Brian Marks

myspace blog

2007-03-13T17:49:00.000-04:00

I mostly post at myspace now. Become one of my friends there. Subscribe to it.

www.myspace.com/brianmarks

upcoming comedy gigs

2007-03-13T17:48:00.000-04:00

Friday. 3/16/07 7pm
Showtimes: 7pm, seating starts at 630
laugh lounge comedy club
www.laughloungenyc.com
151 essex st at stanton
take the f to delancey
$10 before 645, $12 after
2 drink min
212-614-2500 for reservations

I am producing and performing in this next one.
Thursday April 5th 9:30pm
The Duplex http://www.theduplex.com/
$7 cover 2 drink minimum
The line up is
Joe Roacha is hosting
Joe Dixon
Brian Marks
and
Becky Donahue
This show is only 1 hour long. Every one is getting 15minutes to perform. Since this show is only 1 hour, we will get you in and out real quick.

Scientist?

2007-02-07T15:51:00.000-05:00

Scientists are often viewed as authorities. Its assumed they know what they are talking about AND that they are not whack jobs.

The NASA astronaut who tried to kill another woman in competition for the affection of another astronaut certainly proves a scientist, even one who has passed psych tests can in fact be a whack job. I sure the emotional life of an astronaut can push someone over the edge into an almost juvenille type of crime.

Scientists who back creationism or "intelligent" design are whack jobs. Science at its most basic level deals with the observable world. God or any type of intelligent designer is unobservable.

Scientists who back 9/11 inside jobs are whack jobs. They give authority to nonsense ideas of the 9/11 truth movement. The whole point of the conspiracy movement is to blame Bush and Corporate America for 9/11 and fit the facts to that conclusion. That isn't science!

While I believe global warming is real, the whole issue has become political. The evidence is former US VP Al Gore going around the world with his documentary.

Oregon's top state climatologist is being fired by Oregon's gov't because he disagrees with the concept of mankind being responsible. Its the position of Oregon the mankind is responsible. I understand the majority of scientists take the position that mankind is behind global warming. Not all of the scientists are climatologists and scientists are subject to their own political agendas both for and against.

Most scientists are trained in an area of science but not necessarily in critical thinking. Scientist have been fooled by people claiming psychic powers. These people were simply magicians posing as psychics.

Anyone can get a Phd and in any subject. All one needs to do is study and have the money to pay for the education. Many whack jobs find a way to do this.

art & nudity

2006-12-31T02:54:00.000-05:00

I was watching a documentary on Spencer Tunick. He goes around the world getting hundreds if not thousands of people to pose nude in public, a novel idea. I think I want to participate. I went to his website and dropped my name in for future NYC projects. Don't beleive it is going to happen.

I have thought about appearing nude on stage. Yes I am sure it would be a comedy show but I would not do it at a comedy show. I guess I would have to creat an enviornment where that would be acceptable.

The Get Rich, Get Motivated Market

2006-12-16T23:23:00.000-05:00

I attended the Real Estate and Wealth expo at the Javits Center a month or so ago. The Learning Annex produced it. It seems the get rich quick market it huge. At least 15,000 people attended this event. I am of course very interested in finding a method of income that will remove "job" from my vocabulary as were the 15,000 other attendees. I don't like jobs or their requirements and yet would like to make enough money to live excessively well. For me that means live in Manhattan, summer in the Hamptons, winter in Aspen despite no interest in skiing, fringe festivals, comedy festivals, wine tastings, art exhibits, strange performance art events, Knick games, Broadway plays and having friends I don't give a shit about. I would love to do things because...everyone else is and get there by doing something no one else is doing. Of course, attending an event that 15,000 people are at hardly means finding a method no one else is doing.

The get rich quick world is highly suspect and should be. It plays on people's desires, not intellect. Where does 1 draw the line between a high pressure sales pitch for a fraudulent "program" and a high pressure sales pitch for legit program that can in fact make you money IF you do the work?

I arrived late on both days so I caught only a few "sessions". The Learning Annex did not mention the times of the 4 major headliners but hinted Trump would close on Sunday night. I was going for Jim Cramer and he did 8am Saturday morning. I missed him so I was pissed.

Everyone who speaks is selling something and they are always getting you to Act Now!. Here is how a lecture went. they would tell you how great their system was. They would talk in generalities. Than the sales pitch would come. You sat through a 30 minute commercial. Every program started out at $10,000 and came down to btween $1500 and $2000. Specific investments got into details. Donald Trump, Robert Kiwosaki, Jim Cramer and Tony Robbins were the headliners.

The first "lecture" I attended was for Raymond Aaron, a self help coach who gave a 90 minute commercial because he was just selling coaching. It made certain sense. Sports teams have a team coach to get winning records. Individual athletes have coaches and trainers to improve their game. Actors have acting coaches, managers and agents to improve their acting and career. You need to do likewise for your financial and personal life and this guy was the guy to do it so says he IF he accepts you and you pay $2000 if you act now. After 20 minutes I didn't want to sit through a commercial and I sat through the whole 90 minutes.

I attended the Tony Robbins lecture Saturday afternoon. He was a headliner for the show on the first night. He 4 hours or so and I loved it. He did his motivational stuff, said alot. He got specific. He was selling something but his lecture did not turn into a sales pitch. The selling of his products was soley done in the "dealer's room" Yes they had a dealer's room!

After Tony Robbins another lecture started immediately. This guy was selling an investment strategy in tax liens. For 60 minutes he gave lots of specifics. A tax lien is something out on a property if the owner does not pay his property tax. If he does not pay eventually the house can be forclosed, you yourself can begin the forclosure process. The tax lien lecture was the third I saw but the first one where an actual system to make money was discussed. The 2 previous lectures were motivational guys/coaches. This guy pretty much said that getting rich quick was bullshit but here was a good way to invest your money that is better than a savings account or CDs. He talked for 90 minutes, the first 60 was good, the last 30 was his commercial. For $2000 you got his system to teach you how toget into tax liens but I felt that I could probably get this info for like $100. He gave the impression not a lot of people buy tax liens, they were secure...if you checked the underlying propery out first. After him it was 10pm I had sat down for 8 hours of lectures and saw only 3 guys.

Sunday came. Same deal, I came late. Started off with a commercial real estate lecture. It was interesting. I believe the system was sound but not my cup of tea. Once again 60 minutes of details and 30 minutes of commercials. A $10,000 program reduced to $2000 if you acted right than!

2nd lecture was a hypnotist. He was very interesting. Dealt with training your subconscious for success. I liked what he said and have since bought 2 $15 cds, 1 for weight loss and the other for self estreem problems. Of course his program was $2000. He was alot like Tony Robbins but he staed in his time limit. It did not surprise me he started his career as a magician becuase he was a stage hypnotist and did a show the night before. But once again a $2000 dollar CD program with going to an upcoming hypnotherapy weekend with the ability to go to future ones for free. Too much money. I can get several sessions with a hypnotist for $500 or listen to the 2 cds I bought for $15 dollars which I enjoy very much.

I saw Donald Trump give a speech. He is a character for sure. Did not learn a damn thing from him. Of course his books/real estate programs were on sale in the dealers room. Did not gain much from anything he said.

I bought 2 Tony Robbins CDs totaling $50 at Barnes and Noble and 2 hypnotherapy cds for $30 also at B & N. My friend is a real estate lawyer and can get me tax lien info for free or at least point me in the right direction.

Improv

2006-11-15T12:27:00.000-05:00

As much as I was into improv, I never was in an improv group. Especially one made up of good improvisers.

When I took UCB classes, there was some good people in it. I never did scenes with them. Although I did suck at the time. I didn't realize it but I did. For some reason I had the outlook that I knew what I was doing...because I knew things the other people in the class did not know. I knew the structure of improv long forms and different things that could be done but I had put no thought into how to do a good scene.

When I took classes at Gotham City Improv, they kept failing me. I didn't fully understand at first. I think part of the reason was the same shitty outlook. I knew alot more than the students around me. In addition I thought alot of the exercises were stupid, I still do today. I did them half ass. They kept telling me I was bad at scene work but other people in class seemed worse than me. On top of that we didn't do real scene work. Everything related to "scenes" were through the stupid scene work. The people who I thought were bad went on to graduate the program. And went on to improv troupes at Gotham which was what my goal was. Really pissed me off.

I had taken an ongoing improv class with Asaf Ronen. It was the best improv class I took but it wasn't associated with a theater. Therefore very few people took it. We just did scenes. No weird exercises like at Gotham or UCB. It felt great to just do the scenes.

Anyway I have always been interested in getting an improv troupe formed.

ipod

2006-11-08T11:46:00.000-05:00

I got a video ipod. Its the 30 gig one and I an using 5g. I have most of cd library in it. I can't find a few cds. Some cds won't go into the ipod because it can't find the names of the sond on the internet.

I downloaded Gregorian Chant. I meditate to it. Great, a Jewish boy meditating to Christian chanting in Latin. I also got Hindi music, and Zen meditation music. Hmmm. I also meditate to Yo Yo Ma.

I can't stop listening to Monty Python. I burned 1 cd I had and downloaded some more.

reunion III - yearbook and random stuff

2006-10-15T20:14:00.000-04:00

I was asked to bring my year book. I was the only idiot to bring my year book. I was the only idiot with school spirt...I never had school spirit. I had to lug it to an after party and leaving early so it wouldn't get ruined. Since I was working the front table collecting cover charges, we put it where people could look at it. It got alot of use! People had good time seeing what people used to look like. Several signed the book! I didn't get a lot of signatures in high school when we got our books but now I have a couple more. One girl signed the book and we never talked in high school, Julie. I mentioned this and she mentioned she was at my bar Mitzvah. Touche! Julie was a nice person, I don't know why we didn't talk.

I went around getting email addresses to promote my comedy career. I got about 30 from over 160 people at the party, a low percentage but it felt like the right amount. I have sent out a mass email and 6 or so have bounced. Several don't live in NY. Hopefully 10 or so might actually get around to my comedy shows.

Jessica B. & David H were there. I had a big crush on Jessica in high school. I never asked her because she was dating David at that time. David showed up with his wife to the reunion which was not Jessica. Dave's wife was gorgeous, outgoing and the wedding was within the last month or so. I believe Jessica is single and may have a boyfriend. She is in Philly these days. Jessica is goregous as ever. Jessica wrote in my yearbook that I was funny back in 96. She inspired my comedy career in a way and I told her that. Had good conversations with Jessica, Dave & wife and all are on the email list.

reunion part 2 - strip joints, pornagraphy and lap dances

2006-10-15T19:24:00.000-04:00

So this reunion had a lot of interesting conversations about sex. Life is about sex. who had kids, was married, engaged, dating or having flings. Pornagraphy and strip clubs all came up and by people I least expected.

I emailed a male friend's contact info to a female friend. I left out that the man was a bouncer at a strip club out of not wanting to offend the female. I thought the woman might take offense in part because I believed she might be a feminist who was against objectifying women or somthing like that. For some reason, maybe social retardation, I mentioned it too her in person. She asked me which one. It seems she attended several strip clubs. Very cool! But I feel like an idiot for assuming things about her that weren't true. W

My next door neibor got married a few months back but I can't remember how far back. Found out she gave birth within the last month. I am not sure her wedding was 9 months ago so its possible she was pregnant at the wedding. She didn't look pregnant. I mentioned to Samantha it seemed the time between wedding to the birth seemed quick. This just came out the wrong way. Samantha corrected me marriage wan't needed anymore socially for marriage but it wasn't was I was meaning to imply. I am a schmuck!

