If you are looking for one of the hottest comedy shows on the West Side, The Super Serious Show is it! Once a month, this show combines the hottest and freshest stand-up, sketch and music comedy acts, plus food trucks and FREE BOOZE. I had the privilege of interviewing one of the creative geniuses behind this show, Joel Mandelkorn. Do you want to know how Joel came into the variety show business? Are you dying to know who Joel thinks is a rising star on the scene? Are you itching to know about Joel’s other endeavors, like The Plop List and Sad People Talking? Are you super psyched to find out how Joel got involved with the folks over at Earwolf? Well, stretch out those eyeballs! Keep reading and all your questions will be answered.
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Photo by Mandee Johnson
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Serial Optimist: Hi Joel! I would like to equate your role in entertainment to that of a “Comedy Wizard” bringing great joy to the masses from behind the curtains. Did you always want to make some type of contribution to the comedy world or did you have alternate goals for yourself growing up? Did you ever have any aspirations to be a comedian yourself?
Joel Mandelkorn: I’m usually pretty obnoxious and have a healthy amount of self-hate, so comedy seems to be an easy fit for me. In 2009, I happened into booking a weekly show at The Laugh Factory here in Los Angeles. When that ended, I wanted to keep working with the comedians I’d met and find a way to keep doing a show. It didn’t seem too daunting at the time to do it outside of the comedy club system. Actually, it seemed a hell of a lot better. I don’t get too into analyzing what I’m doing these days. Comedy isn’t that exotic to me. Entertainment is entertainment. Art and media and whatever else all just seem to be different versions of communicating ideas to people. Or maybe just distracting them. And it’s fun to bring people together, even in a little way.
SO: How did you make the transition from working as a production intern to producing your own comedy shows? Was it a solo venture or did you have lots of help along the way?
Joel: Starting the monthly show was a simple but ridiculous endeavor. Luckily enough, my girlfriend and fellow show producer, Mandee Johnson, was into the idea of doing the show and had lots of skills to balance out my slacker self. We found a venue and just asked ourselves what we needed to make a show happen. Just add stage, lights, mics and all that. Kind of a “build-it-they-will-come” plan. Shortly after we started, Betsy Koch (also a producer at Funny Or Die) joined us as another producer. She’s the best, one of the funniest people I know. She won’t see this, so it’s okay I said that. We probably wouldn’t have been able to keep The Super Serious Show going this long without the insane support of numerous talented friends who have volunteered. All the little things that help build the experience. All credit goes to our staff. Having the support of a great group of performers has also really made things that much easier.
SO: How would you best describe The Super Serious Show to a newbie viewing the show for first time? What do you like your customers to take away from the experience?
Joel: The show is approachable and diverse comedic entertainment. Nothing to be intimidated about. One of our favorite things about doing the show is all the people who’ve told us it’s their first ever live comedy show. It’s extremely rewarding helping new people discover performers for the first time. And our local show has free beer and wine. I’m not above mentioning that at any opportunity.
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This Months Super Serious Show
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SO: You’ve had a plethora of talent perform at The Super Serious Show, including Eddie Pepitone, Tom Lennon, James Adomian, Reggie Watts, Garfunkel & Oates, etc, etc. Which have been some of your favorite performances? Any rising stars you are keen on booking soon?
Joel: It’s honestly impossible to pick favorite performers and performances. I really do dig a lot of them. Watching the shows is definitely my favorite part of what I do. There are so many great performers who’ve done the show. Too many to name. Boring answer, I know. Producing the regular show in Los Angeles, we’re blessed to be in the backyard of some of the best comedic performers working today. And, man, there’s a crapload of them.
We’re always going to shows and checking show listings and online sites to try and find new performers so we don’t get stuck in a rut booking from the same pool over and over. Jake Kroeger from The Comedy Bureau is also a great sounding board for all things comedy, Los Angeles comedy specifically.
SO: Your CleftClips company also produces the Sad People Talking weekly comedy show. How does this show differ from The Super Serious show? Sad People Talking has been on a small hiatus. When do you expect it to start up again and will it continue to take place at Royal-T, the cosplay cafe/art gallery venue?
