Image courtesy of Mottley's Comedy Club

I tried writing this blog post up this morning and lost it, but I'm doing it again because the cause is a good one.

The Boston Phoenix is holding votes for its annual "Best Of" Boston everything, and in the category of Best Comedy Club/Night, I strongly urge you to vote for Mottley's Comedy Club. If you're someone with very little time who trusts my judgment, head over now and vote. Once you cast your vote, you must click "Skip To Finish" and enter your name/email (no spam) to certify your ballot, so to speak.

For those with more time and a bit of respect for the effort I'm about to put forth!, check this out

My comedy career began in Boston, and it started at The Comedy Studio in Harvard Square. I will always consider The Studio to be my home club and look forward to performing there when I go back. My support for Mottley's does not represent any negative feelings I hold toward The Studio, rather it represents the immensely positive feelings I have for Mottley's and the way in which this new club is being run. 

One of the founders/owners of Mottley's is Tim McIntire. He's a big, bald-headed white dude who scared the crap out of me when I first saw him. I'm biased against bald-headed white dudes for some reason. Tim has been a comedic mentor and role model of mine for years. I'm not even sure I ever told him that, but he's got a rare combination of intelligence, funny, generosity and business sense. You just don't find that mix very often.

In 2006, Tim said to me, "If you don't get out of Boston and move to L.A. or New York, I'll run you out of town myself." That's not a precise quote, but that was definitely the sentiment. When a bald-headed white guy tells a black guy to leave the city of Boston, the smart black guy leaves. I moved to NYC in August 2007.

Tim's sincere point was that I was ready to move on, and he was right. In part because of his encouragement, I now live in Brooklyn and hold more dream jobs than any one man could ever deserve. Tim's good nature and openness are evident in the way Mottley's operates. 

See for yourself. This morning, Tim sent the following "campaign" email to club supporters encouraging them to vote for his club. The email reveals the savvy, common sense and innovative measures the club has and will take, and I think it's a model for supporting art and artists in a way that isn't the usual careless, callous and soulless "show business" way we see so often.

If you support these ideals, vote Mottley's. Follow the club on Twitter or Facebook, and when you're next in Boston, go to a show knowing your money is being put to good use.

WHY WE DESERVE TO WIN

by Tim McIntire

We produce great shows, giving younger headliners a place to really shine in Boston (finally), letting comics have a hand in booking the shows, giving comics the opportunity to produce and perform their own theme nights or alternative-style shows, and bringing in talent from around the country, finally letting Boston see what comedy club patrons in the rest of the U.S. get to see all the time. We also have become a place for shows like Mortified, Stripped Stories, the Dress Up Show and Dark Blue, as well as one-person shows by people like Patrick Borelli or Ken Reid. Comics - we're especially counting on your votes.

We pay our comics half of all the money we make. Right off the top. 50% of all our money goes to the comics, and it goes out almost immediately. Comics get paid fairly, and they don't wait for the check. We've also paid comics for shows that got cancelled out from underneath us - shows that didn't even happen.

We continue to improve our space, making it more conducive to comedy. In the past year, we tore out our old sound booth to put in more seats, decorated the club with rare old comedy albums, and (finally) built a soundproof wall in the back of the room, solving the problem of the noise upstairs. Our plans for the coming year include flat screen TVs and computer hookups to make multimedia comedy much easier to produce.

We signed a deal with Rooftop Comedy, which puts high-quality streaming videos of our comics on their website, which comics can also embed or otherwise use for their own self-promotion, for free. And they will sell comics a professional-quality CD or DVD of their set at a reasonable price. 

Finally, in March, we're sponoring the first annual Mottley's Comedy Showcase and Chili Cookoff (with all proceeds going to the Greater Boston Food Bank). 'Nuff said.

To vote, go here. After you vote, please click "Skip to Finish" and finalize your vote so it actually gets counted. 

I really do appreciate your help, and if you can think of people who like our club and might vote for us, please forward this to them. Also, I did my best to make sure I didn't send this to our competition - if it got to you anyway, please accept my apologies. I'm not trying to trash-talk here.