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We talked to stand-up comedian and actor, Dave Merheje! Jason met Dave many years ago because they both performed on a stand-up show together called The Most Races Show on Earth. After talking about that show, Dave talks about starting comedy in college in his home town in Windsor, his process for learning the structure of comedy, how he got his acting gigs in Ramy and Sometimes I Think About Dying and what filming those projects were like, what grinding it out early on taught him about finding himself to find his voice, and much more! Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! Sometimes I Think About Dying: sometimesithinkaboutdying.oscilloscope.net His Special, Miseducation of a F***boi: youtube.com/watch?v=MgZhon09OB8 Dave's LinkTree: linktr.ee/davemerheje Instagram: @DaveMerheje, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Twitter: @DaveMerheje, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

We got to talk to improviser, writer, and filmmaker, Anatasha Blakely! Anatasha and Jason dive right into a thrilling conversation which incidentally is one of our most inspiring we've ever had on the podcast. Anatasha talks about the artistic life she wants to achieve, the wisdom of Rick Rubin and Bruce Lee, the marriage of playfulness and joy with vulnerability in improv, being brave and taking chances in her performances, how she got into films like Predator despite being in a Mormon household, her film work, and much more. Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! Check out her film work at www.darklingfilms.com Watch her film, Inch Thick, Knee Deep, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywv4BxCGiF4 Instagram: @anatashablakely, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Twitter: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

We talk to Canada-based stand-up, Amy Bugg! Jason caught Amy while she was on the road in California at the Bergamot Comedy Fest! Amy and Jason have a fun chat about how Amy got started in comedy, doing jokes that weren't true to who she is before finding her voice, how comics can present their POV, her day job in accounting and some tax tips, work-life balance, what it took to produce her own special, and what her lifestyle on the road is like. Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! Amy's YouTube: @AmyBugg4103 Twitter: @Amy_Bugg, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Instagram: @AmyBuggie, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

Inspired to do another bracket we decided to pit actor families against each other. All the actor families (minus several we eliminated) and this is the bracket! Jason is joined by the Bridal Party of the Show to talk all that pop about actor families and more! We've got Best Man of the Show, Trey, Groomsman of the Show, Rob, and Fiancée of the Show, Justina, here to nerd out on who their favorite actor families are. It's a fun chat on a deceptively hard bracket to fill out! (Note: after recording we added the Gyllenhaals, Streep/Gummers, and Fannings who were left off due to an unforgiveable oversight and therefore left out of the discussion) Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! Get the bracket here Twitter: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Instagram: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

