Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival Day 3: The Power of Podcasts

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Clik here to view.The first two days of Moontower were great, but Day 3 really ramped up the awesomeness.  The big name shows featured Michael Ian Black, Chelsea Peretti, Judah Friedlander and Brendon Walsh all together, plus Greg Fitzsimmons, Chris Hardwick, a live WTF taping and Bill Burr.

I was most disappointed that my punctuality issues made me miss out on seats for Burr.  Particularly after Mo Mandel and Ian Edwards reported back that it was absolutely amazing.

But I did manage to pack in about eight hours of other comedians. And here’s what I learned from those four shows – podcasts are a great way to make sure the crowd at your show isn’t just “the crowd at your show,” they’re YOUR crowd.

First up was the screening of the “Internet Troll” episode of IFC’s new show “Maron.” The episode was a fun look into Marc’s neuroses in confronting a Twitter troll. If you already love Maron from WTF and stand-up – and judging by the audience Q&A afterward, most people there did – the show will be a fun exercise in seeing some of his bits and rants come to life and then go a little extreme, since the show is a fictionalization, not a documentary. If you aren’t already familiar with Maron, there’s a chance you’ll wonder why you’re watching a whole show about this angry weirdo, but they weave in enough charm and vulnerability that I think a general audience will jump on board.

The screening was followed by a Q&A, moderated by Matt Bearden. Marc made a point of emphasizing that, while based on his life, they brought in a team of writers so none of this is how it actually happened. He went on to say he hopes that the series gets renewed so they can pick up with this character called Maron, and see where they can push it.

He also revealed his hatred for cat actors and cat handlers (“It’s a racket, you can’t control cats”) and unintentionally revealed his continued obsession with his ex-wife when Matt asked whether he’d used the series to get a “do over” on things that had gone poorly in his real life and he couldn’t get away from anything other than running into her.

My second stop was Pete Holmes’ headlining set at The Parish.  The show was so good, I was worn out from laughing afterward.  Weirdos (as listeners of Pete’s podcast call themselves) are the BEST!  Not only were they there and excited to see Pete, but they brought that enthusiasm to host David Angelo and feature Alex Koll’s sets as well.

Angelo is someone I’ve seen working out around L.A. a bunch, but it was really something to watch him perform on a real show with such an engaged audience.  Koll was absolutely delightful, particularly his bit about moving to New York with only unfashionable winter clothes.

And then Pete took the stage.  Pete recently recorded his hour special here in Austin, so he took a poll of the audience at the start, “Who here was at the special taping?” When the entire first five rows raised their hands, he told us he’d give us all new material. And he did. It ended up being a mix of crowd work, some new jokes and what Pete calls “playground bits.”  Playground bits are when Pete basically creates a construct in which he can ramble about, making jokes in all the different corners, without following a strict progression of a standard bit.  He brings that same skill of creating a private world where everything is funny to his crowd work, so that it never feels like buying time.

My third stop for the night was the exception that proved the rule. Kyle Kinane headlined The Scottish Rite Theater with Chip Pope, Dan St. Germain, Chris Hardwick and Michael Che. Kyle does not want to do a podcast. And good for him, because the theater was packed with a great late crowd anyway. I was especially impressed by Dan’s set. He got on stage, had the audience from the start and kept us along for the ride, even when he veered into jokes about his manic-depression, then finished strong with a great physical bit personifying his liquor of choice, Evan Williams whiskey, the rowdiest and most uncouth of alcohols.

Kyle came on and did a fantastic job following such strong comedians with a long set featuring some of the newer things he’s been working on, with an old gem tucked in there. Kyle’s storytelling style makes it hard to pin down what each bit is about – was that about bad sex, or noodles, or almost dying? Regardless, it’s impossible not to get sucked in and enjoy each beat along the way from A to B to Q.

I finished the night catching part of Ari Shaffir’s storyteller show with Christina Pazsitsky, Kurt Metzger and Sean Patton. Again, this was a crowd who knew what they came for, thanks to Ari’s podcast “Skeptic Tank,”  Christina’s podcast, “Your Mom’s House,” and all the Deathsquad network ties they have.

It was a midnight show, but the crowd was totally into it. They were along for the ride with Christina’s stories of high school fights and Christina rode that wave of support, making it look effortless. Kurt brought out Ari along with him – he claimed it was because it was awkward to stand by himself and tell a story, but I suspect it was actually so that Ari could recount rumors of a recent fight that Kurt is legally bound not to discuss. The crowd seemed to pull back a little when Sean made it clear that his fight story involved pretending to be gay, but he got them back, forcing whatever discomfort they were feeling to take a back seat to how funny and well-told the story was.

The last day of the festival is here and I’m looking forward to catching Maria Bamford on one of the smaller shows and finally seeing a set from Mike Lawrence.

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