The Drink at Work Show Highlights - 11/17/07

Sean Patton on TheApiary.org

November 27, 2007

Character Sketches | Sean Patton
By: Neil Padover

Sean Patton doesn't do characters. He doesn't jump around on stage or deliver deadpan one-liners, although he admits to having tried all of these things at one time. What you see is what you get, and what you see is someone who looks like John Belushi's body double (sometimes Ron Jeremy, depending on if the moustache is in bloom). Despite all of the personal baggage you're likely to hear about in Patton's act, perhaps the comic's greatest challenge has been in finding his comedic voice. "One of the guys I admire the most is Eddie Izzard. This guy can just kind of weave through being really animated and pantomiming a lot, to just kind of standing there--and either way it works for him,'" Patton says. "I would watch other guys like Sam Kinison who's always full force. And I was like, 'what am I?'"

At "The Creek and the Cave" recently, his twenty minute set covered a variety of topics like his struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, being broke in New York, and living with his aunt, a recovering "crackhead." Patton's jokes don't just sublimate his personal experiences into some form of therapy as so many comics often do. He is able to look beyond himself and articulate how his own experiences are representative of those things which affect us all on a grander scale.

When Patton tells a joke, you never end up back where you started. Each premise is a building block for the absurd world he creates on stage. One of the funniest moments of the show involved a story about Patton's drug addled aunt getting arrested for stealing from a supermarket and then selling the goods out in the store's parking lot. Patton jokes, "Clearly she was arrested because that's just brilliant, that's too good of an idea. We've got to put the kibosh on that before everyone finds out and they're all millionaires. And the thing is, the security cameras caught it: people were buying shit from her." In three lines the bit has grown from a tragically funny anecdote about a family member's troubles with addiction into a satirical take on law enforcement and run-of-the-mill consumerism.

Continue reading here

ANN CARR PRESENTS

There is Only One You

Thursday, Dec. 6th @ 6:30 PM

UCB Theatre - 307 W. 26th Street

Cost: $5

The Laughs: Priceless

The Dan Bialek Vs. America Tour

I'm going to put together an independent national standup comedy tour in the next couple months. Click here or the image below for more info.

THE WRITER'S STRIKE: OPERATION FINAL DRAFT

I'm Drowning In Fake Plastic Baby Jewelry

This is my first full-fledged comedy vlog in a couple of weeks. It's sort of long and has a sentimental ending. If you are under the age of 25 I'm pretty sure you'll find it boring and sucky. For that I apologize in advance.

Dan On The Street: Dan Vs. Universal Citywalk

Here's my final episode of Dan On The Street for NBC's Dotcomedy before they shutdown forever next month.

I actually made this video poking fun at the Universal Citywalk a couple of weeks before finding out that NBC Universal was laying off me and the rest of the DC employees right before Christmas. So, I find it kind of fitting that the last episode of my series features me mocking the chessy, outdoor, tourist-trap mall that the entertainment conglomerate owns.

Sometimes you get lucky and life just works out that way.

Anyway, thanks for watching. I hope you are all have a great weekend.

Check Out This Great Show with Carolyn and Baron

Monday, November 26 at 8 pm
Meat and Potatoes

The Green Room

45 Bleecker

A show about growing up in "middle class" 'Merica, featuring stand-up and stories that examine a blue collar youth from the other side.

With:

Paul Case (Here TV)
Pat Candaras (Nick-at-Nite)
Kambri Crews (Comix)
Shawn Hollenbach (The Back Room)
Elon James White (Shades of Black)

Hosted by Carolyn Castiglia (VH1) and Baron Vaughn (Aspen Comedy Festival).

$12, with 50% off using discount code 8T2FOR1. Admission includes passes to see ukelele rapper Jon Braman! BYOB!

Performer bios can be found at our website: http://meatandpotatoesshow.blogspot.com

TONY Approved: our pal, Rob Lathan

By Jane Borden




LIKE RABBITS Lathan gets his daily cute fix.

This is the third in a series profiling comics who’ll appear Nov 9 in the New York Comedy Festival showcase Time Out New York Approved.

