3 Things: Kurt Braunohler, Avoiding Ships, and Maritime Law /  by Chris Duffy

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 and/or see the archive of past emails here.

SHOW UPDATE:  

NYC: TOMORROW, Sunday (7/19) at 7 p.m. at Under St Marks, I've got this months's edition of "You Get A Spoon!" with prizes and performers from some incredible artists.This month we've got jazz trumpet from the incomparable Riley Mulherkar, old timey Prohibition music from Camp Street, and short nonfiction films by Noah Hutton. PLUS SO MANY PRIZES! Details and tickets here 

BOSTON: Thursday, July 23, I'm doing a live You're the Expert show at the Paramount Theater. We've got Scott Adsit from 30 Rock, Jo Firestone, and Steve Almond on the panel and the show is a fundraiser for the Boston Book Festival. I hope you'll come to the show!Details and tickets here

Also, if you tune in to WBUR today, they're airing our "Biological Clocks" episode featuring the work of Colgate's Dr. Krista Ingram, who studies how our bodies keep track of time. This episode features Eugene Mirman, Elna Baker, and Scott Adsit. You can hear it live on WBUR 90.9 FM in Boston at 6 p.m. today or on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Of course, you can always hear the show or download past episodes online here. 

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


Today's 3 Things are all nautical themed because it is very hot outside and I have water on the brain (metaphorically, not clinically). 

First up, Kurt Braunohler is a comedian with a heart of gold. He comes up with the silliest ideas and always manages to have so much fun bringing them into reality. His Comedy Central webseries, Roustabout, features Kurt jetskiing the entire length of the Mississippi River to raise money for the charity Heifer International. It's for a good cause and also so profoundly dumb that it becomes brilliant and hilarious. Plus, it's only six minutes long.Roustabout Episode 1: Chicago
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

A lot of what has been making me laugh recently has been found comedy. Regular people, not comedians, who decide they are going to create the funniest things around. A great example of this is the crew of geniuses who gathered to review a book on Amazon called How to Avoid Huge Ships. The reviews are spectacular. I cannot stop laughing. How to Avoid Huge Ships by John W. Trimmer
 

1 Interesting Thing:

"Few crimes are tougher to investigate than those that occur at sea. There are no cameras on the corner, no phones to tap, usually no weapons to retrieve. Crew members are often changed mid-voyage, so witnesses are scarce." The New York Times' look at lawlessness in international waters is both fascinating and terrifying. From ships dumping "more oil than spilled in the Deepwater Horizon and Exxon Valdez accidents combined" to drug smuggling and outright murder, no one is being held accountable. Ian Urbina does an outstanding job of taking the big bureaucratic issues and transforming them into a thriller. Read this: Stowaways and Crimes Aboard a Scofflaw Ship


Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Oliver Sacks, The Chris Gethard Show, and Dylan Marron /  by Chris Duffy

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 and/or see the archive of past emails here.

SHOW UPDATE:  

Boston: Sunday (7/12) at 7:30 p.m. I'll be hosting Taste Test Comedy at ImprovBostonfeaturing free small bites from local vendors and jokes from Myq Kaplan (Comedy Central, America's Got Talent), Matt Donaher (Conan), Kelly MacFarland (Last Comic Standing), Kevin Seefried, and me! Get tickets here

NYC: Wednesday (7/15) at 8 p.m. at the Two Boots Pizzeria in Park Slope, I'm doing a set on Christian Polanco's fantastic standup show Knockin' Boots. It's free and there's also pizza. This is a clear win. 

NYC: Sunday (7/19) at 7 p.m. at Under St Marks, I've got this months's edition of "You Get A Spoon!" with prizes and performers from some incredible artists.This month we've got jazz trumpet from the incomparable Riley Mulherkar, old timey Prohibition music from Camp Street, and more than a few surprises. Details and tickets here 

Last but not least, we've got two more weeks left in You're the Expert's first on-air run on WBUR! Today they're airing our "Comparative Lactation" episode featuring the work of Harvard's Katie Hinde, who studies the breast milk of different mammals. This episode features Eugene Mirman, Wyatt Cenac, and Sarah Vowell. You can hear it live on WBUR 90.9 FM in Boston at 6 p.m. today or on Wednesday at 9 p.m. Of course, you can alwayshear the show or download past episodes online here. 

