Back in Sac: The Comedians with Disabilities Act returns to Sacramento Friday, May 4th!

On November 26th, 2010, the Comedians with Disabilities Act had its first ever performance, debuting to a sold-out audience at the Sacramento Comedy Spot.  On the day after Thanksgiving, no less.

Brought together by comedian/producer Keith Lowell Jensen, the group, at that time, consisted of Michael O'Connell, Steve Danner and Eric Mee.  Based on the success of that first show, the group was booked at the heralded San Francisco Punch Line soon after, and were joined by a guest-set performer named Nina G.  Nina was immediately recognized as the element that no one had even realized was missing and was added to the tour, completing the foursome that began playing clubs, theaters and college campuses across California together.

Finally, on Friday night, May 4, 2012, the Comedians with Disabilities Act will finally be returning to the place where it all began, performing a one-night only show at the Comedy Spot at 9:00 PM.  Returning, also, will be Keith Lowell Jensen, who will be hosting the festivities.  In addition, the show will feature a special guest performance by San Francisco comic Steve Lee, another disabled performer.  All the members of the Act have high hopes that, as long as they're repeating history, that the sellout part will repeat again as well.

Advance tickets are available for purchase on the Comedy Spot's web site, and early buying is strongly recommended based on the demand for this tour.  Tickets are $15 and can be ordered here:

http://saccomedyspot.com/comedians-with-disabilities-act/

The venue is roughly at 20th and J Street in midtown Sacramento:

Sacramento Comedy Spot
1050 20th St. Ste 130
Sacramento, CA
916 444 3137

Don't miss out on California's favorite differently-abled comedians in their homecoming show!

The Comedians with Disabilities Act coming to Red Bluff and Oakland!

For the first time since their triumphant and much-heralded blockbuster show at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, the Comedians with Disabilities Act comedy tour is back on the road and headed for Red Bluff and Oakland!

Everyone's favorite differently-abled comics will be hitting the State Theatre in Red Bluff, California, on Saturday night, February 11th, for a big to-do brought to you by Z-NIRP Productions, bringing the funny to the peoples of the great Cal north.  The show starts at 7:30 PM.  Tickets are $20 at the door, but discount tickets are available now at Red Bluff Grocery Outlet and Sky River Music.  Don't miss this chance to see their "special" brand of comedy and find out why the San Francisco Examiner called them "The most unconventional comics to pop up in 2011".

Read all about it in After Five Magazine here.

The State Theatre

333 Oak Street

Red Bluff, CA 96080

530 529 2787

If you miss this chance, you've got another shot to see the gang AND support a good cause when the troupe hits Comedy Off Broadway Oakland on Thursday, May 31st, in a show to benefit Yo! Disabled and Proud, a program organizing youth with disabilities to take pride in their identity, learn about disability heritage and promote advocacy.  Joining the Comedians with Disabilities Act will be special guests Leroy Moore (rapper/poet) and comedienne/author Queenie TT.   The show begins at 8:00 PM.  Tickets are $10 ($8 for students/seniors/peace officers) and can be purchased at the show or early by going here. 

Comedy Off Broadway Oakland
Miss Pearl's Jam House (at The Waterfront Hotel)
1 Broadway (at Jack London Sqaure), Oakland, CA

510 214 2626

Stay tuned for more news of upcoming dates for the Comedians with Disabilities Act tour to be announced soon!

Michael O'Connell at Jon Lovitz Comedy Club and Hollywood Improv this week!

After an amazing time performing with my crew - the Comedians with Disabilities Act - at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, I'm returning to LA again next week for two shows at two more world-famous comedy hot-spots - the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club and the Hollywood Improv.

In both cases, I'll be standing in (so to speak) with a show called The Crippled Kings of Comedy, one produced by Dante the Comedian (Last Comic Standing).  It, too, will feature a group of all disabled comics.  I'm very much looking forward to meeting some of the disability brothers and sisters from the SoCal area and seeing if I can represent well for NorCal (recognize!).

The first show is this Wednesday night, October 26th, at 8:00 PM, and will be at the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club (1000 Universal Studios Blvd #222, Universal City, CA 91608 - 818 824 6545) on the famed Universal CityWalk right outside Universal Studios.

Show #2 will be Sunday night, October 30th, at 7:30 PM at the Hollywood Improv (8162 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046 - 323 651 2583).  As for the days between the two shows, I'll be hanging around LA and seeing what else I can make happen.  Strange things come to pass in the magical land of Hollywood, you know...

So if you're in SoCal, come on out and see me while I'm in your neighborhood!  Two chances in one week!  Hope to see you there!

The Comedians with Disabilties Act at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood, October 4!

On Tuesday night, October 4th, handicapped parking will be a little harder to find on the streets of Hollywood.

