From this photo of Jim and I attending the last Collective Comedy show, you might be lead to believe that Jim was the funniest guy in the room. Happily though, the room was teaming with people whose entire job is to make you laugh. Brandon, a friend who was once an extra in the legendary rollerblading film Airborne, invited me to the event and started the proceedings off right with a sketch that featured a funny drunk guy, his ex-girlfriend, and Dracula meeting up in the mall.
This underground event, hosted by Amy Schumer, Chuck's niece and former contestant on Last Comic Standing (but don't hold that against her, she's far more charming than her history as a reality show star would suggest) takes place at the Actor's Temple, a darkly lit, real life Temple that lends an air of strange dignity to the proceedings.
The tickets are twenty dollars but this includes all the wine and Genny beer you can drink. This (the free beer) and the huge line ups mean that?seats are in high demand and it is imperative you get there early.
On the night we went, I have to say I laughed more than I expected (you just never know with comedy). Sure, there was lots of material about just having broken up with your boy/girl friend, which is a stand up comedy staple, but there were some real stand out stand ups that night.
Sean O'Connor was pretty adorable and really funny, the kind of jolly kid that could be a girl's best friend in Junior High. Eric Andre, who you can now see in the Shining parody Verizon commercial, raunched things up a bit, but did so in a way that made everyone roar with laughter. Craig Baldo, a guy that unlike O'Connor, I could not really see myself getting along with in real life, was admittedly very funny and had one of the best bits of the night with his analysis of the classic Rupert Holmes song, Escape (The Pina Colada Song).
Plus! Every gay man and straight woman's favorite sexual icon Michael Ian Black was there to read from his new book My Custom Van: And 50 Other Mind-Blowing Essays that Will Blow Your Mind All Over Your Face. Which has one chapter titled “What I Would Be Thinking If I Were Billy Joel Driving to a Holiday Party Where I Knew There Was Going to Be a Piano”. But instead of reading from that he gave the horny crowd what they really wanted and read “How to Approach the Sensitive Question: Anal?”.
There were a few misses, Joe Derosa getting mad at Sex and the City and people who read books really wasn't my thing at all and Esther Ku's raunch fell pretty flat but to each his own, you know.
The next event is August 7th at 7:30 and I hope to make it. The line up includes:
Doug Benson (Last Comic, Comedy Central, The Marijuana-logues)
Tom Shillue (Comedy Central, Conan O'Brien)
Jessica Kirson (HBO, Comedy Central, Last Comic)
Lisa Kaplan
The Hazzards
plus “New Friends” with Brandon Snider, Maggie Champagne and Brian Bannan
and more
Maybe I'll see you there.
But what do you think?