Tag: Comedy

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Arts Culture

Nurse Blake

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They say laughter is the best medicine, and comedian Nurse Blake is on call with a heavy dose of hilarity. From Level 1 trauma centers to stages around the country, Blake Lynch has taken his unique experiences as a nurse to find the humor in humerus bones, the lighter side of liver disease, and the fun in hospital funding. Celebrating health care practitioners, this tour features live skits, videos, and interactive stories drawn from real life. And there’s likely to be plenty of care providers in the audience should you bust a gut, break a rib, or slap a knee too hard.

Monday 11/25. $45–59.50, 7pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

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Arts Culture

David Cross is good at what he does, and he likes doing it

David Cross performs at The Jefferson Theater on November 20. Supplied photo.

Comedian, actor, and writer David Cross is a recognizable face thanks to still-fresh classics like ’90s HBO sketch show “Mr. Show” and the sitcom “Arrested Development,” as well as more recent roles such as that of Sy Grossman on Netflix’s “The Umbrella Academy.” Decades ago, Cross earned a core of devoted Gen X fans, and has since cultivated a lengthy list of critical praise, as well as multiple Grammy Award nominations for Best Comedy Album. His many successes elsewhere (animated blockbuster voiceovers, British TV) haven’t prevented him from continually revisiting his stand-up roots, though, and his The End of the Beginning of the End tour brings his singular disarming wit back to town. We spoke to him by phone to find out why, after more than 40 years, he’s still drawn to cracking wise for crowds.

C-VILLE Weekly: I always thought stand-up seemed like the most difficult thing anybody in the performing arts could choose to do. So why do you keep doing it?

David Cross: I like difficult things. I like the challenge. But it’s not difficult anymore; I’ve been doing it for, geez, two-thirds of my life now. The shortest answer is I really enjoy it. I don’t have to do it. I choose to do it.

Is there a specific aspect you like most that keeps you coming back to it?

I’m having fun. And being out on the road is another aspect I like; I love traveling across the world. And that hour and 20 minutes or so that I’m on stage is really fun. So whatever kind of shitty day I’ve had or shitty news I’ve gotten, I know that that will be a good hour-plus time spent that day. 

You mentioned that you’ve been doing it for so long. Besides your early years where you were still figuring things out, how has your approach changed?

For the last five tours or so I’ve been repeating a process and I’ve got it down to a science. When I’m ready to start working again, I will do these shows called “Shooting the Shit, Seeing What Sticks” in Brooklyn, where I live. I’ll have a couple of special guests and I literally am starting from scratch, with notes and papers.

I record everything because I do all my writing on stage, basically. I’ll do it in a tiny 99-seat basement theater for a couple of months—probably eight to 10 of those things, then I’ll move to a slightly bigger venue for six shows. It’s about a five-month process to write a new hour. And when I go out on tour, the set will change fairly significantly from the first show I do to the 70th show.

In addition to that, I saw that you’re also doing a podcast every week [“Senses Working Overtime with David Cross”], and I have to confess that I haven’t listened to it—but I saw some clips on Instagram. When the hell are people supposed to listen to podcasts? Do you listen to podcasts?

I don’t. My wife does. As far as when you’re supposed to listen to it, that’s a question that only you can answer, my friend.

How would you describe your act for people who haven’t seen you?

I’ve been doing it for a long, long time. I know what I’m doing. I’m not a clean comic. I’m a little edgy. I’m not for everyone. And if you’re not familiar, check it out. You may like it or you may hate it. (pauses) I don’t know who you are.

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Arts Culture

Brian Regan in the HotSeat

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Visiting close to 100 cities each year on a nonstop theater tour, comedian Brian Regan has built a 30-plus-year career through lots of laughs. A co-star in three seasons of Peter Farrelly’s TV series “Loudermilk,” Regan has also starred in his own Netflix sketch comedy and stand-up series “Stand Up And Away! With Brian Regan.” With eight hour-long comedy releases to his credit and appearances at legendary venues including London’s Leicester Square Theatre, Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., as well as New York City’s Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall, Regan is a vetted veteran of stage and screen. Ahead of his October 20 show at The Paramount Theater, we put the funnyman in the HotSeat.

Name: Brian Regan

Hometown: Las Vegas

Job(s): Comedian/actor/salad chef

What’s something about your job that people would be surprised to learn? I’m not funny every waking moment. And I’m not funny at all when I’m asleep.    

