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<p>Entries by kristymangel (82)</p>
<p>Wednesday Oct 27 2010  Abe Lincoln and a T-Rex Are In Motherfunkin' Space!</p>
<p>Wednesday, October 27, 2010 at 12:19PM We nominate standup comic Brandie Posey for Best Day Job Ever. Not only does she get to do social media work for a company that is dedicated to working with nonprofits throughout the country, but they ALSO recently pimped her car out in a very serious way. Behold:</p>

<p>“I seriously can't stop smiling like an idiot. IT'S SO AMAZING!!!! Tomorrow, a fire breathing Brendan Fraser will be on the other side.”</p>

<p>> As Brandie says: “I'm a social media coordinator for this program called Scion x-CHANGE (facebook.com/scionxchange). We go to 30 cities across America and team up with an art nonprofits in those cities -- for every test drive completed, $10 can be donated to that nonprofit, so we're funding materials, after school programs for kids, and bringing art education to the underprivileged. In each city, we're also partnering with an artist to create live art at our events.”</p>

<p>But wait, exactly HOW did Abe Lincoln and a T-REX get on the side of your car?</p>

<p>> “In Los Angeles, we teamed with artist Raul Gonzalez of the Ultra Violet Social Club, for the live art event. I told him he could paint my car if he wanted to. He asked what, and I said, ‘how about Abe Lincoln and a T-Rex space fighting?’ He's got more work today and Thursday, but we’re raising a nice chunk of change for Art Share LA.”</p>

<p>--Kristy Mangel</p>

<p>kristymangel | 2 Comments | 6 References tagged awesome day jobs , brandie posey , los angeles , scion Tuesday Sep 28 2010  The CHI Hip Tip</p>
<p>Tuesday, September 28, 2010 at 11:00AM TONIGHT, catch stand-up comic and radio personality James Fritz as he records his first comedy CD. Chicago Underground Comedy and Red Bar Radio present "Deflated," 9 p.m., Beat Kitchen, 2100 W. Belmont, Chicago, FREE. kristymangel | 1 Comment tagged CD recording , chicago comedy , james fritz Friday Aug 20 2010  The CHI Hip Tip -- Never Been To Paris</p>
<p>Friday, August 20, 2010 at 1:22PM Photo by Erin Madson</p>

<p>TONIGHT, stand-up comic Sean Flannery's one man show, "Never Been to Paris," debuts at the Lincoln Lodge. Voted Best Comic by readers of the Chicago Reader this year, Sean's multimedia show is a raucous storytelling experience, wherein details of near-fatal accidents, ridiculous family tales, and yarns about living life like every day's your last will be told. Catch the show tonight or any Friday through September 10.</p>

<p>Lincoln Lodge, 4008 N. Lincoln, Chicago, 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 and can be reserved at (773) 251-1539.</p>

<p>kristymangel | Post a Comment | 1 Reference tagged chicago comedy , sean flannery , show plug Thursday Aug 19 2010  Brad Steuernagel is the Man of Several Faces</p>
<p>Thursday, August 19, 2010 at 9:00AM  We got to chit-chat recently with video blog hooligan Brad Steuernagel, who’s been in the comedy game for over a decade. His most recent project is called “Man of Several Faces,” which details his adventures in character on the streets of New York City.</p>

<p>So, how long have you been doing comedy, and what’s that history look like?</p>

<p>Brad: I started performing comedy in 1997. I took improv classes at Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, and my first scene was with Melissa Peterman. She went on to play "Barbra Jean" on Reba and Rich Sommer (Mad Men) was on my first improv team at BNW. We were called "Satires Plus," get it? (You can follow Tires Plus on Twitter).</p>

<p>I also took classes at iO Chicago in 2000. The "No Throwing Chairs" Cagematch Rule is in effect thanks to me and a dust-up I had with a table of Wrigleyville loudmouths.</p>

<p>I moved to New York in 2002, post military/Wall Streetcoup d'état and did character stand-up at fun shows like "Pajama Jam" and "Invite Them Up," then the corporate wars in Afganistan/Iraq began to rage and I had to go into hiding. I was connected through secret channels to re-activate and perform by the Jerk Practice comedy gang. I owe them big time.</p>

