What to do in Oklahoma on Nov. 26, 2011: Catch the debut of The Memepunks at OKC Improv
Today’s featured event:
Check out the debut of new nerd-pop/folk/rock/hip-hop band The Memepunks at OKC Improv’s 10 p.m. Saturday show at Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N Walker. Information: 343-1570 or www.okcimprov.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
OKC Improv celebrates 2nd anniversary with 3-week run of shows
Nerd-pop/folk/rock/hip-hop band The Memepunks will give their first public performance at 10 p.m. Nov. 26 at Ghostlight Theatre Club during OKC Improv's three-week November run. OKC Improv is celebrating its second anniversary. (Photo by Phillip Grimes)
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
OKC Improv celebrates second anniversary
The state’s first ongoing professional improv showcase is starting a new three-week run of shows at Saturday at Ghostlight Theatre Club in the Paseo Arts District.
Over the past two years, OKC Improv has entertained more than 3,500 people at 100-plus shows, taught at least 175 classes and helped foster a cohesive improv scene in Oklahoma City.
Even better, the founders of the state’s first ongoing professional improv showcase have reached a series of milestones that indicate more Oklahomans are appreciating improvisational theater as a true art form.
“While we took a pragmatic approach when discussing our goals as an organization when we first began, our dreams for what OKC Improv could become were ambitious from the start. Whether we’d succeed was anyone’s guess. Would other established improv groups participate in the community we were trying to build and perhaps most importantly, would there be an audience willing to support regular improv shows? The amazing thing is that after two years, we have our answer,” said OKC Improv co-founder and co-producer Eric Webb.
“At the end of our first two years we are proud of what we’ve accomplished, but most of all are grateful to be able to be part of this amazing community of people.”
Naturally, OKC Improv is celebrating its second anniversary by putting on a three-week run of shows starting at 8 and 10 p.m. Saturday at Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N Walker in the Paseo Arts District. Performances will continue at 8 and 10 p.m. Nov. 19, 25 and 26 at Ghostlight.
The upcoming run will feature 22 different acts, three of them making their OKC Improv debuts, plus two world premieres. Hunter Canedy and Gloria Jones of Oklahoma City University Improv will perform as a long-form improv duo Saturday, marking their first time on the showcase.
The November lineup includes the first public performance at 10 p.m. Nov. 26 of nerd-pop/folk/rock/hip-hop band The Memepunks.
“This will be the first time we’ve ever hosted a band on our stage,” Webb said. “Our regular fans will find a lot of common ground with Memepunks.”
The Big O, a new boundary-pushing group of OKC Improv students Kyle Gossett, Ben Davis, Stephen Dillard-Carroll and Jessi Kyle, also will make their debut at 8 p.m. Nov. 26.
Along with putting on shows, OKC Improv remains committed to teaching improvisation, with its current run of Saturday afternoon Level 1-3 improv classes continuing through Nov. 26. In addition, the organization is planning a series of four advanced workshops, one per Sunday starting this weekend. Topics include unadulterated fun, physical comedy, scene editing and musical improv.
“With enough imagination and skill, there are no limits to the places improv can go, the kinds of stories that can be created, and how they are told,” Webb said.
“The number of active performance groups in the metro (over the past two years) has increased from five to 35, with the promise of more groups and projects to be developed during the course of the next year. Most importantly is the community of performers that has come together and bonded over a mutual love of this unique art form.”
OKC Improv recently was accepted to the Oklahoma Arts Council’s Performing Artist Roster, which Webb said means a great deal to the producers and performers.
“From the start we’ve wanted to find ways to partner with existing arts organizations, to share the art of improv, but also because we want to be a part of the arts community in Oklahoma. Improv is about so much more than just making people laugh. This is a legitimate performance art that unleashes creativity in both practitioners and audiences,” he said.
“Being vetted by and vouched for by the Oklahoma Arts Council is a huge affirmation for our improvisers, many of which have worked for years to hone their craft. It also gives us an opportunity to reach a wider audience, taking our showcases to other parts of the state.”
Artistic directors Buck and Clint Vrazel recently were recognized as part OKCBiz’s “Forty Under 40” for their innovative leadership and impact on the local arts community, and OKC Improv has joined the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and Arts Council of Oklahoma City.
After selling out last year, OKC Improv will again be featured at the Arts Council of Oklahoma City’s Opening Night New Year’s Eve celebration.
“We are so excited to welcome OKC Improv to the membership roster of the Arts Council of Oklahoma City,” said Executive Director Peter Dolese. “We urge everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to see this professional improv group take the stage.”
