A History Of Comedy (That Only Focuses On One Stand-Up Comedian)

Zach recently got the news that he will be competing in the Burbank Comedy Festival for the second year in a row. The festival receives entries from comedians all over the country and features both household names and comedians starting to make their name in the business.

The festival runs August 13th-19th and is more than a series of stand-up comedy shows. The event also includes panels on the business of comedy such as :

• Working corporate comedy events
• Joke anatomy
• Getting an agent
• Insider tips from comedy venue bookers, owners and casting directors 

Zach attended many of the events last year to try and further his comedy career. He has already had a pretty good run as he has moved from open mic nights to gigs at established comedy clubs.

He started out doing open mics anywhere that would allow a person under the age of 18 to perform. His venues included restaurants, coffee shops, a few bars, opening for singer/songwriter friends and being an unofficial member of a group of comedians that did gigs around town together. He was an unofficial member because he was the only person under the age of 18 on stage as well as the only comedian without a set that leaned towards an African American audience. All of the other (very funny) comedians would talk about hip hop music, race relations and dating in your 20s and 30s. Zach was usually in the middle of the lineup and spent most of his time making jokes about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

He got a lot of experience with that group of comedians but Zach wanted stage time at an established comedy club. He started to attend open mic nights at Flappers in Burbank and was able to get booked on shows in the YooHoo Room at the club. His opportunity to have more stage time at Flappers resulted in Zach being booked in their main room as well.

Besides being in the Burbank Comedy Festival for the second year in a row, he gets to make another dream come true in August by taking the stage at The Comedy Store in Hollywood (on Sunset Blvd.) for the first time. Zach has spent many hours doing improv at Second City in Hollywood making it up in front of the audience. However, he seems to really enjoy constructing a joke and seeing how his creation plays in front of a live audience. It's a good thing he enjoys writing jokes and telling them on a stage since he has three sets during the Burbank Comedy Festival and the show at The Comedy Store.

He likes to talk about events that happen to him in his daily life. I will be spending the next few weeks being extra careful so I don't end up as the punchline of one of his jokes.

This actor has been busy with auditions as well as comedy shows.

A Night Of Hollywood Rock 'N' Roll

Like a lot of people who came of age in the 80s, I loved the music that came out of the Los Angeles rock scene. Dana also loved the metal music that came out of Los Angeles. A partial list of the bands that we both liked at the time includes Motley Crue, Dark Angel and L.A. Guns. One major difference between the two of us at that time in Memphis was the fact that Dana got to work at a radio station that played that genre of music. I also worked at a radio station at the same time but we played such cutting edge Los Angeles acts as The Bangles, The Go-Go's and Nelson.

We both thought how cool it would be to hang out on the Sunset Strip at The Roxy, The Whiskey or The Rainbow. A night filled with rock 'n' roll, booze and half naked rock fans seemed like a great idea. I've spent a good amount of time on the Sunset Strip since moving here but I never pictured the majority of my time being spent at Nick on Sunset while Zach was filming at Nickelodeon.

Flash forward many years and Motley Crue is wrapping up their tour and life as a band at The Staples Center. While not quite the Sunset Strip, there was a definite "L.A. Vibe" to the show since the Crue is considered a hometown band by the city.

The final show was on New Year's Eve but we were there the night before on December 30th. I was expecting the crowd to be nothing more than a convention of 80s burnouts and over the hill rockers. I was surprised by the wide range of people in the crowd. It was a combination of people who loved the band in the 80s and came to the show dressed (not in an ironic way) in their 80s gear, parents with kids that actually seemed excited to see the band as opposed to being dragged to the show by their parents and a large portion of people who wanted to see the Crue one last time.

Dana thinking about the music while I'm thinking about the price of beer at the show.

Instead of a beer soaked venue like The Whiskey where the sound is loud and the only souvenir is a hangover, there was a pop-up shop full of Crue gear that also included Kings jerseys with the Crue logo on it. Instead of simple bar food like onion rings and fries, Staples had salads, sushi, McDonald's and California Pizza Kitchen to keep the crowd full and happy.

My favorite Crue item of the night.

When the Crue comes to mind, I think of loud music, pyrotechnics and half naked girls. The show had all three of those things but two of them were slightly disappointing. Staples Center is a great place to see a basketball game but it kind of sucks for a rock show. The venue is so large that the sound gets lost as it leaves the stage. The music volume and even the pyrotechnics sound seemed to be at low to medium volume most of the night. Motley Crue sounded great but there is no way I should have been able to have a conversation with the guy next to me at a normal volume. I never had to raise my voice to be heard over the music.

The most rock 'n' roll thing that happened all night were the guitar and drum solos and even those seemed like they were happening far away from the crowd. There were plenty of shots on the TV screens of the half naked dancers who seemed to be having more fun than any of the band members on stage.

After the show was over, there was not a rush for the door to get to the next bar before it closed. A good portion of the crowd was discussing being up for work early the next morning.  It was a great show but a far cry from the debauchery I always imagined a Crue show would be from footage I saw in the 80s.

There is still a great rock scene that happens on the Strip with the rock lifestyle still being practiced on a nightly basis. It wasn't all that apparent at the Crue show but it was a good night for Los Angeles rock music. It showed that no matter how old the band (or their fans) the love of rock music still builds a community no matter where the venue is located in Los Angeles.

This Actor Didn't Want To Hang Out At Motley Crue With His Parents