improvisation

Introducing… The Corey Blake Experience!

The Corey Blake ExperienceLook at that thing! It’s just ridiculous but somehow it’s really going to exist. Starting October 12 and every second Saturday night until we’re kicked out, I’m going to be doing a late night live comedy show at Neon Venus! And yes, the title really is The Corey Blake Experience! That awesome flyer was made by Jim Maloy. I cracked up the instant I saw it.

While this may sound like a very self-indulgent one-man show, that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is me bringing together the two improv teams that currently tolerate my presence and another group I’m friends with for some shenanigans and tom-foolery. Who knows, maybe we’ll throw in some other surprises too!

I’m really happy with these two groups I’m in so it’s a thrill for me to get the chance to show them off to you. Opening the show will be The You Convention, one of the home teams of The Improv Space in Westwood. We perform there every Thursday night in the 8:00 hour for only $5. I really enjoy this team. About half of our original line-up has changed and I think we’ve really found the right dynamic. We all clicked pretty quickly and have found a great chemistry. We usually start each show off with what is called scene painting, where we create the room we’ll be existing in based on your suggestion. I’ve never done anything like it and it really creates a grounded show with a lot of fun discovery. For everyone who can’t make it out Thursday nights or get to the west side, here’s your chance to finally catch us. It’s not a school night and it’s more centrally located. No excuses!

Next up for The Corey Blake Experience will be O.N. Improv, the Antelope Valley’s only improv team. Needless to say I’m not in this group because I don’t live in the Antelope Valley. Where is the Antelope Valley, anyway? I have no idea either but it’s supposed to be really far away and for some reason they think it’s a great idea to drive for miles to do a show with us once a month. We’re thrilled to have them! They bring a lot of energy, enthusiasm and silliness. And I love the idea of growing the improv community by bringing people from outside the LA area in so we can all learn and be influenced by each other. I’m hoping they’ll invite some of us out for a show in their faraway land so we can return the favor.

Closing out the night will be T.M.A. (The Meaningless Acronyms). This team is so new, we don’t have a Facebook page yet. But we do have this cobbled together page on ImprovTeams.com (that’s a neat platform for improv groups, by the way; still rough around the edges but a lot of potential). I was invited to join this team and we’ve been getting our feet wet with monthly shows in Hermosa Beach opening for Jump Start about once a month. We’ll appear there as long as they’ll have us but we thought it was time to get more stage time because we’re desperate stage whores. T.M.A. has really clicked into place very quickly, with a style that embraces absurd characters and situations. It’s fast-paced, loose and playful. We’re still experimenting with our format but we’re primarily long form after a game to kick things off. We’ve gotten fantastic responses from the Hermosa Beach audiences so now it’s time to invade Hollywood.

If you’ve never seen me perform, or haven’t in a long time, this is the perfect opportunity. A late night party in happenin’ Hollywood. It’s not on a school night and it’s only $5 for a metric ton of comedy. Also, if you don’t show up, they’ll kick us out and I’ll cry alone and dejected. So there’s all kinds of incentives!

Here are the details:

When? Saturday, October 12, 2013
No but when? 10:15-11:30 PM
Where? Neon Venus
No but where? 7023 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038
How much? $5
Facebook invite? Facebook!
OK? OK!

Bonus fun fact: In case you are a philistine, the flyer is based off the album cover by Karl Ferris used for The Jimi Hendrix Experience album Are You Experienced?.

Introducing: The You Convention – comedy that’s all about YOU!

Are you sick of those comedy teams that are so full of themselves? Well fret no more! Here comes The You Convention! Not only do we make it funny – we make it all about YOU!

The You Convention is the newest house team at The Improv Space. So new in fact, that the group makes its world debut this Wednesday, October 10 at 8 PM! This is YOUR chance to be a part of hyperbolic history! And it will only cost you $5 FREE DOLLARS!

