Blog Archives
Nerd Comic Rising 17: Jeff Dwoskin
It’s a podcast seventeen (going on eighteen)! And this episode is with the amazing Jeff Dwoskin. We talk about old awesome tv shows, writing strategies for longer sets, and he says the things my wife wishes I would say, which is why she is forbidden to ever hear this. Check out more great content at JeffreyConolly.com or email feedback to ncrpodcast@gmail.com
On Writing with Bob Phillips and Steve Lind
One of the best tools a comedian has is their friends. I can’t think of anything more important than having a tight group who you can bounce ideas off of and get honest feedback from. Honesty is the key in that. I’m lucky enough to have Bob Phillips and Steve Lind around. The three of us get together, help each other punch up our material and most importantly tell each other when things aren’t working. The last time we got together, I picked their brains about the writing process.
Bob Phillips, Steve Lind, Mike Bobbitt backstage at Joey's Comedy Club
Mike: How do you guys come up with your premises? Will you wait for something to happen or can you sit down and force yourself to write?
Steve: I used to force myself to sit down and write. Now I wait for a premise to happen.
Mike: So now everything comes from real life?
Steve: All my stuff comes from real life pretty much.
Bob: More and more is coming from real life.
Mike: Bob, but you’re more of an observational comic.
Steve: But isn’t that real life?
Mike: Well, yeah, but abstract observational I guess I mean. Not really abstract, but more pop culture.
Bob: Yeah, but that’s real life though. It’s just not my personal life. Lately I’ve been trying to find the things, and let them come, that make me feel strongly one way or another and find out why. I’m angry about something, why does that make me angry? Okay, where’s the funny in that? Okay, do other people feel that way and think of this as odd or weird?
“Lost” Photos from LA (monumental Maron/CK shot!)
I was googling Louis CK to find photos to run with my Louie recaps and I found one from LA comedy scene photographer Leizl Estipona. Well, I e-mailed her to see if she had any others that had more than just my arm in it and she managed to find two more!
Here’s the story behind the first one. Jonah Ray was hosting the Comedy Bang Bang show at the UCB Theatre in Los Angeles. He introduced me by saying that I open for Marc Maron all the time. I was worried because I think I said that he and I have only worked together once…well…twice if you count this night. I didn’t want Marc to freak. So this picture is in the middle of me telling Jonah on stage, “I didn’t say all the time!” Sure enough, Jonah went backstage and Marc corrected him. Jonah laughed and told Marc that I told him that was going to happen. When I went backstage, I mentioned it to Marc too who told me that he and Jonah already discussed it! Ah….the silliness the ensues in the green room!
This next picture is a pretty momentous occasion for comedy nerds. Maron and CK used to be like best friends. As things in comedy go, that relationship changed over years. This night at UCB may have been the first time they’ve seen each other socially in years. Louis did Maron’s WTF podcast, but this could very well be their first time bumping into each other in a club setting. Marc seemed so excited when it walked into the green room and Louis was sitting there. It was really exciting to experience first hand!
So there you go! Thank you Leizl for finding those for me. She does incredibly great and rare photography of the LA scene. She gets access to areas most of us dream about. Check out more of her simply amazing work on her site!
Quick Questions: What Word Bothers You in Comedy?
In light of a situation where an older comic kept using the word “Oriental” to describe Asian people even after I explained to him that “Oriental” describes property, not people, I got to thinking about words that both me in comedy. I hate that word in addition to the word “retard”. Not only is that word hurtful, but it’s just such a hacky word to throw out to get a guaranteed laugh. Anyway, I asked a bunch of my peers which words they don’t like when used on stage. Check it out:
Mike O’Keefe: “In any context, I am not a fan of ‘bitch’. ”
Garri Madera: “Really”.
Ricarlo Flannigan: “Seriously”. Very annoying.
PJ Jacokes: “Bitch”.
Jeff Conolly: “Faggot. It’s like cooking with truffles. Only the best chefs can do it because the flavor is so potent and easily off-putting if mishandled. “Faggot” is the same way, only the best comedians can handle it properly. Also, truffles sound pretty gay.”
Paul Gilmartin (Mental Illness Happy Hour/Dinner and a Movie): ” I can’t think of any word in particular, but when they use the same phrase over and over because they’re afraid of silence, I get annoyed.”
