January 2012
8 posts
3 tags
“When done well, improv should feel easy. Remember that we are a lazy people. We...”
– Improv Nonsense: Teaching Interviews: Chris Gethard, Part 1 of 2
Great stuff in here. Part 2 as well.
2 tags
the definition of class:
When I’m sitting in the middle seat on a full airplane, frantically eating a hot dog before we take off, and I bite into a hot pepper that explodes, sending a splashing geyser of hot pepper juice all over myself, the seat back in front of me and the entire left pant leg of the 50-something business guy sitting next to me, and the dude PRETENDS NOT TO NOTICE.
“Information is now free, and there is so much of it; clarity is actually very...”
– Bullish Life: A Day In The Life of Bullish
“Your argument that [this thing is generally true] is logically flawed, because...”
– every comment that has ever been on the Internet
“Don’t cultivate a “bicycle face.”
– A List of Don’ts for Women on Bicycles Circa 1895
November 2011
6 posts
WatchStephen Colbert, Brian Eno, and Michael Stipe form the coolest a cappella group ever The A.V. Club
(skip to 2:40ish for the good stuff)
Close Up With Kermit | Brooks Brothers →
Have seen some really great and unexpected partnerships in the promotion of the new Muppet movie… this one is probably my favorite.
October 2011
3 posts
MC Hammer Announces His Own "Deep Search" Engine →
Sounds like he’s spent a lot of Hammertime on this.
I have some work to do here. BTW, I am using a strict “stayed overnight” criterion as the definition of “visited.” Driving through doesn’t count!
I’ve visited 19 states (38%) Create your own visited map of The United States
September 2011
10 posts
1 tag
Gchat conversations about totally real, not...
Michael: so one kind of annoying issue that i'm going to have with that trek is that external cam quick release skewers are not recommended with horizontal dropouts
me: oh I KNOW
Michael: what should i do about that?
me: idk, maybe torque the rampshaft to 34 and replace with a semi-Dutch keystone axonberg?
Michael: 34 would put way too much lateral stress on the shaft, i don't think the 6006 alloy is quite so compliant
me: good point
Michael: vertically compliant, maybe. but look at the forces we're dealing with.
me: so maybe we lube it cold-style before installing the custom myles grips?
Michael: they haven't made myles grips since the late 80s…
me: ebay?
Michael: checked, the problem is that they suffer from stress fractures as the alloy oxidizes.
me: right. well, i think you might just have to risk it. if all else fails we can replace the rear ox with a holdenbrook satch, just until you can find a suitable crempshaw tubeshank.
20/200
me: I'm not wearing my glasses, so just now when the cat jumped out from behind that rain boot, it looked like he jumped out from inside it!
Michael: ...that's a laundry basket.
3 tags
“But… that’s not what that word MEANS!!”
– my tombstone, someday
Social Media Week Chicago, Sep 19-23 →
My company is co-hosting this. It’s (mostly) free. Go register!
“Looks like THAT pizza has some sort of LETTUCE on it!”
– a grown man behind me in line at Sopraffina encountering basil for the first time
2 tags
Improv Vs. Sketch →
It’s not just “comedy.”
(via thehousethatdelbuilt)
August 2011
6 posts
“But most people working this territory aren’t putting the same level of thought...”
– The Mogolog, Three impossible metaphors = three very difficult jokes
"some people have too much time on their hands!"
is something boring people say to try to undercut something an interesting person did.
NPR First Listen: 'Muppets: The Green Album' →
Mahna, mahna.
wluera:
I want to wake-up like my daughter Olivia every day…doing fist pumps into the air and yelling “Good Job”.
I love her.
July 2011
6 posts
3 tags
how to be an improviser on Facebook, part 2
The inestimable John Perich has just published an incredibly thorough and well-stated critique of something I quickly slapped onto the Internet in a moment of ire. He raises a number of valid points, ultimately agreeing with much of what I said, but disputing my conclusion (i.e. “stop spamming your friends”).
In contrast, I actually agree with Perich’s conclusion, but find most...
how to be an improviser on Facebook
Pursuant to my earlier “your friends are not your fans” link, I thought I’d expand a little further on what this means - or should mean - for those of us in improv and other semi-professional (to professional) performance fields.
My advice on this is from the perspective of someone who a) helps companies learn how not to be obnoxious on Facebook for a living, and b) has 700ish...
Bullish: Doing Business With Friends (And Still... →
To all of my friends in comedy and entertainment: please read this before sending another Facebook event invitation to one of your shows or another Facebook “suggestion” to become a fan of your group.
This column contains the greatest explanation of why friendship and fanship are not (and should not be) synonymous.
June 2011
12 posts
articles no one needs to keep writing or...
How Facebook Has Really, Really Changed Relationships in These Modern Times
an actual question that keeps me up at night
Why do mirrors “look” silver?
I know they contain silver, but shouldn’t they look like… whatever they happen to be reflecting? In fact, I couldn’t even point to a particular spot on this mirror that looks silver. And yet, we all agree that that is the “color” of a mirror; if you were to create a fake mirror for a stage set, it would definitely be...
Watchchriskelly:
DEAR WOMAN
Based on the “Manifesto for Conscious Men,” balance your energies and allow for a new wave of evolution on our planet.
This is a funny, weird video I’m in briefly with Will Ferrell, Will Forte, and other awesome people.
This is so bizarre and wonderful.
cat night diary
11:30 pm About to fall asleep. Animal has loud hairball in living room. Get up; clean it.
11:52 pm Back in bed. Finnegan is eating the large plant in the corner of the bedroom. Every time I turn toward him, he stops and stands completely still like a cat mannequin. As soon as I turn away: chomp… chomp… Does that cat think I am stupid? What an asshole.
1:00 am Jolted into...