Comedy Showcase - Wednesday, January 18th 2012 - Comedy Store

It's time for another Comedy Showcase. Tomorrow night, (Wednesday, January 18th) is another Mavrick Artists Comedy Showcase at the Comedy Store on Sunset.  The show is free so come on down. It starts at 7:30pm.  This show rocks and everyone has a great time.

Book Review: Chris Hardwick's "The Nerdist Way"

I used to watch Chris Hardwick on the MTV show "Singled Out" with him and Jenny McCarthy. Then about 4 years ago I noticed he was back on the stand up comedy scene. He had seemed to have given up on his frat boy roots and was performing regularly at many of the "Alternative" rooms in Los Angeles.  These rooms are like Kryptonite to me, with their topical and intellectual humor these "comedy nerds" will shun you unless most of your punch lines reference Ben Franklin or Eli Whitney.  I was a little hurt that my Chris Hardwick, the sarcastic syndicated dating show host had turned to the "dark side." ... but I still decided to read his book because reading autobiographies is the closest I'll ever get to taking people's souls.

The book is actually pretty cool, it's written exclusively for "Nerdists".  A "Nerdist" is someone he describes as a modern day evolution of a stereotypical "Nerd".  Basically anyone who grew up getting picked on for liking stuff like Dungeons and Dragons and not showering. I was never a nerd, but to this day I still obsess over things like, Guns N Roses, Friday the 13th movies, WWE and Bigfoot, so I have some of the qualities of someone who would pay for sex.   The book is for all of these nerds who grew up and weren't able to reach their full "Bill Gates" potential.  It's about taking the focus that was used to excel on things like Video Games and whacking off, and using that same focus for self improvement. 

The book has a lot of helpful way's to start picking yourself up and working towards a better life.  I'll be using a lot of them to help myself reach some goals for 2012 so I'm definitely glad I read it.   Chris seems like a cool dude that is very self aware and is trying to help out some people.  The book is totally worth reading.  Self help books are great because they get people off their asses, even if only for an hour. But I guess anything is better than nothing.   

The book in stores now, and will also be available at the "99 cent store" in the year 2016, right next to the calendars. 

He's Back! Chris Jericho returns to the WWE!

On Tuesday, January 3rd I was laying on my couch at like 8am and decided to catch up on the episode of Monday Night Raw from the night before. I put on the show and after the first few matches I started to fall asleep. I was so fricken tired, I was gonna do that thing where you close your eyes and say "Ill just listen to the tv, and I'll still know what's going on." (that never works) - I fell fast asleep. But about an hour later I was jolted awake when a lightning bolt hit me square in the chest and I heard the words "Break the walls down!" as the return of Chris Jericho was happening on the screen. It jerked me up off the couch. It was awesome and it really happened!

Chris Jericho is back and up to his old tricks again. I like Jericho because he is a great wrestler and he is hilarious. And you can usually see him at the Rainbow Room or at Guns N Roses cover band concerts at "The Whiskey". (see below).  At the 2:50 mark is where I was woken up.

200th Stand up Comedy show of 2011.

My new years resolution for 2011 was to do 200 stand up comedy shows.  I reached that goal on Friday December 30th at the Federal Bar in North Hollywood. Special thanks to T.K and the Federal Bar staff for letting me do the final show of the year there.

Book Review: books by Brock Lesnar & Linda Hogan

During the Christmas break I had a chance to plow through some more books.   I actually finished reading both of these books within 48 hours. Brock Lesnar's "Death Clutch" and Linda Hogan's "Wrestling with the Hulk".
Here is my opinion on each of them.

Brock Lesnar's "Death Clutch".

