Comedy Night is a Hit at NextDoor Theater

Last week Cambridge stand-up comedian, Matt-D, hosted the second of three summer comedy nights at the NextDoor Theater.

Matt D is a quietly funny, intentionally awkward comedian that used his dry, self-deprecating humor to set up the three main acts of the night.

First to take the stage was the sketch comedy troop, Friends of Gertrude, a five person ensemble that meet at improvisational classes at Improv Boston and have been together roughly a year. The group is composed of Quentin James, Laura Burns, Sam Ike, Dennis Hurley and Zach Eisenstat.

And in typical improv fashion, they quickly followed each others lead on and off the stage.

"It's just fun being silly," James said. "We like to explore topics that are hard to digest," Burns quickly followed with. "We all really like writing, but the best thing about it is tackling one small idea and running with it," added Ike. "Yeah," said Hurley following Ike's lead, "it makes things more immediate, we can get to the guts of comedy faster that way."

The now sketch comedy troupe enjoyed their time working on improve, but like the stability and humor of sketches.

"In comparison to improv, there is a level of polish you can bring to the table [with sketch], you can really work on it until it really clicks," Eisenstat said

Click it did. Friends of Gertrude did a fast-paced set that had them bouncing from one skit to the next in fluid transition with funny ideas surrounding pop culture like inept movie reviewers, bad casting calls and a mess of impressions that had the audience in stitches.

Next up was the comedy troupe, The Dowry, another group that meet through Improv Boston have been together for three years. The Dowry is composed of Paul Barner, Hannah Foell, Natalie Basemen, Jackie Arco and Laura Clark who is the head writer for Improv Boston. The Dowry is also in charge of Improv Boston's upcoming Holiday Show. 

The Dowry attempted their first improv show at the show. The group played off the audience's themes and ideas, one person telling a story about an event in their life and the rest of the troupe acting it out and taking it to comedic extremes.

Last but not least, headliner Jim Colliton took the stage and pleased the audience with his brand of story-oriented comedy revolving around his life as a family man.

"I never thought it was something I could do," said Colliton of performing stand-up.

After being disappointed and emotionally drained by working in an office, Colliton began investigating comedy during the 80's stand-up boom.

He began his career by being willed by his buddies into doing open mic-nights at Nick's Comedy Stop in Boston. After some success, and admitted failures, Colliton's passion for stand-up grew and he began to focus on his career full time. He recently released his first CD, Stories From The Suburbs, which can be purchased through his website, www.Jimwhat.com

"I just enjoy performing," Colliton said. "I love doing crowd work, I like to engage the crowd. The stuff that the crowd produces is always unique."

The Next Door Theater's final summer comedy show is on Tuesday August 31 at 7:30 p.m.