Bleav in The Comedy Bureau Field Report

Sachi Ezura has overseen, along with longtime host John F. O'Donnell, the comedy institution that is 50 First Jokes for well over a decade and is, for the first time ever, doubling up the show to feature 100 comics telling their first new jokes of the new year. Ezura joins us for the TCB Field Report to give us the rundown of the history of this show, now in its 17th year, and spread across more than a dozen cities, and how exactly they pull it all off.

Get tix for 50 First Jokes on Sat. Jan. 6th here and here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

While "daddy issues" are certainly well trodden territory in comedy, few, if any, comedians have gone to the level that Mo Welch has gone to with her new specialDad Jokes. Not only does she dig up and recontextualize super dark "dad jokes" that she has written throughout her comedy career, but she goes above and beyond by seeking out her actual estranged father to, ostensibly uncover where this affinity for dark dad humor comes from. TCB's Jake Kroeger talks all about it with Mo on this week's TCB Field Report.

Follow Mo @momowelch on IG and stream Dad Jokes on Veeps now

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Yep, it's the episode where we, esteemed comedian/author/historian/podcaster/GM Mike Bridenstine and TCB's Jake Kroeger, run down, as noted comedy experts, their 2023 comedy faves that come from several tens of thousands of hours of watching comedy (in person and on a screen). Essentially, whether you agree or not, the takeaway here should definitely be, as much as you can, catching comedy in person at an intimate venue.

Follow Mike @mikebridenstine on IG and peep Microdose @microdosecomedy and Flagship @glendaleflagship and getThe Perfect Amount of Wrong here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Truly, one of our favorite specials of the year is Joe Zimmerman's Cult Classic, which is saying a lot considering the wide spectrum of truly enjoyable hours of stand up comedy that were released in 2023. So, we have Zimmerman on this week's TCB Field Report to get into what went into such a fantastic hour of stand-up, specifically achieving a great baby Hitler bit (when there have been so many before Joe's) as well as the landscape of NYC comedy from Joe's POV.

Follow Joe Zimmerman on IG @joezimmerman and watch Cult Classic here. As of the recording of this podcast, Kenny DeForest sadly passed away. You can support his memorial fund in his memory here. Kyle Ayers' GoFundMe for aid for treating his Trigeminal Neuralgia is here as well.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

As instrumental as the hubs of LA and NYC are to comedy, smaller scenes are crucial to the art form too. Johnny Gold returns to the TCB Field Report to extoll the virtues and dissect the experience of small, upcoming comedy scenes. He ought to know since Johnny was one of the first comics we ever met in the LBC in in the 2010s, when we started, and is now getting up in small rooms and mics in the I.E. in the 2020s.

Follow Johnny @johnnygold777 on IG

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Kristian Mercado has very quickly made a name for himself not only as a director of comedy specials (Hannibal Buress, Aida Rodriguez, Michael Che, Taylor Tomlinson to name a few), but an up and coming auteur in comedy with his first feature, If You Were the Last, a very charming take on an outer space rom com. This week's TCB Field Report talks to Mercado in depth about the in's and out's of directing all sorts of comedy these days on all sorts of screens.

Follow Kristian @krismerc on IG and watch If You Were the Last now on Peacock.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Frank Chindamo went from comedy nerd to SNL to mobile video innovator to professor to CEO and founder of Laugh MD, an app tailor made to bring comedy for wellness to hospital patients. This week's TCB Field Report follows Chindamo's unbelievable journey that has actually been bookended by two different WGA strikes, at this point, and found himself leading the way to putting a spotlight on laughter demonstrably/scientifically/undeniably making people's lives better.

Follow all things Laugh MD at laughmd.com

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

Cam Gavinski utilizes cardboard and duct tape in a way that would befuddle most comedians and, in doing so, comes up with some of the most outlandish, ridiculous, meta, and thoroughly hilarious bits at almost every LA stage we can think of. This week's TCB Field Report dives into Cam's psyche and process and how he gets inspired and goes meta with his comedy (and pulls it off).

Follow Cam @camgavinski across socials

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

It's one of the ever enduring questions in the entertainment biz: how does one get repped? When trying to get seen by an agent or manager, it would often seem as though you have to be on projects in places that you could only get to with an agent manager. Up and coming comedy manager and live show producer and (good peoples) Derek Del Core joins us on this week's TCB Field Report to demystify these questions and more and hopefully give you a road map to actually getting reps (or if you're even ready for it).

Follow Derek @derekdelcore on IG

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger
Photo by Ian Zandi

Like the hard working performers that he puts on all of shows, comedy producer Adam Gold has done the behind-the-scenes version of working your way from open mics up the comedy ladder in a scene. Cutting his teeth by waiting tables at Caroline's several years ago, Gold climbed his way up in independent comedy producing with indie shows in LA & NYC all the way to the point where he has been a producing staple at the New York Comedy Festival. This year alone, he has 33 shows going requiring a team of folks to make sure they go off without a hitch.

This week's TCB Field Report follows Adam's journey in comedy producing, some crucial producing tips, as well as what drives him to do so many damn shows in less than two weeks in November.

Follow Adam @adamgooold on IG and get tickets to any and all NYCF shows at newyorkcomedyfestival.com.

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger
Photo by Sam Cashell