Funny That Way ~ On-Demand

Guests Marga Gomez and Natasha Muse talk to Dana about their take on the

first decade of the 21st century, how calculate your Sex-Twitter name, the

hullabaloo around 2012, letting strangers put strange things in your hand,

and everyone demonstrates how not to improvise a rap song.

 

What famous people and the media say about Marga Gomez:

 

"Amazing..a Lesbian Lenny Bruce" Robin Williams

 

"Deliciously Cheeky ...A Comic Marksman" New York Times

 

"She pushes buttons, pushes the envelope, and pushes the boundaries of all

conventional wisdom" The Washington Blade

 

"Gomez beguiles.." Time Out New York

 

"Hysterical! Adore her!" Eve Ensler

 

"Great Stuff!" Boston Globe

 

Stand-up comic, playwright and actress Marga Gomez is the winner of The

GLAAD Media Award and Theatre LA Ovation Award and a nominee of New York's

Drama Desk Award. She was named "Best Comedian 2008" by the San Francisco

Bay Guardian. 

Marga tours nationally as one of the first openly gay comedians in America.

On June 20th, 2009 she will be seen in the premiere of LOGO's One Night

Stand-Up and has appeared on HBO's Comic Relief, Showtime's Latino Laugh

Festival, Comedy Central's Out There and the PBS series In the Life. Marga

is profiled in the 2003 documentary Laughing Matters (along with Kate

Clinton and others) Her comedy recording, Hung Like a Fly, is available on

Uproar Records.

Marga's acting credits include The Vagina Monologues at the Westside

Theater, HBO's Tracy Takes on..., Guiding Light, Batman Forever, Sphere and

indie favorites Rosa Negra and The D Word.

Marga Gomez is also the writer and performer of eight solo plays: Long

Island Iced Latina,Los Big Names, A Line Around The Block, Memory Tricks,

Marga Gomez is Pretty, Witty & Gay, Jaywalker, The Twelve Days of Cochina

and Marga Gomez's Intimate Details and her collaboration with Carmelita

Tropicana, Single Wet Female, have been produced nationally, internationally

and in New York at The Public Theater, The 47th Street Theater, Performance

Space 122, Dixon Place and La Mama ETC.

Selections from her work have been published in several anthologies

including Extreme Exposure, Out, Loud & Laughing, Contemporary Plays by

American Women of Color and Out of Character and When I Knew and Howl(an

anthology of dog humor. )

She was one of eight playwrights to be commissioned by the Mark Taper

Forum's Latino Theater Initiative as part of the 2004 Amor Eterno project.

Her website is www.margagomez.com

 

Natasha Muse is pretty funny, for a comedian. She first climbed on stage

about nine years ago when she began working at AsiaSF as "Ginger." All her

friends claimed she was much too shy to be a good performer, and the fact

that they were kinda right didn't stop her from trying it anyway, and sorta

proving them all wrong.

Now she's moved from lip-synching into stand-up

comedy, which is a pretty big leap, if you think about it. And since that

leap she has created what some people refer to as a 'buzz' in the San

Francisco comedy scene, which she's just going to go ahead and take as a

compliment.

Natasha has performed all over the Bay Area, including the SF Comedy

Clubhouse, the Purple Onion, the Dark Room, Castagnola's and the Actors'

Theatre, where she produces and hosts "A Funny Night for Comedy" on the

second Sunday of every month. Natasha is the first runner-up of the 2009

Battle of the Bay competition, and is almost definitely at least the

second-funniest transsexual you know.

 

 

 

Comedian David Hawkins (not to be confused with older, bearded Sir Dr.David

Hawkins, or the extremely tall basketball player David Hawkins)  joins Dana

for a fun and fast-paced show including such diverse topics as choosing your

family and community, how much "Victor/Victoria" influenced the youth of the

early 1980's, the power of the positive choice, karaoke, Muppetude, and "The

William Shatner Effect".

 

David describes himself as, "Naughty, spazzy, happy, clappy, daffy, thinker,

lil stinker, dirty, a tad wordy, flirty, sicko, jerk-wad, polite, rude,

sweet, hyper, and unable to be anything other than himself at all times."

 

Find funnyman David Hawkins on Facebook and other online social networks.

 

 

Lisa Geduldig (AKA "Lisa G") is a comedian, producer, publicist, newspaper

columnist (SF Examiner) and the creator of the nearly-world-famous "Kung Pao

Kosher Comedy". Lisa and Dana swap celebrity stories, tales of growing up

Jewish (or sort-of Jewish, in Dana's case), swimming, and which actresses

(or actors) would play them in a bio flick.

 

Follow Lisa G on Facebook, MySpace, and her very own website:

www.koshercomedy.com

 

Kung Pao Kosher Comedy was created in 1993 by accident by San Francisco

comedian Lisa Geduldig, who went to perform in South Hadley, Massachusetts

at what she thought was going to be a comedy club. Peking Garden Club turned

out to be a Chinese Restaurant. After telling Jewish jokes at a Chinese

restaurant, a conversation between Lisa and her old summer camp friend, Tobi

Sovak, led to the creation of Kung Pao Kosher Comedy. 

Now in its 17th year, the event started out as a community service for all

Jews who have ever been stuck on Christmas with nothing to do but hide under

the covers, contemplate midnight Mass, or visit a Chinese restaurant... The

audience has expanded to include Chinese-Jewish couples, interfaith ones,

singles, families, gay people, straight people, undecided ones, those who

are far from home, and just generally people who like smart comedy mixed

with Chinese food.

