‘Nobodies of Comedy’ brings brightest new comics to Pantages March 22

By Matt Nagle

Tacoma Weekly
mattnagle@tacomaweekly.com
Published on: March 20, 2008

Four of the brightest up-and-coming stars of stand-up comedy will be performing March 22 at Pantages Theater in a show appropriately titled “Nobodies of Comedy.” While they haven’t yet reached the status of being household names, they’re well on their way, having appeared at every major comedy club in the country, as well as “The Tonight Show” and Comedy Central, among others. They’re “the funniest comics you’ve never heard of” but well worth seeing live and in person.

JON FISCH

Taking a comedy workshop in his native Boston prompted Jon Fisch to move to New York City and pursue his stand-up career. “The final exam was to do minutes in front of a real crowd. I got hooked,” he said. From there he started going to open mics and performing at every show he could, including Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and “Last Comic Standing 4” on NBC, where he was picked as the New York City Capital One Audience Favorite. Today he tours the country making appearances at theaters, clubs, colleges and corporate events. He does stand-up six nights a week and is currently working on a new weekly Internet comedy advice project.

His material focuses on the idiosyncrasies of city living. “I talk a lot about relationships and being single in New York City,” he said, as well as therapy, gym classes and living on top of other people. He’s excited to bring his act to a new venue at the Pantages to appear with his fellow “nobodies.”

“I’ve worked with all these guys and I’m excited to see them in action. You can’t beat live comedy for a night out. TV doesn’t do it justice – stand-up is best live.”

DAN LEVY

In 2001, Dan Levy was chosen to compete in HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival where he won the title of “Funniest College Comedian in America.” Since then Levy has been seen in the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival and has made TV appearances on Comedy Central’s “Premium Blend” and “The Andy Dick Show,” among others.

He co-starred in the feature film “My Sexiest Year” with Frankie Muniz and Harvey Keitel (due out this summer) as well as the movie “House Bunny,” produced by Adam Sandler and slated to hit theaters this fall. He most recently came back from hosting MTV Spring Break that will air March 29 on MTV. Levy is also the host of College Humor Live’s comedy tour and just wrapped up shooting a web series for SONY television based on a portion of his act.

Levy sees humor in everything. “Most of the time some sort of weird thing happens to me and then I write it down, talk about it onstage, see if it works and then keep it. I love stand-up comedy because it’s instant gratification – you know right away if a joke is funny or not.”

DAVID HUNTSBERGER

David Huntsberger never forgot the time his eighth-grade teacher told his mom he should be a comedian. He started doing stand-up in San Diego after he got his degree in civil engineering from Colorado State. “I didn’t want to have a real job,” he said. After his first open mic experience he kept going back for more, “and I haven’t really taken a significant break from it since the day I started.”

Huntsberger could be called the thinking man’s comedian. His humor comes from mining the creative regions of his brain. “I like the idea of creating something, to think of something no one else has thought of and make it funny, which is hard to do. It’s easy to make a story about pooping your pants funny, or a midget wedding, but to make something interesting funny is a little more difficult. That’s the kind of comedy that has always appealed to me.”

When he’s not traveling around the country doing stand-up, Huntsberger draws comics. There’s a hilarious selection of his single-panel comics on his website, www.davidhuntsberger.com, and he’s now working on a new comic book and a few animation ideas.

JAMIE LISSOW

Jamie Lissow stepped onstage for the first time in 1996 for a stand-up comedy contest in Niagara Falls, Canada. In 2001 he was named “Best New Face of Comedy” at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, earning him praise in Variety Magazine and Hollywood Reporter. That same year he appeared on the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and later, “The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.” He’s been the national touring headliner at more than 500 colleges, comedy clubs and theaters around the country, and has done film and radio as well. Check out his website at www.jamielissow.com for a YouTube clip of his newest project, a series of short news update videos called “This Will Only Take a Minute.”