We’re psyched to partner with the 2011 SF Sketchfest. We will host our third and FINAL show at The Purple Onion, this Saturday 1/29 at 10:30pm. Featuring:
Ron Funches
Andy Haynes
Matt Knudsen
Jules Posner
Amber Preston
April Richardson
Maronzio Vance
Hosted by Rory Scovel

We’re also co-presenting two amazing shows:

Tuesday, February 1st at 7pm, The Castro Theatre:
The SF Sketchfest Comedy Writing Award: James L. Brooks in Conversation with Danny DeVito:

Wednesday February 2nd at 7pm, the Castro Theatre
Murphy Brown Tribute to Candice Bergen and Diane English: Wed 2/2 at 7pm, the Castro Theatre

You can purchase tickets to these great events at the www.sfsketchfest.com

Posted: January 26th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 8

Here at Rooftop HQ, it’s easy to get bogged down in the day to day corporate affairs that dominate our office culture. No matter how many inflatable pickle dolls we keep on hand (we’re currently at 2), we somehow can’t stop ourselves from talking synergy and vertical integration. That’s why we decided to spice things up today and throw beloved intern Edwin a surprise party! We didn’t let the fact that it wasn’t even his real birthday get in the way of our Friday afternoon dose of chocolate cake, champagne, balloons, and general revelry.

Mad streamer skillz and general decorations know-how courtesy of Valerie

This is not your one-cake type of party

Chris and Jen are just so excited to celebrate Edwin. Worth noting is Annie's diagram in the background. That's some fine work Annie. Visual aids were crucial in the party.

The man of the hour and the big reveal!

Just a bunch of interns! What's so funny guys?

Hooray for the birthday boy! Jackie and Colin look on with paternal approval

Unfortunately, Snooks could not attend as it would violate her court order.

Posted: January 21st, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 48

By Reid Faylor

Hey there, “reiders.”

Yes.

That is now how these actually begin.

I am indeed a little Reid, and this city is indeed big, but who knew such a big thing could fit in such a little thing’s heart? This is a very cute way of saying I’ve been enjoying New York a fuck-ton lately. The method just employed was the ruder adversary to the previous cuteness. But both ring true! New York has been a kind mistress –I navigate her salty streets with familiarity (5 months worth now!), shows have been going well and friendships are springing like soft fleshy flowers (fleshy because people are made of meat). The winter is fairly harsh here, but no more than what I’ve been used to from the Midwest; a good coat and some boots and a floppy-eared hat can go a long way.

My biggest goal with comedy the last few weeks has been what I call “professional apathy.” Though I feel like my material has mostly been going over well at the mics and occasional shows, I’ve still struggled with accepting worse shows. They hurt me, not physically, but mentally, like a bully who bullies through riddles. Professional apathy is my strived-for cure to this: professionalism towards the means, apathy towards the result. I can’t hang some kind of emotional significance on every show, I need to be hardened and accept I will simply suck at plenty, but I need to be professional enough to accept this and still put forward my best effort. Employing this has gone well, and oddly I’ve been having better shows, perhaps because of it. Of course there are exceptions –I ended one show by threatening to punch a woman (a heckler to be fair) “in the fucking face” outside the bar. This made things weird. I am currently debating whether or not this was professional –but I do believe it was fairly apathetic. Huzzah!

Beyond that my biggest efforts have been on ironing out and improving my feature set. I can easily meet the time requirement (20 to 30 minutes) with material I not only think works but also is something I feel represents me in the way I want to be seen. I’ve made a detailed list of the jokes that would fit in the set, and rated each on how much more polished they need to be, how clean they are (not that I want a wholly clean set, but it shouldn’t all be TV unfriendly), and how likely an audience would actually enjoy it. Some jokes are A –just about any audience would be able to laugh at them. Thankfully, few others are C –they need a hell of a lot of trust in order to be enjoyed. A lot are Bs, but I can work with Bs, and probably enjoy them personally a lot more: why should the audience be able to casually enjoy a show? They should be challenged to enjoy what they would more often think of as “odd” or perhaps “stupid.”