The Comedians with Disabilities Act, the all-disabled comedy troupe, will bringing their "special" brand of funny to the legendary Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard for an unforgettable night of hilarity to benefit Los Angeles City College's Office of Special Services.  The fundraiser will provide funds for tutoring for LACC students with disabilities.

In their first performance since their highly successful and heralded Special Olympics fundraiser show at Napa's Uptown Theatre, the group - made up of Steve Danner (little person), Michael O'Connell (wheelchair) and Nina G (comedienne who stutters) - will be joined by special guests to provide a night of decidedly unconventional humor.

Eric Mee, the visually impaired regular on the tour, will not be performing in this particular show.

Formed in 2010, the cadre is comprised of working comedians who decided to combine their unique situations into a comedy show that fans hadn't seen before, one where they milk their individual challenges for hysterical storytelling, and at the same time take the chance to educate the public on disabled peoples and issues.  Called "The most unconventional comics to pop up in 2011" by the San Francisco Examiner, the northern California-based team they are making their first appearance as a group in southern California.

 Steve Danner

Steve Danner’s comedy career began as an audience member at a club. The comedian on stage that night decided to have some fun at his expense, and Danner’s skills in heckling back at him led the comic to approach Danner after the show and suggest he give comedy a try. He did so, and soon began a career as a prolific comedian and producer, delighting crowds at clubs and comedy rooms all over the west coast with hysterical tales centered heavily on his dwarfism. His comic journey keeps him on the road much of the time, but as Danner is fond of saying, “Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy!”.

 Michael O'Connell

Michael O’Connell was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at two years old and went into a wheelchair full time in 1995. But it wasn’t until years later that a friend dared him to try doing comedy at an open mic night at a Sacramento club, and after ending up winning the competition that first night on stage, he never looked back. He’s played comedy clubs from Seattle to San Diego, been featured in newspaper and on radio and television, and counts several Hollywood celebrities among his fans. His business card reads “100% Comedy, 0% Stand-Up”.

 Nina G

Touting herself as “the world’s only female comedian who stutters”, Nina G hails from the Bay Area and has spent a lifetime dealing with both speech and learning disability issues. A key note speaker and disability activist, Nina turned her talents to the stand-up stage to help raise disability awareness through comedy, and performs at some of the industry’s hottest clubs (the Hollywood Improv and the Purple Onion) and has shared the stage with some of its biggest names (Dave Chappelle).

 Kathy Buckley and John Kevari

The regulars will be joined for the fundraiser by two special guest comedians, both Los Angeles locals.  The headliner for the night will be America's first hearing-impaired comedienne, the award-winning actress, author and motivational speaker Kathy Buckley.  Her list of televised appearances is overwhelming (The Tonight Show, The Today Show, CBS This Morning, Entertainment Tonight, just to name a few), her accolades are astounding (from such names as Colin Powell and Anthony Robbins), and she has touched hundreds of thousands of lives through her acting (shows such as Touched by an Angel and her critically acclaimed one woman Off-Broadway show), her writing, and her motivational speaking engagements all over the world.

Also performing is Los Angeles comedy veteran John Kevari.  Born with two fingers on one hand, John grew up watching the giants of comedy on Johnny Carson and feeling drawn to stand-up "like a moth to a flame".  After reading an article in People Magazine about the Comedy Store in 1986, the then-23-year-old caught a bus from his home in San Bernardino to Hollywood and did his first stage appearance there on a Monday night show.  That first success has led to over 25 years of bringing laughter to LA's biggest comedy clubs, and to showing audiences how to turn adversity into hilarity.

The Comedians with Disabilities Act fundraiser show begins at 8:00 PM at:

The Laugh Factory

8001 W Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90046

Tickets will be sold at the door. Valet parking is available.

An additional free comedy show featuring the Comedians with Disabilities Act will take place earlier in the day at 2:00 PM at the Camino Theater at Los Angeles City College, for students and faculty of LACC only. 

Michael O'Connell to perform opening night at Sacramento Comedy Festival

During the life of this blog, I've tried to use it to occasionally highlight more than just what I'm up to in comedy.  More specifically, I've tried to use it to let people in the Sacramento area know what an amazing and thriving comedy scene is going on right here in the old home town, something I myself didn't realize until I accidentally stumbled into a comedy career.

As fans of comedy, most folks watch YouTube clips, catch specials on Comedy Central, watch Saturday Night Live or buy a stand-up CD or DVD from some well-known performer.  But while this is all well and good and perfectly fine, people don't realize that they're missing out on the real energy of comedy, the raw essence of it, the laboratory where it's birthed (or stillborn).  They don't realize that they have access to the very crucible where all those voices and faces from TV and the web start out and pay their dues and become the household names that go on to make movies and blow their noses with hundred dollar bills (if I was Sandler, that's what I'D do when I had a cold...).

