Callback: Local Talent Shouts-Out, Beeyotches…
Thought I’d devote the entire column to the local talent that made the cut as feature acts in the upcoming dccomedyfest.
Stand-ups at the top. Improv at the bottom (kinda like real life, eh?)
Born and raised in New York City, J-L Cauvin has a few unique things about him. Most noticeable is that he is six-foot-seven. Less noticeable, but more unique is that he is half-Irish and half-Haitian. Since his victory in 2004, J-L has gone on to make the semi-finals of the 2005 Boston Comedy Festival, was named the runner up for the 2006 Belly Laughs Competition in NYC and was made a 2006 DC Comedy Fest participant. J-L also recorded his debut CD “Racial Chameleon” in April of 2006.
Based in Washington, DC and New York City, Ryan Conner is a regular at The DC Improv, The Comedy Cellar (NYC), and Caroline’s on Broadway (NYC) and has performed at theatres, clubs, colleges and corporate shows all over the country. Ryan has also worked with some of the top comedians of this generation, including Dave Chappelle, Colin Quinn and Mitch Hedberg. He can be heard regularly on XM Radio and seen on the Discovery Channel’s Pop Nation. All this has led On-Tap Magazine, Washington DC’s leading entertainment guide, to label him a “stand-up comedy phenom,” while Punchline Magazine has labeled Ryan as “unique and extremely funny.”
Sean Gabbert loves being a comic and has also found it the most difficult thing he’s ever embarked on, making it the most rewarding as well. While unsure about labels, Sean has earned the respect of local comics, who have called his material, ‘Smart, unique, edgy, attitude-driven, and funny (most important.)’
Jay Hastings
Jay Hastings is a very funny guy. He is ‘connected’. I’ve never seen him wait for a table in a restaurant. Mr. Hastings could be the next big thing…way too soon to tell though.
Brandon Ivey lives in Chevy Chase (the Maryland town). He is an editor for a company that publishes newsletters on the mortgage industry. Boring.
At a very young age, Kojo Mante quickly realized that he was terrible at writing bios. So he stopped writing bios and started writing jokes instead. Today he is a stand up comedian based out of Washington DC, where he performs his jokes. Lack of bio-writting talent aside, he does seem to recall performing at clubs up and down the eastern seaboard and such.
Jon MummaJon Mumma is one of the hottest young comedians in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, performing regularly at clubs and colleges all over the East Coast. He has performed with some of the industry’s most notable headliners including Todd Barry, Kevin Pollack, Judah Friedlander, Eddie Gossling, and T-Rexx. Jon was the 2006 winner of the DC Improv’s annual stand-up comedy competition and was a featured performer at the 2006 DC Comedy Festival.
Larry Poon is daring and remarkably hysterical. His brand of comedy has been entertaining and perplexing audiences all along the east coast. In our world of few infallibles, this is one: Larry Poon was born to entertain. He is in fact perhaps not so much a ‘comedian,’ but rather one of America’s last true ‘entertainer.’
A veteran of DC comedy, Joe Robinson can be heard regularly on XM Radio and Baltimore’s 98 Rock. He is the regular guest host for Mickey Cucchiella on the ‘Mickey and Amelia morning show’. He has emerged in the last year as a Baltimore/Washington area favorite and recently took first place in the Arlington Drafthouse Comedy Competition.
Sure, Rory Scovel has been the top American finalist in the 2006 Seattle International Comedy Competition, can be seen on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, has toured colleges throughout the United States and was an official audition selection for the 2007 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. But not satisfied with the status quo, Rory challenges some of our basic conventions with a passionate and intelligent perspective. When not performing stand up or making films of himself traveling to stand up shows, he performs with the improv troupe Dr. Fantastic.
Seaton C. Smith is not a typical gun toting African-American youth destroying our country. He is a man of the people. He has appeared at such clubs as DC Improv, Lafter Hours and Baltimore’s Comedy Factory. What’s most important to Seaton is that through his short career he’s been honored with compliments from some of the greats in the comedy industry such as Bobby Slayton, Tommy Davidson, and Eddie Brill. He ultimate goal, above all else, is to one day be that guy who’s name is “dropped” in other people’s biographies. Seaton is also a filmmaker, a craft he received a degree in from Howard University.
Chris White is a crowd favorite in Washington D.C. and Baltimore, and he now travels to perform at clubs and colleges across the country. He has participated in the Boston and Washington comedy festivals; in May 2005 he won the Carnival Comedy Challenge in Pittsburgh, Pa.; and he has worked with many fine comedians, all of whom secretly wished they were Chris.
Inspired by the simple genius of a certain southern culinary institution, Katie Carson, Tyler Korba and Mark Raterman formed Biscuitville in 2003. They have served up their brand of fresh, oven-baked longform improv to hungry festival crowds in North Carolina, Chicago, New York and DC. And just like the fabled restaurant that shares their name, they have sworn to deliver to their patrons one simple promise: Anything you want. Served on a hearty, golden biscuit.
Dr. Fantastic is here to help you. Since 1992, he has intensively practiced in the field of fantastic, and has conducted numerous studies on fantastic and its development and impact on the human body. His weekly seminars, featuring his patented Fantastic Pill, have helped millions of people realize their fantastic dreams and goals, and have been the proximate cause of very few deaths, the exact number of which is an issue to be settled by the courts. With an emphasis on speed, parody, and the absurd, Dr. Fantastic abandons cherished improv concepts such as character, truth, and coherence. Be prepared for a wild ride through people and places that can only exist on stage. No doubt you have many questions. But these are not the questions we had agreed upon earlier, so they will not answered.
iMusical: The Improvised Musical! joins the unpredictable playfulness of comedic improvisation with the wondrous joys of musical theater. A cast of singer-improvisers creates a compelling new show with each performance, comprised of completely improvised scenes, lyrics and music, all inspired by audience suggestion. The Washington Post calls iMusical ‘amusing’, ‘gleefully vulgar’ and ’spot on’. Under the direction and accompaniment of Travis Ploeger, 8-year musical director of New York’s renowned Chicago City Limits, iMusical explores the human condition via song and laughter.
Audiences know them as “the funny ones.” Local bar owners know them as “the loud ones.” Jackie has nine members but, as its name suggests, is one person. A single unit - a true ensemble - committed to emotional, character based longform improvisation. They use the power of their brains to make you laugh.
Washington Improv Theater: 161
Without the Beatles, there would have been no Wings. Without Wings, Guns N’ Roses would never have re-recorded ‘Live and Let Die,’ which was a great Bond theme, but easily the worst Bond movie. Actually, ‘Moonraker’ may have been worse. Either way, it was Roger Moore’s fault. That smug bastard… The point being, without onesixtyone, the original WIT troupe, there would be no WIT. It’s their fault. ‘A reputation for imagination, quick wit and irreverence.’ -TimeOut New York
See you next week.