Favorite movie and/or show: Amadeus. The theme of the movie is not one usually touched on by storytellers—jealousy of talent. F. Murray Abraham plays Antonio Salieri, a composer, who is envious of the brilliance of Mozart. Abraham’s performance is beautiful. My second favorite movie is Porky’s II.

Best advice you ever got: “Earn your sips.” Years ago, John Fox, a comedian I was working with in a comedy club, told me when I got off stage that I should only take a sip of my beer if my previous joke had gotten a laugh. He said it was awkward to watch me tell a joke, have it not work, then watch me go over to the stool, pick up my beer, take a sip, then walk back to the microphone. He said, “Only take a sip while people are laughing.” “Earn your sips” is bigger than just stage advice. It is really a metaphor for life.  

Proudest accomplishment: Being a good dad.  

Who’d play you in a movie? Me  

Who is your hero? My dad  

Best Halloween costume you’ve worn: A book. When I was a kid, I took a big cardboard box, and made a big book out of it. Unfortunately, I drew the lines for the pages on the wrong side.  

Most used app on your phone: Backgammon. I have played thousands of backgammon games against nobody. It is my small way of raging against the machine.   

Favorite curse word? Or favorite word: This isn’t really answering the question, but I’ll share it anyway. I once saw the “F” word written in an article. They used all the letters except they put an asterisk for the letter “C.” I found it funny that apparently the letter “C” is what makes the “F” word offensive. 

What have you forgotten today? To answer this question.  

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Culture Living

Local funny (business) man’s comedy evolves

Comedian and Darden student Abhishek Kulkarni has found a balance between business and funny business. Image via Kelly West / UVA Communications.

A few years ago, Abhishek Kulkarni was just a guy getting a business degree who dabbled in comedy. Now, he’s a local open mic mainstay who’s learned to work a crowd.

“Initially, I was writing a lot of new content for the U.S. audience, so I would go like three weeks of telling the same jokes with subtle variation,” Kulkarni says. “Then I got a handle on what they like … and I started riffing on stage.”

Kulkarni, who’s working on a PhD in business ethics and strategy at UVA’s Darden School of Business, started doing stand-up when he was studying in the U.K. He signed up for a random talent show, told a few jokes, and caught people’s attention. He stuck with it and, when he moved back to Mumbai, fell in with a comedy troupe with a large internet following. 

Mumbai had just opened its own outpost of the legendary Comedy Store at the time. When five performers approached Kulkarni about joining them in SNG Comedy, he jumped at the opportunity. The experience gave him exposure to multiple formats: podcasts, improv, skits, and stand-up. Kulkarni traveled around India, opened for the more seasoned SNG funnymen, and studied comedy writing.

“Initially, it was very much about getting the joke right,” Kulkarni says. “Usually, when the comedian first writes a joke, it’s not funny.”

Since the early days, Kulkarni’s evolved as a comedy student, dissecting setups and punchlines like business researchers dissect regressions and spreadsheets. It’s no wonder that in 2023 he decided to build on his MBA and find a PhD program where he could dig deep into ethics and strategy research.

What brought him to Darden’s newly relaunched program is laughable. He knew he needed experience to get into a top-flight U.S. university, so he signed on as a research associate at the Indian School of Business. One day he was sitting alone reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius. A professor walked by and struck up a conversation. The two shared an interest in stoic philosophy and the discussion came around to Kulkarni’s pursuit of a doctorate. The professor told him about Darden restarting its PhD track, and Kulkarni looked into it. The program offered him a chance to pursue all his interests—strategy, ethics, and entrepreneurship—and moved quickly to the top of his list. He applied and was accepted.

“After I got the admissions letter and had the offer in hand, I went to search for this professor,” Kulkarni says. “I could not find this man. I described him to people; I went to the admissions office and told them what he looked like. They said, ‘There is no such person.’”

Since coming to Charlottesville, Kulkarni has scarcely missed a Monday open mic at The Southern Café and Music Hall. He still gets easy laughs for his faux naiveté as an Indian in the United States, but his comedy’s come of age since he started taking on current events and plying the improv chops he learned with SNG. On a recent night, he overheard a young lady in the front row say he was cute and joined the conversation. “You know this is not a TV screen,” he quipped. “But I am very happy you find me cute.”

