SWR gets seriously funny with The Chewy Project on September 3

Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY native and resident Chewy Chiu, 76, –  no that’s not a typo, that’s what she said when I asked how old she was – my first clue this interview wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought.  

What’s your heritage, Chewy?

“Black,” she said.

What is she, a comedian or something?

Yeah, actually. A comic in NYC whose been doing stand-up comedy for about a year and a half.  She’s performed at Gotham, Stand-up NY, New York Comedy Club, Broadway Comedy Club, Eastviille, Producer’s Club, Laugh Lounge, Comic Strip, and Comix to name a few.

She describes her style as somewhat versatile. “I can do dirty; I can do clean.  It’s somewhat observational and somewhat personal,” said Chewy.

I met Chewy a few weeks after I completed a stand-up comedy course, and she invited me to feature on one of her new talent shows.  She produces shows around the city, under The Chewy Project.

“The Chewy Project started as my birthday show last year, and slowly merged into a new talent show.  But it’s different from most new talent shows – there’s no cover charge – it’s a place for people to have their start. It’s hard to have your start (in comedy) when you have to do a lot of shows where your friends have to pay at the door. The Chewy Project helps (new) comics get more stage time and all that jazz.”

Next week, The Chewy Project is flexing its fundraising muscles with The Serious Side of Comedy – a show that will raise money for a big organization that takes blood, that I was told I can’t say the name of because of some legal mumbo jumbo. 

“The Chewy Project decided to raise money after learning of the typhoon in Taiwan that killed over a hundred residents and left a large part of the population devastated and in need,” said Chewy. “It was such a great tragedy that the Chinese decided to put down their differences against Taiwan and help.”

The Serious Side of Comedy is on Thursday September 3, at 6:30pm at the Broadway Comedy Club Cafe, on West 53rd Street between 8th and 9th Avenues in New York City.  Doors open at 6 PM; show starts at 6:30 PM. (The Cafe is a separate door, next to the Broadway Comedy Club, which is on 318 West 53rd, NY, NY.)

Suggested cover charge: $5, with a two-drink minimum (mandated by the Club).

“The suggested donation is $5, but you can pay as much as you want,” said Chewy. “All the money made from the door and raffles and sales will be given to charity.  ALL of it.  None of the money from the drinks will go to the charitable organization, but you can still drink up if you wish.”

The Serious Side of Comedy, hosted by Chewy, will feature comedians:

Air Tabigue (Fox TV, PBS)
Danny Leary (Logo TV)
Tim Montoya (aka Colonel Tim)
Justin Weinblatt

Join SingleWomenRule as we support the typhoon victims and have a laugh at The Serious Side of Comedy, produced by The Chewy Project.

For more info on Chewy:

www.myspace.com/franklychewy
www.youtube.com/chewyisfunny
www.twitter.com/chewycomedy