Hi friends,
It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can see the archive and sign up to get these emails here.
Upcoming shows
EVERYWHERE:
On this week's episode of The Payoff, Antonia Cereijido and I figure out the basics of investing. Like the very basics: what is an IRA and how do you put money in it? Link
Three comedians try to guess what a leading scientist does all day and then find out why their research is important and exciting on You're the Expert. Link
Explorer airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on the National Geographic Channel. Link
NYC:
Nearly all the dates for the Living Room Comedy Club are sold out or about to sell out, but there are a couple spaces left. The first few shows have been so much fun and truly weird. This Tuesday (5/23), there are a few seats open for a show we're doing in an artist commune / loft that's most often used as a backdrop for "boudoir photography." I strongly encourage you to come. It's guaranteed to be memorable. Details on that show (and all the others) here: Link
SOMERVILLE, MA:
Sunday, June 4th at 4:00 p.m. at The Rockwell. You're the Expert is taping an episode and you can be in the live audience. Link
CAMBRIDGE, MA:
Sunday, June 4th at 7:30 p.m. at ImprovBoston. Come join me for an hour of standup and surprises. Link
SAN FRANCISCO:
Wednesday, July 19 at 8:30 p.m. at The Lost Church. I'm coming back to the Bay Area with my variety show You Get A Spoon! Comedy, music, prizes, and the world's greatest cutlery. Mark your calendars!
My full calendar with all upcoming shows is online here.
This week's list
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
Every once in a while, I sit down to write one of these emails and I'm astonished that I haven't recommended someone's work yet. I went back and checked the archives three times but somehow I haven't included Sarah Kay until now. If you don't know her, she's one of the most talented and successful spoken word poets alive. She tours the world selling out shows across the U.S. and abroad, and she's changing ideas about what it means to be a poet. I am an enormous fan. She's a model of how to connect with a huge amount of people while staying personal and vulnerable and always growing as an artist. Whenever there's turbulence in the outside world, I find myself turning to her work, especially this poem: Jakarta, January
You can see more of Sarah's work on her website here, including her TED Talk that's been viewed 10 million times.
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Branson Reese is a cartoonist with a dark and demented sense of humor. My most frequent reaction to seeing one of his comics is to laugh very hard and then say "Oh no!" He's got a gift. Who else is writing jokes about the twisted engineers who made Thomas the Talking Train one minute and then experimental jazz the next? The Internet's Weirdest Artist, Branson Reese
1 Interesting Thing:
Janelle Shane is a research scientist in Colorado, who plays with neural networks for fun. Basically she tries to teach computers how to think creatively. Janelle tried to get a neural network to write new recipes based on old cookbooks and the food they came up with is unreal. I can't stop laughing every time I think about the recipe for "Beef Soup with Swamp Peef and Cheese." Recipes Written By A Computer (h/t Alex Franks)
Have a great day,
Chris