Show 32: New Beginnings

Photography by Aemiessence Fine Arts

It's a new year, Baby! Our first show celebrating 2008 brought performers who were new to the room and some old favorites. Dave Lester hosted this fresh-tastic lineup:

Abbi Crutchfield
Reese Waters
Becky Ciletti
Rob O'Reilly
with a sketch by The Straight Men
and special guest Otis Perlman the Dixiecrat and news by Ricky Labit.

Dave Lester kicked off the show by sharing some Brooklyn love.


Abbi Crutchfield wore a black and white shirt in solidarity with her ancestors (both sides).


Did someone beat Dave up in the green room and rob him of his gear? No! He CHOSE to return in socks and a bathrobe because that's how dedicated he is to the Living Room ambiance! Why didn't we think of that?


Reese Waters anticipated Black History Month by dismantling stereotypes while cracking up the crowd.


Luke Thayer brought his gut out as Ricky Labit, an American who recently made headlines for getting kicked out of an all-you-can-eat restaurant. He defended his position by darting in and out like a mongoose and showed us his fast, viper-like techniques. Then he rattled off some news stories. And made hissing sounds before he left.


The Straight Men delivered a splendid bebop performance that unraveled into a violent and angry exchange, and then blossomed into a moving family reunion. You WISH your dysfunction was so well choreographed.


Becky Ciletti brought more wit than a Whitman's Sampler box of chocolates.


Luke returned, this time as Otis Perlman, an old Dixiecrat who was torn between voting for Obama and following his gut to discriminate.


Rob O'Reilly graced the stage once more with his own stand-up set and wowed the gals with his tales of suave hipsterosity. The gals with glasses and kitten heels.


The Funniest Comedian of All Time was none other than Becky Ciletti! She'll never have to shout to get attention again now that she has this eye-catching, flashy, fake zebra handbag. This bag lady's got style!


Hey Stud, come back and take a gander at our next set of stars performing on January 25th!

Show 25: Summer Blowout!

The Living Room is hibernating for a couple of months (as you can see on our performance schedule to the left), but we're putting some great ideas into the slowcooker so we can serve up an even better quality show. We're also coming back with our very own theme song by New York musician Aubrey Hart! So if you're wondering, "Whatever happened to predictability? The milk man, the paper boy, even t.v." then join us in the fall and find out.

Speaking of a Full House, we had one! We had people in from D.C., Baltimore, and even Indiana come out to party with us and support our last show of the summer. Abbi's college buddy Mike was the Honorable Guest of Honor for the evening, and he brought his gaggle of girlfriends. He's like the Robert Palmer of Baltimore.

Abbi openend the show and introduced her mother.

They agreed on everything until her mom started nagging her, and it became time for her to leave. (We get more mileage out of a bad wig than Ricardo Montalban!)
Speaking of wonders of the world, check out our lineup!
Liam McEneaney
Carla Rhodes
Greg Tito
Lisa Kaplan
Luke Thayer and
The Straight Men

Our host for the evening, Brendan Fitzgibbons launched the show with crowd pleasers like the topic of presidential assassination.

Liam McEneaney left quite an impression for his first trip to The Living Room! By the end of his set he got every woman in the room to agree never to go out with him.

With her famous head of curly hair, Carla Rhodes became an honorary family member of Abbi's. She re-introduced the world to her old Vaudevillian partner, Cecil.

Taking time off from promoting her film (in costume), A Mighty Heart,


Angelina Jolie came by to shed light on her baby collection, I mean family.
Pinch hitter Greg Tito went to bat on stage and hit a homerun! He even became our Funniest Comedian of All Time! Wait...that's for the end of this post.

Exclusive! You've seen him on Best Week Ever! You've seen him on CNN! Now the 13 year old genius Evan O'Dorney is having an interview at The Living Room! But this time he messed with the wrong reporter...

Lisa Kaplan also had her Living Room debut and talked about fashion and roommates. Bad fashion and worse roommates.

We had another guest sketch troupe throw down, this time in the form of The Straight Men...

teaching us the special code to read in case of an emergency. Like robot insubordination.

Luke Thayer closed the show with his masterful style and in-your-face comedy. It's something new he's trying. Actually getting in the face of an audience member.

There's our winner! Last one of the season, meaning Greg Tito will hold this title longer than most!

See you September 14th!