Laughter from the Hereafter @ AMUSEUM

John Cantu • Writer, Zoo Booker, Comedy Coach, Performer, Producer, Public Speaker, Publisher

John Cantu
• 1952 - 2003 •

The Great Curmudgeon Behind S.F. Comedy

August 16, 1981 · SF Chronicle - by Clark Peterson

• Reviews • Pull Quotes • Blurbs •

“It’s frustrating to deal with people who don’t have a pragmatic viewpoint — not seeing what is obvious to me. One thing I learned after a couple months in comedy is the astounding ability of a comedian to do his act to dead silence and be absolutely convinced he killed. I’ve also seen powerful comedians be convinced they bombed, because they’re insecure. There’s no correlation between a comedian’s feelings and objective reality” ~ 1981

“I’m one of the few producers who will tell a comedian to his face, ‘ You’re doing this and I don’t like it. It annoys me that people won’t call others on this.” ~ 1981

“I would take a good working performer over an erratic genius any day.” ~ 1981

“I have a good sense of the audience mood. I make up the first set list and then may realize one-liner comedians are going over real well but impressionists, musicians and guys who do observational humore aren’t. Since I apparently am the only one who sees this, it looks arbitrary when I put the names down.” ~ 1981

Highlights • EVENTS OF NOTE

CanDan Productions

Joke Writing Service

Taleggio melted cheese cheese and biscuits. Macaroni cheese cheese and wine cheese on toast taleggio stinking bishop camembert de normandie the big cheese camembert de normandie. Ricotta port-salut airedale cheddar caerphilly red leicester cheesy grin

Too MAny Larrys

Improv Group

Too Many Larrys was co-founded by long-time friends John Cantu and Karen Warner. Cantu and Warner have put together a group of performers with an intensive background of improv experience in other improv troupes: Joan Carter (Gefilte Fishheads), Jim Cranna (Founder of Theater of the Deranged and The Committee cast member), Ann Frehan (Women Who Laugh Too Much), Jeff Kreisler (Cultural Vacuum), Nick Leonard (Dojo Fabulosa), Stephanie Mulligan (actress), Katherine Murphy (actor/director for "Bare Bones Theatre"), Grace Sargent (Lunatic Fringe). Aaron Task (The Adults Playground), and Karen Warner (Actress). Too Many Larrys! performed every Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. at Sweeties Café and Bar at 475 Francisco (at Mason) in San Francisco.

Comedy Day on the Green

First Free Festival

As I remember, Jose Simon felt the city of San Francisco had been receiving bad publicity because a series of racially motivated murders called "The Zebra Murders." He wanted to offset that somehow and felt his idea could give some positive energy and publicity to the community… a one-hour show from 12 noon to 1:00pm in Union Square.

john-cantu-humormall-website.jpeg

humormall.com
via Wayback Machine

johncantu.com
via Wayback Machine

9 Part Story
Comedy Day: The Creation of a San Francisco Institution

Memories Shared

Friends indeed…

I came up from LA and performed, and I think Tony did too, but a lot of others didn’t show up. John was battling cancer at the time and like a lot of comedians didn’t have any medical insurance. I know I opened up saying something like,
“As an MC next door [at the HCZ], John has introduced Robin Williams, Dana Carvey, Paula Poundstone, Samuels and Cohen, Mark McCullum, and others. So, if he had better taste in friends, this could have been a hell of a night for you. Instead, you got us.”
Virginia Handley, longtime California animal lobbyist was very sweet and did well at the roast.

@ The Holy City Zoo…

John Cantu at the Holy City Zoo wasn’t anybody’s favorite, but I liked John. He always greeted me with “How you doing tonight, hot stuff?” I always wore vintage dresses, and his advice was “You should never wear a dress on stage, because men can’t laugh with a hard-on.” I’d counter with “John, that hasn’t been my experience.” I’d see him put the moves on women and I gave him a hard time about it. Saw him one time at the bar telling this woman “All you need to know is I like my eggs over easy.” I said “John man, it’s presumptuous this woman is going to go home with, but to think she’s going to cook breakfast for you…really?“ He liked me because I didn’t take his s***.

Once John and I were…

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Saw Cantu on Broadway…

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