We’ve gone from 32 schools to 16. Now, we’ll narrow down the competition to just the Ultimate 8 surviving teams.

Watch brand new jokes from the Comics’ Challenge round where comics were given a theme in support of TBS’s new show, Neighbors from Hell, premiering June 7th!

Vote for your favorites Comedy Teams now!

Posted: April 29th, 2010 under NCCC tournament updates.
Comments: 1

Thank you for loggin’ on and submitting votes for your favorite Comedy Teams in the Select 16 Elimination Round. Your support was truly impressive!

We’ve tallied up all the results and the Select 16 have been announced. Check out the tournament bracket to see which teams advanced! Next round of voting will feature the Comics’ Challenge clips and begin on Thursday, April 29th.

Posted: April 27th, 2010 under NCCC tournament updates.
Comments: 4

Robert Buscemi was a staple of the Chicago comedy scene for years. During his tenure, he won many accolades, including Best Stand Up (2009, Chicago Reader) and Best Comic (both 2005 and 2006, Chicago Snubfest). After being a finalist in the 2007 Chicago Comedy Awards, he was invited to perform at Rooftop Comedy’s very own Aspen Comedy Festival.

Robert is releasing his CD, “Palpable,” this Wednesday, April 28th, at The Annoyance in Chicago. Rooftop had idiot comic Nathan Timmel email Robert Buscemi some questions in advance of this event.

NT: You recorded your new CD “Palpable” at Chicago’s Lincoln Lodge, yet are holding the release party at The Annoyance. Any reason for the shift?

RB: Wow. Good question. Well, the Lincoln Lodge had sound equipment already set up for Cameron Esposito’s recording of her Rooftop CD, “Grab Them Aghast,” just a few weeks before mine. Like me, Cameron did the Rooftop Aspen Comedy Fest too. And I’m a long-time veteran of the Lodge, which has an unbelievably retro vibe to it, which fits my character really well, so it was a great place to record. And we really packed it.

And… The Annoyance is… I’ve cultivated a relationship with The Annoyance over the last few years, performing like 6 or 7 special, one-off shows there. That’s basically just hero worship on my part. I don’t know how much stand-ups outside of Chicago know this, but the Annoyance is like the Sex Pistols of sketch and improv. They’re absolutely legendarily decadent, and just revered as the cool kids in Chicago. There’s a ball cap behind the bar that just says “BORING AND GAY,” which really captures their… just… I don’t know. Just trust me: they’re cool. I always bust my ass to fill the house and then write them thank-you notes and give them any merch I have. I’m kind of gay that way.

Mick Napier teaches there, Susan Messing, Joe Bill, Mark Sutton… those people are legends in the improv world, and I just adore that theater. I used to do improv and tons of theater, so it’s really exciting for me to perform in a theater like that. In fact I’m in Chicago right now, having just hosted three nights at the Chicago Improv Festival, which was great. I hosted a roast for Mark Sutton, and I was just surrounded on stage by all this fantastic talent. I like to get my mind into other forms of comedy for some reason. I find it liberating. So I’m always getting onto improv and sketch bills to do sets or host.

It’s weird. Before I did stand-up, I always sniffed around stand-up shows and away from sketch and improv and theater, and now that I do stand-up, I love sniffing back into theater. I’m pretty restless in general.

NT: What kind of setup was used to record “Palpable?”

RB: Just a stage and a mike and a crowd. Maybe 100 people in. The Lodge is the back room of a pancake house; that’s literally what it is. And they have this fake mythology that it’s a fraternal organization like the Elks or the Moose. So you’re back there and it’s just perfect for my comedy, and Mark Geary has always had a really high-end production, considering the goofy space. So I think I wore a tie, and I didn’t get nervous behind the curtain exactly, but I kind of got pumped and did a little spontaneous air-boxing, which is weird for me. I usually just wander up like I’m getting into my bathtub. I’m not always successful, but I’m weirdly calm as a performer, even when a set isn’t going like I want it to. So Adam Burke opened, and he’s one of the very, very best in Chicago. And it was kind of important to me to try to run an undiluted headliner set and not chop a single joke in the editing room. Which we didn’t. The whole thing is in like 53 minutes of absolutely real time. I was really glad to pull that off. I think it’s the theater guy in me — I wanted it to be a “real” listening experience where you heard me from beginning to end, and that’s what it wound up being. And Nathan Winters mixed it really “warm,” he called it, like a record album, which I liked immediately. I don’t know how he thought to do that, but again, it’s perfect for my style
and material.

