Another marathon of comedy weekend for me.

Friday was Patrice O Neal at the Punchline. I've seen him four times now, and he lays waste to the room. It's really uncanny how he stirs up the crowd. He constantly builds energy, til the end of the show, when people are spontaneously standing up and clapping, or slamming their own table so hard they spill drinks. I've never seen anyone, including Chappelle, get a reaction as big as his at the Punchline. I would go so far and say if you want to be a comic, you have to see him live to see how high the bar is set as far as crowd dynamics go. How does he do it? Timing and delivery, with his self confident stage presence.

Saturday, I hosted a night of comedy after an Narcotics Anonymous meeting in Oakland. I did okay, Mark Silverman, did even better, but Ali Wong totally crushed it. Holy shit, I've never seen her that good. Some people there told me it was their first comedy show ever, and they loved it. I saw Ali earlier this year tear it up at a loud, noisy, rock club, opening for Howard Kremer, but this performance was a notch above in my opinion.

Sunday came with Alex Koll, Moshe Kasher, Blaine Capatch, and Patton Oswalt at Cobb's. What to say? it was awesome. Four of my favorites on the bill. I'm totally biased here, I'm a nerd for these guys' comedy already. For any of you curious Patton fans, he did some great new stuff about Indiana Jones, a magician he once worked with, and a bunch of other new things I can't recall, because I don't take notes during a show; i sit back and enjoy it. Sorry, fellow nerds. Point is, Patton had a bunch of new stuff. Keep an eye out for the other three.

Get out and support your local comics. The scene is so rich right now, it's hard to see all the good stuff that comes through.