Comics pin their hopes on new feature at Milky Way Lanes
The walls surrounding the spiral staircase that leads down into the Milky Way Lounge and Lanes are covered with posters and flyers for hip underground bands. The whack of pins hitting hardwood and the crack of pool balls colliding competes with stage noise at the entrance. The Milky Way already leads a double life as an artsy music club and sports facility, and now adds alternative comedy to its roster with Laughing Gas, a Monday-night feature hosted on alternate weeks by comedians Peter Dutton and Reverend Tim McIntire.
The alternative scene could use the venue, especially with the loss of Kim Davis's Monday-night showcase, which ended a brief stint at Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway Theater after a three-year run at the Lizard Lounge. Dutton and McIntire plan to book some of the same acts that appeared in those spaces, and up the ante with a host of unusual shows.
Dutton features musical comedy whenever he can, and has a "Comedy Cover Night" scheduled for May 17, for which he will book comedians doing the routines of famous comics. The audience will have to guess whose act the comedian is aping to win a free round of drinks. It's a concept Dutton has tried before in another room, but he's eager to establish it as a regular part of his show.
"Everybody takes it a little more seriously in a way, I think, but it's also more of a joke, because it is a cover night," says Dutton. "You're not doing your stuff, so you're not on the line as much. If people don't laugh, you can say, `Well, people aren't laughing at me -- but they're also not laughing at Jerry Seinfeld, so I don't feel as bad.' "
McIntire will feature stand-up from Myq Kaplan, Denise Robichau, Kelly MacFarland, and Brian Gordon and short films by Tony Moschetto this Monday. A night of political stand-up, sketch, and film called "Realpolitik" is scheduled for May 10.
McIntire, who last month ended his five-year run of Thursday-night specialty shows at the Comedy Studio, is looking forward to the possibilities the Milky Way presents. "The place is crying out for sketch," he says. "They've got a huge screen for films. It's just designed for non-traditional shows."
McIntire figures to get a creative push from Dutton as well. "I think Peter and I will kind of challenge each other to try new things," he says. "He's so creative, I just don't want to feel like a schlub every week."
Competing with the noise of the candlepin bowling lanes and the billiards table doesn't faze Dutton or McIntire. They just see it as another comic challenge. "We're actually planning on using the whole space and doing a couple of things with the bowling alley, incorporating it into the comedy show," says McIntire. "We've got the technology, we can do live remotes inside the bar. We can actually go talk to people bowling in the middle of the comedy show."
Dutton and McIntire also find it refreshing to be out of the confines of Cambridge, where the alternative scene has been thriving for the last several years. While they still enjoy their old haunts, getting out to Jamaica Plain helps to expand the scene and bring in some new faces.
"I like the fact that it's outside of Cambridge," says McIntire. "It's kind of the same flavor, but it's going to help build the momentum, but it's also a significantly different place. We'll be able to reinvent ourselves a little bit, too."
Comedy Central calls Dwayne Perkins's half-hour special airs on the cable network tonight at 10:30; veteran Boston comic Tony V will be on "Tough Crowd With Colin Quinn" Monday. . . . At least three Boston names will appear on Comedy Central's "100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time," which runs Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. Comedy Central has confirmed that Jay Leno, Denis Leary, and Steven Wright made the list, but won't comment on where they placed.
Around town Kelly MacFarland, Val Kappa, Dan Sulman, Baratunde Thurston, Stuart Paap, Ellen Moschetto, Mike Anthony, Erik Charles Nielsen, and Brian Gordon play the Comedy Studio tonight. . . . Greg Proops plays the Comedy Connection tonight and tomorrow. . . . Bob Seibel, Chris Oake, and promising newcomer Joe List play the Comedy Escape in Andover tonight and tomorrow. . . . Janet Cormier hosts Tissa Hami, Stash, J.J., Joe Curtin, and Reggie Harris Sunday at the All Asia Cafe. . . . The Walsh Brothers' "Great and Secret" show is over, but the Walshes are once again booking sketch and stand-up for the 10 p.m. slot Thursdays at ImprovBoston, where they will also experiment with their duo act.
