Blog Archives
The Lonely Island: Turtleneck & Chain Review
From We’re Back! the opening track, to the No Homo Outro, Turtleneck & Chain is both an amazing hip hop album and an amazing satire of hip hop albums. Pulling off either one is a tall order on its own; that Lonely Island manages to do both is proof that they’re not just a great comedy group, they’re a great hip hop group too.
Quick Question…Do you have any ghost stories?
Ooh! It’s Friday the 13th! This week I asked my comedian friends: Have you ever experienced anything paranormal in your comedy adventures?
Quick plug to my friend comedian Mike Brody. He is the “Official Comedian of Beyond Reality Events”. In fact, if Deadpan takes off and we get to do a second season, it’ll involve hopefully either Mike Brody or a character based largely on Mike Brody. Maybe we’ll call him Brody Michaels. Hm.
To kick things off, here’s my spooky story. I was at the notoriously haunted and historic Holly Hotel doing a Christmas party a few years back. Normally the comedy shows are in the basement, but this private party was on the top floor, which is supposed to be where the “stuff” happens. I was delighted and making jokes about the ghost, when a large painting fell off the wall and freaked everyone out. So I changed topics and went back to my normal nerdery. It made me jump though!
Jeff Dwoskin: I once was doing a show at Holly and it started out great and then everyone stopped laughing. To this day I swear it was because of a super-natural intervention of some sort. I swear this stuff usually kills!
Andy Pitz: I’ve never experienced paranormal activity at a show or in lodging. I have been creeped out by several club owners though.
I feel like I worked with Tony Deyo shortly after this great story happened to him. It’s one of my favorite comedian stories: I was performing at a college in Albion, MI. They had me staying on campus at a 150 year old place called Belmont Manor. First of all, any place with “manor” in the name is haunted. I joked about staying in their haunted Scooby Doo mansion at the show. Afterwards, the opener asked me if he could come over and check out the place b/c he had been into studying the paranormal for about 10 years. When I had checked in at the mansion, I thought other people were staying there too, but when we got there after the show, no other cars were in the parking lot. I realized I was going to be alone that night in the creepy mansion. We walked around the place, and he told me that his fingers were getting a little numb in one room, which probably meant that someone had died of a heart attack in there. As we wandered upstairs via the giant spiral staircase, he told me that that’s where I might see a ghost in the middle of the night. At this point, I was still under the impression that I might actually spend the night. All the doors upstairs were locked except for mine, so as I was walking back downstairs with him, he noticed a door that went to the basement. He couldn’t find a light switch, so he went down with just his penlight on a keychain. I did not follow. He came back and told me that a lot of people had died down there… and that they were killed. That’s when I told him that he was staying with me for 5 minutes while I packed up my stuff and left. I never knew if there was a ghost there for sure, but I wasn’t about to find out.
Hey Kids…Twitter! All-Nerd Edition
So, a while back Kobe posted his favorite funny Tweeters, today I’m going to share my favorite nerdy ones.
@DeathStarPR is on a mission to give all the negative publicity the Galactic Empire has received to a more favorable and humorous spin.
Sample tweet: “If a tree falls on an Ewok in a forest and nobody was around to see TK-827 chop it down, did it ever really happen?”
@grantimahara I’m sure you all know Grant Imahara from Mythbusters.
I follow his tweets because he’s clever, funny, and often posts cool behind-the -scenes pics from the set.
Sample tweet: “This is Murray. He’s a hawk. #fromset #Mythbustershttp://twitpic.com/4twyzm“
@TheNerdyBird Jill Pantozzi is a comics journalist who writes for MTV Splashpage and Newsarama.
Her profile says, “Has Boobs, Reads Comics. Need I say more?”
Her feed is a great place to view the comics industry from the perspective of a self-proclaimed geek girl.
Sample Tweet: “I also asked my BF if he would dress up as Thor for me and he said no. : ( He has the beard AND blonde hair. #meanboyfriend“
@GailSimone is the current writer of Birds of Prey and Secret Six at DC Comics.
Her twitter isn’t really about her comics, though. She’s funny and a bit odd, often times starting strange and funny trending topics like #kingshark or teasing fellow comics creators, especially ones from Marvel.
Sample Tweet: “If I wrote an Avengers movie, I would put the JLA in it instead.”
@CobraCommander is, as if you didn’t know, the leader of a terrorist organization determined to rule the world.
Sample tweet: “When you realize you have a guy named Road Pig on your payroll it seriously makes you rethink your career choices.”
Who are your favorite nerdy twitter users? Let us know in the comments!
Mike Lebovitz is a Comedian You Should Know
More often than not when a comedian stays in a condo as opposed to a hotel, it can be a nightmare. At least that’s what I’ve heard. I’ve stayed in condos a handful of times and with the exception of one experience, it’s always been a blast.
Most recently I was in Appleton, Wisconsin and staying with Chicago comedian Mike Lebovitz. We found out that we had a mutual connection in my sister-in-law. Mike is fantastic and we’ve stayed friends since that blizzardy week in America’s Dairyland. He’s also a part of the Chicago comedy scene’s super group Comedians You Should Know who had the number one comedy album on iTunes recently.
Mike came to town a couple weeks back to get is foot in the door of some of our clubs and afterward I decided to pick his brain about comedy and specifically his take on the Detroit scene. Enjoy.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 trailer
OK, I know I’m a few weeks late on this one, but give me a break. I’m new to this site and blogging in general.
