Interview with Rob Cantrell

You've been combing over our Shows page (not your bald spot) and probably have thought "Snap, I love all these new acts this year. But, and I have a really BIG BUT, how about some comics I know and love. Last year you had Rob Cantrell from Last Comic Standing. Where is the talent like that?" Well brace yourselves, we have Rob Cantrell coming back just for you.

Yep, that's right Rob Cantrell. Rob grew up right here in our area, went off to pursue happiness and fame, and now comes back on occasion to show his city of origin a little of the funny that made him famous. We got him to answer a few questions just for you.

dccf: Hey Rob, thanks for taking the time to talk with us again. It’s been a year since we last talked to you. We are looking forward to having you back at this year’s dccomedyfest. What have you been up to since last year’s fest? Any highlights you want to share with us?

Rob: I made Theatrical debut in Chicago in The Marijuana-logues with Doug Benson and Tony Camin last week. That was huge and so the Yacht bought with Fat Joe last September.

dccf: We saw that you were just in DC for a show with Zach Galifianakis at Lisner Auditorium. How was that experience?

Rob: It rocked!! Zach is super talented. He is the only pianist that I know that can dip Copenhagen tobacco and smoke crack at the same time.

dccf: Along with Zach, who have been some of the performers you have performed with over the years? Any dream match-ups for a One Night Only show?

Rob: Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan, Mitch Hedberg, Arj Barker, Dave Attell, Lewis Black and Todd Barry. ///Chappelle or Chris Rock would be my dream line up.

dccf: Is your DC fan base different from the fans you encounter else where in the U.S.? Rob: I really don't make it back to DC as much as I would like but everytime I am in town I am doing something new and I think my fans appreciate that.. ... They have seen me grow like a flower..An extremely hetero-sexual flower.

dccf: On the CD page of your web site (http://www.robcantrell.com/cd.html), you appear in a Karate outfit. Any chance you are vying for a Jackie Chan styled role in an upcoming film?

Rob: Yeah, that photo is for my album which is tentatively titled "Exile On Lame Street". On the Chan film? Nope, I'm an old school Bruce Lee motherfucker.

dccf: This year on your “What’s Happenin’…” space on your website you have a link to a video clip of you performing? Are there any other good places for folks looking to check out a little more of your material before coming to see you at this year’s dccomedyfest?

Rob: Brooklynradio.net

dccf: What is the strangest place you have found the idea for one of your jokes or bits?

Rob: In jail.

dccf: Stand-up must have a lot of moments for you where you just have laugh off how strange or surreal something that just happened to you. Was there one moment you could share with us where you were like “I don’t even think I would believe me that that just happened!!!”?

Rob: I grew wings and I took a shit on a cop in mid flight.

dccf: For dccomedyfest audience members who haven’t been lucky enough to see you perform yet, what can they expect to see? And is there a special treat for people who did catch you last year (or several times since)?

Rob: I keep it real and I have new sweatshirt.

dccf: Anything you want us to make sure dccomedyfest blog readers know about this year?

Rob: My show is 7pm Friday @ HR-57, I love you in a very hetero-sexual flower way.. Check me out!

Want to get more pre-fest samples of Rob before you come to the fest? Tune into 106.7 FREEFM on Friday Morning April 13th to hear Rob Cantrell on the Sports Junkies. Then make a bee line to the fest to see his show (the seats will fill fast).

Interview with Rory Scovel

It's time to check in with a local favorite. You've seen him all over the DC area performing. And then you haven't seen him for a while.

He's a Stand-Up. No! An Improvist! No! A Stand-Up! That's right, he's both. And who is the local rising young star? None other than Rory Scovel. Rory started local, has toured around some, and is now taking the Big Apple by storm. We caught up with Rory and found out what he has been up to since last year.

dccf: Hey Rory, Thanks for taking a few minutes to answer a few questions. Sure you are from DC, but people have questions. What have you been up to lately?

Rory: Things have been pretty hectic lately. My girlfriend and I recently moved to Hoboken, NJ to pursue our entertainment dreams. We've been playing in NYC and trying to get some stage time. She was recently cast in 2 productions and I have been doing any standup show I can get on.

dccf: We understand you spent a lot of time in Canada and other northern places last fall. Were you hiding from the police or was it something comedy related that took you out of town for a while?