NT: Where did the title come from?

RB: It’s a joke on the CD. I say “When I perform on the road, people comeup to me and say ‘Wow. Robert Buscemi. The sexual mojo you bring on-stage is absolutely palpable. I want to take you out to my pickup truck in the parking lot and see if I can’t… ‘palp’ some of your… ‘bables.’” It’s really corny, but people get a kick out of how dumb and grandiose it is. And I don’t know, “Palpable” is actually what I want the album to be — clownishly, audaciously, moronically sexually and kind of obscenely stupid. Not that I’m blue, I’m not. But I like to be a jack-ass, and that word captures an aura of cheeky forwardness that I like.

NT: How long did it take you to write the material for your CD?

RB: Oh geez. Well. I mean… I’ve got jokes on there that are among the first I ever wrote ever, from like 8 years ago. And then others are far newer. But… it’s tough to say. It took years, really. I mean… I have to have new stuff that’s moving forward for me or I get bored, so there are jokes on there that are quite new. I’ve always done the same brand of buffoonery — some tiny brainless jokes and some long, insanely, ridiculously involved stem-winders that double back on themselves and roll forward and back and contain shameless word play and outlandish imagery. Sometimes that just appeals to me, that rolling-rolling-rolling goofiness, where a joke runs away from you. I always come back to bits like that.

NT: How do you feel Chicago has influenced you as a comedian? Is there a method to your madness, in choosing the path of stand up in a city revered for its Improv history?

RB: Geez. How did it affect me. Well, put it this way. I wandered onto the scene at a magical historical moment, where about 6 or 7 comedians who are now exploding every which way were doing the same open mike every single Monday, a place called the Lyon’s Den. That open mike had 50 people on it every week, and many were very, very, very good. Many
weren’t. But many were.

And the good thing about starting stand-up in any city other than New York or LA is that… there are no real prizes. There are really no cameras and no money, aside from some road work. And in Chicago, stand-up is very much overshadowed by improv and sketch and theater. So you have to just get good. You have to impress your peers, and you have to form your own community. There wasn’t even a centralized comedy club, just showcases in bars that comics would start up. Zanies is there, but it’s mainly a road stop from road comics, with just a few nights for locals.

So it was like having to play stick ball because you don’t have bats or balls or grass. We were on our own. But I like to think that made me scrappy and unafraid to be original and work to impress the smart people in a room and not care overly much for the lowest common denominator. And it’s important to develop that toughness especially if you’re a curve-ball, alternative comic like myself. Comics bitch about performing for their peers, but I find your peers more discerning and ready to reward genuinely original stuff, even if they can be cranky and stingy.

For some reason I’ve never objected to the label “alternative comedy,” incidentally. I guess it gives me at least some sense of identity and place to hang my hat. People have to call it something, and I always find it a comically unoriginal thing when a performing artist of any kind on a talk show will object to “labels.” Especially if they’re successful. Artists kid themselves that they’re more original than they are, I guess. Myself included.

NT: Is Chicago your hometown, or did you move there to pursue your stand up comedy dreams?

RB: Nah, I’m from Springfield, Ohio, which is why I have this twang everyone finds so sexy. I came to Chicago for improv and theater. Stand-up was always too scary. It really was a dream though. And I’d always kind of secretly collect these fly, retro clothes and hats and just leave ‘em in my closet. And it would depress me at some level, because I kind of knew they were my stand-up character’s clothes. Isn’t that weird? I just got tired over the years of hearing myself swear I was going to do stand-up. I was getting boring. So I finally decided that no matter how painful it was, I would do it at least 20 times. And then if I wanted to, I could stop. But I knew that one or two times would just be too few to get any good read on it. And it was painful. So yeah, I was in Chicago for years, but I always wanted to head to LA and ply my wares there, which is why I’m there now working the scene like it’s a big dairy cow and I’m its mechanical milker.

NT: How would you describe your style of comedy to someone who hasn’t seen you?

RB: Very goofy, very silly, sort of otherworldly and strange. It’s very much a cult act, and people get it or they don’t. And I don’t mind telling you that can be frustrating. I always want to reassure people that I don’t take myself too seriously, but my pal Nate Craig, who’s one of the very best comics to come out of Chicago, he gets mad when I’m too… patient with new initiates to my style. He calls it me trying to make it easy on people by passing out “candy corn.” Comedy’s great that way. You have all these hard-ass stand-ups paying attention to your art over the course of years, and they really identify and care and want you to stick to your vision. I read somewhere that Sam Kinison used to throw chairs at Jim Carrey at The Comedy Store when Jim Carrey would fall back on some obvious or easy material. I think of that story a lot actually.