The trailer for the final installment in the Harry Potter Octology (is that a word?) was released, and has Potter-heads everywhere all atwitter, myself included. I’m a late comer to the Harry Potter world, having waited until my wife made me watch the first 6 movies before I ever cracked one of the books, but I am a full-on Potter nerd now. The trailer is beautiful, and gives us glimpses of some of the coolest parts of the book brought to life. I’ll try to stay spoiler-free, but I make no promises, especially if you haven’t seen the previous movies.
In this final chapter, it’s a race for Harry and friends to complete their mission begun in part one, the destruction of Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes, the items that he has imbued with a piece of his soul in an effort to live forever, and to then vanquish him once and for all. Right away, the familiar theme music brings us back into the magical world. The Voldemort voice-over sets the tone, reminding us this is no longer a kids’ movie series, these characters are grown up now and are dealing with some dark, life-or-death situations. The trailer then gives us glimpses of the roller-coaster ride into the Gringott’s vault, a dragon, Death-eaters galore, wizards flinging spells all over, and a whole bunch of stuff on fire. Only one thing bugs me, I don’t remember the scene with Harry and Voldemort falling off a bridge in the book, so that may be a movie add-on, please correct me if I’m wrong. Everything leads up to the battle of Hogwarts, which we see bits of, not enough to spoil anything, but enough to give those of us who already know what happens glimpses of all the things we are hoping to see.
This movie should shut up anyone who called the last one slow or boring. Everything that I can remember that is left of the story is non-stop excitement and action, which is what the trailer seems to show. There will be battles, there will be death, and there will be fire and explosions. Characters will meet their fates and fulfill their destinies. In the end only one can survive – the Chosen One or the Dark Lord.
Yes, many of us have read the books, but seeing it alive on screen is something completely different. Between this and Captain America, July can’t come soon enough for this nerd. I’m excited, are you?
Dennis Burdziak is a married father of two, a total nerd, and wannabe member of Dumbledore’s Army. Follow him on twitter @dburdziak
Thor Review
The summer movie season is finally underway and Thor is a worthy jumpoff. It’s an entertaining popcorn flick, bookended by some absolutely fantastic action sequences in Asgard and weighed down regrettably by a “Thor loses his powers and then gets them back” storyline in the middle. It’s not enough to ruin the film though, as the situation is played for laughs pretty well.
Mike vs. Kobe vs. The Game With No Name
A couple of years ago I joined Bobbitt on a trip down to Missouri for a weekend of shows. The journey was memorable for several reasons: spawning a still-running dispute over whose idea it was to go see In Bruges (mine), the discovery of a podcast deconstructing the 1987 triumph Masters of The Universe , the crowning of Mike as the King of The Ozarks and seeing the movie Doomsday , a relentless turd crusade starring Rhona Mitra.
My interview with artist and all around cool chick Katie Cook!
One of the greatest things I’ve done as a comedian is the celebrity roast of Darth Vader. While we ended up raising money for a good cause, I also ended up becoming friends with some pretty awesome people in the Star Wars community. One of those friends is the great Katie Cook. She’s a staple of the convention circuit and her artwork has been used quite a bit by Lucasfilm.
Here’s what I think is particularly awesome. She’s local! Katie is a CCS graduate and has been out to see me perform. I was self conscious about having somewhat of a potty mouth on stage in front of her because her art is so adorable. Well, it turns out she’s not only heard an adult word or two in her life, but she’s been known to use them! I’m still hoping that she and her husband can get together with me and Christine sometime, because he’s pretty damn cool too!
Comedian Trevor Smith
Trevor Smith is a pretty fantastic comedian and he works hard at it. In fact, he’s been working hard at perfecting his craft for a long time now. He started as a comedian on the other side of the state performing in clubs, bars and cutting his teeth in colleges. Recently he’s moved to the Detroit area and is already making a pretty big impact.
Instantly likable on stage, it’s hard not to like Trevor off stage too. He’s not only a genuinely good guy, but he’s also a super fan of the craft of comedy. Also, a talented artist, Trevor first flew into my radar when he sent me the caricature I use on this site and for just about every piece of marketing I create.
Royal Oak video featuring me!
The video was produced by Scott Van de Vyver and is currently running on WROK: Channel 55 on Comcast in Oakland County. Thanks to my friend Richard Wilson for putting it in their programming!
How to be a good MC
I feel lucky that I’m in a position where I get to scout new talent for the Funny Business talent agency. Here are 11 tips and tricks of the trade.
When I started in comedy, if you lived in Michigan and you wanted to work for Funny Business there were two ways in. You could either hope for a recommendation from the go to person at that point in time or you could trek out to Grand Rapids and hope to dazzle Funny Business owner John Yoder in the three minutes of stage time you’d get on the open mic show at Dr. Grin’s.
My interview with Marc Maron!
They say you should never meet your heroes. I’ve found that to be untrue. When I was 18, I met and became friends with Dave Brockie, better known as Oderus Urungus lead singer of Gwar. He took me under his wing for a few years and helped direct me onto my journey as a professional entertainer.
As an adult, my hero is Marc Maron. He’s a master of his craft and a truly unique voice. He’s said in the past that young comics tell him that they want to be “real” and he responds by telling them to work on being funny first. Marc is both real and really funny.
Madison Recap with Marc Maron
Protesting in Madison, Wisconsin
My biggest fear driving home from my week in Madison, Wisconsin was Christine asking, “Did you have a good time?” I’d answer, “Of course! I was at one of my favorite clubs working with my absolute favorite comedian, who I feel like I got to become friends with, of course I had a good time!” Then she’d say, “Good, because that was your Make a Wish. I have some bad news for you.”
Off the Mike 