The humor in Rob Lathan’s bits—bits, because they aren’t really characters or sketches—can be garnered from their titles: “Angry guy brushes teeth to Rage Against the Machine,” “Half-assed suicide-cult member,” “John Kerryoke.” His work is top-heavy, based on instantly funny concepts that are then executed with brazen simplicity.

Lathan, who performs Monday 5 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, his home base, recalls a conversation he had with frequent collaborator Will Hines. “I told him I had an idea to do the Electric Slide on stilts. He goes, ‘Anything else?’ And I was like, ‘Nope, that’s it.’ ”

While witnessing this dance performance—perhaps when he appeared on America’s Got Talent to the utter bewilderment of Regis Philbin—there’s a moment when you yourself realize, Nope, that’s it: He’s really just going to do the Electric Slide on stilts. That’s when his work transcends awkward into the realm of brilliant.

“When you watch him,” says UCBT artistic director Anthony King, “you’re thinking, This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen. And also, This guy’s a genius!”

His most requested bit is “Speed Eater,” which Lathan, 31, has performed on Best Week Ever, during VH1’s election coverage and on MTV’s Human Giant marathon. He brings out a table loaded with food (jugs of milk, buckets of chicken, multiple bags of chips and cookies, etc.), announces that he’ll eat it all in one minute and then earnestly tries to. After failing, he says, with despondent sincerity, “I guess I couldn’t do it.” Then, after a long pause, he adds, as if he’d just thought of it, “I wish I had more time.”

“My whole life I’ve been perceived as dim-witted or out of it,” says Lathan. “So playing that character comes naturally.” Indeed, he speaks slowly, has an awkward stage presence and displays the kind of unswerving optimism typical of the slightly insane. It all works to his advantage, allowing him to manipulate the crowd’s preconceptions. “Rob somehow makes himself simultaneously smarter and dumber than his audience,” King says.

It’s hard to tell when Lathan’s in character: The line between the person and the performer is blurry at best. This can confuse his friends; Lathan thrives on the bewilderment surrounding his persona. He doesn’t correct people who mispronounce or write his name as “Latham,” and has even taken to signing e-mails and flyers with the misnomer, leaving many in the comedy scene unsure what his name really is.

Once, at Fenway Park, he left his seat for the concession stand and accidentally reentered the wrong corridor. When his friends noticed him looking for them in the wrong section, they screamed his name. Lathan pretended he couldn’t hear them, exited and reentered through a different hallway. They screamed again; he played dumb again. The pattern repeated until his friends finally got wise.

After hearing about the prank, local scene-makers Improv Everywhere staged it as a large-scale stunt in Yankee Stadium. This resulted in entire sections of the stands screaming “Rob!” in an effort to lead him home. Some groups even started a chant: “Where is Rob? Rob’s retarded!”After a recent performance, one of his friends remarked that everyone thought Lathan was funny in college. “He was just weird and goofy,” she says, “but now I’m wondering if that was all part of a joke.”

Rob Lathan performs Mon 5 in Crash Test and Nov 9 in Time Out New York Approved .

Lizz Winstead in The Village Voice

Oscar Winner
Found at Gay Bar!

Give Lizz Winstead her due. And keep your hands off Megan Mullally's melons

by Michael Musto

November 13th, 2007 5:18 PM

Lizz Winstead has returned to standup! And she remembers how! "It's like getting back on a bike," says Lizz—who's playing Comix on the 16th and 17th—"but without a seat. It's a little painful at first, but once you get settled in, it's fine."

The sardonically funny lady—who co-created The Daily Show and co-starred on Air America—is also riding that butt-defying vehicle to her weekly Monday-night revue at Ace of Clubs called Shoot the Messenger. "It's the world's worst morning show," she explained to me. "Sort of like Regis and Kelly or, actually, Mike and Juliet. We have a guy in Iraq who doesn't know why he's there"—like Bush!—"and various guess-perts, because they're not really experts." Meanwhile, she's an actual expert for Lifetime, where busy Lizzie is hosting Gift Intervention, "web-isodes" of which have her accompanying people who received lousy presents to find out what the fuck the givers were thinking. The worst gift ever? "A woman got an ugly brown elephant bookend for her wedding—one bookend—and it turned out the guy had made a bet with her sister that if the marriage lasted five years, he'd give her the second one." That's a pretty good reason to break up in four years.

