Zac Brooks is Headlining the Velv

I have a few lady friends who are huge fans of Zac Brooks. When he’s per­form­ing at shows like Sure Thing, they tend to get a bit warm. This week­end, Mario DiGior­gio may want to adjust the air con­di­tion­ing at the Velv Com­e­dy Lounge when Brooks head­lines the venue.

Austin and Success

2 ¹⁄₂ years after he start­ed doing stand up, Brooks left his home­town of Hous­ton and set up shop in Austin. While you won’t find him at gas sta­tions ask­ing for gas mon­ey to in order to get back to Clutch City, you will find him around town, work­ing open mics, per­form­ing in show­cas­es and fine tun­ing his jokes. Shows like Punch! and Sure Thing have ben­e­fit­ed from his act. Brooks has been fea­tured on the Sure Thing Records debut album along with a pletho­ra of local come­di­ans.

Since his move to Austin, Zac Brooks career has esca­lat­ed quick­ly. In his words, ” Since then I’ve per­formed at Fun Fun Fun Fest, Austin Sketch Fest, and Moon­tow­er Com­e­dy Fes­ti­val. I also host a month­ly show at TNM called ​“Peep Show” which is half stand up and half comedic com­men­tary on vin­tage pornography.”

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This is what I like about many of Austin’s come­di­ans. They don’t lim­it them­selves to only stand up. They have pod­casts, short films, and oth­er projects that expand their com­fort zones and expand their skill sets. The New Move­ment The­ater and its avant-garde approach to com­e­dy is the per­fect petri dish for such projects.

Head­lin­ing the Velv

The Velv is an old school com­e­dy club locat­ed next door to Esther’s Fol­lies on 6^th and Red Riv­er in down­town Austin. Over the years its been a prov­ing ground for local come­di­ans. Since tak­ing over as man­ag­er and book­er, Mario DiGior­gio has main­tained a del­i­cate bal­ance of keep­ing the tra­di­tions found­ed at the Velv and mod­ern­iz­ing it. He’s done and exem­plary job of it.

Zac Brooks twill have three shows between Fri­day, ⁹⁄₂₅ and Sat­ur­day, ⁹⁄₂₆. He won’t do it alone. Mario DiGior­gio has lined up an a rock sol­id host who just hap­pens to be named Rob Gagnon and fea­ture acts that will jive with Brooks like peanut but­ter to jel­ly on bread with no crust and a cold glass of milk. Rob Gagnon has been fea­tured on this site sev­er­al times. I’ve had the plea­sure of see­ing him per­form sketch and stand up and he been con­sis­tent­ly entertaining.

The shows are at 9pm on Fri­day; and 9pm and 11pm on Sat­ur­day. Tick­et prices are $10. If you’re a fan of Zac Brooks, this is a good time to see him. If you’ve nev­er seen him per­form before, read my pre­vi­ous sentence.

Details

The Velv Com­e­dy Lounge Zac Brooks

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