Another friend, V was there. It was great to see her. She went to NYU with me as well as CHSN although she transferred into NYU. She was pregnant. It was no surprise. Several months ago, I was in a bar and a group of people came up to me and somehow we figured out we all knew V. They filled me in that she was pregnant and not married. She was married last night. I threw that tidbit nicely over to Vanessa & she confirmed. I apologized as I wasn't trying to offend. She didn't take it offense. I am a schmuck!

And yet another female friend was at the reunion. So many female friends, you stud Brian! We sadly lost contact over the years. I overheard her speaking to another male friend of mine(also a comic) that she gave a lap dance to a gay guy. I don't believe that she stripped, just danced. It makes her seem cooler to me (I thought she was cool already) but also it was an unexpected revelation. Again I assumed a certain feminist ideas of not liking the exploitation of women to be somewhat apart of her politics and personal behavior. Again that was just wrong. I am really not very good figuring women out. I guess I need to reexamine some of my views of people.

Another guy I ran into runs a porno shop in West Nyack. I may go visit him. I may ask for a job. I would be interested in whom shops there. I need extra cash anyway and inspiration for writing comedy. Well if I am schmuck I want to do it in the right places!

10 year high school reunion part 1

2006-10-15T19:03:00.000-04:00

So I had my 10 year high school reunion. I enjoyed myself. I had not been to a party in 3 or so years...I mean a legit party. I have been to a couple of business parties, hung out with small groups of friends but not a party.

The reunion was organized by the class saludictorian. She somehow took this responsibility on from outside of NY, not the hardest thing to do in the internet era but harder than being in NY. She recently graduated Harvard law school and was working as a clerk for a judge in Seattle. I don't know how it became her job but she fell into it. She generated a list CHSN 96 alumni through Friendster, MySpace & a small group of friends she was in contact with. Alot of people she generated sent in names on her MIA list. I sent in a couple of people. When she needed someone to work the door taking the $30 cover charge, I volunteered.

The reunion took place at B-Bar. B-Bar is a place I used to hang out when I went to NYU. In fact its 2 blocks away from NYU's main campus. I was the only person from my high school class to go directly into NYU. Some people tranferred in. CHSN had a program where your senior year and freshman year of college would take place at the local community college. 3 people tranferred into NYU for their junior and senior years and graduated 1 year before me. Never saw them much at NYU. Oh well.

Uri Geller

2006-10-13T20:07:00.000-04:00

Uri Geller is still around. In the 1970's he was a psyhic superstar. He was debunked by James Randi on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. At the time, the Tonight Show was huge, it was like the superbowl every night. Being debunked on it was a big deal. TOday it means nothing. He soon disappeared from fame and sued James Randi, the person responsible for the debunking.

However today I was sorting through posts on the James Randi skeptics forum. Someone posted to his website which surprised me. I was surprised not by the existance of a website but quotes from top magicians. David Copperfield was the most famous one obviously but David Ben and Eugerne Burger gave quotes as well. I realize most people have no idea who Ben or Burger are but they are well known in the magic community. I can't believe they would lend their credibility to this man. I shouldn't be too surprised. Simon Lovell, another well known magii, has privately done the same. Apparently he and Geller are friends. But anything that gives Geller more credit than he deserves annoys the hell out of me.

9/11 FAA interview

2006-10-05T13:19:00.000-04:00

Read this interview

I hate conspiracy theories.

What do you make of the conspiracy theories? Some people say United 93 was shot down...
First of all, there were no military aircraft near it. Secondly, I don’t subscribe to any of the theories. Conspiracy theorists pick and choose what bits of evidence they want to use. For example, if it wasn’t American 77 that hit the Pentagon, then where is that plane and all those people?

new material ideas

2006-10-05T01:37:00.000-04:00

Men aren't always obsessed with sex....okay I am not obsessed with sex except Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. That is because of opposite side parking rules. I get screwed every time. Can never find a parking space. Alot of men can't find parking spaces.

I was never the best at sports. It made me the center of ridicule. Actually it wasn't quite the center. Someone was more ridiculed than me. Another place where I was #2.

I tried learning to water ski. My first time I saw skiing with no skis barefoot. I topped him my first time out. I waterskiied with my face.

New York Times interview

2006-10-04T22:57:00.000-04:00

I work out occasionally with this self defense group in Nanuet, NY. It called Ki Chuan Do (KCD), "ghost punch" or "ghost attack". I have more than a feeling the Chinese words have nothing to do with ghost anything. Its a new system developed by John Perkins over many years. He published the techniques in a book called Attack Proof. I enjoy the group and learn things. Anyway, they somehow got set up to do an interview with the New York Times. Its going to be on the NYT website as opposed to the newspaper because they filmed several segments.

They had an interview segment with John and he was slightly nervous. John was asked a bunch of questions and John would have to respond for the camera with the question in his response. Reporter would what are the principles of KCD and John would respond "The principles of KCD are". John would need several takes for each answer, sometime forgetting to do that. He would also give indirect answers in a soft tone. He should have stronger, clearer responses ready but his nervousness prevented it. At one point the camera man was giving suggestions. He had to make sure he didn't put words in John's mouth.

The reporter was doing a positive story on KCD. There are not really any negative sides but what exactly makes the story credible? Why is there a need for self defense training with lower crime rates? terrorism? Did the reporter look at other groups? KCD is a small group, publicity helps but what if people need a group closer to them? What makes KCD good versus other grups teaching self defense? There was a question of why this group was better than formal martial arts.

Is he real or fake?

2006-09-28T17:10:00.000-04:00

There is a new dvd coming out for coin magicians by Homer Liwag. I don't think homer Liwag is a real person though. As far as I know Homer Liwag is a creation of a guy named Chris Kenner but magicians treat him like a real person. Chris Kenner stars in the DVD titled Homer Liwag. Homer Liwad is credited as drawing photos for a Chris Kenner publications and books.

upcoming gig

2006-09-25T19:40:00.000-04:00

DATE: Saturday, September 30th
PLACE: New York Improv Comedy Club 318 W. 53rd Street (Between 8th and 9th
Ave.) NY, NY 10019
SHOWTIME 7:00 p.m.
Doors Open at 6:15
Cover: $15. Only $12 if advance reservation is made on VIP line:
212-465-3343

Saddam Hussein forced to watch South park

2006-08-28T21:15:00.000-04:00

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is being made to watch his appearance in cult cartoon South Park while he is behind bars.

The deposed leader on trial in Iraq was featured in the movie spin-off as the lover of the devil. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut featured Hussein and Satan attempting to take over the world together.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said US Marines guarding the former dictator during his trial for genocide were making him watch the movie "repeatedly".

"I have it on pretty good information from the Marines on detail in Iraq that they showed him the movie last year. That's really adding insult to injury. I bet that made him really happy," Stone said.

Times Squared

2006-08-22T13:38:00.000-04:00

I did a 4pm slot at the Improv. Kind of early I know but it was tourist show. About 10 people were there. Last time 30 were there. My set was mediocre, good in parts, bad in parts, the audience like me but I wasn't pround of my overall performance. Last time I killed.

After the show I walked to times square. I got apprached by the David Letterman show for tickets. Than by the Comic Strip comedy club, the Improv (where I had just performed my set), Ha comedy club, the Laugh Factory and Scientology.

an odd effect

2006-08-18T23:29:00.000-04:00

I attended a NY magic show several times over the last year. It is just 1 performer, sort of well known. He is a higly paid magician when he performs private gigs for business titans.

There 1 effect he does in his public show that concerns me. I mean the effect is highly entertaining but I don't believe it to be deceptive. The effect is entertaining enough to get him some of these high paying gigs but it bothers me that it isn't at all deceptive.

The effect is any beverage called for. It is called any drink called for but I want to be clear what it refers to. Essentially the 50 or so people write names of drinks on a card prior to the show starting & hand it in. The effect happans 2/3rds of a way into the show. A kettle is brought out. 6 cards are selected by an audience member. And each one of the drinks is poured out of the same kettle.

The trick is highly entertaining as I said before. People don't know how the effect works but know enough to guess it has something to do with the kettle. The first time I saw the effect, an audience member verbalized that they wanted a kettle like that. The 2nd show I saw, the perfomer added that line to the act.

At the end of one show, several people thought it was the best effect of the show. I can't argue with that. If non magicians like it and it gets the performer booked...than it should remain in the act. It just bothers me it isn't more deceptive.

last night's weird dream

2006-08-17T14:08:00.000-04:00

So for some reason, I am on a 747 or some other really large passanger jet in Europe. I am not sure where we are exactly but I got the feeling It was Heathro airport and the flight will stop once in Paris and than New York.

I am to perform magic in first class on this flight. There are other magicians on board, Peter Samelson and Michale Chaut are 2 of them but not the only ones. I am wondering to myself how I am going to perform because it's dark. Its a night flight. The other magicians are located elsewhere in the plane and I never see them. For some reason I am worried about that they will perform due to the same darkness.

My seat is in the cockpit. Not at the controls but a third seat slightly to the back. There are initially 2 pilots but 1 of them disappears. I am not a pilot but for some reason I am somehow responsible for taking off. I am thinking to myself I have no idea how to take off. We take off with me at the controls and for some period of time I am flying the jet to Paris. I am worried cause I have no idea how to land. 1 of the other pilots returns and takes over and I relax. I decide not to start the magic until we head for the US. Most people are sleeping anyway.

FISM & Genii forum.

2006-08-10T15:33:00.000-04:00

FISM is the name of a magic convention. It is the magic championship of the world. I haven't been to one. How can magicians comepete? The concept is foreign to me. How can you compare magicians? Either they know what they are doing and can perform deceptive magic for laypeople or they can't! What is this need for awards! How can you have a winner in art form?

One of the acts was a female magician from NYC. She did an act that apparently went over horribly. Apparently it was pretenious & artsy. Magicians didn't like it.

This led to a thread on Genii forum started by its moderator, a well known magic writer & editor of Genii magazine. The thread quicky questioned the female magician personally. She was arrogant or of bad moral character for doing this act. The magic writer...lets call him RK questioned her personal credentials, most of which had nothing to do with magic.

I had a problem with this. It 1 thing to critque a bad act, blast her for doing it, blast the bookers for booking her to this major magician's convention. Its another to blast her personally. I found it unnecessarily viscious.

The thread was closed by RK. Oh course since he was the moderator, he gets the last word.

A way to reduce chance of getting AIDS

2006-08-09T13:14:00.000-04:00

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1217831.ece

Audition part II

2006-08-08T10:50:00.000-04:00

So yesterday was the first time I auditioned for a comedy festival. It was the Las Vegas Comedy Festival.

The way I got this audition was by appointment, which is special apparently. I didn't have to wait for hours. I was contacted by Rich Maratta, a headlining comedy magician during the comedy boom of the 80's. He mainly does private events today. Rich sent me a very vague email asking me to audition. I said yes without knowing who I was auditioning for or what time I was scheduled.

I called Rich twice and got him on the second time. Asked him 2 questions, what time and if we were going to have an audience. He seemed annoyed that I called. I felt bad but found out my slot was 1pm. So great, I had to take the day off from work. He had no idea if there was even going to be an audience. Having the audience is a big part of deciding what tricks to do. I already decided I could not do the folding bottle routine I do. I got it from Rich's magic dvd and thought he might be auditioning. I didn't want to do his trick in front of him. Also as it turned out, the head guy knew Rich and had probably seen the trick.