I’m very bawdy, but my character is just too loony and brainless to be genuinely crude or offensive. Hell, I don’t know. I love character comedians. Steven Wright. Or Jimmy Pardo. Pardo’s just Johny Show Biz, and it kills me. I love a performer who just knows he’s the king of the planet. Chris Elliot is that way too.

So I do a version of that — go up there and just throw nonsense out like my life depends on it. It’s really, really, really important to me, all this stuff I say. It honestly is. But I swear to you I haven’t the slightest idea where it comes from. Writing for me — and performing, actually — is like doing a Ouija board. I have NO idea who’s speaking or what their point is, but… I wind up speaking almost in parables. God knows. I mean … it’s such a fun kind of mega-riddle though. Life is. My material is. I just love it. I do.

My fave of all time is Steve Martin. Hands down. And I love Nick Vatterot out of New York. I like the really deranged, maniacal stuff, where comics can barely see through the blinding idiocy of some craven image they’re weaving. That’s what I try to do.

NT: I was struck by how you’re always dressed damn fine on stage; is wearing a suit something that feels comfortable to you, or a throwback to the days when seeing live entertainment was something people dressed up for? Both? Neither?

RB: Both. It’s the theater thing. I like a show. I always think of the musical Cabaret, and how the actors are all in pale make-up and wearing lots of red and kind of ratty silks and suspenders over bare chests. I like that. But yeah — it’s a throwback. I’m a throwback for sure. I think I crave a time where people were only doing one thing. Just one thing at a time. I think we all do. You sit. I talk. You listen. We laugh. I’m on stage.

It’s pointless, really. You could watch TV, movies, you could do any of 10 billion things, but you’re watching me, this mope who thinks he’s clever and cute, and he’s trying to get you to laugh beer onto your chin. It’s all so quaint and lovely to me. It’s so pointless. But yeah, I like to give ‘em something to look at. It makes you identifiable and a bit larger than life. It’s like wearing a plastic nose and mustache and glasses. It’s corny, but it just says “Hey! This guy’s a card, I’ll bet!” It’s really me trying to be uncynical and show people I’m having fun.

NT: Do you have any creative rituals you follow when writing? A particular coffee shop you sit at, your dining room table, while driving, etc…

RB: Not really. I kind of listen for funny patterns in conversations with non-comedians a lot of times, and that will make me jot a note or turn it into a bit. I’ll be riffing with non-comedian friends and something funny just comes out. That’s how a lot of my material happens. I’m almost afraid to write sometimes. I’m just too… I just get so carried away. I’m afraid I won’t stop or something. Isn’t that weird? Sometimes I dream I’m just typing and typing and typing, or that words are just rooooooooooolling out of my mouth. I love that feeling.

I can say this, that my favorite time is when a joke is about 75% of the way there. It’s good, and you know it’s good, and you just… it’s just such an exciting feeling to have it taking shape over the course of a few weeks. It’s like dating someone new — you’re all excited, but you’re also unsure. You’re almost afraid for it and insecure for it. But it’s so great when it just comes out right one time on stage. That’s what happens to me a lot — I’ll be on-stage and the joke will just arrange itself in response to… the need to give it structure or tangibility for a crowd.

NT: Do you tend to take untested material to the stage, or do you first bounce it off others, looking for reactions from friends/family?

RB: Good question. I’ll… usually bounce it a bit. I’m not afraid to tell a stand-up joke on the phone to a friend, or to my parents, or… hell, I’ve done stand-up at a dinner party. I pride myself on being kind of shameless. That’s part of the Vaudeville thing. I guess I feel like people look at you and think it’s kind of cool what you do, and if they’re not going to see a show soon, hell, I’ll do a bit for ‘em.

But I’ll drop a brand-new joke into a fairly important showcase. I will. And I always workshop and open-mike a lot. That’s just my nature. I like having roughed-out ideas on a note card and trying ‘em out. That may be when I’m happiest. And the thing about being in comedy clubs is I’ve seen some real greats with notes, and for me that’s a treat. I’ve seen Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock both do that – actually bring up notes just like an open-miker or a show-caser. To me that’s fun. I like to see the journey. So yeah, I’ll work stuff out right on stage. Some of my best material has taken shape that way.

NT: In closing, any exciting plans for the future?

