the comic's comic

My birthday with Jesus

My birthday yesterday gave me another chance to pause, reflect and try to have fun. Well, two out of three, as they say...

I think I'm still young, but comedian Tom Rhodes reminded me that I'm now the same age Jesus Christ was when he died. Thanks for cheering me up, Tom. I have enough fun comparing my life accomplishments with my Princeton classmates, and he gets me thinking of Jesus. Yikes. It did inspire me to write a solid bit about the comparison, though I shan't repeat it here (kids might be reading this). Fun times this past weekend hosting the shows for Tom, Artie Lange and Mark Cordes at the Tempe Improv. Artie's fans were rowdy and outrageous. The staff presented me with a cake onstage Sunday. Tom led the crowd in singing "Happy Birthday." That was a little much, but thanks.

Another look at "Brain Candy"

Maybe it's time to take a fresh look at the one and only feature film by The Kids in the Hall, Brain Candy. Critics were not especially kind to the movie upon its release in 1996. Eight years later, our country and our world are even more dependent on pills (pat yourselves on the backs, pharmaceutical corporations!). Just read today's collection of New York Times reports on Prozac, a new study documenting antidepressant use among children and how doctors vow to stop prescribing so many pills here (we'll see about that) and in Britain. Now that's what I call team coverage. If only reading this news didn't depress me so much. Oh, the irony!

Ah, satire

Life lesson for everyone: Your opposition/enemy is not just wrong but also inane. What do you do? You could refute them with facts and figures. But it's always more fun to choose satire and show them up as the absurd dunderheads they are. Example: Last night's episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in which Stephen Colbert argued that in the war on terror, everyone should have access to powerful guns and ammo, saying, "There's evidence that it works. Look at Iraq. Everybody there has assault weapons and they've been successful in holding off a much more powerful occupying force. I think that's a model we can all learn from!"

I'm with the last comics standing

News flash...I'm proud to report that I'm hosting the shows this weekend at the Tempe Improv with Alonzo Bodden, Gary Gulman and Jay London of NBC's hit stand-up comedy show, Last Comic Standing. Last night's show was sold-out, two shows tonight, two shows Saturday, and now two shows Sunday. The crowd was electric last night. Good times. Good times. And yes, ladies, Gary really is dreamy, Alonzo really is nice and Jay really is shy. If you're in the area and can catch the show, be sure to say hello. Thank you.