H A Distributors presents Tahoe Comedy North on Wednesday, August 5th, at the River Ranch Lodge. Doors open at 7:00 and show starts at 8:30. Returning to the Tahoe Comedy North stage by popular demand as your headliner for the night is Emmy nominated Mike Pace, featuring the outrageous and irrepressible Johnny Steele, with the exciting Mari-Esther Kaplan as your host. Popular local comedian Aaron Wilson will fill our guest spot. Tickets are $15, available online and at the River Ranch Lodge, Incline Cleaners, Grog & Grist, Noah’s Video, C B’s Pizza, and New Moon Natural Foods in Tahoe City and Truckee. For a complete Tahoe Comedy North schedule and to purchase tickets for this show, go to www.tahoecomedynorth.com.
Headliner – Mike Pace
Michael Pace has been doing comedy since gas was $1.50 a gallon and he drove a Datsun. At the time he wore- a thrift store vintage tuxedo jacket, untied tennis shoes and a mullet. After raising three kids-he has learned to tie his shoes, got a haircut and buys clothes from a regular store and headlines all over.
Since his start Michael has been invited to the prestigious – Aspen Comedy Arts Festival , where he was a crowd favorite. His relationship with HBO continued when he was on Larry David’s Emmy Award -Winning-“Curb Your Enthusiasm”.
Michael himself was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work –behind and in front of the camera “Comic Relief” . Michael was most recently featured on “Comics Unleashed”. Over the years Michael has worked in front of –The United States Marine Corps, The United States Air Force, The United States Army and Navy. Michael has done corporate shows for such fine American companies as, Apple, IBM, Anheuser Busch, Nintendo, Harley Davidson, American Airlines, The PGA, The Los Angeles Times, Qualcomm, Washington Mutual, The St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics and the NFL -just to name a few.
Michael has also been fortunate enough to have shared the stage-in concert with legends of music and comedy including-Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Natalie Cole, Lou Rawls, Charo, Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, Rodney Dangerfield, Paul Rodriguez, The Smothers Brothers, Ron White, Kevin Nealon, Dennis Miller, Drew Carey, Richard Lewis, Milton Berle and Ray Romano- just to name a few.
Feature – Johnny Steele
Johnny began performing comedy in 1984 after quitting graduate school in a move his parents named: Operation $40K Down The Drain. But Johnny quickly got the hang of the craft and was soon performing - and drinking for free! - at the nation's top clubs.
During the next decade Johnny went on to perform at comedy festivals, win comedy competitions, log over 20 national TV appearances, and did we mention drink for free?
In 1997 Johnny left the comedy scene to host San Francisco's Live 105 Morning Radio Show. Guests ranged from Carol O'Conner to David Bowie to city supervisors, and both the S.F. Weekly's annual readers' poll and the S.F. Publicity Club picked it the city's best show. The Chronicle called it the 'best morning chatter show' and also dubbed it 'clean and smart.' Therefore, it was cancelled in the summer of '98 to make room for the Howard Stern Poop and Wiener Hour.
In 1999 Johnny's career took another turn when he became co-host of KRON/Bay TV's THE SHOW. For three years Johnny's informal interview style and outrageous ad-lib comments kept everyone laughing. The irrepressible Johnny once told feminist photographer Annie Lebovitz that he bought her book Women because he thought it was a directory. Well, he kept almost everybody laughing.
Johnny is currently performing comedy as well as working on a number of web, radio, and TV projects, one of which is bound to take off due to, if nothing else, pure dumb luck. He is also working on a humorous solo show about his journey to find peace in a WalMart America gone mad with mindless consumption, endless sprawl, and bone jarring stupidity. And really, aren't we all? ***
Host – Mari-Esther Kaplan
Mari-Esther Kaplan beat out 140 comics to be the first female winner in the history of the Rooster T. Feather’s Comedy Competition in Sunnyvale, CA! She was also a finalist in the national Las Vegas Laugh Across America Comedy Competition. Her likeable nature and Habanero-hot, Mexican-American perspective make her a relevant and exciting comic. Mari takes the audience with her on a surprising and zany ride through her many experiences as a mother, a wife, and as a misunderstood member of her Jewish husband’s family. She adds wonderful dimension to her act by seamlessly zipping between character work and good old fashioned comic story telling. Mari is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in NYC and has trained with William Esper and with Obie Award winning Stephen Rosenfield at the American Comedy Institute in NYC. Her TV credits include, Law & Order and a national commercial for Seagate.
Guest Spot – Aaron Wilson
Local funny man Aaron Wilson takes making people laugh seriously, "One thing I try to do is make people pee their pants, if I can do that I know I've done well. Getting his start in Elko, Aaron hosted pig auctions then moved on to funerals and finally got his big break at an open mic in Sparks. Since then he's appeared several times with Tahoe Comedy North in the Crown Room at the Crystal Bay Club and Tahoe Gal. "Eventually I'm going to go back and buy that dang pig farm!!" Look for Aaron on Comedy Central and HBO.