Of course, as I make some jokes better, the ones I thought were improved now seem frighteningly lacking, but I’m making good progress. I also tonight just got booked to perform at a local coffee shop/performance venue (The Waltz Astoria –a favorite writing spot of Ted Alexandro :O) to do a 25-minute set at a show in February. That much time is hard to come by for someone at my level in New York, so I’m looking forward to getting to try out my feature set in front of a real crowd at a real show. This paragraph will end the same as a previous one: Huzzah!

Next week: A peek into the methods I use to deal with unemployment: “A lot of people consider toothpaste a conspiracy –cut out unnecessary costs! Q: what’s cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables? A: not eating any fruits or vegetables.”

Follow Reid on Twitter.

Posted: January 20th, 2011 under BIG CITY, Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, LITTLE REID.
Comments: 18

Jesse Joyce wears many hats. When he’s not competing in the semi-finals of Last Comic Standing, he’s touring the world, bringing his mile-a-minute comedy to audiences in Iraq, Kuala Lampur, and many places in between. He’s also pretty busy getting paid to talk smack about David Hasselhoff. Joyce brings all of these talents into his second album, Pro-Joyce. Rooftop chatted with Jesse over email and discussed the impact of alcoholism on his career, why Canadians make such good audiences, and who should be in attendance when Kid Rock gets roasted (SPOILER ALERT: strippers and midgets).

Rooftop: For someone who has never heard or seen you perform, describe your brand of comedy.

Jesse Joyce: What I do is some pretty well-written, edgy, sometimes dark, always clever thoughts on life, traveling the world, living in NYC, and being newly married. I’ve been told I’m a great joke writer, so that’s a validating endorsement I guess.

RT: Tell me about the concept for your album, Pro-Joyce.

JJ: It was a really fun experiment with trying to get away with some edgy and potentially aggressive punchlines against the backdrop of a Canadian audience – who are some of the sweetest and smartest crowds in comedy. It’s really fun to shock Canadians because there’s the conflict with their engrained politeness juxtaposed against their open-minded sense of humor, making for a lot of terrific simultaneous groans and belly laughs.

RT: When did you start doing stand-up?

JJ: I got a job at the Pittsburgh Funnybone bar-backing and scrubbing the toilets, just so I could be around the only stand up scene in town. I just started out there open mic-ing and eventually became a house M.C. there which led to other road work.

RT: How did you make the shift from doing stand-up to writing celebrity roasts?

JJ: I got started doing it because I was Greg Giraldo’s opener on the road for a number of years. He asked me to help him out years ago for the Flavor Flav Roast, and after that we formed a really amazing partnership working on them together every year until he unfortunately passed away last year.  In many peoples’ opinions, there was nobody better than that guy who’s ever done a roast, so I feel like I learned from the master of the craft.

RT: Tell me about the creative process for writing those roast jokes.

JJ: The process is really fun because you just get to take the gloves off and be as dark as you can get.  A lot of times, I work backwards with roast jokes.  I come up with a dark punchline and I just keep it in my brain till they put someone on the dais who fits the bit. For the longest time, I’ve thought it was funny to point out that the Vietnam War memorial was reading material. It’s obviously a really sad and inspiring monument, but what you actually do when you’re in front of it is read it. So when I was asked to do the Roast of Jim Florentine a few months back, I thought that Jim Norton would be the perfect guy to appreciate me likening his book to it. “I read your book. There are more laugh out loud moments reading the Vietnam War Memorial”. It’s almost easier for me to write roast jokes. I feel like it’s a real strong suit of mine, to be pointed in a direction and say – write jokes about what a belligerent drunk Hasselhoff is. With stand-up, it’s almost harder because I can talk about whatever I want. It’s easier for me to work within parameters. Plus with roast writing, you’re encouraged to be as clever and vicious as possible and no one gets upset. It’s really liberating.  I feel like I had a great time coming up with stuff for the Larry The Cable Guy one, just because there were so many targets there: Gary Busey, Maureen McCormack, Jeff Foxworthy.