RB: Just to gnaw away at the scene in LA and spread the gospel of me. (Did I just say that?) Oh, and all the other usual human stuff — I’d like to avoid pain and death and sorrow and heartbreak and cynicism and find adoration and wealth and spiritual calm and solace and good hamburgers. Is that too much to ask?

Posted: April 27th, 2010 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 3

Voting is now live for the Select 16 Elimination Round. Check out the hilarious performance videos from our Regional Rival Matches across the country! You can vote for your favorite teams, every five minutes, from now until Monday (4/26) at 6pm PST.

Based on majority votes, the top 16 teams will advance and the remaining 16 teams will be sent home. You decide! Vote now!

Posted: April 22nd, 2010 under NCCC tournament updates.
Comments: 79

It’s hard to think that there are only four more hours left of this show. What else am I going to do on Tuesday nights? Masturbate? Watch Glee? Well, maybe both, I don’t know. But whatever I do, it will involve tears (which actually make masturbating a little better).

This episode of LOST was quite fantastic and the entire time, you felt like things were starting to wrap up. We’ve been waiting for quite a while for this moment. We were told there was a war coming and we are right at the footsteps of that war.

I’ll try to recap to the best of my ability, but it’ll probably feel all over the place because this episode was literally all over the damn place.

On island, we have Jack and Flocke meeting for the first time. Flocke wants to leave and made a pretty compelling case, which got him to thinking. Meanwhile, Sawyer is planning on making an escape. Then, Widmore’s people come and threaten Flocke, demanding the return of Desmond (BROTHA!) Flocke sends crazy Sayid to do this.

At the well, Desmond talks to Sayid and asks him what he’ll say to the woman he loves when she comes back. Will she tell her that he betrayed his friends and killed people for her? We are lead to believe that Sayid killed Desmond, but we don’t see it on screen. This leads to my conclusion that the BROTHA DIDN’T KILL THE BROTHA!

Also, I think producers know that fans love it when Desmond says “brotha” so now he does it all the time. This would bother me if his voice did not tickle my balls. I mean women’s vaginas. And my balls.

So Sawyer tells Jack to bring Sun, Hurley, and Lapidus with him when they escape. He does, but Jack has second thoughts. Jack and Sawyer argue, with Jack saying that if Flocke wants them to leave, then they shouldn’t and Sawyer saying he’s tired of staying on the island. The argument ends with Jack jumping off the boat (right at the front, which makes me think he’s lucky the boat didn’t hit him. Not smart, Jack. Not smart).

Sawyer and gang dock on Hydra Island. Widmore’s men come out, as does Jin. Jin sees Sun. Sun sees Jin. They run for each other. The whole time I’m thinking “OH GOD, PLEASE SAY THE PILONS ARE OFF SO THEIR BRAINS DON’T EXPLODE!” Well luckily, they are. Then Widmore’s men turn on them and force them to surrender. Shit! Then Widmore fires a rocket at the beach where Jack just swam up to and met Flocke. Double shit! Jack flies through the air and Flocke saves him. Triple shit! Maybe. Was Jack killed and Flocke saved him, ergo, taking over his soul? I hope not.

Meanwhile, in the sideways-flash, Sun and Locke are brought into the hospital and Sun freaks out, recognizing him. But nothing comes of it. Nice cocktease, LOST.

Desmond so happens to run into Claire and he asks her to get a lawyer before putting her baby up for adoption. He has to really sell the idea, but she says yes. And who is the lawyer? Iliana! And she’s not exploded into thousands of pieces (and she cleans up well, damn!) Why was Desmond so adamant about this? Well, because Jack was on his way. See, Iliana was his father’s lawyer and Desmond wanted the half bro and sis to meet. But Jack cannot stay long, because he needs to operate on Locke.

Oh yeah, Sawyer arrests Sayid.

As I said, there was a lot that went on tonight. It’s all getting really, really exciting. What is Widmore’s plan? Why did he betray Sawyer? And was Jack really killed or am I looking into that too much? He never seemed dead, but it was odd how Flocke was smiling and saying “You’re with me now.” Unfortunately, there is a re-run next week, a clip show about the Oceanic flight.

And this leads me to my next point: clip shows are lazy writing. Seriously, the network is paying for pointless episodes. I use to think Scrubs was one of the best comedies because they never did a clip show. But guess what? They went and did a clip show and ruined that thought (they also kept going after season four, but that’s a different story). The Office even did a clip show this season. It’s just lazy. I get that people need breaks, but just have a damn re-run. Or better yet, give young writers a chance to write an episode. It can be one that is not that important, just fun. For example, instead of a LOST clip show, I’d write an episode where I slept with every woman on the show. For Scrubs, I would have written a clip show where I slept with Elliot and Carla the entire episode, while Turk and JD danced around in the background. And for the Office, I would have written an episode where I slept with Pam and Jim. There is a theme, I know, but you have to admit: it’s better than a clip show.

