Tag Archives: comedy

Stuttering San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland) comedian Nina G. Releases her first solo comedy album – Stutterer Interrupted – on May 11, 2023

Stutterer Interrupted comedy album: www.stuttererinterrupted.comFor Immediate Release

Media Contact: Nina G – https://www.stuttererinterrupted.com/copy-of-contact

April 13, 2023

Stuttering San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland) comedian Nina G.

Releases her first solo comedy album – Stutterer Interrupted – on May 11, 2023 

Coinciding with National Stuttering Awareness Week: May 3-18

San Francisco, CA… Stuttering San Francisco Bay Area comedian, Nina G. announces the release of her first solo comedy album, Stutterer Interrupted (Punchline Records), with her first comedy special, to follow. Sample audio clip from comedy album. The comedy album launches May 11 and coincides with National Stuttering Awareness Week on May 8-13. Through Nina’s comedy, besides making the audience laugh, she strives to increase visibility of disabled comedians and normalize stuttering. The author of the memoir Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen (2019) and co-author of Bay Area Comedy: A Humorous History (2022), has made a name for herself in the San Francisco Bay Area comedy scene. SF Chronicle article, Bay Area Legacy of Laughs Enshrined in New Book Celebrating History of Local Comedy Scene. Nina, who was born in Alameda, has resided in Oakland for the past 20 years.

As I was saying… If I could get a word in edgewise… I wasn’t done yet… 

If you’ve ever been cut off mid-sentence, these phrases of frustration are familiar. Now imagine as a person who stutters a lifetime of interruptions? To suffer the impatience of others, whether well-intended advice or just blatant rudeness when all you want to do is finish your thought; indeed, to finish saying even one word. 

Welcome to the world of Nina G.: Professional Speaker, Stand up Comedian, Author, and person who stutters. Sounds like a joke? She’d be the first one to say it – and she has – to audiences all over the world. Her humor is one that informs and entertains. Nina’s comedy brings an authentic and unfiltered voice of the disabled experience in an industry that lacks representation for disabled comedians, especially as a woman who stutters. It’s Time for the Disabled Community to Take Center Stage. Fortune Magazine, August 2022. Nina’s new album, Stutterer Interrupted (title also shared with her memoir released in 2019), released and produced by Punchline Records, debuts May 11, 2023, just in time for National Stuttering Awareness Week.

Famous people who stutter: 

•Marilyn Monroe

•President Joseph Biden

•Samuel L. Jackson

•Emily Blunt

•James Earl Jones

Some facts on stuttering:

•Stuttering impacts 1% of the adult population.

•80 million around the world stutter.

•1 in 4 people who stutter are female.

•There’s no known cure for stuttering.

•Many people who stutter experience discrimination in their jobs, personal lives, etc. 

About the comedy album, Stutterer Interrupted:

Nina recorded Stutterer Interrupted in her hometown at the Alameda Comedy Club. (Nina grew up in Alameda but now lives in Oakland.) If you stutter or know someone who does, you know the reactions many people have. Nina G. has experienced EVERYTHING… from hearing back-handed compliments like, “You are such an inspiration – if I talked like you I wouldn’t talk at all!” to funny looks and inquiries about whether she has considered intrusive brain surgery. People often interrupt, thinking it’s helpful to guess what she is going to say. But it isn’t just the interruptions from others that created a barrier for this comedian. Through stand up comedy, stuttering comedian Nina G. challenges the status quo of how people who stutter are perceived onstage and off. Of course, her material isn’t all about stuttering! She takes on body image issues, family dynamics and even her last gynecological visit. 

About Punchline Records:

Founded in 2022 by Matthew Layne after working as A&R for other comedy record labels, Punchline Records was built with the intent of finding undiscovered comedians, raising the industry standard record deal to be more equitable for talent, and lobbying a legislative amendment to fix the royalty system for comedy. Layne adds “One of the reasons I started Punchline Records was to help amplify comedic voices that may have otherwise been marginalized. Funny is funny. Nina G is one of the funniest: stuttering or not.”

