If you like comedy, PR or the occasional inside scoop on the entertainment world, then drop by for a daily dose written by me, Kambri Crews, producer and publicist to comedians and more!   Friday, September 28, 2007 New Free/Cheap Performance Space in NYC Quote from the Mo Pitkin's is closing thread: "I don't even want to think about the sterile & fancy new establishment that might take its place." Hey, I think this is my cue! So, besides running my own PR company and producing shows, I also serve as the Director of Publicity for Comix. This means I haven't had much time for going to my favorite NYC shows at places like Mo's, UCB, Riffifi, the PIT, etc. I miss the shows, the hanging out and small monetary investment. Comix has a downstairs lounge that we hardly use except when we have a private poker game every now and then. Every time I walk by it I think, "What a waste of space!" So I put together a proposal for how to use the space, pitched it to the GM and got approval today. I'm going shopping for a curtain to serve as a back drop and a few other asthetic things like that to get the space performance-ready and should have it up and running by the week of October 23rd. Could be a stupid idea and/or total failure but I want to give the old college try because, you know, I have nothing else going on at all. Drop me an email if you want to discuss the booking details. --Kambri Now, what to call it? Link - 10:36 PM -   Thursday, September 27, 2007 Queen Pin The staff at Comix all went bowling at Chelsea Piers to celebrate one year of being in business. I'm sore as hell...from carrying my TROPHY! Booyah! I haven't bowled since I went to Bowlmor for my birthday in 2003 but that didn't stop me from smoking up the lanes with my skills! I really love bowling when I do it but is it too dorky to join a league? I kind of want to join a league. Really. As though I haven't enough other stuff on my plate. Speaking of: Dating It and Freestyle Love Supreme are both at Comix at 8 and 10:30 respectively. Both are great shows so come on out if you're looking for something to do. I promise you won't be disappointed. Also, David Brenner headlines this week. We had him on Howard Stern at the butt crack of dawn today and a million other Sirius shows all throughout the morning and afternoon. Roseanne Barr breezes in for two shows on Wednesday the 3rd and John Oliver headlines five shows next weekend. That's a lot of major headlining talent within one week. I keep saying, "If I can just get through this week I'll be okay." Then the week ends and another crazy one presents itself. As a result of this go, go, go life, I've been eating like crap and drinking way too much. Time for a dietary intervention SOON, like now. Beginning Monday, Natalia and I will work from my apartment so that will help a little bit. Working from home is my best way to keep it all in check as I eat better, get more sleep and don't party and booze it up all night. One day a week is a start, right? --Kambri One day at a time, just one day at a time. Link - 11:04 AM -   Tuesday, September 25, 2007 Win a Date with a Comedian! Looking to find that special someone? Just need a good laugh? Then check out "Dating It" when comedian Colette Hawley hosts young, bachelor(ette) comedians, including "Jake" from Glamour Magazine, and sets them up on dates. You don't have to be single to get a big laugh out of this hilarious speed dating event which includes stand up comedians performing short sets before going on speed dates with audience volunteers. The matching "couples" then compete against each other in outrageous stunts you won't want to miss! THU, SEP 27 @ 8:00 PM Comix 353 W. 14th Street www.comixny.com 212.524.2500 $10 in advance or $15 day of show. Save $5.00 with the promo code "DATING" --Kambri Link - 9:58 AM -   Saturday, September 22, 2007 Danny's Boots Don't Taste So Bad Yep, we did it. Not a single thing went wrong with Danny's press yesterday much to my delight and shock. The audiences are small this weekend for a few reasons but it's a fun show nonetheless. Smaller audiences actually make him more fun, in my opinion. I can't believe I stayed awake the whole time -- no nap whatsoever -- and still made it home without passing out in the cab. I felt drunk -- that's how tired I was. But no rest for the wicked, I have my second of eight writing workshops this morning before swinging by Lisa Levy's place to pick up You Bet Your Life Live! fliers. Don't want to buy porn? I scanned Christian's Playgirl article which you can read here. --Kambri Guess what I'm doing tonight? NOT A DAMN THING! Link - 9:36 AM -   Friday, September 21, 2007 Playgirl Comedy Issue - Get it For the Articles Pick up an issue of this month's Playgirl* and you'll see all my favorite comedians in this special Comedy Issue. Awesome! I must brag and say that the five comedians selected for feature interviews (Dana Gould, Reggie Watts, Christian Finnegan [natch], Alex Borstein and Paul F. Tompkins) are all headliners for which comedy club in NYC? COMIX, of course! I am more than happy about that! See Reggie at Comix on October 18th and