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!
Friday, August 29, 2008
Whew, I'm Beat
I've been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I met Scott "Reverend" Ramsey for a late lunch meeting. Pencil in the first Friday of each month for your Tex in the City Roundup Party in Ochi's Lounge beginning October 3rd from 6:30 - 9:00!
Then I was off to see a pretty great co-op one street away from Restaurant Row. Danny Leary joined me for the tour and he was gushing about how great it was. I'm not sold and Christian has to see it, too, of course. But how great would it be to live a block from Don't Tell Mama and Joe Allens?! Gah! CanNOT compute!
Then I zoomed down to Comix to do a voice over for the first "news item" I filmed for "Comix TV". It's a report on XM Radio's "Unmasked" series. I got some great b-roll footage of Seth Rogan and what not and an interview with the executive producer. I see the mistakes made along the way footage-wise, but what a great first piece it will be and a nice little thing for our reel.
THEN...as if that weren't enough. A reporter from a Japanese magazine is upstairs waiting to interview me for a feature before I RUN down to the People's Improv Theater to perform. Holy crap that's too much in one day for the Friday when most folks have already called it quits for the long weekend.
The Latest Ballyhoo The Latest Ballyhoo with Kurt Braunohler, Kristen Schaal of "Flight of the Conchords", the re-opening of Ochi's Lounge party with free food and drinks, and more!
--Kambri Good stuff!
Link - 2:43 PM -
Monday, August 25, 2008
This is The Funny Page appearing in tomorrow's Metro. This issue has a piece by Christian Finnegan (naturally), a joke by Kevin Tor, another contest and a feature interview with Eddie Brill by the ever awesome Sean L. McCarthy.
--Kambri Link - 12:26 PM -
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Dog Blocked! Paquita's ears are so big they'll dog block you. Send in your favorite dog pics and maybe we'll use one for a Dog Blocked! segment in Metro. You'll see...it's one of my late night ideas that sometimes are brilliant. Not sure about this one, though. Hee! But look at those crazy ears. HAHA!
Link - 11:57 PM -
Media Blitz!
Grab today's Metro to see The Funny Page and enter the contest we're having. I've already gotten loads of entries and great feedback. Viva la comedy!
Here's a long overdue clip of God's Pottery on the season finale of Last Comic Standing. They're in Minneapolis headlining at Acme Comedy Club all this week if you're in that neck of the woods.
--Kambri Working on next week's column.
Link - 9:45 AM -
Friday, August 15, 2008
The Funny Page Sneak Peek! Finally! Here is a sneak peek of our first full page advetorial appearing in Tuesday's Metro. Click the pic for the larger pdf. Whatcha think? I'm exhausted from putting it together so hopefully each week will get easier. If you have anything newsworthy (comedy related, of course) or funny you'd like to submi for publication, send it my way.
Also, here is a clip of Christian on last night's Countdown with guest host Rachel Maddow filling in for Olbermann. The topic was all about Julia Child and her secret agent days.
--Kambri Skipping the gym to go to see Tropic Thunder. Link - 12:33 PM -
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Just a Quick Note R*chard Lewis wrote me last night to make sure you were coming to his "Unmasked" taping. Are you? I assured him you were. Don't make me a liar! If you'd like tickets, instructions are here: ballyhoopromotions.net/Events.htm. The taping is Monday and it's usually about an hour and a half time commitment. Tommy Chong will be taping his interview tomorrow afternoon then in the evening we celebrate his book launch. It will a long day of Chong.
I treated some Tex in the City pals to Freestyle Love Supreme last night. A few were in town from Texas and their jaws were permanently dropped for the whole show. The next time they're at Comix you really must see them. They're ridiculously entertaining and their talent will blow your wig back.
--Kambri Happy two year wedding anniversary to me and Christian!
Link - 9:57 AM -
Saturday, August 09, 2008
--Kambri Link - 2:36 AM -
Thursday, August 07, 2008
And Christian is Awesome, Too!
Thanks to Tex in the City, I got Christian an audition for a Nickelodeon show. It's just an audition but still nice to have gotten the call from an old friend. But even better, Christian filmed a pilot for VH1 that sounds fun (fingers crossed that it gets picked up) and has been cast in an ensemble film. Today he filmed a short with Dean Edwards and Curtis Gwinn written by our pal Bryan Tucker. Fun! I'm not sure what they intend to DO with it but I'll share it once it's edited.
In Other News
I totally forgot to tell you how freaking amazing it was to have Freestyle Love Supreme back at Comix. My pals beat-boxer Chris "Shockwave" Sullivan and Lin-Manuel Miranda ("In the Heights" creator, star and million time Tony winner) were on FIRE. The sold out house was in a frenzy and stuck around after the show to greet the guys. Molly, Shockwave and I spent way too much time at the Hog Pit where $3 PBRs were free flowing.
FLS returns to Comix on Monday the 11th. Sadly Lin-Manuel won't be there but Utkarsh aka "UTK" will be! He was missed last week. And, of course, Shockwave will amaze everyone again. If you haven't heard, PBS is reviving my all-time favorite show The Electric Company. Shockwave is one of the stars and will be a big star amongst the kids once it debuts in January. Read this NY Times article about the return of the TV classic and this great interview with Shockwave on The Apiary. See him live this Monday at Comix.
From the NY Times: In a category by himself is the beat-box artist Shockwave (Chris Sullivan). Besides slinging hash at the Electric Diner, he speaks in one-word bursts only — no sentences — and appears in guises like the much missed gorilla and a butcher who cleaves words. But it is his D.J. routine that may be mimicked on playgrounds next year. He appears to be scratching syllables from dueling turntables to form words. It all emanates from his "bruh-bruh-AIN, bruh-bruh-AIN, brain."