<p>Describe some of your favorite projects, prior to this one.</p>

<p>Brad: My favorite swings at the comedy fences; I produced a comedy show at The Telephone Bar (Now the bar's called "The 13th Step") and I was in a sketch on IFC's Whitest Kids U’Know, pre-Miss March. Last year I sold two screenplays to a Chinese production company, Ching Chong Films. They're producing Death Camp America and Office Park Massacre: Ronkonkoma for a summer 2011 release on Blu-ray. Better than nothin'!</p>

<p>Most recently, my 4th Dimensional Rock Band, "The Psychedelic Knights of Zohar" will perform at The Creek and the Cave, in Long Island City this Friday, August 20. I'll be posting concert highlights and bits on the blog, too.</p>

<p>What is this new blog all about, anyway?</p>

<p>Brad: It's called "Man of Several Faces" and features short video clips of my comedy characters interacting with the city of New York. I just use a Flip Cam and a Netbook, this way I can think of an idea and get it out into space quickly and affect the universe. I enjoy the "layered" comedy of Albert Brooks, Andy Kaufman, and Mr. Show because they express subversive ideas through a medium that's entertaining, and if you're paying attention and read between the lines, the comedy can change your perception of the world.</p>

<p>We each live in our own reality, life is like a computer program and your brain writes the code. Like attracts like, so if you think like stooge or chump, you're going to be surrounded by them. Mass media programs us to think like this so we can be easily used for labor and services by the owners of the companies we work for, they collect the profits and live in the clouds, you do the work and get rained on. "Man of Several Faces" is an outlet for these kinds of free will concepts and realities.</p>

<p>How long have you been working on it?</p>

<p>Brad: A couple of weeks, so get in on the ground floor, people!</p>

<p>What are you hoping to accomplish with it?</p>

<p>Brad: I'd like to travel through the United States of America and film bits on somebody else’s dime for an Adult Swim show. It would be interesting to capture the fall of the Republic or a nuclear war with Iran in real time and maybe get enough scratch together to get a lake house.</p>

<p>Check out more of these same shenanigans at Man of Several Faces, and follow the Tweets @manofsevfaces.</p>

<p>--Kristy Mangel</p>

<p>kristymangel | Post a Comment | 2 References tagged brad steuernagel Thursday Jul 29 2010  Kyle Kinane Hits the Road</p>
<p>Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 10:00AM Last night began Los Angeles-based comic Kyle Kinane's self-designed U.S. tour, with a stop into Tempe, AZ. Named one of Variety's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2010, see him in person if you happen to live in Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Kentucky, or Oklahoma (schedule detailed below). Don't miss the opportunity to see and hang out with this powerhouse aiming to take over the world, one Midwestern U.S. state at a time.</p>

<p>Friday, July 30: Orange Cat Studios, Denver, CO</p>
<p>Saturday, July 31: The Sydney, Omaha, NE</p>
<p>Sunday, August 1: Replay Lounge, Lawrence, KS</p>
<p>Tuesday, August 3: Full Moon Club, Memphis, TN</p>
<p>Wednesday, August 4, JJ's Bohemia, Chattanooga, TN</p>
<p>Thursday, August 5: The New French Bar, Asheville, NC</p>
<p>Friday, August 6: The Orange Peel, Asheville, NC (with Patton Oswalt)</p>
<p>Saturday, August 7: Bijou Theater, Knoxville, TN (with Patton Oswalt)</p>
<p>Sunday, August 8: Zanies, Nashville, TN (with Patton Oswalt)</p>
<p>Monday, August 9: Zanies, Nashville, TN (with Patton Oswalt) and Skull Alley, Louisville, KY</p>
<p>Wednesday, August 11: Flytrap Music Hall, Tulsa, OK</p>
<p>Thursday, August 12: 51st St. Speakeasy, Oklahoma City, OK</p>

<p>Google/call venues for times and tickets.</p>

<p>--Kristy Mangel</p>

<p>kristymangel | Post a Comment tagged kyle kinane , tour dates in Upcoming Thursday Jul 29 2010  NYC HIP TIP: Chicago's Red Bar Comedy Coming to Manhattan</p>
<p>Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 9:00AM Red Bar Radio is bringing their comedy show to Manhattan's Stand Up NY Comedy Club Saturday, August 7. Hannibal Buress, one of Variety's Top Ten Comics to Watch in 2010, and whose new album just dropped yesterday, will headline what is shaping up to be a balls-out Chicago-based stand-up show in the heart of New York.</p>

