• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

LOUIS C.K.’S LOCAL OPENERS IMPRESS AT SOMERVILLE THEATRE

Written by KRISTOFER JENSON Posted December 1, 2014 Filed Under: Comedy

louisck-600x300

Louis C.K.’s surprise shows at the Somerville Theatre on November 22-23 took Boston by storm, as the superstar Newton native gave audiences four shows in two days featuring over an hour of new, polished material. It was a treat for those lucky enough to snag tickets, not to mention a great deal of pressure on his opening acts who must already contend with being seen as “that guy we saw while waiting for Louis C.K.”

 

Fortunately for C.K. and for comedy fans, the two talented performers chosen to kick things off rose to the occasion, going beyond the call of duty as “warm-up” acts by making lasting impressions on an already eager crowd as local comics to watch for. We caught up with Dan Boulger and Gary Petersen to chat about their recent gigs and where to find them next.

 


DAN BOULGER (Saturday 11.22)

 

Where you may have seen him: Dan won the 2006 Boston Comedy Festival, and has been featured on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, the HBO Aspen Comedy Festival, and has appeared multiple times on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

 

On getting the offer: “It was extremely short notice. I think I found out about it Thursday [two days before the show] … It was funny, I was supposed to be in Hyannis that night, so I opened the first show by explaining to the crowd that the bonus for me was that I was just not in an Elks Lodge in Hyannis. Instead, I was there. It’s a rare opportunity to open for a guy like [Louis C.K.], so you can’t really pass it up.”

 

On comedy at the Somerville Theatre: “It’s amazing how much quicker an audience is to a warm up in a theater as compared to even a comedy club. One, there are so many people that if you make half of them laugh, it’s going to sound better. But people aren’t ordering drinks and stuff, so you know you can jump right into it.”

 

On opening for a comedy superstar: “I’ve opened for a lot of cool people, I’ve opened for Craig Ferguson, and Ben Stiller. I opened for Galifianakis right before The Hangover. As great as those guys are, there really was almost an energy in the room for Louis, like you were seeing a band. There were people outside scalping even, which I’ve never seen at a comedy show before. I’ve opened for Burr, and they’re all amazing comics, but just his level of fame right now is really unique for a comedian … The thing with all those guys that’s the same is I find the audience is really inclined to like you. With the sold out show, there’s more of an energy in the room when you’re opening for guys like that. Usually, the 15 minutes of a comedy [club] show is warming up the crowd. But with shows like that, from the first joke, they’re engaged.”

 

COMING UP

 

Check Dan out this New Years Eve at the Davis Square Theatre.

GARY PETERSEN (Sunday 11.23)

 

Where you may have seen him: A fixture on the Boston comedy scene, Gary appeared at the 2012 Great American Comedy Festival in Norfolk, NE, as well as DigBoston presents… at Laugh Boston.

 

On getting the offer: ‘I got a text message from Louis’s agent the day before the event, 3:00 pm on Saturday: ‘I’m Louis’s agent. I was recommended you by Rick Jenkins from the Comedy Studio, and I was wondering if you’re open to do the two shows for Louis tomorrow.’ I thought it was a lie. Like, I have self esteem, but at the same time, I’m like, ‘Who’s fucking with me right now? What does my enemies list look like, and who would be at the top of it?’ So I started Google researching, the agent was real. And I was like, ‘Oh shit, it checks out. Yeah, I guess I’m open. I’ll open for the biggest comic in the world.’

 

On opening for a comedy superstar: ‘Everyone in that theater is there to see Louis C.K, not Louis C.K.’s opener. So you only have a 10-
second grace period. If you don’t do anything worthwhile, you’ve already lost. And I kept that in mind with the first five, six minutes of the set, because if I could keep them laughing and enjoying themselves, it wasn’t like I was in the way of what they wanted to see … I didn’t want to be a burden on the audience. I wanted to do well for Louis’s sake, I wanted to crack the crowd, get them going, but I also wanted to do a couple things on my end to just make sure I let the audience know A) I’m funny, and B) I’m only here for a few minutes, and I’ll make this as good as I can.’

