Monday
Ryan Singer
Ryan Singer is the rarest of breeds: A comic’s comic who electrifies mainstream audiences with material that is both uncompromising and unpretentious. LaughSpin says, “With his high-energy delivery and unpretentious leanings, there’s not a lot to dislike about comedian Ryan Singer. And it’s not just us saying it: In the last few years, he’s won over audiences headlining the nation’s finer comedy clubs and was hailed by Marc Maron in Rolling Stone as a comedian “who should be big.”
His debut album, HOW TO GET HIGH WITHOUT DRUGS, is an intense exercise in wordplay, improvisation, and storytelling. Those who enter Singer’s world will be rewarded with knowledge of the connections between dimwitted hunters and Tyra Banks, cookies and racial tension, and even gay marriage and dragons, courtesy of a comedian who expertly connects insanity and brilliance.
Both his debut album and sophomore release COMEDY WONDER TOWN were selected as Top 10 Comedy CD’s of the year (2010 & 2012). He was selected by LA Weekly as one of “10 LA Comics to Watch” for 2014, was mentioned in NY Magazine as a “Comic to Watch,” was one of 4 finalist in CMT’s Next Big Comic Contest, is a frequent guest on the WTF Podcast w/Marc Maron and the Bob & Tom Show, regularly heard on XM/Sirius Satellite Radio, and was a regional finalist in Comedy Central’s Open Mic Fight. He was the winner of the Golden Shingle Award at the Rooftop Comedy Festival, an award given to the next rising star in comedy. Follow him on twitter. Visit his website here.
Mary Mack
It’s true that folk humorist Mary Mack often recounts stories of her life, but unlike your boring uncle, she does it with a guitar, up on stage and makes a living doing it. And seeing as she’s a former polka band leader, music teacher, and all-around confused individual, we’re guessing she’s got some pretty good stories. Mack won Bill Word’s California Funnies Female competition and is gaining a following across the country. You can typically pick out a Mary Mack show because her audience is usually the one partaking in grown-up sing-alongs. Follow Mary on twitter. Visit her website: http://www.marymackcomedy.com/.
Tim Harmston
Tim Harmston started his comedy career in 2002, a year later he won Acme Comedy Company’s 2003 Funniest Person in the Twin Cities contest. Once, while emceeing at Acme, a well known headliner said to him “You’re kind of like an idiot, but with smart material”. That winning combination has led to appearances on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, the Bob and Tom radio show, and Wisconsin Public Radio. Tim has performed at the Rooftop Aspen Comedy Festival, the Great American Comedy Festival in Norfolk, NE, and the Laughing Skull Comedy Festival in Atlanta. When he’s not on stage, Tim enjoys making smart, idiotic videos for his website, timharmston.com. Follow him on twitter here.
Tuesday
Roy Wood Jr.
The Hollywood Reporter called him “A Standout”, and Entertainment Weekly described it as “charismatic crankiness”. The thought-provoking comedy of Roy Wood Jr. crosses cultural lines and has entertained millions nationwide by stage, radio and television. Wood currently appears in the TBS‘ hit comedy, Sullivan and Son, guest-starring as the likable sidekick and best friend of bar owner Steve Byrne, who returns to Pittsburgh to run his parent’s local pub.
Wood, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, began his comedy career in 1999 at the age of 19 while attending Florida A&M University. In 2002, Wood earned a slot as one of 10 national finalists in Comedy Central’s Laugh Riots competition in Los Angeles. In March 2003, Roy was selected for Star Search on CBS where he advanced to the semi-finals. He also appeared on It’s Showtime at the Apollo, Live in Hollywood and the 2005 season of Comedy Central’s Premium Blend and BET’s Comic View.
Wood appeared at the 2006 Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in the “New Faces Showcase” where critics awarded him top honors. The Montreal Gazette said, “Roy Wood Jr. gives tremendous show” taking “the top spot”. In 2006, Wood appeared on the Bob and Tom Radio Show: The Comedy Tour a one-hour special, which aired on Comedy Central. In 2007 Roy performed on The Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson and BBC America’s The World Stands Up in London.
In October 2006 Wood made his network television debut on Late Night with David Letterman. In 2008, Wood appeared on HBO’s historic Def Comedy Jam. In 2010, he was selected by America as one of the top three finalists on Last Comic Standing and followed that up with the first of numerous appearances on CONAN.
Wood has recorded three nationally-released prank call CD’s: My Momma Made Me Wear This (2003), Confessions of a High School Bench Warmer (2005) and I’ll Slap You to Sleep! (2009). And has recently released his first comedy CD Things I think, I think (2013). Visit his website here. Follow him on Twitter here.
Lisa Best
Lisa Best is a comedian who currently resides in Los Angeles. She spends her free time foraging for food, defending her life choices from family members (and herself), and uncomfortably creating first person paragraphs about herself.
The Portland Monthly wrote that Lisa “has a flair for turning embarrassing stories into comedy gold.” She has appeared in sketches for Comedy Central and Funny or Die, and also appeared on a terrible show on SyFy once that she hopes she’ll forget about like she did her SAT score. Lisa has performed in countless festivals and competitions including the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, California’s Funniest Females, Rooftop’s National College Comedy Competition, Meltdown, and some others she told her parents about before they replied, “What’s that?” Lisa performs standup in clubs, colleges and homeless shelters across the country. But enough about her, how are you?
Wednesday
Tim Bedore
For longer than we can remember comedian Tim Bedore has been calling in or stopping by to deliver an editorial in which he talks about whatever happens to be on his mind. These musings can range from his relationship with his daughter, to hot topics in the news, and even updates on how the animal kingdom is waging war on mankind. From the Animal Conspiracy to his daughter Claire, Tim takes us inside his mind, and with the help of a few sound effects, puts together one of our favorite features. Follow Tim on Facebook. Visit his website here.
Thursday
Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia is undoubtedly one of today’s most popular entertainers and comics. Whether it is man-on-the-street interviews, studio comedy, commercial parodies, nationwide sold-out tours, or films, Mencia demonstrates an extraordinary ability to connect with a wide and diverse audience.
Mencia comes from a humble background, born in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the 17th of 18 children. His parents sent him to the United States when he was about three months old, where he was raised in Maravilla Projects in Los Angeles, California by his aunt and uncle. In his early teens, Mencia moved back to Honduras because his family wanted him to avoid the destructive gang culture of East Los Angeles. When Mencia later returned to Los Angeles, he showed such educational prowess that he was immediately promoted to the tenth grade. Soon after, he successfully graduated from Garfield High School.
Mencia began his career doing stand-up on amateur night at the comedy club, Laugh Factory. He later showcased at The Comedy Store and became a regular, performing nightly. After he found success on the L.A comedy circuit, Mencia was named “International Comedy Grand Champion” from Buscando Estrellas (the Latino version of Star Search). This led to appearances on “In Living Color,” “The Arsenio Hall Show,” “Moesha” and “An Evening at the Improv.” In 1994, he hosted the HBO comedy series “Loco Slam” and in 1998 he hosted “Funny is Funny!” on Galavision. Mencia released a comedy album in 2000 called “Take a Joke, America” that showcased his brand of humor.
Mencia continued his journey up the comedy ladder by headlining “The Three Amigos” tour with Freddy Soto and Pablo Francisco in 2002, which sold out in record time around the United States. He was also featured in the independent films, “Outta Time” and “29 Palms” and starred in guest spots on “The Shield” and “The Bernie Mac Show,” among others. In 2002, he received a CableACE Award nomination for Best Stand-Up Comedy Special for his HBO special. That same year, Mencia was featured on “Comedy Central Presents.” Mencia remained busy and after the success of his solo dvd, “Carlos Mencia: Not For The Easily Offended,” “Mind of Mencia” went into development. The show was an instant hit and after the first season, Comedy Central signed Mencia back for his own original stand-up special, “Carlos Mencia: No Strings Attached.” The special was the first Comedy Central Stand-up Special DVD to achieve Platinum sales status.
“Mind of Mencia” debuted on Comedy Central in early 2005. It became one of the strongest shows in the network’s history, averaging about 1.5 million total viewers. “Mind of Mencia” was executive produced by Carlos Mencia and Robert Morton (“Late Night with David Letterman”).
In the summer of 2007, Mencia starred opposite Ben Stiller and Michelle Monaghan in the Farrelly Brothers’ hit feature film, THE HEARTBREAK KID (DreamWorks). In the fall of that year Mencia headlined a nationwide comedy tour titled “Carlos Mencia Live Presented by Bud Light.” The highly anticipated tour brought Mencia face-to-face with his fans from September 2007 through December 2007. Shortly thereafter, Mencia taped a new comedy special for Comedy Central, “Carlos Mencia: Performance Enhanced,” that aired in May 2008.
Since 2007, every holiday season Mencia has embarked on a USO Tour to the Persian Gulf to entertain the troops serving overseas. For his 2008 trip, Mencia visited Kuwait to host “Operation MySpace,” an exclusive concert for American Troops in the Middle East alongside Jessica Simpson and The Pussycat Dolls. The special aired on FX in April 2008. Mencia’s 2009 USO tour had stops in Turkey, Kirkuk, Baghdad, Qatar, Afghanistan, and many other countries.
In July 2008, Mencia began his tour, “At Close Range” at Red Rock Amphitheatre in Colorado. The tour was sponsored by Bud Light and co-promoted by Icon Entertainment and Live Nation. Larger than all of his previous tours, Mencia performed in 80 cities across the country. In the summer of 2009, he kicked off a nationwide comedy tour entitled “The Administration of Laughter” which brought him to excited audiences all around the country.
In March 2010, Mencia starred in the family comedy OUR FAMILY WEDDING (FOX Searchlight) alongside America Ferrara and Forrest Whitaker.
In the last couple years, Mencia chose to go back to his comedic roots, performing at a number of comedy stores throughout the country – allowing him to share his newest material with smaller and more intimate audiences.
On Sunday, December 4th, Comedy Central will air Mencia’s latest comedy special “New Territory” which will showcase all new material with his fresh perspective. Visit his website here. Follow him on twitter here.
Dave Williamson
Dave Williamson was born into a long line of automobile dealers in Miami, FL. After years of working his way through the family business, he decided he enjoyed making his customers laugh even more than he enjoyed making them deals. Dave is a story-teller who often calls on his colorful college career and his continuing voyage into being a young father and husband for material.
Over the past several years Dave has performed and excelled in many prestigious Comedy Festivals throughout the U.S. Most notably, he won entry into the 2011 Boston Comedy Festival by placing 3rd in their NY competition, beating out 80 other comics. He followed that up with another 3rd place finish in Vegas at the World Series of Comedy competing against 100 other comics. He has finished Top 4 in that competition 2 other times since and also had a Top 5 finish in the prestigious 2012 San Francisco Comedy Competition. Also in 2012, Dave was deemed by the Miami New Times “Miami’s Best Comedian”, released his highly rated debut CD ‘Thicker than Water’ through Stand Up Records, and made his National TV Stand Up debut on NickMom’s “NickMom Night Out”. Most of 2013 was spent touring North America with his family in a 25 Foot Travel Trailer, which was documented in his own Web Series on NickMom.com and during commercial breaks on their channel.
Dave has opened for such well-known comics as Jim Gaffigan, Lewis Black, and Jimmy Fallon and now lives in Los Angeles, CA.