I spun the one’s and two’s on Tuesday night at Ballgame’s Laugh Lounge at Red Rock. Really it was more like sliding a little bar up and down for 3 second intervals…but whatever…I did my best to fill in for the regular sound guy…the legendary Ted Balaker. I like to think of him as the Laugh Lounge’s version of Kid Capri.

Erik Lundy and Ryan Sickler came out to the show for support. Sounds like Lundy and our girl Christina Pazsitzky might have some great projects going on in the near future for movies and TV. Let’s keep our fingers crossed. Sickler was just pimpin’ it (not really…Dana Goodman is his gf…he was there to support).

Fun line-up at the Laugh Lounge. Laura Rosenberg hosted. She’s definitely one of the best hosts in town. Her energy is great for a show. If you want a quality show, get Laura Rosenberg, Richie Angeles, or Carl Hess as your host. Not sure there’s a reason to go beyond those three.

Dana Goodman has one of the best opening lines in comedy, “Titties in the house!”. It never gets old.

Jonny Laquasto and Matty “Ballgame” Balaker had good sets and I really appreciate their support of the website.

Saw Ryan Niemiller for the first time. Ryan has a handicap of some type with his arms…not sure what the condition is…but he didn’t make reference to it until probably 3 or 4 minutes into his set. Brilliant. Really looking forward to seeing him again.

I enjoy hearing Josh Wolf talk about his two teenage kids. He’s probably in his late 30′s, so having two teenage kids at his age can make for some great material. However, the last two times at Laugh Lounge he’s told two very random, very long stories. I think Josh Wolf could have a show about a young-ish dad with two teenagers. He should stick with developing that. It’s about creating intellectual property folks.

Franjola headlined and had the joke of the night…and I quote, “They’ve been able to create the perfect storm of douchebaggery in Hollywood AND Sherman Oaks by putting an Arclight right next to a 24-Hour Fitness in both locations.” Love that guy. Although, he doesn’t like to be filmed so that we can put his stuff on the internet. It’s a mistake. I’ll work on him. Chris is one of the few comedians who is truly educated about current events and could very easily step into a role like Joel McHale has on TalkSoup on E! or even a role like Jon Stewart has on the DailyShow on Comedy Central. He’s doing a tour soon with some of the other folks from “Chelsea Lately” round table. 20 stops at colleges around the country. I’m hoping that builds his buzz. He’s gonna need a Web 2.0 strategy to capitalize though. The kids use Facebook and widgets Franjola. But that’s my opinion…what do I know.

Line-Up:
Matty “Ballgame” Balaker
Matt Hummell
Bob Bledsoe
Natasha Leggero
Duncan Trussell
Chris Franjola

6 comedians…perfect size. Everyone kept it tight. Matty had some Laugh Lounge first timers in the line-up also which is great to see. Love it when I get to see new comedians.

Ballgame -
Matty is a good host…kept it tight this time around. Still slingin’ new jokes. But he pretty much let the other comedians have it tonight.

Matt Hummell -
First time seeing Matt…I’m gonna need to see his material again…but he kept it tight. Gotta love that.

Bob Blesoe -
Bob is a riot. Starts off the show with the joke about someone leaving a message on the wall in the bathroom about giving blow jobs…but didn’t leave a number. Hilarious! Plus his joke about the Wisconsin girl’s accent is stellar. I like Bob a lot. He was in the line-up during my debut…so it was cool to see him without the stress of that night.

Natasha Leggero -
Wow! She’s off the charts. Her stage persona is part stuck-up…part cute as hell. I loved her bit about doing comedy to get laid…it was sarcastic of course…which is her MO…but it rocked. Can’t wait to see her in action again.

Duncan Trussell -
Clearly Duncan is a sick fuck…and I love it. Little Hobo is unreal…his bit about channeling was stellar. He didn’t do “Fuck Blob” which is one of my favorite jokes of any comedian…but that’s ok. Duncan is still top 10. I love this guy.

Chris Franjola -
Franjola’s joke about watching his neighbor’s video of him fucking an old girlfriend has officially reached “all time” status. You can put it with Scolaro’s Sneezing, Jokoy’s Fighting, Dane’s Someone Shit on the Coats, and Sickler’s CAIDS and Dash of Downs. It’s a riot. Franjola is awesome…and I hope I can get him to perform at my 30th birthday party.