RT: Are there any celebrities out there who you think are ripe for roasting?

JJ: I’ve always thought Kid Rock would be a great target. He’d bring all his midgets and rednecks and strippers. There’s a lot to work with there.

RT: Tell me about your upcoming feature film, Stags.

JJ: I play Price, one of the four friends, who’s an alcoholic stand-up comedian. It was a lot of fun to do, because I’m a recovering alcoholic. So while not entirely a stretch, it was a great experience to play a darker, moodier, different comedian than me. The coolest thing for me was that Jamie Greenberg, the director, let me write the stand-up for the character. I was going on stage in the city doing stand-up as Price for a while, just to see if I could pull off comedy that was different than mine. It was actually a lot of fun to get to go on stage as someone else for a change.

RT: What’s it like playing for a crowd full of former addicts in the Comedy Addiction Tour?

JJ: We are actually talking about reviving the tour. Those shows are great. They’re a lot more gratifying than doing a week at a club. Those shows remind you that comedy isn’t a completely selfish endeavor. We were doing theaters around the country and there would be bus loads of people from rehabs, people who’d only been sober for a few weeks, coming out to the shows and seeing us have a good time laughing about our struggles with addiction and recovery. People after the shows would come up and give us hugs and let us know that it’s the first time they’ve laughed since they got into rehab: powerful stuff like that. No one gets sober on a high note. The folks a few weeks into recovery are probably in a pretty dark, bottomed out place. Showing them that they can have a fuller, more fun, and in control life as a sober person – it was a really cool thing to get to do.

Posted: January 19th, 2011 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, Interview, rooftop comedy productions.
Comments: 62

Four comics. One van. Twelve shows in twelve days. The Beards of Comedy have an ambitious start to their 2011. Starting January 19^th in Portales, New Mexico and ending January 30^th in Seattle, Washington, they will cover nearly 3,000 miles over those twelve days. Not bad for a troupe based in the south.

Rooftop is helping sponsor the tour, and therefore had Nathan Timmel speak with Joe Zimmerman about beards, comedy, and life on the road.

NT: First off, we met in Duluth, Minnesota, years ago, correct?

JZ: Yeah… I think there were two nights to the run; one night in Wausau, Wisconsin, and then Duluth. We may have done a Thursday, but I don’t remember.

NT: Neither do I, really. Good times. You said you just got your first Mac, and are excited. I’ve edited two CDs on my Mac; did you get one to start doing your own production?

JZ: Absolutely. I can do more with video, audio… scriptwriting.  And I really want to get into podcasting. Marc Maron’s podcast really got me hooked.

NT: Now, generally when you see a packaged tour—The Pot Smokers of Comedy, the Latin Comics, and so on—you get a series of comics who go up and speak redundantly about the same topics. I’m not sure anyone expects four comics in a row to go up and promote beard humor, so give me a quick rundown for the four different comedic styles of the members of The Beards of Comedy.

JZ: The overall concept is basically that of an indie music tour, because we’re sort of DIY and not always playing traditional comedy venues. That being said, we don’t pride ourselves on alternative comedy or anything. Andy [Sandford] is very smart, quick witted and sarcastic. A lot of good one liner type stuff, if you like Shane Moss type humor, but Andy does have his own voice.  Dave [Stone] has got a sort of this “flavor of the South, who hates being from the south,” so he has a very interesting perspective on growing up in Georgia. He’s a people’s favorite, as his material is original and unique, it appeals to people of all gender and race. TJ [Young] is clever; he’s the wordsmith of the group. If you ever have a conversation with TJ he’s bound to throw a bunch of puns at you, which then everyone makes fun of him for, but he’s just about as good as it gets when it comes to wordplay. Me? I’m just a goofy, silly, happy-go-lucky/absent-minded professor type.  I always come out and open the show with some banter, then come back later and actually do a set.  We all basically try our best to be original, and stay on the intelligent side of the spectrum.

NT: Who dreamed up The Beards of Comedy, and, and I mean this with all due respect, how much marijuana was involved? Did you all get together and decided to grow beards, or did four bearded comics decide to band together as a unit?

