Happy Saturday!
I've never seen people so enthusiastic and determined about personal hygiene. Thanks to coronavirus, thorough hand-washing is even a viral dance on TikTok. And yesterday, the city of Austin canceled all of SXSW. It's wild! I flew to San Francisco this week to tell jokes at a corporate event. The airport was deserted and I was the only person in line for TSA. So there are some perks to COVID-19.
Here in LA, people are definitely stocking up. I went to Costco to pick up groceries and it was packed full of very nervous people buying ungodly amounts of toilet paper. As far as I can tell, most folks here never put together emergency kits for wildfires or earthquakes, but COVID is finally making them do it. There's no doubt that after the next big earthquake, everyone in LA will have perfectly sanitized hands.
I hope you're staying safe and healthy! Remember to cough directly into your elbows, and then bump those same elbows with other people as a way to avoid shaking hands.
Upcoming events
AUSTIN, TX
CANCELLED Sunday, March 15th at 5:30 pm. I'll be at SXSW for a special live taping of You're the Expert.
LOS ANGELES, CA
Wednesday, March 25th at 7 pm at the Lyric-Hyperion Theatre. Matt Porter and I are hosting another edition of Powerful Points, where comedians give presentations. Link (STILL HAPPENING!)
DETROIT, MI
CANCELLED Tuesday, March 31. I'll be performing one of my Pop-Up Magazine stories at the Local News Summit.
This week’s list
GREAT:
Pooja Reddy is an NYC comedian and writer. She was "born in Brooklyn and confusingly raised in rural Kentucky" and is "a recovering government employee under the Obama Administration." Pooja has a natural comfort on stage and a warmth that comes across on screen. She's great. Her latest video for ABC's Localish is about Punjabi Deli, one of the food spots I miss most from New York. Nothing beats a late night combo of #1, #3, and #5 with a samosa on the side. This Is Where You Can Find the Most Authentic South Asian Food in New York
FUNNY:
David Shrigley's artwork consistently makes me laugh out loud. He's created an immediately recognizable visual style and he has a bizarre and perfect sense of humor. It seems mutually exclusive, but he's able to craft jokes that feel topical while also being evergreen. (See his most recent post on Instagram.) I love exploring his website: David Shrigley's Drawing and Painting
INTERESTING:
If I care about fighting climate change, I guess I'm going to start having to care about garbage. This article by Rivka Galchen was eye-opening about how terrible food waste is for the environment and emissions. But unlike many climate change articles, she highlights a practical solution. We can learn from South Korea, where 95% of food waste is recycled. "Automated bins, rooftop farms, and underground mushroom-growing help clean up the mess." It's an important story that also gave me hope! Who would have thought it was possible? How South Korea is Composting Its Way to Sustainability
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Safely quarantined inside the internet,
Chris