If you like comedy, PR or the occasional inside scoop on the entertainment world, then drop by for a daily dose written by me, Kambri Crews, producer and publicist to comedians and more!   Sunday, December 31, 2006 Happy New Year! You know how some savants can count like Rain Man? Well, my talent is voice over recognition. I now know for sure the NYC entertainment world is small when I was playing "Bully" on Playstation and heard a familiar voice. Sure enough, it was Baron Vaughn voicing one of the characters. A white one named "Tad". Baron doesn't have Playstation so hasn't even played it yet. Probably for the better...I actually dreamt about it last night. --Kambri Comix is going to be packed tonight! I'm looking forward to the show and getting all dolled up. Link - 3:42 PM -   Friday, December 29, 2006 In the News Two separate interviews with Christian came out today promoting his club dates. Here's one for Ft. Lauderdale and here's one for Atlanta. Comix has excellent comedy showcases or "Hot Comix" with seasoned pros on the bill and Gothamist gave them a shout out yesterday. And, finally, Best Week Ever posted Christian's "What Your Holiday Gifts Say About You": --Kambri Link - 12:14 PM -   Thursday, December 28, 2006 Braggy McBrag-a-Brag The crowds at Comix have been amazing! We've officially been open for 3.5 months and are consistently upping the ante on the quality of comedy, food, atmosphere and the general comedy club experience. Gothamist nailed it about our showcases, too. Oh, sure, I'm biased but I also know my stuff having traveled all over this great Nation with one Mr. Christian Finnegan* as he hops from set to set or city to city doing anything from 8 minute spots to one hour headlining gigs like this weekend. Every comedian that has come through has complimented us on our class** and amazing design. Rumor has it that Louis CK and Bobby Collins will be doing guest spots on the Hot Comix sets this weekend. I wasn't off the mark about Bob Costas, so you know I wouldn't lead you astray. Sideways winky smiley face. --Kambri *I miss him! I've seen him more this month but have been too busy to appreciate just how awesome he is! Public shout out: My husband is better than yours. **Ick. I hate that word. It sounds as though it should be permanently spelled with a "K". Link - 9:32 PM -   Tuesday, December 26, 2006 Holiday? Vacation? What Are These Strange Words You Speak? The Latest Ballyhoo is online now! Much more ballyhoo-able is Happy Cruelty Day written by our friend Bob Powers which went on sale today! Bob is the talent behind GirlsArePretty.com and also a very nice person. What a great way for him to ring in the new year. Congratulations to him and to Rachel & Chuck for becoming engaged to one another. --Kambri Holy Christmas! Link - 11:31 PM -   Robert Wuhl Wrap Up Here's a picture of Robert Wuhl & me after his show at Comix Friday night. Look closely in the background and you'll see Bob Costas chatting with his lady friend. It was a great show with awesome crowds and lots of wonderful feedback. It was nice doing radio with Robert, too, as he's obviously a pro and used to the medium. He had great stories, nice sound bites that didn't overtly sound like bits and was a trooper despite having a terrible cold. He talked on stage about having an appearance on Judith Regan's Sirius show, too. That was a cool moment for me hearing him share something I set up and had heard first hand. Thanks to Robert for making a great holiday weekend start off right for me! --Kambri Link - 1:06 PM -   Monday, December 25, 2006 Merry Christmas! Paquita wanted to open all the presents last night... But she just couldn't stay awake past midnight... --Kambri Link - 6:48 PM -   Friday, December 22, 2006 Here's a great section on Paying it foward. And here's a great "daily om" courtesy of Tigger that talks about holiday blues and not forcing yourself to engage in rituals that make you miserable. That's exactly what I said! So I'm glad I'm right on track by sticking to NYC, donating my travel money to charity (Sanctuary for Families) and having a genuine Christmas morning experience. We're even baking a turkey and making my mom's holiday staple Watergate Salad. We have presents under our "tree" and stockings hung on our "mantle". The only wrench was a very, very last minute cancellation that threatens to ruin my big gift to Christian. I'm pretty astounded at how someone could wait till the last possible minute to cancel knowing that time and money were invested but I'm not deterred. There's still tomorrow and Sunday to make up for it. Christian and I are off to see Robert tonight in "Assume the Position" at Comix. Supposedly Bob Costas is going to be there, too. Ballyhoo Promotions gave out free tickets to tonight and tomorrow's shows. Sign up for the newsletter if you want in on stuff like that. --Kambri Happy Friday before Christmas, y'all! Link - 5:14 PM -   Thursday, December 21, 2006 A Christmas card arrived today from Dad. As usual, he let the card do the business of being sweet and thoughtful so he could just stick to business: Read the message at Love, Daddy. Link - 11:14 PM -   Caroline Rhea had to cancel on Tuesday but the crowd wasn't disappointed as Louis CK AND Colin Quinn filled in. Excellent! Then