Speaking of breakups, is Winstead more insanely bitter about The Daily Show or Air America, both of which she fled amid much publicized internal tension? "I'm not really bitter about either," she swore. "Both projects are still doing well. I feel like I created the Schwinn bike!" And with a seat yet. But more importantly, would she vote for Stephen Colbert for President? "Yes!" she exclaimed. "When he's not being that character on the show, he's an awesome guy." "Wait a minute!" I said with a hatchety smirk. "You mean that's not what he's really like?" "Oh, what have you done, Liz?" she said, laughing. "I screwed up Stephen's whole show!"

Read the full article here

Highlights from The Drink at Work Show - 11/10/07

More on the writer's strike...from TV's FRANK

Shoot the Messenger: Is the Internet Encouraging Women To Think Too Much?

Dana Levan shares insight on her new book "Thinkocracy."

Levan is the most prolific author on the conversative pundit circuit today, bringing us about one new book every 3 weeks.

Click the play button above or just click here to watch Hope Jean Paul interview Dana about her latest effort.

Shoot the Messenger: Fire and Rain

Click the play button on the left or click here to watch a clip from Shoot the Messenger, the acclaimed live show from Lizz Winstead (creator of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show").

The Drink at Work Show Highlights - 11/3/07

Why the writers are striking.

This is about as simple, well put, and entertaining as you'll get for the explanation of the strike.

If You Haven't Been Yet...

Or even if you have...

Come Check Out the Drink at Work Show at Ochi's Lounge (353 W. 14th Street, under Comix)

No cover, one item minimum

Every Saturday at 8:30

And then later...

Come to the Kissing Booth!

Saturday, Nov. 10th, 2007

THE TANK 279 Church Street between Franklin and White

Tickets $5 (cheap!)

10:30pm (doors at 10pm)

$3 beers, $4 wine

FREE Basement Dance Party to follow with $3 Beers 'Til Dawn

Watch out... Reality TV is thinkin' comeback...

Here's a pretty good blog for what's happening with the writer's strike:

Strike info

This little dealy is pretty big. Get informed. Check it out.

I'm Pretty Sure I'm Not Gay

Here's proof that I'll do whatever it takes to win an online comedy argument.

And utterly destroy my career in the process.

Enjoy!

A Dubious Honor

It's great when someone adds you to their Top Friends on Myspace.

Especially when they only list a Top 4.

Not quite as much when these are the three other dudes in it.

Aw, a compliment's a compliment.

I'm honored that Dawn saw fit to include me alongside three much more famous and popular entertainers than I'll ever be.

But, still... Scott Stapp?

Roseanne & Mo Rocca at Shoot the Messenger

Baron Vaughn & Lizz Winstead














Baron & Lizz w/Sean Crespo










Roseanne Barr














Mo Rocca

Nine Random Pictures

What Are You Looking At, Faggot? Magazine

Sometimes it's really hard to be proud of where you're from.

Photos from The Drink at Work Show and Our Guitar Hero After Party

This weekend's show at Ochi's was a blast. We're still playing around with tech things and seeing how we can make ourselves feel more at home. The biggest win for me has been bringing my mixing board so I can run my iPod, laptop and "booth" mic through the TV...the only thing that runs into the room's PA are the stage mics, so I had to improvise. I came up with a plan for how to use my own equipment in the space and so far it's worked out with only minor glitches here and there. However, one of the glitches this week was that I totally screwed someone's set because of a late audio cue. Crap! Not ok. But I suppose that's how we learn. Mindy got some great pictures of the evening. We tried out a blue gel on one of the clamp lights, but during Sean's opening set I decided against it and promptly asked him to take it down: the fourth wall be damned.

What I'm loving about doing the show at Ochi's is the fact that comics are excited about it as a venue. They stop by to hang out, not just to poke their faces in so that they can ask for a set. And we've had the most diverse audiences of our show's tenure I think. Comedy clubs attract people who are just looking for a fun night out, so we get a lot of people I've never seen before. Plus, because of the looser format and the fact that I'm trying not to overbook the show, we've been able to throw a few folks up off thee cuff. For example, Jon Fisch was doing a show upstairs last week and he popped down for a set. This week, one comic we had booked had to cancel, so a good friend — who was in the audience and has a Live at Gotham audition coming up — was able to do a spot. I want to keep that vibe; I want the show to feel like anything can happen.

