And how, you may ask, did I find myself in a parking garage at 2am with my wrists taped together being dragged behind a van? Was it the mob? A cadre of mediocre exotic dancers who took my blog posts too seriously?
None of the above. The answer is: I asked Andrew Iwanyk for a ride home.
For those of you who don't know Andrew, well, let's just say he lives in his own reality. He's a combination of eight year old child, Harpo Marx, and Tyler Durden. Things I can count on with Andrew are absurd conversations and surreal situations mixed with the occasional burst of insight. As long as Andrew is around, I will never need peyote.
Andrew is probably one of the only people for whom I actually have a Policy, and my Andrew Iwanyk Policy is this: Know your boundaries, but beyond that, go along with whatever he suggests, because the results will usually be interesting.
The reason I needed a ride home was because the show ran late and I missed my last bus. Normally, I would grab a lift with Lars, but he was having a good time, and I was exhausted, so by sticking around, I would officially become Guy-Who-Is-Just-Hanging-Around-Because-He-Needs-a-Ride-Home...and I hate that guy. I especially hate BEING that guy.
So instead I turned to Andrew.
ME: Hey, Andrew, can I get a lift home?
ANDREW: No. But I have some rollerblades in my van. If you want, I'll tow you.
ME: Okay.
Hey, you have your boundaries, and I have mine.
So we went out to the parking lot where Andrew taped my wrists together. Then he secured the tape to the back of the van, grabbed some rollerblades from the van and stuck my feet in them.
Did I mention I don't know how to rollerblade?
Andrew got in the van and started the engine.
Maybe I should have been worried. But I didn't think the tape would hold at the van end. And even if it did, the tape was wrapped around my gloves, not my wrist, so I figured I could slip out of them if things got hairy. Plus, when Andrew tied me, I used a trick I read in a Hardy Boys book when I was seven to make sure my bonds were loose, and I kind of wanted to know if it would have worked in real life.
I figured my worst case scenario would be a few scrapes and ripping my pants. Whatever. You are not your fucking khakis.
The red lights went on at the back of the van and Andrew eased forward.
The tape did not break. What it did was, it started to unravel from my wrists.
So I grabbed it, determined to make this thing work.
And it did. I was being pulled along behind the van! Top of the world, ma!
The van continued to move slowly forward, and so did I, rolling in its wake. There was a dicey moment when Andrew turned, since turning and stopping were two things I had neglected to consider when agreeing to this plan.
But I made the turn.
The tape didn't.
When the tape snapped, Andrew braked. Me...not so much.
I continued rolling forward, flailing my tape entangled arms for balance, probably looking like a cross between the bird from The Rescuers and Roller-Mummy. I passed the van on the right (I know, I know) and finally stopped when I collided with the barrier at the edge of the garage.
Andrew drove up next to me.
ANDREW: Well, I did everything I could. I guess you'll have to rollerblade home.
ME: I appreciate you trying, Andrew.
ANDREW: See you tomorrow night, I guess.
I had skated three strides forward, when Andrew beeped his horn.
I skated back.
ME: Did you forget something?
ANDREW: I was just thinking, and I know this is probably more inconvenient for you, but if you're willing, I COULD give you a lift home.
ME: That would be great, Andrew.
After Andrew dropped me off, he insisted I keep the rollerblades, which means he's either a really cool guy, or the rollerblades actually belong to Mike Harrison. Or possibly both.
Life is good.
Andrew Iwanyk and I will both be performing tonight (Sunday, November 25) at The Comic Strip in West Edmonton Mall. Show starts at 8pm.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
You Give Blondes A Bad Name (Bad Name)
I'm almost done my latest run of shows at The Comic Strip. There are two shows tonight and one tomorrow. If you want to see me, call the the Strip. Their info is at www.thecomicstrip.ca. As of this writing at least one of the Saturday shows is sold out and the other is on its way, so don't wait until the last minute.
The shows have been a lot of fun. There's been a few different MCs over the week. KELLY TAYLOR is headlining and ANDREW IWANYK is sharing the middle spot with me. It's a show worth seeing.
In fact, the shows have been going so well, I was worried this would be another boring blog about how much I love comedy and how great the crowds were and how wonderful the staff at The Comic Strip is and bla-bla-bla. All of which are true, but make for pretty boring reading.
I was hoping something would happen to provide some drama for your reading pleasure, and wouldn't you know it, the Friday late show delivered in the form of a table full of peroxide princesses seated left of the stage.
Friday late shows are generally the rowdiest of the week, so it takes a lot to disrupt them. But these women did it: talking on their cell phones, bitching about the service, and carrying on vapid conversations at full volume, ignoring the fact THERE WAS A SHOW GOING ON.
Don't do this. Ever. I'm sure you're very cool and funny and worthy. But you are not the show. All you are doing is pissing off the comedians, the staff, and the people around you who paid good money to be entertained.
What set this table apart was that they were Hot Blonde Women. Not quite as hot as they thought they were, but attractive nonetheless. And while in theory being an Hot Blonde shouldn't matter (ugly people can be jackasses too), it does make a difference in the real world.
Because people like them give Hot Blondes a bad name.
There are a lot of advantages to being good looking. If you want to know what they are, read Survival of the Prettiest by Nancy Etcoff.
But there's also at least one disadvantage to being attractive, especially about being an attractive female, and even more especially being an attractive blonde, young female: People hate you.
Not everybody. Probably (hopefully) not even most people. But there is a significant percentage of people who will hate you, for reasons that have nothing to do with who you are, but simply because you happen to be young and blonde and pretty and female. Some are women who are jealous because they can't be you. Some are guys who are bitter and resentful because they can't have you. It's unfair, but it's human nature.
I've caught myself doing it a time or two. I try not to and I feel bad afterwards and hopefully I catch myself before I act like a jerk, but I'm not always as succesful as I'd like to be.
The stereotypes about Hot Blondes--shallow, self-centered,subsituting looks for a personality, stupid--aren't true. There's plenty of attractive blondes out there who are smart, capable and interesting.
Which is why it pisses me off when assholes like that Friday Late Show Table come along. You don't just make yourselves look bad--you're besmirching your entire demographic cohort.
There's nothing wrong with being attractive. And if that's the only thing you've got going for you, there's nothing wrong with that, either. It's short-sighted--there's always another younger, hotter blondes waiting in the wings, and you're getting older--so I'd advise you to take a few eggs out of the "I'm Hot" basket and put them in "Personality" or "Marketable Skills," but if the sun is shining, go ahead and make hay.
But if you ARE going to run with the "I'm Hot and That's All I Need" strategem, understand you are giving up the right to be appreciated for anything but your looks--because, well...because you have nothing else to offer.
Absolutely no one cares what you have to say. Least of all people trying to enjoy a show in which you play absolutely no part. If you want to be onstage, either develop a talent or sign up for a wet t-shirt contest.
In the meantime, know your role: Shut the fuck up and be pretty. Don't overreach yourself by talking. Because you'll just screw it up for yourself.
And unlike those OTHER blondes, you've got nothing else to fall back on.
The shows have been a lot of fun. There's been a few different MCs over the week. KELLY TAYLOR is headlining and ANDREW IWANYK is sharing the middle spot with me. It's a show worth seeing.
In fact, the shows have been going so well, I was worried this would be another boring blog about how much I love comedy and how great the crowds were and how wonderful the staff at The Comic Strip is and bla-bla-bla. All of which are true, but make for pretty boring reading.
I was hoping something would happen to provide some drama for your reading pleasure, and wouldn't you know it, the Friday late show delivered in the form of a table full of peroxide princesses seated left of the stage.
Friday late shows are generally the rowdiest of the week, so it takes a lot to disrupt them. But these women did it: talking on their cell phones, bitching about the service, and carrying on vapid conversations at full volume, ignoring the fact THERE WAS A SHOW GOING ON.
Don't do this. Ever. I'm sure you're very cool and funny and worthy. But you are not the show. All you are doing is pissing off the comedians, the staff, and the people around you who paid good money to be entertained.
What set this table apart was that they were Hot Blonde Women. Not quite as hot as they thought they were, but attractive nonetheless. And while in theory being an Hot Blonde shouldn't matter (ugly people can be jackasses too), it does make a difference in the real world.
Because people like them give Hot Blondes a bad name.
There are a lot of advantages to being good looking. If you want to know what they are, read Survival of the Prettiest by Nancy Etcoff.
But there's also at least one disadvantage to being attractive, especially about being an attractive female, and even more especially being an attractive blonde, young female: People hate you.
Not everybody. Probably (hopefully) not even most people. But there is a significant percentage of people who will hate you, for reasons that have nothing to do with who you are, but simply because you happen to be young and blonde and pretty and female. Some are women who are jealous because they can't be you. Some are guys who are bitter and resentful because they can't have you. It's unfair, but it's human nature.
I've caught myself doing it a time or two. I try not to and I feel bad afterwards and hopefully I catch myself before I act like a jerk, but I'm not always as succesful as I'd like to be.
The stereotypes about Hot Blondes--shallow, self-centered,subsituting looks for a personality, stupid--aren't true. There's plenty of attractive blondes out there who are smart, capable and interesting.
Which is why it pisses me off when assholes like that Friday Late Show Table come along. You don't just make yourselves look bad--you're besmirching your entire demographic cohort.
There's nothing wrong with being attractive. And if that's the only thing you've got going for you, there's nothing wrong with that, either. It's short-sighted--there's always another younger, hotter blondes waiting in the wings, and you're getting older--so I'd advise you to take a few eggs out of the "I'm Hot" basket and put them in "Personality" or "Marketable Skills," but if the sun is shining, go ahead and make hay.
But if you ARE going to run with the "I'm Hot and That's All I Need" strategem, understand you are giving up the right to be appreciated for anything but your looks--because, well...because you have nothing else to offer.
Absolutely no one cares what you have to say. Least of all people trying to enjoy a show in which you play absolutely no part. If you want to be onstage, either develop a talent or sign up for a wet t-shirt contest.
In the meantime, know your role: Shut the fuck up and be pretty. Don't overreach yourself by talking. Because you'll just screw it up for yourself.
And unlike those OTHER blondes, you've got nothing else to fall back on.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sex Show Report (Warning: May Contain Scenes of Graphic Boredom)
But first:
New headLINES here.
New Pair of Singles here.
And of course, as a reminder, I'm at The Comic Strip all this week.
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, December 31 - Pub 99, Edmonton
As for the Sex Show at the AgriCom...It was lame.
Had Dawn been there, we probably would have had a good time making fun of various things, but I wasn't able to get ahold of her, so I was sans-Dumont.
I was surprised at how boring I found it. I love sex, so for a while I was scared I was turning into a prude. Then I remembered I love comic book characters, but I find comic fairs boring as well. So maybe it wasn't the sex that was annoying as much as the "glaze-eyed wandering through a crowd like a cow in a cattle chute while people in weird costumes try and sell me shit."
Also, no matter how much you dim the lights to give the place an erotic glow...it's still the fucking AgriCom. So there you go.
More random thoughts:
I'm all for freedom of sexual expression, but I wonder about sex toys. Do you really want to be known as a sexual prop act? Then again, maybe that's what the ladies want: A gentleman in the streets and Carrot Top between the sheets."
Since I complained about strippers in this space previously, I do have to give credit where it is due, namely to Miss Nude Canada 2006. During her perfomrance at the sex show, she showed poise when her music didn't work, demonstrated some nifty athleticism--including some cool pole work and a few taekwon-do kicks that would make any red belt proud--and worked the crowd like Steve Rivers in buttless chaps (or if that image isn't horrifying enough--Rick Bronson in a thong). It's nice to know sex workers are reading my blog and taking my advice to heart.
New headLINES here.
New Pair of Singles here.
And of course, as a reminder, I'm at The Comic Strip all this week.
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, December 31 - Pub 99, Edmonton
As for the Sex Show at the AgriCom...It was lame.
Had Dawn been there, we probably would have had a good time making fun of various things, but I wasn't able to get ahold of her, so I was sans-Dumont.
I was surprised at how boring I found it. I love sex, so for a while I was scared I was turning into a prude. Then I remembered I love comic book characters, but I find comic fairs boring as well. So maybe it wasn't the sex that was annoying as much as the "glaze-eyed wandering through a crowd like a cow in a cattle chute while people in weird costumes try and sell me shit."
Also, no matter how much you dim the lights to give the place an erotic glow...it's still the fucking AgriCom. So there you go.
More random thoughts:
I'm all for freedom of sexual expression, but I wonder about sex toys. Do you really want to be known as a sexual prop act? Then again, maybe that's what the ladies want: A gentleman in the streets and Carrot Top between the sheets."
Since I complained about strippers in this space previously, I do have to give credit where it is due, namely to Miss Nude Canada 2006. During her perfomrance at the sex show, she showed poise when her music didn't work, demonstrated some nifty athleticism--including some cool pole work and a few taekwon-do kicks that would make any red belt proud--and worked the crowd like Steve Rivers in buttless chaps (or if that image isn't horrifying enough--Rick Bronson in a thong). It's nice to know sex workers are reading my blog and taking my advice to heart.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Things You Only Hear In Bars (Part I)
(overheard by Dawn in the women's washroom)
WOMAN: A long distance relationship is Edmonton and Calgary, not Edmonton and China!
(overheard by me in the men's washroom)
GUY: Hey, man, I'm peeing in your pee.
(from the dance floor)
RANDOM GIRL: (after finding a bunch of unsmoked cigarettes (?!?) lying on the dance floor) Are these yours?