Rory: I did a yuk yuks comedy tour through western Canada. I was fortunate enough to get a booking with Yuk Yuks through Dave Moroz at Aspen Talent and couldn't see myself turning down the offer. It landed me the opportunity to meet great comics in Seattle, Washington as well, which is what landed me a spot in the 2006 Seattle Comedy Competition.

dccf: Any way people can check out parts of your adventures from last fall?

Rory: On my website (www.roryscovel.com) I have the 17 minute set I performed the very last night of the seattle competition and also a new documentary that I'm working on. The doc is about myself and a few comics and what performing comedy means to us and what effect it has on our outlook on life. We all have different opinions but one bond, we love performing.

dccf: Your website mentions that you have "infectious stage presence". Has this been reported to the Center for Disease Control and what are the symptoms?

Rory: It has been reported and they told me to F off, which I thought was a little immature. Since that day I've been trying to bring down the Center for Disease Control. Everyone has a platform, this one is mine.

dccf: You just finished taping for Live at Gotham. Can you tell us what that was like and where and when we can expect to check that out?

Rory: It was an amazing experience. I never pictured myself getting such an opportunity so the entire weekend was overwhelming. The experience overall was great. All the comics that were taping that weekend were really cool and the actual show itself was more fun than I can describe. I was very nervous prior to my set but then realized the audience was very much on the performers sides. I think the show airs sometime in May or June. i haven't been fully informed but heard that info from a small white rabbit. hahahahaha, see how funny I am?

dccf: Why are we under the impression that you can help us with the purchase of an HDTV?

Rory: I taped a commercial for Circuit City a year and a half ago or something like that. Thanks to my buddy and improv partner Tyler Korba I was given the chance to audition for the shoot. Tyler works with Discovery Channel and they were hired to shoot the commercial. That experience was really cool as well. I'm just glad they were able to find something I said on tape usable. I don't see myself as much of an actor.

dccf: What was the strangest review that you've ever received after a show?

Rory: Hmmmmm. I'm not sure. I don't get reviewed very often. I was told that there was someone in the audience this past christmas in Greenville, SC who found my set to be super cheesy. Nothing pisses me off more than not knowing who that person is so I can ask them why they think that.

dccf: What was the 2006 Seattle International Comedy Competition experience like for you?

Rory: It was a really cool one. I was able to meet a lot of great comics that were competiting who have dropped my name to many people and helped me get random stagetime and attention. Comics help comics more than anyone else and that competition was a great way to meet more comics. I also was given the chance to spend a month in Seattle, a city I have now grown to love more than most. If you haven't visited Seattle, do so. The comedy here is incredible, the scene is thriving and the overall energy in the city is very creative and artistic.

dccf: Now that you are a full time stand-up comic, will audiences who know you from the various improv shows still be able to see you perform some improv?

Rory: Dr. Fantastic will be performing improv at the DC comedyfest this year. If you know anything about Dr. F, you know that we are the greatest improv troupe in the history of time and even before time was invented. This show will see the return of Dr. F cofounder Zhubin Parang. He is a "lawyer" now in NYC and has missed a few Dr. F performance opportunities. It will be fun to play with him again. I use quotations because lawyer stands for drug dealer in the big apple.

dccf: Anything you want us to make sure dccomedyfest blog readers know about before coming to see you at the fest?

Rory: I love money. Bring some money and just hurl it at me while on stage. I love pretending I'm in "showgirls" also. I use quotations because showgirls stands for "Zhubin's living room buying drugs."

Don't miss your chance to catch Rory at the fest. You'll then be able to say you saw Rory before the he "Made It Big". And by "Made It Big" we mean "Made It Big".

You, the blog reader, are probably sitting there thinking "Gee, dccomedyfest, you've talked to top notch acts from the world of improv & sketch, and even talked to a stellar Canadian Stand-up comic. Do we need to prompt you to talk to some homegrown all-star American talent?" The answer, a resounding no. In fact, we sat down and blogged a while with none other than Elon James White.

We think you'll love Elon James, but we'll let him win you over.

dccf: How did you get first get involved with Stand-up comedy?

Elon James: I first started stand-up after being yelled at. I was working in corporate (Information Technology Bitches, WHAT!) and I would go hang out at a little west Indian restaurant and complain. Every day I'd go tell stories about all the people I hated and one of the customers who would come by and hear my complaining told me I should be a stand-up. I argued for about 6 months but then relented and have been doing ever since.

dccf: So far in your career, what has the most interesting place Stand-up has taken you to perform?

