Sunday, May 17, 2015

I'm Not Gonna Make It


Despite what 30% of people will tell you... I'm a pretty nice guy.

Eh... that's vague and a little too self back patty. How about this: I'm a lenient person when it comes to mistakes of performers. Eh... no, that doesn't work either; it's too subtle.

Here it is: More times than not, in situation where I could be, I'm not a complete and utter dick. There... that's more accurate. (And it's a comedy blog, so a dick reference must be made in the opening few lines... or what are we really doing here, folks?)

That doesn't sound like it could create a problem, but it does. I'm sometimes politely passive to avoid being seen as someone taking the miniscule amount of power they have too seriously. That would make me no better than every Target assistant manager who carries around a clip board. I can't become that.

I've rarely cut someone's mic when they've went over. I could have. I could have turned the sound off, sent someone up with a hook, and yanked them off stage. Well... not that physical... damn frivolous lawsuits... but in that same vein. Same for when people show up late... I generally let them know not to do that, and we move along with our evenings. 

But... You decided something else came up? Wasn't feeling it that night? Decided not to write any material or talking points and gave me 30 mins heads up even though you knew yesterday you weren't coming? That's become a problem.

The problem is when people do this they have no care, understanding, or awareness on how that effects other people. It's self centered and discourteous.

Here is the series of events of what you did: You asked for a spot. You were listed as a performer and tagged on Facebook. You were sent a confirmation email roughly a week before to remind and confirm you. Then... I get an e-mail 30 minutes before start time saying, "I forgot I was on." Or no heads up at all and then contacted me a day or two later asking to be put on the next one.


Without adequate warning, we have no time to contact the people who wanted to go on stage due to the list being full. These are people who could have brought a few friends (which helps the bar/venue), plus... some of them are semi regulars with a good track record who were held off... for you. In return for us being accommodating and trying to be welcoming... we get a big ol' kick in the pants. (Sorry for the language)

So now... due to my usual laid back approach being taken advantage of too often, it's prison rules! Not... not a sexual acts for drugs trade off. We aren't going to force someone to give us... listen, never mind. I just mean we are going to make an example out of someone. That's all.

The next person who does this will never go on one of my stages again. We will proverbially have a picture of you with a "Do Not Service This Person" warning near our non-existent register. Your mentality is the same as someone who passes bad checks knowing damn well they can't be cashed... so, that is how we are going to treat you.

And I really don't want to do that... because I don't like being a dick...but unfortunately the percentage of people who don't like me is about to be raised to 31.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Soma Showcase Calendar of Events:




Wed May 6th: The second Showcase at Soma Ultralounge will be featuring students from the University of Illinois. A few are a bit newer to stand up, and a few have been with C-U Comedy for over a year now. Before they take their final they are hitting the stage along with C-U Comedy's Esteban Gast.




                                                                                     Wed May 13th, for her first time with us in Champaign, we welcome from Chicago, our feature act of the week: Reena Calm. Reena is part of one of Chicago's most popular comedy shows, Hoo-Ha Comedy, is a regular at the Laugh Factory Comedy Club, has been on WGN Radio, and performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Catch her one night only in C-U! Also: Shara Keen, Sandy Ott, Alec Jones, Rich Wentz, Chris Hightower.

Wed May 20th is the the return of the popular game: COMEDY COURT. A C-U regulars joke will be defended and prosecuted to find out whether or not is guilty of hackery! Also featuring sets from Rich Castle, Maggi Mayfield, Andrew Hicks, Steve Schaberg, Mikel Matthews, Kris Gardner, and from STL: Kathy Zeman

Drift Roberts
Wed May 27th: The Hardly Legal Comedy Tour. From Peoria, IL Drift Roberts, Jeff Bailey, and Courtney Rose Bennett. Their tour has taken them through Northern, IL and through Wisconsin and are now coming through Champaign! Drift Roberts has recently opened in theaters for Bo Burnham, including a huge show at U of I's Follinger Auditorium. Jeff Bailey is a regular at The Jukebox Comedy Club in Peoria and won the 2013 Midwest Comedy Competition beating out over 70 other entry's. 


Wednesday June 10th - The "Almost Friends Comedy Tour". On their way from Boise, ID to the Limestone Comedy Festival in Indiana, then on to the Comedy Clubs in New York, they are stopping in Champaign for one night only ! Emma Arnold, Ryan Noack, and Chad Heft are all prominent in clubs and colleges in their home state and have worked with dozens of national headliners. This is a cool thing to get them to stop in to our home base, make sure not to miss it! 



Soma Showcase Opening Night

Entrance to Soma
The first 8pm show for the NEW Weekly Stand Up Comedy Showcase was held at Soma on Wednesday April 29th. After 5 1/2 years at Memphis on Main the biggest stand up comedy show in town moved to a new venue. It's a great place in downtown Champaign that we hope to make better than any of our previous shows before. 



Front bar at Soma

There is a terrific front lounge area for people to hang out at before and after the show. Soma has a rep for being a place that is expensive or snooty. $2 Mixed Wells on Wed Night, folks. It's clean, it's big, and the best part for us is it has a private show room in the back. Not to mention a secondary bar so you never have to go too far from the show!



All full for Opening Night!

 It was a packed night. Standing room only all the way back through the covey of the second bar area. There were a few small issues we will fix going forward. The picture to the right was taken from the balcony which is used as a green room for all the performers. 





After every show DJ Mike Ingram starts spinning in the lounge area. 90's and more every Wed at 9:30 directly following the show. It's a very diverse crowd that comes out to stand up comedy shows, you really get to meet a lot of new interested people hanging out post show.





We really look forward to having so many different performers in. Already have people from Chicago, St Louis, Peoria, Boise, and more coming up soon! Here are some of the performers from week #1:

Chris Hightower
Host: Jesse Tuttle (me)




Esteban Gast

Andrew Hicks
Katie Prosise


Justin Tuttle
Steve Schaberg
Mikel Matthews