The line up from an old Sin Show in Matthews, NC

Anyone that’s followed my career the last few years knows that I try to work at as many of Matt Davis‘ Sin Shows as possible.  They pop up in various cities around the country, sometimes in a comedy club, some times a rock venue, and if the economy doesn’t swing up in the near future they may become a place where comics fight to blow CEO’s for gas money.  As for now though they seem to be doing well and I enjoy stopping by to drop vulgar rants in front of the staff of the local Hot Topic and a the occasional rehab drop out (thanks for coming by Joe).  There are always two constants at any Sin Show:

1.  There will be vulgar comments made about our friends in the room.  My worst was probably when my sister decided to stop in and was greeted with “for those of you who only banged her twice, her name is Heather.” 

2.  Someone who’s going up is getting thrown to the wolves… whether they like it or not.

You see, the Sin Show is about showcasing the material of a certain group of comics.  Most of the time this is material that won’t normally fly in a comedy club for fear that comment cards may affect our house payments.  The only rule is that there are no rules.  None.  Say what you want, but remember it’s still comedy so make it funny or suffer the consequences.  Okay so there is one rule but since we’re comics and not toastmasters we’re supposed to know that shit going in.  The problem with designing a show around material that doesn’t normally work in a comedy club, is that most comics don’t write material unless they can perform it in a comedy club.  There are a few exceptions like Matt, myself, Kerry White, Josh Goguen, Mo Alexander, Paul Hooper, Jason Barnes (whom I’ve just met and is very promising), and a few others who will be pissed I got tired of adding links.  The guy that I’m talking about however is does not write like we do.  Not yet anyway.  But Matt puts him up.  Either to watch him sweat, to make us laugh crowd be damned, or maybe just to give him a shot which the first time he will normally blow (like we all have).  

The best of this bait set is most likely Joe Zimmerman.  Joe is not a vulgar comic, and certainly can’t be described as energetic.  But, he’s funny as fuck… sometimes only to other comics but the crowds are quickly catching up.  His crowd is not a Sin Show crowd yet time after time when Matt has put him up he has held his own.  He stands there confident in his material, and creeps the crowd out until they give up and admit he’s funny.  I highly recommend anyone that reads this track down some of Joe’s videos and watch them.  Then go back a few days later and watch them again.  You will understand by then.

So if you see a Sin Show on my schedule or anyone other comic, stop in.  You can be assured that you’ll hear things you cringed just thinking about, you’ll see things difficult to describe, and one comic just won’t fit.  He’s usually my favorite.