Line-Up:
Matt Baetz
Mark Serritella
Matty “Ballgame” Balaker
Andy Kozel
Bryan Erwin
Brian Keith Etheridge
Matt Iseman
Tom Segura

Big line-up for the Laugh Lounge. But here’s the key difference between Ballgame’s Laugh Lounge and the typical “room”. Ballgame books very good comedians up and down the line-up. Every “room” has it’s purpose…the “rooms” that put up 12 comedians are for comedians to practice…this “room”…is for top performers…and the great up and comers. Normally I say there is no reason to have more than 5 – 6 comedians in the line-up…and that’s the most. But if you’re solid all the way through…and everyone keeps their sets tight…8 is ok. 10 – 12 comedians kills an audience no matter what though.

Matt Baetz – mattbaetz.com
Hands down the best host in Ballgame Laugh Lounge history. He’s the perfect host. Great material. Tight set. Made sure he knew everyone coming to the stage…and was interested in seeing them. That’s the key right there. I was late unfortunately for the beginning of his set…but I hope Matt is getting spots at the big clubs…and going on tour. I see big things for him. He has the tools.

Mark Serritella – markserritella.com
For some reson, Mark’s set isn’t sicking with me. It was very smooth and he has his stuff dialed…I just need to see him again to get the material down.

Matty Ballgame – myspace.com/balaker
Nobody in comedy writes more new jokes than Ballgame. I’m not kidding. He prides himself on putting himself out there…and we all need to respect him for it. It’s easy to use the security blanket…Matt rarely does. That’s how you become famous…throw your balls out there!

Andy Kozel – myspace.com/andykozel
Andy had one of the best jokes of the night…his “America’s Most Wanted” bit was spot on. I always change the channel because it scares the shit out of me…but then I have to turn it back…I just have to. I thought Andy got off to a slow start…but he brought it back around with “America’s Most Wanted” and closed strong. Looking forward to seeing him again.

Bryan Erwin – bryanerwin.com
Bryan has been at Laugh Lounge a bunch…he’s polished. A little fast…but his parenting material is solid…and this guy is dirty. I’m digging it.

Brian Keith Etheridge – myspace.com/briankeithetheridge
BKE crushed it this time around. His “sucking dick” tirade at the end of his set was just awesome. He was calling out girls left and right…and the crowd was on the floor. I love when comedians push the envelope. Stand-up comedy is still the only place you can do this…that’s why it’s the greatest.

Matt Iseman – mattiseman.com
Matt has really good stage presence….loved his joke about his new girlfriend…who is smokin’ hot comedian Kris Lezect. She uses him as a scratch post when she’s having an orgasm…he just gets in the way. We should all be so lucky. Anyway…back to the blog. I’d like to see new material from Matt. He’s a solid performer and a cool dude though.

Tom Segura – tomsegura.com
Tom is hands down one of the top 10 comedians out there. I love this guy…I’ve written about him many times. He and Sickler make the best writing team in the business. Someone just needs to let them have free reign on a project. His racial, sexual, and dirty humor is off the charts funny.

Line-Up:
Matty Ballgame
Patrick Ney
Lana Turner
Bernadette Balagtas
Nick Thune
Jeff Short
Michael Batts
Chris Porter
Josh Wolf

Biggest line-up in Ballgame Laugh Lounge history tonight…but it wasn’t awful. You know why…because all of the comedians were good…they stuck to their time…no one went up too long…and that kept you wanting more. The other thing was important…at no point was Matty saying stuff like, “OK folks…only few more comedian…hang in there.” I hate that shit. If you have to say that…the comedians aren’t good…and you are putting on a bad show…and not helping the cause…which is getting people out to see live comedy. Get with the program folks…this should always be fun…not torture.

Just a highlight review this time (sorry to the comedians in this line-up…I’ll get you back in more detail on another blog) because I’m writing this two weeks after the fact…my bad…I’ll catch up today.

Matty Ballgame is still slinging new jokes every time and the confidence is still rising…I love it. Pat Ney was very good…looking forward to seeing him again. I still can’t get into Lana Turner’s style…it’s not that she has bad jokes…I’m just not into the style…to each his own. I LOVE Bernadette Balagtas…she is just very friendly…clean…funny as hell. Thune did his IM Bit…Salmonerd/Insynchottie…very well done bit…I’ve seen it 3 times now…and he has it dialed…looking for new material from Thune. Jeff Short was the surprise of the night…he crushed it…tons of talent…great jokes…a big time up and comer with Kinno. Michael Batts had a solid set…Porter was stellar…and Josh Wolf was solid. More later on everyone.

