That’s FUNNY
happened in history and will ever happen again.” The Possum (Chris Vititoe).
The show is roughly three years old, born from
available venue space at Kaiju and a dream to
shake up the local comedy mold. “I spend more on costumes for Kaijuesdays than
I do on my wardrobe,” Strange laughed.
“ We s t a r t e d w i t h o n l y t h re e s h o w s :
‘Thunderdome,’ ‘Why Would I Know That?!’ and
‘Comedians in Cars Watching Bond,’” Welsh said.
“Since then, we’ve had over a dozen original shows.
Some have been hits, like ‘Slideshow’ and ‘Third
Degree Burns,’ but some didn’t make the cut, like
‘Mix Em’ Up,’ which was a little too inside baseball
to keep in regular rotation.”
Kaijuesdays certainly holds true to its manifesto
of uniqueness and originality, with a cast of one-
time and recurring characters and caricatures that
would be a chore to list outright.
A couple standouts within the last three years
include: Michael Bay as a renowned novelist
(Nathan P. Woodard); the overly earnest, blumpkin
henchman Clodhopper (Zac Carman); God (Tyler
Gooch); and the locally-famous, self-aware possum,
Despite its influence and originality, Kaijuesdays
is far from a one-trick Tuesday monster as far
as benefiting the comedy community goes.
Considering its expansive nature, Kaijuesdays
lends itself to opportunities and comedic growth
young or traveling comics may not find elsewhere.
“We like to cast a wide net so it’s not the same 10
comics on every show,” Strange said. “(Kaijuesdays
hosts) a few comics from Southern Indiana, but
we’re always looking for more. When people
come in from out of town they can get on one of
our weird shows, too.”
Welsh continued on the encouraging nature
of Kaijuesdays.
“We’re all about encouraging comics to come
up with their own show ideas and giving them
an outlet and an audience,” Welsh said. “Some of
the best stand-ups in the area have other comedic
talents that rarely get showcased.”
“It’s a labor of love on our end,” added Strange.
Although Comedy by the Bridge inJeffersonville
currently only hosts more traditional stand-up
comedy shows, the sky is the limit for what can
be done in the space.
“We’ve been in touch with 502 improv. Once
we’re more established and know how it’s run, we
would like to do an improv show there,” co-owner
Adriane Thompson said. “Kaiju has a ton of variety
shows. I did a show there called ‘Wild Card,’ and
it was the most fun I’ve ever had. I would love to
see something like that at Comedy by the Bridge.
It would be awesome to take all of these different
types of comedy genres and provide a venue for
them to display that in Indiana, too.”
Keep up with Comedy by the Bridge by visiting
comedybythebridge.com. For more information
on Kaijuesdays, a schedule of comedy events ,and
Louisville and Southern Indiana comedy in general,
visit lolvillecomedy.com.
EXTOL : APRIL/MAY 2019
85