3 Things: Urban Explorers, Startup Cartoons, and Yakuza Halloween
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. If you feel like you haven't gotten these emails in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. For live shows, I've got a bunch featured below and a complete list on my website. Feel free to spread the word about these emails! Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.
SHOW UPDATES:
One last show in California and then I'm back to the East Coast!
LOS ANGELES:
Sunday, November 1 at 8:30 p.m. LA Weekly called YOU GET A SPOON! a "Pick of the Week." I'll tell jokes, Tess Plant-Thomas will sing songs, and Charlie Harding from Switched on Pop will be recording a live version of his podcast. We'll each share some of our favorite things with the audience and give them out as prizes (including the eponymous spoon, which is the greatest kitchen utensil of all time) Details/tickets here
NEW YORK:
Monday, November 2 at 8:30 p.m. Evan Barden and my comedy show / foreign language school is back with a new name and language. We're now called "An Hour Abroad" and this month, we're taking you to Brazil to teach you Portuguese. I likely won't make it to the show because of my flight back from LA, but you should come anyway because you'll learn interesting Portuguese phrases, hear jokes, and take the fastest international vacation of your life. Get tickets here
Friday, November 6 at 10 p.m. I'm doing a short standup set at the Universe City 1-Year Anniversary Show. Joe Zimmerman, Raj Sivaraman, and Jono Zalay host and it should be a lot of fun! Free, but you can see more info here
You can also see my full schedule up on the website now.
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
This video about the Urban Explorer movement, shot and edited by Jeff Seal, is full of absolutely mind-blowing images. Apparently there's a movement of young people exploring hidden spaces in New York City, subway tunnels and construction sites and hidden passageways, in search of the perfect photo. There's a big part of me that is an old man and wants to tell these young whippersnappers to stop trespassing and putting their lives at risk. But there's another part of me that cannot deny how cool what they do is. I'll also admit that I'm partial to any video that starts with "The activities depicted in this video are illegal and highly dangerous" but I can't imagine someone watching this and not having at least some new sense of wonder about our urban spaces. How Instagram Fuels the Urban Explorer Movement
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Mollie West and cartoonist Liz Fosslien teamed up for this piece on Quartz about disastrous business practices. It's very funny (my favorite cartoon is #4) but also I think potentially very useful for anyone who works in a large organization or on a team. I don't want to say too much more, because Mollie and Liz do a great job of explaining it all themselves, so let me just point you in the right direction: 10 Ways to Ruin Your Start-up's Culture
1 Interesting Thing:
Happy Halloween! Unless you're in an organized crime syndicate in Japan. In that case, Halloween celebrations have been called off this year. According to The Daily Beast, an annual Halloween celebration at Yakuza headquarters in Kobe has been cancelled due to a looming gang war. There are so many fascinating things about the story, not least of which is that the Yakuza publicly hold a family-friendly event each year. "Each Oct. 31, the gangsters famous for their permanent costumes (tattoos, missing digits, and the like) invited ordinary citizens, mostly small children in 'scary' outfits, to have fun with extortion, demanding Japanese candies and snacks." Read the whole thing here: Japan's Yakuza Cancels Halloween
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
3 Things: Myq Kaplan, Bernie vs Trump, and Korean Reunions
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. If you feel like you haven't gotten these emails in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. For live shows, I've got a bunch featured below and a complete list on my website. Feel free to spread the word about these emails! Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.
SHOW UPDATES:
Thank you to everyone who came out to the show at the Castro Theatre last night! It was the biggest show I've ever done and it really meant a lot to look out into the audience and see so many friendly faces. I'm on the West Coast for one more week before heading back to NYC, so if you're out here and I haven't seen you yet, please get in touch or stop by a show!
SAN FRANCISCO:
Monday, October 26, I'll be at The Hall SF telling jokes/stories about food for Taste Test Comedy. We'll also have lots of great free samples from local food companies. Only 10 tickets left! Get them here
Tuesday, October 27, I'm hosting my variety show / prize giveaway YOU GET A SPOON! I'll tell jokes, Andrew Evans will do magic, and Kevin Roose will read his work. Plus so many prizes. Details/tickets here
SAN DIEGO:
A limited number of free tickets were just released to the public for our You're the Expert taping on Wednesday, October 28 at 6 p.m. Register online here
LOS ANGELES:
I'll be back in town to do a bunch of short standup spots, but also to host YOU GET A SPOON! on November 1. I'll tell jokes, Tess Plant-Thomas will sing songs, and Charlie Harding from Switched on Pop will be recording a live version of his podcast.Details/tickets here
You can see my full schedule up on the website now.
