By Amy Serna Keith Lowell Jensen has 21 days and counting. But by the time you read this he will have even less time than that to get strangers to pledge $2,250 for his new project. His new live stand-up comedy CD and DVD called “Cats Made of Rabbits” is a project that will only be funded if he raises that much money before the “expiration date.” But back in the day, before this stand-up comedian, from Sacramento, California was filming a comedy DVD, he found his love for comedy when he worked as a promoter for the Spike and Mike's Festival of Animation. “Mike noticed that I always watched him really carefully when he was MC'ing the shows and so he just shoved me on stage one night an

By Amy Serna It might seem hard to imagine making a successful career with puppets, but that is exactly what stand-up comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham has accomplished. His fame, however, wasn’t handed to him from the get-go. Dunham has been working with dummies ever since he was a kid, but now the puppets he brought to life have quickly become classic comic icons. Forbes magazine didn’t name Dunham the highest-paid comedian (along with popular comics Chelsea Handler and Dane Cook) in the United States for nothing. In the past year, the puppeteer earned up to $22.5 million, and Pollstar named him the top touring comedian for the second year in a row.  Dunham’s “Very Special Chris

What do Jay-Z, Jim Carrey, Jake Gyllenhaal and Sacramento comedian Mike E. Winfield have in common? They are all scheduled to appear this week on CBS's “Late Show With David Letterman.” "It was an AMAZING experience," Winfield said when asked to describe his recent appearance. Winfield is no stranger to performing his unique brand of standup on television. He’s been featured on Showtime’s “Comics Without Borders,” hosted by Russell Peters, “Comicview” on BET, “Comics Unleashed” with Byron Allen, “Last Comic Standing” on NBC and “Live at Gotham” on Comedy Central. Quite the resume for a man who, until recently was a grocery clerk working at the local supermarket chain. At AmericasComedy

In the Youtube age when everything can be viewed from the comfort of your lap top, there are still compelling reasons to see live stand-up comedy. The number one reason is the spontaneity of a live show and the energy of the audience. One of the most spontaneous has to be when a comic deals with a heckler. For some, a heckler is not a favored species. It often involves way too much ego and or alcohol. However, there is a different side to that story. One from the comic's viewpoint. "There is a special energy that circulates around the room when it happens. The chance that it could go bad and the quality of the comic's wit make it exciting. What if the comic could keep this up for most of

By Jennifer A. Gordon Be ready to receive an infusion of laughter. L.A. comedian Darren Carter, “the Party Starter,” is coming to town. He’ll be performing at Serna Plaza at Sacramento State’s University Union from 7:30-9 p.m.Thursday, Sept. 16. All ages are welcome. No alcohol will be sold or permitted at the venue. The show is free. Beat Energy, fun, hip hop and razor-sharp wit, Carter’s act has beat. His musicality pervades his comedy and gives it rhythm and punch. And, Carter’s the only comedian with a theme song, written by a rapper fan of his, Big Fluff Nickolantern. Grown-ups like him, too A favorite among college students, Carter has a solid following among the adult crowd, too.

By Jennifer A. Gordon The comedy troupe, "Arabs Gone Wild," will be performing at "The Punch Line Comedy Club" in Sacramento this Thurs., Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. If you haven't seen them before, you're in for a fabulously entertaining evening. More of a party than a performance, "Arabs Gone Wild's" material is fresh, edgy, smart and surprising. Just who are these "Arabs Gone Wild?" Dean Obeidallah, Maysoon Zayid, and Aron Kader. Recently, AmericasComedy.Com had the joy of chatting briefly with Obeidallah, as he was packing his suitcase to visit our "City of Trees." "Arabs Gone Wild" was part of "Live Nation Comedy Tour," filling 1400 seats in Washington, D.C. and selling out an 1100-seat