About Nina’s comedy special to be released later this summer:

The Bay Area’s favorite female stuttering stand up comedian, Nina G, takes on the hilarious world of stuttering, family, body issues, and much more. Award-winning filmmaker (and fellow stutterer) Gina Chin-Davis captures a behind-the-scenes glimpse into Nina G’s show at the Alameda Comedy Club and the recording of her comedy album Stutterer Interrupted for Punchline Records. 

About Nina G… the Comedian:

Nina G. was the only woman who stuttered in the stand up comedy world in 2010 when she started performing. (Since then there are now 3 others.) She co-produces the Comedians with Disabilities Act, a national touring comedy show featuring exclusively comedians with disabilities. She also went on to produce the first compilation album to feature, as the album title suggests, Disabled Comedy Only

Nina G. is a the author of three books including Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen and Bay Area Stand-Up Comedy: A Humorous History. She has been featured in/on everything from NPR’s 51%, BBC’s OuchPsychology TodayTedxKQED Radio and multiple day time talk shows and podcasts. She has shared the stage with legendary comedians like Don Novello (aka Father Guido Sarducci), Mort Sahl, Eddie Pepitone, Cathy Ladman, and participated for 3 continuous years at San Francisco’s Comedy Day. Her first solo album debuts May 11 with a comedy special to follow later this summer. The special is directed by Gina Chin-Davis, a woman who also stutters. It not only includes concert footage but also intertwines Nina’s personal, family and educational experiences that first brought her to love stand up comedy as a child and to eventually get up on stage.  

About Nina G… the Author:

Nina G’s first book, Once Upon An Accommodation: A Book About Learning Disabilities, helps both children and adults understand how to advocate for needed school-related accommodations. The book is inspired from her own childhood experience of having learning disabilities, stuttering, and being denied accommodations in her own education. Nina’s follow up was her memoir titled Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen which chronicles what audiences don’t get to see on stage. It is the background of what drove her to the stage and to stutter openly. Her third book, Bay Area Comedy: A Humorous History, co-written with OJ Patterson, honors the develop of influential stand up comedians who emerged from the Bay Area comedy scene including Mort Sahl, Robin Williams, Don Novello, Paula Poundstone, Ali Wong, and W. Kamau Bell.  

About Nina G, the Professional Speaker:

Nina G. tours the country as a conference keynote speaker. In addition to her TedX talk at San Jose State University, she has presented for colleges, corporations and conferences all around the world including the Oregon Association on Higher Education and Disability, The International Stuttering Association, and numerous corporate/employee affinity group events.

Nina G is celebrating National Stuttering Awareness Week (May 8-13) through her comedy at the following shows:

Wed May 3 @ 7:30pm: Proud Stutter Presents Stuttering Spoken Word Night. Manny’s, 3092 16th St., San Francisco 94110. Nina will be joined by poets Adam Giannelli and Zainab Hussain, comedian Will Travis, and podcaster Maya Chupkov). www.proudstutter.com/events/stuttering-spoken-word

Sat May 6 @ 6pm: Comedians with Disabilities Act Show. Greater Purpose Brewing, 21517 E Cliff Dr., Santa Cruz, CA (Nina will be joined by fellow stuttering comedian Will Travis along with comedians Mean Dave, Dan Smith, and Steven Danner). www.eventbrite.com/e/greater-purpose-comedy-comedians-with-disabilities-act-tickets-614341591237

Thursday, May 11 @ 7pm: Comedians with Disabilities Act Show. Alameda Comedy Club, 2431 Central Ave., Alameda, CA (Nina will be joined by fellow stuttering comedian Will Travis, along with comedians Mean Dave, Loren Kraut, and Steven Danner) www.alamedacomedy.com/shows/213711

Saturday, May 13 @ 7pm: Cougars on the Loose. Tabard Theater Company, 29 N San Pedro St., San Jose, CA. (Nina headlines two shows.) Cougarcomedycollective.com/upcoming-shows

Thursday, May 18 @ 7pm: Lockdown Comedy (on Zoom). Along with Dhaya Lakshminarayan, Nick Leonard, and Arline and Lisa Geduldig. CityBoxOffice.com/LockdownComedy

