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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

Comedian of the Week 4

Baron Vaugh

Here's a comedian I'm very excited about. I think he gets race comedy down exactly right. Smart and funny. And he's got the execution down packed, everyone I've shown this clip to said they were hovering on every work. Easily one of my favorites, but I was skeptical about posting him as the YouTube clip could not be embedded into my blog (what's up College Humor? Why you gotta be a dick?). Either way, you can find him here or by clicking on the picture above.

Comedian of the Week 3

Alison Jutzi

Sandals

Good Enough

Social Utility

Some Canadian content this week! Al was razzing me for my last comedian calling it 'too easy' since Demetri Martin is famous now. Psh, it doesn't say indie comedian of the week, yeesh. But to shut him up, here's a gem from Toronto. While she's primarily an actress, her comedy folk is solid and 'Sandals' and 'Social Utility' are both songs I wish I had written instead, and the background voice in 'Good Enough' is comic gold. Did I pick her because she's pretty? Didn't hurt, but she can write a damn good tune.

Its funny things you run into at 3 in the morning while surfing CBC 3's website.

Comedian of the Week 2

Demetri Martin

Comedian of the Week

Kumail Nanjiani

An open letter to Wolf Blitzer

Dear Wolf Blitzer,

I used to love your show but your epic fail on Jeopardy has made me realize that all you do is read a prompter. Please hand over the Situation Room to Rick Sanchez and join Fox News where intelligence is not required.

For my Asian brothers...and everyone else. Hilarious.

I'm stoked at the plurality of Asianness Jew Kwon brings into this song. Nice to see Asian not treated as synonymous with Chinese.

From the vaults...

Oops. My last post was in June. Since then I have been to four different major cities (Montreal, Toronto, Honolulu, Vancouver) and have busied myself with ridiculous amounts of work. One of my new jobs is as a research correspondent for the Multicultural History Society of Ontario doing archival and oral history research on Chinese women. Here's a gem of a passage from 'Publishers of Peace' a monograph from 1942 by the Rev. T.R. Millman.

"From the Chinese standpoint, the impact with western civilization has, biologically, been all to the good. Very marked changes are taking place in their physical appearance. The freer life and the playing of games makes for finer physique; the milder climate for a lighter complexion; and western diet, with fewer fats, produces a clearer and less opaque skin. From the use of ordinary sanitary measures, features are becoming better developed, and the whole facial expression more alert. Many of the young Chinese girls are most attractive, and with a natural flair for arranging the hair and for dressmaking, one often has to look twice to distinguish them from their western sisters. Marriages between Chinese and whites are few, as they are no more anxious for this than we are."

My! Fobby! Father!

On the phone, after telling my father that I was going to try some amateur stand-up comedy.

Dad: It must run in the family. I'm the funniest guy at my work.

Rob: Really dad? Maybe you should do stand up.

Dad: Oh no, but you can use my jokes. Why is golf better than sex?

Rob: Dad...stop...

Dad: Because you get more balls!

Rob: Thank you...dad, for that bit of comedic gold.

Dad: I know! Let me tell you another one!

Rob: Oh god no.

Dad: How is golf like sex?

Rob: I'm sensing a pattern here...

Dad: Because you practice your grip on the shaft! Listen your mother is laughing! I'm already funnier than you!


I've been upstaged even before I go onstage. This has to be some sort of record.

Fringe Fest 2009 - We Call This Comedy

Pow! You hear that? That’s the sound of the 2009 Montreal Fringe Fest knocking my teeth out. ‘We Call This Comedy’ is the first show for my Fringe Fest bonanza and it did exactly what it set out to do, make the audience laugh.

For a Fringe a festival show the show is a bit vanilla, the format is simply the two Montreal comedians (Ali Hassan and John Hastings) each doing a half hour of stand-up. In between the two sets the two do some collaborated work in the form of songs and hypothetical letters to annoying apartment neighbours.

I’m familiar with both of these Montreal locals’ work having seen Hassan MC at the ‘Comedians of Color’ and ‘Comedy Without Borders’ events and Hastings at Comedy works and at a fund raiser for the Filipino women’s centre. Despite the fact that I’ve heard most of their jokes before this show still was able to get a lot of laughs out of me as they’ve obviously tightened their craft and execution.

In the first half of the show Hastings explores his experience growing in a waspy Ontario household and the process of telling his parents that he wanted to go to theatre school. As he points out, this would be a crushing blow to any parents who hope to have children who are “productive members of society.” The rest of his set, leaned a bit too much on sex jokes, but hey, its the stand up comedian’s bread and butter.

Before Hassan took the stage, the two shared some songs with the crowd. Sadly I had already heard this material at an open mic night at Comedyworks, and sadly the gags from the songs seem to work better in a more intimate setting, rather than a large venue like the Just For Laughs studio. Nonetheless, they were still entertaining.

Finally Hassan took the stage to provide half an hour of his material. In previous shows, I’ve seen Hassan do a fantastic job slinging around race humour like it was second nature, so I was upset at the fact that he did almost no jokes on race issues, rather he focussed on the topic of food and his experience as a chef. While funny, I couldn’t help but think he opted to stick to less controversial topics (like the fact that his mother was in the crowd) to ensure he reached as many people in the audience. While probably a smart plan, and certainly very funny, it’s not his best work.

Overall though the show does a great job ensuring that you feel that you money was well spent, of not for the comedy then at the very least for the samosas handed out at the end of the show prepared by Hassan himself. Food and comedy? Can’t beat it.

Movie Haiku #1: 'Zombie' Directed by Lucio Fulci

All I remember:
Woman gets speared in her eye
and zombie shark fight!

A Conversation with 5 Comedians of Colour-

My first mini-doc!