Going Roggin
In late summer 2017, Fred Roggin, one of Los Angeles’s longest running and most influential broadcasters, aired promotions seeking “the southland’s next great sportscaster” for his show Going Roggin. This Willy-Wonka-Golden-Ticket-esque opportunity was called The Choice.
I had never appeared on TV. My main experience with sports was watching it. But I submitted a 30 second clip from my phone and was asked to come to the studio to record a demo. That demo led to a 16-person bracket tournament. That’s how this all began.
Through four rounds, I debated a topic of the day, in a single take, with another contestant. First a local anchor, then a sideline reporter, and finally a play-by-play baseball announcer; serious young talents in sports media! Each round was scored 50% by viewer votes and 50% by Fred and his producers.
Somehow, through a combination of my improv training, joke-writing, and broad knowledge of pop culture and sports history, I won! The whole thing!
My role as a regular commentator lasted the better part of two years, until Covid-19 put the kibosh on in-studio taping. (Also, I moved out of Los Angeles during this time). Still, taking a chance on The Choice was one of my all-time best decisions. Appearing with Fred and his stable of veteran broadcasters — from ESPN, ESPN Radio, NPR, Fox Sports, and The LA Times, among others — was a dream come true.
One of the promo shots we used to promote an early appearance on The Choice.
Fred Roggin announcing me as the winner of “The Choice.”
Simple head-shot taken on the Going Roggin set.
Cavern of Whimsy
“Mike Critelli’s Cavern of Whimsy” was a live variety show that ran once a month from June 2nd, 2014 to May 4th, 2015, at The Complex Theater in Hollywood, CA.
Each show was entirely unique. New guests, new live segments, new videos and music. At the time I was an active performer in LA’s improv and standup comedy scenes, and had come off my internship with David Letterman recently enough to conceptualize all the pieces required to put on a show!
In addition to hosting, I drew the posters (by hand), booked the guests, developed new formats for the stage, premiered live-action and animated videos, and generally gave artists, actors, comedians, musicians, and miscellaneous, hard-to-categorize entertainers a space to display their work.
Was it a success? Yes! Also, no!
The guests were outstanding. We had local artists painting live, while magicians from Broadway and America’s Got Talent performed. We had award-winning stage and TV actors premiering original long-form plays before touring comedians (one whose special hit #1 on iTunes) and musicians (one who played backup for a #1 Country Artist) closed the show.
Unfortunately, I never got the hang of marketing all this talent. Lesson learned. And because it played at 8:30pm on a Monday — in LA of all places — CoW ran for only one, glorious year.
For a walk down memory lane, check out the website here.
A generic poster for the show itself, with all the original details.
An early photo of me onstage, taken with a camera. Disgusting.
Me, wondering what the hell I’m doing at The HaHa Cafe.
A holiday show (apparently! I have no recollection of this) with some folks you may have seen on TV.
Performing a guest spot as a trio of “Mikes” — Kurtz, Trehy, and Critelli.
Me telling an audience member to quiet down because they’re laughing too hard.
Standup and Improv Comedy
I’ve been performing comedy since my face was clean-shaven and the average person took most of their photos with a literal camera, as seen in the upper left images. A solid 15+ years ago.
Growing up within Amtrak range of New York City, my first experiences with comedy were at Caroline’s on Broadway and Gotham Comedy Club. When I moved to Los Angeles for college, the entry point for new comics was the HaHa Cafe in North Hollywood, so I split my time between there and various one-off shows spread throughout the vast Southern California region.
Let’s be blunt. The standup scene in NYC is superior to LA. Must be something in the water. The same reason the bagels taste better. So I shifting from the stage to writing screenplays and producing material for early incarnations of the website you’re visiting right now.
Then, in early 2011 I began taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. Improv became a true passion, starting with classes at UCB, the Miles Stroth Workshop (now The Pack Theater), and expert coaching from alums of The Annoyance in Chicago and iO West. It led to friendships, film collaborators, and guest performers at my Cavern of Whimsy show.
This was the Golden Age of improv in Los Angeles. Movie and TV stars would drop in at shows that cost attendees as little as $5-10. A combination of market saturation, economic forces, and Covid-19 regulations may have permanently changed the landscape, but having personally seen the best of the best of the best, I sincerely hope this art-form makes a comeback someday.