Chucklefck: Comedy from the underground

At the very least, the name Chucklefck will catch your eye and maybe even warrant a, well, chuckle. That’s the idea, says comedian and Chucklefck driving force Ramon Rivas II, who is hoping to reinvent comedy in Northeast Ohio one small show at a time. For the past four years, the underground comedy promoter has booked shows at Bela Dubby; however, Rivas feels the time is right to expand with a Beachland Tavern debut gig called “Bash at the Beachland” on Sun 2/27 at the iconic Cleveland music venue. The show features comedy by Chicago funnymen Will Miles and Kenny Deforest, along with Rivas and Cleveland’s own Mike Polk Jr. (“Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video” shorts). The bill also includes live music by local band Lowly, the Tree Ghost.

Cool Cleveland talked to Lorain native Rivas, 26, who has been a burgeoning stand-up comedian for the last three years. In fact, he spent last summer working a non-profit job in Chicago just so he could hone his act at numerous open-mic opportunities around the Windy City.

Cool Cleveland: What exactly is a typical Chucklefck show?

Ramon Rivas II: What’s been cultivated at the (Bela Dubby) Monday night shows is a very safe place to perform for comedians. It’s a place where a lot of people perform for the first time, where they come up with a lot of new bits. It’s a good place to develop stuff and it’s a place where there are no expectations for the performer or the audience, but it’s always a good time. I’m trying to transfer that type of vibe to these other shows I’m doing. It’s more intimate than at the comedy clubs. Like I don’t necessarily want 300 people like the clubs do. I’m fine with doing a show for 50 or 100 people who are just there to have a good time.

Comedy-wise, what can we expect?

It’s more of an underground, alternative type of comedy. We do weird stuff at our show. Like we’ve had a live Twitter feed on the screen behind the performers and we had the audience tweet during the show. It was a real weird experience. We had people doing weird character sketches there. It’s a place where you don’t really see that type of comedy at Hilarities or Improv.

What’s up with calling the event the “Bash at the Beachland” with promotional material featuring old school professional wrestlers?

Something I notice in Cleveland is we have this weird thing where we’ll support our sports teams no matter what, just because they’re from Cleveland. So I’m trying to appeal to that same type of logic with comedy. Even though there’s no competition amongst the comedians, I just want that public support that they give to sports teams. I’m trying to trick them.

This is the first show I’ve done like this, but I’m getting a pretty good buzz for it. We’ll see after the show. I did a show back in November at Cranky’s Pub where I brought a couple of comics up from Chicago. I wound up having 70 people come to that and it went really well, so I’m hoping to keep building on that. This show is in the Beachland Tavern. I’m hoping for a turnout of between 60 to 100 and anything above that would be great. It’s not like I don’t want more people, but I feel you don’t necessarily need a ginormous audience to have a high-quality comedy show.

The notion of blending comedy and music in a club is unique. What’s your expectation?

It’ll be interesting. We did another show with a band that went pretty well. The band ended up going first and this time I’ll probably put the band last because with music you can talk to your friends when a song is over and with comedy you have to be quiet and pay attention. It’s a totally different experience for the audience, but I’m hoping it blends well. I know in Cleveland neither scene has really huge support. There’s a fledgling music scene and the comedy scene has small support. I’m just trying to cross-pollinate them.

Using a name like Chucklefck can’t be without its limitations.

Yeah, it’s weird. The mainstream publications can’t print it so it’s like I have a name that can’t be printed, but others can print it. On one hand, it’s a negative but on the other it’s easy to remember. Whenever I mention it on stage, people laugh at it.

Finally, what’s your vision for Chucklefck in the future?

I just want it to become a trusted source of comedy around Cleveland, as an affordable and a little more hip comedy source than the clubs.

Chucklefck’s Bash at the Beachland takes place at 7:30PM on Sun 2/27 at the Beachland Tavern, 15711 Waterloo Rd., Cleveland. The show features comedians Will Miles, Kenny Deforest, Ramon Rivas and Mike Polk, along with musical guest Lowly, The Tree Ghost. Tickets are $5. Call 216-383-1124 or visit http://Chucklefuck.tumblr.com.

When he’s not writing about music or entertainment, he can be found coaching his two boys in basketball, football and baseball or watching movies with his lovely wife, Maria.

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