I took a bit of a blogging break, but I thought we’d jump start things again with a good old fashion review of this week’s Ballgame’s Laugh Lounge.

If you have not been by the show in a while, Red Rock continues to make the upstairs lounge classier and classier. And by classy…I mean adding a purple valuer curtain to the stage area. Pimpin’. The place looks great though and it has come a long way in the past 4 years.

Fresh off her new writing gig at Chelsea Lately, Christina Pazsitzky killed it again with a bunch of new stuff. She’s so smooth. But since I’m the president of her fan club…I’m biased. Karl Hess and Ben Gleib were excellent as well. Hess has the most distinguished voice in comedy. Not voice in the ethereal but his actually voice. He’s so precise with his words. And Gleib was doing some GREAT material on religion.

Finally we were treated to the musical comedy stylings of Kirk Zipfel. Now…musical comedy can be really annoying…but Zipfel is different. First, he’s clearly a great guitar player. Second, when you are singing about butterfaces and making fun of the riff Jack Johnson can play, you’re cool with me. Kirk is one of the most underrated comedians in the city. I dropped in a video below. Check it!

My podcasting career is up to a whopping 7 interviews now. I have really enjoyed each one of them and appreciate the time the comedians have given me. On Tuesday, 5 of the 7 people who I have interviewed were at Ballgame’s Laugh Lounge…either performing or playing DJ (Matty Ballgame…yeah…he’s a hedge fund manager, a comedian, and a DJ). And I think the lesson for the night was pretty clear…I have talked with some damn funny people.

Ritchie Angeles was a special guest host for the evening. He just has a special way of bringing the excitement of a sports announcer to the comedy show. Gives you those little goosebumps you get at a ballgame.

Rebecca Michael did all new material for the crowd…and I thought she was great. I felt it was time for Rebecca to push herself past her old material and take the next step…and she shined. As a newer comedian, this is a difficult but necessary step. Can’t wait to see her continue the development of her new jokes.

Chris Franjola from Chelsea Lately closed the show with a stellar set of crowd work. Essentially, he went up on stage not really wanting to do material – this is actually when Franjola is at his best. He’s relaxed and off the cuff. Luckily he hit comedy gold…a group of 4 girls in their early 20′s sitting in row two…and a dude with a puffy vest jacket in row one. It doesn’t get much better than that people. He went back and forth with these folks…and it killed.

I normally don’t like to categorize comedians…male, female, black, Asian…because funny is funny. Who cares? But people do it all the time. So I want to make this very easy to read for everyone. Christina Pazsitzky cemented herself as the best female comedian in the city. The mark of a great comedian is continual development of great material. It’s about writing. I’ve seen CP (or Pezz if you’re nasty) perform almost 10 times. She continues to make me laugh over and over again with great, new material. She’s dirty, she’s cute, and I’m pretty sure she’s smarter than most of us. She told a joke about her husband’s obsessive grabbing of his crotch that had me screaming. Get off your ass and go see her…she’s in town for the summer.

Finally a big shout out to Patrick Keane. He’s hilarious. He tells a joke about Kane and Abel that is one of the best jokes I’ve heard. Definitely check him out when you get a chance.

“Sorry…I like to party…” – if you were at the show…you know what that means. Actually…I was there and still don’t know what it means…but Franjola had a field day with it. Thanks to the ladies in row 2.

Just finished a podcast with the hilarious and beautiful Christina Pazsitzky. This was the first pocast that I felt was just a conversation between two people and you get to listen in…exactly what I had in mind. Let me know what you think. I dig it…but I did it…so let me know.

CLICK HERE TO PLAY (RIGHT CLICK TO DOWNLOAD)

You can read more about Christina at her blog: www.christinacomedy.com.

I am obnoxiously late in posting this promo video for Bert Kreischer’s Comedy Central special but it’s just too good not to post. Kreischer and Christina Pazsitzky (the mom) are two of my favorite comedians in Los Angeles. Both are must see.

The Howard Stern Show is running another contest called the “Hottest Funniest Chick”.  No info is on the Stern website yet but they seem to have a few entries already.  But only a few.  Here are my recommendations for girls that should enter:

Kris Lezetc – Bottom line…she’s smokin’.  Nice work Matt Iseman.

Christina Pazsitzky - So cute. Really pretty. Funniest female comedian out there.

Dana Min Goodman – She has big boobs and she has dirty material. No brainer really.

Sarah Colona – Fun. Hot. Hilarious.

Who do you recommend?

Variety Magazine came out with a list of “Top 10 Comics to Watch”. No disrespect to Variety or the 10 comedians they chose, but I have a different definition of “watch”. Their definition is “to keep an eye on in the media and movies”. My definition is “to go see in a club and laugh your ass off”. To each his own. I happen to think my list can and will accomplish both feats. But what do I know.

So here is the “10 Really Good Comedians that You Should Go Watch in a Club to Laugh Your Ass Off” list.

1. Ryan Sickler
2. Dana Min Goodman
3. Tom Segura
4. Christina Pazsitzky
5. Jason Gillearn
6. Chris Franjola
7. Steve Flye
8. Andrew Norelli
9. Sam Tripoli
10.The Unknown Comedian

Starting on Monday, we will spotlight each of these comedians. I guarantee…if you go see any of these comedians live…it’ll be a good night.

A packed house at Ballgame’s Laugh Lounge last night saw one of the best line-ups in the show’s history. Chris Franjola, Christina Pazsitzky, Tom Segura, and Sarah Colona are 4 of the best stand-up comedians in the city and probably the country – and we got to see all of them in one show. It’s a really a tribute to the great job that Matty “Ballgame” Balaker has done. I would also like to give a shout out to the management at Red Rock for giving the show such great support. Prior management was not as supportive, but the new guys have really worked hard to help Matt. They understand what a great asset comedy can be to the establishment.

A few highlights:
- Christina Pazsitzky’s performance last night proves that the judges on Last Comic Standing do not choose the funniest people. I find it impossible…and I mean impossible…to believe that there are even 10 people in any city funnier than her. America got to see maybe :30-seconds of her act. Not fair. She’s unreal. She has reached a point in her comedy career that being on stage is second nature. She doesn’t have to think. Choosing to pursue stand-up comedy full time was a great decision. Please…for the love of holy hell…go see her live.

- Tom Segura did 20 minutes of new material that I have never heard before and it was incredible. I have seen Tom about 7 or 8 times. To do that much material…and for me to never have seen it…means he’s a great writer.

- When Sarah Colona performs…I feel like I’m getting a raw look into her life…and it’s so amazing. She is why stand-up comedy is so cool. When she jokes about her age and the number of men she slept with and her “roofy girlfriend”…it’s real…and it’s hilarious.

- Chris Franjola did the impossible last night…he dealt with a ridiculous heckler…and still pulled off a terrific set. I love Franjola. He’s a pro. Plus…he mentions my website on stage. He said, “Live Comedy L.A…what the fuck is that”? Genius…if you ask me.

- Chris Millhouse and Jessica Glassberg also performed. I think both had great stage presence. Especially Chris…he was very cool up on stage. With some material development…he’ll be solid.

Great time again at the Laugh Lounge.

HEY…make sure to check out Sarah Colona on Chelsea Lately on E! on Thursday night. Tivo that action so you know who I’m talking about.

Our girl Christina Paz just had a 3 minute vignette on Last Comic Standing from the Tempe audition. My questions – did her agent get her placement on the show, how did she get such a long segment, and will America be able to spell her last name? CP is too good to have waited in line with everyone else.  The segment was cool…she did an excellent job. Who knew she went to law school for two weeks…then dropped out.

Other L.A. comedians included Josh McDermitt (who was excellent as always), Adam Hunter,  Bobby Miyamoto,  and Rob Little – to be honest…it seemed like all the comedians from the LCS Tempe audition were from L.A.  So if you liked any of them…you can probably see them live any night of the week here.  We’ll keep you in the loop.

CP didn’t make the cut…which is mind boggling.  And neither did Josh McDermitt.  Adam Hunter did make it…so good luck to him.

We hit up No Name Comics on Sunday at Room 5. Host Brad Stewart puts on the show every Sunday and usually gets a decent crowd from what I hear…but always a very solid line-up of funny comedians, including the likes of Aisha Tyler and Brody Stevens on a regular basis. No difference last night as far as comedians are concerned, but the room was absolutely packed – which was terrific to see. I really hope we can help keep this room full every Sunday night. Last night featured 4 of my favorite comedians in Los Angeles – scratch that – in the country and the discovery of 3 more terrific talents.

Favorites: Andrew Norelli, Iliza Shlesinger, Christina Pazsitzky, Ryan Sickler
New Discoveries: Carlos Kotkin, Andrew Orvedahl, Alex Nussbaum

You’ve heard me talk about the favorites over and over again. But I’d like to make something clear…great comedians are like fine wine – you can experience them many times but enjoy them just as much as you did the first time…and notice new things every time you see them…and appreciate the nuances that you never recognized previously. It’s really incredible. I’ve seen Ryan Sickler do the same set at least 10 times…to the point where he apologized to me before going on stage. But the reality is you will never see a comedian do the same set, the same way…ever. And last night, Sickler performed his set better than I’ve ever seen it. He truly has evolved as a comedian in terms of his delivery and pacing. His material has always been amazing but watching him last night was just awesome. The same is true for Norelli and CP (CP is how we will refer to Christina Pazsitzky from now on). I love watching them because they are on-point every single time. I am so happy that Norelli is filming for the Late, Late Show tonight and CP is going full steam with stand-up. Please do yourself a favor and get out and see them at your earliest convenience. I will pay you money if you do not enjoy their performance.

Carlos Kotkin was an interesting change-up as far as stand-up comedy is concerned. He is more of a story teller. I dug it…and so did the rest of the crowd. He had a bit about herpes and HIV that was off the charts. Andrew Orvedahl and Alex Nussbaum were great surprises as well. Nussbaum’s jokes about his Russian mother were killer and Overdahl’s Riverside jokes were great. I’ll definitely get out to see these guys again.

Good night of stand-up comedy on a Sunday night. Now it’s time to pick my brackets.

Besides fiance Tom Segura…Christina wants us to know that Daniel Tosh makes her laugh more than any other comedian in L.A. CP forgot to answer our question from last week but I met up with her, Ryan Sickler, and Dana Min Goodman for dinner tonight after a great show at No Name Comics (review coming tomorrow) and nailed down the answer we were all clamoring for over the past week.