Enjoy a relaxed evening of comedy in the Crystal Bay Club’s Crown Room with some of the best comedians on the West Coast. Tahoe Comedy North is brought to you by Healthy Alternative Distributors and the Crystal Bay Casino. Tickets are available at the Crystal Bay Casino, Incline Cleaners, CB’s Pizza, Lakeside Gallery and Big Tree Cleaners. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 on the day of show.

Mickey Joseph
Mickey Joseph’s uplifting performance is filled with a multitude of characters with shifting opinions on such timely topics as sports, drug abuse, single parenthood, drunk driving, family, religion and for Corporate events, suggestions on how to relieve stress. He plants ideas into our minds and we go away with the power of clearer, more relaxed working techniques.

His impressions run the gamut from Woody Allen to Stevie Wonder, Elvis to Rickey Ricardo, He flat-out does the best Phil Silvers in the business.

This rubber-faced, non-stop, comic genius should not be missed! He brings out the best in his audience with his jack-hammer delivery, manic facial expressions and timely physical humor!

Drake Witham
Drake Witham’s comedy career began at an office Christmas party in a room filled with 200 co-workers. He had them all laughing with devastating impressions of his editors and criticisms of his employer, the Dallas Morning News. But not everyone liked the show. One of the editors was reduced to tears.

It wasn’t a mean-spirited show but Witham decided it was time to leave journalism behind. Within six months he was in Los Angeles, wowing audiences with his deadpan delivery and razor-sharp wit.

An award-winning journalist, Witham always enjoyed making co-workers laugh. He once organized pager-races in which two competitors set their rigs to vibrate and dialed furiously, trying to move them to the finish line.

He pulls his humor from growing up in northern Virginia, his Irish-Catholic mother, his drama professor father and being the younger brother of a Navy SEAL. Much of his material comes from the working world where he has toiled not only as a journalist but as a temp, an SAT proctor and even as a berry picker.

A graduate of the University of Washington, Witham has performed at the Hollywood and Irvine Improvs, the Comedy Store, Laugh Factory and Ice House. He recently won the Seattle Comedy Competition and spent ten days performing for the troops in Iraq.

The details:
Tahoe Comedy North presents:
Headliner: Mickey Joseph
Featured: Larry Brown
MC: Drake Witham
Location: Crystal Bay Club’s Crown Room
Date: Monday, July 2, 2007
Time: Doors 7 p.m., show at 8 p.m.
Cost: $10 in advance, $15 day of show

The Tahoe World’s Paul Raymore asked Mickey Joseph a few questions via e-mail in anticipation of his upcoming July 2 show.

TW: You mentioned that you’ve performed in the Lake Tahoe area quite a few times. Any memorable shows?

Joseph: My history with the lake goes back to the early 60s. Our family vacationed at Marla Bay every summer. When I was 7 years old, my uncle Johnny, who we believed was a Croatian Pirate, came up from San Francisco and ate a live minnow on the pier. Proving to a dozen inquisitive children that his legend was true.

Most memorable show has to be the night I met Tony Bennett at the IMPROV at Harvey’s on the South shore. This was a turning point in my life. He was in a booth with his friends in the middle of the room watching the show and digging me. I could see his face all lit up. It felt great to get laughs from a guy who has seen it all. After the show he treated us as equals. I was completely moved.

TW: How did you get into comedy?

Joseph: By accident. In acting school in the early eighties I had a girl friend who went wild when I did my impression of Sidney Portier. I thought, maybe I’ve got something here. So I started writing jokes. Hit the open mic’s. Next thing you know, I’m getting paid to be funny.

TW: What keeps you performing?

Joseph: I’m a entertainer. I have no choice. I could open an ice cream parlor, but I don’t like scooping. I hate sticky knuckles.

TW: What inspires your routines/material?

Joseph: Everyday life really. The trick is to recognize what’s funny. I’ll throw in some vulnerability and a funny face. That’s my act.

TW: What makes for a great show?

Joseph: Solid professional well crafted acts and an open minded crowd. I’m working with Larry “Bubbles” Brown there at the Crystal Bay Club on Tuesday night. He’s been a star of the SF comedy scene for 25 years. He’s brilliant, and it’s an honor to share the stage with him.

TW: The press release I received said your impressions are amazing. How do you decide who you’re going to do an impression of?

Joseph: That’s easy, look at me… impressions of famous bald guys come first... like Phil Silvers. Sgt. Bilko is my best because of the physical resemblance.

I played Joey Bishop last year in Sandy Hackett’s production The Rat Pack Is Back. There, I get to tape some hair on my head.

TW: And what kind of work or research goes into getting it right?

Joseph: Not a lot. With Joey for example. I remember him hosting the Tonite Show for Johnny Carson when I was a kid. That is my only real connection to him. My creation of the character comes from inside of those memories. The way he stood. The way he leaned. I watched a little film, studied the way he talked, and then instinct takes over.

With Joey, I also mix in a little Buster Keaton, who was my first influence. I keep Buster in mind while dead-panning to the crowd. It’s great to get big laughs that way. The Rat Pack was big on physical comedy, and so am I.

TW: Anything else you’d like to say?

Joseph: This is a show you will not want to miss.