eminent beard painters of his generation, who recently painted a replica of the Cistine Chapel with his beard!
He also said, believe it or not he’s in a relationship, and it’s actually going well. It’s been 10 periods already!
And he dispensed wisdom like, “When a bald man masturbates, it’s like he’s strangling a tiny version of himself!” The audience loved him. I tried to see if he left in a camper, but I got distracted.
Anyway, I’ll be back next week for more Comedy Juice!
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!
Tom Papa onstage, making people laugh at Gotham Comedy Club!
It was no surprise that Tom Papa sold out all of his shows at Gotham Comedy Club. People love Tom Papa. His comedy is very audience friendly, and it comes across that he’s a nice guy. I had seen him fairly recently when he did a killer spot on the third anniversary of Anthony Anderson’s Mixtape Comedy Show, which is the third Sunday of every month at Gotham, and we did a cool little video interview for Comedy Matters TV. Check that out here!
This night, Tom was headlining and Jim Mendrinos was the host. Jimmy is a fantastic host and really knows how to keep an audience’s energy level high. He won’t accept anything less and knows how to whip them into shape if he has to. I produced a fundraiser for Diabetes last year and Jimmy was my MC as well. He and I both lost our Dads to Diabetes.
Mark Normand, a young comic was excited about opening for Tom. He had lots of funny lines but the one that stuck out for me was, “I moved in with a girl. We had sex in every room of the apartment. Unfortunately it was a studio.” It sounded like something I would write when I wrote for Rodney Dangerfield, which made me like it even more! (LOL)
Comic Mark Normand, who opened for Tom Papa at Gotham Comedy Club!
Sue Costello came up next. Sue is so pretty, you’d never know she had a lazy eye as a kid and a stupid bowl cut hairdo, which is how she describes herself growing up. She certainly grew out of it, cause she looks great on stage, and the crowd loved her!
The beautiful, sexy, fair skinned, and funny Sue Costello onstage at Gotham! You’d never know she once had a lazy eye!
Tom had a lot of material I hadn’t heard before, and it was great. He says, “Reading about the economy is like drinking Jagermeister. Two pages in I’m unconscious on the floor, and I wake up with no pants on.”
On the fact that no one really feels like they fit in, he describes it feeling like “Life is like a pair of skinny jeans, and you’re a big, fat ass.”
He also does a lot of very physical humor, and moves around a lot on stage, which adds to the energy of what he’s saying.
I like when he talks about how boring adults are, and imitates the lame things some guys say. e.g ” How are you?” “Still a million bucks short of being a millionaire!” And he uses such an obnoxious voice. It’s perfect!
He has two daughters, 6 and 9 and even when he takes a simple concept like putting a little girl’s hair into a bun before they go to dancing school, he works the audience into hysterics.
I can see why Jerry Seinfeld takes him on the road as his opening act, and chose him to host The Marriage Ref on NBC!
Aries Spears’ website identifies him as “The Funniest Muther-F#*ker On The Planet” and I don’t think I’d argue with that. Most people tend to hype themselves, but in Aries’ case it’s true. I can see why he was a star on Mad TV. His characters, and ability to do dialects, are amazing. And Gotham Comedy Club was packed to capacity, which not all comics can do.
To give you an idea of how crowded it was, they had to put two strangers at my table, cause they were totally out of space! And I was cool with that! They happened to be nice people!
Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV with L.A. comic Aries Spears at Gotham Comedy Club!
Jimmy Failla was the MC and opened with a strong set. Opening a show the right way is so important. It gets the crowd in the mood to laugh. Jimmy just has that way about him, and coupled with strong material makes for a good host.
Jimmy Failla onstage at Gotham getting the audience in a good mood!
I always knew that hosting was difficult, but when I started doing it myself at The Comic Strip, I REALLY appreciated how much harder it is than just doing a regular spot. A few nights later, Jimmy and I got to perform together at Gotham on Alyse Kenny’s comedy show for the charity, “The Cure Is Now”! Alyse produces a once a month show at Gotham in the Vintage Lounge, each month benefitting a different charity.
Veronica Mosey took the stage next, … and refused to tell us where she put it! (LOL) That’s so silly, but it reminds me of the line, ” I’m a hard act to follow cause when I leave the stage, I take the mic with me!”
Veronica Mosey doing her comedy thing at Aries Spears’ show at Gotham!
Veronica is always funny, and in a male dominated world, manages to hold her own! She recently got married and was also just profiled on National Lampoon’s Interview Show, the week after I was. You can see her interview at www.nationallampoon.com
Areis did at least an hour seamlessly. Never at a loss for what to do next. He jokes about Blacks and Whites equally, and does an incredible imitation of a “White” voice! He says he uses that voice when he’s talking to a white girl, so that he feels white. As he tells that story he plays the classic Rick Springfield rock song in the background, ” Jessie’s Girl”.
