The Colorado Theatre Guild’s Henry Awards, which were presented last night, have been growing in stature, professionalism and efficiency in some ways for quite a while — but this has come at a cost. The awards used to be judged by around a dozen professional theater critics, and because those…
As Denver comedy fans gear up for next month’s High Plains Comedy Festival, Sex Pot comedy is there the whet their appetites with another weed and jokes pizza party at the Oriental Theater to kick things off. The lineup, which Sex Pot has has finely curated each month, is packed with crushers from start to finish. Sex Pot host Jordan Doll and comics Sean Patton, Ashley Barnhill, and Ian Douglas Terry join headliner Aparna Nancherla for an evening promises to be a greasy slice of laughter pie.
Nancherla is a fast-rising star on the alternative comedy scene whose absurdist perspective informs a wide-ranging act that can range from the gross combo of orange juice and toothpaste to imperialism within the same five minute set. Nancherla has appeared on Conan and @Midnight and contributed several memorable segments as a performer and staff writer on the pre-maturely cancelled Totally Biased with Kamau Bell. Westword caught up with Nancherla to chat about about Sex Pot, Australian audiences, and avoiding the dregs of twitter.
Anarchist playwright Benjamin Turk sees theater as more than entertainment. He believes plays can spark dialogue, transform community and attack systems of violence: capitalism, the police and prisons. Steeped in the work of Bertolt Brecht and Augusto Boal, who both resisted the idea that stories should help audiences connect with…
Most comedy nerds are already familiar with Marc Maron’s biography. He rose to prominence in the 90s alt-comedy scene before floundering through a few TV and radio gigs that never felt like a perfect fit. Despite racking up over 40 appearances on the various incarnations of Conan and never leaving the airwaves for long, Maron’s career was at a low point when he started the WTF podcast in his garage. In addition to the in-depth interviews with comedians, musicians, and the occasional movie star featured on WTF, Maron’s chronic over-sharing gets plenty of mic time as well. Though off-putting at first to some listeners, his rambling engenders a more personal connection with his legion of listeners, who have flocked to his shows. Currently starring in the final few episodes of the second season his IFC sitcomMaron, he’ll also be headlining this weekend at Comedy Works Larimer Square. Westword caught up with Maron to discuss patent trolls, Denver’s drunk crowds, and his attempts at a spiritual experience in the dessert.
Jamie Wollrab works in Los Angeles as a director, actor and acting coach, but he grew up in Boulder and loves Colorado. “My family lives here,” he says, “and they don’t often get to see my work.” That’s why he and a couple of professional colleagues decided to bring Rajiv…
I Hate Hamlet. I Hate Hamlet is a bit like the curate’s egg: hilariously funny in parts, and in others so idiotic that you’re embarrassed for the actors. Why is the radiant Jamie Ann Romero wasting her talents wafting about as Deirdre, a stagestruck 29-year-old virgin who’ll have sex with…
Christopher Titus is a singular voice in standup comedy with a unique style and profound personal connection to his fanbase. Titus stood out early on in his career with appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Premium Blend, and managed to turn his one man show Norman Rockwell is Bleeding into the eponymous sitcom Titus which ran from 2000-2002 on Fox until it was cancelled following a dispute with executives. Titus has remained prolific in the aftermath, releasing standup specials The Fifth Annual End of the World Tour, Love is Evol, Neverlution, and The Voice in my Head in the space of a few years. He also co-hosts the Titus Podcast and is currently working to fund a movie called Special Unit, co-starring Denver’s own Josh Blue. In town this weekend to headline at Comedy Works South as he gears up for his next special The Angry Pursuit of Happines, Westword recently caught up with Titus to discuss honesty in comedy, dismantling pro-gun hysteria with humor, and his new History Channel game show, Pawnography.
