Joey’s Comedy Club // 8PM Show // July.27.2011 // Livonia, MI
These photos were taken at Joey’s Comedy Club on July 27, 2011 in Livonia, MI. The line-up included the following comedians:
Bryan McCree, headliner.
Kate Brindle, feature.
Jeff Arcuri, mc and fellow alum of Bill Bushart’s Stand-Up Class, Spring 2011.
AJ Finney’s Brain Don’t Work No Good
AJ Finney is pretty fantastic. He’s high energy…that doesn’t come close to describing that! He’s a manic ball of comedy energy and instantly likable! I’ve gotten to work with him once, but I saw him again earlier this year at the Detroit Comedy Festival. He’s a super awesome guy who just released his new CD this week! He was nice enough to let me bounce some questions off of him. Enjoy!
I’ve gotten to see you a couple times now and I’m amazed at you manic energy on stage. How did your style come about?
I think over the years I’ve gotten more comfortable letting the audience see me for all my internal disorders. Were most people hide their insanity with medication, I embrace my eccentricities and employ improvisation as tool wrangle my ADHD. That’s not saying that my chosen lifestyle over the years hasn’t also intensified my already overactive imagination and anxiety issues.
You do well with audiences and your peers respect you a whole lot too. Are you planning on staying in the midwest or do you have plans to make a move to one of the coasts.
I will always consider the Midwest home, but I will go where I need to in the future. Right now I’m enjoying all the experiences the road has to offer like interesting conversations with strangers, canned beer, black outs, sleeping in my car, radio interviews, hecklers, art museums, hipster dive bars, waking up naked in a hotel lobby, malls, strip clubs, Canada, who’s in my bed…wait this isn’t my bed, all for 30-60 minutes of stage time, to battle for laughs and I love every minute of it.
You’re new CD is coming out this week…unless I’m mistaken about that! Tell me about it!
The CD is titled “AJ Finney My Brain Don’t Work No Good” which was recorded live at Stanford’s Comedy Club in Kansas City, and is being released Tuesday July 26th on Uproar Records. It’s an explorative experience about how I interpret the world through my rusty bucket of wiggle worms, interlaced with stories of love, loss, rum, and my intense obsession with green beans.
You have a lot of festivals under your belt. Do you have any advice for people who are maybe doing one for their first time?
Submit to as many festivals as possible. If you don’t make it, hey apply next year or attend anyway as an audience member. If you get in have as much fun as possible. I’ve actually gotten more work from fellow comedians that I’ve met at competitions than I ever have by winning one. “Networking is the name of the game”
I find with the auditioning process for a festival or any big thing I tend to get in my head and psyche myself out. How do you stay level headed when you go out for things?
With festivals and auditions, do as many as possible, the more you do the easier it gets. Always perform with confidence. My opinion is they aren’t judging you’re material as much as they’re judging you as a person, do they like you?, can they sell you?..etc.
I’m proud of the fact that newer comedians read my site and I have access to picking the brains of some great comedians like yourself. What advice do you have for the newer people?
First off thank you for the compliment Mike. My advice to anyone starting off is to become completely obsessed with the art form itself, the history, the artists, the formulas, everything comedy. Realize your career choice is a marathon not a sprint, it takes time to develop your voice as an artist.
Where can people find out more about you?
www.ajfinney.com
AJ’s CD: “My Brain Don’t Work No Good” is available on Amazon and iTunes right now.
I Interview Master Improviser and Teacher: PJ Jacokes!
The other night I was complimented on my skills in being able to react with everything that happens during a show so quickly. That night a lot of things happened during the show. On one side of me I had a neat, but crazy old coot who dressed like he could’ve been Weird Al’s dad. On the other side of me I had a 24 year old girl admitting proudly that her Beiber Fever ran so deep that she liked to pick up on underage boys on Myspace…because apparently only adults are on Facebook. I worked with it.
The reason I am able to work with it so well is because I have an improv background. When I started stand up I took classes at Second City in Detroit when it was still there…and certain powers that be cared more about the arts and less about baseball…or however the story goes as to why Second City Detroit is no longer. My teacher there was PJ Jacokes.