Nerd Comic Rising 16: Andy Beningo
It’s a podcast Sweet Sixteen! And this episode is with the awesome Andy Beningo. We talk about old school comedians, what I should do next in my career, and his comedy philosophy. Check out more great content at JeffreyConolly.com or email feedback to ncrpodcast@gmail.com
A Conversation with Mike Brody
Here’s the neat thing about comedy. You can work with someone once or twice and totally hit it off. Maybe you see them a grand total of six days in eight years, but you just feel a real bond with that person because you share the same point of view and profession. That’s how it’s been for me with Mike Brody. I was shocked when I saw him the other week because he didn’t look exactly like I remembered and then we both realized that it’s been years since we’ve seen each other! Sure, we’re Facebook friends and have each other’s phone numbers, but I have a lot of phone numbers and even more friends on Facebook (probably a lot more than you)!
Mike Brody is simply fantastic…both on stage and off. The reason he’s instantly likable is because he’s just a really decent person. I honestly think if I were to trace back when I realized I needed to be more conversational on stage, it’s probably right around the time I worked with Brody. The fun thing about being his friend is when you hang out with him before a show and then watch him get on stage, it’s just like the conversation continues, but now the audience is involved.
So when Mike was in town, we went out to lunch and just started talking about all sorts of things. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
You got married since the last time we hung out. What was it like the first time your wife went to see you perform?
It was at a Montreal audition, so it was already high stress; and my new girlfriend was there to see me for the first time! So basically I had to tell her, “Here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to go to the club and you’re going to sit by yourself for two hours. I’m going to occasionally walk by really fast and say, “Hi”, but I have to pace. My shows are not going to be a date for us.”
Nerd Comic Rising 15: Mike Bobbitt 2: Attack of the Clone!
It’s the 15th Episode of Nerd Comic Rising, and the end of the NCR Fast!! This episode kicks off season two with a second interview with Mike Bobbitt! We talk about his recent trip to LA, depression, and our mutual love of Brad Austin which leads to planning his destruction. Check out more great content at JeffreyConolly.com or email feedback to ncrpodcast@gmail.com
My arm is more famous than the rest of me…
…and it was covered in the 5 Hour Energy Drink commercial!
I was googling pictures of Louis CK because I’m going to start writing recaps of his show…and well…I stumbled across this picture on Liezl Estipona’s website!
Recognize that arm and that Picasso tattoo? Liezl takes a lot of great pictures of the LA comedy scene. Check out more of her work on her site!
AJ Finney’s Brain Don’t Work No Good
AJ Finney is pretty fantastic. He’s high energy…that doesn’t come close to describing that! He’s a manic ball of comedy energy and instantly likable! I’ve gotten to work with him once, but I saw him again earlier this year at the Detroit Comedy Festival. He’s a super awesome guy who just released his new CD this week! He was nice enough to let me bounce some questions off of him. Enjoy!
I’ve gotten to see you a couple times now and I’m amazed at you manic energy on stage. How did your style come about?
I think over the years I’ve gotten more comfortable letting the audience see me for all my internal disorders. Were most people hide their insanity with medication, I embrace my eccentricities and employ improvisation as tool wrangle my ADHD. That’s not saying that my chosen lifestyle over the years hasn’t also intensified my already overactive imagination and anxiety issues.
You do well with audiences and your peers respect you a whole lot too. Are you planning on staying in the midwest or do you have plans to make a move to one of the coasts.
I will always consider the Midwest home, but I will go where I need to in the future. Right now I’m enjoying all the experiences the road has to offer like interesting conversations with strangers, canned beer, black outs, sleeping in my car, radio interviews, hecklers, art museums, hipster dive bars, waking up naked in a hotel lobby, malls, strip clubs, Canada, who’s in my bed…wait this isn’t my bed, all for 30-60 minutes of stage time, to battle for laughs and I love every minute of it.
You’re new CD is coming out this week…unless I’m mistaken about that! Tell me about it!
The CD is titled “AJ Finney My Brain Don’t Work No Good” which was recorded live at Stanford’s Comedy Club in Kansas City, and is being released Tuesday July 26th on Uproar Records. It’s an explorative experience about how I interpret the world through my rusty bucket of wiggle worms, interlaced with stories of love, loss, rum, and my intense obsession with green beans.
You have a lot of festivals under your belt. Do you have any advice for people who are maybe doing one for their first time?
Submit to as many festivals as possible. If you don’t make it, hey apply next year or attend anyway as an audience member. If you get in have as much fun as possible. I’ve actually gotten more work from fellow comedians that I’ve met at competitions than I ever have by winning one. “Networking is the name of the game”
I find with the auditioning process for a festival or any big thing I tend to get in my head and psyche myself out. How do you stay level headed when you go out for things?
With festivals and auditions, do as many as possible, the more you do the easier it gets. Always perform with confidence. My opinion is they aren’t judging you’re material as much as they’re judging you as a person, do they like you?, can they sell you?..etc.
