Comedy Attic 'Bleeds' originality

All comedians have their “go-to” jokes, the ones they fall back on when the audience isn’t responding well. But what would happen if they weren’t allowed to have those fallbacks? Would it make them better?

That was the idea behind Wednesday’s show at The Comedy Attic.
The show, “It Still Bleeds,” is a bi-monthly variety show that features a mix of local and regional comedians and musicians.

Now in its second season, “It Still Bleeds” was created by local comedian Mat Alano-Martin. For this week’s show, Alano-Martin required that all material performed must be completely new.

The set of comedians and musicians was up to the challenge.
“Being out of your comfort zone, well, it’s bad,” comedian Jon Hancuff said. “But you see which of the new jokes work, and you incorporate them in your regular stuff.”

After an opening performance by local band Heinous Orca, Hancuff got the crowd laughing.

“Bloomington is really different when you have kids,” he said. “When I took mine to Mother Bears, they started sounding out the words on the walls.”

Hancuff was followed by seven other comedians and two musical performances by EA Strother and Jason Groth.

Bloomington resident and local musician Kyle Hopkins said he enjoyed the variety in entertainment.

“There’s a natural connection between music and comedy that just really make it a unique experience,” Hopkins said.

Other audience members said the show was unique because of its “all-new” angle­ — even if that meant the performers might mess up.

“If it happens, it’s kind of funny to see people go down in flames,” Bloomington resident Thom Atkinson said.

But Atkinson and his friends agreed that the actual reason they went to the show was to support a local art. He said he sees local shows at The Comedy Attic more frequently than he sees acts with big-name performers.

“It’s just like music or the farmers market,” Atkinson said. “You want to support your community.”

Audience member Alicia Craig agreed.
“We just like to laugh,” Craig said. “And there are a lot of funny people in
Bloomington.”