I showed up yesterday 1:02pm. I hit traffic 2x and on the way forgot my cell phone. Upon my arrival at the Improv Comedy Club, I saw signs for the Vegas Comedy Festival. I clearly found the location. It was in the upstairs room, not the normal showroom. Apparently Rich invited a juggler down who went to the main show room, saw no one and left. What an idiot! Rich got yelled at because this guy never showed up.

The room was packed with comics. Some I knew, most I didn't. It seemed most were being supportive.

I had to fill out a form to sign up. I was watching the head guy as I filled out my form. Late 50ish, short, heavy, laughing at nothing the comics on stage were doing. They were decently funny, some rambled on. He yelled at comics to move to the front. He seems to be in a bad mood generally. Not a good sign.

Rich submitted my form and I was the next act, which was awesome. No waiting! I did 2 tricks and 1 bit. All of which was a big hit. It killed. That took up 5 minutes of stage time which is what I got. I learned something. I did an impossible card location effect followed by comparing apples and oranges, a comedy bit of mine. The order made the apples and oranges more hilarious. I brought the room up a notch for the comics after me.

When I got to my seat someone was sitting in it. I sat at the opposite end of the table the big guy was at and he sort of nastily asked someone else to ask me to move. I was maybe 2 or 3 feet from him. This guy was a dick!

I left. John Morrison, a comic, was outside. Commented on my act. He loved it and never knew I did magic. He thought I was in. Rich Maratta gave me feedback which was generally positive. Rich didn't like that my last effect required I bring someone up on stage cause they could ruin the act in the context of an audition. That makes sense. Rich gave me the impression I could be called back tonight but my cell phone was at home. Great! I had another audition at 8:45pm which would conflict with callbacks if I were.

Anyway after the 8:45 audition, my scene partner who I just met and I walked up the improv. She was cute, giving my high 5's, she did a Law and Order as did everyone else in NY except for me. It turns out she is dating someone I took an improv class with who also is a stand up.

I saw Rich was still there at 9:15pm As I walked in he ran downstairs. Oh well! But another magician ran in. I knew him and apparently he was supposed to be there at 9pm but it was now 9:30. He missed his spot. Thank god I wasn't late! I felt bad for him because he is an excellent magician but I don't really think comedy with him. He gets laughs only from the inherent humor of the magic. And he is Israeli, so he has a bit of an accent. He was late because he was at Monday Night Magic performing. Sheesh! MNM is a bad excuse because I hate its producers but my experience with these producers was no much better thus far.

Master Lee was also there. He was a street act that somehow the Monday Night Magic producers found. Master Lee was/is a street performer at Washington Square Park. Since MNM used to be near there, it isn't hard to figure out how they met. Anyway through them, Master Lee is known in the NYC magic community. Rich Maratta contacted him and that is how Master Lee got his spot.

Master Lee is funny. He killed! He got a 5 min spot. He did 9 minutes! He got the light and continued as if nothing happened. I expected the MC to go up and take him off. But the MC was too scared to do it. This Las Vegas Festival guy was pissed! He yelled Rich Maratta. He yelled at Master Lee. He yelled at the MC. I have never seen anything quite like it. Master Lee was in the wrong, the MC was in the wrong but Rich wasn't! Rich pretty much just left. He was tired of dealing with this guy.

There was a comic who followed Master Lee. He did mediocre material and he had a Mohawk. He complained after the show that he followed a freak. We are in a comedy club. Master Lee was funny, this guy wasn't and Master Lee was the freak.

I doubt I'll get a callback. Rich didn't look good because 1 guy was late, 1 went over and 1 guy didn't show. This producer was a dick. According to Rich this guy has sued Bud Friedman amoung other business partners. 1 of this guy's business partners just disappeared. Apparently he does not get along with many people.

audition

2006-08-08T00:34:00.000-04:00

1. I went to audition for an agent. She said I had a commercial face but I needed a headshot...a real one, one done by a pro. A couple I have taken by myself have not worked out in any capacity. So this will be done within the next month.

2. Another previous audition with an agent headed the same dreadful comment about my head shot. I didn't have the cash for a new one. But she said I should be doing voice overs. Now I need a demo.

3. A magician friend of mine got me an audition for the Las Vegas Comedy festival...as a magician. I did 2 tricks and like 2 jokes from my stand up act. I killed despite being rushed in a 5 minute set in front of comedians.

Apparently my friend was contacted by the organizer to get 5 people. I was 1. Another showed up, didn't instantly see my friend and left. My friend got yelled at. the 3rd showed up 30 minutes late. He lost the spot. My friend got yelled at again. The 4th was Master Lee, a street performer/prop comic went over the 5 minute set by 4 minutes...a no no. My friend got bitched out again. I have no idea what happaned to the other guy.

my set

2006-08-04T17:45:00.000-04:00

So my first set at the Improv where I was not bringing people or barking went well. I have never barked for a show the improv but 3 people there were. The emcee started off with 15 minutes, brought up the producer who did 20, than I did 7. I left after that but the 3 barkers and a 4th comic did 7 minutes each after me. I killed of course, which felt good. I did material here I have not done since who know when. I had forgotten half of it.

I did a set last Sunday. After I did a scene from a play for a performance of my acting class, we had a party. I retook the stage and did a 15 minute set seated in a chair. That was the longest set I did without producing the show. I killed here as well. I realised that I do need more material.

I have written new material and tried it at the improv. So I have a couple of new lines and I am expanding them into a story.

Aug 3rd

2006-08-03T13:37:00.000-04:00

Well my first set in a comedy club where I am not barking and don't have to bring anyone is tonight.

On Aug. 3rd 1966 Lenny Bruce died of an overdose. Free Speech seems like a good topic.

returning to BJJ

2006-08-01T23:10:00.000-04:00

I have not gone to BJJ since June. I haven't gone to Attack Proof since longer. The trip to Chicago, the acting scene I performed 2x last weekend took priority. Thursday I will be returning to BJJ practise.

I was reading the blog of the artisitic director of UCB-NYC. He mention 2 well known improvisers are taking BJJ at Renzo's school in NYC.

The last time I did BJJ, I accidentally brushed upon the nether region of the female practioner I was grappling with. It made her the slightest bit uncomfortable. In a previous session, she applied an arm bar to me and it hurt like hell. I tapped her but pretty hard because the pain was sharp. Than she yelled at me to tap sooner. There was no pain sooner. I tapped when I felt pain. That pain came very quickly though. For some reason I believe it wasn't from the arm bar per se but a tendon or ligament seizing a bit. I feel uncomfortable from grappling with this specific girl now.

acting & stuff

2006-07-31T16:22:00.000-04:00

So months of acting technique class culminated in a performance of sorts. This was my first opportunity to try years of acting class for real. I wanted to put the skills into use. I did a scene with a gorgeous 19 yr old Latina girl. She was HOT! She played a prostitute who I was peeking in on and got evicted. Scene went well, I guess.

We did the scene Saturday night and Sunday night. She had never been onstage before. On Saturday night I did well and she forgot 1 of her lines due to nervousness. The next night I messed up. I was suppossed to have robe on a chair. I ended up wearing it. The audience didn't know the difference but I was distracted by both. I felt I didn't concentrate hard enough and keep the energy up.

I badly wanted to perform a play in 2003. I got a play by Harold Pintor, who is an English playwright and leftist extroidenaire. The play was the Dumb Waiter, about 2 mobsters in a basement on a job of sorts. My friend who I lined up to be the other mobster had an ego and wouldn't listen. He insinuated he knew everything about acting but it became clear he was clueless. He kept incisting on really fake English accent for his character, wouldn't listen to me or the girl lined up to direct. The girl I wanted to direct later disappeared because of the friend. Than I could not afford to produce it. Sucks for me. I wanted to date the girl.

upcoming gig

2006-07-27T12:44:00.000-04:00

I have another upcoming gig. It is a daytime gig. Isn't that wonderful, the first gig I am not reuired to bring anyone and its during a weekday!

The Improv Comedy Club
4pm spot but the show starts like 3pm
53rd street btn 8th and 9th ave

JFK

2006-07-21T15:03:00.000-04:00

I am speaking with a friend. He brought up JFK and his assassination. He believes in a conspiracy. Don't know exactly what he believes but I informed him I also believe is a "conspiracy" which is to say I don't believe the official version per se.

I do believe Oswald was involved. I even believe Oswald could have been alone. But the fact that Jack Ruby, a night club owner with ties to the mob, got entry to police station multiple times in the aftermath and killed Oswald makes me believe the mob has a hand in the assassination. A proper investigation did not happen. Hoover was on record saying the mob didn't exist. The CIA used them for secret operations in Cuba, all the reason to quiet up any formal investigation.

Chicago

2006-07-18T01:03:00.000-04:00

I was in Chicago.

- While I was there, I spent alot of time walking around. Several miles per trip. I now understand the Chicago layout, which is nice.

- They had one stand up comedy club, Zanies. I didn't go but I called up and tried to book myself. I got the feeling I could very well do so if I gave more advance notice.

- I wanted to see a play but most plays were expensive. I just decided to wait until I am back in NY.

- I visted 2nd City and Improv Olympic, the 2 major improv theaters. I found one girl was in both shows I saw. She was pretty. Shows were ok. FOund out The Annoyance theater, a third major improv theater, has a new space. They had no space last year.

- Missed a subway fire by deciding to walk. While in Chicago, a tornado missed my house back home.

reason article

2006-07-06T15:41:00.000-04:00

http://www.reason.com/hod/jpf070506.shtml

development spot

2006-06-27T15:31:00.000-04:00

I have a development spot at the Improv. Its unscheduled. Ill jeep you posted as information is available on this breaking news.

Creating a comedy room

2006-06-26T16:30:00.000-04:00

I am writing a generic proposal to submit to bars and other spaces which I can use for a show in the city. I want a place I do not have to rent. I want to free up money for promotions

I am looking to a traditional comedy show but with magicians included. A show with an opener, middle comic and headliner.

I have though about hitting up music venues as a place to do comedy inbetween sets.

last set

2006-06-26T15:47:00.000-04:00

I did horrible. Just wasn't prepared I guess. I gave it 5 out of 10. I was in my head thinking too much. Did a new bit which killed. That was the good part. I got various laughs but not the # I usually get.

I got critiqued by a booker. He though my new material was very original which it is. Apparently 1 joke is a variation of a Seinfeld joke so its gone from my act. A routine I haven't done in 2 years he considered "stock" so its also gone from the act permanently. He liked my dry humor overall but you know i disappointed myself.

friend from college getting Married

2006-06-20T22:25:00.000-04:00

Hannah Goss was in a comedy troupe with me at NYU. This is from earlier this year. I googled her out of boredom.

upcoming comedy gig

2006-06-20T20:19:00.000-04:00

DATE: Saturday, June 24th
PLACE: New York Improv Comedy Club 318 W. 53rd Street (Between 8th and 9th
Ave.) NY, NY 10019
SHOWTIME 7:00 p.m.
Doors Open at 6:15
Cover: $15. Only $12 if advance reservation is made on VIP line:
212-465-3128
If can come it would be great!

alien martial art

2006-06-07T23:15:00.000-04:00

read this. a martial art from aliens.

Moore is right

2006-06-06T10:52:00.000-04:00

I told you in the last Moore post he was being sued and I believed the lawsuit was correct. Maybe it isn't.

