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Archive for the ‘Film & TV’ Category

Mathilda Zeller–“Kushtuka” (published 2023) [Ghost Box IV] (2025)

Posted in Alaska, Hingston & Olsen, Horror, Mathilda Zeller, Patton Oswalt, Supernatural, The Ghost Box on October 22, 2025| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: October 22, 2025] “Kushtuka”

It has been six years since Ghost Box III came out….

After years of demand, the Ghost Box is back! Patton Oswalt’s much-beloved spooky-story anthology returns for a fourth edition, with the same trademark production details—magnetized box lid, anyone?—that Ghost Box fans have come to expect.

As always, working with Patton on Ghost Box IV was a dream, and we can’t wait to show you the nightmares that he’s wrangled and stuffed into the box this time around.

This story is set in Alaska.  The main character is not yet twenty but is old enough to want to get married to her boyfriend (actually, he wants to get married and she doesn’t care).  But her mama would like her to get married to a rich white man from Kansas named Ferryman.  This man is terrible, acting like he owns the place and taking what he wants.  He has some “treasures” in his house that she is certain belonged to her grandfather.

Her mama tells her that she (the daughter) is going to work for Ferryman’s party that night.  She bristles but it’s a done deal and she will make some money out of it. (more…)

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Bob Leman–“Window” (published 1980) [Ghost Box IV] (2025)

Posted in Bob Leman, Hingston & Olsen, Patton Oswalt, The Ghost Box, Time Travel on October 21, 2025| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: October 21, 2025] “Window”

It has been six years since Ghost Box III came out….

After years of demand, the Ghost Box is back! Patton Oswalt’s much-beloved spooky-story anthology returns for a fourth edition, with the same trademark production details—magnetized box lid, anyone?—that Ghost Box fans have come to expect.

As always, working with Patton on Ghost Box IV was a dream, and we can’t wait to show you the nightmares that he’s wrangled and stuffed into the box this time around.

This story is set in the middle of nowhere.  A government facility that has been shut down since World War II was recently reoccupied for research purposes.  The man in charge was experimenting with supernatural concerns.

And then one day his prefab house was gone and in its place was an invisible box–perfectly straight lines in all directions.  And inside of that box was an old house–like a Victorian postcard.  There was a family in the house and the government men could see in, but it was clear the family could not see out.

It had been a few days since this happened and the man in charge–who just came on the scene–is furious that no one said anything sooner.  But the men on the ground had been busy doing experiments and they knew (correctly) that if they went to Washington with this, they would be removed from site.  The men had discovered two important things.  Anything inserted into the clear wall would disappear.  So a stick pushed half way into the box would come back with that half missing.  And two, every fifteen hours or so, the window let its barrier down and things could go through it.  They had been practicing with ice cubes.  Most cubes simply disappeared, but every once in a while, a few would get through and plop on the lawn.

The next time that the opening happens, one of the men spontaneously jumps through and the family clearly sees him.

That’s when the trouble starts.

The story was a little slow at first but it really ramped up at the end.

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Jamali Maddix (Helium Comedy Club, Philadelphia, PA, September 24, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Helium Comedy Club, Jamali Maddix, Philadelphia, PA, Taskmaster on September 24, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 24, 2025] Jamali Maddix

I  decided I would like to see my favorite Taskmaster contestants if they came to the United States.  We saw Sarah Millican in June.  I had Jamali Maddix on my list of Taskmaster comedians I’d like to see, but I didn’t find out about this show until just before it happened.

I didn’t know anything about comedy clubs at the time.  And I didn’t know where this one was.  So I passed.  But it seems like many Taskmaster comedians come to the U.S., so I’ll just have to hope he comes back.

I also didn’t realize his whole tour was only four dates and Philly was one of the lucky cities.

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Jenny Tian: Jenny’s Travels (Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA, September 13, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Comedians, Jenny Tian, Philadelphia, PA, Taskmaster, Taskmaster Australia, Union Transfer on September 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: September 13, 2025] Jenny Tian

I have made a list of all of comedians from Taskmaster who I would like to see live.  It’s not everyone of course (some of them don’t do stand up and some I don’t think I would enjoy).  And then we started watching Taskmaster Australia and Taskmaster New Zealand, and I’ve added a dozen or so more to that list.

I was pretty surprised to see that Jenny Tian was playing Philly and even more surprised that she was at Union Transfer.  I know they do seated shows, so I assume this was seated, but it just seemed so odd.

We were really busy that week so I didn’t get us a ticket and I kind of wish I had now.   I thought she was pretty funny on the show, but I hadn’t gotten the bug for seeing these comedians just yet.

So I hope she comes back–it sounds like she had a lot of fun.