From a special storytelling spectacular with The Narrators at Buntport to a summer new-play festival at Edge Theatre, this week’s performing arts calendar has the proverbial something for everyone. Here are three more ways to stay busy with hot-weather diversions. See also: On the Hot Seat: Who Will Sing For…
From participatory performance art on a stage in a picture window to an improvised gag-fest about the pitfalls of speed dating, there are many ways to find relief from the summer heat, whether it’s in a gallery environment or a dark theater. Here are a few of the coolest performing-arts…
In the third act of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro at Central City Opera, sopranos Sinead Mulhern and Anna Christy sing “Che Soave Zefiretto,” the duet in which the Countess (Mulhern) composes a letter for her maid Susanna (Christy) to take down; the two women are playing a comic trick…
I Hate Hamlet. I Hate Hamlet is a bit like the curate’s egg: hilariously funny in parts, and in others so idiotic that you’re embarrassed for the actors. Why is the radiant Jamie Ann Romero wasting her talents wafting about as Deirdre, a stagestruck 29-year-old virgin who’ll have sex with…
The Merry Wives of Windsor isn’t one of Shakespeare’s best plays. I read somewhere that it was written in response to the desire of Queen Elizabeth I to see the fat knight in love, and the plot is slight. This Sir John Falstaff isn’t the one we know from the…
I Hate Hamlet. I Hate Hamlet is a bit like the curate’s egg: hilariously funny in parts, and in others so idiotic that you’re embarrassed for the actors. Why is the radiant Jamie Ann Romero wasting her talents wafting about as Deirdre, a stagestruck 29-year-old virgin who’ll have sex with…
July days, with their sweltering afternoons and late evening sunsets, are filled with a kind of sun-dappled shapelessness; days once described by Ada Louise Huxtable as “jeweled balm for the battered spirit.” Balming the battered is also a standup comedian’s job description, and this month promises a healing wave of laughs washing over our arid city, featuring seasoned chortle-mongers from across the country. From one-night only theater appearances from sitcom stars to comedy nerd heroes headlining our local clubs over the weekend, battered spirits from across the spectrum of comedy fandom will have plenty of opportunities to laugh in air-conditioned comfort.
Adam Cayton-Holland is a comedian, podcaster, and former Westword scribe who forged his craft in ego-battering Colfax open mics before co-founding The Grawlix with Ben Roy and Andrew Orvedahl, a union that has produced a self-titled parodic web series and Denver’s best monthly standup showcase –which just so happens to be happening tonight at the Bug Theater at 10:30pm. Cayton-Holland has amassed an enviable list of TV credits, delivering strong sets on shows Conan and The Pete Holmes Show while steadfastly residing in his native Denver, where the outspoken baseball fan recently realized his lifelong dream of throwing out the opening pitch at a Rockies’ game after a long social media campaign. Cayton-Holland’s brainchild, The High Plains Comedy Festival, continues to thrive under his quiet but determined stewardship as its second birthday approaches. The unbelievably stacked lineup includes returning champions from last year’s fest like Beth Stelling, Sean Patton, Kate Berlant, Ian Douglas Terry, and Cameron Esposito in addition to Silicon Valley’s Kumail Nanjiani and T.J. Miller as well as ringers like Chris Fairbanks, Baron Vaughn, and the top-billed Pete Holmes. Check High Plains’ website for the complete lineup. Westword met up with Cayton-Holland at the favored Baker haunt and High Plains venue Mutiny Information Cafe to discuss his post-surgery Frankenfoot and doubling down for the festival’s second year.
I Hate Hamlet is a bit like the curate’s egg: hilariously funny in parts and in others so idiotic that you’re embarrassed for the actors. Why is the radiant Jamie Ann Romero wasting her talents wafting about as Deirdre, a stagestruck 29-year-old virgin who’ll have sex with boyfriend Andrew only…
I Hate Hamlet. I Hate Hamlet is a bit like the curate’s egg: hilariously funny in parts, and in others so idiotic that you’re embarrassed for the actors. Why is the radiant Jamie Ann Romero wasting her talents wafting about as Deirdre, a stagestruck 29-year-old virgin who’ll have sex with…
People would laugh until they cried when Lori Callahan took the stage at Comedy Works South. And on April 13, both laughter and tears poured out as friends, family members and Callahan’s fellow comics gathered in the room where the redheaded comic had slung jokes for years, taking their turn…
Perhaps it’s the pull of longer days and glorious nights that shuts down local stages in the summertime. But there are still places where you can catch a great musical or a dance performance when the heat of the day begins to subside. Here are our picks for this week…
Allen Strickland Williams is a Los Angeles-based writer, comedian, and former NBC page who nevertheless retained the office’s button-down aesthetic. Williams, along with fellow standups Jake Weisman, Dave Ross, and Pat Bishop comprise the sketch comedy group Women whose widely circulated videos are nibbles of absurdity dolloped by grim punchlines. Women are descending on the Oriental Theater tomorrow night for the monthly Sexpot Comedy showcase. The show, hosted as always by Jordan Doll, features standup from each member, as well as videos and live sketches. It’s also a Sexpot show, with all the dab dabbling that implies. Westword caught up with Williams to discuss what makes Women’s sketches different, his fondness for one liners, and his essay about the #YesAllWomen hashtag.
Prospero in The Tempest, now receiving a checkered production at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, rules over a magical island — magical in a way that only the Elizabethan imagination, which saw dragons and sea serpents inhabiting all unknown territories, could summon up. Prospero is the rightful Duke of Milan, but…
The Graduate. The more you think about it, the more you realize what a weak play The Graduate really is. Adapted for the stage by Terry Johnson from a 1960s novel by Charles Webb — which in turn became an iconic film starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft — it…