This is the arena of live local comedy.  And you don't have to go to LA or New York or Chicago to find it.  It's right here in Sactown.  It's in our local comedy clubs.  It's in all of our many open mic rooms that you can find almost any night of the week in the area.  It's in bars.  Sometimes it's even in cigar lounges (thank you, thank you very much).  It's traditional (and experimental) stand-up.  It's improv groups.  It's sketch comedy.  It's every flavor of funny that your heart desires.

And the even better news is that for four days this September/October, you don't even have to look all over town trying to find it.  Because it's all going to be in one place.

The Sacramento Comedy Festival is a four-day showcase of the best Sac (and San Francisco, and a little LA) has to offer.  Taking place at the Sacramento Comedy Spot downtown, it will feature multiple shows from Thursday (September 29) to Sunday (October 2), allowing you to sample as little or as much as you please.  Broken down by genre (improv, sketch, stand-up), these shows will range in cost from $8.00 to $12.00 each, but there are package deals available to let you get great savings for buying all-day passes or the big full-weekend pass.  All told, you'll have 20 different comedy shows to choose from, all filled with some of the best and brightest talent from around the region.  You like the old stool-n-mic stand-up?  Come see folks like Ellis Rodriguez, John Ross and Nick Aragon (and San Francisco treats like Nina G, Mary Van Note and Marty Grimes).  More a fan of SNL or Kids in the Hall?  Laugh it up to sketch comedy groups like The Syndicate, Uphill Both Ways or Van Full of Candy.  Or do you like the Who's Line is it Anyway? frenetic comedy style that only improv can bring you?  Marvel to the lightning-quick hilarity of Sacramento's Anti-Cooperation League, LA's Bro Squad 5 or Oakland's Awkward Face.

The stand-up part of the Festival begins Thursday night (9/29) at 9:00 PM, when I'll be lucky enough to be performing with some of my favorite people in Sac comedy world - Keith Lowell Jensen, Ray Molina, Eve David, Josh Barbee and Johnny Taylor.  For those of you who've been asking when I'm going to be on stage in Sac again, you now have your answer.  Ten bucks will get you a ticket to see all six of us.  Or, if you're REALLY smart, you'll grab up that weekend pass and spend four days laughing your arse off at all the amazing acts that Brian Crall - owner of Sacramento Comedy Spot - is bringing together for your knee-slapping pleasure.

For the full schedule for the festival, a full list of performers and a link to grab tickets, just click here for the skinny:

Sacramento Comedy Festival

If you've been meaning to delve further into your town's comedy scene, you'll never get a better chance, Sac.  Come on down to midtown and see some of the folks you'll be later able to tell your "I saw them when" stories about.  Hope to see you there!

The Comedians with Disabilities Act this Saturday, July 30, at the Uptown Theatre in Napa!

A blind man. A woman who stutters. A wheelchair user. A little person. While this may sound like a description of a support group, it is, in fact, the lineup for the “Comedians with Disabilities Act”, a comedy tour that the San Francisco Examiner called “The most unconventional comics to pop up in 2011”. Made up entirely of performers with different disabilities, the troupe is bringing their “special” brand of humor to Napa’s Uptown Theatre on Saturday night, July 30th, for a one-night-only fundraiser to benefit Special Olympics. The foursome, all of them working northern California comedians, met each other through the comedy club circuit and decided to band together to treat audiences to a unique and unforgettable experience.

“Lots of able-bodied comedians out there tell blind or wheelchair jokes and get the audience to laugh AT the handicapped,” said Michael O’Connell, the group’s wheelchair representative. “But wouldn’t it be more fun for the crowd, we thought, to be invited to laugh WITH the handicapped instead? That’s guilt-free fun right there.”

Since their first sold-out show in Sacramento, the group has been in growing demand, getting booked at such lauded venues as San Francisco’s Punch Line comedy club and at college campuses. Their comedy comes from the lifetime of experiences each has had due to their individual challenges. They see the tour as not only a chance to entertain, but to educate people on disability issues.

“We’re all comedians first,” said Napa native Steve Danner, the comic who is a little person, “and it’s a comedy show. But who says you can’t make people laugh and send them home with something to think about too?”

Danner’s comedy career began as an audience member at a club. The comedian on stage that night decided to have some fun at his expense, and Danner’s skills in heckling back at him led the comic to approach Danner after the show and suggest he give comedy a try. He did so, and soon began a career as a prolific comedian and producer, delighting crowds at clubs and comedy rooms all over the west coast with hysterical tales centered heavily on his dwarfism. His comic journey keeps him on the road much of the time, but as Danner is fond of saying, “Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy!”.

