This week on Funny Title Here, Mike Vecchione!

Paolo: Hey Mike, how’s it going?
Mike: I am doing well..Living the dream

Paolo: How did you get into comedy?
Mike: I was teaching outside of Philly, finishing up my masters, living by myself. Was bored after work during the week, so i started going to open mic nights on Wednesdays at the comedy club.

Paolo: Who are your comedic influences?
Mike: I think Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy were both brilliant comics. As far as guys working today, Dave Attell, Greg Giraldo, and Patrice O,Neal.

Paolo: What was the absolute worst show you ever had?
Mike: The Insane Clown Posse has what is called the Jugallo Festival (a few hours outside of Chicago) in the woods every year. There are different events, not to mention drinking etc. One of the events is comedy. It was me and two of my friends performing. I went up, i said “how are all the ladies feeling”, i was immediately confronted by a jugallo (insane clown posse fan) who told me to “stop talking to their women” – apparently the jugallo’s take things very personally. Every joke i told was followed by boos, screams of – you suck, and in a few instances, plastic bottles being thrown. A preteen in the front row gave me the finger the entire time i was on stage.

The rest with Mike, after the jump!

Posted: March 11th, 2009 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 196

This week on Funny Title Here, the absolutely hilarious Kyle Grooms. The state of hip-hop, acting, and how to stop a comedy show!

Paolo: In addition to comedy, people have probably seen you on commercials for Career Builder and Sears. Are you thinking of doing anymore acting in the future?
Kyle: Yes definitely, I have studied acting for years, I love it…my most recent project was in an NBC pilot called The Green Team, I still no word if it’s going to make it to air but I have one of the principal roles.

Paolo: How did you get into comedy?
Kyle: It started as hobby, something i did at night after my day job.
My first gig ever was at a hair show in New Jersey, I did fifteen minutes in between the models. Killed.
I moved to miami a few months later, and started performing in the local ghetto rooms.
The rest with Kyle after the jump!

Posted: February 18th, 2009 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 23

This week on Funny Title Here, Austin’s Chuck Watkins steps up to the Funny Title Here to explain a love for TNG (That’s Star Trek: The Next Generation to you non-trekker), the perks of acting like a goon, and the trouble with technology.

Paolo: Finding your Star Trek song at RooftopComedy was one of the things that made my month. Would you care to articulate in textual terms your love for Geordi La Forge and/or Levar Burton?
Chuck: Warp factor: Ridiculous!!!!!

I’ve always been a big next generation fan, and love to write these huge epic ballads about people. But the idea didn’t come to me to do a Jordi LaForge song until I was forced to write an entire musical in a week for our sketch group last year. The opening scene was a band meeting between some krusty punk rockers who just want chicks and beer VS. the biggest nerd in the universe, who is only in the band because he’s got all the cool music equipment.

My girlfriend’s name is Jordi too, so I thought it would also be funny to be like, “listen baby, I’m writing you an epic love song…sortof.”

Once I got the idea for the song, it only took about 20 minutes to write and about an hour to record the music, which is pretty rare for me. I’ve only performed it twice, once for the sketch show and once at Cap City Comedy Club, but it’s one of my favorite musical pieces I’ve ever gotten to do.

The rest of the interview with Chuck, after the jump!

Posted: January 28th, 2009 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 8

Hailing from the mean streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota comes a special breed of stand-up comedienne. An extreme comedienne, if you will. So please, if you will help in welcoming to the Funny Title Here Dome, Extreme Maggie herself, Maggie Faris. And if you doubt her extremity, just look at that photo. That’s Maggie, in a bathing suit, with a camera attached to her helmet. And it looks quite cold. So, please dear reader, if you still doubt her extremeness, just remember, it looks extreme. And maybe after this interview, you will be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt of her extremity. Or extremeocity in this case.

Paolo: As Extreme Maggie, are there any extremes of extremity that you won’t do?
Maggie: I don’t like to eat gross stuff. I was dared to do the “chug a gallon of milk” challenge and I wouldn’t do it.

More with Maggie after the jump, and a secret love revealed?

Posted: January 21st, 2009 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 5

There is a photo that hangs on the wall at Rooftop HQ that depicts this week’s Funny Title Here-ee, Geoff Tate, shirtless with his arms over his head, while an unidentified pair of arms cover his nips.

Geoff Tate, with his immense selection of jokes on the Rooftop of Comedy, has been making employees here laugh since 2006 (according to records on our administration tool). After an appearance at our inaugural Aspen RooftopComedy Festival back in May, and making his television debut on Live at Gotham over this past summer, Geoff has been making the rounds at comedy clubs, slinging jokes and zingers for a living.

Paolo: What was it like performing in Aspen for our Aspen RooftopComedy Festival?
Geoff: It was my first festival experience, so it was the first time I got to hang out with a bunch of comics not normally around each other. It was the most fun weekend of my career.

More with Geoff, after the jump!

Posted: January 14th, 2009 under Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival, Funny Title Here.
Comments: 190

This week on Funny Title Here We have St. Louis based, former Canadian Gabe Kea (bringing our known Canadian interview total to two). And twice in a week, I ask about what’s going on in Canada. Just what exactly is going on in Canada? Anybody like know know? Because until them I’m assuming that the Prime Minister just won a ladder match against Parliament, so Parliament is fired from Canada.

Anyway.

