The Home of Todd Van Allen

Author:TVA

News About McVeigh’s – Looks Like I’m Hosting Now

Posted on February 21, 2009
in Uncategorized
by TVA

Hey, all.

I owe you a review on Florida, and there have been some lessons learned, let’s say, but I felt you should know about this breaking news in advance.

There’s been a bit of a change-up recently and I thought that even though I’m not in town just now, I should put something out there to let you know what’s going on.

Firstly, as of Thursday, February 26th, I’ll be taking over as the host of the comedy night Thursdays at McVeigh’s. I’ve hosted this room as a substitute for several evenings over the past while, and it looks like I’m going to be continuing for good in this capacity. I’m going to be working very hard with the staff and ownership at McVeigh’s to help make the night a continued success. It is my hope that the room will be as successful as it was during the past two-and-a-half years that Laura Prosko ran it. Under her guidance it became one of the best places to perform in the city, and I hope that this continues.

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Episode 111: Barry Taylor

Posted on February 16, 2009
in Podcast, TVA Podcast
by TVA

Thanks for listening! Go to the main podcast page where you can listen online or download the MP3 file. Don’t feel like downloading every week? Click HERE to automatically subscribe through iTunes for FREE! That way, when we put up a new episode, you...

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Thank God for Atheists.

Posted on February 16, 2009
in Views
by TVA

My buddy Rick Kaulbars posted a reference to a letter he submitted to the editor of the Ottawa Metro in the “Shameless Self-Promotion” section of the Ottawa Comedy Resource, a great frequently-posted-to site dedicated to the Ottawa comedy scene. I proceeded to get into a debate with Rick that soon spiralled into something not befitting that section of the site. You can read how far we got to by clicking HERE. Since I couldn’t stop thinking about this entire issue and my side of the debate, I decided to post my argument where it is most appropriate. On my own damn website.

There’s a new ad campaign that is making the rounds of controversy in the UK and is soon to join us over here. A collection of bus ads will soon say words akin to, and I am paraphrasing here, “There is no God, so you might as well treat each other nicely anyway.”

Well, here we go.

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This…Is…CHATHAM!!!!

Posted on February 16, 2009
in Reviews
by TVA

I was totally looking forward to this trip in that it had several things on offer that I liked:

– Long fun car ride with fellow comics (usually good for a laugh)
– Opportunity to work with old friends in the form of Russell Roy and Winston Spear
– Opportunity to work with someone I’ve never worked with before in the form of Craig Fay
– Get to perform in a place I’ve never been in before in the form of Chatham

Cut to Hour Three of the car trip:

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So, They Were Drunk. So What?

Posted on February 14, 2009
in Reviews
by TVA

So it was a decently quiet night at McVeigh’s. Eight comics, five audience members; one of which I knew (and as a result will probably now ignore all of my Facebook updates), one aspiring comic doing research on performing (and probably wondering why he chose this particular art form and not, say, ballet), and three drunk, loud, yet entertaining non-union actors.

I started the show, as you do, welcoming them all, and laying down the ground rules. It’s okay to talk during my introductions whenever I hit the stage, but the acts are off limits. Standard procedure. You’ve been to a comedy show before you know the score.

Well, that didn’t happen.

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