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Max Goldberg
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
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Ozymandias
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
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Location: two vast and trunkless legs of stone
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 Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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I don't get the bit where you say "Emerson comics have to get out into the larger context of Boston comedy, whereas all the comics at Boston University can just stay on campus and perform there".
For one thing, I don't think there was ever a time when there were more than two or three comics attending BU. When I was a senior, for example, there were me, and Kaplan, and a girl named (I think) Alison (who performed very occasionally).
For another thing, there's never been a comedy show at BU. I performed there a total of once, nine months after I graduated, and that wasn't a recurring show -- it was basically a fluke.
So yeah, I guess the comics who aren't there could just perform at the show that doesn't exist. I withdraw my objection. |
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arielle
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Posts: 377
Location: Somewhere clever
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| Posted: Sat Jul 28, 2007 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Ozymandias wrote: | I don't get the bit where you say "Emerson comics have to get out into the larger context of Boston comedy, whereas all the comics at Boston University can just stay on campus and perform there".
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I'm going to have to take issue with this line too. Excluding a Mike Bent final exam, what percent of Emerson comedy troop members, would you say have performed outside the cabaret? For that matter, what percent of the Emerson student body do you think could get themselves to Harvard square by the end of freshman year? Also why do they care so much about attendance? I’m an adult, I should be allowed to sleep through a noon class if I want, Emerson sucks!
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Ira Proctor
Joined: 18 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:52 am Post subject: |
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| Ozymandias wrote: | | For another thing, there's never been a comedy show at BU. |
I did 8 shows at BU last year. Kaplan was on more than that... I think.
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myq
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Posts: 2691
Location: here
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| Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:02 am Post subject: |
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| Ozymandias wrote: | | For another thing, there's never been a comedy show at BU. I performed there a total of once, nine months after I graduated, and that wasn't a recurring show -- it was basically a fluke. |
After you left, they did actually start having lots of comedy shows at BU, in the basement of the GSU, which is now a performance/hang-out space called BU Central.
A couple years ago, they started having a "funniest student competition" there, as well as having at least one comedy show a month for most of the school year since then, and at least more recently, a student would more often than not be involved in those shows. (Steve Macone this past year even got to be a part of Comics Come Home which was at the Agganis Arena.)
Plus some kids started a standup club, which also sponsored some shows at BU, but also obviously encouraged people to go beyond BU into the greater Boston community.
Because even given the best case scenario, if you ONLY performed on the BU campus, if you hustled the most out of every other student comedian (of which there are at least a dozen aspiring, I'd say, at any point in time, given the funny student contests), and you were the funniest, you'd be lucky to average more than one show a month, for the year.
So there IS comedy at BU, certainly a lot more since Ozymandias has left. I've done a lot of it. But certainly a comic could not JUST stay on BU's campus and expect to perform enough.
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Ozymandias
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Posts: 558
Location: two vast and trunkless legs of stone
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| Posted: Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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Fair enough; I did not know that. Times have, I suppose, changed.
(Still way more comedy going on on the Emerson campus, I'd wager.) |
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Max Goldberg
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
Posts: 592
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:54 am Post subject: |
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| Ozymandias wrote: | | I don't get the bit where you say "Emerson comics have to get out into the larger context of Boston comedy, whereas all the comics at Boston University can just stay on campus and perform there". |
The line you're referring to is:
"For comparison sake, nearby Boston University student comedians (of which there are also a decent but I’d guess proportionately smaller number) have a built in audience of about five times Emerson’s population to perform for without ever having to leave the school."
Which part of that isn't true? There are significantly more students at BU, which means a significantly greater potential audience. Whether BU student comedians have tapped that resource (with appropriate shows, marketing, etc) is one thing; the fact that it exists is another.
| Ozymandias wrote: | Fair enough; I did not know that. Times have, I suppose, changed.
(Still way more comedy going on on the Emerson campus, I'd wager.) |
Well, sure, the point of the article was talking about the abnormally large amount of comedy at Emerson, especially considering the size of the school. Still, BU has a decent amount of comedy going on -- even off-campus with the likes of Dan Webber and The Outtakes (who ran Fridays at the Vault for a few months). That's why I thought it was an interesting comparison.
Ozzy, did they have BU Tonight airing when you attended? Wasn't that Rob O'Reilly's show?
And MYQ's right, BU Central is an adequate venue. I've opened for a bunch of poetry slams there.
| arielle wrote: | | Excluding a Mike Bent final exam, what percent of Emerson comedy troop members, would you say have performed outside the cabaret? For that matter, what percent of the Emerson student body do you think could get themselves to Harvard square by the end of freshman year? |
I'd say a lot of Emerson troop kids get off campus -- most noticeably Chocolate Cake City (with over, I think, 30 members in all) and what was Zebro (an amalgamation of different Emerson troop kids rallying under one, off-campus banner).
Hmm, Harvard Square by freshman year? I don't know the exact numbers, but, assuming you're talking about the Studio and IB, a noticeable amount at least attend shows regularly, with a somewhat smaller amount performing. This past year yielded five or six new freshman comics that I know of, and a few more from what I hear, some of whom started courting the Studio with varying degrees of success.