During the now infamous Biden-Trump debate week, Kulkarni riffed on the candidates’ sophomoric golf dustup: “I was like, ‘First of all, how is this a conversation about vitality? Golf is not a measure of vitality. It’s not even a sport; you use a tiny vehicle to get around.”

Kulkarni finds this kind of humor works well in Charlottesville. 

“Honestly, the audience here is just ripe for comedy,” he says. “There have been some cities where I’ve performed where you have to dumb down certain jokes—like, these are the three topics they laugh at. Charlottesville is not one of those places. They enjoy a vulgar joke as much as high-brow comedy.”

As Kulkarni’s comedy has changed, so have his research interests. He’s still fine-tuning his doctoral thesis topic, but it will almost certainly have a humorous edge. One promising avenue? Examining the humor in the show “Shark Tank,” where famous investors decide whether to give an entrepreneur money if they like the pitch. He’s gone through countless episodes of the show, cataloging jokes, how they’re made, and how they’re received. He’s still crunching the numbers, but one takeaway: Jokes are effective in business, but only in the right context.

Kulkarni hopes he’ll be doing comedy for a long time, but not as a professional. There’s too much pressure in entertaining and generating content for a living. He envisions himself as a respected business professor sprinkling lectures with laughs. More than the gratification a performer gets cracking up an audience, lecturers with a human touch are the most likely to reach students—or so Kulkarni finds from his own experience on the other side of the classroom. “I want students to feel like a participating audience in one of my shows rather than [like they’re] being talked at,” he says.

To keep performance a part of his life, Kulkarni thinks he might one day open a comedy club of his own. Who knows? Maybe after he’s well established, he’ll start an open mic for young entertainers, giving them a place to make bad jokes, then make them better, and eventually figure out what the hell they’re doing.

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Arts Culture

Pete Davidson

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You may have seen him performing on “Saturday Night Live,” or perhaps in one of several critically acclaimed films like The King of Staten Island. Maybe you’ve encountered him on your Instagram feed with Kim Kardashian or Ariana Grande and wondered, who is this guy? The answer: Pete Davidson, who’s bringing his Prehab Tour to The Paramount. To keep the show an intimate experience, Davidson has requested that no digital devices be allowed into the performance space. Instead, bring your undivided attention to enjoy (and cringe) while catching live standup from a talented comedian, actor, writer, and producer.

Thursday 6/27. Tickets start at $54.75, 7pm & 9:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net

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Arts Culture

Bent Theatre

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Celebrating 20 years of untethered comedy in C’ville and beyond, Bent Theatre’s 2024 season is set to split your sides and make you cry (with laughter, of course). The improv troupe makes the rounds of local theaters, bars, and breweries entertaining the masses with bits and acts pulled from their asses pulled from thin air! Or from a hat? Audiences are in on the joke too, shouting out suggestions that will have everyone on hand laughing out loud.

Wednesday 6/5. Free, 7pm. Decipher Brewing, 1740 Broadway St. benttheatre.weebly.com

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Culture

Extra terrestrial

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What popular radio show is hitting the road for a night of comedy that’s not subject to FCC scrutiny? It’s the Wait Wait Stand-Up Tour, hosted by show regular Alonzo Bodden. The audience can snark and snicker along with some of the show’s regulars, and really get to know what their favorite “Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me” panelists think.

$27.50-101.50, 7:30pm. The Paramount Theater, 215 E. Main St., Downtown Mall. theparamount.net.

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Culture Living

PICK:Comedy Open Mic Night

It’s a laugh: As any comedian knows, there’s no rush like standing in front of a roomful of strangers and making them laugh. At the weekly Comedy Open Mic Night, hosted by local comedians Heather Kilburn and John Rad, you can work out all the material you perfected at home during the pandemic. Preregister, and try your monologues and one-liners on an outdoor, socially distanced audience.

Wednesday 3/31, Free, 8:30pm. IX Art Park, 522 Second St. SE, 207-2355.

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Arts Culture

Holiday in hiding: Happiest Season is a missed opportunity to kick open the closet

Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart star as lovers who hide their relationship when they visit family for Christmas. Photo from hulu

A new relationship during the holidays is a recipe for hilarity and high jinks. There’s meeting the family, heavily enforced traditions, and all sorts of other religious and historical wrenches to throw into the spokes of what could be cozy couple time. Happiest Season takes on all of these elements, plus the added layer of hidden identity—with mixed results.

