Laughing Stock: ‘A liberal agenda’ may not be what you think – Tucson Weekly

Once every quarter or so, Em Bowen holds forth at Crooked Tooth Brewery with a standup comedy show like no other in Tucson. It has what can only be called standards.

Theyre not the sort of standards some might consider censorship. The subject matter isnt proscribed; rather, Bowen is concerned with quality the quality of the composition as well as the quality of the joke. But their priority concern is how audience members, of any kind, will feel when they leave the show.

As for the name, Bowen said we should regard it as we do any other name Felix, say, or Amanda. Like a humans, the name contains multitudes.

A middle-school teacher by day, they are working toward an advanced degree related to community development. To that end theyre currently focused on publishing their research in learned journals.

For more than a decade, though, Bowen has enjoyed a leadership role in the rarefied company of Tucson writers and storytellers gifted in their craft.

Like Bowen, some are also gifted crafters of jokes, as intelligent as they are gut-busting. Their material is original and their delivery expert. They are comfortable on the stage. They love making people laugh, Bowen said, but There was a lack of spaces that I really wanted to perform in.

Then a friend made it easier. Bowen said. I had this one friend who was a rugby teammate who was working at Crooked Tooth, and I know the owners of Crooked Tooth very well. Ive been drinking the beer that Ben (Vernon) brews since before they were a brewery. So, my friend said, you should do a show on the Crooked Tooth patio.

Bowen considered it, considering all the competing demands on their time. They feared they might drop the ball unless, they speculated, they wanted to do it badly enough to make it sustainable. The No. 1 caveat: It couldnt be a regularly scheduled grind.

Tucson notoriously doesnt show up to things, Bowen said, so I thought, Well, Im just going to make it novel so you cant say, Ill just go next month because it might not happen again for four months.

The particular scene that I tried to create is one that is a bit more curated in terms of content. Comedians making vulgar jokes and jokes with sexual overtones thats still comedy. But I wanted a space in which I was asking people to do punch up comedy.

For example, Bowen said, If I am a white masculine person, Im making jokes about that, but Im not making jokes about black folks or disabled folks. Im not making disparaging jokes of any kind unless theyre in alignment with my own experience.

And I wanted to take it a step further, Bowen said, because, I wanted comedy that, when you walked away from the show, you felt a little bit better about the world, and better in some comedy spaces.

Then they mixed one more challenge into their vision. What if comedy was also being used to critique systems of power? What if this show were a place where we learned what it was like to do comedy that had a little extra stuff in it?

The success of Bowens comedy project can be measured in the fan-base it turns out. The crowd for The Liberal Agenda regularly ranges from 60 to 90 people.

Reflecting on their own standup sets, Bowen said, When I write comedy, it needs to give me a different perspective or make me look at a situation that is challenging and hard, and use it in a way that it creates another meaning, so I can hold it a little lighter and make joy.

I work with children, they said, and I need to have a particular presence of mind in order to go into a classroom with a bunch of 12- to 14-year-olds and hold a world view for them that is hopeful.

Its a writer-mindedness, an impulse. Its how I figure out what I mean and what life means to me.

The Liberal Agenda, Crooked Tooth Brewing Company patio, 228 E. Sixth Street, Tucson, 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, Em Bowen hosts Amie Gabusi, Morgan Kuehn, Allana Erikson-Lopez and Zo Thomas

(Hotel Congress/Submitted)

Matt Ziemak and Autumn Horvat host The Switch.

OTHER SHOWS THIS WEEK

Corbett Brewery, 309 E. Seventh Street, 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, free, touring comic Jonathan Gregory headlines, w/Nicole Riesgo, Tony Bruhn, Jordan White and Cory Lytle.

Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress Street, http://www.hotelcongress.com

7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 11, free, The Switch, a curated cast of comedians makes up jokes around topics guests text in. Matt Ziemak and Autumn Horvat host. Reservations recommended.

Laffs Comedy Caffe

2900 E. Broadway Boulevard,

http://www.laffstucson.com

8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, and 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, $15, $20 preferred seating, Sean Finnerty, left Ireland for the United States as soon as he was old enough to drink here and became the first Irish guest of Jimmy Fallon.

Rialto Theatre, 318 E. Congress Street, http://www.rialtotheatre.com

7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, tickets start at $30, Ali Siddiq; Saturday, Dec. 9, noon, tickets start at $22.50, Old Pueblo Holiday Radio Show benefitting Doctors Without Borders

Tucson Improv Movement/

TIM Comedy Theatre,

414 E. Ninth Street,

http://www.tucsonimprov.com

$7 each show, $10 for both shows, same night, free jam, 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 7, Cage Match; 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8, Improv Jam; 7:30 p.m. The Soapbox with Corey Seemiller; 9 p.m. Improv vs Standup; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, The Meeting and Shatfan; 9 p.m. Ugly Sweaters and Auld Laugh Syne

Unscrewed Theater,

4500 E. Speedway Boulevard,

unscrewedtheatre.org, $8. Variety of comics and shows.

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Laughing Stock: 'A liberal agenda' may not be what you think - Tucson Weekly