Columbus Brew Ha Ha

Brewery District
Columbus, Ohio
July 16th, 17th, & 18th, 2012

by Rick Brown

 Back in their days at Easton, The Shadowbox Live Sketch Comedy Festival ran for three years with 6 troupes from around the country (and Canada) competing for 2 consecutive nights.  At the time, that seemed monumental enough to me, especially given the presence of Saturday Night alum Garret Morris as an expert judge. Move up to July 2012 and the event exploded into Brew Ha Ha, a three evening extravaganza in the Brewery District. The number of comedy groups was expanded to 8 with the competition spanning all three night.
    
But wait … there’s more.
    
This was a community event including nine stages on Front Street with beer tastings, local bands, food trucks and stand up comedy shows in the Shadowbox Theater at 10 p.m. after the sketch comedy events (supposedly) ended at 9. All THREE nights … All three WEEKDAY nights … in COLUMBUS, OHIO! And according to Shadowbox Live Head Honcho Stev Guyer, they planned it this way … on purpose … to embrace the fact that our city is no longer “just a place where the Buckeyes play”. I was elated to be deemed a V.I.P. invited to attend the entire event and write about it.
    
I picked up my V.I.P. lavaliere (I guess no matter how hip the event, even a V.I.P. has to be humbled with a dorky, official neckpiece) Monday at 5 and headed over to the World of Beers. I had never been in the establishment and was thirsty for a cold one and an appetizer.
    
And you know what I discovered? World of Beer doesn’t have a kitchen. They’ve got 5000 beers sure. But to eat you have to order from a nearby restaurant that delivers to the … uh … World of Beer. That’s what the friendly barkeep explained to me. I had meandered into the world’s largest BEER JOINT.
    
“Brew Hmmm Hmmm” was my only thought. So I threw back my Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold and went back over to the Backstage Bistro where I should have parked my behind to begin with.
    
I knew this Comedy Festival was going be an endurance test for me … even being retired. Evening number one I was flying solo. Apparently it’s still difficult to get people with jobs out on a Monday night … even in an urban center like Columbus! But that’s okay. Being your own person alone is good for everyone once in a while, especially for a guy who’s been married for 38 years. It’s refreshing really.
    
Each night had 3 judges for the sketch troupes, with Garret Morris and Shadowbox Live’s very own Julie Klein serving every show. A guest judge sat in each of the other performances. Monday it was comic Justin Golak, Tuesday stand up comic Travis Hoewischer, and Wednesday Johnny DiLoretto of WCBE. Of course Stev Guyer emceed and also gave his 2 cents … well … actually it was more like a buck and a half.
    
The four troupes performing Monday were Chicago’s Pretty/Windy, The Feral Chihuahuas from Asheville, N.C., Cleveland’s Laughter League, and Thunderstood hailing from Greensboro, N.C. All were quite entertaining, with A.J. Schraeder (Thunderstood’s only member) stealing the show and receiving the only standing ovation of the entire three day festival.          
   
Unfortunately, the performances ran at least 40 minutes over time. I realized that once they cleared the hall, refilled it, and started the stand up event, I was committed to being there well past midnight. But Nikki Fagin took pity on me and let me hang out while Shadowbox members cleaned and prepped the room for the stand up show. And what an enlightening sight this was for me! Seemingly, every person in the theater troupe was moving chairs, wiping down tables, or sweeping the floor. Their intensity and sense of purpose was inspiring! It’s incredible how hard these Shadowbox folks work!
    
I stayed for about half of magician/comedian Michael Kent’s act. The guy is super. I had seen him perform before, and to be honest, I had to pace myself for two more evenings of this dense comedic revelry.
    
Tuesday night featured The Comic Thread (Chicago), Vest of Friends (Toronto), The Don’t We Boys (Grand Rapids, Mich.), and Jeremy (Chicago). My wife Yvonne accompanied me on this fine evening of laughter. The skits are always a little rough … and usually quite blue … raunchy at times … the first two nights of these festivals. But this year was a tad … a very tiny tad … more sophisticated. The audience voted for their favorite sketch from each group after each show on both Monday and Tuesday nights. Then on the final evening all the troupes presented a “polished” version of that chosen sketch.
    
This night didn’t run so much over…albeit still over. So I exited and re-entered with the new audience. I thoroughly enjoyed Nickey Winkelman’s oh so dirty but hilariously funny monologue. I also appreciated the acoustic guitar/punk rock/seminal humor of Hamell on Trial. Logistically, Tuesday went much smoother than Monday.
    
Wednesday was much more concise in presentation. I had this night, invited my buddy Matt to join in the festivities. Since it was the “finals” Stev Guyer left the commentary up to the 3 judges onstage. And it was a great show, embracing the best sketches of the entire festival. “Dick-tionary” by the Feral Chihuahuas took penis jokes to a new level. The Comic Thread’s “Braveheart” probably would have won the competition had Thunderstood not already sealed the deal Monday night. Thunderstood’s snippet on the final night was good, but not as genius as the entire presentation two nights earlier. The memory of that performance buoyed the shorter skit and Thunderstood, deservedly, took the festival’s top honors.
    
Matt was familiar with, and very positive about the comedy of Drew Hastings, who headlined the 2nd show. This was classic stand up at its best. Opener Justin Golak was also very funny.
    
So in the early hours of Thursday, July 19th I stumbled out of the Shadowbox Live performance space with a total accumulation of 14 … maybe 15 hours of sketch comedy and stand up (not to mention acoustic punk insanity) swimming around frantically in my head. While this was on most levels humor heaven for me, I soon realized the only other Brew Ha Ha experience I had in three days was one brewskie at World of Beers. (The world’s biggest BEER JOINT!) The comedy festival schedule was so tight ... and things ran over every night as well … that it left no room to meander up and down Front Street … to see local bands and taste micro brews … perhaps eat at a food truck.
    
The festival itself was a bit overblown. Maybe 2 preliminary nights of sketch comedy competition, then a night of stand up, followed by the culmination of the troupe contest would ease things up. Start at 7:30 and end around 10 so attendees can actually wander around downtown a bit. This would make the entire Brew Ha Ha festival much more serendipitous … and cosmopolitan.
    
The judging needs tweaking as well. As an audience member I certainly enjoy a comedy sketch that might go on too long more than listening to judges criticize troupes for doing so … and they themselves going on way too long saying so.  Johnny DiLoretto especially had a difficult time since he saw only the “polished” versions of skits … making his comments, through no fault of his, somewhat irrelevant by night three. And I love Garret Morris. But a couple of his meandering comments were WTF moments. As the “host troupe” it’s Shadowbox Live’s responsibility to instruct. At times the judges … with the notable exception of Julie Klein … can seem a bit didactic … and that can approach condescension. All of the visiting comedy troupes are excellent and I’m sure have many fans and supporters in their respective cities. Treat them like welcomed guests … the professionals that they are. Critique with class. 
    
All in all the 4th Annual Shadowbox Sketch Comedy Festival and Columbus Brew Ha Ha was a great success. And if it grows into an event the size and length troupe members have suggested (up to ten days) that will help make Columbus more than a place “where the Buckeyes play”.  But there will be growing pains. Loosen up the schedule and let those attending savor things as they happen. I mean … if people are going to go out on a “school night” in this Columbus, Ohio they need to be relaxed … smiling and laughing without missing anything that’s happening in this great city of ours.
    
Kudos Shadowbox Live! You are a real player in Columbus!