JZ: It was more the latter. We were all friends, and three of them already had beards. We were all a part of the Atlanta scene, and about two-and-a-half years ago, I said purely as a joke that they should tour as ‘The Beards of Comedy.’ A few months later, I realized that these were guys I did want to tour with, and that I could probably grow a beard and join them. We didn’t use the name for marketing reasons; we don’t tend to market ourselves to beard groups or anything beard related like that. The name is more a front, and a way to name the tour.

NT: Well, this brings to mind two questions: are there beard related groups you could market to if you wanted to? And when you decided to grow your beard, did the four of you sit down and discuss the different styles of beard you would all represent? Meaning, did one person get assigned ‘The Amish,’ and another ‘The Grizzly Adams,’ and so forth. Do you present your tour as representing four unique, disparate, beard flavors?

JZ: See, that’s a great idea. We really have not capitalized on any beard marketing. Where TJ would be the ‘sweet’ beard, and Dave the ‘angry’ beard.

NT: Like a boy band, where they have the lover, the bad boy… everyone plays a role.

JZ: I almost feel like we should do that, so the people remember us individually, but I believe we’re all almost too self-conscious to actually be labeled like that. I mean, I would be the ‘sexy’ beard probably–*laughs*–and I would be too embarrassed to call myself that.

NT: Now, has the group ever been confused… has anyone ever heard “The Beards of Comedy” and thought, “Oh, this must be a group of women married to gay men?”

JZ: We haven’t been confused as that so much as we’ve had women who have gone on dates with gay men ask to be a part of the group, and we’ve had some of them sit in with us on occasion.

NT: Talk about the tour you’re embarking on; where can people see you this month?

JZ: This is our West Coast Tour, January 19^th through the 30^th. We’re going to be in ten different cities in twelve nights, cool venues with us stuffed into a van in between the shows. Rooftop is kindly helping sponsor us, and we’re hoping to see some of those folks in San Fran.

NT: Are you planning on recording the tour? Either a second CD for the group, or a DVD of shows and the trip; a documentary with comedy as a part of it?

JZ: We’re going to do a daily blog from the van, and a daily podcast from the van. If not daily for the podcast, frequently. We’ll have a journalist from Atlanta Magazine coming along with us and who is going to be writing up an article on us and the tour. Right now we don’t have any plans to record a CD or DVD, but I’d love to. I’d love to record and document what we’re doing, but right now it’s hard coordinating all the travel arrangements without having to think of recording on top of it.

You can find all the tour dates for The Beards of Comedy HERE.

Posted: January 17th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 26

Yep, we’re back! The 2011 NCCC is gonna be funnier than ever as we’ve updated the bracket with tough new schools and added a few twists in the competition. Four MVPs will get a highly-coveted performance spot at the TBS Presents Just for Laughs, Chicago.

To get in on it, students must attend one of the 32 participating schools and complete our online registration. Let the competition begin!

Posted: January 14th, 2011 under National College Comedy Competition, NCCC tournament updates.
Comments: 5

In addition to the three Purple Onion shows Rooftop will be presenting at this year’s Sketchest, we’re also very proud to be co-presenting a ton of other amazing shows. Here they are:

Dr. God Improv with Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini
Friday, January 15, at The Eureka Theater
8pm (with The Midnight Show) Click here for tickets.
10:30pm (with Teenager of the Year) Click here for tickets.

Dr. God is a nationally recognized comedy team specializing in long form improvisation. The group is comprised of Sean Cowhig, Neil Garguilo, Brendan McLoughlin, Brian O’Connell, Dave Park and Justin Ware. Individually or as a group, they have appeared on or created comedy content for Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, Fox Atomic, Fox, Imagine Television, Warner Brothers, The Reelz Channel, National Lampoon, TV Guide Network, IFC, AMC, MTV, CNN and many others. They are regular performers at iO West in Hollywood with mainstage shows on alternate Saturdays at 10 p.m. More information on the group can be found at drgodcomedy.com.