I’m proud of the fact that newer comedians read my site and I have access to picking the brains of some great comedians like yourself. What advice do you have for the newer people?
First off thank you for the compliment Mike. My advice to anyone starting off is to become completely obsessed with the art form itself, the history, the artists, the formulas, everything comedy. Realize your career choice is a marathon not a sprint, it takes time to develop your voice as an artist.
Where can people find out more about you?
www.ajfinney.com
AJ’s CD: “My Brain Don’t Work No Good” is available on Amazon and iTunes right now.
I Interview Master Improviser and Teacher: PJ Jacokes!
The other night I was complimented on my skills in being able to react with everything that happens during a show so quickly. That night a lot of things happened during the show. On one side of me I had a neat, but crazy old coot who dressed like he could’ve been Weird Al’s dad. On the other side of me I had a 24 year old girl admitting proudly that her Beiber Fever ran so deep that she liked to pick up on underage boys on Myspace…because apparently only adults are on Facebook. I worked with it.
The reason I am able to work with it so well is because I have an improv background. When I started stand up I took classes at Second City in Detroit when it was still there…and certain powers that be cared more about the arts and less about baseball…or however the story goes as to why Second City Detroit is no longer. My teacher there was PJ Jacokes.
PJ now operates Go Comedy in Ferndale. In addition to being one of the best improvisers I’ve ever seen…he did a long form show one night that ran the gambit of emotions…simply amazing…he’s also an incredibly nice guy. He hooked me up with my acting agent, which is a bigger deal than you may think. PJ and I are both stocky, nerdy white guys. So the roles I’m going out for are a lot of the same roles he’s going out for. That’s pretty awesome when you think about it. He opened the door for someone to be his direct competition!
I sat down with PJ a long time ago, but in the months since got overwhelmed by how long it takes me to transcribe an interview. This coincidentally, is how he and I started our talk.
It takes me an hour to transcribe ten minutes of audio.
Do you have Dragon Dictation? It’s an app on the iphone that takes audio and translates it. It’s 70% accurate.
Comedy Brew
Here’s a clip from what I taped at the Ice House in Pasadena. Since the 5 Hour Energy Drink commercial plays on HULU, how crazy would that be to see the commercial of me followed by the clip of me. I feel like a big deal. I can’t wait to find out if my poop still stinks. It probably doesn’t. Anyway…this is TV clean…so enjoy it wherever.
Share it with your friends!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/259303/comedy-brew-mike-bobbit-parenting#s-p1-sr-i1
Oh yeah…and for the record…I’m not talking about my niece in that “pre-bitch” joke. I just mean teenagers in general. My niece is actually pretty cool! We’re going to see her in a play this weekend.
More Misadventures: Put the Lotion on the Skin
This past week I did a handful of shows.
I started at the Castle on Wednesday where I was working on a five minute clean set. It was basically the set I did at the Ice House in Pasadena last month minus the opening joke. It killed in Pasadena to the point where it threw off my timing. I couldn’t keep the faux anger thing going on because I was so overcome with delight that the Latinos were enjoying me so much. It ate shit at the Castle. I recorded it. Christine and I watched it. Her guess is that the opening joke might not be the right opening joke. Back to the drawing board.
After that I headed over to Joey’s for Bill Bushart’s birthday. Bill was on fire on stage! It was a blast to watch!
On Thursday I spoke at the writing session at Laff Tracks in Novi. It’s a good group they have there. I had a really fun time. I’m glad they had me come out. I worked from my notebook and tried some new stuff. It probably wasn’t club worthy, but I could see it working more for rowdy bar crowds. With the exception of one joke that I did a couple more times this past week, I honestly can’t remember what the other things were.
Friday and Saturday I was at the Holly Hotel with the Scheen and Connoly portion of the Jeff Comedy Jam. It was a strong line up! I think it’s fair to say that we all have similar sensibilities and if someone liked one of us, they liked us all. That being said, one of the shows was a battle. I’m still glad that Beth who runs the room there is still super cool and nice and hasn’t turned to the dark side that comes from whatever bad mojo haunts the Holly Hotel! Previous managers…horrible people. The most recent one started off nice, but turned evil. Beth is still going strong and just a genuinely nice person.
My friend and newest writing partner Lesley Braden returned to the art of stand up during the Saturday show. I was really impressed. She came out with a brand new five minutes and it hit strong!
Bobbitt, Scheen, Braden, Conolly!