War of words
Did the Iraq war vet suing Michael Moore have a shift of politics?

Sgt. Peter Damon last week hit the filmmaker with an $85 million lawsuit for including a clip of him in “Fahrenheit 911,” which Damon said made him appear anti-war and anti-George Bush.

But in January, 2004, Senator Edward Kennedy gave a speech blasting Bush and the war. In his speech, Kennedy thanked Sgt. Peter Damon for attending the talk and introduced the parents of a vet who was killed and Damon — who according to one account of the event “flanked” the senator — to prolonged applause. The speech was later attacked by Republicans for its tough anti-war and anti-Bush language.

When called for comment, Damon’s lawyer, Dennis Lynch, said, “If you claim that [Damon] attended an anti-war speech, that would be inaccurate.” Lynch requested a video of the event; when offered an email transcript instead, the lawyer accused The Scoop of being “unprofessional” and “biased” before hanging up. He hung up on or declined to accept subsequent calls for clarification.

In another film, one blasting Michael Moore, Damon was quoted as saying that he disagreed with Moore’s documentary, which he called “propaganda.” But when asked if Moore had he right to make the movie, Damon replied, “That’s the reason we go off to fight — to defend his right to make a movie.”

An Inconveniant Truth

2006-06-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

Enviromentalists are like the people who say the world is going to end tomorrow.

Olympic wrestling

2006-06-02T10:22:00.000-04:00

A Russian and a Newfoundland wrestler were set to square off
for the Olympic Gold medal. Before the final match, the Newfie wrestler's trainer came to him and said, "Now, don't forget all the research we've done on this Russian. He's never lost a match because of this "pretzel" hold he has. Whatever you do, do not let him get you in that hold! If he does, remember you're finished!" The Newfie nodded in acknowledgement.

As the match started, the Newfie and the Russian circled each other several times, looking for an opening. All of a sudden, the Russian lunged forward, grabbing the Newfie and wrapping him up in the dreaded pretzel hold. A sigh of disappointment arose from the crowd and the trainer buried his face in his hands, for he knew all was lost. He couldn't watch the inevitable happen.

Suddenly, there was a scream, then a cheer from the crowd and the trainer raised his eyes just in time to watch the Russian go flying up in the air. His back hit the mat with a thud and the Newfoundlander collapsed on top of him, making the pin and winning the match.

The trainer was astounded. When he finally got his wrestler alone, he asked, "How did you ever get out of that hold? No one has ever done it before!" The wrestler answered, "Well, I was ready to give up when he got me in that hold, but at the last moment I opened my eyes and saw this pair of testicles right in front of my face. I had nothing to lose, so with my last ounce of strength I stretched out my neck and bit those babies just as hard as I could."

"So," the trainer exclaimed, "That's what finished him off!"

"Not really. You'd be amazed how much adrenalin you get when you bite your own nuts."

New Material

2006-06-01T22:13:00.000-04:00

I may want to do open mikes once again but this time as a magician. I have been working on my memorized deck routines, card calling & Canasta's 2 cards in the pocket. Along with the invisible deck I have 3 card tricks I can do in a row. I think they flow well together but I want to test them. On Sunday, I will go down to Mo Pitkins on the LES and perform them.

Michael Moore being sued for Slander

2006-06-01T12:51:00.000-04:00

Michael Moore is being sued.

Apparently he used an NBC interview out of context. Hmmm.

I don't know if its true but its believable that Moore did such a thing. I suspect the lawsuit is correct. I don't believe Moore but I don't believe the media either.

religious person struck by lightning

2006-05-31T11:53:00.000-04:00

Woman Hit By Lightning While Praying

POSTED: 2:52 pm EDT May 30, 2006

DAPHNE, Ala. -- Worried about the safety of her family during a stormy Memorial Day trip to the beach, Clara Jean Brown stood in her kitchen and prayed for their safe return as a strong thunderstorm rumbled through Baldwin County, Alabama.

But while she prayed, lightning suddenly exploded, blowing through the linoleum and leaving a blackened area on the concrete. Brown wound up on the floor, dazed and disoriented by the blast but otherwise uninjured.

She said 'Amen' and the room was engulfed in a huge ball of fire. The 65-year-old Brown said she is blessed to be alive.

Firefighters said its likely she was hit by a bolt of lightning that apparently struck outside and traveled into the house yesterday afternoon. She was found lying on the floor by her 14-year-old granddaughter.

Fire officials think the lightning likely struck across the street from the couple's home and traveled into the house through a water line. The lightning continued into the couple's backyard and ripped open a small trench.

A family member said he will no longer assume it is safe to be indoors during a lightning strike.

Dime-sized hail and wind gusts of up to 45 miles-per-hour moved across coastal Baldwin County. As much as three inches of rain fell in some areas in three hours

breaking in new material

2006-05-29T13:45:00.000-04:00

I am listening to Woody Allen's interview CD with Larry Wilde. He claims he liked to break in material in front of his best audiences.

DC Benny likes to go in front of tough rooms with small audiences.

Jerry Seinfeld uses good audiences to devlop material and bad audiences to edit his material.

Lucky Louie

2006-05-28T15:23:00.000-04:00

I have become a fan of Louie CK over several years meaning he grew on me. I always liked him, always found him funny but wasn't instantly a fan. However the more into comedy I became, the more I appreciated what he did. He doesn't apologize for being funny. He calles his 4 year old girl an asshole. Its clear that he loves the child but he doesn't have to say "but I love my kids" because we know that. We understand what he's talking about without him having put a disclaimer on it.

Anyway I recently subscribed to his podcast on itunes, than ordered his cd from him. I got an email from him on Thursday telling me he was performing in Poughkeepsie in Dutchess County, NY. Its an hour and 15 minutes North of me. I went. Banana's Comedy Club in the lobby of a Best Western is where he was at. Just 2 comics performed and Louis was one. I ended up finding out how to get booked there and a place in NJ as well. Than I am on my way.

HIV study

2006-05-26T13:29:00.000-04:00

AIDS and HIV came from Chimps?

assassination in Lebanon

2006-05-26T11:01:00.000-04:00

So an Islamic Jihad leader and his brother were assassinated. By whom? Hmmm

James Randi

2006-05-25T01:45:00.000-04:00

Debunking Silver Bending

Hemp doesn't cause cancer

2006-05-24T16:02:00.000-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/05/24/pot.lung.cancer.reut/index.html

magic scene

2006-05-24T00:04:00.000-04:00

It seems a new magic store in NYC has opened. Magik, a friend who I havent seen in years apparently works there as well as Simon Lovell and David Roth, 2 well known magii. All 3 are professional magicians which makes me wonder why they work as demonstrators, a job that usually goes to teenagers and up and coming pros.

David Roth's apartment was on fire. Apparently he was hurt but not badly. He will be giving a lecture soon as posted on the Genii forum.

I heard a podcast of Criss Angel on Penn Jillette's radio show. Chrissangel is more likable than Blaine but Blaine has a better tv show. Of course Crissangel has a season on cable verson on occassional show on ABC.

Penn Jillette and Criss Angel talked about tricks that are improvised. I really like the topic. Penn talked about doing a show for Spielberg and other celebrities where Spielberg tried to mess him up. Apparently Jillette was doing a prediction. He had to force a certain thing. Spielberg interrupts Jillette as he's annoucing the setup and picks the thing to be forced and insists on Jillette cutting right to the end. Jilette of course milks it and it seems like a miracle. I love stuff like that.

great story

2006-05-19T23:30:00.000-04:00

Jay Davis tells this story. I enjoyed it.

MY DAVE CHAPPELLE STORY

If it wasn't for DAVE CHAPPELLE I wouldn't have the comedy career I have now. I told Dave that I wanted to be a comedian, and he said,"MAN, you just need to get on stage and keep doing it". So I decided to build my own stage and get on it! I took over the upstairs of an Irish Pub on Tuesday nights. We pulled out a booth and built a stage into the middle of it. I knew if I did my own show I would then be forced to do comedy at least once a week, then that would turn into twice a week, and so on, until I'm doing it full time. Dave found out that I started my own comedy show and was impressed. He said, "MAN, you know how many people tell me they want to be a comedian and never go through with it? I heard you started your own comedy show & I'm going to come do your show this week." DAVE CHAPPELLE came down on my 5th week of promoting my first comedy show and ROCKED the house! Other hot upcoming comedians heard about DAVE CHAPPELLE blessing the stage, one guy in particular whom I had never met before named DANE COOK, came down and started blowing the roof off of the show every week! Other comedians, like Alonzo Bodden, Darren Carter, Dice Clay, Rosanne Barr, David Allen Grier, Darrell Hammond, Ralphie May, Pablo Francisco, Tommy Davidson and many others would pop up and do the shows. Now I'm on tour with Dane Cook opening for him over the past two years, and was a part of Dane Cooks Comedy Documentary called TOURGASM.

SO THANK YOU DAVE CHAPPELLE!

sexuality

2006-05-08T21:17:00.000-04:00

I didn't choose to be straight. I just am. I wish enjoyed being straight more but I can't get the women over. Just socially inept I guess.

That being said I read a story that the Swiss scientists have evidence that Gay men's brain's were more like straight women. And gay women's brains were more like straight men's. BUT gay men were more like straight women than gay women were like straight men. The study also came with a can opener, pliers and a nail cutter. Interesting hmm....

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/05/08/lesbian.brains.ap/index.html

self defense form #1

2006-05-05T20:51:00.000-04:00

Its funny. My martial arts dojo has 2 programs, BJJ and kempo/karate. I recently started BJJ but I am still doing the kempo/karate. The kempo class has 10 self defense "forms" We practise them on partners. 1 partner "attacks" you a certain way and you respond with a set of prearranged techniques. The problem is they keep changing which # each form is. They will say lets do #4 but somepeople will do something thats now #6 while the #4 they were referring too used to be #3. GREAT! If you can't remember them in class than how are you suppossed to do them in real life!

I am best at form# 1. The attacker grabs your left wrist with their right hand (same side attack). You step back with your right leg while twisting your wrist to grab their's. Your right hand goes to their shoulder & kick them in the groin with your right foot. When they keel over in pain, you use their right arm to leverage them on to their back. You "finish" them off with a ounch to the face.

"Best" is a loose term. Its the only techniques they haven't changed its #. I am able to throw the people in class to the ground harder than most other members to the ground, even the higher belts. I don't know if this is because I am better at it or they aren't trying that hard. I bet its a bit of both in that I am better cause I try harder at it. The other classmates are better at other things in class but thats another discussion.

But the problem is I don't think it works. If they grab my left fist I assume they will have the intent of harming but people in class aren't grabbing me with much intent at all. I guess that goes to their not trying as hard but I am not grabbing them with intent either. I think I am matching their easy going attitude. Without the opponnent's intent to harm you its easy to do the techniques. We are too easy going. Also the kick to the groin assumes you kicked them hard enough and in the right spot to get them to keel over. With out them bent over its impossible to throw them with the given method.

I think the "finishing" move, the bent over punch to the face while they are on the ground is horrible. This is the finishing move on all of them. I can not take it seriously at all. If they are shocked to be on their back by the throw which they should be(I don't think it works), than they will still be able to attack you. Why bend over them? Just kick them. Not only can you kick harder than your punch, you can more easily maintain your balance.

United 93

2006-04-30T23:37:00.000-04:00

This movie was indeed intense. The movie was in a manner I thought was great. All the facts were in order as far as I can tell. Of course its dramitized so dialogue and how things played out are some what made up. The movie really captures the confusion between NORAD and Air Traffic Control as I had imagined it based on the Official Report.

