Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYC. Show all posts

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Graham Kay: NYC Comic





Graham began his comedic odyssey back when he was growing up in Ottawa Canada at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Cabaret and Absolute Comedy Club. Since then he has appeared in many venues in Europe and New York, including, Times Square Arts Centre (former Laugh Factory), and the Comedy Village NYC. Graham has also appeared in various small films as well as television appearances for VBS.TV. and the CBC. And when he is not busy proving his elementary teachers wrong, that you can in fact work as a class clown, you can find him at the local bar practicing how to drink a beer.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=34317028



What/who inspired you to do what you do? Um...I don't know...I guess when I was a kid, I'd watch comedy on TV with my dad. We didn't have cable at the cottage so we'd rent a lot of Bill Cosby VHS tapes.




How long has your career lasted?
Right now, two years. In college, I majored in history with a minor in film. I did history because it was the only thing I was interested in. In class, it was like a soap opera of things that really happened.

Where have you traveled with your talents, what's your next destination? If you could choose your next destination?
I have performed in um Ottawa, Capital of Canada (where I'm from) and Vancouver, Canada and Budapest, Hungry...and obviously New York,,,and New Jersey! Isn't that exciting? New Jersey? One time I even got to perform in Connecticut!

Where is your favorite spot to perform and why?
My favorite spot to perform is at Yuk Yuc's actually no, Absolute Comedy Club in Ottawa because it's where I started and it's just very nostalgic. Every time I go back there I get to see how far I've come. I never know week to week how far I progress but where you go back home you really get to see the difference. It's like if you were a kid and you get sent to boarding school and then you come home for the holidays and your parents notice how tall you've grown. You get to see how small you once were and now you are bigger.

Who is your favorite obscure artist/comic/performer to work with? Famous?
Obscure would be um...well, my favorite famous is Dave Chappel but there's lots in NY, it's hard to choose...I like working with Matty Goldberg, I like working with Danny Lobell and I really like working with Halie Boyle, she's going to be famous,,,she's different than anyone else.

Wow, Dave Chappel?
About a year ago, I was working at a comedy club and that's the same comedy club Dave worked at before he moved to New York. He found out that club was closing and came back to visit his old stomping ground and he walked in with a back pack and headphones, no one was with him, he was very humble...he laughed at my jokes and called one of my jokes an instant classic and he said he hadn't laughed that hard since he hung out with Chris Rock in Eddie Murphy's house. Then he talked to me for like ten minutes after and said I was talented.

Ever see him after that?
Yeah, one more time and he remembered my name...it was really weird.

Tell me some perks of being a comic. What are some peeves?
I like the hours. I like staying up late. I like hanging out with friends. It's like being in seventh grade again. I get to BS with my friends,,,it's not about the drinking. I mean there is some drinking but not really and I really like sleeping in..I really like sleeping in. Overall, the biggest perk is performing, your job is to have fun...you're only really ever funny when you're having fun, you have to have fun. Peeves would be it's hard to keep a girlfriend because you have opposite hours of a normal person...I hear gun shots outside my door, the gun shots peeve me off. And...I don't know the money can be bad sometimes...

What's it like being 'on the road'?
Being on the road is fun because you're with friends, it reminds me of going to away games like when I played hockey in high school, farting on friends the whole way and then when you get there you try to sleep with someone but when I was a kid I didn't try to do that.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your chances of having a meaningful relationship?
Hinder! Hinder!

Ever had a heckler? If so, how did you handle it?
Everyone has had a heckler...I just watched Richard Pryer, "Here and Now" and he was being heckled the entire time and he handled it the way I wish I could handle it, they just laugh it off and continue on, they don't get into a fight, they know they're funny and they just continue to be funny. A heckler is just somebody who's sad that the spot light is not on them.

Ever been on TV? Radio? Describe one or both.
Both. I have my own radio show at the university and I was on Comical Radio which is a radio show here in New York. I was on Danny Lobell's Radio show and then I've been on Canadian television..I commented on the world hockey championships.

Are you consistent with your material or do you like to change it constantly, what are the ingredients?
Most comics stick with the main ingredients and stick with it for a long time,,,cuz it takes a long time to come up with a joke. I'm always writing but I'm always using old stuff..I never throw old stuff out.

Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
Five years? Writing this blog.

What do you mean?
I'm gonna take over. I'd like to be on TV regularly. I think I will be.


This guy is REALLY funny. See him live at the following NYC venues: NYC Comedy Club, The Comedy Village, Comedy Corner, Joe Franklin's.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Questions and Answers with Myka Fox



















Myka has been performing on stage as an actor and comedian since childhood, most notably in Scotland's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Myka served as the head writer for the sketch comedy show The Dan Show on Fox 5 in Las Vegas, written comedy punch-up for numerous short and feature films, and her work has appeared on TresspassMag, CollegeHumor, and the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City.
What/who inspired you to do what you do?


I saw a lot of stand up comedy on TV when I was a kid and people told me I was funny so I thought of it as not work...

How long has your career lasted?
I've been doing stand-up for three years but I've been writing funny things since elementary school. I host comical radio and I am a free-lance writer.

Where have you traveled with your talents, what's your next destination? If you could choose your next destination?
I mostly preformed in LA and NY and all surrounding areas and wherever people can take me with car and my next destination would be Boston. I would love to preform in the UK or Australia.

