Time is Flying By

Where is the time going?

I received an email from Shutterfly with this message and these photos:

I laughed when I saw it, and thought "Oh Shutterfly, you got that wrong."

These photos were from we filmed a short film called The Wave. It couldn't have been more than 7 or 8 years ago. Then I realized this photo was taken in the kitchen of Julie and my apartment. Which we haven't live in since 2006. Meaning this absolutely is from 11 years ago!

WHAT?!?

Today I'm being bombarded with pictures on Facebook and Twitter of Buffy The Vampire Slayer turning 20. 20 years old. My fandom can almost buy liquor legally! (insert insensitive Nicholas Brendan joke here).

WHAT THE...

My baby sister is in her 30s!
WHAT IS HAPPENING?!?

So hey...maybe these next 4 years will fly by.

The Punch Up Podcast - Episode 11: The Iron A

A new episode, must be Monday!

Steve has a way of taking you back in time, and he doesn't even need to hit 88 mphs!

Netflix/Marvel Pitch Meetings...in 4 Parts

PART 1:

The pitch: "It's the story of a blind lawyer who is waging a constant internal battle between using the legal system, within the bounds of societal rule, to fight crime, versus bending those very laws he's sworn to uphold thus allowing himself the freedom to fight evil forces through his own brand of well honed vigilantism. It's called, Daredevil."

Netflix: "Wow! That sounds incredible."

PART 2:

The pitch: "It's the story of a woman who has tried to keep her super powers a secret, to the point of not even using them. Yet she has a sense of guilt that forces her to help others through a detective agency. Through her journey, we see her reconnect with a dear friend as well as overcome the strangle hold of a previous abusive relationship that has been a huge roadblock for her becoming the person she was always meant to be. The show would rely heavily on the allegory of the strength of women putting an end to abuse in their lives. It's called Jessica Jones."

Netflix: "Wow! That's impressive! It's been far too long since television has celebrated the strength of females. Well done."

PART 3:

The pitch: "It's the story of an african american man of immeasurable strength, both physically and emotionally. At first he's painted by the police and the press as a villain, but quickly his community rallies behind him realizing the benefits this one man brings in extinguishing crime in what was once the vibrant city of Harlem. The modern struggle of civil rights as well as the power of R&B are backdrops to this series. Imagine a society where a black man was bullet proof. It's called Luke Cage."

Netflix: "Wow! Powerful stuff. And how eerily apropos for this time in our history. This is just the kind of innovation that we encourage here at Netflix."

PART 4:

The pitch: "It's about a guy who punches really hard. It's called Iron Fist."

Netflix: "Umm...ok. Anything else?"

(Looks around at the other producers)
The pitch: "Ahhhh....everyone drinks a lot of coffee?"
Netflix: "Can his fist glow or something?"

The pitch: "I guess so."

Netflix: "Yeah. Whatever."

The Punch Up Podcast Episode #10: The Poster

This might be my favorite episode! (Though, they all might be)



Look at this photo while you listen:



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Saving Time & Money & Time

Last year, I started going home for lunch.
I work 8 minutes from home, why not save the money on lunch, I figured.

In January, I started running on the treadmill again. #SuperHealthy

Then, last month, I combined to two.

I have just enough time to get home, change into running clothes, run (for half an episode of The West Wing), eat lunch, then change back into street clothes before heading back to work.

Today I picked up some much desired extra minutes by running in my jeans.

I'd like to say I just forgot to change, but the fact was I was feeling extra lazy and knew if I didn't immediately get on the treadmill, I wouldn't run today.

I've figured out how save time and money and time. If only I could figure out how to save money.

"...we came out of the cave, and we looked over the hill and we saw fire; and we crossed the ocean and we pioneered the west, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this is what's next."

The Florida Keys (Punch Up Podcast)

After our wedding on June 2, 2002, Julie and I flew to Miami and then drove through the Florida Keys.

You can hear all about that insane trek which included butterflies, dolphins and polydactyl cats on The Punch Up Podcast.





Here's a picture of Julie at the 0 Mile Marker in Key West.

Your Trump (Distraction) Countdown

Time until Trump leaves officeCountdown

So there are currently 1460 days remaining in Donald J. Trump's current presidential term...that is, if he completes it in its entirety.