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Gerry
Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 2561
Location: Home again
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:22 am Post subject: |
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What you said about B.U. was certainly true in the late '80s when there were a ton of coffeehouses going on campus. John Henson got to polish his act on campus before he ever went near a club. I don't know what's happening on campus today, but it was never too tough to get a crowd when I was there.
The other edge B.U. students have is that club owners in town know the size of the campus, and they'll gladly book B.U. acts that can fill the place. If you're suggesting, Max, that Emerson students aren't as loyal, there may be some truth to what you're saying, even today.
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Ozymandias
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Max Goldberg wrote: |
Well, sure, the point of the article was talking about the abnormally large amount of comedy at Emerson, especially considering the size of the school. Still, BU has a decent amount of comedy going on -- even off-campus with the likes of Dan Webber and The Outtakes (who ran Fridays at the Vault for a few months). That's why I thought it was an interesting comparison.
Ozzy, did they have BU Tonight airing when you attended? Wasn't that Rob O'Reilly's show?
And MYQ's right, BU Central is an adequate venue. I've opened for a bunch of poetry slams there. |
Never heard of him/them (after my time?), never heard of it, he got there the year after I left (and I prefer to pretend he doesn't exist anyway), after my time. I guess "what you're saying wasn't even remotely accurate between the years of 2002 and 2004" is a better way of putting it. I cannot judge what is going on on the BU campus today/how much of it there is/how much of it is bullshit. |
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arielle
Joined: 20 Aug 2003
Posts: 377
Location: Somewhere clever
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| Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2007 4:38 pm Post subject: |
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I'm not arguing that it's not a good idea to go out in the real world and do comedy. I'm just saying, from my experience emerson makes it a very comfortable place to do comedy there. I’ve seen a few people become celebrities at emerson, graduate and not know how to, even approach comedy in the real world. The havard square comment, was aimed that, even though emerson is in the city, students (not exclusively comics) seem very weary of leaving down town. This may be a totally unfair assessment, because I tend to see comics who I see out in the clubs as comics, and people who I see exclusively at school as emerson students. Also you posted your article on the day I was fighting with the registrar.
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Ted Pettingell
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Posts: 564
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| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2007 1:30 am Post subject: |
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I heard you need to be able to read to get into emerson. Is that true? If so could someone please post a link to an adult literacy program.
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Max Goldberg
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2007 11:31 am Post subject: |
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| Gerry wrote: | | The other edge B.U. students have is that club owners in town know the size of the campus, and they'll gladly book B.U. acts that can fill the place. If you're suggesting, Max, that Emerson students aren't as loyal, there may be some truth to what you're saying, even today. |
Yeah, that's the other side of it -- because there's so much comedy happening on- and off-campus (but still mostly promoted on-campus to the same smaller number of kids), it gets a bit saturated and turnout isn't always as great once you leave the grounds. Harvard Square acts from Emerson seem to be able to avoid that pretty well; the Studio and IB are usually reasonably filled by Emerson kids when one is playing there.
| Ozymandias wrote: | | I guess "what you're saying wasn't even remotely accurate between the years of 2002 and 2004" is a better way of putting it. I cannot judge what is going on on the BU campus today/how much of it there is/how much of it is bullshit. |
Again, BU's only in there for comparison sake -- maybe Boston College would have been a better example (smaller than BU, still about three times bigger than Emerson). I know of hugely popular on-campus-only troupes, like Hello Shovelhead, which, if only because they're at the opposite end of the green line in Chestnut Hill, never see the light of Boston comedy day. On campus, though, they sell out (*sell* out) 300+ seat venues a few times in a single weekend.
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Kris Kenney
Joined: 05 Aug 2007
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| Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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| max, i realize this may seem hacky, but im going to emerson next year and im just wondering if you were a member of any clubs or anything while there? |
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Max Goldberg
Joined: 03 Sep 2004
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| Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Kris Kenney wrote: | | max, i realize this may seem hacky, but im going to emerson next year and im just wondering if you were a member of any clubs or anything while there? |
I mostly did stand-up on and off campus, and I'd occasionally write for, or perform in projects troupe kids (or other cool people) were doing.
I was in the sketch troupe Jimmy's Traveling All-stars (live and video sketches) for all but the end of my senior year when I focused on a one-man show I did on campus.
If you're into live and video sketch, check out Jimmy's, or troupes Chocolate Cake City and Swollen Monkey Showcase (aka SwoMo). For improv, check out This Is Pathetic (and SwoMo sometimes).
There are other groups around worth checking out, some crossing into stand-up and def poetry, but those are the core troupe entities on campus that will help familiarize you with the rest.
Facebook me.
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Ginivisian
Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 88
Location: Boston
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| Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:49 pm Post subject: you forgot |
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There is Also Emeron Comedy Workshop (founded by leary, doug herzog, eddie brill, and mario cantone) which recently celebrated it's 30 year anniversary
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