About their improv form: DR. GOD REVIVAL is a long-form improvisational format that showcases not only the talents of the Dr. God troupe, but also the host who kicks off the comedy. Based on a suggestion from the audience, the host delivers monologues over the course of the show that serve as inspiration for a series of hilarious, interconnected scenes. Though previous Revivals in Los Angeles have included such superlative Guest Evangelists as Efren Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite), Guillermo Diaz (Weeds), and Julie Powell (of Julie and Julia), the most-requested and lauded host has been Matthew Lillard (Scream, Scooby-Doo) who has appeared with Dr. God at the LA Improv Festival as well as in DR. GOD’S HALLOWEEN EVE and DR. GOD’S CHRISTMAS SHVITZ. Dr. God is pleased to appear with Matt again in San Francisco at SF Sketchfest.

Celebrity Autobiography
With Laraine Newman (Friday only), Will Forte, Rachael Harris, Joe Pantoliano, Martha Plimpton, Jonathan Silverman, Laura Kightlinger, and more
Friday, January 14, 8pm Click here for tickets.
Saturday, January 15, 5pm Click here for tickets.

Celebrity Autobiography is a smash hit comedy sensation. The hilarious evening where celebrity tell-alls are acted out live on stage began a decade ago in Los Angeles, and as the show’s profile grew and celebrities started attending and participating, the show blew up into a must-see event that resulted in a critically acclaimed Bravo TV special. In 2007, the show opened in New York to rave reviews and sold out houses and won the Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience.

For the show’s third visit to SF Sketchfest, co- creators Eugene Pack and Dayle Reyfel are joined by Jennifer Coolidge (Best in Show), Will Forte (Saturday Night Live), Rachael Harris (The Hangover), Joe Pantoliano (The Matrix), Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope) [Saturday shows only], Jonathan Silverman (The Single Guy) and more to be announced soon.

The Dave Hill Explosion
with Moby, Martha Plimpton and Thao Nguyen
Sunday, January 16, at Cobb’s Comedy Club
7pm Click here for tickets.

Dave Hill returns to SF Sketchfest in what critics are already calling the most incredible thing that has ever happened in North America and what he is calling the Dave Hill Explosion. As they say in proctology circles, brace yourself as Dave talks, reads, sings, dances, shows a short film or two, and just sort of touches hearts in general. Special guests include multi-Grammy winning musician Moby, acclaimed actress Martha Plimpton (Raising Hope, The Goonies) and singer, guitarist and songwriter Thao Nguyen of Thao and the Get Down Stay Down.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour
With Alison Brie, John DiMaggio, John Ennis, Colin Hanks, Neil Patrick Harris, Samm Levine, Donal Logue, Busy Philips, Danny Pudi, Paul F. Tompkins, James Urbaniank and more
Saturday, January 22, at Marines’ Memorial Theatre
7pm Click here for tickets.
9:30pm Click here for tickets.

Acker & Blacker’s The Thrilling Adventure and Supernatural Suspense Hour is a staged comedy production in the style of an old-time radio show that proves radio is still the king of all media!

The cast includes Alison Brie (Mad Men), John DiMaggio (Bender from Futurama), John Ennis (Mr. Show), Colin Hanks (The Good Guys), Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother) [9:30pm show only], Samm Levine (Freaks and Geeks), Donal Logue (Terriers), Busy Philips (Cougar Town), Danny Pudi (Community) [7pm show only], Paul F. Tompkins (Best Week Ever), James Urbaniak (The Venture Brothers) and more.

Theme Park Improv
With Simon Helberg, Michael Hitchcock, Jessica Makinson, Oscar Nunez, Danny Pudi, Cole Stratton and Janet Varney
Saturday, January 22, 10:30pm at The Eureka Theatre (with Convoy) Click here for tickets.
Sunday, January 23, 4pm at The Eureka Theatre (with The Riot Act) Click here for tickets.

