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October 24, 2003/Tishri 28 5764, Vol. 56, No. 5
Local comedians perform at VOSJCC
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
Laughter will echo through the halls of the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center in November, when three local comedians take their acts to the Ina Levine Jewish Community Campus in Scottsdale.
Bob Howard, Brian Bratspis and Travis Thurman will perform at the center's "Saturday Night Live at the J, A Laugh to Remember" event on Saturday, Nov. 15.
All three comedians have performed at various local venues, including the Tempe Improv. The trio, who know each other from local contests and open mic nights, also performed together at Temple Kol Ami in Scottsdale last April.
"The combination (of humor) is perfect," says Bratspis. "I put the combination together, so I'll take credit for that. Bob's humor is very sophisticated. I'm in the middle, and Travis is on the goofy side."
The show will open with Bob Howard, a Scottsdale divorce attorney who started doing stand-up when a friend asked him to attend a comedy class more than 10 years ago.
"He didn't want to go alone," says Howard. "He never actually performed, but I started performing in the early 1990s."
Since then, Howard has performed at many local venues, including opening for Wanda Sykes at the Tempe Improv.
"I have performed at TGI Friday's, but that closed. I performed at the Star Theatre, but that closed. I performed at the Comedy Barn, but that closed. You're seeing a pattern here," he jokes. "I tried out for Star Search. They didn't pick me, but they offered to pay for my parking. That was exciting."
Howard rates his humor as "PG-13" and advises that audience members should have an understanding of current events to "get" his jokes.
"You need a certain IQ. You have to read the newspaper. My demographic is about 35 and above," he explains. "I do some humor about divorce work that I do. And I do some reverse lawyer jokes, since I am an attorney."
After his performance at the VOSJCC, Howard will head to downtown Scottsdale to compete in the Comedy Spot's Comedy Survivor Contest.
"I have a busy night that night," he says. "The first two times I competed in the contest I qualified for the finals and I came in second each time. I want to see if I can do better than second this time."
While Howard is attempting to "survive" in Scottsdale, Bratspis will take the stage at the VOSJCC.
Bratspis, a member of the VOSJCC and a financial consultant for Smith Barney, got his start in comedy after he realized he was "a master of delivery."
"I could always make my friends and family laugh and I've always written comedy," he says. "I just never had the opportunity to do it."
But that changed after he ran into Howard at a mutual friend's wedding reception.
"Bob had won the Funniest Person in the Valley contest and we had seen him at the Improv," remembers Bratspis. "I asked him how he got to the point he was at, and pretty soon I signed up at the Improv. I went up there one night with about four minutes of prepared material and it was a great rush, so I kept going."
Bratspis, who is known as the "equal opportunity offender" to his friends and local comedians, makes fun of religion, race, weight, good-looking people, ugly people, Tempe people, Tucson people and anyone else that comes to mind, he explains. In fact, Bratspis has been stockpiling Jewish humor for an opportunity like the show at the VOSJCC.
"I guarantee that I will destroy the crowd," he says. "I have a ton of Jewish-based humor. I've been waiting. When you get a crowd that is predominantly Jewish, the energy through the room will be great."
After what Bratspis hopes will be a sidesplitting performance, Travis Thurman will take the stage as the evening's headliner.
Thurman, a beer salesman and a resident of Phoenix, is known locally for performing boy band *NSYNC's dance to the song "Bye, Bye, Bye."
"I've done a lot of impersonations and I sing and dance," he says. "I'm very into the music scene where I talk about my favorite era of music, which is the '80s."
Thurman is no stranger to the stage. After graduating high school, he became involved with several local improvisational groups and has performed at Valley clubs such as ACME in Tempe and Planet Hollywood. He also opened for Brett Butler at the Celebrity Theatre and won the Funniest Person in the Valley contest in 2001.
Thurman focuses his humor on life experiences, such as being a resident of Arizona, a newlywed and a soon-to-be father.
"I've lived here for more than 30 years," he says. "I do a lot of reflections about how I grew up, how people relate to certain living styles and the different parts of town. I've also got a lot of new material to talk about. It's a wide range of stuff."
Thurman has Bratspis' vote of confidence.
"Travis Thurman is the best local comic in the city, bar none," says Bratspis. "He's worth the price of admission by himself."
The VOSJCC will also offer a weekly comedy class for members and nonmembers, taught by Bratspis. The class was originally scheduled to begin on Thursday, Nov. 13, but no one has registered so far.
"No one has signed up yet," he says. "I can probably only handle about 10 people, maybe we'll have more interest after the show."
Details
- What: "Saturday Night Live at the J, A Laugh to Remember"
- Where: Valley of the Sun JCC, 12701 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
- When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov 15
- Cost: $25 members, $30 nonmembers includes two drinks, hors d'oeuvres
- Call: 480-483-7121
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