For more information on OKC Improv, go to www.okcimprov.com.
-BAM
Best Bets for Nov. 11-13, 2011: Zac Brown Band, Red Dot and “Memphis”
Zac Brown Band (AP file)
Here are my Best Bets for the top events happening around Oklahoma this weekend. For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
1. Rock along with the Tony Award-winning musical “Memphis” at 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday at the Civic Center, 201 N Walker. Information: (800) 869-1451 or www.celebrityattractions.com.
2. Bid on work by more than 130 Oklahoma artists and sample festive food from several local restaurants at the annual Red Dot art auction from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday at Individual Artists of Oklahoma Gallery, 706 W Sheridan. Information: 232-6060 or www.iaogallery.org.
3. Celebrate the second anniversary of OKC Improv with performances by Kind of a Big Deal, Two’s Company and The MiDolls at 8 p.m. Saturday and Homemade Fireworks, Oklahoma City University Improv and Red Letters at 10 p.m. Saturday at Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N Walker. Information: 343-1570 or www.okcimprov.com.
4. TULSA — Hear Zac Brown Band, with special guests Sonia Leigh and Nic Cowan, at 7 p.m. Friday at BOK Center, 200 S Denver. Information: (866) 726-5287 or www.bokcenter.com.
-BAM
What to do in Oklahoma on Oct. 24, 2011: Hear MC Frontalot, Brandon Patton and The Doppelgangstas at The Conservatory
MC Frontalot
Today’s featured event:
Hear nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot at 8 tonight at The Conservatory, 8911 N Western. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Frontalot bassist and award-winning solo artist Brandon Patton and OKC-based act The Doppelgangstas, AKA Buck and Clint Vrazel of nationally recognized musical comedy duo Twinprov, will open tonight’s show.
MC Frontalot is touring in support of his fifth studio album, “Solved.”
When Damian Hess began recording as MC Frontalot in 2000, there was no category into which his unique brand of alternative hip-hop fit, so he coined and self-applied the term “nerdcore.” Since then, a thriving rap subgenre has grown up around him. Falling outside of what the music business considered commercially viable, he pursued marketing and distribution channels then largely unfamiliar to recording artists, embracing the worlds that embraced him, particularly comic books and gaming. Throughout the first decade of his career, Frontalot has found imaginative, visionary ways of creating and putting forth his music.
Since he first released his music on the internet through the online songwriting and recording competition Song Fight!, MC Frontalot has parlayed his early online buzz into an enduring career as a artist. He remains a key member of the communities that initially celebrated him, and performs for thousands of fans at conventions such as Penny Arcade Expo and Blizzcon. In addition to garnering considerable critical acclaim, MC Frontalot is the subject of the feature documentary “Nerdcore Rising: The Movie.”
Frontalot bassist BL4k Lotus AKA Brandon Patton will be opening. His newest album, “How I Allegedly Bit a Man in Gloucestershire,” features 13 mostly comical songs that capture the hilarity of his live shows opening for Frontalot. On the album, he exposes dark family secrets (“Mixed-Up Modern Family”) sings anthems about sex acts (“Munching the Cooch” and “Kethcup and Mayo”) and relates stories about traveling the world and getting into mischief (“Big in Japan” and the title track “How I Allegedly Bit a Man in Gloucestershire”)
Patton also performs with playwright Prince Gomolvilas in the underground theater duo “Jukebox Stories,” called one of the 10 best plays of 2008 by the East Bay Express. He composed the songs for “Love Sucks: the Musical,” a Shakespearean take on the punk rock of the 1970s, which won honorable mention at the 2007 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Patton’s 2004 album “Should Confusion” was nominated for Album of the Year by the Independent Music Awards. His music has appeared on the soundtracks of several TV shows, including “Monster Garage,” “That 70’s Show,” and “The Real World.” He also sometimes plays bass for Futureboy and Jonathan Coulton.
Twin brothers Buck and Clint Vrazel of nationally acclaimed improv duo Twinprov will also be opening for Frontalot as their rap alter-egos, The Doppelgangstas, AKA Kid Koopernicus and Uncus The Humongous Homunculus. They will be joined on stage by OKC’s most in-demand improv accompanist, Kyle Gossett, AKA Trouble Clef. The Doppelgangstas will be performing a mix of pre-written and improvised/freestyle songs created in the moment based on suggestions from the audience.
