Post by nutsberryfarm ⛑ on Sept 2, 2017 23:34:33 GMT
margaret cho was there???! wow.
www.thedailybeast.com/when-a-young-jimmy-fallon-had-to-follow-jerry-seinfeld-onstage-at-the-improv
You don’t forget it. You walk down Melrose Avenue, you see the lights, and it feels like showbiz. As soon as I walked in, I saw Budd sitting at his table with his monocle dangling by his lapel. He’s a very sharp dresser—fashion forward and he sticks out, because you can just tell he’s a classy, cool guy. And I thought to myself, “I can’t believe that’s Budd, that’s BUDD FRIEDMAN.”
My first time at the Improv instantly reminded me of that scene from Goodfellas where you walk in and you know everybody. And they were all there that night—Richard Lewis, Dom Irrera, Margaret Cho, Janeane Garofalo, John Mendoza, Ray Romano—just talking and hanging out. It was insane because it was like going to a party of comedians I never knew existed. I was freaking out, because I knew everybody’s act by heart and I could do everybody’s act, when all of the sudden my manager, Randi Siegel, took me over to meet Budd.
He’s one of the few guys I don’t impersonate, but when I spoke to him he was like, “Right, right. Good to meet you.” I don’t really remember much else because I was so nervous and intimidated to meet him. Then I went into the show room just to see what it was like. I went in through the swinging doors, past the bathroom area, and the first thing I saw was the brick wall, the mic stand, and the light. People could still smoke back then, so there was this kind of cool haze, almost like stage smoke like you’d see at a rock concert.
And it’s a decent-sized room and all you hear are the people laughing, so immediately I got nervous even though I wasn’t going on. I was soaking it in like, “This is the Improv.” Then this guy Brett, who was the sound engineer, came up to me. He said, “You can stand over there.” That was when I was shown the back corner of the room where the comedians sat to watch each other’s acts. So I did, too—boom, boom, boom—the people that I love.
The very next day I came back to talk to Budd’s stepson Ross whom he’d told me to come see, and we arranged a time for me to do an audition but during the daytime. When that day came, the vibe at the Improv was entirely different because nobody was there and the whole room reeked of stale cigarette smoke and beer. So I got up onstage with my troll doll and my guitar. And I started doing my act and Ross started laughing. He said, “This is good. You should come on. I’ll give you a spot Wednesday night.”
www.thedailybeast.com/when-a-young-jimmy-fallon-had-to-follow-jerry-seinfeld-onstage-at-the-improv
You don’t forget it. You walk down Melrose Avenue, you see the lights, and it feels like showbiz. As soon as I walked in, I saw Budd sitting at his table with his monocle dangling by his lapel. He’s a very sharp dresser—fashion forward and he sticks out, because you can just tell he’s a classy, cool guy. And I thought to myself, “I can’t believe that’s Budd, that’s BUDD FRIEDMAN.”
My first time at the Improv instantly reminded me of that scene from Goodfellas where you walk in and you know everybody. And they were all there that night—Richard Lewis, Dom Irrera, Margaret Cho, Janeane Garofalo, John Mendoza, Ray Romano—just talking and hanging out. It was insane because it was like going to a party of comedians I never knew existed. I was freaking out, because I knew everybody’s act by heart and I could do everybody’s act, when all of the sudden my manager, Randi Siegel, took me over to meet Budd.
He’s one of the few guys I don’t impersonate, but when I spoke to him he was like, “Right, right. Good to meet you.” I don’t really remember much else because I was so nervous and intimidated to meet him. Then I went into the show room just to see what it was like. I went in through the swinging doors, past the bathroom area, and the first thing I saw was the brick wall, the mic stand, and the light. People could still smoke back then, so there was this kind of cool haze, almost like stage smoke like you’d see at a rock concert.
And it’s a decent-sized room and all you hear are the people laughing, so immediately I got nervous even though I wasn’t going on. I was soaking it in like, “This is the Improv.” Then this guy Brett, who was the sound engineer, came up to me. He said, “You can stand over there.” That was when I was shown the back corner of the room where the comedians sat to watch each other’s acts. So I did, too—boom, boom, boom—the people that I love.
The very next day I came back to talk to Budd’s stepson Ross whom he’d told me to come see, and we arranged a time for me to do an audition but during the daytime. When that day came, the vibe at the Improv was entirely different because nobody was there and the whole room reeked of stale cigarette smoke and beer. So I got up onstage with my troll doll and my guitar. And I started doing my act and Ross started laughing. He said, “This is good. You should come on. I’ll give you a spot Wednesday night.”