A CONDENSED CREATIVE PORTFOLIO

I'm a standup comedian, storyteller and writer, based in Brooklyn. My work has appeared on The Moth podcast/radio hour, This American Life, and PBS' "Stories From the Stage." I also hosted, produced and performed in 'And I Am Not Lying,' a variety show that combined storytelling, standup, live music and sideshow acts and ran at UCB East for 5 years.

This page is a creative portfolio/"greatest hits" to give you a look at who I am and what I do.

STORYTELLING and STANDUP COMEDY

I’ve been performing stories and standup in one form or another for the past 11 years. I know I just told you this, but I can’t repeat it often enough: My work has appeared on The Moth podcast/radio hour, This American Life, and PBS' "Stories From the Stage."

Here are two videos that best show off my style/performing chops:

I released an album of standup and stories on the ‘Comedy Dynamics’ label in June of 2017. It debuted at #1 on the iTunes standup charts.

I can’t get Spotify’s stupid embed code to work with Squarespace properly, but you can hear my album on Spotify here.

I pressed a limited-edition run of my album on hot pink vinyl, designing the cover art and all other aspects of the record myself. I sell them at shows and always drop a few off at record stores when I’m performing out of town, and I’m honored to say that legendary post-punk/hardcore label Dischord Records distributes my album on vinyl.

Here’s a look at the record:

‘AND I AM NOT LYING’ - My variety show at UCB

For five and a half years, I curated, produced, hosted and performed in 'And I Am Not Lying,' a variety show at UCB East. The show was an attempt to capture the real spirit of NYC's diverse, vibrant, raucous underground performance scene, a contemporary mashup of vaudeville, cabaret, and midnight movies.

It was a combo of standup, storytelling, burlesque, sideshow acts and live music and I always booked the loudest, strangest and most diverse acts I could find.

Here's a teaser trailer I put together to give you a sense of the tone:

This email, from UCB's management, captures the spirit and experience of the show better than any trailer:
(For a larger version, click here)

There's nothing I would love more than to partner with VICE to develop and host a version of the show that email describes for VICE.com/Viceland. It could work as a hybrid variety show/lifestyle show not unlike "Fuck, That's Delicious," with several complete acts and an in-person look at the performer's day to day life.

The show gave me access to a wide swath of NYC's performers, from the snake lady at Coney Island to performers on SNL. I could deliver a Palestinian female standup comic married to a Jewish woman from Montreal, a comic who's a Dominican father of two born and raised in East New York, a bullwhip and lasso expert, a dominatrix who pierces her own flesh as part of a burlesque act and any number of storytellers seen and heard on NPR.

Former guests of note include:
Comedians:

• Aparna Nancherla - Comedy Central's 'Corporate,'

• Gary Gulman

• Kyle Kinane

• Josh Gondelman - currently writing for 'Desus and Mero'

• SNL's Michael Che

• Josh Johnson, writer for 'The Daily Show,' opener for Trevor Noah

• Kate Willett - Netflix's "The Comedy Lineup"

Musical Acts:

• Superdeaf, a Mexican hiphop/metal/hardcore trio

• Vomit Fist, a father/son grind core band

• Mariachi Flor de Toloache, an all-female mariachi band

• Batala NYC, an all-female band of Afro-Brazilian drummers

Sideshow/variety performers:

• Mat Fraser, a disabled burlesque performer/drummer, seen on 'American Horror Story'

• Julie Atlas Muz, global burlesque legend

• NYC underground burlesque legend Fem Appeal

• bullwhip and lasso artist Chris McDaniel

I designed every poster for the show myself, and you can see a few here:

WRITING

Hard Yakka

This is an original 30 minute comedy pilot that I’m developing as a sample to try and break into scripted comedic TV writing.

Royal Quiet Deluxe

This piece appeared on The Daily, the Paris Review's daily blog on October 13th, 2014. It is adapted from a story that I told at The Moth in September, 2014. I managed to win the Moth SLAM with this.  

Chasing Away the Big Black Bird

This piece appeared on The Daily, the Paris Review's daily blog on May 21st, 2014. It is adapted from a story I told on stage at The Moth's GrandSLAM in NYC in March 2014. I also managed to win the GrandSLAM with this as well.

Oxtail Recipe: I’m trying my best

40 Is Coming Kimchi Eggs

I’m a passionate home cook, and wrote these as both recipes and comedic essays.

TEACHING

I’ve taught workshops in storytelling as standup comedy since 2015, and my students have gone on to perform on Comedy Central’s ‘This Is Not Happening,’ the ‘RISK’ podcast, The Moth podcast and more. It’s caused me to become acutely aware of story structure and comedy within that structure. It’s made me get very, very good at listening, drawing out, and developing stories from people with a wide variety of experiences - and taught me to coach and write for voices very different from my own.

One of my students appeared on ‘This Is Not Happening’ with this story, developed in my class.

I’ve taught this workshop to corporate clients, 8th grade theater students, and to graduate students at the Maine College of Art. And I’ve written a few articles that explain how to develop and structure a funny story:

This Is A Boring Shark Attack: 8 Rules for Fascinating Storytelling
How to Structure a Funny Story
This Ice Cream Will Heal Your Heartbreak: How to Find Your Story’s ‘North Star’

I hope you’ve enjoyed this, and of course I hope to hear from you soon.

You can reach me by email at jeff.simmermon@gmail.com, or by phone at 202-247-7666.