Show earning quality laughs

The Red Rock on Sunset might be the perfect place for students
looking to ignore their homework for just one more day.

With the “Audience First Comedy” show tonight at
8:30, procrastinating during the first week of school just got a
little bit easier. Put on every first and third Tuesday of the
month by Matt Balaker, a 2001 UCLA alumnus, the Red Rock on Sunset
offers both up-and-coming and established comics the chance to
perform in a more intimate venue.

Balaker is the show’s founder and manager, as well as a
frequent host and performer.

A financial analyst for a hedge fund by day, Balaker’s
night-time gig as a stand-up comic and comedy room manager might
seem a little out of place, but for him, it’s the perfect
amalgamation of a dream and real life.

“You don’t really make a lot of money when
you’re just starting out, so it’s nice not to beg my
parents for money,” Balaker said. “(Comedy) is an
outlet that I enjoy.”

Finding a way to explore that outlet in Los Angeles was a long
time coming.

As a former business economics student at UCLA, Balaker found
that the school’s close proximity to the entertainment world
gave him a chance to explore something he might otherwise have
filed away as unattainable. But it was not until Conan
O’Brien came to UCLA to accept the UCLA Jack Benny Award in
1998 that Balaker was set on the path he finds himself on
today.

“I asked about how one could start working in comedy, and
(Conan) mentioned their internship program,” Balaker said.
“I had to apply.”

He applied shortly after and got in. In 1999, Balaker went to
New York to begin his internship on “Late Night with Conan
O’Brien.”

“Being in New York, going to open mics, seeing Times
Square, it really solidified that this was what I wanted to do with
my life in some capacity,” he said.

For Balaker, coming back to UCLA to finish his degree after the
completion of the internship didn’t mean abandoning comedy.
While classes in improvisation at The Groundlings and ACME Comedy
Theatre helped him maintain the passion he discovered in New York,
they also gave him a chance to discover what part of comedy he
loved most: stand-up.

“Sketch comedy is a lot of fun, but you’re always
counting on people to be there at the same time,” Balaker
said. “This way, I’m accountable to myself.”

Stand-up not only allowed Balaker the flexibility he was looking
for, it allowed him the sort of autonomy not always found in the
entertainment industry.

“In order to perform at all, you always needed other
people around you. As a stand-up, you can always get a spot,”
he said.

That “spot,” the five-to-10 minute set where a
stand-up can flex his wit, can be difficult to find. Because of
this, Balaker had to get creative, doing shows anywhere from coffee
houses to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

It was this search for a place to hone his craft that brought
him to the Red Rock on Sunset. Primarily a bar, the managers
didn’t quite know what to do with Balaker’s request for
a space.

“At first, they didn’t think anyone would
come,” he said. “It was a tough sell.”

That soon changed when Balaker began to bring in not only the
various talented unknowns he had encountered during his own shows,
but people with a little more cache as well. Well-known comedians
such as Doug Benson, Greg Fitzsimmons, Jeff Richards and Nick Thune
find the Red Rock a perfect place to work on new material.

Brendon Mulvihill, a businessman and a regular at comedy shows
in the Los Angeles area, knows exactly what these comedians see in
the Red Rock.

“They dig it because it’s a really good
audience,” Mulvihill said. “A lot of times when you go
to these rooms in Los Angeles, you get a small crowd where people
aren’t really paying attention. But Matt’s show is
perfect: It’s short, the crowd is large, and there’s a
lot of energy in the room. You can tell that they love it because
they keep coming back.”

The Red Rock show is also perfect for an audience with lives as
busy as Balaker’s. With five to six comedians, a
five-to-seven minute set and a headliner on stage for 20 minutes,
those strapped for time and cash can still see a quality show.

“The show doesn’t run on forever,” Mulvihill
said. “You get great comedy for two hours, and then
you’re out. And it’s free.”

Although the show allows Balaker to control his own schedule, as
a host he can also schedule his friends.

One such person is Laura Rosenberg, a 2000 UCLA alumna who had
met Balaker at a coffee house comedy show. They struck up a
friendship, surprised to learn they had both gone to UCLA at the
same time but never knew each other. When Balaker put together his
own show, he invited her, and she wound up performing at the Sept.
19 show.

“I had a killer show. Honestly, it was one of the best
shows I had,” Rosenberg said. “It was just a great
audience, and they were receptive to the comedy in general. It was
really crowded, and (usually on a) Tuesday night, you don’t
normally get such a good crowd.”

But Balaker doesn’t want to keep the comedy just to
himself and his friends, and that’s why he’s back on
campus to promote his show.

“I used to be the student with the newspaper stuck to his
face, trying to avoid all the fliers, and now I’m there on
Bruin Walk handing out fliers myself,” Balaker said.
“I’ve come full circle.”

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