Comedy Groupie

Day 4 of Moontower was a lot of fun, though it definitely felt like Friday had been the big climax.  The sudden torrential thunderstorm at 9:30 pm was certainly exciting, though!

I got to see just phenomenal sets from Kurt Metzger & Andy Kindler, and I really credit Jackie Kashian’s crowd (she was headlining) for being so cool and enjoying both those guys,  And Jackie was great, she so adeptly transitions from Kindler, it was great. (Did I mention it was great?)

There was more rain, more comedy, more party and then it was time to go.

This was my first festival, so I don’t really have anything to compare it to, but it was pretty great.  All the lineups were stellar and it was a good mix of different styles, club, road and alt comedians.  Most of the venues were pretty cool (I liked that there was a church and a Masonic lodge in the mix!) and reasonably close together.

A couple of the venues were a little bit outside the central area - Cap City, Scottish Rite and Swan Dive.  Swan Dive was actually just a few blocks off 6th Street but seemed to suffer from its location the most.  Adding a Cap City shuttle and possibly some kind of “party bus” style looper might help.

It also suffered from what I’m told is a pretty common problem of all festivals - competing with itself.  Particularly on Wednesday and Thursday, the big single-ticket events drew so many people, the other shows took a hit.  

I also heard comments (and my wallet agrees) that having the happy hours & after-parties at the Stephen F Austin lounge was a little above the average comedian’s spending level.  This was sort of alleviated by drink tickets for the performers & VIP badge holders, but the local comedians and peons like myself had a harder time fulfilling our alcoholic tendencies.  Though it was a great space and kind of nice to be hanging out somewhere so swanky.

And selfishly, on my wishlist for Moontower 2014 is to have the Press badge have a little more juice to it, particularly earlier access to the big shows (and drink tickets!).

But, all in all a super great time.  I can’t wait for next year.

Oh man, Friday night was exhausting!  I’ll have an official recap up at AmericasComedy.Com again later today (update: here’s my Day 3 Moontower Recap), but here’s the inside dish.

Seriously, it was so tiring, but in a good way.  I did about 3 hours of work in the afternoon (including day job real work, thank you) and then watched comedy for about 8 hours straight.  But seriously, if someone would like to pay me like $20/hr to do that from now on, that would be aces.

The “Maron” screening was fun, and it was cool to see other comedians coming to watch.  Greg Fitzsimmons was among them and made a point of yelling out “Greg Fitzsimmons is at Cap City tonight!” after the official pre-recorded highlights announcement ran.  It really does kind of suck that Cap City is so far away from the main action and they don’t offer a shuttle.  I had Greg on my agenda, but I doubt I’ll make it out there, just due to logistics.

Which makes me feel especially guilty after Greg just offered me some 50 SPF sunblock while I was sitting on the terrace at the Stephen F Austin hotel, writing my recap.  That’s cool, though, he’s doing a benefit at the Improv tomorrow, so I’ll catch him then.

And that is an attitude I’ve been trying to fight this weekend.  That and, “Oh, I already know I love this guy, let me go see him!”  And I think I’ve done a good job of seeing new-to-me faces, but no pooh-pooh-ing guys I could see any night of the week at home.  And that’s paid off.  I’ve seen some sets from folks I’ve seen a number of times before in LA, but seeing them in this setting made it a true pleasure and I could enjoy their serious talent.  Dan St Germain & David Angelo spring to mind, in particular.

On the David Angelo tip, he opened for Pete Holmes.  I tweeted this already, but if you don’t leave a Pete Holmes show with a soul full of joy, I can’t help you.  I’ve had a huge comedy crush on Pete ever since Casey Balsham first brought me to see him at Bar Lubitch.  I try to catch him whenever he’s at the Improv and at some weird little shows here and there.  And of course I devour YMIW.  And at some point, I started to get Pete fatigue and weaned off the podcast.  But last night’s set rekindled every ounce of love I have for Pete and his comedy, and then some.

Because of my weird crush on Pete, I have now had two extremely awkward interactions with him.  So at the after-party, I steeled myself to go tell him how great his show was. Concisely.  In a very Jerrod/Angelo move, he deflected my compliments onto David then said, “Thanks so much, what’s your name?  Nice to meet you.”  And in that moment I was so happy to know it was just my own narcissism that Pete would have remembered our interactions and formed them into a “That girl is odd” pattern.

