Here’s another bit of self-promotion masking itself as a meaningful blog…

Wednesday night of next week (March 3) is the fourth instalment of Red Carpet Comedy.  I’ll be kicking off the show again ahead of (at current count) another 8 comedians trying their hand at their newest material.  As has been my main objective lately, I’ll be talking more about the epidemic of ego that seems to be spreading around society, and pointing out my love/hate relationship with my own narcissism.  (I’ll be writing more on this blog in a couple of weeks about why I’ve been writing/talking so much about ego in my stand-up act.) These evenings have always been a blast for both the performers and audience. I hope that if you haven’t already been able to make it out you can spare some time on March 3.

This next announcement is going to be a little cryptic (that’s intentional)… in April I’ll be opening for one of Canada’s biggest names in comedy.  He’ll be coming through Calgary on April 9 and 10, and will be in Edmonton the following weekend (April 16 and 17).  I’ll have more information closer to the shows but it will be my next big appearance in both of these cities and I didn’t want you to be able to say, “I didn’t know you were performing so I made other plans.”  Now, the only excuse you’ll have is: “I didn’t want to see your show.”  (Perhaps leaving you with no other excuse wasn’t the best choice for my self-esteem… but it’s too late to go back now.)

As always, I look forward to seeing your smiling face in an audience soon.

My previous YouTube “sketch” video was relatively successful (mostly because of my friends that shared it with their networks).  Sure, I’m no Susan Boyle, but I was happy with the response that the video received.  So, I did it again.  Not the same video (that would be strange and pointless), but a brand new video with a new concept, new location, and new facial hair.  (That last part is a bit of a personal experiment, and other than having it called “a growth” two weeks ago, it has been successful.)

After watching it (it will only take a minute) you may ask yourself if this video was about someone in particular and, yes, yes it was.  However, in the interest of sparing this person the embarrassment I’ll keep the name to myself.  Sorry.  I know you wanted more gossip than that.  Go read TMZ or something.

Enjoy…

Last week myself and fellow comedian, Cory Mack, launched a brand new project with the objective of assembling all Canadian Comedians in one online location to celebrate the rich comedy landscape in this country.  It’s called Comediapedia and in addition to having a complete directory of comedy in Canada (we hope), it will also include a comprehensive timeline of Canadian Comedy, a newsletter for the comedians involved, and anecdotes from the various performers.

Nothing like this has ever been attempted before.  Too often we can get bogged down in the politics of the industry and easily forget that the goals of all comedians are the same: to entertain (and perhaps enlighten) audiences.  It was with that notion and intention that Comediapedia was established.  Neither Cory nor myself have any other objectives than to create a sense of community amongst all Canadian comedic performers.

If you are a comedian: I urge you to visit the site and establish your profile.  You can share as much or as little as you like… even just your name and headshot would help us to create a more complete list of performers.  Once you have done that – share the site with your Comedian friends to help us make the directory as complete as possible.

If you are a fan of comedy: If you see a Canadian Comedian on stage or TV but didn’t see or hear their name you may be able to find them within the Comediapedia database.  The comics have the option to share their popular/memorable punchlines (which can be searched).  Or maybe you know where they are from and can do a search based on that.  I can’t imagine a Canadian Comedian that wouldn’t love to have you as a fan.

While the database may appear meager now, with time it will grow to encompass all Canadian Comedians that wish to take part.  When that occurs we will have a central location to acknowledge the massive achievements and unbelievable talent that this country produces.

I don’t watch the TV news, I don’t read newspapers, and I don’t follow current events in any way.  I have several friends that think this is to my detriment.  My comedian friends may think that it’s impossible for me to write anything living in isolation.  Neither of these arguments will change my opinion.  There are two primary reasons for my “media fast”:

1. In this lovely technology-driven world the really important news “finds” me.  Be it through Twitter, Facebook, or old-fashioned real-world conversations: I find out (without trying) about the most important events.
2. With 99.9% of reported news, I am incapable of taking any action to help the situation that they are reporting on.  Knowing some of the terrible things that happen only serves to depress me and leave me with a powerless feeling.

While the earthquake in Haiti last week proved point #1 (I found out about it almost immediately through various sources), it has also shown the exception to point #2; next week I will endeavour to help as much as I can.  I’m going to do this the only way that I know how: entertain others in exchange for money and donate that cash to The Red Cross.  This will happen over two nights for two different events.

Red Carpet Comedy is scheduled for January 27.  While the show time (8PM), ticket price ($10), and location will all remain the same, the money made on the door will now be donated (100%) to the Haitian Relief Effort.  There has been a lot of talk about the ability to donate $10 with a text message – that same $10 can make its way to The Red Cross and in addition to helping those in need, you’ll receive a unique evening of entertainment.  You can order your tickets online now by clicking here. Also, you can check out the Facebook event page.

