Shayne-Michael.COMedy

Wild Coyotes: The Latin Apollo - by Shayne Michael

On 7/17/04 I went to Wild Coyotes because I had heard it described is the Latin Apollo. I wanted to answer one question: could any funny comic play the room if they were not at all familiar with Latin culture. I also wanted to know, could I?

I went in thinking, "I can handle this room. Nine out of ten times, I kill. And usually the other ten percent nobody else kills either." I left thinking, "Thank God I didn't go up."

It didn't bother that some comics delivered jokes half in English and half in Spanish. It didn't bother me that every comic was either Latin, or grew up in that culture, and it didn't bother me that a felony was committed in the first three minutes of the show.

Okay, I'm lying, that last part bothered me. When the emcee picks out two men sitting in the front row and says, "So are you on a date?" I don't expect the "happy couple" to spit on the emcee, pick up a bottle, break it over the guard rail that surrounds the stage, and threaten to kill the emcee with it.

Of course, I'm so naive I don't even expect a stage to have a guard rail.

Keep in mind before I got there I was told the audience would boo off any comic they didn't like. And that Wild Coyotes was a hang out for Hispanic gangs.

So after witnessing all that I returned to the question, who could play the venue? And I'd answer any good comic including myself. However, I'd be smart to watch the show at least three times before you try. With each comic you watch you'll be a better judge of which material of yours to use and which to leave behind.

And in any club where the comics describe the audience as the jury you're best off getting some background first.

A big problem for me would have be sarcasm didn't work well for any comic. Any of my act based in sarcasm would probably get no response. That eliminates a lot of my strongest material. That's why I know saying,

There's a new I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray... Here's your first clue it's not butter... It's in a spray...

...Would probably be greeted with dead silence. But my material about Ed McMahon would do well. Sarcasm didn't work for anyone. But every other comic did a lottery joke. They'd probably appreciate Ed McMahon telling me I'd never win. Even though it's an outdated joke, because he doesn't do the Publisher's Clearing House commercials anymore. It's still a better choice for that culture.

Also, keep in mind Wild Coyotes is not your typical Hispanic crowd. It's much closer to the Moss Eisley scene in Star Wars. The comics that did well there were not the ones that made references to the movie Home Alone. They refused to relate to the one white comic who played that night until he declared he was down with Hispanic culture because he'd seen Blood In, Blood Out too.

The 1993 epic illustrated the Chicano gang wars in the California prison system by comparing tragic paths of three boyhood friends.

The best way I can describe Wild Coyotes is to say envision a comedy time warp. Imagine a venue that features two kinds of humor. The brilliant stuff on Hispanic culture that you've never heard before. And older material on other cultures that you have. Like fresh new Hispanic jokes plus dating material that was popular in 1985.

In addition, most all the comics who played that night used a lot of improv skills. However, that might have been because three minutes into the show an audience member threatened to kill the emcee. Most of the comics that used improv called that back. One lone comic in my opinion had material strong enough to work in any room, Jeff Garcia. And Jeff Garcia is considered a very strong comic in most circles.

Could I have won Wild Coyotes over?

Yes. But not that night. I'm a very dark, sarcastic comic. So after talking about being born on Cinco De Mayo, they would have given me a chance. I teach in the most Hispanic neighborhoods in Long Beach and had seven years of Spanish, so I would have related and even understood them heckling me in Spanish.

But I'm grateful I watched at least one show first. And I'd want to do it again, because watching the show helped me understand what worked. Self deprecation worked well for all comics. As well as material on relationships, the gym, the lottery and that type of material that's not sarcastic but based in simple truth. I'm better off knowing that before I ever get booked there.

Before I'd even consider accepting a booking there, I'd want to watch the show two more times. I've been doing comedy since 1989. So there's a lot more of my material I could draw out that would work at Wild Coyotes. But after the next two visits, I be familiar enough with the culture and the room to at least stand on that stage for six minutes with no fear of being booed off.

And any time you play a room outside your cultural experience, you're biggest enemy will be your own fear.