Written by: Joseph Santiago

I had the pleasure of interviewing one of my favorite people in the industry, Caitlin Jones, casting director for Liz Lewis. Caitlin is one of my favorites for many reasons, but the biggest one is that we are actually friends outside the industry. Caitlin and I went to Nazareth College together. We were one year apart, but worked on many different shows together either acting in them or hanging lights. Caitlin worked her butt off in the theatre along with getting top grades. She is now one of the most successful alumni from our theatre department. I was very lucky I could get an interview with her, since she works non-stop. She even said, “Laura, if it wasn’t you I probably would have rescheduled three times by now.” It probably helped that I’ve also walked her dog. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Garry Shandling passed away today after suffering a massive heart attack in Los Angeles, according to The Daily Mail.

Shandling, best known for guest-hosting The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, started his career in advertising, working for an ad agency in Los Angeles. While in LA, he successfully sold a script to NBC for an episode of Sanford and Sons. After suffering a terrible accident in 1977, he made the life-altering decision to pursue a career in comedy full-time. read more

By: Laura High @LauraHigh5

Linda Smith is one of my favorite people in this industry. This is a very harsh, cut-throat business, but Linda is the only one who never has a bad word spoken about her. She has an incredible resumé and teaches stand up comedy. Linda’s credits include: HBO Women of the Night, Conan O’Brian on NBC, Comedy Central, VH1, Stand Up Spotlight, Good Morning America, Today Show, and The Rosie O’Donnell Show.

To sign up for a class with Linda Smith, click here: http://www.carolinescomedyschool.com/ read more

Written by : Bryan Murray

After attending comedy on a fairly regular basis throughout the few years my wife and I had been living in New York, there was one main thing I noticed. It can get expensive. In most cases, it is treated as a “night out” an occasional event that is looked upon much like a concert or Broadway show. One of these things you plan around, maybe save up a little beforehand. That was something I definitely did not take into account before wanting to take in as much live stand up comedy as possible. It didn’t take long before it was heavily suggested to me by the more responsible half, to find new ways to attend comedy that wouldn’t hurt our accounts. Luckily, New York also has a plethora of shows, especially during the regular week nights, which are far more affordable, sometimes even free. We found ourselves regularly attending show at The Stand Restaurant and Comedy Club in the Gramercy area.
At one of the many shows we had seen there was Aaron Berg, who I have heard on various podcasts in which he plugged a free show at the club called Frantic!. Frantic! is a free show every Monday night at 10pm, the final show at the club that night so it can go for a while. One available Monday we attended the show, and it was absolutely hysterical. Since then, I have returned multiple times to Frantic! and became a fan of Aaron and his other projects as well as the amazing feats that I got to discuss briefly with him about.
Aaron and I stood outside a chilly January 11th night. This, like most Frantic! shows offered both pretty recognizable names and some newer comedians. On this night it was Aaron, Noah Gardenswartz, Aida Rodriguez, Dan Soder, Subhah Agarwal, Dave Smith, Graham Kay, Luis J. Gomez, Janelle James, a drop in by Judah Friedlander, Alex Pavone, and Bill Dawes playing the character of Grigori. When we could, Aaron and I would run outside to talk as he puffed on his cigar checking the times to jet back in to light and host the show.
You’ve had some “questionable professions” prior to stand up. What made you decide to get into stand up?
“I had done a movie in Canada and thought, ‘I’d just be a movie star, this will be easy’ it was ‘Detroit Rock City’ I had a small part. And thought that it would blow me up but didn’t so I went to an Amateur Night at Yuk Yuks in Toronto it went really well.I mean, the comedy was horrible thinking it seemed easy but then just sucked for a while.”
What got you first interested in acting?
“I think I always just wanted to be a movie star and just wanted to be on tv I think. But then, once I discovered stand up the exact opposite thing happened, ‘F*#k TV I wanna be an artist.’”
Some could look now and see there are definite “comedy purists” that do fall very close to the ‘wanna be an artist’mentality. Do you feel you hold true to that or has it changed throughout the years?
“I feel now, I’m just really happy creating constantly. No matter what it is, as long as I’m creating.”
And that definitely shows in what you have been putting out there especially recently. Releasing two books, constant stand up, and being a part of Hulu Original series “24 Hour Rental”.
“I feel like the stuff that I do would be more suited to someone who is really famous like ‘Oh, he wrote another book that silly Ryan Goseling’” read more

