Mandel headlines at local Funny Bone

He’s a Comedy Central veteran, and he’ll soon have his own sitcom on FX, but for this weekend, comedian Mo Mandel will be in town as a headliner at the Funny Bone Bloomington Comedy Club.

“Imagine a guy who hollers at a bus stop, who makes a lot of sense,” he said describing his style of observational comedy covering society and his own life. “I tell a lot of personal stories about myself.”

If some people find him annoying onstage, Mandel said “unfortunately, it’s not an act.”
“My natural personality is very obnoxious,” he said. “It all comes from the heart.”

Fans can also catch Mandel Friday at about 8 a.m. on the Bob and Tom Show. While many people were expecting to see Christian Finnegan return to the Funny Bone this weekend, he had to cancel on short notice.

Mandel said he was a good choice to replace Finnegan, as Mandel said he feels they appeal to a similar audience demographic.

Like Finnegan, Mandel said he has a lot of exposure on Comedy Central.

Preceding Mandel will be guest artist and recent IU graduate Ashley Bullington.

She said a lot of her material includes tales of her personal experiences, especially with her family. She tries to tell stories that make people look at events from different perspectives.

“I tend to draw crazy people into my life,” she said. “I dated a guy once who openly admitted to masturbating in the tanning bed.”

Not surprisingly, this former boyfriend was soon kicked out of the tanning salon when employees realized what he was doing.

Feature performer Ryan Singer will follow Bullington and said he hopes he’ll give the audience “something different from what they’re used to seeing.”

“I have a hard time telling people what to expect from me,” he said. “I don’t think I’m crazy. I do think I’m dirty.”

Singer said he also expects to talk about his life experiences.

“It’s all about me,” he said. “I’m very selfish, I’m very self-centered, I’m very self-involved.” 

But when it comes down to it, Singer said his main priority is making sure the audience members have a good time, and that this should be the purpose of all comedians.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about making people laugh,” he said.