Wow, It's One Heck of a Summer!
Beginning August 19th, I'll be writing a comedy gossip column that will appear in Metro. Send me your comedy tips, sightings & gossip to me so we can help spread the good word about working comedians. They don't get enough ink in my opinion.
Seth Rogan's taping was fun. Dude is a gen-u-ine total stoner. I'm not sure when XM will air it but I'm guessing soon. I taped a little promo piece for it that we'll run in the showroom and put online. That could take a while to edit, though, based on our current tech schedule. Just not enough hours!
Baron Vaughn, recently seen in the musical hit Damn Yankees with Sean Hayes and Jane Krakowski, has agreed to direct me in an as of yet non-existent one person show that I want to produce in conjunction with my book. Besides being a talented comedian and actor, he directed Livia Scott in her acclaimed show "Goodnight OJ" and will be working with Carolyn Castiglia on her show that will be staged at Ars Nova. We have our first meeting next week. Time to get cracking on some ideas.
In random news, I think I was misquoted in the NY Press review of a CollegeHumor.com show in which Christian performed. Here is the quote:
"I'm just glad he didn't go into my dad being in jail for attempted murder," his wife Kambri confided after the show.
That quote just doesn't even make sense. First, because Christian DOES talk about my dad on occasion in his set. He has for well over a year and a half. So why would I be glad he didn't? Second, every time he DOES talk about my dad, it's basically a free endorsement / plug for my site / book. Third, after the show I met up with my agent who randomly happened to be there and went to dinner. I don't mind the misquote (ink is ink), but it just struck me as odd.
Umm, what else? Jim Breuer is headlining tonight thru Saturday. Tune in to Opie & Anthony tomorrow morning to hear him on the air from 8:00 - 9:00 and get tickets at www.comixny.com.
Finally, God's Pottery is on the season finale of Last Comic Standing tonight. They open the show with a new song they wrote for NBC. Pretty exciting!
While at the deli I gave in to temptation and bought a two-pack of my favorite chocolate covered Entenmann's donuts. I felt guilty as I examined the nutritional facts but tore into the package anyway. They were both covered in mold. But damn it they still smelled so good!
Now I could say it was the universe helping me make the right decision and not start out my day on the wrong note, but truthfully I had hedged my bets. I saw they had expired a few days ago but figured most expiration dates can be fudged a little. Not so. Especially when they live in an un-air conditioned deli. Which is worse? Starting out the day by eating 500 calories of fat-laden sugary goodness when you're trying to eat healthier? Or excitedly ripping into a package anticipating dark chocolately goodness only to be let down?
--Kambri I ate the last of Christian's Lean Pockets instead. Not nearly as satisfying.
Link - 1:31 PM -
A Dog's Life
I love my morning walks to the deli with Paquita. So does she. Like all dogs, she really thrives on routine and has come to learn what my different shoes mean. At the sound of my opening the front closet door she will race to see which shoes I pull out. Flip flops she most definitely should expect a trip to the deli. The dejected walk she makes to her bed at the sight of my gym shoes and high heels would make me sad if I weren't so proud of how perceptive she is. She pathetically plops down as if to say, "Time to make my bed and lie in it...for several hours." Sigh.
I've mixed up the routine so that each ritual has its own meaning for her: WALK! Each act -- tearing off paper towels for picking up poop, getting out her leash, gathering $3.70 for my morning papers and coffee -- is enough to make her shake all over and frantically follow me everywhere her whole body saying, "Can I go? Can I go? Can I go? Are we going? Are we going? Are we going?!?!!"
Saying, "Yes, you're going, don't you worry!" only gets her more excited and she doesn't quite believe it till her harness is buckled. Ask her if she likes coffee and you'll be met with a frantic wimper/bark. She doesn't actually like coffee (she's more of a white wine or lager girl), but she knows it equals a trip to the deli.
Some mornings I like to trick her by waiting till she goes back to sleep with Christian. I'll quietly collect my change, carefully tear off a paper towel, slowly ease open the closet door and slip on my shoes then say, "Coffee?" The time it takes her to scramble to the front door depends on how deeply she has buried herself in the covers, but it is never more than a few seconds. She trips over herself on the slick hardwood floors and comes to a skidding halt.
She reacts in this same way when the sun shines on a pillow from 9:00 till 11:00 each morning. Yelling "Sunshine!" will make Paquita drop whatever she's doing, run to the sunshine-y pillow and flop on her side to soak up the rays. Her mouth hangs open with her lips pulled back, and I could swear she's smiling. She really likes the morning sun.
Sundays are the quietest as many of the shops don't open or open later than usual. Today we passed our neighbor with a boy Yorkie that really loves Paquita and our other neighbor with his mutt Rocky who Paquita wants to kill. Then I saw the scruffy old white guy who "drives" an equally old greenish brown Dodge Demon. I say "drives" in quotes because he never really drives it. He moves it from parking space to parking space and generally spends his day drinking a cold beer and smoking outside of the deli talking to various people. We continued along and the Cuban woman who works at the Latina Cabana lit up when she saw me. "Well hello!" But Paquita isn't allowed inside so we just waved and said to have a great day.
I passed the man who sweeps up the sidewalk and empties the trash cans without saying hello. He doesn't like dogs and gets really mad if you try to throw away poop in his garbage. Paquita was fixated on a smell and wouldn't budge as he swept closer and closer to her. I'm sure he was trying to scare her but she didn't budge. Something must have smelled really good to her.
Finally we reached the deli just as the old Pakistani man who is friends with the deli owner was coming out. I had scooped up Paquita and was holding her in my arms when he saw me. "Oh, hello! Good morning," he said. "Good morning!" I replied. He started to go on his way then stopped and said, "People say when they have a baby they are happy. But when people have a dog, God is happy."