Now I want you to guess who just happens to be a member of this brand new group. Go on, guess! Huh, the internet doesn’t seem to be as instantaneous as advertised. Oh I’ll just tell you: it’s me! I hope that wasn’t too much of a curve ball for you. But wait it’s not just me (thank god)! I’m thrilled to be starting this group along with Dan Adams, Hunter M. Altman, Brian Cooperman, Robin Higgins, Andre Radojcich, and Mark Royer! Great improvisers, all. And of course, we wouldn’t even exist as a group without Adam Macy and the rest of the fine and funny folks at The Improv Space. So I hope you’ll come out to see us this Wednesday so we can make YOU laugh!

But in the off-chance you can’t make a Wednesday night show, I’ll be performing more YOU-focused improv comedy this Saturday night with my other group the Magic Meathands! We’ll be joined by the improvisers Barney Five. Check out our Facebook event for more details.

Open Mic Improv at The Improv Space every Wednesday night

Last night I went to The Improv Sessions for the second time. This is a weekly open show held by The Improv Space for exactly zero dollars. If you’re part of an improv group or just want to show up alone and get thrown in with others, this is a great way to play and learn from others. Just throw your name or team’s name in a hat to get called up to do 10-15 minutes. Then at the end a bunch of random people are called up for a jam, which challenges you even more to play with people you might be meeting for the first time.

There’s a great energy to the show thanks to the able hosting of Benjamin Crutcher, and all of the players are supportive, and skilled enough to do fun and funny mini-shows. Usually with this kind of format, there’s that guy or that team that’s just kinda painful, but that hasn’t happened yet. (Maybe I’ve just lucked out on the nights I’ve gone. Or… maybe I’m that guy!)

It starts at 9 PM every Wednesday night and runs about two hours. And yes, it’s FREE.

Saturday’s Tag Team Comedy Show to feature lots of stand-up and improv

Improv group Jump Start first to perform at Heyler’s, our new venue

This Saturday, the Magic Meathands Tag Team Comedy Show will be bursting with more funny people than ever before!

We had a great debut at Heyler’s last Saturday with our Family Friendly Show. Thank you to all who came out to help us celebrate our new home! We’ll be there again this Saturday night with our biggest Tag Team Comedy Show yet! Before you know it, Heyler’s will be known as the biggest comedy spot in LA! Or at least, the biggest on Pico Blvd. Surely somewhere between those two benchmarks.

We’re very happy to have three stand-up comics help us kick off the first Tag Team Comedy Show at Heyler’s:

  • John Vargas made his debut at The Comedy Store and has been performing regularly at comedy clubs in and around LA.
  • Vance Sanders is a Groundlings graduate who works the local comedy club circuit and is the host for the Scoomies, the award show celebrating stand-up comedy in LA.
  • Pat Reilly is another regular of the LA comedy club scene, which helps him study sociology at UCLA.
  • Ceci Noire came from Haiti to live the movie star lifestyle, and has unlocked the secrets of the universe.

A trio of comedians should be enough to pass the legal requirements of a comedy show, but that wasn’t enough for us! We’ve also got the improv group Distant Relatives! They perform every Friday night at The Improv Space, and now we’ve got them! All they need is one suggestion from the audience, and they turn it into a fully improvised long form show. The group includes former Meathand Eric Chad Ho, as well as Jason King, Tim Limbrick, Samir Forghani, and Stephen Perlstein.

To finish it all off, it’s the Magic Meathands! Yes, us! We perform a mixture of long form scenarios and short form games to create a lively and energetic show. So we’ll have you laughing one way or another!

See you Saturday at 8 PM!

Heyler’s
10659 West Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(one block east of Overland)

Tickets: $7

PARKING: The meters on Pico Blvd. do not need to eat after 6 PM. They’re on a special diet. Yes, that’s right, free street parking on Pico Blvd.! But look closely at the signs if you park on the side streets off Pico.

The above was cross-posted on the Magic Meathands blog. I’ve been a member of the Magic Meathands for over 3 years, performing over 150 shows of improvised comedy. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourself a treat and catch one of our shows.

Magic Meathands: Our First April Show Will Feature More Making $#!& Up

I’m writing about our first post-Bill show and I’m already cartoon swearing. And the show is Family-Friendly! Oh, we’re doomed.

Come on out and see us completely make… stuff up based on your suggestions. (There, is that better?)