North Carolina

2006-04-30T16:21:00.000-04:00

I went to North Carolina for business. My father sent me to a traveling trade show. We set up in a hotel ballroom, see potential customers, take down our booths and drive to another location to repeat the process. The show lasted 9 to 1 for 5 days in different hotels from Charlotte, N.C. to Alexandria VA. My god this was tiring. After each show we loaded up a truck to take out belonging to the next show. I was going to go between shows in a van with other distributors.

I got to the airport, knowing I was going to N.C. but no idea where. It was on the ticket but I just looked at the gate #. When I got there, the gate was for 2 different flights, 1 for Charlotte and 1 for Charleston. I had to keep looking at my ticket to remember which one I was taking. I was going to Charlotte. We found out the plane was late, than it was broken, they got a new plane and switched out gate 2x. We departed Newark an hour after our scheduled arrival time in Charlotte. I didn't mind what time I got there since I wasn't in a rush but the other passengers did mind

The first night I was in a different hotel than the show hotel cause it was cheaper. The hotel was miles from civilization. You could see the Charlotte skyline. I had a choice of spending my night at a shady sports bar or a 24 hour gas station with a store, I chose the gas station. The hotel had sloppy joe's in the lobby for hotel guests so my dinner became sloppy joe's and beer, a healthy combo. The show the next day got around 150 people of which 50 people visited the booth. It was a busy day and I didn't talk much to the other people exhibiting at the show.

The second night we were in Greensboro N.C. Once again I was in a different hotel, a shitty one. I had dinner in then show hotel, it was a nice hotel with a restaurant and I spent several hours getting intoxicated while watching CNN and discussing the Duke Lacrosse team rape case with the bartender before checking in a mile down the road. At the show the next morning, there were 130 people, 35 people visited the booth, I talked to some distributors. There were some hot women working the show.

The third night we were in Durham County N.C. where Duke University is. We were next N.C. state anther big college with a Div I basketball team. There were actual bars and restaurants to walk to. Upon arrival I walked around so later that night I would do something but when I got back to the hotel I fell asleep. The show was absolutely dead. I think we got 100 people. I may have seen 20 people.

The fourth night we were in Richmond VA. I was in the show hotel for the second night in a row. This hotel was the nicest of an of the hotels. I hung out in the hotel lobby bar. It was nice, they had jazz music playing,, smoking was allowed in the bar which I liked. Someone was smoking a cigar. I like the smell which I know I am in the minority but I drank pinot noir all night. Got pretty toasted. I went into a 5 star steak house in the lobby. Spent $50 on dinner to have filet mignon. It was top notch. The show got even fewer people but better customers. I was bored out my mind. My legs were hurting from standing. I was getting less than 4 hours of sleep a night and my skin was dry. My allergies were back in full force. It must have been the third day I spent feeling like I was going to sneeze.

The fifth night I went out with some people from the show. There was the girl who second job was as a stripper, the Atlanta girl who was even more gorgeous and was in my van between show sites, there was the short spunky very cute girl a few booths down from me and several guys. If I were more aggressive I would have spent the week hitting on these girls and some of the other hotties who were there but I didn't. We all went out to a bar called Clive's. The stripper girl was getting hit on by a heavy set black guy who had a Ferrari. He was supposedly an ex NFL guy, if true it explains the car. He took the stripper girl for a ride in his ferrari. She brought along one of the guys who was also exhibiting. The football player didn't like it but she was scared of being killed. After they got back I thought there was going to be a fight but that never panned out. He was talking alot and would not let go that she wasn't interested. Nothing was heated. The next day was the slowest day.

weird dream about UCB theater

2006-04-22T13:43:00.000-04:00

I had a dream about UCB theater. I drove to UCB theater in NYC parked across the street. The weird thing about this was UCB theater was in a suburbarn strip mall as oppossed to 26th & 8th in NYC. I parked in another strip mall across the street.

I was apart of a performance at UCB. Billy Merritt and his performers were on stage. They were sitting in chairs with their backs to the audience. I was on the side wall in a chair with my performers facing the stage. The audience to our far left, Merrit and his performers were to out near left, in front of us. The setup was reminiscent of the old UCB theater on 22nd street. Merritt and his performers did something to the extent of a harold opening, nothing more. We duplicated it. It was brilliant within the context of the dream and meaningless in real life.

The dream is still going on. I leave the show with a former friend. She apparently was in the audience. She wanted her usual ride home. We are walking aroud this strip mall looking for my car. I forgot I parked across the street. We are walking back and fourth. Its late at night, most of the stores are closed and you could feel palpable tension between me and the comic along the line that we can't stand each other. We come across 1 store that is open. It sells furnature. I decide I need a wooden chair and they have a perfect one that I want for my room.

homophobia, steroids and Bruce Lee

2006-04-21T18:43:00.000-04:00

A gentleman on Martial Arts Planet forum alerted me to a thread in a bodybuilding forum. A person has asked on that forum for a workout to prepare for a UFC style mixed martial arts competition. Another forum member posted a response. He claimed BJJ was invented by gays for gays and tat the majority of pro-mixed martial artists were gay and on steroids. Of course he said MMA was not good on the street becvause of the rule of actual competition.

I of course took exception now that I do BJJ. There is no gay sex. I am not that lucky. No one has made a pass at me. Maybee I am ugly but I haven't seen any of the other men get involved with each other which leads me to beleive the whole gay thing is wrong.

The steroids issue is quetionable. I am sure there are many pro fighters and aspiring fighters who may use the stuff. But how is that different from baseball or any other major athletic competition? It isn't.

As for MMA guys not being effective in a fight, I am pretty sure gay streoid users never get touched. Just kidding. MMA guys are strong, they are well trained in boxing kickboxing and grappling. They train against opponnents in live training. Real fights, while more unpredictable, require the skills learned in MMA fighting. It is not a huge adjustment for them and a lot less of an adjustment than an untrained person.

This poster based his claims on hearsay, what other people told him. So he was not with in the realm of facts. He went on to tell me that Bruce Lee was the G.O.A.T. Bruce Lee could beat most if not all MMA fighters. I know Bruce Lee was a good fighter but he never fought in public tournaments. Bruce Lee was friend with Gene Lebell, a high ranking judo player who bills himself as the "toughest Man in the World" Gene won several juso contests before becoming a pro wresteler followed by a 30 plus year career as a stuntman. Gene befrieded Bruce Lee on the set of the green hornet. LeBell beat Bruce Lee in a fight using grappling. Bruce Lee went on to include LeBell's moves in Jeet Kune Do. This poster denied Lee's defeat which was actually a good thing telling me LebEll was a fraud. Lebell was not the toughest man in the world because he did pro wrestling. I responded by pointing out Lee was a movie star, which makes him more fake. That shut up this douche bag.

Why is this stroy important? It isn't.

ambulance and fights

2006-04-16T17:12:00.000-04:00

when I was working in an ambulance, I responded to a variey of fights. There were a bunch of multiple assailants versus 1 person. It was common to see the group push down their victim and stomp on them. There were several people who were seriously hurt but none life threatening although I did hear of few cases that were. Of course this type of attack didn't happen all the time but it was common.

I once responded to a local prison. Their was an inmate fight. I don't know what happened exactly but the victim ended up havig seisures which is why we were called.

One time we were called to the local police station. A female officer had a concussion. She had responded to a fight in a near by mall. I don't know the details of the fight. Either she was trying to break up 2 guys on the floor or she was making an arrest with the suspect on the floor. She got pulled down onto the floor and her head hit the top of a half wall. She drove back to the station where we picked her up. Tough woman though.

I found that at bar fights glass beer bottles were used alot. Heineken bottles were most popular.

Royler Gracie (updated)

2006-04-16T17:03:00.000-04:00

So Royler Gracie is a member of "Gracie" clan. A family of Brazilians who took Juijitsu/Judo they learned from a Japanese immigrant and reworked it for themselves calling it Gracie/Brazilian Juijitsu. I don't think thats what they call it but what Americans call it. THey just refer to it as Jui jitsu

Royler is the top teacher of Gracie Juijitsu. He did a lecture at my school. It was my first class in Juijitsu so I found exciting to be working out with a world champion.

Being the out of shape person that I am, I had trouble making it through the lecture particularly the first part where we did breakfalling for 15 minutes at a blistering pace. The actual juijitsu part was actually reasonably paced, maybee slightly fast as they just thre tons of techniques at you. I can't remember all the techniques we learned. The floor was litered with other people also practising those techniques so it was hard to do the techniques without hitting a wall or another person.

I actually went through techniques with Royler 1 on 1 and it was interesting. Hes 140lbs maybe 5' 4" in height. He in great shape but has a compact frame. I enjoyed the lecture.

Debunking conspiracy theories

2006-04-11T22:09:00.000-04:00

I was watching a television show on A & E or the History channel, on those channels and they were debunking alot of the myths about the Kennedy assassination. I can't say whether the show is correct or not, I have to take what they give me but I find I am more skeptical of the conspiracy theories than I used to be.

Since 9/11 I have watched how many alternate theories have surfaced in a controversal political environment. Lots liberals/democrats hate Bush and the war in Iraq similar in fashion to have liberals/democrats hated Vietnam in the 1960's through 70's when alot of Kennedy theories were most popular at least until Oliver Stone's movie.

The problem with alternate versions of 9/11 is that they just ignore the facts and common sense. For instance they say there is no evidence that Osama Bin Laden was behind the attack. That is unless you look at previous terror attacks which he was behind.

Take a look at this Popular Mechanics article which lists and than debunks just about all the theoires I have read elsewhere.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/defense/1227842.html?page=1&c=y

conspiracy theories.

2006-04-08T20:31:00.000-04:00

I have looked at the 9/11 conspriacy theories and realize they just don't make any sense. They look at any inconsitencies and declare them to be proof that the government is lying because the government and the Bush adminstation weren't simply inept pre/911 but were behind the attack.

For instance Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. Conspiracy Buffs say it wasn't flight 77 but a cruise missle. How do they know this? They say the damage shown on tape could not have been caused by a 757, an eyewitness described a cruise missle hitting the Pentagon and the flight manevers used by the hijacker were beyond his capability to perform. First of all, where did Flight 77 go, if it did not crash into the Pentagon? There were private citizens on this plane. I am doubt any of them were involved in a Bush adminstartion/gov't conspiracy to invade Iraq for oil or whatever other reason you got cooked up. What about the dozens of witnesses who saw a plane hit the Pentagon? Were they all government plants for a cover up? Sec of Defense Rumsfield was in the building as were ther Joint Chiefs of Staff. Why would they attack themselves? How come there is no missile on radar?

the importance of words

2006-04-07T19:21:00.000-04:00

I recently was at a NYC magician's supply shop in NYC. We were discussing a well known magician within the NYC magic community. I discussed a trick that he performs with one of the store employees. You see the trick is dependant upon the volunteer to follow the magician's instructions. The trick is not original to the magician in question. I wont discuss the method of which there are several but the spectator has to LOOK at the cards and THINK of one, than you reveal it. It will appear as though the magician produced a card merely thought of by the spectator, VERY STRONG magic.