Christian on "Fresh Meat" on November 8th. http://www.comixny.com/ 212.524.2500 --Kambri *Try finding a copy of Playgirl in Chelsea at 10:00 AM. I had to shop around to five different stores because they were sold out everywhere! Link - 3:18 PM -   Thursday, September 20, 2007 Zowie! What a Day! If tomorrow goes according to Hoyle I will kiss Danny B*naduce's feet a dozen times. That's how crazy hectic the day is and how unlikely I think it is that not a thing goes wrong. It was a big dance I orchestrated and zapped my entire day away and included me being berated by one understandably angry producer. I have at least 28 other shows I'm promoting over the next four weeks. Guess how much attention they got? Oy. Anyway, tune in to the CW11, Good Day NY and Adam Corolla's show in the morning. In the afternoon we hit a gamillion Sirius shows after which I head to Mo Pitkin's for "Don't Touch Me There". Then I head BACK to Comix to catch the end of Danny's first show and hang with the "Mik* & Juli*t" peeps before meeting C**per Lawrence after her radio show ends at 10:00 PM. Yeah, a 4:30 AM till 12:00 AM schedule means I overbooked myself but, hey, I'll sleep when I'm dead. And C**per and I are meeting over coffee so that was a smart move. Luckily Natalia is the most able bodied assistant/publicist and came in today to help on Le Chuckle Hut, Christian's out of town press and Lisa Levy's You Bet Your Life Live which premieres at Mo Pitkins on October 2nd. Cash and prizes are at stake, people! I'll be there...you can bet your life on it. Heh. Sorry. --Kambri Link - 9:41 PM -   Tuesday, September 18, 2007 I Want to Be a Producer Molly and I couldn't be happier about the results over the past two nights. She & I produced "Live Wire" (next show Oct 15 with host Rob Paravonian) which was amazing. It was EXACTLY as we hoped: an alternative comedy show at an affordable price with a relaxed vibe but in a beautiful club instead of a rundown dump with rats (Under St. Marks) or grody to the max bathrooms (every alternative comedy room in the City). Check out Christian's "We Are the World" sketch here -- close ups on his face would have made the video funnier but trust me, it was a riot. One audience member wrote to say, "Thank you for such a great show last night! I was just so impressed with the energy and the interaction with the audience. Downtown feel at a beautiful club--Comix really offers the best of both worlds" And our last minute host Joe DeRosa said, "It was the perfect East Village show but in a nice club." That's what we aimed for and they "got it." Awesome. Then last night was DJ Cipha Sounds hosting comedians. It was a packed house and seamlessly run show. On top of that Cipha, a totally rich and famous dude, is an absolute dream to work with as is his manager Jamal and the rest of the crew. We can't wait till next month to see them again so we're meeting next week. They rule. --Kambri Link - 2:05 PM -   Sunday, September 16, 2007 Some Assembly Required I have two guys in my living room assembling this very small little media storage piece. It has taken them over two and half hours and counting. "The picture is not right on the instructions," they said. Thank God I paid the $45 to have them handle it because if they're taking this long, I can't imagine the troubles I would have had. Meanwhile, I've destroyed/cleaned my office by going through old papers and throwing out lots of nonsense, cleaned out my closet and sent out the Latest Ballyhoo. EDIT: They are also just slow a$$ mother fu*kers. LEAVE already! EDIT at 7:30 - They just left WITH the piece. They really didn't know what they were doing. One of the retractable doors was so tight to push in and out that the handle ripped right off when Christian pulled on it. I love West Elm and have lots of pieces from them. They're re-sending the item next Sunday for assembly and will waive the $45 charge. They couldn't have been nicer on the phone. Oh well, at least my office got really cleaned out and dusted and scrubbed from head to toe. --Kambri Want them out so I can put my pajamas back on and enjoy the pre-Emmy red carpet schtuff. Link - 6:14 PM -   Saturday, September 15, 2007 Back to School! I'm starting an eight week writing workshop today. I've taken a class here and there but usually just a one day thing. This will be a much longer investment in time and effort, so I hope work doesn't get in the way of it. At the end of the workshop, we students will hopefully have a roughly 8 minute piece to read at a graduation show. I'm excited to have something new to perform since the five readings I've done over the last year and a half have been the same piece just tweaked a bit each time. The last time I read it was at the People's Improv Theatre and was awesome. I felt like I had tweaked it perfectly and performed it in a way that was fitting of me and the subject matter. Now I can move on to another story and hopefully get it in top shape to get that same feeling. What a rush! My long term "plan" is that I can merge the two pieces together along with another 8 or 10 minute story to creat a one person show of sorts. I