Louisville: My Funny Town

"They are also unimpressed by the Golden Globes."
@usernamelesser

It's January, so over at Consuming Louisville, the lovely and talented Ms. Michelle Jones is featuring her annual column "One Thing I Love About Louisville." I participated a bunch of years ago back when I was still blogging anonymously and before I ever knew anyone here in town; it was actually how I ended up meeting Michelle, who has since become a dear friend and who helped to change my Louisville life.

I've always wanted to participate again, but I'm always flummoxed. How do I come up with ONE thing I love about this city that I love SO MUCH.

Inevitably, after the deadline to volunteer passes, I think of something. And of course, I've thought of that something this year.

One thing I love about Louisville: Louisville is full of funny people.

Google the "funniest actor in Louisville." The top search result leads to my boyfriend. (Who, in my humble opinion, also deserves the title "best laugh in Louisville" and maybe even "most unsung altruist in Louisville.") Sometimes, when I mention that to someone – "you know, my boyfriend's been called the 'funniest actor in Louisville'– people will respond: "Well, IS he?"

And the answer, I think, is yes. He also happens to be a very funny person when not in character. It's what drew me to him in the first place. And it's one of the many things that keeps me psyched about loving him on a day-to-day basis.

I gravitate toward funny people. I like to think that I'm a funny person myself. But the people I love most in the world– and in this city–  are the people who make me laugh hardest and longest.

And it's not just the "expected" people; I spend a lot of time with actors and performers and writers and "public figures," and it's not surprising that they're quick with a quip.

It's my friend who graffitis her Twitter pictures with images of cats.

It's the fact sometimes I will lose whole hours at work because my co-workers (all of whom are my "superiors" at work, so I feel justified in playing along) get on a roll with funny stories.

It's my favorite mom and our friends rewriting the rulebook for the Montessori school her daughter attends.

But no joke, the funniest thing I've seen all year is local twitter humorist "Brokey McPoverty" (best handle ever!) and her #RespectableHipHop meme.

I have to admit, I follow then unfollow Brokey all the time. She's a prolific tweeter, and sometimes when she's on a roll, it is pure gold. And sometimes I'm so busy that her prolificness is just too much for my feed, and I pull the plug.

But after this most recent "roll," I may never pull the plug again.

Genius.

From her blog:

Last night, much of Twitter united to reclaim and rewrite our favorite less-than-progressive rap and hip hop lyrics.  It was a beautiful thing.

It all started when I was listening to 2 Chainz, which I do when there’s no one around to judge me for it, and I thought about the line “She got a big booty, so I call her big booty.”  I thought to myself, really?  You can’t find a more inventive nickname than that?  This is what’s passing for a rap lyric these days?  Then I thought to myself–how fucking rude.  You strip her of her name–her entire identity–and refer to her by her ass??  Inappropriate, 2 Chainz.  Not cool at all.  So, I revised it for him.

Then figured, why not help out some other misguided hippety hop rappers, too.  Thankfully, Twitter joined in on the campaign and what we got was a few of the most hilarious hours of tweets I’ve seen in awhile.  Not putting all of them here was tough, but here are some of the best.

I laughed so hard I hurt myself. That's the best kind of ouch in the world.

We have a lot of "professionally funny" people here in Louisville. We're lucky to have the Comedy Caravan and The Bard's Town. I'm not too broken up about the loss of The Improv on 4th Street Live! because we have these two homegrown venues. We have the Louisville Improvisors and Le Petomane Theatre Ensemble.  Hunter S. Thompson was funny. Muhammad Ali was and is hilarious at times.

There's Kentucky for Kentucky and Lebowski Fest. And we're about to host Pee Wee Over Louisville.

Joseph Ley's, Why Louisville, even the recently-departed and WAY-controversial Lynn's Paradise Cafe: funny stuff.

We're a funny town. We're a smart town. And I love that so often I will meet a new person and think: "Wow, that's the funniest conversation I've had in...."

In what? A week? Maybe? At most?

