On the first Tuesday of every month the Ottobar undergoes a transformation from premier head-banging – “Holy crap I’m sweating so much that when I walk outside steam permeates from my clothes,” venue to a new-era, fresher than Fabreze though cruder than the BP oil spill, comedy showcase known as Chucklestorm. Next month Chucklestorm will occur on the first Wednesday, instead of Tuesday, seemingly for the sole purpose of making this introduction one sentence longer.

This past Chucklestorm was an especially special performance as it was the most special day of the year for co-host Dan Friedman who was turning 16 years old again! In celebration of Dan’s entry into this world Chucklestorm’s other half, Alex Braslavsky prepared and presented a most thoughtful Powerpoint presentation of the things that Dan loves. Items worth highlighting, as indicated by Dan’s high pitched squeals of excitement, were ponies, homelessness, ponies, interracial celebrity hand shakes, Dave Coulier and “ponaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaays!”

Although much of the performance is rehearsed, one can’t deny the natural quick-witted synergy between the two co-hosts. Recently What Weekly sat down with these two chuckleheads to gain a little more insight into developing, promoting and performing comedy in Baltimore for the two.

Story and photo by Matt Kelley.

Dan Friedman and Alex Braslavsky.

WW: So what got you into the stand up comedy?

Alex: We got into stand up together. We both were really into sketch comedy, improv and other styles of comedy outside of traditional stand up.

Dan: I had a love hate relationship with stand up. It was too formulated. It was like, setup, punch line, setup, punch line, and that was kind of frustrating for me. Performing as a duo was our way of trying to avoid that.

WW: Do you remember the first bit you performed on stage? How did it go over?

Dan: Alex went on stage and said that he had been doing comedy for a long time and now wanted his friend to come on stage and try performing.

Alex: Dan acted nervous like it was his first time on stage. Then the act would slowly fall apart until Dan had a full on breakdown.

Dan: Alex would pretend to help but to no avail.

Alex: This was all at an open mic run by Justin Jones at a place called Nadds on MLK near the RiteAid. When we did it, it was with our friends. We were offered a free drink to perform. It was underdeveloped at the time but we said “what the hell” and did it anyways. People dug it and thought it was different. It was like people really did feel bad and were compelled to clap but I think they also genuinely enjoyed it.

Story and photo by Matt Kelley.

Mason Ross and Amy Harmon enjoying the two for one drinks at the bar.

WW: How did the idea of Chucklestorm get started?

Alex: I did a short, one act play at the Ottobar that no one went to, but while there I was able to meet Mike Bowen and he asked me to host an event happening a few months later. Afterwards he came up to me and told me the show went really well and asked me when we would be doing another “comedy thing”. I asked him when the next show was and he just said “Do you want to set it up?” and I told him yes.

WW: Could you tell me a little bit about your characters and their dynamics? Where do your characters come from?

Dan: Alex is more the straight -forward guy. I’m normally the butt of the jokes. Sometimes it can be pretty degrading.

Alex: It comes from Dan possessing all these flaws. I mean he is a bumbling idiot.

Dan: It was kind of like our first bit started that way and we expounded on that. We didn’t really plan it out. We like to feel like we are teaming up against the audience. Like we’re pulling a prank. We try to mix it up.

WW: Where do you find your inspiration for your material?

Dan: Usually it’s just Alex and I hanging out and saying the dumbest shit. A lot of the times it comes from that. Other times one of us will get an idea on our own and then we’ll share and build on it.

Story and photo by Matt Kelley.

18 year old Brandon Wardell kicked off the show, (primarily because it was a school night and he had to be home by a certain time). Though don’t be fooled by his age, this kid’s got chops.

WW: What is it like doing comedy in a town like Baltimore?

Alex: There’s kind of an older crowd for comedy right now in Baltimore. More like traditional shows. You have Magoobies and The Comedy Factory and those are the only two mainstream clubs; there are also sporadic bar and restaurant shows. And then there are shows like ours and Wham City which opens up to a more alternative crowd. It’s strange comedy being performed for the DIY crowd. It helps with the zanier element of comedy. The audience members are mostly twenty somethings and students. They are more upbeat and open to weirder and more interactive performances.

Dan: It has more of a theatrical element than traditional comedy shows.

WW: This past show was for Dan’s 16th birthday. What inspired that idea?

Dan: The show was actually on my birthday and we kept thinking of those ridiculous sweet sixteen parties on MTV. We just thought it would be funny to blatantly lie about my age.

Alex: We liked the idea of Dan playing a young Diva that demands ponies and total respect.

WW: Where do you envision your work/Chucklestorm taking you?

Alex: We definitely want to make it into a bigger thing.

Dan: Just make it bigger key. We have been lucky enough to have a big names come out like Brian Posehn. Playing to that kind of crowd is just so exciting. We want it to go from 30 kids a show to 300 kids a show though the Ottobar is great to us and we have no plans of leaving them anytime soon.

Story and photo by Matt Kelley.

20 year old Isaac Hirsch came from college park to deliver quick-witted one liners that were spot on.

WW: If there is any advice you could give to someone thinking about trying out stand up in Baltimore what would it be?

Alex: You gotta hit up open mics, write material, look up whatever shows are in Baltimore, and send emails to whoever is running the shows. Network through open mics. Find out what other comedians do and eventually you become part of the community.

Dan: Start video taping yourself so you can learn from what you are doing and send it to the club promoters and hosts and they can see that you got the goods and are ready for the big leagues.

Alex: …You should also never swing at the first pitch…

Story and photo by Matt Kelley.

Comedy Duo Team Submarine came down from New York to Headline the night and showcase some of the bits off their album Correctamundo! Do yourself a favor. Go online, look up Team Submarine, click on any of their videos and commence a crack up session.

As mentioned earlier, you can see Dan and Alex hosting Chucklestorm every first Tuesday of the month (except for this May when it will be taking place on Wednesday the 4th). Each show comes with a specialty drink named after the celebrity birthday it coincides with. What’s this upcoming month’s drink you ask? Why it’s the little Lance Bass! You know, the guy from NSYNC that tried to ride a Russian rocket into outer space! Lance is turning 32 and what better a way to honor him than to induce side splitting and pants peeing while sipping on fruity celebrity cocktails.

Photo by Matt Kelley.