We have a terrific Valentine’s Day show for you upstairs at Monnik Beer Co.
The show features headliner Shanda Sung, a Bloomington, Ind., favorite and regular at the Comedy Attic, where she will be taping her first special this year.
Shanda has been featured at the Limestone Comedy Festival, the Milwaukee Comedy Festival and the Finger Lakes Comedy Festival.
Also on the show are Bloomington’s Erin Depke, and Lexington’s Dannielle Wornall and Kate Kremers.
Join us for a night of laughter, terrific craft beer and delicious food from Monnik.
Use Promo Code HEART to get $5 off while they last.
Join Louisville Laughs for a night of fun on our monthly Comedy Night at Gravely.
February’s show features Louisville favorites Lucious Williams, June Dempsey and Nathaniel Potts-Wells as well as Nashville comics Marianna Barksdale and Kate Carter.
Enjoy a night of laughter, great craft beer and the new burgers and more from Grub at Gravely.
Join Louisville Laughs on Sunday, Feb. 18 at TEN20 Craft Brewery in Butchertown for our New Comics Showcase.
We selected some of our favorite newer comics to showcase their best material, including Logan Dunbar, Sam Montgomery, Lynn Benson, Ben Stewart, Jon Lenz and James Song.
Then veteran comic Keith McGill will close out the show.
It will be a night of laughter, terrific craft beer and delicious food from MozzaPi.
Join us Thursday, Feb. 22, in the upstairs event space at Monnik Beer Co. for a special standup comedy show with two of the best comics in the region — Dwight Simmons and Mandee McKelvey.
Dwight’s debut comedy special, “Who’s The Master” debuted on YouTube on July of 2023. In that same year, he was selected to the 10,000 Laughs, Milwaukee, Flyover and West-End Comedy Festivals. He was listed as Indiana’s selection for Thrillist’s 50 Best Undiscovered Comics in the country.
Mandee was Kentucky’s selection for Thrillist’s 50 Best Undiscovered Comics in the country and recently recorded her one-woman show.
Eight of the top comics from the region will take the stage at The Caravan Louisville on this special Wednesday night show.
Comics include Sean Smith, Jake Hovis, Lena Beamish, Eric Kimbrough, Adam Minnick, RJ Ryan, Corbin LeMaster and host Creig Ewing. They will be performing their best material to submit to the Sirius XM comedy channels.
Come out for a night that promises to be a great time. Tickets just $5.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Jan. 31
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with guest host Bonita Elery and special guest Lucious Williams, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
10 p.m. — Stand & Deliver variety open mic, Kaiju. Signups at 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 14
7 p.m. — Romantics vs. Rebels (pledge allegiance to helping your queen win honor and glory in this hilarious farce full of comedy, music and interactivity), Planet of the Tapes. Tickets
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
7:30 p.m. –Sugarae’s Boom Boom Room presents: Open Mic Night (all-talent), Lynch Lane Bistro, Clarksville, IN. Free. Sign ups starting at 7 p.m.
10 p.m. — Comedy Attack open mic, Kaiju. Free. Show up and sign up starting at 9:30
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Sundays — Sugarae’s Boom Boom Room presents: Open Mic Night (all-talent), Lynch Lane Bistro, Clarksville, IN. Sign ups starting at 7 p.m.
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Tuesdays — Comedy open mic, 21st In Germantown. Show up and sign up. List out at 7:15 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Message Ehrin Dowdle with questions.
If you are a fan of Louisville comedy, you’ve probably heard of Creig Ewing or attended one of the many shows he produces.
Creig works hard to showcase the pool of talent in Louisville, Nashville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Bloomington and beyond. Creig has brought standup comedy to venues all over the city and this Thursday, he will be headlining Laughs at Mellwood, a brand new, monthly standup comedy showcase at The Mellwood Tavern.
He will be joined by local favorites Ehrin Dowdle, Bonita Elery, and Alex Grove. Seating is limited so get your tickets here!
