HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — The stage was ringed with lights, the comedians were cracking jokes, and the audience was busting a gut at Thursday night’s Magic Asphalt comedy show. The sets were just performed outdoors, the audience was in their cars, and the “laughing” was predominantly done with plastic, hand-shaped “clappers” that they gleefully shook from their windows.
“What’s up, parking lot?” comedian Justin Martindale asked the crowd as he took the stage before a cluster of parked cars flashing their headlights.
Martindale was one of ten top comedians who performed during the kickoff to a four-night standup series billed as “comedy under the stars -- drive-in style.” Thursday night’s lineup included “Breaking Bad” star Bill Burr, Comedy Central writer Sarah Tiana, and Jamie Kennedy of the “Scream” movies.
“It’s actually kind of great because the drive-in show takes away some of the things that can ruin a comedy show at a club,” said Brad Williams, a comedian who claimed his black belt wife could take down pretty much anyone at the show during his set Thursday night; he’ll be on stage again Saturday. “You don’t have to worry about a drunk person trying to order or get their check, or to deal with a table that’s talking too loudly. You tell a joke, and they all look at each other and say, ‘That’s so true! That’s you, Monica!’ Now they can do that in their cars and not bother anyone else.”
Magic Asphalt is part of a trend in comedy moving outdoors, with stars like Jim Gaffigan doing drive-in shows, Whitney Cummings doing standup in her backyard, and Dave Chapelle performing in the middle of a cornfield.
“The thing about comedians, the vast majority of us can’t do anything else, so this is what we’re doing. I’m not just going to be like, ‘You know what? Coding. Let’s give it a shot.’ I’m not going to suddenly become a woodworker or a tailor. I tell jokes. That's what I do, and that's the same for a lot of these performers.”
A lot of them just haven’t had the chance to ply their trade. Some of the comedians at Magic Asphalt Thursday joked that they hadn’t done stand up in months or, for that matter, worn real pants or had a date.
“When you’re up on stage playing to cars, it feels like maybe you’ve been abducted by aliens and taken to their world to perform for them,” said comedian JJ Whitehead, who, during Thursday night’s show, said a shaking car in the crowd might not always be from laughter.
Performing drive-in comedy, “You want to get this experience because although we’re in the middle of hard times now, when we get the good times back, it’ll be fun to say, ‘Hey, did you get to go to one of these crazy car shows?’
Even without COVID, a drive-in comedy series seems made for L.A. – a city where people are defined by the vehicles they drive. A lot of the comedians at Magic Asphalt incorporated the cars parked in front of them into their acts, including Bill Burr, who singled them out by make and model, guessing their drivers’ stance on abortion.
Tammy Jo Dearen and her wife Nikole Larson started Magic Asphalt. The couple used to have a weekly residency at the Comedy Store but hadn’t worked since March when COVID forced the legendary Sunset Strip club to temporarily close.
”We realized that even if the Comedy Store opened, it would be different,” Dearen said. “We figured we had to do something because we all need it, and the comics and community need it, so we started shopping around for venues.”
By shopping, Dearen means driving. And by venues, she means parking lots.
“We went all over, driving around, looking on Google Maps, at aerial and satellite views,” said Dearen, who wanted to keep the event in Hollywood because it’s “where comedy is, where entertainment is.”
When they happened upon the Magic Castle parking lot, they knew they’d found the right place. “It’s kind of historic and beautiful,” said Dearen, who gave Magic Asphalt its first test run with a three-night showcase in mid-August, after dressing up the pavement with a wooden platform adorned with taverna lights.
“We wanted it to look like a vaudeville roadshow,” Dearen said. “We wanted it to feel like you were at a small-town fair.” Or, as one reviewer called it, “Disneyland for comedy.”
The members-only Magic Castle has almost nothing to do with the show, other than providing its parking lot. Magic Asphalt audience members can, however, order food in advance when purchasing tickets, order drinks during the show through the Magic Castle website (and use the bathroom in the lobby – no pictures allowed).
Magic Asphalt will continue every other weekend through the end of September, including Friday through Sunday nights this weekend, with Last Comic Standing winner Iliza Shlesinger, Conan TV show writer Laurie Kilmartin, and other A-listers in the L.A. scene.