‘Summer in the City’
courtesy of ‘photo_secessionist’

The college students have gone home, taking their ready attention to smaller local comedy shows with them. And in their place? Interns, whose ready attention to things local seems to be limited to wearing their badges on the Metro so you can see how important they are and Cap Hill bars with lax ID-checking policies. So, this month’s local comedy happenings are perhaps a little thinner then usual. But they are interesting, oh yes.

This Friday, June 4th is 3 Chord Comedy at the Velvet Lounge, as usual. The lineup features Brent Sullivan (Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham) headlining, along with locals/former locals Brian Parise, Mike Blejer, and Eli Sairs. Brent Sullivan, in addition to his stand-up comedy, also performs a one-man show called Fag Life: A Conversation with Fred Phelps, which juxtaposes recordings of the famous hatemonger in with Sullivan’s commentary. He’s put the first seven minutes of the show online (visually SFW, but headphones may be appropriate): Continue reading →

‘Need a hit-man? Or help obtaining information?’
courtesy of ‘voteprime’

It’s raining! It’s gross! It’s humid! What, don’t you remember what I said about comedy being performed in basements? It’s an all-weather sport, you guys.

This Friday the 21st, as I mentioned last time, is the Don’t Block the Box Comedy Show at the Wonderland Ballroom. Only 2 bucks to see featuring Aparna Nancherla, Keith Irvin, Graham Hall, Ahmed Huidobro, and Lafayette Wright, with Pete Bladel hosting. Continue reading →

‘Stand-up’
courtesy of ‘Aaron Webb’

Why is comedy a perfect fit for this early blast of heat and humidity we’re getting? Because it’s frequently performed in basements. It’s an art form perfectly suited to dark, windowless rooms where you laugh at things you would never admit to finding funny in front of your grandma.

But first, a Public Service Announcement: Perhaps you’ve heard about how Facebook is currently having its dirty way with your personal info. Mike Eltringham tells you everything you need to know about Facebook’s privacy policies.

Tomorrow night (May 6th), Ed Blaze presents his monthly Metro Comedy Special at Station 9 on U Street. The show features Nema Williams, Travis Spencer, Jessica Brodkin, Tommy Taylor, Anna Pope, Clayton Wilcox , Kyle Martin, Michael Nercesian, and Marcus Brown. That’s a lot of comedy for $15 ($20 at the door) and the show starts at 8:30. Continue reading →

‘Family Hemerlein_25Mar10-1887’
courtesy of ‘sparkedheart’

It’s like spring inspires DC’s local comics to tell more jokes. I don’t know why, because the bitterness brought about by winter is better for comedy. But this weekend is kind of crammed full of comedy events. If properly motivated, you can catch four shows between Thursday and Saturday and still have Sunday to let your muscles recover from all the laughing. Screw cherry blossoms and nice weather- go sit in some of DC’s finest basement venues to get your laughter on.

Thursday night: Comedy Showcase at the Eleventh Street Lounge in Clarendon. This will feature some of the higher-quality regulars from Eleventh’s Monday night open mic. Chris Barylick tells me that it’s all-male in response to the Girls Night Out comedy showcase at Eleventh last month, but sausagefests are not at all out of the ordinary in DC comedy, so… whatever. It will feature Hampton Yount, Mike Eltringham, Tim Miller, Tyler Sonnichsen, Courtney Fearrington, Eli Sairs, and Chris Barylick and will be hosted by Lou Giglio. It’s also free. Awesome.   Continue reading →

On the heels of the very successful Girls’ Night Out at the Eleventh Street Lounge at the beginning of March, it’s time for She-Ha 2: When Laughter Attacks, the follow up to last year’s sellout She-Ha: Princesses of Power, featuring DC’s funniest women.

She-Ha will rock your socks off on April 9th at 8PM in the DC Improv Comedy Lounge. Tickets are $10, and get there early because this show will probably sell out as well.

