When I went to grab the video of Kevin Hart's interview the other day, I stumbled across this find from another recent episode of Last Call with Carson Daly.
Several curious thoughts while watching this: 1) Carson Daly did an entire "series" on up-and-coming young comedians, and we missed it? 2) How can you introduce a piece about Eric Price and not mention he is on MADtv? 3) On top of that, how can Daly say this is his television debut? 4) Why would you film a stand-up show in what appears to be a hole in a wall? 5) Why would Price be recording this set, if it's already being recorded…for television? 6) Is that the best the NBC.com folks could do with that tease on the video: "Watch comedian Eric Price do some standup!"? 7) At the end of his set, does Price really perform all of the voices on Family Guy?
Hey, my name is Dan Bialek and I host a produce the 12 Shiny Nickels Show where these sets were taped. I’ll answer all of your questions the best I can.
1. NBC’s Last Call came down last month and filmed a group of ten comics at one of our Friday night shows. They’ll be featuring many of them on their program in the coming weeks. So far they have aired three: Mike Bridenstine, Renee Gauthier and Eric Price.
2. The whole theme of the show and showcase we put on for the Carson Daly folks was that all of the comedians on it were great but none of them had been on tv yet. Eric Price is a good friend of my producing partner Mark Teich and Teich added him to the showcase because technically Price had never been on tv performing standup. And Price is a very nice and funny guy. The Carson Daly producers picked Price out of a larger group of comedians who showcased for them several weeks before the taping night. I’m guessing Carson Daly didn’t mention that Eric was on MadTV because he probably didn’t know and he tapes about a billion intros and outros a week at a bunch of different locations so his descriptions aren’t always going to be perfect. (Sad fact: Although all of us love, eat, breathe and poop standup comedy, there are some people who enjoy it but also have to cover other things like bands, celebrities and whatever stuff gets featured on latenight talk shows.)
3. See answer above
4. They filmed the segments at our hole in the wall place because the Carson Daly show is changing the style of the show. They’ve gone from being in studio to going out to the actual venues where bands and comics perform. They are also filming a lot of Carson’s stuff on the streets of LA and at locations around town. They filmed at our venue because 12 Shiny Nickels is the best standup comedy show in town (besides CDR) and we have a crop of 30 or 40 people who do the show who are amazing comics but who have not been on tv. I am constantly pushing for industry people to come in and see people like Andrew DeWitt, Brady Novak, Susan Burke, etc. So far this year we’ve had showcases for people from NBC, HBO and the Montreal Comedy Festival come check out our comics. The show doesn’t make enough (or any money, we usually run at a deficit) to pay any of the comics so we try to get our comics as many opportunities as we can to be seen or get on tv through it as possible. Carson Daly also shot at our venue because we set up the entire show for free and did not charge them any kind of location or shooting fee. We just wanted them to see our comics and shoot them so they could get on tv.
5. I don’t know.
6. Yes, that’s the best NBC could do. I’ve worked for NBC several times in the past. They’re just a regular company like anyone else. I wouldn’t hold them up to any higher standard than I would a tire place or appliance store that also featured standup comedians from time to time.
7. Apparently he does. Price is a really good performer and does excellent impressions.
I hope I have answered some/all of your questions. Fingers crossed, the Carson Daly show will be rolling out the footage of the other comics they shot in the coming weeks and months. And if we’re lucky they’ll come back and film so more this summer. Standup in LA (and everywhere else) is pretty brutal. Having a tv credit can help, so we we’re always happy when we can help our comics and friends get them.
The 12 Shiny Nickels Show is every Friday and Saturday night at 11pm. As of now tickets are only $5 and the show is completely BYOB. For more info please go to: http://www.twelveshinynickels.com.
Thanks. Take care.
Hey Dan,
I noticed the shift in Carson Daly’s show when Fallon replaced Conan in front of him. Glad they did something to try to make that show better.
My questions were mostly rhetorical, but thanks for all of the added insight! And when I’m next in Los Angeles, I’ll be sure to check out your show. It would have been nice if NBC had plugged you guys better. But a TV credit is a TV credit, right?