Modified On May 5, 2005
Comedian Alex House was present when super agent Barry Katz relinquished ownership of his Boston Comedy Club (82 W. 3rd St. in NYC) Monday night. Her impressions:
Last night marked the end of a chapter in manager Barry Katz’s career. He officially “signed over ownership” of the club. While the future of “The Boston” (as it is frequently referred to by NY comics) is uncertain, one thing many comics agreed upon was that it marks the end of the only stage in New York that a comedian could actually “be themselves” on stage and not worry about lurking bookers or club managers telling them “more energy” or “keep it clean.”
E mail invitations to the event said it started at 7pm with an open bar & appetizers (chicken wings and celery sticks—I guess Jay Mohr‘s career isn’t doing THAT well). The event didn’t get into full swing until around 9pm when most comedians are just starting to get out into the clubs. The 10pm show/roast was hosted by Rich Vos, in a dead heat with actor George Hamilton for darkest tan. Any roast I’ve attended that’s been hosted by Vos is a guaranteed night of laughs—many at his expense!
A perfect example: Ben Bailey left the stage after recounting one of his memories of “The Boston” was making out with Sarah Silverman on the stage. Vos came back to the podium and said “Yeah, you kissed her after she blew me!”. Bailey’s response: “I thought I tasted hack!”.
Even though Vos lost that exchange on rebuttal, he had some of the best lines of the night. When he initially took the stage, a photographer started taking pictures. Upon finding out the photographer worked for “The Comical,” Vos said, “That’s how big this club is! Barry, you couldn’t get a real magazine to cover this story? What about the “Comedy Bible”? Were they too busy with a meeting with Shecky?”
Later on Vos lit up a smoke and said “This cigarette will only help the smell of the room!” and continued with “Sunday night Urban shows were always packed cause you knew the audience wasn’t going to work the next day!”.
Lewis Schaeffer who did an amazing job packing the room for the three years when he worked at the Boston as a doorman/host, flew all the way from England (his current home) to say a few words. He admitted though that he didn’t have anything prepared and proceeded to get annoyed at the silence from the audience. Vos returned and said, “That’s going to be a very long plane ride home!”.
Jim Norton never disappoints with his comments: “Vos is the only Jew who can’t make it in show business.” and “Barry Katz is the Mohammed Atta of comedy managers.” were just two of his jabs.
Katz closed out the evening with a bit of history about the club, how he came to be a manager, how he respects all comedians– even those who he no longer manages. He finally made a toast to fellow (deceased) club owners Manny (The Comedy Cellar), Lucien Hold (The Comic Strip) and comedian Bill Hicks.