Everybody sometimes should take a little personal inventory, a self-checkout so to speak. We all make mistakes right? Yes we do. I made one last week. Life is full of drama, and not the petty middle school drama built from the ashes of an afternoon dance. This drama is the real thing and you better get used to it.
Like I promised, In an earlier episodes I explained that I would be starting a new series on From The Nook and tonight is its debut. Tonight I rekindle an old love affair with a local Portland radio personality and great friend, Marconi. Some of you may remember Marconi from his afternoon radio show with Tiny on NRK 94.7. Some may remember him from when he took over the afternoon radio waves over at K.G.O.N. with Kristine Levine and Big Jim. I remember him because after getting an opportunity to open up for Doug Stanhope. Marconi gave me a chance to come on his radio show, build a fan base and create a lasting relationship that still is strong today. Now Marconi is taking to my podcast and giving all of you a more intimate side of himself. It was honor to have him on. Thank you sir
In this episode:
There’s really no reason for me to be on your show
In episode 53 I explore the challenges of what it is like to just be alive. Is it a blessing, or is it simply good enough to get to the finish line in one piece? Whether it is a single working woman, a black man with the real obstacles of equality and skin color, or even a small dog, life is tough. The twist is that I explore this in a very untraditional way. I profile 3 stories in what is a rough draft for a future bigger project I am working on. It is merely the beginning process, so don’t expect magic right out of the gate. Instead, just enjoy it for what it is
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.