DAN: No. You're trying to turn me into a smoker. I heard about you guys in junior high health class. You're one of those peer-pressure people.
GIRL: (in a sleazy voice as she thrusts the cigarettes in my face) Just try them, man. Everyone's doing it.
DAN: I think I love you.
Life is good.
WOMAN: A long distance relationship is Edmonton and Calgary, not Edmonton and China!
(overheard by me in the men's washroom)
GUY: Hey, man, I'm peeing in your pee.
(from the dance floor)
RANDOM GIRL: (after finding a bunch of unsmoked cigarettes (?!?) lying on the dance floor) Are these yours?
DAN: No. You're trying to turn me into a smoker. I heard about you guys in junior high health class. You're one of those peer-pressure people.
GIRL: (in a sleazy voice as she thrusts the cigarettes in my face) Just try them, man. Everyone's doing it.
DAN: I think I love you.
Life is good.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Dan's Mother Reviews Dan's Blog
"If you're using your blog to pick up chicks, you should dust your coffee table before putting up any more pictures of your living room."
Saturday, November 10, 2007
And People Say I Have No Social Conscience
Gentlemen, we need to take action. We need to make a serious change in the world we live in.
I'm not talking about global warming. I'm not talking about world peace or world hunger although those causes are okay too so long as it doesn't cut into Guitar Hero time.
I'm talking about strip clubs.
Last Friday I went to a strip club. I was thoroughly disguted.
Don't get me wrong. I like nudity. I don't even mind the fact strip clubs are basically a giant Money Flytrap from the cover charge to the coatcheck charge to the overpriced drinks to the VIP sections to the bathroom attendants to the...well...to the whole reason guys go to strip clubs in the first place. All they want is your money, but so what? Disneyland is no different.
What I hate is the mediocrity.
Every dancer looks more or less the same. Every one of them comes out and does the same five moves (insert Bret Hart joke here, smart marks). There's nothing interesting or cool or even anything that shows a hint of personality. All that changes is the costumes and the hair color. I don't know why the clubs don't just hire one woman and give her a few sets of clothes and some different colored wigs. For all I know, that's what they do.
I don't blame the dancers. If that's all they have to do to get your money, then why would they do anything else? Big budget Hollywood movies are no different.
No, gentlemen, I blame you for paying for this horseshit.
We call this city the City of Champions. The Oilers let us down and we do nothing. The Eskimos let us down and we do nothing.
City of Playoff-Missing Teams I can live with. But City of Substandard Nude Entertainment?
The line must be drawn somewhere.
I've done my part by raising awareness.
The rest is up to you.
I'm not talking about global warming. I'm not talking about world peace or world hunger although those causes are okay too so long as it doesn't cut into Guitar Hero time.
I'm talking about strip clubs.
Last Friday I went to a strip club. I was thoroughly disguted.
Don't get me wrong. I like nudity. I don't even mind the fact strip clubs are basically a giant Money Flytrap from the cover charge to the coatcheck charge to the overpriced drinks to the VIP sections to the bathroom attendants to the...well...to the whole reason guys go to strip clubs in the first place. All they want is your money, but so what? Disneyland is no different.
What I hate is the mediocrity.
Every dancer looks more or less the same. Every one of them comes out and does the same five moves (insert Bret Hart joke here, smart marks). There's nothing interesting or cool or even anything that shows a hint of personality. All that changes is the costumes and the hair color. I don't know why the clubs don't just hire one woman and give her a few sets of clothes and some different colored wigs. For all I know, that's what they do.
I don't blame the dancers. If that's all they have to do to get your money, then why would they do anything else? Big budget Hollywood movies are no different.
No, gentlemen, I blame you for paying for this horseshit.
We call this city the City of Champions. The Oilers let us down and we do nothing. The Eskimos let us down and we do nothing.
City of Playoff-Missing Teams I can live with. But City of Substandard Nude Entertainment?
The line must be drawn somewhere.
I've done my part by raising awareness.
The rest is up to you.
The Trouble with Facebook
Just when you think humans can't complicate romantic relationships anymore, social networking sites come along and add a whole new twist to the game.
I'll tell you all about it. But first...how about some self-promotional stuff including this week's headLINES
Upcoming Comedy
Tuesday, November 13 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, December 31 - Pub 99, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
Where was I? Oh yeah, Facebook and its penchant for causing romantic complications.
A friend of mine told me about a pretty nasty breakup where the unhappy couple's friends became unwilling spectators for a scathing wall-to-wall exchange.
A comic I know met a couple of women after a show one night and for a joke, announced on Facebook that he was engaged to one of them. The resulting fallout...not pretty.
Josey Vogels latest column focused on her jealousy after seeing a message on her honey's wall from an ex.
Those of us in I'm-seeing-other-people-and-I'm-okay-with-you-doing-the-same phases find ourselves put to the test. It's one thing to know in theory that the person you're spending time with is seeing others--it's quite another to see the Others pictures and comments.
A couple days ago I noticed my ex- had changed her status from single to in a relationship.
It stung.
It shouldn't have. I know we did the right thing by breaking up and that a relationship with her would be unworkable for countless reasons (Okay, not countless. Probably only six or seven, but as differences go, they're pretty irreconcilable). I'm content with my current relationship status. And I WANT my ex- to be happy--and not in the saying-I-want-her-to-be-happy-through-gritted-teeth-in-a-passive-agressive-martyr sense either. I enjoyed our time together and learned a lot about myself and we parted on decent terms. As far as failed relationships goes, that's the most you can ask for.
But my heart doesn't really care that much about all that bullshit I just wrote. It's going to feel what it's going to feel when it's going to feel it. That's just the way it goes.
Funny thing. I've been writing about dating and relationships for nearly a year now. Sometimes I think I have a decent understanding about how they work and other times I think I know even less than when I started. That's what keeps me coming back, I guess.
And if things go badly, I can always blame Facebook.
I'll tell you all about it. But first...how about some self-promotional stuff including this week's headLINES
Upcoming Comedy
Tuesday, November 13 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, December 31 - Pub 99, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
Where was I? Oh yeah, Facebook and its penchant for causing romantic complications.
A friend of mine told me about a pretty nasty breakup where the unhappy couple's friends became unwilling spectators for a scathing wall-to-wall exchange.
A comic I know met a couple of women after a show one night and for a joke, announced on Facebook that he was engaged to one of them. The resulting fallout...not pretty.
Josey Vogels latest column focused on her jealousy after seeing a message on her honey's wall from an ex.
Those of us in I'm-seeing-other-people-and-I'm-okay-with-you-doing-the-same phases find ourselves put to the test. It's one thing to know in theory that the person you're spending time with is seeing others--it's quite another to see the Others pictures and comments.
A couple days ago I noticed my ex- had changed her status from single to in a relationship.
It stung.
It shouldn't have. I know we did the right thing by breaking up and that a relationship with her would be unworkable for countless reasons (Okay, not countless. Probably only six or seven, but as differences go, they're pretty irreconcilable). I'm content with my current relationship status. And I WANT my ex- to be happy--and not in the saying-I-want-her-to-be-happy-through-gritted-teeth-in-a-passive-agressive-martyr sense either. I enjoyed our time together and learned a lot about myself and we parted on decent terms. As far as failed relationships goes, that's the most you can ask for.
But my heart doesn't really care that much about all that bullshit I just wrote. It's going to feel what it's going to feel when it's going to feel it. That's just the way it goes.
Funny thing. I've been writing about dating and relationships for nearly a year now. Sometimes I think I have a decent understanding about how they work and other times I think I know even less than when I started. That's what keeps me coming back, I guess.
And if things go badly, I can always blame Facebook.
Ugliest Suit in the World
Longtime readers of my column know about the my Dad's suit, affectionately known as the Green Monster. I thought it was the ugliest suit in the world.
I was wrong.
This suit I borrowed from a friend, and it is the Cthulhu of suits. Mortal eyes look upon it and go insane.
My favorite picture of the ones below is the one by the typewriter. All I'm missing is a tumbler of whiskey and I'd look like a real writer.
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, December 31 - Pub 99, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
I was wrong.
This suit I borrowed from a friend, and it is the Cthulhu of suits. Mortal eyes look upon it and go insane.
My favorite picture of the ones below is the one by the typewriter. All I'm missing is a tumbler of whiskey and I'd look like a real writer.
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, December 31 - Pub 99, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
Sunday, November 04, 2007
K-Rock, Be Damned...What The Hell Happened to Ace DavidsonÉÉ
There are some questions that are universal. Who are weÉ Where are we goingÉ Why is blogger giving me Ès instead of question marks at the end of my sentencesÉ
But the most burning question of all is: What happened to former Monster Pro Wrestling villain, Ace DavidsonÉ
Saturday night, I found out.
Keep in mind, this wasn`t an easy decision to make. Through an unlikely chain of events I`d gotten a free ticket to a pub crawl on Friday night from a couple of soldiers on leave. I`ve never been to a pub crawl and the prospect of a school bus, free drinks, and Very Bad Girls was prety tempting.
But the lure of solving the Mystery of the Missing Heel proved too great. So that`s why instead of thowing up out a school bus window, I found myself riding through a snowstorm in a car with MPW wrestlers Heavy Metal and Young Lion Bobby Sharp.
We ended up in a dive Karaoke bar in Parkland village. If I had to describe it, I`d say it was a slightly downscale version of the bar Arnold Schwarzenegger tore up at the beginning of the second Terminator movie. Which was odd, because for a dive bar, it had the nicest, largest bathrooms I`d ever seen.
But you aren`t reading this for my thoughts on karaoke bar interior design. Get to the good stuff. Where was AceÉ
Ace was in the bar. Still towering over everyone, but instead of yelling at fans and hitting good guy wrestlers with a chain, he was singing.
He was really good. You haven`t lived until you`ve seen a six and a half foot tall biker-looking dude sing a pitch perfect version of Led Zeppelin`s `Babe, I`m Gonna Leave You.`
Actually, everyone who sang was pretty good. Better than pretty good. It was surreal. When I first walked into the bar, I thought I`d stepped into a photo shoot for White Trash Quarterly. Then I`d watch them go up one by one to sing and blow the doors off the place. I was floored.
Afterwards, we retired to Casa Davidson where I got to play Guitar Hero II for the first time. My competition was Heavy Metal.
I figured it would be a breeze. Okay, I`d never played the game before, but I could play real guitar (sort of). I was in a band for years, and Heavy Metal...well, let me tell you a story that tells you who Heavy Metal is.
Heavy Metal is a pro wrestler. He wrestled on Friday and the finish of his match was to end with him being ``hit in the head`` with a title belt. Unfortunatley, what with one thing and another, when the finish of the match game, Heavy Metal forgot to put his hands up so getting `hit in the head with a big metal belt` ended up with him--well--being hit in the head a big metal belt.
Metal was actually cut open from the impact, but decided since the lemon was there, he might as well make lemonade. He went to do his post-match interview intending to show off his bloody new cut.
Which turned out to be not as bloody as he would have liked for dramatic purposes. So Heavy Metal decided to make the injury worse by...and I swear this is God`s honest truth--punching himself in the face. Several times.
And when that didn`t work, he got my good friend and former toughman competitor Ripper to punch him in the head as well. Several more times.
And when THAT didn`t work, he resorted to tearing the cut open with his fingernails.
So I was pretty confident I could beat him at Guitar Hero II.
I was wrong.
Do you know how embarassing it is for a former semi-professional musician to be outplayed on ``Shout at the Devil`` by a guy whose main job requirement is the ability to look good in spandex and fall off a ladderÉ
Then again, maybe I should have known better. He does call himself Heavy Metal after all.
But the most burning question of all is: What happened to former Monster Pro Wrestling villain, Ace DavidsonÉ
Saturday night, I found out.
Keep in mind, this wasn`t an easy decision to make. Through an unlikely chain of events I`d gotten a free ticket to a pub crawl on Friday night from a couple of soldiers on leave. I`ve never been to a pub crawl and the prospect of a school bus, free drinks, and Very Bad Girls was prety tempting.
But the lure of solving the Mystery of the Missing Heel proved too great. So that`s why instead of thowing up out a school bus window, I found myself riding through a snowstorm in a car with MPW wrestlers Heavy Metal and Young Lion Bobby Sharp.
We ended up in a dive Karaoke bar in Parkland village. If I had to describe it, I`d say it was a slightly downscale version of the bar Arnold Schwarzenegger tore up at the beginning of the second Terminator movie. Which was odd, because for a dive bar, it had the nicest, largest bathrooms I`d ever seen.
But you aren`t reading this for my thoughts on karaoke bar interior design. Get to the good stuff. Where was AceÉ
Ace was in the bar. Still towering over everyone, but instead of yelling at fans and hitting good guy wrestlers with a chain, he was singing.
He was really good. You haven`t lived until you`ve seen a six and a half foot tall biker-looking dude sing a pitch perfect version of Led Zeppelin`s `Babe, I`m Gonna Leave You.`
Actually, everyone who sang was pretty good. Better than pretty good. It was surreal. When I first walked into the bar, I thought I`d stepped into a photo shoot for White Trash Quarterly. Then I`d watch them go up one by one to sing and blow the doors off the place. I was floored.
Afterwards, we retired to Casa Davidson where I got to play Guitar Hero II for the first time. My competition was Heavy Metal.
I figured it would be a breeze. Okay, I`d never played the game before, but I could play real guitar (sort of). I was in a band for years, and Heavy Metal...well, let me tell you a story that tells you who Heavy Metal is.
