Everett Comedy Night is back in the new year. If not live at Emory’s on Silver Lake, then at least livestreamed on Zoom.
Corey Michaelis will host headliner Taylor Clark featuring Mike Coletta, Cheri Hardman and Ken Hamlett in the Jan. 10 show.
“People just need to laugh,” Michaelis said. “You can watch live comedy, just do it from the comfort of your own couch.”
Michaelis said he picked each of these comedians for the January show because they’ve all placed in the Top 5 of the Seattle International Comedy Competition. Except for in 2020, Emory’s hosts the competition each November.
“They’ve all proved that the Emory’s audience likes them,” he said. “They’re local favorites.”
Headliner Taylor Clark, 36, of Everett, finished fifth in the Seattle International Comedy Competition in 2017.
“I’ve always wanted to do stand-up,” said Clark, who graduated from Kamiak High School. “When I was living in Northgate, there was a comedy club called Giggles less than a mile away. So I started doing open mics and got the bug.”
Clark lived in Brooklyn for about 10 years. There, he hosted his own comedy show at Castle Braid Apartments for more than four years. He booked such comedians as Reggie Watts, Ali Wong, Mark Normand, Rory Scovel, Michelle Wolf, Phoebe Robinson and Tim Dillon before they were famous.
When Clark became a father, he told himself he’d quit comedy and focus on real estate to support his family. In 2017, they moved back to Clark’s hometown of Everett.
But then he was asked to audition for the Seattle International Comedy Competition. He was the only local comedian to finish in the Top 5.
“My wife and I came to the conclusion that I had no other choice but to keep doing stand-up,” Clark said, adding that their son is now 6 years old. “I quit drinking, I quit smoking, I was taking it really seriously, and then I started headlining. I just recorded my album last year.”
Clark recorded 2020’s “Addictive Tickle” at Laughs Comedy Club in Seattle, formerly Giggles, where he got his start in stand-up. He also has a new podcast with the same title. With each podcast, he performs solo comedy while playing the piano. “I’m not a talented piano player,” he said. “I use it more for comedic effect.”
An avid skateboarder, Clark plans to go on a filmed “Comedians at Skateparks” tour, inspired by Jerry Seinfeld’s TV show “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.” It’s slated to kick off in June, if COVID-19 allows it.
“I have a couple of jokes from a skateboarder’s perspective on my album,” he said. “My goal is to be able to go on tour and film me skating in the towns that I go to. I launched this album with the hopes of having skateboarders seeing me live and watching my episodes of me going to each town.”
Everett Comedy Night’s monthly shows have been held at Emory’s on Silver Lake for eight years. Last year was an exception.
Michaelis, 40, of Everett, started Everett Comedy Night in 2012. He also co-hosts the “Home Skool” podcast with Andrew Rivers — his best friend and fellow comic — featuring “jokes about all the stuff we know nothing about.” He has his own Dry Bar Comedy special and has been a career comedian for 12 years.
After the coronavirus hit Everett, Michaelis was playing the waiting game. But he didn’t want to let the show’s anniversary pass without so much as a Zoom.
So in May Everett Comedy Night hosted its 8th Anniversary Show, which raised more than $1,200 benefiting the restaurant’s furloughed staff.
“At first we thought, ‘We’ll do this for a month and then we’ll be back,’” Michaelis said. “Obviously it kept going. So I took several months off, and kept feeling like ‘One more month, then we’ll be back live.’ And then it was pretty clear it was going to be a while.”
He hosted two more Zoom shows in 2020. With the new year, Michaelis is back to hosting a show each month.
“I want to stay connected to the audience for the Everett show,” he said. “And maybe they’ll even patronize Emory’s because they’ve been so great to us for eight years, and obviously it’s been a rough go for restaurants these last nine months.”
With the Jan. 10 show, the headliner won’t do 45 minutes of jokes. Instead, all five comedians will have 15 minutes on the mic.
“That’s the sweet spot for a virtual show,” Michaelis said. “They’re all headlining quality, but asking someone who hasn’t been performing for nine months to do 45 minutes is a lot.”
Michaelis asks fans to continue to support Emory’s, even though the Everett Comedy Show is on Zoom.
“Maybe order in from Emory’s before the show,” he said. “Have a drink and some appetizers and watch a comedy show, just like you normally would on a Sunday night.”
Sara Bruestle: 425-339-3046; sbruestle@heraldnet.com; @sarabruestle.
If you stream
See the Everett Comedy Night’s January show 8 p.m. Jan. 10 via Zoom. Cory Michaelis hosts Taylor Clark, Mike Coletta, Cheri Hardman and Ken Hamlett. Tickets are $10 via Eventbrite. With registration, you will be emailed a Zoom link two hours before the show. Go to www.everettcomedy.com for more information.
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