The Theme Park Improv Show’s improvisers take a single suggestion of a theme from the audience, and wing an entire set of fast-paced long-form scenes and characters. After two sold-out years, they return to SF Sketchfest with a spectacular new lineup: Simon Helberg (The Big Bang Theory), Michael Hitchcock (Best in Show), Jessica Makinson (Halfway Home), Oscar Nunez (The Office), Danny Pudi (Community), Cole Stratton (RiffTrax.com) and Janet Varney (Dinner and a Movie).

The SF Sketchfest Comedy Writing Award:
James L. Brooks in conversation
with a screening of Spanglish
Tuesday, February 1 at The Castro Theatre
7pm Click here for tickets.

SF Sketchfest is thrilled to present its third annual Comedy Writing Award to James L. Brooks. Brooks is a three-time Academy Award-winner and nineteen-time Emmy Award-winner. He began his television career as a writer who then later produced such television hits as Taxi, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, Lou Grant, Room 222, The Tracy Ullman Show and The Simpsons. Brooks began working in film in 1979 when he wrote and co-produced Starting Over. He wrote, produced and directed Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News, directed I’ll Do Anything, co-wrote, produced and directed As Good As It Gets, and wrote and directed Spanglish and How Do You Know. He co-wrote and produced The Simpsons Movie and has produced or executive-produced such films as Say Anything, War of the Roses, Big, Bottle Rocket, Jerry Maguire and Riding in Cars with Boys.

James L. Brooks will sit down for an in-depth conversation about his remarkable work and introduce his 2004 film Spanglish, which features fellow 2011 SF Sketchfest honoree Cloris Leachman in a hilarious supporting role. Spanglish is about a devoted dad whose skills as a chef have afforded his family a very upscale life, including a summer home in Malibu and a breathtaking new housekeeper who has recently emigrated to L.A. from Mexico, and is trying to find a better life for her remarkable daughter who is rapidly embracing the American way of life. Starring Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni, Paz Vega and Cloris Leachman, written and directed by James L. Brooks.
Past recipients of the SF Sketchfest Comedy Writing Award include Robert Smigel and John Hodgman.

Murphy Brown Tribute
to Candice Bergen and Diane English
Wednesday, February 2 at The Castro Theatre
8pm Click here for tickets.

In this special tribute to Murphy Brown, SF Sketchfest welcomes award-winning creator, writer and producer Diane English and “Murphy Brown” herself, acclaimed actress Candice Bergen to the Castro Theatre stage for a look back at the remarkable ten year run of the groundbreaking CBS series. Murphy Brown received sixty-two Emmy nominations, eighteen Emmy Awards (including two for Best Comedy Series), a Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series, and the George Foster Peabody Award for Significant and Meritorious Achievement. Diane English recently received the prestigious Crystal Award from Women in Film for writing, producing and directing The Women, an adaptation of the iconic play and film. Candice Bergen is “a beautiful actress who projects intelligence, humor, vulnerability and self-reliance – all more or less simultaneously,” wrote critic Vincent Canby in the New York Times. She has received multiple awards and extraordinary critical acclaim for performances in film and television including Getting Straight, Carnal Knowledge, Starting Over, Boston Legal and many more. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to see these two great artists discuss their collaborative process.

Visit www.sfsketchfest.com for more show information.

Posted: January 12th, 2011 under Press Releases, Ruminations, theorizations and stuff, Shows.
Comments: 43

2010 was a great year for Rooftop Comedy’s record label. Rooftop Comedy Productions produced 17 live comedy albums, several of which were recognized on Best of 2010 lists.

iTunes: Best of 2010 – Comedy
Kindness by Kevin Camia
Face Full of Flour by W. Kamau Bell

PUNCHLINE MAGAZINE: TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2010
How to Get High Without Drugs by Ryan Singer
Face Full of Flour by W. Kamau Bell

Amazon.com’s Best Comedy of 2010
Fairbanks! by Chris Fairbanks

The Serious Comedy Site: Top 10 Comedy CD’s and DVD’s of 2010
Keep Up by Tom Simmons

Ed Placencia’s Comedy Reviews: Top 10 Comedy Albums of 2010
Jokes to Make Love To by Lachlan Patterson

Congrats to all our big winners! These albums are available for purchase at the Rooftop Comedy Shop.