put "plan" in quotes because it's not really a hard and firm plan just an idea -- I don't even know if I actually want to do a one person show of any kind, but it's good to have something to aim for I suppose. Either way, I am excited about class, meeting the other students and working on something new. I think I'm going to craft the story about smuggling in Juicy Fruit to Dad in jail, getting busted and him ratting me out. That's a sure fire funny tale. It will either be that or the Marvin Zindler blog entry about Dad trying to kill my mom. I definitely need help in telling that part of the story. I want to find just the right places for laughter without ruining the real drama and also make sure it doesn't come off as melodramatic. Blah, blah, gotta get my school supplies together! Oh, and Christian's shows at Gotham are going so great. He has three more shows tonight and one tomorrow so go check him out if you can. He's so awesome! --Kambri Link - 10:21 AM -   Thursday, September 13, 2007 Interviews The lovely Sara Benincasa interviewed Christian over on Nerve.com about online dating and other random stuff. Read it here. Also, Sean McCarthy had a chat with Christian about stand up comedy on his new "Funny Business" blog for the NY Daily News. Read it here. --Kambri Link - 12:04 PM -   Monday, September 10, 2007 It's a Small (Deaf) World, After All I related a funny story about the small Deaf world to my friend the other night and decided to write it down: When I was about 19, I moved to Ohio and worked as a teller during the day while attending paralegal school at night. An older deaf couple we'll call the Wilsons regularly visited the bank but never came to my window. Finally, one day I saw them come in and I waved them over. Of course, the first question the husband asked was how I knew ASL. "Mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, aunts & uncles, everyone all Deaf," I told them. Read the rest over at Love, Daddy. --Kambri Link - 10:38 PM -   ASL in the Raw Saturday night I saw a childhood friend who was in New York on vacation. Our grandfathers and our parents grew up together at the deaf school in Oklahoma, and my brother & I grew up with him and his sister. The eight of us, at one time, were inseparable even moving into the woods of Montgomery together and eventually buying matching trailers. We talked and talked and danced and laughed till 4:00 in the morning. The next day I woke up and my hands were stiff and sore from all the signing!!! I was excited to tell him about "ASL in the Raw," the show by and for the Deaf produced by and starring Doug Ridloff and Jason Norman (pictured below) which I am promoting this November at Comix. Maybe he'll come back to NYC for that one. For you New Yorkers or those in town for the Thanksgiving holiday, pencil it in your calendar. Or, better yet, buy your advance tickets at ComixNY.com. --Kambri Aren't they cute? Link - 3:34 PM -   Listen Live to Keith & The Girl Tune in to Keith and the Girl/ to hear Christian live in a few minutes. Chemda (the "girl") is an old friend of ours and their podcast is top notch. --Kambri If you miss it, you can always download the episode later. Link - 3:31 PM -   Saturday, September 08, 2007 Random Stuff After "Scene Change" and a 15 hour work day, I was beat. It was too late at night to take the subway alone and the taxi strike meant no one wanted to pick me up for a trip to Queens. So I slept on Molly's couch and went to work yesterday in the same suit I had on the day before. I would have happily gone home after waking up but I had to meet with the head of XM's programming & production. He was overseeing production of another event we had called "Unmasked" featuring Ron of "Ron & Fez" interviewing Jeff Garlin. Jeff was pretty funny which you'll be able to hear for yourself on XM in a few weeks once the final edit is complete. Tonight I'm having dinner with a childhood friend. His parents grew up with mine at the deaf school in Oklahoma, and my brother & I grew up with him and his sister. The eight of us, at one time, were inseparable. His mom and sis came to my and Finny's wedding, but I haven't seen him in years. I can't wait to tell him about "ASL in the Raw," the show by and for the Deaf that I'm promoting this November...maybe he'll come back to NYC for that one. I'd love to take him and his partner to a movie premiere I have tickets to for tonight but it's not closed captioned for the Deaf. Instead we'll chill in the Meatpacking District and catch up on each others lives. That's much better in my book! Finny flies home from LA today and is so cool that he's going to cab it straight from the airport to which ever restaurant we choose. (Flight cancelled so he's going to be a surprise guest in Buffalo on Mike Birbiglia's "Secret Public Tour" with Comedy Central.) He's so awesome and unselfish. Christian won't complain too much though as I know he is going to LOVE my old friend. He's quite a character. No luck or progress on the precinct / 311 / parking on the sidewalk business. It's very disconcerting and frustrating to know that you can't do anything