Culture & Community | Arts & Culture | Comedy | Possible Futures
Shawn Murray, who leads "Read The Room." Solé Scott Photos.
“This is not a show for liars,” announced comedian Shawn Murray as he looked around the bookshop Possible Futures, then back down to a questionnaire that was itself just minutes old.
On the paper, one attendee had scribbled down their favorite cereal, favorite book, and favorite television show, among other categories. Now, it was on Murray to guess who in the crowd had filled it out at the top of the night. As he thought through his options, the audience erupted into contagious laughter.
Murray is the host of “Read The Room,” a monthly comedy show that unfolds on 318 Edgewood Ave. (and sometimes, The Sandbox at 70 Audubon St.) with an eclectic mix of jokes and standup meant to keep the audience laughing. Saturday, he welcomed the most recent iteration with comedians Damien Lemon, Shawn Murray, Andrew Manning, and Dan Kalwhite among others.
“People want to laugh,” he wrote of the series when he founded it five years ago, at what was then People Get Ready Books on Whalley Avenue. “Comedians need stage time. So I took it upon myself to find a new place for them to do it. I chose the most logical place I could think of: a bookstore.”
That ethos is still very much part of the series half a decade later, thanks to a community Murray has built through the power of laughing. Saturday, chatter rose and fell before the show; a soda can cracked open somewhere near the front door. Sneakered feet pitter-pattered and clip-clopped back and forth on the hardwood floor. A few candles flickered while neo-soul gently soothed the audience.
Then, without much fanfare, it was go time. After warming up the audience with a few jokes, Murray announced to cheers and applause he just turned 33—which is the same age that Jesus was when he was crucified. Easter was just a week away, and he pushed the joke forward, tapping into a long history of comedians testing the limits of social acceptability.
“It's weird,” he said as dozens of books, snugly packed into the non-fiction shelf, created a candy-colored backdrop behind him. “Because everybody, when you turn 33, they’re like ‘This is your Jesus year!’ And I'm like, ‘Isn't that the year that he died?” Murray asked to a few laughs.
“Isn’t that the year he died in such a horrific fashion that he said, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?’” The audience was laughing along now, if sporadically. “... Like, why does that become the convention for how we decide what year it is? Like when you turn 46, people are like, ‘This is your Kennedy year.’”
“Like, what year did Jesus walk on water?” he added after a few beats. More laughs.
A few jokes later—and very much in the spirit of keeping comedians on their toes—Murray was looking through questionnaires that the audience had filled out when they walked in, trying to guess who had written what. The game gave a similar feeling of playing “Mafia,” a race against time to find the true suspect.
Murray did not disappoint: studying the questionnaires for clues, he picked each person accurately.
During his set, an unexpected star of the show also emerged: Janet Hansen, who closed her eyes and relaxed in the plush chair as if she was being chauffeured in the newest Rolls Royce. Hansen, who had come out with her daughter Nadja, later said that she had laughed a lot—despite becoming a bit in Murray’s set, and then just about every other comedian's jokes.
“This lady is asleep so it's not her book,” Murray said at one point. “Catching incredible Z’s over here.”
Some comedians embodied those who once had their big break on Def Comedy Jam and Saturday Night Live. That was true for veteran Damien Lemon, who has hosted TruTv’s “Comedy Knockout” and made various appearances on MTV2 shows. By midway through his set, audience members were laughing so hard that they were stomping their feet as their bodies rocked back and forth.
“That’s crazy Kevin Durant just broke Michael Jordan’s scoring title but he’s still known for being ashy, like more than he’s known for being a bucket,” Lemon said, garnering a new round of laughs. “CeraVe, that’s damn near clinical.”
Outside, a rainy, wet cold fell over New Haven. On Edgewood, though, the bookspace was cozy, full of laughter and humming conversation even after all sets were finished. As attendees trickled back out into the night, many gave Murray—and Possible Futures—one last glance, like an assurance that they would be back soon.
Follow Shawn Murray at LowBrowShawn on Instagram, where he usually shares information on upcoming performances of “Read The Room.”