Fest Spolight On EMO PHILIPS!!!

In the last two posts, you blog readers have challenged us to show you we had political comedy & West Coast Based comedy coming to the fest. It's challenge time again. So get out your thinking caps (yes, it can be baseball hat from your college of choice) and prepare to ask the big question. That question is "Sure you have comedy coming to DC and sure it's not stuff we've seen before, but what kind of big name comedy acts do you have coming to the fest. Bet you don't have Emo Philips! DO YOU? DO YOU?"

Hold on to your thinking hats (or caps)! We do have Emo Philips coming to the fest. For not just one big show, but two nights of fun, laughs, and memories you won't soon forget (unless you have no long term memory, and then you can hardly blame us or Emo if that is the case). Fan's of stand-up comedy will remember Emo from his top shelf HBO special, his 2 comedy CD's (or tapes) from the 1980's (now available in one package) and mutiple appearances on other TV shows (Cinemax, Late Night with David Letterman, etc). Movie and television fans may also remember seeing him in Weird Al's "UHF" movie, animated on Dr. Katz, and most recently as himself in "The Aristocrats". After 30 years in the business of comedy, Emo has resume that shows he has what it takes to bring you the laughs.

Some might say "I'm not even from the United States, and I love Emo's material. How is that possible?" Emo has performed for audiences worldwide. He has made friends & fans at all of his appearances. Most notiably in 1989, Emo charmed the fans at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before continuing on to tour the UK. This set him up for a triumphant return to the fest in 2001 where fans flocked to his shows. He's even managed to win the adoration of English speaking audiences in Paris, France. So you know him because he is just that big of a deal.

For those who love Emo and those who will soon see their first Emo Show, we asked him some questions. He was kind enough to answer. Here's what Emo had to say about his 30 year career and his upcoming appearences at the fest:

dccf: This year is your 30th Anniversary as a stand-up comedian. Thinking back on the beginning, how has the journey been for you?

Emo: Apart from whatever else I have achieved, my proudest boast is this: I have spent my entire adult life exclusively in show business. My entire adult life! It's like riding a commuter train from a distant suburb all the way into the city without ever being asked by the conductor for your ticket. And not once did I have to hide behind a newspaper!

dccf: What is the biggest change you've seen since 1976 in the world of stand-up comedy? Is it a good change?

Emo: The biggest change is that, back in 1976, there was almost no profanity on the comedy circuit, and now it is pert near ubiqitous. And it's a very bad thing, not only because it offends a large segment of the audience, but because when a comedian swears it's the swear word that gets the laugh, and not the comedian, and the comedian is never forced to learn how to be funny on his own for real. I realized this years ago when, just for an experiment, I inserted the "f" word into the absolute weakest, suckiest joke I had...and it got a gigantic laugh. And I thought, why not just pump nitrous oxide through the vents?

dccf: Our research shows that you're not only a fan favorite here in the United States, but thanks to your success at events like the Edinburgh Fringe Festival that you have quite an international following. How do your international fans differ from those here in the U.S.?

Emo: In all my years of performing in the UK, I have found only one significant difference between what people laugh at over there and what they laugh at over here: the British never ever ever laugh at jokes about mowing the lawn. And I really have no idea why. My best guess is that over there they all either live in cities, or use sheep.

dccf: What would you have liked to be doing if you hadn't gone into Stand-Up?

Emo: I would have also accepted: film comic, circus clown, mime...or pretty much anything else as long as it involved being funny and performing. If I couldn't have been a performer, then I think I would have enjoyed becoming either a) a cartoonist, or b) the author of a series of humorous books about either a) a dolphin or b) an African toxic waste site (I haven't bothered to choose yet, and the way things are looking will probably never be forced to.) As a last resort, I would have considered writing for others...but only as a last resort, because it would have been very rough on me emotionally; if I wrote a joke for a famous comic, everytime I heard him or her do it I'd feel like one of those poor women in a 1930's weepy film that gives up her baby to a rich woman and then becomes the maid in the mansion where the kid is growing up and at the end she has to choose between telling her child the truth, thus destroying his bright and happy prospects, or else never ever seeing him again, and by this time, everyone in the movie theater is sobbing uncontrollably. I admire comedians who can write for others...but I doubt if I could ever have been strong enough to.

dccf: What is the strangest complement that you ever received after a show?

Emo: Once after a show a woman of eighteen told me that, when she was four, her mother would repeatedly play the video of my Hasty Pudding Theater concert over and over, day after day, so that as a young child she learned my entire performance by heart. Then when she started kindergarten, the teacher overheard her saying a few of my jokes, found them offensive, and punished her. So the strange (yet wonderful) compliment is this: since I can get away with telling my jokes, but she could not, it follows, with inescapable logic, that I am cuter than a four year old girl!

dccf: What was it like for you to see yourself turned into a cartoon on Comedy Central's "Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist" show?

Emo: I think the subconscious appeal of "Who Killed Roger Rabbit?" is that, deep down, everyone thinks of him or herself as a cartoon character: ageless, immortal, impervious to permanent injury. So my theory is that in Heaven, we will all be our respective cartoon characters...because I don't see any other way it can possibly work. And I will always be grateful to the Dr Katz team for allowing me to experience Heaven on earth.

dccf: For dccomedyfest audience members who haven't been lucky enough to see you perform yet (and they have had ample chances), what can they expect to see?

Emo: In addition to my act, which I have been three decades augmenting and (in collaboration with six thousand audiences) honing, I will be doing something very special that I can only do in a theater: I will be showing an eight-minute silent comedy film I made a few years ago called "The Can Man"... and which I vow to accompany on my clarinet.

dccf: Many folks here in Washington D.C. are looking forward to seeing both yourstand-up act and your appearence with Bassprov at the dcccomedyfest. What are you most looking forward to when you join Joe Bill and Mark Sutton for some improvised fishing?

Emo: The improvised fish fry afterwords. Mmmmm! That's good imaginary eating!

We hope you'll join us at Thursday 4/6 at Lisner Auditorium to see Emo Philips live. It's bound to be an experience that you be telling your friends about for years to come. Hopefully that will get you to pop over to the Warehouse Theater to see Emo join Bassprov (an improv duo that is a must see for any fan of improv) for some fishing. Both shows are sure to be highlights of the fest. Plus, 30 years of comedy can be wrong.