3 Things: The Light Switch, Julianne Moore, and Enterobacter

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:  

BOSTON: 
TOMORROW!  December 6 at 7:30 p.m. Taste Test Comedy is back at ImprovBoston. We've got free samples from Union Square Donuts, Chanukah gelt, and an amazing lineup of standup comics telling food-related jokes and stories Details and tickets here

NEW YORK:
Monday, December 7 at 8:30 p.m. It's a special Chanukah edition of An Hour Abroad. Evan Barden and I will teach you the entire Yiddish language in 60 minutes. You'll learn several ways of making adult children feel guilty, how to decipher signs in Yiddish, and have a chance to shout words of encouragement at comedian Myq Kaplan. Details/tickets 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:

Charlie Todd and the people at Improv Everywhere have come up with so many genius ideas over the years. Their mission is "to cause scenes of chaos and joy in public places." That feels like exactly what the world needs more of right now. They orchestrated the "No Pants Subway Ride" (now an annual tradition), they got hundreds of people to camp outside of a regular 99 cent store on Black Friday, and they filled a random unknown band's concert with rabid fans to give them the "best gig ever." That's just a small taste of the kinds of things they invent. Their latest creation is a giant red switch that allows unsuspecting New Yorkers to turn on 50,000 Christmas lights at once. Watching people discover what the switch does (especially the little kids) is just pure joy. The Light Switch

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Julianne Moore's bit on Billy on the Street is amazing. She and Billy Eichner run through Times Square trying to convince tourists to stop giving tips to the weird guys dressed as Elmo and instead give Julianne Moore a dollar in exchange for performing scenes from her critically acclaimed films. I don't think it's possible to create a funnier moment than Julianne Moore yelling "Do you want me to cry on command?" at an Asian tourist. The Julianne Moore Acting Attack! 
 

1 Interesting Thing:

"A brilliant surgeon offered an untested treatment to dying patients. Was it innovation or overreach?" Depending on who you talk to, Paul Muizelaar is either a pioneering hero or a borderline criminal. The story of how he's tried to treat fatal brain tumors brings up questions about how long medical research takes and whether or not we have an obligation to try and help people who are dying right now. But his story is also tied into the question of whether medicine's goal should be to extend life or to improve it. I can't imagine you won't have a strong opinion on his decision to treat patients by deliberately infecting their brains. Plus the whole article is worth reading for this quote: "If I ever get a [brain tumor], put your finger in your keister and put it in the wound." Bacteria on the Brain

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

Have a great weekend,
Chris

Politics and Social Media

I interned for Bill Clinton one summer and a crazy woman would send letters every day with a drawing of his head on a different animal's body captioned "William Parrot Clinton" or "William Dolphin Clinton" or "William Giraffe Clinton." And honestly, I think former president Clinton saw at least some of those drawings.

I bring that up because I don't post a lot about politics. I don't think I've ever seen anyone change their mind on social media (also I'm pretty sure Facebook filters it so you only see posts from people who have the same political views as you). But I've interned and volunteered for elected officials and I know that they make decisions based on what constituents seem to care about. Sending a letter/email/calling actually matters. Even if they don't read your specific letter, the offices I worked in would give the bosses a summary of the correspondence coming in and everyone realized they needed to address that if they wanted to keep their jobs. And if you send enough letters, even if they are insane scribbles over drawings of animorphs, you will get heard by the people in power.

It's sad to think that we need to remind our representatives that we don't want people dying in mass shootings or that we don't want innocent civilians to be abandoned in a war or that we want justice when police officers shoot black men and then cover up the evidence. But legitimately, we need to remind them of that.

It takes two seconds to look up contact info for your elected officials on this nonprofit, nonpartisan website: https://www.opencongress.org/people/zipcodelookup

3 Things: Master of None, Shoe Roast, and Hannah Gersen

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:  

BOSTON: 
Sunday, December 6 at 7:30 p.m. It's a special Chanukah edition of Taste Test Comedy at ImprovBoston. Come enjoy delicious samples from Boston restaurants and jokes/stories exclusively about food from me. All with a very distinct Chanukah twist. Details and tickets here

NEW YORK:
Monday, December 7 at 8:30 p.m. It's a special Chanukah edition of An Hour Abroad. Evan Barden and I will teach you the entire Yiddish language in 60 minutes. You'll learn several ways of making adult children feel guilty, how to decipher signs in Yiddish, and have a chance to shout words of encouragement at comedian Myq Kaplan. Details/tickets 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:

Aziz Ansari's Master of None on Netflix is fantastic. I just finished watching the show and I thought it was great and different from any other series I'd seen. There's a lot to love about the show, from the way it's shot, to the realistic storylines for a diverse cast, but the best part is how Aziz used his real parents in the show. Every episode that features an older person is great. You should watch the whole series. But if you haven't seen this clip from Aziz's interview with Conan, you should definitely watch this first. He talks about how his dad compares being a gastroenterologist to being an actor. It's amazing. Aziz Ansari's Dad Has Gone Hollywood

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Jon Hendren is a very, very funny person who mostly puts his comedy out online. He has one of the funniest (and most bizarre) Twitter accounts. He's also pulled off a number of very impressive stunts, like the time he was interviewed on HLN about Edward Snowden joining Twitter and spent the whole segment defending Edward Scissorhands without the host even realizing what he was doing. But the thing that has made me laugh the most is when he posted a picture of some very ugly shoes that he bought and two of his friends roasted his shoes for nearly six months straight. The jokes are brutal and hilarious and occasionally NSFW. But wow, they really hate Jon's shoes. Please Stop Roasting My Goddamned Shoes 

(h/t to Sandra Allen. She has a newsletter of her own that's great called Sunday Content)
 

1 Interesting Thing:

Anytime you're trying to create something new, whether it's a company or a novel, a painting or a joke, there's a painful period where it's not yet working. I often think that the hardest part of trying to be an artist is knowing when to stick with something versus when you are just deluding yourself. I'm not sure there is a great answer. In comedy, I often hear people say that it takes ten years for someone to start "making it." Hannah Gersen, an author, heard that in writing "the first twelve years are the worst." This essay she wrote about that idea is such a thoughtful and inspiring take on the process of creativity. It can be slow and challenging and tough. In fact, not only can it be, it is. But that doesn't mean it's not worthwhile. Hannah Gersen: The First 12 Years Are The Worst (h/t Mollie)

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

Have a great weekend,
Chris