Notes From the Whirlpool

Hey there! Sit down, have a drink. We should get acquainted…
Me? I’m JAMES GATES. What’s that? Well, that’s a tricky question…You might call me a Wichita…what? Character? Fixture? Gargoyle? I don’t know for sure… I’ve lived in the Wichita area almost 79% of my life. Most of the time I haunt Delano and the Old Town district like they were my own personal Whitechapel—you may only catch glimpses of me, floating in the background at a bar, a show or an art opening, but there are traces of me everywhere. (Wow, that didn’t sound creepy at all, did it?) I’ve been around long enough to have met some people… And let’s face it, I’m recognizable. I’m six and a half feet tall, rail-thin with blond hair, goatee and yellow-tinted glasses—I look like the three-way love child of Andy Dick, Shaggy, and Lurch from The Addams Family.
If there’s one thing I’ve been known for over the years, it’s random, bizarre, goofy shit. Tales are still told of the time I staged a re-enactment of the Oswald assassination in front of the Bohemian Bean Co., or when I held an impromptu white-slavery raffle to pay my rent… After awhile, it just seemed a natural to go semi-pro, which I did in 2006 with the sketch comedy group PANIC BUTTONS. I’ve been performing on stages and microphones throughout the Wichita area ever since, pursuing the goal of building a live, local comedy scene. In March 2007 I started doing THE JAMES GATES SHOW, a live comedy experience based around A) the late-night talk show format, and B) a whole bunch of me. And the rest is, well, the stuff of much confusion…
Anyway, this is my log. I get to write about anything I want, anytime. I like that. Hope you do too.
Sun Oct 11

10/10/09 - Wichita Comedy LIVES! Part 3 (With A Vengeance)

Wichita Comedy LIVES! Part 3 (With A Vengeance)

So here we are in October, with most of the year already behind us.  And I gotta say it—I’m very pleased.  (Actually, I would say I am Chief John Engorged Red Bear, but that probably doesn’t mean anything to you, unless you work at one of the local pizza joints I order from…)

The Wichita comedy scene continues to build, expand, and sharpen, with no real limits in sight.  The hopeful vision I had for my comrades and I at the beginning of this year has more or less come to fruition… first, by banding together as the TUESDAY NIGHT COMEDY REVUE, we had some of the biggest exposure and audiences that any of our projects had thus far garnered.  Along with that, we took the first steps towards building a true community amongst the comedic performers in the area, regardless of genre.  Cooperation and mutual support is hardly a novel concept, but it has to start somewhere, and so it did this spring with the REVUE.

As we headed into summer, we put the REVUE on hiatus to concentrate on our individual projects.  Among the successes of the summer:

  • SAY WHAT?, Wichita’s only established improvisation troupe, found a “home base” and welcoming audience, performing a series of shows at Mead’s Corner in Old Town.
  • ICT COMEDY continued their monthly “summer patio series” at Blu Nightclub, and found a northern outpost for standup at Bristol’s Tavern in Park City, as well as sending several local standups to perform gigs in smaller towns all around Kansas.
  • THE SCALLYWAGS, along with helping organize and run local events such as Anime Fest in July and the Great Plains Ren Faire in September, continued their summer tradition of hitting the Ren Faire circuit, travelling as far as Sioux Falls and Pittsburg to bring their scurvy-ridden flavor of sketch comedy to the people.
  • Also, special mention is due to CASEY CHAMBERS, possibly the only area performer stranger than me, for taking the initiative and booking his own series of one-man shows in local coffeehouses, to delighted and bewildered audiences.

And as we head into the fall, we’re going to keep it rolling!

The new season of the TUESDAY NIGHT COMEDY REVUE is starting up October 13th  in its new downtown home, Rock Island Live…pulling its acts from a pool that includes almost every gigging performer in town, the REVUE will continue to serve as a multi-genre showcase of the best and brightest comedians the ICT has to offer!

Our first show this season will feature Mr. Biggs as host, with standups Jeremy Rush and Eric Sharpe, improv from Say What?, the first James Gates Show since May (with special guest Tony Ngo), and musical “bookends” by local favorite Scott Allan Knost!  9PM at Rock Island Live—be there!

But that’s not all that’s on tap… in the interests of creating more stage time and outlets for comedy, both for ourselves and for the performers who will follow in our footsteps, we’ve started a second project— the 99 CENT OPEN MIC at the lovely Blue Lounge, Old Town’s only comedy-based Open Mic!  Starting Tuesday, Oct. 20th, every 3rd Tuesday of the month until the end of the year, we’re setting up shop for local comedic performers, musicians, spoken-word artists, and the like!  Our goal is to create a laboratory of sorts, free of the constraints of the comedy club and/or theater environments, a place where performers can try ideas and material they may not have a chance to do anywhere else in town, as welcoming to newcomers as to the seasoned veteran.  (And no, I’m not referring to myself; I still consider myself in the process of sharpening/refining my comedy.  I’m shouting out to my brothers and sisters who’ve been on the front lines longer than me, and there’s more than you might think…)

So if you’re a performer looking for a new outlet for what you do, or you have an interest in seeing what’s on the edge of Wichita comedy, come on down!  The price is in fact right…

·      Tues, Oct.20th

 

·      Tues, Nov. 17th

 

·      Tues, Dec. 15th

…And while I’m at it, I’d be remiss not to mention my own solo project… the next full-length JAMES GATES SHOW is Thursday, November 12th at the Donut Whole.  The theme is “The Sensitive Male Show”—if you’re a fan of grown men crying (admit it, you kinky bastards), this is the show for you!

And with that, I shall leave you for now…I’ve still got a lot of crying and self-loathing to get done this weekend,

JG