#nyc comedy club

[slapstikcomedyentertainment]

Social Media Comedian: Renny

Not only does Godfrey substantiate Renny’s comedic success...

“Ms. Johnson…” Renny shifts his lean as if the liquid of his head seeped suddenly to one side. “Let me ha’dat.” An audio voice-over is dubbed in sync with the gestures of a woman you can only see from behind. Ms. Johnson slaps him. The camera rushes in on nostrils and the whites of his eyes. Renny breathes with his whole body, mouth open enough for the flies to clear, teeth peering easily under…

[neworkimprov]

Improv for Medical Professionals: Healing with Humor

The world of medicine can often be a high-stress environment. Long hours, demanding patients, and life-or-death decisions can take their toll. But what if there was a way to inject a little levity into the daily grind, while also improving patient care and teamwork? Enter improv comedy. At the New York Improv Theater, we’ve witnessed firsthand the transformative power of improv for medical…

[eyeofthelama]

Cleotrapa 💧

Shot by Me | IG: EYEOFTHELAMA

[chaoticpixls]

finishing a save file takes forever when you feel the gnawing need to make recolors for every single community lot

[rodneycomedyny]

East Side Comedy Club: Rodney Comedy Club is the Place to Be

If you are in search of a East Side comedy club, you can stop your search right here. Rodney Comedy Club, located on the Upper East Side, features the best in stand-up comedy with a mix of veteran and fresh face performers. Our intimate setting along with an electric atmosphere makes for a perfect comedy experience. Get your tickets now and come enjoy in on the action!

[rodneyscomedyclub]

Comedy Show New York

Enjoy a top Comedy Show, in New York at Rodney's Comedy Club! Featuring hilarious performances by headliners such as Joey PorkChopz, Tony Woods, and Gerald Kelly, there's no shortage of laughs. With events like The Countdown New Year's Eve Party and more, Rodney's offers a variety of fantastic shows throughout the season. Make sure to join in for the fun and excitement!

[nakedcomedy]

https://www.ticketweb.com/event/marleys-mind-521-feverdream-lounge-tickets/13620113?pl=kftour&REFID=clientsitewp

[jadeestebanestrada]

Laughter is queen

I had the BEST time headlining The Drive-By Comedy Show this week at Broadway Comedy Club! Huge thanks to the wonderful Julius Carr and the club staff for the hospitality! The comics had me in stitches! I can’t wait to come back!

On Friday, I’ll be performing in Kweendom at Pete’s Candy Store alongside the funniest queer comics in New York! Don't miss the show Time Out called "consistently dope" and Thrillist described as "extremely gay." Bobby Hankinson hosts. Hope to see you there!

Photo: Orlando Vincent Cordova

[kemetic-dreams]

Go-go is a subgenre of funk music with an emphasis on specific rhythmic patterns, and live audience call and response.

Go-go was originated by African-American musicians in Washington, D.C., during the mid-60s to late-70s. Go-go has limited popularity in other areas, but maintains a devoted audience in the Washington metropolitan area as a uniquely regional music style and was named the official music of Washington, D.C., in February 2020.

Performers associated with the development of the style include Rare Essence, EU, Trouble Funk, and singer-guitarist Chuck Brown. Modern artists like Charles "Shorty Corleone" Garris continue the go-go tradition in D.C.

Origins

Although Chuck Brown is known as "the Godfather of Go-Go", go-go is a musical movement that cannot be traced back to one single person, as there were so many bands that flourished during the beginning of this era that they collectively created the sound that is recognized as go-go of today. Artists such as Marvin Gaye, Van McCoy, Billy Stewart, Peaches & Herb, Black Heat,Experience Unlimited (E.U.), Vernon Burch, Sir Joe Quarterman & the Free Soul, the Moments, Ray, Goodman & Brown, True Reflection, the Unifics, Terry Huff & Special Delivery, Act 1, the Dynamic Superiors, Skip Mahoney & the Casuals, the Choice Four, and the Fuzz that played soul music during pre-go-go era.

