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First Annual Transformer Comedy Fest Comes to Pittsfield

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Transformer Comedy Fest will feature three days of comedians from across the nation at Flat Burger Society and Dottie's Coffee Lounge.

The event runs from Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m. with headliners Caitlin Cook, Anthony DeVito, and Josh Gondelman.

The festival is independent and homegrown festival with local and regional comics in supporting roles at each show. It is being produced by the Comedy Grotto at Flat Burger Society, a monthly professional comedy production, in cooperation with Dottie's.

Flat Burger Society is located on McKay Street and Dottie's is located at the corner of North Street and Maplewood Avenue.

Thursday, Oct. 13

Caitlin Cook kicks off the festival at the Comedy Grotto. She uses irreverent musical comedy and projected visuals and has taken the stage at top-tier comedy clubs and theaters and has released two musical comedy albums both of which are regularly featured on Sirius XM and other streaming platforms. She is currently touring "The Writing On The Stall," a one-woman bathroom stall graffiti musical that made its official debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland in August.

Friday, Oct. 14

Writer and comedian Anthony DeVito takes the stage of Dottie's Coffee Lounge. He's appeared on CBS' "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," "Comedy Central Stand Up Presents: Anthony DeVito," Comedy Central's "Adam Devine's House Party," NPR's "This American Life," TV Land's "The Jim Gaffigan Show," and AXS TV's "Gotham Comedy Live." His debut album "Dream Occupation" is available from Comedy Central Records. DeVito has created a one-person show about finding out a family secret titled "My Dad Isn't Danny DeVito" that also made its debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Saturday, Oct. 15

On the final night, author, producer, and comedian Josh Gondelman will headline Flat Burger Society's Comedy Grotto. Gondelman is a writer and comedian who incubated in Boston before moving to New York City, where he currently lives, and most recently worked as the head writer and an executive producer for "Desus & Mero" on Showtime. Previously, he spent five years at "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," where he earned four Emmy Awards, two Peabody Awards, and three WGA Awards. His debut standup special "People Pleaser" is available to stream now. In 2016, Josh made his late-night standup debut on "Conan" (TBS), and he has also performed on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" (NBC) and "The Late Late Show with James Corden" (CBS).

Gondelman is also the author of the essay collection "Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results" published in September 2019 by Harper Perennial. As of 2019, he has become a regular panelist on NPR mainstay "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me."

Additionally, on Tuesday, Nov. 15, comedian Eddie Pepitone, subject of the documentary "The Bitter Buddha" and creator of comedy specials for Comedy Central, HBO, and Netflix, with hundreds of entries on his IMDB page, will headline the Comedy Grotto at Flat Burger Society.

Tickets for individual shows are available in advance via www.transformerfest.com.


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Companion Corner: Princess at Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There is an energetic girl waiting to find her new home at the Berkshire Humane Society.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.  

Princess is a six year old shepherd mix that has been at the shelter for just over a month.

Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Princess.

"She's very social, very friendly. When you're out walking her, she just wants to go say hi to every single new person. Loves to make new friends. She's a lot of fun. She's very active. She's very spunky. She's very playful, and she's going to need a very very active family who's going to do a lot with her." 

But Princess is no stranger to the shelter. She was a puppy five years ago and got adopted quickly, but now she needs a new family to take care of her.

"She was adopted out fairly quickly as a young puppy. She's been in the same home for the past five years. Unfortunately, they were moving out of state somewhere," Olivieri said. "They could not take her with them, so she ended up coming as a return to shelter, and she came back to stay with us."

Princess needs to go to a home as the only animal or with other male dogs that are her size or bigger.

"Her perfect home would be kids eight and up. No cats. No small animals. She has quite a prey drive. She could go to a home with another dog around her size or larger, preferably a male dog. She does a little bit better with male dogs, and she's looking for a home where people are home quite a bit, so that she's not left alone for too long. She has some separation anxiety," Olivieri said. 

She also needs a very active home that can let her use her energy every day, as she is very rambunctious. Especially with playing with her favorite toy, the flirt pole.

"She could use a home where people are going to give her a lot of attention and more than just a few walks a day; she's going to need lots of exercise, lots of playtime, lots of mental stimulation," Olivieri said. "She likes to learn, so someone who would be willing to take her to training classes or work on some training with her, as well as hikes, getting out and about, doing new things, different things. She is very athletic. She'd excel at things like agility, some dog sports. Just someone who is really going to want to engage and do a lot of different kinds of activities with her." 

Once you let her get her energy out, she is a cuddler who wouldn't mind being held like a baby from time to time.

"She's very sweet. She's very cuddly. She's very affectionate, but she is not a couch potato. She will stay on that couch with you for a little bit, and then she's ready to go off and do something else. So she's very busy. She's very active," Olivieri said. "Once all of her exercise needs are met during the day, she will settle down nicely, and she will want to be right by your side, cuddle with you at night on the couch, sleep with you."

Princess is very healthy but does experience some anxiety and is not fully potty trained and might have the occasional accident.

"She does have a little bit of anxiety, so she is on some medication for it right now," Olivieri said. "So a lot of structure, a lot of outlets, and familiarity, getting used to a new routine and everything is gonna be really good for her. I mean, she's just lovely. Like I said, she's very social. She likes to play with other dogs. She likes to meet new people."

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