Last night, the seventh annual Philly’s Phunniest Person Contest continued at Helium Comedy Club with Pat Barker, Carolyn Busa, and Tim Butterly moving on to the semi-finals. The competition continues Monday, July 8 and the opening round continues on Sunday and Monday nights until August 13 (full schedule here).
The lineup and date for the next Camp Woods Plus has been announced. Joining Camp Woods on stage at L’etage on Wednesday, July 25 will be New York sketch group Listen, Kid!, and the show will also mark the debut of a full set from new Philadelphia sketch group Tap City (Aaron Hertzog and Luke Field).
This Saturday, Urban Saloon will host the Laughs on Fairmount Showcase the weekend partner to the weekly open mic from Mary Radzinski and Carolyn Busa. This weekend’s show will feature comedy from Blythe Wimbush, Alejandro Morales, Alex Grubard, James Hesky, and John McKeever. Doors open at 7:30 and the show starts at 8:00.
Last night, the seventh annual Philly’s Phunniest Person Contest continued at Helium Comedy Club with Darryl Charles, Tom Cassidy, and Chris Smith moving on to the semi-finals. The competition continues next Sunday, June 24 and the opening round continues on Sunday and Monday nights until August 13 (full schedule here).
This Tuesday, Rose Luardo and Andrew Jeffrey Wright host another edition of Comedy Dreamz at The Barbary (951 Frankford Ave. Philadelphia.) This month’s show will feature performances by Body Dreamz, Malwina, Nick Lucas, A Chorus Of Flesh, Omar Scruggs, Doogie Horner, Potato, and JP Boudwin as well as videos from Jason Hsu and The New Dreamz. Doors open at 9PM and the show starts at 10 – with a dance party following the comedy.
Wednesday, The BIG Show will feature special guest Eli Braden, and his musical comedy. Corey Cohen Comedy Productions hosts The Big Show every Wednesday at Underground Arts (1200 Callowhill St. Philadelphia) and brings a variety of comedy performances to the stage. Tickets can be purchased online.
This Friday at Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St. Philadelphia) JP Boudwin hosts the Uh Oh! Party Show - a night that “has no focus other than having fun.” The show will feature performances by The Feeko Brothers, Charles Rosen, and Magic Missile as well as a contest where comedians will be put to the test as each will draw a challenge to base their set around. The contest will feature Aaron Hertzog, Brendan Kennedy, John Nunn, Tim Butterly and Jim Grammond doing their best with whatever challenge they draw, whether it be writing a song, talking about current events, using props, or something else “equally horrible”.
Also Friday, Alex Gross and Mike Hochman will host Mike and Alex Get You Drunk at The Arts Parlor (1170 S. Broad St. Philadelphia). The show will feature improv from Philly’s Rare Bird Show, Richmond’s Richmond Comedy Coalition, and New York’s The Imposters as well as music from comedy band Lightning Bolts of Pain.
Finally, the latest episode of Gettin’ Close with Mike Marbach is online – on the new and improved Mike Marbach dot com. This episode features BJ Ellis – with whom Mike discusses “life, the ever present shortform-longform talk, the N Crowd, his feelings about Philly improv and much more”.
Tuesday night, Polygon Comedy at L’etage will bring the comedic stylings of Alejandro Morales, Cock Hat, and Grimacchio to the stage. Doors open at 7:30 and the show begins at 8:00.
Wednesday brings another Camp Woods Plus to L’etage, this month featuring guests The New Dreamz and Angel Yau and, as always, brand new sketches from Camp Woods. This show has become a can’t miss event in Philadelphia comedy – so don’t miss it.
ManiPedi hosts another Mani Party this Friday at Connie’s Ric Rac. The sketch group will be joined by stand-up Carolyn Busa and sketch group American Breakfast. Come for the comedy, stay for the free ice cream and dance party.
This Saturday, First Person Arts presents Stripped Stories – the “hilarious and unpredictable sex-themed story show” at Union Transfer. The show will feature hosts, Moth Grand Slam winners Margot Leitman and Giulia Rozzi; guest storytellers Elna Baker(The Moth, This American Life), Dave Hill(This American Life), and Dava Krause; plus musical guest Jessica Delfino. Find out more information and buy tickets online.
Last night, the seventh annual Philly’s Phunniest Person Contest kicked off at Helium Comedy Club. This year, over 150 comedians will compete in 11 preliminary rounds for the chance to move on to the semi-finals, and eventually the finals, where one will be named Philly’s “Phunniest”. Last night, James Hesky, Omar Scruggs, and Vince Patterson moved on to the next round. The competition continues next Monday, June 11 and the opening round continues on Sunday and Monday nights until August 13 (full schedule here).
This weekend marked the debut of two new Philly Improv Theater House Teams. Davenger (formerly Codename Westmarch) and Hot Dish (formerly Codename Strider) took the stage with UCB team Surfing Friday night to two sold out shows and returned to packed housed at PHIT again on Saturday night. If you missed it, you can read the two new teams introduce themselves to the world through Witout here (Davenger) and here (Hot Dish).