The term "gogo" (as it applies to a music venue) originated in France in the early 1960s, at the Whiskyagogo nightclub, named after the French title for the British comedy "Whisky Galore!".The club also featured go-go dancers. In January 1964, capitalizing on the emerging popularity of "go-go dancers", the name was licensed to a Los Angeles club, the Whisky a Go Go, and from there the term "go-go" spread nationwideThe Cafe Au Go Go in NYC was also in business during that time, gaining notoriety when Lenny Bruce was arrested there in April 1964. By 1965, "go-go" was a recognized word for a music club, as evidenced by the TV show Hollywood A Go-Go (march 1965-1966), or the song title of that year's hit Going to a Go-Go by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (released November 1965). At a go-go club, dancers could expect to hear the latest top 40 hits, performed by local bands and DJ's. (The French Whiskyagogo had been one of the first venues in the world to replace live music with records selected by a disc jockey.)

In Washington D.C., minor group Wornell Jones and the Young Senators were formed in 1965, beginning a fierce competition with Chuck Brown and Black Heat on the local club circuit. The Young Senators later became known for their song "Jungle" released in 1970 by Innovation Records. Guitarist and bandleader Chuck Brown is widely regarded as "the Godfather of Go-Go".

Chuck Brown was a fixture on Washington and Maryland music scene with his band Los Lotinos as far back as 1966. By the mid-1970s, he had changed the group's name to The Soul Searchers, and developed a laid-back, rhythm-heavy style of funk performed with one song blending into the next (in order to keep people on the dance floor). The beat was based on Grover Washington Jr.'s song "Mr. Magic," though Brown has said in interviews that both he and Washington had adapted the beat from a gospel music beat found in African churches.

Washington, D.C., funk's early national chart action came when Black Heat (the first D.C. go-go band to be signed by a major record label) released their Billboard top 100 hit "No Time To Burn" from their second album on Atlantic Records in 1974. They then toured with such national acts as Earth Wind & Fire, Parliament Funkadelic, Ohio Players, The Commodores, and others. In 1976, James Funk, a young DJ who spun at clubs in between Soul Searchers sets, was inspired (and encouraged by Brown himself) to start a band—called Rare Essence (originally the Young Dynamos)—that played the same kind of music.

[dudja]

The Statue of Liverty #vitaminwater #nyc #comedy #funny #parody #dudja #lol #silly #memes #statue #w

[thealogie]

The crown of candy campaign on dimension 20 is one of the more serious/dark ones (I really like it but it’s not a favorite). maybe try unsleeping city (modern fantasy nyc), escape from the bloodkeep (LOTR villain workplace comedy), or fantasy high (what if dnd were the breakfast club)

Oh great recommendations. thank you!

[larrywilmore]

On the road in October for a few tour dates, see the links below to get tickets!

10/7 - Hollywood Improv Los Angeles - GET TIX

10/8 - Cobb's Comedy Club San Francisco - GET TIX

10/11 - City Winery NYC - GET TIX

10/14 - The Birchmere AlexandrIa, VA - GET TIX

10/17 - City Winery Philadelphia - GET TIX

10/18 - City Winery Chicago - GET TIX

[neworkimprov]

20+ Bad Dad Jokes, Puns about Track and Field, Paris, France Olympics 2024

Anyone else loving the 2024 Olympics? Always a fun fortnight, hear are some bad jokes that surely ruin the experience 😂 Did you hear about the marathon runner who was arrested? They were charged with resisting a rest. How do you keep a track star in suspense? I’ll tell you tomorrow! What does a sprinter eat before a race? Nothing, they fast! What’s a triple jumper’s favorite type of music?…

[amrv-5]

The Laughmakers (1962)

Part of a series of writeups of unaired or otherwise inaccessible TV objects ft. Alan Alda, which I was able to access via the Paley Center for Media in NYC (November 2024). 

The Laughmakers (1962): Producer: Robert Alan Arthur; Associate Producer: Joseph Manduke; Director: Joshua Shelley; Writer: Woody Allen.

Cast: Louise Sorel - Joyce Hayes; Paul Hampton - Ted Landers; Sandy Baron - Danny; Louise Lasser - Susan; Alan Alda - Phil; David Burns - Sid. 

Summary: Set in New York City, The Laughmakers features a struggling troupe of improv comedians (Ted Landers (Paul Hampton), Danny (Sandy Baron), Susan (Louise Lasser) and Phil (Alan Alda)) who make a last-ditch addition of dilettante Joyce Hayes (Louise Sorel) in an attempt to save their club, The Freudian Slip, from bankruptcy. Though Joyce proves to be a smash hit, even gaining the troupe attention from the Ed Sullivan show, she’s quickly seduced away from improv to NYC’s Beat poetry scene. The troupe tries to win her back with an off-the-wall poetry-based scheme that will require all their improv training to carry. 

