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