photo by Ben Semisch
words by Chance Solem-Pfeifer
Is The Karate Dog — a 2004 TV movie about a dog that's ostensibly proficient in martial arts — secretly touching on the debate between evolutionary theory and Creationism?
Omaha comedian Ian Douglas Terry says definitively, albeit briefly, yes. Here's the evidence.
Drunk Movie Reviews has been just one branch of the homegrown comedy tree OK Party Comedy has been nuturing the last three years, including Battle Royales, the second annual Crom Comedy Festival this May and bringing touring comedians to Omaha on the scale of Rob Delaney and Kyle Kinane. Last week, OK Party celebrated its third birthday, and tonight at The Waiting Room, it hosts the second installment of Drunk Movie Reviews. RSVP here and prepare for an event that is exactly what it sounds like.
To celebrate OK Party's recent birthday, co-founder Ian Douglas Terry has curated a list of kind words and high praise from some of the organization's staunchest national supporters. Hear from them below.
Adam Cayton-Holland (Denver — The Grawlix)
"What Saddle Creek is to the Omaha music scene, OK Party is to comedy. Now hurry up and make everyone of them famous so they can also all buy sweet dive bars to throw fun shows at. The passion these guys have for the comedy game is nothing short of inspiring: comedy strictly for comedy's sake. No hopes of landing a spot on a pilot motivates them, no hoping some Hollywood agent in the audience notices them. It's comedy done just for the love of the game and that is why it's so damn fun. I've been to Omaha a handful of times now, and as soon as I leave, I'm planning my next trip back. The OK Party dudes have created their own scene by bombarding the city with shows and flying in all of their favorite comics, in the process teaching people to be smart and judgmental and savvy about their comedy, just like you would with music. An unforeseen bi-product of that effort is that a litany of the country's greatest up-and-coming comedians have left Omaha singing their and the city's praises. They are thinking globally, joking locally and Omaha should be proud to have these dudes around. They're dick-joke ambassadors. Now seriously give them all bars. I'm 86ed from O'Leaver's for refusing to pay my tab and daddy needs a new set of bar stools."
Jake Weisman (Los Angeles — Women Comedy)
"OK Party is proof that you don't need to be in a major city to have a great comedy scene. All it takes is a bunch of awesome people who want to make something awesome because making awesome things is awesome and because nothing else in life besides making awesome things matters. Also, I am Jewish, and the kindness I received from a bunch of non-Jews was especially heartwarming, because when you are Jewish, you are obsessed with making everything about Judaism even when something is not at all about Judaism. Regardless, as a Jew, I loved everything about the OK Party experience, and can't wait to experience it again."
Rory Scovel (Los Angeles — Ground Floor, "Conan")
"The OK Party guys are comedy in Omaha. It takes the dedication and talent and want from a group of performers in order to make a scene happen and flourish and become something. This group is doing their part in making this happen. They are making comics like myself figure out when and how to get back to the city to perform again. It's the type of scene you want to support."
Dave Ross (Los Angeles — Women Comedy, Terrified Podcast)
"OK Party's shows are so good that I am no longer afraid of the Midwest."
Andrew Orvedahl (Denver — The Grawlix)
"Whenever I have conversations with comics in other cities about this new rise in local 'independent' comedy scenes, I invariably bring up OK Party, who have single-handedly taken what was (in my opinion) an invisible scene in a flyover city and planted their flag on the comedy map. OK Party is not only bringing fun comics to Omaha from coast to coast, they're changing people's opinion of Omaha in the process. Coolest zoo in the country? Check? California Taco? Check. Terrific audiences who trust OK Party to bring in comics they've never heard of? Check."
John-Michael Bond (Atlanta)
"OK Party is everything I love about independent comedy. Ian and crew have worked hard to earn their local community’s trust, and it’s paid off. It’s this trust that allows a no-name comic like myself to roll into town with two other unknowns and still find a packed house. All ready to laugh. Sure it helps that OK Party brings in big names, but the scene they’ve curated in Omaha is built on trust. The audience trusts that they’re bringing in talented acts, whether they’re locals or have a Comedy Central special. It isn’t about the two drink minimum, it’s about the act performing. All they ask is that you show up. And people have."
Chris Charpentier (Denver — "Fine Gentlemen’s Club")
"I met Ian Douglas Terry and Zach Peterson a few years back at Laugh Track Comedy Festival in Denver and I will be forever grateful. Not just for the comedy opportunities they have provided, but for the fast friends we have become. Growing up in a small town in the middle of nowhere, I know how easy it is to overlook or write off a town, but I also know amazing things can come from the people that grew up there. And Omaha might be the very best example. From my first time there, I was blown away by the local talent and excitement surrounding the comedy scene. Now years later and having been around the country, Omaha is still one of the very best places I've done comedy and it's all thanks to OK Party and their passion to provide the very best in comedy. Plus, they like to party and I love anyone who likes to party as much as I do."
Bob Gurnett (Omaha — "The Max Chill Show")
"I probably would not have started comedy if it weren’t for the OK Party guys. I definitely would not have stuck with it. OK Party brings an excitement and vibrancy to local comedy that was not there before. They encourage new people to try comedy. They push comedians to get better by bringing the best comics in the country to Omaha and giving them something to strive for. OK Party’s most valuable contribution to Omaha is their emphasis on fun. Far too often, creative types see the work of their peers as a zero sum game; someone else’s success is taking away from their own. Instead, OK Party knows that when shows are abundant, accessible, and, most importantly, fun, all of Omaha succeeds."
Zach Peterson (Chicago — Former OK Party member, "Arguments & Grievances" Podcast)
"I think to truly put OK Party in context is to remember what the Omaha comedy landscape was like three years ago. There was a single open mic and the local club in the suburbs. That was all. If you are at all plugged into the local comedy scene, you now know that there are comedy shows almost every night of the week and open mics nightly. Now this is not only because of OK Party, but the hard work of a lot of people in Nebraska. When OK Party started we agreed we wanted to make comedy in Omaha accessible and a viable option for people to do on a nightly basis. We would do this by encouraging people to try stand up and to go out to shows. Three years later it appears that goal has been fulfilled. Omaha has always had a great deal of pride in its local artistic endeavors and is know nationwide for things like Saddle Creek Records, and it appears that comedy is no different.
Since moving to Chicago I have been traveling and performing nationwide for most of this last year. When I was in Washington D.C. last month I had a comedian ask me after he heard I was from Omaha, 'Oh, do you know the OK Party guys?' This is not uncommon. That shows that whatever OK Party has been doing, it has been working. From a barren comedy landscape to a scene that is known around the country for quality alt-comedy, Omaha has grown. This is because of OK Party, all the comedians in Omaha, and Omaha itself — a city open enough to give comedy a shot and go see people's strange ideas play out on stage. There are cities three times the size that don't have the comedy of Omaha. I am biased, but I would like to think that OK Party has had a part in that. I am proud to have worked with Ian, Mike, Ryan and Cody, and I am proud of Omaha. Here is to many more years.
PS: Get excited about CROM. It is literally one of the best festivals in the country."
Chance Solem-Pfeifer is Hear Nebraska's managing editor. Reach him at chancesp@hearnebraska.org.