Every second Saturday of the month, the Magic Meathands (that’s us!) and Beach Cities’ Jump Start Improv put on a full night of improv comedy appropriate for the whole family. While staying sharp we offer a night for grownups where they can feel comfortable bringing the youngsters along.

A portion of ticket sales is donated to the Mary Pickford Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating awareness of film pioneer Mary Pickford’s life, preserving her work, furthering her philanthropic legacy and honoring her creativity. Part of the organization’s outreach includes the Mobile Film Classroom, which brings cutting edge digital film technology and the opportunity to learn to children throughout Los Angeles.

Tickets: $7 ($3 for kids 12 & under)

Mary Pickford Studio
8885 Venice Blvd. Ste 102
Los Angeles, CA 90034-3242

Plenty of parking in the lot right there at 8885 Venice Blvd. (cross street National Blvd.).

RSVP on Facebook

The above was cross-posted on the Magic Meathands blog. I’ve been a member of the Magic Meathands for over 3 years, performing over 150 shows of improvised comedy. If you’re in the Los Angeles area, give yourself a treat and catch one of our shows.

Improv Comedy this Friday in Santa Monica

Up for a giggle? How about a guffaw? You’ll get both and more at this Friday’s show.

I’m performing with the Magic Meathands at M.i.’s Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica at 8 PM. Tickets are $10 and are good for the two shows immediately after us, The Waterbrains and Mission: Improvable.

We’ll be doing a fully improvised show with a mixture of short-form games and long-form scenarios based on your suggestions. You might even be able to join us on stage, if you’re so inclined. For more info, check out the new Magic Meathands blog and/or our Facebook event listing.

Tag Team Comedy to Deliver Clothesline of Comedy this Saturday Night

The Magic Meathands (with me!) is teaming up with Darwin’s A Team, an improv comedy group from Victorville’s High Desert Center for the Arts, for a full night of improvised comedy at our new spacious location, the Mary Pickford Studio in West LA, this Saturday night at 8 PM for only $7.

Come out and have yourself a good laugh. Don’t believe me? Check out what people are saying about us on our Magic Meathands Facebook page:

“I enjoyed last night’s show very much. You exploded onto the stage and the energy never let up. Brilliant performance!” -Nick

“So much fun.” -Kathy

“Great show last night at your new location” -Peter

What more proof do you need?!

Oh boy! Funny things!

The Magic Meathands are back, and I’ll be right there with them being incredibly silly!

We’re returning to the famous Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica to give you giggles, chuckles, chortles, guffaws, and outright belly laughs. How will we do this? Why, by making it up of course! We perform fully improvised comedy shows using your suggestions to kick off our short form games and long form scenarios.

Immediately following us, you’ll get The Waterbrains and Mission: IMPROVable, two groups fully certified in the art of making you laugh.

Tickets are $10 for the whole night.
8 PM – 10 PM
Westside Comedy Theater
1323-A Santa Monica Promenade (in the alley between 3rd and 4th Streets)
Santa Monica, CA 90401

It’s Friday. We can stop pretending to be serious now.

Nothing would make me more happy than to get up on a stage and be a complete idiot in front of you. You can even yell out ideas of specifically how I will be a complete idiot, and I’ll do it! And I’ll have others with me to also be complete idiots – the Magic Meathands. We like to call it “improv comedy” to sound like some fancy theater thing but really we’re just a bunch of idiots being complete idiots. And I mean that in the best possible way.

If this sounds like fun, you should get yourself over to The Spot Cafe in Culver City on Friday and/or Saturday night at 8 PM. (That’s tonight and tomorrow night for those playing at home.)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Funnies tonight and tomorrow

Reminder: live improvised comedy is happening tonight and tomorrow, as the Magic Meathands return to the stage for our first 2011 shows!

Come on out! You deserve to laugh!

Friday, January 7, 8 PM, $10: MI’s Westside Comedy Theater
Also featuring The Waterbrains and Mission IMPROVable!
1323-A Santa Monica Promenade, Santa Monica, CA 90401
(In the alley between 3rd and 4th Streets)

Saturday, January 8, 8 PM, $7: Family Friendly Comedy Night at The Spot
Also featuring Jump Start!
4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA 90230