Ben Week 22

Ben is five months old now and he knows what you're up to.

Japanese X-Men

I could have sworn I posted this before.

I've been flipping through my old X-Men comics and they're exactly how I remembered them; convoluted and overwrought. They are by far the hardest series to get into. Don't believe me? Pick up a random issue and try to tell me what it 's about. I believe the only reason the franchise is successful is because they force you to read ten books a month to figure out what the hell is going on.

But the few times the series has been accessible, it's been exceptional. Claremont and Byrne's run are some of the best comics of the 80's. Joss Whedon is doing a hell of a job on Astonishing X-Men. The movies (the first two anyway) were great. And people seemed to have really loved the FOX 90's cartoon. I personally found it cheesy (compared to Batman: the Animated Series) but I was excited when I found out Japan had made their own anime opening. The show was exactly the same but this title sequence shows what might have been.

Writer's Room Sunday!

The only show where writers are allowed to do anything.

with:

Colin Jost (SNL)
Eric Andre (Cavemen)
Tom McCaffrey (Comedy Central)
Mike Drucker (PIXAR Ratatouille Contest)
Jon Clarke (McSweeneys)
Sean Patton
Sean O'Connor
Eric I

hosted by Maggie Farris (Extrememaggie.com)

Sunday, December 2nd, 8:00 p.m.
Rififi / Cinema Classics
332 E 11th St
(Between 1st and 2nd Ave)
$5, No Drink Minimum

Hammerman

I'm tired today and still puzzled by this. MC Hammer had his own Saturday morning cartoon in 1991 that was cancelled after only one season. It so was beyond terrible I watched it every week. My girlfriend would yell at me when I put it on in her dorm but I didn't care. The theme song alone was too long, cryptic and didn't fit its own beat. Here it is.

On the Road

Charlie Kasov and I are in Ohio heading back from Chicago. Huge, busy week. Had 5 spots out here. Killed, weird set, bombed, weird set, killed. At least I bookended them.

Ben's on solid food. We took him to Wisconson to Renee's friend Jill's place where she had a baby the same age. Ben just wanted to grab him. Yesterday we went to a Star Wars exhibit and he met Yoda before ever seeing the movies. Ben just wanted to grab him. I think that saga's going to go down easy on this boy.

Gotta go. 11 hours of driving left today.

Ben Week 21

It's Thanksgiving!

So chances are you're not reading this blog today.

Writers Strike

The WGA strike grinds on and those affected have started to find new outlets of expression. Peter Grosz from the Colbert Report (and Writer's Room) finds his by attacking the issues of the strike head on.

I Passed at Zanie's!

Finally, I'm passed at a major club. I killed last night with a new tight 6 minutes and had a great time. So I'll give my avails whenever I'm in Chicago. I may not always get spots but now I can always ask.

New figures.com review!

No matter what figures.com asks me to review, I can't say no. This week the editor said, "Do you want George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein action figures?" and Lord help me, I said "sure". For a moment, I actually hoped they were puppets.

Read into the quagmire!

Ben Week 20

Not a lot of pictures this week. Strange. Ben had three great days this week and two that made me wish I was anywhere else. On one of the good days I built him a Johnny Jump-Up and it's sole purpose is making me smile. It works.

In completely non-related news, I just downloaded Radiohad's new album from their site. I knew about this for a couple of weeks but I hadn't realized that it's their best album this decade. And they let you pay WHATEVER YOU WANT. If you're any kind of Radiohead fan and you still try to download this illegally, you're just a cheap bastard.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

When I was college, I had a weekend ritual. Fridays I'd spend with the girlfriend but Saturdays I'd always get together with Howie Weingarten just so we could watch "Mystery Science Theater 3000". We were so devoted that we'd watch it two or three times that night, every time it was rebroadcast. It was a revelation at the time; the first comedy show I ever saw that sounded like me. Making fun of bad movies is nothing new (we're doing it now with "Play Cole Podcasts") but turning that idea into a sci-fi puppet show was a stroke of genius. It was nerd humor to be sure but looking back at Joel Hodgson's laconic style and ironic tone, it was also the first hipster comedy.

I've been slowly getting back into the show since discovering whole episodes online. Google Video has about 100 full streaming episodes but they don't have "Sidehackers", my first and favorite episode. Joel was still hosting, TV's Frank was the new mad scientist and everyone seemed genuinely excited to be doing this goofy, low budget show.

Luckily, "Sidehackers" is on youtube in 10 parts. I love it so much I'm posting all ten:

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


Part 4:


Part 5:


Part 6:


Part 7:


Part 8:


Part 9:


Part 10:

New figures.com article!