He also does a variety of great ” Black” voices which answers the question that many white people have, whether Black people know that they talk a certain way! Not only do they know, but they can modify it and even “Black it up” when they feel they need to! (LOLOL)
Aries says, you know you’re a big star when you can sell out Africa!
He says that Maury Povich’s show is “Black ignorance at it’s finest!”, which may be the best summation I ever heard.
He said, ” You’ll never see Black people on shows like, ” When Animals Attack.” Black people are too smart for that, to mess with wild animals. You may however see them on shows like
“When Cops Attack!”
He jokes about Africans being so black, that he told one African guy, ” If you stood against a building you’d like like the entryway to an alley!”
He likes when Black people go out to a show and when the bill comes, one person inevitably says, ” Who ordered gratuity???”
The multi-talented Aries Spears making a point during his sold-out show at Gotham Comedy Club!
He wants to be a film star but he thinks he needs to lose some weight first. He says, “You know you have to lose weight when you have to catch your breath from breathing!”
He also does great Indian and English accents, and fantastic impressions of Arnold Schwartzeneggar, and Denzel Washington! (If I had just written “Denzel”, would you have known who I meant? LOL)
And then as a finale he does a rap song while imitating all the rappers like Snoop, DMX, Method Man, Biggie and Jay-Z. The man is an entertainment phenomenon, and if you get a chance to see him go for it!
Chris Mazzilli and Gotham are always supporting one charity or another. Now comic/actress Alyse Kenny is taking it up a notch by producing a once a month show there, the last Monday of every month called “Alyse Kenny Presents…It’s a Charity Thing!”
Funny ladies Rachel Feinstein (L) and Alyse Kenny at Alyse’s charity show at Gotham!
Each month will benefit a different charity. On the night I went down, the show was to benefit Rosie O’Donnell’s charity, Rosie’s Theater Kids.
It was a great line-up, with fun raffle prizes available to the audience, like VIP tickets to “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon”, “The View” and “The Dr. Oz Show”!
The show was hosted by Jimmy Failla, Host of Off The Meter Radio, and I always give extra credit to anyone hosting. Now that I’m doing it on a regular basis, I see how much harder it is than just getting up to do a set, so I give Jimmy props for keeping the show moving smoothly.
Jimmy Failla holding it down onstage at Gotham as the host of the show!
The show also featured comedians Rachel Feinstein, who never fails to make me laugh out loud, Nick Cobb, Matt Baetz, and Greer Barnes! And Alyse got up and did a set as well. She and the audience were thrilled when Jim Gaffigan dropped in unexpectedly and did a killer set, mostly on McDonalds.
Jim Gaffigan who dropped by to do a guest spot on Alyse Kenny’s show at Gotham!
Jim tends to use food and things relating to food as his subject. He’ll always be known for his “hot-pocket” material. This night he went into McDonald’s and their fries, specifically the loose “bonus fry” we’re always so happy to find hiding at the bottom of the bag.
He said we wouldn’t know when breakfast ended if it wasn’t for McDonalds, and he also said that eating fast food gives you a momentary pleasure, followed by intense guilt, followed by Cancer.
Jim Gaffigan killing it onstage at Gotham!
Jim just had his fourth child, so he said he’s trying to be healthy. He takes vitamins, … and puts them in a drawer!
Nick Cobb said ” you know you’re broke when you know exactly how much money you have.” He also wondered about the sexual activity known as “69”! Being 6’4″, he said it’s a short man’s game, and wondered why anyone would want to do it in the first place. He wondered, ( and I’m paraphrasing) … “Who’s that short on time, to take the two most pleasurable things in the world, and combine them? It makes more sense to do each one separately! And he’s right!
Nick Cobb, who claims to be too tall for “69”, onstage at Alyse Kenny’s charity show at Gotham!
Alyse Kenny is fairly new on the comedy scene, and is an actor on ABC’s “What Would You Do?” She is co-writing and starring in the television pilot, “Pryor Knowledge” with Richard Pryor Jr., who just happens to be an old friend of mine, and who I sponsored for membership in The Friars Club. I actually took a photo of him in front of the photo of his Dad, Richard Pryor Sr. that graces one of the upstairs rooms.
Richard Pryor Jr., Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV, and Rain Pryor at the premiere of Paul Provenza’s The Green Room in NYC!
Alyse also just appeared in Eli Shapiro’s indie flick, “Ike Interviews God.” Her clean, fun brand of comedy showcases her skewed view of growing up the daughter of a shrink and cardiologist, her inter-faith marriage and many jobs working in television including as an Emmy Award-winning producer.
