I was driving an unfamiliar freeway yesterday and took an exit to get some gas. As I was sitting at the stop light at the top of the exit, a pickup truck pulled up next to me and the driver started shaking his fist and grimacing at me. I didn’t remember having done anything wrong….
About a month ago I posted the story of a jackass who doesn’t understand what goes into the business of being an artist. Knowing that many of the good folks that follow my work are also great artists of their own, I put out the call for stuff they’ve done. And as you’ll see below,…
Sometimes when I’m writing jokes I start to have actual thoughts that don’t include punch lines. Problematic when you’re trying to write comedy. Today is one of those days. A lot of the new material I’ve been working on for my next special is about technology, futurism, science… You know, stuff that will do great at…
Just (Don’t) Say No I was at a college booking showcase. The type where we do an 8 minute set for 1000 college kids. All of whom have the power and budget to keep me employed for a year plus. I was talking with one of the guys running the event and he says, “Don’t…
There has been a lot of talk about depression, suicide, and mental health over the last couple weeks after Robin Williams’ untimely death. It’s been depressing. Not to mention all the other bad news happening around the world. So as I was driving from the airport yesterday to the club I’m playing this weekend, I…
Everyone and their brother is posting tributes to Robin Williams today of course. Everything from personal stories of “I met Robin and he…” to memories of other people that involved Robin and his work. How he made people feel like it was ok to be a bit of a weirdo. It almost seems like me-too-ism…
On the last episode of Being Blackbeard, Tony and I were talking about a scene in the 2nd episode of Crossbones where the two pirates were discussing this new navigation device that everyone is trying to get their hands on. The one pirate said something to the effect of “I thought it was well known…
Humans and never really figured out how to read each others minds. But our tech devices are getting closer to doing so. And that’s kind of creepy. Google just released a light version of Android that will be used in wearable tech. Smart watches and the like. And it’s main feature will use Google Now…
I woke yesterday morning to a giant brouhaha about Phil Robertson’s comments about gay people in a GQ interview. Ok, first off, GQ stands for Gentleman’s Quarterly. It’s a style and advice, manly man type of magazine. The kind of guy that polishes his shoes, drinks fine brandy, and thinks women respond to pickup lines….
As Comic-Con prepares to fire off a nerdgasm of epic proportions this week, I’ll be enjoying it from afar because I’ve got shows to do this weekend. Before the internet, you had to geek out on your own. And if you found a few friends that were into Star Wars or Dungeons and Dragons or…
“Music is stupid.” That may sound like an odd thing to hear coming from a musician. But I think it explains a lot about my approach to music. Let me explain…. This last weekend, my girlfriend and I were celebrating our anniversary in a nice hotel in Monterey, CA. We’d had a day on the…
The internet is great in a lot of ways. Puppy videos, instant access to music, up to date news without having to look at some newcaster’s perfect teeth. But sometimes I just wish information would travel a little slower so it doesn’t get out of hand. Today, finally, we’re getting some, hopefully, solid news on…
While preparing to go on stage at Black Oak Casino last week, I started to have some chest pains. Not “merchant marine standing on your chest” type pains. Maybe more “this isn’t really a lap dog” type. Could have been heart burn, but it felt more pressure-y. And my limbs were starting to feel weak. …
I just remembered that the apocalypse is coming this year. I had to look up the date because I couldn’t remember when it was. 12/21/12. How coincidentally symmetrical. I guess I should set a reminder on my phone. Wouldn’t want to be caught unawares when the day comes. What I mean by that is I’m…
Ok, I’ve got some geeky comedy and music thoughts on my mind today. I’ve been pondering the effects of “threes” in comedy and “fours” in music to try and figure out why those “threes” work. In comedy we have a type of joke called a “triple”. It’s a joke that sets you up with two…
I wasn’t going to post a blog today because, frankly, I’m not feeling very funny or creative today. It happens sometimes. But I wanted to weigh in on the Republican National Convention and Clint Eastwood’s speech. I just watched the speech on YouTube because I didn’t watch the convention on TV. Don’t get me wrong. …
Man, I love it when people prove me wrong about who I think they are. In a good way at least. It doesn’t happen nearly often enough, but it did happen the other day. I was standing outside the dressing room waiting for my girlfriend. That’s every guy’s favorite place in the world, right? They…
I’ve spent much of the last two weeks watching the Olympics. I think I enjoy the Olympics more than regular professional sports because I feel a bit of a kinship with the athletes. Artists and athletes are the same in many ways. They are trying to create a small change in their audience. Musicians try…
I probably won’t get a lot of agreement on this one. But, do you remember when we used to make fun of people who wouldn’t read a book because there wasn’t enough pictures in it? Seems everything needs to be presented as an infographic these days. I know it’s tapping into peoples’ different learning styles…
One thing I’ve been noticing lately is that people that screw up their lives royally and then manage to come back from it get a lot more respect than people who never screwed their lives up at all. Let’s see which of these stories will end up as a Lifetime movie… Story #1: A 9…
Whenever my brain isn’t occupied with creating something, it’s usually busy consuming someone else’s creation. I read and listen to stuff constantly because it spurs my brain into new creations of my own. Often a theme will develop in my reading and listening that I didn’t expect. I was out on tour recently and here’s…
With today’s much-hyped IPO of Facebook, U2’s Bono stands to make a couple billion dollars through his investment company Elevation. That will be more money than he’s made with U2 in the last 30 years and, depending on his personal cut, could make him the world’s richest musician. Paul McCartney has had that distinction until…
I was reading recently about a mentally challenged child. He’s only two year old but already exhibiting aggressiveness issues of control and greed. And I really feel sorry for the kid because he’s going to grow up to be a politician. I’ve been reading candidate statements for the upcoming primary elections and I’m always astounded…
One of the major problems with having so much media at our fingertips constantly is that those media outlets have to often really stretch to find something worthwhile to talk about. There really isn’t THAT much going on in the world. So media outlets will usually opt for fear mongering of some sort to earn…
