SceneSC does comedy and so does Myq Kaplan

For years, SceneSC has been your source for the scoop on local SC bands and their music. For a while now I’ve been kicking around the idea of blogging about the growing, active comedy scenes across South Carolina. Some of so called “musical acts” have come and gone, all the while the younger sibling, no step-sibling, that is stand-up has been playing in the back yard and waiting to be allowed inside. Â I pitched my idea to SceneSC’s editor-in-chief and he was (thankfully) open to it. Now here it is, the first of many posts focusing on the nationally touring headliners playing independent shows, local scenes with their own homegrown artists, as well as our favorite local venues, festivals and regular happenings.

Only a few short years ago there weren’t even any open-mics or indie shows around here dedicated to showcasing comedians, but now, if you’re in Columbia, Charleston, or Greenville you can get up on stage a few times a week and get to see some of the best up-and-coming local and nationally touring comedians come through to perform at an intimate venue near you. Grassroots comedy scenes like these have been emerging all over the country, thanks to the combined efforts of devoted performers and audience members. And the professionals are starting to take notice. Coming up this month is one performer in particular that I would like to bring your attention to.

Myq Kaplan (pronounced Mike, duh) is a master of words. Â Some of you may have been lucky enough to catch him last year when he performed in Columbia and Greenville (or maybe you’ve seen him on Comedy Central Presents or Conan). I’m so excited that he is is returning to SC this month with a string of dates at the Charleston Comedy Festival, in Greenville, and Asheville (OK, NC too). Â Myq is just a super sharp comic who is witty. Really fucking witty. Seeing him work out new material is an amazing stream-of-consciousness piece of performance art filled with so many twists and references you might have trouble keeping up (mainly because of laughing so hard). That’s okay though, because he manages to bring it all back together with ease before his next set of rapid-fire punchlines.

Myq began performing stand-up while earning his master’s degree in linguistics from Boston University, which has unmistakably informed his smart, wordplay-filled style of humor. Sound too nerdy for you? Well, he has also been a finalist in many national competitions and festivals. including the NBC showÂ Last Comic StandingÂ and is a regular onÂ Conan,Â The Late Show with David Letterman, andÂ The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Â He can Â be heard on his podcast “Hang Out With Me” on iTunes, where you can also find his three stand-up albums. He is the real deal.

Here is Myq doing his thing on his latest appearance from Conan