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Kevin McDonald: Superstar (with Dave Hill opening) (PhilaMOCA, Philadelphia, PA, August 27, 2025)

Posted in Dave Hill, John Wlaysewski, Kevin McDonald, Philadelphia, PA, PhilaMOCA, Robin Rothman, Scott Thompson, The Kids in the Hall on August 27, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: August 27, 2025] Kevin McDonald: Superstar

I saw Kevin McDonald do a bit of storytelling last year.  In this very venue.

This year he was back again, this time bringing his musical Kevin McDonald: Superstar to the MOCA.

I didn’t really know what to expect.  I had read that it was a musical, but what does that mean?  Well, when the show started, Kevin and guitarist John Wlaysewski came up on stage and play 2 songs that Kevin wrote.  One was all about grass (not that kind of grass, backyard grass).  Then he told a long story about Johnny Rotten and an AIDS test (which he told in a slightly different style last year but which was still very funny).  And then another song “Just Keep Dancing.”

Then Dave Hill came out on stage.  I hadn’t heard of Dave, but he is apparently quite well known (well known enough to play a ripping guitar solo version of the Canadian and American national anthems before a hockey game (easily found om YouTube).  Dave is also a comedian.  He came up on stage and played a hilariously self-deprecating character (who was secretly loving all of the fame).

He told a few stories and then played some songs.  Even though he is a massively talented guitarist, his songs were hilarious.  He played Danzig’s Mother by getting the sound just right on his guitar, singing the word Mother and the first line and then mumbling his way through to the next time he screamed Mother (just like everyone else who has no idea what the words are).  When he took requests, someone (of course) shouted Freebird (gag), and he said, ok you asked for it I’m playing the whole thing.  He played 30 seconds of the intro and said, there you get the picture.  After a very long song/story about being a part of the biggest meat heist ever, he stayed up on staged and introduced the players for the evening.

It was John and Dave on guitars, Joe Moore as the narrator and Robin Rothman as a few characters (she has an amazing voice). (more…)

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“Weird Al” Yankovic: Bigger & Weirder 2025 Tour (TD Pavilion Stage at the Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA, July 19, 2025)

Posted in "Weird Al" Yankovic, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Funny (ha ha), Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Milo Murphy's Law, Paul Simon, Philadelphia, PA on July 20, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: July 19, 2025] “Weird Al” Yankovic

This was my tenth time seeing Weird Al.  That’s pretty exciting.

I didn’t know if he’d be doing another tour (he hasn’t put out any new music (aside from soundtrack songs) in over ten years!  But this was a bigger and weirder tour.  In practice, this meant that there were more people on stage than ever before–four other people on stage aside from his long-lasting regular band.

Probyn Gregory – backing vocals, trumpet, trombone, tuba, guitars, percussion ; Scheila Gonzalez – backing vocals, saxophone, clarinet, percussion ;  Payton Velligan – backing vocals, guitars, percussion ; Monique Donnelly – backing vocals, keyboards, percussion.

I asked my whole fam if they wanted to go and all three of them said yes, rather excitedly I might add.  But that was a long time before the show.  And so my daughter wound up working and my son wound up going to a concert in Wisconsin!  I was able to sell my two tickets for basically face value and my wife and I enjoyed the show by ourselves.

I assumed that this show would be a kind of greatest hits show, but it turned out to be chock full of songs I hadn’t seen live before and, some that I had never even heard before!

They opened with Tacky, but there was some kind of technical difficulty, so I’m not sure how much of the song they were going to play.  I would have enjoyed hearing it, but it’s not a big deal.

Then he surprised the heck out of me by opening with Mission Statement, the CSNY inspired song that mocks corporate speak.  It sounded great with the backing singers doing harmonies.  Then came Polkamania!  I knew this medley, but not very well.  I had forgotten that he put it out in 2024 as a single covering the ten years since his last album.  It was really fun seeing Billie Eilish in a Weird Al concert.

After the drum solo, they played Everything You Know is Wrong, a song I simple cannot believe I’d never seen him play live before (I see he never played it before this tour!).  It was amazing. (more…)

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Sarah Millican: Late Bloomer (The Met Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, June 18, 2025)

Posted in Matt Kirshen, Philadelphia, PA, Sarah Millican, Taskmaster, The Met Philadelphia on June 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: June 18, 2025] Sarah Millican

I knew (and loved) Sarah Millican from Taskmaster.  I was so excited when she announced her tour and I was excited for her that it sold out and she had to add a second date!

When show time arrived, she came out on stage and gave us a little warm up.  And then she introduced her opening comedian!   I’ve never seen the headliner come out before the support act, but it was fun and classy.

After Matt Kirshen finished his set, Sarah came out and began her own.  I knew that Sarah Millican told adult jokes, and boy does she ever.  I love how demure she looks and yet how unafraid she is to talk about everything.

