SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/129112
Controlled Comedic Chaos: CleftClips Delivers Cutting-Edge Laughs n under three years, CleftClips has emerged as an immensely influential force in L.A.'s booming comedy community. The forward-thinking independent production company presents a variety of live events that feature some of the scene's edgiest and most original performers, while earning a reputation for innovative and unconventional approaches to staging, design and marketing. CleftClips will bring its unique sensibility to SXSW with "The Mischief," an eclectic two-day smorgasbord of comedy at the North Door (501 N. IH-35) today (Sunday, March 10) and tomorrow (Monday, March 11). "We're aiming for controlled comedic chaos," says Joel Mandelkorn, who heads CleftClips with co-founder Mandee Johnson. The CleftClips team—which also includes producer Betsy Koch (who also produces videos for the comedy website Funny Or Die), junior producer/standup comic Kyle Mizono, and what Mandelkorn describes as a "small army of friends and awesome volunteers"—first swung into action in the summer of 2010, when it debuted The Super Serious Show, a "monthly mash-up comedy house party," which incorporates standup, video and music. According to Mandelkorn, the show "was partly created as a response to everything we disliked about comedy clubs, and partly as an homage to the great L.A. independent comedy scene that we'd come to love over our years living there. The Super Serious Show was born from our passion for elevated comedy, and our passion for working with both veteran and new performers who are down to experiment." The Super Serious Show's penchant for presenting itself in offbeat venues originally arose out of necessity. "Early on," Mandelkorn explains, "we weren't able to find any theaters or venues that would work with us on a comedy show or that didn't charge a crazy venue fee. So we started the show in a photo studio for the first year and half. We built the stage, hung the lights, set up the mics and audio, and then at the end of the night we took it all down. To this day, we still try to avoid the generic comedy-club approach to any shows we produce." Among its other live offerings, CleftClips recently began presenting the new L.A.-based incarnation of "Hot Tub with Kurt and Kristen," a regular variety show co-hosted by ex-Bunk star Kurt Braunohler and 30 Rock and Flight of the Conchords scene-stealer Kristen Schaal, which was a popular attraction in New York prior to both comics' recent moves to Los Angeles. The company also will be working with Comedy Central to develop a monthly L.A.-based live standup show with a rotating format and lineup of performers. "We love the looseness of the independent scene and always try to create a space for the performers to feel comfortable and respected," Mandelkorn notes. "But we also do our best to elevate the experience for the audience on the production side of things. Our philosophy is: try to be nice and care about the whole show—the marketing, the audience, the performers' experience and anything else we can think of. We do our best to always challenge ourselves and the performers to go beyond the basics, and we try to avoid half-assing anything." The CleftClips crew made some international waves last year by presenting a full month of curated comic programming at Edinburgh's 30 SXSWORLD / MARCH FILM-IA 2013 REBBECA ADLER by Scott Schinder CleftClips collaborator Reggie Watts influential Fringe festival. At SXSW, its diverse all-day performances, which will be partially sponsored by Funny Or Die and Conan O'Brien's Team Coco, will incorporate the talents of a large and impressive assortment of comics, including Jon Dore, Rory Scovel, Jenny Slate, Reggie Watts and Brent Weinbach. "Right now, the plan is for eight shows of non-traditional standup and character performances," says Mandelkorn. "The venue will be in the spirit of our Super Serious Show roots. We have a ton of great comedians making the trip, all of whom will be screwing around and playing with the non-traditional show formats. We also have a couple of Super Serious Shows planned, as well as a few new 'beta' shows, in which we'll be trying out all-new formats for the first time. We're hoping to create a loose house-party vibe for the SXSW folks to have a fun place to take a break from the serious stuff. "We've had some of our best crowds, and some of our best experiences with performers, at SXSW," Mandelkorn asserts. "We want to build on that this year, and we want to keep giving the smart and warm crowds at SXSW Interactive a fun place to come together while they're at the fest. SXSW has some of the most heady audiences out there, and it's exciting to present shows and performers for them."■ For more information on SXSW Comedy shows, visit sxsw.com/comedy or schedule.sxsw.com.