Oh, and Will Franken is amazing. He lives in New York now so we're hoping to have him on regularly. Woohoo!


Sean Crespo


Rob Gorden & Sean Crespo


Rob Gorden, Sara Jo Allocco, Sean Crespo


Mark Douglas, Rob Gorden, Sara Jo Allocco, Sean Crespo


Giulia Rozzi


Rob Lathan


John F. O'Donnell


Rob Gorden


Sara Jo Allocco, Brandy Barber, Sean Crespo


Sara Jo Allocco


Sean Crespo, Sara Jo Allocco, Brandy Barber


Neil Padover


Mark Douglas


Will Franken


Guitar Hero After Party


Giulia Rozzi & Her lovely sister


Me, My Mixing Board & No More Beer

Letter from the Drink at Work Show's Guest Editor, Needy Child

Please to you readngs this email from us the Drink at work team. we have a veryt special offerz this week if you ACT NOW. This is not in any way a scam so you should have to trust us with because this is a great offer to you

I am a little man pictured on the left of this screen who is in danger because of dangrous peopple who hav invade my village. They are threaten nucular warcraft if we do not give them hugely grand sums of money.

But YOU CAN HELPS by going to The Drink at Work Show at Ochi's Lounge (underneath Comix) this Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free and you only have to buy one drink.

Even though this will probably still not affecting the nucluar warcraft by the pagan invaders of my village I think it is important for you TO LAUGH. Staying with a healthy sense of humor even in dark times is of great healing power for people. Shamans in my village wonts to starts our verry own comidy show but wee are not aloud to tell the jokes here.

For that reasons is even more reason why you should go to The Drink at Work Show located in the Ochi's Lounge (353 W. 14^th Street) this Saturday at 8:30pm, and every Saturday henceforth until the end of the time because of the nuclear warcraft.

Great comedians, videos, and sketches will be featured if you send us the routing number to your account so that we can transfer you $1,000,000 that was left to me by my late uncle Muzabi.

Click here for a bigger penises and

GO SEE THE DRINK AT WORK SHOW THIS SATURDAY

An Open Letter to the Little Man in my head

Dear Sir,

While I appreciate you and your team's continued perseverance to keep my biological faculties in order, and functioning enough for this Fake Rockstar to be accepted into society, I have some issues with a few of the operational choices you've made as of late. I've made a list to post on the Medulla Oblongata break room fridge:

1. There's a definite problem with the motivation drive. I've plenty to do, but seem to be making a seat on the couch in underwear and covered in tears a priority. Please run a full diagnostic ASAP... That backstabbing cleaning guy may have switched everything to "chronic depression" again.

2. I'm not sure who runs the hunger reflex, but could you stop in and see if they're sitting on the "execute" button? I eat and never seem to be full. This is causing some undue stress on the boys in blubber production, especially in the ass and gut quadrants. Please troubleshoot this situation when you have a nanosecond.

3. A similar problem seems to be happening the alcohol craving department, particularly around 3pm. Don't get me wrong, I love the drink... I just need a break from falling asleep in a drunken haze, giggling at Colbert every night.

4. The sex drive still seems to be stuck on "Dirty old man ogling from his front porch". While I do enjoy porn, I worry that I'm quite close to seeing all the Internet has to offer. This seems to worsen with age. Please investigate the possible correlation and what steps are needed to scale things back a tad.

Everything else seems to be humming along... No new obtrusive hair on the body and little hair loss on the head... And the Joke Transmitter 2600 seems to be churning out the funny nicely.

Thanks for your consideration of these concerns. I appreciate your continued cooperation.

Cheers,

Corey "Fake Rockstar" Pandolph
Cartoonist/Writer/Human Species

People Who Won't Be Celebrating All Souls Day Tomorrow

1. Lucifer
2. Geraldo Rivera
3. White R&B Singers
4. Carlos Mencia
5. Suri Cruise