VIDEO: First in series of DREAD Talks takes on woes of transportation with comedy

September 7, 2018 By Paul Frangipane Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Comedians took the stage in front of a panel of three judges at the Starr Bar. Eagle photos by Paul Frangipane

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A handful of the comedy world’s great minds convened in the back of a Bushwick bar Thursday night in a gathering that may have been more productive than an MTA board meeting. Sparking laughs from the crowd, the comedians vented out some of the frustration that’s so present today and gave suggestions on how to improve the city’s transportation system.

The first-ever DREAD Talk, sponsored by the Brooklyn Eagle, featured seven comedians who were judged on their transit proposals, critiques and comedy chops at the Starr Bar on Starr Street between Wyckoff and Irving avenues.

“I’m tired of walking through blood on the subway and convincing myself it’s paint,” comedian Lance Weiss told the crowd. “I’m tired of people cutting their fingernails on the train … I swear to God if one of them flies into my chicken pot pie.”

Weiss’s proposals for the subway were simple: “They should pay us to ride,” and “We should all move.”

Charlie Bardey shared the dark thoughts his anxious brain takes him to in transit.

“Every time I imagine committing an unspeakable act of violence to myself or others on the train, I instead imagine giving them a full pizza,” he said on stage.

Maya Sharma demonstrated a re-enactment of running into someone she knows on the train; Maggie Crane performed the character of “Canarsie Local,” or the L train, to set the train’s story straight; and John Galli introduced a new form of transportation, riding on the back of a homeless person while dangling a McChicken in front of their face.

In the end, Jennie Sutton, a writer for Paid Off on TruTV, took home the prize of a $30 Chipotle gift card for her PowerPoint presentation on why New Jersey is great and NJ Transit is not.

Sutton thanked the judges saying, “You guys, this is gonna feed my family for a week, thank you so much.”

This month’s topic involved issues on urban transportation, but DREAD Talks will continue to feature a variety of subjects that are rightfully surrounded by frustration.