My brother brought out a bunch of his family and friends to the Saturday show for his birthday and I was glad that it went well. He and I are polar opposites, but one thing we did always have in common was our sense of humor. My first performances were acting out scenes from Saturday Night Live, Strange Brew and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure with my brother on our front lawn for neighbor kids. It always makes me glad to have him in the audience. This year for his birthday I didn’t make him get up on stage with me. Okay, at Holly you can’t really get up on stage as much as you can get over on stage.
On Sunday, Mr. Scheen and I rocked Maxie’s in Flint. The new general manager was complaining about the previous week show because audience members apparently left. My only guess is it was the heat. Maxie’s needs to fix their A/C. I was drenched when I got done performing like I had been in a sauna. It was a fun night. Jeff Scheen left me alone in the parking lot with a scary man, but I made it home safe!
This week I’m in Lansing at Connxtions. Come on out if you’re in the area!
More Misadventures: Feeling Grumpy in Bowling Green
I don’t understand how people can cancel gigs last minute. I found out that I can’t do my show the first week in August earlier in this week, so I called to take care of that. I not only called to notify Roger Feeney, but I also offered some possible solutions. There was no way I’d call him on the morning of the show to let him know that I wasn’t going to be there that night. That’s ridiculous. I truly believe how you conduct your business off stage is just as important as how you conduct yourself on stage.
Steve Sabo had a last minute cancellation last Tuesday at Grumpy Dave’s in Bowling Green, Ohio so I offered to pick it up. I love that show. In all the years I’ve been doing it, I think I only had one bad show and that was actually the previous time that I was there! And that was because of me. It was my first time headlining for Sabo IN FRONT of Sabo and I let my nerves get to me. Plus, I followed some guy who did a song parody about stinky vaginas or something equally as absurd.
When I got to Grumpy Dave’s Tuesday night a bunch of the local comedians were working around a table helping each other out with new bits and whatnot. I can’t express how much I love that! I am so optimistic about the future of comedy. It’s fun to see these really talented people working as a team to bring up the overall quality of the art. That happens here at Laff Tracks too I guess.
The Bowling Green/Toledo comedians are really good and a lot of fun…and the audience is super as well. I had a fun night. I always feel like what I do onstage is a little bit of Pardo and a pinch of Maron served over a bed of Kashian. That night I flavored with a little extra Pardo and had a lot of fun. It’s nice when going to the crowd works because they know that I’m never going to get too mean….unless it’s to the other comedians, but then I spend 30 minutes apologizing and making sure we’re still cool!
This week the only thing I have scheduled is a set at the Painted Lady on Thursday night. I’m planning on doing a bunch of new stuff! I hope to see you there.
Remembering Club Bart
On stage at Bart's years and years ago.
I just scrapped about two pages worth of feelings about the closing of Club Bart.
Club Bart was a great place for food and music. Bart who owned the place loves both and that showed. Many years ago PJ Butland brought comedy to Bart’s. Later Joel Fragomeni took it over and turned it into a free comedy show that more often than not was less of a comedy show and more of a freak show. Joel sort of ran the show with his friend Corey Hall who aren’t terribly welcoming to new comedians or anyone else they view as lesser than them. They’re bullies. The comedy show at Bart’s was often times a very negative place.
With all that being said, I’m glad that I did a set there just about every Thursday night my first year as a comedian. I feel like being a Bart’s veteran made me a tougher comedian and prepared for everything I could ever expect to face on the road.
The end of the comedy shows there is like a funeral for an uncle who molested you, you’re glad it’s gone, but you kind of miss it because it was family.
More Misadventures: Los Angeles Recap!
With Dave Landau at the Chateau Marmont...about to shoot speedballs!
I’ve been so jet lagged since I’ve been home. Jet lagged and depressed. LA really felt like the land of opportunity. Being in Michigan feels like being stranded on a desert island. It’s not that I can’t get off the island because there isn’t a boat. There’s a boat. It’s within grasp. The only problem is I’m chained to this house. That’s how I’ve been feeling since I’ve been home. Feeling like I have a 700 square foot albatross.
My plan in recent years once I realized I wasn’t half bad at this comedy thing was to get decent enough at my craft so I could go out to Los Angeles and make a fair enough first impression. I’ve always been a firm believer in the idea that you only get one chance to make that first impression and that the first impression is a lasting one. The opportunity to go out to Los Angeles and get a guest pass with the “in crowd” presented itself in April. I’ve been looking forward to this trip ever since. On a realistic level, I was hoping the trip would recharge my batteries. And it certainly did that, plus it gave me direction. On a totally unrealistic level, I was hoping I’d have an experience like Fatty Arbuckle where someone would see my little song and dance act and say, “C’mere kid, I’m gonna make you a star!” Obviously, that didn’t happen. Read the rest of this entry
Off the Mike 