Written by: Joseph Santiago

Caitlin Peluffo is one of our favorite up and coming comedians and we decided to meet up with her at the New York Comedy Club in the East Village right after her show to ask her a few questions about Stand up comedy.

When and where did you start performing comedy? What was your first time on stage like?

I started performing comedy in NYC about 5 years ago. I always wanted to try comedy, but didn’t have to courage until I went through an awful breakup and thought “what do I have to lose?” At first, I started to open mics with Laughing Buddha Comedy, which were about 5 minutes of stage time. Could I fill it? Absolutely not. Did I try with horribly embarrassing stories from my past relationship with zero punchlines? Of course. I apologize to everyone who was forced to endure the therapeutic torture. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

How did you get your start in comedy?

People would always laugh at me when I got angry. I went for a Masters in acting at the Yale School of Drama, and we’d be talking about something tragic, say like 9/11, and I would talk, and they‘d laugh. Then THAT used to make me angry. They certainly weren’t being malicious, and I didn’t understand what was humorous about my angst. But people would tell me that I should be a comedian. I always looked at stand up as the underbelly of show business, booze, and rooms full of loud, blousy women drunk, smoking and screaming. Just chaos. Stand up was barely a thought in my head. I mean, to a degree it was, but my reality was that I was way too scared. Then I graduated from grad school and eventually I found myself hating theater. “You’re the racist, greaseball Italian. He stands on stage for three hours and has no lines, but he’s IMPORTANT! You’ll be paid $1.47 at Theatre by the Pothole for a six week run.” read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

The owners of a New York Comedy Club is providing a free year of responses to federal employees influenced by the partial government shutdown.

Stand Up New York is offering a free year of membership to LaughPass for national workers furloughed or working without pay, that the New York Post reported Wednesday.

The pass, that lets holders unlimited comedy shows and other perks in greater than two dozen places nationally, is generally priced at $159.

“We are not solving world peace, but when we could put in a little joy to people’s lives by providing them access to some free and enjoyable comedy encounter,” Stand Up New York co-owner Dani Zoldan stated in an announcement. “I am thrilled and thankful that I am able to accomplish this.” read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Excuse me, do you like live comedy? Well, fantastic news! Check out the New York Comedy Club Moves into East Village NYC!

The EastVille Comedy Club— top-notch NYC comedy club frequented by Janeane Garofalo and other downtown comics– picked up and moved to Brooklyn in July 2018, leaving its home of 8 years vacant.

Lucky for the East Village, the subterranean space at 85 East 4th Street was quickly taken over by the New York Comedy Club, which gave it a quick touch-up. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Maddy Smith is an NYC-based stand-up comedian and writer. She regularly appears as both an MC and comic throughout the city.

Maddy has performed at the Rochester Fringe Festival and Hoboken Comedy Festival, was a finalist in both the Finger Lakes Comedy Festival (Ithaca) and the Stand Up NY Festival (Manhattan), and a semi-finalist in the New York Comedy Club competition.

We met up with her on a Friday night at a packed sold out comedy shows at the

New York Comedy Club East Village on 4th Street read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

When and where did Comedian Henry Foley start performing comedy? What was his first time on stage like?

2008. The Laff House Comedy Club In Philadelphia Pa. I was 32 years old. I bombed, like a gentleman. Best wings in the city though.

Why did you pick NYC instead of Los Angeles or anywhere else?

I figured there would be more opportunities to get on stage, I couldn’t afford a plane ticket, and the pizza is way better.

How long did it take you to get paid work in comedy after you moved to NYC? read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

Our guide to stand up comedy shows this weekend and in the week ahead.
New York Comedy Club first location opened in 1988 and expanded to a second location in the East Village. This weekend at the New York Comedy Club there will be a lot of great comedy.

Thursday, January 17th, 2019 – 8:00 PM
New York Comedy Club East Village
Featured Comedians Lenny Marcus, Christian Finnegan, H. Foley, Akaash Singh.
Lenny Marcus is a stand-up comedian in NYC for longer than 20 years. You might have seen him perform comedy on David Letterman, read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

We met up with the hilarious Cuban born Stand Up Comedian Laz Rivero at the New York Comedy Club in Gramercy. The energy in this NYC comedy club was buzzing. It was a sold out show and lots of great comedians performed that night

We decided to have a conversation with Laz right after his show to discuss some things about comedy and all things in between.

1. What other jobs did you do before starting stand up comedy?
Real estate sales in Brooklyn. I also spent 14 years in hospitality. You can read about some of my experiences in the book “Heads In Beds” by good friend Jake Tomsky. I’m Dante in the book. read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

1. What other jobs did Joseph Vecsey do before starting stand up comedy?

Street basketball with various teams, freelance journalist, and an electronic store.

2. How did you know you wanted to be a comedian?

I realized I wasn’t going to make it to the NBA

3. If you weren’t doing comedy, what would you be doing?

Working at the Four Seasons Hotel hopefully.

4. Where are some of your favorite places to perform?

Comic Strip, Caroline’s, Hollywood Improv, and Bay Street Theater in the Hamptons read more

Written by: Joseph Santiago

It was at the New York Comedy Cub that we met up with one of our favorite comedians Monroe Martin after one of his comedy shows in NYC, which is located in the Kips Bay section in Manhattan. It was a Friday night and the New York Comedy Club was completely sold out. There was this amazing energy filled in the room with people from around the world. 1. What other jobs did Monroe Martin do before starting stand up comedy? I had too many Jobs. I was a Peer Educator for Planned Parenthood. I worked at Spirit of Halloween, McDonald’s, Philadelphia Youth Network, Tower Perrin, City Year, A charter School/ summer camp, The Philadelphia Zoo, a Security Company, a telemarketer, and Dave and Buster’s. 2. How did you know you wanted to be a comedian? Honestly, I didn’t dream of being a comedian. I didn’t think it was something I could accomplish so why try, right? My friends were the first people that thought I was funny. They called me stupid all the time. Most people would take offense to that, but I didn’t. Calling someone stupid when they say something hilarious is the second highest comment. The highest is genius. I would find my self-writing down topics and points to bring up during the conversation. At the time I did know I was writing a set. Between making my friends laugh I would make some of my foster parents laugh. One of my foster moms and I would watch Coming To The Stage on BET. Which is a comedy competition.   One day we were watching the show, and she said: “I could see you doing something like that one day.” I blew it off. The comics on the show were so funny I could never be one of them. There was one specific comic I thought was hilarious. I won’t mention his name. Fast forward to the summer, I have graduated high school and I have no real plans of going to college. I just wanted to hang out and go with the flow of life. One morning my friend and I were sitting on his front porch cracking jokes, and a garbage truck goes by, and the guy I thought was super funny was on the back of the trash truck. I tried to get his attention, by yelling “yo man you’re funny as hell” he wanted to ignore me, but I kept until he acknowledged me. Looking back I was being extra, but it was worth it because that changed my perspective on comedians. I felt like I could actually be a comic. I started comedy two years after that. 3. If you weren’t doing comedy, what would you be doing? I would probably be fat as shit with a city job. 4. Where are some of your favorite places to perform? I like The Knitting Factory, Stress Factory, Comedy Connection in Rhode Island, Denver Funny Bone. 5. Who are some of your favorite up-and-comers in the comedy world? If you pay your bills off of comedy, I don’t consider you up and coming. If we are talking about comics that aren’t famous yet, then I have a long list, but here are some. I like Chloe Hilliard, Derek Gaines, Dave Temple, Ian Finance, etc.

6. What’s the best advice you’ve ever gotten? read more