'Monday Night Funny' Comedy Show at The Salty Frog

With the football season over, fans won't see any "Monday Night Football" games for another six or seven months, but "Monday Night Funny" is on the first Monday of every month at a local bar from 9:30-11 p.m.

One comedian’s last name is Ashtray. Another goes by “Big Frog.” So what better place to showcase their talents than The Salty Frog?

"Some of the [comedians] are regulars at the Mad House or the Comedy Store or the Comedy Palace," said the show's host Benji Garcia-Reyes aka Ben G.

Different comedians perform every month, Garcia-Reyes said. Four comedians will perform Monday including Polo Ceniceros.

"He likes to party a lot. That's what he says. His last name means ashtray in Spanish," Garcia-Reyes said.

Also coming to the stage are Michael Avila Jr. and Big Frog.

"Big Frog–he's like a former gang member, so he tells stories about his past life," he said.

Garcia-Reyes grew up in South San Diego and Tijuana and lived in Imperial Beach off 13th Street for a period of time.

"I live in San Ysidro but IB is like my town too since it's like the poor people's version of the beach down here," he said.

He began telling jokes on-stage in 2007 as a way to talk about his personal life and after friends insisted he share his ability to make people laugh.

"I started doing comedy in 2007 because I was in a bad marriage and I got no attention at home, and so that was the first way I thought I could get heard," he said.

After that first show at Lestats in Normal Heights, Garcia-Reyes started performing at other venues like The American Comedy Company in San Diego and founded UpTV Network which works with local comedians and produces webisodes and podcasts.

Telling jokes pays for gas and food, Garcia-Reyes said, but he hopes to be one of few local comedians who make a living off comedy.

He started talking about his dysfunctional marriage, but today Garcia-Reyes likes telling jokes about living near the border, being Latino and his own personal experiences.

"I write jokes about different things, but my favorite subjects happen to be more personal but I write a lot of jokes about relationships a lot of personal stuff like talking to God, interpersonal communication, poverty, South San Diego, being Latino, but I like to take it pretty much everywhere," he said. 

People interested in telling jokes, playing music or showcasing other talents may come to open mic at the bar held the second Wednesday of every month from 9 p.m. to midnight.