The Definitive Guide to Comedy
How did Shane Mauss, a virtually unknown stand-up comedian from Boston in February, find himself telling jokes on Conan O’Brien in March? This photo of him (center) with me and Dan Pasternack of Super Deluxe only tells part of the story. Read my in-depth story in the Boston Phoenix. After …
Steven Wright’s first TV stand-up comedy special in 15 years, "Steven Wright: When the Leaves Blow Away," premieres at 9 p.m. tonight on Comedy Central (repeats at 11 p.m. tonight, 10 p.m. Monday). The hourlong special shows Wright is still as funny as he was when Bostonians and everyone else …
The online record tells you very little about Dan Boulger. We’re about to correct that, although not by much. Boulger remains an elusive comedy creature. This much is known. He is 20 (turns 21 in December) and still lives in Norwood. And on Sept. 16, he emerged victorious in the …
Local 20-year-old Dan Boulger — let me repeat that — 20-year-old Dan Boulger took home the top prize and an estimated $7,000 as winner of the 2006 Boston Comedy Festival stand-up comedy contest! Boulger told me afterward that the only gig he has lined up so far is a date …
Bill Burr deserves to break big. He absolutely destroyed last night at the “30 Years of Emerson Comedy” show at the Cutler Majestic. Several times during his 11-minute set, audience members around me were saying things like, “This guy is AMAZING!” Tore the roof off the joint. Anyhow. Like I …
The eighth and final preliminary competition in the Boston Comedy Festival stand-up contest, and for once, all is right with the world. And by that, I mean it’s not going to be difficult to predict who advances to the semifinals. And by that, I mean read the recap. Prelim 8 …
Prelims 7-8 of the Boston Comedy Festival contest had Rich Ceisler hosting and doing plenty of time both up front and between acts. At one point during Prelim 7, Ceisler decided to rip the Herald. “If it happened today, it’s news to us,” he said. Hey, Ceisler. Here’s something happening …
If you thought prelim 5 of the contest proved tough to judge, what to make of prelim 6, which had comics all over the map from good to bad to ugly? Well, let’s attempt a recap! Prelim 6 (in order of appearance) 1) Dana Eagle: The old I may look …
What do comedy contests and criticism offer to the stand-up comedian? Validation. Feedback. Two things most comics desperately desire. Or, another way to look at it: Am I funny? Why did they think I wasn’t as funny as that other comic? At the Boston Comedy Festival, the annual stand-up contest …
Prelim 4 is when everything you thought you knew about the Boston Comedy Festival contest went out the window and onto the bricks and cobblestones below. A much stronger field of contenders — perhaps five or six of the 12 comics could’ve landed the two semifinalist slots. And yet. Well…let’s …