Andrew King

Website

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:23:44 -0600

Website:

Hey, people. I have a website now so if I ever post anything it’ll be on there.

Saw this walking to work this morning. There’s a story...

Sun, 04 Nov 2012 16:47:47 -0600

Saw this walking to work this morning. There’s a story here.. I don’t think there’s a happy ending but.. It’s there.

Found as I was scrounging through a notebook. How I thought my...

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:17:50 -0500

Found as I was scrounging through a notebook. How I thought my first headlining set would go, bit by bit, based on previously recorded audience reactions. Why yes, it was accurate. And yes, I did have a lot of free time.

It’s just as amazing as the first viewing. I can only...

Sat, 15 Sep 2012 00:09:11 -0500

It’s just as amazing as the first viewing. I can only describe it as perfect. Honestly just the right amount of everything. Hilarious. Touching. Powerful. Reminded me of why I got into this in the first place. GO SEE IT.

-AK

I may end up in Portland one day, if only for the trees and...

Thu, 13 Sep 2012 19:42:47 -0500

I may end up in Portland one day, if only for the trees and rain. Until then, this will do just fine. Comedy news: open mics are going well, seeing Stanhope back home on the 28th, and I’m trying to produce a show at a nearby bar. Baby steps.

-AK

From a while ago. An excerpt from an open mic back in Rock...

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 21:15:08 -0500

From a while ago. An excerpt from an open mic back in Rock Island. In hindsight I should have broken up with her then.. But we’re not getting into that. ;)

-AK

Days Gone By

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 20:59:58 -0500

I forgot I had a Tumblr and that Tumblr existed. Let’s have a quick rundown.

Alright… Well, that headlining set from a year or so ago went well in case anyone was waiting with anticipation.

So:

Comedy->More Comedy->More Comedy->Burned Out on Improv->Booking Agent->GF->Romance->Office Job->Comedy->Heartbreak->Way More Comedy->Gearing Up for Chicago->Move to Chicago->Struggle->Struggle->Dishwashing->Money->Sleepwalk With Me->Back to Comedy.

No way in hell does that do any justice for anything. It was brief though. Incredibly happy to be in Chicago and to be back on the path. Comedy, my love. I vow to never stray again. I shall not allow pettiness, jealousy, worry, stress, drama, ANYthing to get in our way again.

-AK

Headlining

Tue, 29 Mar 2011 03:40:10 -0500

I feel pressured to write something since I somehow gained another follower. Thankfully there is some news to share!

——

I have a couple gigs coming up. An old acquaintance from my brief stint of attending college contacted me and asked to to perform for her residence hall. They want to do a dinner theatre thing but instead of theatre it’s a comedian, at least that’s how it was explained to me. I’m familiar with the room the event will be taking place in… there’s a very good possibility I’m going to be 20 yards away from the audience, and they’ll be eating dinner I imagine.

I’m asked to do 30-60mins which is a bit intimidating, the most time I’ve done so far is 20. I recently went through all of my notebooks, set-lists, some archived recordings, and I have about 40mins. 40 that I’m happy with. Threw away the topical humor, my characters, and a few old jokes that I don’t find funny anymore. I’m sure it’ll be fine..

That show is on the 17th of April, a Sunday. Which is perfect. Catholic university, Sunday dinner and a show, and the show is me with my dark and slightly offensive humor. I hope they find suicide as funny as I do.

On the 23rd I have a headlining set for at the Circa 21 Speakeasy. Luckily I have an opener for that one. Had to decide between a newer comic or a magician, I went comic… although now that I think about it, I wonder if it would have turned into Patton Oswalts bit about the ‘Angry Magician’…damn.

So that’s kind of exciting, I’m also in the pre-production process.. thing.. for this short film I wrote. Getting people together, figuring out locations, etc. It’s called ‘Miscarriage: A Comedy’ and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from people who read the screenplay. Hope to start filming in June, possibly late May although I’ll just be getting back from a week of San Francisco. Going west with a few comedy comrades from Peoria! Good peoples, looking forward to the trip.

That’s pretty much it. Apart from a few miscellaneous but mostly uninteresting things. Better appreciate the effort new follower DarthValley. Ask me a question with that button thing… I never get anyfin in there either…

Looking back at 2010

Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:52:00 -0600

Another year has gone by and what a year it was…

———

The whole Nick Madson thing.