I love Muppets. And Palisades did a phenomenal job with a line of toys that will someday belong to Ben. So when figures.com asked me to cover this line, I jumped at the opportunity.

Well, maybe not jumped. You see, I started this article back before Ben was born. For obvious reasons, it got sidetracked. But, as I'm slowly getting used to my day with him, I've learned to squeeze in a little writing now and then. It took four months but I finally finished the article and now it's up. All the pictures come from "William Shatner on the Muppet Show" so that part was at least easy.

Take a look!

Writer's Room TONIGHT!

We promise.

With:

Leo Allen (Comedy Central Presents, former writer for SNL)

Dan Curry (Comedy Central’s Open Mic Fight)

Mike Drucker (The Watchlist, McSweeney’s)

Charlie Kasov (Drunken Focus Group)

Jon Clarke (Star Trek: The Sitcom)

With sketches by
Zehl Steen Think Pound Sketch Group

Hosted by Ed Murray (The Four Day Work Week, McSweeney’s)


Tuesday, November 4th, 10:00 p.m.
Rififi / Cinema Classics
332 E 11th St
(Between 1st and 2nd Ave)
$5, No Drink Minimum

An Open Letter From Cobra Commander

I wrote this piece for McSweeney's and they almost loved it. So I sent it to CollegeHumor.com and they don't know it's there.

Read why "None of You Are Scary"!

Outside the NFL

There's two things all NY comics have in common; a hatred for themselves and a love for Maddog. He and RG have started a Youtube weekly show "Outside the NFL" where Maddog rants tangentially about football. Here's the latest episode in which I appear, sorta.



Here's the whole series.

Ben Week 19

New Play Cole Podcast!

Tim came up with this one. He told us "The Last Boy Scout" made no atempt at making sense. Seeing as I couldn't remember anything that happened in it, I'm inclined to agree. Once again, there's no director's commentary but there are 106 uses of the word 'fuck' and 31 instances of someone getting punched in the face.

Listen!

Girl Has Extra Limbs Removed

A girl in Indian was born with four arms and four limbs and successfully had half of them removed. Have comic books taught us nothing?

Eric Clapton Shreds

I can't stop laughing at this. Some guy on youtube rerecorded this live Clapton solo with his own truly terrible playing. The amazing thing is how well it syncs.



He's got a few more here. They're all basically the same joke yet it's funny every time.

Special Show Tonight!

It was probabaly a blessing that Writer's Room got rescheduled since we had to write all new material for this special event:

Come on down to the TimeOut New York Lounge Monday night at 8 for...

Who Cares?: A Tribute to the 2007 Election
Comedy for the Even-Year Voter

Come listen to comics tell jokes and stories about obscure local politicians, and stay for special guests such as an actual mayor and city comptroller whom you've never heard about.

Featuring:

Carolyn Castiglia
John Clarke
RG Daniels
Mike Drucker
Alex Grubard
John Knefl
Ruhbin Mehta
Ed Murray
Jon Savoy
Tim Warner

and hosted by
Charlie "hippo sodomy" Kasov.

"Who Cares?: A Tribute to the 2007 Election"
Comedy for the Even-Year Voter (In italics?)
Monday, Nov. 5th 8 PM

TimeOut New York Lounge at New World Stages
340 W 50th St between Eighth and Ninth Aves Midtown West
C/E to 50th st
Free show, no reservations necessary
Phone:646-871-1730

We had a rehearsal last night and judging from the work everyone's put in, this will be a great show and a night to remember. See you there.

Writer's Room RESCHEDULED!

Rififi's is closed for the weekend. So the show is rescheduled for Tuesday the 13th. The lineup should be the same and you should be there then.

Everybody is sorry.

Don't Forget Writer's Room!

Leo Allen (Comedy Central Presents, former writer for SNL)

Dan Curry (Comedy Central’s Open Mic Fight)

Rachel Feinstein (Premium Blend)

Mike Drucker (The Watchlist, McSweeney’s)

Charlie Kasov (Drunken Focus Group)

Dartanion

Jon Clarke (Star Trek: The Sitcom)

With sketches by
Zehl Steen Think Pound Sketch Group

Hosted by Ed Murray (The Four Day Work Week, McSweeney’s)


Sunday, November 4th, 8:00 p.m.
Rififi / Cinema Classics
332 E 11th St
(Between 1st and 2nd Ave)
$5, No Drink Minimum

Ben Week 18

It's Ben's first Halloween so of course he had multiple costumes. He's like an Eddie Murphy movie.