I got back yesterday from a 2 week jaunt down south slam packed with great shows. Imho, doing shows town to town for crowds of people who aren’t there by accident, and in indy venues that allow you to set the tone of the room…that’s the purest comedy freebase there is. Yer not some guy that’s comin through the Giggle Emporium that weekend, your name is what they’re coming to see and it’s on you to bring that professionalism & value to your name for it to mean anything. It’s a much more intimate experience and the best way to build an actual following. Really it’s the realest a comedy show can be, and it makes you the most on top of your game.
(Star Bar, ATL)
I was so impressed with scenes all around the south that are diligent with a DIY approach to producing comedy shows that show people just how good they can be. The clubs either play ball and help grow the scene (ie Zanies Nashville), or get left in the dust trying to govern the whole scene (Comedy Catch in ‘Nooga) .
I’m very proud of my hometown of ATL and the comics there making shit happen. I love all the youngins who’re stoked on comedy for the right reasons. I love seeing the big fish set a high bar for the scene itself, just like when I was there with the group of monsters I came up with.
(Highland Inn Ballroom, ATL)
I’ve been doin this for about a dozen years and I have to say that it only gets better/more fun to do.
I know it’s sorta cool to be embarrassed that you do comedy, and like you’re so over it or something; but I feel quite the opposite and I feel sorry for ya if ya only get so much out of it. Don’t ever be embarrassed to nerd out with other comics, or revel in a great show. Let the jaded get faded. Get better than anyone would expect of you, and save the networky talk for general meetings/yer mom. That’s what makes the southern killers in comedy stick out, aside from noticeable chops: setting a higher bar, and then setting another.
(JJ’s Bohemia, Chattanooga)
Big thanks to the scenes and Fandy’s of Chattanooga, Huntsville, Nashville, Memphis, and ATL. I love to see the endless hustle that goes without saying among the comics that set the bar down there. It ain’t an accident that my ATLien-NYC transplant fam are all funnier than the comics from your home scene 😎
Whenever we watch Andy Sandford, we can’t help but think how Andy makes his jokes as funny as they can be. Whether they be extended stories or classic set-up/punch style jokes, Andy meticulous tinkers with how his bits are written and delivered to their funniest point.
Shameful Information, Andy’s just-released special, exhibits Sandford’s exquisite craftsmanship that’s so enjoyable that you probably won’t even think about how an hour has passed by the time it’s done. Andy taped the special at Star Bar in Atlanta, his hometown, giving a much more genuine feel than you’d might get with a special performed in a gigantic theater. On top of all of that, Andy closes it with one of our all-time favorite jokes about inner city kids watching Abbott & Costello’s Who’s On First.
Also, we’d like to note that this special was recorded pre-2016 election and, for what it’s worth, there is a wondrous air devoid of the unmistakable cynicism of the current moment.
So, you can (and should) get and watch Shameful Information on iTunes right here.
I don’t know anything about most things (some of which are important). However, I know that I have been much happier in life when I do these things…
1. Steer clear of long, involved binge-style shows. They’re for the bedridden and the depressed. I was a lab rat in the Netflix maze just like all of you, but once you ignore their pellets (13 part documentaries, flashy lookin yet forgettable dramas), you’ll find you have way more time to do other things that aren’t a complete waste of time.
2. Don’t take facebook seriously…It’s a carnival of hyperbole. Your feed is in no way a sampling of society as a whole. People are better than facebook. The best ones aren’t even on there probly. Step down as mayor of hot take town every so often. You’re absolutely right about (insert whatever) and you’ve voted. You did your part and flaunted your sticker: yer a good person. Don’t let the state of the world determine how much you complain to me or others about it. Go for a walk. Like a status in real life (compliment?)…practice armpit farting. Somethin. If you start all your anecdotes with, “I saw so an so posted this an that,” stop that.. Also, be more specific about who “so an so” is, or what “this an that” pertains to.
3. Always have 1 fiction and 1 non-fiction book yer reading, and know that no one else wants to read them, even if they dunno what they’re missing..It’s good to make yer brain be your TV sometimes. If readin makes you sleepy, read more. Look up words you dunno, ya idiot. If ya let yer vocab etiolate (wilt/dry up), you’ll sound like every other stodgy philistine (boring dumbfuck). Don’t correct people’s grammar either. Everyone knows it’s “you’ve done well” and not, “ya done good,” but talkin colloquially is more fun, and I feel that if you love words enough, yer gunna know which ones to misspell on porpoise. Some of us aren’t bound by the chains of linguiphobia and are willing to make up words like linguiphobia.
4. Write every day. You don’t have to be a comedian to reap the benefits of daily, immersive writing. It just won’t be that funny. It’s still therapeutic. If you are a comedian, and you don’t like to make yourself write, you should probly know that you’re bullshitting yerself. Ya gotta dig for buried treasure. Hell you gotta dig to know where the treasure isn’t…don’t got time to judge how others go about writing, but not writing is not a writing process. For me, writing is like peeing. Sometimes I have to make myself, and it doesn’t flow so easily, but I can’t go too long without peeing/writing unless I wanna piss myself without warning and feel the warmth of possible jokes fade into cold, wet jeans that smell so bad I have to leave the Chase bank and take the train a few stops (not sure where the metaphor begins or ends).
5. **MOST IMPORTANTLY** Have passionate sex 3 times a day on a bed of money (at least $20’s and queen/full size), I can’t recommend this enough, but you’re gonna need a lotta money for that money bed, also for the sex. Maybe set a goal of being super rich first, THEN start workin on yourself. If yer poor, it’s harder to convince people you too deserve to be happy, ya just can’t afford it yet.
…I hope this was helpful to anyone out there havin a rough go of it, waiting on a comedian to tell them how to be happy. I just wanna say that you’ve waited long enough, and you are sincerely welcome. This felt like a productive way to put off actual work, and I’m now ready to get back to my passion: gettin paid and gettin laid.. It’s good to know that I’ve made someone’s day a little brighter: even if that someone is me. :)