because of red tape, passing the buck and bureaucracy. Dealing with the precinct has been very disconcerting and is more worrisome than any car parking issue. The NYPD's 114th Precinct has not gotten the memo about the motto: "Courtesy - Professionalism - Respect." --Kambri Link - 12:37 PM -   Friday, September 07, 2007 Scene Change Re-Cap Amazing night! Even with a 28 person crew, 12 members of the press, 17 cast members, a long list of NYTVF VIP passholders, general public ticket holders and a show that was in the showroom prior to "Scene Change," it went off without a hitch. Proctor & Gamble's director and head of production were a dream and the TV pilot is sure to be a success, regardless of whether or not it's picked up for broadcast. P&G gave me and Molly two beautiful flower arrangements, so we'll have another week or so to be reminded of a job very well done. I think the NYTVF will happily work with us next year on another event. We'll see. --Kambri I'll be adding this one to my resume for sure! Link - 12:29 PM -   Wednesday, September 05, 2007 The Latest Ballyhoo There is WAY too much going on in the next couple of weeks! Scene Change debuts tomorrow night at 10:30 as part of the NY Television Festival and is expected to sell out. Add a TV crew of 28 and the sketch groups and it's a whole lot of moving parts. I'm excited but bracing for a long, tiring day and night. Christian is headlining at Gotham Comedy Club next week, the 13th thru 16th to be excact. We're hoping for good crowds as it's his first time headlining a major comedy club for a whole weekend in NYC if you can believe that! He'll be doing 45-ish minutes of almost all brand new material. No kidding, the fool has been writing up a storm, performing, tweaking and polishing a brand new set that is now really tight. We'll be hanging out after the shows every night and hope to see YOU there! For the rest of the scoop, check out The Latest Ballyhoo. On a NON-producer / work related note: I have been calling 311 about a few local businesses parking cars on the sidewalk which is, accordingly, all beat to hell, cracked and buckled under the weight. This morning there were NINE cars. NINE! Nearly every morning I yell at the men gathered around said cars and wildly gesture to which ever vehicle is blocking the most space. I look them directly in the eye and they still don't say a word. Because I'm dressed in heels and a suit? Because they don't speak English? Because they know they're breaking the law? All of the above? Tonight, due to the taxi strike, there were four policemen standing on opposite corners outside my building. I yanked out my iPod earbuds and asked them about the situation. Is is actually illegal? Yes. Does 311 help? You should call your precinct...it's faster and they'll respond. What's my precinct? 114. So, starting tomorrow, instead of 311 I'll be chatting with my local police precinct. I love our apartment and my view of the City. Why can't my walk to the subway be just as pleasant? --Kambri There's a killing to be made for whatever traffic cop gets to ticket all those cars all day, every day. Link - 9:09 PM -   Monday, September 03, 2007 Spoiler Alert I've been sick with a bad cold since Thursday morning so have been taking things fairly easy. That means lots of leisurely time at the lovely Astoria Park (home to the city's largest pool and nary a tourist to be found) with books, crosswords and my anipals or at the movies. The Halloween remake generally stunk. I knew better than to see it, but I love a scary movie and am a Rob Zombie fan...well, his music anyway. I remember seeing the original Halloween on opening night back in 1978. Yes, I was only seven, but that never stopped Mom from taking me and my brother to the movies plus we could interpret for her, if needed. It was a few days before the Halloween holiday so the theater was packed -- not an empty seat in the house and some people even sat in the aisles. There is a reason John Carpenter's version has had so many sequels: It is a masterpiece. The body count is low and there is very little blood or gory murder scenes, but the music coupled with the slow, steady build up of anticipation made the tension in that theater thick as morning fog. By the time Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode is panting in relief at having jabbed Michael Myers in the eye with a hanger only to have him stand up menacingly behind her unbeknownst to her, the audience was in a frenzy. No exaggeration, a FRENZY! We -- and I mean the ENTIRE audience -- were screaming at full velocity variations of, "Look behind you!" "He's still alive!" and "RUN!" I don't know that there will ever be a movie that makes a whole theater feel that way again. Not that there aren't good directors or stories to be told but that we, as a viewing audience, have been spoiled. I hope I'm wrong. I do enjoy a good horror flick. --Kambri I saw The Exorcist when I was four. It came out in '73 but we rented it on reel to reel with closed captioning so watched it at home. Horrifying. But not as horrifying as "Carrie" which I saw when I was five. Link - 9:59 PM -