There’s an unusual wine pairing once a month at the Rosenthal Wine Tasting Room on Pacific Coast Highway. Chardonnays, pinots and merlots are served with cheese, crackers and comedy. Operating under the radar for more than a year now, Rosenthal Wine Room hosts a monthly comedy night on the last Friday of every month featuring some unusual, up-and-coming and even well-known performers.
Rosenthal manager Chris Crofton, a stand-up comedian and musician, books the acts and emcees the monthly comedy show. He was asked to organize the events due to his connections in the comedy business. The Connecticut-raised Crofton started doing stand-up because he says he and his band, “The Alcohol Stunt Band,” were “too drunk to tour.”
Crofton is pulling in steadily working LA-area comedians to the Malibu location. While some performers are just getting their feet wet on stage, others have regular gigs playing LA hot spots. Some tour nationally and internationally, including July’s headliner—actor and comedian Gregg Turkington. A staple of TV’s “Adult Swim,” Turkington is best known for his performances as a stand-up comic and singer under the pseudonym “Neil Hamburger.” Hamburger has a sizable Twitter following and regularly tours the world over—including four times playing Tasmania, where he claims, “They’re pretty hip there actually.”
Turkington said he’s known Crofton for a while.
“Chris has been working at this winery and saw there was a stage and thought it could be a good place for comedy,” Turkington described. “There’s a lot of strange comedy venues popping up all over the place lately. Pretty much any place people have a room, they set up these comedy shows.
“Chris saw the potential for this one—right on the beach essentially in Malibu, and he asked me to perform,” he continued. “I said I’d do it. It was someplace new that I’ve never done—a show in Malibu—so I was intrigued. I’ve played everywhere from a basement in Tasmania to Madison Square Garden so I’ve seen it all. This is something new—a winery.”
Turkington mentioned a “mixed bag of a crowd” was what he expected at Rosenthal.
“You don’t know what you’re going to get. We’re hoping to draw in some out-of-towners,” he laughed, “maybe as far away as Redondo Beach—maybe somebody who doesn’t want to go out to Silverlake where I usually perform in LA. Maybe this is closer and also just the novelty of seeing this act at a winery.
“People like to see the show in different environments because the reaction can be so totally different in different environments. It can really fluctuate. I think this has a wild card element that is interesting for the fans.”
July’s comedy night featured stand-up and a ’60s-themed, retro magic act, Mystiki.
Each month, expect an eclectic group of performers.
“They’re always unusual,” Crofton said, “because I book them and I book a bunch of weirdos. Fun weirdos. I think all the shows are very unique, especially for this side of town.”
The next comedy night at Rosenthal Wine Tasting Room is set to take place on Friday, Sept. 29, from 8-10 p.m. Next month’s comedy lineup has not been announced.
