3 Things: Adrian Tomine, Cocoon Central, and Junot Diaz
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:
SEATTLE:
THIS WEDNESDAY! It's a one-night only, limited edition of You Get A Spoon! I'll be at the Annex Theatre with Bianca Giaever (This American Life), Zubin Hensler, and Willem de Koch (2/4 of The Westerlies). Comedy, short films, music, and prizes! What more could you want? Wednesday, December 30 at 8 p.m. Details/tickets here
SAN FRANCISCO:
SF Sketchfest presents You're the Expert with me, Kristin Schaal, James Adomian, and Eugene Mirman. There are a few tickets left! Saturday, January 23 at 1 p.m.Details/tickets here
I'll also be doing an extended standup set and inviting some special guests to perform with me at The Red Poppy Art House on Thursday, January 21 at 8 p.m.This is a small show in a beautiful venue and it should be a great time. Details/tickets here
LOS ANGELES:
We just announced a You're the Expert taping at the Nerdist Showroom on Monday, January 18 at 9 p.m. Scott Adsit (30 Rock) is one of the panelists and we'll have more fantastic surprise guests. 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:
Adrian Tomine's graphic novel Killing and Dying blew me away. It's a series of short stories about small moments in regular people's lives. There's a story about a man who breaks into the apartment where he used to live just so he can sit inside. Another story is about a 14-year-old girl who tries standup comedy for the first time. Or a woman who is constantly being mistaken for a celebrity. The stories are simple, but each one packs an enormous emotional punch. Tomine's art is beautiful and he's able to use the graphic novel format to put the focus on moments of silence more than anything a character says. This is one of those books where as soon as I finished it, I went to the library and took out everything else by Tomine I could get my hands on. Adrian Tomine: Killing and Dying
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Cocoon Central Dance Team are a group of young women in NYC who perform comedic dances. When I first heard about them, I was imagining the kind of dances I awkwardly do at weddings to take attention away from the fact that I am profoundly uncoordinated. (I once took a dance class in college and the instructor told me "You have the brain-foot problem. Your brain and your feet are not connected.") But Cocoon Central don't do the sprinkler, or the shopping cart, or the fish getting caught on the line. They're actually amazing dancers and the comedy comes from how unabashed and exuberantly joyful they are. Watching them do their thing is like mainlining happiness. Check out this video of them dancing in a forest and trying to get hikers to join them. If this doesn't make you smile, you are a robot. Cocoon Central Dance Team
1 Interesting Thing:
Junot Diaz visited the Japanese island of Hokkaido to write this article for Travel + Leisure. Since Christmas here in the US has been decidedly not snowy, his description of Japan's snow country is a great way to get a vicarious fix. An added bonus is that Diaz's voice comes through loud and clear. As a result, the article is full of phrases you don't normally associate with a high end travel magazine, like when Diaz describes Hokkaido's setting as "more or less the equivalent of the Earth dropping the mic...forever." Junot Diaz: In Hokkaido, the Ultimate Japanese Snow Country
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
You Get A Spoon!
Tonight was the last You Get A Spoon of 2015 and we went out with a bang!
Josh Gondelman told jokes and recommended:
1) Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee (large, whole milk, one sugar)
2) The little pads of paper on hotel night stands
3) Slaughterhouse 90210 by Maris Kreizman
Camille Harris sang songs and recommended:
1) Dun-Well Doughnuts
2) Sonata Opus 1 by Alban Berg
3) Ms. Fisher's Murder Mysteries on Netflix
Adina Talve-Goodman read from her nonfiction work and recommended:
1) PG Tips tea
2) The movie Moonstruck
3) Glitter
Mark won the spoon!
3 Things: Jo Firestone, Subway Idiot, and Maeve Higgins
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:
NEW YORK: LAST NYC SHOW OF 2015!
Sunday, December 20 at 7 p.m. I'll be at Under St Marks for You Get A Spoon, my variety show and audience prize giveaway. I'll be bringing you jokes from Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight), songs from Camille Harris, and a reading by Adina Talve-Goodman (One Story magazine). Details and tickets here
SEATTLE:
For one-night only, I'll be performing at the Annex Theatre with some amazing guests. Bianca Giaever (This American Life) is going to screen some of her short films, I'll tell jokes, and Zubin Hensler and Willem de Koch (2/4 of The Westerlies) are going to play music. Wednesday, December 30 at 8 p.m. Details/tickets here
SAN FRANCISCO:
I'll be back at SF Sketchfest with You're the Expert again this year. We've got Kristin Schaal, James Adomian, and Eugene Mirman on the panel. The show is already almost sold out so get your tickets now! Saturday, January 23 at 1 p.m.Details/tickets here
I'll also be doing an extended standup set and inviting some special guests to perform with me at The Red Poppy Art House on Thursday, January 21 at 8 p.m.This is a small show in a beautiful venue and it should be a great time. Details/tickets here
LOS ANGELES:
We just announced a You're the Expert taping at the Nerdist Showroom on Monday, January 18 at 9 p.m. 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:
Jo Firestone is my favorite comedian to watch perform. She's unpredictable and hilarious and a lovely human being. She's gotten some well-deserved recognition this year including being named one of Comedy Central's "Comics to Watch." They just released a clip from her standup set that they recorded and I'm so excited because it's my favorite one of her jokes. Jo plays a game with the audience called "I Have Been There" where she describes an uncomfortable moment in her own life and if the audience relates to it, they shout out "I have been there!" It's amazing and unique and totally Jo. Enjoy! Jo Firestone - I Have Been There
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
There are some jokes that are short and efficient in getting a laugh. You think they're going one way and they suddenly twist. Laughter ensues. Other jokes take their time, building on the same idea or premise until by sheer volume, you are forced to laugh. Arthur Meyer's Subway Idiot is decisively in the second camp. You know with absolute certainty what will happen next: he's going to just miss the subway. But the sheer amount of times and ways he found to film that same moment becomes unbelievably funny. Subway Idiot!!!!
1 Interesting Thing:
Maeve Higgins has a piece in the NYT's Sunday Review this week and it's great. She talks about losing her shoes, wanting to make the world a better place, and what it's like to compare notes with her sister (who works for Unicef in South Sudan). As always, Maeve is able to take the small moments and turn them into something bigger, funnier, and more meaningful than you might expect. Syria's Not Funny. So What's A Comic to Do?
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online at www.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
