Live Comedy L.A.

Who: Drew Carey, BJ Novak, Bret Ernst, Kyle Cease
What: Comedy Juice
Where: Hollywood Improv
When: Wednesday, January 16 @ 10pm.

The Good Word:
RSVP at the Improv Guestlist and get on the list for $7 - tell them Live Comedy L.A. sent you. That’s a stellar discount at the Improv. And just a quick word…most of you will be going to this show to see Drew Carey and BJ Novak from the Office. Get ready for Bret Ernst if you haven’t seen him before. He’s a 5 tool guy…and probably the best comedian in the line-up (although I don’t like to compare).

Line-up:
Quinn Dahle
Josh Mullins
Matt Bronger
Jen Murphy
Sean Green
Daryl Wright
Dan Gabriel
Ian Bagg

Friday night…8pm…THE Hollywood Improv…that’s a prime time show. You know how many people were there…maybe 30…if we count the wait staff. Ian Bagg deserves better than that…in fact…stand-up comedy deserves better than that. Honestly…it makes me sad. The Improv needs to get their act together quickly…because they are getting lazy…not only with promotion of their shows…but with supplying a quality product, innovation, and creativity. If they don’t start applying fundamental business principles to the comedy business…they are going to go the way of the Comedy Store very quickly. You heard it here first. Look…the folks over at the Laugh Factory (with the exception of Brother Woods…great guy) are a bunch of douche bags. Jamie Masada and his staff treat patrons like shit…and I’ve heard worse about the comedians. But I can tell you this…he knows how to run a business. Friday and Saturday nights are packed there. He puts up the best comedians…during the prime time shows. You have to do that…for the good of the game. I’m going to get to the comedians now…but stay tuned for my blog on how the Improv can improve…I’m going to offer my suggestions because it’s by far my favorite club. I love it. And I don’t want it to become the Comedy Store.

Quinn Dahle
Quinn definitely brought it back around this time. He was faced with a small, tough crowd…and I felt like he did a good job loosening things up. Plus he didn’t say everyone was from Comedy Central when introducing them. Still would like to see more personal intros…but he did a great job. This is the great thing about comedy…I love watching improvement and struggle…and the process. It’s fascinating to me.

Josh Mullins
I guess Josh runs the room at Le Stats down in San Diego. A lot of my favorite comedians go down there…so it sounds like a good room. Josh is pretty low key and solid with his material. Nothing is popping for me…but he dealt with the small crowd well. This was a tough show folks…seriously.

Matt Bronger
I think I’m spelling his name wrong (PLEASE IMPROV…get a line-up card for every table…it’s a simple promotional tool that will help everyone…I promise). Matt was mostly clean. Started a little slow and all over the place…but I’ll tell ya’…the guy closed pretty strongly. I loved the joke about not being able to find your penis in freezing cold weather at a Chicago Bears game when you are in the bathroom…that’s a riot. Plus the owl stuff was very funny.

Jen Murphy
Jen was totally cute…sorry…I’m a dude…that’s the first thing I noticed. Not as hot as my girlfriend…but still (threw that in just in case…you know what I’m sayin’ fellas…). She said her vagina was sagging…hilarious!

Sean Green
Sean popped in for a quick 4 or 5…nothing is sticking with me.

Daryl Wright
There is nothing like discovering a new comedian who is really funny. It’s awesome. Daryl was great. He went up with the all important…”I don’t give a fuck attitude” and just had at it. His clan material was stellar. He’s really good…looking forward to seeing him again.

Dan Gabriel
Dan is very good. I love the jokes about having a baby in a week instead of 9 months…awesome. He’s polished…you can tell.

Ian Bagg
OK…let’s just say it right now…Ian Bagg is gifted. He is truely a gifted comedian and I don’t understand why he doesn’t have a show, a tour…something…christ. He goes up there…and just starts firing away with what almost seems like nothing. I’m not sure he has writting material. He uses the audience in a way that is more unique than anything I’ve seen before. Is there a better “crowd worker” in the business? If so…I haven’t seen him/her. I really love going to see him…and so should every other person who enjoys stand-up comedy…because he is one of the VERY few stand-up comedians who will give you a different show every time you see him. His skill level is incredible. At this show…some dude in the audience got served his divorce papers that night. Perfect. Ian tried to hook him up with some lady in the audience…just awesome!

Highlights (and a couple of lowlights) from the last couple of shows I’ve seen at the Improv:

I saw Dave Attell a few weeks ago. Just an amazing comedian…like we all know. He successfully pulled of a Virginia Tech joke like only Dave can. Big shout out to Dee for setting me up at this show. Also want to note that Gillearn had a great set. But Dov Davidoff clearly came on stage RIPPED. Dov has an odd style…but it really screwed up his set. In general, I have been seeing a lot comedians coming to the stage high or drunk. It needs to stop. These guys are unable to perform this way. They may think it makes them better…but it screws them up…from Sarah Silverman to Dov Davidov…it just doesn’t work.

Saw the Sklar Bros. last week headline at the Improv…so impressive. The chemistry they have on stage is amazing. The Jew stuff is hilarious! Also, Orny Adams was excellent. However, an abrassive comedian from Pittsburgh needed some help (can’t recall his name…if the Improv did a line-up card…maybe I would…hint…hint!). His material was decent…but he didn’t know how to handle the crowd…and he kept walking away from the mic.