Joel: Sad People Talking is our more traditional stand-up showcase show with performers stopping by to work on material and just let loose. We started Sad People Talking earlier this year with two of our Super Serious crewmembers, Kyle Mizono and Jay Weingarten. They’re both talented young comedians in Los Angeles. We all wanted to have a more frequent way to interact with the Los Angeles comedy community. Running only a monthly show is a bit isolating. It’s been great to be able to host more performers more regularly. We had a good initial run at Royal/T but they announced they’re closing this summer, so we had to find a new spot. We just confirmed we’re starting back up June 13th at a cool Jazz Club New Orleans inspired Restaurant in the Los Angeles Arts District – NOLA’s (www.nolasla.com). We’re excited to bring a bit of obnoxious comedy to that neighborhood.
SO: In addition to live event production, CleftClips is also responsible for The Ploplist. This comedy podcast hub really narrows down those Internet podcasts people should be watching. How did this idea come to life? What are some of your personal favorite digital shows?
Joel: Mandee and I created The Plop List because we were listening to a lot of shows and knew a lot of people in Los Angeles running in those circles. We figured we could start a basic directory for friends and fellow comedy podcast fans to help wean down the thousands of shows listed on iTunes. Super Serious has taken up a lot of our time, of late, so sadly Plop List is a bit of a neglected child – we’re hoping to add a bunch of new shows soon. I’m still a fan of the creativity that the format offers. There are so many great shows out there and then some just okay radio redux style shows. I’m firmly in the tank for The Long Shot. It’s really honest and unique with four different personalities interacting with one another, sharing stories, complaining and fucking with one another. Plus, I continue to say it to whoever will listen: Sean Conroy is one of the best hosts and comedic talents these days. He just created a podcast sketch show where he does all the writing and voices, called The Flabbergast. There you go. That’s a new fun show to check out.
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The Serious Show Goes To Edinburgh
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SO: I read that you attended the Brooks Institute of Photography. How has this knowledge helped in promoting your business? I, for one, really enjoy the Instagrams that you post on Twitter @CleftClips. There are some really impressive photos. Do you enjoy photography as a pastime?
Joel: After graduating from Virginia Tech, I needed a reason to drag my ass to California so I went to Brooks. That’s where I met Mandee and a bunch of other fellow obnoxious assholes. I was part of one of the last groups of film students to spend 6 months in the regular still photography program. I guess I keep those photographic basics in my mental back pocket, helping me be another slightly decent amateur photographer. The connection from Brooks to producing the comedy show probably comes from the “inmates running the asylum” lack of educational structure in its film program. There was a lot of “here’s some stuff, now figure out how to use it” projects. That’s pretty much what I’m still doing with this comedy thing. Make a plan and then just start figuring out how to build it. Not very inspiring, I know.
SO: How did you get involved working as Blog Editor at Earwolf Media? Are there other Earwolf projects you’d like to be a part of?
Joel: After meeting Jeff Ullrich through The Plop List, he reached out to me to pick my brain about various Earwolf stuff, including their blog. I had some ideas and some free time so we made an attempt to get some content going over there. Not sure we killed that one but I learned a lot and met some great people at Earwolf. The best kind of parting gift. Right now I’m just a friend to Earwolf among other podcasting people. Mostly just an earnest fan of the digital format.
SO: If you could exchange lives with any comedian, who would that be? What personal daily tasks would you love to see a comedian you’ve worked with perform?
Joel: I’m too self-hating to think of something clever. Or interesting. And I’m okay with this. I guess here’s proof about me never wanting to be a comedian.
SO: Where would you like to see yourself in next 5 years? Would you been keen on working with in the future?
Joel: Man, 5 years is far off. If we’re not all dead, I’ll just stick to the 1-year plan. Way less overwhelming. We are working on touring The Super Serious Show in the future. So, there’s that. Mostly, I’m just hoping to keep working on projects that allow me to not have a day job and work with talented people. That sounded lame, right? Shit.
SO: Not lame at all! Thanks Joel!
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SO Note: Follow Joel @CleftClips, The Super Serious Show @SeriousShow, and for a schedule and all Super Serious info visit superseriousshow.com.