PSA

-Just a reminder that it is Fun-drive week for CJSR. They raise a lot of their operating costs during this week to keep shows like Kamikaze Komedy (hosted by LARS CALLIEOU and POWERMANN) on the air. KKomedy is a great show. I listen to 80% of it every week (the rest is lost in a haze of static--stupid crappy radio) and it's the only place you can hear guests like Punk'd's ROB PUE and others in an uncensored environment.

YOu get free stuff for donating and a tax receipt if you give over 60$. If you want to make an investment in Kamikaze Komedy, independent radio, and freedom and democracy, call (780) 492-CJSR extension 7.

-Speaking of media stuff, we finished the voice over work for the next couple episodes of MPW MADNESS (Friday nights/Saturday Morning at 1AM on ACCESS TV). There will be some great matches in the next couple weeks, but one you definitely won't want to sleep on is NITE vs. STEVIE SAINT for the Jr. Heavyweight Championship. These two don't match up often--I've only seen it happen twice--but when they do, they make sweet, sweet slobberknockin' magic.

Update

Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, September 27 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Thursday, September 28 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton
Friday, October 30 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal
Friday, September 29 (UNCONFIRMED) - My Parents vs. the Computer

Television(as 'Martial' Art McNeil)
MPW Madness airs every Friday night (Saturday morning) at 1 AMOther Appearances
Friday, September 29 - MPW New Blood (11410 Kingsway Ave)

Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal

Be Dan Brodribb's friend on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/danbrodribb

-At long last the great Monster Pro Wrestling Commissioner debate will be resolved, this Friday at the Kingsway hangars at 7:00pm at 11410 Kingsway Ave. I won the voting, so I guess it's just a matter of accepting the official announcement. Thanks to all who voted. Feel free to come down--ticket information is at www.monsterprowrestling.com. I'm a big fan of traditional wrestling the way it should be, so I'm looking forward to taking steps to eliminating a lot of the outside interference that have marred many of MPW's matches as of late, especially with regards to the AMERICAN PATRIOTS.

-Monday at the Strip was a blast. I MC'd and LARS CALLEIOU headlined. To make matters better, during Lars' set, SEAN LECOMB(E)R(E) [sp?] got on the house mic and guested as "Lars' brain." It was hysterical watching Lars do his set while Sean chimed in with Lars' 'thoughts." I also met KRIS SHAW from Indianapolis. He's one of the most positive people I've met and he had a lot of great things to say about our local comedy scene and how supportive we are of one another. I hate to be arrogant, but I think he's right. I really love the other comics in town (but not in a gross way). I'm proud to be an Edmonton comic, and I can't think of a single comedian in Edmonton that I would want to see fail (It's those Inisfail comics you have to watch out for--they'll stab you in the back every time).

-It's unconfirmed but one of my articles might be running this Friday in the Living section. Huzzah!

Update

Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, September 20 - Yuk Yuks (Edmonton)
Sunday, September 24 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Monday, September 25 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Wednesday, September 27 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Thursday, September 28 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton
Friday, October 30 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal
Friday, September 22 - Getting By With a Little Help From...

Television
(as 'Martial' Art McNeil)
MPW Madness airs every Friday night (Saturday morning) at 1 AM

Other Appearances
Friday, September 29 - MPW New Blood (11410 Kingsway Ave)

Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal

Be Dan Brodribb's friend on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/danbrodribb

-Monster Pro Wrestling is on television and not only did I forget to hype it here, I missed the premiere because I was doing a comedy show. I was also apparently on CITY-TV over the weekend for an interview Lars and I taped about the Sidetrack Cafe, and I missed that. I'd fire my publicist, except that I'm it. Anyway, MPW Madness is airing on Access television Friday nights/Saturday mornings at 1Am. We were in the studio earlier taping some lead-ins, and it was a lot of fun. There should also be some online content up at www.monsterprowrestling.com in the next little while.

-Speaking of shows on at ungodly hours, I hope you've had a chance to check out Kamikaze Komedy with LARS CALLIEOU and POWERMANN on CJSR FM 88.5 Wednesdays at midnight. It's a really great look at the local scene, plus they often have guests that range from the top names in international comedy, to--well--me. CJSR is a University station and run on fundraising. If I'm not mistaken, they're in the midst of a push to raise funds, so if you feel generous, feel free to invest in them with a donation on behalf of Kamikaze Komedy.

-If you listen to the radio station Magic 99 and hear a song called "No Regrets," that's Christina (also known as Christina Schmoke). She's a local singer/songwriter, and I've known her for a couple years. If you dig the tune visit or website at www.christina-music.com or call the radio station and request her. She also has a gig this Saturday at the Blue Chair Cafe, so if you want to see her live, check it out.

Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, September 13 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Thursday, September 14 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Friday, September 15 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Saturday, September 16 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Sunday, September 17 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Monday, September 18 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Wednesday, September 20 - Yuk Yuks (Edmonton)
Sunday, September 24 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Monday, September 25 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal
Friday, September 22 - Getting By With a Little Help From...

Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal

Be Dan Brodribb's friend on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/danbrodribb

-Last Monday was probably the most fun I've had doing comedy. Since there wasn't enough of a crowd to justify a show, but most of the dozen comics or so who were there still wanted to perform, LARS CALLEIOU hit upon the idea of all of us performing for each other, but with a twist--we had to perform another comic's jokes. Make sense? Anyway, we drew names and I got to be ANDREW IWANYK for an evening, while my material was performed by Lars. The highlight of the night was MAX MAULT doing ED WENDE. He could only remember one joke (not surprising since Max often has a hard time remembering his own material) so he kept repeating it over and over, finally ending with this exchange..

MAX: I'm going for that Moby's older brother look. Umm...Moby was a whale. And I'm going for that Moby's older brother look. (to Ed) Ed, what are some more of your jokes?

ED: Well, I do stuff about my parents and kids, where they...

MAX: Oh, yeah, right, right, right. (to the crowd) I'm going for that parents and kids look.

Classic. Afterwards, Lars bought everyone drinks at Sherlock's because he won money playing poker and because he's a cool guy, and then Max paid for my food at the Sidetrack, because...well, because he's one of the classiest guys on the planet, though you'd never know it from watching him on stage.

Nights like that, you appreciate being a comic. Just doing what you love, and hanging out with other people who love comedy and life too. There's this cliche that comedians are often depressed and sad, and while there's sometimes some truth to that, comics also have a deep passion and love for life--at least in Edmonton. I wouldn't have traded last night for the world. People ask me how long it will take me to be succesful at comedy. I say I already have. My late brother and his wife had a quote they showed me about mountaing climbing: "The best climber in the world is the one who's having the most fun." That applies to a lot of other things too.

-For those of you wondering about this mysterious book project I've been working on, you can learn a bit more about it at 10otherwomen.blogspot.com. The short version is, it's going to be a book on dating and relationships. I think there may be one or two books about that already on the market, but I really think I'm onto something (end Sarcasm). It's going to be at least partly autobiographical, but I have a "unique" attitude towards dating and a tendency to misbehave in my personal life, so I'm looking for stories to help give a more balanced perspective.

UPcoming (edited--September 9)

Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, September 13 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Thursday, September 14 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Friday, September 15 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Saturday, September 16 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Sunday, September 17 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Sunday, September 24 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Monday, September 25 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal
Friday, September 22 - Getting By With a Little Help From...

Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal

Be Dan Brodribb's friend on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/danbrodribb

Thanks to everyone who wrote in about the article on my brother. It meant a lot to me that people connected with it and shared their own stories of loss as well. Reading everyone's stories was very moving and a couple times I found myself overwhelmed with emotion. I try to make a point of answering anybody who takes the time to write in as soon as possible. In this case, though, it may take a few days before I get back to everyone, partially from the number of responses, but mostly because of it is pretty intense emotionally. If you wrote in and didn't hear back from me, thanks in advance for your patience. I promise I'll get to everyone I can.


Before the MPW show, they played Dokken's "Tooth and Nail" CD which had me all a-twitter; I haven't heard that album in ages. From my 'Martial' Art character's point of view, that turned out to be the high point of the show. The show was great, but also one of the darker and grimmer shows (and bloodiest) we've put on as from top-to-bottom of the card, the 'bad guys' unrelentingly dominated the show. As a fan, I'm notorious for cheering for the bad guys, but as a character I really got pulled into the hopelessness of the situation from the broadcast table, and I hope that genuine emotion comes through on the DVD. I expect this show will be mostly remembered for the sheer bloody barbarism of the main event between MASSIVE DAMAGE and DARREN 'THE BOMB' DALTON, but there are a lot of other things that happened on the show that led up to it that I hope people appreciate. CHI CHI CRUZ vs. BORIS THE BRUISER was a really cool piece of storytelling the way it started quiet and descended into a nightmare, while BIG JESS and 'ALL AMERICAN' STEVE RIVERS managed to draw in the crowd without using outside interference or blood or gimmicks. The match most in danger of being overlooked because it was early in the card and didn't have a lot of build is AJ SANCHEZ vs. BOBBY SHARP, but if it's a sign of things to come, then both these guys have pretty bright futures.

(Bye the bye, according to reports, I won the voting for MPW commissioner. Thanks to all who voted in. They're planning on making an announcement at the next show. Look forward to HEAVY METAL singing how he "feels pretty and witty and bright" very shortly as per my campaign promises.)

I had in mind to do a ramble about comedy, but this is already getting a bit long. Maybe I'll save those thoughts for a rainy day. I always worry both with comedy and with wrestling that if I fill this space with too much 'shop talk' casual readers will get bored or annoyed that i'm wrecking the magic for them. Personally, i think knowing more about something makes it more fun and gives me a deeper appreciation for it, but I certainly understand why people might hold a different opinion.