NO FILTER COFFEE BREAK

JOE MADAUS REDEFINEZ TEH 2-MINIT MAN

By MARLI GUZZETTA

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Four years ago at Boston College, Joe Madaus, my brother and four other guys shared a suite so grimy, a girl could get pregnant there while fully clothed. But as the host of No Filter Coffee Break on Boston.tv, the 25 year-old has cleaned up his act and put on a tie to interview Boston's rising comedy talent in two-minute segments that include comedy skits which Madaus writes and produces with input from the comedians.

"No Filter Coffee Break is like two-minute dating for comedians," says Rick Jenkins, owner of The Comedy Studio. "We have to do our own PR. That's why having Joe put together something so professional is a real help. It's become a badge of honor to be included in his little films." There isn't much Madaus would say 'no' to for Boston comedy. In one episode, Madaus interviews Micah Sherman while Sherman's frank and beans dangle in the soft breeze. In another, Madaus gets bent over the hood of a car for a full cavity search.

Comic Myq Kaplan calls Madaus "Boston Comedy's Best Friend," but you might also recognize Madaus in such archetypes as: Irish Underdog; Self-Deprecating Jester; and Young Man Trying to Make a Name for Himself. I think there's tarot card with his face on it. Madaus is originally from Boylston, "just outside the fifth-greatest city in Massachusetts, Worcester," he explains. "Actually Worcester just built the new Hanover Theater, so it's now the third greatest city, after Framingham." Madaus decided on the term "no filter" because people used to tell his parents he had no filter on his mouth. "And 'Coffee Break' because the segments are usually short and bitter, like Peter Dinklage," he adds.

While googling Peter Dinklage, we ask Madaus what we could do to make this story funny. "Just tell readers to make fart noises while they read," he suggests. But we inform him—oh, right, the midget guy!—that we and our readers already make fart noises.

According to Madaus, the Boston comedy scene has grown a little more even-keeled since its salty days of vehement anti-New York sentiment. "The anti-New York thing was then, not too much now," he says. "People look at Boston as an excellent place to develop a voice. You have the opportunity to mess up and get better. No one really pulls anyone down. Comedians here are generally smart, supportive and critically constructive."

"Joe Madaus' No Filter Coffee Break is the perfect way to perk up the funny bone," says comedian Shane Mauss. "My funny bone happens to be in my pants."

"The No Filter Coffee Break has put the Boston comedy scene right where it belongs," says Comedian Dan Boulger adds, "one notch below porn and one notch above spam."

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