Where is your favorite spot to perform and why?
Um...it's usually at a party with my friends, that's when the most authentic things happen for me and I don't have to worry about getting stiffed by the manager. I haven't been stiffed but I worry about it...

Who is your favorite obscure artist/comic/performer to work with? Famous?
My favorite obscure is Mike Dobbins, I haven't preformed with him but have been at the same places...I've preformed with Dave Chapel.

What's it like being 'on the road'?
It's like renegade, you know? A lot of caffeine...and surprises...it's cold, red wine out of a box.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your chances of having a meaningful relationship?
The most meaningful relationship I've ever had is now with a comic...if I had never gotten into comedy, I would have gotten into a more meaningful relationship maybe. The point is, comedy hasn't' gotten in the way of my relationship.

Ever had a heckler and if so, how did you handle it?
Um...well, the very first time I had a heckler I was brand new and crumbled immediately and later I invited hecklers....I sort of humiliate people now and make them heckle me.

Ever been on TV? Radio? Describe one or both.
I've only been on public access TV and my radio show, Comical Radio and other radio shows as well and when I was five I was on the news....

Are you consistent with your material or do you like to change it constantly, what are the ingredients?
I change a lot I would say. I would say 50 percent stays and 50 changes, whatever becomes my favorite stays.

Where do you see yourself in five years from now?
Gosh, I don't know, win the lotto I suppose...writing for a TV show, hopefully my own...just working creatively...I don't like to think about the future where I don't win the lottery.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Michael Buckley


Michael Buckley is a New York based actor, writer and comedian. In addition to his work with The Roast Guys, Michael performs in comedy clubs throughout the Northeast. Michael just finished a successful run of NEMESIS, which he wrote and starred in at Theatre 54 in NYC. Other New York acting credits include Bloody Lies at the Midtown Inernational Theater Festival, Fat Suit (which he co-wrote with Jay Casale) at the Sage Theater, David and Goliath at Merkin Hall, Treaty 321! at the Lucille Lortell and Gangstapella at the 78th Street Theater Lab. National Tours: Grease starring Cindy Williams and Eddie Mekka, The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere and South Pacific. On television Michael has a recurring role as the arrogant but lovable Harley on the popular PBS show, Cyberchase and appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman as a member of the world famous (fictional)singing group Perfect Pitch. He studies acting with Robert McCaskill. Film work includes roles in Gypsy 83 starring Sara Rue, Mona, sexpotjesus and the forthcoming film Heterosexuals starring Natasha Lyonne.


What/who inspired you to do what you do?

I'm not really a big fan of having a real job..I've never had a real job. My brother is an accountant, I'd kill myself if I had to do that. I was always the fat kid no one picked in gym class.

You're lying!

No, I'm serious, it's just something I've always been good at.

How long has your career lasted?

I've actually been a working actor for eight years and I only started to do comedy for a year. Because of my experience as a writer and an actor I think it hasn't taken me as long to catch up whereas a regular comic would take years to get good.

Where have you traveled with your talents, what's your next destination? If you could choose your next destination?

I've been all over the country and Canada. I'm lucky. I'd love to book a gig in the Bahamas, that would be pretty sweet.

Where is your favorite spot to perform and why?

Um...probably at my family dinner table.

Who is your favorite obscure artist/comic/performer to work with? Famous?

I'm not at the point of my career where I've met too many famous people. The most famous person I've worked with is Shirley from Laverne and Shirley...I'd love to do a movie with Phillip Seymour Hoffman, or do comedy with Lois CK,,,he's an amazing comic.

What's it like being 'on the road'?

I've done out of town gigs with comics. I've done three national tours as an actor. My first professional tour was Greece..we did that all over.

What character were you?

Danny.

Does being a comic heighten or hinder your chances of having a meaningful relationship?

(laughing) I wouldn't say...well, define meaningful. I've certainly had a lot of meaningful relationships that lasted one night through comedy. In all seriousness, I don't think it would effect if I was in a serious relationship. Whoever I'm with will probably become part of my act,,nothing is off the table. If she's okay with that then it's all good.

Ever had a heckler? If so, how did you handle it?

Ah, yeah. It happens a lot. You're the one with the mic in your hand, you've got to have the last word. I grew up Irish Catholic,,,there's nothing a heckler can say/do that could damage me more then what I got growing up at the dinner table.

Ever been on TV? Radio? Describe one or both.

I have a reoccurring role on PBS called Cyber Chase...it's a kid show. The first twenty minutes are animated, I play a real person and I'm the main characters' jerk cousin. Every episode teaches math and my character always gets what he's got coming to him because in addition to being a terrible human being he's also awful at math.

Are you consistent with your material or do you like to change it constantly, what are the ingredients?

Always changing it and always trying to find a better, more efficient, fewer words to say the same thing. I'm always messing around in my notebooks, always.

Where do you see yourself in five years from now?

Oh, god, ah, I will rule the world...I don't know. If I'm still making a living in entertainment, I'll be happy. I don't need to be Tom Cruise but that would be nice.

Check Micheal out in person. He gigs everyweek @ Comedy clubs such as Charlie O's and Joe Franklin's in NYC!!