Davis gets schooled this Thursday night with "Comedy Binge"!

Davis is about to get a whole lot funnier.

This Thursday, April 14th, stand-up drops on Davis in a big way with the premiere of "Comedy Binge" at the Graduate, a new monthly showcase featuring some of Northern California's best comics.

Davis local comedian Cory Guebels, producer and host of Comedy Binge, has pulled together some of the best working comics from Sacramento, Stockton and Lodi to launch the endeavor.  The comics include Nick Aragon, Jason Armenio, Michael O'Connell, Josh Barbee, John Ross and Keith Lowell Jensen.

Noting the lack of stand-up in the city of Davis, Cory took it upon himself to change that.  As the title of the show suggests, instead of bringing in just a headliner and an opener, he wants to over-stuff the audience with multiple comedic courses, giving the crowd a  variety of styles to sample and a cross-section of what the NorCal scene has to offer.  The next show is already booked for May, with a new roster of exciting young comics ready to joke it up for the Graduate.

 

Doors will open at the Graduate at 8:00 PM, and the show starts at 8:30.  The cover charge at the door is $5.00.

The Graduate
805 Russell Blvd #A
Davis, CA 95616
530 758 4723

NOTE:  Comedy Binge comedians Jason Armenio and Michael O'Connell will be appearing the day of the show on the "Radio Parallax" program on KDVS 90.3 FM to promote the event.  The program runs from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, and can be streamed live off the web here.

"Smokin' & Jokin'" comedy show at Tobacco Road on Friday, April 8th!

Like a good cigar with your punchlines?  Then this show was designed for you.  Seriously.  I was thinking of you when I designed it.  Honest.

Ramp Up Productions proudly presents Smokin' & Jokin', a night of cigars and comedians at Tobacco Road Cigar Lounge in Sacramento, Friday night, April 8th, from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM.  

The show will be hosted by comedian and cigar enthusiast (and not necessarily in that order) Michael O'Connell, and will feature the double-headlining talents of two of northern California's finest stand-ups, Keith Lowell Jensen and Sean Peabody.

Sean Peabody is a veteran of the stand-up circuit and has headlined comedy clubs and colleges all over the west, as well as shows for the troops overseas (Sean being an ex-Marine himself).  Known for his crowd interaction and extroverted style, Sean always leaves audiences dazzled, and is considered by many a California stand-up to be the "comedian's comedian". 

Keith Lowell Jensen gained fame as part of the "Coexist?" comedy tour and as a solo comic has played clubs from L.A. to New York, opening for some of the biggest names in the business (like Norm MacDonald and Robin Williams). He also directed and starred in the documentary film "Why Lie? I Need a Drink" and is set to release his second comedy CD.

Michael O'Connell is in a wheelchair and makes jokes about being in a wheelchair and therefore people laugh because they're afraid to hurt the feelings of a guy in a wheelchair.  In other words, everybody wins.

Tickets for Smokin' & Jokin' are $10 at the door, and those attending are encouraged to show up early, as seating is limited.  A couple of Tobacco Road notes:

This will be a smoky room, as audience members will be lighting up and smoking cigars and pipes.  It's recommended that only those who feel they're okay with sitting in a smoky room for a couple of hours attend this show.

Cigarette smoking is not allowed in the Tobacco Road lounge.  Cigar and pipe smoking only.  Cigarette smokers and can step outside to smoke and head back in at their discretion.

Bringing one's own cigars is not permitted, much in the same way bringing one's own bottle of vodka is not permitted at bars.  Tobacco Road has an enormous walk-in humidor with a vast range of cigars to suit any cigar fan's tastes, so you're sure to find just the right stogie (or two!) to suit you as you enjoy the show.

Tobacco Road is located at Town & Country Center at the corner of Fulton and Marconi in Sacramento, right across from the Trader Joe's.  The address is:

Tobacco Road
2912 Pasatiempo Ln
Sacramento, CA 95821
916 489 4590

 

Be sure to tell all your friends who enjoy cigars (and comedy), and we look forward to seeing you there!

A Magical Place presents a night of comedy (and a wee bit of magic) featuring three of Northern California's finest, together on one stage.

Michael O'Connell, the self-described "wheelchair comedian", has been taking his hilarious tales of disabled living to comedy clubs from Seattle to L.A. He counts Hollywood celebrities among his fans, has worked with some of the best in the comedy business (including Bobby Slayton and Will Durst), has appeared on the Dennis Miller Radio Show and is the headliner on the "Comedians with Disabilities Act" comedy tour.

Keith Lowell Jensen is a veteran of comedy stages from coast to coast, and has shared those stages with the likes of Norm Macdonald, Doug Stanhope, Neil Hamburger, Tim Meadows and Robin Williams. Perhaps best known as the Atheist comedian on the "Coexist? Comedy Tour", Keith has appeared on "Lopez Tonight" on TBS, directed and starred in the documentary film "Why Lie? I Need a Drink", and his anxiously-awaited second comedy CD ("Cats Made of Rabbits") is about to be released, much to the delight of fans of his outlandish observational humor.

Mark Pitta came out of the San Francisco stand-up scene in the 1980s, and soon found LA calling. A national headliner, Mark has appeared on the Tonight Show under both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, was the host of Fox TV's "Totally Hidden Video" and hosted NBC's "Friday Night Videos", appeared on NBC comedies "Mad About You" and "Third Rock from the Sun", and has been featured on several Comedy Central programs. Mark has also opened for such famed musicians as Chris Issak, Celene Dion, Vanessa Williams, Smokey Robinson and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Mark hosts "Mark Pitta and Friends" at the heralded 142 Throckmorton Theatre each Tuesday night in Mill Valley, a showcase for up-and-coming talent that's been known to have drop-ins like Dana Carvey, Richard Lewis and Robin Williams.