The hidden part of this Christmas comedy is thanks to Harper (Mackenzie Davis). She loves the holidays and her family—and her girlfriend Abby (Kristen Stewart). The fact that Harper has not come out to her family is not only a shock to Abby, but waiting to tell her until they are driving to Harper’s family Christmas puts Abby in the position of lying on Harper’s behalf and hiding her own identity as well. When Abby asks, “It is five days, how bad can it be?” she soon gets her answer.

Harper’s family is not only completely unaware of her sexual orientation, they are intense. Mom Tipper (Mary Steenburgen) is obsessed with posting pictures of their perfect family online. Dad Ted (Victor Garber) is running for mayor. Sister Sloane (Alison Brie) seems to be more uptight than everyone else, and sister Jane (Mary Holland) is the black sheep, though that is a fairly low bar in this high-profile, wealthy suburban Pittsburgh family.

From here we get the usual dose of expected family gags. Sloane has a pair of creepy twin kids who pop into rooms silently and judge. A trip to the mall ends in a massive miscommunication between Abby and the mall security. Ice skating bonds the three sisters through competition and knitted garments. And Harper has incidents with not one but two exes who still run in similar circles as her parents. We’ve seen this before.

Happiest Season shines when it takes its time to deal with the uniqueness of its premise. But the film insists on spending far more time on the less remarkable moments. Ted and Tipper forcing a dinner with Harper’s handsome and successful ex Connor (Jake McDorman) is awkward enough, but adds little to the plot and doesn’t deepen Harper’s character—things would be just as awkward were they all straight. It’s the moments Harper is with her secret high school girlfriend Riley (Aubrey Plaza) that help us understand how Harper got Abby into this situation, and bring nuance into the film. These brief windows into the complexity of their lives, more so than people who never have a closet to come out of, humanize and emphasize. This is not merely a white lie, it is Harper living in fear of being rejected for being her true self.

To that end, Davis feels a little wasted in this role. Aside from the inevitable emotional climax on Christmas morning, she plays a bland woman who is concerned with family appearances, and seems quite happy in her hometown. She effortlessly rises to the demands of the character, but as one of the more interesting actresses working today, the rest of the film feels like a lost opportunity. Others have to do the heavy lifting to make Harper seem intriguing and torn, as she glides through the visit relatively unscathed.

While Stewart does an incredible job of managing a smiling but disappointed visage throughout, Holland and Daniel Levy are the ones stealing the scenes. Holland takes what could have been a throwaway, comic sidekick and turns her into the confident but quirky sister standing in the shadows of Harper and Sloane. She seems aware of their differences but assured of her value in the world—and that confidence makes her the one to watch in any ensemble scene. Levy, as Abby’s best friend John, is the fast-talking supportive rock that Abby needs to get through these five days. He’s the only one looking out for her, and their chemistry sells the friendship.

Happiest Season should be lauded for not only addressing the complicated and weighty issues around coming out, but also for having a queer relationship at the heart of a traditional Christmas family comedy. Yet, it still stops short of condemning hatred and homophobia. There are hints of the negative impact that such outdated and ignorant beliefs can have on lives, thus justifying Harper’s reluctance to express herself, but the film never goes so far as to identify these beliefs as the real villain here. Sure, Harper’s repeated lies are problematic and the source of funny antics, but Happiest Season avoids connecting the dots to the homophobia that drove her to lie for all these years.

Happiest Season is a solid addition to the legions of heteronormative Christmas movies. Had Harper been a more engaging character or if it focused on what sets it apart from other holiday films, it might have been a great one.

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Arts

Screw you: Comedian Lewis Black defies authority and rejects stupidity

When I reach politically enraged comedian Lewis Black by phone on an early February morning following the Iowa caucus, I expect he’ll be ready with one of his signature rants, and after a polite exchange of salutations, he does not disappoint. Black immediately unleashes a torrent of frustrations. Clearly he wants me to listen—which is really the only choice, as he does not pause often for breathing or questions. He tosses out fuck and schmuck like confetti, and his quick-witted cultural jabs change lanes like a getaway car.

