Most comedians will agree that when you're starting out at open mic nights, the crowds can seem intimidating. For Joey Coco Diaz, his first audience consisted of what many would view as an especially rough crowd – his fellow inmates. During the time Diaz served in prison, the inmates were treated to Thursday movie nights, but when the projector stopped working, Diaz followed his natural inclinations and started performing.
It's hard to be humble when you're the World Champion. For comedian Judah Friedlander, this is a status he has maintained for years during his stand-up sets, but he insists that it's all for the good of the American people.
Gilda's LaughFest kicks off on March 6 with another attempt to break a world record. In the past, people gathered in downtown Grand Rapids with rubber chickens, mustaches, cardboard beaks. This year, the goal is to get the most people wearing sunglasses in the dark.
Get to know these up-and-coming comics now so you can say you knew them when.
Joe Gatto, James Murray, Brian Quinn and Sal Vulcano met years ago during their freshman year of high school. Bonding over their shared love of comedy, they dabbled in improv and stand-up throughout high school, before going their separate ways in college. When the foursome met up after college in '99, they agreed the climate was perfect to reignite their act and take it to the next level, creating The Tenderloins.
Nick Thune may have the honor of holding the strangest IMDb credit of all time. Search under his latest movie Johnson, and there he is, credited as the main character's disembodied penis. Thune embraced the role, and went out of his way to make sure he got it right.
Mike Birbiglia likes to tell stories. Personal, hilarious stories. And in order to ensure friends and family who appear in the stories don't get offended, he keeps some safeguards in place.
When most people hear the terms "bipolar" or "OCD," they probably wouldn't think of them as necessarily funny issues. For comedian Maria Bamford, who has publicly acknowledged that she has bipolar disorder and anxiety issues, these topics are pure comedy gold.
Ask most comedians who helped inspire them to pursue comedy and most would likely rattle off names like George Carlin and Chris Farley. Ask Jen Kirkman this question and you get a different answer entirely.
With dozens and dozens of events going on in the 10-day span of LaughFest, it's hard to decide which ones to choose. Let us help you with some of our LaughFest picks.
© 2019 Serendipity Media, LLC