The day after Red Carpet Comedy (January 28) will see a second evening of entertainment for the same cause.  The management at Club Paradiso (the same venue for Red Carpet Comedy) has decided to hold their own fund raiser featuring a variety of the performers regularly seen on their stage.  There will be music, comedy, magic, and some special surprises.  (I’ll be on the show as well.)  Tickets for this evening are $50 and include the show, a drink, some snacks, and a $10 Village Cantina coupon.  As in the previous night’s show, all of the revenue from ticket sales (plus silent auction items) will be going toward helping those affected by this disaster.  You can order your tickets for this event by calling (403) 265-5739.

I’ve decided to take action to help in my own small way, and I hope that you’ll choose to help in your own small way by joining us next Wednesday or Thursday night.

Twelve days into 2010 and it’s off to a great start for both myself and one of my best friends.  Granted; my first few days of the decade haven’t been quite as news-filled as his… but it’s my blog so I’m going to share my news first.  (I hope that this is a slow work week for you… because there are a bunch of things to listen to and watch.)

On Saturday morning the host of CBC’s Daybreak, Russell Bowers, called both myself and fellow comedian Lori Gibbs into the studio to share our views on the new airport security measures that are being implemented for flights to and from The United States. Sure, neither of us are experts on the topic, but the experts aren’t as much fun to interview.  You can listen to our portion of the show here:

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(I also highly recommend subscribing to his full podcast -- which comes out every Monday.  He gets a lot of great interviews and talks with more than a few really cool people.)

In the audio clip (I’m assuming, of course, that you listened to it) you heard that I spent my weekend performing at the Yuk Yuk’s Club in Edmonton, Alberta.  I started a couple of the shows with a joke that I wrote on January 1 of this year, making it my first joke of 2010.  Given that this particular bit has a very small amount of time to be “topical”, I’ve put it up on YouTube to hopefully get as much use out of it as possible.  It’s less than 30 seconds long:

And now for the BIG news: It’s a well-known fact that I use this blog to fuel my own egomania, but every so often someone that I know achieves something that I simply can’t ignore.  Shawn Farquhar, who I have written about before, has done just that.  This coming Thursday, January 14, Shawn will be making an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show! So, check your local listings… set your PVRs, DVD recorders, and VCRs (if you still have a VCR)… and don’t miss out on watching it.  I know that I am looking forward to both seeing what he has come up with for the show, and seeing him dance.  Well done, Shawn!

That is a lot of excitement to start the year.  I may have established a dangerous precedent -- living the whole year with this much going on could get a bit crazy.  (Mind you, I don’t think that I will complain… at least I’ll have something to blog about.)

Last year at about this time I posted a complete summary of what my 2008 looked like.  This was kind of an open Christmas letter to my readership.  I wanted to do that again, however, to mix it up this year I’ve decided to summarize 2009 with some significant numbers.  You might say that it will be slightly less personal, but I think when combined these numbers paint an accurate picture of these past twelve months:

• 101 paid shows
• 16% magic-based shows
• 77% comedy-based shows
• 7% acting-based shows
• 69% of performing revenue from magic-based shows
• 31% of performing revenue from comedy-based shows
  
• 5 donated shows for fund raising events
• 12 unpaid comedy spots (at open mics, etc.)
• 68 travelling days
• 10,566 out-of-town kilometres driven by myself in my car
• 44 posts on this blog (including this one)
• 1 vacation (for the 2009 PCAM Convention – and it was awesome!)
• 364 publicly-removed wedgies

What I could never hope to quantify are the moments with friends and family that I will remember long past these figures.  (And if I did quantify them; that would be creepy.) 2009 gave plenty of opportunity to strengthen long-term friendships, rekindle a few that had fallen by the wayside, and create new ones.  I am happy to say that I think I seized each of those opportunities helping to make 2009 memorable and rewarding.

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

August 18, 2009, was a pivotal day in my career.  At least my career for the foreseeable future.  I’ve held off on writing about it publicly on my blog because, like all business agreements, I like to give it a little bit of time to make sure that everything is going smoothly before announcing it to the world.  For the last three months everything has gone extremely well so I am comfortable making the announcement:  I have rostered/signed with Funny Business, Inc.

For those of you that haven’t heard of the agency – you have definitely seen their work.  They are the exclusive representation for the Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Clubs and responsible for many of the corporate and one-night comedy shows across Canada.  Since formalizing our working relationship I have had the opportunity to work in both the Calgary and Edmonton Yuk Yuk’s Clubs and showcased for The Just For Laughs Festival.  Not bad at all!  (You can see my official “listing” on their website by clicking here.)

Funny Business, Inc. will now be representing my stand-up comedy career in Canada.  This is an important distinction for all the agents and clients that have been working with me as a magician for almost 7 years.  We can (and I hope we will) continue to work together producing great magic shows for your events and your agency’s clients. I am still actively pursuing work in both fields and still working to improve both shows to add even more value for the people and companies that choose my show as their entertainment.  (If you have any questions about working together in the future, please contact me.)

A great deal of opportunity and work now lies before me and am I am very excited to move forward and see what is in store.

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My busiest season begins this weekend with shows booked almost solid until the New Year.  That said, there are still some prime dates available in my calendar and if you or your company are looking for entertainment for your event I may be able to accommodate.