Black’s bringing his It Gets Better Every Day tour to The Paramount Theater on February 28, and he says that sometimes audience members don’t get his live act. They comment after the show that he didn’t mention “him” enough, or sometimes the show wasn’t political enough. (He refuses to call Trump by name or title.) But Black is a master craftsman in the art of wry exposition. In a career that began with playwriting, then took off through standup and a recurring role on “The Daily Show,” his agility at doling out whip-smart observations in the guise of a cranky narrator has earned Black legions of fans who do get it.

C-VILLE Weekly: Here we are in an election year and you’re a political guy…

Lewis Black: I would consider myself more of a social satirist than a political satirist, because it’s more of what these guys do than who they are. It’s a big differential, it’s literally an endless list of jackasses.

I have an inordinate amount of trouble with both parties. With the Democrats, I’m so astonished, I mean you’re impeaching the president..and that night you have a debate…and you go after each other. It was more important for you to be elected than for you to deal with what was happening historically. Seriously.

They can be just as tone-deaf as the Republicans. There’s no defense of it. None. …Screw you! I’m sick of it.

This must be a good time for your social commentary?

It is to a point. People say he must be good for comedy…about “the leader,” as I call him. I say he’s good for comedy in the way that a stroke is good for a nap.

Who is the funniest person in politics?

I don’t think any of them are funny. I think there’s not an adult among them. …The basic behaviors, the basic lack of a sense of history, and the lack of you know, basic knowledge.

Do you think the last election was rigged?

No. No! Seriously? No. You know why? They’re not that competent. None of them. No, it wasn’t rigged. You know what was unbelievable. Nominating two candidates that no one liked…You’ve got to show up in states you’re supposed to show up in to win! The arrogance on both sides is beyond belief.

Have you always been angry?

About the state of government? Somewhat. I was born and raised around Washington, D.C., so yeah. Stupidity has always gotten to me. From the time I was a kid and they said “In case of nuclear attack get under your desk.” I said, “Really?” …That was literally when my train went off the rails. I’ve never been big on authority. You have to take authority with a grain of salt…most authority tries to be about its power and you know, “Fuck you!”

You’ve logged 23 years on “The Daily Show.” Who’s your favorite host?

There’s something I like about all of them. I have more freedom now. But the most freedom I had was in the beginning. They needed material and I had material…I would go on and improv.

Who opened the door for your brand of humor?

All sorts. Carlin, Pryor, Bruce. I think I pale in comparison.

I met George a couple of times, and he was really instrumental in my career because he started to tell people to come and see me…and that was just huge to me. At that point it didn’t matter how I did…if he liked what I was doing, then fuck ’em.

These days you are well-known, but who do you get mistaken for?

Franken.

So do you ever just pretend you’re Al Franken?

No. I get livid. I know Al and I say, “Really?” First off, I’m better looking than Al, so get over it.

Any regrets about the Opie and Anthony Naked Teen Voyeur Bus stunt? Would you do it again today? (Black and 14 others were arrested in 2000 for a radio show bus ride that featured nude or semi-nude models in the windows.)

I wouldn’t do it now, because essentially, I don’t need to. It was advertising. But I’m not embarrassed by it on any level.

To be honest, if I was sitting on the bus ogling them that would be one thing. Here’s the choice: Sit in a studio with two schmucks, or get in a bus that’s going around New York City with five topless girls.

Those are the choices?

Those are the choices. What are you gonna do? You tell me? I’m not selling anything, I’m making nothing off of it. …Also, there was nothing against the law!

Those women chose to be topless…I’m watching the reaction of the people on the street to see if that bothers them…and nothing. There’s old ladies waving, happy. It was just before Christmas for god’s sake. It was spectacular.

Which is worse, that I did that, or that Giuliani had us stopped because Bill Clinton, of all people, was going to be coming on the road we’re on a half an hour later. We were three minutes from the studio when we got busted. We were taken in and held for a day and a half.

What were you charged with?

Disrupting the public, and public nuisance, and some other thing. I got off that bus and had a show that weekend. You couldn’t get a ticket to my show. For me, it flipped everything around.

Tell me about The Rant is Due, which takes place at the end of your shows.

That I am very proud of. …For the people in Charlottesville, anybody in the state of Virginia, or folks around the country…the audience is asked when they come in, is there anything you want to yell about or include about your town? I pick the ones I think will work…and it’s livestreamed throughout the world for free. It becomes a show written by people in the town.

Lewis Black / The Paramount Theater/ February 28