Heavy Metal is a pro wrestler. He wrestled on Friday and the finish of his match was to end with him being ``hit in the head`` with a title belt. Unfortunatley, what with one thing and another, when the finish of the match game, Heavy Metal forgot to put his hands up so getting `hit in the head with a big metal belt` ended up with him--well--being hit in the head a big metal belt.
Metal was actually cut open from the impact, but decided since the lemon was there, he might as well make lemonade. He went to do his post-match interview intending to show off his bloody new cut.
Which turned out to be not as bloody as he would have liked for dramatic purposes. So Heavy Metal decided to make the injury worse by...and I swear this is God`s honest truth--punching himself in the face. Several times.
And when that didn`t work, he got my good friend and former toughman competitor Ripper to punch him in the head as well. Several more times.
And when THAT didn`t work, he resorted to tearing the cut open with his fingernails.
So I was pretty confident I could beat him at Guitar Hero II.
I was wrong.
Do you know how embarassing it is for a former semi-professional musician to be outplayed on ``Shout at the Devil`` by a guy whose main job requirement is the ability to look good in spandex and fall off a ladderÉ
Then again, maybe I should have known better. He does call himself Heavy Metal after all.
Halloween
I was going to write a blog about my Halloween, but Dawn covered most of the high points here.
The only thing I have to do is thank my friends and neighbours Adam and Shelley for loaning me the costume. There`s nothing like being friends with gamers when you need to put together a last minute costume. Or build a trebuchet.
The only thing I have to do is thank my friends and neighbours Adam and Shelley for loaning me the costume. There`s nothing like being friends with gamers when you need to put together a last minute costume. Or build a trebuchet.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Heaven and Hell
Saturday night I went to the bar. The first thing I saw when I walked in was a pirate.
Shit. Halloween.
A room of pimps, catwomen, cowboys, giant chickens, and anything else you could imagine, kind of like the afterlife waiting room in Beetlejuice. And me, dressed in jeans, a button-up shirt and Chuck Taylors.
A lesser man would have slunk off. But I had the third period of a one-sided hockey game to watch.
All of the bar staff were dressed either as devils or as angels. At first I thought they were just really unoriginal, until I realized it was a heaven and hell theme. Which explained the white fluffy shit around the entrance and the fake fire by the bar.
Anyway, a guy ended up recognizing me and I joined him and his friends for a tequila shot, which quickly became another tequila shot, a series of gin and tonics, and yet another shot of something I didn’t identify--it was minty tasting though.
One of this guy’s friends was from Mexico and I decided to show my cultural diversity by speaking to him in Spanish. These are the Spanish words I know. “Ay Caramba.” “Vaya Con Dios.” “Adios.”
It was a short conversation.
Afterwards, we ordered more tequila shots. “Drink this,” he told me. “It will teach you Spanish.”
Ole! Viva Multiculturalism.
I later tried to hook up with a woman dressed as Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction. She was drunk; I was drunk--what other commonalities do you need?--but I lost track of her on the dance floor.
While I was dancing a woman appeared in front of me by magic. A moment later I felt something soft and warm grinding against my body from behind. Another woman! Two more closed in from each side, boxing me in. It was like an armored car robbery with boobs.
This happens to me on dance floors from time to time, and I’m never sure how to respond.
This night, I said: “Umm…not that I’m complaining, but I think you got the wrong guy.”
They gave me funny looks and danced off.
I may have self-esteem issues.
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, November 5 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, November 2 - The Power of Not Now
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
Shit. Halloween.
A room of pimps, catwomen, cowboys, giant chickens, and anything else you could imagine, kind of like the afterlife waiting room in Beetlejuice. And me, dressed in jeans, a button-up shirt and Chuck Taylors.
A lesser man would have slunk off. But I had the third period of a one-sided hockey game to watch.
All of the bar staff were dressed either as devils or as angels. At first I thought they were just really unoriginal, until I realized it was a heaven and hell theme. Which explained the white fluffy shit around the entrance and the fake fire by the bar.
Anyway, a guy ended up recognizing me and I joined him and his friends for a tequila shot, which quickly became another tequila shot, a series of gin and tonics, and yet another shot of something I didn’t identify--it was minty tasting though.
One of this guy’s friends was from Mexico and I decided to show my cultural diversity by speaking to him in Spanish. These are the Spanish words I know. “Ay Caramba.” “Vaya Con Dios.” “Adios.”
It was a short conversation.
Afterwards, we ordered more tequila shots. “Drink this,” he told me. “It will teach you Spanish.”
Ole! Viva Multiculturalism.
I later tried to hook up with a woman dressed as Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction. She was drunk; I was drunk--what other commonalities do you need?--but I lost track of her on the dance floor.
While I was dancing a woman appeared in front of me by magic. A moment later I felt something soft and warm grinding against my body from behind. Another woman! Two more closed in from each side, boxing me in. It was like an armored car robbery with boobs.
This happens to me on dance floors from time to time, and I’m never sure how to respond.
This night, I said: “Umm…not that I’m complaining, but I think you got the wrong guy.”
They gave me funny looks and danced off.
I may have self-esteem issues.
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, November 5 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, November 2 - The Power of Not Now
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Office Space
For Halloween, the Board of Directors played a very funny trick on us. They moved our office.
Have you ever tried to find your way around an unfinished office building?
SAMSON was working "reception," which meant sitting with a laptop and a folding table outside the elevator. I was wandering the halls aimlessly...which come to think about it, is pretty much what I do anyway. Only usually the halls have light switches.
Here is a snippet of actual conversation
SAMSON: What are you doing?
ME: Trying to find the office I was in two minutes ago.
Photocopiers and server access be damned. I'll settle for a GPS and a flare gun.
Have you ever tried to find your way around an unfinished office building?
SAMSON was working "reception," which meant sitting with a laptop and a folding table outside the elevator. I was wandering the halls aimlessly...which come to think about it, is pretty much what I do anyway. Only usually the halls have light switches.
Here is a snippet of actual conversation
SAMSON: What are you doing?
ME: Trying to find the office I was in two minutes ago.
Photocopiers and server access be damned. I'll settle for a GPS and a flare gun.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Some Scheduling Changes
NOTE: My scheduled dates at the Comic Strip for next week have been moved to NOVEMBER 21-25
As well, my next Living Article will run this Friday, November 2 in the Edmonton Journal.
Latest headLINES is here
I'll also be updating this blog with a story from this past weekend in the next couple days. Uma Thurman might be in it.
Stay Tuned.
As well, my next Living Article will run this Friday, November 2 in the Edmonton Journal.
Latest headLINES is here
I'll also be updating this blog with a story from this past weekend in the next couple days. Uma Thurman might be in it.
Stay Tuned.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
I'm Shocked...Shocked
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, November 5 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, November 2 - The Power of Not Now
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
I went to my first hockey game last week (thanks for the tickets, JL).
The game was great, but my favorite part was between periods. This local casino was doing a promotional thing where they have this giant electronic roulette wheel that goes all the way around the arena. A guy picks copper or blue and if the wheel stops on his color, he gets a prize.
He got three 'spins' and lost every single time. I think he walked out of there with a baseball hat.
I'm not in marketing like JL, but that struck me as the worst promotion for a casino ever. "Come to our casino and lose all your money."
If they watched 'Casablanca' these things wouldn't happen.
Monday, November 5 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 21 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 22 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 23 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, November 2 - The Power of Not Now
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
I went to my first hockey game last week (thanks for the tickets, JL).
The game was great, but my favorite part was between periods. This local casino was doing a promotional thing where they have this giant electronic roulette wheel that goes all the way around the arena. A guy picks copper or blue and if the wheel stops on his color, he gets a prize.
He got three 'spins' and lost every single time. I think he walked out of there with a baseball hat.
I'm not in marketing like JL, but that struck me as the worst promotion for a casino ever. "Come to our casino and lose all your money."
If they watched 'Casablanca' these things wouldn't happen.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Hangover Music
The last few times I've gone drinking, I've felt terrible after.
That's patently unfair. You shouldn't get a hangover unless you were drunk enough to deserve it.
I guess I need to start drinking less.
Or drinking more.
That's patently unfair. You shouldn't get a hangover unless you were drunk enough to deserve it.
I guess I need to start drinking less.
Or drinking more.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Playing it Safe
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, November 5 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 7 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, November 2 - The Power of Not Now
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
I don't have a lot in common with Tucker Max, but I do enjoy his writing.
One of the things I like is his commitment to being honest about what he feels and where he's coming from. MIKE HARRISON talks about the same thing when he talks about comedy. Personally, I feel there's a difference between being honest and being genuine. You can use honesty to some crappy stuff to people. I think the solution is to be genuine instead. It's a subtle difference, but an important one.
It makes me feel guilty when I look back at this blog. I've always played it safe here and a lot of these posts have been pretty bland as a result. Everything I've written has been honest, but I've also omitted a lot of stuff because I was afraid of offending people or having others "not like me."
That needs to change.
Monday, November 5 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 7 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, November 2 - The Power of Not Now
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
I don't have a lot in common with Tucker Max, but I do enjoy his writing.
One of the things I like is his commitment to being honest about what he feels and where he's coming from. MIKE HARRISON talks about the same thing when he talks about comedy. Personally, I feel there's a difference between being honest and being genuine. You can use honesty to some crappy stuff to people. I think the solution is to be genuine instead. It's a subtle difference, but an important one.
It makes me feel guilty when I look back at this blog. I've always played it safe here and a lot of these posts have been pretty bland as a result. Everything I've written has been honest, but I've also omitted a lot of stuff because I was afraid of offending people or having others "not like me."
That needs to change.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Duck Duck Bang
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, October 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 7 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
--Tuesday night I got to do a show at the Strip. AFterwards I ended up chatting with a couple from Fort McMurray who came to see the show. It's always interesting to get perspective from someone outside of the business. Once you've been doing comedy for awhile, you lose some of your objectivity, so it can be really helpful to hear things from the point of view of a fan. Valuable stuff.
--I saw Duck Duck Bang on Sunday. I know the woman who did the set design and costumes, so it was neat to see her personality shine through in some of it. She also wrote the lyrics to some of the songs and I kept listening trying to see if I could pin down which lyrics were hers.
The show itself was awesome. I especially liked the aerialists. I was just astonished at how much body control they had and the way they could wrap themselves up in these ropes and stuff. I can't explain it. You would have to see it to believe it. It was also kind of funny during the wire work, looking up into the rafters (or whatever you call them) and seeing the crew running around like madmen pulling ropes to make the actors 'fly.'
Wednesday, October 24 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Wednesday, November 7 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, November 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, November 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, November 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, November 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here
--Tuesday night I got to do a show at the Strip. AFterwards I ended up chatting with a couple from Fort McMurray who came to see the show. It's always interesting to get perspective from someone outside of the business. Once you've been doing comedy for awhile, you lose some of your objectivity, so it can be really helpful to hear things from the point of view of a fan. Valuable stuff.
--I saw Duck Duck Bang on Sunday. I know the woman who did the set design and costumes, so it was neat to see her personality shine through in some of it. She also wrote the lyrics to some of the songs and I kept listening trying to see if I could pin down which lyrics were hers.
The show itself was awesome. I especially liked the aerialists. I was just astonished at how much body control they had and the way they could wrap themselves up in these ropes and stuff. I can't explain it. You would have to see it to believe it. It was also kind of funny during the wire work, looking up into the rafters (or whatever you call them) and seeing the crew running around like madmen pulling ropes to make the actors 'fly.'
Friday, October 12, 2007
Moustache Watch
AAAAAH!!!! MY FACIAL HAIR SUCKS!!! THIS IS NEVER GOING TO WORK!!
On the other hand, it's given me an idea.
dansmustache.blogspot.com
On the other hand, it's given me an idea.
dansmustache.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Hard Work and Moustache Update
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, October 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, October 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Went to the final open mic at the Riverside Pub in St. Albert last night. It's a tough room, but a good time. I'm osrry to see it go. I owe a lot to my nights at the Riverside. There were nights I wouldn't even want to go because I knew what a challenge it would be, but every night I went up, I was glad I did. LARS and I were talking about this phenomenon yesterday. The good rooms are fun, but the rough ones are satisfying. In the words of the legendary Arn Anderson: "Adversity introduces a man to himself."
One of the most rewarding things about comedy is that it is one of those things where working hard pays off. Onstage, at least, it really is a meritocracy. The people who make that extra effort to show up and hone their craft seperate themselves from the pack. For myself, I notice. When I'm lazy on stage or don't put the effort in to hit open mics, it shows in my act. But when I dedicate myself and challenge myself I see measurable improvement.
I am also seeing signs of growth on my moustache, but over all it is not encouraging. This may have been a mistake.
Shameless Plug Department.
The latest Pair of Singles is up. Check it out here.
I'm performing at The Comic Strip tonight. Show starts at 8pm, so come check it out.
Wednesday, October 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, October 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine. Current article is here.
Went to the final open mic at the Riverside Pub in St. Albert last night. It's a tough room, but a good time. I'm osrry to see it go. I owe a lot to my nights at the Riverside. There were nights I wouldn't even want to go because I knew what a challenge it would be, but every night I went up, I was glad I did. LARS and I were talking about this phenomenon yesterday. The good rooms are fun, but the rough ones are satisfying. In the words of the legendary Arn Anderson: "Adversity introduces a man to himself."