PJ now operates Go Comedy in Ferndale. In addition to being one of the best improvisers I’ve ever seen…he did a long form show one night that ran the gambit of emotions…simply amazing…he’s also an incredibly nice guy. He hooked me up with my acting agent, which is a bigger deal than you may think. PJ and I are both stocky, nerdy white guys. So the roles I’m going out for are a lot of the same roles he’s going out for. That’s pretty awesome when you think about it. He opened the door for someone to be his direct competition!
I sat down with PJ a long time ago, but in the months since got overwhelmed by how long it takes me to transcribe an interview. This coincidentally, is how he and I started our talk.
It takes me an hour to transcribe ten minutes of audio.
Do you have Dragon Dictation? It’s an app on the iphone that takes audio and translates it. It’s 70% accurate.
Comedy Brew
Here’s a clip from what I taped at the Ice House in Pasadena. Since the 5 Hour Energy Drink commercial plays on HULU, how crazy would that be to see the commercial of me followed by the clip of me. I feel like a big deal. I can’t wait to find out if my poop still stinks. It probably doesn’t. Anyway…this is TV clean…so enjoy it wherever.
Share it with your friends!
http://www.hulu.com/watch/259303/comedy-brew-mike-bobbit-parenting#s-p1-sr-i1
Oh yeah…and for the record…I’m not talking about my niece in that “pre-bitch” joke. I just mean teenagers in general. My niece is actually pretty cool! We’re going to see her in a play this weekend.
Stand-Up In Detroit // July.22.2011 // Campus Martius Park // Detroit, M
This past Friday was the 2nd installment of Joey’s Comedy Club presents Stand-Up in Detroit as part of 4th Fridays in the Park at Campus Martius Park. The evening’s line-up included:
Darnell Anderson
Brad Austin
Carl Johnson
Jeff Scheen
Sam White
Thank-you to all performers, Joey’s Comedy Club, and Campus Martius Park!
Spoiler-Free Captain America Geekout
This summer, I loved Harry Potter and I really enjoyed Thor, but Captain America is what I’ve been waiting for since I was 7. I am an unabashed Cap fanboy, and have been for as long as I can remember. This summer has been a countdown to Cap for me, and my wait finally ended this last night. Holy crap did I love this movie. Do not expect a blow-by-blow story breakdown or analysis of the finer points of technique. I am about to geek the fuck out.
This movie made me giddy, like I wish the Star Wars prequels had. Every frame on the screen was my childhood coming to life. The special effects were phenomenal, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear they starved Chris Evans and shrunk him to play skinny Steve Rogers. The shield slinging was so cool, which was important, because without it, this wouldn’t have been a true Captain America movie.
The character were all spot-on. Captain America has always been my favorite because he was just a regular kid who was given the ability to be a hero, and always knew the right thing to do and how to do it. They pulled that off perfectly. Chris Evans was awesome in the role, both as the determined, awkward weakling, and as the great hero. Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull was brilliant, too. He was evil, menacing, and not too over-the top. The Howling Commandos were great, though I wish they had mentioned them by name.
I didn’t mind any of the little changes they made to the original story, everything worked for me, and I think allowed them to tell a cleaner story, rather than having to explain a lot of unnecessary back stories.
There were some cool nods to the comics, too, like the way we first see Arnim Zola. The Stan Lee cameo was quick, but funny and didn’t take away from the story. The use of the comic style Captain America uniform was also a great nod, and made great sense in the context of the movie.
The only complaint I have is that the movie was over too quickly. As it was wrapping up, I suddenly realized it was about to be over, and very much wished it was longer. Also, don’t forget to stay after the credits. The post-credits sequence is awesome.
One final note, I have never been to a movie where I have seen more people wearing T-shirts featuring the character from the movie. There was even a little kid wearing a full Captain America costume, who had his picture taken with me because he liked my Cap costume hoodie so much.
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows : A Muggle’s Review
I’m not a fanboy of the Harry Potter persuasion because I’m not a young adult that grew up with the books, a female fantasy fan nor a poser trying to lure a fangirl out of her Hogwart’s uniform. I am a certified fantasy nerd and will not reveal any spoilers for those that are too cool to read the novels, but Harry wins in the end as you should expect. Read a book.
