Comedy

John Fugelsang is in Albuquerque to perform “Unpresidented: The true story of a comedian trying to raise a toddler while his country was electing one” and we were lucky enough to get him into the Pyragraph LIVE studio (a.k.a. my office) to talk about comedy, politics, religion, and how he’s pulled all those elements and more into his unique creative career. 

Can’t get to the mic? Can’t make it out to shows? You still wanna be a comic? Well then, my friend, it’s time to pitch in and help out the comedy community.

Driving across the country solo can be one of the loneliest parts of the life of a comedian, but the open road has recently become one of my favorite job perks. Letting the thoughts flow with the asphalt has the power to put me in the zen state I need for my creativity to come alive—and podcasts can really help.

Creatives all over the country are looking for ways to activate their communities. If you’re in a similar position, one thing you can do to act now is to put on an event that benefits a cause you care about. I talked with four comedy producers that did just that.

Too many grown-ups feel like growing up means ceasing to play. We get distracted with things like work, and bills, and trying to look cool so someone will want to marry us.

What does it take to be a great comic? How can you move ahead in a profession/art form that has no straightforward career path? From what I’ve seen of the comics that scooch ahead of the crowd, it looks like they have stopped the following three things.

Tom Hanks’ laughter slowly built into a howling wail that filled the auditorium. The louder he laughed, the lower the audience shrank in their seats.

I was a young, bright-eyed 19-year-old ready to take my comedy out of the country for the first time to the Montreal Fringe Festival.

Say you’re just the most organized comic on the block. Say you’re onstage and you can’t remember those super organized jokes you so meticulously banked in your Evernote app. Let’s just say all that.

Keeping myself upright, even in the wheelchair, wasn’t easy as I couldn’t focus on my delivery, but it was too late. I was hooked and was soon asked to join other comedians at their Back Alley comedians-only open mic.

I’m not sure exactly how to put into words what I learned by being heckled for the first time. It was great that what could’ve been a negative experience turned out to make me feel so fucking nice.

While we post a new photo every week on social media, this is a post to share more widely the encyclopedic and idiosyncratic tools that the artists chose.

These tips and tidbits can be applied to all sorts of groups of creative hive-minds, and of course, you thirsty first-timers.

Just in time for summer vacay, we wrap our second season by inviting all our guests from this season (plus a few more) and popping open the bubbly.

Comedy lovers in Albuquerque may know him as their favorite and funniest baby in diapers, but Rusty Rutherford has a few other acts up his sleeve.