JOE STARR, ALEX HOUSE, JOBY SAAD against the back wall at The Village Lantern, prior to the start of the SHECKYmagazine.com Showcase

NEW YORK, NY– We squeezed through the Lincoln Tunnel and parked the car at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in plenty of time to hike up to the new Improv (53rd between 8th & 9th) to pick up our laminates (and the laminates of all the comics who had committed to performing on the SHECKYmagazine.com Showcase. (Which, if you haven’t been paying attention, is part of this year’s New York Underground Comedy Festival, or, as it is sometimes identified, the New York City Underground Comedy Festival… which we only point out for the benefit of the search engines!) It was a beautiful spring day in Manhattan. Sure, it was fall, but it was a beautiful spring day nonetheless!

Laminates secured, we headed south on 9th and eventually caught a cab and headed to The Village Lantern, figuring we would arrive at the venue with way too much time! We no sooner crossed the threshhold of the Lantern when were consumed by the considerable shadow of D.J. Hazard. A pleasant surprise! Hazard was in town to perform on a handful of the week’s NYUCF shows.

We immediately descended into the basement to survey the venue’s quirks, note any physical eccentricities and absorb the room’s vibe and eliminate the possibility of any surprises. Dark, low-ceilinged, funkily charming and charmingly funky, the room was, we learned from the waitron on duty, a frequent (five nights a week, sometimes!) comedy spot. And it held only about 40 people. Fortunately, it required only a fraction of that many to seem reasonably packed with comedy fans– good thing, since there was virtually no indication topside that there was anything going on “down there”– no sign, no sandwich board on Bleecker St., nothing!

We three then set out to find food and we settled on Señor Swanky’s, a block or two down from the Lantern. It was fast and reasonably priced.

D.J. HAZARD, TRACI SKENE and BRIAN MCKIM dining at Señor Swanky’s, prior to the start of the SHECKYmagazine.com Showcase

We returned to the Lantern, plunged back down into the basement and greeted the slow trickle of guests, friends and comics. Gabrielle Gropman (Adam Gropman‘s Mom!), Ken Marx (our “radio nephew” from our 10-month radio writing gig at WYSP a decade ago) were among the first to arrive. Then a flurry of folks– Carole Mongtomery, Alex House, Joe Starr and Marty Fisher– arrived, and a party atmoshpere ensued.

It’s CAROLE MONTGOMERY and her manager Peter Spellos, at The Village Lantern, prior to the start of the SHECKYmagazine.com Showcase

We slowly reached critical mass, and at 8:17, we decided to kick off the show. A decent number of hearty and enthusiastic comics, fans, guests and friends were present. We were pleased to finally meet in the flesh SHECKYmagazine fan/newbie comic Shaun Eli and SHECKYmagazine contributor Larry Getlen. And we finally laid eyes on former SHECKYmagazine New York columnist Joe Dixon!

Another former New York correspondent/columnist Rusty Ward agreed to “take the bullet” and be the first comic to do a set. Traci Skene assumed emcee duties and brought on Ward. His set was wildly funny and helped to set the tone for the rest of the evening. (Ward skittered off quickly after his set– he had another commitment elsewhere in the Village!) Skene gamely pushed on as emcee in spite of the fact that her head was churning out copious amounts of mucous– a by-product of her body’s feeble attempt to fend off a nasty head cold.

Thereafter, the crowd was treated to the comedy of Montgomery, Brian McKim, Gropman, Dixon, Joby Saad and House. Closing out the show was Mr. Starr, who indulged in a bit of roast-type activity at the outset of his presentation, sparing no one.

We originally had planned on presenting a 90-minute show, restricting each comic to an 8- or 9-minute set, but we soon abandoned that plan– A looser atmosphere took over and some folks did their set of the moment, some did new stuff, some went short some went long. It was all very informal. After Starr, Skene brought up Hazard as a bonus… a special guest, if you will. And all had a swell time!

JOE DIXON abandons decorum, aided and abetted by ADAM GROPMAN, at sparkling new Laugh Factory, after the SHECKYmagazine.com Showcase

After end of the “official” portion of the program, Skene announced that, since the Lantern management didn’t seem to be very concerned about kicking us out onto the street above, it was fine with us if any of the comics present wanted to hop up onto the stage and do some time. Mr. Gropman took over the emceeing duties and, from what we hear, a handful of comics took us up on the offer!

McKim regrets that he couldn’t be present for the dining and drinking that a significant chunk of the evening’s participants opted for upstairs at the Lantern. He had to head north to the Improv to do a 10:15 spot, and, since it was an audition for the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, all were understanding! (McKim arrived way too early, but was at least able to chat at length in the hallway with fellow South Jersey resident and frequent Howard Stern guest Bob Levy! Levy had the dead last slot on the USCAF showcase, McKim went on just before him.) The Improv, so new that the scent of paint an adhesive was in the air, houses two spaces, one upstairs, one downstairs.

Skene hung for a time upstairs, but the plan was to rendezvous at the After Party at the brand new Laugh Factory at 11. She once again thanked all for their contribution and, escorted by Messrs. Gropman and Marx, headed north, via subway. (She was a bit nervous about the choice of transportation, as Gropman has been LATE for his SHECKYmagazine Showcase spot– seems he boarded the wrong train, an express that took him straight to Brooklyn!)

Skene and Gropman (and eventually Saad, Dixon and others) arrived at the Factory to find a smattering of Industry and Artists. The Who’s On First reunion show had busted up earlier, but a significant chunk of that contingent stayed on to party. It was a pleasure to run into one of the Who’s On Firsters, Jeanette Barber, whom we hadn’t run across probably since she quit doing standup eight years ago! She is currently writing and doing motivational speaking after her lengthy tenure as head writer for The Rosie O’Donnell Show. Also on the WOF bill were Montgomery and NYUCF co-produceer Jim Mendrinos. Their show had taken place in the smaller of the two spaces at the Factory. The monster, sparkling, state of the art room was host to a Def Jam (Urban??) comedy show. It’s a beauty of a room that holds at least 300!

This being only the second night of the Fest, the attendance at such After Party gatherings will understandably be thin, building steadily as Saturday approaches. And this being only the second year of the Fest, there will be a show cancelled here or there (as there were Tuesday night and Wednesday night, from what we heard). Rare is the festival that can guarantee packed houses at each and every venue. We were very fortunate that our show was stocked with nice comics who had nice friends and nice family members– all of whom made the difference between a cancellation and a fun time! Thanks to all who showed up!

We’re gigging in Massachusetts on Saturday night, but we plan on sucking it up, donning our laminates and heading south into Manhattan to partake in a bit of final evening After Party activity. Stay tuned!