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Other times, its just stupid fun.
But to the outsider, the titles can sometimes seem baffling.
Austin
Sandbox:OnSandboxpeople can do whatever they want as long as its not traditional stand-up.
How do we feel about that?
Then we all clap; we welcome failure.
Its a childlike comedy/art space with adult artists.
(This was a preSamantha Bee era).
We naturally came up with the show nameWere Hiringto match the job-interview theme.
First, the venue is Great Scott, so the initials are G.S., one letter away fromgas.
Also, we thought it conjured the notion of laughing gas.
We decided to call our showThe Mendoza Linebecause it describes our lineups perfectly.
We hung out often at Village Tap.
I, like many comedians, have advanced degrees or higher-level education than they discuss onstage.
Okay, maybe thats just me.
Also I think hot dish can be slang for fresh gossip or a hot take on something.
Those reasons combined made me come up with the name.
We wanted a name that conveyed that it was a comedy show but in a nontraditional comedy setting.
The minimalist aspect also fits our brand of performing comedy in sleek, nontraditional places.
Someone saidWet Cashand we all laughed because it was such a weird pairing of words.
While developing the show, Tashi called up her hilarious and quippy friend, Blake Cedric.
Then I got into comedy later on and I remembered that I wrote that letter.
Heavy Heavy Low Low was a band from the Bay Area back in the early aughts.
Chase and Clare grew up in San Jose and hit up their shows a bunch.
And Chase was like, Yeah.
And I was like, Ha.
And all the deep-down thoughts I never wanted to acknowledge came pouring out of me.
They sounded the way they sound in my head, as if theyre true.
Youre NOT pretty enough.
You WILL never make it.
Are you sure you want to have a party?
Its going to be SO embarrassing when no one comes.
When I read mine out loud, I couldnt stop laughing and neither could anyone else.
Its scary kept silent, but absurd out loud.
Then I wanted to hear other comics share their stories.
Everybody has that inner critical voice.
Unicorns are soft, beautiful, mythical creatures, and killers are the complete opposite.
Melon is an anagram of our live night,Lemon Comedy.
Its a nod to the idea of being made to feel left out just for not being the same.
We like to present acerbic comedy that makes sweet lemonade out of lifes bitterest lemons.
Maybe one day we will merge the two brands, but Im not sure which way that would go.
Or maybe well do the opposite and branch out into avocado or something.
How do you like them apples?
Oh God, the puns areendless.
It became a way for us to poke fun at ourselves and take responsibility for what we represented.
After the last two years, though, none of that was even enough.
But, Im awkward.
Women, men, friends, bosses, andSex and the Citywas missingmybrand of awkward.
So that was it basically.
Its not just me!
Men kept calling it FatBack and women would roll their eyes and tell them, BackFat!
Since 2012, men have seemed to learn the name, and now I even co-host with a man.
Ive never bothered to ask him if he likes the title.
Between us, we had 85 potential show names.
ButButterscotchspeaks to us because the comics are smooth like butterscotch and old like the candy in a grandmas purse.
The translation being, You have to tell me everything.
I thought it meant they had secrets, but it turned out, they had boundaries.
I was blown away!
And, yes, weve noticed a trend of shows being named Drunk + Whatever Subject.
People love to be drunk and people love subjects.
A big inspiration:Disney on Ice.
The whole title, three words, very explicit.
Not going to that show.
Mostly now its a place for us to sing silly songs and showcase our favorite comedians.
Then, I started tossing around names.
Originally we thought wed name itThe Truth,but apparently thats a podcast.
So now we take the stage in devil horns and present ourselves as Hell recruiters who work for Satan.
If you had to kill one member of your family, who would it be?
The commitment and care put into those shows inspired us to create an updated version of all that.
We welcome that the wordvintageindicates something old-fashioned, yet hip and vital within the context of modernity.
Your body must be heard.
Secondly,ILYWToccurs every Saturday at midnight, which makes it the last comedy show of the week.
Well, theres already a club called the Punch Line, so we went withThe Setup.
The second reason is more pretentious.
When a joke goes from an idea to the finished form it goes through a huge evolution.
Sometimes the final joke is nothing like the original impetus.
The show focuses on roasting these volunteers as well as the citys tech scene as a whole.
