Comedian of the Week - Old Spice

The people at Old Spice are amazing. Even before Axe bodyspray (ugh) they were seen as the old man smell that old men put on to hide their, well, old man smell. This all changed with a series of hilarious comercials of a man promising ridiculous things (like swandives into a hot tub and a motorcycle - you know the ad). This week, the actor from the commericals started an amazing online campaign where he made video responses to commentors on his YouTube, Twitter and Facebook page. Genius marketing which paid back in spades considering the buzz about it all week with big names like Alyssa Milano, Perez Hilton, Ellen DeGeneres, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore, Christina Applegate and Cliff Bleszinski joining in the fun. Even politcal pundit George Stepanopoulos gets a vid! Good times. Best of all, it ended this week, ensuring that this flash in the pan internet meme didn't outlast its welcome. Well done Old Spice.

And the bass start rumbling....

I've started a new podcast site. I know that redesigning won't cure my laziness, but hopefully it will give me a good kick in the right direction.

When the Drums Kick In

To show my newfound dedication to the site, I've posted a new podcast on Hawaiian musician Izrael Kamakawiwo'ole with my mother as a guest host. Check it out!

Comedian of the Week - BPGlobalPR

BPGlobalPR, the exceedingly popular fake BP Twitter feed, does several things at once. First and foremost it makes you laugh. And it does that job very well. By making lemons into lemonade (or in this case horrible environmental disaster into chuckles) it also serves as a constant critique and reminder of the crass arrogance of big corporations. So much, in fact, that BP has openly tried to distance itself from the feed, forcing them to re-write their bio to reflect that they were fake.

Some gems include:

We are not killing animals in the gulf, we are creating fossils in the gulf. Have a little perspective.

This seems like an awful lot of fuss over something that's not a celebrity sex scandal.

Sending some lawyers down to the Earth's crust to deliver a Cease and Desist. That oughtta do it.

I've gotta say, at night the gulf really doesn't look that bad.

Comedian of the Week - Black 20

Black 20 is one of a bajillion studios nowadays that are trying to make it on the internet by making comedy shorts and viral videos. Since I spend my waking hours on the internet, I've stumbled across them several times. While my favorite of their videos is the Citizens of Grand Theft Auto series that they did for IGN, this video seemed fitting considering its the long weekend. Happy Easter everyone.

EDIT: They've also done a great editing job on this Jackie Chan video here. If only this actually happened in the stupid new Karate Kid remake.

2001 is stoked!

"Billboard is reporting on a new initiative by Univeral Music Group to cut CD prices across their entire lineup. Starting in the next quarter and for the rest of 2010, the company will test lower CD prices. Single CDs will have the suggested list prices of $10, $9, $8, $7 and $6. The label plans to release deluxe editions at a higher price point. With Universal the largest music company right now, the move is likely to push prices downwards at the other majors as well."

This isn't an initiative, its an antique clearance sale for coasters.

Why I love Canadian politics

Went to question period yesterday. The things you learn that aren't on CPAC. Justin Trudeau is a fratboy shitdisturber, Stephen Harper literally cleans his fingernails while the Bloc ask him questions (no joke!), and the second anyone mentions supporting the troops or police officers everyone regardless of party stands and cheers. The Tories played that card three times. Good to see our politicians hard at work.

Comedian of the Week - N*gger Wetb*ack Ch*nk

I'm probably 4 years behind on this considering when the play first started touring but I don't think it ever came to Canada, which is a pity because there are so many things going on with N*W*C that I love. First and foremost, race humor done well. The play is done with a reflective critical lens and is exactly the direction I think discussions about race politics need to go. Blunt, aggressive, and raw but also light-hearted, self-effacing and funny.

In watching their interviews the actors address the controversial title of their play by pointing out how these words have a certain control over us and the whole purpose of using them in the play was to address and de-power them. Score one for the good guys. In regards to the video above, its amazing how quickly three little words repeated over and over can shift from shock, to slapstick, to disgust.

Secondly, Steven T. Seagle co-wrote, directed and produced the play. Yeah that's right, the same guy who wrote the famous Superman comic/reflection 'Its a Bird', founded the popular kids show Ben 10, and wrote one of my favorite cult comics of all time (Sandman Mystery Theatre) also does minority theatre. Is there anything this man can't do? (Other than come to Canada of course.)

If you get a chance, watch the promo as well. Funny stuff and full of accolades and interview material.

On watching the Olympics

I don't understand bobsledding. If I wanted to hurl at breakneck speeds without any way of stopping I'd buy a Toyota

Band of the Week - Lowtalker

Misery Signals + Comeback Kid = Lowtalker

Lowtalker - People Worry About Everything (FC Records) from Casey Hjelmberg on Vimeo.

They already have 2 songs up on their Myspace page and I can't tell you how stoked I am for this.

Comedian of the Week - The Onion

I'm told I use this word a lot. As a matter of fact whenever I said it in Montreal people would look at me funny because nobody had heard it before and supposedly 'stoked' is a West coast word. Weird.

Anyway, an easy decision this time around. The Onion is prolific, always funny, and clever. This one's my favorite of their videos by far, if only for the ridiculousness at the end.

After watching CBC's 'Test the Nation' with my roommates...

Me and Olivia scored an IQ score of 110 and just eeked into the 'above average category' by a single point. Psh, whatever... I'll take it!

Comedian of the Week - Bobby Lee

I've followed Bobby Lee of a while. While his 7 years on Mad TV certainly made him well-known in the comedy community, and certainly he is known among Asian Americans, it was all pretty tame for me. Moreover, while I thought he was good, I didn't like the writers for the show and never really found it that funny after the first several seasons (which I watched voraciously as a kid).

Moreover, when I was in New York this New Years I found out he was in town and despite the $50 ticket I scooped them up as soon as possible. I was kind of worried he'd be a let down, especially after seeing Kumail Nanjiani the night before, but he proved me wrong within the first 5 seconds (literally, he came onstage looking confused and it had me floored).

Unquestioningly, his strength is his physical comedy, and I haven't laughed this hard to goofball humor since Jim Carrey. If you get a chance to see him live, do it. When he's delivering his own jokes he's on fire, and his ability to interact with the crowd uncanny.

As a bonus, I found a YouTube video of the New Years show at Carolines, which was when I was there! However, there were 2 shows that night, and this one was the one after ours. As a interesting final point, Paul (my brother) was the one who announced stripper Bobby Lee onto the stage. It was good times.

New Podcast Posted

I've decided to jump-start my podcast! You can find it below.

Podcasts are the New Mixtape

An interesting find: iTunes U

I have no idea what iTunes U is. Still don't. But what I do know is that when I was downloading some music off iTunes today for my podcast I stumbled upon the Smithsonian page which is affiliated with iTunes U. Through that, I found around 15 free downloads they had available for Asian Pacific Islander Month (video and music!) as well as a 26 minute lecture on Chinese experiences in 19th Century American West. Amazing stuff.

Oh and its all free.

You can find it here.

Comedian of the Week - Aziz Ansari

Aziz has done ridiculously well for himself, I remember watching some of his old videos a long time ago and thinking about how great he was. Years later, he's made his own TV show Human Giant, stars on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation, and been in a slew of movies like Funny People. While Aziz is easily my favorite comic, I didn't really want to showcase him here because he's done so well. However, it's a new year, and I figure I'd start it off with a bang. Moreover, Aziz has a new DVD coming out and from the clips I've heard there's no way I'm not getting it. Above is my favorites of his old videos.