Comedy Night Gives Comedians Chance To Test Their Material
Comedy Night Gives Comedians Chance To Test Their Material
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Comedy Night Gives Comedians Chance To Test Their MaterialIn the movie “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner’s character is told, “If you build it, they will come.” Comedy Night co-organizers Eric Totheroh and Madisson Heinl are hoping that if they provide a place and time for comedians and improv groups to perform and try out their acts, they will come, along with a big audience. The free event is at 9 p.m. Friday at Tourmaline, 208 S. Buffalo St., Warsaw. “We’ve both been performing and doing stuff since going to Grace, so now that we don’t go to Grace, we’re kind of looking for an outlet. There’s not a whole lot of outlets for something like that,” Totheroh explained. He said there’s some people who want to perform, but don’t know where to go to do that. “I think that when you kind of realize that there are a lot of venues locally, like in South Bend or Fort Wayne, then you realize there’s also a need and maybe people are interested in doing the same thing that you are doing. So, I think we both kind of thought if there’s not something here, let’s try to make it here,” Heinl said. This isn’t the first Comedy Night the two have put together. “We did one before where we just put all the performers together ourselves, so we were performing, other people were performing, improv groups in the community like Main On Main were there, just to try to let people know we want to do this. This one is more to open it up and say, ‘Who is out there that would want to do something like this?’” Totheroh said. The first Comedy Night attracted over 60 people, Heinl said. She said there will be sign-ups for the open mic starting at 8 p.m., with the performances beginning at 9 p.m. “What it’s going to look like is, anyone who wants to perform can kind of come in and sign their name, and we will kind of host and call people up when it’s their turn to perform,” Heinl said. “So we’re kind of going into this blind. One person could sign up or 20 people could sign up. It’s just kind of getting a feel for who is out there, who wants to perform and giving people an opportunity to perform in a really low-pressure situation.” Totheroh said, “The whole point of open mic is sort of to try stuff out, too, where everyone knows it’s more of like you’re experimenting with things to see if it works well. No one is getting paid for this, no one is paying to come see it, so they don’t expect anything out of you necessarily, so that’s pretty nice.” He said each performer will get about 5 minutes each, which is the usual amount of time given to open mic comedy nights, but could vary depending on how people sign up. Totheroh and Heinl are preparing to perform themselves. “We are also doing like an improv jam in the second half of it, so if you’re not really into preparing things before, you can come join us and we’ll just have groups go on stage and do improv for five or 10 minutes each,” he said. Heinl said that’s a great opportunity for people to try something new in an even lower-pressure setting since they’ll be in a group of people. Totheroh said they’re having it at Tourmaline because it’s downtown and the downtown seems to be a big draw. “If we can find any venues, who would allow us to have a comedy show for free or low cost, and it’s a good venue, that would be great,” Heinl said, adding that Tourmaline is a great host for the event. “It’s a really unique venue, too.” The show is open to everyone, but suggested age is 18 and over due to potential adult content from the performers. Attendees can bring their own beer, and other concessions will be available to help pay for more Comedy Nights. Admission is free, and seating is first come, first served. “We just want people to know it’s available to them,” Totheroh said. “If you’re thinking, ‘I’ve always wanted to try this thing,’ we’re giving you that space. It’s not assuming it’s always going to be stand-up comedy or improv or something like that. We want it to be whatever we have people want to do, but it seems like the best place to start.” Heinl said, “I think the thought behind it is, we can’t be the only two people in Warsaw who have wanted a space like this. We just want as many people to know that this is available to them. They have a venue to try out their craft, whether they live in the immediate or surrounding areas. We just want people to know it’s here and they can do it in a very low-stakes environment, for free.” For more information, contact Totheroh at erictotheroh@gmail.com or Heinl at madissonheinl@gmail.com. They also have a Facebook event page labeled Comedy Night! All the details and contact information also are on there.
