A night at The Comedy Store, with host Brandon Christy and comics Ian Edwards, Sarah Tiana, Michael Kosta, Fahim Anwar, and Freddy Lockhart.
Race, relationships, and more -- Off-Ramp at The Comedy Store
This was not your typical public radio night. In July 2011, we asked five comics at The Comedy Store to limit the F-bombs, and not get too graphic if they talked about s-e-x, but otherwise not to hold back when we taped a special show there. Here are the results, moderated by Brandon Christy. Special thanks to the comics -- Fahim Anwar, Sarah Tiana, Michael Kosta, Freddy Lockhart, and Ian Edwards -- plus producer Todd Whitman, Alf Lamont, and The Comedy Store.
Brandon Christy explains Off-Ramp at the Comedy Store
For the Thanksgiving weekend, Off-Ramp presents a night at The Comedy Store, taped this summer before a live audience at LA's oldest comedy club and springboard for Jim Carrey, David Letterman, and many others. The show features 5 of the brightest stand-up comedians around -- Fahim Anwar, Sarah Tiana, Michael Kosta, Freddy Lockhart, and Ian Edwards -- and takes you inside the world of the comedy club, including a freewheeling roundtable discussion about the art of stand-up. Your host for the evening is the affable and British Brandon Christy, who here talks with Off-Ramp host John Rabe about the evening.
(Note: there is a two-drink minimum for this edition of Off-Ramp.)
Did John Lennon predict his own death?
John Lennon was killed December 8, 1980. September 6, 1964, at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, Lennon foreshadowed his death. This report by KPCC's John Rabe features exclusive sound from a news conference held between concerts and recorded by WT Rabe, John's father.
"Can we keep the noise level down just a little?" the Beatles' press officer Derek Taylor asks.
The Beatles had two weeks left on their American tour and had doubtless been asked the same questions a million times -- about their hair (they didn’t grow it out to make a fashion statement), about the screaming girls (they’re flattered), about the deeper meaning of their songs (there isn’t one).
They answer politely, and when it comes to music, plug their favorite groups, and even get in a few pointed political comments, singling out the Motown and Tamla labels, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, and the "dirty" segregation of blacks at some concerts.
Someone asks, “Who keeps track of all the money you’re making?”
The Beatles answer, "Clever accountants."
Reporter: "Who keeps track of the accountants?"
The Beatles (in unison): "The police."
The last exchange is chilling.
Derek Taylor (repeating a question from a reporter): "Is it true they’re leaving show business in a year?"
John Lennon: "No."
Uniknown Beatle: "Not as far as we know, anyway."
John Lennon: "Unless we get shot or something."