This week in Nashville: Demetri Martin, Killer Beaz, Adele Givens, MangyDog LIVE & more..

Demetri Martin
Demetri Martin
Monday, April 13
8pm OPEN MIC (Lonnie’s on West End)

Tuesday, April 14
8am – 9am Get Up, Stand Up (91.1 WRVU-FM)
8pm OPEN MIC Contest (Spanky’s Sportsbar & Grill)

Wednesday, April 15
7:30pm Killer Beaz (Zanies)

2009.04.17 music city bar & grill
2009.04.17 music city bar & grill
Thursday, April 16
7:30pm Killer Beaz (Zanies)
7:30pm Demetri Martin (TPAC – Polk Theater)
8pm Laughin’ & Loungin’ (The Place)

Friday, April 17
7:30pm, 9:45pm Killer Beaz (Zanies)
9pm Chris Loyd & Friends Comedy Show – Ben Bergman, Monty Mitchell, Leslie Nash, Joe Southards, Chad Riden (Music City Bar & Grill)

2009.04.18 Mangy Dog LIVE!
2009.04.18 Mangy Dog LIVE!
Saturday, April 18
7pm, 9pm Killer Beaz (Zanies)
10pm MangyDog Whoop-Dee-Doo LIVE sketch show (Improv Nashville Comedy Theater)

Sunday, April 19
6pm Sunday Stand-up Showcase Showdown And Stuff – Dawna Kinne, Iron Comic, guest host Jesse Perry (Improv Nashville Comedy Theater)
7:30pm Adele Givens (Zanies)
8pm OPEN MIC (Music Row Bar & Grill

More details can be found in the NashvilleStandUp show calendar in the sidebar.

Doug Stanhope @ Exit/In TONIGHT!

Doug Stanhope @ Exit/In 2009.04.10

Just a last-minute reminder for Doug Stanhope‘s one and only stop in Nashville this year (TONIGHT, April 10th at Exit/In with The Mattoid and Chad Riden). Online ticket sales have ended, but they will be available at the door until they sell out. The Facebook event is here.

Stanhope’s material ranges from true-life graphic perversion to volatile social criticism. Doug is vulgar, opinionated, brutally honest and shockingly uninhibited and is certainly not for everybody.

Here is a short video from Doug’s “Deadbeat Hero” dvd:

Tennessean: “Musicians rock comedy: Flight of the Conchords, others use music to get laughs” Misses The Local Angle

Today The Tennessean‘s Dave Paulson wrote about Friday’s sold out Flight Of The Conchords show at The Ryman, mentioning Spinal Tap, The Doyle and Debbie Show, Doug Stanhope & The Mattoid (who are at the Exit/In Friday night) and a few Nashville-based funny musicians as well. Read the whole article over at The Tennessean.

It’s an okay write-up, but only okay. Dave could have looked deeper than Nashville’s “funny musicians” to find his local angle. For example..

Lahna Turner
Lahna Turner
Lahna Turner is a very funny lady who now calls both Nashville and Los Angeles home. She is a fantastic stand-up comic with a sick sense of humor and a knack for writing killer funny songs. She has appeared on NBC, Comedy Central and VH1 and has toured the world.

Occasionally, Lahna produces “The Music City Comedy Show” at Zanies Comedy Showplace – a night of funny people who have music in their comedy acts. In the past, the lineups have included Rik Roberts, Steve Goodie, Wynn Reichert, Sean Parrott, Bucky Habanero, and Shantel Adams.

Rik Roberts
Rik Roberts
Rik Roberts is a Nashville-based comic who performs hilarious “super-clean” comedy delivered with a little Southern flavor. His act is largely rapid-fire, family friendly stand-up comedy plus some original comedy songs and a little bit of improvisation. Rik has performed at clubs and colleges across the nation, works many corporate events, and also teaches stand-up comedy classes. Rik regularly hosts showcases of his graduating students and headlines at Zanies.

Steve Goodie
Steve Goodie
Dr. Demento has called Nashville’s Steve Goodie, “One of our most talented 21st-century parodists.” Steve has also appeared on many other radio programs around the nation, including The Howard Stern Show, and The Bob And Tom Show. Every Sunday at 8pm, Steve hosts the show at The Bluebird Cafe, emceeing this renowned evening of songs, keeping it moving along with his nutty witticisms.. and he performs his hilarious songs around Nashville and on the road regularly.

Wynn Reichert uses a tongue-in-cheek delivery to belt out tunes like, “I Need To Get Laid,” and audience favorite, “Sometimes I Wish I was Black.” Wynn is originally from California, lives in Nashville and tours internationally.

Sean Parrott
Sean Parrott
Sean Parrott has been bringing his charismatic stage presence and a unique point of view to comedy clubs and bars all over the Southeast since 2006. Brought up on Bugs Bunny and Monty Python, Sean is an observational absurdist with a keen eye for finding the humor in everyday life. He was recently a Finalist in the Reader’s Digest Nashville’s Funniest Comic Competition and did voice over work for an animated film, “Back to Life, ” that was featured on the Independent Film Chanel. Sean is also half of musical comedy duo, “The Dead Dead” which has been featured on the hilarious “Mangy Dog Whoop Dee Doo” (visit The Dead Dead online at MySpace & FunnyOrDie). Sean performs regularly at Zanies, is actively involved in the DIY comedy shows around town, and will be featured at the upcoming Mangy Dog LIVE show April 18th at 10pm at the Improv Nashville Comedy Theater.