The Vegas odds are currently 10/11 per this article.

So, you can spend those remaining days pulling out your hair at every single moment (check the clock above for up to second count), OR you can take some time for distraction.

I'm not saying put your head in the sand. I'm not even saying take whole days off, I'm merely suggesting take a breather so you don't suffocate.

But what can one do?

How about catch up on some TV!

Looking for some Happy Days? Well, there were 255 episodes of Happy Days. If you watched one a day, you'd only have 1205 days remaining (Jesus, that's still a lot!)

Well, then how about a little Law & Order in your life? The original show (not the 20 or so spin offs) ran for 456 episodes. Added to Happy Days, you're down to 749 days! (HOLY FUCK, that's still two more years of this guy in the West Wing!)

Did someone say The West Wing? (Yes...I did), well there's 156 episodes of that! Or 88 if you want to eliminate the non-Sorkin ones (you do), so that brings us to 661 days in the real world...

MTV's The Real World?!? There were 602 of those bad boys! But do you really want to watch them? Me either. Reality TV is kind of how we got into this mess...

So we're still suck with 661 days of this hellmouth. Speaking of the Hellmouth, Buffy the Vampire Slayer ran for 144 episodes, bringing us to 517 (we're under the 2 year mark! Soon we'll all be saying "CHEERS!")

Hell, let's say it now! Cheers ran 273 episodes. Sure Trump is likely Cliff Clavin'ing the country, but we're under a year with a mere 244 days! Not too bad!

You know what is bad? Breaking Bad! Have you seen it? Then watch it again! 62 episodes. Only 182 days to go stuck in this arrested development (I think you see what I did there)

Arrested Development, 68 episodes. 114 days left. 
(Chicken Dance Break):

OK, 114 days. We could do that on our heads...but let's watch Archer instead, with 85 episodes (to date).

WE ARE NOW UNDER A MONTH! 29 Days until we get back to my so called life...

My So Called Life, 19 episodes (really, that's it?)...

Bringing us to a countdown of 10!

Well, why not watch the 10 episode Netflix documentary series, Making a Murder...because if we have to do another 4 years of this, I might kill someone!

Holy Crap, I've Done A Lot of Podcasts!

HOLY PODCAST!!!

The first podcast I ever did, was WAAAAY before podcasts were invented.

Jim McCabe and I recorded a bunch of goofy audio bits (including prank calls) for no reason at all. We had no outlet. This was LOOOONG before the internet would be introduced to the public. It was really just to entertain ourselves. I'd use some of the pieces between songs on mixtapes I'd make for friends/girlfriends/acting teachers.

I remember a bit that had John F. Kennedy & Ted Kennedy as Biff and William Loman in "Death of a Salesman." You know, ground breaking stuff. My acting teacher at Temple University, Jimmy Blunt, loved it!

Fast forward many (many) years later when Joel and I would talk on the phone until 3 in the morning. We both worked odd hour retail jobs, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for us to talk that late. We'd joke, we should record this. We (and the public in general) were still unaware of podcasts.

Then Joel suggested a podcast in which we'd discuss film, television, comic books, video games...pretty much anything in the realm of Geek Culture. Along with James Hunsinger, we'd start "You've Got Geek on You." An homage to Shaun of the Dead's "You've got red on you." Eventually the show title would be shortened to "You've Got Geek."

The cast would change through out the show, Joel being the only constant. It would see various cohosts come and go in Bob Trate, Brendan Carr, Chuck Francisco, and Michael Henley.

In total, we did over 250 podcasts!

We are slowly in the process of rebuilding the library of episodes on Soundcloud (Totally my fault! James, I need to move much faster, I apologize.)

You can find them here: You've Got Geek

I also, briefly tinkered with a podcast idea through CSz Philadelphia called "The Advice Panel." This was a podcast based on the improv game of the same name we play in ComedySportz. It even had a kick ass theme song written & recorded by Hot Breakfast (HOT BREAKFAST! *fist pump).

Don Montrey was the host, and we'd have various characters on the show to give advice to our "audience." This was originally designed as a studio piece, where the questions would be gathered from Twitter or just made up completely.