Line-up:
Matty Ballgame
J. Chris Newberg
Iliza Shlesinger
Bret Ernst
Sam Tripoli
Adam Gropman
Andrew Norelli
Bone Hampton

Nice to see the line-up card making a second appearance at the Laugh Lounge…and in color. I’m diggin’ it. And I saw people taking it with them…I think it’s going to catch on. Also, cool to see a special slot on the line-up card dedicated to me for my birthday…no I didn’t do the card this week…thanks Matty! Loved the new seating set-up…I probably should have thought of this…but I’m glad someone did (I can’t think of jokes, line-up cards, how to deal with a guest appearance by Bret Ernst…and new seating arrangements – however – I think we should take Franjola’s advice from the last show and put a table up there for the comedians). They took one of the “couches” from the “Judges” section and put it out front. Good call. Sweet crowd…late arriving L.A. crowd as usual…but whattaya gonna do…ask the Dodgers. People don’t come till the third inning for their games…people don’t come till the third comedian for this show. On to the comedians…

Matty Ballgame – myspace.com/balaker
Ballgame kept it to a tight two minute set last night because of a stop in by Bret Ernst (more on him later). Gotta love Matty for sacrificing himself for the good of the show. No joke…he knows what’s good for the show…he knows Ernst is one of the best…and one of my favorites ; )…so he cut his own time. He did some standard jokes…kept it tight…and nailed his Lindsey Lohan joke. Can’t ask for much more than that. Ballgame knows how to wear the promoter hat when he needs to and that’s clutch. It is exactly why this is the best room in the city.

J. Chris Newberg – jchrisnewberg.com
At some point, I’ll give you my thoughts on what I believe a host of a comedy show should be. I believe it’s a special position that plays a pivotal role in the evening’s events. I won’t get into it now…but stay tuned for it. What I do know is that J. Chris Newberg is not a host. His material is good…I liked the short musical bits…but he’s not a host. And the notebook on the floor by the mic needs to go. Fitzsimmons, Silverman…even Gillearn can pull off the notes like that…but they are very special cases. This isn’t that type of room. I’m not trying to knock the guy…but truth be told…ditch the notebook and bring it back around for a smoother set.

Iliza Shlesinger – ilizashlesinger.com
Two takes on Iliza (who I’ve now seen 4 times) – even with a shortened set…she did new material. I like the house party jokes. And there is nobody in comedy better at handling non-laughter than Iliza. That may sound bad…but it’s not. Sometimes…you tell a joke…and it doesn’t work. Sometimes…you tell a great joke…and the crowd isn’t into it yet. Sometimes…shit just happens. Iliza handles those situations better than anyone I’ve seen because she has this sarcastic, “I don’t give a shit” attitude that works so well on stage…and actually helps loosen the crowd…and can create funny moments. She just powers through…it’s really incredible if you are paying close attention. Telling a joke and not getting a ton of laughs is tough…she says “Fuck it…you didn’t like that one…I got another one right here.” I like her a lot.

Bret Ernst – breternstlive.com
Bret has reached a point in his career where he doesn’t even have to think when he’s on stage. You can just tell…it just flows out of him. He’s hilarious. His jokes about his “guido” friends back on the East Coast are priceless…especially the jokes about bottle service. Christ…those had me rolling. And the “old man jokes”…just awesome. I love Ernst…loved him since ’04…and it’s great to see him just pop into places like Red Rock to help out Matty Ballgame. That’s a good guy. Because he’s top notch folks. If you ever get a chance to see the roller skating joke…it kills.

Sam Tripoli – myspace.com/crimefighter
I love the “Crime Fighter”. He’s really starting to be very consistent every time he goes up. Tripoli did a short set…but make no mistake about it…this guy has the ability to go on for a long time. Still love the “300″ joke…just makes you want to go to Westwood and beat the shit out of Persians, he says. Hilarious!

Adam Gropman – myspace.com/gropman
First time seeing Gropman. He had a lot of material…but I just don’t think the tech jokes were playing with the crowd. His Sandler impression was good. And he definitely got thrown by some silent moments…tough set this time. No worries though. He’ll bring it back around.

