Thursday, September 28, 2006

Pre-Yom Kippur Yuk Fest Tonight and Saturday Night!

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Open Mic This Weekend

Dear Friends,

I will be doing open mic this weekend on Thursday evening at the Brainwash, 1122 Folsom Street (begins at 7 pm – I could go on anytime between 9 and 11, no way of knowing in advance), and on Saturday, 6 – 8 pm at SF Comedy College (the coolest place on earth!), 414 Mason Street, 7th floor (between Geary and Post). I love it when friends come and show their support - I love it even more when they laugh! ;)

A few words about these shows:

•Leave the kids at home – while I work “clean” for the most part, many other comics don’t – and don’t expect political correctness, not even from me!
•If you come to the show at SF Comedy College, please come at 6 and please stay for the whole show, until 8. There is a lot of talent at SFCC, some new students like me just getting our feet wet, some seasoned professionals, and you’ll be glad you stayed.
•Keep in mind that many of us are students or novices, trying out our material in front of audiences other than our friends and family for the first time. Some of our material might be funny, some of it might not be, but everyone up there is serious about doing comedy, so just sit back and enjoy yourselves – I guarantee you’ll have a good time. There are some truly funny people out there!

The open mic show at Brainwash is free, but bring some cash because they sell beer and wine, coffee drinks, killer nachos and a lot of other great stuff! The SFCC Petri Dish show is $5. Well worth the price of admission. At $5 for a two-hour show, at a minimum of one laugh per minute, that averages out to 4.2 cents per laugh - best bargain in town! BYOB for 21 and over. SF Comedy College happily accepts donations. www.sfcomedycollege.com If you are planning on coming to the Saturday show and do not carry cash on Shabbat, just let me know and I will leave your name at the door and you can just send them some money during the week. Thanks.

Thanks for listening, thanks for your support, count your blessing and keep looking for the laughs,

Kenny

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Open Mic This Weekend

Dear Friends,

I will be doing open mic this weekend on Thursday evening at the Brainwash, 1122 Folsom Street (begins at 7 pm – I could go on anytime between 9 and 11, no way of knowing in advance), and on Saturday, 6 – 8 pm at SF Comedy College (the coolest place on earth!), 414 Mason Street, 7th floor (between Geary and Post). I love it when friends come and show their support - I love it even more when they laugh! ;)

A few words about these shows:

•Leave the kids at home – while I work “clean” for the most part, many other comics don’t – and don’t expect political correctness, not even from me!
•If you come to the show at SF Comedy College, please come at 6 and please stay for the whole show, until 8. There is a lot of talent at SFCC, some new students like me just getting our feet wet, some seasoned professionals, and you’ll be glad you stayed.
•Keep in mind that many of us are students or novices, trying out our material in front of audiences other than our friends and family for the first time. Some of our material might be funny, some of it might not be, but everyone up there is serious about doing comedy, so just sit back and enjoy yourselves – I guarantee you’ll have a good time. There are some truly funny people out there!

The open mic show at Brainwash is free, but bring some cash because they sell beer and wine, coffee drinks, killer nachos and a lot of other great stuff! The SFCC Petri Dish show is $5. Well worth the price of admission. BYOB for 21 and over. SF Comedy College happily accepts donations. www.sfcomedycollege.com If you are planning on coming to the Saturday show and do not carry cash on Shabbat or major chaggim, just let me know and I will leave your name at the door and you can just send them some money during the week. Thanks.

Thanks for listening, and as always count your blessing and keep looking for the laughs,

Kenny

Sunday, September 17, 2006

No open mics this week...

Dear Friends,

At this point I am not planning on doing any open mics this week. I was thinking of doing Canvas Cafe on Tuesday evening but instead I have been asked to visit Congregation Kol Shofar in Tiburon and talk to their Ritual Committee about same-sex marriage in Conservative Judaism. I am honored to have been asked, and I am looking forward to the talk.

Thanks to Gary and Debbie Frank who came out to see me Thursday night at the Brainwash - it was a great night!

