Comedy 101 Is Brutally Funny, Check Out The Broadcast Premiere This Friday

Can we rave about our own event?  Yes we can, and we have to brag- not about ourselves- but for everyone else who took part in The Interrobang Presents, Comedy 101: Tell a Joke or Be a Joke at The Stand comedy club in New York City last Wednesday night.

The concept for Comedy 101 is simple: open mic meets a roast.  Open mic comics hit the stage and try to tell a joke.  If they can’t make our panel laugh, and fast, they get interrupted with “advice” and that’s where the “or be a joke” part comes in. Last Wednesday, the Stand comedy club was packed to its absolute limit with people trying to cram into the stairways and hallways just to catch a glimpse of the show.  It was the hottest night of the year so far, well over 80 degrees, but nobody was complaining, everyone just wanted to be in that room.

To host the sold out show and add commentary we had the best of the best– the always brilliant, always hilarious, Ron Bennington and Gail Bennington from SiriusXM’s Bennington show. For our mentors- we brought in three of the fastest, funniest, and most ruthless comics in New York City– Robert Kelly, Bonnie McFarlane and Rich Vos— to sit in judgement and provide “advice” to our 6 young open mic comics and they did not hold back.

Our six brave open mic comics Eric Luhrmann, Eagle Witt, Jessica Mears, Hugh Chatfield, Kevin Gootee, Phil — and a special surprise guest– all took the stage attempting to get out their material before the mentors rang in with their critiques, but it wasn’t easy.  The mentors were quick to ring in, continually interrupting the comics and each other with some of the funniest back to back lines we’ve ever heard crammed into one hour. They were continually one upping each other as the night went on. If you were in the audience, there was at least one moment that you hid behind your hands. If you were on stage, there may have even been a moment or two when you wanted to quit. But by the end of the night, everyone said they had a blast, including the open mic’ers.  After the show, the crowd all hung around on the sidewalk for almost an hour taking pictures, shaking hands, and talking comedy.  “They came up to us after the show and they were super nice, the couldn’t have been more supportive,” Luhrmann told Bennington in a post-event interview.  Chatfield said he had the time of his life, and Witt said the highlight for him was getting a line off on Rich Vos.

If you are squeamish, uncomfortable with insults, or live by the phrase “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, this show may not be for you. But for everyone else, we can’t wait for you to hear it.

Thank you to everyone who helped make the night flawless and riotously funny, including the audience!

The entire hour will premiere this Friday on SiriusXM’s Opie Radio Channel at 8:30am. The show will rebroadcast on Saturday at 4:30pm and Sunday at 5:30pm.  All times eastern. Make sure you listen, and stay tuned for an announcement about when you can come sit in the audience for Comedy 101: Tell a Joke or Be a Joke.

 

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