news, show listings, contests, ticket give-aways and slander about Nashville's comedy community
Noted Vandy fan and Nashville native Keith Alberstadt made his triumphant return to the Late Show with David Letterman on April 13, 2012.
Keith’s first Letterman appearance was on February 6, 2009. Here’s that video:
More from Mr. Alberstadt:
KeithComedy.com
Twitter.com/KeithAlberstadt
Facebook.com/keith.alberstadt
A few weeks ago in March when Jon Reep, Zach Selwyn and Brian E. Kiley were doing a week at Zanies, the trio shot a music video for a parody to a Maroon 5 song. Here’s how they describe it:
This is a country spoof of the song “Moves like Jagger”. It’s called “Moo’ves like Haggard” and it’s about a chick who looks like Merle Haggard in a dress. We are in NO WAY making fun of Merle Haggard. We love him! He’s awesome! This is just about an imaginary chick who LOOKS like Merle Haggard. Written by Jon Reep & Zach Selwyn. Music by Toby Semain. Directed by Zach Selwyn. Edited by Jesse Selwyn. Chic played by Brian E. Kiley.
NashvilleStandUp asked Nashville’s own Brian E. Kiley how it happened and this is what he said:
“The two planned to shoot the video for the song in Nashville to take advantage of the country music scenery and themes. Originally Reep was set to play the part of the women himself. When he arrived in Nashville and realized he was working with me again, he instantly knew that casting a 300+ pound man as the woman would make the video that much funnier and he offered me the part. His description of the video was so hilarious that I didn’t even flinch at the idea of being seen in drag, doing some embarrassing things. It was one of those moments where the comedy overpowered the ego. The next two days were spent filming at Zanies and on Broadway in Downtown Nashville inspiring shock and awe in the passers by. The rest is comedy history!”
Here’s the video:
The new musical that’s leaving women across the country saying “that’s my life!” is coming to a city near you in 2012. Motherhood the Musical® is the incredibly funny, poignant musical that shows four different perspectives. Written by Nashville’s own Sue Fabisch, the show humorously captures every stage of motherhood including the changes that happen to the body after pregnancy and nursing, succumbing to driving a minivan and becoming a grandma for the very first time. Declared as “Engaging, hilarious and touching!” by Variety, Motherhood the Musical® is produced by GFour Productions, the team who has successfully brought Menopause The Musical® to multiple international markets and every major market in the United States.
The “Motherhood the Musical” CD featuring all your favorite Motherhood songs:
“The Kids Are Finally Asleep”, “Minivan”, “I’m Danny’s Mom”, “Not Gonna Take It Anymore” and of course, “Costco Queen”. All 20 songs from the hit show featuring the vocals of the talented Kareema Khouri, Lisa Manuli, Margot Moreland and Laura Turnbull.
Get your Mother’s Day CD’s here!
For more info about Motherhood the Musical, visit:
http://www.motherhoodthemusical.com/
My mental image of Paul Strickland is him in the Zanies green room looking over pages of his material that had been typed out word for word.. reading it under his breath, rehearsing the inflections and energy he would put into each line. A few years ago, this process struck me as funny because you just don’t see a lot of comics doing that. Most have scraps of paper or napkins with one or two words written on them that represent each joke.. or notebooks full of scribbles – sentence fragments, punchlines, random words and broken thoughts and ideas. You generally don’t see comics going over full transcripts of their acts, or talking about the “arc” of their set or the “through-line” they’re trying to establish but I associate these things with Paul’s process. I’m assuming it was his background in theater that led to these habits, but whatever it is has worked in Paul’s favor.
From his first open mic in February 2006, Paul already seemed to have a good head for the business of comedy. He was always working on new, bookable material. He put effort into everything he did and treated it like a job from the very beginning.. which is exactly why he was able to quit his day job in 2009. Since then he has written and performed his one man shows and traditional standup all over the country.
Paul says, “I firmly believe that making people laugh at themselves and their world is a good way to help them escape while, hopefully, gaining some perspective on what they’re escaping from, and distracting them from the fact that I just took their money.”
Strickland recorded “Levels of Difficulty,” his first stand-up album, a few hours up the road at the Comedy Caravan in Louisville. It is available to buy right now at iTunes and Amazon.
As a ‘thank you’ to the local comedy fans in Nashville who supported Paul from the very beginning, NashvilleStandUp and Paul are happy to be giving away three (3!) copies of the cd on April 22nd. Enter to win below.
Paul says, “Listen, people laughed when I said the things on this CD and we recorded both their laughter and the things I said. Now YOU can laugh WITH people that laughed months ago AT the same things I said MONTHS ago! Building community, that’s what I’m about.”
[UPDATE: the contest has closed! Buy the album already, cheapskate!]
If you don’t have time to screw around, waiting to see if you win, feel free to go ahead and buy it right now:
– iTunes
– Amazon
For more from Paul Strickland, stalk him online:
http://talkingpaul.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/talkingpaul
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1080223703