One of the most rewarding things about comedy is that it is one of those things where working hard pays off. Onstage, at least, it really is a meritocracy. The people who make that extra effort to show up and hone their craft seperate themselves from the pack. For myself, I notice. When I'm lazy on stage or don't put the effort in to hit open mics, it shows in my act. But when I dedicate myself and challenge myself I see measurable improvement.
I am also seeing signs of growth on my moustache, but over all it is not encouraging. This may have been a mistake.
Shameless Plug Department.
The latest Pair of Singles is up. Check it out here.
I'm performing at The Comic Strip tonight. Show starts at 8pm, so come check it out.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
New Goals
I think I'm going to grow a mullet. And a moustache. And possibly start talking with a fake Australian accent (I'd prefer Irish, but that's beyond my impression abilities, which are pretty lack-lustre for a stand-up comic).
I'm going to get people to sponsor me. They'll pledge a certain amount of money for every date I'm able to secure (I will post pictures so people know I'm not faking) while sporting my new follicle-accoutrements. I'll give half the money for charity and keep the rest. Then I'll write an article about the experience.
And to think some people actually work for a living.
I'm going to get people to sponsor me. They'll pledge a certain amount of money for every date I'm able to secure (I will post pictures so people know I'm not faking) while sporting my new follicle-accoutrements. I'll give half the money for charity and keep the rest. Then I'll write an article about the experience.
And to think some people actually work for a living.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Under the Thinking Tree
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, October 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
MIKE HARRISON is an interesting comic. He's a comedy idealist, and while I don't agree with everything he believes, I enjoy hearing his thoughts.
One thing I agree with him wholeheartedly on is being genuine on stage (offstage as well, I supposed, but let's keep the discussion to comedy). Being authentic and true to what you want, whether it's experimental or straight down the middle mainstream will keep you from going crazy. I suppose that could apply to anything in life.
That's not to say people can't be succesful doing something they don't like. I've seen it happen. But they aren't very happy.
The audience comes to be entertained. Nothing else matters to them. Authenticity doesn't make a difference to them. In the end, each time we choose to do something that isn't really us, we're cheating ourselves.
Wednesday, October 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
MIKE HARRISON is an interesting comic. He's a comedy idealist, and while I don't agree with everything he believes, I enjoy hearing his thoughts.
One thing I agree with him wholeheartedly on is being genuine on stage (offstage as well, I supposed, but let's keep the discussion to comedy). Being authentic and true to what you want, whether it's experimental or straight down the middle mainstream will keep you from going crazy. I suppose that could apply to anything in life.
That's not to say people can't be succesful doing something they don't like. I've seen it happen. But they aren't very happy.
The audience comes to be entertained. Nothing else matters to them. Authenticity doesn't make a difference to them. In the end, each time we choose to do something that isn't really us, we're cheating ourselves.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Ramble On
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, October 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (five Thursdays starting October 11)
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
At the last minute I got to participate in the 24 hour film festival where people try and make a movie in 24 hours. I helped on the script and then rushed off to do a show. (two shows, actually). The headliner was fun, and it's always a blast hanging out with Dawn.
Also, I have a new joke that works. Hooray. Happiness is a reliable one-liner.
I'm feeling a little foggy this week. I love the fall, but once it starts getting cold and dark, all I want to do is sleep. Instead I've been trying excercise to raise my energy level. A friend of mine is taking capoeira lessons--I'd love to get back into martial arts, but I don't think it's in the cards at this point given my current schedule.
Monday, October 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, November 6 - New City Lounge, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (five Thursdays starting October 11)
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
At the last minute I got to participate in the 24 hour film festival where people try and make a movie in 24 hours. I helped on the script and then rushed off to do a show. (two shows, actually). The headliner was fun, and it's always a blast hanging out with Dawn.
Also, I have a new joke that works. Hooray. Happiness is a reliable one-liner.
I'm feeling a little foggy this week. I love the fall, but once it starts getting cold and dark, all I want to do is sleep. Instead I've been trying excercise to raise my energy level. A friend of mine is taking capoeira lessons--I'd love to get back into martial arts, but I don't think it's in the cards at this point given my current schedule.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Hello, everybody
Upcoming Comedy
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, October 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (five Thursdays starting October 11)
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
Living article in the Journal today. Check it out here
The shows are going really well. I'll be up for the rest of the weekend, so I hope you'll come down and check it out. The headliner JOHN ROY is really good. Plus, DAWN DUMONT is co-featuring with me, and it's always fun to work with her. We like to sit at the back and pick out the audience members with the best laugh.
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, October 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal: TBA
Upcoming Teaching
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (five Thursdays starting October 11)
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
Living article in the Journal today. Check it out here
The shows are going really well. I'll be up for the rest of the weekend, so I hope you'll come down and check it out. The headliner JOHN ROY is really good. Plus, DAWN DUMONT is co-featuring with me, and it's always fun to work with her. We like to sit at the back and pick out the audience members with the best laugh.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
No Living Column Today
Apologies for those of you expecting a Living Column in the Journal Friday. The newspaper business is an unpredictable one.
In the meantime, the latest Pair of Singles can be found here.
In the meantime, the latest Pair of Singles can be found here.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Fear of the Dark
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, September 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, October 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, September 21
Friday, October 5
Upcoming Teaching
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (five Thursdays starting October 11)
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
There's nothing like hitting the stage for an MC spot, only to discover that the microphone and lights are off. It happened last night. I thought I was going to have to get them all to gather round and tell ghost stories. But that's what's cool about comedy, especially MCing. You can never predict what's going to happen, and you're forced to use your creativity to adapt. Or stock lines.
It all worked out all right, thanks to a good, energetic crowd, technicians who were quick to fix the problem, and my own amazing vocal projection skills. Maybe I should do my comedy like that all the time, with the mic off in the dark. A few people have said, I'd be a lot more succesful if people couldn't see me or hear me.
GAVIN STEPHENS who is headlining the Comic Strip this week is a really cool guy. I met him for the first time last night, and was blown away, not just by his abilities, but his sense of perspective on comedy and with life in general.
Over at Yuk Yuks, MIKE WILMOT, one of my favorites is performing. He also has an interesting outlook on life, though slightly different than GAVIN's.
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, September 25 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, October 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, September 21
Friday, October 5
Upcoming Teaching
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction (five Thursdays starting October 11)
Dating for Dudes (three Tuesdays, starting November 13)
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday in the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
There's nothing like hitting the stage for an MC spot, only to discover that the microphone and lights are off. It happened last night. I thought I was going to have to get them all to gather round and tell ghost stories. But that's what's cool about comedy, especially MCing. You can never predict what's going to happen, and you're forced to use your creativity to adapt. Or stock lines.
It all worked out all right, thanks to a good, energetic crowd, technicians who were quick to fix the problem, and my own amazing vocal projection skills. Maybe I should do my comedy like that all the time, with the mic off in the dark. A few people have said, I'd be a lot more succesful if people couldn't see me or hear me.
GAVIN STEPHENS who is headlining the Comic Strip this week is a really cool guy. I met him for the first time last night, and was blown away, not just by his abilities, but his sense of perspective on comedy and with life in general.
Over at Yuk Yuks, MIKE WILMOT, one of my favorites is performing. He also has an interesting outlook on life, though slightly different than GAVIN's.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Short Post
I'll be teaching two courses through Metro Continuing Education this Fall.
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction runs for five Thursdays starting October 11
Dating for Dudes will run three Tuesdays, starting November 13
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
I found Dokken's old "Unchain the Night" on DVD. It was the first heavy metal video I bought and now I can watch it again. If I can find Skid Row's "Oh Say Can You Scream" I will be over the moon.
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction runs for five Thursdays starting October 11
Dating for Dudes will run three Tuesdays, starting November 13
Learn more at www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca
I found Dokken's old "Unchain the Night" on DVD. It was the first heavy metal video I bought and now I can watch it again. If I can find Skid Row's "Oh Say Can You Scream" I will be over the moon.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Dang It Feels Good To Be a Gangster
Upcoming Comedy
Tuesday, September 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, September 7
Friday, September 21
Friday, October 5
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Mondayin the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
Okay, I'm not really a gangster, but I like that song. I have some exciting news, but it will have to wait as I'm finalizing some details.
In the meantime, I will be hitting On The Rocks tonight for some Salsa lessons. It will be fun. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's always a good time and there are lots of friendly people there. The last time I went, I ran into a woman I hadn't seen in a decade. She was a really good friend, so it was awesome reconnecting.
St. Albert Transit has changed their bus routes into the city, and thus far, I am not impressed. If--like me--you found yourself waiting in the rain yesterday, I strongly encourage you to contact St. Albert Transit and voice your displeasure.
If anyone is interested, I will be teaching my Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories through Metro Continuing Education starting October 11. Register through www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca.
Tuesday, September 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, September 7
Friday, September 21
Friday, October 5
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Mondayin the Edmonton Journal's online ed magazine. Current headLINES is here.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont appears in ed Magazine every second Saturday. Current article is here.
Okay, I'm not really a gangster, but I like that song. I have some exciting news, but it will have to wait as I'm finalizing some details.
In the meantime, I will be hitting On The Rocks tonight for some Salsa lessons. It will be fun. I'm not very good at it yet, but it's always a good time and there are lots of friendly people there. The last time I went, I ran into a woman I hadn't seen in a decade. She was a really good friend, so it was awesome reconnecting.
St. Albert Transit has changed their bus routes into the city, and thus far, I am not impressed. If--like me--you found yourself waiting in the rain yesterday, I strongly encourage you to contact St. Albert Transit and voice your displeasure.
If anyone is interested, I will be teaching my Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories through Metro Continuing Education starting October 11. Register through www.metrocontinuingeducation.ca.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Angel of Death Strikes
Upcoming Comedy
Tuesday, August 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, September 7
Friday, September 21
Friday, October 5
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday at the Edmonton Journal's ed online magazine.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont also appears in ed magazine. Dates TBA
Did you know I actually sound better singing Karaoke with a cold? I didn't. I've also gotten everyone I've come into contact with in the last week sick. I'm the Angel of Death. (In fairness, this isn't 100% my fault. I asked a friend if I was still contagious and she looked it up on Wikipedia and said I wasn't. I believed her--she's a Master's Student, after all so she must know what she's talking about. Also, Wikipedia)
Photo shoot today. I will have a co-star in the photos for an upcoming article. His name is Parker and he is a three (or possibly four) months old. His parents were gracious enough to let me use a picture of us together in an article.
I'm reading the Power of Now by Eckhard Tolle. I tend to dismiss a lot of that stuff as new age voodoo crap, but this one seems okay if a tad repetitive. It's all about living in the moment instead of worrying about the past or future. I have a hard time living in the moment as I am often looking forward to the next one. Especially if there's basketball in it.
Rumors are that MPW is up and running again and will be doing TV tapings again. If so, that's great news. There are some cool, hard-working, talented guys in that promotion and they deserve all the success in the world.
Dawn references Fellini movies in our next Pair of Singles article. I'm embarassed to admit, I had only the vaguest idea of who Fellini was. I hate having a co-writer who's smarter than me. Oh well. That's why Wikipedia was invented.
Tuesday, August 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, September 7
Friday, September 21
Friday, October 5
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday at the Edmonton Journal's ed online magazine.
A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont also appears in ed magazine. Dates TBA
Did you know I actually sound better singing Karaoke with a cold? I didn't. I've also gotten everyone I've come into contact with in the last week sick. I'm the Angel of Death. (In fairness, this isn't 100% my fault. I asked a friend if I was still contagious and she looked it up on Wikipedia and said I wasn't. I believed her--she's a Master's Student, after all so she must know what she's talking about. Also, Wikipedia)
Photo shoot today. I will have a co-star in the photos for an upcoming article. His name is Parker and he is a three (or possibly four) months old. His parents were gracious enough to let me use a picture of us together in an article.
I'm reading the Power of Now by Eckhard Tolle. I tend to dismiss a lot of that stuff as new age voodoo crap, but this one seems okay if a tad repetitive. It's all about living in the moment instead of worrying about the past or future. I have a hard time living in the moment as I am often looking forward to the next one. Especially if there's basketball in it.
Rumors are that MPW is up and running again and will be doing TV tapings again. If so, that's great news. There are some cool, hard-working, talented guys in that promotion and they deserve all the success in the world.
Dawn references Fellini movies in our next Pair of Singles article. I'm embarassed to admit, I had only the vaguest idea of who Fellini was. I hate having a co-writer who's smarter than me. Oh well. That's why Wikipedia was invented.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Return of Me
Upcoming Comedy
Tuesday, August 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday at the Edmotnon Journal's ed online magazine.
Sorry for the delay between posts. I'm getting over a Death Cold, which has pretty much had me whining and complaining for the last week. The good news is I was able to get some work done on the MIA Pair of Singles stuff. The POS (We need a better acronym) blog has been unavoidably delayed, but there should be more articles on ed online in the next week or so.
Flu-like symptoms (as they say on the sports injured lists) aside, I'm feeling pretty good. More importantly, I'm feeling very energized about the shows this month and my latest writing projects. Things are also going well in my personal life. As good as I feel, It's weird having nothing to complain about. Nobody wants to hear from a happy person.
Tuesday, August 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, September 17 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, September 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, September 27 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, September 28 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, September 29 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, September 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Monday at the Edmotnon Journal's ed online magazine.
Sorry for the delay between posts. I'm getting over a Death Cold, which has pretty much had me whining and complaining for the last week. The good news is I was able to get some work done on the MIA Pair of Singles stuff. The POS (We need a better acronym) blog has been unavoidably delayed, but there should be more articles on ed online in the next week or so.