I love that Louisvillagers makes me laugh. For all the right reasons. Y'all are funny, funny people. Thank you for entertaining me.

Improvapalooza 12: Tickets on Sale!

Today, tickets go on sale for Improvapalooza 12, the longest-running improv festival in the Southeast, hosted by the Louisville Improvisors.  The event runs January 6-7 at 8pm at the Mex Theatre in the Kentucky Center. Tickets are $17.

This year's festival will include Colleen Smith of the Groundlings and comedienne Candice Brown (who has been on Torchwood-- Total nerd squee!!). Also featured are the Narcotic Farmers, an improv super group combining some of the best improvisers from the Nashville improv group Music City Improv with the Louisville Improvisors.

I covered the Improvisors for The Paper a couple of months ago, so I'm really excited for this event.

Wait, We Did What, Louisville?

Oh Louisville... you're so silly...


I'm a nerd for many things, but I'm primarily a pop culture nerd. So of course, the EW.com RSS feed is in my Google Readers.  I'm not a huge fan of Kathy Griffin, but a few episodes of her "My Life on the D-List" convinced me she's a real sweetheart sometimes AND that I desperately need an assistant.


Anyway, when EW reprinted Griffin's bio from the Playbill for her new Broadway show, I had a few chuckles.  Most of it is hilariously fictional:

Broadway: Speed-the-Plow (with Jeremy Piven, sushi-taster no. 4); Macbeth (Macbeth’s wisecracking red-headed sidekick); Les Miserables (Jean Valjean’s funny flame-haired henchwoman); The Iceman Cometh (Iceman’s sharp-tongued best friend); Neil LaBute’s I Hate You But I Won’t Say It Till It Can Do The Most Damage (dead whore); Cats (Fierce-y Tattletail MacHairBall); Sweeney Todd (Pie Eater No. 3); Chicago (Mrs. Cellophane); Your Arms Too Short to Box With God: A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance (God’s fight promoter); Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark (head stuntwoman, fired).

The only non-jokey category appears to be this one:

Awards: Ms. Griffin has received two Emmy awards, having been nominated seven times. She has also received three Grammy nominations, the GLAAD Vanguard award, the Trevor Project’s Lifetime Honoree award, the Human Rights Campaign’s Ally for Equality award, a 2007 GAYVN award (aka gay porn), the key to Louisville, and the 2011 Tony Award (fingers crossed!)

Uh, did you catch that?  The key to Louisville??  (A little Googling, and I find out that this happened in 2006, and only five people showed up to the ceremony.)


I used to think that my biggest aspiration was to be a Kentucky Colonel.  Scratch that!  I need the key to the city.  Stat!  And what exactly does this key open...?  

Happy One Year Ikeversary!

One year and a few hours ago, this is what happened to Casa Lou:

Comedy Caravan: Obama fundraiser 4/30

Since my well-coiffed future husband, John Edwards, resigned from the race, it will probably come as no suprise that Lou officially endorses Obama. (Please note that saying that JE is my "future husband" is no reflection on my feelings for Elizabeth Edwards-- see my review of her speaking engagement in Lexington here. She is an amazing woman and at times I liked to pretend that she was running for prez instead of John. Heck, if I swung that way, she could be my "future wife." I wish her continued health. There's always 2012.)

Next Wednesday, April 30, the Comedy Caravan hosts an Artists for Obama fundraiser featuring Tony Yates with performances by Keith McGill, Lawrence Thomas & Will Hardesty. Doors open at 7pm and the show starts at 8pm. Tickets are $15 and donations to the campaign are encouraged. Sources say that the Caravan has been receiving negative feedback for hosting this fundraiser, despite having hosted Republican events in the past without similar protest. That alone is a reason to attend-- support free speech, y'all.

Speaking of Comedy Caravan, from May 1-4, the comedy club is opening its stage to comics in town for the Derby. There's no slate of performers, but it's likely some A-list comics will show up to give impromptu shows. I'll let you know if I hear any good rumors.