[I still gotta finish writing the rest of what happened, but meh, no one cares :P]

——-

While the Madson thing was going on I helped write and produce a comedy variety show, we sold out the 150+ seats.

[Learned a lot… a lot. Opened with a 9/11 sketch.]

———

Had the pleasure of attending the Just for Laughs Alt Comedy show in Chicago.

[I love you Chicago. Hope to see you soon.]

———

Even got to hang out with Patton, Kinane, Kindler, Maria, and Hardwick after the show.

[Left to right: Justin Hullinger, David Rotz, Kyle Kinane, and Myself.]

[The Black Shrimps is an inside joke]

——-

The Fall of Penguins Comedy Club.

[The fall of our Rome. We were devastated, sending most of the local guys scattering in the dark. The city is turning it into a farmers market.]

——-

Had a couple gigs around town,featured in the local paper.

[Article: http://qctimes.com/entertainment/article_b3ad53ea-a589-11df-920a-001cc4c03286.html]

[Performed with James Draper and Chris Schlichting, two incredibly talented people.]

——-

The first ever Iowa Comedy Festival.

[Got to be a part of their “Kernel” showcase]

——-

Co-wrote a movie you’ll never hear of. The facebook page is still up. It would have been hilarious.

[I should post a PDF of the screenplay somewhere. We thought it was going to be huge, going so far as to register it with the Writers Guild.]

———

Wrote comedy bits and filled in as a co-host for the Burlesque Le Moustache troupe a few times.

[On stage with David Rotz. Yes those are mannequin heads, vader helmet and lightsaber. My character Doogen Van Hausen shows the people what german burlesque looks like.]

——-

My performance at City Hall.

[City council meeting on the birthday of Lenny Bruce. I had to do it.]

——-

Helping in the creation of The Blacklist

[From left to right: Ben Holmes, Cody Tucker, David Rotz, Me, Allison Mann, Joey Curtiss, George Strader (in the green), and Travis Shepherd.]

——-

Emceeing Kindlers show at the Speakeasy.

[Hilarious show, got to see Kindler work on material, only had maybe twelve people in the audience. “I was on a network show.. what do I gotta do to pull a crowd!!!” ~ Andy Kindler, truly hilarious.]

——-

Helped put together a roast for George Strader.

[The closest thing to a mentor I’ve ever had. The comedy scene here was all but completely destroyed when he came back in town from Chicago and he revived it. Incredibly talented. He told me he wanted to book me as soon as he heard my nihilism joke “Every day I’m slipping deeper and deeper into nihilism… and that depresses me.”. I owe him a lot and a part of me wants to stay in the QC just to continue working with him. I’m about to start rambling so I’ll stop, suffice to say.. pretty cool guy.]

——-

Accomplished a lot in 2010. Probably the most eventful year of my life. Experienced a lot of things, learned even more things, made some incredible friends, perhaps an enemy or two… Loved, lost, and recovered from heartbreak. Probably still recovering.. Anyways.. It’s going to be a hard year to top. Hope to make some short films in the coming year, I’ve been doing a lot of writing. Should be getting employed soon which will create the bridge to Chicago.

I’m only 20. I keep forgetting that. People keep telling me that I have a bright future ahead of me, I hope they’re right.

I can’t thank my family enough for supporting me and my passions. Not every family would be ok with dropping out of school to be a comedian.

———

The Original Quad-City Comics (Before the fall of Penguins Comedy Club)

[From left to right: Gene Davis (A one timer, I dunno why he got in the picture), Jim Petersen, Me, Justin Hullinger, Pablo Ramos (behind Justin), James Draper (hat), Mike Steele, Eydie Petersen, David Rotz, Stay Puff (yep), and Wayne Lyter.]

——-

Alright 2011… I’m ready. But before we start… *ahem* “People call me an old soul… they like to say it means I’m wise beyond my years. I just think it’s a nice way of saying that I’m going to die young.”.

I never tire of that opener.

Andrew King.

Cecil Gant - I Wonder I have a personal connection to this song....