  By Jennifer A. Gordon Revered as the original Latin “King of Comedy,” Paul Rodriguez has done just about everything there is to do over the last 33 years of his comedy career. Philanthropist, actor, producer and comedian, Rodriguez has had starring roles and guest appearances in more than 40 films, as well as in countless television series and comedy specials . . . and more. Now, catch Rodriguez’s show with opening act Dennis Gaxiola at Tommy T’s in Rancho Cordova at 8 and 10 p.m. this Friday and Saturday. Rodriguez’s first big break Rodriguez’s first big break came while doing comedy warmups for Norman Lear's show "Gloria." Lear ultimately wrote and developed a weekly series for Pa

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview Comedian Cedric The Entertainer is one of the hardest-working men in the entertainment business. Perhaps you love him from his roles in "Barbershop," "Be Cool" or "The Original Kings Of Comedy." You may have became a fan of his voiceover roles in "Madagascar," "Charlotte's Web" or "The Proud Family." Maybe it was his starring role in the hit "Johnson Family Vacation." Any way you look at it, Cedric IS "The Entertainer." Even with his success as an actor, producer and director, Cedric The Entertainer is coming to Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium and going back to his roots of stand up comedy. We spoke to Cedric, (Mr. Entertainer?), by phone as he was reco

Comedian Doug Benson smokes pot. That fact is well documented in his stand-up routine and his 2007 documentary "Super High Me." In the movie, Benson eagerly offers himself up as a test subject to document the effects of smoking massive amounts of marijuana for 30 days. In his stand-up act, it appears that his experiment is still unofficially continuing. Playing mid-week to a full house at the Sacramento Punchline, Benson began his set with his eyes half closed and a stoner grin. He immediately showed the audience his notes that he claimed to need so he didn't meander through his material. However, as the evening wore on, you began to wonder if the "stoner" persona was just a well-played

Headling July 24th For One Night Only! "Lady Business," the name of the newest, and to our knowledge only, all-female improv troupe in the Sacramento area is quite the misnomer. These six very funny girls certainly aren't "ladies" in the conservative, Emily Post kind of way. We were able to meet up with this troupe of very sexy, very funny ladies as they were practicing together at the Sacramento Comedy Spot in mid-town in preparation for their fourth consecutive monthly appearance there on July 24th. Improv-ers all, Micaela Smith, Mel Gelbart, Becca Costello, Brittany Birrer Stacy Beckley and Lisa Spivak constitute this hilarious and ribald troupe that presents a point of view that wom

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview If you listen to comedian Felipe Esparza, you'll hear a cross between Cheech Marin from Cheech and Chong and your funniest "homeboy." They both have the East L.A. accent and down to earth sense of humor that comes from growing up in the barrio. "I'm not a tough guy, but I can beat up everyone at Trader Joe's, but at Food-for-Less I shut up," he said. "They don‘t have aisles, they have alleys." Sacramento Comedy spoke to Esparza recently just after his advance to the semi-final rounds of NBC's Last Comic Standing, Season 7. "The next step is to have a big battle between the semi-finalists in New York and Los Angeles," Esparza said. We asked him if he ant

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview Henry Cho's fairytale career began in 1986 when, as a student at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, he entered a "Funniest Person in America" contest sponsored by the Showtime network. Cho, who is a full-blooded Korean, but raised in the heart of the South, walked onto the stage and in his deepest, most Southern drawl stated, "So, I'm from the South. So I guess that makes me South Korean." It was a juxtaposition "hook" that launched his career. "It was my first joke, so I had to explain who I was," he said. And that hook has served him well. The late Steve Allen, first host of the original "Tonight Show" and a huge supporter of Cho's, once comment

Ralphie May had a message to deliver Thursday at the Crest Theater for those who are haters, lovers, racists, gay or homophobes. Embrace it. Own it. After an entertaining 20-minute warm-up by Tennessee comedian Billy Wayne Davis, May strode onstage to Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire." That was the beginning of a two-hour stream of consciousness that could have offended just about anyone. No problem; May owned it. He peppered his show with references to Sacramento, from the expected Schwarzenegger imitation, "Welcome to Kal E Fonya," to talking about getting "stoned as a biblical whore" in Capitol Park and having a squirrel come up and ask for a hit. "The K Street bums all look li