Thursday, May 18 @ 7:30pm: Marga Gomez and Brava Present Who’s Your Mami Comedy. Brava Theater Center, 2773 24th St, San Francisco, CA. www.margagomez.com/events/2023/3/16/giioxoyyksypaw05sax52ag9ao8mol

To book Nina G., visit: www.ninagcomedian.com

Stuttering Comedian and Author to Headline Punch Line Sacramento

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(SACRAMENTO, CA) – Stuttering stand up comic Nina G will have the top spot at the Invisible Disabilities Comedy Show at the Sacramento Punch Line on Sunday, January 27 2019! Author of the forthcoming book Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen, Nina’s comedy is funny, revealing, unapologetic, and always a window to her experience as a person who stutters. Through humor, Nina G is challenging now people think of stuttering.

Nina’s brand of comedy highlights that the problem with disabilities is not the people with them, but a society that isn’t inclusive. Nina thinks the recent trend of online stories featuring “clever” ways people “cured” their stuttering may be sending the wrong message to those who are non-stuttering speakers, offers.  Nina adds, “focusing on changing us instead of living our lives gives the wrong message to the public.” Always one to model in herself what she expects from others, her humor is accessible to all who are ready for a good laugh!

Bio

When Nina G started comedy nearly eight years ago, she was the only woman who stuttered in the world doing stand-up. Undaunted after battling a lifetime of stigma, Nina pursued her dream.

Nina G is a comedian, professional speaker, writer and educator. She brings her humor to help people confront and understand Disability culture, access, and empowerment.

Book

Nina G’s latest book, Stutterer Interrupted: The Comedian Who Almost Didn’t Happen

is a memoir, published by She Writes Press, will be released August 6, 2019.

Nina tells the story of her journey of how she became, at the time she started, America’s only female stuttering stand-up comedian. On stage, Nina encounters the occasional heckler, but off stage she is often confronted with people’s comments toward her stuttering. Listeners completing her sentences, inquiring “did you forget your name?” and giving unwanted advice like “slow down and breathe” are common.  As if she never thought about slowing down and breathing in her over thirty years of stuttering!  In Stutterer Interrupted… Nina confronts these interruptions and so much more!

What the show is about and the awareness that it brings

Producers, Ali Ada and and Drew Kimzey each live with multiple disabilities that substantially limit their lives, yet you might never know it. They’re both passionate about comedy but have significant obstacles that can prevent them from achieving their goals. The desire to turn their obstacles into strengths inspired the idea for this show.

Line up includes: Chey Bell, Jeanette Marin, Sureini Weerasekera, Anihca Cihla, Nicole Tran, Emily Pedersen and Kelley Nicole. Hosted by Amber Whitford.

In the 18 months since Coral got her start in comedy she has gathered a significant following with her shockingly real and relatable story telling. After going through a major medical crisis she took to stage with her natural, conversational humor and absurd comedy style and never looked back. Many of her jokes surround her new life post surgery as a young, broke, female adjusting to having an ostomy bag. She performs all over the Bay Area sharing her unabashed tales in major clubs such as the SF Punch Line and the San Jose Improv, bringing light to her not-dinner-table-appropriate disability (aka her poop bag.)

Quote from here:  “Talking about my ostomy bag on stage not only helped me to accept my new body and situation but educated others on a struggle they knew nothing, to little, about. It’s not just about making people laugh, it’s about drawing them in to your life enough that they begin to invest in attempting to understand your experience, with your disability. It gives my comedy more purpose to know I’m doing my part to reach out to the audience and share that we are all going through some type of invisible struggle, and here I am being open and honest about mine in an attempt to bring us all closer together.”

Invisible Disabilities Comedy Show

Show: Sunday, January 27, 2019

http://www.punchlinesac.com.  (18+ 2 drink min)

916-925-8500

The Punch Line Sacramento

2100 Arden Way

Sacramento, CA 95825

Produced by Ali Ada and Drew Kimzey

Media Contact:

Nina G

NinaGbooking@gmail.com

510-922-0179

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show id.nina

Stuttering On My Own Terms

(I haven’t proof read this–so deal with it!)

