DELRAY BEACH – Applause Break always finds it fascinating to learn what stand-up comedians gave up to pursue their craft.
Today we bring the story of Sarah Whiteman, a Denver-area comic who discarded a decent career at Amazon to give stand-up a shot.
Whiteman only has a handful of shows on her resume, but she’s already getting recognized in public.
The link below takes readers to a page than includes video of her first stand-up performance. The performance is raw, but the concept of taking a person with a food allergy to a bar as a means of getting free drinks has promise.
Today’s Stand-Up Spotlight includes news of a German comedy fundraiser to benefit the Ukrainian war effort. There’s also news of a pretty solid stand-up comedy April Fool’s prank by pro wrestler Dave Bautista, and a story about a sad but memorable performance delivered by Marlon Wayans.
Make April the funniest month yet.
STAND-UP SPOTLIGHT – April 3, 2023
I volunteered to be laid off from Amazon so I could try being a standup comedian
I joined Amazon Web Services as a recruiter in April 2020, after being laid off from Nordstrom’s finance department after the pandemic struck.
I absolutely loved working at Amazon, and I moved into different roles before becoming a program manager for a new team handling onboarding across all of Amazon.
Being a comedian has always been on my bucket list, but it was never my dream job — I actually wanted to be an FBI agent.
‘Stand-up’ for Ukraine: Coping through comedy in the face of war
Berlin, Germany – It is Wednesday night and a steady stream of people looking forward to an evening of laughter are stepping into the bowels of a black-walled theatre-cum-bar in the central Berlin neighbourhood of Mitte.
What at first resembles just another comedy night in a city full of them is in fact much more than that. Most of those coming to Ma’s Comedy Club have little to laugh about, especially not in each other’s company. They are from warring Russia and Ukraine.
They come to perform or to watch. They speak Russian or Ukrainian. They are professionals and newcomers. They share an interest in stand-up comedy – and more than that a contempt for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Dave Bautista’s April Fool’s gag was so good fans demand it become a reality
Who would have thought that putting Dave Bautista on stage to do standup was a good idea? When he shared a clip of his Netflix Comedy Special I’ve Never Done This Before — an April Fools’ prank by the way — fans went nuts and are now saying that it needs to happen.
Dave Bautista achieved fame in wrestling when he signed with the WWF in 2000, that’s the World Wrestling Federation for all young fans who might not be aware the company changed its name to WWE in 2002. While wrestling, he punched, kicked, and body-slammed his way to the top but there aren’t too many jokes in that line of work. Since retiring from wrestling in 2019, he has gone on to star in comedies such as Stuber in 2019, My Spy in 2020, Glass Onion in 2022, and his long-standing work with the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, which began in 2014.
Marlon Wayans performs comedy show hours after father Howell’s death
Marlon Wayans took the stage to perform a second comedy set in Los Angeles Friday night – just hours after learning that his father, Howell Wayans, died.
Sources told TMZ that Marlon found out about his dad’s passing while on a break between two shows at Flappers comedy club in Burbank, Calif.
Despite the incredibly tragic news, the comedian still went on to perform a second show, where he reportedly “worked the tragedy” into his material.