We changed it from a studio show to a theatrical show in front of a live studio audience. We recorded 5 episodes before pulling the plug as attendance was low and it unfortunately affected the energy of the show.

It's one I'd like back. I still think it would work as a studio show, ala Comedy Bang Bang.

Between GEEK and The Advice Panel, I worked on a web series called The Clink. One of our writers (and Guard Carson) was Brendan Carr. 

Having worked so well with him on You've Got Geek, I suggested to Joel we bring him onboard for The Clink. Joel agreed whole heartedly, and our Tuesday night writing sessions began. Many a night would see Joel, Brendan, Jim Burns, Andrew Mitchell, and myself sitting in my living room or family room or front room (all the same room, but Julie and I never really settled on what to call that room. At easter it's our dining room).

Though the sessions didn't have a rigid structure, they were all very similar. Often starting with me making Brendan tell everyone a crazy story about Elvis Presley. Brendan and I had bonded long before this over our love for the King of Rock and Roll, and the fascination with his less than normal lifestyle. To this day, I think Joel, Jim and Andrew were just humoring us.

Brendan and I pitched the idea of doing an ALL-Elvis episode of You've Got Geek. Joel was 100% on board. But it just never seemed to work out.

Also during The Clink writing sessions, Brendan turned me on to a podcast called Comedy Death Ray (which would soon become change it's name to Comedy Bang Bang) as well as the Superego podcast.
(If you've never heard the James Bond "How British Am I?" sketch, you owe it to yourself to listen to it RIGHT NOW!)

I immediately fell in love with Comedy Death Ray. It would be a while until I'd actually give Superego a chance, but when I did, I fell in love with that too, especially it's format!

Brendan and I then developed a podcast about Elvis with a heavy Superego influence. That podcast is called Elvis, And (a play on the Improviser's philosophy "Yes, and"). Our tagline is "Mostly Improvised, Slightly Edited." It's a show that I REALLY want to try live, to prove that it is truly made up in the room.

Obviously, Brendan would be Elvis. We rounded out the cast with Lew Indellini, who I had recently worked with on a play. Jim McCabe, my original podcast buddy. Adam Wahlberg, a funny ass mother fucker! And Steve Roney, who I work with at ComedySportz. Steve came about almost at the last minute. He and I met to discuss a podcast idea he had (more on that in a minute). I mentioned Elvis, And and asked if he'd be interested. In typical "Yes, And" fashion, he said he would be. Then he came and slayed!

Matt Casarino, who had been kind enough to provide music for The Advice Panel, provided a TON of music for Elvis, And. Then in season 2 we put Matt on a mic. This gave us such gems as Dr. Nick as well as Carl Perkins (and his Blue Suede Shoes). Jill Knapp and Rodney Linderman (who I grew up worshipping as the frontman of "The Dead Milkmen") would also get involved.

We'll kick off season 3, which will likely be it's final season, this Summer.

Now back to Steve's idea.

After a night of ComedySportz matches, it's very common for the players to unwind at a bar a couple of blocks from the "arena." Inevitably, while relaxing after performing for over 3 hours, someone would start to tell a story. While the surrounding comedians would constantly interrupt. This was the inception for The Punch Up Podcast.

A weekly podcast where we bring in some of the funniest writers and performers from the Philly comedy scene. Someone tells a story while the others "help out." While it's a comedy, there are many deep, deep moments explored by the storyteller and panelists. Not quite WTF, but a long way from The Kennedys demanding that "attention must be paid."

Steve is the host, with panelists Eoin O'Shea, Jessie Preisendorfer, and myself, as well as frenquent guest Dave Jadico, and various guest storytellers such as Alli Soowal, Mary Carpenter, Kevin Dougherty, Don Montrey, Jim Carpenter, Darryl Charles, Sean Curran, and Kristin Finger (just to name a few).

I'm extremely proud of all of the episodes, but especially one in which I was the storyteller talking about my honeymoon. You can listen to "The Florida Keys" right here.

And that's not all! Brendan and I are working on a NEW podcast that we hope to debut in the Fall,
(Remember when I used to film stuff? No? Me neither.)

Five podcasts in the past decade.
Now if only I could get you to listen to one of them...

You've Got Geek
The Advice Panel
Elvis, And
The Punch Up Podcast
*To be announced SOON!