This weekend Philly Improv Theater will host the third annual Duofest, a celebration of improv duos from across the country. Shows start Thursday night and continue through until Sunday. Improv workshops taught by Jill Bernard, Joe Bill, Rachel & Dave, and Twinprov are also being held. Also – be on the lookout for more Duofest Interviews this week, here on Witout.
The lineup and date for the next Camp Woods Plus at L’etage (6th and Bainbridge) has been announced. Their next monthly show will be Wednesday, June 13th at 8:00PM and will feature brand new sketches from Camp Woods as well as guests The New Dreamz and Angel Yau.
Friday, June 15th, Mani Pedi will host their second ManiParty, this time at Connie’s Ric Rac (1132 S. 9th St.) Mani Pedi will welcome guests Carolyn Busa and American Breakfast. Doors for the event open at 8:00PM and the show begins at 9, with a dance party following the comedy. Tickets for ManiParty are $10 and include free ice cream.
Tonight starts a four-week run for Philly Improv Theater at the Shubin Theater. The month of May will be jam packed with sketch, stand-up, and improv from Philly’s best alternative comedians. Tonight, The Monthly Hour with James Hesky kicks things off at 9pm followed by stand-up comedy showcase Hey Everybody (which has free admission if you go to the 9pm show.) You can see more of PHIT’s schedule online.
Also tonight, Rookie Card will have their final Monday show at the Raven Lounge before moving their monthly improv show to Saturday night. The show will feature improv from Rookie Card and Grimmachio and stand-up from Tim Butterly and all kicks off at 9pm.
Tuesday will bring another Free Improv at Connie’s Ric Rac to the venue in the Italian Market. This month, the show will feature sets from Deleted Scenes, Bed Savage, Self-esteem Motivators, Fowl Play, ApocaLips, Kait and Andrew, and Ralph Jess Jason Emily and Mike. The show starts at 9pm and is free, of course.
6ABC recently ran this story about Helium Comedy Club and their upcoming Philly’s Phunniest Person contest. The video shows many local stand-ups at a recent open mic at the club. Keep an eye out for appearances by Pat House, Alex Grubard, Ed McGonigal, Chase Wexler, David Ray Agyekum, James Hesky, and Aaron Hertzog.
Eight stand-ups will take the stage tonight at Helium Comedy Club to participate in the final round of Rittenhouse Comedy’s2012 March Madness Comedy Competition. The month-long event started with 72 comedians competing at various open mics throughout the city to move on week by week to make it to tonight’s final eight. Each open mic was a wing in the bracket- style competition with comedians advancing each week until only two remained from The Famous International Variety Show, Laughs on Fairmount, Rittenhouse Comedy and Center City Comedy. Tonight’s final eight comedians are: David Ray Ageykum, Mike Logan, Alex Grubard, Tim Ryan, Gordon-Baker-Bone, Steve Lichtenstein, Omar Scruggs, and Trevor Cunnion. Comedians will be give six minutes to perform and the show will be judged by audience vote. The show will be hosted by Ryan Shaner. Tickets for tonight’s show are available online.
Kevin McDonald of the Kids in the Hall will be teaching a two day, 14 hour workshop at Philly Improv Theater. The class will focus on teaching writing through performance and using improv skills to create written sketches. The class will be held Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22 from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and the price is $300. More information and signups can be found on PHIT’s website.
Helium Comedy Club has recently announced an upcoming special event – Richard Lewis will be headlining the club Thursday April 26 to Saturday April 28. Lewis is known for his many television and film appearances including roles in Curb Your Enthusiasm and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and was number 45 on Comedy Central’s list of the 100 Greatest Standups of All Time. Tickets for the shows can be purchased online.
Comedy web site Everything You Like is Stupid has gone through a bit of a redesign, making older posts easier to find and navigate through. The site is updated daily by former Philadelphia and now Los Angeles comedian and writer Luke Giordano.
The lineup and date for the next Camp Woods Plus has been set. Thursday, April 12 at L’etage Camp Woods will feature Philadelphia sketch group ManiPedi and New York’s (by way of Philly) Unisex. Camp Woods Plus presents a brand new half hour of comedy from Camp Woods every month along with two featured guest sketch groups and is quickly becoming one of the hottest tickets in town.
This Friday, April 6 marks the return of the Fighting Burrito Comedy Showcase to The Grape Room (105 Grape Street, Philadelphia). This week’s show will feature stand-up comedy from: Darryl Charles, Jim Ginty, Rob DeSantis, David Ray Agyekum, Nicole Yates, Noah GoldStein and TJ Hurley.
Tyler Rothrock and Randy Tongue have started a new monthly open mic in Bethlehem at Roosevelts 21st (21 E. Elizabeth Ave Bethlehem, PA). The first Monday of every month Rothrock and Tongue will host the open mic and then, with comics permission use parts of the set for a Comedy Mix Tape Podcast featuring stand-up and sketches from that night’s show. The first episode is already available online.