Elon James: The most interesting place I've done comedy was at a bar somewhere in the middle of Pennsylvania where people were wearing cowboy hats, but not in an ironic way. They were serious. It looked like the bar from "The Accused"(never heard of it? Wiki that mutha!) Me walking into the town tripled the Black population. I realize that's mathematically impossible, but rest assured it happened. But I had a great time.

dccf: What made you decide to found "The Brooklyn Comedy Company"?

Elon James: Drinking. Definitely started with a little drinking. I was at my favorite bar (Ripple Bar, what!) in Brooklyn and in an effort to rationalize the inordinate amount of time I was spending there, I figured I'd start doing shows there. But I over do EVERYTHING, so next thing you know I was holding auditions, branding a style of comedy that I wanted to push and then boom. We have BcCo. It's been one of the defining things in my comedy career.

dccf: For those of not in the know, can you tell us about "4 Shades of Black" and why it has received so much critical acclaim?

Elon James: "4 Shades of Black" was born out of frustration. A lot of people have one view of a "Black" comedian and its normally shaped by Comic View and Def Jam. I was told "You're not a black comic" 1 too many times. So I decided to create a show with other comedians I know who had similar experiences. I wanted to show that black comedy is quite diverse. And I think that's why the show is well received. It's not conforming to anything. Its comedy that messes with preconceptions.

dccf: What should fans looking to see "4 Shades of Black" at the fest expect to see?

Elon James: A top of the line show. Baron Vaughn was at the HBO Comedy Arts Festival last year and is all over the country now. Michelle Buteau was on Premium Blend, HBO Comedy Arts Fest '07 and has a few TV shows under her belt and Jordan Carlos Just did Live At Gotham and was at the "Just for Laughs" festival last year.. This is a dynamic show that I'm proud to be apart of.

dccf: The other members of "4 Shades of Black" are Jordan Carlos, Michelle Buteau, and Baron Vaughn. Do you all have a competitive relationship off stage, trying to be the funniest person in room? Or is more of a family feel?

Elon: Everyone does what they do. There's not really any competition since we're all very different types of people. It's all about the funny.

dccf: We see from your blog, Catharsis 101, that you live with two women. Do you ever find yourself in and Three is Company moments?

Elon James: If by "ever find" you mean "at all time" then yes. I live with 2 comedians and one of them is my girlfriend so its constantly a full fledged sitcom. 'How can I drive my roommate crazy? Ooooh, I know. Wax the floor! Yeah, she won't be able to walk with out falling, but then again, I did clean the floor, hahaha, Life is grand.'

dccf: Your blog mentions that you didn't try out for "Last Comic Standing" this year but are planning to do so next year. Are you going to watch this year? Is it hard to watch other stand-ups?

Elon James: I'll watch if anyone I know gets on. I do watch an incredibly large amount of comedy in general so I may not be the first one in front of the TV but I'm sure I'll be well versed (since everyone I know will tell me about it)

dccf: Occasionally the audience must do things that catch you off guard. What has the audience done at times that has kept the shows fun for you?

Elon James: I've had audience run up to me after my set to give me updates about my old neighborhood. I come from Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and occasionally discuss the ghetto of legend on stage. No matter where I am there's always someone who's from there, or has family from there, or has been there on a very unfortunate day. I had a family run up to me yelling "There's an APPLEBEE's! There's an APPLEBEE's IN BED-STUY!" The concept of thugs trying to get an apple turnover, to me? Hilarious.

dccf: What acts at this year's dccomedyfest are you looking forward to having a chance to see in action?

Elon James: Well I'll probably catch Rob Cantrell. I've worked with him a lot in NYC but haven't seen him in a while so it'll be cool to see him do his thing. I'll probably get over to catch Eddie Brill as well.

dccf: For dccomedyfest audience members who haven't been lucky enough to see you perform yet, what can they expect to see?

Elon James: A Blazer. I'm pretty sure there's gonna be a Blazer involved.

dccf: Anything you want us to make sure dccomedyfest blog readers know about you and "4 Shades of Black"?

Elon James: That we're awesome. Pretty sure that's all they need to now. oh, and we'll be giving away money and gold and other things that might make people want to come to the show.

If we've peaked you interest head to our shows and tickets page for more details. Then we'll see you at the HR-57 Mainstage: 9:00PM on Friday April 13th for The Tonight Show Audition Show where you'll get to see Elon Audition to be on you guessed it THE TONIGHT SHOW!!!