Doritos Commerical

Keith Hopkin and I dumped literally 30 bags of Doritos on people, pets and Grandmas to create this entry for the 2009 “Crash the Superbowl Contest”. The 5 seconds of film we captured for each take was well worth the 20 minutes of chip cleanup we had to do after each . I still can’t get the smell of nacho cheese out of my jeans. Although, I am sure the people we dumped chips on had it way worse!

"You Too!" performing as Brian Regan

Last night I perform on the Second Annual Schtick or Treat show hosted by Mark Normand and Matt Ruby. It is a great show where comedians perform as their favorite comedy legends. Last year I performed as George Carlin.

This year I performed as Brian Regan, a comedian I admire more and more each day. It was quite the shift from last year’s performance, where I started my Carlin set with an abortion joke because Regan works clean. The difference wasn’t huge for me because Carlin and Regan use their physicality brilliantly on stage, which is one of the big reasons why I love them so much.

After the show all the comedians were chatting about what a fun night it was and the discussion came up about getting laughs with someone else’s jokes.  How it felt to do routines that have been shown around the world. Millions of people know and love these jokes. They are great for a reason.

Instead of just writing these routines  down or reciting them in front of a mirror, we performed these routines AS the performer who created them. There was something magical about it and thankfully Schtick or Treat is a show that allows you to taste such greatness.

When I was performing as Brian Regan I became lost in his character; his mannerisms, his voice, his inflections, everything. I felt like I was playing his album in my head as my whole body took that voice and pushed it through on stage. It made me realize that, sure, his jokes aren’t the most brilliant ever written, but his energy and stage presence makes him a success just as much as his jokes does. A performer is total entity onstage.

It be able to find that recognizable quality, aside for the jokes, is what every comedian strives for; the Groucho walk, the Bill Cosby smile, the way Chris Rock stalks a stage. I got laughs just crouching around like Brian Regan. Being able to stop being myself for one show and instead take on a “Comedy Legend” allowed me relax and hone in all the what makes a person a “total entertainer”. It’s stage presence. It’s total commitment.

It was a great show. Can’t wait until next year.

Get Down with the Sickness

I have had a head/chest cold for the past week. Unfortunately, it’s tough to take time off being a comedian in New York City. Unless you are physically unable to make it onstage, usually you want to power through. Especially since it’s tough to get booked, you never know when you will be able to reschedule. So this past week I did about 7 shows (improv and stage up) wheezing and sneezing. Interestingly enough, these shows have been some of the best in a while.  Not to make any sort of comparison between myself and the greatest athlete of all time, but being sick and performing this week made me look up this game from a “flu-ridden” Michael Jordan against the Utah Jazz.

Now, when I was onstage, it was like the illness shut off any other part of my brain. I couldn’t tell you what time it was, or what train to get home, but for some reason I could hammer away at my jokes or relax into a character. It’s like that was all that was left of my functioning brain. Now,  obviously I don’t think this is good for the long run. My body definitely hit a wall after pushing myself so hard over the past 9 months, but the fact that I was able to perform under illness made one thing clear…fundamentals are fundamentals. Looking at the Michael Jordan game for example: he wasn’t as quick, he didn’t have the top speed, he was huffing and puffing in between plays, but the fundamentals never faltered. His jump shot, his fadeway, they were spot on as always. That’s all you’ve got when you are faced with an illness or a rowdy crowd or any other stress that can challenge you on any given show. The fundamentals have to kick in. It took a head cold for me to see that a straight forward attack to performing and good ground work is always going to benefit you more so than something fancy.

An Immigrant's Tale

My latest video. Starring Nick Turner, Travis Irvine and myself. This video took several weeks to edit, which is longer than I wanted to spend with this project. The hurdle was that I shot so much film, since we improvised the whole thing. I had a story arch in my mind, but the moments I wanted to come completely from the moment. Having Nick run around in this costume was hilarious and it was a real treat to see how people reacted to him. I was lucky to catch the playfulness of the interaction on the subway. There were alot of moments that didn’t make it into this cut, but that was the price I paid from winging it on the day of shooting.

Its A Small World After All

this is some of the coolest video I have seen in a while. It is created by a new video processing called “Tilt-Shifting”. It makes regular, real life footage seem to be made from miniatures.

Larry King: World's Greatest Interviewer

I love Larry King. He seems so innocent, so aloof. He acts like my granddad, trying to keep up with the times but failing over and over again. Here are some clips of him at this CNN finest. He always seems to have the knack for asking the tough questions.

Above, Larry King interviews Katie Hall, who in 1976 was abducted and raped, by now-notorious kidnapper Phillip Garrido. At the end the clip he asks what we all were wondering.

Above, Larry interviews Jerry Seinfeld and has no idea what happened to his TV show.

And here for fun, Larry and Snoop Dog go to Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. At the end Larry dine and dashes!!