Plot recounting: The show opens with the resident improv troupe (Ted Landers (Paul Hampton), Danny (Sandy Baron), Susan (Louise Lasser) and Phil (Alan Alda)) at club Freudian Slip in the midst of a show. They solicit topics from the audience for an improv scene, eventually settling on the theme of “soldiers engaged in psychological warfare.” Ted and Danny circle each other, flinging insults (“You’re a nailbiter, and you need a light on to sleep!”).

After the show, the club owner Sid (David Burns) laments the continuously low audience turnout (“I’ve seen more people play solitaire!”) and implores the comedians to improve business—or else he’ll be forced to turn the club into a strip joint. He heads off to the “day-old bakery,” lamenting that with business as it is, his children will never know the taste of a fresh roll. 

Later, Ted and Danny, depressed over lagging audience attendance, are approached at a bar by Joyce Hayes (Louise Sorel), who wants to know how to get started in improv. Ted and Danny state that the majority of the troupe got their start in off-Broadway plays, and do comedy professionally, prompting a bystander to accuse them of only being in it “for the money.” Joyce expresses an interest in trying improv, and, though her only experience onstage was a college theater class or two, Ted and Danny are charmed (or infatuated) and offer her an audition. 

After a less-than-ideal introduction to the rest of the troupe (in which Joyce reveals she has been kicked out of four colleges and has no formal acting background) and a biffed improv attempt, the troupe is pleasantly surprised by Joyce’s skit-building ability. She improvs a skit in which a mugging is complicated by the realization that the mugger and muggee attended school together—and that the muggee went on to become a cop. (Note: Woody Allen would later reuse this skit in his 1973 film Take the Money and Run.) 

Ted takes Joyce back to her apartment. They flirt boldly, discuss the all-importance of art, and Joyce reveals that her bohemian lifestyle is funded by her father. 

Time passes, and the troupe is ecstatic. The addition of Joyce has set interest in their show booming, even garnering attention from the Ed Sullivan show. Ted and Phil celebrate together after a performance, with Phil especially thrilled (In his home state of Nebraska, Phil states, Ed Sullivan’s face is on the $1 bill). Danny cuts their celebrating short by stating that Joyce has quit the troupe. Joyce, preparing to drive away, tells Ted that she’s become disenchanted with the improv scene, and intends to become a poet. She drives away, and Ted attempts to give chase on a motorcycle, but drives up a ramp into a box truck, which is closed and locked behind him. 

Later on, Ted attempts to convince Joyce to return to improv, but she refuses, too busy working on her poetry. Eventually they settle on a bet: They’ll both present poetry at a local amateur open mic, and if Ted gets a better response, Joyce must rejoin the group. 

Ted attempts to compose a poem of his own, but Danny and Phil regretfully inform him that the poem is terrifically bad. Phil suggests Ted just plagiarize an extant poem, claiming that nobody at the open mic would know the difference, a plan Ted readily agrees to. They settle on the poem “Ode to a Fungus” by John Plume. 

Unfortunately, at the open mic, Joyce’s poem (moderately well-received) is followed by a reading from John Plume—of “Ode to a Fungus.” Panicked, but determined to follow through, Ted pulls out his wallet and gives an impassioned reading of his driver’s license (“State of New York Department of Taxation and Finance. (...) Height. Weight. Color. (...) This is to certify the above expires in 1965. Crazy, crazy driver’s license. You are my father.”) The poem is roundly celebrated as the best of the night. Joyce agrees to rejoin the troupe, Ted admits to the non-poem poem trick, and the two drive away together—directly up a ramp into the bed of a box car, which is closed and locked behind them. 

The episode tag opens with Joyce and Ted completing a successful skit, and exiting the stage. Phil and Susan prepare to enter, asking after the quality of the audience as Ted and Joyce sign off directly to the camera with a “Goodnight, Gracie.” 

Alda-specific review: He’s mostly a bit part in this, with only a few scenes where he’s given speaking lines, but the role he does play is excellently silly. There’s one skit (directly before Joyce quits the troupe) that cold opens a scene after a commercial break, contextlessly cutting direct to the skit’s apparent punchline: Alda, in a silver reflective jacket, hair (or wig?) gelled flat over his eyes, playing a guitar intensely as two women jump up from crotch-level and scream towards the camera, hands clasped to their cheeks (oddly Beatle-esque, but this was America in 1962…). He also gets to suggest Ted plagiarize a poem, and I enjoyed the throwaway line of Phil being a Nebraskan, delivered with Alda’s typical and definitively non-Midwestern accent. 

