What do Jay-Z, Jim Carrey, Jake Gyllenhaal and Sacramento comedian Mike E. Winfield have in common? They are all scheduled to appear this week on CBS's “Late Show With David Letterman.” "It was an AMAZING experience," Winfield said when asked to describe his recent appearance. Winfield is no stranger to performing his unique brand of standup on television. He’s been featured on Showtime’s “Comics Without Borders,” hosted by Russell Peters, “Comicview” on BET, “Comics Unleashed” with Byron Allen, “Last Comic Standing” on NBC and “Live at Gotham” on Comedy Central. Quite the resume for a man who, until recently was a grocery clerk working at the local supermarket chain. At AmericasComedy

In the Youtube age when everything can be viewed from the comfort of your lap top, there are still compelling reasons to see live stand-up comedy. The number one reason is the spontaneity of a live show and the energy of the audience. One of the most spontaneous has to be when a comic deals with a heckler. For some, a heckler is not a favored species. It often involves way too much ego and or alcohol. However, there is a different side to that story. One from the comic's viewpoint. "There is a special energy that circulates around the room when it happens. The chance that it could go bad and the quality of the comic's wit make it exciting. What if the comic could keep this up for most of

Most famous comedians, when they want to work out their new material before a big tour, will make a clandestine appearance at a local comedy club or do an unannounced ‘guest set’ at a comedy showcase. Not if you are Robin Williams. Williams took over Sacramento’s Crest Theater last night and shared his workout with 950 loyal fans, who paid $50 each to watch the comedy great perfect his “Weapons of Self-Destruction” material before debuting his tour in Australia and New Zealand on November 4. William’s proceeds were donated to the Sacramento Food Bank and Family Service. Greeted with the first of three standing ovations as he walked onto the stage, Williams quipped, "Getting a standing ov

By Jennifer A. Gordon Be ready to receive an infusion of laughter. L.A. comedian Darren Carter, “the Party Starter,” is coming to town. He’ll be performing at Serna Plaza at Sacramento State’s University Union from 7:30-9 p.m.Thursday, Sept. 16. All ages are welcome. No alcohol will be sold or permitted at the venue. The show is free. Beat Energy, fun, hip hop and razor-sharp wit, Carter’s act has beat. His musicality pervades his comedy and gives it rhythm and punch. And, Carter’s the only comedian with a theme song, written by a rapper fan of his, Big Fluff Nickolantern. Grown-ups like him, too A favorite among college students, Carter has a solid following among the adult crowd, too.

By Jennifer A. Gordon The comedy troupe, "Arabs Gone Wild," will be performing at "The Punch Line Comedy Club" in Sacramento this Thurs., Sept. 14 at 7:30 p.m. If you haven't seen them before, you're in for a fabulously entertaining evening. More of a party than a performance, "Arabs Gone Wild's" material is fresh, edgy, smart and surprising. Just who are these "Arabs Gone Wild?" Dean Obeidallah, Maysoon Zayid, and Aron Kader. Recently, AmericasComedy.Com had the joy of chatting briefly with Obeidallah, as he was packing his suitcase to visit our "City of Trees." "Arabs Gone Wild" was part of "Live Nation Comedy Tour," filling 1400 seats in Washington, D.C. and selling out an 1100-seat

  By Jennifer A. Gordon Revered as the original Latin “King of Comedy,” Paul Rodriguez has done just about everything there is to do over the last 33 years of his comedy career. Philanthropist, actor, producer and comedian, Rodriguez has had starring roles and guest appearances in more than 40 films, as well as in countless television series and comedy specials . . . and more. Now, catch Rodriguez’s show with opening act Dennis Gaxiola at Tommy T’s in Rancho Cordova at 8 and 10 p.m. this Friday and Saturday. Rodriguez’s first big break Rodriguez’s first big break came while doing comedy warmups for Norman Lear's show "Gloria." Lear ultimately wrote and developed a weekly series for Pa

