I don’t watch the news.  I decided a long time ago that the information contained within those broadcasts was useless.  I still watch TV, but the only programs I see that contain any “current events” are The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report.  Yes, both programs are biased as can be (what news program isn’t?), but I love them both for different reasons.

Some people question me: “How can you be a comedian and not watch the news?” The truth is that my act has never had a political angle to it.  The few times that I have tried something like that, I looked like an idiot.  Also, if comedy fans want the best satirical take on current events they can watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert deliver this almost nightly.

Not watching the news does have some benefits.  I don’t believe that the world will end tomorrow.  Definitely a plus. Listening to the anchors every night must have a negative effect as a result of the polarized arguments on topics like global warming and the economic crisis.

When walking around outside I find myself struck by the ridiculous nature of the economic doom-sayers.  I still see people out with friends and family, having dinner in restaurants, and buying Christmas presents.  In fact, if you never listened to the news you might not even be aware of the “crisis”. (Also – if you didn’t check up on your investment statements.)

That said, I do wish to learn more about the situation and as luck would have it I came into possession of a book called Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan.  The book does an excellent job of explaining economic concepts in a clear fashion without graphs and equations.  I came across an interesting quote:

“Economists reckon that by the time the Berlin Wall crumbled, some East German car factories were actually destroying value.  Because the manufacturing process was so inefficient and the end product was so shoddy, the plants were producing cars worth less than the actual inputs used the make them.  Basically, they took perfectly good steal and ruined it!”

I don’t think I have to listen to the news to find the similarity to today’s situation.  Beurocrats are considering a massive economic bail-out and are choosing to interfere with the free market.  (On a side note, why is this action not considered socialism when Barack Obama’s health-plan is?) Just a few lines after the above quote is this one, referencing a government-subsidized business in India (which is nominally capitalist)…

“Every day, twelve hundred employees reported to work with the avowed goal of producing fertilizer.  There was just one small complication: The plant had never actually produced any salable fertilizer.  None.  Government bureaucrats ran the plant using public funds… It limped along because there was no mechanism to force it to shut down.”

The important point there is “mechanism to force it to shut down.”  No matter how bad it gets, continued interference can not help.  So, I’ve decided to start investing in shirts.  That’s right.  This past August, on vacation, I spent quite heavily on a new shirt in which to perform in.  I spent so much in fact that several people commented: “You almost lost your shirt on that shirt.”

This “investment” was before the economic crisis – and it hasn’t lost any value to me – so it’s stable.  (That’s more than can be said about most other investments.) And, sometimes, I am living in it, so it’s like real estate – which I am told is always a good investment.

So even if the entire economy collapses (which I won’t find out about until a few days later without watching the news) I will look good.

I had the pleasure this last week of working with one of my favourite comedians, Bengt Washburn.  Watching him work is inspiring.  It often surprises me when new comics don’t watch the pros perform – you can always learn a lot from the experience.  One thing that Bengt showed me was the ability to find the “big picture” from a small joke or premise, and that exact thing happened this past week…

For the past few months I have been working on a joke with an introduction line of: “a little bit of racism saves lives”.  The joke, on it’s own, is working out fairly well – but it lacks a couple of other elements to bring together to start to create a truly insightful moment in the show.  Well, inspiration hit last week…

The “big picture” for this joke is all about our assumptions.  It is our assumptions that save our lives (and if not, saves our time).  I have always hated hearing the expression: “When you assume you make an ass out of you and me.”  Hardly, how about: “When you use that expression you make an ass out of you.”

Having to wake up everyday and verify everything you know would take more than the entire day and thousands of years ago would have resulted in your death.  Assuming that a predator wants to eat you is a good thing.  Assuming that a gun-weilding maniac may be dangerous is a good thing.  Assuming that gravity still works every morning just makes sense (if you don’t make this assumption you may end up wearing a tinfoil hat and waiting for the aliens to return).

It then occured to me that our base assumptions (the assumptions that we use most often) define who we are. People that assume everything is going to be alright become optimists, people that think the best of others quickly gain new friends, and people that assume the worst become politicians.

So our goal shouldn’t be to stop making assumptions but to make sure that our assumptions result in the type of person that we want to be. Hopefully, I can find the funny in this whole thing – I guess I have some writing to do…

(Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Blink” also touched on this subject about how the human brain quickly makes decisions/assumptions.)

Wow!  What a great show on Saturday night.  The Second Annual “Jawdroppers” took place, as produced by Magic West, and it was an incredible evening.  With a near sold-out house and a line-up of performers that was second-to-none we definitely raised the bar for next year’s show.

Thanks to Peter Vesuwalla for taking some great photos… this is just our curtain call…

I’d also like to thank our great line-up of performers: Trevor Watters & Lorena, Shawn Farquhar (with Lori and Hannah), and, of course, the other two-thirds of Magically Delicious: Ryan Pilling, and Tyler Wilson.  Having heard nothing but positive reviews I can confidently say that we hit it out of the park and now have the difficult task of taking it up another notch next year.

As a fun bonus I have thrown up the “set list” from Magically Delicious’ MC appearance on this show on the Inside Jokes blog.  Check it out by clicking here.

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With today being Remembrance Day I hope that you will take a minute to remember the sacrifices and courage of the men and women who have fought for what they believe in.  Today is not about politics – it is about truly remarkable people to whom we owe our lifestyle.  I am personally grateful to each and every one of them and am today (as I do every year) saying, “thank you”.

UPDATE: Shortly after I made this post Shawn shared this video on Facebook, and I wanted to link to it from here as well.  Click here to watch A Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly. It is very timely and very touching.

What the world needs is another blog! OK – maybe not.  Finding something new to talk about every week is challenging enough on this site alone – but adding a second project to maintain would be impossible.  So – I’m not leaving it up to me.  My newest project, Inside Jokes, is a collaboration between all stand-up comedians everywhere (as soon as they hear about it that is!).

Here’s the idea: to showcase the behind-the-scenes activities of comics and lend some insight into how comedians think.  This goal is accomplished (or at least, closer to accomplished) by placing online images of comedians’ set lists and then adding commentary from the comic him/herself.  In this way you will start to see how comics prepare, where they get their material, and what they are actually thinking about when they are making you laugh.

The whole idea is really touch to describe without actually seeing it in action, so why not visit the…

Inside Jokes Blog

Every Monday morning (if all goes well) there is a new set list ready to be disected and they always seem to prove an interesting read even if you aren’t a comedian yourself.  (If you would like to jump directly to my set list – the first one put up a couple of weeks ago – click here.)

Hopefully you like it and the comics keep submitting!

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Also, one last reminder that “Jawdroppers” in THIS SATURDAY at 7:00pm – featuring the two-time world champion of Magic, Shawn Farquhar, the creative illusion team Trevor Watters & Lorena, and myself along with the rest of Magically Delicious.  Tickets are still available (but going really fast after this past weekend) so be sure to pick them up online by clicking here.