Doors open at 7:30 PM, and the show begins at 8:00 PM. Seating is limited. Tickets are $10.00 at the door. The show is for 21 and older only.

A Magical Place

85 Enterprise Court Ste D

Galt, CA 95632

209 745 2850

To hear this show discussed on the Don Geronimo Radio Show, click here, go to the first show segment, and go to 31:50 in. 

 

Mike Betancourt, Michael O'Connell and Sam Bruno - This Tuesday at the Rose Room!

Are you ready for this, Roseville?  I don't think you are!!

This Tuesday, February 15th, I will be hooking up with full-contact headliner Mike Betancourt and the inked one, Sam Bruno, at the Rose Room in Old Roseville for an 8:00 show.  The doors open at 7:00 for dinner specials, so come early to get your pizza on (along with your drink - we encourage early drinking at our shows).  The tix are $10 per person or $15 per couple.  Way too cheap for this kind of triple-threat comedy onslaught, you say?  You're RIGHT.  And you're WELCOME.

Sam (he of Sam Bruno Entertainment, the biz putting this show together) will be opening things up, and if things go like they often do, someone will end up punching him in the head before his set is over.  Sam continues to defend his crown as Sacramento Comedian Who's Spent the Most Time in the ER.  Jokes will fly.  Fists might, too.  One way or the other, Sam will knock you OUT.

I'll be dropping somewhere between 20-30 minutes up there, and while I don't want to get your hopes up too much, I MAY be telling some wheelchair jokes.  Don't hold me to that.  But keep hope alive.

Finally, your headliner for the night will be Mike B., whose last trip the Rose Room not only tore the joint up, but somehow ended in a still-talked-about Dirty Dancing finale reenactment.  Every comedian gets hecklers.  Not every comedian lifts their hecklers up to the heavens like Swayze.  You never know what's going to go down when Mike's on the mic, so don't be the poor sap who misses out on his latest breakdown.  You'll have the time of your life.  And you've never felt that way before.

Come one, come all, come early!  And come to:

The Rose Room

314 Lincoln Street  

Roseville, CA 95678

Thanks for the memories.

When I did that first video slideshow showing my 2010 in comedy month to month, I was agonized by how many photos I had to leave out with me and people - people like the friends, fans and family coming out to all the shows.

So instead, I've done a second video with just shots of me and all the many people in my comedy universe, from spectators to fellow comics to celebs.  And even now, I was STILL agonized by not being able to fit everyone in!  If you know you're in a pic with me and don't see yourself in this, my apologies.  Fall Out Boy just need to write longer songs in the future.  Either that, or I have to get a lot less awesome people in my life.

Thanks, everyone, for making this past year so unforgettable.  But be sure to stick around!  More excitement is on the way in 2011!

 

The "Comedians with Disabilities Act" Hits San Francisco Punch Line 02/01/2011!

With their sold-out debut performance behind them, the "Comedians with Disabilities Act" is bringing their "special" brand of humor to the Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco on Tuesday, February 1st, at 8:00 PM.

The trio of Eric Mee (sight-impaired), Steve Danner (little person) and Michael O'Connell (wheelchair) will be rocking the Bay for one night only, joined by special guest Nina G, San Francisco's renowned stuttering comedienne, and producer/host Keith Lowell Jensen of the heralded "Coexist? Comedy Tour".  Covered in print (The Sacramento Bee), on radio (Capital Public Radio's "Insight") and on television (CW31's Good Day Sacramento), the comedy group is about to storm the San Francisco media, and plans to drop another standing-room-only performance on the California comedy world.

"There's a big difference between laughing at someone with a disability and laughing with them," says O'Connell, the show's headliner.  "We have a great time poking fun at our disabilities, at ourselves, at the absurd and hilarious things that happen to us in our lives.  And even at each other.  And we invite the audience in on the joke with us.  While we're there to make people laugh, we also give the crowd a chance to look inside our worlds and learn a few things they wouldn't have otherwise known.  There are a lot of things people don't know about disabilities just because they don't happen to know anyone with a disability.  After our show, they feel like they do."

Tickets are on sale through LiveNation or half-priced through Goldstar.  While tickets are also available at the box office, advance purchase is recommended.

The Punch Line Comedy Club

444 Battery Street

(Between Washington and Clay)

San Francisco, CA 94111

415-397-PLSF

Spend an evening with the "Comedians with Disabilities Act" and find out what happens when adversity meets hilarity.

2010 - My Year in Comedy

So...THAT was a good year...

2010 is now behind, 2011 stands ahead, waiting with promises of new adventures, new surprises and new people.  But before I start the major forging ahead, I thought I'd pause to take a look back - via musical photo slideshow - at my year in comedy in 2010.

And let me apologize to all the people who should have been in this thing that may not have made the cut.  I put together a timeline of photos that did a pretty good job covering the whole 2010 experience, and then realized I had right about twice as many photos as I could actually fit with one song.  My choices were to either make a video with two songs (which is not kind to ask people to sit through) or make the painful decisions and create the best map of my comedy year I could in the time available.  Had to go with pain.  But it breaks down the month by month pretty good.  I do now, though, want to make another video that's just photos of me with people, because it's the people - fans, friends, family, fellow comics, the occasional famous person - that made 2010 the most exciting and fulfilling year of my life to date.  I will get around to that dedication, f'sho.

Maybe after LA.  And San Francisco.  :)

Please take a little time travelin' trip with me (and that's high quality video, so go ahead and use the option to view full screen for best watching), and if you were in any way a part of it with me (whether you pop up on this video or not), thanks for everything.  And let's do it again...all 2011 long!