[spontaneous-specimen]

i had a really fun dream last night. i was with my grade and we went on a class trip to anime nyc the anime convention except of course it was all different because we were in the dream world. i was walking with three of my friends and then one of my friends disappeared i guess so it was just me and this guy. me and this guy stop at a nightclub sort of thing and we sit down at a table that’s across from a room that has a small stage for stand up comedy,  performances or kareoke. we weren’t in the entertainment room but we were seated just outside of it so we could see in. the entire place is all led and disco ball looking lights. it was mostly purple. i’m looking around and i look at the stage in the entertainment room and im like “holy shit is that wilbur soot?” and it was. wilbur soot was singing and performing with lovejoy (his band) in this club/restaurant that i was in with this guy. i remember singing along with the song they were performing. this guy took videos and stuff. then we left and walked through this maze of some sort. when we got out of the maze, this guy was gone so both my friends that i came in with were gone but i found myself with yui, ritsu, mio and mugi from k-on. from there we went to my house and hung out but i wanted to grab something from yui’s house which was down the road from my house so me and ritsu were walking to yui’s house to get whatever i needed but then 

mrs. yamanaka started chasing us i guess. so we ran into yui’s house really quick and it looked completely abandoned in there. it was all messy, dusty, and it was only one floor. no furniture or anything, no lights. just this big lemon statue that was in the middle of the room. i started painting the lemon and he began to sing. it sang a song about a pumpkin horse, i remember how the tune sounded. “pumpkin hooorrsee”. he was a friendly lemon guy. by the time he finished singing, all of us were in the house clapping and laughing. then my dream ended. this dream was just pure fun, i had a really good time.

i would also like to add that i do not support wilbur soot, he just appeared in my dream

[dropintomanga]

Anime NYC 2023 - I Still Have a Place

What a weekend.

Anime NYC 2023 just ended and while there were a few things I didn't like, I really enjoyed my time there this year. And more importantly, it was a personal epiphany for me.

I started the weekend by attending the Viz Media panel. There weren't really any significant announcements, but Yoshifumi Tozuka, the creator of Undead Unluck, stopped by and he was great. It was a teaser of his own panel the following day, but Tozuka-sensei did enlighten fans about Undead Unluck and how he wanted to present the series to fans worldwide.

After that, I went to the Autism in the Anime Fan Community panel. This was a live panel version of the "Autism in the Anime Fan Community - Solo Version" video by James Williams, an anime fan diagnosed with autism and a public speaker on autism awareness. James has been doing the panel at various conventions over the past couple of years. It was a very raw and vulnerable panel on the challenges those with autism face at conventions. James also had a special guest, Larissa Grabois, an artist who uses music and art to teach people about children living with autism. She has music videos and books pertaining to autism on her website and I will be paying very close attention. This provided much food for thought.

After that, I didn't stick around for the night panels. Though It was nice to hear Denpa license the ODDTAXI manga as I know people who adored the anime when it came out.

So onto Saturday, I went to the Yen Press panel and was impressed with what they did. They did a fun "Know the Editors" section alongside their announcements, where each editor would promote a title they work on and provide "Useful Nihongo" (which isn't actually useful in a regular context) to use. It was pretty funny to see. Yen Press also gave a shout out to The Summer Hikaru Died, which I yelled "YES!" to. Not many of the new titles they licensed caught my eye, but the one that did was She Likes Gays, But Not Me. I will say this - the manga isn't a romantic comedy and that's why I can't wait for its release in 2024.

Afterwards, I went to the Dark Horse Manga panel. There wasn't really anything new announced per say, but they did promote the latest Deluxe Edition of Berserk and the 1st omnibus of Innocent coming out very soon. Also, Carl Horn and Zack Davisson are truly the manzai duo of the manga industry scene. They have a very fun chemistry that really takes the best of both of their personalities and mixes them into something you really don't see in manga publisher panels. Both also know A LOT about comics in general. If you ever get a chance to see a Dark Horse Manga panel, do it. Carl and Zack really make worth it your while.

I didn't stick around for the later panels on Saturday night, but I know the Kodansha Manga panel that happened that night was great. There's a LOT of fun stuff coming out from them in the future. Blue Lock has become arguably THE big mainstream manga hit of 2023. I love a lot of their titles as their stories are often ones I value highly. What I'm looking forward from them? Home Office Romance (which was REALLY popular in the manga Reddit) and Sheltering Eaves (Another Rie Aruga story? Sign me up).