Creig was kind enough to answer some questions. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Louisville Laughs: When did you start comedy and why?
Creig Ewing: I’ve been doing it about 6 years. I started comedy when I was in my 50s. I always wanted to do it, but was told it was hard so I put it off. I was an English major in college and I wanted to write comedy papers, but I was discouraged by professors.
I had some friends who did standup, but I never had the guts. Then I just decided, “Hey I’m gonna try it. I’m gonna write things out and see if it works.”
Louisville Laughs: So at first you wanted to just write? Or was standup always the goal?
Creig Ewing: At first I wanted to write comedy, and I was the sports editor at The Courier Journal and we had this page where we’d have smaller fun items, so I’d throw some funny things in there about UofL or UK without being too mean. I thought, ‘Well if I can do this, I can figure out standup. No one has cancelled their newspaper subscription because of my stupid jokes so far.’
Then I started posting my own humor on Facebook and Twitter and people encouraged me to take the stage and try standup.
Louisville Laughs: When did you start Louisville Laughs? What made you want to start producing your own shows?
Creig Ewing: I started it after about one year doing standup I put on a show at a Holiday Inn, and it didn’t seem too hard. It was harder than it looked. The first show I actually said the wrong name for the very first comic.
After that I joined Tim Northern and others to put on a festival here, and we started the company Louisville Is Funny. Unfortunately, it didn’t survive COVID so after bars and clubs started opening back up, I decided to start Louisville Laughs on my own.
Louisville Laughs: How have your comedy goals evolved since you started?
Creig Ewing: When I started, I just wanted to get three laughs in my first five minute set. Then I wanted to be able to host, then feature, and now the goal is to headline. I’m really doing more producing and booking shows than I am focusing on my being on stage.
I’ve kind of unintentionally made that shift. With the shows I put on, I try to give people a shot that are newer, or in between hosting and featuring, or in between featuring and headlining and give them a chance to develop so they can get more opportunities.
Louisville Laughs: You’re clearly one of the hardest workers in Louisville comedy. You throw these shows to help young comics develop, but comics can be very annoying. My question is why do you work so hard to help these terrible people?
Creig Ewing: You must be reading my posts. I like helping them and I see myself in a lot of them. I didn’t know anything when I started, and I thought I was George Carlin, but you get humbled quickly. People just need to learn, so I want to give them the opportunity to do so.
What’s frustrating to me is I think confidence on stage is the main thing that a comic needs, and you see people who are really funny, but you wish they could be more confident. Then you see other people on stage and think, “Why is this person so confident? They’re not funny!”
Louisville Laughs: Who are some of the people that helped you out when you were getting started?
Creig Ewing: Tim Northern let me help out running festivals and things. Eric Kimbrough closed out the first show I was on, and he does things so differently than I would so he’s a great source to see what he does because comedy isn’t just one thing.
Melissa Doran used to be here in town and I really love her attitude. She’s got a certain Jersey spirit that’s really fun to watch on stage. And I’ve worked a lot with Mandee McKelvey. She’ll sometimes reach out to connect other comics with me and I always take her suggestions seriously.
Keith McGill and I now do classes together, and he is great help to comics. I still use several of the suggestions he had for my jokes. If Keith is at a show, ask him before you go up for feedback and he’ll give it to you.
Louisville Laughs: Is there a joke you wish you had written?
Creig Ewing: For me, it’s less about the writing, but there are some people who’s confidence and attitude I really admire. I’ve seen Keith McGill come on when the crowd is just not receptive and do great. I wish I had his ability to just get a crowd totally on your side.
Louisville Laughs: Do your friends and family find you funny or do you save it for the stage?
Creig Ewing: That was the criteria that made me decide I could give standup a try, when I could finally make them laugh. Because for 50 years they did not laugh. So at first I would work things past them, but now I make them laugh all the time.
