Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Comedy Monday at High Watt: Come for Neal Brennan, Stay for Open House
Posted by Lance Conzett on Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 3:30 PM
If you're a comedy fan in Nashville and can't find anything to get into this coming Labor Day weekend, it's possible that you're just a lousy shut-in. Serious business is afoot this weekend, people. Putting aside the fact that the amazing Hannibal Buress is doing a two-night stand at Zanies on Friday and Saturday, The High Watt has two excellent comedy gigs booked for Monday night: comic/podcaster/writer Neal Brennan, followed by Corporate Juggernaut's Open House open mic.
Chappelle's Show co-creator Neal Brennan headlines the early show at 8 p.m. As I mentioned in a forthcoming critic's pick about the gig, Brennan may not have been the most visible participant in Chappelle's Show — he mostly just got punched out in that penultimate Wayne Brady episode — but his writing touched nearly every sketch on the show. Brennan was a huge part of what was probably the defining sketch comedy series of the previous decade and that's a hell of a reason to catch his stand-up act.
But that was nearly 10 years ago. If that's not a good enough reason to see Brennan live at High Watt, maybe his current gig as a co-host on The Champs podcast with Moshe Kasher and DJ Douggpound. The Champs, which shouted out High Watt in their most recent episode, is a comedian interview podcast that manages to escape being a retread of WTF by specifically focusing on talking with black and minority comedians. It's worth a listen if you're into comedy and fills in some holes that Marc Maron otherwise misses.
Corporate Juggernaut's second monthly open mic immediately follows Brennan with sign-up at 10 p.m. I sat in on last month's inaugural Open House show and was pleasantly surprised by how strong it was overall. Yeah, it was an open mic and open mics are hit-or-miss by nature, but I felt like there were more surprises and hits than the average open mic. Like the 16 or 17-year-old kid who killed with a bit about going to camp. I don't remember that kid's name, but his set was the kind of thing that made Open House stand out as something special.
Cover for Neal Brennan will set you back $15, but the open mic is free. A couple of videos from last month's Open House can be found after the jump.
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