Notes from the Weekend

Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, March 15 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton
Sunday, March 19 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, April 1 - The Legion, Stettler
Saturday, April 8 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton
Sunday, April 9 - The Comic Strip
Wednesday, April 12 - The Comic Strip
Friday, April 21 - Student Distress Centre Fundraiser
Saturday, April 26 - Legion, Red Deer

Upcoming Writing

Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 17 - Son of Elvis

Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed magazine supplement to the Edmonton Journal

-The MPW Mayhem taping was awesome. MASSIVE DAMAGE and A.J. SANCHEZ crashed through a table; I got a massage from two pretty ring girls. I think any objective observer would agree that I had a better night. I so much prefer doing commentary live as opposed to in post-production. Unfortunately, I will likely be doing just that for the next show, as I’m already booked to do a middle spot at Yuk Yuks. MPW is calling for a battle royal main event, which are a bitch to do commentary for, but are awesome to watch live. We may have to re-do parts of this one, as I completely blew the finish of the Johnny Handsome/Synn vs. Steve Rivers/Darren ‘The Bomb’ Dalton. Plus I kept accidentally referring to Darren Dalton as ‘Adam Bomb.’

-Commentary is a lot of fun, although it’s a lot harder than you might think (though not as hard as actually wrestling; I did a sixty minute broadway with the ringside barriers before the show, and my arms are still sore) Basically, you’re trying to juggle a few different things.
1) Commentating on the match
2) Introducing the characters
3) Advancing or explaining the storylines
4) Hyping merchandise and the next show (check out http://www.monsterprowrestling.com/ for details)
5) Establishing your own character
When I started, I tried to completely ignore 5) as I believed then (and still do) that it’s the wrestlers and the wrestling that make the show, not the commentators. My broadcast partner RIPPER insisted that we set-up a relationship between our two personalities, and I’m glad he did. We’re not the most polished tandem out there, but I think we have pretty good chemistry. In some ways we represent extreme versions of the two common stereotypical wrestling fans--me as the smarkish, uptight internet dork and Ripper as the loud-mouthed, beer-swilling caveman. Every wrestling fan knows people like us, and I think that makes us relatable and hopefully adds character to the DVD releases.

-Speaking of strange chemistry, LARS CALLIEOU and POWERMANN are hosting a comedy show on CJSR 88.5 from 1am-3am Thursday nights/Friday mornings. Good for them. I’m interested in hearing what they sound like together as they are very different personalities. Then again, like with MPW, maybe that’s what will make the show great.