Laughing his way to the top
On Saturday, Oct. 4, University of Nevada, Reno alumni-turned-stand up comedian K-Von performed at the Grand Sierra Resort with veteran comedian Jamie Kennedy.
K-Von opened the show—his first ever in Reno—by referencing UNR’s recent triumph over UNLV and making other jokes about the Reno community.
“I was really happy with the way it went,” he said. “I started out with Reno jokes that I’ve never done before because nobody else would get them.”
K-Von graduated from UNR with a degree in business before he decided to move to Los Angeles to chase his dreams in the entertainment industry.
“In college, I had no idea how to get started with comedy,” he said. “My first priority was to get my college degree. I used to write jokes in the backs of my notebooks in class. The more boring the class was, the more jokes I would write. Then I moved to LA and it was a great chance to have a clean slate.”
During his time onstage, K-Von joked about subjects ranging from his Persian heritage to current politics: “You know he’s not going to raise taxes, he can’t even raise his arms,” he teased about Sen. John McCain.
“Every time something new or crazy comes out of the news, you have to think, ‘What’s funny about this?’” he said. “There’s always new material. You have to keep it open and keep your improv options open. When I watch someone onstage, they have to talk about things that keep the audience interested. If you’re not keeping them engaged for 30 or 40 seconds, you lose credibility. That’s why it’s so stressful. It’s hard. You have to think of cool, interesting topics or topics that everyone can relate to.”
K-Von has even translated his comedic prowess to televisions everywhere by appearing on Showtime’s “Comics Without Borders” and as the lead in the horror/comedy flick “Gingerdead Man 2.”
“No one pictures you in a movie until you’ve done a movie,” he said. “You have to show them what you’re capable of. Hollywood likes to have a bandwagon. With every movie you make, you expand your audience. It’s fun to get to be a character and take risks.”
K-Von has recently been performing shows with Kennedy, who is best known for his roles in the “Scream” movies, “Malibu’s Most Wanted” and his television show “The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.”
“It’s a really great opportunity,” said K-Von. “He’s been doing this for over 15 years. He has great command of the stage, and he has a successful movie career.”
Kennedy’s set also consisted of jokes about politics, race and sex—“I talk about sex, but I don’t know much about it,” he said repeatedly throughout the show. He also referenced the overseas travel he has done while touring his comedy, including a very lengthy simulation of English pornography.
After spending a bit of the night interacting with rowdy audience members, Kennedy fittingly closed the show by presenting excerpts from his recent comedy-documentary “Heckler” which analyzed and discussed heckling and criticism, enlisting the input of many famous comedians such as Carrot Top and Bill Maher.
At the end of the month, K-Von will be performing at the Silver Legacy casino and is planning to offer discounted tickets for college students on his Web site www.k-voncomedy.com.
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October 7th, 2008 at 10:26 pm
I was at this show and it was a great time!!!
LOL
If you want to get discounted tickets for the Silver Legacy make sure to contact me at info@K-vonComedy.com or http://www.myspace.com/KvonComedy
The shows are Tues - Sunday Halloween Weekend so reference the night you’d like to come.
Sincerely,
K