With the weekly Open Mic Nights set to begin this Thursday (April 1st), the room launched with the first of its monthly Comedy Showcases, which will feature both local comedian favorites and out-of-town talent, hand-picked by the room's founder and host, comedienne Jennifer Rutherford.
Jennifer has already proven her ability to select only the best and brightest, because she wisely chose ME to open for the first Showcase. It was quite the honor, not only because I got to be the very first act at the new room, but because I'd get to share the stage with three of my favorite comics in town - Jennifer, Kristen Frisk, and Cheryl the Soccer Mom. I'll be the "Charlie" to their "Angels" any day.
Turned out to be a fun and fantastic show. I had a few of my folks show up who hadn't gotten to see me perform before (who've been waiting for me to finally book a Saturday night show, so I was grateful to Jennifer for that as well), and that was really awesome. And in an interesting twist, a former co-worker showed up with a date who had just seen me perform at Luna's Cafe last Wednesday. She had no idea we were connected. Small world. We all got there nice and early, so we had plenty of time to relax, hang out, socialize, drink, eat, and enjoy the fantastic restaurant/bar experience that is La Casa. For the record, the staff there couldn't be more fun and gracious, from the servers all the way up to the owners. They made us, and everyone who showed up to see us, feel right at home. Top notch.
Cheryl the Soccer Mom on the mic
The show itself was a huge hit. After Jennifer warmed things up in her usual spectacular Jennifer way, I got up and did my set. Jennifer doesn't really "time" your sets like a lot of comedy rooms (fewer comedians in a show means that's not as important to do), so I'm not sure exactly how long of a set I did, but I think it was right around 15 minutes. Had fun with it. And then came Kristen and Cheryl. Wow. Both totally brought the goods. I'm big fans of both of them and have seen/shared a stage with them before, but it was serious out-of-the-park time for both. The room acknowledged that...quite loudly. Jennifer kept the levels high with her between-comics bits, and the end result was a glorious inauguration night for the room.
Jennifer Rutherford. HOSTIN' it.
And the party didn't stop there, as the after-party moved to the bar for karaoke. We packed the place. Everybody knocked 'em back and belted out the jams. Big fun, and a fitting celebration for the beginning of what's sure to be a must-hit spot for the Sactown comedy community (I predict a very big line for the open mic this week).
Kristen Frisk tellin' it like it is.
My thanks to Jennifer, again, for letting me be a part of the whole experience. Thanks, too, to Budweiser for sponsoring the event for us, and for sending the friendly and really hot Heather out with her bag of cool freebies for all. Thanks to Eric Tillotson for all his organizin'. Thanks to the Brothers Jin and the whole awesome staff at La Casa Restaurante for making it all possible. And thanks to all my peeps who showed up and made the night so much fun!
Oh, yeah, and I was there, too.
Comedy fans: please take note that the next Showcase night, on Saturday, April 24th, is going to feature David Lew, one of my FAVORITE dudes on the stand-up circuit! All KINDS of hilarious, so if you missed this first showcase, do yourself a favor and be there for the second!
Comics: Thursday night, April 1st. Let's bust the cherry on this open mic right! Be there! (Oh, and we'd like it if comedy fans showed up for that, too...)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment