Regattabar gives audiences an 'alternative' to NYC clubs
When Dan Newbower was in Boston, he worked mainly at the Comedy Studio in Harvard Square, which has been dubbed an "alternative" comedy room. Newbower moved to New York City two years ago, but he has stayed active in the Boston scene and is now booking a new comedy series at the Regattabar. The series opens Tuesday with Mike Birbiglia. For better or worse, the series could also be dubbed "alternative comedy," with a lineup that includes hip underground acts from New York such as Todd Barry and local studio regulars such as the Walsh Brothers. The distinction might have more to do with the rooms they play, however, than with the comedy they are performing.
Barry, who performs as part of the series on July 20 with former Boston comics Jon Fisch and Patrick Borelli, resists the label of an alternative comic, dismissing it as silly. The label stems partly from the fact that rooms like New York's Luna Lounge allow comics such as Barry, Jon Stewart, and David Cross to try out new material. The shows sometimes have sketch comedy or even authors reading their latest work, which isn't what most would call stand-up.
"When people talk about the Luna Lounge or whatever, I just say it's a comedy/variety show," Barry says. "I mean, anyone who would call themselves an alternative comic, I just can't imagine why someone would do that."
Newbower says he's just finding acts that might not get a Boston venue.
"I'm mainly booking the shows that I would have loved to see when I was starting out in New England," he says. "These are all acts that comedians and real comedy fans have heard about and want to see, but wouldn't have many opportunities to see live outside of New York."
Barry is a staple in the New York scene, and has logged TV time on "Sex and the City," "The Larry Sanders Show," and his own half-hour Comedy Central special. While that has opened doors for him in clubs throughout the country, his low-key delivery (his CD is called "Medium Energy") has kept him out of some clubs.
"I've done fine, but there are people who, if they see you on TV, go, `Oh, my room's crazy! He can't handle it in here,' " Barry says. "They don't really see what you can do in front of a live audience as opposed to a live TV audience."
Which makes him the perfect comedian for the new Regattabar series.
"Todd Barry is just one of the funniest comics ever, but he is of a different mold than the headliners you'd see in the big Boston clubs," Newbower says. "I wanted people to have a chance to see him live without having to come to Manhattan."
No beefs
When Alonzo "Hamburger" Jones bites into the word that has become his trademark, you can almost see him chewing the syllables. Jones, who plays the Comedy For a Cause benefit show at Nick's Comedy Stop on Sunday with Rick Younger, Corey Manning, and Chris Tabb, doesn't swear in his act. Instead, he tears into the word "hamburger" with the same intensity another performer might tear into a curse word to shock the audience.
It comes out slowly at first, lingering on the first syllable, then rocketing out the last two. It's a habit he picked up from a family member with Southern roots.
"My uncle said he was too old to curse, so he would walk around the house saying `hamburger' instead of cursing," says Jones.
Though he is a New Jersey native and came up through the New York scene, Jones says his friends always called him "country." So he adopted a tall cowboy hat and a polite, family-friendly persona, taking bits from his uncle and making up the rest. Working clean has been successful for him so far, even landing him spots on edgier shows such as "Def Comedy Jam" and "Chappelle's Show."
"If you go see five comics in a comedy show one night, and then you see me, you're not going to forget me," he says. "You're always going to remember the guy in the black hat saying `hamburger,' " he says.
Around town
Maine native Bob Marley plays the Comedy Connection tonight and tomorrow. . . . Sam Walters plays his last Boston gig tomorrow at the Comedy Studio before moving to New York City. 