Louisville Laughs: What’s a piece of advice that made a difference in your comedy career?
Creig Ewing: Just getting up there and doing it. I think that you see people who get good quickly, and they’re the people who are constantly on stage. There are good joke writers who maybe only get on stage once per month and they develop more slowly. Constantly edit, edit, edit your jokes. Don’t use words that don’t serve the joke and always work to make a joke better.
Louisville Laughs: What keeps you excited about comedy in Louisville?
Creig Ewing: I think we have a really strong scene. We have all different types of comics and it’s amazing to me that we have four comedy clubs for a city this size. We have The Caravan Comedy Club, Planet of the Tapes, Louisville Comedy Club, and Laugh Louisville.
Louisville Laughs: We also have comedy coming back to The Mellwood Tavern! Thursday, January 25th get your tickets here! Have you done standup at The Mellwood Tavern before?
Creig Ewing: Yes, we used to have a great open mic at The Mellwood Tavern. They have a terrific setup in the downstairs area for shows. We’d actually routinely get told to quiet down because the upstairs used to be apartments. Now they’ve renovated the space and it’s called the Rendezvous Room with it’s own bar and it looks like a great place for a show.
Louisville Laughs: What is your goal with a Creig Ewing show? What do you want the audience to take away from the Creig Ewing experience?
Creig Ewing: I want them to think, “Dang, that Creig sure is funny. And he had a new joke! I wasn’t expecting that.”
I want people to see that we put together a good lineup of funny and diverse comics. Not just the same people you’d see somewhere else in town. I take pride in having lineup of diverse funny people from all over and comics that they might not have seen before.
Get your tickets before it’s too late. Doors open at 6pm so come get some friend chicken and a drink and be ready to have a good time!
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Jan. 24
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with guest host Lena Beamish and special guest Eric Kimbrough, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
10 p.m. — Stand & Deliver variety open mic, Kaiju. Signups at 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 14
7 p.m. — Romantics vs. Rebels (pledge allegiance to helping your queen win honor and glory in this hilarious farce full of comedy, music and interactivity), Planet of the Tapes. Tickets
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Tuesdays — Comedy open mic, 21st In Germantown. Show up and sign up. List out at 7:15 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Message Ehrin Dowdle with questions.
We have a terrific Valentine’s Day show for you upstairs at Monnik Beer Co.
The show features headliner Shanda Sung, a Bloomington, Ind., favorite and regular at the Comedy Attic, where she will be taping her first special this year.
Shanda has been featured at the Limestone Comedy Festival, the Milwaukee Comedy Festival and the Finger Lakes Comedy Festival.
Also on the show are Bloomington’s Erin Depke, and Lexington’s Dannielle Wornall and Kate Kremers.
Join us for a night of laughter, terrific craft beer and delicious food from Monnik.
Use Promo Code HEART to get $5 off while they last.
Join Louisville Laughs for a night of fun on our monthly Comedy Night at Gravely.
February’s show features Louisville favorites Lucious Williams, June Dempsey and Nathaniel Potts-Wells as well as Nashville comics Marianna Barksdale and Kate Carter.
Enjoy a night of laughter, great craft beer and burgers and more from Grub at Gravely.
Admission is free. Tickets ensure seating.
Enjoy a night of laughter, great craft beer and the new burgers and more from Grub at Gravely.
Join us Thursday, Feb. 22, in the upstairs event space at Monnik Beer Co. for a special standup comedy show with Dwight Simmons and Mandee McKelvey.
Dwight’s debut comedy special, “Who’s The Master” debuted on YouTube on July of 2023. In that same year, he was selected to the 10,000 Laughs, Milwaukee, Flyover and West-End Comedy Festivals. He was listed as Indiana’s selection for Thrillist’s 50 Best Undiscovered Comics in the country.
Mandee was Kentucky’s selection for Thrillist’s 50 Best Undiscovered Comics in the country and recently recorded her one-woman show.