By: Laura High
March, 3rd 2016

I just started stand up comedy and had no clue what to do. One comic suggested I audition for Late Night at Comic Strip Live. Comic Strip is the oldest comedy club in New York. I had seen performances there when I was a teenager. I was terrified because this was going to be the seventh time I had ever performed stand up. I got there and found out that there was a panel of judges who will ‘roast’ each of us and let us know if we pass (get hired) in front of a packed room. My heart went in my throat. I went up, and miraculously did well. I had no expectations. One of the judges asked how long I had I been doing stand up, I said this was my seventh performance. Then Richie said, “You’re passed.” I’ve been working on jokes there ever since. read more

Written by: Laura High
March, 4th 2016

I’ve been performing with Neko White for four years. He’s the hardest-working comic I know. Not a night goes by where he isn’t working and re-working a joke. When he announced that he had booked his first show at The Apollo Theater, I couldn’t have been happier. Neko White’s credits include: Fox’s Laughs, Elite Daily Gen Why, Award winning documentary “One Mic,” MTV Hip Hop Squares, One Hour Special: Introducing Me. read more

By: Laura High

I was extremely excited to interview the highly regarded comic Jeffery Jay. Jeffery is based in L.A., although originally from Texas. Jeff is also a trans male, which means Jeffery was born a woman but identifies as a man. Jeffery is constantly on the road performing at colleges. He is also currently on the podcast “Good News and Bad News” available on iTunes.

Laura: How long have you been doing stand up comedy?
Jeffery: I want to say six years.

L: How did you get started in stand up?
J: I was eighteen when I started, and still a girl. I was not good. I was pretty, my family had money, I had no problems. I was twenty-one when I transitioned, and I thought comedy was over. I thought I was too weird, but a year after I transitioned it was still something I wanted to do. Plus, I had a story that was unique. I then picked a date for my first open mic. I promised myself I would do it. On the day of the show I didn’t let myself off the hook. I told trans jokes and they went over extremely well. I then decided to take a stand up class. The teacher said I couldn’t do trans jokes because I hadn’t earned them yet. What happened next was miraculous. Another comic named Tone Bell dropped by the class and heard what the teacher said. Tone Bell said, “You’re wrong. I saw him at this open mic. He has to do trans jokes.” Thank God he said that, because if he hadn’t, I don’t know if I could’ve continued. At that time, being trans was still so sensitive and raw for me. That gave me the momentum to continue down this path. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

When Al Martin first starting out, was there specific guidelines the club had on PC’s or was it really anything goes?

I have kept my venues the same since I first started. If I make the decision to use a comic in my club, then I will very rarely go in there and critique them. If they have been established for years and are respected, I trust them to provide high quality entertainment every night. Recently I had someone call me and tell me that they had a problem with a specific comedian on the show. They loved everyone else. But they told me to never book that one comedian again, because he was being racist towards Indians. Well, I asked this person if the comedian was making fun of everyone else and they said yes. You cannot be offended by a joke that makes fun of you specifically if you laugh at the others, that should be the rule. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Zac Amico is definitely making a name for himself as of late, especially in the comedy community. Zac had been doing comedy around six years, which by most standards is not long at all. But with the popularity of Roasting coming to New York, Zac is a force to be reckoned with.

I had become familiar with Zac Amico through a podcast I listen to regularly, The Real Ass Podcast. Real Ass Podcast is a weekly show Luis J Gomez had started and quickly brought in Zac and fellow comedian Chris Scopo. Recently Luis added another comedian Kris Tinkle to the roster. Since creating the setting of comedians sitting around throwing jabs at one another, it had become incredibly clear that Zac had a true natural talent. Luis has been hosting a show at The Stand called Roastmasters, which is a regular show at The Stand where two comedians go head to head in a Roast competition. Similar to the famous Comedy Central Roasts but this is strictly head to head.  This original Roasting show in the city is backed by the Roastmaster General himself, Jeff Ross. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Recently in the world of comedy we have been hearing a lot about what constitutes joke theft. The most recent culprit is none other than the most popular comedian in the world right now, Amy Schumer. A video came out comparing Schumer’s jokes to the jokes of comedians Wendy Lieberman, Patrice O’Neal, Kathleen Madigan, and Tammy Pescatelli. Pescatelli specifically called stealing from other female comedians. She claimed it is something that should not be done in the in a medium that is impossibly difficult for women to navigate through. read more