3 Things: Earth's Core, Startup Madlibs, and Jason Everman
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. I've also got some of my upcoming shows featured below. If you know anyone who you think would enjoy this, feel free to spread the word! They can sign up here or to see the archive of past emails, click here.
SHOW UPDATE:
I've got a couple very big shows coming up. If you're on the East Coast and you've been meaning to come out and see something, these would be the ones to go to:
NYC: Tonight at 7:30, I'm the featured monologist at The Armando Diaz Experience.
Providence: On April 4 I'm performing standup and moderating a panel at the Brown University Comedy Conference
Boston: On April 18 and 19th, two live tapings co-presented by the Cambridge Science Festival and Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival
Chapel Hill, NC: April 24, Taste Test Comedy is at the DSI Theater.
Philadelphia: Friday, May 1, You're the Expert is coming to the Franklin Institute
West Coast, I'll be out your way in the Fall (if not sooner!). Bay Area people, mark Friday, October 23 on your calendars! More details coming soon.
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
This BBC "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" is shockingly well-made and exciting considering it's literally just facts about how deep different holes are. But I have wasted hours on here this week. I learned that a man in London once burrowed 8 meters under his own house over a 40-year period. I learned that if you dive to 60 meters, it's equivalent to drinking six martinis, and I learned that the deepest hotel room is in a silver mine in Sweden. Now I just need to look up meter conversions... Try it for yourself: Journey to the Centre of the Earth
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
This tech startup job posting generator by Liz Fosslien is hilarious, but also pretty biting satire. I love it. Fill in a couple blanks and out pops a custom-made tech company desperately looking for recruits. It's one of my all-time favorite Madlibs. Join Us
1 Interesting Thing:
Jason Everman was kicked out of Nirvana just before they became superstars. His rebound was to join Soundgarden. And he got kicked out again. So what did he do next? How do you deal with just barely missing out on your big break not once, but twice? Everman joined the Army and became one of the most highly decorated and respected Special Forces members alive. The story of Jason Everman's journey from punk rock to fighting the Taliban and beyond isn't new (this article came out in 2013) but I had never heard it before and it's amazing. I truly can't believe there's not already a biopic about this. The Rock 'n' Roll Casualty Who Became A War Hero (h/t Nate Lopez for sending this my way)
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
3 Things: StoryCorps, MuckRock, and Weathermen
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. I've also got some of my upcoming shows featured below. If you know anyone who you think would enjoy this, feel free to spread the word! They can sign up here or to see the archive of past emails, click here.
SHOW UPDATE:
This afternoon at 5 p.m., I'm doing a show featuring a guided chocolate tasting from Brooklyn's Raaka Chocolate and then a selection of comedians telling their best jokes about food. There's even a chocolate themed musical number! The show is officially sold out, but if you want to come, shoot me an email and I might be able to get you in!
Next Saturday (3/28), I'll be performing at the Magnet Theater for the Armando Diaz Experience. They take my stories and improvise scenes based off them. It's legitimately one of the most fun shows I do. Come see it!
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
I often feel like I know the people talking when I listen to StoryCorps. But this story really caught me off guard, because I actually do know this person. It's my friend Zibby! Her boyfriend proposed to her during a StoryCorps session and they're both such quiet understated goofballs that it led to some pretty hilarious audio. I challenge you to listen to this without smiling. StoryCorps Chicago: Will You Marry Me?
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Hard-hitting investigative journalism is not dead. Last June, MuckRock requested "all complaints Amtrak received regarding its lounge cars over the past two years. Last week, after nine months of processing, the responsive docs finally came in, and boy, those must have been a busy nine months." Amtrak redacted these complaints to a ridiculous degree and their bumbling coverup only led to even more hilarious results. You've got to read these: Amtrak Complaints
1 Interesting Thing:
"On a moonless night in October 2001, an American helicopter lifted off from an airbase in Uzbekistan, banking south on a covert mission into Afghanistan. Inside was one of America's most elite and unknown special operators, hand-selected for a job so important that the wider war on terror hinged on its success."
Spoiler alert: he's a weatherman. Before I read Tony Doukoupil's reporting, I thought Al Roker had the most dangerous job in meteorology. Now I know there are way more serious risks than an overeager family from Topeka. Definitely check out this story about the hard-charging, parachuting commandos who predict the weather in war zones. Send in the Weathermen
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
3 Things: Pi Day, Pattern Behavior, and Ikea
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. I've also got some of my upcoming shows featured below. If you know anyone who you think would enjoy this, feel free to spread the word! They can sign up here or to see the archive of past emails, click here.
SHOW UPDATE: Tomorrow (March 15), I'm doing a Boston You're the Expert taping in Davis Square at 7 p.m. Come see the show!
Next Saturday (3/21) in NYC, I'm doing a show featuring a guided chocolate tasting from Brooklyn's Raaka Chocolate and then a selection of comedians telling their best jokes about food. There's even a chocolate themed musical number! Check out Taste Test Comedy here
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
For a long time, I didn't understand the appeal of Pi Day. Sure, March 14 is 3/14. That coincidence just seemed to be an excuse for middle school math teachers to get you to do some extra geometry. But last year I happened to be doing a show at Caltech on March 14 and I entered a whole new world. They take Pi Day very seriously. How seriously? My buddy Naveen just sent me this email "My former roommate is getting married at 9:26 am: 3.1415926... Unsurprisingly, he went to Caltech."
You know what? The Pi Day enthusiasm at Caltech really won me over. I've got a soft spot for educational nonsense that involves baked goods. So get out there and eat a slice of pie today. If you're wondering why anyone would get so worked up over a mathematical concept, read this great piece by Cornell mathematician (and Pi Day skeptic) Stephen Strogatz. Why Pi Matters
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Here's a very simple concept that's nonetheless original and hilarious. What if the drawings of people from old sewing patterns could talk? Natalie Kossar supplies the dialogue and vintage ads become short, absurdist plays. McCall's Pattern Behavior
1 Interesting Thing:
This Fortune magazine article on Ikea's world domination is one of the most fascinating stories I've ever read and not just because the author managed to get the phrase "Ikea is going meatballs out" past her editor.
Ikea is a $40 billion company that sells a Billy bookcase every 10 seconds. But they also took six years of in-depth research before opening their first store in South Korea. What Ikea knows about the subtle differences between cultures is astonishing. Here's a fun tidbit: when Ikea first opened in the US, they sold a confusingly large number of vases, until they realized Americans were using them as drinking glasses. The Swedish cups were too small. Read all about that and more here: It's Ikea's World, We Just Live In It
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
