LIVE at The Comedy District

L.A. comedian Ritchie Angeles is the best host of a comedy show in the city. He is dedicated to helping show producers and fellow comedians put on a great show for the crowd. It’s rare to find that unselfishness and willingness to put the show first. As a fan of comedy, I appreciate his efforts, so I wanted to chat with him about his career and comedy.

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I caught Los Angeles comedian Matt Iseman hosting Sports Soup tonight right after watching the Pens beat the Flyers in OT on Versus.

“What the hell is Versus,” you ask? It’s a cable station that the NHL signed it’s TV deal with a few years ago after the strike (please Baby Jesus…sign with ESPN after this season). Anyway, I get the channel now because I’m with AT&T U-Verse. If you have DirecTV…you probably get it also. Other cable operators are a crap shoot.

Back to Iseman…looks like he landed a good gig. He’s doing a Talk Soup meets sports show…hence Sports Soup. I know…creative. It was pretty funny and he does a good job. For some reason…he’s pulling a Greg Giraldo and making his voice higher than it normally is…but other than that…solid. Remember when Giraldo hosted that Comedy Central Show on Friday nights…he turned the pitch of his voice up half an octave. I wonder if the TV execs tell these guys to do this. I’d back it down to a nice manly tone if I were them. But that’s me.

I picked up the Rolling Stone Comedy issue in the Vegas airport this weekend on my way home from BlogWorld (yeah…I was at BlogWorld). If you can still grab it, it’s a good read. My biggest take away from the issue was how opinions differed on the importance of the internet to comedy.

It’s 2008 folks. This isn’t debatable anymore. The internet is extremely important to comedy and comedians. Some quotes:

Dane Cook
“It’s the most important tool any comedian can implement into their career. It’s up to you to gather your fans for your own personal personal programming. That’s powerful.”

Katt Williams
“I think it’s been wonderful for comedy – a gold rush. It happened with the comedy clubs in the Eighties and Nineties, and it’s happened again now with the internet. Whoever thinks differently is looking at it the wrong way.”

Craig Ferguson
“I think it’s actually bad for performers who are starting out. They’re not getting a chance to fail in private.”

Zach Galifianakis
“The little bit of success that I have is due to the internet. It has nothing to do with me guest-starring or being on a sitcom at all.”

Albert Brooks
“I think the internet is slowly going to take down all creativity.”

OK folks…big weekend for Los Angeles comedian Ryan Sickler.  First, he is appearing on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham on Friday, July 18th.  The show airs at 10pm on Friday, so set your DVR’s tonight!  Here’s a clip:

Then…he is performing at my 30th birthday on Saturday the 19th at Red Rock on Sunset at 9pm. Watch him on Comedy Central and then come watch him live in a small, intimate setting.  Yeah…you can reach out and touch him…if you want.  The rest of the line-up is awesome…I booked it myself ; ).  Matty “Ballgame” Balaker, Lauri Roggenkamp, Steve Flye, Brian Scolaro, Chris Franjola, and Sickler.  That’s a lot of sexiness in one line-up people.  Can you handle it?

Andrew Norelli was just spotted as one of the 10 comedians in the Honda Sweepstakes Online Voting competition taking place in conjunction with Last Comic Standing. He is not on LCS…it’s more like a promotional tie-in that Honda is doing with the show. Here’s the point…get online now and go vote for Norelli. He’s an L.A. comedian and one of the the most underrated comedians in the country. Go here.

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.

Keep an eye out for the new Verizon Wireless commercial…you’ll see L.A. comedian Dwayne Perkins. Dwayne is a terrific, clean comedian from NY who now performs regularly in the L.A.-area. In fact, you can catch him this Tuesday, March 4th at the Hollywood Improv at 10pm. See them on TV…then see them live in the clubs. It’s great when our local comedians get their breaks. If you spot any L.A. comedians on TV shows, in commercials, or in movies…let us know. In the mean time, check out Dwayne in the Verizon commercial and in the this YouTube Video.