No one ever accused comedian and writer Laurie Kilmartin of being being "Mommy Dearest," but then again, she hasn't received her "Mother of the Year" award yet either. But the good news is that you can watch Kilmartin’s piercing insight and bald sarcasm at The Sacramento Punchline, where she will regale you into joyful delirium on Aug. 13 and 14. A seasoned comedian and writer, Kilmartin is back in Los Angeles for a while (or, at least, until the lease on her apartment expires) after being voted off as one of the top-10 finalists of “Last Comic Standing’s” season seven. Not to worry, however. Kilmartin, a noted and sought-after comedy writer who moved to back to California from New York

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview Comedian Cedric The Entertainer is one of the hardest-working men in the entertainment business. Perhaps you love him from his roles in "Barbershop," "Be Cool" or "The Original Kings Of Comedy." You may have became a fan of his voiceover roles in "Madagascar," "Charlotte's Web" or "The Proud Family." Maybe it was his starring role in the hit "Johnson Family Vacation." Any way you look at it, Cedric IS "The Entertainer." Even with his success as an actor, producer and director, Cedric The Entertainer is coming to Sacramento's Memorial Auditorium and going back to his roots of stand up comedy. We spoke to Cedric, (Mr. Entertainer?), by phone as he was reco

Thursday night, venerable comedian and OCD-stricken performer Howie Mandel appeared at the California State Fair on the Main Stage. After a less-than-tasteful and off-color opening act, Mandel took the stage with a rapid-fire delivery and a huge smile. Almost immediately, it was obvious that he has not lost his comedic edge even after appearing as a dramatic actor (“St. Elsewhere”), voiceover actor (“Bobby's World,” “Muppet Babies” and “Gremlins”) and talk show host and judge (“Deal or No Deal,” “America's Got Talent”). The fair provided a delightful interpreter for the deaf, Sharon Ramsey, who was addressed multiple times by Mandel as he used words and expressions just to see how they w

Comedian Doug Benson smokes pot. That fact is well documented in his stand-up routine and his 2007 documentary "Super High Me." In the movie, Benson eagerly offers himself up as a test subject to document the effects of smoking massive amounts of marijuana for 30 days. In his stand-up act, it appears that his experiment is still unofficially continuing. Playing mid-week to a full house at the Sacramento Punchline, Benson began his set with his eyes half closed and a stoner grin. He immediately showed the audience his notes that he claimed to need so he didn't meander through his material. However, as the evening wore on, you began to wonder if the "stoner" persona was just a well-played

Headling July 24th For One Night Only! "Lady Business," the name of the newest, and to our knowledge only, all-female improv troupe in the Sacramento area is quite the misnomer. These six very funny girls certainly aren't "ladies" in the conservative, Emily Post kind of way. We were able to meet up with this troupe of very sexy, very funny ladies as they were practicing together at the Sacramento Comedy Spot in mid-town in preparation for their fourth consecutive monthly appearance there on July 24th. Improv-ers all, Micaela Smith, Mel Gelbart, Becca Costello, Brittany Birrer Stacy Beckley and Lisa Spivak constitute this hilarious and ribald troupe that presents a point of view that wom

By Danielle Mandella Five-year veteran Sean Peabody took home First Place at Friday night's NorCal Lightning Comedy Challenge at Tre Restaurant and Lounge. Peabody won the room instantly with a universally relatable and undeniably hilarious account of life with teen children who believe that music did not exist before the iPod. His high energy and teddy-bear sensibility had the crowd eating out of his hand in the second round when he announced, to no surprise, "I LOVE FOOD! And so do you!" He was right. The audience loves food and the judges love Sean Peabody. Second and third place were decided via coin-toss at the judges table, with Second Place going to Ellis Rodriguez and Third Place

by Danielle Mandalla Tre Restaurant and Lounge will host the inaugural NorCal Comedy Lightning Challenge on Friday, June 16th at 6pm. I recently sat down with creator and host, Jennifer Rutherford at Tre Nightclub to discuss the show, where the excitement was palpable even weeks before the event. “It’s going to be an absolute kick ass show!” exclaims Rutherford. The show’s eight competitors - (in no particular order) Mike Betancourt, Rick Pulido, Khulani Malone, Mikhail "The White Russian", Matt Byrd, Nate Darling, Ellis Rodriguez and Sean Peabody - were selected by a secret panel of anonymous judges. “I have nothing to do with that selection,” Jennifer says. “All eight of them, I have t

