By Julianne Homokay
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
After a winter hiatus, the immensely popular First Dibs comedy evening is back, returning to its brand-new venue at Lake Arrowhead Brewing Company on Saturday, March 30 at 8:30 p.m.
A First Dibs comic in performance.
The event originated at Spade and Spatula in August of 2022, until it outgrew the limited space at the popular gastropub in Blue Jay Village. “The second show was infamous!” said Janeva Zentz, the comic muse behind First Dibs.
The first show at Spade and Spatula had a good turnout but, by the second, Zentz unfortunately had to turn people away at the door. She attributes this to word-of-mouth and the local followings of two of the comics appearing on that October show, Nathan Hazard and Tracey Ellert. As well, “there was a festive feeling in the air around Halloween,” she said.
Janeva Zentz (right) onstage at the San Moritz Lodge with Tracey Ellert (center) and Amanda Talbot (left). (Photo by Julianne Homokay)
First Dibs stayed on at Spade and Spatula until the summer of 2023. For the one-year anniversary, “I wanted to do something special,” said Zentz, so she rented the San Moritz Lodge in Crestline. Saturday marks First Dibs’ 11th show, and the first show back since the event at the Lodge.
Mountain resident Eryk Stauble helped pave the way for Zentz to move the show to Lake Arrowhead Brewing Company, where she is thrilled and grateful to be working with Travis and Megan Lanthier.
Zentz wasn’t always a comic and comedy producer. Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, she attended fine art school at the Cooper Union in New York City. She and her fellow art classmates attended quite a few gallery openings, as “that’s your dinner, at gallery openings you eat all the cheese and crackers you can possibly handle,” Zentz only semi-joked. At one of these gallery openings, she met a filmmaker who needed to cast a Guatemalan and, given her Guatemalan heritage, Zentz fit the bill. She dove into acting, which organically led to writing and comedy. Those interests, in turn, led Zentz back to her hometown.
As her husband, Tom, is from Tasmania, a largely rural place, he was craving more space and nature than what they could afford in Los Angeles. They wondered, “where could we go that wasn’t too far from L.A.?” That’s when a friend introduced them to Lake Arrowhead, and the pandemic solidified their plan to become mountain residents. “It’s been a really great move for us, we love being up in the mountains,” Zentz said. “Once the dust finally settled from the pandemic, I wanted to get back into comedy.”
Which she did, starting First Dibs with mostly a local line-up. Zentz loves to provide a safe space for “newbies” to try their hand at stand-up and more established comics who live up here to work on their “tight ten” (a term for a block of well-honed, audience-tested material) without having to drive to L.A.
“It really matters to me as a comic that comics have a really great experience.” And now that she has a solid turnout at every show, she can bring up more talent from down the hill, although she will always include local representation.
Headlining this First Dibs will be Dylan Adler, who wrote for and was featured on The Late Late Show with James Corden and has also opened for comedian Atsuko Okatsuka, star of the recent HBO special The Intruder. “I like to bring people who I think are going to be huge at any moment, and we’re going to feel so lucky we had them on the show,” said Zentz. Adler certainly seems to fit that description.
Also featured on Saturday’s show are Christine Medrano, who has opened for Maria Bamford among many other credits, and some local comedians. Zentz herself will be hosting.
Obviously, no one’s having any fun here.
Ultimately, it’s easy to share Zentz’s bubbly enthusiasm for what First Dibs Comedy is bringing to the mountain: “Come on out and support our kickoff for 2024!”
First Dibs Comedy at Lake Arrowhead Brewing Company, 329 Villa next to the Burnt Mill Beach Club, Lake Arrowhead; (909)-744-8322; Saturday, March 30. Doors open at 7:30 pm, show at 8:30. Tickets are $10. Find First Dibs @firstdibscomedy on Instagram.
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