Building an hour of stand-up, especially the first time you do it, is already hard enough with having no experience doing so. In 2025, with the ways of the world, both actual and of comedy, the consideration and craft that has to be put into an bonafide great first hour of stand-up comedy can feel near infinite. That's why we chatted all about this very process with the endlessly funny Bri Pruett who is shaping up what should be an amazing first hour.

Follow Bri @bripruett across platforms and get tix to Bri Pruett: Pleasure Champion @ Lyric Hyperion 8/22 here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger

In such dire times, the roles of comedy being both offering a salve to reality and speaking truth to power can seem to be at odds with each other. However, there are ways to walk such a tight line and we talk with celebrated veteran indie comedy producer Ali Hart (Peacock, The Frogtown Show, Slick Burn) on the intersection of comedy and trying to get folks to come around to making a better world.

Follow Ali @trahila

Produced by Jake Kroeger

Romance and the quest for it will forever remain fertile ground for comedy no matter how the art form changes and evolves. IG/Tik Tok sensation Walker Ward marches, or, more accurately, pedals, forward in this regard with Pedicab Connections by picking up strangers looking for love in a pedicab and makes an earnest attempt to match them with someone in real life, no apps needed. For this week's TCB Field Report, we talk to Walker about getting back to basics of human connection in looking forward into finding the funny in love.

Follow Walker @walksauce42_ on IG and watch Pedicab Connections on YouTube here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger

While many of you have to come, know, and love the fantastic Shannon O'Neill through improv and wherever you watch TV, she has discovered another marvelous facet of herself through her work in ceramics. In fact, she's just about to close out her very first exhibition Beat One at The Empty Circle in Brooklyn and was very keen on infusing a comedic spirit into the whole experience of making, presenting, and interacting with her pieces. We have a truly wondrous conversation about art, improv, and the cross-pollination of the two on this week's TCB Field Report.

Follow Shannon @spotastic and @sporamics on IG and make sure to make the closing party for Beat One and the Empty Circle in Brooklyn this Friday, July 11th at 6PM.

Produced by Jake Kroeger

From just the look of Big Break, David Drake's third and latest hour, you might be surprised that Drake has helped build an entire corner of NYC comedy through the hallowed ground of The Gutter in Brooklyn (that also happens to be a lovely bowling alley). Between CYSKNYC and his multiple hour special in the space, Drake has gotten himself into rarefied air of making 80 minutes of stand-up very, very enjoyable. We get into all of that and more in this week's TCB Field Report.

Produced by Jake Kroeger

At the same time, comedy can indeed speak truth to power and also express joy from one's unique perspective, but it can be quite the balancing act to do both at the same time. One wondrous Linzy Beltran manages the feat with a bold stroke of unabashed silliness with her solo show El Mago Loco, currently playing at the Hollywood Fringe. For this week's TCB Field Report, we explore Linzy's own explorations within and outside herself to bring to the stage a show that's crucial, playful, and kind-of-not-really-a-magic-show that has a magician as the main character.

Follow Linzy @linzybeltran and get tix for El Mago Loco @ Hollywood Fringe on 6/26 & 6/28 here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger

Almost always, the work that goes into a deeply personal solo show is almost entirely invisible. There are years of work and reworking and giving up and getting re-obsessed that drive a person to create something possibly so unique and inspiring and hilarious and then perform over and over and over and over again only to have audiences marvel an hour at a time. Erica Bitton and her work with her amazing solo show Vacuum Girl has gone through all of its peaks and valleys all the way to the marvelous place that it is now. We talk to her all about it on this week's TCB Field Report.

Follow Erica @gurubf and get tix for Vacuum Girl here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger

Julie Seabaugh has been and still very much is one of our absolute favorite people in comedy because, like us, she has dedicated blood, sweat, and tears to the telling of stories of, about, in, and around comedy. Following her endeavors as an esteemed journalist, author, and documentarian, Julie's latest work focuses on the comedy icon Marc Maron following the passing of his partner, Lynn Shelton in the doc, Are We Good?, brilliantly directed by Steven Feinartz (and screened at SXSW & Tribeca).

This week's TCB Field Report goes in on Julie's process of showing Maron's process of both grief and comedy, which are beautifully intertwined in this movie.

Follow @julieseabaugh & @arewegoodfilm on IG

Produced by Jake Kroeger

A lot of what has been dug up from the 90s, mostly by Gen Z, has kind of been a rude look into the mirror for Millennials, but acclaimed, veteran screenwriter Victoria Male has cooked up a comedy feature, Whatever Happened to Baby J?, that is taking a much more favorable look into the 90s, so much so that the one and only Jodie Sweetin (as well as Drew Seeley and stacked cast) is going to be part of a staged reading of Whatever Happened to Baby J? at Dynasty Typewriter on June 9th (tix available here). This week's TCB Field Report follows Victoria's journey all the way to doing this big time staged reading that will be support of the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children.

Follow Victoria @victoriamale1 and get tix to Whatever Happened to Baby J @ Dynasty Typewriter on June 9th here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger

The undertaking of putting on a live comedy show can be a lot, but putting on a full scale, multi-week, improvised parody of a celebrated TV franchise is a whole other sport. Yet, that seems to be Sam Walt Jones' favorite thing to do as he is just about to cap off his third season of Survivor: Island of Idiots, one of the most ambitious comedy productions we've ever come across. We get into the how and why of Sam's process on this week's TCB Field Report.

Follow Sam @samwaltjones across socials and get tix for the remaining Survivor: Island of Idiots here.

Produced by Jake Kroeger