Laughlin with Mike Marino

Had a great weekend with Mike Marino in Laughlin Nevada at the Edgewater Casino.  All three shows were fantastic.  Usually the Friday crowd is a little lighter and not quite as responsive.  Friday, Saturday and Sunday were all packed crowds.  I have to say I was very happy with all three of my performances.  I'm a ashamed to say, that in all the years I have been doing comedy, the past few performances, have been the first time I have been so rehearsed.  And what a difference.  Usually I am going over my set selection, and actually rehearsing up to the time I leave the room to go to the showroom.    This past weekend, I was so well rehearsed, it allowed me to really enjoy the weekend. I was able to really take in all the experiences of the trip and where we were.  We rented jetskis, explored Laughlin, and had a great time.  You have a different swagger when you take the stage, knowing your stuff, front to back, and it gives you the freedom to play with it, and be in the moment.  Trying to perform, while concerned and making effort to remember you routine, is picked up by the audience, and can only hurt your performance.  It definately makes you speed up, and you end up talking to fast, which only adds to the detriment of your show.  It was really interesting to spend the day with Mike, and then see what he did with those experiences as he did his show that night.  The showroom is really great, and the staff is very friendly.  I had some new stuff that I slipped in the show, and it all went great!,,  

What a great show we had on June 9, at Steven's Steakhouse !, Benefitting two East Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff's, who were involved in a gun battle, they survived, killed the suspect, but one deputy lost an eye.  Ticket sales were slow to start, we were a little worried, we paid for excellent talent.  We had KLOS famed DJ, Frazer Smith as our MC, and our Headliner was Mike Marino.  No pay wanted by me, I was honored to perform for my fellow officers, and those who support us.  Slowly as we got closer to the date, we started selling tables.  All of the Sheriff's Department UNIONS came through.  They all wrote donation checks, in support of LA Deputy Sheriff's.  I still was a little concerned because I had told Jim from Steven's I would have 300.  So he reserved the big room, and through in his own DJ.  As usual with these events, we had a big push the last week.  I didn't anticipate a rush at the door of over 75 tickets sold!.  It was a sell out in the end.  We had seating for 340, and ended up with 362.  Standing room only at the back.  What a great night.  Thanks to all who supported, gave, and attended !

God of Carnage

Great show yesterday at the Ahmanson Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. "God of Carnage" starring James Gandolfini, and Jeff Danels.  This show is straight from Broadway, as it has the entire broadway cast.  It's a 90 minute show without intermission, it was just right.  Hilarious! This is a must see show, I know it's a limited engagement show, but if you can, get down to the Ahmanson and see it.  

The Downtown Comedy Club with Garrett Morris and Kevin Garnier

What a great time at the Downtown Comedy Club, in downtown Los Angeles.  Owned and operated by my good friends, Kevin Garnier, and the legend, Original "Saturday Night Live" Cast Member, Garret Morris.  I   received a lot of messages, asking why I didn't tell people I was appearing there.  This really is my laboratory.  Kevin and Garrett allow me to pop in during the open mic sessions of the weekend, and ply my craft.  It's exactly the way I want it to be.  It was a great crowd, and, I knew no one in the audience.  For me working out new material, it's the right ingredient for a reality check, and a real accurate assessment of my material.  No one there has a connection with me, which means, when I get the laughs there not based on any connection or relationship I have with the audience.  So there  I was with a packed house.  As usual Kevin and Garret gave me the VIP treatment, and checked to see if I was working that night, or if there was any special time I needed to go on.  Yep, I was working that night, so they put me on first, another bonus for me.  I will get to work on time, and I get to hit the audience cold, which means if some of the new stuff hits, it is really good.  I set up my flip video, and did my thing, I had it timed for ten minutes, when I finished and checked the flip it was 9:30,, right on schedule.  I felt very comfortable and confident this night and it showed.  I was happy with the reaction to the material.  Some hit good, and other stuff, that I really liked, fell dead.  This is the comedy business, you have to keep working, reworking the old stuff, adding, subtracting based on whats happening now.  Off to work I went, put on the business suit of police work, and i stopped back at the club, to take the above photo of Myself, Kevin Garnier and Garret Morris.  Garrett was looking forward to the airing on Oprah of all the original cast members in a couple days.  The show aired on April 12,  and it was great.  I will be stepping up my secret appearances at the Downtown Comedy club, as we trek our way to the finale show of the documentary I'm filming with Billy Boyd jr.  I'm going to plan a headlining weekend in the fall at the downtown comedy club, and we will film it for the documentary, hopefully,  I can persuade mr Garrett Morris to be a part of it.  

Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer 3/14/2011 - cwyates | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer 3/14/2011 - cwyates | Internet Radio | Blog Talk Radio

Yesterday I put out my second blogtalkradio show with a guest.  The subject was not comedy, it was "Inside the mind of a Serial Killer".  My guest was Victoria Redstall who has been producing documentaries about serial killers for the past 4 years.  She produced a movie documenting the life of Wayne Adam Ford, a serial killer currently on death row, convicted of four murders.  I talked to Victoria about her involvement in the case. From the time she gained access to the high power section of the jail, meeting Ford where she posed as someone else giving Ford a false identity.  During the trial Ford had Victoria put on the stand, where she was forced to give her true identity.  Check out the blogtalkradio segment.

Mike DeStafano Dies of a heart attack at 44

Comedian Mike DeStafano suddenly died of a heart attack in NY.  Mike was a comedian who finished in the top five, of "Last Comic Standing".  He was a heroin addict who discovered standup in rehab.  He lost his wife to Aids.  I really connected to the raw truthfulness of his comedy.  I guess some would find it strange that a cop would admire this guy, and enjoy his comedy, and be a fan.  I was, and really looked forward to meeting him.  I had recently watched his DVD, and befriended him on facebook.  He really loved doing stand up, and was just finishing a tour in New York when he passed away. Yes he was raw, and cursed alot, for sure he was very real, and very funny. RIP Mike. 

Headlining at the National Latino Peace Officers Assoc Dinner

Last night I was honored to be tasked with headlining the National Latino Peace Officers, ELA Association dinner at Steven's Steakhouse in Commerce,Ca.  Thank you Ray Lam for having me at the show, and allowing me to book the talent for the show.  It was really great to perform with Frazer Smith, Marco Assante, Vince Royale, and Randy Lubis.  Everybody was outstanding and the crowd loved the show.  Jim from Steven's Steakhouse once again, runs a class act operation and somehow always has a packed house.  I talked with Jim for a while, and we collaborated on doing future comedy shows at Steven's.  It was nice to be top dog, and headlining a show, but Ive gotten so used to featuring and opening for Mike Marino, it seemed like something was missing not having him there.  I talked to Mike just before the show, he had just come off stage in Florida, where he is on a multi city theatre tour.  Mike as always gave me some words of encouragement, and off i went, and was very happy with my performance.  Now back to the writing table!!