This year’s lineup is full of some new faces you may be unfamiliar with. Click through for the listing, along with videos for all the comics who have posted it. Continue reading →

These next couple of weeks are a little sparse on the comedy front, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do. The Washington Improv Theater FIST competition continues apace, with round 1 finishing up this weekend. They’ve already got some highlight video posted, so you can see if competitive amateur improv looks like a fun night out to you.

At the Arlington Drafthouse this weekend is Carlos Alazraqui and Cedric Yarbrough, stars of Comedy Central’s Reno 911, a show I’ve never understood the appeal of, but I seem to be in the minority on that point, so maybe you’d like to go see them. Continue reading →

‘Drafthouse at dusk’
courtesy of ‘wfyurasko’

I love it when all the pent-up Snowpocalypse comedic frustration is unleashed upon an unsuspecting region. There’s a lot going on, but here are my picks for the week:

Thursday night is BrightestYoungThings’ “Family Hemerlein Variety Show,” featuring music and comedy, MC’d by Seaton Smith (for whom my fandom is well-known) and headlined by Ben Kronberg (who has appeared on both Jimmy Kimmel’s and Carson Daly’s show, which means you’ve never seen him). It’s at the Arts Club of Washington, located in the James Monroe House, and tickets are $15.

Friday night there are shows for the geographically choosy. At the Velvet Lounge on U Street is 3 Chord Comedy, featuring Eli Sairs, Jeff Maurer, Justin Schlegel, and headlined by Dave Hill (HBO, Adult Swim.) Only $4! Show starts at 7.

At the Arlington Drafthouse at 9:45, Will Hessler and Hampton will be bringing back their “There Will Be Laughter” show, hosted by Jeff Maurer. Yeah, Maurer’s a busy bee that night, and if he can get to both shows, so can you. Tickets are $8, so it ends up being a whole lot of comedy in one night for $12.

If you prefer an open mic environment, the weekly Sabores Lounge show in Cleveland Park will also be happening.

On Saturday night, it’s local comic-turned-touring-headliner Rob Cantrell at the Arlington Drafthouse. The show starts at 9:45 and tickets are $18.

On Monday night at Eleventh Street Lounge, the regular Monday open mic is going to be given over to the ladies- Girls’ Night Out will feature Lisa Fine, Aparna Nancherla, Anupama Pillalamarri, Jessica Brodkin, Hillary Buckholtz, Sarah Donnelly, and Julie Fox. I’m excited about this one, since most open mics are pretty much sausagefests, and how many “my girlfriend so crazy” jokes can you really hear in one night and still laugh? The last time I performed at Eleventh, I was the only woman in the lineup for like, weeks. So it’ll be fun to see some new faces.

‘Jason Saenz Stand-up 4’
courtesy of ‘Aaron Webb’

It’s the grossest part of the winter. You need a laugh. The DC Improv is sold out all weekend already (no, really, they are). What will you do? Fortunately, the local (and not so local) comedy is plentiful.

If sketch/improv is what you’re after, the Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company will be at the Harman Center for the Arts Friday and Saturday nights. (Disclosure: UCBTC is a We Love DC advertiser.) Ordinarily I don’t mention non-locals because touring headliners can do their own publicity, but this event isn’t getting the publicity national headliners get. It’s touring on the strength of the UCB name, but without any of the individual names that made UCB famous. It seems like a strong statement of confidence in the up-and-comers, and not at all crass like “Dane Cook’s Tourgasm (not actually featuring Dane Cook)” was. (You could make a convincing argument that the Tourgasm was improved by Cook’s absence. but I digress.) Continue reading →

‘The LPs in the Window’
courtesy of ‘andertho’

First, do I need to remind you that Hampton is recording a CD tomorrow night at the Comedy Spot in Ballston? The show is planned for the 95-seat black box theater, but if enough people show up, there’s the possibility of moving to the main stage. If The People demand it. So go demand it, people. It’s free, and when Hampton has enough time to really get going, it’s quite an entertaining evening.