Posted: April 21st, 2010 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 270

Your weekly comedy fix, ROFL brings you hilarious standup comedy from around the world with the biggest names and up-and-comers in comedy. Now in its 50th incarnation, this week’s episode brings you awesome new funnies from Myq Kaplan, Lamont Price, and Carmen Lynch.

Can’t get enough? Subscribe to ROFL on iTunes. It’s free!

Posted: April 20th, 2010 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, Podcasts, The New Clip Round-Up.
Comments: 28

Well, LOST, you delivered another pretty gosh darn fantastic episode. And you’re starting to make the flash-sideways make sense! Why am I talking to a show like a real person? Shut up, that’s my answer.

On the island, Ilana and Richard were gung-ho to destroy the plane with dynamite. Ilana was giving a huge, moving speech about how she was trained to do this and how she had to, then she blew up. To be honest, it was kind of comical. And then everyone’s reactions were less “OH MY GOD!” and more “Well, shit.” Sort of a sad way to see someone go. Plus, they mentioned taking a boat to the outriggers, so I was hoping we’d see then on their little boat, then suddenly another pops up in front of them and a gun fight ensues, just like last season, except it was from Sawyer’s and Juliet’s point-of-view. But, no. I was let down by that. If only I could have written that part in. And the part about Juliet and Kate have a three-way with a new, chubby man on the island named “Mark.”

So Hurley takes the lead and tells them they must go talk to Flocke themselves. No one agrees, except Jack. Richard, Ben, and Miles. They go to blow up the plane, everyone else goes to talk to Flocke.

Meanwhile, Flocke is brought Desmond. Desmond is incredibly calm and cool, saying “brotha” a lot, looking hot, and being all around weird. He tells Flocke that he knows he is John Locke, so Flocke takes him to a well and throws him down it. Why does being called John Locke frighten him so much? Is there a chance that a little of John Locke is still inside Flocke? Did that sentence insinuate gay sex between two people but in the same body? Are we all now curious how that would happen? Yes?

Now, in the flash-sideways, we get a super rich and awesome Hurley. He is donating money left and right. He just donated money to a museum and was given the Man of the Year award from Pierre Chang (Dharma initiative science leader and Miles’ dad). Yet, he is lonely. He goes on a blind date but she stands him up (BITCH!) but Libby approaches him. She remembers him, but he does not. She is taken back to the hospital, where she is voluntarily staying because she thinks she is insane.

Hurley is upset by this because he likes her, but he thinks she is crazy. But he is convinced to go talk to her. By whom? DESMOND! Ah snap.

So Hurley goes to Libby, they have a date, they kiss, then Hurley remembers her from the island. The two realities are slowly bleeding through.

Then, Desmond goes to John Locke’s school and runs him over. Just hits him and leaves. I mean, damn. He just smacks him and Locke goes flying over the car hard.

But this is setting up my hospital theory more. Now Locke is going to the hospital. And Hurley owns hospitals. They will all be there soon.

But one question that is nagging me is, how does Desmond know which people form Oceanic 815 to go to? He has a whole list of people on the plane. Is he going to go to all of them? Or are his island and off-island reality working together? Hmm. Hmm. HMMMMMMMMM.

Posted: April 16th, 2010 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, LOST RECAP, Reviews.
Comments: 3

Rooftop favorites Ramin Nazer & Matt Willis invite you to enjoy some laughs at the 2010 Funniest Person in Austin Contest in this very funny PSA.

Posted: April 15th, 2010 under Video.
Comments: 337

Whew, what a whirlwind! We just finished up our national tour of Regional Rival Matches held at comedy clubs across the country. Comics from 32 schools duked it out on stage for their chance to advance in the competition.

At each stop we found amazing talent and fierce school pride! Videos of all performances will be online April 22nd as we kick off our first online elimination round to name the Select 16.

Make sure to vote for your school! They’ll need your help to stay in the competition!

Posted: April 15th, 2010 under NCCC tournament updates.
Comments: 3

Dana Buchwald’s “Women Stand Up! A Comedy Cabaret” has been a Minneapolis staple for four years running; you can see a new show every Saturday night, and is an evening meant to celebrate and inspire female creativity. Stand up comedy, poetry, performance art… all are welcome under the show’s banner.