 

Kung Pao also produces other comedy events including Funny Girlz; Feygelah

Schmeygelah; A Muslim, A Mormon, and A Jew Walk into A Bar: The Comedy of

Religion; The Color of Funny: A Multi-Culty Comedy Show; Make Laugh, Not

War; Tom-A-Palooza; Queer Comedy Quack Up; The George Bush Going Away Party:

An Evening of Political Comedy; Comedy Returns to El Rio; and What Am I,

Chopped Liver? In 2005, Kung Pao was proud to bring the sold-out show "Charo

and her Las Vegas Show" to San Francisco audiences and was thrilled to bring

Charo back again on June 29, 2008! 

 

 

Comedienne Dhaya Lakshminarayanan chats with Dana about growing up Hindu in

Alabama, Nerd Pride, mindful humor, and why Ganesha is the god of

Information Technology. Also, true stories of the Dalai Lama, rocks with

spirit, the extreme challenge of vows of silence for hyper-active funny

folks, and who said "India is a spriritually over-rated country".

 

Pronounced "Dye-yah" not "De-hiya" as some may think is fiery yet enjoyable

(much like masala). In past incarnations she's traveled to Cuba as a

researcher, worked as a venture capitalist, chosen to be Ms. August '06

Saffron Rare Threads, received degrees from and taught "Charm School" at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and attended two Democratic National

Conventions as a journalist before starting in the "funny" business of

comedy. Her commanding 5-foot-tall stage presence, sharply written material,

ease with the crowd, and vibrant characters draw in rowdy bar flies and

excite sober intellectuals alike. 

 

For Dhaya, life is comedy, including her traditional Indian upbringing,

nerd-pride, childhood in the Deep South, thoughtfully accessible

socio-political commentary, and daily amusements in colorful San Francisco.

She was chosen to be part of the national "Five Funny Females" tour. She has

performed in showcases around the country such as the San Francisco

Punchline, the San Jose Improv, Silicon Valley's Rooster T Feather's, New

York City's Gotham Comedy Club, and The Los Angeles Comedy Store . She has

performed for the South Asian Journalists' Association, the Indus Women

Leaders, Singapore Airlines, emceed the Nirvana Woman Magazine's Fashion

Show, the APAture Runway Fashion Show, covered Election Night for KMVT

Channel 15, and performed for numerous private events. 

 

She was a finalist at the Rooster T Feathers Comedy Competition, won third

place in the 2008 Harvey's Political Comedy Competition, and first place in

the 2007 "Battle of the Bay" competition. She is one of the only female

Indian stand-up comedians in the world.

 

 

Actor/Comedian Kenny Yun of the hit theatre show "Lettucetown Lies" talks

with Dana about growing up in America's salad bowl - Salinas - and how to

win at strip poker. Features the improvised rap song "Connie Chung".

 

"One of the most extraordinary solo artists I've ever witnessed onstage.

Brilliant and painfully funny. Awesome." - Ann Randolph 

 

"Funny...terrific"- SF Bay Times 

 

 

Kenny Yun has appeared in film shorts and plays, including local productions

of Twelfth Night, The Cherry Orchard, and The Tempest. He also performs

standup comedy all over the Bay Area and was a winner of the Russian River

Comedy Competition. Yun studied acting at Studio ACT and the Berkeley

Repertory Theater and has a degree in English Literature from UC Berkeley.

 

 

 

Dry and dark comedic philosophy with Mr.Clam Lynch and Nick Leonard. Dana and Clam relate how to turn a fearful situtation into a comedic one, Nick gets creeped out by the running joke "I like my women like I like my ___________", and we all feel the season of Pride and Rage in SF, melding into the new emotion "Prage".

FTW returning champions Dave Amiott and Nick Leonard demonstrate that Shakespeare's saying "all the world's a stage" is absolutely true, plus how to avoid avoidance and realize that "the best way out is through". Features improvised radio play "Puppy, Bear, and Android".

The return of Mr. Clam Lynch and Kathleen Gabriel! Dana and Clam and Kathleen delve deeply into the Illusion of Scarcity, making space for things to happen, and the importance of committing to action and intent.

Mr.Clam Lynch, artist and comedy guru, discusses his self-help program "Cut The Crap", including his trademark cleanse diet and core philosophies, such as recognizing and controlling the "Doubting Mind of Yesterday". Become a fan of "Mr.Clam Lynch" on Facebook.

Returning FTW fave Dave Amiott, joined by producer and musician Mary Ellen, talk with Dana about synchronicity, the genre of your life story, and which is the "Pee Break Song" at a concert. Features improvised song "Dick Savage's Mustache".

Singer/actress Kat Antonia shares wacky stories of being raised by mad scientist parents, going from law school into the entertainment industry, and how much fun there is to be had on the set of an "erectile dysfunction pill" commercial. Features improvised title song from the musical "Crooked Tree".

Continuing the conversation with Dave and Kathleen; going "Off The Wall" and showing vulnerability (in improv, "baking"), laughing through the awkward moments in life, and failing gracefully. Features the improvised radio play "Literal Faeries".

Guests Dave Amiott (comic and improvisor) and Kathleen Gabriel talk to Dana about staying positive through life's obstacles, Telling the Truth, and keeping healthy boundaries with "Yes, but". Improvs include the game New Choice.

Guests Nick Leonard (comedian) and Kathleen Gabriel(actress/singer/improvisor) discuss the Zen of Improv; make it up as you go along, stay in the moment and "Yes, and" your life. Features improvised radio play "Holiday Wish".