I’ve read none of the books, but I have seen all the Potter movies to see what the fuss was about. Overall, they were decent but not moving. Owing to being a series for kids, I forgave them for not having balls – which for most of the characters hadn’t dropped yet. All the while, I’m waiting for Harry to come into his own and stop being a Harry Sue character – constantly protected from heroic sacrifice by magical creatures, competent adults and ugly red-headed sidekicks written as less important.
I watched Deathly Hallows part two directly after watching part one, I’m a vet of the Lord of the Rings Extended version – yes, my life is that empty.
Part one established a dark high stakes tone in the beginning with so many supporting characters deaths, then it winds down to a magical hide and seek scavenger hunt around the world with Hermione doing research. The cutaways to show the effects of the Death Eater take over where good, but too far in between. It has a slightly more dreadful feel than when the Republicans took the House.
Finally, there’s some magical intervention that gets things moving when they can finally start destroying horcruxes (horcruxi? whores’ crotches? Is that where Bellatrix was hiding them? That’s Lastrange.)
We learn what the Deathly Hollows are, but not why they aren’t the “Deadly Hallows”. These are English speakers, right? The story arch peaks with the death of the cutest character to date, more sadness then a tonal shift to “AW SHITTLEBERRIES! Now, it’s personal!”
Part 2 had the much more quicker pace that a finale should. Action, tension, action, tension – you know, like a movie. Voldemort is made gradually weaker with each destroyed horcrux with the backdrop being a magical war I’ve been much anticipating. Harry and Snapes’ relationship is fully revealed, which satisfyingly transforms our view of the headmaster. Our “hero” fated to save everyone is going to actually have to take one for the team, team being the world – about time.
Potter goes forth to die and is merely knocked out by a loophole in wand etiquette. This bothered me. Voldemort’s entire goal is to kill Harry, yet he doesn’t check the apparent body himself? He could feel whenever a horcrux was destroyed, but not this most important one in the series? That’s as dumb as a Jedi Chosen One taking a Sith Lord at his word.
Dumbledore’s ghost tells Potter he can stay in Heaven’s subway or go back and make sure all those deaths for his sake were’nt in vain. What kind of asshole would stay, especially when there’s a Weasley wet for him?
Harry survives. Neville Longbottom comes through amazingly, then Potter shows Voldemort how to kill an enemy. Flash forward: Harry knocks up Ginny and Ron does the same to Hermione, kids go to Hogwarts, the Circle of Life plays in your heart and the end.
So, again, somebody else makes it possible for Harry to succeed. Neville fills his shoes to destroy the last horcrux with Hermione and Ron serving their usual role as bait. As soon as Voldemort is mortal, it’s a done deal? Wasn’t he a badass before all this? There’s a likely stated reason for this that I missed in previous exposition, the point is I didn’t find Harry’s victory all the heroic, but I guess its par for the course.
These are a good pair of movies, and I’m sure emotional investment in the series will make it awesome, but for me it was worth the price of admission: $5 bootleg.
Dennis’s Guide to Public Restrooms
When you’re on the road all day it’s inevitable – it’s going to come up. You’re going to need to use a public restroom. Quite possibly for #2*. I have spent the last several years at a job that requires me to drive all over Michigan and Ohio, and I have spent plenty of time in public bathrooms. So I give to you Dennis’s guide to public restrooms!
Are you a public restroom novice? Don’t know which ones to use and which to avoid? There is an easy rule of thumb. When stopping for a much-needed potty break, refer to this scale:
#1. – Retail stores – usually the cleanest – most major retailers have a policy about cleaning them at least daily, and the employees themselves have to use them.
#2. – Restaurants – Usually pretty gross. With the constant flow of people in and out, the staff is too busy to keep them clean. Especially at fast food places, those are the worst. Try to avoid.
#3. – Gas Stations – Almost always Gross. I have seen things in gas station bathrooms that would horrify some.
#4. – Rest Stops – Last resort. Gross, rarely cleaned, and if rumors are to be believed, havens for illicit behavior (dirty sex stuff).
Retail bathrooms are the best, but some are better than others. My top 4 by chain:
#4. – K-mart – Not terrible, it’ll do in a pinch. The toilet paper at K-mart is pretty weak, though.
#3. – Target – Usually decently clean, but fairly busy bathrooms. Not for the shy.
#2. – Toys R Us – Surprisingly clean and usually empty in my experience.
