Happy Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting.
Upcoming Shows
EVERYWHERE:
You can listen to You're the Expert, my podcast where three comedians interview a scientist about her work and why it matters. Link
No Hard Feelings is in book stores on February 5th in the U.S., but for any readers abroad, it's out this week in the U.K. You can read more about it and pre-order here: Link
NEW YORK CITY:
TONIGHT Saturday, January 26 at the Brick Theater. I'm improvising with some of NYC's best on the very fun Monster Mash show. Link
Tuesday, February 5 at Powerhouse Arena. Come join me in the audience for Mollie and Liz's official book release! They're going to have prizes, a photo station, and of course, they'll be reading from their newly published book. Link
I know I've said this in like 4 separate emails at this point, but I'm going to put up my new tour dates ASAP. I'm just waiting on a few venue details to be finalized and then I'll put them online here.
This week’s list
GREAT:
I was not aware that cities having mascots in Japan was a thing, but apparently it is and I love it. The only way it could get better is if there were unauthorized mascots that went rogue. Oh wait? That's a thing too. Let me introduce you to Chiitan, perhaps the greatest anthropomorphic otter in the history of Earth. In the words of The New York Times, "A Rogue Mascot Causes Headaches for a Japanese City." Or if you're the type that doesn't want any context and just wants to see what it means for an otter to stage "dark" "dangerous and non-child-friendly" stunts, watch this.
FUNNY:
One of my favorite parts of comedy is when a performer identifies something incredibly specific that we all recognize but have never bothered to think about before. Natalie Walker is the master of finding those in the movies. She makes hilarious videos auditioning for parts like "lady with British accent who so fiercely supports the difficult man she loves" or "Boston lady who represents rough past." My personal favorite is "lady who is married to a history-making man."
(Another excellent example of these is Chris Calogero's audition to play "Chief of Police.")
INTERESTING:
I've always been a fan of Michael J. Fox's movies and I had a sort of generic admiration for how he's battled Parkinson's disease, but I never realized how dramatically he's changed medical research. His foundation has created a new model for fighting diseases through its innovative fundraising/spending and by hiring scientists full-time and prioritizing collaboration. I read the story in Bloomberg in this fascinating op-ed by Joe Nocera. The Michael J. Fox Foundation Gets Results
Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If you're reading this for the first time (maybe someone forwarded you this email?), you can subscribe here.
Have a great day,
Chris