And, thanks to Deb Campo and San Francisco Comedy College for putting on a great "Petri Dish" show last night, which I was part of and did (in my opinion) one of the best sets I've done yet.

Continuing to have the time of my life, and wishing you all the best in health, happiness and prosperity for the upcoming New Year, 5767 - L'shana tova to you and yours.

Thanks for listening, and count your blessings and seek out the laughs,

Kenny

Friday, September 15, 2006

I'm in the news!

Here, in the Bay Area Reporter - www.ebar.com

And here, in the J. Weekly -

More need to be bold

Regarding your Sept. 1 story, “Conservative shul takes unique approach to interfaith weddings” — sure would be nice if more Conservative rabbis would make an effort to recognize, and perform the same-sex marriages of two Jews.

As far as I know, I can count on one hand — and have one or two fingers left over — the number of Conservative rabbis in the Bay Area who have taken that bold step to do so. We need more.

Kenny Altman | San Francisco
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Thanks for listening, count your blessings, seek out the laughs, Shabbat Shalom and have a happy New Year!

Kenny

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Open Mic This Weekend

Dear Friends,

I will be doing open mic this weekend on Thursday evening at the Brainwash, 1122 Folsom Street (begins at 7 pm – I could go on anytime between 7 and 11, no way of knowing in advance), and on Saturday, 6 – 8 pm at SF Comedy College (the coolest place on earth!), 414 Mason Street, 7th floor (between Geary and O’Farrell). I love it when friends come and show their support - I love it even more when they laugh! ;)

A few words about these shows:

•Leave the kids at home – while I work “clean” for the most part, many other comics don’t – and don’t expect political correctness, not even from me!
•If you come to the show at SF Comedy College, please come at 6 and please stay for the whole show, until 8. There is a lot of talent at SFCC, some new students like me just getting our feet wet, some seasoned professionals, and you’ll be glad you stayed.
•Keep in mind that many of us are students or novices, trying out our material in front of audiences other than our friends and family for the first time. Some of our material might be funny, some of it might not be, but everyone up there is serious about doing comedy, so just sit back and enjoy yourselves – I guarantee you’ll have a good time. There are some truly funny people out there!

The open mic show at Brainwash is free, but bring some cash because they sell beer and wine, coffee drinks, killer nachos and a lot of other great stuff! The SFCC Petri Dish show is $5. Well worth the price of admission. BYOB for 21 and over. SF Comedy College happily accepts donations. www.sfcomedycollege.com If you are planning on coming to the Saturday show and do not carry cash on Shabbat, just let me know and I will leave your name at the door and you can just send them some money during the week. Thanks.

Also, next Tuesday, September 19, I will be trying out at a new place - Canvas Cafe, 1200 9th Avenue, in the Sunset District. My good friend Sharon Goldstone's brother, Jerry Goldstone, runs this show and it is reputed to be a great venue for comedy. Starts at 7:30.

Thanks for listening, and as always count your blessing and keep looking for the laughs,

Kenny

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

...wow, did I have a great time in comedy class tonight. I feel completely energized – last week after a couple of spotty performances I was more or less in “what the f**k have I gotten myself into” mode.

Kurtis Matthews, our teacher, had us each do five minutes of our best stuff, without a script and without notes, and gave us feedback as we were doing it, then more at the end. I am learning how to feel relaxed on stage, the same way I am when I am speaking in front of 500 people at synagogue or teaching a class of 15 people, and that is where I need to get to – the same kind of relaxed feeling so that it all feels natural as opposed to forced memorization of jokes and punch lines. I was able to go off the script and keep it going.

I am so excited about doing this – I feel like I am finally getting the graduate degree I’ve always thought about getting!

Thanks for listening, have a great day - count your blessings and seek out the laughs.

Kenny

For info about San Francisco Comedy College, go to www.sfcomedycollege.com= - they are a great organization and they happily accept donations.

Monday, September 04, 2006

I thought this was awesome. RIP, Freddie, you've earned it.

wwwwww.youtube.com/watch?v=IvnxpK_qxmQ&mode=related&search=