Sunday Night Quaterback

This was a real nice week.

Jim Gossett and Kimmer kicked off the week and our customers did a great job of supporting Toys For Tots (and by customers, I mean those Kimmer listeners that came out on Wednesday night).

Michael Sommerville is a very strong feature act and I think that based on the way the audience embraced his material, I think his future is pretty bright.

Keith Alberstadt is exactly the kind of team player that all comedy clubs should hope to have. Regularly a feature in some good rooms and headlining some other gigs, he stepped up and took an MC gig to help out. We like that.

Kathleen Madigan and I had some interesting discussions about the role of agencies and multi-unit comedy clubs. I really enjoyed them. Her show is really strong and I think that those people who came out this week and didn't know what they were getting should have been pleasantly surprised.

I guess the bottom line got too skinny....

It seems that Atkins Nutritionals is filing for Chapter 11. I must admit that I never got much out of the carb free craze, but I am going to predict that a number of comedians who've got Atkins jokes on the shelf will be dusting them off with this news.

Toys For Tots

What a great night of comedy last night!

Kimmer came out and you all donated a great number of toys. You were a hot audience, and myself, Keith Alberstadt, Michael Sommerville, and Jim Gossett has a great time with you. Vince and Tommy did fine as well.

What is a brand?

Media Post had an interesting article about some complaint's Dick Wolfe had about the perception of the "Law & Order" brand. You can read the article to form your own opinions on his comments, but I make reference to the article because it resonated with the challenge that we at times confront here.

Namely, is it The Punchline that we are promoting or is it the performers we are promoting? I can tell you that the more a particular comedian becomes an identifiable brand the great the cost and the opportunity cost of booking that comic. The more we solidify our position as the top brand in comedy, ironically the more our customers are unfamiliar with the comedian that they are buying in a given show.

Just something that I continue to think about.

#6 in the country for singles.

Ah, to be single in the city. Atlanta has always had a reputation as a city that was great for singles. I used to find it interesting that perhaps that was the reason I heard so much gnashing of teeth that it was such a hard city in which to meet quality people. Are those two ideas mutually exclusive? Not for me to say.

What I can say without hesitation is that there is not better place for a first date than The Punchline. We offer you the opportunity to eat some food, have some drinks, make some conversation and then boom - there is our comedian providing laughter and insight about what makes your date tick. Just take a peek at what he or she is laughing at and let her or him know what you think is funny and there will be no shortage of things to talk about on the way home.

Men love women with a sense of humor. Women supposed always fall for a guy who can make her laugh.

Give us 90 minutes and we might just get you a second date.

They've got to be kidding right?

I saw this story and thought it must really be something that came straight out of the pages of The Onion. Get ready to have your monthly minimums DOUBLE. That's right DOUBLE.

I mean are you kidding me? What ever happened to "we trust people with their own money?" First you change the bankruptcy laws to virtually eliminate a person's opportunity to start over, especially when most bankrupcties are the result of medical bills not overspending. Now this? Clearly this is not the place to engage in a political debate, but at some point a person should consider which party is the party of the people and which is party of the credit card companies when it comes to money matters.

If you are wondering why I am a little fired up about this it's because I know that a little change like this could have a major impact on whether or not people can afford to come out for a night of entertainment. Remember that Georiga is at the top of those states which have the highest number of bankruptcies. The other reason is that , well, I have a credit card or two with a balance.

Traveling with Children.

My wife and I returned to Atlanta yesterday from a visit out of state with our children. It was a long day, around nine hours from point to point. I have to admit that our children are good travelers for the most part, but our youngest can get a little out there. She's got this scream thing that she does when a regular old whimper would suffice.

Needless to say I am a bit self conscious about this quirk of hers. Mind you, I am long since over the reluctance to change a wet, not dirty, diaper in the corner of a gate at the airport, but for whatever reason I am highly noise conscious. Thus when we get on the plane, as soon as is practicable I will pop up and hang with the flight attendants in the back if the kid starts to get noisy. The problem with this is that as I walk up and down the aisle with child I get looks. That's right, looks. And to be blunt, it kind of irritates me. What would you rather have, wailing child or walking dad? I think most would choose walking dad, but you wouldn't know it from the looks.