Kyle Kinane’s show was out at The Scottish Rite Theater, which is an actual Freemason Temple!!! I was so excited to see Scott from the burger stand and his wife had made it out to the show, and even more excited that the stellar lineup lived up to its potential.

With typical humility/insecurity, Kyle had been fretting about doing a long set following such strong comedians (Chip Pope, Chris Hardwick, Dan St Germain and Michael Che).  And in typical “you’re actually a really exceptional comedian, dummy” style, Kyle did phenomenally.  Have I mentioned he’s the first comedian whose album I put in my iPod?  My fake husband, Mark Ellis, now shares that digital honor.  But  I actually paid money for Kyle’s and I’d do it again.

It’s such an interesting thing.  I see it in Ari Shaffir, too.  They both share the trait that they have been hardworking, no gimmicks comedians for over a decade and I think that informs the fact that they can’t yet reconcile how amazingly popular they have become.  I love that Kyle still worries whether his set will be as good as Dan’s or Hardwick’s, and I know that’s why he’ll continue to get even better.  But sometimes I want to grab him and shake him (Ari too) and say, “All these people love you!  For them, you exist outside this one single set as a Very Funny Comedian.  Unless you really tank for some stupid reason like getting wasted or just not trying, they are going to enjoy the mere experience of being able to see you live. The fact that you’re going to do very well and confirm their opinion is basically icing at this point.”

All right  I’ve been day drinking, so that’s enough pontificating for me.  Gotta go back and take a disco nap to gear up for tonight.

So, I’m here at my first ever comedy festival, covering it for AmericasComedy.Com and having an amazing time. I have an official recap over there, check that out but figured I’d give a little behind the scenes view over here too.

I had gone into the day reminding myself that this would probably be like when I first started out - I don’t really know everyone and my friends are busy working and reconnecting with people they’ve known much longer than they’ve known me. So I was prepared for a lot of awkwardly standing by myself.

Not so! Comedians continue to prove to be some of the best humans on earth. I bumped into Kyle Kinane outside his first show and he immediately invited me to come along with him, Sean O’Connor & Myq Kaplan. He then made a point of introducing me to all the guys I didn’t know.

Sean was the funniest introduction. About 2 minutes later, Kyle and I were discussing how Sean had crushed the first show. He overheard, whipped his head around and asked, “What’s your name again?” I laughingly said, “Oh, I give you compliments and now you care who I am?” and he shrugged and said, “Yeah, I’m pretty transparent.”  But lest you think Sean really is that shallow and narcissistic, he tolerated a fair amount of my inebriated rambling at the after-party, so he’s earned whatever pass he wants.

The after-party was great.  It really was like some kind of mix of a camp reunion and a college mixer.  Everyone was happy to see everyone and to meet new people.  And everyone was wasted. The official happy hours & after parties are at the bar at the InterContenental, which is pretty swanky, and I don’t think the staff was quite prepared to have two dozen delinquents trying to delay last call and closing time.

These guys - not wasted

My favorite moment was walking out to the bathroom and overhearing two young dudes freaking out like teenaged girls.  ”That’s Anthony Jeselnik.  RIGHT THERE.  can you believe it?”

Day two felt a little more chill, but maybe that’s just because I was hungover.  At the after-party, I got to speak with this guy Jeremy, who is just a super fan of comedy.  We talked podcasts and Pete Holmes and Brody Stevens and it was cool to know there’s comedy nerds all over.

Then I went on a 3 am cheeseburger adventure with Kyle to a food truck called Shorty’s.  Scott, who served us, could not have been cooler.  He’d actually just seen Kyle walking around earlier in the day and was so excited he yelled out to get his attention and told him to come back whenever.

Shorty’s Food Truck, 3 am Austin

So, yeah, that’s the second lesson (Lesson one: comedians are great) - get the fuck out of LA if you want to see how what you’re doing makes so many people happy.  Never mind comparing your set or your credits with anyone else, there’s some dudes in Austin (and every city) who love what you do.  A lot.

PS Everyone is in love with Carmen Lynch (and rightly so).  Literally everyone.