Alyse Kenny onstage performing at her charity show at Gotham!
She’s a go-getter and I’m excited about her, and even more excited that I will be performing on her next show on Monday Feb. 27th, which will benefit a charity called The Cure Is Now. You can read about them at www.thecureisnow.org
Come on out and support!
You can read more about Alyse on her website at www.alysekenny.com
Andy Engel produces New Talent showcases at Gotham Comedy Club as he has been doing successfully for many years now. All you have to do is to look at the testimonials on his Manhattan Comedy School page to see how respected he is within the comedy community.
http://www.manhattancomedyschool.com/talent-shows/ This time he produced a comedy seminar open to the public, to anyone with an interest in comedy. I came by to “support”, and was not surprised to see a packed room, and I think the main room at Gotham holds over 300 people. I also saw lots of comedians I knew. The moderator was Gotham owner Chris Mazzilli, who I like to call “The Classiest Guy In Comedy.” Chris has been known to wear a suit and tie to the beach! (JK, … LOL)
Chris Mazzilli and Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV at a charity event at Gotham Comedy Club!
Also on the distinguished panel was JoAnn Grigioni, the talent executive from Comedy Central, who I had just seen earlier that day at Amy Schumer’s taping for her new Comedy Central pilot, Conan Smith former agent and now an executive at Apostle Entertainment which is Dennis Leary’s production company, and loved and respected comic Ted Alexandro.
(L-R_ The distinguished panel of Ted Alexandro, Conan Smith, JoAnn Grigioni, and Chris Mazzilli for Andy Engel’s comedy seminar at Gotham!
It was a question and answer session and people got the opportunity to ask whatever they wanted. Questions ranged from how to behave on the road, to how much money you could expect to make as a comic starting out! Ted said he doesn’t think he got paid anything at all the first three years he was performing.
Apostle’s Conan Smith giving a thoughtful answer during the seminar at Gotham Comedy Club!
Comedy Central’s JoAnn Grigioni and Gotham’s Chris Mazzilli listening to Ted Alexandro make a point!
They all agreed that you don’t go into comedy for the money, but that money follows success. Talent finds a home and if you’ve got it, eventually someone’s bound to see it!
Everyone’s answers were honest and insightful. It was a great panel covering all aspects of the comedy world.
I think the seminar was a great idea, people learned a lot and really enjoyed it, and I have a feeling that there will be more of them! Are you listening Andy??? (LOL)
Anthony Anderson’s third anniversary of his Mixtape Comedy Show was as good as I expected it to be. I just couldn’t believe it’s been 3 years already since he and his partner in crime Royale Watkins have been bringing the funny to Gotham Comedy Club, the third Sunday of each and every month.
Royale Watkins and Anthony Anderson bantering with each other onstage at the Mixtape Comedy Show at Gotham in NYC!
The show mixes comedy and hip-hop, most of the time with a great DJ, DJ Diamond, who really gets the crowd pumped up! Then there’s a freestyle rap battle which still amazes me how these street MC’s can spit beats on the spot like that. It’s such an incredible talent. Even the ones who lose are admirable just for being able to do it at all. I was glad to see that Royale is just as amazed by it as I am, which he says in the video below.
Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Tracy Morgan at a previous Mixtape Comedy Show!
You never know in advance who’s gonna be on the show, but it doesn’t matter cause I haven’t seen a weak show yet! The idea is that if you’re coming to see Mixtape Comedy, it doesn’t matter who’s advertised, because you’re coming for the brand. And the brand is hot!!! Plus you never know who’s gonna stop by to do a surprise guest spot. Tracy Morgan is a big fan of the show, and I’ve seen him perform, but this night he just came to watch!
It’s produced by Kristen J. Eddy and Byron Ward and the show is U-Streamed to people all over the United States, and internationally too! They don’t allow profanity which is a nice change. Some of the comics are taken by surprise by that rule. Kurt Metzger told me he was a little nervous that something inappropriate might slip out since he’s not used to working squeaky clean. Fortunately it didn’t and he killed it as he always does.
Because I knew it would be a special show, I came prepared to shoot a little video for Comedy Matters TV. Harris Stanton was the first comic to perform. Harris was also a good friend of Patrice Oneal, who we unfortunately lost very recently, at only 41 years old, due to an untimely stroke.
Harris Stanton, Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV, and Patrice Oneal at the taping of Patrice’s last special for Comedy Central at The Skirball Center in NYC!
Harris is very funny and talks about having been a security guard, with nothing to protect himself but a piece of paper. Then he goes into what I would call “papercut” material, which I thought was very funny, and very true. You can get a nasty cut from a piece of paper, but if a guy had a knife, I wouldn’t want to have to defend myself with a piece of paper!
