By Julianne Homokay
Special to the Alpine Mountaineer
“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people,” said the classic comedian/pianist Victor Borge. For four years running, First Dibs Comedy has been connecting people and regaling the community with laughter.
On Aug. 29 at Lake Arrowhead Brewing Company, First Dibs will present its anniversary show, featuring Kyle Adams, founder/producer/promoter Janeva Zentz, Megan Van Buren, Juan Cias, host Eryk Stauble and headliner Daniel Webb on break from his national tour with Margaret Cho. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. for an 8:30 p.m. show.
“I want everyone to have a good time. That’s all I’m sayin’,” said Zentz and, judging by the consistent crowds, at least 65 in the off-season and up to 125 during the summer peak, everyone is.
She settled into a formula early on during First Dibs’ inaugural year at Spade & Spatula in Blue Jay: a host, local talent (hence the name First Dibs: local comedians will always get a leg up from Zentz) and a headliner. As the audience outgrew the seating capacity at Spade & Spatula, she retained the formula when she moved the event to Lake Arrowhead Brewing Company.
“I spend a lot of time thinking about who’s on the bill,” she said. And she’s always tried to maintain a consistent tone and frequency for the event, yet present different offerings so that the audience can expect a show that’s fresh, but familiar. In fact, “One of the nice parts is the community aspect,” she said. “It keeps me going with First Dibs when I’m close to feeling burned out.”
If First Dibs can help local comedians build momentum in their careers and branch out to venues down the hill, such as Helen Kennedy and Bill Stanley, well, that’s a bonus.
“I love all comedy,” Zentz said. While she’s committed to the more traditional format of First Dibs, with which she aims to appeal to a broad audience while representing a range of voices, she’s ventured out into a more experimental brand of comedy with two outings of a show she produced at the Handbag Factory in Los Angeles, “Zippers.” With that show, “I really [wanted] to go wacky!” she said, as the show experiments with props, noise and music. Since Zippers has helped to grow the First Dibs roster, “Why not try it up here?” she mused.
Beyond First Dibs and Zippers, Zentz fantasizes about an entire annual comedy festival on the mountain growing out of her efforts, a sentiment echoed by other local comedians such as improv queen Amanda Talbot. Right now, “the main deterrent is finding the right venue.” Zentz is also pursuing a comedy career off the mountain, and will appear this year in her first festival, the Latina Comedy Festival in Chicago.
Ultimately, First Dibs has become an entertainment staple here on the mountain, for which Zentz is eternally grateful to Stauble and the Lake Arrowhead Brewing Company. She doesn’t hesitate to give a shout-out to the mountain community either: “You don’t know how far an audience will go with you,” said Zentz. “The First Dibs crowd is always generous.”
To learn more about First Dibs Comedy, visit Instagram @firstdibscomedy.
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