A lot of people (that aren’t night owls) have been asking about my interview last week on CJSW to promote Wednesday night’s Red Carpet Comedy and it not only went really well but was a LOT of fun to do.  (A big thanks to Evan for having me on!) If you would like to listen to the show yourself, you can visit the Am I Right?? website and

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(or listen through your browser).  Not only was it easy to talk for the time we had but there was a ton of stuff that we didn’t have time to get to, so that should give us a reason to do it again at some point in the future.

Tickets for this Wednesday night’s show are about 50% sold out… with still a bunch of people having yet to “officially confirm” so hopefully we can get a packed house to hear all the good (and bad) that the performers will have created.

And yesterday I received a note from James Moore with the promotional poster for the November 9 fund raiser that I am a part of to benefit the United Way.  Here’s all the details in poster form:

This will definitely be a brief blog post, as I have some new jokes to write (and some new jokes to make much funnier).

Tomorrow night I’ve been asked to appear on “Am I Right??” – it is Calgary’s only comedy radio show (on CJSW).  The show airs every week at 11:00pm on 90.9fm.  I’ll be joining the regular hosts, Evan and Jesse, to talk about next week’s Red Carpet Comedy.  In addition to the details on what Red Carpet Comedy is all about, I’ll be playing some clips from some of my favourite comics.  This will be the first time that these talented performers will have been heard on this radio show, and I’m excited to expose their listeners to them.

Not a night owl?  No problem.  Fortunately, you can subscribe to their podcast and download their most recent episodes through iTunes.  Just search for “Am I Right??” in the iTunes Store.

I’ll also see what I can do about posting the interview on the Red Carpet Comedy website.  Tickets are still available for next week’s show (Wednesday, October 28).  If you would to pick some up, click here.

Should you want more details on “Am I Right??” you can read more about the show by clicking here.  You can also listen live online by visiting that link just before 11:00pm tomorrow night!

Within in the next month I have a number of shows coming up for a bunch of different reasons (and not the usual “I’m performing a show” type of reasons).  In each case I get to work with a lot of other comics and that always excites me because normally you don’t get the opportunity to work with a lot of your peers all at once.  Here’s what is happening:

October 28 – Red Carpet Comedy

With the success of the first show of Red Carpet Comedy it was decided that there should be another!  The whole point of this show is to allow Calgary’s (and Canada’s) professional comics the opportunity to perform their newest material.  In fact, we kind of make sure that all they perform is the new stuff.  This condition creates a whole lot of hilarious moments (but not necessarily because of the material).  I’ll be appearing on the show with a new set of things that I think are funny… you’ll have to come an judge for yourself.

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Doors Open: 7:00PM
Show: 8:00PM
Tickets: $10 (Click here to order tickets online.)
Location: Club Paradiso (1413 – 9 Avenue SE)
Website: www.RedCarpetComedy.com
Facebook Event: Click here.

A number of other very funny local comics have already confirmed their appearances on the show including Cory Mack, Lori Gibbs, Daryl Makk, Amanda Perrin, and Dan Guiry.  (Rumour also has it that a couple of comics from the Toronto area will be stopping by.)

November 5 – Just For Laughs Festival Showcase

You may have heard about The Just For Laughs Comedy Festival which happens in Montreal every year.  What you may not know is that it is the largest festival on the planet and it is a huge honour to be able to perform there.  This show is a showcase for the local comedians to get their chance to perform at this prestigious event.  (It’s like an audition.)

I’ll be showcasing that night with five other local comics (and 23 other comics across the course of the week).  We each get seven minutes to show off our best work and hopefully be selected by the Just For Laughs representatives that will be in Calgary for the shows.  Here are the details:

Date: Thursday, November 5, 2009
Doors Open: 7:00PM
Show: 8:00PM
Location: Yuk Yuk’s Calgary (218 – 18 Avenue SE)
Reservations: calgary@yukyuks.com or phone (403) 258-2028

I’m not going to lie: having a lot of people in the crowd friendly to my show couldn’t hurt my chances.  (I am a magician… I like to stack the deck.)

November 9 – Comedy Monday Night to benefit The United Way

As I have mentioned on this blog previously, Comedy Monday Night is Calgary’s longest running open-mic night for new and professional comics to try stand up for the first time or test their new material.  About four times per year the room switches formats and turns into a fund raiser for a local charity.  This time around the benefactor will be The United Way.

The show format is also slightly different.  Instead of ten acts (some amateurs and some professionals) this show will only have a handful of comics and all of them will be at the top of their game.  I’ll be hosting the evening’s festivities with Lori Gibbs and Stan Thomson already confirmed to appear.  More acts will be added in the coming weeks and each of them is guaranteed to be worth seeing.

There should be a couple of tickets available to the show and if you are interested in one of them, here are the details:

Date: Monday, November 9, 2009
Doors Open: 7:00PM
Show: 8:00PM
Location: Broken City (613 – 11 Avenue SW)
Reservations: tickets@comedymondaynight.com or phone (403) 561-8975

I’ve always had a lot of fun in this room and this show should be no different (plus it’s for a great cause).

So hopefully you can come to see me either try new material, showcase for a spot at Just For Laughs, or raise some money for charity.