05/10/2020
Hi everyone. Our stage at the Secret Comedy Club has been silent for 2 months as of today, and if you're anything like me, you're desperately missing live standup comedy. Unfortunately -- and this is totally a personal opinion -- I can't always get my fix from Zoom shows. Pure standup performed in empty rooms over webconferencing software just falls a little flat for me. I miss the crowds, I miss the laughs, I miss hecklers getting shut down... I even miss act-outs (not everyone's, obviously).
Fortunately, there are some great comedians who are doing fascinating things that go beyond traditional standup. I'm going to shout out 10 people you can find on Instagram, along with their screennames, just because that's the limit on the number of photos in a single post. I highly recommend that you follow all of them. And while you're here, I'd love it if you suggest some more folks in the comments.
1) Teresa Lo ()
Teresa is one of our favorite live comedy producers, and she's perhaps even more well known as a writer -- she's a regular contributor at , and she's published multiple works, including the Red Lantern Scandals series. During this hiatus, she's started writing and producing original comedy skits with the sketch group. She's also been posting professional tips for those of you who are looking to complete more writing during social distancing.
2) Mike Eaton ()
Mike is one of the most fearless young guys out there. I love watching him perform because he's unafraid to try new material, and you can tell he absolutely loves it onstage. But now I can't see him onstage. Thankfully, he's also great on podcasts. He's recently been hosting an awesome dating show for the quarantine era (), and with enough pressure, we might be able to convince him to start streaming on Twitch.
3) Hannah Canetti ()
Hannah's always produced funny content, and she's a blast onstage. But my god, since Hannah's gotten her greenscreen, I swear she's had the most imaginative, delightful short-form content I've seen on social media. We're going to look back at her early greenscreen clips and treasure them like old Harold Lloyd clips.
4) Wings of Love ()
Speaking of people who are incredibly imaginative and creative, & have a live funky musical improv party with hilarious guests (some of whom are better at freestyling than others). Every show feels like a party, and every comic in town should be begging to get on here.
5) Goldie Hoffman ()
And while we're on the subject of parties -- I know, my transitions are amazing -- Goldie Hoffman has been putting on "Goldie's Tuesday Night Shabbos Show," a variety show with interviews, standup comedy, wild characters, outfit changes, and sometimes even a singing, dancing shiksah... wait, am I even allowed to use that word? Whatever, go check her out.
6) Stephanie Tejada ()
Stephanie is literally the hardest working woman in comedy right now. I swear that she takes no days off -- every day my IG feed is filled with her doing original characters (all with their own makeup and wardrobe), original skits, live comedy, interviews, advertisements for local businesses, glamour shots, and shout-outs. She started an OnlyFans page and became a top performer on there in what seemed like about 2 hours. Respect the hustle.
7) Mary Beth Barone ()
What I love about Mary Beth is that she seems like her mind works one step ahead of the pack. When the shut-down happened, everyone started doing Instagram live chats with talking heads in front of plain backgrounds. Mary Beth starts her Coming Clean show and starts interviewing people from her bathtub. After everyone puts up the last of their pre-'Rona standup content, the new "standup comedy" posts on all our feeds consist of screen-recorded versions of live Zoom shows. Mary Beth puts out The Bird House, a short with luscious visuals and lovely atmosphereic background music. I can't wait to see what she does next.
8) Jay P. Brown ()
Jay P. is demonstrating how comedians can pivot effectively. We'd recently agreed with Jay P. to be a featured host at The Secret Comedy Club when the Coronavirus hit, and he's been doing sketches with the Valley Comics. But now that those opportunities have slowed down, he's started a Twitch channel and convinced me to start playing Days Gone. He started a fitness Zoom channel and convinced me to... okay, I'm still not working out in the morning. There are limits to his powers. But the point is that Jay's doing big things, and he's one of the most likable people in the industry. Give him a follow.
9) Melanie Vesey ()
If I'd written this a little more quickly, you may have been able to follow this post to the imaginative Make It Rain Comedy Show tonight (), which Melanie co-founded. It's not just a regular ol' Zoom comedy show -- each comic ends their set by putting on music and doing a (virtual) pole dance. But as great as that concept is, it's not even the best reason to follow Melanie. She also runs , where she delivers expert public relations classes and consultation specifically geared for entertainers. I've taken the seminar myself, and I found it a true inspiration -- and all of us need a little inspiration nowadays.
10) Dante () & Rebekah Kochan ()
Okay... this one's a little self-serving, as Dante and Rebekah are the co-CEOs of . But as a proud worker bee at G*E, I feel like I can toot a horn on their behalf. They've started a TikTok and a series of tips on how to make a living as a comedian. They have a number of YouTube shows -- Quarantine Cooking, The "Joys" of Alzheimers, Happiness with Dante. They even started an Instagram page for their dog (). Plus they actually seem to be maintaining a happy relationship, healthy business, and bustling garden through it all, in case that sort of success doesn't disgust you.
