Assuming that no mishaps befall the skydiving show she’s organizing this week, comedian Tamale Sepp will headline The Estrogen Hour comedy benefit at Laff’s Comedy Club at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Feb. 4.
The more-or-less biennial Estrogen Hour raises money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. This weekend’s edition, dubbed “Nifty Fifty,” celebrates more than $50,000 the event has raised in its first decade.
Admission is via a $15 donation. Mary Steed, who co-organizes the show with comedian Nancy Stanley, cautioned that recent shows have sold out. Sometimes, though, she said, whole parties need to drop out, so she encourages people to email reservation requests via msmary217@aol.com.
Stanley hosts the show, which traditionally features a “Comedy Virgin,” a prominent community member who is performing comedy for the first time. This show’s feature is Sylvia Lett, Associate Clinical Professor of Legal Writing at the UA College of Law.
Rounding out the bill are longtime Tucson favorite, Roxy Merrari, frequent local-comedy host Autumn Horvat, former police officer Tracy A. Wood, musical comedian Jamie Anderson, Nicole Riesgo, Jamie Anderson and Jennie Bennett.
Alas, Sepp has no plans to incorporate her fire dancing skills into her set. She may, however, arrive on a motorcycle with her three spaniels in tow. She makes no small splash, whatever the environment.
An Arizona native, she is a cast member and teaches virtual courses with Chicago’s storied Second City improv Company. She also tours constantly, performing all over in shows and expositions involving each of her multiple talents. She regularly performs standup at The Laugh Factory, the Zanie’s Comedy Clubs and local and national showcases and festivals in the U.S and Europe. A graduate of I.O. Chicago and Annoyance Theater, she also teaches standup, writing and storytelling classes online via her own brasschucklescomedy.com.
In the weeks following The Estrogen Hour, Sepp has two more Tucson shows booked before heading out again around the country with her live-in van, motorcycle and three spaniels.
Sepp has just concluded an in-person standup comedy class in Tucson. With longtime friend and fellow Estrogen Hour performer Nicole Riesgo, she’s booked shows into two northwest-side venues new to comedy.
She’ll headline “Brass Chuckles Comedy” at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 at Button Brew House, 6800 N. Camino Martin, Ste. 160, Tucson. The free show will feature Connor Hanna, Morgan Kuehn, Stephanie Lyonga-Farrington and the exceptionally funny but rarely seen Charles Ludwig. The “show room” is an outdoor patio, so Sepp suggested that guests dress accordingly.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 11, Sepp will headline “Rear Naked Jokes,” a free show hosted by Kenny Shade at Hydra Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, 16647 N. Oracle Road, Ste. B, Tucson. Local comedians will perform a set, then try out jiu-jitsu for the first time. Adrian Ochoa-Gomez, Anthony Jenkins and Nicole Riesgo round out the bill.
Anyone interested in taking virtual standup and improv courses with Sepp can find three new ones on the Brass Chuckles Comedy page at www.eventbrite.com.
Meanwhile, Sepp said, “I am stoked to get back on the road to work on my upcoming album, ‘Life Behind Bars.’ It’s a comedy album about living life on a motorcycle.”
Anthony Jeselnik: “Bones and All”
Anthony Jeselnik made his name on a podcast with his decades-long best-friend, NFL Network analyst Gregg Rosenthal. Their “Jeselnik & Rosenthal Vanity Project” ended a year ago after 193 episodes, when Jeselnik hit the road with his standup show. He’s been selling out sizable venues across the country ever since.
Fans of the podcast won’t be surprised to see the “mature audiences only” suggestion in his show’s promotional materials. The “Vanity Project” podcast riffed on news, events and real time interactions around things dismal, grisly, audacious, vulgar, insulting and salacious. Jeselnik’s current comedy leans toward insults, non-sequiturs and dark comedy. His affect has been referred to as arrogant and “psychopathic.” The laughs just keep on coming.
A long-time writer for Comedy Central, Jeselnik moved to the stage on the channel’s 2011 roast of Donald Trump. Soon he began branching out, making a name for himself on his own Comedy Central shows, “Good Talk’ and “The Jeselnik Offensive.” His Netflix specials were serial hits and drew widespread critical acclaim for his most recent standup special, “Fire in the Maternity Ward.” He promises all new material on the current tour.
Diamond Center, Desert Diamond Casino, 1100 W. Pima Mine Road, Sahuarita, ddcaz.com, 8 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3, tickets start at $40, suggested for mature audiences
Other Shows This Week
Fox Tucson Theatre, 17 W. Congress Street, Tucson, foxtucson.com, 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 4, tickets start at $20, Brad Williams.
Laff’s Comedy Caffe, 2900 E. Broadway Boulevard, Tucson, www.laffstucson.com, 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, and 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, $15, $20 preferred seating; Jeff Shaw identifies as a “Manly Girly Man,”and his Dry Bar Comedy Special of that name has won more than 10 million views.
Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Comedy Theatre, 414 E. 9th Street, Tucson, $10, 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 3, “Laughing Liberally, a Political Comedy Show,” Dave Margolis & Phil Gordon host the Policy Punchlines improv and sketch ensembles and standup comedians Stephanie Lyonga and Roy Lee Reynolds.
Tucson Improv Movement/TIM Comedy Theatre, Other shows, 414 E. Ninth Street, tucsonimprov.com, prices vary from $5 to $9, free jam. 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 1, “Cage Match;” 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1, Improv Jam; 7:30 p.m. “The Soapbox” with Ashley Stewart; 9 p.m. Standup Comedy; 11:00 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, “Pretendy Time: A Comedy Show for Kids and Families;” 7:30 p.m. “Laughing Liberally;” 9 p.m. “The Dating Scene”
Unscrewed Theater, 4500 E. Speedway Boulevard, Tucson,
unscrewedtheatre.org, $8, live or remote, $5 kids, 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, From the Top Musical Improv; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 3, Not Burnt Out Just Unscrewed (NBOJU); 9 p.m. The Backyard Improv Playground.