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 01:27:23 -0600

Cecil Gant - I Wonder

I have a personal connection to this song. I remember stumbling upon it on a public domain website, like a penny on the street. I used it for one of my comedy videos a while back and those who know me say it’s my theme song. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t, but it fits.

Andrew King.

Burlesque Le' Moustache

Sun, 21 Nov 2010 00:29:00 -0600

It’s over! It’s finally over!!! *insane person laugh*

Sorry, I had to get that out.

This weekend I co-hosted a burlesque show at the Speakeasy. I’ve co-hosted two other times prior with the Burlesque Le’ Moustache troupe as a fill in for their usual co-host who was going through a hiatus of sorts.

—-

I filled in for the guy on the far left (Wayne Lyter) and co-hosted with the guy on the right (David Rotz).

The shows went great, we wrote out a plot and did skits involving knife fights and sex slaves (referred to as ‘fornication house-boys’ to please the censor) and it was just a great time. I was called in about four days before the show because Wayne wasn’t quite ready to come back yet, so it was a bit of a scramble but we managed to pull it off.

It was a masquerade themed show. The girls did great as usual and our comedy bits were well received, and I am so happy to hand the reigns back to Wayne. My character (Doogen van Hausen) is exhausting for me to do. Gotta be up-beat, excited, and german. But it was fun, got some really good laughs.

After the first night I had to immediately return to the stage to do some improv with The Blacklist which also went well, small crowd left over from the burlesque show. Tonight I just had to be up in the tech booth, much larger crowd then the night before and the guys killed it. Closed out the night with style.

So yeah, a very full weekend. Might go to Chicago tomorrow. Depends on a few variables, hope to go, I love that city.

Andrew King.

Blacklist

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:43:03 -0600

The Blacklist had its debut last Friday and Saturday!

The shows went great! We had a really good turnout and a strong response, I’m really looking forward to seeing what this could turn into. Our two current improv show formats are “As Seen on TV” (a PG-13 show) and “100 Laughs” (18+ show). We have other formats in the works and are in the process of incorporating sketch comedy into the shows as soon as we hammer out some technical stuff.

You can check out some of our videos here: Blacklist Youtube

So yeah things are looking up. I’m doing my best to keep myself busy/distracted as winter is the most difficult season for me (and for a lot of people). Once my job starts it’ll be easier. If push comes to shove I’ll just force myself to write a screenplay or something else that is very time consuming.

Andrew King.

ROCKY

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 15:34:00 -0500

Had a great time at the Harrison Hilltop opening for their production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”, had four shows total. Three Saturdays at midnight and Halloween night at 9.

Brief rundown of the nights:

First night went great, best crowd I had ever had.

Second night I followed a punk band and died horribly.

Third night I recovered, did just as well as the first night and I even did some crowd work.

The fourth and final night I did alright. It was kind of hit and miss but I managed to end on a high note. I wasn’t feeling too well and just wanted to get the hell out of there. Drama finds everyone I guess.

After the show I hung out with a friend and a few girls who enjoyed the show. So it ended up being a good night. A good escape from the bullshit.

In other news I’m getting a job with my father, manual labor, but the job lasts a year and it pays enough so that I’ll be able to move to Chicago by the time it’s over. So that’s the next major step in the rough outline of my life.

[x] Get a job

[_] Move to Chicago

[_] Develop my comedy for a few years

That’s all I have for right now. Who knows what could happen in that time.

Andrew King.

A Little History: "The Nick Madson Thing" Part 1

Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:43:00 -0500

Hey I have one follower! How cool is that! I dunno how you managed to find this but hey *high five*. Well you “b.vikki vintage” have inspired me to post something, I hope you’re not too bored by it. So here is a little tale about Nick Madson a.k.a. “The Guy Who Stole From Patton.” hope you find it interesting. This may be a bit long so I may post in parts.

——-

It all started with a facebook message, I was asked If I was interested in opening for the touring comic/stage actor Nick Madson. The guy who they originally wanted to open for him (Jim Petersen) had to do a benefit show that night so he recommended me to take his place. $30 for 15-20mins. This was to be my second official “gig” and I was excited, he was said to be getting his own Comedy Central special and was named in the “Top 100 Comedians” on Comedy Central, all of which of course turned out to be a lie.