On Sunday, I only attended the Star Fruit Books panel. I got to learn a lot about the company being there and it was actually a small group of people who attended. So it made for a more intimate experience compared to other industry panels. Even though the publisher started during COVID, they have made huge strides in being an strong publisher of independent manga (alongside Denpa). I actually inquired about them possibly licensing manga stories from indie creators about mental health/illness because I have heard there's a lot of manga out there in Japan that covers those topics.

After that, I was done with everything. I did manage to get some nice items from booths and played mahjong with the Riichi Nomi club.

I think the convention was fine for the most part. It was crowded, but I didn't feel overwhelmed. I always had space to move around. The only things that stood out to me were that some of the panel rooms were a bit too warm to my liking and that the gaming area just felt too tight. In particular, mahjong. My club's presence last year had a good amount of space for mahjong. This year, we were relegated to the show floor and to a far end corner of the convention center. I hope this changes next year.

(Side note: NYC public transit on the weekend continues to suck ass. Why have a train stop right next to the convention center when weekend construction would prevent trains from stopping there? Sigh.)

And speaking of next year, Anime NYC 2024 will happen in the summer - August 23-25, 2024. It's going to be the bang that ends summer convention season in the U.S. after Anime Expo, San Diego Comic-Con and Otakon. There's definitely concerns about the timing, but they will have the FULL convention center at their disposal. I don't mind honestly as I dislike going to a convention when it's happening a month before winter starts.

Anyway, I'm going to finally make a reference to the headline of my post. For those of you who read my birthday post, anime and manga don't seem to inspire me a great deal lately. Getting into mahjong was one of the best things I did for my mental health over the past 2 years. Despite being a manga blogger, I was becoming more of a mahjong addict.

However, when I arrived to the con on Friday, I was greeted by a manga journalist/colleague that I hadn't seen in years. It was a surprise to see them and we caught up. We had a wonderful discussion about manga, comics and pop culture.

And then on Saturday, I got to meet people I followed on Twitter that I never met in person. I even reunited with a few blogger folks along the way. We talked about manga and convention trends that made me smile. I also met up with Anime for Humanity (who I volunteered in the past) and finally met its founder at the event. I even reunited with a local Japanese culture personality that I hadn't talked to in years. It felt really cool.

To cap it off, I finally reunited with Peter Tatara, who was working the Japan Society booth. For those who don't know, he is the founder of Anime NYC and now Director of Film at Japan Society New York. He also has a long and established history of promoting anime in New York. When I first started my foray into anime fandom in 2008, it was Peter who MCed events at the Kinokuniya NYC store that got me hyped. We worked together at those events a few times due to a mutual connection we both shared. Even though he's a huge and very busy personality now, Peter would take the time to talk to me in years past. We both shared laughs and talked about how long we known each other.

Ever since I got so deep into mahjong, I questioned my place in the manga fan community. I wasn't active as much on Twitter as other online manga personalities these last few years. While I do get hyped, I don't get heavily excited covering manga license announcements. I don't have a huge manga collection at home. I struggle to keep up with everything.

And then someone at the con told me that because of my interest in what's happening the world regarding mental health problems that plague communities, I still bring a certain view that's unique and refreshing to hear. After meeting and reuniting with a bunch of faces, I can't leave the manga blogging scene. I just can't. I love talking about manga so much still. Mahjong still has a place in my heart, but there's nothing that gets me going like talking about the stories and characters that shape people's lives.

What's more important is that being around the industry/pros/press folks I was with at Anime NYC tell me that I still have a place here. I may not be attending everything manga-related, but I want to be the person from the shadows who talks about things that definitely deserve to be heard. Besides, it's much cooler doing things in the shadows than being in the spotlight.

An old friend I saw at the convention on Sunday said that I looked the happiest I've been in years. Mahjong definitely played a huge part in that and I want to bring that energy back into my manga blogging.

I've been going to conventions for 15 years now. So many people in my life that I met via conventions have come and gone. People that I wish were still here. I have often felt lonely. Being 41 now also doesn't help either.

And yet, I keep meeting new people at conventions like Anime NYC who inspire me and value my take on things. I may not be living the best life, but I'm definitely happy-ish with what I have now. And that's all I ever wanted to ask for.

Also, thank you to everyone I talked to at Anime NYC. I'm now really ready for the 2nd half of my life.