news, show listings, contests, ticket give-aways and slander about Nashville's comedy community
Keith Alberstadt was on WTVF’s Talk of the Town this morning. The Nashville native talked about his comedy career that’s taken him from local stages all the way to the Late Show with David Letterman. If you missed it, here’s the video.
See Keith this weekend with James Gregory at Zanies!
Congratulations to Nashville native Keith Alberstadt who will once again be competing in the Boston Comedy festival (August 29th – September 5th). No stranger to Boston, Mr. Alberstadt previously competed in the festival in 2003, 2004 and 2005. This year, Keith is scheduled to perform in Preliminary Round 7 on Wednesday, September 2nd. (Buy tickets here.)
The Boston International Comedy & Movie Festival began back in 2000 as a way to showcase New England stand-up comedy talent to bigger audiences and the entertainment industry. Given the long line of successful comedians who got their start in Boston, it seemed to be a natural fit for such a festival. The audience agreed, and the event has grown every year. In addition to the traditional stand-up comedy routines, the festival also includes improv, sketch comedy, and one-person theatre shows, as well as the newly expanded movie portion of this festival.
Over the past seven years, they’ve expanded to over a week of festivities, including outdoor family-friendly events and $10,000 in prize money for the competition winners. The addition of The Boston Park Plaza Hotel as the official host hotel and hub of the event has created a more centralized feel, and partnerships with other sponsors have helped them to include over 30 Boston venues and to bring in stars such as Lewis Black.
This year, over 96 comedians from around the world will compete for the prize money. Improv, sketch, and showcase acts will run throughout the week, and the film exhibition will take place at the historic Coolidge Corner theater.
For more info: www.BostonComedyFestival.com
And now an update from Nashville’s own Kieth Alberstadt:
Sports Radio! The “Stadt” Sheet on The Zone
Beginning Tuesday, July 21, I’ll be giving my sarcastic slant on the sports world in “The Stadt Sheet” on Nashville’s 104.5 The Zone. Listen to The Zone’s “Overtime with Brent Dougherty” every Tuesday night at 11:00 PM EST (10:00 PM Central). Nashvillians can listen live on the radio, and everyone else can stream it live online at www.1045thezone.com.
This is going to be so much fun…make sure to tune in!!
Download My CD on iTunes
Looking for a good way to laugh at the gym? You ought to, because abs should be an important part of your workout. You know who you are.
Well look no more. Download my CD, “One Night Stand”, on iTunes!! Simply go to iTunes, search for my name (make you sure you spell it correctly thank you very much), and there you go.
Or, if you would like a hard-copy CD to make your collection at home look slightly more impressive, you can order through cdbaby. My cdbaby bio page is here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/kalberstadt
Humor Writings
Now it’s time to take a break and read some jokes. That’s an order. I’ve been writing freelance monologue jokes for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon for the past several weeks. You can read them here:
http://www.keithcomedy.com/columns.asp
Teaser: “A runway at JFK airport was shut down Wednesday morning after 78 turtles crawled onto the tarmac. So let’s recap: Geese taking down jets, turtles shutting down runways, pigs spreading the flu…I’m starting to think Old MacDonald is a terrorist.”
I also posted two humor columns since my last newsletter. One’s about bachelorette parties, and I believe every female in the country should read it, pretty please. You can access it through the same link above.
Finally, my latest column is about my time in Nebraska during the Great American Comedy Festival and Tornado Scare. What a fun week that was, but frightening too. Same link.
Future Shows and Web 2.0
I’m back on the road the next two months. Atlanta at The Punchline, then to Buford, GA at the new Buford Variety Theatre, and then off to the Funny Bone in Richmond, VA. All of these are fantastic clubs so spread the word.
For my full tour schedule, check it out here: http://www.keithcomedy.com/tourdates.asp
Finally, while you’re in front of the computer, why not become a fan on my facebook fan page?
And follow me on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/KeithAlberstadt
They’re both good ways to get DAILY updates and jokes, as well as photos from the road and stuff. Thanks again for the continued support! I hope to see you at a show sometime soon.
Sincerely,
Keith Alberstadt
keithcomedy.com
Nashville-native nationally touring comic Keith Alberstadt continues to amaze and astound us with the quantity and quality of projects he’s working on. He is featured in “Stand Up 360” – a movie about New York stand up comedy, has been invited to the Great American Comedy Festival, and has been filmed for Byron Allen’s “comedy.tv”.
Keith recently wrote a guest article for Rooftop Comedy about the comedy.tv project:
It was a big surprise to get the call, especially since in my emails to the producers, I kept calling him Brian Allen. I felt like my mom, who calls comics things like Kathy Mandarin (Kathleen Madigan), Jack Jergensen (Jake Johannsen), and Bill Saguine (possibly Conan O’Brien).
The only bad thing about this whole experience was the timing. I got the invite Thursday last week and had to be in LA Sunday. A trip cross country, connecting in Detroit, sitting in the middle seat between two middle-aged women who laugh out loud at the in-flight movie “Bridal Wars”. . . All of these things are tolerable. What’s not is finding a reasonably-priced plane ticket with only two days notice.
The best rate I could find was $410 which I paid for with 10,000 shares of GM stock. But it was well worth it.
Forty-two comics doing six minutes each. Of course not everyone stuck to six minutes, because there’s still a mentality of “hey, I’m killing so that red light in the back of the room can suck it”. But overall it was amazing. Events like this are fun because it’s like a comedy convention. Comics from all over can catch up on what they’re doing, where they’ve been, and which comedy condos have been de-loused lately.
The Great American Comedy Festival takes place June 14-20 at the Johnny Carson Theatre in Norfolk, Nebraska. Created as a tribute to the legacy of native son Johnny Carson, the festival’s competitors were booked by Late Show with David Letterman‘s Eddie Brill. This year’s line-up features Keith along with 24 other fast-rising comics including Nashville’s own Jesse Case and friend of N’Sup Pat Dixon.
“Stand Up 360” is a series of new big screen productions in theaters now. It’s hosted by Caroline Rhea and spotlights some of the best comics in New York City. Keith’s part of the series will be in theaters June 1-14. Visit www.Stand-Up360.com for more information and to purchase tickets while they last! Check your local listings for select theaters, dates & times of the limited engagement showings.
For more from Keith, visit KeithComedy.com.
There are several friends of NashvilleStandUp mentioned in today’s announcement of the list of the 24 stand-up comedians who will be competing for the top prize at the Great American Comedy Festival this June in Johnny Carson’s hometown of Norfolk, NE.
“These are some of the brightest, most intelligent and creative minds in the industry,” said Eddie Brill, the executive producer of the festival and the talent coordinator for the “Late Show with David Letterman.”
Brill and Lora Young, executive director of the festival, auditioned comedians in 10 cities across the United States — including New York City, Dallas, Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Boston and Chicago — to select the top 24 who wanted the chance to compete in Norfolk.
“As a result of the incredible success of last year’s festival, the good word has spread rapidly throughout the comedy community,” Brill said. “The high quality of comedians who auditioned for the Great American Comedy Festival made it so difficult to narrow the list down to just 24.”
The list includes: Keith Alberstadt (Nashville native, now living in New York City), Jesse Case (Nashville native, now living in Seattle), Pat Dixon (currently living in New York City.. he is not from Nashville, but was almost murdered by a crazy chick from here, so we claim him as our own), and Tim Harmston (from Minneapolis, who is a very good friend of our own Mary Mack).
The 24 comedians will be split up so that six perform at each of the four preliminary rounds of competition at the festival on Wednesday, June 17, at 6:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. and Thursday, June 18, at the same times.
Congratulations to everybody selected!