Photos from Dog Mountain & The Flat Earth
The funny folks on PHIT's Sketch House-Teams Dog Mountain and The Flat Earth delighted last night with their weird-ass sketches.
First let's take a look at the Dog Mountain show entitled, "Gory Hole".
[click to enlarge]






The Flat Earth presents "Scrambled Porn"






[Coming soon... An important and insanely funny video -- Joe Moore's Best Day Ever....]
Photos from Dog Mountain / Comedy to See This Weekend







Dog Mountain performs again tonight at PHIT, 9:00pm.
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There are some rare extra comedy treats happening this weekend. In addition to many of the regular shows you can find on our calendar, here are a handful of must-see performances.
Friday:
Jim Jeffries @ The Keswick Theater. 8:00pm
If you haven't seen his comedy, give yourself a quick sample on YouTube. He's like an Austrailian Doug Stanhope. He may some day go down as one of the greats.
Hang On With Aaron Nevins @ The Adrienne Playground. 8:00pm.
Outstanding panel comedy featuring very funny Philly comedians. Tonight's guests are the creators of High Maintenance--named Best Web Series by USA Today and The Guardian--and Ethan T. Berlin the creator of IFC's Bunk (who's also been a writer on Superjail and Da Ali G Show).
Saturday:
Davenger's Final Show @ PHIT. 9:00pm.
The former WitOut Award Winner for best new act features many of Philadelphia's best young improv talent. They're likely to sell out, so get your tickets online.
Ted Alexandro @ Helium. 7:30pm & 10:00pm.
Very funny Letterman regular. Catch him here at a small club before he starts doing theaters.
SketchFest Tonight: Dog Mountain, Pirate Sugar, The Mask & Wig Club
Philly sketch super-group, Dog Mountain (featuring, in various capacities, such names as Rob Baniewicz, Chip Chantry, Joe Moore, Mike Marbach, Carl Boccuti, Dan Vetrano and more) will be doing selections from their three runs so-far.
Says Joe Moore--the Andy Richter of Philly Comedy--"This is a 'best-of', so you can see all of the best sketches we've ever done, without putting up with the not-best ones." ... adding... "But they were all pretty good."
Here's a Dog Mountain video in which Joe reviews an entire 30-pack of Genesee.
http://vimeo.com/71510905
Also performing will be Pirate Sugar, as well as the music-comedy of U-Penn's legendary The Mask & Wig Club. The show starts at 8:00pm at the Adrienne Theater (2030 Sansom Street).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvxXCtRXOSI&feature=g-crec-u
Comedy Show Round-up: May 3, 2013
Shows
The Comedy Works - 7:00pm at Georgine's Restaurant
The Bat - 7:00pm at Philly Improv Theater
Mitch Fatel - 7:30 & 10:00pm at Helium Comedy Club
The N Crowd - 8:00pm at The Actor's Center
Dog Mountain - 8:30pm at Philly Improv Theater
Doylestown Comedy Cabaret - 9:00pm at Poco's
Sketch Up or Shut Up - 11:00pm at Philly Improv Theater
Open Mics
Hodge Podge - 8:00pm (7:30pm signups) at Hodge Podge, 1212 South St., Philadelphia
If you run a Philadelphia-area comedy show or open mic let us know so we can share it on our calendar and in our daily show round-ups by sending us the information from our submit a show page to contact@witout.net.
Comedy Show Round-up: May 2, 2013
Shows
The Bat - 7:00pm at Philly Improv Theater
Laff Therapy Thursdays - 8:00pm at The Laff House
Thursday Comedy at PJ Ryan’s Pub - 8:00pm at PJ Ryan's Pub
Now Time! A Sketch Comedy Showcase - 8:00pm at L'etage
Mitch Fatel - 8:00pm at Helium Comedy Club
Dog Mountain - 8:30pm at Philly Improv Theater
The Monthly Hour with James Hesky - 10:00pm at Philly Improv Theater
Open Mics
Center City Comedy - 9:00pm (signups at 8:30) at The Raven Lounge, 1718 Sansom St., Philadelphia
Comedy Under the Disco Ball - 8:00pm (signups at 7:30) at L2, 2201 South St., Philadelphia
If you run a Philadelphia-area comedy show or open mic let us know so we can share it on our calendar and in our daily show round-ups by sending us the information from our submit a show page to contact@witout.net.
Top 5 of 2012: Paul Triggiani's Best Sketches by New Sketch Groups in 2012
As the year winds down, WitOut collects lists from comedy performers and fans of their favorite moments, comedians, groups, shows, etc. from the last year in Philly comedy. Top 5 of 2012 lists will run throughout December, and slightly beyond, if we deem it necessary–if you’d like to write one, pitch us your list at contact@witout.net!