there was our holiday party. Louis, Dave Attel, Judah Friedlander, Tom Shillue the super skinny Poppi Kramer and so many more great comedians were there milling about, enjoying the amazing buffet dinner and open bar. There were a few scandalous gossip items the next morning but nothing I can repeat. And our kitchen staff looked like zombies! Hilarious! I'm glad they enjoyed themselves as much as they did. Among the radio I have set up for Robert Wuhl today is an in studio appearance on Judith Regan's Sirius radio show. I can't wait! For those not up to speed on the latest with Judith, she's the one who almost got the scandalous O.J. "If I Did It" book published and who was recently axed by Rubert Murdoch & Co. Look for a piece on Robert in tomorrow's Metro, too. Save $10 on any of Robert's three stagings of "Assume the Position" at Comix by using the code "RWSPACE". --Kambri Christian & I will be in the audience Friday night if y'all want to join us. Link - 11:50 AM -   Tuesday, December 19, 2006 Holiday Party Time! Tonight is Comix's holiday party and Secret Santa. Best part? The staff is having a talent show. --Kambri Oh, this is gonna be good! Link - 7:42 PM -   Monday, December 18, 2006 Newsletter Re-Dux and the Holidays I've fallen out of love with the Ballyhoo Newsletter format as it's something I designed using super simple HTML coding back in the early Tex in the City days. Top that with some lazy folks copying the design (Really? You couldn't create something better? I mean it's clean and all but, wow, it's really plain!) and I've got myself some motivation to design something new after too many years. So, The Latest Ballyhoo has graduated to CSS. Check it out! As usual, your comments or edits are greatly appreciated! My lovely assistant Natalia and I delivered five bags of gifts to the family Christian and I adopted for Christmas. I can't wait to hear back from them. Now that they're taken care of, I can turn my attention to Christian and friends. I've got a few great gifts picked out for him and I even hung stockings! Our little tree is holding up well and, dare I say it, I feel excited for the 25th of December! I'm sending My Jailed Deaf Dad $50 for sweet treats, new thermals (the ones he got with the other money I sent got stolen) and gambling on the holiday football games. We'll be ringing in the New Year at Comix, so if you're looking for something to do why not join us? It's very reasonably priced in comparison to many other New Year's Eve events, there's a dinner option, champagne toast, DJ and the ball drop will be shown on all our screens. Okay, sales pitch over time to wrap gifts! --Kambri STOCKINGS! I'm stoked. Link - 1:18 PM -   Sunday, December 17, 2006 Garofalo & Galifianakis, Caroline Rhea & Robert Wuhl Ballyhoo Promotions has discount offers available for all their shows at Comix! Read all about them and their upcoming events here: http://www.ballyhoopromotions.net/Newsletter.htm An amazing week of programming! --Kambri January is going to be even better so now's a great time to buy a Comix gift certificate. Link - 7:42 PM -   Saturday, December 16, 2006 Robert Wuhl & Assume the Position A while back I mentioned meeting with Robert Wuhl to chat about the live version of his hit 2006 HBO special "Assume the Position". We just got word that Robert was nominated for a Writer's Guild Award! In today's NY Post, Larry Getlen interviewed Robert about his hit special. Read it here. This week, Robert is bringing a live version of his critically acclaimed show to the Comix stage for a special three show only engagement during which he'll also present never before seen material that will be in the 2007 HBO special. Use the promo code "RWSPACE" to save $10 to see Robert perform "Assume the Position" live and in person. It's a great show for the whole family, too. So if you've got relatives in town and want to have more fun than sitting in the dark at a movie theater, come on down. --Kambri Congratulations, Robert! Link - 11:47 AM -   Wednesday, December 13, 2006 Media Blitz Christian taped a "Best Week Ever" segment for "The Today Show" today which will air on New Years Day. This time it is for the "Best Year Ever". Matt Lauer called out Christian's weight loss on air at the end, too. Christian was embarrassed but it was mighty nice of Matt to commend Christian for his hard work and on the same day that comedian Poppi Kramer scored $50K for her win on "The Biggest Loser" as one of the stay-at-home contestants. Good for them! And, holy smokes, she looked amazing and has serious change in her pocket weighing her down! Listen to Christian live on The Bob & Tom Show tomorrow morning at 7:00 AM. One of the most listened to syndicated radio shows in the country. Break a leg! After that, he drives to Dayton for a gig at the Funny Bone then a short trip to Boston to see his family for a pre-Christmas getogether. Still so much travel so close to the holidays and so much work on top of it. I don't know that we'll ever be back to "normal" and I'm really thankful because at this point "normal" would mean we don't have the same awesome projects in the kicker. Did anyone watch the "Basic Instincts" special on ABC tonight? It was about the Six Degrees of Separation theory and was pretty