Paolo: I was just talking to Kathleen McGee about what happened in Canada last week. You are a Canadian ex-pat, do you have any insight as to what happened with Canadian politics?
Gabe: I find that people in Canada are less attached to their political parties, whereas people in the states are identify themselves with their political parties almost before they affiliate themselves with being American.

More with Gabe Kea after the jump!

Posted: December 17th, 2008 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 3

Last week on Funny Title Here, there was no Funny Title Here. And the week before last there was no Funny Title Here. This week though, all of that changes. Stay tuned for a game changing revelation on Funny Title Here. This week in the grand returnining of Funny Title Here, we have the very funny Kathleen Mcgee from Canada’s own Edmonton!

Something funny about the comic that I try to spin up goes here, but what I think Kathleen says about herself in the next few lines is solid gold, and must be exposed to more people.

I am a favorite to many drunken rig pigs of Alberta that think that I’m “funny for a girl” and “would like to eat my pussy sometime” *please note that those are direct quotes from some of my fans. I am proud to say that I have offended at least one uptight bitch in every city, town, village, hamlet, etc that I have visited. I’ve entered a numerous contest and won one at a gay bar and placed 2nd in another so I guess you could say contests are not my strong point…unless some drag queens are judging.

Paolo: Holy stuff! Just what exactly is going on in Canada right now? Did your government just slam dunk Parliament or something?
Kathleen: What is happening is that finally Canadian politics are finally interesting. It’s long and complicated but I think that we just saw how much fun American politics were getting and we just wanted to know what it was like to actually care about what our leaders are doing.

More with Kathleen, including, bone-able religious figures after the jump!

Posted: December 10th, 2008 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 3

Matt Bearden was one of the eight comedians to win a Rusty Nail at this year’s Aspen RooftopComedy Festival. Does knowing this information remind you of finding out who was the final five Cylons on Battlestar Galactica, or finding out who was on the Oceanic Six on LOST. Well it’s not like it’s a total secret, and if you follow the clues, or read the spoilers or whatever. Anyway, Matt Bearden was on TV too! Does that make him a Cylon? Probably not.

Paolo: What was it like to perform at funfunfunfest a couple of weeks ago? Also, I read somewhere about a mustache incident happening, by way of aspecialthing, would you care to elaborate? Was there even an incident?
Matt: Fun Fun Fun Fest was, for the lack of creativity, very fun. Wow. I just re-read that first sentence and realized how lame it is. I mean, it’s terrible. Sure, I could re-write it, but why not let your audience know what an unfunny douche I really am?

Anyhow . . . two days, perfect weather, free beer. Pretty much a wining combo. I got into the spirit of things and did a stage dive during my set. It was as punk as I get. The guys who run Fun Fun (Transmission Entertainment) seem to be showing a lot of faith in comedy these days. They ran a similar thing during this past SXSW called “Mess With Texas”. Highlights included Tig (Notaro), PFT (Paul F. Tompkins), Reggie Watts, and others along side The Breeders, Matt & Kim, and Jay Reatard, et. al. Both events revolve around outdoor stages, which can usually be the kiss of death for stand up, but if you approach it correctly, it’s a blast.

I hate to disappoint you, but there really wasn’t much of a “mustache incident”. Occasionally, I’ll invite someone else with a stache to join me on stage so that we can touch our cock-dusters together. Like a dude-on-dude kiss, but without actual lip contact. It’s perhaps the most awkwardly looking and feeling thing. This kid in the FFFF audience was a particular trooper. He apparently thought I was inviting him up to simply touch my mustache. Like, with his hands. But once I corrected him, he seemed to be a good sport, and even let me deliver a joke while we stood, nose-to-nose in near bro-love glory. Then we got arrested for violating Prop 8.

More with Matt, after the jump!

Posted: November 19th, 2008 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 205

With credits including, Last Comic Standing, Jay Leno, BET’s Comic View, Showtime’s Comedy Without Borders, and performing at our own Aspen RooftopComedy Festival in May, Sacramento-based Mike E. Winfield is a favorite here at Rooftop (Not ‘the’ favorite mind you, you’re all our favorites). And a really nice guy I would like to add.

Paolo: You performed at our Aspen Comedy Festival back in May. What was that like for you?
Mike: Aspen is a beautiful town. I have been to many festivals, and I like the way that Rooftop seemed to showcase many different styles and talents. I attended so many of the shows. I also learned to play poker at this festival which has changed my life. At the poker tables nowadays, I have attitude. I don’t win, but I have attitude.

From a performers aspect, May was a very experimental time for me in comedy. I was like, “Hm, let’s try this tonight.” In the process of growth, you go through stages where you want to be at another level, and I find as I continue pursuing that you can’t ever force it. I’m glad that I was able to be a part of that festival. It helped me realize that the world is bigger than just the East and the West Coast.

More with Mike, after the jump!

Posted: November 14th, 2008 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 2

This week on the return of Funny Title Here, we have Atlanta, by way of Jamaica and the Bronx, Drew Thomas!

Paolo: If you say that this Election is like a reality show, what do you hope/think the season finale will be? Will it involve a game-changing twist? (Ed note, questions sent pre-election) Drew: A lot of people don’t want to admit racism still exist because it doesn’t exist in the form of the past so they are millions of Americans that don’t want a Black President but too late jump on board it’s gonna happen. This just in it did happen. There’s the big finale.

More with Drew Thomas after the jump!

Posted: November 5th, 2008 under Funny Title Here.
Comments: 5