Three Chord Comedy is going to be back at the Velvet Lounge this Friday night. Former-DC-Now-NYC-comic and SNL contributing writer Ryan Conner (video after the jump) is going to headline. The show also features Courtney Fearrington, Will Hessler, Jason Weems, Elis Sairs, and (unlisted but he told me he’d be appearing) Jimmy Meritt. $4 for lots of good comedy- I only recently became familiar with Fearrington, but he’s quickly become a personal favorite, and I think I’ve been quite clear that Meritt makes me laugh until I pee.  A ringing endorsement, no? So go already. Continue reading →

Today we’re going to talk about DC comics whose work you can purchase, to listen to in the privacy of your own home. Why? Two reasons:

1. The holidays cause a lull when there aren’t that many shows, but I’ve still got a regularly-scheduled column to write, and:

2. Hampton is going to record a CD on Thursday, January 14 at the Comedy Spot in Ballston, and you should all go. When comedians record a CD, they aren’t trying out any new material that hasn’t been polished yet, or screwing around to entertain the other comedians in the room, they’re actually trying to get their best stuff recorded as a way to further their careers. So you should check this out.

So that made me think, “Which other local comics have CDs you should check out?”   Continue reading →

‘Jason Saenz Stand-up 4’
courtesy of ‘Aaron Webb’

Much like the last Christmas cookies rattling around in the tin your grandma sent you, the last comedy shows of the year are kind of an odd, mismatched bunch. And yet still delicious.

I usually leave theater to Jenn and Don to talk about, but comedian Judy Gold will be at Theater J starting tonight for her one-woman musical show Mommy Queerest. The show runs through January 3rd, and is a memoir of Gold’s life as a Jewish, lesbian mother. Gold is a damn funny standup comic, so I expect her show to be pretty entertaining as well.

Don’t forget that Matt Kazam will be at the DC Improv on December 26th and 27th. We’ll be heading back from our holiday specifically to get back in time to catch this show- Kazam does most of his headlining in other cities, so it’ll be nice to see him on home turf. Continue reading →

‘Settle down people – this is serious.’
courtesy of ‘TheeErin’

We are getting into another seasonal comedy lull as bars and hotels fill their less-used back rooms with professional minefields office holiday parties and as comics make plans to visit their (often highly dysfunctional, comedic goldmine) families, so there are only a few shows of interest coming up in the next couple of weeks.

I mentioned 3 Chord Comedy at the Velvet Lounge, featuring Rob Cantrell this Friday night at 7 already. I can really only add: you should go. The last time Cantrell was in town it was at the Arlington Drafthouse, which is actually a pretty cool place to see comedy, but tickets were closer to $20, and the Velvet Lounge show is $4. Also, Eli Sairs (Bentzen Ball) & Mike Eltringham (of Screech Contract Rider Mockery fame) will be performing, along with Ahmed Huidobro, who I’ve never heard of and apparently Google hasn’t either.

If Rob Cantrell isn’t your thing, there’s a show at Sabores Lounge (formerly Uptown Tavern) this Friday night at 8:45. Why 8:45? Probably so Mike Eltringham has time to make it from the Velvet Lounge to Sabores, because he’s in both shows. Dude gets around. Aparna Nancherla will also be appearing, as will Robb Loving and Pete Bladel.

Meanwhile, at the Improv… Jimmy Meritt will be appearing with Steve Byrne this week, Wednesday-Sunday. Next week, Erin Jackson will be appearing with Sebastian Maniscalo. Local headliner Matt Kazam will be doing a couple of shows at the Improv the two nights after Christmas.

