While we recorded Jessie's song in the day - I was working for the Comedy Fest at night. I was asked by my buddy Will Davis (Comedy Fest president and a fine comedian in his own right) to assemble bands to work at the various venues around town. My turf for the week was primarily the Vancouver East Cultural Centre - the principal residency for one of my favorite comedy "troups" (for lack of a better term) - Mr. Show. Anyone not familiar with Mr. Show (and adventurous enough to trust my comedy judgement) should Google them. The show was created by Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. Mainstream audiences would know Odenkirk from his appearances as Stevie Grant on the Larry Sanders Show. He's also a heavy writer/ director - he wrote the "Matt Foley" character on Saturday Night Live ("living in a van down by the river!!"). However - he's been involved in a wealth of comic gold over the years. David Cross is best known for his appearances in movies like Men In Black and TV shows like Arrested Development (Tobias Funke - not to be confused with the Tobias who plays with Charlie Major:)). These guys - along with people like BJ Porter, Paul F. Tompkins, Scott Auckerman, Brian Posehn, John Ennis, Tom Kenney, Jill Talley etc - did an HBO show that ran for four seasons. I can only compare it to Monty Python. The sketches were all unrelated in content yet swam together in each episode seamlessly and in the end would all come together somehow (fans of the Python TV shows can relate). It was smart. cerebral and very funny. This is comedy that I really "get". I've always been a comedy fan and student (it's quite closely connected to music and there's been a long tradition of kindred spirits between musicians and comedians). Therefore getting to work with these guys was a true honor and one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Sep.18 - Best Of The Fest Short Films. My old school buddy and now comedian Damonde Tschritter hosted this show - a collection of short films to be voted on by the crowd. Chris Meister (drums) and myself began our tenure and played short stingers throughout the night. Good fun
Sept. 19 - Best Kept Secret - a show of rock solid standup by ... well... it was gonna be a secret. As Chris and I set up our gear, we were approached by none other than Bob Odenkirk. "Are you guys playing here tonight? Cool!"
He then asked how much we were involved this week and asked it we were going to be able to be at their Saturday night "Sketch" shows. We weren't booked but I wasn't gonna let that opportunity slip away.... subs were called following the show.
Odenkirk, David Cross, Paul F. Tomkins, Graham Clark, Sean Devlin, Scott Auckerman, BJ Porter and Marc Maron all performed solid sets - three hours (almost a little too long for a crowd to sit). Unreal. We introduced them by playing them up with stingers suited to each person's personality (the Paul Shaffer in me took hold). It was great.
Sept. 20 - Comedy Death Ray. Chris and I changed venues and went to the Commodore Ballroom for two shows. Death Ray is a regular Tuesday night tradition in LA hosted by Scott Auckerman and BJ Porter (also known as "The Fun Bunch"). It's based around standup and a little bit of sketch. Show one featured The Fun Bunch (with a little bit of music from us) and then sets by Bob, David, Paul F., Brian Posehn, Andy Kindler, Maria Bamford and Marc Maron. The next set they upped the ante by including Jimmy Pardo, Todd Glass and Neil Hamburger (BTW Google all these people and check them out - they were all great). Bob included Chris and I in both his routines - we improv'ed a "Toby Keithesque" country tune and played "smooth jazz" throughout his sets. Five solid hours of funny. I was worn out.
Sept.21 - Match Game - Back to the Vancouver East Cultural Centre (the "Cultch" to locals) for another LA regular show - a live version of the popular game show from the 70's. This was like heaven for me - I LOVED this game as a kid and knew all the routines and shtick. Shane Hendrickson was added as the bass player - I played keys and wah guitar (check out the theme for an introduction to wah wah guitar playing 101).
The Fun Bunch, Odenkirk, Cross, Tompkins, Bamford - local radio personality Martin Strong and host Jimmy Pardo played the game with two audience members. It was close to perfect. The next show WAS perfect. If I say so myself - I thought we nailed it. Pardo made good use of us and we were happy to oblige. The kindred musician/ comedian thing shone through. They may as well had been playing instruments with us - it was like a big jam. I have a souvenir - a Match Game card that David Cross wrote an answer on - for the record it was "Hitler's Moustache".
Sept. 21 - Greg Proops - Later that night (1:00AM) Chris and I set up and did a late show at an after hours joint on Pandora Street. Comedian Greg Proops hosted a chat show with Marc Maron and Paul F. (aka PFT). Greg is a fantastic guy. He is best known for his long running stint on "Whose Line Is It Anyway" - the improv show hosted by Clive Anderson or Drew Carey - depending on what side of the Atlantic he was on. He had some excellent insight into comedy - a real student of it. He talked to me about Elaine May and Mike Nichols and recited some of their routines. Also, we discussed Mort Sahl's influence on Woody Allen and again he recited some of Woody's old standup bits. He was an excellent host and a really unique and cool individual. We set the vibe with a kitsch bossa nova thing. Then we hung until about 3:30AM. Marc Maron gave us the thumbs up which was very cool as well.
Sept. 22 - "Sketch" with Bob and David. Bob handed us a "script" the night before. It included several musical cues which we were happy to oblige. The show was based on some scenes with Bob and David but included several local acts such as Sunday Service, The Cody Rivers Show, Canadian Content and Bucket. As was our way - Chris and I did pretty good on the first show - but nailed it on the late show. We had a great hang with Bob and David in between shows.
Overall - a great experience. I can't wait until next year.
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