There was standing room only Friday night at Oakland Java’s first Comedy Night. Owner, Joseph Fullam didn’t know what to expect when he planned the night, but he was glad they had a full staff on hand to handle the rush at eight o’clock. Over fifty people came to check out the local talent and all seemed to enjoy themselves.
Standup comedy is one of the most difficult art forms, and Joe was probably more nervous about the show than most of the talent that was on stage. The audience is really a part of the act when it comes to standup. Besides being writer, editor, and performer, the comics need to assess a crowds mood and adjust the material on the side. It was a rousing success, for both talent and owner, to see a widely mixed audience of different ages all having a good time.
Most standup routines benefit from the social lubrications plied on patrons prior to their act. So artists at the Oakland Java actually started at a disadvantage, though at least one patron appeared to be discretely spiking their coffee with something poured out of an old fashion looking flask. The majority of the folks kept the coffee unadulterated, and to have a successful night like this is great for the underage crowd who seek entertainment but are banned from bars.
Since opening Oakland Java has brought many events to our town and they continue to look for more fun events for Oaklanders to enjoy. So far they have hosted 2 open mic nights, the comedy night, free chair massage every Thursday and Informational Workshops on such topics as Autism and “Balancing Hormones Naturally” . Coming soon will be Guitar Hero III video tournament, 2 open mic nights a month, movie night, trivia night and maybe even a film festival. If there is an event you would like to see come to Oakland contact OaklandJavaCo@Gmail.com
To the Editor:
Not to quibble with what ultimately was a good article about “SRO at Comedy Night”, I want to address the phrase “local talent” in reference to the performers that night. As producer and MC of the show I booked professional comics (myself included) who have years of standup experience and have appeared at premier Comedy Clubs in NYC and New Jersey, such as Carolines, Comic Strip Live, Gotham and Bananas – just to name a few. Matthew Broderick, Tom Caldora and I want to thank owner Joe Fullam for his foresight in opening Oakland to the world of Standup Comedy. We hope to do it again soon.
Irv Skolnick
Thanks for the correction. It’s a tough business and the performers deserve the appropriate recognition. Looking forward to next time, and hopefully cover the performers in more detail.
– The Editors.