On Saturday November 1st (the weekend before the Presidential Election) The People’s Republic of Komedy (PROK) will present a night of political humor at the Jewel Box Theater in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood.

“Vote or Cry” will feature some of the Northwest’s best political comics, along with short films and political sketch comedy. Besides putting on a great show, producers hope to encourage their mostly 20-something audience to get out and vote, since many of them will be doing it for the first time.

“Some of our fans don’t even remember 2000,” says writer/comedian Paul Merrill, the organizer of the event. “I do. A lot of people thought Al Gore had it in the bag. Obviously, it didn’t work out that way. We need to get as many people to the polls as possible.”

In addition to the Jewel Box show, PROK will also be hosting a special Election Eve edition of their popular late night Ballard show, Lo-Ball, on Monday November 3rd at 8pm at Live Girls! Theater.

Merrill hopes the shows will give people a little relief from the long, tense campaign.

“It’s been a brutal election year. A lot of people are freaked out right now. I’m freaked out. I’m hoping these shows can have some therapeutic value, both for the audience and myself.”

PROK presents “Vote or Cry” Saturday November 1st at 7pm at the Jewel Box Theater (2322 2nd Ave in Belltown / www.jewelboxtheater.com) and “Lo-Ball Election Eve Special” Monday November 3rd at 8pm at Live Girls! Theater (2220 Market Street - Lower Level - Next to the Great Harvest Bakery in Ballard / www.ballardcomedy.com). 

Shhhh! It’s a SECRET!

This weekend, some of the best comedians in America are coming to Bumbershoot. Since the festival has dropped Friday from their schedule, however, many of the comics are coming in early and doing shows elsewhere, like at Lo-Ball, the Local Ballard Comedy Show, this Friday at 11pm.

Due to non-compete clauses in their contracts, none of the artists performing at Bumbershoot can advertise other shows they are doing in town. We can, however, tell you that several national acts are scheduled to drop by Lo-Ball and perform in the intimate confines of Live Girls! Theater. (Due to the low seating capacity of the theater, we suggest people show up early to get a seat.)

For more information, go to www.ballardcomedy.com or www.prokomedy.org., and be sure to catch our comedy stage at Bumbershoot this year at the Vera Project.

Lo-Ball! The Local Ballard Comedy Show
Every Friday Night!
All-ages / $5 / Doors open at 10:30pm
Live Girls! Theater
2220 Market Street (Lower Level)
Ballard
www.ballardcomedy.com

Lo-Ball returned to its temporary home in Bergen Place Park Friday night. After their former venue, Mr. Spot’s Chai House, decided they didn’t want to do comedy anymore, Lo-Ball was forced to the streets (or in this case, the park next door). This stinging rebuke turned into a stroke of luck, however, as they’ve been pulling  bigger crowds than ever, while the Chai House has been largely empty.

Friday’s show, hosted by Ron Placcone, included local talent Travis Vogt, Kevin Hyder, and Lizzy Pilcher. 

This is where the magic will happen tonight. Except it will be dark. And full of hobos.

 In case you missed it, LO-BALL had an exciting show last week. You can read about it in Paul Merrill’s blog and The Stranger

Needless to say, we don’t have a home anymore for Lo-Ball, our favorite free, all-ages, comedy workshop/open-mic.

Is that going to stop us?

HELL NO!

We’re taking it to the streets, people! Or, in our case, we’re taking Lo-Ball to the Bergen Place Park, the little “cement garden” next to the Chai House, on the corner on Market and Leary.

Last week’s show was one of the greatest nights we’ve ever had in comedy, so be sure to drop by tonight at 9pm. Drinks are on Paul . . . as long as they aren’t from the Chai House!

On Friday night, a PROK comedian took an entire audience outside with him to protest poor treatment from a club and performed the rest of the show in a nearby park.

Lo-Ball (The Local Ballard Comedy Show) had been a staple of the Seattle comedy scene for the past two years, bringing in big crowds to Mr. Spot’s Chai House in Ballard to see a mix of amateur and professional comedians try out new material. Produced by the People’s Republic of Komedy (who will be hosting their own stage at Bumbershoot this year) the show had been featured in the Seattle Times, The Seattle Weekly, The Stranger and Seattle Magazine.

Six months ago, however, a new booker was brought into the Chai House who clearly had no love for comedy. Shows were being booked at odd times or suddenly canceled at the last moment. Soon the crowds, who never knew when to show up anymore, stopped coming. Last Friday, two hours before the show, the Chai House sent a MySpace message to Paul Merrill, the producer of Lo-Ball, informing him that they no longer wanted comedy at their shop.

After two years of bringing packed houses to the Chai House every Friday night for no compensation (the show was always free and all-ages), Lo-Ball was history.

Instead of going out with a whimper, however, Merrill decided to show the Chai House what they’d be missing. At the start of the show, he asked everyone in the audience who had come to see comedy to stand-up. All of the 20-30 people in the crowd stood up. He then announced that they’d be moving the show outside. The entire crowd then followed Merrill outside to nearby Bergen Place Park, where they preceded to put on a comedy show to a loyal (and shivering) audience.

Over the course of the show, the crowd grew as curious passersby stopped to enjoy the free entertainment. After the comedians finished, Merrill offered to buy everyone a drink—provided it wasn’t at the Chai House.