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview If you listen to comedian Felipe Esparza, you'll hear a cross between Cheech Marin from Cheech and Chong and your funniest "homeboy." They both have the East L.A. accent and down to earth sense of humor that comes from growing up in the barrio. "I'm not a tough guy, but I can beat up everyone at Trader Joe's, but at Food-for-Less I shut up," he said. "They don‘t have aisles, they have alleys." Sacramento Comedy spoke to Esparza recently just after his advance to the semi-final rounds of NBC's Last Comic Standing, Season 7. "The next step is to have a big battle between the semi-finalists in New York and Los Angeles," Esparza said. We asked him if he ant

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview Henry Cho's fairytale career began in 1986 when, as a student at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, he entered a "Funniest Person in America" contest sponsored by the Showtime network. Cho, who is a full-blooded Korean, but raised in the heart of the South, walked onto the stage and in his deepest, most Southern drawl stated, "So, I'm from the South. So I guess that makes me South Korean." It was a juxtaposition "hook" that launched his career. "It was my first joke, so I had to explain who I was," he said. And that hook has served him well. The late Steve Allen, first host of the original "Tonight Show" and a huge supporter of Cho's, once comment

Ralphie May had a message to deliver Thursday at the Crest Theater for those who are haters, lovers, racists, gay or homophobes. Embrace it. Own it. After an entertaining 20-minute warm-up by Tennessee comedian Billy Wayne Davis, May strode onstage to Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire." That was the beginning of a two-hour stream of consciousness that could have offended just about anyone. No problem; May owned it. He peppered his show with references to Sacramento, from the expected Schwarzenegger imitation, "Welcome to Kal E Fonya," to talking about getting "stoned as a biblical whore" in Capitol Park and having a squirrel come up and ask for a hit. "The K Street bums all look li

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview You may not think that the name “Ralphie” is something you would call a390-pound man. But, in the case of comedian Ralphie May, it's just fine. May, 38, who was named one of the "Top 10 Comics To Watch" in 2008 by“Variety Magazine,” was given that nickname as a young boy growing up deep in the heart of the south. May, who will be performing his two-hour show Thursday at The Crest Theatre, likes to tell people that his shows are about two hours in length for a reason. "My average fan works for about $20 per hour, if they are lucky enough to have a job," he chuckled, "and then factoring in insurance, taxes and such, they're maybe bringing home $15 per hour

A capacity crowd filled the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium with screams Thursday night as the lights went down on the Sacramento leg of Conan O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited From Being Funny On Television Tour. For more than two hours, Team Coco kept the crowd thoroughly entertained and gave the impression that Sacramento was the only stop on its tour, not one of 30. In the band's opener, Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up," three of the musicians, including trombone player Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg, marched into the audience as they played, bringing the crowd to a frenzy. A short movie clip showed O'Brien fat and depressed over the very public end of his late-night talk show. Then, members of

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview From his start telling jokes at family Passover dinners at age 10, to catching hell for doing impressions of his high school coach, Kevin Pollak was meant to perform. Comedy "I was born in San Francisco but moved to San Jose when I was young. When I began performing, it was in venues that were designed for music. There were no comedy clubs then in San Jose. I would go on between the bands breaks when nobody really wanted to listen. When I moved to San Francisco, I was amazed that people loved going to see comedy and would actually pay to see it!" Entering the San Francisco comedy scene in the late '70's, Pollak was the youngest performer in the San Fran

A SacramentoComedy.Com Interview With a name like Ahmed Ahmed, in this day and age, you might think that it could lead to some mishaps with law enforcement agencies. If so, you'd be correct. Ahmed's family came to America when he was just a month old, and he grew up in Riverside, right in the epicenter of Southern California, so misconceptions aren’t uncommon but, in retrospect, the name has served him well. We caught up with Ahmed by phone in New York, having just completed his first appearance at the Tribeca Film Festival, premiering 'Just Like Us,' his freshman directorial debut earlier in the week. We decided to start off by asking, (very politely), about his name. "Ahmed Ahmed is m