cool. Apparently you can log on to abcnews.com and test the theory out for yourself. I am trying my best not to go there because I have too much on the To Do List right now to fool around with something I KNOW to be true. Okay to sum up: TiVO The Today Show on January 1st, tune in to The Bob & Tom Show at 7:00 AM tomorrow and log on to abcnews.com to check out the Basic Instincts "game". --Kambri I'm itching to play! Must. Resist. Link - 11:54 PM -   Tuesday, December 12, 2006 The Spirit of Giving IS Alive! Thanks to Rachel, Julie & Tigger for their notes of encouragement and tales of their individual charitable deeds. There are so many options out there so it's nice to hear how someone else made the holidays brighter for a stranger. Rachel had a horrible, harrowing year, and I know it took a financial toll on her. In fact, I'm not sure she has anything left to her name yet she still found a way to give. I'm impressed, Rachel. You rock! I got a few emails asking for a better view of the snowflake sweater. Since Paquita is a like a rag doll I can bend into poses when a camera is nearby, I give you this: --Kambri Link - 4:48 PM -   Monday, December 11, 2006 Breaking News! Zach Galifianakis and Jon Glaser have joined Janeane Garofalo as guests on the Hot Tub Variety Show at Comix on December 20th at 8:00 PM! Click here for more on this hilarious show and to purchase tickets online. --Kambri Link - 4:46 PM -   Paquita and the Tree It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! We decorated our little bush and got Paquita a cute new red sweater with a big snowflake. I'm taking two bags of gifts to Comix today for wrapping and delivery to our adopted family. Most of it cost nary a penny so being charitable doesn't have to cost much. Though we are spending cash later this week when we get them gift cards to Blockbuster and Target. Blockbuster? What if they don't have a VCR or DVD player? Aha! Well, we're getting them a little portable one. That way if they have to pack up and move again (not unlikely for these types of situations) it will be a cinch to take with them. Think of the hours of entertainment they'll have and the mom will be able to have a break every now and then. It's something that all four will get enjoyment from. We think it's a pretty great gift idea in addition to all the more practical gifts we're giving them like gloves and stuff. Any other ideas? Want to donate? Email me! --Kambri Link - 12:32 PM -   Saturday, December 09, 2006 I slept twelve hours last night. Every night this last week I had gotten maybe 5 hours of sleep. It culminated yesterday when I had to wake up at 6:00 AM after only four hours of sleep to go pick up Finesse Mitchell for radio. We hit the "Miss Jones in the Morning" on Hot 97 where he stayed on air for the whole two hours left of the show. The Sugar Hill Gang was there and things got heated during a phoner with a guy who sued them for copyright infringement and what not. Oh, and Morgan Freeman called in. Finesse and I had much to chat about during our long day together and we actualy have a friend in common in Bryan from his SNL days. He and Bryan actually used to share an office, which I didn't know. We wrapped his last interview at 7:30 at the club and I gladly headed home. Finesse is at Comix for two more shows tonight and one on Sunday. Save $10 on your ticket with the code "FINESPACE" when you visit or call the box office at 212.524.2500. Also, there are no ticket processing fees for purchasing them in advance online at www.comixny.com Since I woke up about five minutes ago, I don't have much time to fart around before meeting Rachel for brunch. I miss Rachel and so many of my other friends I haven't gotten to see since I took on Comix as a client. She's generously offering to donate books to the three little girls we "adopted" for the holidays. I know she already did something similarly charitable for another child here in NYC so it just shows me what I already knew: She has a big, soft heart. After brunch, I'm going shopping for the family and to find some mini decorations for our mini tree. Yay! I can't believe how having a tree -- even such a mini one -- is making me giddy. --Kambri Still tired. Link - 11:28 AM -   Thursday, December 07, 2006 We've got our family! About a month ago I was scouring the net trying to find the perfect domestic violence / violence against women charity for an event I'm producing next year. I was kind of stumped. None of them "matched" what I was looking for in a group. Well, after speaking with Emily at Sanctuary For Families, I have to look no further. This group is amazing. They are having the adopt a family program and we've been assigned a woman and her three daughters who are living in a secure, non-disclosed location. The downside of our "adopting" them means that we can't visit them and deliver a Christmas dinner and presents in person. But that's true of many holiday gift programs. SFF is having a big holiday party on the 19th that I'm going to help with and I've got the ball rolling for my fundraising show next year. All that work last month to no avail only to have it all fall in to place in one phone conversation. Back to our "family". We have a mother and her girls aged 11, 6 and 3 all in need of simple