We combed the internet for comedy festivals that have open submissions during the month of April so you don't have to! We have improv, stand-up, sketch and more covered below! Just click the names of the festivals to follow their link! We'll be updating throughout the month as new info comes in so be sure to check back! Stand-Up Fountain City Comedy Festival (Kansas City, MO) - Early Bird ends Apr. 1st, overall June 15th (show dates Sept. 12-14) Good Vibes Comedy Festival (Memphis) - Deadline Apr. 5th (show dates Apr. 19&20) Motor City Comedy Festival (Detroit) - Early Bird ends Apr. 7th, overall Apr. 28th (show dates Sept. 19-22) Redlands Comedy Festival (Redlands, CA) - Opening Apr. 26th Comedy Chateau Comedy Festival (Hollywood) - Deadline Apr. 30th (show dates June 8-15) North Carolina Comedy Festival (Greensboro, NC) - Deadline Apr. 30th (show dates Sept. 18-22) Milwaukee Comedy Festival - Deadline Apr. 30th (show dates Oct. 1-6) 5th Borough Comedy Festival (NYC) - More details to come (show dates Sept. 19-22) Lookout Comedy Festival (Chattanooga, TN) - Early Bird ends Apr. 30th, overall June 30th (show dates Oct. 16-19) Que Chiste Latin/Hispanic Comedy Festival Seattle Dates - Early Bird ends May 1st, overall May 31st (show dates Sept. 18-21) Portland Dates - Early Bird ends May 1st, overall May 31st (show dates Oct. 9-12) Burbank Comedy Festival - Early Bird ends May 1st, overall June 1st (show dates Aug. 11-17) Asheville Comedy Festival (Asheville, NC) - Deadline May 10th (show dates in August) The Ladies Room Comedy Fest (New York City) - Early Bird ends May 18th, overall Sept. 15th (show dates Nov. 9-10) Big Diamond Comedy Festival (Bentonville, AR) - Deadline May 31st (show dates Oct. 3-5) Whale City Comedy Festival (New Bedford, MA) - Deadline June 1st (show dates Aug. 28-Sept. 1) Mountain Fresh Comedy Festival (Breckenridge, CO) - Deadline June 15th (show dates Oct. 10-13) Colorado Queer Comedy Festival (Boulder, CO) - Deadline July 1st (show dates Oct. 3-6) Finger Lakes Comedy Festival (Ithaca, NY) - Deadline Aug. 1st (show dates Sept. 26-28) World Series of Comedy (Various, Main Event in Vegas) - Various satellite deadlines, main event deadline Aug. 18th (various show dates, main event Sept. 22-28) Hubcap Comedy Festival (Canada) - Deadline Aug. 31st (show dates Jan. 29 - Feb. 1, 2025) Altercation Comedy Festival (Austin) - Deadline info coming soon (show dates Nov. 13-16) Windsor Comedy Festival (Ontario) - Deadline Oct. 20th (live finale show Dec. 27th) Fringe Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Deadline Apr. 10th (show dates Aug. 2-26) Hollywood Fringe - Deadline Apr. 15th (show dates June 13-30) Greater Manchester Fringe - Brochure deadline at the end of April (show dates July 1-31) Brighton Fringe - Deadline May 1st (show dates May 3 - June 3) Sketch Portland Sketch Comedy Festival - Deadline May 1st (show dates June 25-27) Stand-Up/Sketch, Short & Animated Film/Podcasts Laugh After Dark ComedyFest (Vegas) - Standard fee ends May 10th, overall May 31st (show dates Oct 7-9) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Musical/Storytelling Laugh Riot Grrrl (Los Angeles) - Deadline Apr. 1st (show dates June 3-10) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Musical/Burlesque/Drag/Variety Uncloseted Comedy Pride Festival - Deadline Apr. 30th (show dates ) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Burlesque/Storytelling/Variety Madison Comedy Week - Deadline Mid-April (show dates Aug. 4-11) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Variety Omaha Comedy Fest - Deadline Apr. 12th (show dates Sept. 26-29) Flyover Comedy Festival (St. Louis, MO) - Deadline May 31st (show dates Nov. 14-16) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch Blue Whale Comedy Festival (Tulsa, OK) - Deadline May 1st (show dates. Aug. 22-24) Portland Maine Comedy Fest - Early Bird ends Apr. 30th, overall May 24th (show dates Sept. 5-8) First Coast Comedy Festival (Jacksonville, FL) - Early Bird ends May 2nd, still early fee ends May 31st (show dates Oct. 10-13) Film Chicago Comedy Film Festival - Deadline Apr. 6th (show date Nov. 9, 2024) Sketch/Film Philly Sketchfest - Film regular deadline Apr. 1st, overall Apr. 30 (show date June 5th) Stand-Up/Sketch/Film/Web Series/Pilot Portland Comedy Film Festival - Regular deadline May 31st, overall July 31st (show date Oct. 14) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Short, Animated & Sketch Film/Pilot Pack Fest (Los Angeles) - Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Variety - Deadline May 15th Film/Pilot: Cheaper fee ends May 26th, overall June 30th (show dates Aug. 29-Sept. 1) Feature, Short, & Animated Film/Video Sketch/Pilot/Web Series/Music Video LA Comedy Film Festival - Cheaper fee ends Apr. 19th, overall July 19th (show dates Sept. 5-15) Feature & Short Film/Pilot/Screenplay Short Ha Ha Harvest Comedy and Film Festival (Portland, OR) - Cheaper Fee ends Aug. 22nd, overall Oct. 10 (show dates Nov. 20-24) Stand-Up/Improv/Variety Last Best Comedy Fest (Bozeman, MT) - Early Bird ends Apr. 1st, overall May 15th (show dates Sept. 12-14) Stand-Up/Improv RISE Comedy Festival (Denver, CO) - Deadline May 15th (show dates July 26-Aug. 4) Musical Improv Bay Area Musical Improv Festival (Oakland, CA) - Deadline June 1st (show dates Oct. 25-27) Improv Fun & Dumb Improv Festival (Brooklyn, NY) - Deadline Apr. 14th (show dates July 11-14) Improv Fest Ireland - Deadline Apr. 20th (show dates Nov. 13-16) The Bit Improv Festival (Aurora, Il) - Deadline Apr. 29th (show dates June 21-22) Asheville Improv Festival - Cheaper Fee ends Apr. 30th, overall May 15th (show dates Oct. 9-13) Detroit Improv Festival - Deadline May 31st (show dates Aug. 7-11) Secret City Improv Festival (Oak Ridge, TN) - Deadline June 15th (show dates Sept. 27-29) Not Festivals, But Cool! Play Series Neurodivergent New Play Series (Brooklyn, NY) - Deadline after 100 submissions monthly Fellowship for Latinx ATL-Based Comedians Climate Cultura (Atlanta, GA) - Deadline May 5th Awards Show All the Laughs Comedy Awards (ATL) - Cheaper fee ends Apr. 1st, overall Aug. 1st (show dates Sept. 27-29) To receive reminders for when festival submissions close subscribe to our newsletter which will mention those details and more every Monday! It's also free! Wee! We provide this for free every month, but it's not free to run the site. If you'd like to say thanks, consider buying me a beer or putting some money in the tip jar (link) below!

