Tuesday, October 31, 2006

El Updat-O

Upcoming Comedy
Monday, October 30 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Thursday, November 2 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Saturday, November 4 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Sunday, November 5 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Monday, November 6 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal (subject to change)
Friday, November 3 - Strictly Ballroom

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

Other appearances
Friday, November 3 - MPW Vendetta-Kingsay Hangars, Edmonton

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

I had the pleasure of MCing for NAVIN PRATAP at THE COMIC STRIP last night. Long time followers of this blog may remember NAVIN as one of the guys I first watched many moons ago and he and ANGIE ISMOND were really instrumental in my comic development. It was a real joy to be able to bring him up as a headliner and see how much he's grown as a comedian.

The best part about my life is the wild characters you meet. Whether it's running through the snow with wrestler HEAVY METAL looking for a psychic fair or an open restaraunt or driving with comic MAX MAULT listening to Blue Oyster Cult and making up ridiculous jokes about different animals walking into the bar, ("This duck walks into a bar. The bartender says, "What can I get you?" and the duck says: "Just the bill." Ba-dump.) You meet people you will never encounter anywhere else.

Lots of rumours floating around on a number of different projects I've been working on, but no official news to report. I've been offered a small movie role (and I like tendering offers a lot more than I like auditioning, I'll tell you that). As well, there's been talk that MPW may be making yet another leap forward and I've been approached about a comedy radio taping. As always, we'll see what happens, and I'll believe it when I see it, but it is exciting to have my name attached to all these rumors. Trust me--if anything comes of these things, I will be the first to brag about it. Except, kind of I already did though I really have nothing to brag about at this point. Oh well. Hatched or not, chicken-counting has always been a guilty pleasure of mine.

A couple weeks ago I saw the play (G)LISTENING, directed by HEATHER FITZSIMMONS-FREY who was the dramaturge (don't ask me what that is--I still don't know exactly) on my play THE SATANIST'S WIFE a few years back. The play finished it's run, so it's kind of pointless to plug it, but I did want to say how much I liked it. I especially liked the way the two actors were able to use space and movement and facial expression to convey so much emotion. There was a lot of dance-style lifts and moves and twists, and it was really cool. I've said before how much I admire performers who can express with their faces and body language and (g)listening did not disappoint. And there was dirty stuff too.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Update

Upcoming Comedy
Monday, October 30 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Thursday, November 2 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Saturday, November 4 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Monday, November 6 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal (subject to change)
Friday, November 3 - Strictly Ballroom

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

Other appearances
Friday, November 3 - MPW Vendetta-Kingsay Hangars, Edmonton

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

Hard to believe October is nearly over. Work on MADNESS is taking up a lot of time, but the finished product is worth it. With VENDETTA coming up, we really tried to promote it on this upcoming week's show, so check it out this week--we filmed a music video of RIPPER rapping and me dancing. We're gangsta. I hope it doesn't get cut to make room for wrestling (I know, I know, a wrestling show that puts the priority on the matches--crazy)I haven't had time to get a Art Gallery piece for the www.monsterprowrestling.com website, so I feel guilty. There's still lots of cool things to check out on the site though, so give it a look.

I feel like I've been incredibly busy lately. I've also started trying to have a social life again, and justified it to myself by saying it's research. Sometimes having a type A personality isn't all it's cracked up to be.

I could have sworn I had more to write about. How can a professional write put together such a boring blog? Oh well.

Speaking of cool blogs, POWERMANN has a nifty new theory about male/female relations up on his myspace account. It's cool reading. And CHRISTINA's record release party is this Friday. I hope there's cheese.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Y'all Need an Update

Upcoming Comedy
Monday, October 30 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal - TBA

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

Other appearances
Friday, November 3 - MPW Vendetta-Kingsay Hangars, Edmonton

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

I am a poor self-promoter. One of my articles ran Friday in the Journal and I didn't even realize it, until someone called me about it. For those of you who are wondering about DJ DERVISH, he spins at SUBURBS on Jasper Ave. on DAZ OONTZ nights.

I also met the lead singer of the band SOLLIPSIS today. I haven't seen them yet, and they're looking for a drummer, but keep an eye out for them. I'm sure they're very good. Also on the music front, I believe CHRISTINA is having a CD release party on October 27 at the Stanley Milner Library. Check her website www.christina-music.com for details.

But what are YOU doing these days, Dan, I hear you ask? Stop promoting other people and let's hear what you've got going on. Well, right now, I'm just continuing with the usual gang of suspects (writing, comedy, MPW television) in my quest to become the bestcomedian/writer/pro wrestling announcer in the world. Not many people have that many slashes in their job description.

Cue self-indulgent music.

I've been thinking a lot about what makes the difference between a good and a great live entertainer. To me, it has nothing to do with the technical quality of your work as much as your ability to capture the imagination of the crowd. Watching RIC BRONSON one night, a nameless young comic remarked, "I've been listening to his jokes, and I don't see why he's so great." To me, that made the point better than I could ever hope to explain. Because the guy was listening to the jokes. He wasn't listening to the crowd. And the crowd was going nuts.

That to me is what makes comics like RIC BRONSON and wrestlers like CHI CHI CRUZ and STEVE RIVERS stand out. It's not the jokes or the moves that make you successful (which is funny coming from me, because I love hearing a cleverly written joke or a seeing move I haven't seen before). It's the right joke/move at the right time. What sets Bronson, Rivers, and Cruz apart isn't their joke-writing or phycsical ability. It's the way they're able to 'conduct' and 'pace' a crowd, bringing the energy up or down as it is needed. The jokes and the moves are just the paint brushes. It's the audience reaction that is the work of art.

One day I hope to get to that level. Right now I depend on the quality of my jokes to get me over with crowds. That isn't comedy. That's writing jokes and saying them out loud.

Right now, I'm a joke-writer. One day, I want to be a comedian. And I'm enjoying the journey every step of the way.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Happy Anniversary

Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, October 4 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)
Monday, October 30 - The Comic Strip (Edmonton)

Living Articles in the Journal - TBA

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

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 month was the busiest month I've ever done in comedy--21 shows. That sounds pretty good until you realize that's less than half of what Lars did in September. Still, it's nice seeing everybody getting stage time. I feel I've improved so much in the last month. I hope I can carry this momentum forward into October.

Speaking of which, October 5 will mark my second anniversary in comedy. It's such a big part of my life, it's weird to think I've only been doing it two years. But what a ride. I've gotten opportunities I never would have dreamed of and met some really cool people. I've also learned a lot about myself. If anyone were to ask me for a piece of advice about comedy, I'd tell them...well, I'd tell them to go ask someone who knows what they're talking about. But if pressed I would say, find what you're passionate about and do that. That isn't just for comedy, that applies to life as well. It sounds kind of pollyanna-ish, but with each and every passing day, I'm more convinced that it's true. These are the best days of my life, and they're only getting better.