A Very Sketchy Weekend

Poop or Chocolate may be calling it quits on our insider coverage, but through next Tuesday San Francisco remains Sketchy. No, not that kind of sketchy. Because of Sketchfest. And also in the way you thought I meant. Because, Francisco, you are NO saint. But God bless you anyway.

There are about a million funny things to do in the Bay Area this weekend, but here’s one I specifically endorse: A pair of Poop or Chocolate interviewees, Convoy (Improv) and The Birthday Boys (Sketch Comedy), share a show at The Dark Room at 8pm Friday night. I think the show might be sold out, but either way, here is where you’ll find information. My recommendation of this show should go without saying, I wouldn’t have interviewed them if I wasn’t floored by their performances. Get ready for a treat, SF.

The Birthdays Boys play a second show with Kaspar Hauser, 10:30pm Saturday at Eureka Theatre and tickets are definitely still available for that one by clicking here. Convoy also has a second show on Saturday night at the Eureka, but sadly it is sold out already. Convoy has simply gotten too popular for last minute plugs and while I’d like to credit that to their interview here, it is more likely because they are awesome at what they do.

But seriously, there is a ton of funny coming through San Francisco this weekend. Check the listings and pick something for yourself.

If you live somewhere besides The Bay but still find yourself craving sketchiness, well I’ve got something for you too. Again, not that kind of sketchiness.

Booblay. Bubble. You’re both wrong, guys. It’s pronounced “Boring.” But Jon Hamm should be fun. He was on last season and did a fine job, remember? Jon Hamm’s john ham? It was funny, and then I saw him at a party the next week and I told him it was funny and then gave him a dixie cup full of warm whiskey and he said thank you and flashed a Superman shirt underneath a suit and we laughed. Now do you remember? No? Damn. Maybe it’s because I never told you that story before. Just a theory.

Well, anyway, he was good. Way better than my story. My story was a real stinker. Oh well. I think I’ve left you plenty to entertain yourself with this weekend. Bonne comédie!

My name is Ben and I blogged this.

Choke on Jokes

In case it rains later, somebody pop by the UCB-LA and throw a tarp over it, ’cause THE BIRTHDAY BOYS and A KISS FROM DADDY blew the roof off the bitch last night!

While you’re over there, clean up a bit of the blood and debris, since yesterday it was the site of a major fucking laugh riot! Seriously, it got scary funny up in that piece. Folks were uncontrollably laughing and grabbing. I feared for my safety. Try laughing and fearing at the same time, that shit’ll cause a schizoid episode.

One more thing: Since you’re already at the UCB, maybe resuscitate a few of the bodies, as folks was laughing ’til they couldn’t breathe last night! Funny is nice to a point, but Wednesday night was a choking hazard. The difference between dunking and drowning a dude is letting him come up for air. Let us catch our breath!

If you were at the show you know what I’m talking about. Those of you who weren’t, what’d you do last night? Fuck a stranger? Wrestle a cat? You can do them thangs on Thursdays! If you live in Los Angeles and aren’t coming to the sketch show at UCB at 8PM on the first Wednesday of the month then you’re just not a fan of the best days of months. If it was up to you everyday would be the first Monday of your period, and I feel sorry for you.

If I’m going to feel sorry for you let it be because you choked on a joke or got trampled by a laugh riot or were crushed by a blown-off roof (provided comedy blew the roof and not torrential storms). Because if any of those things happen, I most certainly will feel sorry you, but I’ll also know you died happy.

My name is Ben and I blogged this.

Re-Post Tuesday: Terminator 2sday

If you missed The Birthday Boys’ monthly sketch show in October this re-post is for you. Because it’s awesome and you missed it. If you caught the show, thusly having seen this video, this re-post is also for you. Because it’s awesome and you know this. If you’ve never seen Terminator 2, this video is NOT for you. You won’t understand it. And besides, you have some serious pop culture to catch up on. It’s Terminator 2 for Chrissakes! How long have you been allergic to awesome? At least since the 90′s. You should get that checked out. Everyone else, get this checked out:

While we’re on the subject: Don’t forget about this month’s BDBz show at UCB, coming up tomorrow night at 8. Still the best night of sketch at UCB-LA. If you are coming tomorrow, maybe brush up on your Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines just in case. Unless you’re allergic to mediocre; then you might have an outbreak.

My name is Ben and I blogged this.

HAL(A)L(A)ELUJAH HAL(A)L(A)OWEEN!

If you’re in LA (and you should be in LA) and so desired (and you should so desire), you could spend your entire Halloweekend at the UCB with the excellent interviewees from this site. You could start right now (and you will) with a new video from The Birthday Boys. It’s spoooooooky. And also fuuuuuuuuunny. “Funny” doesn’t translate well in Ghostese. (Ghostese being English with a warbled elongation of the first vowel in any word.)

Then tonight, at the stroke of Midnight, you could kick off your Halloween with MC Chris’ Big Time Los Angeles Halloween Party, featuring, of course, MC Chris (of cartoon voice/rap fame), plus DC Pierson and a bunch of other people you know and love. As well as people you love there will be three of the things you love most: Rap music, improv, and candy. Those are three of my favorite things too! Halloween connection? No? I guess I read too much into it.

On Saturday, after you trick or treat but before you take your candy to the fire station for inspection, you could join Convoy and the rest of improv troupe Sentimental Lady for their new Saturday night show titled Lost and Found. I haven’t seen it yet, but I know the names and they are all synonymous with improv gold. So I highly recommend it. Because gold is good. It’s more valuable than candy. Have you ever heard of a Cash for Candy program?

And finally, you could close out Halloweekend meeting up again with DC, his bros from DERRICK, and a handful of other hilari-dudes as they turn your shittiest jobs into laugh-out-loud hahas right before your eyes. It’s not magic; it’s improv! The show is appropriately called Shitty Jobs and the idea is that one audience member joins the cast on stage for a Q&A on audience member’s worst job ever. Then the cast takes the A’s from said Q&A and uses them to create a single improvised scene at that job. It’s comedy about work that works without making it look like work.

So there you have it. I’ve planned out your whole weekend. Now to plan out my weekend. I wonder how much candy I fit in my bed with me.

Halloweekend: When the fat get fatter. I’m already looking forward to Monday’s shame spiral. Happy Halloween!!!

My name is Ben and I blogged this.

Frogs in Glass Bodies Shouldn’t…Just Shouldn’t

You know how you can tell how super cool something is by how fast it makes you barf? Well the glass frog is superduper cool! Mega-Barf!

Life isn’t easy for the glass frog even without the transparent epidermis and exposed viscera. You try growing up on the Amazon without a humeral spine or a bulbous liver. Oh, the ridicule!

On an unrelated note, thank you to everyone who enjoyed the collaborative interview effort between myself and those funny Birthday Boys. On a note that relates the unrelated note, an evil sorceror put a hex on the The Birthday Boys and they have all turned into glass frogs. Only an ice princess can save them. Which means they are doomed, because no one can kiss a glass frog. For, even though the glass frog is superduper cool, it is still first and foremost really really barfy.

Good news: I’ve just gotten word that an ice princess has kissed The Birthday Boys and they are returned to human form. Well, it was actually a blinged-out West Hollywood drag queen named Princess, but his kiss seems to have done the trick. Oooh, I should be careful not to say the word “trick” so close to West Hollywood. Princess might hear me and come running. I’m not trying to kiss that crackhead! Especially not with his slimy glass frog lips. No offense, Birthday Boys.

Reserve tickets for The Birthday Boys July 1st show at UCB before it sells out, and watch their latest video….NOW!

My name is Ben and I yada yada yada.