Michael O’Connell was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at two years old and went into a wheelchair full time in 1995. But it wasn’t until years later that a friend dared him to try doing comedy at an open mic night at a Sacramento club, and after ending up winning the competition that first night on stage, he never looked back. He’s played comedy clubs from Seattle to San Diego, been featured in newspaper and on radio and television, and counts several Hollywood celebrities among his fans. His business card reads “100% Comedy, 0% Stand-Up”.

Eric Mee was only eighteen years old when, while protecting a young child, he was stabbed in the chest. Complications resulting from his injury led to the loss of his eyesight. Choosing not to let this drastic life change get him down, he began joking about his condition and giving speeches to groups that were always filled with humor. After many suggestions, he turned his talents to stand-up comedy, and now brings his manic energy and outrageous tales to the stage.

Touting herself as “the world’s only female comedian who stutters”, Nina G. hails from the Bay Area and has spent a lifetime dealing with both speech and learning disability issues. A key note speaker and disability activist, Nina turned her talents to the stand-up stage to help raise disability awareness through comedy, and performs at some of the industry’s hottest clubs (the Hollywood Improv and the Purple Onion) and has shared the stage with some of its biggest names (Dave Chappelle).

This concert features a special guest performance by Los Angeles comedian Samuel J. Comroe, a fast-rising stand-up star with Tourette Syndrome. Comroe learned back in school how to get others to laugh about (instead of at) his condition, and used to perform comedy shows on his high school campus at lunch for fifty cents a person. This love of comedy turned into career, and he’s now a regular at LA laugh spots like the Improv, the Ice House and Flappers, has won several comedy competitions (including placing 8th out of 101 in the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas) and has taken his one-of-a-kind performances nationwide.

Produced by Big Mini Entertainment, the benefit concert begins at 8:00 PM (doors open at 7:00 PM).  Tickets are $20.00 and may be purchased at the box office or through Ticketmaster.

"Smokin' & Jokin' II" this Friday, July 8, at Tobacco Road!

Kick-ash comedy returns to Tobacco Road cigar lounge this Friday, July 8th, at 8:00 PM, courtesy of Ramp-Up Productions and the Punch Cigar Company.

After its monster debut, Sacramento's only comedy and cigar event returns to kick the jokes and light the smokes once more.  Attendees will enjoy fine cigars from Tobacco Road's mammoth humidor while being treated to comedic sets from some of Northern California's finest comedians.

Veteran comic Kristen Frisk, winner of 2010's Tommy T's Talent Search Finals, has been dazzling audiences solo and as part of one of California's hottest comedy tours - "The Real (Funny) Housewives of Rio Linda" - and now brings her madcap skills to the smoking set.  Having played such venues at the San Jose Improv and Sacramento's Punch Line, she's now the first comedienne to perform at Tobacco Road, and plans to leave her mark.

Ellis Rodriguez, the Boston-born son of Panamanian immigrants and former Marine, is a west coast comedy power player who's a regular favorite at clubs like the Hollywood Improv, the Laugh Factory, Tommy T's, Pepperbelly's and Laughs Unlimited, and recently completed taping on his soon-to-be-released comedy DVD "Go Be a Clown".  Smokin' & Jokin' audience members will get a chance to see this dynamic, charismatic and much-heralded performer in an intimate (and smoky) venue.

The show will be hosted by wheelchair comedian Michael O'Connell, a regular at Tobacco Road and a player at comedy clubs from Seattle to San Diego.  The creator of Smokin' & Jokin', he is also one of the founders of the "Comedians with Disabilities Act" comedy tour, a troupe of disabled comics that have brought their unique brand of funny to venues like the San Francisco Punch Line and are preparing for their July 30th blockbuster show at Napa's Uptown Theater.

The second Smokin' & Jokin' show brings a new twist as the hour before the show begins (7:00 PM to 8:00 PM) will become Amateur Hour, when audience members will be invited to come up and try their hand and telling a joke at the mic before an audience.  This portion will be for amateurs only.  No working comedians will be able to perform.

Handling sound and spinning Rat Pack music for the show will be NorCal's DJ Rob, whose skills and tunes will set the tone for this exclusive and unforgettable evening.

Sponsoring the show will be Punch Cigars, and Punch's representative, Ed Trevino, will be on hand with cigar deals, offers and merchandise. 

Tickets for the event will be $10.00 and will be for sale at the door only.  No advance tickets sales will be provided.  Seating is limited due to the venue's size, so early arrival is strongly recommended.  Early arrival also allows plenty of time to relax, enjoy the lounge's friendly atmosphere, and light up a stogie or two.

Smokin' & Jokin' II will go down at:

Tobacco Road Cigar Lounge

2912 Pasatiempo Lane

(at Town & Country Village, corner of Fulton and Marconi, across from Trader Joe's)

Sacramento, CA 95821

916 489 4590

Come spend your Friday night lounging and laughing at Tobacco Road!