European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 28, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse 3 s new comics i of Woody Allen and Joan Rivers Chance Lor newcomers to break into standup comedy an Opportunity Lor More seasoned artists to try out new material without pressure before a hip. Friendly crowd. And there s always the Chance there might be a Talent scout out there irom Hob Home Box o lice or maybe a segment producer from the Carson or Dave Letterman in the pail decade comedy clubs have proliferated across the country Caroline s. Catch a rising Star applause and improvisation in new York the comedy works in Philadelphia. and the comedy cot Tage in Chicago the comedy store and igbo s in los Angeles punch line and the other cafe in san fran Cisco the comedy underground in Seattle the belly laugh in Spokane to name a few. No major City is without a comedy club says Anne Fox. Co editor of just for laughs a Trade paper Lor comics and a sponsor of the 10th annual san fran Cisco International standup comedy Competition Over labor Day weekend. Robin Williams of Ork tame she notes was a second place Winner in 1976. The suburbs everywhere Are a growth area for Como by nights in bars restaurants and even chop per lors like Ding to s in Brighton mass., where Steven Wright did his first paid gig comedy specials on Cable to always desperate for new shows and the Box of fice Success of slapstick Raunchy movies like animal House and police Academy have swelled the demand for new faces. In Boston laugh centers like the comedy connection have been pushing the strip Points and the Mas Sage Parlours out of the theater District or the combat zone As it is known locally. Open Mike nights have drawn so Many budding joke Smiths that aspirants have to Call in their names before 10 . To be considered for a five minute imagine working Lor nothing Here in the red Light District laughed Laura Franklin a doctor s daughter. It s like the Madame saying to a Hooker. Look Honey if you do a real Good trick tonight you might get paid next time " while disco s Din is dying and jazz joints have yet to Lind a younger audience comedy is King in Clubland and the american dream machine in Assembly line fashion is turning out an unending line of pretenders to the throne of Woody Allen Steve Martin and Joan Rivers. When we opened Here seven years ago. There were Only a handful of comics in the area now i m booking 15 shows a says Bil dowries who co produces at the comedy connection and a number of other club within a 100-mile radius. Boston has a Polly taken nil. You got 300 colleges in the area which provide a sophisticated highly intelligent Downer Points out that beside1 Steven Wright comic character actor Bob Goldthwait. Who won raves in police Academy got his Start at the comedy connection. I can t say a sitcom creator like Norman Lear will to out there tonight but you never can Tell who will be watching on an open Mike almost All the Boston comics interviewed Revere Woody Allen. They read his books listen to his re cords watch his movies Over and Over again and. In different ways learn from his cerebral Laid Back self deprecating style. Sox and psychology Are dominant themes in their material which they All claimed they write Lor themselves. These gals and Guys can t afford writers. Most Don t even have agents or says Joanne Leppanen. A Boston lawyer who helps Young comics with the tax problems that come with their first paid corned on Johnny canon.1985 producer Bil downed gigs. They re such babes in the Woods. They Don t even know enough to deduct transportation expenses to an engagement. They rarely Seal jokes from each other. Not in Boston. They give material to each lawyer Leppanen does l think comics Are being exploited by providing free entertainment on open Mike nights. You got to Start somewhere and in they hit they can be invited Back on a regular night Lor maybe $100 fora 10-to 15-minute set although $50 would be More like it. Still it s belter than new York where some clubs pay Only $7 a she figures a comic successful enough to forsake a daytime Job the immediate goal of All might Gross $30.000 a one of her clients . Hazard now much in demand locally lived Lor a year in a or Educ i s cellar doing open mikes All Over the place now it s beginning to pay apparently the pay is better on the act const. Editor Fox esl ornates a pro touring the Reno. Tahoe Bay area might be Good ice a week and prices of engagements Are going the new comics Lind much to Laurch about in television commercials yuppies the tanning Center craze cordless telephones shopping malls subway vigilante Bernhard Goelz. New York s High school Lor Gays pm it and by Morningdale a the now coca Coin and imitations of Clint Eastwood. Jack Nicholson. Andy Rooney Barbara Walters. Howard Cosell and Sylvester Stallone rambo is very in says fran Solomito. Who has played Reno and Yahoo and does a hilarious Grunt ing Stallone. I feel every time sly does a new movie i should Send him a Check in Dolomite also does a deft head shaking hand waving Ronald Reagan he always looks like he s being bothered by a Mosquito but quickly follows it up with a wimpy Walter Mondale. Cindy Freeman a senior at Emerson College who has had paid gigs ranging from $20 to $300. Agrees Wilh her fellow comics that nothing is banned in bos ton anymore. You hear jokes about the hijackers and the african famine. Even the Pope in t off limits but bad language is going out. It s a cheap laugh and there s no longer any Shock effect. You hear it on Cable Laura Kightlinger confesses that she bombed at a noontime Hob audition before an audience of 300 in Boston s Faneuil Hall. I came on with a crude joke a real Groaner. It was a Yuppie crowd and they go for Clever thinking comedy not the crude Wendy Liebman Fie Wellesley Grad admits her act is kind of dirty because i Don t look Irke the Type of girl who would use that kind of language. My parents Are understanding but my grandmother would worry about the act. I would t want her to hear Jeff danger who comes from Tallahassee. Fla. By Way of Toronto where he worked As a Street performer a Busker in rebellion against his career As a social worker carries a business card that reads laughter is my business. Standup. Juggling. Snow his immediate goals Are to Cut the juggling out of the act and give up waiting tables in a Charlestown Steak House. Standup is an incurable disease concludes Jimmy Smith. Somebody once told us we were or As Linda Franklin feeds her fantasies perfect strangers think i m funny so i must the stars and stripes Page 15
