Pete Davidson Headlines Carolines! A New Comedian Pin Up Calendar! Plus News from Ricky Velez, Carly Acquilino, Jonas Barnes and More
Jeffrey Gurian is a writer and comedian in New York who loves to Jump Around. Follow his regular column, right here, to find out what’s happening in comedy, and who Jeffrey Gurian ran into this week in and around New York. This week, it was Jeffrey Gurian vs Pope Francis, as Jeffrey tried to make his way around the city with the streets in lockdown. You may slow him down, but you can’t stop him.
Pete Davidson’s First Headlining Gig at Carolines, Ricky Velez Describes the Madness of Opening for Chappelle and Carly Acquillino’s New MTV Show
Backstage at Carolines on Broadway was kind of like a party the night I went to see Pete Davidson kill it to an absolutely packed room. It was his first time headlining Carolines and he was amazing, and amazingly calm about it too. Dave Cyrus who will soon be writing for Saturday Night Live— like this week as a matter of fact– hosted the show. He’s really excited about joining the SNL team and said it’s a dream come true. He’ll also be appearing on AXS TV’s Gotham Comedy Live coming up at the end of October which he was also psyched about.
Anyway, I got there early, so I went back to say “Hi” but only Dave and Carly Acquilino were there. Carly is Pete’s girlfriend and did a very funny set on the show. While waiting for Pete to arrive, she told me about her own show on MTV called Girl Code Live kind of a spin off from her turn on Girl Code except it’s a late night talk show format. It’s on Mondays at 10 and she does it with Nessa from Hot 97 and You Tube star Awkwafina, a really funny, edgy comic/rapper whose real name is Nora Lum. Shout out to my Asian girls! (We didn’t have Asian girls when I was growing up. That’s some brand new shit, and the guy who came up with that idea was a f****king genius!) Anyway, Carly told me they’ve had some great guests like Rita Ora, Kelly Osbourne, and Amber Rose. Carly’s show is a half hour show with six episodes left to do out of the 12 they got greenlit for. She told me it took about a year of planning before they shot the pilot and then they waited about three months to find out they got 12 episodes. Jordan Rock arrived next. He was opening for Pete on both shows. He and Pete have been tight for quite a while now. When Jordan and I were co-hosting late night at The Strip, Pete often came by to visit Jordan and do a set.
Finally Pete rolled in very calm, cool and collected. Carly gave him a big warm greeting, like you would want your girlfriend to do, and you could see the genuine affection they have for each other. The crowd went crazy for Pete and as he walked out I noticed how low his pants were hanging. Then on stage he actually mentioned it himself, when he finally pulled them up a little bit. He was like, “One day I’ll find pants that fit me, and that’ll be weird. I always wondered what that would be like.” He has an awkwardness on stage that is very endearing to people. He’s like a 6’3” puppy that hasn’t quite got used to his size yet. The crowd absolutely loves him. The room was so packed you couldn’t even take a deep breath! He opened by telling the audience that Dave Cyrus was 37 years old and he just turned 21. Then he said they’ve been friends for six years, but this was the only year it felt appropriate, cause six years ago Dave was 31 and he was only 15. His mother probably thought it was strange cause she used to say “Who’s this Dave guy? Is he hungry?” And Pete was like, “ No Ma, he just drove over to see me.” Pete did a strong hour of material. It just flowed. It’s hard to believe he just turned 21. He said it’s the oldest he’s ever been!
What made it feel even more like a party backstage was Ricky Velez skating back and forth like a maniac on one of those Segways you power with your weight. He was going really fast and doing spins in the little corridor outside the green room backstage, while his girlfriend Julie talked to Carly and told her he even does that in the house.Carly said that Pete does the same thing and marks up the walls when he crashes into them. I reminded Ricky that he was on The Nightly Show, and should probably be more careful with his body! I was tempted to try it out too, but then thought better of it, as I’d seen plenty of people falling off and didn’t want to make a fool of myself! Ricky told me that when he opened for Dave Chappelle last week in San Jose at the Shoreline Amphitheatre along with Michael Che who he said killed, and Tony Woods who he told me got a standing ovation, (and I’m not surprised because Tony is in a class of his own!), the laughter of 20,000 people sounded like a roar from Godzilla. He said it was an incredible experience.
Before I hit up Carolines I came in from Jersey City at a showing of The Networker, a comedy film directed by John Gallagher, and starring Steve Stanulis in the Golden Door Film Festival, produced by Paul Sorvino’s nephew Bill. Both John and Steve are doing a film I wrote called “Men of Violence” slated to be shot next year with Vinny Pastore, Cathy Moriarty, William Forsythe, and Joe D’Onofrio already attached. ( It’s on IMDb already!) As you might tell from the title, it’s not a comedy but it does have comedic moments.
Dustin Ybarra in Danny Palmer Mockumentary
I sat with Danny Palmer at The Stand this week and he was telling me about his web series. It’s kind of like a mockumentary about his life, aptly called Danny, and it’s filmed and Executive Produced by Ben DeMarco of Fat Baby. Danny is the creator, writer and star. He told me that the day that Dustin Ybarra wrapped his part on Fox’s Gotham, he came straight over to shoot the third episode of Danny’s series in which he re-creates real things that happened in his life. Danny used to do my late night show at The Comic Strip and always stood out. Glad to see him hosting shows at The Stand. It’s a big deal! And he’s from Atlanta, but got away without having any kind of Southern drawl! Meant to ask him how he managed that!