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview From his start telling jokes at family Passover dinners at age 10, to catching hell for doing impressions of his high school coach, Kevin Pollak was meant to perform. Comedy "I was born in San Francisco but moved to San Jose when I was young. When I began performing, it was in venues that were designed for music. There were no comedy clubs then in San Jose. I would go on between the bands breaks when nobody really wanted to listen. When I moved to San Francisco, I was amazed that people loved going to see comedy and would actually pay to see it!" Entering the San Francisco comedy scene in the late '70's, Pollak was the youngest performer in the San Fran

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview With a name like Ahmed Ahmed, in this day and age, you might think that it could lead to some mishaps with law enforcement agencies. If so, you'd be correct. Ahmed's family came to America when he was just a month old, and he grew up in Riverside, right in the epicenter of Southern California, so misconceptions aren’t uncommon but, in retrospect, the name has served him well. We caught up with Ahmed by phone in New York, having just completed his first appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival, premiering 'Just Like Us,' his freshman directorial debut earlier in the week. We decided to start off by asking, (very politely), about his name. "Ahmed Ahmed is m

 What do you get when you mix alcohol, a singles mixer and a comedy show? You get to find out for yourself this Wednesday night at the Sacramento Punchline. Comedian Debbie Campo is the Founder/MC/Matchmaker of “Laugh Your Way to Love,” the hybrid mashup of stand-up comedy meets “The Dating Game" meets the singles mixer. Campo explained that "the doors at the Sacramento Punchline will open at 7 p.m., and we encourage the single people to come early to have a cocktail and meet with us and the other singles. We (comedians) mingle with everyone who comes early, facilitate introductions and see if we can spot some compatibilities early. At 8 p.m., everyone gets to see a very funny comedy sho

Will Durst is very smart and very, very funny. The five-time Emmy nominee is bringing his one-man show, "Lieutenant Governor of the State of Confusion" to Sacramento's Crest Theatre on May 8. Durst, one of the country's best-known political humorists, has been compared to Will Rogers, Mort Sahl and Dick Gregory. Described as a "bipartisan basher," Durst seems to leave no stone unturned in exploring the political landscape for nuggets of humor, often of the "I can't believe they did that" variety. "Sacramento is a 'company town' and I speak of 'company' business," he said.  Though Durst lives in one of the state's most liberal cities, San Francisco, he doesn't limit his material to stat

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview Jennifer Coolidge is beautiful. Whether you wish she was your best friend's mother, your manicurist/advocate, your messed-up friend or just your date for the evening depends not only your age, but what movie or TV show you saw her in last. Coolidge, who has been a leading character actress for more than 20, years is tackling a new segment of her creativity – that of a stand-up comedian. We met in the green room at Tommy T's Comedy Club in Rancho Cordova before her final show for the weekend. Looking just like I and a million other boys and men imagined her a decade ago when she played Stifler's mom in the ‘American Pie’ movies, Coolidge is a striking bea

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview What do you call four male comics packed into a pink van, touring the country for four months performing stand-up comedy and raising funds and awareness for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure? I guess you could say that we are just "boobs for boobs," laughed Brendan T. Gleason, one of the four comics coming to the Sacramento Punchline April 14. "We thought about naming the tour that, but decided that the subject deserved a little more serious demeanor." Gleason, Law Smith, Nick Hoff and pretty pink van owner Kevin Richards are on the last legs of this 57-show tour. After Sacramento (performance No. 55), there are two performances in Fresno, and then the tou

An American Comedy.Com Interview When you meet Darren Carter for the first time, you notice that there is something different about him. Your eyes focus on his short red hair and his engaging smile, and then it hits you. This man looks happy! I was fortunate enough to meet up with Darren recently for breakfast, having just completing one of his many radio interviews to promote his weekend show at Pepperbellys Comedy Theater in Fairfield, Calif. It's just not natural for a comedian to be awake before noon, but for the next three and a half hours, Carter and comedian David Lew recited story after story about life on the road. Carter, a freckle-faced, red-headed, pasty-skinned youngster, w