My point, I guess, such as there is one, is that this intermittent screech is just about enough to have you consider for a fleeting moment revisiting your overall views on parenting. I don't want to be the guy whose child is getting the best of him, but come on, stop with the screeching already. You know how many people look at that guy?

Instead, I take it out on the person who it is more socially appropriate to be arguing with and that is my spouse. Who, as it happens, is equally done with the whole situation and has apparently already chosen to argue with me. Because nothing says voyueristic fun more than watching some frazzled parents and a wailing child go at it.

I know that this post is a little off topic for our general discussion of things Punchline, but I felt at least some of you might think it was exactly on point with comedy.

Tuesday Afternoon Quarterback.

Chris and Kathe have returned from Montreal and based on our conversations, I think that we will have some interesting things to announce in the coming weeks.

If you have any other Montreal Festival update needs, I refer you to our friends at Shecky Magazine. They do a much better job than we do on covering all of the particulars. Brian and Traci will be performing here in a couple of weeks as it happens.

Tomorrow night we are doing a benefit with our friends from Braves Radio 640GST and Kimmer's show. If you bring an unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots, you'll get free admission to our show with The Newsmaker - Jim Gossett. Even though it is still the middle of the summer, there will be children in need come Christmas time. It's also not a bad idea to be thinking about our Marines, many of whom are still in harm's way in Iraq and Afganistan.

Kathleen Madigan is back this weekend and her show keeps getting stronger and stronger. There are some that would argue that she is the best female comic working today. I might suggest that she is one the best comic out there working today.

Saturday Night Around The Blogs...

I've had the chance to speak with Chris a couple of times while he's been in Montreal. It sounds like this year is a really fun festival. If you are looking for an in depth update, you should consider checking out Shecky Magazine. Brian and Traci always have good insight and perspective on the happenings.

From what I hear, I think we'll see some new faces in Atlanta in the next year. There is a lot of good talent out there. I am always struck by the difficulty associated with booking a room like ours, but the simple fact is you run out of spaces for all of the talent that you want to use.

As it happens, I participated by telephone on the radio show tonight. For any of you who have ever performed you might know what tonight's show felt like. It was just a little off. We discussed, or at least discussed while I was on the air, the nominee for the Supreme Court. Yes, I know, compelling reading for the blog of a comedy club. The point I was trying to make was that I personally don't have any capacity to evaluate the appropriateness of Judge Roberts for the High Court - I simply do not know enough about him. I think that it would be a step in the right direction if he could have a full and candid discussion with the Judiciary Committee, and let his views fall where they may.

I don't think that it came out sounding that way on the radio.

Chris & Kathe Do Montreal...

Chris and Kathe have departed for the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal through the weekend.

Usually this is a great time catch up on the scuttlebutt from the clubs, bars, and other places that business gets done up there.

So, as I hear from them, you will here from me.

Last year things didn't get off to a great start as Chris got all the way to the airport without his passport.

I expect that this year will go much better.

Monday Morning Quaterback....

Another busy weekend in Atlanta comedy.

I must admit that often we wonder how other comedy events impact on the number of customers we see in a particular week or on an particular night.

For example, this weekend Jeff Foxworthy had a sold out show up in Gwinnett. Were it not for Jeff's show, would some number of those 12,000 people have come out to see Greg Giraldo? What about Bob Saget at the other club? He sold out some of his shows, did that have an impact on the number of people who came to The Punchline? We were busy all weekend and had few seats available for a number of shows, so there were a lot of people out consuming comedy this weekend.

In my heart of hearts, I believe that the answer to both questions is yes and no. Given the fact that each of the three performers being discussed here have very different presentation styles, and given the fact that each of the venues being discussed are very different as well, I suspect that there is little overlap.

We wonder about these things because we are always trying to stay on top of how to make sure that our target audience is aware of our product and how to stay on the short list of must do activities in a metro area filled with choices.

What are your thoughts?

Greg Giraldo is a comedian that I really enjoy watching and I hope that you'll see more of him in the coming months. It sounds like he's got 16 different projects that he is working on for Comedy Central, so expect to see him a bit there if nowhere else. Jamie Kaler is an interesting guy, and he is developing like you'd expect. I see a recurring character on a sitcom in his future. Eric Hunter is our Mark Lemke and I mean that in the best way.

