Category: standup

Posted on

Eat, Drink & Laugh…Father’s Day Show at Flappers

The great Roseanne Barr once said, “Stand-up is my therapy…I’m just really pissed off!”

flappersFollowing suit with the “working-class domestic goddess” (perhaps not as pissed off), my new material for this Sunday’s show at Flappers Comedy Club will include jokes about Wall Street, sobriety, Yoga, homeless people, marriage and some recent news that’s ripe for the Get Your Shit Together Award – previously awarded everyday on Tola Talks.

RichTolaStandUpMicPicI’ll be performing 5 minutes and the headliner is Matt Champagne from Will & Grace. Get FREE tickets complimentary of Flappers – for 1 more day – by clicking HERE or this link: http://flc.cc/1GI21qK

Sunday, June 21st, Father’s Day from 9 – 10:30p in the Main Room of Flappers Comedy Club, located at 102 E Magnolia Blvd. Burbank CA, 91502 (easy and free parking across the street at Ashley Furniture).

Hope to see you there!  – R

Posted on

Practice Makes Perfect…Otherwise Hit the Gym

Another show under my belt and another reason to go back to the drawing board. Because practice makes perfect, or at the very least, gives you the opportunity to evolve whatever you’re doing. If that’s not working, then hit the gym and get your workout in…that always helps!

Rich Tola at Flappers Comedy Club
Rich Tola at Flappers Comedy Club – May ’15

This past weekend  I performed again at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank, CA and tried all new material that was funnier than my previous show – that’s a good thing! Because with stand-up comedy it’s all about delivering your jokes with as few words as possible and with as much attitude as possible, then refining them soon thereafter to get them to work. And for those jokes that are already working, i.e., everyone’s laughing hysterically, then don’t change a thing. So they say…whoever “they” is.

Either way the key is to keep improving your stand-up comedy act to one that flows seamlessly and effortlessly while you’re simply having a conversation with the audience. Something I’m progressing with, a task much easier said then done.

Hope to see you at my next Flappers show on Father’s Day, June 21st in the Main Room.  – R

Posted on

Pitch Perfect 2 Rocks + Next Stand-up at Flappers

What’s funny, sexy and exhilarating, that makes you wanna get up and dance?

Pitch Perfect 2.pitchperfect-2

And if you’re not into musicals or sequels, it really doesn’t matter – go see this film. With an amazing cast led by Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Katy Sagal, Elizabeth Banks and John Michael Higgins (who are great together), you’ll be laughing and be-bopping for at least 2 hours.

You already know I’m a big Anna Kendrick fan, but I wasn’t planning on seeing this film in the theaters until my soon-to-be 16 year-old niece said she loved it. And since I’m always intrigued when movie-goers of any age tell me they love a film…I went and loved it too. With so many great actors and so many great one-liners (no kidding, they’re great), this cool hipster musical touches the soul and makes you really wanna get up in the aisles and dance!

Kudos to Elizabeth Banks on her directorial debut. Excellent job Elizabeth, plus you’re charming, sexy, witty, ditzy and wonderful as the no-holds barred announcer, Gail. I liked Pitch Perfect 2 so much that if I were reviewing it on Tola Talks, I’d give it 2 thumbs (out of 3).

flappersstageLike I said, go see this film and bring your teenagers, it’s PG-13. And for some really good live comedy this week-end, come check-out my Stand-up show this Saturday, May 23rd from 7:30-9p in the YooHoo Room at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank. CA. It’s gonna be a blast!

P.S. Don’t leave the movie theater until the credits have rolled or you’ll miss Christina Aguilera and the gang from The Voice.

Posted on

Next Stand-Up at Flappers Comedy Club on April 24th

flappersStand-up comedy is the most condensed form of all comedy, and for the really good comics, it’s simply a conversation with the audience. A really funny one at that.

Over the past six weeks and on the heels of our 150th episode of Tola Talks, I’ve been studying this rather frightening art form – for most entertainers, that’s for sure – and honed my skills at writing stand-up as well as performing in front of a large crowd…twice at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank, CA. On my first attempt I “didn’t bomb” as one friend so eloquently put it. On my second attempt I definitely heard some roaring laughter and felt the exhilarating rush comics feel when the room gets going. I can see how stand-up comedy can be frighteningly addicting. Albeit, very challenging, to say the least.

With concepts like attitude, topic, premise, act-out, mix, turn, set-up, and punch, not to mention there’s no one up on stage to help you do anything, stand-up is hard. Whatever that means. But it’s also super gratifying when you get it right, i.,e, make people laugh. Or as legend Whoopi Goldberg once said, make them laugh and think. Because good comedy is not just funny, it’s also insightful about something everyone can relate to. Or should be, if you want laughs.

They say the third time’s the charm, so come check me out next Friday, April 24th at Flappers Comedy Club in Burbank – we’re in the YooHoo Room from 9:30-11p. Should be a blast! – R