In past years, I made it a goal to see every sketch comedy show that went up in Philly at least once. I considered it a duty to support the other sketch groups in town, but I also benefited from seeing what my peers were doing. Often times, they inspired me to write and perform better.
In 2012, it became impossible to see every sketch show in town. I would have had to give up my life and become a full-time sketch comedy audience member, and I don't think that would have been very lucrative for me. I still make it to most of the shows, and I am still regularly inspired by the talent and brilliance of the people I'm privileged to watch (and sometimes collaborate with).
Here is a list of my favorite sketches by groups that started performing in 2012.
5. American Breakfast - "Prank My Tween"
A TV prank show where parents "prank" their tweens while a camera rolls on their reaction. Only, in this case, all of the pranks are just normal parenting behaviors; the tweens react with disgust because they're tweens and that's how tweens act when their patents do anything. I'm a sucker for a simple premise with a truthful observation at the core. This is that.
4. The Specific Jawns - "Rape & Murder Mystery Party"
This sketch was one of many very strong offerings during this year's Dirtiest Sketch In Philadelphia competition. Specific Jawn Carl Boccuti "hosts" a rape & murder mystery party where he selects a handful of audience members who read aloud from evidence envelopes that they have been given. One by one, each participant reveals further gory (and hilarious) details about the crime, themselves and the song "Two Princes" by the Spin Doctors.
Putting up a sketch that relies on the audience or non-performers to carry the scene can be risky and outside of our comfort zone, but when it works, it can pay out major dividends. Even if it doesn't win a competition.
3. The Flat Earth - "Sexy Telegraph"
We know that the first message ever sent by telegraph was "What hath god wrought." We could assume that the second message sent by telegraph was "What are you wearing," since at the advent of any major technological breakthrough, our first question is "How can we use this to jerk off better?" That was the underlying assumption of "Sexy Telegraph," where a man and woman engage in erotic telegraphy across the Atlantic (and it escalates over the course of the scene). Physical comedy without dialogue is a rare thing to see on stage in Philly, and it's rare because it’s hard (and one might argue that it's hard because we rarely attempt it). Seeing a totally physical/visual sketch done and done well was, for me, delightful.
2. Daring Daulton - "Hammer Store"
Joe Paolucci enters a store to rob the joint with his weapon of choice, a hammer. We eventually learn that the store he is attempting to rob is a hammer store and the man behind the counter (Trevor Cunnion) has a seemingly endless supply of hammers at his disposal. Despite this, Trevor does not immediately do away with the robber but instead attempts to remedy the robber's insecurities. It gets weird, but in a way that should stand as an example of how to breathe life into what feels like it could be a one-note premise.
1. Dog Mountain - "No More Birthdays"
This is making my list as the best sketch by a new group in 2012, but a case could be made for "No More Birthdays" being the best local sketch of 2012. A man (Dennis Trafny) throws a birthday party for his significant other, but at the stroke of midnight, he demands that both the party and her birthday are over (to a frightening degree). This sketch sticks with me and makes number one on my list because it has almost everything that I look for in a sketch. The performance by Dennis is paramount; he plays a funnier “terrifying” than any human I can think of. Mike Marbach is also a great asset; he may have been born to play a guy being emotionally dismantled.
I performed in my first live sketch comedy show with Secret Pants in 2005. At the time, there was one other sketch group in town (that we knew of), and we never saw or crossed paths with them. Now, almost 2013, there are too many sketch shows to see, five or six new groups in one year, a sketch open mic that is envied in Los Angeles and New York alike, and a sketch comedy community that is growing at a rate that none of us ever imagined. When I sat down to write this list today, I was excited. When I realized that I could write it, I was thrilled. Let’s all raise a glass to more lists.