The Somerville News Blog

From Haverhill to Tingle’s, the Walsh Brothers find their audience

The Walsh Brothers are not trying to make everybody laugh.
“That comes from performing in front of nobody for a long time,” said David Walsh, the elder half of the duo. The two sat down to chat with The Somerville News on the eve of their weekend of shows at Jimmy Tingle’s Off Broadway Theater in Davis Square. “When you’re confident that what you’re doing is the right thing, and nobody is there to see it, you just keep working, and having fun with it.”

Diamond David Lee Roth finally meets longtime fan

St. Paddy’s Day this year was a memorable one for lifelong Van Halen connoisseur and Somerville News writer Peter “Fair Warning” Yezukevich. At the Paradise Club in Boston, David Lee Roth, guest DJing that week for Steve Sweeney on WZLX, held court and took the time to autograph his favorite book for Peter. Of the meeting, Yezukevich, clearly overwhelmed, said, “Ah seek a lotta an’ I’m lookin fo a moopee.” Photo by Larry Loprete

It's a Walsh, Walsh World

Fans of the Walsh Brothers, who will perform this weekend at Jimmy Tingle’s Off-Broadway Theater (Friday 7 p.m., Saturday 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., tickets $15, $7 students go to jtoffbroadway.com for more info or call the box office at 617-691-1616.), should hold out hope that someone taped their first performance together. From the way they tell it, it seemed to have all the elements of a classic Walsh Brothers routine: props, characters, a surreal setting, and sensitive subject matter. The only problem was, it also had the Mayor of Boston hiding his head under his table.

Mayor Thomas F. August 1926-2005

So long, friend.

A Political Cartoon by Peter V. Yezukevich

Biting back: City moves to eliminate bedbugs

by Peter Yezukevich

The problem of bedbug infestation in Somerville has reached the tipping point. Noreen Burke of the Somerville Board of Health announced recently that the Board has formed a collaborative relationship with the Harvard Extension School in order to address and solve the situation.

The Mustachioed Bastard Part Deux

After having two jobs in a row wherein I failed because I was haunted by my first boss, The Mustachioed Bastard, I was excited to start fresh in a new city. So I moved to Cambridge and took a job at Fotomat, a one-hour photo lab. While the perks were nice (reprinting customers’ pictures for ourselves, lifting film when we wanted), the customers were a friggin’ nightmare.

A Political Cartoon by Peter Yezukevich

Political Cartoon by Peter Yezukevich

Political Cartoon by Peter Yezukevich

On the Comedy Beat with Peter Yezukevich

Comic Morrell dreams on a three-way street

When comedian Mike Morrell took the stage on Sunday night before a lively crowd of Harvard Square denizens, he was filled with hopes of success in the intersecting worlds of stand-up, acting and improv comedy. Mostly though, he was hoping to hear his favorite sound: laughter.

With a winning perma-grin and the sort of delivery that brought to mind an everyman version of Dennis Miller, the Somerville-based comic worked through his set, hitting highs and lows, and on many occasions, getting the laughs he has worked for over the past two years.

Political Cartoon by Peter Yezukevich

Meanwhile, deep in the dungeon of the city solicitor's office...

Derek Gerry, Rest In Los Angeles

Gerry Hosts Toast comedy night

A Melrose native who is heading to Los Angeles to chase dreams of love and laughter, in that order, acted as host Aug. 27, for the final time in the Boston area Friday night, at Toast in Union Square.

Derek Gerry is used to hosting comedy nights, having spent the past two years honing that craft in clubs in and around Somerville and Cambridge. Filling in for the otherwise occupied Baratunde, who ended his Comic-in-residence stint at the Comedy Studio the same weekend, Gerry surrounded himself with a potpourri of talent.

Gerry looks back on his Boston phase

by Peter Yezukevich

Most of the time, if you hear that a local comic is packing up and heading for Los Angeles, it would mean that the bright marquee lights of that fabled city were beckoning.

So what was it that made local comedian Derek Gerry uproot and relocate to the City of Angels?

The Somerville News Cartoon

ColorStruck: A showcase for woman of color proudly dsplays local comedy

by Peter Yezukevich

Jimmy Tingle's Off-Broadway Theater in Davis Square was packed to the gills on Aug. 6 for the return of a show whose audience has grown yearly since its debut five years ago.

Almost all of the comedians featured in "ColorStruck: Boston's 5th Annual Women of Color in Comedy" were at least one-year veterans of the popular show. The only exception was the night’s headliner, LeighAnn Lord, the nationally known comic who you know from “the View” or from Comedy Central.With a polished stage presence and curse-free act, Lord actually seemed a little out of place.

Up until her set, ColorStruck's vibe was established early heavy on material that would have made Barbara Walters blush.

It was not family fare, but that’s not a fair standard for good comedy All in all, the women of color showcased at Tingle's were bold, brash and unfailingly funny.

Two of the show's highlights, Esther Ku and Alana Devich, are residents of Somerville.

Aug. 4 Cartoon by Peter Yezukevich

Toast comedy opens crisply

To view the complete photo gallery of Friday Nights @ Toast, click here.

by Peter Yezukevich

A new tradition in Union Square continued its inaugural festivities June 25 with the first comedy part of the Somerville News @ Toast series.

Hosted by local comedian Baratunde R. Thurston, the show lured a healthy crowd of fans, friends, and curious onlookers out to enjoy an evening of laughs while imbibing the array of spirits Toast had to offer. The crowd was treated to a dizzying display of assured comic voices, five sets in the span of an hour. The impressively diverse mix came courtesy of Baratunde, who took over booking and hosting duties for the show a few weeks ago, and who obviously relished the idea of molding his own comedy room.

“Tonight’s line-up, I hand-picked them,” said Baratunde, before the show. “This is not an open mic. I tried to get different edges represented in this show. No one is really like another comic here tonight.”