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
Myq Kaplan puts out new material so frequently and relentlessly that he's often described as a "comedy machine" or "comedy robot." But what that description misses is how kind of a person he is. Myq has done more to encourage me and support my comedy career than just about anyone. And he does that for dozens, if not hundreds, of other people too. As a performer, there's no one like him. Myq's a trained linguist, so his brain is constantly analyzing words, turning them around, and creating hilarity out of the most basic interactions. Check out this great video, part of a new webseries "Know What I'm Saying?", where Myq breaks down the meaning of the phrase "By Hook or By Crook." It's both very funny and very interesting, just like Myq himself. Myq's also experimenting with the Patreon artist platform, and you should check him out there too: Myq Kaplan
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
These are the best impressions of Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, hands down. There's no other way to say it. James Adomian and Anthony Atamaniuk are comic geniuses and this debate they staged at Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City made me cry with laughter. It's definitely NSFW, but then again, not much of our national politics these days are. It's a very good time to be a comedian. Trump vs Bernie Debate
1 Interesting Thing:
It's been 65 years since the Korean War and the human consequences continue to boggle the mind. Across the border between North and South, families, husbands and wives, friends, and former neighbors have been completely cut off, unable to see each other, talk, or even send letters. This week, the two countries facilitated a rare reunion. The stories of Koreans seeing each other again after more than six decades are heartbreaking, but also a testament to their strength. One couple, now in their 80s, were separated after only seven months of marriage. They saw each other for the first time since 1950 this week. "'I can't tell how much I missed you,' said Ms. Lee, who never remarried and raised her son alone. 'I have wept so much thinking of us that there are no tears left in me.'"
While the headline is coldly factual, the story is anything but. I really recommend it: North and South Korean Families, Separated by War 65 Years Ago, Reunite Briefly
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
3 Things: Adam Ruins Everything, Josh Gondelman, and Criminal
Hi friends,
If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. If you feel like you haven't gotten these emails in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. For live shows, I've got a bunch featured below and a complete list on my website. Feel free to spread the word about these emails! Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.
SHOW UPDATES:
I'm going to be out in California on a West Coast tour for the rest of October. I'm adding a lot of dates to the calendar online, but these are the highlights.
SAN FRANCISCO:
Friday, October 23, You're the Expert is at the Castro Theatre for the Bay Area Science Festival. Details/tickets here
Monday, October 26, Taste Test (free food samples and jokes about food) at The Hall SF
Tuesday, October 27, You Get A Spoon! (variety show and prize giveaway) at The Lost Church in the Mission. Featuring a reading from author Kevin Roose, magician Andrew Evans, and lots more surprises.
LOS ANGELES:
Monday, October 19, I'm telling some jokes at Upright Citizens Brigade on Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer's show, Crash Test. Details here
Sunday, November 1 You Get A Spoon is at the Lyric-Hyperion Theatre & Cafe. If you only come to one of my LA shows, I'd make it this one. Details and tickets here
SAN DIEGO:
I'm doing a private, unrecorded version of You're the Expert for a convention of scientists on Wednesday, October 28. This is closed to the general public, but if you're in the area and want to see the show, email me! I should be able to get at least some people in.
You can see my full schedule up on the website now.
Ok, on to this week's list!
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
Engagement rings, canned food drives, and purebred dogs. These are all topics that Adam Conover has featured on his web series and new TV show Adam Ruins Everything. Adam is very funny, but he's also obviously very smart. The fact that he's been able to build such a popular show attacking commonly held misconceptions with fact-based research is astonishing. The show literally cites its sources onscreen. What makes it all work is that the show is very, very funny. I love seeing the many ways comedians are raising the bar for intelligent discussions right now and I think Adam Ruins Everything is a great edition to the field. Anyone traveling for the long weekend should especially appreciate this one: Why the TSA Doesn't Stop Terrorist Attacks
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Josh Gondelman is a treasure. He's an Emmy-nominated writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a hilarious standup comedian, and a genuinely kind human being. His first book just came out this week and it's great. It's called You Blew It! An Awkward Look at the Many Ways in Which You've Already Ruined Your Life. I hate that there's a widespread idea that you have to be a mean-spirited drunk from a broken home to be successful in comedy. Josh is a living repudiation of that. Here's a very nice profile of him in The Observer that's also definitely worth a read. Nice Guys Finish First: Josh Gondelman
1 Interesting Thing:
Like just about everyone else with access to the Internet, I was a huge fan of Serial. While I'm waiting for the second season, I've been checking out some other crime-related podcasts and just listened to the latest episode of Criminal. It's fantastic. It tells the story of Patti Hammond Shaw, a transgender woman and complete badass, who just won a landmark case changing the way that police process and detain transgender individuals in Washington, D.C. The episode is thoughtful and incredibly well reported and I haven't heard the story anywhere else. It's also, unlike most true crime stories, not profoundly depressing in the end. Criminal Episode 28: P.D.I.D. (Thanks to Aparna Nancherla for sharing this with me)
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
