Charlie Sanders

I met Charlie Sanders about a year and a half ago when we were both still living in New York. We’re both comedians–I do standup and he does sketch comedy and improv-but our paths first crossed when I saw his sold-out one-man show Minnesota Muslim at the NYC comedy venue Upright Citizens Brigade. As a comedian, I thought it was one of the funniest shows I had ever seen; as a theatre producer, I wanted more people to see it.

My childhood passion, college major and career path when I moved to New York was theatre. Then one day I decided I wanted to be a comedian. My career aspirations had changed but I couldn’t bring myself to abandon theatre completely. I produced shows to keep my passion for the theatre alive. I took a special interest in encouraging comedy fans to go to the theatre and theatergoers to discover live comedy shows because I thought the two groups have a lot in common and might even like each other. I still think I’m right about that.

While in New York, I worked with Small Pond Entertainment to produce a monthly standup comedy show called Hold for the Laughs, a fundraiser for indie theatre companies as well as a networking opportunity for members of both the theatre and comedy communities. It was fun and fulfilling to produce The Meaning of Wife at the New York International Fringe Festival, a hilarious and poignant play about the marriages of comedian Erin Judge (a wife to her husband) and actress Ailin Conant (a wife to her wife).

When I saw Charlie perform Minnesota Muslim, I knew this show was special. Charlie is a gifted storyteller. His story of being raised as a Sufi Muslim (Dervish) in Minnesota is one of the most incredible and unique stories I’ve ever heard. At Upright Citizens Brigade, solo shows can’t be more than 20 minutes long and I knew he would be able to do so much more if he had more time. So we met and talked about the possibilities of producing a run in NYC but in the end, the timing just didn’t work out.

Then one day, six months after our last meeting, Charlie emailed me to say he was moving to Los Angeles. I couldn’t believe it. I emailed right back to let him know I was about to move there too; in fact, I was moving on the same day!

A week later we met for coffee in LA. I figured we would talk about how much we missed New York but how Los Angeles is pretty cool too, which we did. And then Charlie asked if I wanted to start a storytelling show with him. I was surprised. Charlie is a fantastic storyteller, which I knew from seeing his solo show. But he had never seen me perform, so how did he know if I was any good or not? I didn’t ask him that. I jumped at the opportunity and said “Yes, I would love to!”

This One Time debuted at the Zephyr Theatre in December of last year. Our loyal, enthusiastic audience members keep coming back month after month to see the best comedians from standup, improv, sketch and television who tell sometimes-shocking, sometimes-heart-breaking and always-hilarious personal, true stories.

Margie Kment

I have loved telling and listening to stories all of my life. And if you told me I had to choose between theatre and live comedy, I would tell you I’ve tried and I just can’t do it. But live comedic storytelling lives somewhere in between the two, which is right where I want to be.

On Thursday, This One Time returns to the Zephyr. It’s our 10th show and Charlie and I have not repeated a story yet. And Kumail Nanjiani (Letterman, The Colbert Report), Brian Finkelstein (HBO Aspen Comedy Festival) and Eric Weinberg (writer/executive producer for Scrubs and Californication) will be our superb guest storytellers.

Next Wednesday, Sept. 22, is the LA premiere of Minnesota Muslim. I’m thrilled to finally produce this remarkable show featuring my very good friend Charlie Sanders. We moved to LA on the same day (Sept. 15, 2009) and I had no idea the story would go this way. But I have a feeling the story won’t end any time soon.

This One Time plays Thurs., Sept. 16 at 9 pm. Tickets: $5. Minnesota Muslim, written and performed by Charlie Sanders, directed by Brian Finkelstein and produced by Margie Kment, plays Wed., Sept. 22 and 29. Tickets: $10. Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. Reservations: thisonetimeshow@gmail.com. For further information: http://thisonetimeshow.wordpress.com/