<p>The Red Bar Comedy Show in Chicago has been selling out shows for the last seven months since its inception late last year, as well as being a featured venue in this past June's Just For Laughs Chicago Comedy Festival. They have since taken the show to Los Angeles, and now plan to defeat Manhattan.</p>

<p>Get your tickets sooner rather than later to see Chicago comedians Kyle Lane, Marty DeRosa, Drew Michael, and James Fritz, in addition to current New Yorkers Jared Logan (Live at Gotham, Last Comic Standing), David Angelo (writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon), and Buress. Stick around after the show to party with the comedians until 6 a.m.; brunch when the daylight seeps in optional.</p>

<p>--Kristy Mangel</p>

<p>kristymangel | 1 Comment | 3 References tagged chicago , red bar radio Monday Jul 19 2010  The 2010 Pitchfork Music Festival @ Union Park, Chicago - 7.16.10</p>
<p>Monday, July 19, 2010 at 11:18AM Michael Showalter | Photo by Clay Adamczyk Festival-goers at this year’s Pitchfork Music Festival were already ready to escape the 90 degree sun when comedy took the stage at 5:30 on Friday, the first day of the three day event. Kids with varying degrees of mustaches, baseball jerseys, feathers, and tattoos spread themselves out in the shaded, woodland area of Stage Balance, the smallest and furthest removed stage (yet situated closest to glorious beer). Tim Harrington, flamboyant lead singer of Les Savy Fav, 'hosted' the first ever comedy presentation at Pitchfork, mostly by throwing giveaways at kids sat closest to the stage and inviting contestants up to the stage for a marshmallow eating contest. The whole production ended up coming off as a hokey advertisement for Kraft, and ended with one contestant getting ‘sick’ (cue an absurd flood of multi-colored gag vomit). Harrington was amusing in and of himself, but his hosting didn’t do much to set up the showcase of some of the hottest comedians working right now.</p>

<p>Chicago’s own superstar Hannibal Buress opened as the first comedian to do Pitchfork, commanding the stage while also fighting the band playing simultaneously across the park. The opposing performers were dance punk trio The Liars, who at one point seemingly got louder at the exact time Buress was taking one of his signature pauses. This elicited one of the funnier quips about the perpetual sound bleed, as Buress asked the band, “What? You got a problem? That’s it! We got beef now. This is going to be one of most obscure beefs ever.” All in all, Buress commended the experience, saying, "I was really excited to be able to perform at Pitchfork; it was definitely fun to do a large outdoor event like that in my hometown."</p>

<p>Buress rumbles through his 45 minute set only slightly distracted from that point on, and the crowd is responding. However, their laughter kept drifting away in the wind, and the music across the way was sometimes the only answer the performer could hear. This was evident when Michael Showalter took the stage, first “competing” with his rock enemy, by faux-DJing on a laptop. He tried to get off some bits and stories, but soon was overcome with distractions, and became nearly hostile at suggestions from a few that he “do” some of his State characters. He attempted to address the situation of doing comedy in the out of doors at a music festival, saying you have to essentially be autistic to be able to perform in this setting, and luckily he has tendencies towards that condition. As he continued to meander and falter, the mostly supportive crowd began to drift, and at one point the singer on the opposing stage asked his crowd, “How we doing?” which elicited some cheers and whoops. It was getting increasingly surreal. Showalter mused, "All that’s missing is 400 people banging pots and pans together." He ended up leaving the stage approximately 15 minutes early.</p>

<p>Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac managed to smoothly incorporate his stories in a rhythmic overlap to Robyn’s sunny pop. More people were drifting over to the shaded area, spreading blankets and eating their festival dinners. Some napped.</p>

<p>The wind picked up and the temperature began cooling off. Eugene Mirman was the comedy closer for Pitchfork 2010, and he handled his business downright professional. The sound bleed was acknowledged, as he remarked that it sounded like a musical spaceship was landing in the field, and then soldiered on. At one point he was having so much fun and so was the crowd, both with his material and his asides about the weirdness of the venue, that he exclaimed, “This is actually fine!” And it was fine. Sure, it wasn’t 100 percent optimal conditions for a stand-up comedy set, but it ended up feeling like everyone was in it together, and it was a blessed reprieve for festival attendees who needed to take a sit-down-and-laugh break.</p>

