Stuff That Keeps Me Laughing And Thinking

Comedy Roundup #2

For the last month, I have been absoulutely immersed in comedy. I’ve performed at least half-a-dozen times. I have done sets in hotels, on sidewalks, in breweries, and in clubs. But in addition to all my own performing, joke-writing, podcasting, and content-creating, I’ve taken in a lot, too.

I’ve recently listed episode 10 of Dobie Maxwell’s and Vince Carone’s podcast “Put Your Funny Where Your Mouth Is,” which was titled “How Do Comedians Make It Look So Easy?” It was full of great tips, including, never start a joke with “Here’s a new one” or end a set with “Here’s my last joke.” Instead, be a showman/showwoman and keep up the illusion that this is a) all real, and b) all spontaneous. Great advice! As for the notions of illustion and truth in comedy, see one of my previous posts on that very thing titled “Are Comedians Truth-Tellers?” Along those same lines, I had someone tell me recently, “Never let the truth get in the way of a good joke/story.” Good advice for us comedians who embellish so often.

I also watched this documentary (I may have mentioned it in another post but can’t recall) titled “One Nighters,” by comedian Phil Perrier, about how he and comedian Dan Friedman, did a small comedy tour of the Pacific Northwest in the fall of 2003. It’s a pretty interesting watch and gives you a look into what it’s like to be a comedian on the road.

A few weeks ago I went to the taping of a crowdwork special for comedian, Tumua Tuinei, at The Blue Note in Waikiki, HI. It was incredible. Tumua is blowing up right now and I have immense respect for him and his craft. The dude obviously grinds and he’s absolutely hilarious. Check out his site HERE.

This week I also watched a clip of Rodney Dangerfield where he talks about his name changes over the years. I had no idea. He was born Jacob Cohen, went by Jack Cohen through school, legally changed his name at 19 to Jack Roy in honor of his father, and through an odd set of circumstances was named by a booker Rodney Dangerfield. It stuck. At one point early in his comedy career, he crafted a character for whom nothing in life ever went right and, out of that came a joke about playing hide-and-seek with no one searching for him, a sign of getting no respect. That was the genesis of his I-never-get-no-respect character. It’s a great, short clip. Watch it HERE.

On social media I was able to connect with a number of fellow comedians: Joe Scrocca, Jr. and Peachy Tom and Drew Davis. I’ve recorded podcasts with Joe. Part 1 about his journey into comedy is HERE. Part to with Joe, where we write jokes in real-time is HERE. The first part of my interview with Drew where we discuss his foray into full-time comedy can be found HERE. Part 2 will drop in a few days after publishing this post.

I recently launched YouTube Shorts and, well, it’s blowing up. I wrote a post on that, which you can read HERE.

I’ve also posted more podcast episodes. Here’s one: How To Write Jokes Fast: Technology & Writing Simple Jokes.

I watched “Torching 2024,” which was hosted by Jeff Ross and featured a number of comedians such as Mark Normand and Sam Morril. I also created an episode for the podcast on “How To Roast,” which you can watch HERE. That week I went and did an open mic with about 14 other comedians and used my time to roast them. That was fun.

I’ve been writing daily jokes over on X, mainly on current events, and you can see those HERE. I’m not yet getting much traction over there but I believe it’s because I’ve been having tech difficulties with my account. For 2-3 weeks now the X folks have been giving me the run-around on getting things sorted out. On a related note, I just started a LinkedIn account, which is very foreign to me but I’m trying it. If you’re on there, connect with me. My account is HERE.