(Final request: If you haven't please fill out this online survey and tell WBUR you love You're the Expert. We're in a pilot phase right now but if enough people give positive feedback we'll make the jump to a regular weekly program and maybe even go nationwide)

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


Oliver Sacks is one of the greatest writers and minds of our time. To have written so lucidly and compellingly about his patients, the broader field of neuroscience, and his own personal experiences is a stunning accomplishment. But he's going even beyond that now in the way he's facing death with such dignity and grace. Maria Popova has a similar gift for taking the intellectual and making it poetic. Her tribute to Oliver Sacks and the role that art and music played in his life is a must read. Musicked Down the Mountain: How Oliver Sacks Saved His Own Life by Literature and Song

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Breakdancing. Confetti. Bunnies. Drunk audience members. A baby in a tuxedo. The newest episode of The Chris Gethard Show has all these and more. Ellie Kemper fromUnbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is the celebrity guest and together with Gethard they attempt to make the most positive 22 minutes of television ever. I'm a longtime fan ofTCGS but I'm only now catching up on their network TV episodes. In a fantastic way, I think they're even better. The comedy is more condensed and accessible but it's still the craziest show around. For example, last week they had an actual marriage for three couples live on-air and Will Ferrell gave best man toasts. Even more than the jokes, the sheer insanity of it all makes me laugh. TCGS: You OK? with Ellie Kemper
 

1 Interesting Thing:

Dylan Marron is a fantastic actor. He's been in many of my favorite live shows and web series, from Whatever This Is to Ridgewood Middle School Talent Nite with Jo Firestone.He deserves to be famous. But Dylan's also been making these very powerful and thought provoking videos called Every Single Word, that highlight how little screen time actors of color receive in Hollywood. He talks about that project and more in this Washington Post interview with Soraya Nadia McDonald. It's one of the most nuanced and thoughtful conversations about race in entertainment that I've read. WaPo: Meet Dylan Marron 


Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Lightning Notes, Bernie Sanders, and Ghostwriters /  by Chris Duffy

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:  

No live shows this week. I'm taking a vacation and going to my friend Meg's wedding.

But have no fear! You can catch an episode of You're the Expert airing on WBUR today at6 p.m. and again on Wednesday at 9 p.m. We recorded this one at the Philadelphia Science Festival and it features panelists Jo Firestone, Wyatt Cenac, and Zhubin Parang. Tune in at 90.9 FM or stream the show live on WBUR's website. 

It would also be a huge help to me if you would fill out this online survey and tell WBUR you love the show. Help keep us on the air!

Ok, on to this week's list.
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


Caitie Whelan used to be a Senior Foreign Policy Advisor in Congress before quitting to start The Lightning Notes, a new website/newsletter. I bet Caitie wrote some killer memos, because she's mastered the ability to get big ideas across in just a few words. Her essay on the importance of the people we surround ourselves with has really stuck with me. There's a great anecdote about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien workshopping writing together (and, I'm guessing, complimenting each other on using letters instead of first names). But the piece that really stuck with me was this: "Sometimes we are lucky to live and work in areas filled with great minds and hearts. But oftentimes, we have to go out and find them ourselves. And then we have to find time for them. Our calendar is a reflection of the people we want to become." Read the whole thing and check out more of Caitie's work here: The Lightning Notes



1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Bernie Sanders is an inspiring progressive politician who's been rightly attracting attention lately. A lot of people also think he's boring. But not after they see this new television ad! James Adomian does a pitch-perfect impression of Bernie, and this line might be the funniest thing I've heard all year "Despite the fact that 80% of everyone agrees with me on 90% of everything, the corporate-controlled media says that I can't win because I look like a train conductor with cotton candy hair and I sound like a bullfrog with the personality of a library card." Bernie Sanders is Not Boring
 

1 Interesting Thing:

"People were talking about my speech the whole wedding." Bruce Feiler has a story in the NYT about an apparently booming business: ghostwriters for wedding toasts and bar mitzvah speeches. After all, they say most people fear public speaking more than death. And if Obama can have a team helping him out, why can't Dad get in on that action? I feel pretty set on the speaking front, but if anyone knows of a body double who can dance, please contact me directly. Turning to a Ghostwriter for a Personal Toast


Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris