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Archive for the ‘Comedians’ Category

David Stafford–Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders (2021)

Posted in Alexei Sayle, David Stafford, Entomology, Funny (ha ha), Guinea Pigs, Murder, Mysteries, Mystery, Racism on March 11, 2023| Leave a Comment »

[READ: December 20, 2022] Skelton’s Guide to Suitcase Murders

I admit that I thought this book was called Skeleton’s Guide… which I thought as very funny.

But it turns out that Skelton is a barrister (and this is the second book in the Skelton series).  David Stafford is a British writer who has written largely for TV and theatre until he started writing novels.  He has written plays with Alexei Sayle (for fans of The Young Ones).

This mystery is set in 1929.  That setting allows Stafford to avoid any kind of contemporary details that might help speed the case along.  But it’s written in such a way that you’re not frustrated by it–you can simply get into the nearly 100 year old technology (and lack thereof).

In November 1929, a woman’s corpse is discovered in a suitcase.  She is identified and her husband, Doctor Ibrahim Aziz becomes the prime suspect.  They find some evidence and there is a rumor that she was cheating on him.  So clearly he is guilty.  Especially since he’s not from England–he’s Egyptian.

Arthur Skelton is a barrister.  He’s not 100% successful, but he gives his all in hopeless cases.  So he is called in to represent Aziz.

Skelton is concerned for diplomatic matters if Aziz is executed here.  He is related to a wealthy and well-connected family back in Egypt.

The story, despite dealing with a gruesome murder, has some funny moments.  Skelton’s clerk Edgar is trying to lose weight and is quite miserable. (more…)

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Dinosaur Jr. / Guided By Voices / Eugene Mirman (Fillmore Philadelphia, Philadelphia PA, December 2, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Bob's Burgers, Dinosaur Jr., Eugene Mirman, Guided By Voices, J. Mascis, Lou Barlow, Philadelphia, PA, The Fillmore Philadelphia on December 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: December 2, 2022] Dinosaur Jr. / Guided By Voices / Eugene Mirman

I have seen Dinosaur Jr. three times and I don’t really need to see them again.  They were great but there’s not a lot new in the mix to make it worth the trip. And that’s fine.

Guided By Voices are supposedly the greatest (or at least the most prolific) indie band of the 90s. And I’ve never really gotten into them.  I like some of their songs just fine, but I feel like Robert Pollard plays two chords for 80 seconds and write some nonsense and there’s the new GBV song.

If I had seen them open for someone I’m sure I’d appreciate it, but they weren’t going to drag me to this show.

Eugene Mirman is a comedian and the voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers.  I wanted to go to this show just for him.  But I didn’t.  Once again, though, I love a comedian opening for a rock band.

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Guster / Alex Edelman (Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, November 25, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Alex Edelman, Carnegie Hall, Funny (ha ha), Guster, New York City on November 25, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: November 25, 2022] Guster / Alex Edelman

When we saw Guster at the Wellmont, they announced that they would be playing Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall!

We went on vacation and I grabbed tickets from a museum on vacation.

And then late November rolled around and we realized that it was the Friday after Thanksgiving.  BLACK FRIDAY.  There was no way in hell we were going to New York City on Black Friday.  I’m going to posit that this is something only someone from New Jersey would say.

So, we did not see Guster at Carnegie Hall.

Alex Edelman is a comedian.  I just watched a clip of one of his bits on Stephen Colbert and it was hilarious.  Must check him out more.  And, frankly, I think a comedian is a good opening act for certain bands.

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“Weird Al” Yankovic : The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour (Miller Theater, Kimmel Cultural Campus, Philadelphia, PA, October 28, 2022)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Elton John, Emo Philips, Funny (ha ha), Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Miller Theater, Philadelphia, PA, Religion on October 31, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 28, 2022] “Weird Al” Yankovic

This was my ninth time seeing Weird Al.  I’m shooting for ten.  We’ll see if he can muster up one more tour (why did I skip the Strings Attached tour)?

I was pretty thrilled by the first Ill-Advised Vanity Tour.  It was great seeing so many songs that rarely got played (amusingly, I had seen some of those songs on their original tours back in the early 2000s, which is pretty crazy.

I was hoping that this tour would be a whole new set of obscure old songs.  I thought that for this reprise–The Unfortunate Return of the Ridiculously Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised Vanity Tour–he might pull out “Buckingham Blues” for the Queen’s death or something really odd like “Slime Creatures from Outer Space” or holy cow, “Genius in France” would have blown my mind.

I see that he actually played a largely different set in NYC (which I considered going to, but decided against).   Including “I’ll Sue Ya” (not a favorite, but I haven’t heard it before) and “Velvet Elvis (talk about an obscurity!).  But he also did the two songs that I would LOVE to hear live….and it might have been worth the hassle of Carnegie Hall just to hear “Nature Trail to Hell” and “Albuquerque.”

Having laid out that complaint, we did get four songs I hadn’t heard live before including a wonderful “Don’t Download This Song” and the sheer surprise of “Buy Me a Condo.”  And this new, improved, extended version of “Craigslist” was outstanding.

I will never complain about hearing “The Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota”–and the crowd was really into it.

Of course, any “Weird Al” show is a good time.  Al gave amusing introductions to all of the songs and even did an amusing “encore” bt where he stood at the side of the stage checking his phone and then arguing with the band about whether they were going to do an encore or not.

The encore was worth the price of admission.  He did a (straight and fantastic) cover of Elton John’s “Saturday’s Alright for Fighting.”  And the closing medley of songs in very different styles was outstanding.  I especially enjoyed that someone in the audience was able to do the Yoda chant dance. (more…)

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Emo Philips (Miller Theater, Kimmel Cultural Campus, Philadelphia, PA, October 28, 2022) [“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC]

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Emo Philips, Funny (ha ha), Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Miller Theater, Philadelphia, PA, Religion on October 30, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: October 28, 2022] Emo Philips

I saw Emo Philips open for Al four years ago.  I rather enjoyed his set.  As I said:

Emo’s comedy is really dark but–delivered in his bizarre manner that goes somehow beyond deadpan–it makes his jokes really hilarious

I wasn’t sure if I needed to see his set again–I wasn’t sure how different it would be.  And so, coupled with a Phillies game, it being a Friday night and it taking place in the center of Philadelphia, I rather assumed I’d be late and miss some or all of his set.

I arrived at the show at a little after 8 and by the time I got to my seat I guess I missed about half of his set.

(more…)

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“Weird Al” Yankovic / Emo Phillips (Carnegie Hall, New York, NY, October 29, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Carnegie Hall, Emo Philips, Funny (ha ha), New York City on October 29, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: October 29, 2022] “Weird Al” Yankovic / Emo Phillips

I did not see this show when it was in Wilkes Barre in May.  However, I did see this show last night

And it was awesome of course.

I secretly loved the idea of seeing “Weird Al” at Carnegie Hall.  There’s just something wonderful about that.

But, having just seen the show in Philly and knowing that getting to Carnegie Hall is just a huge pain in the butt for me, I didn’t even bother getting tickets.

Which is fine.

I love the idea that I could have seen him three times in a year, especially since this tour doesn’t have as much repeating as his full scale tours do.

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Kurtis Conner (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 1, 2022)

Posted in Danny Gonzalez, Dean Hebscher, Drew Gooden, Jacob Sharpe, Kiss, Kurtis Conner, Neil Diamond, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia, The Rolling Stones on September 3, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 1, 2022] Kurtis Conner

My daughter (and apparently my son, too) loves Kurtis Conner.  They kept saying his name as if I had heard of him.  I had no idea who he was at all.  Turns out he is a YouTuber with a billion fans.

My daughter tells me that they Holy Trinity is Kurtis Conner, Danny Gonzalez and Drew Gooden (whom he has toured with in the past).  But without doubt, Conner (whose name is so simple and yet sound confoundedly hard to spell correctly with that K and the e) sits on top.

So what could Conner possibly do if he has made his career based on commenting on YouTube videos (or something).  And, I wondered aloud to both of my kids if I would enjoy this gig or not know what he was talking about.  I decided not to watch anything before hand so that I would have no expectations whatsoever.

So I glad I didn’t read this review beforehand

A big aspect of Conner’s set was integrating some of his classic jokes from his videos into his in-person stand-up punchlines. Of course he did it flawlessly, and I — along with everyone in the theater — loved it. Because prior knowledge of his jokes is needed, though, many of his references wouldn’t be understood by someone who didn’t watch Conner’s YouTube.

I have to say, aside from a few times when he said a line or catchphrase that people applauded (and I had no idea why), there was nothing about his show that I didn’t get.  And, best of all, I thought he was really funny. (more…)

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Dean Hebscher (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 1, 2022) [KURTIS CONNER]

Posted in Comedians, Danny Gonzalez, Dean Hebscher, Drew Gooden, Jacob Sharpe, Kurtis Conner, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on September 2, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: September 1, 2022] Dean Hebscher

My daughter (and apparently my son, too) loves Kurtis Conner.  They kept saying his name as if I had heard of him.  I had no idea who he was at all.  Turns out he is a YouTuber with a billion fans.

When he announced a tour, my daughter begged to go.  But most of the venues were far away.  Then he announced Philly and how could I say no?

We had seats in the high balcony–it didn’t seem like the kind of show you’d need to be super close for.  A short time before the show, my daughter’s friend was able to get a seat in the same row.  So I drove them both and then they sat together and I sat next to a group of twenty-something girls–not awkward at all.

After the Jacob Sharpe set, we didn’t have to wait long for Dean Hebscher to come out.  That’s one thing that comedians have over bands–no need for set up time.

So it turns out that my daughter tells me that Jacob Sharpe is cool but Dean Hebscher is not.  She wished we had missed Hebscher’s set.  (According to Conner, Sharpe and Hebscher are his best friends).

Hebscher’s set was a little different.  He talked about growing up in rural Canada.  He talked about how his school had a “kick the ginger day” (there was one red-haired kid in school).  He pointed out that it wasn’t school sanctioned (that’s pretty funny) but everyone knew about it through facebook.  I did rather enjoy when the poor ginger kid got his revenge (also through facebook).

I think I enjoyed the set up of his jokes more than the actual jokes themselves.  I enjoyed when he talked about being a camp councellor when he was like 16–barely a few years older than the kids he was supposed to watch.  But he got bogged down with when the kids found the jets in the pool stimulating.  In act I felt lik e alot of his jokes got bogged down in a kind of sexual trajectory that he mined for too long.

I did rather enjoy an absurd story about when he was young and waiting to get into a club.  He was on a long line and farted essentially on the girl behind him.  The line was really close and she was knocked back by the horrible smell.  She spent the whole time that they were waiting to get into the club announcing that this guy in front of her had farted on her.  There was a nice payoff later too.

These jokes were clearly polished but they felt very anecdotal, like he was thinking of details as he went along.  For better or worse.

I liked his set but not nearly as much as the other two.

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Jacob Sharpe (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, September 1, 2022) [KURTIS CONNER]

Posted in Danny Gonzalez, Dean Hebscher, Drew Gooden, Jacob Sharpe, Kurtis Conner, Philadelphia, PA, The Met Philadelphia on September 1, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: November 19, 2022] Jacob Sharpe

My daughter (and apparently my son, too) loves Kurtis Conner.  They kept saying his name as if I had heard of him.  I had no idea who he was at all.  Turns out he is a YouTuber with a billion fans.

When he announced a tour, my daughter begged to go.  But most of the venues were far away.  Then he announced Philly and how could I say no?

We had seats in the high balcony–it didn’t seem like the kind of show you’d need to be super close for.  A short time before the show, my daughter’s friend was able to get a seat in the same row.  So I drove them both and then they sat together and I sat next to a group of twenty-something girls–not awkward at all.

We wound up leaving later than I wanted to, and as we got to the exit, it turned out that President Biden had been in Philly and the exit was blocked off!  Traffic was terrible and I wasn’t sure how we were going to go around to a new exit when the police just pulled away and let us use the exit.  So our timing was actually perfect–any earlier and I’d be driving around who knows where.

But we stilled missed much of Jacob Sharpe’s set. (more…)

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The Front Bottoms / Long Neck / Jordan Jensen (White Eagle Hall, Jersey City, NJ, May 19, 2022) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Jersey City, NJ, Jordan Jensen, Jordan Jensen 2, Long Neck, The Front Bottoms, White Eagle Hall on May 19, 2022| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 19, 2022] The Front Bottoms / Long Neck / Jordan Jensen

I heard my son listening to The Front Bottoms.  I didn’t realize he liked them when I saw them last year, but when the band announced this series of shows at White Eagle Hall, I knew the shows would be great and I knew he’d like to go.

Especially with this announcement

The Front Bottoms are playing a few intimate shows in their home state of NJ this spring. They’ve announced three nights at Jersey City’s White Eagle Hall on May 18, 19 and 20. “To say that we’re very excited to play Jersey City is an understatement,” drummer Mathew Uychich says. “These shows are going to be very special.” Guitarist / vocalist Brian Sella adds, “I spent the best years of my life in Jersey City! I should’ve never left. It’s an honor to return home once again!”

But it turned out that the night before was my rescheduled Deftones show which he went to.  And he was pretty wiped out from it and didn’t feel like going to another long show.  So we missed out on this one.  Which seems a real shame.

Long Neck is Lily Mastrodimos.

A review of her 2018 album says that she now brings along a full-fledged rock band for the ride. Powerhouse guitar backings compliment her soulful voice in this album where easy listening meets folk-punk.

She sounds great solo, but if she played with a full band it would have been great.

Jordan Jensen is a comedian.  A random review from Spokane says

Jordan Jensen is an old-school comic who lets it all hang out. The emerging New York entertainer doesn’t care who she offends. The amusing humorist is reminiscent of the late Sam Kinison and the late Mitch Hedberg since Jensen delivers the hottest of takes on relationships and pop culture.

I think a comedian is not a bad opening act.  Ideally, have the comedian do stand up while the bands are breaking down and setting up.

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