Buck and Clint Vrazel have been performing and teaching improv for 11 years in Oklahoma and around the country including 10 different festivals in 2011 and are a driving force in the regional improv scene. They are co-artistic directors of OKC Improv, the state’s premiere professional improv showcase and learning institution, where they currently teach classes and perform with numerous troupes. This will be The Doppelgangsta’s second time to open for MC Frontalot, having performed at Front’s OKC debut in April 2010.
For more information, go to www.conservatoryokc.com. For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot releases “Critical Hit” video, plans Oklahoma City show
Critical Hit from 512 Media on Vimeo.
Nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot is currently on tour in support of his fifth studio album, “Solved,” and will be performing Monday night at The Conservatory, 8911 N Western Ave. Doors will open at 7 p.m., and the concert starts at 8 p.m.
The rapper released this week the video to his song “Critical Hit,” which is in this Wednesday Video Spotlight.
Frontalot bassist and award-winning solo artist Brandon Patton and OKC-based act The Doppelgangstas, AKA Buck and Clint Vrazel of nationally recognized musical comedy duo Twinprov, will open Monday’s local show.
“Solved” is garnering considerable critical praise. Lev Grossman of Time Magazine has said, “Frontalot’s songs are nothing if not funky and funny, and you can enjoy them on that level, but it’s all a bit of a feint—the more you listen to them, and the further you get into decoding Frontalot’s densely wrought lyrics, the more layers you find.”
When Damian Hess began recording as MC Frontalot in 2000, there was no category into which his unique brand of alternative hip-hop fit, so he coined and self-applied the term “nerdcore.” Since then, a thriving rap subgenre has grown up around him. Falling outside of what the music business considered commercially viable, he pursued marketing and distribution channels then largely unfamiliar to recording artists, embracing the worlds that embraced him, particularly comic books and gaming. Throughout the first decade of his career, Frontalot has found imaginative, visionary ways of creating and putting forth his music.
Since he first released his music on the internet through the online songwriting and recording competition Song Fight!, MC Frontalot has parlayed his early online buzz into an enduring career as a artist. He remains a key member of the communities that initially celebrated him, and performs for thousands of fans at conventions such as Penny Arcade Expo and Blizzcon. In addition to garnering considerable critical acclaim, MC Frontalot is the subject of the feature documentary “Nerdcore Rising: The Movie.”
Frontalot bassist BL4k Lotus AKA Brandon Patton will be opening. His newest album, “How I Allegedly Bit a Man in Gloucestershire,” features 13 mostly comical songs that capture the hilarity of his live shows opening for Frontalot. On the album, he exposes dark family secrets (“Mixed-Up Modern Family”) sings anthems about sex acts (“Munching the Cooch” and “Kethcup and Mayo”) and relates stories about traveling the world and getting into mischief (“Big in Japan” and the title track “How I Allegedly Bit a Man in Gloucestershire”)
Patton also performs with playwright Prince Gomolvilas in the underground theater duo “Jukebox Stories,” called one of the 10 best plays of 2008 by the East Bay Express. He composed the songs for “Love Sucks: the Musical,” a Shakespearean take on the punk rock of the 1970s, which won honorable mention at the 2007 New York Musical Theatre Festival. Patton’s 2004 album “Should Confusion” was nominated for Album of the Year by the Independent Music Awards. His music has appeared on the soundtracks of several TV shows, including “Monster Garage,” “That 70’s Show,” and “The Real World.” He also sometimes plays bass for Futureboy and Jonathan Coulton.
Twin brothers Buck and Clint Vrazel of nationally acclaimed improv duo Twinprov will also be opening for Frontalot as their rap alter-egos, The Doppelgangstas, AKA Kid Koopernicus and Uncus The Humongous Homunculus. They will be joined on stage by OKC’s most in-demand improv accompanist, Kyle Gossett, AKA Trouble Clef. The Doppelgangstas will be performing a mix of pre-written and improvised/freestyle songs created in the moment based on suggestions from the audience.
Buck and Clint Vrazel have been performing and teaching improv for 11 years in Oklahoma and around the country including 10 different festivals in 2011 and are a driving force in the regional improv scene. They are co-artistic directors of OKC Improv, the state’s premiere professional improv showcase and learning institution, where they currently teach classes and perform with numerous troupes. This will be The Doppelgangsta’s second time to open for MC Frontalot, having performed at Front’s OKC debut in April 2010.
-BAM
Larry the Cable Guy’s Oklahoma City show canceled
Blue-collar comedian Larry the Cable Guy’s Oklahoma City show set for this weekend at Chesapeake Energy Arena has been canceled, the venue has announced.