As a stand up comedian who stutters, people make a lot of assumptions about me.  Fluent people think I am brave for public speaking.  After doing a presentation at a library (before my days as a comedian), a woman came up to me and said, “you are such an inspiration.  If I talked like you, I wouldn’t talk at all.”  With experiences like this, how do you not turn to comedy?!

People who stutter assume something else about me.  They assume that I am totally free of stuttering fear, shame, frustration and whatever else we feel when we talk.  It is as if I am immune because I tell dick jokes in a dive bar at midnight (which is much of what you do as a stand up).  For those who think I stutter through life without the stutter bug (the feelings we attach to stuttering) catching me, I am writing this for you.

Let me start the story backwards (dyslexic style).  This was the night that I won the Killer Laughs Comedy  Competition against all odds.  It wasn’t against all odds because I stutter.  It was against all odds because I was the very first comedian of the line up and the first comedian the line up in a competition NEVER wins.  With this in mind, I decided to do something different.  My parents were suppose to be in the audience to support me and event more importantly, VOTE for me.  Of course, they were late as they often times are.

Since I figured I wasn’t going to win I decided to get back at my parents for something they did to me when I was eleven years old.  When I was a kid I won a joke telling contest on the radio that was judged by San Francisco comedy legend Will Durst.  The prize was seeing him at The Other Cafe, a legendary comedy club that closed in the early 1990s.  I was a really big comedy nerd so I was way excited about going to my first comedy club, especially based off of my own joke.  I won’t mention that the joke was one I stole from Pee Wee Herman from his appearance on Letterman (“I don’t know his name, but his face rings a bell”).  We lived in San Leandro about 45 minutes away from the Haight Ashbury where the club was located.  Of course, we were late.  We drove by the club and saw through the corner window that the show was already underway.  My parents decided not to go to the show because they were afraid the comedians would make fun of them for being late.  I started crying and we ended up going to see the movie Innerspace.  Martin Short would have to be my Will Durst substitute.

As shows I usually stick to my scripted jokes, but I decided not to that night at the competition.  Instead, knowing that my parents were in the parking lot and on their way in during my set, I explained to the audience how they robbed me of my first comedy club experience.  That was when I asked a room full of people to turn around when I said “hi mom and dad” and then turn around to stare and boo my parents.  I made sure to tell the audience that I knew I wasn’t going to win anyways because I was up first.

At the end of the competition I came in first place.  I then went for 4 or 5 more rounds, beating out 120 comedians and ended up winning the whole damn thing (and I didn’t even bring an audience).  To all the comedians reading this who are saying to themselves, “your not that funny and competitions don’t mean anything,” you can go F’ yourselves.  I still won.

So that explains the end of the night.  Now let me tell you about the beginning of the night.

I carpooled to the competition with a car full of my good comedy friends who I would be competing against.  Apparently my car was clean that night because five of us were able to fit into my jeep.  Feeling the need for caffeine to get myself through the show, I decided to stop by the McDonalds on the way to the competition.  Before ordering my “large diet coke” I asked everyone in the car if they wanted anything.  They all denied my offer to order for them and I followed up with, “are you sure?”  They assured me that I was the only one ordering.  After I ordered my “large diet coke” my friends started barking out orders, “order me a Fillet-o-fish.”  “Get me a Big Mac with cheese and a Sprit.”  I literally froze.  I couldn’t do it!  I signaled for my friend in the front row to order and rolled down the backseat windows to yell out their order.  Afterwards my friends were pretty astonished that I couldn’t place the order, making the observation that I could talk in front of hundreds of people but could not place an order to a fast food worker. And I was like, “I stutter, we don’t always do drive-thrus.”

