Next Comedy Class starts FEB 3rd

We have the longest running, most successful comedy class
in the tri-state area!!

Wednesday night @ 8:30 is open stage night in Northeast

Thursday night open stage in Marlton

 

If you have ever watched Jay Leno's monologues, then you have heard O'Donnell's jokes, as he is one of Jay Leno's joke writers. Veteran Comedian O'Donnell has been seen on Showtime, Comedy Central, and he was a winner on "America's Funniest People". Pat O'Donnell is one of the hottest comics on the comedy scene today! A regular in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Pat has two comedy CD's selling very well. He also does some great impressions in his act. Pat is one our most requested acts and has worked with Ray Romano, Kevin James, Drew Carey, Mitch Fatel and many more. He also teaches Comedy at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Tony Conaway has been a stand-up comic, a comedy writer, and a booking agent. He started performing in 1984 at the Comedy Workshop in Houston, Texas, home to such legendary comics as Bill Hicks, Brett Butler, and Sam Kinnison. He has co-written jokes used by Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show." He has also written nine books and hundreds of articles. He has taught comedy at many venues in Pennsylvania and Delaware. Currently, he books all the talent for Comedy Cabaret.
Former school teacher in Bucks County, Dr. Andrew Scarpati created the Comedy Cabaret in 1980. He performed as a stand-up comic from the late 1970's until 1995. In those years worked with Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Rosie O'Donnell, (when she was funny) Eddie Murphy, Ray Ramono, Kevin James, and more!

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What's so funny?

A group of aspiring comics have taken humor lessons, and here's the punchline: They're putting on a show.

BY: RANDY ALEXANDER, Staff Writer

Geof Castle's primary motivation for experimenting with standup comedy is classic. He's always been funny around his friends and relatives, so now let's see if he can be funny in front of a room full of strangers daring him to make them laugh.

"I thought I could do it," he says. "And I just wanted to see how you get into it."

The 22 year old Drexel University journalism major discovered during a recent six-week comedy course at the Bensalem/Northeast Philly Comedy Cabaret that he can, indeed, do it. In fact, Castle was singled out by both his teacher, local comic, Joey Callahan, and Comedy Cabaret impressario, Andy Scarpati, as one of the best among the 21 comic wannabes from around the Delaware Valley who gathered here on six successive Wednesday evenings this fall to attend the Humor Workshop and Comedy Class.

"I really don't have a lot of problems getting up on stage because I guess I'm just arrogant," says Castle. "My biggest problem is coming up with material that I think works and, hopefully, the audience will appreciate."

Callahan is so impressed with what he sees of "the one guy who really made me laugh" duing his five-minute routine on the final night of the class that he barks these orders at Castle as he's walking back to his seat: "I'll be pissed if you don't keep going. Don't be a schmuck and not show up on Wednesdays (for Open Mike Night). And don't let college get in the way." Unless, of course, "letting college get in the way" can inspire some good punchlines. One of Castle's quips that tickled Callahan involved his choice to attend Drexel: "I went to college to meet girls - without any luck," Castle explained during his routine. "I should have never picked a college named after a saint."

Callahan hardly reserves his praise for Castle. Bill McManus, a 21 year old from Levittown, Pa., offers "tons of material," much of it topical - down to the previous night's World Series game - during his five minutes at the mike. He draws huge applause from the rest of the class, including Callahan and Scarpati. "From the beginning of the class to the beginning of tonight," Callahan tells McManus enroute to his seat, "you've obviously listened to everything I've said."

The group has achieved so much as a whole that, for the first time in the two years this semiannual comedy class has been sponsored by the Bucks County-based Comedy Cabaret organization, students will actually put on a show for the paying public. A dozen or so graduates of the fall class will be stringing together their best five minutes of standup Thursday at the room where they've been taught how to do it - the Bensalem/Northeast Philly Comedy Cabaret.

"Out of all the classes I've taught, this was just the most fun to do because there's a real team spirit," say's Callahan. "Everyone wanted to help everyone else out. With previous classes, I didn't get the energy back. This time, the energy's there. They have to exude as much energy learning as I do teaching."

From Kensington to the Main Line, from Levittown to Doylestown, a diverse mix of men and women each paid about $200 to learn what it takes to make it in the comedy business, or how to simply be funnier and apply that discipline to networking and public-speaking skills. It'll happen again during the next session in February. This group learned there is a huge chasm between being an informal cut-up and the trial-by-fire of their first Open Mike Night. And by enrolling, the class members became privy to a rare bridge they can cross to the stage.

Watching Callahan teach the class is almost like watching a stop-action DVD of a comedian go through his paces in slow motion. Beyond obvious things like how to write a joke, how to hold a microphone and general stage presence, there are the little things he's learned along the way - like how to handle hecklers, subtle ways of glancing at your watch to check your time, and telling every crowd to "remember to tip your watresses." "I concentrate on getting them to the next level," says Callahan. "It's like their field of dreams. If you pursue it, it will come. If you stick with it, it's going to happen."

