While he’s definitely a throwback to another era of standup comedy, Dave Attell’s debased style of humor still resonated with the crowd at Comedy Works South Saturday night. Deadpanning about vegan strip clubs, Chinese youth assembling sex toys, and what illegal Mexicans can bring to the game of baseball, Attell…
In each piece of theater she creates, Betsy Tobin tries to find an unusual way to present her work. For her newest show, METAPHOR, she delves into the complicated realm of relationships using circus arts, puppetry, video projects and more to portray the tangled webs woven by human interaction. In…
God of Carnage. Let’s start with the setting, so pristine, white, minimal and tasteful — chairs with gracefully curving legs, a glass table on which art books are meticulously arranged, a vase of white tulips, nicely grouped, with just one flower swaying slightly out to the side. Even if you…
There was a time when many young people believed they could levitate the Pentagon by surrounding it, holding hands and chanting; dissuade a soldier from killing by placing a flower in the barrel of his gun; and put an end to war, corruption, racism, repression and pollution through nakedness, love-making…
For any local comic who has yet to appear on Conan or negotiate a sitcom, the New Faces Competition at Comedy Works is the ideal way to gain recognition and earn some cash with your humor. Winning first place in the four-month tournament not only puts a thousand bucks in…
On last Thursday’s Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell, comedian Jim Norton got in a verbal sparring match with Jezebel writer Lindy West. For the most part, their positions were fixed and predictable — but rarely have two people in the reactionary careers of standup comic and feminist author achieved…
The disappointing news that the Grawlix pilot got the thumbs down from Amazon didn’t keep Adam Cayton-Holland down for long. Just days later, he announced the August 23-24 High Plains Comedy Festival, which will raise the bar on previous summer comedy jams like Laugh Track and Too Much Funstival by…
Reading is about more than following a narrative or learning facts; it can also be a profound shared experience that culminates in a better understanding of ourselves and each other. In that spirit, welcome to the Westword Book Club, a weekly feature that celebrates the books that inspire Denver artists…
Typically found at L.A.’s Nerdist Theater, the Erotic Fan Fiction competition made itself at home at the Bug Theatre last night, dirtying the minds of a roomful of comedy fans with its unsettlingly hilarious mix of pop culture and hardcore pornography. Troy Walker earned himself the top ranking in the…
Update: Congrats to JamesB7! Check your email with details on how to claim your prize. Original post: Have you seen the lineup for Comedy Works this summer? The schedule includes Drew Carey, Jim Belushi, Dave Attell, our own Josh Blue and more big names than we’re going to list inside…
God of Carnage. Let’s start with the setting, so pristine, white, minimal and tasteful — chairs with gracefully curving legs, a glass table on which art books are meticulously arranged, a vase of white tulips, nicely grouped, with just one flower swaying slightly out to the side. Even if you…
Amazon gave the green light to several video series this morning, but Those Who Can’t, created by Adam Cayton-Holland, Andrew Orvedahl and Ben Roy of the Denver-based Grawlix comedy group, wasn’t on the list. Instead, Amazon will go forward with two other comedy pilots, Betas and Alpha House, as well…
The Erotic Fan Fiction competition will bring its twisted competition to Denver this Thursday. Led by Bryan Cook, comedy writer for Joan Rivers’s Fashion Police, the contest tasks professional comics to arrive with their own piece of erotic fan fiction on anything from Facts of Life to Of Mice and…
After ingesting almost nine straight hours of the newly revived Arrested Development series, I’ve come to two conclusions: 1) The cast and creators of AD still got it, and 2) This show was made for hermetic losers like me. The “story of a wealthy family who lost everything” was nothing…
Dividing the Estate. Dividing the Estate is a quietly incisive play about a large and contentious family. Stella Gordon, the 85-year-old matriarch, rules over a grand old house in the fictional town of Harrison, Texas. She is strong-willed and authoritative but essentially kind — and she’s determined that the family…
At the end of Long Day’s Journey Into Night, the audience members at Germinal Stage did something I’ve never seen at that theater: They stood up and applauded. It’s not that Germinal hasn’t staged excellent works in the past — works worthy of a standing ovation. It’s just that audiences…
While big-name comedy acts like Aziz Ansari will draw a large crowd in Boulder, getting a local comedy scene going in Colorado’s hippie hamlet has faced some challenges — whether money, politics or apathy. Now James Gold is hoping to put Boulder’s anti-comedy stigma to rest with his Dairy Comedy…
Denver native T.J. Miller can be a polarizing character in his hometown. Many in the comedy community see him as a local hero who’s helped bring national eyes to the scene; others think he’s a bro-down braggart who erroneously claimed civic pride with his “Denver” music video. Either way, though,…
If you want to join the ranks of the dozen or so local comics who have gone on to national recognition, then Comedy Works New Faces Competition is the perfect place to start. “A lot of comics use it each year to see where they are as comedians, judging by…
Governor Jack — a group comprising James Clark, Rollie Williams, Jason Metter, Asa Erlendson and Max Schwartz — is campaigning to make improv a more visible part of Denver’s burgeoning comedy scene. The group produces the improv show Governor Jack Watches You Sleep at Voodoo Comedy Playhouse, with material growing…
Tonight The Office bids farewell after eight seasons and 200 episodes. Series finales have a complicated history; final episodes have left viewers with tears of joy as well as fists of fury as beloved characters have ended up in prison, happily in love, having mental breakdowns…or alone. Keep reading for…
Comedy writing pioneer Bruce Vilanch is bursting with gayness. One of the first openly gay comedians, he’s known for his continuing role on Hollywood Squares and as a head writer for the Academy Awards show, as well as writing jokes for Bette Midler, Elizabeth Taylor, The Brady Bunch, Donnie and…