Back in 2002, I watched the magician mess this trick up in front of 100 people. Why? Because the way this magician phrased the instructions, the spectator thought of a card without looking at it. It was obvious to me that this was happening in real time meaning the spectator obviously thought of a card without looking and the magician & the rest of the audience still didn't know yet. Apparently the store employee who is also a magician saw the magician in question mess the trick up alot more recently for the same exact reason. To correct the proble is just a matter of rephraing the instructions but this well known magician is too arrogant to fix the problem or admit mistake. His ego is built on being in the know.

Flight 93

2006-04-07T10:48:00.000-04:00

Flight 93 is the # of the 4th plane on 9/11 that crashed in PA. The have made a film about it which I am sure anyone reading this had heard about. It was forseeable that the movie would be controversial but I find it surprising who is offended. The families of the victims of Flight 93 allowed it to be made. People in NYC and LA where previews were showing got offended. These people are the most liberal with films and should support any film that comes out and reminds us of the events of 9/11.

I was originally of the opinion that Flight 93 got shot down by fighter jets. The official story is the people in the plane tried to take it back. Ican't dispute the official story. No evidence of mine but there are recordings of phone calls and radio transmissions.

improv and martial arts

2006-03-27T14:16:00.000-05:00

I always had problems with both improv classes and most martial arts training. I realize its the same exact problem. The problem is related to exercises that contain valuable principles versus realistic training where those principles become self evident.

http://aliveness101.blogspot.com/2005/07/why-aliveness.html
The concept of aliveness basically says that you need to train the principle realistically. With martial arts you need to train techniques against opponents that fight back. This doesn't mean full contact fighting, it means training techniques against opponents who won't cooperate as real opponents won't cooperate. Real opponents won't attack you the way your shown in class because they don't know that way and if they did, they wouldn't attack that way.

Improv and I am referring to long form improv at that, is taught with rules and exercises that teach principles. The whole point of an improvised scene is basically for 2 people to come up with a scene from scratch. The problem with this is many beginners and intermediate imrpovisers are in their "heads" to begin with and the rules and principle teaching exercises put students further into their heads. The whole point of class should be to get them out of their heads and into the scene. For instance there is a rule of not asking questions yet advanced players ask queations all the time. So now people must think to not ask questions. They must think not to have a teacher/student relationship or a customer/cashier relationship to always say "yes and" before saying each line. Nothing connects you to your partner, it all makes you think to yourself about what you can and can not say.

http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/essays/01072001.html

"real" fights

2006-03-19T15:02:00.000-05:00

I have never been in a fight, I am never going to start a fight and have only been threatened once with such a situation. It's that situation that got me thinking about learning to fight to begin with. That situation was caused by some wack job who was thrown out of a bar for yelling at his girlfriend. He was upset because his girlfriend got a lap dance from a male stripper brough into the bar for some other girl's birthday. He later came back into continue playing pool in some league. He threatened to kill me because I looked at him. I got out of the fight purely by luck. His friends intervened on his behalf. No one cared about me apparently. Thank god because had his friend s not cared so much about him, I would have got pummeled.

With learning how to fight on my mind, it became clear that the karate class didn't cover fighting. The class was a "workout" for the people who do it. Stretching, kicking drills, prearranged katas and self defense drills. The black belts were not particularly good at fighting. But it was hard to tell since there was no sparring. Sparring is the only way to evaluate where you stood with such ability. Belts were passed out not on an ability to fight but for participation.

I also signed up for a local gym. The gym had a self defense class called Attack Proof. We learn simple effective strikes delivered in a random manner to a resisting opponent. We spar similar to real fights. The top students know how to fight and very well I might add. There are cops, bouncers and a Marine in the class. There is 1 guy who does "corporate security". It means when someone gets fired, he "removes" them from the building. He moves mostly big guys from the office. Trust me, nobody fucks with him. I have had my tooth partially chipped in 1 class accidentally and last night I took a shot to my nose. It might be broken. I should quit while Im ahead.

i-pod shuffle

2006-03-08T23:53:00.000-05:00

I bought an I-Pod Shuffle. It was $69.99 plus tax. I love this little thing. It fits about 120 songs which is great because that's 10 cd's worth of music. on top of that I buy songs from I-Tunes. I got a whole bunch of songs that I never had but always wanted without having to buy the whole album. I guess I could have gotten any MP-3 player but I like I Pod because...it popular. I guess I haven't evolved since high school.

New apartment

2006-03-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

I might be taking up an aprtment with a friend meaning I will no longer be living with my parents, thank god. My parents don't seem so keen on it. My mother is worried about who will clean up.

Movie Awards?

2006-03-06T11:43:00.000-05:00

What is the point of giving movies awards?

Lets start off with actors and their performances. There has to be 5 nominations with 1 getting an award. If there are 5 excellent performances by 5 actors than how does only 1 get an award? What if there are 20 excellent performances? You will never see 20 nominations. If there are no good performances, you will never see no nominations. It is accepted that comedy is harder than drama to perform, especially without th presence of a live audience. Of course comedy performances aren't even considered. I am not sure what the distinction between supporting actor and lead actor is.

The highest honor is best picture award. 100 to 200 films release in theaters in US over a 1 year period are considered. Comedy films, Documentaries, short films, animated films and foreign films are hardly considered for best picture. All but comedy films have there own award. Liberal leaning political movies are on the fast track for winning awards while rightward leaning movies don't have to show up. THe film industry will not go near religion Passion of the Christ didn't have to show up to the 2005 awards and Robert Duvall's The Apostle was only nominated for a best actor role for Robert Duvall. The latter movie was probably better than most other films that year and since. So how can the best picture award truly be the best picture?

Chamber Magic

2006-02-21T22:43:00.000-05:00

I have recently worked as an usher for my friend who performs a show every Friday in NYC. It does not pay well but I enjoy watching him perform as he has a very smooth show. More specifically I enjoy watching the audience at his show react to what he performs. I always learn something from the show. My friend is professional magician and a very well paid magician. He makes a high 6 or low 7 figure income performing at private gigs.

I must admit my friend is successful because he is a perfectionist. It makes me uncomfortable though. I must wear a suit which is not bad except I got it last moment and its not tailored. I feel bad because I don't think I fit his image very well. When people get there I greet them, make sure their cell phone is off and where to hang their coats. This is easy for the most part except there are occassional problems. Most people prepay but some people must pay at the door. My friend does not give me change nor do I have any. Luckily such people have paid in exact change. He does not accept checks.

Once someone prepaid for 4 people and they came in a group of 5. I let them in thinking the list was wrong but my friend made me find them and charge them. Which was fine but he also wanted me to force 1 person to sit in the back. This made me uncomfortable. I didn't get a chance to do that thank God because I was interuppted by other guests.

Another group was scheduled to the 7pm show but came at 9pm. My friend made me find them, mention the discrempency but tell that it was still okay. I did and the people looked at me like I was nuts. I was not at all happy doing this.

I once talked about how I messed up a certain trick several times and why each time I messed up. He told me I should not brag I messed up. I wasn't I was discussing the inner working of the trick and how I improved over time. The point went over his head.

My last comedy set.

2006-02-20T01:20:00.000-05:00

I recently performed at the Improv comedy club here in NY. The show was a bringer. A bringer is where you are required to bring a certain number of audience members, in this case 10, to the show.

This show started off with a briefing. We werer told that instead of the 7 minutes we usually get, we were getting 5 minutes of stage time. This was due to them making a dvd to send to the Producers of Last Comic Standing. I trust theses guys thats indeed the case but I don't believe I will hear from them even though I did well. Other Industry peopel included the USO and a management group.

I was suppossed to bring 10 people and 8 or 9 people showed. I was suppossed to drive down 2 people but 1 was sleeping when I went to pick him. The other one was a friend I havent seen since high school but now he recently graduated Med school. So we had much to talk about. My "lawyer" showed up with out his wife. He didn't bring her because it was cold out. Another friend didn't show up and I still don't know why.

Despite my not hitting my 10 people, I went up second. The MC did 3 minutes to start the show followed by another comic who gets her spot because she is running the show from backstage. I was the first "bringer" to go up. The MC and the 1st comic did only ok. The audience really had not been sufficently warmed up. This usually is not a problem but for some reason I wasn't warmed up either. My opening line killed but my first minute for the most part bombed. There were jokes that usually kill and they got nothing. It threw me a bit. I lost my rhythym and became a bit nervous. After the minute mark everything seemed to get back to normal. I got bick laughs on some of my best jokes again. The biggest laugh came on something I improvised. I talked about a charity show I produced that lost money. Apparently this is hilarious. When I was finished I got feedback from the producer. He is a comic and I like his feedback. Its pretty honest and he is almost always on target. He mentioned a I was a bit nervous near the top but once I got hold of the audience, everything went well. Me mentioned the charity show joke impressed some of the industry people. Good but unless I book something with them, it means nothing.

Have you ever had a dream rapping?

2006-02-11T11:55:00.000-05:00

The title of this post is the name of a "play" I saw last night. Let me give you some backround on how I got to this play. In 2002 to 2003, I took a Meisner acting class in Manhattan. I enjoyed the class. There were some beatuful women in the class of course, actresses and models who wanted to be actresses and some of us guys. 1 person stood out, not so much for acting skills but in the fact that he didn't seem to perfectly belong. He was tall, thin wavy black hair and he dresses like a heavy metal person. He is very nice but doesn't seem to be very socially ept. Not that I can claim to be socially ept, I ain't. He has occassionally come to my comedy gigs over the years, unannounced, which is good. People usually tell me they are coming. 2 weeks ago he came to my show and He was performing in the show in question.

'Have you ever had a dream rapping?' is a play about Martin Luther King starring for the most part poor black kids from the ghetto with several adults mixed in, my friend being one of them. The organization helps poor black and hispanic kids through performance and my friend is a graduate of the program. He is half hispanic and half white. The play involves Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King having a discussion together before MLK's I have a dream speech and they go to the future to watch these kids "write letters" to him. And the kids recite letters apparently about their own lives. 1 girl shops in stores she can't afford and she suspects she is being watched by security. 1 girl get called the N word by elementary school classmates and in college her white boyfriend leaves her due to peer pressure. Another lost both parents to AIDS and one teenager was raised by his single mother who recently died of cancer. My friend did one of these letter's too. In fact, not only was his letter first, he also was Abe Lincoln. He quoted JFK, John Lennon and Forrest Gump. He tries to impressions but he isn't good at that. Oh well. The highlight of the show was this 12 year old kid who was rapping. And a 43 yr old grey haired woman doing her drunk uncle who helped the poor.

As the show ended a different 50 something grey haired woman came on stage. Apparently she ran for President in 1988 as an Independant Party Canidate. She got on the ballot in 50 states and got 250,000 votes. In 1992, Ross Perot got the nomination and she went to help him. Many of Ross Perot supporters were very different from her voters. Most of them were White and their only experience with Black people was the Cosby show. In the last NYC election, she helped get Bloomberg 47% of the black vote. In the process of getting Bloomberg the Black vote, she apparently took alot of heat from Democrats being called anti-semetic, racist so on and so fouth in the major NY tabloid papers. She was kicked off the bored by upstate WHite people who as she puts it, were racist.

Her political premise is that Dr. King's message was about everybody not just Blacks. Black Power was hurting Black people because there were negatives in Black society that could not be fixed with so much pride. They needed to join with White people as partners. Her specific actions were to take votes away from the Democrats who take the Black vote for granted. Apparently the Republicans don't want the black vote. Through out the show there were shots at Pres. Bush and the Iraq war as to be expected. She wanted to team up with White people but only liberal White people. She doesn't seem to have any desire to partner up with Right Wingers.

short, short reviews

2006-02-05T21:43:00.000-05:00

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World - I thought this would be a documentary but it isn't. Albert Brooks wonders around New Dehli, India and Pakistan on a government mission while worrying about a 500 page report he has to write about it. Its funny but its subtle. I like it.