 

On serendipity: ‘[Six years ago], I got an opportunity to host the Comedy Studio. It was the first time I had ever hosted anything, ever. It was a Red Sox-Yankees game on Friday night. It was in the summer, so the students had left. The Comedy Studio had seven or eight people with tickets already bought … A week before, I had seen Louis C.K. do his ‘Chewed Up’ special at Berklee Performance Center. I was absolutely blown away. I was just like, ‘This guy is unreal. Just amazing, pound for pound, every time I see him. I wish I was alongside that guy, like, someday, working with him.

 

‘Then that night, I thought the owner, Rick Jenkins, was fucking with me, because he was like, ‘Yeah, Louis might come by and work something onstage. He’ll do 20 minutes. And maybe Eugene Mirman too.’ And I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I get it. I’m the new guy, I get it. Good joke, OK. There’s 10 people here, why the fuck is Louis C.K. going to come up?’ And then he did. I had already done my best three minutes of material at the time, which I think has all since been scrapped in the garbage, where they belong. They’re terrible jokes. They were awful, awful. I had a thin mustache, like a Larry Bird mustache. And I was wearing a suit jacket from Building 19. And my father’s 1970s senior picture collared shirt. So Louis showed up, and he was like, ‘Hello. I’m going to do some time.’ And I was like, ‘Sure.’ And he went up and did 25 brand new minutes. Just had it ready, and he had just filmed. I watched him film an hour and a half six days earlier …

 

‘I felt like I didn’t do my job, like I didn’t have any jokes, I wasn’t working hard enough. And from then on, I stepped it up. I said, ‘Well, I can’t just be onstage and wear an outfit. I have to put more effort into what I’m saying and be more critical, look at what I’m saying, have some different ideas fixed together, look at different comics … So it was a very, very influential night for me, just working with him once, and being shitty in front of him once. So six or seven years later, I got to open for him.”

 

COMING UP

 

Gary will launch his upcoming podcast this December, followed by appearances at the Comedy Studio and the Armory this January. For updates, check out Gary’s website and Twitter @garyjpetersen.

 
 
FURTHER READING

STONEHAM-ING IT UP: STAND-UP JOSH GONDELMAN ON WRITING FOR JOHN OLIVER, BOSTON, AND WOMEN’S MAGAZINES

DEFEND YOURSELF: GARY PETERSEN

KRISTOFER JENSON
More from author
  • KRISTOFER JENSON
    https://digboston.com/author/kristofer-jenson/
    FESTIVAL REPORT: ON "MOPE", "TONE-DEAF", AND MORE FROM BUFF '19
  • KRISTOFER JENSON
    https://digboston.com/author/kristofer-jenson/
    ROPEFUL ROMANTIC: 'THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY' IS THE BDSM LOVE STORY AUDIENCES DESERVE
  • KRISTOFER JENSON
    https://digboston.com/author/kristofer-jenson/
    KEEP 35MM ALIVE!: AN INTERVIEW WITH "OUT OF PRINT" DIRECTOR JULIA MARCHESE
  • KRISTOFER JENSON
    https://digboston.com/author/kristofer-jenson/
    STATE OF PLAY: MFA SHOWCASES THE DIVERSITY OF IRANIAN FILM

Filed Under: Comedy Tagged With: Boston Comedy, craig ferguson, Dan Boulger, Gary Petersen, HBO, late late show with craig ferguson, Louis C.K., somerville theatre

WHAT’S NEW

VIDEO: MASS VACCINES ADMINISTERED TO MOST VULNERABLE AROUND GREATER BOSTON

VIDEO: MASS VACCINES ADMINISTERED TO MOST VULNERABLE AROUND GREATER BOSTON

2021 Biden inauguration Boston

PHOTOS & RECAP: “NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN” RALLY IN BOSTON

2020 Indian farmers' protest - On a truck. Photo CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain by Randeep Maddoke, randeepphotoartist@gmail.com.

OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM?