#1. – Wal-mart – Surprising, right? It seems, though, that they have a several times a day cleaning policy there. Rarely do I ever see a dirty bathroom at a Wal-mart. Also, they usually have two sets of restrooms in a store, one in front, and another in the back by layaway or site-to store pickup. The one in back is usually less busy, mostly used by employees. Also, if you have no shame, they often have a family bathroom in the back, which affords you a totally private experience.
Of course, your results may vary. Get out there, don’t be afraid to poop in public! Remember, everybody poops!
* (#2 is code for poop.)
More Misadventures: Put the Lotion on the Skin
This past week I did a handful of shows.
I started at the Castle on Wednesday where I was working on a five minute clean set. It was basically the set I did at the Ice House in Pasadena last month minus the opening joke. It killed in Pasadena to the point where it threw off my timing. I couldn’t keep the faux anger thing going on because I was so overcome with delight that the Latinos were enjoying me so much. It ate shit at the Castle. I recorded it. Christine and I watched it. Her guess is that the opening joke might not be the right opening joke. Back to the drawing board.
After that I headed over to Joey’s for Bill Bushart’s birthday. Bill was on fire on stage! It was a blast to watch!
On Thursday I spoke at the writing session at Laff Tracks in Novi. It’s a good group they have there. I had a really fun time. I’m glad they had me come out. I worked from my notebook and tried some new stuff. It probably wasn’t club worthy, but I could see it working more for rowdy bar crowds. With the exception of one joke that I did a couple more times this past week, I honestly can’t remember what the other things were.
Friday and Saturday I was at the Holly Hotel with the Scheen and Connoly portion of the Jeff Comedy Jam. It was a strong line up! I think it’s fair to say that we all have similar sensibilities and if someone liked one of us, they liked us all. That being said, one of the shows was a battle. I’m still glad that Beth who runs the room there is still super cool and nice and hasn’t turned to the dark side that comes from whatever bad mojo haunts the Holly Hotel! Previous managers…horrible people. The most recent one started off nice, but turned evil. Beth is still going strong and just a genuinely nice person.
My friend and newest writing partner Lesley Braden returned to the art of stand up during the Saturday show. I was really impressed. She came out with a brand new five minutes and it hit strong!
Bobbitt, Scheen, Braden, Conolly!
My brother brought out a bunch of his family and friends to the Saturday show for his birthday and I was glad that it went well. He and I are polar opposites, but one thing we did always have in common was our sense of humor. My first performances were acting out scenes from Saturday Night Live, Strange Brew and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure with my brother on our front lawn for neighbor kids. It always makes me glad to have him in the audience. This year for his birthday I didn’t make him get up on stage with me. Okay, at Holly you can’t really get up on stage as much as you can get over on stage.
On Sunday, Mr. Scheen and I rocked Maxie’s in Flint. The new general manager was complaining about the previous week show because audience members apparently left. My only guess is it was the heat. Maxie’s needs to fix their A/C. I was drenched when I got done performing like I had been in a sauna. It was a fun night. Jeff Scheen left me alone in the parking lot with a scary man, but I made it home safe!
This week I’m in Lansing at Connxtions. Come on out if you’re in the area!
Joey’s Comedy Club // 8PM Show // July.13.2011 // Livonia, MI
These photos were taken on July 13, 2011 at Joey’s Comedy Club in Livonia, MI. It was also Bill Bushart’s birthday.
The lineup for the evening’s show included:
Bill Bushart, headliner and birthday celebrant.
Rico Bruce Wade, feature.
Lee Smith, emcee.
Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle // Open Mic Night // Royal Oak, MI
Various photos of Detroit comedians who have performed at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle Open Mic Night. Photos were taken on different dates.
10:30 Show at Joey’s Comedy Club // Livonia, MI
These are pics from the 10:30PM at Joey’s Comedy Club. The line-up for the evening included:
Isaac Witty, headliner.
Paul Strickland, feature.
Germaine Gebhard, emcee.
Reality(?) Show Rundown
Is it a dirty word? “Reality” show. I hate them. The manufactured, bullshit scripted dating, people in a house who stop being polite, singing contest shows. I hate the spoiled 20-something “Contestants” on them. My wife watches the worst of them, including the Real World and the Real World Road Rules Challenge shows, and I can’t even be in the room with her while she does. They make me sick.