Flu-like symptoms (as they say on the sports injured lists) aside, I'm feeling pretty good. More importantly, I'm feeling very energized about the shows this month and my latest writing projects. Things are also going well in my personal life. As good as I feel, It's weird having nothing to complain about. Nobody wants to hear from a happy person.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Not much to report.
UPCOMING WRITING
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, August 17 - The Big Sleep
I've been reading a lot of JONATHAN TROPPER's books lately. I really enjoy his writing: angst with happy endings--the best of both worlds, really.
Tomorrow I leave for San Francisco. I'm excited. This has been one of the tougher trips to get organized for; everything is taking longer and causing more trouble than any previous voyage, so I have a slight feeling of nameless dread. Bah! It will be fun. Maybe I'll go to Berkley and become a communist. They have a good music school there too.
Okay, clearly, I'm just rambling.
I've noticed whenever I have something moderately healthy to eat, I always feel compelled to announce to everyone around what I'm having: "I guess I"ll go eat my YOGURT now!" or "I'm going to grab my SALAD THAT I MADE MYSELF from the fridge." Of course, if I'm cheating and sneaking off for Pizza Pops I'll just say "I'll be back" (and not in an Arnold voice either).
Did I say rambling earlier? I need a nap.
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, August 17 - The Big Sleep
I've been reading a lot of JONATHAN TROPPER's books lately. I really enjoy his writing: angst with happy endings--the best of both worlds, really.
Tomorrow I leave for San Francisco. I'm excited. This has been one of the tougher trips to get organized for; everything is taking longer and causing more trouble than any previous voyage, so I have a slight feeling of nameless dread. Bah! It will be fun. Maybe I'll go to Berkley and become a communist. They have a good music school there too.
Okay, clearly, I'm just rambling.
I've noticed whenever I have something moderately healthy to eat, I always feel compelled to announce to everyone around what I'm having: "I guess I"ll go eat my YOGURT now!" or "I'm going to grab my SALAD THAT I MADE MYSELF from the fridge." Of course, if I'm cheating and sneaking off for Pizza Pops I'll just say "I'll be back" (and not in an Arnold voice either).
Did I say rambling earlier? I need a nap.
Thursday, August 02, 2007
New Column tomorrow
New column tomorrow in the Journal. Hooray! It's on break-ups (not-hooray).
The week has been pretty good at the Comic Strip. Although the jokes that worked on Monday, didn't hold up on Wednesday, so we may be revisiting the drawing board.
I love the weather in Edmonton right now. The sun makes me happy. Other things that make me happy include: hamburgers, Skittles, Scrubs, good books, jokes that work, semi-colons, and kissing.
Just so you know.
Here's what's going on:
Upcoming Comedy
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Monday, August 6 - The Comic Strip
Upcoming Writing
Friday, August 3 - The Breakup, Living Column Edmonton Journal
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
IN other news...
Sure Shot Dombrowski Skates into Edmonton International Film Festival
Sure Shot Dombrowski,
has been accepted into the Edmonton International Film Festival 2007 where
we will launch its world premiere.
The festival runs from September 28 through October 6, 2007. For more
information about the festival, please visit
http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/
Check it out. The Russian Goal Judge has an awesome suit.
The week has been pretty good at the Comic Strip. Although the jokes that worked on Monday, didn't hold up on Wednesday, so we may be revisiting the drawing board.
I love the weather in Edmonton right now. The sun makes me happy. Other things that make me happy include: hamburgers, Skittles, Scrubs, good books, jokes that work, semi-colons, and kissing.
Just so you know.
Here's what's going on:
Upcoming Comedy
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Monday, August 6 - The Comic Strip
Upcoming Writing
Friday, August 3 - The Breakup, Living Column Edmonton Journal
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
IN other news...
Sure Shot Dombrowski Skates into Edmonton International Film Festival
Sure Shot Dombrowski,
has been accepted into the Edmonton International Film Festival 2007 where
we will launch its world premiere.
The festival runs from September 28 through October 6, 2007. For more
information about the festival, please visit
http://www.edmontonfilmfest.com/
Check it out. The Russian Goal Judge has an awesome suit.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Update
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, August 1 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Monday, August 27 - The Comic Strip
Upcoming Writing
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
-I just finished reading Porn-o-lo-gy, by Ayn Carrillo-Gailey . It's a really funny book about a woman accused of being a 'pornophobe's attempts to understand the world of adult entertainment. I highly recommend it.
-If you're in Edmonton for the Fringe, SEAN LECOMBER, ANDREW IWANYK, KELLY SOLODUKA, and LARS CALLIEOU are putting together a show called STAND UP STAND OUTS. They're all hilarious and they have very diverse styles, so there will definitely be something for anyone's taste in humour. For info check out www.fringetheatreadventures.ca.
-Looking forward the shows this weekend. Hope to see everyone there.
Wednesday, August 1 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Monday, August 27 - The Comic Strip
Upcoming Writing
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
-I just finished reading Porn-o-lo-gy, by Ayn Carrillo-Gailey . It's a really funny book about a woman accused of being a 'pornophobe's attempts to understand the world of adult entertainment. I highly recommend it.
-If you're in Edmonton for the Fringe, SEAN LECOMBER, ANDREW IWANYK, KELLY SOLODUKA, and LARS CALLIEOU are putting together a show called STAND UP STAND OUTS. They're all hilarious and they have very diverse styles, so there will definitely be something for anyone's taste in humour. For info check out www.fringetheatreadventures.ca.
-Looking forward the shows this weekend. Hope to see everyone there.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Rock like a hurricane
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, July 30 - The Comic Strip
Wednesday, August 1 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Monday, August 27 - The Comic Strip
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
Next Pair of Singles: The First Move (Saturday, July 28, 2007)
Saw PAUL BROWN on Thursday outside the TUPELO HONEY show. I always enjoy chatting with him. He's one of the hardest working guys I know. It was also cool to see Greg from Tupelo Honey. He and the bassist were two of the guys that succeeded me in Sweet Alibi. The lead singer of that band has gone on to form DESOUSA DRIVE. Everyone still with me? Watching them rock the house made me miss doing music a little. Then I saw them hauling amps out after the show, and remembered why I left.
I watched Weird Al on Wednesday. Hard to believe he's been making a living doing parodies for over 20 years. Maybe I should try it. That way I'd get to continue to doing comedy, but I'd still get to rock people's faces off.
Oh yeah. Hauling amps.
Monday, July 30 - The Comic Strip
Wednesday, August 1 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Monday, August 27 - The Comic Strip
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
Next Pair of Singles: The First Move (Saturday, July 28, 2007)
Saw PAUL BROWN on Thursday outside the TUPELO HONEY show. I always enjoy chatting with him. He's one of the hardest working guys I know. It was also cool to see Greg from Tupelo Honey. He and the bassist were two of the guys that succeeded me in Sweet Alibi. The lead singer of that band has gone on to form DESOUSA DRIVE. Everyone still with me? Watching them rock the house made me miss doing music a little. Then I saw them hauling amps out after the show, and remembered why I left.
I watched Weird Al on Wednesday. Hard to believe he's been making a living doing parodies for over 20 years. Maybe I should try it. That way I'd get to continue to doing comedy, but I'd still get to rock people's faces off.
Oh yeah. Hauling amps.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, July 30 - The Comic Strip
Wednesday, August 1 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
I was up all night reading "Soon I Will Be Invincible," a novel by Austin Grossman. I'm probably the only fiction guy not reading Harry Potter righ now. "...Invincible was a great read though, and I recommend it to fans of super-heroes and good writing in general.
I'm looking to see San Francisco in August. And no, I won't be wearing a flower in my hair. That will probably be my last trip this year. I'm not sure what's next on the agenda. For Canadian cities, I'd love to see Montreal and Quebec City. In the U.S., Boston and Seattle. And Truth-or-Consequences, New Mexico. I know nothing about it, but I like the name.
I spent an hour last night complaining to JAMES BALL how even though all my other writing is going well, my joke-writing seems to have ground to a stand-still. Then I went home and wrote for an hour. My brain is strange.
Monday, July 30 - The Comic Strip
Wednesday, August 1 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, August 2 - The Comic strip
Frday, August 3 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, August 4 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, August 5 - The Comic Strip
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed
I was up all night reading "Soon I Will Be Invincible," a novel by Austin Grossman. I'm probably the only fiction guy not reading Harry Potter righ now. "...Invincible was a great read though, and I recommend it to fans of super-heroes and good writing in general.
I'm looking to see San Francisco in August. And no, I won't be wearing a flower in my hair. That will probably be my last trip this year. I'm not sure what's next on the agenda. For Canadian cities, I'd love to see Montreal and Quebec City. In the U.S., Boston and Seattle. And Truth-or-Consequences, New Mexico. I know nothing about it, but I like the name.
I spent an hour last night complaining to JAMES BALL how even though all my other writing is going well, my joke-writing seems to have ground to a stand-still. Then I went home and wrote for an hour. My brain is strange.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Darn it.
Well, it's official. I am the world's worst interview. I have a new respect for anyone I've ever interviewed for an article.
Thank goodness I'm pretty.
Thank goodness I'm pretty.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Update
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, July 30 - The Comic Strip
Upcoming Writing
Living Columns in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, July 20 - Banana-Face: Live and Let Diet
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed online
-I don't normally write about my personal life in this space, but this is too good. My Mom climbed a mountain. Sadly, I wasn't there, but that is awesome. My mother is X-treme. I guess now I really have no excuse not to start living a more active lifestyle.
-CAM TATE came by to perform at the Comic Strip a few weeks ago. It was cool to meet him. He used to write for sports in the Journal and I remember reading him as a kid. I didn't know he did comedy also, but he toured with RICK BRONSON back in the day. He's a funny guy.
-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I got an e-mail from Miss Alli. I'm very excited.
-For those of you anxiously awaiting the return of A Pair of Singles, we're working on it. It will be worth the wait.
Monday, July 30 - The Comic Strip
Upcoming Writing
Living Columns in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, July 20 - Banana-Face: Live and Let Diet
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed online
-I don't normally write about my personal life in this space, but this is too good. My Mom climbed a mountain. Sadly, I wasn't there, but that is awesome. My mother is X-treme. I guess now I really have no excuse not to start living a more active lifestyle.
-CAM TATE came by to perform at the Comic Strip a few weeks ago. It was cool to meet him. He used to write for sports in the Journal and I remember reading him as a kid. I didn't know he did comedy also, but he toured with RICK BRONSON back in the day. He's a funny guy.
-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! I got an e-mail from Miss Alli. I'm very excited.
-For those of you anxiously awaiting the return of A Pair of Singles, we're working on it. It will be worth the wait.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Random thoughts.
The shows went really well last week (except Thursday, where I went down in flames--but the impact crater was glorious). My personal goal was to do more crowd work. The great thing about a string of shows like that is you can pick a goal and work towards it over the course of the series. By Sunday I was answering other peoples' cell phones like a pro. Go me.
A new person tried stand-up last night at the Riverside in St. Albert. It was fun watching her go from excitment and anticipation to dawning horror as she realized just what she was getting into. The Riverside is a 'unique' show. The good news about starting at the Riverside is, after that, amateur night at Yuks or The Comic Strip seems a heck of a lot easier.
Photo shoot tomorrow for the Journal. Naturally, I woke up with a zit on the end of my nose. Awesome.
A new person tried stand-up last night at the Riverside in St. Albert. It was fun watching her go from excitment and anticipation to dawning horror as she realized just what she was getting into. The Riverside is a 'unique' show. The good news about starting at the Riverside is, after that, amateur night at Yuks or The Comic Strip seems a heck of a lot easier.
Photo shoot tomorrow for the Journal. Naturally, I woke up with a zit on the end of my nose. Awesome.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Max's MC Debut
Upcoming Comedy
Tuesday, July 3 - The Comic Strip
Wednesday, July 4 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, July 5 - The Comic Strip
Friday, July 6 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, July 7 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, July 8 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, July 26 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed online
-Yesterday marked MAX MAULT's debut as an MC for the Comic Strip. Max is one of the nicest, funniest guys in comedy, so it's awesome seeing him get opportunities. The show was headlined be ANDREW IWANYK who tried to set up KELLY DAKUS with an audience member. Kelly has awesome stage presence so seeing him and Andrew share a stage was really cool and hilarious.
-I had a good time doing shows at the Comedy Factory. Hard to believe I'd never done that room before. Until I think of what a pain it was to get there via bus (because that's how I roll). Then I believe it.
-I got my picture taken at the Journal for the masthead of the online version of A Pair of Singles. One of the editors told me I am one of the most photographed people in Journal history, yet they didn't have one normal picture of me. I've been mugging for the camera for so long, I don't know how to look normal when people are taking my picture anymore. I'm exited for the blog version of A Pair of Singles as it will have more opportunities to interact with readers.
Tuesday, July 3 - The Comic Strip
Wednesday, July 4 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, July 5 - The Comic Strip
Friday, July 6 - The Comic Strip
Saturday, July 7 - The Comic Strip
Sunday, July 8 - The Comic Strip
Thursday, July 26 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Check out headLINES and A Pair of Singles with Dawn Dumont at ed online
-Yesterday marked MAX MAULT's debut as an MC for the Comic Strip. Max is one of the nicest, funniest guys in comedy, so it's awesome seeing him get opportunities. The show was headlined be ANDREW IWANYK who tried to set up KELLY DAKUS with an audience member. Kelly has awesome stage presence so seeing him and Andrew share a stage was really cool and hilarious.