On one of my stops at The Stand I came in to see Big Jay Oakerson crushing the room, followed by Gary Gulman who told the audience he had to sit down because he’s 6’6” and felt too close to the ceiling. I sat at the table outside for a while just chillin’ with Derek Gaines, until he left to go to a party and I left to go see Roast Battle at NY Comedy Club. As I was leaving I ran into Jonas Barnes carrying a ton of equipment, who told me he’s taping two shows in October at The Stand to be submitted to HBO. It’s called “The Smut Show”, and he’s gonna fill me in more as it gets closer to the date.
Mark DeMayo and Mike Recine Preparing for Roast Battle
Roast Battle is still going strong at the New York Comedy Club. I came in in time to see Reg Thomas who had run up from Karma Lounge to warm up the crowd, and prepare them for the battle, and was doing a great job. Mark DeMayo was going up against Mike Recine and New York comics seem like they’re still reluctant to hurt each other’s feelings. As I was standing at the bar with Mark, Mike walked over and Mark actually showed him some of his jokes. They started comparing notes and I had to laugh that in a few minutes these guys were going to go up on stage and roast each other but neither of them really wanted to say anything bad about the other guy. Next will probably be a Politically Correct roast, where you have to ask the other guy first if it’s okay to say the joke about him! You’ll need permission first, like with sex on the college campuses these days, hopefully to avoid “date rape”! This will hopefully avoid “stage rape!”
Comedy Girls Make a Pin Up Calendar for 2016 with a Feminist Twist
All the comics love The Interrobang. I get calls from all over from people telling me about their gigs, and what’s going on with them. Katie Hannigan let me know she’s got a cool event coming up on October 6th with Mindy Tucker, (which I will be at), called Pin Up, Yours! a sexy, satirical twist on old-time pin-up portraiture like from back in the 50’s but with 12 hot, young female comics dressed up in their own modern version of “pin-ups”! They actually made a calendar, and the way she explained it to me was in their logline: “Bemused by the ludicrous portrayal of women in pin up portraiture, these 12 comedians share a fresh, funny, feminist take on the iconic style in a 2016 calendar, Pin Up Yours! The release party is on Tuesday, October 6th at Brit Pack Studios on Pell Street, which sounds a lot like Chinatown! I asked for a preview and she told me the photos are secret, but some of the girls in the photos are Subhah Agarwal, Julia Johns from Girl Code, Lauren Vino from MTV, and Ayanna Dookie, the She Devil winner of 2014. I’m definitely going to that!
New Game Show Horse Poop Debuts This Week
Richie Redding checked in to let me know that he and Matt Richards are hosting a new game show at New York Comedy Club called Horse Poop starting this coming Thursday and it sounds like it’s gonna be a fun show. He said the show tests contestants’ random knowledge as well as their ability to perform stupid human tricks. Contestants are given factoids and have to decide if they are 100% true or Horse Poop. When they get it right, they automatically advance but when they are wrong they have to compete in stupid stunts to avoid elimination. New York Comedy is always looking for new things to do.
Ohio Comedy Fest Raised Money For Family of Young Comic Who Passed Away
And comedy producer Ron Herron of Herron Entertainment called in from Ohio to tell me about his Central Ohio Comedy Festival which ran for three days, and included comics from all over the country competing for representation, prizes and a road gig to perform at a charity benefit during the fest. Seven comics advanced to the final round by the time we had spoken, including one from LA, one from Chicago, one from Colorado, and one from Cleveland. A highlight of the fest was a show for a young comic who passed away suddenly named Shane Langley and proceeds went to cover Shane’s medical bills and funeral. Nice way to use the power of comedy!
Cipha Sounds to Debut Five Episode Special on Jay-Z’s Tidal
Cipha Sounds, who is obviously trying to surpass the late James Brown for the title of “Hardest Working Man in Show Biz” told me his five episode Jay-Z Tidal special starts airing on October 6th. The five episodes will air once a week, and it will be a premium service, meaning you have to pay for it, but the first one will be free! I always tell Cipha I remember when he first started and used to say he didn’t consider himself a real comic. He thought of himself as a radio guy with a good sense of humor. We both agree that now he’s a real comic, and in my book a great host as well. Here’s hoping these five will lead to more! I was at the taping and the show will be hilarious! Ciph is also still doing his Hip Hop Improv show at UCB East on Friday nights!
New Club Opens in Nutley New Jersey, Penthouse Model Hosts First show
Probably very few people can say they lost a gig to The Pope, but unfortunately I can. I was supposed to do a gig in a brand new comedy club in Nutley, New Jersey called Animal House Comedy Club . It was the grand opening, produced by comic Carlo Bellario and hosted by gorgeous Penthouse model/actress Anju McIntyre who happens to be very funny. I was billed to do a guest spot and I never got further than my car. I sat in my car for an entire hour and only got a few blocks from my house because of all the street closures for His Eminence! I had no choice but to text them that I couldn’t get there. I’ve had to use a lot of excuses in my life, but I never thought I’d have to blame something on The Pope. Anyway, they understood, and I got asked to host there on Oct. 16th. But my jumping around was very limited this week.
I was able to get to The Creek and the Cave this week to watch and participate in Doug and Teresa Wyckoff’s show Date Night which was a really fun show where audience members write out questions about dating, no matter how outrageous and each comic comes up, does some material and then picks questions randomly from a hat and hopefully gives funny answers. Very original!
Anyway, something for me to think about during this next week. The Pope left and I can continue to jump around! In the meantime, see you all next week… I’m OUT!!!
Jeffrey Gurian is a comedian, writer and all around bon vivant in New York City. Below, photos: Jeffrey with jeffrey gurian and Steve Stanulus (in black tshirt) and John Gallagher (green scarf) for The Networker, Jeffrey with Anju McIntyre and Jeffrey with Cipha Sounds
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