What happened was I felt a lack of control when orders were being barked out at me.  When I am on stage, I have the mic and usually I am the one in control.  I say what I want.  My friends had no idea that requesting a Fillet-O-Fish would make me throw in the towel at a drive in.  So many times we, as people who stutter, blame ourselves for not living up to perceived expectations.  I think we internalize the expectations that we need to be fixed and talk like everyone else.  Even if we stutter openly, many of us put pressure on ourselves that we need to be self-accepting and courageous at all times no matter what.  People perceive my ability to talk in front of hundreds of people as a evidence that I stutter confidently and without stigma 24/7.  How would this be possible when we are socialized in the world we are socialized in?  We aren’t always going to be able live up to others or ourselves and we need to be kind to ourselves.  Sometimes asking our significant other to order the pepperoni pizza after a long day at work isn’t a stuttering sin and a sign of our lack of pride or self-acceptance.  If you stutter, awesome and if you want to sit one out, it doesn’t mean you’re lesser than anyone else.  Stutter with as much pride as you can but on your terms and no else’s.  And if you are ever in a car with me, know that I will throw my Diet Coke at you if make me order a F’n Fillet-O-Fish.

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Changing the image of Disability through comedy

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Big news!  The Comedians with Disabilities Act and Friends album is out.  Disabled Comedy Only is the first ever compilation of Disabled comedians on a single album.  Monumental! The recording was done independently and without any Jumpstarts or GoFundMes.  As artists with disabilities we retained complete control over our material, our image and our brand.  No abled bodied people dictated what we should or shouldn’t say.  Please support independent comedy fighting for visibility, equity, and disability justice through comedy.

Please support the album by purchasing it at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/comedianswithdisabilitie

and sharing our videos!

Thank you for the support!

THE “COMEDIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT” TOUR ROLLS INTO NAPA Thursday Feb. 27 at Bui Bistro’s Comedy Night @ Bui Bistro

Image

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tim Wolcott
Tel. 707-337-8582
Email: timwolcott79@gmail.com

THE “COMEDIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT” TOUR ROLLS INTO NAPA Thursday Feb. 27 at Bui Bistro’s Comedy Night @ Bui Bistro.

A blind man. A stuttering woman. A wheelchair user. A little person. While this may sound like a description of a support group, it is, in fact, the lineup for the “Comedians with Disabilities Act”, a comedy tour that the San Francisco Examiner called “The most unconventional comics to pop up in 2011”. Made up entirely of performers with different disabilities, the troupe is bringing their “special” brand of humor to Comedy Night @ Bui Bistro, hosted by local comedian Tim Wolcott, on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7pm.

The foursome, all of them working northern California comedians, met each other through the comedy club circuit and decided to band together to treat audiences to a unique and unforgettable experience.

“Lots of able-bodied comedians out there tell blind or wheelchair jokes and get the audience to laugh AT people with disabilities,” said Michael O’Connell, the group’s wheelchair representative and founder of the troupe. “But wouldn’t it be more fun for the crowd, we thought, to be invited to laugh WITH people with disabilities instead? That’s guilt-free fun right there.”

Since their first sold-out show in Sacramento, the group has been in growing demand, getting booked at such lauded venues as the Laugh Factory in Hollywood and San Francisco’s Punch Line comedy club. Their comedy comes from the lifetime of experiences each has had due to their individual challenges. They see the tour as not only a chance to entertain, but to educate people on disability issues.

“We’re all comedians first,” said Napa native Steve Danner who identifies as a Little Person, “and it’s a comedy show. But who says you can’t make people laugh and send them home with something to think about too?”

Danner’s comedy career began as an audience member at a club. The comedian on stage that night decided to have some fun at his expense, and Danner’s skills in heckling back at him led the comic to approach Danner after the show and suggest he give comedy a try. He did so, and soon began a career as a prolific comedian and producer, delighting crowds at clubs and comedy rooms all over the west coast with hysterical tales centered heavily on his dwarfism. His comic journey keeps him on the road much of the time, but as Danner is fond of saying, “Shrimpin’ ain’t easy!”.

Michael O’Connell was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at two years old and began using a wheelchair in 1995. But it wasn’t until years later that a friend dared him to try doing comedy at an open mic night at a Sacramento club, and after ending up winning the competition that first night on stage, he never looked back. He’s played comedy clubs from Seattle to L.A. (including the Hollywood Improv and the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club), been featured in newspapers and on radio and television, and counts several Hollywood celebrities among his fans. His business card reads “100% Comedy, 0% Stand-Up”.  Michael is unable to attend this show but you can check out his comedy at http://www.michaeloconnell.com/michaelocomedy.