-I had a good time doing shows at the Comedy Factory. Hard to believe I'd never done that room before. Until I think of what a pain it was to get there via bus (because that's how I roll). Then I believe it.
-I got my picture taken at the Journal for the masthead of the online version of A Pair of Singles. One of the editors told me I am one of the most photographed people in Journal history, yet they didn't have one normal picture of me. I've been mugging for the camera for so long, I don't know how to look normal when people are taking my picture anymore. I'm exited for the blog version of A Pair of Singles as it will have more opportunities to interact with readers.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
REturn to Edmonton
Upcoming Comedy
Thursday, June 28 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Friday, June 29 - The Comedy Factory, Edmonton
Saturday, June 30 - The Comedy Factory, Edmonton
Thursday, July 26 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Saturday, June 30 - Ed magazine--Relationship book reviews.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
-After this Saturday, ed magazine is heading completely online. headLINES will be posted Mondays, and A Pair of Singles will be re-vamped into blog format. I'm very excited.
-Las Vegas was great, albeit very hot. I may have over done it on the sunscreen though. I came home as pale as when I left. And all my shirts are sticky. I won twenty-five cents playing the slots. High roller, coming through.
-I'm done with myspace. It's a wasteland. Sorry, Tom.
Time to sleep for a week.
Thursday, June 28 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Friday, June 29 - The Comedy Factory, Edmonton
Saturday, June 30 - The Comedy Factory, Edmonton
Thursday, July 26 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Saturday, June 30 - Ed magazine--Relationship book reviews.
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
-After this Saturday, ed magazine is heading completely online. headLINES will be posted Mondays, and A Pair of Singles will be re-vamped into blog format. I'm very excited.
-Las Vegas was great, albeit very hot. I may have over done it on the sunscreen though. I came home as pale as when I left. And all my shirts are sticky. I won twenty-five cents playing the slots. High roller, coming through.
-I'm done with myspace. It's a wasteland. Sorry, Tom.
Time to sleep for a week.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Giddy
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, June 18 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, June 28 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Thursday, July 26 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Friday, June 15 - Living Section, Edmonton Journal
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Next: Online Dating (Part 2)
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
-I'm going to SmackDown!!! I'm giddy like a schoolgirl. Dino, the Comic Strip manager was able to get luxury box tickets and was kind enough to invite me.
-I've been thinking about women's clothes recently. Part of it is because of the dating column, and part of it is from watching women on comedy stages. I think it's interesting how women have to dress both for other women and for guys. Some women go strong one way or the other. I know some single women who have trouble attracting guys. Sometimes I think part of it is the way they dress, even though they actually have a pretty strong fashion sense. Their choices are fashionable, but it isn't particulary attractive. On the other hand, the hoochie-mama (or whatever the kids are calling it) looks sexy to guys, but turns off women. I really admire those women who can hit that balance between being attractive to men and non-threatening but fashionable to women.
On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't be talking about fashion at all since I just found I've been walking around in my new shoes with the price tag still attached.
Monday, June 18 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, June 28 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Thursday, July 26 - Crown & Anchor, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Friday, June 15 - Living Section, Edmonton Journal
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Next: Online Dating (Part 2)
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
-I'm going to SmackDown!!! I'm giddy like a schoolgirl. Dino, the Comic Strip manager was able to get luxury box tickets and was kind enough to invite me.
-I've been thinking about women's clothes recently. Part of it is because of the dating column, and part of it is from watching women on comedy stages. I think it's interesting how women have to dress both for other women and for guys. Some women go strong one way or the other. I know some single women who have trouble attracting guys. Sometimes I think part of it is the way they dress, even though they actually have a pretty strong fashion sense. Their choices are fashionable, but it isn't particulary attractive. On the other hand, the hoochie-mama (or whatever the kids are calling it) looks sexy to guys, but turns off women. I really admire those women who can hit that balance between being attractive to men and non-threatening but fashionable to women.
On the other hand, maybe I shouldn't be talking about fashion at all since I just found I've been walking around in my new shoes with the price tag still attached.
Random Comedy Thoughts
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, June 18 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This Saturday: Online Dating
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
--You always hear that likeability is important for comics, but that was really reinforced this weekend. My mom came to a couple shows. She liked one comic, and was less impressed by one of the others. Later she was doing her best in her mom-like fashion to retell one of the jokes the comic she liked did. The funny thing was, the comic she liked didn't do that joke. It was the other guy's, the one she didn't like. All the jokes she liked, she attributed to the comic she liked, even if he wasn't the one who told them. Interesting, no?
-Writing jokes is fun. One of the cool mysteries about writing though, is the quality of the joke has no correlation to how much time and effort you put into writing it. I've had jokes come off the top of my head that worked great, and jokes that I spent hours on bomb. I've had jokes I've thrown off the top of my head bomb and jokes I spent hours on work. There's no rhyme or reason to it--and that's what makes it so interesting.
-SEAN THOMPSON is a classy dude. At the fundraiser last night, he raised close to five hundred dollars for the Bear's Children's Fund, by getting his chest waxed onstage. PAUL BROWN and I, no strangers to body hair ourselves were most impressed.
Monday, June 18 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This Saturday: Online Dating
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
--You always hear that likeability is important for comics, but that was really reinforced this weekend. My mom came to a couple shows. She liked one comic, and was less impressed by one of the others. Later she was doing her best in her mom-like fashion to retell one of the jokes the comic she liked did. The funny thing was, the comic she liked didn't do that joke. It was the other guy's, the one she didn't like. All the jokes she liked, she attributed to the comic she liked, even if he wasn't the one who told them. Interesting, no?
-Writing jokes is fun. One of the cool mysteries about writing though, is the quality of the joke has no correlation to how much time and effort you put into writing it. I've had jokes come off the top of my head that worked great, and jokes that I spent hours on bomb. I've had jokes I've thrown off the top of my head bomb and jokes I spent hours on work. There's no rhyme or reason to it--and that's what makes it so interesting.
-SEAN THOMPSON is a classy dude. At the fundraiser last night, he raised close to five hundred dollars for the Bear's Children's Fund, by getting his chest waxed onstage. PAUL BROWN and I, no strangers to body hair ourselves were most impressed.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
I Shook Hands With Samoa Joe
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, June 5 - Cliff's Pub, Bear Children's Fundraiser, Edmonton
Monday, June 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Next: Online Dating Part 2
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
How the hell to people manage to find time to update their blog every day?
This isn't a wrestling blog, but SAMOA JOE was in town. SHAWN GRAMIAK had an extra ticket so I tagged along. It was a fun show. Samoa Joe is incredibly charismatic, and is a great performer. His face and body language is awesome. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the moment his music hit. He was facing JOHNNY DEVINE, who is no slouch either.
Shawn brought his niece along, which was cool. Her favorite part was when a wrestler would jump off the ropes at his opponent but miss, crashing and burning on the mat. She's right. That never gets old.
When I grow up, I want to be as relaxed onstage as KELLY TAYLOR.
I'm excited about this next run of shows. If you happen to be at the show, stop by and say hello afterwards.
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, June 5 - Cliff's Pub, Bear Children's Fundraiser, Edmonton
Monday, June 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Next: Online Dating Part 2
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
How the hell to people manage to find time to update their blog every day?
This isn't a wrestling blog, but SAMOA JOE was in town. SHAWN GRAMIAK had an extra ticket so I tagged along. It was a fun show. Samoa Joe is incredibly charismatic, and is a great performer. His face and body language is awesome. He had the crowd in the palm of his hand from the moment his music hit. He was facing JOHNNY DEVINE, who is no slouch either.
Shawn brought his niece along, which was cool. Her favorite part was when a wrestler would jump off the ropes at his opponent but miss, crashing and burning on the mat. She's right. That never gets old.
When I grow up, I want to be as relaxed onstage as KELLY TAYLOR.
I'm excited about this next run of shows. If you happen to be at the show, stop by and say hello afterwards.
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Back For More
Comedy
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, June 5 - Cliff's Pub, Bear Children's Fundraiser, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Columns in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, May 25 - Lasagna Pan Blues
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This Saturday: Online Dating Part 1
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
You haven't heard from me in a while, because I've been obsessed with the NBA playoffs. Of course now with the best series (Spurs vs. Suns) being over, and the Spurs halfway through stomping my beloved Utah Jazz into Mudhole-Town, I think I'm done (OPEN LETTER TO THE JAZZ: I love you with all my heart. But those powder blue uniforms have got to go. It's hard to take a basketball team seriously when their road gear is the same color as a baby's footie pyjamas).
According to KATHLEEN MCGEE's blog, Rugby fest was quite an event. I only saw the aftermath, as ANDREW IWANYK and TRAVIS ROBINSON dropped by the Comic Strip afterwards. IT was a...memorable show to say the least. Drunk comics, drunk audience members...I've never seen anything like it.
If you like 80s glam metal, you might want to check out RATT POISON, a Edmonton cover band. They do a pretty good job. HEAVY METAL would love these guys.
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Tuesday, June 5 - Cliff's Pub, Bear Children's Fundraiser, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Columns in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, May 25 - Lasagna Pan Blues
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This Saturday: Online Dating Part 1
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
You haven't heard from me in a while, because I've been obsessed with the NBA playoffs. Of course now with the best series (Spurs vs. Suns) being over, and the Spurs halfway through stomping my beloved Utah Jazz into Mudhole-Town, I think I'm done (OPEN LETTER TO THE JAZZ: I love you with all my heart. But those powder blue uniforms have got to go. It's hard to take a basketball team seriously when their road gear is the same color as a baby's footie pyjamas).
According to KATHLEEN MCGEE's blog, Rugby fest was quite an event. I only saw the aftermath, as ANDREW IWANYK and TRAVIS ROBINSON dropped by the Comic Strip afterwards. IT was a...memorable show to say the least. Drunk comics, drunk audience members...I've never seen anything like it.
If you like 80s glam metal, you might want to check out RATT POISON, a Edmonton cover band. They do a pretty good job. HEAVY METAL would love these guys.
Monday, May 07, 2007
The People Who Make It Worthwhile
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Coming Up Next: Commitment
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
For Mother's Day the plan is to make a meal for my mom. MY sister, my mom and I went for a nice walk last week. That probably doesn't sound cool, but I am very fortunate to have the family I do. They've always been supportive, and I don't know what I would do without them...buy my own washing machine, I guess.
Tried a vegetarian restaraunt on Thursday. It was fun. There's a lot of cool little places in the city that are easy to overlook. I found a cool ice cream place on 124th street, and I'm hoping to explore the Italian part of downtown this week.
Last night was Roni's birthday. Roni has been a wrestling fan for XXXX years now (I don't want to say the exact number for fear of giving away her age--then she'd have to kill me. She's more than a fan though. She's also a friend to a lot of people, and the heart of the local wrestling scene. (The picture in this blog is Roni and her neighbour Tammy surrounded by local wrestlers. Too bad Edge couldn't make it.
I got a camera a few weeks ago and I've been quite enjoying my new toy. Look for more pics over the next little while.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
Weekend Report
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Coming Up Next: Commitment
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
Thursday I caught JAY MALONE's show at the Comic Strip. He's a fantastic comic and a great guy. Afterwards we got into the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3 with a few other comics and Comic Strip staff. It's good to have connections. As for the movie...I talked about it a bit on my wrestling blog, but I'm not going to say anything here. I like to focus on the positive--hanging out with a great bunch of people. That should tell you all you need to know about the movie itself.
Saturday DAWN DUMONT and I went to an open mic (after a bit of a false-start trying to find the place) and then checked out SHAWN MAJUMBER at Yuk Yuks. It was a great show.
I went from geek to chic Sunday night, as I had a chance to see FOREVER TANGO at the Jubilee. It was a lot like wrestling. Some cool costumes, neat high spots, and the best routines were the ones with clear characters and storytelling. What really blew me away was the orchestra. They made that show. Plus there were accordion solos!
Afterwards I hit a karaoke bar to watch the replay of the Suns-Spurs game. Since there were no other comics there, instead of begging for a spot to tell a couple jokes...I actually sang karaoke. I was fantastic (Hey, no one I knew was there to tell me otherwise).
I have decided I like Yogurt...at least the kind from Planet Organic. It's almost as good as their potato chips. Healthy food--what's happening to me?
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Coming Up Next: Commitment
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
Thursday I caught JAY MALONE's show at the Comic Strip. He's a fantastic comic and a great guy. Afterwards we got into the midnight showing of Spider-Man 3 with a few other comics and Comic Strip staff. It's good to have connections. As for the movie...I talked about it a bit on my wrestling blog, but I'm not going to say anything here. I like to focus on the positive--hanging out with a great bunch of people. That should tell you all you need to know about the movie itself.
Saturday DAWN DUMONT and I went to an open mic (after a bit of a false-start trying to find the place) and then checked out SHAWN MAJUMBER at Yuk Yuks. It was a great show.
I went from geek to chic Sunday night, as I had a chance to see FOREVER TANGO at the Jubilee. It was a lot like wrestling. Some cool costumes, neat high spots, and the best routines were the ones with clear characters and storytelling. What really blew me away was the orchestra. They made that show. Plus there were accordion solos!
Afterwards I hit a karaoke bar to watch the replay of the Suns-Spurs game. Since there were no other comics there, instead of begging for a spot to tell a couple jokes...I actually sang karaoke. I was fantastic (Hey, no one I knew was there to tell me otherwise).