Some video after the jump, so that you may make informed comedy consumption decisions: Continue reading →

‘shure beta’
courtesy of ‘billaday’

Yeah, okay, so… the big news in DC comedy is still the Bentzen Ball. I rounded up some clips for you (and some fussing about the “curation” of the festival) a couple of weeks ago, then Washingtonian inexplicably profiled the least representative sample possible of comics appearing.  Dandy. But what you need to know is… there are unpublicized shows the Thursday through Saturday nights. Oh yes. After the ticketed shows wind up, there are going to be late-night gigs at Ben’s Chili Bowl featuring informal sets from several of the comics appearing. As one of the organizers of the rogue shows says, “Imagine an open mic where everyone is amazing.” So if you’ve missed out on tickets or are out late on U Street or just want to hang out with funny people, Ben’s Chili Bowl is the place to be.

In what seems like someone’s staggering failure to check the calendar, the DC’s Funniest Fed Finals are  also happening this weekend- Friday night at the Arlington Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse. Tickets are $15 and the show starts at 8.

If this explosion o’ comedy this weekend isn’t enough for you (and it isn’t for me, since I’ll be at a wedding for a good chunk of the weekend) Continue reading →

So, this Bentzen Ball thing. Everyone’s talking about it, but they keep talking about Tig Notaro and Patton Oswalt’s involvement in a show that’s about “alt-comedy” without even mentioning the numerous local comics interspersed throughout the various shows. Patton Oswalt was in a Pixar movie, for God’s sake. He’s hilarious, but he’s there so that the up-and-comers can benefit from the glorious halo of his fame, okay?

I’ve talked about some of these locals before: Seaton Smith, Hampton Yount, and Erin Jackson are all appearing at one or more of the shows, along with Aparna Nancherla, official comic of the We Love DC Commentariat. But there are many others preparing to wow DC with their joke-telling prowess, people I haven’t talked about as much here not because they aren’t funny (because they are), but because they don’t send me news about their shows as often. *cough* So plug in your headphones for a preview of some of the Bentzen Ball comics. Continue reading →

Kind of a mish-mash this week of different stuff for the end of DC’s sleepy August…

First, a video (above): Jewish Guilt vs. Catholic Guilt go head-to-head in the 1976th annual Guilt-Off, starring Jared Stern and Chris White. The infographic is cracking me up all on its own.

Second, a show: Friday September 4, DC Improv Lounge, Drag Me To Hilarity, featuring, well, almost everyone who ever made me laugh. Hampton Yount, Jake Young, Aparna Nancherla, Eli Sairs, and Mark Reiss. The Improv Lounge has been quiet lately, so it’s nice to see a solid show in there.

Thirdly, some improv: Washington Improv Theater’s Neutrino Video Project, in which they take a suggestion, and then the cast and crew runs out onto the street to script, shoot, and assemble a video in the time it takes to watch the finished product. When they say, “The only way to see how it all comes together is to be there when it all goes down,” I tend to believe it. In any case, it’s a far cry from tired old improv games, so this looks like something to check out. It’s only running another couple of weekends, so don’t miss it.

Finally, another video: Seaton Smith’s “Pimpin’ Referee,” made in cooperation with the Sierra Mist Comedy Lab, which supports new comic talent. Who knew sugared water could be so hilarious? Seaton has been posting this one to Facebook for a while and I just got around to watching it, which I assure you was my loss. Continue reading →

Jake Young, Courtesy Aaron Webb

So what do I do, when searching anxiously for the next comedy thing to entertain myself with? Comedian blogs. The problem is, standup is not something the translates well to the written word, so there aren’t that many local comics that do it (though Twitter is helping- something about the 140 character restriction mimics the setup/punch structure of live comedy, I think).

But there are a few I follow with some regularity. I’ve mentioned Mike Eltringham’s blog before, when he brought us the joyous news of Dustin Diamond’s standup appearance in Arlington. His blog is pretty consistently funny, full of stuff that wouldn’t boil out to a standup bit very well, but which actually does make the leap to long form blog post pretty well.  Don’t miss his letter to Jesus after David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez tested positive for steroids. Continue reading →