The class started with 21 enrollees - 17 men and 4 women- and through natural attrition, ended with 13. Some, like ultra-perky married couple, Pat and Peggy Walsh of Doylestown, had previous professional experience, having worked with an area improv troupe. Others like the tattooed factory worker who calls himself Millennium Turk, tried about a dozen Open Mike Nights over a four year period before signing up for the class.

In the beginnging, a lot of people would say, "You're so funny, why are you working all these loser jobs?" Turk says "Who wants a factory job if you can make it?" But most had no experience at all.

Millennium Turk proves to be one of the more unusual novices. Unlike the rest of the class, he not only has a preconceived character, but a high octane routine that is one long storyline built upon the arrival of Y2K and terrorists in New York City at the dawn of the new millennium.

But is it funny"

"Great stage presence," says Callahan. "You're fun to watch on stage. Now slow ... it ... down. You have 80% of it. Now you need to back it up with jokes."

Everyone in the class practices joke-writing exercises Callahan learned from the two people who inspired him most - Gene Perret, one of Bob Hope's top writers, and Joe Madeiros, one of Jay Leno's head writers on "The Tonight Show".

Some tips from the pros:
- Carry a comedy notebook wherever you go.
- Try to write at least five jokes every day and set a daily deadline.
- Watch as much comedy as you possible can and learn from what you see.

During one session, the class is broken into two groups. Each group is told to make a "hot list" of potential joke topics. Then Callahan issues this challenge: Have the groups swap lists and each write three jokes off the other group's list. One comedy scenario arises from a concept about Mother Drexel being canonized on the Jewish New Year. Callahan likes the idea and quickly assigns a homework challenge: Each student should go home and write five more jokes on that topic. Always be thinking, constantly refining. And then make it look easy on stage.

Clifford Scott figures he's been doing standup for 11 years - most of it from behind a hairstyling chair - and comes off completely relaxed in front of an audience. He takes the sit-down route on stage, one of the few students to pull up a stool. Problem is, Callahan warns, the stool gets Scott almost too relaxed and his momentun suffers.

Judy Lupo, of the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, also displays a relaxed stage presence and admits to having a dry sense of humor. Her arsenal is laced with sex jokes which go over well. Lupo is proud she can be funny and dirty without resorting to four-letter words, even though she later confesses those jokes were road-tested on the information superhighway. She "borrowed" them from those unsolicited e-mails that get passed among friends, acquaintances and strangers.

It's OK to borrow like that, she's told. for now, anyhow.

Callahan sees greater potential in Lupo's material about children and teaching:

"I asked some kids I was teaching to make the sound of farm animals, and one goes 'quack quack' "Lupo begins. "And then I say, 'Make the sound of a cow and another kid goes 'moo'. "Now who knows the sound of a pig? And one kid raises his hand and says. 'I do!' 'And he goes, 'Now hit the wall and spread 'em!' " ... Because it's a cop, get it? ... No? ... Wait, how 'bout this? ... "McDonald's used to fry their french fries in lard, but I think they should give you a choice like they do with a Diet Coke and regular," Lupo continues. "You should have your choice between healthy fries or the Full Effect, extra greasy. McDonald's doesn't need to decide if I should be the one to have a heart attack. Let me determine if I want to have one."

Admit it, you chuckled a little that time.

"I learned it's best to take as much time as you can and sit and write your own jokes," Lupo says. "It's always good to have something that's current. But it's hard to know if your joke is going to be funny or not. You don't know that. "I'm not going to try and make it to Hollywood. I just like to go out and have fun. Another good think is I'm already employed, so I'm not looking to do this to make money. If I bomb, it's OK with me. I still get paid on the 15th and the 30th of the month."

Overall, The Natural in this particular class appears to be Geof Castle. In the two weeks since the class has ended, he has followed Callahan's advice and tried the Open Mike Nights. He's got 30 jokes that he's weeded out from his various attempts but h'e worried - now that the Presidential campaign is over, he'll have to make some big adjustments. "Ideally," says Castle, "I'd like to be consistently funny at Open Mike Nights and potentially get a paying job ... But every kid who picks soccer (as a hobby) doesn't grow up to become Pele. Comedy is my new hobby, but I don't know. I'll try, just because Joey is so encouraging."

The Humor Workshop and Comedy Class Graduation show featuring 13 student comics plus comedian, Alan Marx, with emcee Joey Callahan, happens Thursday at 8:00 PM at the Bensalem/Northeast Philly Comedy Cabaret in the Best Western Hotel, 11580 Roosevelt Blvd. Tickets are $5.00 (215) 322-6642.

NOTE: To enroll in the next session of the Humor Workshop and Comedy Class, contact the Comedy Cabaret.