—-

Hahaha look at all those credits! I still chuckle at the fact that my face is smaller than the Bulls’ balls.

Ok lets fast forward to the show. April 27th.

The day of the show I get invited by Nick to have a pre-show drink/get together at a bar across the street from the theatre. I met him outside, chatted for a little bit, and we went inside and met up with a few friends of his. He seemed nice and personable, I sat down and finished organizing my set list while he talked to Tristan and a few others. A short while later at about 7:30ish we all head over to the theatre.

I walked into the theatre and found a good place for my setlist, Nick went into the greenroom. I remember asking Tristan if it was ok to have a setlist, he didn’t mind it and he pointed me to the table where Nick had his notes. Pages and pages, I didn’t look at them at the time but we all know what they were. After that I found a good place for the camera and set it up, it didn’t have to be pretty as originally it was just going to be a part of my archive.

So I entered the green room, Nick was looking in the mirror applying make-up to his eye lids (swear to god) and I took a seat. I asked him about how long he’d been doing comedy and where he’d been, and he told me about L.A. and writing for Patton Oswalt and Louis C.K. I was really taken back when he said that. I’d heard that some comedians would buy bits off one another but them? He said that he was going to do a couple bits of theirs which he wrote for them in case I noticed. I said “alright” I’d never been out of Iowa to do comedy really so why not? I suppose it’s possible. I never thought they’d buy bits but what do I know? I asked him other questions about comedy abroad and he answered them all, really nice guy.

5 minutes to showtime—

I peek through the doorway into the audience, about 12 or so people. A couple I knew in college and my father were there. Nick was finishing putting on his face and wished me luck.

The set went fine, I was really happy with what I got, small crowd and a few big laughs. There was one guy right up front who had the greatest laugh of all time, after every dry one-liner he made the same face, kind’ve like a spit-take but to the side.

(P.S. My comedy has improved since then… just saying..)

Anyway. The emcee comes back up and introduces Nick.

So I take a seat in the back and I start noticing bit after bit after bit. Finally I caught on, he’s no writer. I started texting a fellow comedian about the gig, “He’s doing Giraldo.”, “He’s doing Cross.”, and after a short while he gets to the bulk of his act (Pattons material). I was shocked. I sat there in awe. What the f*ck was going on?

One long and I mean LONG hour later the show was over. I had my voice recorder on me so I slipped it in my sleeve and went backstage to talk to Nick. I asked him about the bits and he still said he wrote them. I asked about the Dave Attell bits and the David Cross bits and he claimed to have written for them too. I still have the recording with me passive-aggressively confronting him, (I don’t think it’d be legal to put it up since he didn’t know I had it). I had such a hard time making eye contact with him, I felt so embarrassed for him I just mostly stared at the ground. It was so painfully awkward and I hate confrontations.

Anyways we said good-bye to each other. Made a joke about crashing at his place if I was ever in New York and I left. I told my father about what just happened but not being a comedian or fan of comedians he didn’t understand why I was so upset.

So I went home, uploaded the show footage to my computer, and just sat there. I wasn’t sure what to do. After thinking about it for a few hours I decided to try and contact Patton. I remembered I asked him for advice over MySpace when I first started stand up so I went on there, found his page, and wrote a message titled “I think I’ve caught a guy stealing your material (Nick Madson)”.

——-

I think that’s enough for now. If you find it interesting I’ll continue, all there’s left to talk about is the correspondence with Patton, his blogs, and meeting him (and a few other comedic geniuses) in Chicago at the Just for Laughs Alt. Comedy showcase. Oh! And when I met Dan Telfer! He happened to be in town at Penguins Comedy Club when this whole thing went down. Really cool guy.

Again thanks for checking out the page, please come back!

Andrew King.

Is this thing on?

Sun, 17 Oct 2010 21:01:45 -0500

Hello whoever is reading this. I’m still trying to figure this thing out. I suppose I could introduce myself: My name is Andrew King and I’m a stand up comedian in Davenport, IA. (also known as Purgatory), and I’ve been performing for just a little over a year now. I think that’s enough. Right? Anyways I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with this page. Write down some thoughts, tell some stories, post some videos, who knows. But hey thanks for checking this out! I do appreciate it, be sure to come back.