Show 45: The Great Debate

Photography by Aemiessence Fine Arts



It was a toss-up: watch the presidential debates on television or view live comedy and experience some of the great orators of our time! Fortunately we had a wise audience.

Host of Honor Emily Epstein introduced the following lineup:
Kyle Grooms
Ryan Conner
Phil Kessell
Wil Sylvince
Matt Ruby
Matt McCarthy
Luke Thayer


With a special comedy short and news segment by Abbi Crutchfield.

Something was missing this week as Luke welcomed the crowd to the forty-fifth show alone. Luckily Abbi was able to make some appearances via satellite, and our lineup of great comics helped ease the pain of not having the founding mother of Living Room comedy in the house.


Emily Epstein had to dig deep and use all her womanliness to balance out the unusually high level of testosterone on the lineup.


Unfortunately, Abbi was under the weather and had to deliver the news from home, as she was quarantined. Dollitis is a terrible thing to catch.



Kyle Grooms was preaching to the Park Slope choir and making them double over with laughs using his dead-on Barack Obama impression.


Ryan Conner let us know that living in The Garden State is not all roses.


Phil Kessell made his stand-up debut. Many of you have seen him helping out around The Living Room. Now you got to see him be funny!


Wil Sylvince showed us all why he's one of New York's hottest comics by keeping the crowd in stitches and capping it off with a little super hero action.


For the love of crazy names, The Living Room presented a comedy short about a conversation overheard in an L.A. Daycare. Click here to watch the video on youtube!

Matt Ruby hipped us on the musical side of comedy. Make sure you ask him how his is like jazz.


Matt McCarthy popped in to tell us the dangers of buying comic books on the streets.


Luke capped the night off with a talk about politics. He may not know much, but at least he knows he's right.


He did it again folks! Matt McCarthy walked away with the grandest of all comedic awards: The Funniest Comedian of All Time!

This is his fourth or fifth, and it's getting ridiculous. So he gets a pair of old flip-flops.

Fall is here! Be sure to put on a sweater before our next show Friday, October 10th!


Also watch for Abbi on the 2008 VH1 Hip Hop Honors!

Show 44: Dry Idea

Photography by Aemiessence Fine Arts



Not rain nor puddles nor drips nor drops could keep our crowd away from their comedy show! Okay maybe they popped in to dry off. But they came to the right place, because the room was cozy, and the jokes were fresh like biscuits from the oven.

Host of Honor Pat O'Shea introduced the following lineup:

Abbi Crutchfield
Lance Weiss
Michelle Buteau
Kumail Nanjiani
Jay Abbondanza
and musical comedy by Soce the Elemental Wizard

With special guest appearances by Andrew Warshack and Dr. Brains.


Abbi and Luke welcomed viewers to the forty-fourth show and debated over whether or not they're too young to get married. Abbi revealed she had cooties, and Luke promptly dumped her.


If anyone knows about age gaps it's Pat O'Shea who shared stories of his octogenarian mother. Maybe she's the one who taught him to get crotchety when folks ask him for directions.


Abbi returned to the stage to tie her love of The Parent Trap to her loathe of generic cereals.


Whether you love him! want him! need him! or not, visual artist Andrew Warshack shared his creative take on the current events. The delicious, scrumptious, irresistible current events.


Living Room regular and good buddy Lance rolled through to confess things he has done in the early stages of dating. His bravado balanced out his trips to Bed, Bath and Beyond.


Michelle Buteau enjoyed her first time on our stage by giving a shout-out to future black women in the White House and current Dutch men in her own house.


Don't ask him unless you REALLY want to know...The Living Room presented its first "Ask Dr. Brains" segment starring the very opinionated Dr. Brains. Tonight's dissertation was the biological reasons women aren't funny. Don't hate him for his smarts or his laminated diploma.


Kumail Nanjiani celebrated his debut with cake-- or at least jokes about it, and the wonderful wizardry performed by Food Network specialists.


Jay Abbondanza also graced the stage for the first time sharing his beef with Peruvians...or his ambivalence towards them.


Don't call it a comeback! Soce the Elemental Wizard visited us for the second time, but this round he came to throw down some of his illest rhymes. He became our first rap artist accompanied with music and only the second freestyler (preceded by Miss CKC) to masterfully close out the show. Celebrity Sighting: that's writer Thomas R. Pryor giving him a sitting ovation.


The Hat of Chance preferred brunettes tonight. Kumail Nanjiani became the Funniest Comedian of All Time! In our not-so-subtle hint, he receives the book McDuff Goes to School, about a foreign dog that learns to speak English.



Hey shy guy. Step out of the shadows and into the spotlight for our next show September 26th! We mean you Phil!