If you're like me and not travelling to Illinois for the Badger game this weekend, head to the Comedy Club on State for some stand up from cranktexter Theo Von and Chelsea Lately regular, Michael Yo.
Yo's comedic style is more observational, but Von talks about things nobody would ever think of in an edgy, but not dirty way.
""I'll come out and do some racial stuff ... a lot about chicks, dating chicks. I had a weird family growing up. I talk about that,"" said Von.
One thing that sets Von apart is his ""cranktexts,"" which he has been doing for about 14 months. Von has texted over 25,000 random phone numbers and has started countless conversions with total strangers. When reading some of them I am amazed at how easy it is to get people to pour out the souls. He posted an ad on Craigslist as two girls sharing a bed, looking for a 3rd roommate. He then led some pervert on a two-week drama and excuse-fest before finally telling him to get lost.
Look forward to hearing some of his cranktexts at the show, or start some of your own. Yes, with Von's wonderful idea Facebook no longer has to be our only source for friendship and procrastination.
""I've been able to learn things about people, as weird as it sounds,"" said Von.
Although Von and Yo got their breaks in different places, Von said, ""We both started in one genre and crossed into a new one.""
Von was featured on Comedy Central, MTV's ""Road Rules,"" a show before the ""Teen Mom"" era of hell, and NBC's ""Last Comic Standing,"" and has been in stand-up for nine years now.
""Doing ""Road Rules"" was more of a physical competition for, now comedy is more of a mental challenge,"" said Von.
Before ending up in comedy, Yo started on radio with his own show, ""The Michael Yo Show."" His work there helped him land my dream job as an E! News correspondent. For anyone who wants to end up in comedy or working on the red carpet, Yo he says to be humble and sponge-like, which is what he's doing on the road with Von—one of the first people to take him out on tour.
""I've only been doing this for about 4 and a half months,"" said Yo.
But despite that, Von insists touring has actually been a two-way street of knowledge sharing.
""We work together sometimes on jokes. I hope that I've been able to help him with some material. He does some stuff to help me too, which I didn't really realize,"" said Von.
Von ranks Madison as one of his top 5 places to perform and is excited to be back in the city. But what he thought was coolest about Madison is it's one of the only places where walking around eating cheese is socially acceptable, but we Badgers know there is much more to do here than that.
Both are excited to get to know the city and the people more. ""I wanna walk around campus, definitely. I wanna talk to people,"" said Yo.
He'll be tweeting, asking for favorite restaurants and other cool things to do. So even if you can't make it to a show (which you totally can- there's 3 of them), don't be shy! Tweet these two and show them Madison has more to offer than dairy products and the occasional protest.
The duo will be performing tonight at 8:30 p.m. at the Comedy Club on State street, as well as tomorrow and Saturday nights at 8 and 10:30 p.m.