Come for a night of laughter, terrific craft beer and delicious food from Monnik.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Jan. 17
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with guest host Brandy Norton and special guest Rick Gene, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
10 p.m. — Stand & Deliver variety open mic, Kaiju. Signups at 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 14
7 p.m. — Romantics vs. Rebels (pledge allegiance to helping your queen win honor and glory in this hilarious farce full of comedy, music and interactivity), Planet of the Tapes. Tickets
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Tuesdays — Comedy open mic, 21st In Germantown. Show up and sign up. List out at 7:15 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Message Ehrin Dowdle with questions.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
UPCOMING SHOWS AND OPEN MICS
Wednesday, Jan. 10
7:30 p.m. — Laughs In The Lounge Comedy Open Mic with guest host Nathan Alexander and special guest Dyke Michaels, The Caravan Louisville. TicketsTo sign up to perform, email CaravanOpenMic@gmail.com
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Tuesdays — Comedy open mic, 21st In Germantown. Show up and sign up. List out at 7:15 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Message Ehrin Dowdle with questions.
A list of the upcoming comedy shows and open mics in the Louisville area. If we missed your event, let us know. (Information on how to sign up for open mics at bottom).
3 p.m. — Louisville Laughs presents: How to Write Comedy class, Falls City Beer Taproom. Register here. Email LouisvilleLaughs2@gmail.com for more information
3 p.m. — Louisville Laughs presents: How to Emcee Comedy class, Falls City Beer Taproom. Register here. Email LouisvilleLaughs2@gmail.com for information
7 p.m. — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown. Free
TO SIGN UP FOR OPEN MICS
Sundays — Sunday Night, Live!, all-entertainment showcase with Uncool Randy, 21st In Germantown Message @UncoolRandy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter
Sundays — Comedy Attack! open mic, Kaiju. First Sunday of the month. Show up and sign up
Mondays — The Planet of the Tapes Monday Mic, Planet of the Tapes. Show starts at 8 p.m. To sign up, email planetofthetapesopenmic@gmail.com
Tuesdays — Comedy open mic, 21st In Germantown. Show up and sign up. List out at 7:15 p.m. Show at 8 p.m. Message Ehrin Dowdle with questions.
Louisville Laughs is kicking off 2024 by sponsoring the Caravan Comedy Contest at the Caravan Comedy Club. Sixty up-and-coming comics from across the region will compete over four nights, and the audience helps decide the winners.
Qualifying shows start Wednesday, Jan. 3, and go through Saturday, Jan. 6, at 7:30. The finals are Jan. 6 at 9:30 p.m.
Tickets are $17 for the qualifying rounds. Look for a Promo Code from your favorite contestant to save $2. Tickets for the finals are $20.
Join us Jan. 18 for our popular Comedy Night at Gravely Brewing Co.
January’s show features veteran Louisville comic Tim Northern as well as a trio of comics from Nashville — Ritu Tirthani, Taija Leftwich and Rhonda Sweat — plus Patrick Devine!
Enjoy a night of laughter, great craft beer and the new burgers and more from Grub at Gravely.
Invest in yourself in 2024. If stand-up comedy is something you’ve always dreamed of or want to do better, Louisville Laughs has classes to help you get going in the right direction.
The Comedy Writing class is geared toward newer comics and will help you find or refine material. This class is perfect before your first time on stage or the 100th time.
The Comedy Emceeing/Hosting class will help you learn the techniques to be a good host and be more comfortable on stage overall. Good hosts are always in demand.
Instructors Keith McGill and Bret Sohl have decades of experience teaching comedy. Classes are $75 each or both for $125.
Mandee McKelvey is headlining Planet of the Tapes for two shows this weekend. Indiana’s rising star, Tennah McDonald, will join Mandee as the feature act. Get your tickets here before they run out!