Harris Stanton doing his thing onstage at Mixtape Comedy Show at Gotham!
He does a really funny bit about a homeless guy who is missing the center part of his nose. The piece of skin that separates your two nostrils. He says in all seriousness, ” You’re never not supposed to have that part of your nose.”
In between acts, Anthony takes the stage to do some comedy, and often gets on Royale for not having things to his liking. They have a little “faux-argument”, and then he apologizes to the white people in the audience for having to witness something like that at a comedy show! (LOL)
Mark Viera was next on the bill and this man is a riot! I love seeing Mark perform, and was very glad to hear that he just signed a deal with Fox to develop his own show, cause he really deserves it! George Lopez is the Exec. Producer of the show, and you can hear the details in the video below. Of course I asked him if I could be on his show, and he of course agreed, … since we’re both from The Bronx and us Bronx boys have to stick together! (LOL)
Mark Viera showing the Mixtape audience why he deserves his own show on Fox!
Sherri Shepherd from “The View” was next and left the audience weak from laughing so hard.
Rising star Kurt Metzger onstage at Gotham for the 3rd anniversary of the Mixtape Comedy Show!
Then Kurt Metzger, who I think is hysterical talked about how every young Black person shot accidentally by stray bullets, is usually on their way to greatness before they were prematurely cut down. His advice is ” If you’re Black and have a scholarship of some kind, my advice is to buy a bulletproof vest. Gangs always shoot at other gangs and miss, killing some Black nerd who was on his way to a life of success.” Sad but true! You read it every day!
Tom Papa, host of The Marriage Ref on NBC, onstage for the Mixtape Comedy Show 3rd anniversary!
And then Tom Papa took the stage with his own particular brand of humor that is so relatable, and on the money, every word out of his mouth brought huge laughs from the audience. His comedy speaks to everyone, like when he marvels at children, ” Your hands are so little”, and wonders why they need pockets in their clothing. “What are you gonna put in there, … your marble??? Check out Tom in the video below as well.
We wish Anthony and Royale, ( and Kristen, and Byron of course!), many more years of success with Mixtape Comedy Show!
Christian Finnegan spends a lot of time on the road, so when I heard he was headlining at Gotham I made sure to check out his show. Vic Henley was the host/MC and he does that so easily he could probably do it in his sleep, … which a very unusual phrase, that is supposed to mean that something is very simple for a person to do! I would think even the easiest thing would be hard to do in your sleep, but that’s just me!
Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV with Christian Finnegan at his sold-out show at Gotham Comedy Club!
Jesse Joyce was also on the show and he’s always good. I ran into Jesse down in San Antonio Texas last year, when I stopped by to cover the San Antonio comedy scene, and he happened to be headlining the club I walked into. He describes himself as looking like a version of Hugh Laurie who plays Dr. House, … and he does! It’s funny that several comics, ( including me!) have lines telling the audience who they look like, and the audience loves it!
Jesse Joyce onstage at Gotham, and he DOES look a lot like Hugh Laurie!
Jesse was also very close to Greg Giraldo, and wrote material for him for his iconic Roast appearances!
Wali Collins was up next, and he told a story of being a kid and asking his Dad if he could drive their new car. His Dad said, ” You can! All you have to do is take the “F” out of “Way”. And Wali said, ” There’s no “F” in “Way”! And his father said, ” Exactly!” Great joke!
Wali, (not Wally) Collins onstage at Gotham making the people laugh!
Before I knew his name was Wali, I thought it was Wally, like short for Walter. Come to think of it, I don’t think Walter is a popular name in the Black community! I like Wali better!
He also talked about being responsible for his actions in his wife’s dreams. One morning he woke up and his wife was angry at him for not helping her when that “pig monkey” was chasing her! (LOL)
Then Christian took the stage, and the room was packed for him. He comments right away on the fact that people think he looks gay. I knew him from years ago, when he was a lot heavier, but since he lost so much weight he has a very chiseled look. He’s like, ” I’m married. Sorry fellas! I know I give off a certain high school drama teacher vibe!”
Christian Finnegan onstage at his sold out show at Gotham Comedy Club!
He wore a cardigan sweater with a tie as did Wali Collins so he commented that they looked like photographic negatives, and then faux-complained that it was supposed to be a one cardigan show!
Among many other topics he commented on how hard it is to get your first drug dealer to score weed from, when you’re 38 years old. It’s awkward asking young people who they use. Maybe it’s because I still refer to them as “drug dealers”, and not just simply ask ” who’s your guy “, he opined! Very funny show!
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