The headline pretty much sums it up. Tomorrow at the Rogues Gallery Open Mic (11 South 21st St.; signups at 7:00pm; mic at 7:30pm) the hosts will be giving away two tickets to next Tuesday’s Four Headliners For a Cause show at Helium Comedy Club. The show is organized and hosted by comedian Chris Cotton to help raise money for the Raven Lounge MS Bike Team and MS Research.
More on the show from Helium Comedy Club’s website:
Four of the funniest comedians around lend their talents to a city wide fundraiser for Multiple Sclerosis for six weeks, ending with this May 14th performance. Comedians Talent Harris (Def Jam, Host of Apollo), Mike Vecchione (Tonight Show), Greer Barnes (Chappelle Show, Comedy Central), Jermaine Fowler (MTV 2′s Guy Code) and host Chris Cotton (Eric Andre Live Show) will share the stage, using their voices to fight for those afflicted with MS.
Take advantage of this opportunity to see five outstanding comedians for the price of one while supporting a worthy cause! A portion of the proceeds will go to the Raven Lounge Bike MS team and the National MS Society. For more details on the show or how to donate, please visit the following links:
Hey pizza gang what’s shakin’!? Word is the best way to reheat a slice is in a pan over the stove with the slice face-down… don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!
Big Jay Oakerson. Photo courtesy of Helium Comedy Club.
This week Philly-bred comedian Big Jay Oakerson, Dave Smith and local comic Chris Cotton will all be at Helium Comedy Club. Before you go see them, you may be wondering to yourself, “Hey, I wonder whaBig Jay Oakersont those guys think about pizza?” Well, wonder no more…
Pizza Pal Joe Moore: How much do you like Pizza?
Big Jay Oakerson: So much, that I would leapfrog someone having a seizure to grab a slice!
Dave Smith: What?
Chris Cotton: Collared greens
PPJM: What is your favorite slice in Philadelphia? What’s your favorite outside of Philly?
Jay: Lorenzo’s on South Street. Huge and delicious!! Outside of Philly, Ben’s Grandmas slice in NYC.
Dave: Philly blows. Any slice outside of this dump is great.
Chris: Chicken…cornbread
PPJM: What are you favorite pizza toppings?Jay: I always go Xtra cheese, pepperoni and mushroom! Best combo!
Dave: Sauce and cheese stupid!
Chris: Wings…macaroni and cheese
PPJM: What day was “Pizza Day” in your house growing up?
Jay: Friday! My mom-mom would always order me pizza on Friday nights and watch TV with me!
Dave: I grew up in an apartment. We weren’t all born rich, you asshole!
Chris: Kool-aid, grape soda…
PPJM: What is your favorite pizza reference in pop-culture (TV/Movie/Music/etc)?
Jay: I always loved that the teenage mutant ninja turtles loved pizza!! That was funny AND fun!
Dave: I read books…TV and movies are for weak minds
Chris: Tyler Perry…rap music
PPJM: Anything else you’d like to add?
Jay: This was really fun! Thanks for including me in your questionnaire !!
Dave: Add?! ADD?!..Yeah…Fuck you!
Chris: Oh yeah…coco butter!
Big Jay Oakerson, Dave Smith and Chris Cotton will be at Helium Comedy Club (2031 Sansom Street) this Friday and Saturday night. Get your tickets online!
This week, I take a break from sitting down and chatting with comedians and let Corin Wells do all the work. Corin, along with Darryl Charles, Chris Cotton, Blythe Wimbush and Setoiyo gathered to talk about the state of Black comedy in Philadelphia. They discuss their own experiences as well as their thoughts on the city, past, present, and future. You can listen here, or subscribe on iTunes.
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Corin Wells is a Philadelphia comedian and member of improv groups Iron Lung, Ebony and Ivory, and new Philly Improv Theater House Team codenamed Strider. We’d like to thank her very much for her contributions.
The QComedy Fest is also set to take place this week with shows at various venues around the city including The Philly Improv Theater at The Shubin Theater, Tabu Sports Bar & Lounge, and Club Voyeur. The festival will be headlined by Alec Mapa, of Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty fame.
Doogie Horner’sMinistry of Secret Jokes returns again this week with a show featuring new videos from Secret Pants and Joke Summer School and stand-up from Chris Cotton, Alex Grubard and Trey Galyon.
Brian Posehn is coming to Philadelphia to play the Trocadero Theater on Thursday, October 20 at 8:00PM. Tickets can be purchased online.
Three years ago Chris Cotton, H. Foley and Conrad Roth started a new Thursday night open mic at The Raven Lounge. They saw Philly as a city with a lot of talent, and a shortage of stage time – and decided to take matters into their own hands. In the three years that have passed a lot of mics have come and gone but Center City Comedy is still going strong as ever on Thursday nights. Roth has since moved to San Francisco, but his departure made way for Tom Cassidy to join the group in helping run the open mic. The Thursday night mic at The Raven Lounge has been a place where more established comedians can work on new bits, where new guys can get up and join the Philly comedy community, and has become a room where visiting comedians love to do drop in sets. Various comedians from out of town have commented on how great the crowd is, and how lucky Philly comics are to have a spot like the Raven as an open mic room. The guys have also branched out, helping other comics start their own rooms at various places in the city and Philly has gained a strong open mic scene since. Center City Comedy has also started to produce their own sketch videos, and has become an LLC.
Tonight, the third anniversary of Center City Comedy at the Raven Lounge will be celebrated with a show in which favorite comics from the past three years as well as hosts of other open mics around the city will perform. The guys will also give out awards throughout the night, and the show will end with a party in the upstairs room at the Raven. Festivities start, as usual, at 9pm and the party will probably last all night.
In case you haven’t heard it yet, Doogie Horner was a featured guest on the Used Wigs Radio podcast recently. Listen to hear him talk about America’s Got Talent, Last Comic Standing, designing book covers, and other pop culture fun.
Comedians Derek Gaines, Chris Cotton and Monroe Martin have started their own podcast, CDM’s Midday Talk. Their first episode features guest Conrad Roth as the four talk about the death of Amy Winehouse, Captain America, and racism.
Last night the first round of Philly’s Phunniest Person Contest continued at Helium Comedy Club with Dave Terruso, Jim McGinty and Darnell Williams moving on the the semi-finals.
There is a new casting call out for Down the Show. The Philly-themed sketch show is looking for two men and one woman who can play “older” as well as one younger man and one younger woman. Interested actors can contact Abigail Bruley.
This friday Philly Improv Theater will debut their two new house teams, currently codenamed Brandybuck and Shadowfax. The two teams will reveal their names and perform with Upright Citizen’s Brigade Harold Team Grandma’s Ashes at 8:30pm and 10:00pm Friday night. When the teams were first formed, we told you who made it - and all this week we will be featuring the new house team members in their own 10 Questions With…interviews.
The folks at SuperDPS posted some clips from the Main Street Comedy show at Mad River in Manayunk this past Wednesday. And here they are for you, also.
