Fans of live, stand-up comedy don’t need to head down to a club in New York City for a fix. The second Comedy Night in Wilton was held at the Cannon Grange on Saturday, Dec. 11, featuring laughs from six top local comedians and noshworthy snacks from area restaurants.
Headlining the event were funnymen Motts Pelazza of Stamford and Howie Mason of Madison. Other comics in the lineup were Shahan Islam of Wilton, Stephanie Bass of Westport, Frank Murgalo of Norwalk, and Andrew Manning of Brookfield.
Comedy Night was organized by Islam, a member of Cannon Grange. The Dec. 11 show sold out following a sell-out debut performance held at the grange this past July.
“After the July show, so many people came up to me and said they have never laughed so hard, and asked us to do it again,” Islam said. “And so we did!”
While Cannon Grange is more known for community events such as its annual agricultural fair and winter Holiday Market, grange treasurer Michele Clark said she and other members are happy to support Comedy Night. “Shahan is an active member of the grange and comedy is his personal love and passion. We are there for him,” she said.
While the grange is leasing the space for Comedy Night, it is not sponsoring the event, which features professional comedians and adult humor. “The grange is more family oriented, but it is a nice location to bring comedy into Wilton,” Clark said.
Performing stand-up comedy is definitely a calling of passion because the pay scale for local comedians is minimal or non-existent. Islam said it was important to him to pay all the comedians who perform in his shows. “It’s unfortunate that many places do not pay beginning or young comics, justifying this because ‘they are simply happy to have the opportunity to perform.’ I feel that it can get exploitative. Every comedian I book is paid,” he said.
Both Islam and the show’s co-headliner Motts Pellazza have day jobs in addition to their night time comedy acts. While Pellazza has opened for professional comedians Damon Wayans and Kevin Meaney, by day he is a letter carrier in New Canaan.
Islam, who is newer to the comedy scene, is an intellectual property lawyer at Pfizer.
In his off-time, Islam not only loves to tell jokes and make people laugh, but is also an entrepreneur and the inventor of Covidopoly 19, a board game centered around a global journey through the covid pandemic.
He was led to try stand-up comedy in an offbeat way. During an office holiday party one year, new partners, such as himself, were required to display a talent on stage. Not having singing or dancing talent, he tried a comedy routine and was not booed off the stage. In December 2019, his wife Teryl, realized that he desperately needed help and bought him a comedy course. “The rest is history to her loving chagrin,” Islam said.
Despite two sellouts out of two. Islam is unsure about when to have the next Comedy Night in Wilton. “When we have Comedy Nights, we will try to conduct the event safely,” he cautions. Indeed, attendance to the December 11 event required proof of vaccination status - and they checked!
To view photos from the second Comedy Night in Wilton, click here