This year, Dana is adding something new to the mix: a film competition. “Women Stand Up and Shoot” promotes women writers, actors and short film directors and focuses specifically on the art of comedy.

Rooftop had penised interviewer Nathan Timmel talk to Dana and about the contest, and her interest in women in the world of comedy.

NT: You host the Cabaret show every Saturday, but you yourself aren’t a stand up comedienne; what’s your background in performance?

DB: Well, I’ve done a lot of performing. I started out in dance, and I’ve done theater, and was directing primarily and had done some comedy work. I was in a show at this particular theater, and I saw and opening and pitched “Women Stand Up!” to the artistic director, and she said, ‘Let’s do it!’ I think it was simply out of my frustration of wanting to see more women in comedy. So even though I don’t do comedy, per se, I do host the show.

NT: How did it evolve into the film contest?

DB: There’s still a relative dearth of women in mainstream films when it comes to comedy, so I just wanted to take the weekly theater show and expand on it. Do you know what ‘Independent Feature Project’ is?

NT: I can’t say that I do.

DB: Ok, well, they’re assembled around the country, and their mission is to help and promote independent filmmakers, and there’s one here called IFP Minnesota, and I pitched the idea to them, and they said ‘Great! We love that idea,’ especially one woman there who herself was an independent filmmaker.

NT: As you aren’t a stand up, then, what draws you to comedy, be it stand up or in the world of film?

DB: I think that in comedy, and especially recently, that there is a lack of women. I think that with people like Carol Burnett, you have more the exception than the norm, and she was pretty amazing and had, I think, the longest running variety show, which no one really expected to happen. You do have, today, Tina Fey, who is very successful, but most of the mainstream comedies that come out, and especially in the past five to seven years or so, are just packed with men. And I’m not saying I don’t like men or that they’re not funny, but there’s just no female perspective, and the one role for the woman is to be the pretty girl, or the straight person.

NT: Do you think that has to do with bias, like “women aren’t funny,” or more market research, like “boys will see comedy films, where girls will see Nicholas Sparks movies, so let’s put the boys in one film and girls in the other?”

DB: I think it’s complex, like with any real issue it’s a multitude of things. I don’t think it’s just bias, because that would be too simplistic. There are fewer women in comedy, so it’s a numbers thing, which is why I’m trying to encourage more women to get into comedy. But I do think for a very long time there has been that idea that ‘women aren’t funny,’ or ‘women aren’t as funny as men,’ or ‘women have to do a certain kind of comedy.’ And while there might be market research telling us one thing, you kind of have a bigger imagination than “market research.” For the longest time, there was the idea ‘women aren’t going to go to action movies,’ and then you have “Alien,” where Sigourney Weaver was the lead, and strong, and the movie was successful.

NT: Or like Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs.

DB: [Laughs] I think I’m the only person that doesn’t like that movie, but yeah, something that breaks the norm. Like, getting back to comedy, the only sort of ‘buddy movie’ I can think of in the past few years for women was Baby Mama, which was fun, but revolved around fertility and romance, as opposed to, say, a guy comedy where they just go on a road trip, and there’s really no greater purpose to it than that. Does that mean I want to see a bunch of [female] road trip movies? Not really, but I don’t think they should have all the same foundation.

NT: Wouldn’t it be better then, that when making movies the powers that be try to draw women in by using a foundation that is appealing to women as opposed to just creating a nothing movie, putting women in it, and expecting women to support it simply because it has women in it?

DB: Personally, [laughs] yes. I like movies and comedies that don’t talk down to audiences and that are more thoughtful. But I also think women fall into that trap, that image that women are better and nobler, and always supposed to take the high road. So do I want to see the female version of Dumb and Dumber? Not really. But do I think women should get the opportunity to make a stupid movie that tons of people might see just because they want to see a silly movie? Yes.

NT: Do you think that “women have to take the high road” is ingrained in us because of television? Where the standard sitcom has the situation where the guy is dumb and funny, and the woman is the authority figure?

DB: Yeah, I do. And I think that’s what safe, and I think that’s what people think will sell. I think that’s very accepted, so what I want to do [with this contest] is challenge those beliefs, and give women the outlet to be whatever they want in a comedy.

For more information on Dana’s weekly Cabaret show, visit its Facebook page.

For more information on the contest, “Women Stand Up and Shoot,” contact Dana at womenstandupandshoot@gmail.com.

The submission deadline is April 21st!

Posted: April 13th, 2010 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 300