I have a theory that all of the planet’s most awesome people are fueled by pizza. I recently had an opportunity to test this theory by talking with one of the awesome-est people of all, Mr. Todd Glass. Todd’s the host of a killer podcast, The Todd Glass Show, and you can see him be awesome live on stage here in Philly at Helium Comedy Club on March 21-24. After a brief conversation with him, I can safely say that my theory still stands:
Pizza Pal Joe Moore: How much do you like pizza?
Todd Glass: I… fucking LOVE pizza. I’ve lost a lot of weight now, but my favorite thing to do on the road used to be ordering a large pizza, and then sitting in the hotel watching TV, and eating the whole thing. The first 3 slices are heaven, but the last… 11 slices are tough. It’s amazing that you can smoke a little pot, make a phone call, and in a half an hour, someone just brings you a pizza.
PPJM: What is your favorite topping?
TG: Well, I guess there are two kinds. I like ham and pineapple. But I also like chicken, olives, ham and pineapple. I figure the restaurant has chicken and probably olives, so I have them throw that on there too.
PPJM: When is/was your family’s “Pizza Night”?
TG: We always had pizza on Sunday nights when I was growing up. Now that I’m an adult… well every night could be pizza night.
PPJM: Do you have a favorite slice in Philadelphia?
TG: We used to go to Sal’s in the Gateway Shopping Center. I can remember scrambling for change to get a slice as a kid there. That’s probably my favorite, and I think it’s still there. (PPJM Note: It is!)
PPJM: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
TG: I’m still on the fence about “breakfast pizza.” I think that’s just the major chain’s way to getting you in the morning. But you know, even still, once I start eating a pie, I’m not going to stop. Even if it means taking a 10 minute break and telling myself I’ll finish it in the morning… I know I won’t.
And so the Todd Glass Pizza was born: Large pie with chicken, olives, ham and pineapple. I’m down with it, are you?!? See you at Helium!
Philly Improv Theater’s run of shows at The Shubin continues this week with a full schedule of shows. This Wednesday, at 10pm you can catch a preview of The Monthly Hour with James Hesky, the new variety show taking over for Chip Chantry’s One Man Show (with Special Guests) which ended its run last week. The Monthly Hour promises sketch and stand-up comedy from some of the city’s best performers, as well as a topical monologue from Hesky, and sketches produced by the show’s team of writers (which include Jim Grammond, Pat House, Mary Radzinski, Darryl Charles, and Mike Gleason).
This Wednesday, Helium Comedy Club will feature Helium’s Philthiest Comedy Show – a night of mature themed comedy from Mike Rainey, Darryl Charles, Dave Terruso, Rob DeSantis, with David James as the Headliner and some special dirty guests!
The second annual March Madness Comedy Competition kicks off at the open mic at Drinker’s West on Sunday March 11. This year 72 comedians will compete at Drinker’s West, Laughs on Fairmount, Noche, and The Raven Lounge to be named champion of the tournament style competition.
On Thursday, March 15, Kenny Zimlinghaus returns to Philadelphia on his 2012 End of the World Tour. Presented by Corey Cohen Comedy, the show will be held at The Tin Angel (20 South 2nd St. Philadelphia) and will feature Zimlinghaus (known for being the co-host of “Wake Up! With Taylor” on Sirius and XM) along with John McKeever. You can purchase tickets for the event online.
Finally, we leave you with two quick videos to help brighten up your day. The first is from Bird Text and Steve Gerben and the second is from Center City Comedy. Enjoy.
For two weeks every month, Philly Improv Theater offers crowds in Philadelphia the best stand-up, sketch, and improv the city has to offer. PHIT features a full schedule of regular shows (Chip Chantry’s One Man Show, Guilty Pleasures, TV Party, Hey Everybody!, House Team Night, and more) plus time slots for sketch groups to have short run shows and blocks for improv teams to take the stage.
Helium Comedy Club
Helium Comedy Club is the place in Philadelphia to see A-list nationally touring headliners on stage each and every week. Helium is also home to the annual Philly’s Phunniest Person Contest, an event that has over 150 local comics competing for the crown every year.
The Raven Lounge
The upstairs room at the Raven Lounge is the home to the Center City Comedy open mic every Thursday as well as Rookie Card’s monthly improv show. The tight, intimate room lets the crowd feel close to the action on stage and allows for the bar to always be just a few steps away.
The Adrienne Theater
Permanent home to ComedySportz Philly, as well as the home to many of the shows from PHIT during the Philly Fringe Festival – the Adrienne Theater sits across the street from Helium Comedy Club making that block of Sansom a hotbed of Philly comedy activity.
The Shakespeare Theater
For three weeks in October, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Theater was the home of the second annual Comedy Month. Featuring the Philly Sketch Fest, The Philadelphia Improv Festival, and The City Spotlight, Comedy Month was a celebration of all things funny in Philadelphia, as well as a chance for out-of-town acts to come to perform in our fair city.
