The lighter side of Angie – Boston Comedy Scene Examiner

With increasing traffic to this site (thank you, thank you), I thought I’d take a moment to remind, or let you know for the first time, about my other gig as the Boston Comedy Scene Examiner.

Here you’ll find all of the latest news on all things comedy in Beantown, including shows, contests, professional opportunities and in-depth interviews with some of your favorite comics. You can also follow the Boston Comedy Scene Examiner on Twitter or on Facebook!

So stop by, take a look, and get to know the lighter side of Boston.

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The lighter side of Angie – Boston Comedy Scene Examiner

Boston honors the life of Kevin Knox

On Sunday, November 29, Boston will celebrate the life of local comedy legend Kevin Knox in a special memorial at the Collins Center for the Performing Arts in Andover. Knox passed away earlier this month at…

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Boston honors the life of Kevin Knox

Pickin’ Brains: Inside the Head of Lamont Price

UPDATE: Congratulations to Lamont Price on WINNING the NY Underground Comedy Festival’s Emerging Comics Contest!!!

On October 2^nd, New York City kicks off its 2009 Underground Comedy Festival featuring some of comedy’s best and brightest performers from all over the world.  Now in its sixth year, the festival has featured over a thousand comics, ranging from Chris Rock to 2007 Emerging Comic’s Contest winner Josh Homer.  The festival event went international in 2007, with shows taking place in China and South Africa.

Well, this year, the competition just got a lot fiercer.

I recently sat down with Lamont Price, recently inducted into this year’s Emerging Comic’s Contest.  Price, a Boston native, rose to prominence on the Boston scene before expanding his comedy portfolio to New York City. Don’t let the title fool you, however – Price has been in the game since the tender age of seventeen, after a friend turned him on to a comedy class at Boston Center for Adult Education.   Having dreamed of being a comic since he was twelve, the class provided Price with his first opportunity to perform for an audience on February 27, 1997, where he performed with Rick Jenkins.

“The night the earth stood still,” Price reflects.

Since then, Price has grown to become a staple in the Boston comedy scene, having shared the stage with talents such as Dane Cook, Pablo Francisco, Patrice O’Neal, Tommy Davidson and John Witherspoon.  But Boston hasn’t always been the easiest city for Price, who has often found race to add some disparity in his career.

“It’s a segregated city, man,” Price explains. “You’ve got Dorchester, Southie, Roslindale…Somerville, Cambridge. It’s like, everywhere you go – you’re here, we’re here, they’re there.”

More than familiar in the NYC comedy scene, Price has performed at Stand-Up New York, Gotham Comedy Club, and NY Comedy Club, and finds the city to be far more race-neutral than his hometown.

“Sometimes I’ll get asked to do a show, and it’s…specific – it’s the urban show,” Price says. “And while it’s work, I mean, come on, man – you see me as that dude, really?  You do a show in New York, and everybody’s just doing a show. There might be a black guy hosting, but, so what? There’s no specifics about it – he’s just a comedian.”

Price’s recent success at the 2009 Boston International Comedy and Movie Festival should certainly help break that subtle barrier. Competing against almost one-hundred other uber-talented comics, Price finished in third place, sharing the spotlight with winner Dave McDonough and runner-up Kelly MacFarland.   While a newcomer to the contest itself, Price has been performing in the annual festival for years.

“I will admit that I’m a bit stubborn at times, and I don’t do well in contests,” claimed Price, who admits to having a bit of an ego.  “That ego told me, Lamont – fuck contests…but I’m over that now.  You can’t really judge comedy; it’s totally subjective. This year, I entered – finally – and I came in third, had a great time.  Dave McDonough who won – awesome job, very funny comic; Kelly Macfarland, second, and everyone else – awesome.  It’s more about being seen than it is about actually winning the whole shebang.”

Coming in third certainly doesn’t hurt, though. Neither does having a feature film credit.

Not just a master of the microphone, Price was cast in the 2004 feature Overserved, which was directed by Joseph Gatto and followed the tale of two bartenders, insane customers, dwarfs with attitudes, psychotic ex-girlfriends, and lots of booze.  The film debuted at the 2004 Boston International Comedy and Movie Festival, where it won the coveted title of Best Feature Film, along with taking home a Bunny award at the 2004 Boston Underground Film Festival.

In 2006, Price had the opportunity to work along side director Topper Carew (“Martin”, “Talkin’ Dirty After Dark”)  after being approached by Carew in Los Angeles.  Price was cast as street poet ‘Jellybean’ in the guerilla film Facedance, a mockumentary film which pokes fun at the American Idol-style of stage auditioning in its hilarious tale of a face-dancing competition.  Carew’s film expertise allowed Price to see a whole new, slightly funnier side of him.

“It’s one of the few times where I got to see myself funnier than I was, because of how Topper cut the movie.  I was watching in and was like, I had no idea I could be that funny!”

Price explains, in describing his experience with Carew. This past spring, Price furthered his acting experience by working with Kevin Bright (“Friends”, “In Living Color”) on a sitcom project, in which Price portrayed a rapper.

“I play a black guy…who likes to rap,” Price laughs.  “I played a rapper.”

But big-screen stardom hasn’t quite gone to his head…yet.  I asked Price about Rude Boyz Productions, a group of comics that he’s been associated with going on seven years and who share the same edgy and laid-back brand of humor.

“We’re just a group of cats who don’t give a fuuuuck……we just…roll with it,” he laughed.  “We don’t like rules.  I mean, what the hell’s a comedy club with rules? I just wanna do shit…can I just talk? Give me the microphone and let me talk!”

That attitude is clearly conveyed in the advice Price has for aspiring comics.

“Don’t listen to anybody,” he suggests. Stressing the need to get one’s self on stage as much as possible, Price is careful to point out that one should not expect to write the best joke ever. “You can have the best joke of all time, but if you can’t sell it…you know what I’m saying?”

And Price can certainly sell it.  A regular at the Boston’s Comedy Connection and Nick’s Comedy Stop, he’s a name that will not be soon forgotten.  Be sure to catch Lamont Price on Monday, October 5 at Gotham Comedy Club in NYC, as he battles it out with nine other rising stars in the Emerging Comic’s Contest at the New York Underground Comedy Festival, or locally on Wednesday, October 28 with the Rude Boyz at the Sweetwater Café in Boston.

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Pickin’ Brains: Inside the Head of Lamont Price