Comedy That’s Not Kidding
“Totally J/K” intermingles an affordable taste of New York’s best
stand-up with creative hosting duo.
By
Marshall Stratton / Jester correspondent
Brooklyn-based stand-up comics and stars of VH-1’s “Best Day Ever,” Joe
Mande and Noah Garfinkel, presented their own night of fellow stand-ups,
“Totally J/K,” an ongoing monthly show at the UCB Theatre, on April 27.
Together, Mande and Garfinkel play off each other’s personas, with Mande
delivering snappy views and Garfinkel being neurotic. They opened the
show with a conceit about all the great and hilarious things that their
supposed satellite radio audience won’t get to see when the show is
broadcast. Mande cracked about the plethora of celebrities attending the
show, including Zach Galifianakis and Seth Meyers. Both comedians
decided instead of showing videos of old people, they would tell stories
about the elderly. The highlight was hearing Joe describe his
grandmother’s boyfriend who apparently fingered the family dog’s
butthole. The boyfriend would also fill each crossword puzzle out in the
house with only the word “lemonade.”
The opening comic, Kevin Barnett, a young (24) and self-described
“manchild” had a solid set. He told the crowd he hated living in New
York because it’s “slowing turning me into a black Jewish hipster.” He
complained of just wanting to go to a party dressed as Wolverine and not
be seen as the “black Wolverine.” He stated Mark Zuckerberg, founder of
Facebook, has so much money he could dedicate a room in his house to
blasting techno music and having money raining down all over the room.
Before bringing on both featured comedian Julian McCullough and
headlining performer Kurt Braunohler (last chronicled in
the
Blog’s account of the ECNY awards March 15), Mande in particular
digressed with more conceptual comedy, heavy on surreal stories. One
piece was a story of how his childhood bus driver told a bus full of
kids that he was moving to Los Angeles to be a porn star. The driver
however returned three weeks later unsuccessful.
Mande’s other piece started with him recalling chopping jalapeños and
using the restroom after that without washing his hands. While he was
“giving birth to a fire baby,” his wok full of food set off the smoke
alarm. All of this happens in a span of four minutes while his
girlfriend picked up the laundry. She returns to find him naked in the
bathtub with milk all over his genitals. “Dinner’s ready!” he exclaims.
Garfinkel also presented his own pieces between the duo’s guests.
McCullough, who has collected Comedy Central and NPR credits, and
currently warms up audiences for The Colbert Report, took on the
drawbacks of being self-employed as a comedian, especially when it comes
to healthcare. When his appendix burst, treatment ended up costing
$45,000. McCullough vocalized his frustrations that the bill came in
full and had no business being amongst the usual smaller bills. He
exclaimed that the bill should have come in a “black envelope with skull
and crossbones on it!”
Braunohler’s set stayed closer to traditional stand-up than he usually
does. He opened by making fun of the signs on the NYC subway that say
two drinks ago you could have gotten home. The photo features a girl
asleep on the steps at the subway entrance. He wanted to see a series of
photos of the girl waking up in Coney Island and Flushing, Queens.
Another set would be on the Airtrain, and asked, “How did she transfer!”
He also wished to see her on a flight to Belgium, wondering, “Where did
she get her passport from!?!” He ended the set by telling a story about
he writes down his ideas on post-it notes and hangs them all over his
wall at his apartment. He also jokingly put up a people to kill list and
the last name was listed as “Random.” He brought a girl home and she was
concerned after seeing the people to kill list. He explained the joke of
it and she calmed down. He then crossed off the random listing at the
bottom of the list and she darted for the door. Braunohler deftly topped
all this off with a callback, “She should have left two drinks ago.”
Mande and Garfinkel closed last month’s edition of “Totally J/K” as
always with their “List of Nothing,” a slide show including puns and
unfinished comedic ideas, such as “Linkin Navigator,” the bus driver for
the band Linkin Park. “Markey Market,” “fingerbook.com,” “Gnomeo Country
for Old Men,” the “Gnomeo and Juliet” movie sequel and “Flourid-a,” the
dentist rapper. The duo closed the show with one last reference to their
satellite radio audience missing their visual humor, as they both slowly
creep offstage.
“Totally J/K” showcases some of the best and most creative New York
stand-up comedy, as seen in this performance, well-framed by its hosts,
who channel a lot of creativity into their material that defines the
overall feel and flow of the show.
“Totally J/K” returns
to the UCB Theatre 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 25. |