Mandee is truly one of the best comedians out there and has captured the hearts of audiences all over the country. She was recently named one of the 50 best undiscovered comics in the country by Thrillist magazine and has performed award-winning one-woman shows at festivals across the country.
Mandee has worked with juggernauts of the comedy world like Anthony Jeselnik, Whitney Cummings and Laurie Kilmartin. Earlier this year, she filmed her debut comedy special after being awarded a grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.
Mandee was kind enough to answer some questions for Louisville Laughs.
Louisville Laughs: Did you always know you were funny? Were you the funny one in the friend group? How easily were you able to translate your sense of humor to the stage?
Mandee McKelvey: “I was never funny. I wasn’t a funny person. I was anxious and regimented and obsessive and quiet and very sensitive. Very hard to imagine why I wanted to be a standup, but I’ve always known I did. I just had zero proof to back up that desire. I had no idea how to translate my sense of humor to stage. I just felt like I had to, so I began the long process of trying to figure it out.
“I have grown much slower than most of my peers. I was always interesting, but I wasn’t reliably funny for 10 years. But I never questioned that I would one day figure it out. My little comedy career has really been about never giving up. The tortoise wins the race.”
LL: Did you get your start in Louisville? How has the Louisville scene and the Midwest in general influenced your comedy journey?
Mandee: “I did. My first open mic was on May 30, 2006, at The Comedy Caravan (now The Caravan). That club was one of the gold standards, but I wasn’t ready for the “scene.” There were no other dedicated comedy venues in the city at that time. There was one open mic per month. 20 spots. 3 minutes each.
“Every month I found myself the only girl. If another girl showed up for the mic, the guy comics would make jokes about us being in competition for the “girl spot.” A respected working comic saw me absolutely drowning in that environment and put me in contact with a fantastic weekly mic in Indianapolis and also one in Dayton. Once I started traveling and doing frequent mics I started to feel hopeful. A nice comic in Dayton gave me my first paid hosting gig.
“Being a midwestern road comic is a wonderful skill to develop. You are rarely performing in an echo chamber of like-minded people. You are often performing for people who have, at best, differing view points, and, at worst, deep disdain for you.
“Learning how to make people who don’t like you laugh is such an incredible feeling. Lots of people are hilarious when you agree with them or when you have a lot in common. Laughing at someone you don’t like is magical. I feel like working the road without a name or a following has made me so confident in my skill. I never worry anymore.”
You have a unique style to your writing that keeps the audience laughing with joke-dense sets, while also allowing you to perform longer stories that have people on the edge of their seat. Is this always how you’ve approached comedy? Or has your style evolved over the years?
“LOL, yes, not by design but by necessity. I am such a long-winded storyteller and a lot of new comics get big criticism for stories with no punchlines. I was the same exact way when I started. But I also knew I was never gonna stop being like that so my challenge was always how to get laughs all throughout my stories.
“If it gets enough laughs throughout, I’ll use it for standup. If it has longer pauses of laughter in it but I really like it, I’ll take it to fringe shows and give it a theatrical twist.”
You shot your debut comedy special last month. Congratulations! What was that process like? How was it different from preparing for a regular headlining weekend at a comedy club?
“Thank you! I don’t think the two can compare. Working a club is kinda loosy goosy. You are trying to figure out your audience and draw on your experience to give them the best show possible. Filming a special is like, you better make sure that everything is structured and worded exactly the way you want it cause that’s how it’s gonna sound forever.
“I think it was very different from everything I’ve ever experienced because I had a producer, named Jessica, who was this driving force making it all happen. She saw my show, approached me about raising money to film it, raised the money, selected the crew, directed everything, planned the event, got the people there, and the list goes on.
“I don’t mean to be a negative person, but comedy has taught me to wait til the other shoe drops. People talk big but you never know who you can trust. So during this entire yearlong process, I kept waiting on it all to fall apart. I kept thinking that it could never possibly all work out. But I got my first look at some footage last night and I’m speechless.