As a means of celebrating, we're sharing snippets of Jason's bachelor party weekend! Previous guests and podcast regulars make appearances. Is it an episode to inspire? ...Maybe? It might inspire you to focus on the fun of friends and family coming together and not the debauchery usually associated with bachelor parties. Look, no one got arrested. No one murdered anyone. It was nothing at all like The Hangover. You can enjoy a relatively quiet weekend in the woods with your groomsmen eating donuts and barbecue, watching the NCAA tournament, and doing the Last Dab. Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! Twitter: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Instagram: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

We have a great chat with filmmaker, writer, and actor, Anjali Nath! Anjali is an up-and-comer in the truest sense. She's done so much already and it's super impressive. She's written, directed, and starred in short films and she's even created music for them. We talk to her time at Northwestern, doing theater, her eye for filmmaking, the approach she takes to developing her work, how she developed the music for her pieces, and much more! She is definitely one to watch! Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! https://www.theplastichouse.com vimeo.com/anjalinath Twitter: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Instagram: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

We have the "Of the Show" Bridal Party here to talk all that POP about this year's Oscars! Jason is joined by Groomsman of the Show, Rob, Best Man of the Show, Trey, and Fiancée of the show, Justina, to talk about their least and most favorite moments of this year's Oscars telecast and the biggest surprises from the night. It's a fun chat that includes the tears, the laughs, and the love for Messi! You are Kenough. Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! Twitter: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Instagram: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

The online comedy class era has boomed over the last few years. Now you can take classes wherever you are in the world no matter what is available in your town. During the COVID pandemic, teachers and theaters were feeling the hurt because comedy courses are such a major stream of income. So, the move to teaching online came out of necessity. This was a blessing not only for the instructors and theaters, but for people who want to pursue comedy. Suddenly, where you lived didn't matter and you could study with a famed theater you've secretly wished you could study at. Even though in-person classes have been back in session for some time now, some places are still offering online courses! You can take these courses to improve your comedy or to simply hone soft skills! It can be for fun or for work! Whatever your reason, you can benefit from taking these renowned classes from anywhere! Check out the list below of some online comedy classes being offered by a few of America's major theaters: Improv The Pack: Improv 4 (no pre-requisites required) UCB: Improv 101 The Groundlings: Improv Basics Moment Improv: Core Classes Storytelling Magnet Theater: Solo Show Class Writing The Pack: Sketch Level's 1 & 2 The Pack: Writing a Pilot Second City: Several Varieties of On-Demand Courses (may have online classes up in the future) UCB: Sketch and Various Writing Courses The Groundlings : Sketch and Writing a Pilot Courses Stand-Up Second City: On-Demand Courses UCB: Intro to Stand-Up The PIT: Level 1 Character The Pack: Character UCB: Character 101

We got to have this great and insightful talk with comedy writer, Jon Gutierrez! Jason became familiar with Jon many years ago in the oddest place...a Facebook group for aspiring writers. They talked about those early days of trying to get a writing job for a late night show, coming up during the early heydays of UCB and taking more classes than any student in theater history, all the wild things he got to do there like wrestling with Donald Glover, writing for @Midnight and Mystery Science Theater 3000, his philosophy on writing, and much more! Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! https://jongutierrez.substack.com Twitter: @Dasgoot1, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Instagram: @Dasgoot1, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis

We combed the internet for comedy festivals that have open submissions during the month of March so you don't have to! We have improv, stand-up, sketch and more covered below! Just click the names of the festivals to follow their link! We'll be updating throughout the month as new info comes in so be sure to check back! Stand-Up Rubber City Comedy Festival (Akron, OH) - Deadline Mar. 5th (show dates May 1-4th) Laughing Buddha Comedy Festival (NYC) - Deadline Mar. 16th (show dates Apr. 1-20) Rogue Island Comedy Festival (Spring & Fall) (Newport, RI) - Deadline Mar. 17th (show dates May 23-27) Jersey City Comedy Festival - Deadline Mar. 17th (show dates June 13-15) 5th Borough Comedy Festival (NYC) - More details to come (show dates Sept. 19-22) Fountain City Comedy Festival (Kansas City, MO) - Early Bird ends Apr. 1st, overall June 15th (show dates Sept. 12-14) Good Vibes Comedy Festival (Memphis) - Deadline Apr. 5th (show dates Apr. 19&20) Burbank Comedy Festival - Early Bird ends May 1st, overall June 1st (show dates Aug. 11-17) World Series of Comedy (Various, Main Event in Vegas) - Various satellite deadlines, main event deadline Aug. 18th (various show dates, main event Sept. 22-28) Milwaukee Comedy Festival - Deadline Apr. 30th (show dates Oct. 1-6) Asheville Comedy Festival (Asheville, NC) - Deadline May 10th (show dates in August) Big Diamond Comedy Festival (Bentonville, AR) - Deadline May 31st (show dates Oct. 3-5) Mountain Fresh Comedy Festival (Breckenridge, CO) - Deadline June 15th (show dates Oct. 10-13) Hubcap Comedy Festival (Canada) - Deadline Aug. 31st (show dates Jan. 29 - Feb. 1, 2025) Altercation Comedy Festival (Austin) - Deadline info coming soon (show dates Nov. 13-16) Windsor Comedy Festival (Ontario) - Deadline Oct. 20th (live finale show Dec. 27th) Fringe Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Early Bird ends Mar. 6th, overall Apr. 10th (show dates Aug. 2-26) Hollywood Fringe - Deadline Apr. 15th (show dates June 13-30) Greater Manchester Fringe - Brochure deadline at the end of April (show dates July 1-31) Brighton Fringe - Deadline May 1st (show dates May 3 - June 3) Stand-Up/Podcast Limestone Comedy Festival (Bloomington, IN) - Deadline Mar. 10th (show dates May 31-June 2) Stand-Up/Musical Big Pine Comedy Festival (Chandler, AZ) - Deadline March 31st (Sept. 26-28) Sketch Portland Sketch Comedy Festival - Deadline May 1st (show dates June 25-27) Stand-Up/Sketch, Short & Animated Film/Podcasts Laugh After Dark ComedyFest (Vegas) - Standard fee ends Mar. 31st, overall May 31st (show dates Oct 7-9) Stand-up/Sketch/Storytelling/Variety Austin Sketchfest - Deadline Mar. 15th (show dates May 23-25) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Musical/Storytelling Laugh Riot Grrrl (Los Angeles) - Deadline Apr. 1st (show dates June 3-10) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Storytelling/Drag/Variety Boom Chicago (Amsterdam) - Early Bird ends Mar. 1st, overall Mar. 15th (show dates July 11-21) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Burlesque/Storytelling/Variety Madison Comedy Week - Early Bird ends March 30th, overall Mid-April (show dates Aug. 4-11) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Solo/Clown/Variety iO Fest (Chicago) - Deadline Mar. 1st (show dates July 25-28) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Drag Sixth City Comedy Festival (Cleveland) - Deadline Mar. 31st (show dates Aug. 7-10) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch Video/Alt Comedy/Podcast Detroit Women of Comedy Festival - Deadline Mar. 10th (show dates May 17&18) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Variety Mach Improv Los (Angels) Festival (Los Angeles) - Deadline Mar. 16th (show dates Apr. 27) Omaha Comedy Fest - Early Bird ends Mar. 14th, overall Apr. 12th (show dates Sept. 26-29) Flyover Comedy Festival (St. Louis, MO) - Deadline May 31st (show dates Nov. 14-16) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch Blue Whale Comedy Festival (Tulsa, OK) - Early Bird ends Mar. 4th, overall May 1st (show dates. Aug. 