Mangy Dog Live! 2009.04.18Speaking of the Mangy Dog Whoop Dee Doo, this Nashville-based podcast consistently features funny songs and parodies and whatnot produced by local professional funny people Jesse Perry, Mark Anundson, the previously mentioned Sean Parrott, Damian Anaya, Brad Edwards and more..

Mark Anundson
Mark Anundson
Mark Anundson is especially prolific. Not only is he the “Fungenieer” for the Mangy Dog Whoop Dee Doo, but he also hosts WRVU’s wildly popular “Get Up, Stand Up” radio show every Tuesday morning from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on 91.1 FM & archived online in the horrible RealPlayer format. He also produces hilarious songs for his own funny podcast, Happy For Apathy and has released a cd of his musical fun. He recently headlined the Sunday Stand-up Showcase Showdown And Stuff at the Improv Nashville Comedy Theater, improvising several funny songs on the spot using only his keyboard and his very funny brain.

This isn’t nearly a comprehensive list of ALL the musical comedy acts in Nashville.. but it’s a start. Keep an eye on the NashvilleStandUp calendar for upcoming shows featuring these very funny people.

The Mike Speenberg – Mitch Hedberg Nashville Connection

Mike Speenberg, Dave Attell
Mike Speenberg, Dave Attell
Tonight, Mike Speenberg is headlining at Zanies Comedy Showplace.. but six years ago this week, he was the middle act on that same stage for Mitch Hedberg. “Early in my career I was fortunate enough to open for Mitch Hedberg on more than one occasion,” says Speenberg. “I didn’t realize at the time how much it would mean to me later in my life. He was a sweet guy and I miss him.”

Here is a video clip of Mitch Hedberg on stage at Zanies Easter weekend six years ago talking about Mike:

“He’s a hard act to follow,” said Mitch Hedberg. “I’m a hard act to follow too, because when I’m done I take the microphone with me.”

Others have described Speenberg’s act as a “perfect blend of Jeff Foxworthy and Dennis Leary.” He’s performed everywhere from Las Vegas to Cuba and has been featured on everything from “The Bob and Tom Show” to “The HBO Comedy Festival.” While the majority of comics today seem to focus in what makes them different from everybody else, Mike makes you feel like he grew up next door to you.

Here’s Mike talking about the Weekly Reader:

Mike is headlining at Zanies tonight at 7:30 p.m. – tickets are just $10. You should go.

Skiptracers: Southern-Fried Brains Make for Comic Take on Real Life in the South

Southern-fried brains and more populate “Skiptracers” – a Southern comedy feature film filled with hilarity and, sometimes redneck vulgarity, rock music, fugitives, sordid affairs, and pee wee football.

The fried brains here are not the kind you eat, but those of people we deal with in everyday life – and this film is full of characters you’ll recognize from the church pew to the jailhouse.

Cooked up by Alabama-born film makers Harris Mendheim and Andy Stuckey (best known as half of the NYC-based “Stuckey and Murray” musical comedy team), with writing help from their friend Brian Saliba, SKIPTRACERS embodies the underbelly of a South we all know but seldom see played out on screen.

Accompanied by a winning soundtrack featuring artists Langhorne Slim, The Defibulators, The Avett Brothers and others, the story revolves around the Trawick family. The Trawick’s are a family steeped in south Alabama tradition of bail-bonding and pee wee football, with sons J.D. and Tucker leading the pack, and overbearing father and coach, Big Donald at the helm, backed by the born-again Baptist and former bootlegging matriarch, Nanny.

Their nemeses include trailer-park crack-head Rusty, a fugitive from the law with a penchant for strip clubs and rock music, and their arch rival in both bail bonding and pee wee football, Cletus Yoates.

“Skiptracers” and the Trawick legacy make for a raucous good time at the movies resembling a coupling of “Dukes of Hazard” and the Coen Brothers’ quirky takes on rural life.

Here’s a trailer for the film:

“Skiptracers” has already received several accolades including the Rome International Film Festival’s Audience Award; Best Comedy, Best Actor in a Comedy (Andy Stuckey as Rusty McAndrews) from the Dixie Film Festival; and the Excellence in Feature Film making award at the Accolade Film Fest in La Jolla, CA.

Tennesseans have several chances to see “Skiptracers” from April 20th -26th at the following theaters:
THOROUGHBRED 20 – FRANKLIN, TN
NORTHGATE 14 – HIXSON, TN
WYNNSONG 16 – KNOXVILLE, TN
CARMIKE 14 – JOHNSON CITY, TN

For more info visit the following interweb thing-a-ma-jiggers:

Skiptracersmovie.com
Myspace.com/langhorneslim
Myspace.com/thedefibulators
Myspace.com/theavettbrothers