Wit To Spare: Karl Hess

Karl Hess will be making you laugh at this month’s Super Serious Show. If you’re a fan of local live comedy, then you’ve probably run into Karl Hess.

Hess regularly appears on some of the best comedy shows in town. Hess’ comedy is filled with witty, often random, observations and stories that you will no doubt find hilarious. His cool hair and sweet personality will make you an instant fan of his and if not, we will give you none of your money back. None.

More about Hess– he was featured as a New Face at the 2010 Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Additionally, he has performed stand-up at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in Atlanta and the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival. He was recently voted by RooftopComedy.com as one of the best Underground Comics of 2011 and featured on their album, Silver Nails.

Grab a ticket to the show for some quality Hess time.

Matt Knudsen: Clever with a K

We are excited to announce that comedian and actor Matt Knudsen will be taking the Smashbox Studios stage at this month’s Super Serious Show! Knudsen’s comedy is full of clever and amusing observations coupled with a hilariously dry delivery. Knudsen puts things simply and that’s why we love him.

As a stand-up, Knudsen has performed at the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal as well as on CBS’s The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. The success of Knudsen’s stand-up career has led to a blossoming career in film and television. Knudsen’s television credits include memorable roles on HBO’s Big Love, Boston Legal and Malcolm in the Middle. He also contributed his voice-over work to the Cartoon Network live action series, Out of Jimmy’s Head. Additionally, you can see him in the upcoming movie, Gangster Squad, with Sean Penn and Ryan Gosling. This will be in theaters next year!

Grab tickets for the Oct. 20th show here.

Comedy Goodness: Michael Palascak

Comedian Michael Palascak is in the lineup for the August 18th Super Serious Show! Please applaud and then sit back down. Thank you. Palascak is one of the funniest young performers working today.

Palascak’s childish and playful tales of living with his parents and working a shitty job is what makes this gentleman funny and relatable to any audience. It’s hard not to love him. Just his gawky stage presence and innocent speaking voice alone will have you giggling. He is like a little big kid turned comedian.

Palascak has made television appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. Additionally, he performed at the Just For Laugh festival in Chicago, Ceasar’s Palace for the Las Vegas Comedy Festival and was named the winner of HBO’s Lucky 21 Stand-up competition. He can also be seen performing at clubs and colleges all over the country…so don’t you worry. We, personally, can’t wait to ask him if he is still living with his parents.

Grab your tickets early to save some cash - Thursday, August 18th at Smashbox Studios!

Jerrod Carmichael: Comedy & Charm Coming Your Way

The very funny and talented Jerrod Carmichael will be performing at the August Super Serious Show! This year Carmichael Variety recognized as one of the 10 Comics to Watch, and we couldn’t agree more with his inclusion on the list. Despite being a young comic, only 24-years-old, Carmichael has the calm and ease of a comedy veteran when he's on stage. Carmichael is known for always keeping his material fresh and fearlessly delivering jokes on the fly. He is the type of performer with enough charisma to get away with saying just about anything. You are always on board with Carmichael, whether you feel comfortable or not.

Carmichael can be seen performing at Los Angeles venues such as The Laugh Factory, The Comedy Store and The Improv. He was also a “new face” at Montreal’s Just For Laughs comedy festival this year.
We can only expect greater and bigger things for this funny, funny man.

Grab tickets for the show - Thursday, August 18th at Smashbox Studios.

Andrew Donnelly: Off-Kilter Comedy

This Thursday, comedian Andrew Donnelly, will be performing at the show. Andrew Donnelly is one of our favorite under-the-radar comedians. Donnelly is a stand-up, writer and actor. His comedy is comes to life with his off-kilter approach to topics, a great sense of the moment and a fearlessness to embrace the setting and the crowd, no matter the circumenstance. Donnelly is a skilled off-the-cuff performer, always ready with a slew of hilarious tangents. Donnelly has numerous television appearances, including The Office, Late Friday, Premium Blend, The Late Late Show, The Life & Times of Tim and Important Things with Demetri Martin. He’s also appeared at numerous festivals, including Just For Laughs Montreal and the HBO Aspen Comedy festival.

Enjoy the comedy goodness of Andrew Donnelly this Thursday. Grab tickets for the Super Serious Show at Smashbox Studios.

The Super Serious Show with Iliza Shlesinger

Watch out! Iliza is heading our way this month. High-energy  big-time comedian, Iliza Shlesinger is charging through Smashbox Studios Thursday 12/16 for the holiday episode of Super Serious.

One of our favorite comedians of the past few years, Shlesinger is pretty much a sure thing, always bringing it to audiences. Plus, she's "good people." Bonus.

The fun of Shlesinger's comedy is its great variety. She freely jumps from topic to topic, often off-the-cuff and always packing a punch with super stage energy.

Shlesinger currently resides in Los Angeles. She was the winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing Season 6. She is the first female and youngest comedian to hold the title of Last Comic Standing.

Her television credits include having her own half hour special on Comedy Central Presents, Comedy Central’s Live At Gotham, Showtime's Pauly Shore & Friends and Bridging The Gap Comedy Special, E! Network’s Chelsea Lately, E!'s The Soup and NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly.

She performed at the coveted Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal and for the troops all over the world. Most weekends, you can find Shlesinger headlining at variety of colleges and clubs across the country.

When not wreaking havoc on stage, Shlesinger hosts her own hit web series The Weakly News with Iliza on thestream.tv.

Brave the funny and find out for yourself what makes Iliza Shlesinger tick, Thursday 12/16 at Super Serious.

UPDATE: The Super Serious Show with Brent Weinbach

In the comedy game sometimes things get serious. This week things got super serious. Our great host, Maria Bamford, had to pull out of the Super Serious-ness due to another obligation. We believe she may be testifying before Congress but can neither deny or confirm this information at this time. We hope to have her back after she is done making the world a better place.

Our time as an orphan was brief. Thankfully, one of our all-time favorite comedians appeared in our time of need to take us in from the cold. We have a new headliner/host for this week's show...Brent Weinbach! You can still save some money and buy tickets ahead of time.

Brent Weinbach is a one-of-a-kind stand-up comedian. His comedy has an emphasis on the weird and absurd. Weinbach's website describes him as such:

Here are some other words to describe Weinbach: deadpan, silly, obscure, unconventional, smart, stupid, post-modern, grass roots, Berlin, 1980's, tennis, bike riding, Virgo, Rygar, etc. The list goes on and on.

Weinbach started his comedy career in the underground San Francisco scene. He now tours nationwide, including clubs, colleges, festivals, theaters and music venues.

Brent was a winner and recipient of the Andy Kaufman Award at the HBO Comedy Festival, which is given out once a year to recognize innovation in stand-up comedy.  He has appeared on Comedy Central, toured with the Comedians of Comedy, performed at the Coachella and Bumbershoot festivals as well as Just For Laughs in Montreal.

Weinbach created and starred in his own Super Deluxe web series, "Weinbach in Wonderland." His 2009 comedy album, The Night Shift, is a fun mix of stand-up, characters and overall comedic randomness.

Weinbach is a surprising comedian with an unique style. We can't wait to get to Smashbox Studios Thursday to see Brent Weinbach make this Super Serious Show like no other.

Sketch Duo: Sean Clements & Dominic Dierkes

Sean Clements and Dominic Dierkes, two young and talented comedians joined forces this Summer to create Time for Water, a fearless sketch show that "explores the human experience." They performed the full show at this summer's acclaimed Montreal Just For Laughs Festival. Now Sean and Dominic are bringing some of the highlights to The Super Serious Show. Their promotion of the show states "all aspects of the human experience will be fearlessly explored." Add funny to the profound and I think we're in for a treat.

Starting in New York City, Sean and Dominic have performed together for several years. Sean got his start at Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City (UCBTNY). He wrote for MTV's Popzilla and appeared on The Colbert Report and 30 Rock.

Dominic Dierkes is member of the standout comedy group DERRICK Comedy. DERRICK Comedy has a slew of popular internet sketch videos, a several year run of successful UCBNY shows and a sneaky-good self-made independent feature comedy, Mystery Team, under its belt. He now lives in Los Angeles. You can now see him popping up in numerous UCBTLA shows every month.

Sean and Dominic are two of the best sketch performers working today.  Get your tickets to catch the up and coming talented duo this week.

2nd Times The Charm: Mike Phirman

Mike Phirman is back at the show for the first time. I swear that makes sense.

After losing Mike to Canada last month, we're lucky to quickly cash in our Mike Phirman raincheck stub. Fresh off his Montreal Just For Laughs Festival appearance, Mike will be bringing his awesome musical comedy back to Los Angeles at The Super Serious Show. We're excited. You should be, too. Click here for tickets.

Here's one of our favorite songs/videos from his recent album, The Very Last Songs I Will Ever Record (Part One).

Canada Needs Phirman More

Sadly, we'll be missing out on the sweet music and comedy of Mike Phirman this month. Mike won't be able to make the Super Serious Show. It seems the Canadians needed him more. The great annual comedy fest Montreal Just For Laughs booked him to perform this week. Very exciting for Mike. We couldn't be happier that he was so cool that Canada stole him from us.

We'll be sure to have Mike join the show in the future. If you can't wait, buy his album and pine away. That's what we'll be doing.

Nigel Lawrence added to July Lineup

We have another great comedian in our July 15th lineup - Nigel Lawrence. Nigel has written and starred in his own comedy specials for CTV and The Comedy Network. He's also performed at the Just For Laughs Comedy festival and has numerous TV appeareances, including Comedy Central's Live at Gotham and Chelsea Lately on E! Television. 

Nigel is a great comedic storyteller and always brings a fresh and charismatic approach to his comedy every time he performs. And Nigel gets bonus points for being Canadian. I think that's a positive, right?

Click here for tickets to the show.