I have discovered that while I hate those type of shows, I can’t get enough of shows about people doing their jobs. It started with Dirty Jobs, on which Mike Rowe is a delight to watch slog through the worst occupations on the planet. It grew from there.
Here I give you, my favorite “Reality” shows about people doing their jobs:
Parking Wars
Parking Wars follows the parking enforcement officers of the cities of Philadelphia and Detroit as they ticket, tow, boot and impound the vehicles of law breaking citizens. The officers are amusing characters, I will watch Ponytail ticket in Detroit, and Garfield boot all over Philly any day. The best parts are, of course, the reactions of the ticketed, booted or impounded car owners. They flip the fuck out, trash their cars trying to escape, and just do not understand the laws of the cities they live in. It’s pretty awesome. Check it out on A&E. Full epsisodes are available on their website: http://www.aetv.com/parking-wars/
Hardcore Pawn
I just recently discovered this jem of a show, which follows the happenings at American Jewelry and Loan in Detroit, Michigan. Les Gold and his son and daughter run the shop, along with a colorful cast of characters. The family fights constantly, battling for each others’ respect. The best part, is of course, the ridiculous customers who come in trying to sell things, and get upset that they can’t get a thousand dollars for a piece of junk. they flip out even more than the Parking wars people. I guess it helps that the store is at 8 Mile and Greenfield roads, right on the edge of Detroit. This show is the only one of the three I have added a series recording of to my DVR, it’s great. watch it on Tru TV. They also have full episodes online: http://www.trutv.com/shows/hardcore-pawn/index.html
Mounted In Alaska
This is another recent discovery. After seeing it on The Soup, I have become an avid viewer of Mounted in Alaska. This show isn’t as crazy as the others I’ve mentioned, but it’s still a fun watch. The show follows the happenings at Knight’s Taxidermy in Anchorage, Alaska. The owner, Russ Knight and his staff of cantankerous taxidermists goof around and build some pretty neat things out of dead stuff. It’s a funny show to watch on a quiet evening. Check it out on the History Channel. This one only has one full episode available online currently: http://www.history.com/shows/mounted-in-alaska
More Misadventures: Feeling Grumpy in Bowling Green
I don’t understand how people can cancel gigs last minute. I found out that I can’t do my show the first week in August earlier in this week, so I called to take care of that. I not only called to notify Roger Feeney, but I also offered some possible solutions. There was no way I’d call him on the morning of the show to let him know that I wasn’t going to be there that night. That’s ridiculous. I truly believe how you conduct your business off stage is just as important as how you conduct yourself on stage.
Steve Sabo had a last minute cancellation last Tuesday at Grumpy Dave’s in Bowling Green, Ohio so I offered to pick it up. I love that show. In all the years I’ve been doing it, I think I only had one bad show and that was actually the previous time that I was there! And that was because of me. It was my first time headlining for Sabo IN FRONT of Sabo and I let my nerves get to me. Plus, I followed some guy who did a song parody about stinky vaginas or something equally as absurd.
When I got to Grumpy Dave’s Tuesday night a bunch of the local comedians were working around a table helping each other out with new bits and whatnot. I can’t express how much I love that! I am so optimistic about the future of comedy. It’s fun to see these really talented people working as a team to bring up the overall quality of the art. That happens here at Laff Tracks too I guess.
The Bowling Green/Toledo comedians are really good and a lot of fun…and the audience is super as well. I had a fun night. I always feel like what I do onstage is a little bit of Pardo and a pinch of Maron served over a bed of Kashian. That night I flavored with a little extra Pardo and had a lot of fun. It’s nice when going to the crowd works because they know that I’m never going to get too mean….unless it’s to the other comedians, but then I spend 30 minutes apologizing and making sure we’re still cool!
This week the only thing I have scheduled is a set at the Painted Lady on Thursday night. I’m planning on doing a bunch of new stuff! I hope to see you there.
Happy Birthday, America!
Wait, they're making a new movie? What about me?
Woo! I was going to post the Team America theme song, but decide maybe we should be the only web site that doesn’t do that today. Instead, enjoy the trailer for Captain America, which is going to kick ass all over the place in a couple of weeks.
God damn, i can’t wait for that movie.
Off the Mike 