It'll be interesting to see what happens this weekend with Christian. I think there is the opportunity for it to be huge. We'll see what you think.

Chris and Kathe are off to Montreal for the Just for Laughs Festival. I am very interested in hearing the gossip and perhaps even getting an update on a couple erroneous things that I have heard about us and the Atlanta comedy scene. Me thinks that there is someone trying to play games perhaps.....

Minding The Store...

So Pauly Shore has a new reality show on TBS called Minding The Store which will focus on his efforts to help his mother revitalize the fortunes of the Comedy Store, which is an iconic comedy venue in Los Angeles.

We have had a couple of discussions along the way about doing a reality show based on our experiences here at The Punchline. I suppose those may now come for naught, as this show is now on the air.

Pauly is an underappreciated business person in my view, and perhaps this show will allow viewers to see the ways in which Pauly has matured beyond the weasel days. "The Hot Chicks" of comedy maybe isn't going to show that right off the bat, but if it seems like it is a concept that works.....

Freddy Soto Has Died.

Talented comedian and friend of The Punchline, Freddy Soto has died.

There are few details available at this time, though this article sets forth the basics.

I am truly sorry for his wife and family. He was a really terrific guy.

His career was still ascendant and he will be missed.

If you were a fan who is liking to share your thoughts with his wife and new daughter, this link will allow you to do that. You can also make a contribution here as well.

Blink....

I have been reading the book Blink by Malcolm Gladwell of late.

I think it is highly engaging and there is a lot to process that is contained in the book.

This passage struck me this evening: "If you have to rely on your reflexes, someone is going to get hurt unnecessarily. If you take advantage of intelligence and cover, you will almost never have to make an instinctive decision."

I think that this is the basic essence of some of the challenges we face week to week in the club. We need not make decisions without context, rather we should better job of appreciating the context on the situation in which we find ourseleves. The picture was right there all along, we just needed to take one step back farther to see it.

Reality Shows As Sweatshops.

I am as big a fan of reality programming as anyone, though I prefer the news as the granddaddy of all reality shows.

This article suggests that there is some pretty good abuse of the folks who write reality shows, that's correct - the writers, are being taken advantage of.

Maybe that's the concept for the next great reality show. Follow a bunch of reality show writers around. I even have a name for it - Scripted.

Working on Some Concepts...

We've been thinking a lot lately about the different kinds of shows we might like to add here at the club.

It is not our intention to deviate substantially from our core mission of presenting the best in live comedy. Our challenge is whether or not we can add offerings that are a little more toward the margins.

I am talking about things like an improv show, or a variety showcase. Maybe a screening of an old classic comedy movie.

We'll see. In the meantime, if you've got some suggestions about things that you want to see us consider, please post them here.

Tim Wilson on a Friday...

Nice solid show here this weekend.

I am admittedly partial to Tim Wilson as he was my guide for the first real road trip I took as a comic. Atlanta to Warner Robbins to some tiny town in on the West Virginia border to Atlantic Beach and back - all in Tim's old blue Crown Vic.

If you haven't had the chance to see Tim's show, come on out. He is among the smartest comedians I know, though many get lost in his accent. It's too bad if that is the case.

The music he is doing these days is among the best he's ever done in my opinion. Church League Softball Fistfight is right up there.

Tig is great and always low-key. Don't let it fool you.

The Philosophy of A Job Applicant.

As you will note from the posting below, we are in the process of adding some additional staff. Some will round out our existing staff, and others will take on a per project type presence.

I listed the openings on Craigslist, and I have to say that the response has been overwhelming, enough to make me a convert perhaps.

What I have found a bit odd is the tendency for many people to include a quote or an expression of philosophy as a part of the signature of the emails we receive. Perhaps I am a bit of a traditionalist, but it is somewhat irrelevant and possibly inappropriate in my view to apply for a job and impart anything along those lines.

Imagine if you did the same thing in an interview or when leaving a telephone message and perhaps you will see what I mean:

"Sorry I didn't catch you, but I am interested in the opening. As Bertrand Russell stated, 'complexity is a knot irreduceable simplicity.'"

or

"I am glad you asked me that. I did graduate from college with honors. 'Nickels Bobby, they're all nickels.' That is my favorite Gene Hackman quote."

Thankfully, quotes or no quotes, we are getting some uniformly solid applicants.