I have decided I like Yogurt...at least the kind from Planet Organic. It's almost as good as their potato chips. Healthy food--what's happening to me?
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Coming up Next: Commitment
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
I'm planning a trip to Vegas in June. It will be fun to travel again. Next on my list is Montreal and Quebec City. Maybe I'll try for the summer so I can be down there for Just For Laughs. The next U.S. cities I'd like to visit are Seattle and San Francisco (and possibly Salt Lake City so I can finally watch the Utah Jazz live--although they're giving me heart failure against the Rockets this spring).
The word for the weekend was--diverse. The writer's group was a lot of fun. Saturday, A friend invited me to check out this organic food store. ORGANIC POTATO CHIPS ARE AWESOME!! Seriously, there's no competition. I may swear off Lay's forever.
I also went dancing Saturday night with DAWN DUMONT my co-columnist. Since we're singles columnists, I wonder if the money we spend on cover charges is tax deductible.
Monday, I got a tour of KROCK radio station, courtesy of JAMES BALL. It was pretty cool. I've been on the radio twice and I don't think I'm very good at being intervewied. I guess I'll just have to get my own show.
I've got a photo shoot on Thursday for the next few Living articles, so time to get my funny face on...and to start picking out my outfits.
NOTE: Looks like the MPW show is postponed. I'll let everybody knows when it's resecheduled. I also found out through DINO, the manager at Smackdown is coming to town this summer. Life is good.
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Coming up Next: Commitment
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
I'm planning a trip to Vegas in June. It will be fun to travel again. Next on my list is Montreal and Quebec City. Maybe I'll try for the summer so I can be down there for Just For Laughs. The next U.S. cities I'd like to visit are Seattle and San Francisco (and possibly Salt Lake City so I can finally watch the Utah Jazz live--although they're giving me heart failure against the Rockets this spring).
The word for the weekend was--diverse. The writer's group was a lot of fun. Saturday, A friend invited me to check out this organic food store. ORGANIC POTATO CHIPS ARE AWESOME!! Seriously, there's no competition. I may swear off Lay's forever.
I also went dancing Saturday night with DAWN DUMONT my co-columnist. Since we're singles columnists, I wonder if the money we spend on cover charges is tax deductible.
Monday, I got a tour of KROCK radio station, courtesy of JAMES BALL. It was pretty cool. I've been on the radio twice and I don't think I'm very good at being intervewied. I guess I'll just have to get my own show.
I've got a photo shoot on Thursday for the next few Living articles, so time to get my funny face on...and to start picking out my outfits.
NOTE: Looks like the MPW show is postponed. I'll let everybody knows when it's resecheduled. I also found out through DINO, the manager at Smackdown is coming to town this summer. Life is good.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Saturday Morning Musings
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Journal
Friday, April 27 - Party On
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This week's Topic: Pre-Date Rituals
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Other Appearances
Friday, May 4 - MPW War Path, Kingsway Hangars, Edmonton
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
Looks like one of my articles ran yesterday in the Journal. I nearly missed it.
Thursday, I went to the opening reception for a May Week art show, celebrating art and the labour movement. It was a lot of fun. I know the woman who helped put it all together, and she did an awesome job. I got to meet a couple of the artists too, which is fun. I really admire people who can do visual arts. You need to be creative, but you also have to have hands-on skills too. I couldn't do it.
I've spent some of the last few days going through my old notes for articles and cleaning them up. It's interesting reading things I've written and realizing I don't relate to it anymore. A few years ago, I was as close to rock bottom as I could get. Somehow I learned to stop blaming the world or myself for the things I didn't have, and now I'm as happy with my life as I've ever been. I'm looking forward to the future--even if the future includes eating vegetables.
Everyone I know is addicted to Facebook. I'm not sure what the big deal is, but I seem to be getting sucked deeper and deeper into the morass. I DID reconnect with one of my best friends from elementary/junior high. We used to write together and watch horror movies and listen to heavy metal music in his basement. It was great hearing from him, especially since he was so influential on my writing during my formative years--for better or worse. Although most of our stories contained the phrase "shards of splintered bone," usually in relation to exploding heads.
Looking forward to the Writing Group tomorrow. Looks like an All-Star Cast will be there.
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Journal
Friday, April 27 - Party On
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This week's Topic: Pre-Date Rituals
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Other Appearances
Friday, May 4 - MPW War Path, Kingsway Hangars, Edmonton
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
Looks like one of my articles ran yesterday in the Journal. I nearly missed it.
Thursday, I went to the opening reception for a May Week art show, celebrating art and the labour movement. It was a lot of fun. I know the woman who helped put it all together, and she did an awesome job. I got to meet a couple of the artists too, which is fun. I really admire people who can do visual arts. You need to be creative, but you also have to have hands-on skills too. I couldn't do it.
I've spent some of the last few days going through my old notes for articles and cleaning them up. It's interesting reading things I've written and realizing I don't relate to it anymore. A few years ago, I was as close to rock bottom as I could get. Somehow I learned to stop blaming the world or myself for the things I didn't have, and now I'm as happy with my life as I've ever been. I'm looking forward to the future--even if the future includes eating vegetables.
Everyone I know is addicted to Facebook. I'm not sure what the big deal is, but I seem to be getting sucked deeper and deeper into the morass. I DID reconnect with one of my best friends from elementary/junior high. We used to write together and watch horror movies and listen to heavy metal music in his basement. It was great hearing from him, especially since he was so influential on my writing during my formative years--for better or worse. Although most of our stories contained the phrase "shards of splintered bone," usually in relation to exploding heads.
Looking forward to the Writing Group tomorrow. Looks like an All-Star Cast will be there.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Fruits and Sexually Crazed Scotsmen
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This week's Topic: Pre-Date Rituals
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Other Appearances
Friday, May 4 - MPW War Path, Kingsway Hangars, Edmonton
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
-Is there any sweeter sound than the laughter of a roomful of people? There's no better feeling than seeing a crowd enjoying themselves.
-I have a new business idea, but I want to keep it to myself for a bit. For it to succeed I need to be good at a) computers and b) business. I suck at both--but life is about learning experiences, and I owe it to myself to try.
-I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd at the Crown & Anchor comedy contest. For a bar show they were really good. Well, except for the drunk old Scotsman who mooned Kathleen McGee and then rubbed up against her while she was onstage. Sexual assault aside though, it was a decent show. It was cool catching up with DANA ALEXANDER who eventually won the comedy contest. The not cool part was that I'm trying to improve my diet so instead of fries, I had vegetables on the side of my meal. I was a very sad Dan. I love fries. Vegetables, not so much. But I'm going to do this thing. I even bought fruit the other day--apples, bananas, pears, carrots and walnuts. Those are all fruit, right?
-I got a sneak peek at DAWN DUMONT's entry for this week's 'A Pair of Singles' in ed. It's easily one of the funniest things she's ever written. Check out A Pair of Singles this Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal.
Monday, May 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This week's Topic: Pre-Date Rituals
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Other Appearances
Friday, May 4 - MPW War Path, Kingsway Hangars, Edmonton
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
-Is there any sweeter sound than the laughter of a roomful of people? There's no better feeling than seeing a crowd enjoying themselves.
-I have a new business idea, but I want to keep it to myself for a bit. For it to succeed I need to be good at a) computers and b) business. I suck at both--but life is about learning experiences, and I owe it to myself to try.
-I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd at the Crown & Anchor comedy contest. For a bar show they were really good. Well, except for the drunk old Scotsman who mooned Kathleen McGee and then rubbed up against her while she was onstage. Sexual assault aside though, it was a decent show. It was cool catching up with DANA ALEXANDER who eventually won the comedy contest. The not cool part was that I'm trying to improve my diet so instead of fries, I had vegetables on the side of my meal. I was a very sad Dan. I love fries. Vegetables, not so much. But I'm going to do this thing. I even bought fruit the other day--apples, bananas, pears, carrots and walnuts. Those are all fruit, right?
-I got a sneak peek at DAWN DUMONT's entry for this week's 'A Pair of Singles' in ed. It's easily one of the funniest things she's ever written. Check out A Pair of Singles this Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal.
Black Leather Jacket
Spring is here and I'm wearing my black leather jacket. It looks like a normal black leather jacket until you look inside--the inside lining is torn to crap. I doubt it will last much longer.
I got this jacket for my sixteenth birthday. Years later, when my brother got a motorcycle, he inherited the jacket. When he died last summer, it came back to me. It still has a pin on it that I earned long before he took it.
I miss my brother.
Oh yeah. Dates.
Upcoming Comedy
Thursday, April 19 - The Crown & Anchor Pub, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Other Appearances
Friday, May 4 - MPW War Path, Kingsway Hangars, Edmonton
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
I got this jacket for my sixteenth birthday. Years later, when my brother got a motorcycle, he inherited the jacket. When he died last summer, it came back to me. It still has a pin on it that I earned long before he took it.
I miss my brother.
Oh yeah. Dates.
Upcoming Comedy
Thursday, April 19 - The Crown & Anchor Pub, Edmonton
Wednesday, May 30 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, May 31 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday,June 1 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, June 2 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, June 3 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Other Appearances
Friday, May 4 - MPW War Path, Kingsway Hangars, Edmonton
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Dan Brodribb's Wrestling Blog can be found at maritalartgallery.blogspot.com
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Happy Easter
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, April 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, April 13 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, April 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, April 15 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 19 - The Crown & Anchor Pub, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Section, Edmonton Journal
Friday, April 13
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This Saturday - Advice for Single People
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Well, I'm back. Did anyone miss me?
Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. I had Easter dinner with my family, which was great, but I may have put on a few pounds. That might not necessarily be a bad thing.
I have an article this Friday in the Journal, and the latest Pair of Singles will follow on Saturday. I'd tell you what it's going to be about, but I have no idea which one they're going to run. I"ve also got shows this week, so hopefully I'll see you out there. As always, feel free to come say 'hi' after.
MPW Regeneration was on Saturday. The show was great, but it has occurred to me that not everyone in the world shares my love for wrestling so I'm starting a new blog for wrestling discussion. If you want to ask questions, leave comments, and/or read my opinions on various wrestling related things, here's the link: martialartgallery.blogspot.com
Of course, now I have no idea what I'll write about on this blog.
Wednesday, April 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, April 13 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, April 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, April 15 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 19 - The Crown & Anchor Pub, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Section, Edmonton Journal
Friday, April 13
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
This Saturday - Advice for Single People
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Well, I'm back. Did anyone miss me?
Hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. I had Easter dinner with my family, which was great, but I may have put on a few pounds. That might not necessarily be a bad thing.
I have an article this Friday in the Journal, and the latest Pair of Singles will follow on Saturday. I'd tell you what it's going to be about, but I have no idea which one they're going to run. I"ve also got shows this week, so hopefully I'll see you out there. As always, feel free to come say 'hi' after.
MPW Regeneration was on Saturday. The show was great, but it has occurred to me that not everyone in the world shares my love for wrestling so I'm starting a new blog for wrestling discussion. If you want to ask questions, leave comments, and/or read my opinions on various wrestling related things, here's the link: martialartgallery.blogspot.com
Of course, now I have no idea what I'll write about on this blog.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
How I Spent My Weekend
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, March 28 - Riverside Pub, St. Albert
Wednesday, April 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, April 13 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, April 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, April 15 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 19 - The Crown & Anchor Pub, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Thjs Saturday - Rocking the Cradle (Age Difference)
Other Apperances
Saturday, April 7 - MPW Regeneration, The Hangars 11410 Kingsway Ave, Edmonton
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
lBe Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Caught part of the battle of the bands Friday at NAIT. It's interesting how my way of judging bands has changed. When I was in a band myself, I used to care about how good they were musically. Now I care more about groups with stage presence that make a connection with the audience. Most of the bands I saw that night were good at it, certainly better than I was when I was doing music.
Saturday I went to a fashion show. It was fun. Although during one set (exhibit? group?) the models were so similar that it wasn't until they all came out at the end that I realized they weren't all the same woman. Once I saw them standing next to each other I realized they looked nothing the same at all. The only thing they really had in common was the same model-airplane-paint silver (you know the color I mean, right?) colored lipstick they were wearing.
Monday I hosted Hit or Miss night at The Strip. There were a few guys trying it out for the first time so they could write an article on it for the Gateway (writing articles about stand-up is actually how I got my start in writing so Godspeed you guys). I felt I let the show down with my own performance though. I was tired, but that's no excuse. I dissected the tape, next show will be better. I'll be working out some kinks tomorrow at Riverside to get set for my next stretch of shows in April at the Comic Strip.
That's the thing about comedy. You can never take it for granted. You have a string of great shows and you get complacent. Comedy, you have to earn it every time--that's what makes it so satisfying.
The next MPW show is April 7. As well, I'm looking forward to the next Pair of Singles article. I was quite happy with it, so I'm interested to see how it does.
Wednesday, March 28 - Riverside Pub, St. Albert
Wednesday, April 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 12 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, April 13 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, April 14 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, April 15 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, April 19 - The Crown & Anchor Pub, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine every second Saturday
Thjs Saturday - Rocking the Cradle (Age Difference)
Other Apperances
Saturday, April 7 - MPW Regeneration, The Hangars 11410 Kingsway Ave, Edmonton
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
lBe Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Caught part of the battle of the bands Friday at NAIT. It's interesting how my way of judging bands has changed. When I was in a band myself, I used to care about how good they were musically. Now I care more about groups with stage presence that make a connection with the audience. Most of the bands I saw that night were good at it, certainly better than I was when I was doing music.