Munich - Spielberg's latest film about an undercover Mossad unit seeking revenge for the 1976 Olympic massacre of Israeli Athletes. Its a very good movie but I disagee with the politics which revolve around a cycle of violence. I disagree with minimizing terror attacks and criminal behavior with their proper punishment.

SyrianaThis movie is hard to follow. Many story lines that convege onto each other. Its an okay film exposing corruption of the rich and powerful but gives a feeling of hopelessness.

Denmark, Europe and terrorism

2006-02-05T21:16:00.000-05:00

The recent Danish cartoon of Mohammed seems to have sparked mass riots in the Middle East with several European embassies being burned down. A couple years back in Denmark, a filmmaker was shot to death by Islamic youths over his film that showed the mistreating of women in Islam. France made it illegal for Islamic girls to wear religious head gear to school. Of course this last summer France was embarrassed by its lack of ability to handle riots by Islamic youths. Similar riots occurred in Australia.

Since the whole 2nd Iraq war became a possibility, an argument from European and North American opponents have been that the war creates more terrorism. I believe this is true to an extent but its overly simplistic. We have seen 2 terror attacks in Europe, 1 in Spain and 2 in London with Iraq being the main reason given. I feel these attacks would have happened anyway even if we hadn't gone to Iraq. It is obvious a large Muslim population in Europe and Australia will be the base for more attacks. The 9/11 attackers lived in Hamburg, Germany before the Iraq war.

random goings

2006-01-29T01:47:00.000-05:00

I am writing a comedy piece on an Indian comedian named two drink minimum who did stand up comedy during 1492. Ideas I am working on: why white people only show up in weird rural areas similiar to UFO's than difference between indians and white people. If your reading this please give me stereotypes on Native American Indians as oppossed to ones from India in the comments section.

I have to teach a friend Adobe Illustrator which is funny cause I don't know Illustrator very well.

I have another comedy idea. A character of a clown doing stand up.. All my ideas seem to be having characters do stand up comedy, weird. Anyway as a teenager, he comes out to his parents as a clown and its difficult, similiar to being gay. He gets ridiculed at high school for being a clown. He is a goth clown in high school as a rebel. He moves to the Lower East Side/Williamsburg as a hipster clown with the big black rimmed glasses, temping during the day doing stand up. Unfortunately I can't portray it in a stand up spot cause I don't want to put the make up on but I think I should make it into a short film.

I have gone to the gym everyday this last week and done the ellyptical machine for 20 minutes.

Chris Columbus and China (Updated)

2006-01-16T23:46:00.000-05:00

There is a Chinese map that supposedly was originally drawn in 1412 by Chinese Sailors. If this is true they discovered North America before Columbus. I find this weird. The map is being disputed. It may not be real. My question is when Columbus got to North America, there were people already here. How did they not see it? How did the natives who lived in America prior to Columbus arriving not discover it?

my own stupidity

2006-01-15T03:15:00.000-05:00

There is potential for a pill that could erase bad memories. Interesting idea but unnesessary. Don't need more drugs. I attended NYU from 1996-2000 with an economics major. Used to make fun of acting majors because they were worthless. I haven't done economics since 2000. Touche.

During my sophmore I attended comedy clubs quite often, seeing comics do the same material time and time again. I enjoyed seeing different audience reactions. I went so much that comics would stop mid set to say hello than continue as nothing had happend. I also joined the magic club to learn sleight of hand. My "audience" either figured me out or I messed up. I never perfomed for more than than 2 people until the end of the semester. I was asked by a friend to do a show at a student club. I got a trick out of a beginner's book and attempted it. I messed up in front of a hundred people. I swore I would never get up again. Just goes to show I lack disipline.

In the latter half of my junior year I joined a comedy troupe. 10 of us did improv and sketch comedy under the direction of R. R was a nice looking petite sophmore from CA., slated to graduate in 2001. She was an acting major with an emphasis in theater directing. The director of the Hillel was a cute 20 something with a grad degree also from CA suggested R organized a comedy troupe for the Purim show and another event. I joined despite little performing experience, no writing experience and improv comedy was foreign to me. I thought improv was stupid due to a lack of understanding of what it was. I just tried to learn from R and others to little use. Despite this at the shows I seemed to have the funniest lines. This encouraged me to further performance. I had found the whole experience very enlightning and I credited R for making it happen.

During this time I developed a crush on R and didn't have the balls to act on it. My senior year I finally worked my way up to asking her out. Did not go well by any means. I was stuttering. Nice! I was a retard! It was awkward much like my magic show in front of a hundred people.

Several times after this, up until the end of the spring 2000 semester, R and I talked. It never had anything to do with my asking her out but sometimes it was just as awkward. Sometime I didn't come across as I thought I was going to. Sometimes she just seemed to get all awakward for no reason. After May I forgot about it and went on with my life.

After the comedy troupe ended during my junior year, R and others had planned on doing the troupe again during my senior year. We all enjoyed it. In preparation, I took an improv class at UCB theater. I figues the second time around I would know how to improvise. Unfortanetly the troupe never got back together. Half the people including R became unavailable. At UCB I started doing stand up comedy at the open mike called Bogus Sting. A teacher and top performers Billy Merritt ran an open improv jam Friday nights. Going to shows at UCB to see sketch and improv was cheaper than going to stand up clubs. Because I was a srudent many shows were free to me. At the time UCB theater allowed outside drinks which was cheaper that buying tham at a comedy club or bar and you didn't have to tip.

In August 2000, I went to watch a show at UCBT. It had been 2 months since I last saw R but she was there. She was there to see someone we both knew from NYU. R was visiting from CA and came to support this girl. Now have you ever said something and realized halfway through what you were saying was dumb. I got the idea to ask R to come to the improv jam to watch me perform and see how much better I had become. I realized this was stupid as I was halfway through asking her. I could see their reactions forming and it was going to be negative. This other girl started yelling at me. She claime I was trying to say I was a big shot at UCB theater which is not what I was saying. I walked away not wanting to get into an argument. Dumb! dumb! dumb! dumb!

1 week

2006-01-07T12:44:00.000-05:00

I was in Orlando at a trade show. Usually I go out afterwards and get drunk but was suffering from a cold. I watched alot of Law and Order shows instead. The history channel had a show called shootout which did renenactments of shootouts of battles between Taliban and Al Qeida warriors and various Army and Marine units. Do you thin in 100 years, people will be doing renenactments of this like they do civlil war battles? There was even a documentary on about 9/11

CNN 9/11 documentary

2005-12-27T03:19:00.000-05:00

The last several days I have been off work for Christmas and home alone. I bought a CNN documentary of 9/11 and watched several time. 1x in full and several parts over and over. I wanted to see raw footage of 9/11 as it unfolded. I got that to a certain extent but not as much as I wanted.

There are various segments...interviews with CNN reporters and anchors made for this film plus the on air segments to match. They included their thoughts as events unfolded. One reporter was told to run from the White House because another plane might be coming and she thought "how far do I have to run to not die?" She could have thought that but it just seems so contrived. Another reporting from lower Manhattan said a child in a nearby playground pointed to the second plane crash and told her dad "Look they are doing it on purpose!" Did this really happen that way or did CNN reporter make this up for the film? Again it just seemed contrived. The whole piece was oversentimental. I expected that but overall I like the piece. I liked it just for the raw footage that comes with it.

More Martial Art talk

2005-12-24T22:38:00.000-05:00

The Attack Proof (AP) classes are a combination of Tai Chi and WWII combatives. WWII combatives consist of palm strikes, elbows, chops, knees and very low kicks. Tai CHi has a combative aspect to it which included dropping you body weight into your strikes, balance, and hitting multiple times w/o pulling you limbs back.

I have had trouble with the AP class. I kept getting partnered up with a 60 something pscyhologist for a sensitivity expercise. This guy is thin, 5'6" not athletic in anyway. He doesn't quite understand what he's doing but has the desire to teach. we conduct slow fights where we implement the principles that we learn in class. He continues to deliver a series of straight palms that I have trouble with. He does this every fight. Now I should be able to deal with this and I can't because I am holding back. If I hit him as hard as he hits me, He will get injured and not come back to class. He takes my holding back as a mistake.

Define comedy.

2005-12-21T00:28:00.000-05:00

Genii Magazine is a magazine catering to magicians. It has an internet forum. Upon Richard Pryor's death, one well known magician wrote a piece describing Pror's influnece. The thread evolved into someone calling Pryor the greatest comedian ever. Of course they are in good company. Comedy Central listed Pryor as the best ever. Many comedians do as well.I put him near the top.

Of course, there are magicians who take exception to this. 1 magician tried to pass of a charcter on the Carol Burnett show as one of the "greats" Obviously no idea that isn't stand up comedy.

magical controversey

2005-12-19T00:39:00.000-05:00

Several years back, an expensive coin trick was put on the market. The magician who did this was/is highly respectable. There were 2 selling points for the trick 1 was a limited edition run so you knew that not everyone would be doing the effect. The second was a quality product made by the well known designer.

After a length of time, it became obvious more items were sold than advertised. Almost everyone seemed to have it. So uniqueness was gone. After awhile, the magician told us he changed manufacturer. Apparently the desinger wasn't doing the same quality or producing them in time.

Here's the thing. I like the magician but I don't like what he did. I find that selling more than the advertised limited run was wrong. I didn't like the way he handled his differences with the desinger/manufacturer guy.

comedy artist

2005-12-15T15:49:00.000-05:00

Richard Pryor's death reminded me of an interview I have on cd of Woody Allen. Woody Allen made a distinction between comedic artists and comedians who make a career out of it. Artists seem to be defined as some how garnering mass appeal. Other comedians simply made a "nice" living. And this is something that I have had trouble digesting. Allen separates the excellent writer/comic who has killer material and gets lots of laughs versus a comedian who seems to connect with a large, worldwide audience even with lousy material. He points out the old Honey Mooners television show where Jackie Gleason is well loved by the public but he thought was a crap tv show. Yet Allen is correct. There are comedians who just connect with a world wide audience despite comedic insufficencies and others who just don't yet seem in my kind to be very artisitic.

My top comedians list:
Rodney Dangerfield
George Carlin
Woody Allen
Steve Martin
Lenny Bruce
Robert Klein
Richard Pryor

Fighting Ways

2005-12-11T19:50:00.000-05:00

I did not like the martial arts dojo I am under contract at. This is changing. I originally signed up for karate/kempo. I don't really like the karate classe. We don't spar, occasionally do pad work and do lots of kata. They also teach various weapons which are fun but infrequently done like kali sticks. What I didn't realize when I signed up was they have 2 locations and the 2nd location offers Brazilian Jiu Jitsu which I am allowed to take with my tuition. So why not switch? Brazilian Jiu Jitsu = BJJ

info on BJJ here
http://bjj.org/

BJJ had major advantages to what I am taking. First of all its a much tougher workout. Second you get the opportunity to apply techniques to someone trying to resist it. There is sparring and competitions. Its great to be doing sports again.

