Matt Drufke

FBC 2022 OSCAR COVERAGE- PART II: NOMINATION RECAP (or, The Power Of The Power Of The Dog)

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

When the dust settled and I saw that I was 39-for-50 on my Oscar nomination predictions, some things were very easy to understand. I mean, I really didn’t think the Academy was going to nominate Nicolas Cage for his role in Pig, even though that was the best performance of the entire year. And it made sense that there were slight underperformances from films like West Side Story and Belfast, even though they both each had seven nominations and each film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.

But two things stood out in a huge way: the fact that the film I consider the frontrunner in many categories dominated the nominations even more than I thought possible, and that a little film from Japan made a whole lot more noise than I thought it possibly could have.

In short, I love the Oscars. Let’s dive into the nominations.

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Comedy, politics, Pop Culture, Uncategorized

Are You (Joe Rogan) Experienced?

February 6, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

This is going to be another one of those stories where we talk about something that many comedians have been discussing on social media. Maybe you’re a comedian and this interests you. Maybe you’re not a comedian but keep your finger on the pulse of comedy news. Maybe you’re an alpaca and your farmer is reading this to you.

Like the other stories I’ve written in this vein about people like Shane Gillis and Dave Chappelle, this is a story where I take a look at speech and consequences and the concept of a “cancel culture”, though the fact that I’ve put quotes around that term should tell you where I stand on it. There’s a lot of stuff you could also cover, from toxic fandom to how so many people are using a climate of fear for their own personal gain.

So, strap in, kids. Let’s talk about Joe Rogan.

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Comedy, NFL, Sports

4 Ways In Which Tom Brady Is Inferior To Air Bud

February 1, 2022February 1, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

The sports world was saddened today as Tom Brady announced his retirement, assumably so he can continue what appears to be his true passion of making incredibly cheesy commercials for rental car companies. There is no way to understate Brady’s dominance of the NFL, and you could make the argument that he is not only the best quarterback in the history of the league, but also the best player.

However, I am not interested in comparing him to all QBs or every person to ever play in the NFL. I’m only curious in how Brady stacks up to one man.

And, by man, I mean dog.

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Music/Movies, Oscars

FBC 2022 Oscar Coverage- Part I: Predicting The Nominees

January 31, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

When the last football game was played on Sunday and we knew who would be competing in the Super Bowl, a wonderful thought occurred to me and I was instantly overjoyed: IT’S OSCAR SEASON, BABY! I no longer have to care about football, because movies are back and we are in the full swing of awards season!

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Comedy

Fare Thee Well, Penny Road Pub

January 30, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

Located in what felt like the middle of nowhere in Barrington, Illinois, the Penny Road Pub was a bar and multi-staged venue that made its living by hosting shows. More often than not there were bands, but myself and a few other different comedian/producers tried to get comedy started there as well. Unfortunately, we all learned one thing: because this venue is in the middle of nowhere, Penny Road Pub had, literally, zero foot traffic. The only way to have a crowd is to bring the audience yourself, which is not a skill suburban comedians are super-great at.

The venue closed down last night and that made me wistful. In the fifteen years or so I’ve been doing comedy, that venue provided me some of my happiest/angriest/weirdest moments. I got to hang out with some amazing people, meet lifelong friends, and watch amazing comedians work their craft in front of small audiences. When I say small, it was usually just my wife, Jon- the brother of co-producer Lewis Rhine, and Jon’s friend Charlie. Later, Lewis and I would add Joe Motisi to our production team, mostly because we just liked spending time with him and we all thought each other were hilarious.

What the show lacked in numbers, though, it more than made up for in memories.

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NFL, Sports

Maybe Sunday’s Playoff Games Were Not Really That Good?

January 24, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

This weekend featured, if the internet is to be believed, the best week of playoff football, perhaps, ever. Multiple last-second finishes that had NFL twitter going insane and fans of teams getting happy drunk, sad drunk, or angry drunk, depending on who you were rooting for.

And while I do agree that Saturday’s Packers-49ers game was a very good game (though it made me sad for my mom, a diehard Packers fan), I didn’t see two good games on Sunday. I saw one bad game and one reason why football is flawed. And I know I’m not considered the NFL expert on this site, but perhaps that makes my everyman take something to consider.

Yesterday, the NFL done fucked up. So let’s stop pretending like it was good.

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politics, Pop Culture

It’s Like They’re Not Even Trying: A Brief Study At Debunking COVID Misinformation

January 23, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

As we are weeks away from entering the third year of living with COVID, one cannot help but see what a toll has been taken on the world. People have gotten hyper-emotional. We’re all mad and sad and scared and confused. We all just want answers because we have so many questions.

Sadly, too many people have turned to the internet to find answers. In theory, this should be a wonderful thing. The internet can be, when used properly, an amazing wealth of information. However, like most good things, it can also be used to cause considerable harm.

I get that there are a lot of bad faith actors out there; people who just use the world wide web and all of its applications to confuse people. I just wish some of them weren’t just so fucking stupid.

Here is one example.

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Pop Culture

Fancy Boys Club presents: Celebrity Butt Watch

January 10, 2022January 9, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

Look, celebrities are just like us. They drive cars and eat and go to the store. They laugh and cry and have complicated relationships with their parents. And yes, just like us, celebrities have butts.

Or do they?

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Music/Movies

10 Great (But Maybe Not The Best Films ) Of 2021

January 4, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

My list of 2021 movies that I want to see is almost as long as the list of movies I have seen, but at some point you just need to say, “Here is what I’ve seen and loved.” And there was a lot to love about movies in 2021.

So, as we’re now starting to experience a proper winter, here are 10 films (no ranking) that you should seek out and find. Let’s get to it.

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Sports

DeMar DeRozan had himself a pretty good 24 hours last week…

January 3, 2022January 3, 2022by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment

In an NBA season in which DeMar DeRozan has already had an insane amount of highlights, the Bulls star had himself a pretty impressive 24-hour stint.

Chicago fans cheered with glee as DeRozan, who was establishing himself as an impressive NBA star, joined the Bulls alongside Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. When the Bulls also grabbed Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, there was something the United Center hadn’t felt in a great number of years: hope.

And DeRozan has lived up to the hype. He should absolutely be an all-star this year and needs to be in MVP consideration. He is someone who is producing for the Bulls, especially late in games. No player this year has scored more points in the fourth quarter than DeMar DeRozan. When it counts, he wants the ball. And he can almost always deliver.

Ok, let’s get into last week…

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