I never knew much about Brock Lesnar.  I don't really watch UFC fighting and when he was in the WWE I was living in Chicago and not watching it that often. (Don't worry, I watch it every week now, in fact I have some killer Wrestlemania parties)  I had heard of Brock though from his dominance in the amateur wrestling world back in the late 90's.  The book was a new release at the library so I thought I'd check it out.
This book is a quick read. With Brock and Paul Heyman (a pro wrestling manager) being the authors, you don't have to worry about lame "over descriptive" sentences or the use of too many big words so the author can prove that he went to college.
My main interest was in finding out some new "behind the scenes" stories from the WWE. With all the backstabbing and politics involved in Pro Wrestling, most wrestlers autobiographies are great.  Brock covers his time in the WWE pretty well, his stories aren't too crazy but he seems to reiterate that life in the WWE is lucrative, but the financial reward may not be worth the pain on your body and mental anguish it involves.  One quote that stood out to me was that for Pro Wrestling you have to "Get in to Get out" which means, that you never want to become a "lifer" and be one of those worn out has-beens in the locker room.  Save your money, take care of your body, get plenty of sleep, don't party and get the hell out.  Brock admits to not taking a lot of his own advice, which let to his burnout and eventual shift to MMA fighting.  He does though, have a major persistence to be the best, which paid off because he was a NCAA, WWE and UFC champion. Another common theme in the book is that Brock always looks for a way to make a big score financially. He believes in taking care of his family first, which is good, but he brings it up a lot in the book and can come across as someone who is ruled by the dollar a little too much. I wouldn't be surprised if someday Brock offered his services out as a male prostitute. I know my roommate Steve would be excited about that.
Anyway's, it's worth reading, and won't take too long, so I recommend checking it out.

Linda Hogan "Wrestling with the Hulk"

Another quick read, this is Linda Hogan's side of the story when it comes to her divorce from wrestler, actor, "rent a center" spokesman, Hulk Hogan.  I've also read Hulk's book and was kind of curious to get her side of story.
Most autobiographies are very one-sided. The person will find way's to justify all sorts of behavior and tell their stories from their very warped point of view.  Not too often will the author be humble and try to be somewhat objective about their life.  (although Rob Lowe's book is the exception, he actually seems pretty cool)

The book is pretty fun, it has a lot of sex stories of all the places her and Hulk used to "do it". It follows her ride through the peek of "Hulkamania" and their reality show "Hogan Knows best".  There isn't too much behind the scenes WWE stories, the book mainly focuses on their relationship and Hulks cheating and financial scheming. In Hulk's book he accuses her of being "a partier" and drinking too much, in her book, she says she was just trying to have fun and Hulk was being controlling. She thought he was jealous that the spotlight wasn't always on him now that their VH1 reality show was a hit.  I'm sure they are both too blame.  They both love their kids very much and I'm sure they are both good people that just let the temptations of the world get the best of them. I see both of their points.
The book has a lot of advice for women who think their man is cheating. So you may want to read it if your dating the lead in "Two and a Half Men".
If your a fan of Linda's reality show personality, I'm sure she will be showing up on "Celebrity Apprentice" or another similar show soon.
Probably any show, except "Wife Swap."

Monday Night Football - Niners vs Steelers "Blackout Game"

The Forty Niners are finally back in action this year.  I may have grown up in the Green Bay area, but I've always been a Niners fan since I jumped on the bandwagon in the late 80's.
Here are some photo's from the Monday Night Football game me and Nighthawk (Chris Wivell) went to this past week.  It was the infamous "Blackout Game" where the power went out twice.

(above)  On the train from downtown San Francisco to Candlestick Park.

(above) outside the MNF production truck. At first glance it may appear that Nighthawk had smeared shit all over himself but that is actually a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey.

(above) pre game warm ups.

(above) a view from the stands when the lights were out.

(above) the girl behind us took a picture of me and the Birdman, the Niners dominated, winning 20 to 3.

(above)  some shots of Candlestick Park as we were leaving the game.
*a special thanks to the chick at ESPN that got us the tickets!

Book Review "I Want My MTV"

I was at Barnes & Noble and noticed a new book called "I Want My MTV".  It came in 2 different covers, one with Madonna on the front and one with Nirvana.  After asking on of the employees if they had a special "Guns N Roses" version, (they didnt) I had to settle for the Nirvana one.  The book was like 34 bucks and at first I was hesitant to buy it.  I thought about just getting it at the library, but after reading through it in the store I had to own it. 

Thank God I bought it.  This book rules! What a trip down memory lane.  I couldn't put this sucker down.  It's got a ton of cool stories about Guns N Roses, Van Halen, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Springsteen, you name it.  It covers the rise and fall of the music video era, the transition of music videos to the controversial program design of today and has a ton of cool stories.   Any one born before 1985 will love this book.  Check it out.