Andrew Norelli – andrewnorelli.com
Norelli had such a great set…last time he performed…I performed…so I wasn’t fully concentrating on his stuff…but I did this time. His joke about wishing the Indians would just move here so we could just pick up the Mexicans and Indians outside of Home Depot in one trip might have been the joke of the night. Also, the chin to shoulder ratio being the determining factor of how gay you look in pictures is unreal. Plus his AIDS jokes were stellar. Norelli is great. So glad I could see him again and pay attention this time.

Bone Hampton – bonehampton.com
I just love this guy. Not just because he knows I write this blog and talked about during his set…but because he’s a riot and a hell of a good guy. There are very few comedians that I quote on a consistent basis…Tosh, Sickler, Gaffigan…and Bone. “FO’ FIFTY….BYE!!!” My girlfriend and I say that at least once a week. Now Bone grabbed me after the show and said he thought I would write something about him needing to do new material. The fact is…I could listen to his material all the time…just like a good song. But I want to hear new material because he’s that good. Just like I want to hear new material from Sickler and Gillearn. Because when they write new stuff…it’s awesome. Lookin’ forward to new material from Bone!

Next Show: August 7th

Line-Up:
Matty Ballgame
Adam DeVine
Sarah Colonna
Scott Krinsky
Retta
Ryan Sickler
Chris Franjola

Let me just say that everyone needs stand-up comedy in their lives.

On to the show…we debuted the “Line-Up Card” last night…which I was very proud of on a personal level. It’s all about the comedians and the audience…and that should never change. We’re going to make that a staple in comedy.

Matty Ballgame – www.myspace.com/balaker
Here’s the great thing about Matty Ballgame right now…he’s writing new material for every show. That alone deserves a ton of respect. He’s not just sitting back and resting on old material. He’s utilizing his time at his show to it’s fullest. Last night’s killer jokes: The hand job from the gypsy and his girlfriend wanting to get married but she hasn’t found the guy yet. Good stuff.

Adam DeVine – www.mailordercomedy.com
I’ve been watching DeVine for quite some time now…and it’s just awesome to see a comedian get better and better and really hone his material. Doing the drunk guy at the party is great (Fuckin’ Heather! I can drive!), Frotto’s Fat friend, Black Berry/White Berry/Brown Berry, Filthy Rich…he’s go it dialed. I’d love to see some new material from him. And I’d love to see him do 12 minutes just to push the envelope a little more. I think he deserves a shot at Red Rock to do that time.

Sarah Colonna – www.myspace.com/sarahcolonna
First time seeing Sarah…and we all know how much I like seeing people for the first time. First observation…I confirmed what I already knew…Last Comic Standing doesn’t do comedians justice because it’s too restrictive. Sarah is on Last Comic Standing…and I saw her first set…and I was very luke warm about it (not that I know shit). But last night…she was great. I love when comics are totally honest on stage about who they are…and that’s what Sarah does. She talks about her drinking and her boring friends (I love Ruffie Girl…btw). I want to see Sarah again…she kicked ass.

Scott Krinsky – www.myspace.com/scottnspace
First time seeing Scott also…he had a lot of jokes. Nothing seemed to stick with me too much…so I’m gonna have to see him again. However, there was a point when Scott told a joke that didn’t work…and that’s when he got good. It’s like a switch clicked…and that’s when you know a good comedian. He settled in with the good stuff.

Retta – www.comedycentral.com
Retta has a very controlled way about her. I’m not gonna lie…I need to see her again to tell you all the jokes. I think the new joke she told about the sleeveless wedding dress and her big arms kind of overshadowed the rest of the set. But you know what…you have to work out material as a comedian. That’s what they do. I want to see her again.

Ryan Sickler – www.myspace.com/ryansickler
This guy is just my favorite…you know that by now. He’s a friend…and a good guy…but Fuckin’ A he’s funny. He had a great mixture of old jokes and new material…which I love. I always want to hear the favorites…but I want to see what he comes up with next. The joke about carrying the coffin is off the charts. He didn’t do CAIDS last night…but he ended it strong with Dash of Downs.

Chris Franjola – www.myspace.com/chrisfranjola
Let’s just start by saying this guy is an absolute professional. First…he promoted the shit out of the show on Myspace…and not in some bullshit way. In a creative way like I would. Plus…he brought a bunch of hot chicks…which is always gonna get you points. He could have sucked…and at the end of the day…we would have gone…”Yeah…but he brought hot chicks.” And to top it off…he killed. He does a ton of riffing…plus the closer with him going to his neighbors house to watch a video of the neighbor fucking an ex-girlfriend is a classic. Franjola is legit folks.

Nest Show: July 24th