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

WU ASSERTS THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ARTS IN HER CAMPAIGN

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

STREET MEDICS BOLSTER PROTESTS IN MORE WAYS THAN YOU MAY REALIZE

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • APPOINTED SOMERVILLE OFFICIAL SPURS OUTRAGE WITH TWEETS FROM DC MOB SCENE by MARC LEVY
  • Aerial View Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common. CC BY-SA 4.0 2017 by AbhiSuryawanshi. NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM by MATTHEW ANDREWS
  • VIDEO: COP WHO BRAGGED THAT HE HIT PROTESTERS SHOWS HOW BAD APPLES THRIVE IN BOSTON by CHRIS FARAONE
  • PRISON HORRORS BY THE NUMBERS by SARAH BETANCOURT
  • IT’S HARDER THAN EVER TO FIND A BATHROOM IN BOSTON. WHAT’S THE CITY DOING ABOUT IT? by ZACK HUFFMAN

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 1.9 – 11/26/20

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG Year End 2020

Footer

digbos

“Trump was voted out. However, this is not a man “Trump was voted out. However, this is not a mandate for #Biden and #Harris.” https://digboston.com/photos-recap-no-honeymoon-for-biden-rally-in-boston/ #photo #rally #march #left #protest #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM OPINION: IS DISSENT ANTI-NATIONALISM OR PATRIOTISM? #Boston #protest for Indian farmers, Saturday 1/23/21, 12-1 pm at the #Massachusetts State House https://digboston.com/opinion-is-dissent-anti-nationalism-or-patriotism/ #India #politics #food #farmer #protest #justice #solidarity @monica_gill1
HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO A HOW ONE MASS TOWN TOOK EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES TO APPEASE A CONTROVERSIAL COP https://digboston.com/no-justice-how-officials-in-one-mass-town-took-extraordinary-measures-to-appease-a-controversial-cop/ #ArlingtonMA #police #reform #cop #racism #controversy #BlackLivesMatter #Massachusetts
Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for host Ghost kitchens simply don’t have a need for hosts, servers, bartenders, bussers … What happens to those #jobs if virtual kitchens continue to flourish? https://digboston.com/ghost-story-virtual-kitchens-appear-to-be-the-next-big-thing-but-at-what-cost/ #restaurant #labor #work #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
“I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan “I don’t think we’re going to wake up on Jan. 7 in the same country we went to bed in on the 6th.” https://digboston.com/former-mass-gubernatorial-candidate-predicted-violence-before-assault-on-capitol/ #politics #Massachusetts #national #Capitol #WashingtonDC #MAGA
RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL http RADICAL AND RELEVANT: THE LIFE OF HARRY BRILL https://digboston.com/radical-and-relevant-the-life-of-harry-brill/ #obituary #organizer #radical #sociologist #democracy #politics @UMassBoston @BklynCollege411 @UCBerkeley #Boston #Massachusetts #NewYorkCity #Berkeley #California
NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON CO NO HONEYMOON FOR BIDEN: 1/20 #PROTEST ON BOSTON COMMON, 4 PM https://digboston.com/no-honeymoon-for-biden-1-20-protest-on-boston-common-4-pm/ #opinion #progressive #left #action #inauguration #Boston #Massachusetts
Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this lat Light and sweet and hoppy, we’re loving this latest incarnation of a #beer that’s been in the making for months. https://digboston.com/video-jacks-abby-x-boston-celtics-pride-and-parquet-hoppy-lager-unboxing-tasting/ #fun #video #review #Boston #Massachusetts
Jostling for position and influence are the disadv Jostling for position and influence are the disadvantaged candidates, existing industry participants, and municipalities … https://digboston.com/the-road-to-home-delivery-pt-5-dogs-in-the-fight-identifying-the-players/ #cannabis #politics #analysis #Massachusetts
The candidates will be interviewed about the upcom The candidates will be interviewed about the upcoming race. https://digboston.com/wu-and-campbell-to-speak-at-mayoral-candidate-webinar/ #politics #mayor #campaign #Boston #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]