Thursday, November 7, 2019

Laughing Stock: New! New! New!

Posted By on Thu, Nov 7, 2019 at 1:00 AM

click to enlarge Laughing Stock: New! New! New!
courtesy of Jake Fromm
Sean Finnerty opens up Dillinger Brewing Company to comedy on the Craft Craft Comedy Tour.

The Screening Room hosts the first Second Saturday comedy show.

With earlier sunsets on the way, Tucson’s most popular monthly downtown event, Second Saturdays, opens up to comedy in the cozy indoors of The Screening Room.

Chris Quinn, host of the weekly Wednesday open mic at the venue, will host The Second Saturday Comedy Showcase at 7 p.m., beginning November 9. The show is $5 and recommended for ages 18 and over.

Ten local comedians perform in the debut. Headlining are Autumn Horvat, Dom DiTolla and Amber Frame. Also featured are Tony Kanani Bruhn, Eli W.T., Paul Fox, Rich Gary, Tim Maggard and Stephanie Lyonga.

Dillinger Brewing Company hosts Sean Finnerty

Is this the first time Dillinger Brewing Company has hosted a comedy show? They’re getting off to a great start with Sean Finnerty and Kevin Casey White on the Craft Comedy Tour. The show is at 8 pm, Tuesday, Nov. 12. Reservations are $15 via Eventbrite.com.

Finnerty considers it his highest honor to have been the first Irish comedian to perform on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. He was selected for Comedy Central’s Up Next competition in 2013, and in 2014 he won a competition to open for WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley. Every year since has brought ever more impressive notes to his biography, leading to his current status as the number-one ranked roast comic in NYC.

Kevin Casey White was indelibly pegged in The Chicago Tribune as “a physical expression of an exclamation point.” The Chicago Reader crowned his podcast, Arguments and Grievances, “Best Variety Show.” It could hardly be named more appropriately for our anxiety-bound era. White got his start as founder of Bare Knuckle Comedy, the longest-running indie comedy showcase in St. Louis. He recently moved to NYC.

With comedy shows at Borderlands Brewing Company, Crooked Tooth Brewery, Corbett Brewery and Black Rock Brewery, Tucson, not-surprisingly, is ahead of the curve. The Craft Comedy Tour website says its aim is to “change the comedy landscape” by providing affordable comedy in locally-owned breweries, to celebrate their success as “pillars of their communities.” Hear, hear!

KMKR launches Tucson Comedy Radio

The Clash and Black Flag aside, our personal favorite punk legacy is the DIY ethic. It’s what we love about the whole maker movement. We particularly celebrated Xerocraft, a maker space for artists, in the historic Steinfeld Warehouse.

KMKR radio, housed in a closet-sized space at Xerocraft, allows anyone to broadcast what they create. Its signal covers only the downtown area, but the station is an on-ramp for podcasting, the new must-have techno skill that allows audio artists to be heard around the clock around the globe.

On Wednesday, Nov. 6, KMKR (the MKR stands for maker. Get it?), opened a new frontier for Tucson comedy with the first episode of Tucson Comedy Presents.

Phil Gordon, the show’s founder and director, says it will be broadcast on Wednesdays from 9 to 10 p.m. He hopes to cover the 10 to 11 p.m. hour as well by the first of the year.

A rotating cast of local comedians will host the broadcast. Gordon is the founder of Laughing Liberally. Dave Margolis created and hosts the semi-monthly Casa de Comedy showcase in Marana. Roxy Merrari co-founded and hosts the Comedy the Wench weekly open mic and monthly themed showcase.

The team would like to add more hosts to the rotation. Contact Gordon via Facebook to apply.
All three hosts have local radio experience. Gordon worked as a news reporter at KCTV-TV in Wyoming and as station manager at WXAV-FM in Chicago. According to Gordon, “We’re going to feature news about Tucson’s vibrant comedy scene, interviews with local and touring comedians, and a current performance calendar. It’ll be chock full of laughs from classic comedy bits to live in-studio performances. We’re going focus on Tucson’s rich spoken word culture including stand- up, Improv and storytelling.”

More Laughs!

Continuing through Saturday, Nov. 9: Tucson Comedy Arts Festival featuring improv, standup, improv for kids and improv in Spanish at TIM Comedy Theatre ($5 each show). Visit tucsonimprov.com/tcaf for the complete schedule.

Friday, Nov. 8: Standup with Daniel Tosh, 8 p.m., Tucson Music Hall ($47-$77), and Sid Davis with DJ Sandhu, 8 and 10:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50). Family-friendly improv with Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU) at 7:30 p.m., and uncensored Freeform Friday at 9 p.m., Unscrewed Theatre.

Saturday, Nov. 9: Standup with Sid Davis, featuring DJ Sandhu, 8 and 10:30 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe ($12.50 and $17.50); Carcajadas: Una Noche de Comedia (todo en español), 7:30 p.m., TIM Comedy Theatre ($5) and Kristine Levine and Friends presents Butch Lord, 10 p.m., Circle S Saloon. Improv at 6:00 p.m. with Unscrewed Theater Family Hour featuring Comic Chaos and From the Top followed at 9 p.m. with NBOJU Uncensored at Unscrewed Theater ($5 and $8)

Free Open Mics
Sunday, Nov. 10, 6:30 p.m., The O and 8 p.m., Chuckleheads in Bisbee.
Monday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m., Comedy at the Wench, The Surly Wench Pub.
Tuesday, Nov. 12, 6:45 p.m., Neighborhood Comedy at The Music Box Lounge.
Wednesday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m., The Screening Room and 8:30 p.m. at The Mint.
Thursday, Nov. 14, 8 p.m., Laffs Comedy Caffe and 8:30 p.m., Rockabilly Grill.

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