Here is the cancellation announcement:
Due to changes in Larry the Cable Guy’s schedule, his show scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 22 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City has been cancelled.
Tickets ordered by phone or online will automatically be refunded. Refunds will be available at the point of purchase for fans who purchased at the box office or any other Ticketmaster outlet.
-BAM
What to do in Okahoma on Oct. 18, 2011: Laugh along as New Movement Theater brings its OCTourber to Ghostlight Theatre Club
The New Movement Theater
Today’s featured event:
Laugh out loud as OKC Improv hosts The New Movement Theater’s 11-city OCTourber with a performance at 8 tonight at Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N Walker in the Paseo Arts District.
The touring company features improvisers from New Movement theaters in Austin and Houston, Texas, as well as New Orleans, La. Nationally acclaimed OKC-based comedy duo Twinprov will open the show.
Tickets are $10 each. Call 343-1570 or e-mail okcimprov@gmail.com for reservations. The show is ponsored by Studio8.net and The New Movement.
In addition, OKC Improv will begin a new session of weekly improv classes for adults starting Saturday and continuing weekly through Nov.26 at Ghostlight Theatre Club. The Level 1 class will take place from noon to 2 p.m., followed by Level 2 from 2 to 4 p.m., and Level 3 from 4 to 6 p.m. Drop-ins are always welcome in the Level 1 class. The first class attended is free; the cost is $10 for each additional class. Returning students get a free class when pre-paying for an entire six-week class session.
OKC Improv also currently offers a FUNdamentals of Improv class for fifth- through eighth-graders at The Studio of The Sooner Theatre, 227 E Main in Norman. Classes run through April with an end-of-year performance for friends and family. Classes take place every Monday from 6:30 to 7:30pm. Tuition is $50 a month. Limited scholarships are available. For more information, go to www.soonertheatre.com.
OKC Improv is Oklahoma’s premiere performance showcase and teaching institution dedicated to the art of improvisational comedy and theater. OKC Improv’s performance showcase at Ghostlight Theatre Club will resume next month with shows on Nov. 12, 19, 25 and 26.
For more information on tonight’s show, classes and more, go to www.okcimprov.com.
For more events, go to www.wimgo.com.
-BAM
Jeff Dunham’s comedy special premieres to 5.5 million TV viewers; tickets to Tulsa show on sale Friday morning
Stand-up comic/ventriloquist Jeff Dunham is bringing his “Controlled Chaos” tour to Tulsa’s BOK Center for a Feb. 26 performance.
Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday for the Tulsa show. All seats are $45.50 and will be available online at www.bokcenter.com, Arby’s Box Office, all Tickets.com outlets, or by calling (866) 7-BOKCTR.
Dunham premiered his fourth TV special, “Controlled Chaos,” Sept. 25 on Comedy Central, drawing 5.5 million viewers and a 2.6 rating with viewers 18-49.
Chart numbers for the home market DVD and Blu-ray sales of “Controlled Chaos,” which hit stores on Tuesday, jumped to No. 1 in comedy titles and No. 5 in all DVDs/Blu-ray title sales. “Controlled Chaos” is being released by Comedy Central Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment. He has sold more than 7 million units to date on his three previous specials and TV series.
Dunham also stoked a significant buzz with the special, coming in as the third most-talked about cable show that night behind the premiere of the second season of the acclaimed HBO series “Boardwalk Empire” and a pivotal episode of the six-time Emmy Award-winning show “Breaking Bad.” The statistics were measured by Trendrr.tv, a comprehensive television index that ranks shows by their activity across a number of social networks, according to a news release.
The American premiere of “Controlled Chaos” was part of an unprecedented same-day worldwide debut of a comedy special that saw the show bowing in a dozen territories around the globe, including Canada, U.K., Holland, Sweden, France, Australia and other nations.
Since Dunham debuted his first self-produced comedy special, “Arguing With Myself,” in 2006, he has jumped from the comedy club circuit into theaters and then into arenas and other major venues in North America and overseas. For three years running he has been the highest-earning live comedy act in North America as well as for two years in a row worldwide in the wake of three tours of Europe as well as visits to South Africa and Australia.
His Internet presence is just as significant with more than half-a-billion worldwide views of his online clips, nearly 6.5 million Facebook followers, and being the No. 1 comedian on MySpace. He also scored last year as an author when his unique autobiography, “All By My Selves” – just released as a trade paperback on Sept. 6 – spent three weeks on The New York Times Book Review bestsellers list.