Posted: January 10th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 15

Rooftop: You’re in the midst of a pretty intense tour. How has it been going?

Alex Koll: It’s been good. Very, very interesting. Kinda interesting spread of shows I did. I made jokes at the beginning that I was going to be miserable because I’m the California boy going out to the Midwest in the dead of winter and I thought I was being kind of a jackass about it, but no, it was completely true.

RT: I’m going to name some cities and I want you to tell me the first thing that pops into your head.

AK: You know it’s all gonna be food, right?

RT: Let’s start with Appleton, Wisconsin.

AK: Heebie-Jeebies.

RT: Minneapolis.

AK: Blizzard.

RT: Chicago.

AK: Hot dogs!

RT: Milwaukee.

AK: Butter burger.

RT: Tell me more about this butter burger.

AK: I think it’s basically exactly what it sounds like. It’s a burger that, in the cooking process, is just slathered in butter. I think it’s just spread all over it. I almost did not have one and then on the way out of town, we drove past some place that had it and I made the guy driving me back to Chicago pull off the road and get one.

RT: It sounds like you were pretty happy with all of the Midwest’s comfort foods?

AK: Yeah, it totally delivered pretty much everything I wanted. I was staying with friends, so everyone was pretty accommodating and wanting to show off the best of what I was looking for. I was trying to make it a point not to be the guy that shows up in Chicago and is like, “Hey, where’s the deep dish pizza?” So I just focused on hot dogs instead.

RT: Tell me about the characters on the cover of Wizard Hello.

AK: I wanted something really cool and interesting for the cover and I think a lot of folks wind up putting their face on there and that was the last thing I wanted for some reason. I don’t know if I want to scare people away from the album and have them look at my face the whole time, but I don’t know. I wanted something neat and there’s a lot of local artists that I like and I came up with the idea of contacting Matt Furie, who’s this guy who does a comic called “Boy’s Club” and a lot of cool artwork. He was awesome. He gave me access to a lot of his drawings to use and I was going through them. It was kind of exciting. There’s a bunch of characters he does that, as we were looking at them, reminded me of a few of the bits on the album. Some of the stuff on the album is some of the weirder stuff that I’ve done over the years and I think it synced up with some of the weird characters he had on there. I’m super happy the way it turned out.

RT: What’s it like to be a two-time Air Guitar champion?

AK: Well I’m no longer reigning. I lost this past year. I put up a good fight, but it was taken by a worthy successor—Cold Steel Renegade. I was a champion two years running in SF and it was a huge blast. I spent a lot of time—that’s the secret. There’s some folks that can make it look really effortless and it just comes to them, but I’ve never played an instrument. I actually had to really practice at a lot of that loopy crap that I did to be Air Guitar champion. A year or so ago, I taped the Comedy Central special, Live at Gotham, and the Air Guitar championships in D.C. were two days before my Gotham taping in New York. I was literally prepping for both of them at the same time. It was this weird, worlds-colliding thing. In the end, I meant to get a haircut in the one day between the two of them so I didn’t look like an air guitar beast for my television debut and I kind of failed. And now I kind look like some kind of strange Big Foot. I freaked out. The first time being on TV, you go through a lot of weird stuff in your head. I think anybody trying to look good for anything knows that one of the biggest rules is you don’t get a haircut the day of or the day before. Maybe you do, but my batting average for getting haircuts is usually very low. I say 75 percent of the time I’ve left a hair salon infuriated—just because of the nature of my ridiculous hair. I don’t know if it’s any fault of the haircutter, but I’ve definitely punched a lot of car doors after leaving hair salons.

Posted: January 10th, 2011 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, Interview, rooftop comedy productions.
Comments: 13

Businessman, inventor, media mogal, notary public: America’s greatest TV pitchman, Bobby Gold has a product for every problem!

Watch “SOLD! With Bobby Gold”, Rooftop’s new original video, on MSN’s The Bubble.

Posted: January 6th, 2011 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy.
Comments: 10