She had a whole book cataloging what a Late Bloomer is compared to an Eager Beaver.  Each one funnier than the next.  And on the way out she had free buttons an Eager Beaver and a Late Bloomer one.  (more…)

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Urzila Carlson: Just Jokes (Punchline, Philadelphia, PA, May 29, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Comedians, New Zealand, Philadelphia, PA, Punchline, Taskmaster, Taskmaster New Zealand, Urzila Carlson on May 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: May 29, 2025] Jenny Tian

I have made a list of all of comedians from Taskmaster who I would like to see live.  It’s not everyone of course (some of them don’t do stand up and some I don’t think I would enjoy).  And then we started watching Taskmaster Australia and Taskmaster New Zealand, and I’ve added a dozen or so more to that list.

It was while we were watching Taskmaster New Zealand (an older season) that I saw Urzila Carlson was playing in Philly.  This was before I had gotten my jones for seeing these stand ups live, so I took note of it but didn’t think about getting tickets.

Now that I see how infrequently New Zealand comedians come to the States I’m really bummed that we didn’t go.  Urzila is a pretty raunchy comedian and is hilarious in her Instagram clips.  I hope she comes back soon.

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Fern Brady (NJPAC–Victoria Theater, Newark, NJ, April 19, 2025) [DID NOT ATTEND]

Posted in Fern Brady, Newark, NJ, Set in New Jersey!, Taskmaster on April 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[DID NOT ATTEND: April 19, 2025] Fern Brady

I have made a list of all of comedians from Taskmaster who I would like to see live.  It’s not everyone of course (some of them don’t do stand up and some I don’t think I would enjoy).  And then we started watching Taskmaster Australia and Taskmaster New Zealand, and I’ve added a dozen or so more to that list.

Fern Brady was the first comedian to be playing in the area and I found out about the show too late to take advantage of it.  Plus it was the same day as a special event in our house.

So, I would have liked to go, but it wasn’t going to happen.  I hope she comes back.

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An evening with Dawes (McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, April 13, 2025)

Posted in Dawes, McCarter Theatre, Parenthood, Princeton, NJ on April 13, 2025| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: April 13, 2025] An evening with Dawes

My wife and I first encountered Dawes in 2013 when they (inexplicably) appeared on Parenthood, a show we watched pretty regularly.  I thought they were a fictional band, but indeed they are not and had two albums out at the time.  I can’t recall at all what their plot line had to do with anything, but Dawes became something of a punchline for us.  The AV Club (who loves Dawes and the episode) jokes that the main character says the word Dawes so much it’s like he wants to be in the band.

And yet, over the years, we heard more and more songs of their that we liked.  It seemed like every new album brought at least one or two songs that we thought were really catchy.  I hadn’t really considered seeing them live until they announced that they were playing at McCarter.  I mean, a show that close to my house?  Sign me up!

So I got us tickets and wondered who the opener would be.  Well, it turned out there was no opener.  So we were given two full sets (20 songs… evidently the typical how on this tour got 17 songs, so I guess it wasn’t a huge difference (except that we got to go home earlier).

This show also happened a few months after the band announced that everyone except the two brothers: Taylor (vocals, guitar) and Griffin Goldsmith (drums) was out of the band.  I had actually wondered if they were going to play just the two of them.  But they didn’t–it was a full band, and they sounded great.

I think we were both a little surprised at what the band looked like, since I clearly never looked at them (since Parenthood).  This tour was for their new album Oh Brother, which I didn’t really know, although I did know and like the song Still Strangers Sometimes–a perfect catchy song from them.  But they started with The Game, a deep cut that I didn’t know but which I thought was quite good.

But I was really psyched when they played Living in the Future, and even though When the Tequila Runs Out is kinda goofy, it was really fun live.  Speaking of fun, this crowd was really really rowdy.  More so than the band, I’d say,  I had no idea that Dawes had such a devoted fan base (one guy was overheard saying he’d seen them a dozen or so times).

And the crowd went nuts for songs that I didn’t know.  I knew a few songs from Good Luck with Whatever, but I didn’t know Me Especially or Didn’t Fix Me.  Nor did I know Right on Time from the album All Your Favorite Bands (which I think we owned).

But that was just a few songs I didn’t know before they played Most People, a ubiquitous song that sounded great live.  They ended the with the mellow A Little Bit of Everything and then finished up the set with  Someone Else’s Café/Doomscroller Tries to Relax from Misadventures of a Doomscroller.  I felt like I knew the song, but it seems like an unlikely radio song–but that guitar riff was really cool.

After a little break, Tyler came out by himself and played a pretty, acoustic Moon in the Water. (more…)

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