“Controlled Chaos” will air again at 9 p.m. Saturday on Comedy Central. He now takes his new “Controlled Chaos” live show on road starting Oct. 6 in Loveland, Colo., and throughout the U.S. and Canada into 2012.
During the Comedy Central special, Dunham introduced two new puppet pals that he is taking on the live tour: Achmed Junior, the not-as-equally skeletal son of Achmed the Dead Terrorist, and Little Jeff, a mini-version of the ringmaster himself.
For more information on the Tulsa show, go to www.bokcenter.com or www.jeffdunham.com.
-BAM
Best Bets for Sept. 9-11, 2011: Check out Micky & the Motorcars, Mike McClure Band, Lisa Lampanelli and more
Micky & the Motorcars
Here are my top 5 Best Bets for events happening in the greater Oklahoma City metro area this weekend, as listed in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman. For more options, go to www.wimgo.com.
1. Hear Texas country band Micky & the Motorcars at 11 p.m. Saturday at the Wormy Dog Saloon, 311 E Sheridan. Doors open at 6 p.m. Information: 601-6276 or www.wormydog.com.
2. Take in a hay maze, barrel train rides, hands-on arts and crafts and more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the 15th annual Septemberfest, a free family festival at the Governor’s Mansion, 820 NE 23, and Oklahoma History Center, 800 Nazih Zuhdi Drive. To read my recent interview with Gov. Mary Fallin about this year’s Septemberfest, click here. Information: 557-0198.
3. YUKON — Listen to Mike McClure Band with Camille Harp at 8 p.m. Friday at Grady’s 66 Pub, 444 W Main Street. Information: 354-8789 or www.gradys66.com.
4. View two new exhibits — “Faded Elegance: Photographs of Havana by Michael Eastman” and “Poodles & Pastries (and Other Important Matters): New Paintings by Franco Mondini-Ruiz” — at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive. To read my recent interview with Franco Mondini-Ruiz about “Poodles & Pastries,” click here. Information: 236-3100 or www.okcmoa.com.
5. SHAWNEE — Laugh at stand-up comic Lisa Lampanelli at 7 p.m. Friday at Firelake Grand Casino, 777 Grand Casino Blvd. Information: 964-7263 or www.firelakegrand.com.
-BAM
Larry the Cable Guy to play Oct. 22 Oklahoma City date; tickets on sale Friday
Larry the Cable Guy will bring his distinctive brand of blue-collar humor to Oklahoma City on Saturday, Oct. 22 with a show at Chesapeake Energy Arena, the venue announced today.
Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday and will be available at the Cox Convention Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets including area Homeland stores, online at www.CheaspakeArena.com and by phone at (800) 745-3000.
With his signature catchphrase, “Git-R-Done,” Larry the Cable Guy continues to sell out theatres and arenas across the United States. In addition to his tours, movies and specials, Larry is now the host of his own show on The History Channel. The 13-episode “Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy” premiered in February 2011. In the show, Larry crisscrosses the nation, going off the beaten path to find the people, places and things that define America’s unique history.
Since gaining notoriety during the highly successful “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” and 2003 movie of the same name, Larry has starred in three feature films: “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector,” “Delta Farce” and “Witless Protection.” He also lent his voice to the character Mater in the popular Disney/Pixar animated features “Cars” and “Cars 2.”
On television, Larry hosted Christmas specials for CMT in 2007 and 2009. In 2007, “Larry the Cable Guy’s Christmas Spectacular” aired on CMT to huge ratings. It was followed with 2009’s “Larry the Cable Guy’s Hula-Palooza Christmas Luau.” In March 2009, Comedy Central aired “The Comedy Central Roast of Larry the Cable Guy,” which Larry executive produced. It was the third-highest rated roast in Comedy Central’s history, attracting 4.1 million viewers, according to the news release.
Larry has also scored hits with his comedy albums. His 2007 album, “Morning Constitutions,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard comedy chart. His previous release, “The Right to Bare Arms,” debuted at No. 1 on the Soundscan comedy chart, No. 1 on its country chart and No. 7 on the Top 200 chart. It marked the first time in Soundscan’s history a comedy album debuted at No. 1 on its country chart. The album also received a Grammy nomination.
He won Billboard’s 2005 Comedy Artist of the Year and Comedy Album of the Year. His book, “Git-R-Done,” debuted at No. 26 on the New York Times Bestseller List in 2005. In May 2011, Larry was named to the Forbes Celebrity 100 list for a third time (also 2007 and 2006). This lists the hottest and most successful celebrities in the entertainment industry.
For more information, go to www.CheaspakeArena.com.
-BAM