<p>Mirman’s not a stranger to festivals, having performed in “ten or twenty” of them, he said. In reflecting on the Pitchfork experience the next day, Mirman said, “It went pretty good during my set. There were only a few moments that it was so loud that it was weird. With these things, often the audience is fine; the music is facing the comedians and the comedians can’t hear how loud they are through the sound… In general though this was fun; this is a very fun festival. The reason I come out is partially to see the bands and see friends and hang out.”</p>

<p>“I could see that people were laughing and that it was essentially going alright,” he added.</p>

<p>--Kristy Mangel</p>

<p>kristymangel | 2 Comments | 6 References tagged Eugene Mirman , Michael Showalter , chicago , hannibal buress , pitchfork music festival , show recap , wyatt cenac in EXCLUSIVELY at The Apiary , Show Recap Thursday Jul 15 2010  JFL Star Paul Thomas Rips Shit Up, Solo</p>
<p>Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 10:01AM By: Robert Buscemi</p>

<p>Paul Thomas packs more punch into "Comedogenic" than a purple punch-pack, whatever that is. He machine-guns tight, funny solo pieces with enough fire to broast a Cornish game hen. He's aggressive and unflagging, blazing through a dozen brilliant scenes (give or take--he's constantly noodling with the show), including...</p>

<p>1) A bus-stop kid rapping along to his iPod, oblivious to his decibel-level, mutter-singing a complex, original, hilarious rhyme about women and Jesus.</p>

<p>2) An orchestra student sneaking in texts to his geeky friends when his instrument -- a French horn that Thomas plays live on stage -- isn't specifically needed.</p>

<p>3) A disabled actor playing Paul Thomas, whose palsy and slur are dead-on, even as Thomas mocks himself for the intellectual pretension of playing himself playing himself.</p>

<p>4) A guy at a party with the greatest verbal tick you've ever heard, ineptly chatting up a girl who's clearly racist.</p>

<p>He also screens the hilarious new music video "Smacking Your Gum."</p>

<p>He debuted the show at the Second City's Donny's Skybox in 2008, took it to the New York International Fringe in 2009, then I saw it in LA at the first annual Fringe Fest a couple of weeks ago. Chicago's lucky right now -- Thomas excerpts it Thursdays at Chicago's iO's Del Close Theater through August 12th on a bill with Chicago stars Jim Fath, Jet Eveleth, and Paul Brittain.</p>

<p>And Thomas is ambitious as hell, so look for it on the coasts soon.</p>

<p>As a performer, Thomas has of course been around the block, winning "Best Sketch Group" as half of The Defiant Thomas Brothers at HBO’s 2005 US Comedy Arts Festival, performing solo pieces last year in the inaugural Just for Laughs Chicago, and getting named to Comedy.com’s Top 20 stand-ups in Chicago.</p>

<p>He also performs with the fantastic "post-grunge" acoustic comedy rock band Lola Balatro, which released its debut album last year with songs like "I Got 2 Black Friends," "Rock Star," and "Questionable Beef," (which won the audience award at the Seattle Sketchfest).</p>

<p>A quick story about this weirdly well-produced, to-my-mind murderously funny video for Thomas's "Epic Love Song." For the shoot, Thomas drove like half the people you see in the video (me included) in a big rented van out to a farm two freaking hours from Chicago on the rainiest Sunday in Illinois history. At one point in the 14-hour day, we hauled that GD piano through deep mud out onto planks in a field.</p>

<p>So we're tired and wet when we finally pile in the van to head home, and I say "You know what the funniest word ever is? 'Girth.'"</p>

<p>For two solid hours, we inserted "girth" into every phrase, book title, movie title, proper name you can imagine: Girth Brooks, Girth Vader, The Girth Also Rises, Girth on the Nile. WE DID NOT STOP. The two that hit the hardest: early on, Thomas says "Bond. JAMES Girth." Then when we were almost home, Mike Bridenstine says: "E=MC girth." I almost peed my pants.</p>

<p>Anyhow, go see "Comedogenic." It's amazing. No shit.</p>

<p>kristymangel | 1 Comment | 8 References tagged Paul Thomas Page 1 2 3 4 5 ... 11 Next 8 Entries » Copyright © 2011, [theapiary.org]. All rights reserved.</p>