“This woman actually captured my dream on film. It looks beautiful. It sounds beautiful. And I was my best self up there. I was up there in a room packed with friends and I was churning them for 90 minutes. No matter what happens in my life after this, I now have this little piece of art that only I could make and anyone who wants to see it … can.“
What’s a piece of advice you’ve been given that has made a difference in your comedy career?
“My favorite comic told me early on that I should never believe any of the criticism I get but that I should also never believe any of the praise. I thought that was so harsh at the time but now it makes perfect sense. Letting the highs and the lows affect you is a recipe for pain and burnout.
“Comedy is made up of the continuous experience of being the most loved person in the world one day and being an embarrassment to the artform the next day. You have to learn how to regulate your own emotions and your own sense of identity if you don’t want to be driven mad.”
Do you have a comedy horror story you’re willing to share?
“I’m a female road comic so that’s a real choose-your-own-adventure. I could tell you about the bombing and the heckling. I could tell you about the sketchiest, dirtiest and scariest rooms, hotels, ad comedy condos. I could tell you about the clubs that don’t pay, or reduce your pay when you get there, or make you fight for weeks to get paid.
“I could tell you about which comics really need to have a talk with their wives instead of trying to get female comics and waitstaff to look at their wieners. I could tell you which door guys at which clubs make me feel super safe and which door guys will actually create a distraction to help a creepy guy catch up to you in a dark parking lot. And I could tell you about all of the drunk audience members who feel very inclined to touch me after a show.
“But one I love to tell is about how I jumped out of a window into a shrub to get away from a booker who was yelling at me. He was an old-school booker, absolutely beloved by old male comics, and he decided that he was gonna “teach me a lesson” after a set didn’t go well. He backed me into a corner and yelled at me until I cried so hard it soaked through my shirt.
“When I tried to get away, he grabbed my arm. But the audience was staring at us so I ran to the bathroom and hid. I felt like a caged animal. I opened the window and saw the parking lot so without much debate, I jumped out. I drove home. It was never discussed, and he booked me like seven more times after that.
“People think that is so nuts, but that’s how comedy used to be. There was no HR department to talk to or anything. You either take the gig or you don’t.”
What is your favorite show you’ve done so far?
“It would be easy to say that my special I just filmed was my favorite because nothing can really compare to being the center of the universe like that. But as far as unexpected surprise wins go, I was recently asked to be a headliner for the first Middleground Comedy Festival. I was honored because the scene in Indy has always been so good to me.
“I knew it would be fun. I knew it would be a wonderful weekend. But something different happened when I was up there. I just sorta got in the pocket where I wasn’t “performing” at all. I was just flowing and being myself and everyone just jumped on my back and rode along with me. It’s the least amount of “trying” I’ve ever done. It was just a perfect storm of feeling amazing, being funny and connecting with a crowd. I will chase that feeling forever.”
In addition to standup, you also act, performing acclaimed one-woman shows at fringe festivals all over the country, and produce the hit show Character Assassination roasts of fictional and historical figures. How do these other creative endeavors inform or influence your standup?
“It’s all the same thing. It’s me wanting to do and say all of these different things and then trying to find homes for them all. Standup is the base, the foundation. Acting is great for a little while because you don’t have to write and you get to be a different person, but you always end up missing being able to say whatever you wanna say.
“One-Woman shows are pure freedom. They can be laughs, laughs, laughs, and then suddenly be sad or quiet or mad or nervous. Roasts are an incredible exercise for getting out of your own skin and trying on different points of view. All of that stuff makes you a better writer and performer.”
What do you set out to achieve in a standup show? What do you want the audience to take away from the Mandee McKelvey experience?
“I love when something a performer says or does becomes a part of my daily life, or affects the way I think about a subject, or becomes an inside joke between me and a friend. I remember standup bits from when I was 5. I think that would be the greatest thing I could accomplish, to become a part of people’s lives by inserting my dumb little art into their memories.”
