Trevor Wallace checked in to L.A. Times’ comedy show at Ace Hotel with new material
Comedian Trevor Wallace performs at the L.A. Times comedy show on Dec. 16, 2023, at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
At the first collaboration between the Los Angeles Times and Can’t Even Comedy on Saturday, at the soon-to-be-renamed Ace Hotel, a packed lineup headlined by 30-year-old former Vine star turned internet sensation and stand-up star Trevor Wallace had fans rolling with laughter all evening.
In the historic hotel’s small upstairs venue, Segovia Hall, roughly 200 people at the sold-out event started the night with host Caitlin Benson, who immediately hooked the audience with a bit about glasses-wearing babies not having to suffer through the same eye tests as adults.
From there, Willie Macc confirmed that no age range would be safe from jokes by launching into an extended series on his 103-year-old grandmother — and occasionally cracking on an audience member or two from Long Beach.
The evening then took a more self-deprecating turn, with both Shea Freeman and Cole Garrett largely turning the jokes on themselves and their look. First, Freeman (who regularly hosts his own comedy showcase, “The Ugly Baby Comedy Hour”) landed a couple of jokes about the ups and downs of his dating life as a “former ugly baby.” Garrett followed up on the self-owns by doing a lengthy bit about still looking like a user of hard drugs both physically and because of his twitchy energy, despite being sober for a while .
Garrett also received one of the biggest laughs of the night with a bit about his wife’s reading habits, first suggesting it was deeply out of character because they’re “not a reading couple,” before revealing that she’d been reading erotica the whole time and reading his own take on the genre in haiku form.
Michael Blaustein (who’s also Wallace’s partner on “The Stiff Socks Podcast”) continued the showcase with one of the strongest sets of the evening. After opening his set with a joke about his NBA dreams getting crushed after being dunked on by future Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony, the petite comic took some of the biggest risks of the night with a brief series of jokes about how difficult he assumes it must be to come out of the closet and then a bit about pubic hair, the evolution of sexual kinks and performing for a group of 14-year-olds.
A highlight of Blaustein’s substantial set was one of his final bits about his ex-girlfriend previously dating two NFL Pro Bowlers, which offered one joke after another ranging from the risque to the almost family-friendly. Considering that many in the audience may have known him only from his podcasting work, the entire set was a fan-winning performance and a perfect precursor to Wallace’s set.
As the main event, Wallace definitely did not disappoint. Coming right out of the gate cracking jokes about the venue’s downtown Los Angeles neighborhood and his new hometown in the San Fernando Valley, it was immediately reminiscent of his viral “When People From SoCal Meet People From NorCal” video. What followed was a collection of excellent, previously unheard bits on topics both familiar (the TSA) and new (fancy restaurants and sommeliers).
Perhaps it was simply his rehearsal of new material, but Wallace’s set seemed considerably more personal and grounded than his “Pterodactyl” special on Amazon Prime Video. Topics like his love of Thrifty Ice Cream — and how it keeps Rite Aid alive, despite the stores’ lack of staff — and some of the differences between owning cats versus dogs connected the comedian with much of the audience. Even when discussing his own success, Wallace was quick to relate it back to something that many millennial Angelenos know all about: not wanting to leave his parents’ cellphone plan.
Of course, no set from Wallace would be complete without shouting out his parents in the audience, who were seated not far from two women who alluded to being sex workers and were either intoxicated or brave enough to share their thoughts with the comics all night — regardless of whether they were asked. Wallace referred to one of the women as “the most AI-generated person I’ve ever met,” drawing an eruption of laughter and applause from the audience.
The night concluded with a brief Q&A with Wallace moderated by The Times’ deputy entertainment and arts editor, Nate Jackson, before the headliner’s meet-and-greet and photos with dozens of fans and guests.
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