Upcoming Comedy Events
Leslie and the LYs - Iowa Women's Festival Kickoff!
Date: Thursday, September 16
Time: 8:00 pm
Location: The Englert Theatre
Address: 221 E. Washington St.
The Englert joins forces with the Iowa Women's Music Festival to kick-off this year's event with an awesome show featuring Leslie & the LY's, Bitch, and Caroline Smith & the Goodnight Sleeps!
Leslie & the LY's, led by Leslie Hall (Mother Gem), are an Ames glam/dance band. They recently returned from a highly successful US tour which saw them crisscrossing the country with their wild and energetic live show. Always a must-see event, Leslie and the LY's return to the Iowa Women's Music Festival to get the weekend started right.
Bitch's musical journey has taken her from classical-violin training in the suburbs to experimental flicks in NYC. After leaving the outskirts of Detroit for the artier charms of Chicago—Bitch's unconventional and outspoken approach to performance caught the attention of a number of indie luminaries. She took fiddling lessons with Andrew Bird, serendipitously stumbled upon future co-conspirator, Animal at acting school, moved to New York to make their own 'theater' (Bitch and Animal) and recorded and toured with Ani DiFranco (who released Bitch and Animal's records on Righteous Babe). Bitch's out-of-the-ordinary message has resonated with a generation of gender non-conformists, attracting the likes of New York theater legend John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), who tapped her star power for his Cannes Fest favorite, Shortbus. She went on to release her first solo album on the legendary Kill Rock Stars label, entitled Make This/Break This. Bitch's latest record, Blasted! (release date spring 2010), is an outgrowth of her creative spirit, a real labor of love and her strongest solo album to date.
The striking Caroline Smith and her Goodnight Sleeps have gained much momentum behind their sharp songwriting and tight dynamics. The hook is Caroline Smith's impressive voice and the anchor is the strength of her nuanced band mates. Their debut record Backyard Tent Set is an underrated indie-pop gem.
Pauly Shore
Date: Sunday, November 14
Time: 8:00 pm
Location: The Englert Theatre
Address: 221 E. Washington St.
Tickets:
$25 General Admission
$20 Students
An entertainment career was virtually pre-ordained for Paul Montgomery Shore. At age 4, he sat on the lap of The King himself in the company of his father, comedian Sammy Shore, who opened for Elvis during the early '70s. Around the same time, Pauly's mother, Mitzi, and father opened The Comedy Store on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, giving their son the rare opportunity to hang out and be inspired by such rising talents as Robin Williams, David Letterman and the late Sam Kinison, who became his mentor. At 17, Pauly began writing and performing his own material, creating the persona of "The Weasel," a character that quickly appealed to young audiences. While playing small roles in such movies as 18 Again and Phantom of the Mall, Pauly honed his comedy routine to a frenetic level, gaining the attention of MTV, which, in 1990, gave him his own show, "Totally Pauly." Pauly rose to national attention during a strong four-year run on MTV, also revealing his comedy chops on the 1993 HBO special "Pauly Does Dallas." His initial success on television led to a three-movie deal with Disney, beginning with the box-office hit Encino Man, co-starring Sean Astin and Brendan Fraser.
Pauly followed up Encino Man with the comedies Son-in-Law, In the Army Now, Jury Duty and Bio-Dome. In 1997, FOX cast him as the freeloading son of a wealthy businessman in the sitcom "Pauly," which unfortunately lasted only six episodes.
Shore's first comedy album, "The Future of America", was named Best Comedy Album by the College Music Journalists, while his second album, "Scraps from the Future", earned a Best Comedy Album nomination from The National Association of Record Merchandisers. He followed those up with "Pink Diggly Diggly" and "Hollywood, We Have a Problem".
In 2003, Pauly produced, wrote, directed and starred in the critically acclaimed, Pauly Shore Is Dead, a semi-autobiographical mockumentary in which he satirizes the perils of Hollywood. In the film, Pauly loses everything and decides to fake his death in a quest for post-mortem adulation. He called in a lot of favors to get the project made and managed to wrangle big-star cameos from the likes of Sean Penn, Whoopi Goldberg, Ellen DeGeneres, Dr. Dre, Clint Howard, Perry Farrell, Fred Durst, Verne Troyer, Andy Dick, Mark McGrath, Jerry Springer, Montel Williams, Sally Jessy Raphael, Kurt Loder and Paris Hilton, to name a few.
Next, Pauly returned to TV in the TBS reality series “Minding the Store” which he produced as well as starred in. This was followed by a notable recurring part, as himself, on the hit HBO series, Entourage. He also starred in the soon to be released studio movie Opposite Day.
Pauly once again stepped into the producer, director and star roles with the sketch comedy movie “Natural Born Komics”, for which Pauly received the 2008 Entertainer of the Year Award from the Entertainment Merchants Association. In 2008 Pauly also expanded into the worlds of cyberspace and journalism with the Ripe TV VOD series “Pauly Shore’s America” in which Pauly explores various news stories with his own unique and irreverent style. For his first assignment Pauly went to Texas to cover the polygamist scandal.
Currently Pauly continues to tour the world with his stand-up comedy and is finishing his latest movie, Adopted, as producer, director and star. In Adopted Pauly satirizes the phenomenon of celebrity adoptions as he travels to Africa to adopt an African baby. Pauly is also preparing to produce and direct his next movie, “Pauly Shore's Hollywood Boot Camp - Bimbo to Bombshell in 30 days”.