Sacramento’s Eric Mee was only eighteen years old when, while protecting a young child, he was stabbed in the chest. Complications resulting from his injury led to the loss of his eyesight. Choosing not to let this drastic life change get him down, he began joking about his condition and giving speeches to groups that were always filled with humor. After many suggestions, he turned his talents to stand-up comedy, and now brings his manic energy and outrageous tales to the stage, both at clubs and college campuses.

Touting herself as “the America’s only female comedian who stutters”, Nina G. hails from the Bay Area and has spent a lifetime dealing with both speech and learning disability issues. A key note speaker and disability advocate, Nina turned her talents to the stand-up stage to help raise disability awareness through comedy, and performs her award-winning work at some of the industry’s hottest clubs (the Hollywood Improv and the San Francisco Punchline) and has shared the stage with some of its biggest names (Dave Chappelle).

The Comedians with Disabilities Act will be joined by special guests Steve Lee and Queenie TT.   Steve Lee, a Hong Kong native, originally came to the US as an exchange student.  His comedy integrates his experiences as a first generation Asian American with a disability.  Queenie is a motivational speaker and a body esteem educator with lymphedema.  Combining comedy with motivational speech, Queenie empowers women to make healthier choices for their lives by embracing the power of self-love.

The show will be hosted and produced by local standup comic, Tim Wolcott. Tim started his standup career in 2003 while attending Pacific Union College, where he also helped form the improv/sketch comedy group, Desperate 4 Attention. After a few years of the journeyman comic life, living in Los Angeles and Tampa, Tim returned to St. Helena’s restaurant scene and the San Francisco/Bay Area comedy scene in 2009. He has since performed at venues all over the bay area, including at San Francisco’s historic Purple Onion.  Tim began producing his own shows in June of 2013, at La Condesa in St. Helena.  This will be the second show he’s produced at Bui Bistro, a French/Vietnamese restaurant in downtown Napa.  The show begins at 7pm and has no cover.

If you’d like more information on this event, or to schedule interviews with any of the comedians please contact Nina G at NinaGbooking@gmail.com or Tim Wolcott at timwolcott79@gmail.com.

 

What’s so Funny After 50?

What’s So Funny After 50?

Event Date:
Friday, February 7, 2014 – 20:00 to 22:00

Dan St. Paul’s “What’s So Funny After 50?” comes to the Pacific Pinball Museum for one night only!   Friday February 7th at 8pm

Aging happens to everybody, but when it happens to comic Dan St. Paul, it’s hilarious. Upon reaching the half century mark, St. Paul had a series of revelations about his body (“I’m a cylinder now. I can wear a belt anywhere on my body.”); his faulty memory (“I have eight pairs of reading glasses and I have no idea where they are.”); and dealing with his teenage son (“I have a bumper sticker that says ‘My Son’s Just Getting By At Hillsdale High’).

Now he has packed his cleverest reflections on going gray into “What’s Funny After 50?” Turns out, getting old has given this former opener for Jerry Seinfeld some of his best material ever. Comedy-lovers from their teens to their golden years will enjoy this solo show.

Dan is a veteran of San Francisco comedy.  After a seven year stint of headlining San Francisco clubs in the comedy duo Murphy-St. Paul, Dan launched his own solo act that was to land him in the finals of the nation’s toughest comedy competition, The San Francisco International Stand-Up Comedy Competition.

Soon after, Dan moved to Los Angles and appeared on several episodes of “An Evening at the Improv.” Plus numerous shows on VH-1, MTV and Comedy Central.  Since then, he has opened for such superstars as Jerry Seinfeld, Natalie Cole, and Smokey Robinson.

Comedy and Pinball for a Cause, a show produced by comedian Nina G, brings Dan St. Paul to Alameda for a special one night only performance at the Pacific Pinball Museum on Friday, February 7.  Proceeds from the show will go to the Pacific Pinball Museum, a 501(c)3 nonprofit.  Learn more about the museum and its mission and cultural events at www.Pacificpinball.org.

The shows begins at 8 p.m..  Show will contain adult content. Tickets are $15 and available at:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/whats-so-funny-after-50-comedy-at-ppm-tickets-10044161357Image