This show has some buzz!
A comedy night named for noisy nocturnal insects has been drawing audiences to the front terrace of the House of Yes. “Cicadas: Bushwick’s Free Comedy Night,” which takes place every other Wednesday, is hosted by members of the TruTV sketch comedy series “Friends of The People” Josh Rabinowitz, Jermaine Fowler, and Kevin Barnett, with producer John Sullivan.
Over the last four months, the show’s energetic combination of music, storytelling, and stand-up has made it a focal point of the Brooklyn comedy scene, with big names like Judah Friedlander of “30 Rock” and Saturday Night Live’s Sasheer Zamata performing alongside emerging talent. We spoke with Rabinowitz about the cicada theme and the appeal of mixing music and comedy.
How did the show start?
House of Yes is a newer venue and wanted to do a comedy show. We’ve all been buddies from stand-up and just thought it’d be fun to co-host together.
Cicadas are horrifying screaming insects. Why name the show after them?
We did a cicadas-related sketch on “Friends of the People.” The show at House of Yes doesn’t involve cicada jokes or any cicada-related material. We just liked the name. “Cicadas” is also a pretty fun word to say.
What’s your favorite part about doing the show?
It’s just fun to hang every couple weeks and have really funny comics come by. We’ve also had a couple rappers, Khary and Soul Khan, who are awesome, and we hope to have other musical guests.
Why did you want to have rappers on the show?
We had all liked the idea of having music involved. It just adds another layer to the show, to get to bring in rising musicians as well as comedians. There are some who are involved in comedy, but it was more to add another aspect to the show.
Has it been difficult working in a new space?
House of Yes has been a perfect venue. The owners, Anya, Justin, Jacqui, Kae, Leo, have been great to us. The venue is pretty new and has a great following, so it’s been an excellent fit. So far we’ve done it in the bar room and then in the outdoor space. We’ll likely bounce back and forth between those depending on the weather and other events going on. We’re lucky that the venue has a lot of different great spaces for a show.
“Cicadas: Bushwick’s Free Night of Comedy” at House of Yes (2 Wyckoff Ave. at Jefferson Street in Bushwick, www.house