22-24) Columbus Comedy Fest - Deadline Mar. 12th (show dates Aug. 14-18) Portland Maine Comedy Fest - Early Bird ends Mar. 31st, overall May 24th (show dates Aug. 29-Sept. 1) Film Chicago Comedy Film Festival - Multiple deadlines, overall Apr. 6th (show date Nov. 9, 2024) Sketch/Film Philly Sketchfest - Sketch deadline Mar. 31st (show dates May 31-June 1 & June 6-8) Film regular deadline Apr. 1st, overall Apr. 30 (show date June 5th) Stand-Up/Sketch/Film/Web Series/Pilot Portland Comedy Film Festival - Regular deadline Mar. 31st, overall July 31st (show date Oct. 14) Stand-Up/Improv/Sketch/Short, Animated & Sketch Film/Pilot Pack Fest (Los Angeles) - Early Bird Mar. 31st, overall June 30th (show dates Aug. 29-Sept. 1) Feature, Short, & Animated Film/Video Sketch/Pilot/Web Series/Music Video LA Comedy Film Festival - Cheaper fee ends Mar. 22nd, overall July 19th (show dates Sept. 5-15) Feature & Short Film/Pilot/Screenplay Short Ha Ha Harvest Comedy and Film Festival (Portland, OR) - Early Bird ends Mar. 28th, overall Oct. 10 (show dates Nov. 20-24) Stand-Up/Improv/Variety Last Best Comedy Fest (Bozeman, MT) - Early Bird ends Apr. 1st, overall May 15th (show dates Sept. 12-14) Stand-Up/Improv/Film/Podcast The Big Funny (New Orleans) - Deadline Mar. 1st (show dates May 16-20) Stand-Up/Improv RISE Comedy Festival (Denver, CO) - Cheaper fee ends Mar. 31st, overall May 15th (show dates July 26-Aug. 4) Musical Improv Bay Area Musical Improv Festival (Oakland, CA) - Deadline June 1st (show dates Oct. 25-27) Improv Fool's Gold Improv Festival (Atlanta) - Early Bird ends Mar. 1st, overall Mar. 10th (show dates Apr. 5-7) Pandora Improv Festival (Marina di Massa, Italy) - Deadline info coming soon (show dates June 6-9) Orange County Improv Fest - Deadline Mar. 10th (show dates June 13-15) Countdown Improv Fest (Tampa) - Deadline Mar. 19th (show dates Aug. 7-10) Asheville Improv Festival - Early Bird ends Mar. 31st, overall May 15th (show dates Oct. 9-13) Fun & Dumb Improv Festival (Brooklyn, NY) - Deadline Apr. 14th (show dates July 11-14) The Bit Improv Festival (Aurora, Il) - Deadline Apr. 29th (show dates June 21-22) Secret City Improv Festival (Oak Ridge, TN) - Deadline June 15th (show dates Sept. 27-29) Not Festivals, But Cool! Writer Residency Millary Arts Residences (Hudson Valley, NY) - Core Residency's Early Bird ends Mar. 1st, overall Mar. 8th (Throughout Aug & Dec.) Atlantic Center for the Arts (New Smyrna Beach, Florida) - Deadline May 19th (dates Oct. 6-26) Play Series Neurodivergent New Play Series (Brooklyn, NY) - Deadline after 100 submissions monthly Awards Show All the Laughs Comedy Awards (ATL) - Cheaper fee ends Apr. 1st, overall Aug. 1st (show dates Sept. 27-29) To receive reminders for when festival submissions close subscribe to our newsletter which will mention those details and more every Monday! It's also free! Wee! We provide this for free every month, but it's not free to run the site. If you'd like to say thanks, consider buying me a beer or putting some money in the tip jar (link) below!

We talk to performer, writer, and instructor, Patrick Rowland, in this fantastic episode! Patrick ran the whole gamut of improv and sketch in Chicago. He talks about how he got bit by the improv bug, how he managed his shyness while pursuing comedy, studying and performing at esteemed theaters like iO, Second City, and the Annoyance, how he started writing, his all Black sketch troupe 3 Peat, his popular sketch show Barack All Night, and after gushing over Amber Ruffin he tells Jason about how he got to work for her on The Amer Ruffin Show. You may even hear a couple President Barack Obama impressions. It's a fun chat, but it also serves as a reminder to keep pushing forward in your comedy journey. Listen wherever you get podcasts and our YouTube! patrickrowland.net Twitter: @PatrickRowland3, @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrJokes Instagram: @ThereItIsPod, @JasonFarrPics Facebook: @ThereItIsPod Subscribe to our comedy newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/e22defd4dee2/thereitis