I need to call out Sadihki Fuller again…he’s a terrible and inconsiderate host. He continues to mess up other comedians names…which is shit! It’s SHIT! If you’re going to be the host…get it right…or go home. I don’t think he deserves to host there anymore. That’s the first time I’ve ever spoken those words about a comedian…but it’s a joke (no pun intended).

Line-Up:
Quinn Dahle
Louis Katz
Daniel Tosh
Matt Ralston
Daniel Kinno
Matt Fulchiron
TBD Comedian
Doug Benson

This was the “Best and Brightest” show at the Improv. I’ll be honest…this line-up was too big…and there were too many comedians looking at notes for this show. I guess I don’t expect that at the Improv…which is my favorite of the three big clubs in the city. This was like a mish mash line-up…new comedians who didn’t seem ready to be there…and a GREAT comedian who they put up too early. Not sure what was going on with this one to be honest.

Quinn Dahle -
Quinn is not a host. Didn’t have the material to warm up the crowd…and the only credit he used for every comedian was that they were from Comedy Central. Hey…I loved seeing him…but I don’t think it’s fair to put him in the host role. The clubs need to give this role more importance. Just my opinion.

Louis Katz -
First time seeing Louis…he had some good stuff…but nothing stuck with me this time…which isn’t necessarily bad. However, he used his notes a ton. I just think if you are at the Improv…you shouldn’t use notes. At what point do comedians not use notes. It’s actually becoming a problem…if they are using them at small work out rooms…small paid rooms…bigger paid rooms…weekday shows at the big clubs…then when aren’t they using them. Just an observation.

Daniel Tosh -
You can see my many takes on Tosh in previous blogs…he’s one of the best…I love him. His “Chilly Doggin” reference was awesome. The guy kills it. Don’t know why they put him up so early.

Matt Ralson -
Don’t know why his set isn’t sticking with me…probably because I’m writing this 3 weeks too late.

Daniel Kinno -
I’m making a prediction…Kinno will be one of the young, hot comics in the very near future…much like Bret Ernst was back in 2004. He has good presence and great material. I’ve seen him twice now…and he kills. Needs to drop the notes at the Improv though.

Matt “The Fullcharge” Fulchiron -
The only other time I saw The Fullcharge was doing a tight 3 at Red Rock. He busted out a sweet 12 and I dug it. He’s got the goods. He tells jokes so fast it’s almost too hard to remember them. But he’s damn good.

Doug Benson -
Love Benson. Seen him a million times…and he still kills. He did McGriddles…which is the best joke…I can never hear it too many times. Hope he wins Last Comic Standing.

Line-Up:
Paul Ogata
KT Tatara
Shane Wang
Kevin Schea
Edwin San Juan
Jo Koy

Slanted Comedy made it’s way to the Hollywood Improv…and I was able to catch it for the first time. I haven’t seen Jo Koy in almost a year so it was good to see him. Big crowd…I’m not gonna lie to you…the Asian themed shows always draw a big crowd at the comedy clubs…whether it’s PK’s show at the Laugh Factory or Edwin’s show…they draw a crowd. On to the comedians:

Paul Ogata -
This was my first time seeing Paul and he was a fantastic host. He had great jokes to warm up the crowd…knew all the comedians in the line-up personally…didn’t mess up their intros…and you never got the sense that he was trying to step on their time. He set-up each comedian so you were excited to see them. Plus Paul had his own great material. His iBoner joke is stellar. Definitely will see him again.

KT Tatara -
KT comes with an agressive style of comedy. And he’s dirty…which I like. I like this line, “I was with this girl in her bedroom…and I came across her bible. Which made me feel awkward because I meant to come on her face.” HA! Good stuff from KT. Plus I like how promoted his site and iPod promotion at the end of his set. If the host and the venue aren’t going to do…which should be priority number one in this business…then the comedians have to.

Shane Wang -
I don’t think Shang was supposed to be in the line-up but he stopped down from SF…which was cool. Smooth, deep voice style…his best joke of the night was about a girl he was dating…and his roommate thought he could do “better”. Shane said, “Yeah, I could do “Better”…but “Better” wasn’t trying to do me. “Better” was trying to fuck “Best”. So I’ll just stick with “OK”. Awesome!

Kevin Schea -
Kevin Schea is always stellar…I’ve seen him probably 4 times. I need to check out his DVD “Kim’s of Comedy”. He definitely didn’t disappoint tonight though. He has a very non-chalant style…like he’s half drunk…in fact he may be…but it totally works on stage. I’m always happy to see him in a line-up.

Edwin San Juan -
First time seeing Edwin…he rocked. His Asian stereo-type jokes were actually good. Especially the Filippino accent’s. He puts on a great show.

Jo Koy -
I love Jo…great guy…and just out of this world funny. His fighting joke is top 5 jokes of all time as far as I’m concerned. And he added a shitting joke that actually had me nervous that I wasn’t going to breathe again. Plus his Filippino Mother jokes are amazing. I’m happy that he just landed a show Comedy Central…I’m looking forward to it.