Photo by: Jessica Neumann Photography

Fighting Improv Smackdown Tournament, FIST, Commissioner Maggie Dempsey took some time to chat with me about her role organizing and maintaining the largest improv tournament in D.C. ever. This month, the Washington Improv Theater is having their Sixth Annual FIST with 58 teams competing and over 170 people performing. The tournament started March 8 and will be going on until April 7 where an improv trio will be victorious and a huge party will ensue; however, in the meantime Maggie is in the middle keeping everything in check. Continue reading →

I had a nice chat with Brandon Wardell, a local D.C. comic who is throwing the comedy showcase, Brandon Wardell and Friends, that is happening Friday, Sep. 16 over at the Velvet Lounge. If you see him there you may notice that he will have black X’s on his hands, because he is not 21. In fact, he recently turned 19.
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Photo Credit: Mandy Sroka Photography

From left to right: Oscar Santana, Chad Dukes. Drab T-Shirt. Sven Lloyd

Santana felt that he had a good run with their show and that all was lost. He had no idea what to expect next. His phone rang an hour after he found out he lost his job. It was someone from CBS who told him, “We are going to try to make you a talk show.” Apparantly, Michael Hughes, a general manager of all the stations at the time, believed in Big “O” and Dukes. The duo were offered a day time shift in Baltimore, which is an even better situation to be when you are a DJ, because you have a bigger audience.

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Photo by Tommy Lang.

I had a nice sit down with Oscar Santana over at the Wonderland Ballroom outside on the patio on a cloudy Sunday evening. Santana’s friends dubbed him the “Prince of Podcasting” and it is understandable. He is part of the DC based Big-O and Dukes Show, The Mike O’Meara Show, and Tech 411. All of these podcasts combined have achieved over 10 Million downloads. Please be aware that what you are about to read is a tale so epic that you will never use the word “epic” to describe how good your burrito was. Continue reading →

I met up with Adam Ruben who is a local comic and author of the book My Stupid Decision to go to Grad School on an extremely sizzling Sunday over at Teaism in Dupont Circle. We each coincidentally ordered hot tea to drink as we chatted. At first I thought that ordering hot tea on hot day would equal a hot mess; however, my brain recalled from television that drinking hot things helps to cool the body down ironically. I don’t know if that is true. I’m not a scientist, but Adam is! His day job involves finding a cure for maleria. You want to know more about this guy? Well alright. Continue reading →

I had a beer in a coffee shop with Chris White who will be recording his second album at the DC Improv this month and is the creator of the DC open mic website DCStandup. You may be curious as to why we drank beer at the coffee shop. Well, it’s an amazing story. You should be sitting down to read this. Anyway, I drank a pot of coffee before I left my house and was on the verge of a nervous attack. When I made it to the coffe housee I saw that they had beer there, so I ordered one. Then Chris appeared and said “I’ll have one too.” Then we sat down and had a nice conversation. Wasn’t that awesome!? Anyway, let’s get to know Chris. Continue reading →

I spent last a nice weekend afternoon getting to know Eli Sairs who is a former DC comic and the producer of the upcoming 3 Chords Comedy Show that’s happening at the Velvet Lounge on June 3. We had a fun chat over at the Tastee Diner in Silver Spring. I got to say that that diner has what I call “Good Joo-Joo.” I trust a place has good food if they still have the same furniture from twenty years ago. It says to me, “Hey, I don’t have to change, because I’m fine the way I am.” An example of “Bad Joo Joo” is this other place I went to the day before that had over priced Mexican food. The furniture was modern and the place looked fancy; however, the food was not given as much care as the decorating. My stomach was killing me during our conversation. Anyway, I’m going to shut up now and let’s learn about Eli. Continue reading →

I somehow managed to remain coherent enough after my day job to have a conversation with Mike Lawrence. He is coming down to DC this Friday to be the headliner for Cool Dudes Hanging Out at the Velvet Lounge starting at 7:00 and ending at 10:00. Mike, 28, is originally from Florida near Ft. Lauderdale and has been living in New York for the past four years.

His first experience with comedy was watching his mother perform when he was growing up.  They both make people laugh, but from different parts of the heart. I asked him what makes his comedy different and he said that she is the light and he is the dark. “I’m a lot sadder and angrier and she’s a lot happier.” His first time expressing himself through the mike was with poetry, but he transitioned to comedy, because all he cared about when he read his poems were the parts when people laughed. “I think my goal is to do this on a bigger level. I like what I do I want to do it more. My heart is really into live performing. Stand-up is great. It’s you getting paid to be yourself, which is awesome. I’m a nerdy kind of uncomfortable guy with anger issues and I get to be that for money. That’s awesome.” Continue reading →

I got a chance to speak with Nikki Glaser on the phone while she was cruising over to Sara Schaefer’s apartment to record their hit podcast, You Had to Be There. If you haven’t heard about them then you should go to the Velvet Lounge this Friday and see them perform live for the Cool Dudes Hanging Out Comedy Showcase to get a taste of what you are missing. This weekend’s entertainment got started at a party in New York not too long ago, because how else do you find a creative partner but with food and alcohol? The two comics got to talking while a little buzzed (as one does), had a good conversation, and said to each other “We should do a podcast.” In the scheme of ideas-you-get-while-drinking, it was a pretty good one. Nikki had tried doing podcasts in the past, but they didn’t work out. She’s not good with technical stuff, but Sarah has the skills and handles that aspect of the show. As an avid conusmer of comedy podcasts I highly recommend checking it out. It’s like being in Sarah’s apartment with the snacks, beer, and good times flowing. Continue reading →

I braved the cold last Wednesday evening and found refuge in Dupont Circle’s Teaism to meet with DC comic Jessica Brodkin. I was there pretty early and had a pot of World Peace tea. I must say that Michael Jackson’s “We are the World” started playing in my head. Once all seven of my chakras aligned, Jessica arrived and we had a pleasant dialogue.

Jessica, 29, was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, speaks Russian, and has been living in DC for the past seven years. She loves this city and said that her favorite parts are Chinatown and U Street. “There’s a lot going on and I like the vibe. All the people you run into.” She likes that DC is full of intellectual people and enjoys the smart crowds. “Lots of people here are really educated and trying to do good things.” She’s kind of educated too. She went to M.I.T. in Boston. Maybe you’ve heard of it it? I think smart people go there. Anyway, she said that she was raised in Brooklyn, but DC  is where she became an adult in her own right. Continue reading →