The New Shayne-Michael.COMedy

The Comedy News For 09/06/10

Comedy Fan Corner [-]

The Saturday Stand-Up Spotlite: Week 10: Chris Adams

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Posted September 4, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Stand-Up Spotlite for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Last Comic Standing Final Five Go On 38+ City Tour

The finalists from NBC's Last Comic Standing are going on tour starting in September of 2010. The first stop will be at the Crest Theatre in Sacrament on Thursday 09/09/2010. After stopping at four different cities in California, that tour will also make a stop at my home city of Mesa Arizona at the Mesa Arts Center on Friday, Sept. 17th at 8:00pm. Tickets are on-sale now and can be purchased at mesaartscenter.com or by calling 480.644.6500. Tickets will run you between $48 and $198 depending on which city and which seat. The seventh season of NBC's Last Comic Standing aired this summer on NBC. This year there was no house, simply an audience driven elimination round. That elimination round also went quicker than in seasons past. Each week America voted for the funniest comics until there was one left, this year the lucky winner was Felipe Esparza. The live tour will feature the five finalists including: Esparza along with Tommy Johnagin, Roy Wood, Jr., Myq Kaplan and Mike DeStefano. The tour, which runs through February of next year, will also take the five finalist through 38 additional cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Boston and New York. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets for their home town can find the complete schedule at Stub Hub.COM.

Posted September 4, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Comedy TV for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Tracing Rumors To Their Source: Is Robert Schimmel Gone?

Update: Unfortunately, Schimmel's spokesman, Howard Bragman, has reported that Robert Schimmel died Friday evening in a Phoenix hospital.

It's not responsible to pass on information that might not be true. That said, in the middle of the show tonight at the Eye Candy Cafe comedian Jeremy Paul announced that Robert Schimmel had passed away 45 minutes ago. Since no other news organizations are reporting the story, I wanted to trace the rumors back to their source. The rumor apparently started when Jimmy Kimmel tweeted "Robert Schimmel was one of the funniest and nicest guys in comedy." Note the use of the past tense. The follow up tweet stated "I have no official confirmation but am told that Bob passed away. I hope I have been given bad information, but don't think so." After that Twitter erupted with condolence messages for Schimmel's family. When I originally posted that the message that Schimmel's Facebook page said the "rumors of his demise were greatly exagerated," one thing disturbed me about that message. Of the 82 comments, Schimmel wasn't answering anyone. That made me think the rumors weren't as exagerated as they were being made to appear. 

Now a follow up post on Schimmel's Facebook page says, "If you've got a funny, interesting, or motivational story to share about Robert Schimmel, now's your chance to share it with the world." That message is also repeated on Schimmel's Twitter Page. While that's not an official death announcement, I agree with the person who posted that doesn't sound good at all. So, while Wikipedia and IMDB are not reporting a time of death and no official news has broken, I think it's best to accept that the news is about to break. Personally, I've only had one experience with Schimmel in my career. It was positive. The Tempe Improv never did a lot of open mics. When they did, the Improv put the amateurs on after the headliner. Some headliners had a problem with that, especially the arrogant ones. You mean you're letting the amateurs on after me? Not while I'm here you're not. Schimmel was one of the headliners who never made an issue out of it. That's why today I can say I got to follow Robert Schimmel one night in Tempe. It turned out to be a really good show for me, one of the few that led to getting recognized a week later off stage. For any headliner to let that happen, they have to be a real stand-up and a selfless guy.

Posted September 3, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Celebrity News for All | No Comments | Bookmark

And The Fourth New Cast Member At SNL Is

Earlier reports suggested three new comics were coming onboard at Saturday Night Live with vetran castmember Will Forte departing the show. Now several news sources are reporting that a 22-year-old Virginia stand-up comic named Jay Pharoah may be the forth. Pharoah would bring with him a huge arsenal of celebrity impressions including Denzel Washington, Will Smith and Barack Obama; celebrity impressions have always been important to the success of the late night variety show. Rumors are that Pharaoh was flown twice to New York City in August for screen tests. Pharoah's arrival would double the amount of African American players currently on the show. This season also represents the largest influx of new talent in to the show in a single season since 2001 when Lorne Michaels brought on board Seth Meyers, Amy Poehler, Dean Edwards and Jeff Richards.

Posted September 2, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Comedy TV for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Louis C.K. Headlines The Icehouse This Saturday: 09/04/2010

Normally I spotlight stand-up showcases on Tuesday. The reason is to make comedy a little more popular on stand-up’s slowest night. However, every now and then, there’s an upcoming show on another night the public should absoluetly be aware of. Louis C.K. recently created the critically acclaimed series Louie. The series, about a father raising his two daughters in New York City, has been called something like Seinfeld from a darker and a more honest place. The critical reviews have been uniformly exceptional. As a result, FX recently renewed up the series for a second season. In today’s short attention span dominated market, that’s no small feat.

This Saturday, 09/04/2010, you can catch the award-winning comedian at the Pasadena Icehouse for only $17 bucks.

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Posted September 1, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Stand-Up Shows for All | No Comments | Bookmark

The 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comic Trends

• Roseanne Barr: New Rank 14 +
• David Letterman: New Rank 15 -
• Wanda Sykes: New Rank 65 +
• Jay Leno: New Rank 66 -
• Red Skelton: Nomination Seconded
• Eugene Mirman: Fell Off The List

You can click on the Comedy Fan link to cycle through all updates.

Comedian Corner [+]

Introducing Comics On The Spot Saturday Comedy Workshop

Most every Saturday at 2:00pm I’ve been heading to the Spot Café in Culver City. The Spot Café’s Saturday “open mic,” is different than any other open mic I’ve ever attended. It’s run by L.G. Ross and Vicky Nissen who also created Comics on the Spot, a very good Monday show at the Wharehouse in Marina Del Rey. The duo use the Spot Café every Saturday, which also has a Wednesday open mic as an audition and comedy workshop space. Comics get eight minutes to do their act followed by four minutes of feedback from the other comics there on that day. Basically, it’s the group dynamics created by your average comedy class for free. L.G. and Vicky do ask that you purchase something for participating, but they also never hover over someone who happens to be broke on that particular day.

Why else is this such a unique format for an open mic? Well, with comics giving feedback, you’re guaranteed to have an attentive audience. That’s half the battle with open mics anyway. There’s usually at least twenty people in the room, many of whom stay until the last comic. Often there’s also usually a few civilians in the room as well. More importantly, you can learn as much by helping the other comics tweak their sets as you can by practicing yours. And because it’s all over at 5:00pm, you can even get in another set during the evening. That’s why, in my humble opinion, the 2:00pm Workshop at the Spot Cafe is one of the top five "open mics" I get to attend each week.

Posted September 4, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Open Mics for All | No Comments | Bookmark

A Little Bit On Professionalism

You will have good shows and bad shows as a comic; they are both inevitable. It’s more important to deal with bad nights in a professional manner than it is to avoid them all together. That keeps bad shows from becoming worse. Professional behavior in comedy is often much more important than being funny. It’s also something you have complete control over. Tonight at the Eye-Candy, here were some things that happened.

1. One comic talked through every set but his own.
2. After his set he continued talking over the next comic.
3. One comic later, he left half way through the guy’s set.
4. One comic missed his spot because he wasn’t in the room for anyone, so he never heard his name called. He was put on second to last. There was one performer after him. He didn’t stay for that performer either.
5. Another comic talked back to three performers.
6. That same comic demanded an earlier spot on the list.

What do all these behaviors have in common?

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Posted September 3, 2010 by Shayne Michael under open mics for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Rare Open Mic At The Icehouse Annex

I learned this yesterday from a Bobby Oliver Facebook post. It has also been confirmed through several other sources. Tonight, on 09/02/2010, at 8:00pm there will be a rare open mic at the Ice House Annex. There will be a one drink minimum to perform. Signups start at 7:30. Time will be divided the time by how many comics show up.  Open mics at the Icehouse are so rare that this is the first one I've ever seen posted. Nornally, the only way you get on stage at the Icehouse is through Dave McNary's Saturday Auditions, Bobbie Oliver's Stand-up Academy or by sending in a professional twenty minute tape to the current booker.

Posted September 2, 2010 by Shayne Michael under open mics for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Upcoming Stand-Up Comedy Seminars

• Kurtis Mathews: San Francisco, CA on 09/08/2010 8pm / FREE / Visit The Class Website
• Joe Falzarano: Los Angeles, California on 09/13/2010 7pm / FREE / Visit The Class Website
• Greg Dean: Los Angeles, CA on 09/20/2010 7pm / FREE / Visit The Class Website

Recent Articles For Comedians [+]

New Article: What Makes an Open Mic Comedian Compelling

On any given Tuesday night, I might watch forty to eighty comedians spread over three different shows. Sometimes those comics are performing jokes I read over the internet ten years ago, as if they wrote that same joke last night. Do you have any idea how many comics I know who wrote the line, “I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not kicking and screaming like the passengers in his car?” People who are looking to try their hand a stand-up comedy usually try open mics first. The first problem with performing at open mics is that is you’re also performing around amateurs, some of whom have developed amateur habits, like lifting old internet jokes and passing them off as their own. They often walk on stage with notes, act nervous because they didn’t rehearse and then bl... [Read Entire Article]

Posted August 27, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Open Mics

Recent Biographies [+]

Sheldon "Shelley" Berman was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 3rd, 1926. He is an American comedian, writer, teacher, and actor who is ranked one of the 100 greatest stand-up comics of all time by Comedy Central. He is known for his talent for adlibbing and honesty. A trained dramatic actor, Berman rose to fame in the 1950s when he became the nation’s first sit-down comic. Berman's specialty was the telephone monologue; seated on a stool and holding an imaginary receiver. This would eventually lead to six comedy albums, an idea Berman got from Mort Sahl. Berman tended to wear his neuroses on his sleeve and was known for his unpredictable temperament, which would eventually lead to the downfall of his career. In 1943, Berman was honorably discharged from the Navy. He immediately enrolled as a drama student at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, where he met Sarah Herman, another a... [Read Entire Bio]

Posted 09/06/10 by Shayne Michael under comic actor

New DVD Releases, Rankings & Reviews [+]

Other Recent DVDs/ Films Ranked or Reviewed

                    

Site Changes/ New Features [+]

Mailing Lists For Comics That Target By Demographics

At one point I had nearly 2,000 subscribers for my email subscription list through List Bot. It was a free, program that collected the demographics of your subscribers. You could see how many people subscribed from each state. You could see which countries your email list was popular in. But that system, which was destroyed after Microsoft bought it out, had two big problems. You couldn't use those demographics to target subscribers. And you couldn't save messages and schedule them to go out in advance. If I could have done that, I'd have had tens of thousands of subscribers. So one of the reasons I never built and email subscription list, was I wanted to build it myself, so it could do those things. Well, the first version is here. It can already target subscribers by demograhics. In other words, I can email information about shows in California, only to those people in California. And, I can save the messages, and send them out later at the scheduled time. When I'm sure the bugs are cleared out, this is a capacity I'll extend to every registered member.

By the way, this site's actually been updated over the last eight days. Comics do you want online resources that are updated daily or whenever the webmaster can get off his butt and make some extra time?

Posted August 22, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Mailing List for All | No Comments | Bookmark

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