Saturday I went to a fashion show. It was fun. Although during one set (exhibit? group?) the models were so similar that it wasn't until they all came out at the end that I realized they weren't all the same woman. Once I saw them standing next to each other I realized they looked nothing the same at all. The only thing they really had in common was the same model-airplane-paint silver (you know the color I mean, right?) colored lipstick they were wearing.
Monday I hosted Hit or Miss night at The Strip. There were a few guys trying it out for the first time so they could write an article on it for the Gateway (writing articles about stand-up is actually how I got my start in writing so Godspeed you guys). I felt I let the show down with my own performance though. I was tired, but that's no excuse. I dissected the tape, next show will be better. I'll be working out some kinks tomorrow at Riverside to get set for my next stretch of shows in April at the Comic Strip.
That's the thing about comedy. You can never take it for granted. You have a string of great shows and you get complacent. Comedy, you have to earn it every time--that's what makes it so satisfying.
The next MPW show is April 7. As well, I'm looking forward to the next Pair of Singles article. I was quite happy with it, so I'm interested to see how it does.
Monday, March 12, 2007
More Cowbell--I mean Update
Upcoming Comedy
Monday, March 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming WritingLiving Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 23 - Vancouver
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
The shows were great this weekend. The crowds were good every night, including a sold-out Saturday late show. The early show was also packed. Interestingly, I thought Sunday was a tough crowd, but they seemed to enjoy it and a number of the folks stayed to hang out with us after the show.
Meeting people is the coolest part of being a writer/comic. It just really widens your perspective--which is good because it gives me more stuff to write about.
One of the questions I most get asked by women who find out I'm writing a relationship column is "how do I get a guy to approach me?" I've always found that a tough question because a) I'm not a woman and b) you can't MAKE someone approach you. The nice thing about being proactive with women/men you're interested in is you have a measure of control--you go in and talk to them or you don't (The woman I'm seeing now ended up doing just that). But getting someone to come up to you...I don't know. I mean, there are certainly things you can do to make yourself more approachable (One book with a pretty good chapter on that very subject is "Why Mr. Right Can't Find You" by Mike Kearns), but there are no guarantees. I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say on the subject.
The word on BOBBY SHARP is a cracked pelvis. He'll be out for a couple months. Crappy, but it could have been a lot worse, I suppose. Get well soon, Bobby.
Monday, March 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming WritingLiving Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 23 - Vancouver
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
The shows were great this weekend. The crowds were good every night, including a sold-out Saturday late show. The early show was also packed. Interestingly, I thought Sunday was a tough crowd, but they seemed to enjoy it and a number of the folks stayed to hang out with us after the show.
Meeting people is the coolest part of being a writer/comic. It just really widens your perspective--which is good because it gives me more stuff to write about.
One of the questions I most get asked by women who find out I'm writing a relationship column is "how do I get a guy to approach me?" I've always found that a tough question because a) I'm not a woman and b) you can't MAKE someone approach you. The nice thing about being proactive with women/men you're interested in is you have a measure of control--you go in and talk to them or you don't (The woman I'm seeing now ended up doing just that). But getting someone to come up to you...I don't know. I mean, there are certainly things you can do to make yourself more approachable (One book with a pretty good chapter on that very subject is "Why Mr. Right Can't Find You" by Mike Kearns), but there are no guarantees. I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say on the subject.
The word on BOBBY SHARP is a cracked pelvis. He'll be out for a couple months. Crappy, but it could have been a lot worse, I suppose. Get well soon, Bobby.
Sunday, March 04, 2007
March 7 Update
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, March 7 - The Comic Strip, EdmontonThursday, March 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, March 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, March 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, March 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, March 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 23 - Vancouver
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Friday, March 23 - Vancouver - Living Section, The Edmonton Journal
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
I've got shows all this week at The Comic Strip opening for KIVI ROGERS, so I hope people will come check it out.
One thing I didn't mention about the Great Canadian Laugh Off last week was KERRY UNGER withdrawing from the contest since he wouldn't be able to make the date in Toronto if he want. Thus MARK SALAMANDICK was able to perform and had a great set. It was a classy gesture, and just one of the reasons KERRY is so well-regarded in the local comedy scene--the other being that he is a very funny guy (His new RYan Smyth joke is hilarious).
MPW Infinity was great. We drew a great crowd and they were really into the show. EVAN INFERNO and AJ SANCHEZ vs BIG JESS and BOBBY SHARP was an awesome match, marred by an injury to Bobby Sharp coming off the ropes onto the floor. I haven't heard much about his condition yet, but hopefully it's nothing too serious. The truly ludicrous DISCO NINJA is becoming more and more entertaining each outing, putting on a nice old-school style match with WAVELL STAR. The BROTHERS IN FLIGHT vs. AMERICAN PATRIOTS featured some awesome storytelling and an elbow drop from ADAM KNIGHT that has to be seen to be believed. And of course, HEAVY METAL and NITE headlined with a ladder match. Ladder matches have a tendency to turn into 'car crash matches' but Nite and Metal went out there and told a story, and if you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know that that's how I prefer my wrestling. This was the first time we didn't do the commentary live which meant I got to sit back and enjoy the show with my family. Bobby Sharp is my Mom's new favorite wrestler--sorry, STEVIE SAINT. Hopefully the matches will be edited and posted and be on television soon for your viewing pleasure.
Sunday I got together with J.P. FOURNIER, SHAWN GRAMIAK, and JAMES BALL to work on material. Fun was had.
Yesterday would have been my brother's birthday. I am sad.
Wednesday, March 7 - The Comic Strip, EdmontonThursday, March 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, March 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, March 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, March 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, March 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 23 - Vancouver
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Friday, March 23 - Vancouver - Living Section, The Edmonton Journal
Dan Brodribb's headLINES appears every Saturday in the ed section of the Edmonton Journal
Be Dan Brodribb's friend on MySpace at www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
I've got shows all this week at The Comic Strip opening for KIVI ROGERS, so I hope people will come check it out.
One thing I didn't mention about the Great Canadian Laugh Off last week was KERRY UNGER withdrawing from the contest since he wouldn't be able to make the date in Toronto if he want. Thus MARK SALAMANDICK was able to perform and had a great set. It was a classy gesture, and just one of the reasons KERRY is so well-regarded in the local comedy scene--the other being that he is a very funny guy (His new RYan Smyth joke is hilarious).
MPW Infinity was great. We drew a great crowd and they were really into the show. EVAN INFERNO and AJ SANCHEZ vs BIG JESS and BOBBY SHARP was an awesome match, marred by an injury to Bobby Sharp coming off the ropes onto the floor. I haven't heard much about his condition yet, but hopefully it's nothing too serious. The truly ludicrous DISCO NINJA is becoming more and more entertaining each outing, putting on a nice old-school style match with WAVELL STAR. The BROTHERS IN FLIGHT vs. AMERICAN PATRIOTS featured some awesome storytelling and an elbow drop from ADAM KNIGHT that has to be seen to be believed. And of course, HEAVY METAL and NITE headlined with a ladder match. Ladder matches have a tendency to turn into 'car crash matches' but Nite and Metal went out there and told a story, and if you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know that that's how I prefer my wrestling. This was the first time we didn't do the commentary live which meant I got to sit back and enjoy the show with my family. Bobby Sharp is my Mom's new favorite wrestler--sorry, STEVIE SAINT. Hopefully the matches will be edited and posted and be on television soon for your viewing pleasure.
Sunday I got together with J.P. FOURNIER, SHAWN GRAMIAK, and JAMES BALL to work on material. Fun was had.
Yesterday would have been my brother's birthday. I am sad.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
GCLO Results
Congratulations to SEAN LECOMBER who won the Great Canadian Laugh Off last night. I finished in second place, third prize went to KATHLEEN MCGEE, and TYLER HAWKINS won a special honorary mention. I will talk more about the night in my next regular post.
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the shows. We couldn't have done it without you.
Thanks to everyone who came out and supported the shows. We couldn't have done it without you.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Update
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, February 28 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton (GREAT CANADIAN LAUGH OFF FINALS)
Wednesday, March 7 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, March 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, March 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, March 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, March 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, March 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 2 - Great Expectations
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 3 - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Other Apperances
Saturday, March 3 - MPW Infinity, Kingsway 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 www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Wednesday is the Great Canadian Laugh Off Regional finals at Yuk Yuks (show starts at 8pm). If you're in Edmonton, hope to see you there. There's some great comics on the bill, and you're guaranteed a good time.
Sunday was MPW wrestler HEAVY METAL's birthday. I was at the celebrations along with CHI CHI CRUZ, 'YOUNG LION' BOBBY SHARP, BIG JESS, SHANE O'RYAN, MR. INTENSITY, EVAN INFERO, and THE WORLD'S MOST POLITE TAG TEAM (DANNY MANNERS and BRADY ROBERTS). And of course, RIPPER was there to make sure everyone got home safe. It was the first time I've been out drinking since the weeks following my brother's death, and I overdid it a little. On the plus side, Evan Inferno got a picture of me drunk with my head in a strip club toilet--fantastic. Britney Spears eat your heart out. I sobered up as the night went along--just in time to see BIG JESS lashed to a stripper pole. I think I was better off blind drunk.
Yesterday, I MC'd at The Comic Strip, which is always fun. I bumped into BILL GEE before the show and we hung out a bit. He even bought me a drink--of water. I think I've done my drinking for awhile.
As well, don't forget the MPW show this Saturday. Also, MITCH FATEL is coming to town the third week of March, so check that out at The Comic Strip. He's one of the best there is.
Wednesday, February 28 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton (GREAT CANADIAN LAUGH OFF FINALS)
Wednesday, March 7 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Thursday, March 8 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Friday, March 9 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Saturday, March 10 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Sunday, March 11 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Monday, March 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 2 - Great Expectations
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 3 - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Other Apperances
Saturday, March 3 - MPW Infinity, Kingsway 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 www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
Wednesday is the Great Canadian Laugh Off Regional finals at Yuk Yuks (show starts at 8pm). If you're in Edmonton, hope to see you there. There's some great comics on the bill, and you're guaranteed a good time.
Sunday was MPW wrestler HEAVY METAL's birthday. I was at the celebrations along with CHI CHI CRUZ, 'YOUNG LION' BOBBY SHARP, BIG JESS, SHANE O'RYAN, MR. INTENSITY, EVAN INFERO, and THE WORLD'S MOST POLITE TAG TEAM (DANNY MANNERS and BRADY ROBERTS). And of course, RIPPER was there to make sure everyone got home safe. It was the first time I've been out drinking since the weeks following my brother's death, and I overdid it a little. On the plus side, Evan Inferno got a picture of me drunk with my head in a strip club toilet--fantastic. Britney Spears eat your heart out. I sobered up as the night went along--just in time to see BIG JESS lashed to a stripper pole. I think I was better off blind drunk.
Yesterday, I MC'd at The Comic Strip, which is always fun. I bumped into BILL GEE before the show and we hung out a bit. He even bought me a drink--of water. I think I've done my drinking for awhile.
As well, don't forget the MPW show this Saturday. Also, MITCH FATEL is coming to town the third week of March, so check that out at The Comic Strip. He's one of the best there is.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Thank You
Upcoming Comedy
Wednesday, February 21 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton
Monday, February 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, February 28 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton (GREAT CANADIAN LAUGH OFF FINALS)
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 2 - Great Expectations
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 3 - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Other Apperances
Saturday, March 3 - MPW Infinity, Kingsway 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 www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
I was fortunate enough to win the audience vote in the Great Canadian Laugh Off Wednesday night and along with Judge's choice KERRY UNGER will advance to the finals on Wednesday, February 28 at Yuk Yuks in Londonderry Mall in Edmonton. I'll be joining my co-writer DAWN DUMONT, SEAN LECOMBER, KATHLEEN MCGEE, and a host of other in the finals where the winner will move on to Toronto.
This would probably be a good time to say thank you to all the people who have supported me over the last couple years. Everything I achieve is because of you and I always remember that. Regardless of who wins the contest, the crowd noise from the people who cheered for me Wednesday is something I"ll never forget. Thank you so much.
Dan
Wednesday, February 21 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton
Monday, February 26 - The Comic Strip, Edmonton
Wednesday, February 28 - Yuk Yuks, Edmonton (GREAT CANADIAN LAUGH OFF FINALS)
Upcoming Writing
Living Articles in the Edmonton Journal
Friday, March 2 - Great Expectations
A Pair of Singles (with Dawn Dumont) in ed magazine
Saturday, March 3 - Breaking Up Is Hard To Do
Saturday, March 17 - Married People
Other Apperances
Saturday, March 3 - MPW Infinity, Kingsway 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 www.myspace.com/danbrodribb
I was fortunate enough to win the audience vote in the Great Canadian Laugh Off Wednesday night and along with Judge's choice KERRY UNGER will advance to the finals on Wednesday, February 28 at Yuk Yuks in Londonderry Mall in Edmonton. I'll be joining my co-writer DAWN DUMONT, SEAN LECOMBER, KATHLEEN MCGEE, and a host of other in the finals where the winner will move on to Toronto.
This would probably be a good time to say thank you to all the people who have supported me over the last couple years. Everything I achieve is because of you and I always remember that. Regardless of who wins the contest, the crowd noise from the people who cheered for me Wednesday is something I"ll never forget. Thank you so much.
Dan
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