Fringe is over

Well, Fringe is finally over, hence why I have time to write another thing. It was the first time since the Pandemic started that I’ve had a truly overwhelming schedule. I was in the house band for Late Night Snacks which is the Philly Fringe’s Late Night Cabaret. I think I did something like 20 shows and 22 rehearsals in 25 days. There were 3 different acts for every show with entirely new music. Glad I did it, but glad it’s over.

I’m excited to get back to some of my own projects. I’ll be doing a bunch of stand-up over the next few months. I’m actually starting a new weekly comedy show in November at Abyssinia in West Philly on Tuesdays called Case Comedy (close to the EL and plenty of street parking with the best Ethiopian food an cocktails in Philly). We’ll be doing most of the shows upstairs in the space formerly known as Fiume, now called Upstairs at Abyss, but some of the bigger shows will be downstairs. We’ll be programming a bunch of different styles of comedy e.g. Stand-up, Sketch, One-Person Show, High Concept, Game Show etc… Open format spaces and weekly shows are two things I have long felt Philadelphia has needed so hopefully we can help fill that gap. I’ll be co-producing with some of my favorite performers in the Philly: Betty Smithsonian, Jaime Chialastri, and Alex Yang. Definitely check those folks out if you’ve never seen them perform before, perhaps at Abyssinia on Tuesdays.

It’s particularly exciting to be putting on shows there because Fiume was one of the first places that booked me regularly to play music back in the day. I was 21, I swear. I used to play there with Greg Mervine, Brendan Cooney, and Kimball Brown, some of the original members of the West Philadelphia Orchestra. I actually recall standing outside of Abyssinia while Greg explained to Kimball what Balkan music was, so I guess I watched that Philly institution get conceived. That’s not the first time I’ve seen something get conceived. One time I saw two pigeons fucking at the Denver airport. I actually have video of that, maybe I’ll post it someday, or perhaps I’ll just play it at Abyssinia on a Tuesday so you’ll have to come see it in person.