Funhouse Comedy Show Lives Up to Its Name!

Brady Evan Walker
Jul 23, 2017 · 5 min read

Tucked away among new faux-modernist apartment buildings, white-brick, tweezer-and-microgreen-wielding restaurants, and probably a WeWork going up close by, is the long-time Williamsburg stalwart, Pete’s Candy Store. Every Wednesday night, Pete’s plays host to two equally stalwart New York comedians, Gabe Pacheco and Sameer Naseem, and their curated comedy show, Funhouse Comedy.

Let me say upfront that I think of comedy the way I do Tinder dates. It’s either a great experience or an existential-regret-level waste of time. But I let myself be coaxed into the experience, and for Funhouse, I’ll swipe right any night.

What follows is a list of comedians to definitely watch out for!

Though I have no first-hand knowledge of Naseem’s personal drug use, his onstage persona is that of a cuddly stoner whose general excitement for what he’s going to say next is tamped down by an ever-present mellow. Naseem’s mellowness juxtaposes nicely against his co-host. Pacheco is a wiry ball of wild gesticulation and expression, sarcastically careening through character after character. And the two have a great onstage chemistry. I could listen to them banter about Grizzly Man being a gentrifier all night. But they also put together a great lineup.

First up was Reg Thomas, who’s “so New York [he] once slept with an Orthodox Jewish girl… Who’s the chosen one now?” And his comedy is very New York-centric, drawing knowing laughs about, on one hand, gentrification, and the other, homeless people holding the door open for you at the bank to get a respectable dollar out of you. He brings these two treasured topics together when he asserts that he’s “going to sound a little racist,” because he doesn’t give money to white homeless people, whom he (perhaps justifiably) finds confusing.

Next up was Charles Gould, who reminds me of a tall Todd Barry who finally drank the exact right amount of coffee. His routine leaned on the old standard: breakups. But instead of being jealous of his ex’s upgrade on the next boyfriend, he just found himself being incredibly impressed, via Instagram, with how a great a summer her new beau was having. If you haven’t seen it, click here for Gould’s Haikus for Crying Drunk Girls.

Molly Ruben-Long uses a chipper delivery to continuously undercut mildly depressing news, like how her LinkedIn contacts were alerted to congratulate her for a four-year job anniversary at None. For Molly, even “falling in love feels like getting a parking ticket.” My personal favorites were her riffs on New Orleans (my hometown!), like getting propositioned for cunnilingus after steering a pedicab through the French Quarter for eight hours.

Daniel Simonsen is a fantastic, deadpan comedian from Norway who introduced himself as, “I’m from Norway. That’s how I got this personality.” He recounted his most recent job, handing out fliers for a dentist, all the while dressed as a giant tooth. “But even dressed like a tooth, people pretend that they don’t see you.” I think that pretty well sums of Simonsen’s comedy worldview — finding self-deprecating moments and using them not for further self pity, but to make baffled observations about the rest of the world.

There could’ve been no greater energetic juxtaposition than putting Simonsen before Lucas Connolly, who blazed onstage practically screaming, in a good way. Connolly was born from two moms who separated and started other long-term relationships. Connolly rode this four-mom wave for all the comedy it could bear: I’m a mama’s mama’s mama’s mama’s boy! I have a face only four moms could love! The situation really does lend itself to as many one-liners as can fit in a given span of time. Not to imply that’s all he talked about. As you might expect from a comedian with this kind of energy, he hit the trifecta of sex, drugs, and fast food.

The penultimate comic of the night was Malorie Bryant, who brought onstage the same bright energy as Maria Bamford. My favorite joke was when she recounted going home with a guy who didn’t have a cellphone or ID, to which she responded, “Two birds with one stone. I’m gonna have sex and help the homeless.”

The final comic of the night, Joe Pera, is such a committed character comedian that even after the show, he stayed in character, which was a bit eerie. In khakis and flannel shirt, his character is that of an old, southern, neighborhood man who talks slowly and doesn’t seem to realize he’s telling jokes. His favorite topic seemed to be how large his sons would one day be, but I have to admit that recapping a Joe Pera joke is almost impossible, like trying to explain an Andy Kaufman stunt to someone who’s never heard of him, so instead, just check out his Conan appearance from March, 2017 and thank me later.

And when you’re done with all that, schedule your trip to Williamsburg and follow Funhouse Comedy on The Facebook, The Twitter, and The Tumblr!

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