things. Sadly we weren't given clothing sizes but there's plenty we can give to help them smile this Christmas. The mother's tale of abuse is shocking and, sadly, all too common. I hope she stays tough this season. As cheesy as this sounds, leaving that situation is the best Christmas gift she could give her daughters. --Kambri Link - 11:32 PM -   Tuesday, December 05, 2006 I'll Be Home For Christmas... Christmas 1988 I was living in hiding. It was the first Christmas after Dad tried to kill Mom. I was working full time and had just completed my first semester of my senior year in high school. Mom was working 80 hours a week and yet still had to file bankruptcy. The two of us had the most pathetic, lonely, isolated Christmas ever. But I was 17. I knew better than to expect anything better. Imagine if I had been hoping for Santa. I want to spoil the hell out of some random family. Really bug their eyes out with generosity like the time when I first moved to New York and I gave a six year old boy my hand held Playstation he had been coveting on the subway just as the doors were closing between us. I'll never forget that day. His mom. The look in their eyes. The way my heart hurt. That's what I want for Christmas. Christmas for the last 10 years or so has been pretty lame and, at most times, non-existent. Being single for years, dating a Jew and me not having any family to speak of kind of spoiled the fun for what used to be the really excited five year old inside me. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a tree, decorated or even opened a present on Christmas morning. That sucks. It really, really, really, really, really, really SUCKS. The last two years I've traveled to Boston with Christian have been mixed blessings. (Read about 2004 and 2005.) Father Jack has since passed and it's our first Christmas as a married couple. I say fuck it and let's shake up the snow in that little cracked Christmas globe. Why go through all that fuss just to feel empty and frustrated again? So I suggested we find a family to "adopt" and have our gifts donated to them instead. We got so many wonderful things for our wedding and, well, I really don't need another set of votive candles or non-descript picture frame. I scoured the net and found a GREAT site for NYers that helps link you to a charity based on your interests and time availability: http://www.givingwell.org/nyc/index.php. If you're in NYC looking to donate time, money, both or something else, this site can make the match and pretty much make you feel like an ass if you can't find SOMETHING generous to do. Also, www.NYCares.org has a family adoption as a list of other charities' holiday programs. We hope to help someone through a domestic violence group (http://www.sanctuaryforfamilies.org/) that provides emergency shelters for families so maybe this Christmas some little kid's memories of confused isolation and fear can be all muddled up with something warm and kind and good like a Wii or something. --Kambri Going to decorate. Link - 11:27 PM -   Monday, December 04, 2006 Finesse Mitchell, Todd Barry, Comedy Central Tour and more all in the Latest Ballyhoo. I also promised my high school friend Dru that I would plug her appearance on "What About Brian" airing tonight on ABC. Links and stuff are also in the Latest Ballyhoo so check it! --Kambri Link - 9:12 AM -   Sunday, December 03, 2006 Yesterday was jam packed with good times. I had a fantastic lunch with my best pal Scott before we caught an afternoon performance of Gutenberg the Musical at the neat theatrical space 59E59. It's a clever musical with all characters performed by just two guys. Even when the storyline or writing was weak, it was still fun to watch them transform into each different persona. Their high energy was astounding especially considering how tired and hungover I felt. After the show we met Christian at the PATH station to head to Hoboken for two separate parties only a few blocks from each other. Both spaces are technically apartments but they are owned by our friends, so I guess that makes them condos. The layouts of each space were very similar and had such a big, open feel to them that Christian and I started wondering about prices and square footage. We're not ready to move or own, but there is an ever so slight urge on our parts to start looking and planning. I will say, though, I have never seen so many absolutely disgustingly DRUNK people all gathered in one public space as I did at the PATH stations in NJ and at the 34th Street stop in Manhattan. That and the weird cab rules alone would make me re-think the whole move to Jersey. I work late nights at Comix, I couldn't afford or justify the high price of cabbing home every night but Lord I wouldn't want to deal with those types of people every time I needed to take the train home. My Jersey friends: was this an anomaly? --Kambri Sticking to Astoria for now. Link - 6:46 PM -   Friday, December 01, 2006 Check out this fantastic LX/TV report about Comix. Comix's new gift certificate were plugged in Time Out NY's Gift Guide. We're making a page where you can buy them online but in the meantime, you can call 212.524.2500 or visit the box office to purchase one for that special someone. --Kambri Link - 12:58 AM -