Submitted by: Firehouse Arts Center
The Firehouse Arts Center’s Comedy at Firehouse Arts series will open the 2012-13 season with Bay Area comic Mark Pitta (www.markpitta.com) on a new week night, Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. The is located at 4444 Railroad Avenue in downtown Pleasanton.
Mark Pitta emerged on the San Francisco Bay Area comedy scene in the 1980s. “It was the best time to want to be a comedian,” says Pitta. “The clubs created a cooperative nurturing environment almost like a baseball farm system. It got us all ready for Los Angeles when it was time to jump into that scene.”
Pitta’s career flourished in Los Angeles, first fulfilling his dream of appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson then subsequent appearances with Jay Leno.
Pitta became host of Totally Hidden Video for the FOX network, playing characters in hidden camera situations, and then hosted Friday Night Videos for NBC. He has made guest appearances on Mad About You and Third Rock From the Sun and also appeared on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend.
A favorite on the comedy club, college and corporate circuit, Mark has opened for celebrity performers such as Chris Issak, Celene Dion, Vanessa Williams, Smokey Robinson, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and Rick Springfield. He has hosted the ELAN AWARDS five times.
Pitta runs a comedy showcase every Tuesday at the 142 Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, Calif., giving new comics an opportunity to develop.
Pitta’s opening Firehouse act, Liz Grant, has shared the stage with comedians such as Robin Williams, and was a writer for George Carlin's laugh.com. She won The Brian Regan Impression Contest and is a regular guest on KGO's Headliners on Headlines with Brian Copeland.
According to Grant, she “wasted her talent on bartenders and drug dealers only to become just another 'bar stool astronaut’”. Twenty years ago, after nearly losing her life, she got sober and now performs at national clean and sober conventions. She has recorded her 75-minute show into a DVD, Liz Grant's Extreme Makeover: Clean and Sober Edition.
A former San Francisco tour guide, Grant has written a show about the humorous history of San Francisco called The Comical History Tour. Her highly rated comedy show about her two divorces, Deja Wince: Lessons From A Failed Relationship Expert, ran for 23 weeks in San Francisco, Calif. and her new show, The Science of Love: A Comedy Show by Liz Grant, is due to debut this fall.
Tickets to Comedy @ Firehouse Arts are $15 for General Admission on a first-come, first-served basis. They may be purchased online at www.firehousearts.org up to three hours prior to the performance, by phone at (925) 931-4848, or in person at the Firehouse Arts Center Box Office. Box Office hours are Wednesday-Friday, 12 noon-6:00 p.m., Saturday 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m., and for two hours prior to the performance. The entrance to free parking is on Spring Street near First Street.
