COMEDY REVIEW: TUComedy Standup Showcase @ Pubb Webb, 11/11

Each of the five student comedians walked away knowing they were responsible for at least one stint of roaring laughter. Oh, that sweet, sweet sound.

0 comments

COMEDY REVIEW: TUComedy Standup Showcase @ Pubb Webb, 11/11

POSTED: Tuesday, November 15, 2011, 3:00 PM

Filed Under: Comedy Stand-up

It’s safe to say that standup comedy is designed to be one of the most frightening, humbling activities out there. Just take a moment to consider the scene:

Your name is called. You walk onto stage, alone, into the spotlight and adjust the mic. The audience is full of people you don’t know, who don’t know you, who are expecting to be thoroughly entertained. Chances are they’ve seen several souls get up there, and under the inherent pressure, crumble. They are notoriously unforgiving of mediocre jokes, sensitive to visible signs of nervousness and, unless you can do something to change it, dead silent. As is the irony of the craft, your only goal as the standup comedian is to make these creatures laugh. Then, next week, you should probably go at it again.

To continue returning the following week, you must really crave the craft of standup, and to really crave it, you must be nuts. One group in Philadelphia bonds over their insanity. In fact, they practice it.

The Temple University Comedy Club has been meeting since the beginning of this year to simplify the craft of standup and sharpen strategies. They are encouraged to figure out what “works” and “what doesn’t;” something gauged only through practice. As president of TU Comedy, Alex Grubard, has been telling his team since day one, “There is nothing natural about it … it’s something you have to practice and practice, get up on stage as much as you can, and practice.”

On Fri., Nov. 11, TU Comedy performed their first showcase of the year at Pub Webb. If this had been an astounding failure, it’s quite possible that the novice comedians would have reconsidered the time they were dedicating to extra-curricular meetings. Instead, each of the five comedians walked away knowing they were responsible for at least one stint of roaring laughter. Oh, that sweet, sweet sound.

Hosted by group member Chris Whitehair, the show’s line-up included Paul Kenton, Grubard, Jessie Seeherman, Tyler Wolf, Alex Kaufman and special Temple alumni Aaron Hertzog and James Hesky. An impressive level of calm, cool and collected confidence was sustained throughout the show, despite the club members’ limited stagetime experience. Regarding content, there was a balanced array of college-typical jokes on the beauty of the black-out, embarrassingly frequent masturbation habits and personal nightmares with the art of lovemaking. Thankfully, the comics did not give in to the temptation to overdo jokes about Penn State and pedophilia; it was a hearty set of original, refined material.

The structure of the show, designed by Grubard, made a critical statement on the craft of standup comedy. It premiered the hard work of the club members, whose routines will undoubtedly undergo more hours of fine-tuning, followed by two seasoned Philly comics. The audience could see and feel the difference between the two; the years of practice, the experience with failed standup gigs, and the positive energy gained from the successful ones. At the core, the TU Comedy Showcase achieved a microcosmic representation of the genre, proving that standup is very much a work in progress.

“I think it was a great success,” said Grubard at the end of the show. “I’m really excited for where this is going.”

(francesca@citypaper.net)

Posted by Francesca Crozier-Fitzgerald @ 3:00 PM Permalink | Post a comment

0 comments

Comments (0)

PHILLY LOVE NOTES: An ode to Spruce Street
Q&A with SHARI SOLANIS: "The goal isn't pornography"
ICE CUBE: In Memoriam: Joe Tartaglia
CONCERT REVIEW & PHOTOS: James Blake @ TLA 5/11
What we're trying to do this weekend
SEXY TIME Q&A: I've never had an orgasm during sex with a man — and I'm 30!
Coming soon to Philly: Two cockamamie movie promotion schemes
Q&A with Tony Goldwyn: "Life is gray, and relationships are, too"
CONCERT REVIEW: Primus (3D & quadraphonic sound) @ The Tower 10/17
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: The Archbishop meets the Geator, the Mayor goes suit shopping, Le Bec Fin fin.

About this blog

Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

Follow Critical Mass editors Patrick Rapa and Emily Guendelsberger on Twitter:

@mission2denmark | @emilygee

Search this blog:

Topics:

Blog archives:

May
April
March

February
January

Past Archives: