Local LGBT-produced internet radio show (or “podcast”) The Instant Gratification Podcast has been selected to participate in the 5th anniversary live broadcast of “Pride 48,” a 48-hour broadcast of LGBT-produced and LGBT-friendly podcasts celebrating Pride Month. Starting on the evening of Friday June 14th and running through Sunday June 16th, an assortment of shows will be hosting special live internet broadcasts. Topics of selected shows include comedy, political talk, pop culture, music, and more. The Instant Gratification Podcast has also been invited to participate in a similar Pride 48 live broadcasting event hosted at The Excalibur in Las Vegas, NV during the first weekend of Septe

Who says life and love end at some arbitrary age? Not Charlie Fuller who, at 67 and much to his proper daughter Elaine’s embarrassment, has not yet “clicked off.” EMH Productions is happy to bring a light romantic comedy to the stage to end the series of shows dealing with love and relationships, ranging from the incomprehensible (“My Fellow Creatures”) to the darkly tragic (“Liar”) and the tragically funny (“Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead”). “Moving Mountains” by Lawrence Roman, is a light romantic comedy playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., Sundays at 2:00 pm. and 7:00 p.m. through May 19th at Sacramento’s Geery Theatre at 2130 L Street. "Imagine a man, his name

Making a special appearance this Memorial Day, “Igor the Jazz Cowboy” will return to Sacramento for this one-of-a-kind exclusive performance. A star from decades of concerts at the “Sacramento Music Festival,” this show is not related to the festival and will feature the best of all Igor’s talent. His music includes the roots of Americana, from New Orleans to Arizona’s cowboys and beyond. Igor will team up with local comedy magician John Heinen, and together for the first time they will perform at the gorgeous campus of Sacramento’s Unitarian Universalist Society, located near Fair Oaks Boulevard between Howe Ave and Fulton Ave at 2425 Sierra Blvd. The admission price of $15, children und

The Humor Times has announced a somewhat stealth $5 discount for tickets to see the national-touring, musical/political comedy troupe, the Capitol Steps, tomorrow, Sunday, May 5th, at 6:30pm. The performance takes place in the Martinique Ballroom of the Clarion Inn, 1401 Arden Way, Sacramento, next to the Arden Fair Mall. The General Admission tickets are normally $35.00 in advance, $40.00 the day of the show. But the show's presenter, the Humor Times, announced on their website today a $5 discount for "readers of the Humor Times website." That means show goers will get tickets for $10 less than it will cost them at the door tomorrow. But the website cautions that the discount is a "lim

Sacramento's own Humor Times publication is celebrating its 22nd Anniversary by bringing the hilarious and nationally-touring Capitol Steps comedy troupe to Sacramento, on Sunday, May 5th. The show starts at 6:30pm, and will take place in the Martinique Ballroom at the Clarion Inn on 1401 Arden Way, which is next to the Arden Fair Mall. The Capitol Steps are renowned for their unique brand of musical political comedy, lampooning all sides in national politics with a non-partisan, equal-opportunity bashing that leaves no political party or personality unscathed The Steps use a fast-paced set of songs and skits, as the wildly popular group presents a show that is unequaled for its original

Although becoming a comedian has been on his mind since adolescence, funny-guy Matt Raymond never expected he would be living the life of a comedian. However, after becoming Sacramento Comedy Spot's Stand-up Idol Show contest winner, Raymond now finds himself producer of local talent showcase “Comics with Attitude.” “When I was about 8 years old, I had the idea to start doing [comedy] but after failing miserably at everything else I tried to do I was kind of forced into actually doing it,” says Raymond laughingly. “I basically burned every bridge I could, so now I have to do it because I have no back-up plan—no male modeling for me in my future.” Raymond says comedian by force is fine by

  “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” film review by Gary Chew   “That Old Burt Magic” would have done nicely for the title of the new film “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone.” Much of the magic being performed in the film is done by a guy named Burt, and the 1942 song “That Old Black Magic,” would have done nicely on the soundtrack to make the connection between the “Burt Magic” title and the well-known song itself; maybe even a little Louis Prima and Keely Smith doing their recorded version of the Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer standard.   But even without the suggested re-titling, “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” allows for some good entertainment with a very solid cast of well-knowns wh

Looking for a gift for your funny Valentine? How about tickets to see Louis C.K.? The 45-year-old stand-up comic (born Louis Szekely in Washington, D.C., in 1967) stars in his own FX sitcom. He will perform Feb. 12 at Sacramento's Wells Fargo Pavilion, the next-to-last stop on his new-year tour. Tickets are $45 each and are available only on the entertainer's website: www.LouisCK.net. The comic famously keeps concert prices low by selling them himself on-line when venues allow, avoiding fees added on by ticket agencies and services. He similarly keeps prices of his recordings low by selling them on-line. Audio and video recordings of his concert "Live at the Beacon Theater" may be purchas

Old Sacramento’s Laughs Unlimited packed a full house for stand-up headliner Tyrone (Ty) Barnett and all for a good cause. Hosted by Sacramento-based “Correctional Workers Who Care,” all of Thursday’s proceeds went to the organization’s holiday party for children. The holiday party will include a wrapped gift and a picture with the legendary Santa Claus. With openings from Sacramento comic veterans E. Clark, Tristan Johnson and an even goofier Michael Calvin acting as Master of Ceremonies, the hysteria was absolutely inevitable. Although the venue was at capacity, empty seats scattered the front couple rows, with patrons crowding the outer perimeter instead. Only the brave sat front and c

If you didn’t get enough laughter and music on the weekend or just feel the need to feed the social animal in you, Sacramento offers choices of entertainment for Monday evenings. Naked Lounge offers jazz music and if you cannot sit still there is a swing dance happening at the Clarion. However if you crave the sweet sound of laughter and prefer stay in comfortable clothing you will find a fun following at The Comedy Spot and SolCollecitve. Both offer comedy via an open mic on Mondays bringing an assortment of styles and deliveries to the stage. The Comedy Spot will give a dose of social medicine for $5. The opportunities to challenge entertainers of Comedy Spot to make you laugh are avai

It’s always fun when someone gets an award, but it’s really fun when it’s a comedy award. The Sacramento Comedy Spot, located at 1050 20th Street, Suite 130, in the MAARS building in midtown Sacramento, held their first Comedy Spot Awards Show on Friday. Let’s face it, the show wasn’t as serious as the Oscars. For instance, the winner of “Person of the Year” was beer. That inside joke referred to the fact that within the last year the Comedy Spot started serving beer. But it wasn’t complete lunacy either. There were also more traditional awards given as well. The awards included: Favorite “Anti-Cooperation League” performer Tiffany Hart, Favorite Improviser Chris Emery, Favorite Stand-

You'll find much to cackle about in Ovation Stage's production of The Kitchen Witches by Canadian playwright Caroline Smith, a savory show that's sure to please even the fussiest palate. Isobel Lomax, starring DEBORAH SHALHOUB and Dolly Biddle, starring MICHELE KOEHLER, are two cable-access cooking show hostesses who have hated each other for 30 years, ever since Larry Biddle dated one and married the other. When circumstances put them together on a TV show called The Kitchen Witches, the insults are flung harder than the food! Dolly's long-suffering TV-producer son Stephen tries to keep them on track, but as long as Dolly's dressing room is one inch closer to the set than Isobel's, it's a

Beginning on Thursday, October 18th, the Fusion International Art Center will host the youth-oriented play, Blood Kiss, which over the last several years has developed a cult following. The genre of this play has been described as "B Horror Movie, meets live stage!" This play is the perfect lead-in to the Halloween season. Blood Kiss brings the audience up close and personal to chills, thrills and comedy way beyond your usual haunted house excursion. The Fusion International Art Center is located at 501 Arden Way, Sacramento.  The play runs from Thursday, October 18th, showtime at 8:00 pm; through Wednesday, October 31st, showtimes at 8:00 pm and 11:00 pm.  Blood Kiss was written by Tyler

On writing and success: Two new films As is often the case, we have two movies opening at the same time (in Sacramento) that have connected themes – both about individuals struggling to write their own material and jeopardizing their relationships in the process – one a novelist and one a comedian. And as is also often the case, the little indie movie is more satisfying than the big mainstream release, despite probably having a budget about the size of the larger movie’s food service costs. “The Words” had the potential to be a really good film and story – but somewhere along the way it failed to deliver on that potential. The cast is good, with three major characters played by Dennis Qu

If you blend television’s Glee , filmdom’s Duets , and toss in a side order or Bridesmaids you find the framework for Universal Pictures’ hilarious and snappy musical comedy, Pitch Perfect . This hilarious homage to the world musical competitions takes a definitely PG-13 route in thoroughly entertaining the target audience. Anna Kendrick first caught our attention in the 2008 film adaption of Twilight, and literally rose to prominence in the 2009 George Clooney vehicle, Up in the Air . The latter earned Kendrick both a Golden Globe and an Academy Awards nomination. Her newest film Pitch Perfect gives us more than a glimpse of this young actress’s talents, as we discover her musical talen

From September 7th – 15th, the Sacramento Comedy Spot will host the second annual Sacramento Comedy Festival, which features 25 different shows with over 100 performers from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, and of course our local area. The Sacramento Comedy Spot, located on 20th and K, is one of Sacramento’s few comedy venues. They put on approximately 300 shows a year, which consist of improv and sketch comedy in addition to stand up – which none of Sacramento’s other comedy venues can boast. Comedy Spot owner Brian Crall said that even though he sells food and alcohol, he “puts comedy and comedians first… whereas other venues are primarily bars or restaurants, with comedy on the sid

Forget the summer; it’s been a slow year for comedies. Besides 21 Jump Street and Ted there hasn’t been much of anything to talk about. That is unless you were going to talk about how awful That’s My Boy was. So it stands to reason that it shouldn’t be hard for Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis to deliver something funny if not hilarious, right? The Campaign opens with a montage of career politician Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) campaigning throughout the state of North Carolina for congressman with his wife Rose (Katherine LaNasa), his children, and his campaign manager Mitch (Jason Sudeikis). He runs unopposed and seems to have the perfect thing going. That all changes however when bumbling

I go into every production with an open mind — given that we all have biases of some kind, regardless of how we try to tamp them down. I go into every situation with the intention of assessing its overall quality, and taking back to readers enough of an overview to let them make up their own minds about whether or not the event might appeal to them. But I would be lying if I said that when I entered the lobby of Cosmopolitan Cabaret and read the words “comedy,” “farce,” “magic” and “music” in the promotional material for “Triple Espresso,” my first reaction wasn’t dread. I was not much encouraged when, immediately upon opening, the audience was included in the show. Audience participati

What’s with the news: By now you’ve probably heard about the controversy Daniel Tosh caused at the Laugh Factory in LA recently. If you haven’t, I’d first like to thank you for pulling your head out of the sand long enough to read my column. Really means a lot. There are a couple different accounts of what happened. One has Tosh bringing up the issue of rape himself and then outright suggesting that audience members gang rape a heckler. The other has a different audience member responding to Tosh’s call for joke ideas by suggesting rape, followed by Tosh pontificating on a female audience member’s experience with rape based on her aversion to the idea of a rape joke. Since then you canno

Up till now the summer movie season has been utterly devoid of any good comedies. I mean I don’t actually know anyone who saw That’s My Boy and The Dictator seemed to fade as quickly as it appeared. But now we have Ted, the first live action film from writer and director Seth MacFarlane; and I must say fellow nerds, the man behind Family Guy and American Dad delivers! Ted begins with an extended prologue, narrated by Starfleet’s own Sir Patrick Stewart, that explains the titular teddy bear’s magical origin. After little John Bennett (played as an adult by Mark Wahlberg) wishes for a friend on Christmas, his wish is granted in the form of a walking, talking teddy bear named Ted (voiced by