There are all types of people who influence us in one way or another. It is sort of my job to observe them and try to understand them. In most cases, they are harmless, and in other cases, it doesn’t take long for us to gather enough intelligence to see that they are completely out of their mind. In this episode I talk about a few things I noticed over the weekend. Like for instance the way people behave in low level politics. Another example of urban farming and the kind of entertainment one should expect at a celebration of life event.
Area 51 is a mysterious warehouse of memories I decided to forcefully take you, my avid listeners to. A place you didn’t ask to be taken, but do I care? No, instead, I ignore all social cues and take you on a journey to my past whether you wanted to go or not. I’m not sure why I felt the need to do a” best of” the last 50 episodes. I guess this is how I repay my loyal fans, by making you listen to this crap again. What I learned was going back and researching what I thought might be better moments in my podcast career, our in fact, terribly awkward clips that should not have ever aired more than once. Hell, I’m not sure why they aired at all. I hope you enjoy this episode because I’ll never do another “best of” in the future. Lesson learned
I’ve been at this for a long ass time. I first stepped on a stage in 1989. I have had lot of ups and downs over the last 23 years. I have had my success and my failures and in the last two years, I’ve really found comfort on stage. I’ve been labeled too many things to give a shit. Bookers have been reluctant to book me but I have always had an amazing relationship with my audience. I have always had passion, love and a special connection with both my fans and for those who are seeing me for the first time.
In my 23 years, I have had a few major milestones. The first was in 1991 when I became the youngest ever to win to the Portland Laugh Off at just 19. This put me on the road professorially. The second was the 2007 recording of my first DVD, Cripple xXx. The third was after an eight year banning at my local Comedy Club, Harvey’s, I was able to return for a one night only special event performance. The show sold out and I gave a once-in-a-lifetime performance which earned me a standing ovation and rekindled relationship with the owner. I must have nine lives in this career because every time people think I’m down for the count, I get back up and show my critics, this was always the only thing I was meant to do.
On March 27th of this year, I recorded live at Star Theater in Portland, OR for my newest speciel, “Truth Hurts” and it was another epic memory in my ever-evolving career. It is a night I will never forget, and now you will get a chance to see the official trailer. For the first time in my 23 years, I finally had a camera crew capture the connection I so desperately strive to get with each show.
This year has been a fantastic year for me. I leave tomorrow morning for Wilmington North Carolina and the 2013 Cape Fear Comedy Festival. If you are in the area, join myself and 100′s of other extremely talented comedians and watch us do what we love to do.
Ep50 was supposed to be an epic milestone of my podcast; I was even going to have it be a best of the last 50. However, something came up over the last few weeks that needed to be addressed; something truly important to all comedians with any amount of respect and love for the craft. Gabe Dinger, a Portland favorite, a brilliant writer and a comedian I have an unbelievable amount of respect in has a premise and joke in his act that he wrote. I also wrote something very similar. It was never intentional on my part to perform a piece almost word for word, nor was I aware we had the same idea until we discussed it. This episode is a no thrills episode where I sincerely apologize to Gabe and explain the entire story from my perspective. I also decided to take this moment to really discuss the topic of lifting material. Their is a blurry line between a real comedic thief and when a comedian truly isn’t stealing intentionally and this issue is a sore spot for all of us in the business. Every comedian and lover of comedy should take the time to listen to this very special episode and then keep the dialog going.
What I have come to realize is being a full time father takes patience, and every minute of spare time away from living a life of fun. Even sex needs to be kept on the down low now. However, for brief hour, I had the house to myself-and what did I do with my time? I fulfilled my obligation to you and recorded episode 49. I have to hand it to you mothers, you keep it together… and me, not so much.
After finally finishing the live recording and DVD shoot at Star Theater, after hell week promoting the night with Chris Smith and after a year and a half preparing for this one special night, it is over. Truth Hurts is in post-production, the night is in the past, I am no longer dreaming of what will come of the evening but instead trying to hold onto the memories of the evening. What now though? I’m left wondering where to focus my energy. I guess for now it will be resting and taking on a new important role as full time father. My 13 year old boy has come to live with me and now I have to help create his dream, and I thought I had a lot riding on the DVD recording. My story is just beginning.
In this episode:
Tired, emotional, that one moment is in the past, so what is next?
I’m sure by now you already know that I will not be doing a podcast episode this week. If you don’t know why, you haven’t been in the loop for the past 6 months. It is weird to say this but tomorrow night I’ll be on the stage at Star Theater performing my new DVD, “Truth Hurts”. It has been a gauntlet week of comedy showcases, podcasts and live talk shows just to promote this truly magical experience I’m about to embark on. I don’t want to blow this out of proportion. I just know, for me, it is a benchmark play in my career. Maybe I’m not a famous comedian but I’m a lucky one. I’m a comedy luck dragon. All stupid jokes aside, this will be an unforgettable night of comedy for me… and it is almost upon us.
Chris Smith, who is opening up for me tomorrow night and who has been headlining all week on his first west coast tour. He has been outstanding in every performance. Thank you for the love, support and friendship. I’m glad you could share this with me. You all will want Chris to be your uncle at your next Thanksgiving dinner. Crystal Kordowski, you are truly good from the inside out. I have to say though; you are warped beyond repair. Who really would want to fix that? Not me. She is hosting people and if you have never seen her. She is queen mother of honesty, truth and justice. She will tickle your ass with her feather of broken thoughts. It is shaped like a finger and tastes like peanut butter and breast milk. Let Momma hold you until you feel better.
Success only comes to those who work hard to reach it, but even then you need help. I would not have been able to accomplish my kickstarter goal without so many people helping me by pledging. Although this episode has nothing to do with the kickstarter, I am making good on my reward promise by giving a shout out to all those who contributed to the $7 tier. Trust me though, this episode takes a sharp turn towards broken after the first segment.
In this episode:
A shout out to those who helped me out with Kistarter
The Duvet cover made me want to destroy a child’s dream