I do have some problems with BJJ in terms of self defense. BJJ proponents say most fights go to the ground so you should learn to fight there. I agree. But why do most fights go to the ground? First, someone gets knocked down by a punch or kick. Certainly you can practise parrying strikes as well as taking hits. You need to learn to fight on your feet. Second is someone can push or shove you. This too can be handled but learning how to fight on your feet. Stand up grappling can teach you how to handle this. The thrid reason people go to the ground is a lack of balance and athleticism to handle things on your feet. Being fit by working out in most sports will help that.

Alternative comedy

2005-12-07T12:01:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking more about alternative comedy. The defintion of alternative comedy that i work with is comedy that isn't booked into mainstream outlets. They aren't booked there because the bookers, managers and audiences attracted to these locations don't dig it. Other audiences might but not at mainstream locations.

With ipods, cell phones, 24 hour satelitte comedy channels and the like, there are plenty of venues for comedy that hardly existed last year much less 5 years ago. With new technology, anyone can write, perform and produce comedy products and release it to the general public. They can gain national attention without the help of major corporations, industry people and others who in reality know nothing of comedy.

Aziz and the Voice

2005-12-04T22:04:00.000-05:00

http://www.ucbtheatre.com/news.php?id=123

Aziz Ansari did this interview in the Village Voice. I find it interesting that he believes that comedy should be free or cheap. Actually disagree with him here. How do you get paid as a comedian? When people pay to see you perform. I do not know what Aziz is thinking but he can make so much money if he rented a theater and promoted it. Than again, I am not doing interviews with the Village Voice.

Aziz says he doesn't know alternative comedy is. I will define it.

Alternative comedy is comedy that is
1: Not funny
2: Funny but not mainstream & therfore won't be booked in more conventional outlets.

Special guests at comedy show

2005-12-04T19:45:00.000-05:00

I took a comedy class once again. I was trying to come up with new comedy material. There was another student in the class, middle aged guy, late 40's, bald, usually wore a business casual suit, no tie. He wore a nametag as a part of his routine. His name is Ted Greenberg. I never had a chance to talk to him but I had seen him in this class when I took it in the summer. He reminded me of a 70 something year old investment banker I know from magic, Alan Greenberg. Alan Greenberg used to be the CEO of Bear Sterns before he retired. I know him through being a magician.

The class had a showcase like all good comedy classes do. In comes Alan Greenberg, his wife, his daugeter and son in law and their 20 somthing aged children. Also David Roth came in. David Roth is the world's most famous coin magician. His credits include Letterman. He wrote the book on coin magic with the help of Alan Greenberg. Mr. Roth brought his "best friend" in, a woman who's his girfriend.

Interesting showcase though. The host is 23 and kind of shaky as a comic. His crowd work was off. There were several people debuting in stand up comedy or relatively new. They were nervous and aren't funny yet. They guy before me did better. I killed. Ted Greenberg killed...legitimetly. Not just because the whole family seemed to be there. There were a couple of other comics who did okay, kind of.

Alan Greenburg, David Roth and others were delighted with my set. Many people went out of there way to tell me. I guess thats good. The teacher of the class said he like my political material. He's the second person to say so recently.

comedy, coalitions and stuff

2005-12-03T12:16:00.000-05:00

I attened a comedy coalition meeting in NYC. The NYC Comedy Coalition is a coalition of stand up comics. It originally formed with the purpose of getting comics who have achieved a level of getting paid to do NYC spots higher pay for which it was successful. For the rest of us...nothing much. I attend and volunteer anyway. Why? I agree with the cause.

This time we met to discuss something more serious. The use and misuse of new technology. With High speed connections, Ipods and cellphones, downloadable programing is rising. Advertising can placed on it. THat means companies make tens of thousands in ad revenue if they can get content. Content is done by talent. Talent always gets screwed unless your already a star. Alot of these companies are currently getting talent for free. And they make the talent sign contracts which say they company owns the material you perform for them.

Some girl asked a question about improv and talking head shows on VH-1 and other cable networks on an improv comedy website/forum. She writing an article for a class in journalism, I replied with coalition info. The coalition referred to these shows because they don't pay. Were meeting on Sunday.

Katrina misreporting

2005-11-28T23:31:00.000-05:00

http://www.reason.com/0512/co.mw.they.shtml

location

2005-11-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

I have been considering locations. I would like to have a free location. I spent 8 moths in a yoga studio splitting the door. There problems I had with it.

One was that the owner would occasionally cancel on me last minute. Hard to properly market than. Some performers didn't like me because of that.

Another was I was on the 7th floor of a building. Try getting more than 2 people there a week.

The advantage? I had it the whole night. As long as it was clean afterwards I could bring in a band. A band brough more people than any other performancew group. Huh

Places I am considering now?

Otto's Shrunken Head E14th & Ave A
Red Room Theater W4th & 2nd

Various factors

2005-11-21T11:45:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking about the time and location. I had a friend who coproduced a monthly comedic literary series. It built a following, mostly female. Nothing wrong with that but that was who the show appealled to. The three female producers performed and most of the other performes were female as well.

who will my show appeall too? Need that for marketing.

There show was monthly and they had no problem building a following. I need to build a following.

Various ideas on my own show

2005-11-20T18:42:00.000-05:00

I am interested in creating a show in NYC where I can get an attentive audience. I would be very interested in getting. I would really enjoy performing mind blowing effects for an adult crowd who are there to see me.

I was talking with Simon, a well known magician. He has a weekly Saturday night show in SoHo. Last night he had only 10 to 15 audience members but he generally fills the place. He was the pick of the week in New York magazine. He had a piece done in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post and other publications. I was interested in how I got so much press. He told me he has a press agent. A press agent! He pays her 1000 a week. I can't afford that. That's nuts. I wonder if I can get a press agent who would work for considerably less like a hundred dollars for 1 hr a week.

other comics

2005-11-19T13:46:00.000-05:00

I admit I envious of the apparent success of other comics I deem less funny. I am the only one to blame for this but I still blame them. It's a bad habit.

Back 2002ish, a bunch of my friends decided to attend a local road gig in West Nyack in a hotel. Lisa Lampenelli was headlining. Her opening and middle comic that night were both open mikers I knew. Neither had been around the open mike circuit much anymore. Now I knew why. I was surprised to see them doing road gigs at the time. In hindsight I should not have. I had at the time the notion that when you "make it" you get road gigs. It never formulated it that way in my head but when I saw them, I realized that was my preconceived notion. Neither of them were bad but neither of them were great either. I could be doing that and enjoying it more. But I did nothing about it.

Haven't done much about getting road gigs. I have had several failed attempts ad getting a decsen't video tape. That was about it. Took classes, tried producing shows without alot of marketing.

I see alot of comics who are creating careers and they aren't even that good. They networked properly. They got in underground NYC shows instead of wasting time at open mikes.

There is this comic named Amber. I had a conversation with her once at an open mike. Never seen her at that open mike before or since. She started stand up in 2002 or 2003 and got a manager in 2004. SHe performs alot in rooms considered hard to get into. That being said I have never seen her been funny.

These are things that I should not be focusing on. I am the problem, not Amber or others in her situation. These things are life. It happens in every field.

Democracy, you tax dollars at work!

2005-11-19T11:53:00.000-05:00

Democracy in action. Glad we could spread it.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/18/AR2005111802165_pf.html

The quest for an attentive audience

2005-11-18T16:54:00.000-05:00

Comedy requires an attentive audience.

Jay Leno started to do strip clubs as a new comic. Not until he moved into a jazz club did people start listening. Thats where he started to develop.

Aziz Ansario, the current NYC "it" comic has at least 1 every week where he can try out new stuff. Of course he performs more than that but he has UCB theater 1x a week to push the limit. He books top comics to play with him. I am impressed to say the least and I have never attended.

I need to create a place for me to do this. Open mikes are nothing more than a collection of new comics starting out and older comics trying new material. Not really an attentive audience. There are NYC underground rooms to perform in. Either I don't like the booker, or the booker doesn't know me. I don't like to beg for 5 minutes in a month or two. Comedy clubs will only give me bringers. I am resorting to bring the same group of people over and over again.

emerging comics

2005-11-18T13:25:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking about comedians that are breaking through. Comics since 2000ish that seem to have gone from no career to some sort of career. Mike Birbiglia, Aziz Ansario & Chrisitan Finnagan are some of the names that come to mind. There are others. I can't think of all of them. They make televeision appearences on low rent cable programs on VH1, MTV and Comedy Central.

Some of these comics were at open mikeers with me, others were already doing NYC underground comedy rooms when I started. All of them currently do underground rooms.

There is a comic named Nick who runs a weekly show Rififi. He's now in an Verizon commercial. He stole material once a few years back and sold it to Comedy Central.

Clinton and Saddam

2005-11-15T22:15:00.000-05:00

www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/16/transcripts/clinton.html

I still am clueless. Bush lied. He made Saddam to be a threat he wasn't. But it appears Clinton is doing the same. I am led to believe Bush did it because of oil or what Bush is told to do by his "brain". Why did Clinton do it? Where is the evidence that such programs existed in 1998.

Saddam Hussein

2005-11-14T23:23:00.000-05:00

How big a problem was Saddam Hussein? Seemed to me he was an ongoing problem after Gulf War I. Bush 41 didn't finish him off. Agreed to end the war on the basis that Saddam open his war chest to the UN and destroy WMDs. Saddam than tried to kill the Kurds, the Shiites and Bush 41 during the Clinton years.

Clinton didn't want to get involved in another Vietnam. In 8 years he cut the size of the military while using the military quite often. His policy on Iraq was little other than a policy of containment. Saddam continued to break the agreement. In 1998 Clinton bombed Iraq again siting WMD programs. Clinton contiually was critized for "Wagging the Dog"

In 2001, Iraq came up after the 9/11 terror attacks. The Bush administration wanted to remove Saddam from power. The suggessted he was trying to arm again and had some association to Al Qeida. They left the impression of involvement in 9/11 without saying as much. There was even news reports of Iraqi intelligence agents meeting with Mohammed Atta.

The reason I bring this up is I do believe Saddam was an ongoing problem. Liberals say Bush lied. I am sure this true on various levels but Saddam was still a bad guy. My belief that Saddam should have been removed is independant of Bush's presidencey. Bush is a politician. What do you expect of him? Clinton wasn't better. Neither was Bush 41. But every left winger in this country makes the Iraq war seem like it was completly invented and there was no connection between what happened in the 1990's and today.

random thoughts on media

2005-11-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

Katrina was suppossed to have caused 10,000 deaths according to the media. We are just below 1,000 and things are returning to normal. Media screwed this one up big time. Doom and Gloom is their motto. "The world is ending tomorrow! Women, Children & minorities hardest hit!"

Former FEMA head Mike Brown seems to have been incompitent and should never have headed FEMA. He got the position due to being loyal to Bush. Not good.

LA Gov, a democrat, was playing politics against Pres. Bush. This is the cause of their slow response.

New Orleans mayor was incompetant. Didn't call out city buses like his evac plan had down. Busses were flooded and became useless.

European media critized US for divide between rich and poor and white and black. 14 days of Muslim rioting around Paris shows they have the same thing. Should not throw stones if you live in a glass house.

Mary Madalin was the producer of the CBS news report on George Bush's national guard service. She put false documents on the air. Now she is claiming its not up to her to prove their true but up to critics to prove their false. First off she is a critic of Bush's nation guard service. If she is consistent, she has to prove the documents are true.

Steven Siegel

2005-11-11T14:15:00.000-05:00

http://inat.org/JKD/movies/Aikido-Steven%20Seagal.mpg

check out Steven Siegal doing aikido