Ep. 44: Cole Stratton & Keeping a Major Comedy Festival Alive

Club Video is the latest welcoming, short film/video/sketch showcase that's as inviting and low key as it is cool and the place to be in NYC, at the intersection of film and comedy and wanting a great weekend hang with good folks. This week's TCB Field Report is dedicated to how the hell one strikes that balance and we talk to Club Video's Whitley Watson and Micah Phillips how they manage to keep Club Video in the creative and good vibes sweet spot.

Follow Club Video @clubvideoshow, Whitley Watson @videotapezzzz, Micah Phillips @micahrockandroll, and Marshall Louise @marshalllouise

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger
Photo by @allierosejokes

Intrepid indie comedy producers, Sam Varela, returns to TCB Field Report to talk the state of comedy with TCB's Jake Kroeger at this juncture of (still) early 2024. Varela produces shows in both LA and NYC (including the amazing Picture This) as well as live-streams that are genuinely worth watching and definitely is one of the perfect people to weigh in on where the art form/community/scenes of comedy are right now and where they're headed going forward.

Follow all of Sam's great comedy things/happenings at nakedcomedy.org.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger
Photo by @heyjasperlewis

After spending so much time in LA that it seemed like they already lived in Los Angeles, Hay Beacon has made the move on down from SF to the City of Angels and we here at TCB are personally grateful to have such a delightful addition to our ever evolving comedy scene. For this week's TCB Field Report, we talk to the freshly transplanted Hay and how they're acclimatizing and an insightful perspective on how to move up from one comedy scene to another, especially if one is considered to be the "big show".

Follow Hay @haybeacon across socials

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Part of the magic of live comedy, especially when it comes to just putting on stand-up, is that it seems like a lone person is captivating and inspiring spontaneous laughter to a group of strangers shrouded in darkness. Of course, the ingredients as to what make that magic actually happen are elusive and ever changing (not to mention, wholly impermanent). LA comedy torchbearer and beloved comedian Paul Danke and TCB's very own Jake Kroeger dig into what makes live comedy special (when it is indeed special, of course) as well tease what they got up their sleeve to possibly make that happen.

Follow Paul @pauldanke across socials and get into his brand new album, Mad River, here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

There are many folks that make the magic of comedy really snap and pop and one of those groups of people are the technical directors/operators/stage managers that take the logistics of comedy of all ilks and make it seamless. Jimmy Jatho has made himself one of the foremost names in that regard with his 40 plus years experience, tech'ing at least a guess-timated 30K shows all around the country in theaters big and small, Second City, UCB, Lyric Hyperion, and so much more.

Also, Jimmy has some of the best showbiz stories to boot. We talk to Jatho all about the world of tech in comedy and so much more on this week's TCB Field Report.

Follow Jimmy @jimmyjatho on IG

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Not that this podcast is a stranger to taking big swings or chatting with characters that might as well be from another galaxy, but, for a podcast that ostensibly pulls back the curtain, we go above and beyond with this episode by devising a show with a comedian live on tape.

If you haven't gathered in recent episodes, TCB's Jake Kroeger is now also the Artistic Director at Lyric Hyperion and tapped the hysterical Ian Farley to do a show next month and captured the creative process of working out what the hell his show is going to be on a podcast. Ideally, coming up with this show is this crackling and fun (part of the reason we have Ian both on the pod and doing a whole show by himself).

Follow Ian at enefarley.com

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

There's way more that goes into being a clown than just doing something wild on stage with only a few things planned and messing with the audience, especially if you want to make a legitimately living as a clown. Rising star in LA comedy's clown scene, Natasha Mercado, is not only working on her latest solo show to tour, but is also juggling teaching clown classes and guiding incarcerated youth into the world of clown and doing several other clown shows including a completely G-rated, family friendly one, and directing multiple other solo shows.

It's all in a days work for a clown and we talk to her all about it on this week's TCB Field Report.

Follow Natasha @champagnetashi and get tix to #1 Son from 1/30-2/1 here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Atheer Yacoub has survived starting in and coming up through the NYC comedy scene over the last 15 years, which is a daunting feat unto itself. Yacoub also happens to be Palestinian and has survived living in Palestine under the shadow of an ever-encroaching Israel as well as, of all places, Alabama, bringing her comedy to the forefront at this current moment.

As one of the headliners of the upcoming 20th Arab American Comedy Festival, Yacoub talks, on this week's TCB Field Report how the Arab visibility brought about by that very festival (where she now is on the bill) was a big turning point for her comedy and how the last year has galvanized her Palestinian identity in her stand-up.

Follow Atheer @atheeryacoub on IG and TikTok and get details and tickets for The 20th Arab American Comedy Festival at arabcomedy.com.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

When one goes to see an improv show, the supposition is that your going to see comedy gold being born out of thin air, something that's almost beyond a veritable comedy alchemy. If you've gone to enough improv shows or taken classes, you ought to know that there is a precision and structure applied to much of improv to make it seem magical. One of LA improv's favorite sons, Jeremy Culhane, joins us on this week's TCB Field Report to break down the importance of the Harold, what makes good improv (especially short form), and, most importantly, whether bad stand up or bad improv is worst (apologies for one of the mics cutting out for the last 15 min. or so and doing this podcast at our favorite Gelato place, Pazzo Gelato).

Follow Jeremy @jazzy_jelly on TikTok

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger
Photo by Strikethrough Project

Sachi Ezura has overseen, along with longtime host John F. O'Donnell, the comedy institution that is 50 First Jokes for well over a decade and is, for the first time ever, doubling up the show to feature 100 comics telling their first new jokes of the new year. Ezura joins us for the TCB Field Report to give us the rundown of the history of this show, now in its 17th year, and spread across more than a dozen cities, and how exactly they pull it all off.

Get tix for 50 First Jokes on Sat. Jan. 6th here and here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger