Funny And Nice

Dave McDonough is the April Comic In Residence

Each month, The Comedy Studio picks a comedian to be the “Comic In Residence,” playing each and every show on the schedule. For April, the Studio has chosen a bit of a ringer in Dave McDonough, who starts his run tonight. McDonough won the Boston Comedy Festival’s competitors in 2009 and has opened for Doug Stanhope and other people. He’s got a deadpan style that has drawn natural comparisons to Steven Wright, but McDonough has a lot more of a scatological bent.

The Marshfield native has often loved watching stand-up, and it came all-natural for him to transition from class clown to comedian. He says he likes to listen to Bill Burr, Louis CK, Rodney Dangerfield, and Don Rickles, a mix of edgier local comics and classic comedy idols. “Pretty significantly any comic who says whatever they want,” he says. “I like edgy comics. Not that you can’t be clean and funny it’s just that I feel it’s a lot more enjoyable to be a jerk sometimes.”

I gave McDonough the usual Comic In Residence Questionnaire.

When did you begin doing comedy?

I did my first show in 2000 then I quit until 2004. I quit because it was a lot tougher than I believed it would be. I did not comprehend how significantly work you had to put into it. I came back simply because I couldn’t quit thinking about it and I thought I may well be very good if I put the time in. Also I lived far from the city at the time and that also dissuaded me a small.

How typically have you played the Studio?

I play the studio pretty typically, probably each and every other month or so.

What other clubs do you play?

I also play at Mottley’s, Dicks Beantown Comedy Vault, and Nick’s Comedy Cease. My preferred club to carry out at is the Studio simply because of the space itself and the audience and I’m not just kissing ass.

What neighborhood comedians have influenced you?

Tony Moschetto and Gary Gulman. I saw Gary prior to he did Last Comic Standing and you could just inform he was going to be big. He actually produced it search straightforward just a actually good writer. And Tony was genuinely dry and type of out there, extremely clever and approachable. Watching him made me realize that becoming truly dry and appearing like you don’t care can sometimes draw the greatest laughs.

What is the average number of gigs you have played in a month just before this?

I’m rather lazy, so the most I’ve ever carried out before this is possibly amongst fifteen and twenty.

How will you approach your time — operate on new stuff, refine older stuff, or a mix of each?

I program on attempting a lot of distinct sets, some new stuff, some clean stuff and some dirty stuff.

What do you expect to have gotten out of the encounter when the month is over?

My timing and function ethic are two factors I want to work on. If I create some new jokes or tags then I’ll be pleased but I’m truly just trying to get down what I have to a point exactly where I cannot screw it up.

Do you program to make comedy a job, or is it something you do as a hobby?

I don’t do stand up for a hobby, I take it extremely seriously so hopefully inside of the following few yrs I’ll be undertaking it full time.

The Boston Comedy Blog

Colin Quinn is not a Boston comedian, but I have witnessed him listed as such more than as soon as. For the records, he is Brooklyn born and raised, but he says it’s a widespread mistake to associate him with the Hub. In the course of a latest interview for TVSquad.com about his new a single-man show, Long Story Brief (tonight, HBO 10PM), I asked him why he believed that was. Is it just his Irish connections or something else?

“The Irish and the loud,” he stated. “It’s because I’m Irish and I have self esteem, which only Boston Irish have.”

Long Story Short has enjoyed a productive run on Broadway (with an help from Quinn’s longtime buddy, director Jerry Seinfeld), and Quinn will be placing the show up once more in the Hamptons in June. There may possibly be other engagements right after that, Quinn isn’t positive. If it’s a hit on HBO, Quinn would like to bring back his critically acclaimed 1-man show from 1998, An Irish Wake, and possibly attempt to film that, as well.

“I’d like to place it up for a few weeks, anyway,” said Quinn. “Maybe I’ll put it up in Boston. That’s exactly where it belongs, anyway.”

Which probably will not assist him clear up the Boston myth. To debunk that once and for all, watch the Boston comedy documentary When Stand Up Stood Out. Quinn always wanted to make Boston a “go-to” town. He figured there would be a decent Irish, functioning class base to which he could play. He was wrong.

He came in the 80s, and the film talks about a New York/Boston rivalry that extended to the comedy world. Quinn stated he faced a sea of hostility, and Joe Yannetty had to use all his very good will as a Boston native to get Quinn out devoid of becoming attacked.

Issues have enhanced for Quinn in Boston. He often appears at the annual Comics Come Residence show and he utilised to play the Comedy Connection when it was nonetheless in Faneuil Hall. If he brings An Irish Wake to town, my guess is that it would play The Wilbur.

The Boston Comedy Weblog