Category: Comedy

Comedy, Music/Movies, Pop Culture

Which is the Lesser of Two Evil Popeyes?

by rikimjadamsLeave a Comment on Which is the Lesser of Two Evil Popeyes?

Yet another beloved old cartoon and comic strip character IP (intellectual property) has come into the public domain.  This time, it’s everyone’s favorite sailor man- Popeye.

Now, to be clear, while there are 2 evil Popeye movies (so far) coming this year, neither is attached to the Twisted Childhood Universe, affectionately referred to as the “Poohniverse”, which kicked off with Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey in 2023, followed by the sequel in 2024.

To be clear, those movies rule.  

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Comedy, Music/Movies, Pop Culture

Riki’s Righteous Xmas Playlist

by rikimjadamsLeave a Comment on Riki’s Righteous Xmas Playlist
Riki’s Righteous Xmas Playlist

Look, if you’re trapped in the capitalist hellscape that is the US, you’re a conscript in the war against Christmas, whichever side you fall on.  I mean, Christmas won, it’s fucking everywhere.  It’s inescapable.  Our borders are contained within Santa’s vast panopticon whether we like it or not.  Because this is THE capitalist holiday.  This is the grand devotional, our wallets made sacrifice to prove our love to each other.  

Even if you just celebrate “the holidays”, the holiday party you’re at is gonna play Christmas music.  Because, well, there’s just a fucking lot of it.  And more every year.  And worst- a lot of it fucking sucks.  

But not all of it.  So if you find yourself in control of the tunes and you want to make the most of the theme, I offer you this fine tuned playlist to keep things interesting

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Comedy

My all-time most bizarre comedy experience…

by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment on My all-time most bizarre comedy experience…
My all-time most bizarre comedy experience…

In general, I have a rule when I am performing comedy: Do not blame the audience if things are not going well. Too often, I have found comedians who have not done well get mad at a crowd and believe it is the fault of the audience when, in reality, they should be shouldering a lot of that responsibility themselves. If a crowd doesn’t laugh at a joke, I’m usually not one to blame the crowd. Maybe it’s not a great joke. Maybe I delivered it poorly that night. Maybe something happened earlier in my set that I failed to pick up on and now I’m seeing the repercussions of that. I find having this mindset (hopefully) makes me a better comedian and performer because it is always making me look at ways to improve my comedy.

There are, of course, notable and obvious exceptions to this rule. Sometimes an audience member has decided they are going to help the show by heckling. Sometimes an audience member is blind drunk. And sometimes a former co-worker tries to get your show cancelled before it even begins.

This story is about that last kind of example.

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Comedy, Pop Culture, television

Jack Baker’s Best Moments on the WGN Morning Show, Ranked

by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment on Jack Baker’s Best Moments on the WGN Morning Show, Ranked
Jack Baker’s Best Moments on the WGN Morning Show, Ranked

Jack Baker is, by all accounts, a very successful local comedian. He is the main editor on this very site, has a Youtube special, and this weekend, he will be headlining the Comedy Vault in Batavia on July 6th at 7 pm. Buy Your Tickets Here. To help drum up interest in his set, he was tasked with going on WGN Morning News on Wednesday to talk about his special, his life, and ostensibly, his lifelong war against milk.

This is a big deal for any comic. But as any comic worth his weight in cheap liquor knows, we are also a very vindictive bunch who doesn’t want to see anyone else succeed! With that in mind, let’s take a look at Jack Baker’s WGN Morning News appearance and go over every bit, then rank them at the end!

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Comedy, NFL, Sports, television

Between The (Cringy) Gutter and the Stars: An Instant Reaction to the Tom Brady Roast

by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment on Between The (Cringy) Gutter and the Stars: An Instant Reaction to the Tom Brady Roast
Between The (Cringy) Gutter and the Stars: An Instant Reaction to the Tom Brady Roast

Years ago, on a tribute to late comedian Greg Giraldo, Bob Saget spoke on how he felt when Giraldo was eviscerating him on stage. He talked about how he slunk into his chair, his shoulders sagging as Giraldo kept lobbing grenades over and over at him. I thought of Saget talking about this as I watched the life leave Tom Brady’s body during his Netflix roast on Sunday night.

Watching all the way through, you genuinely get the idea Brady thought the entire show was going to be him bro’ing it up with his football friends. He wasn’t ready for Jeff Ross to go after Robert Kraft and his massage parlor antics, which, judging by the rest of the sets, was on a very strict “DON’T TALK ABOUT THIS THING” list. He wasn’t ready for Nikki Glaser to pick up the crown that Giraldo left when he died as “best roast comic alive.” Lord knows he wasn’t ready for Tony Hinchcliffe.

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Comedy

A decade of Seeing You Next Tuesday…

by Matt DrufkeLeave a Comment on A decade of Seeing You Next Tuesday…
A decade of Seeing You Next Tuesday…

Open mics are weird things. As I mentioned in a piece I wrote earlier this year, you are given the chance to get onstage and talk into a microphone and the only thing you have to be able to do is show up and write your name down. On that night, a person going up for the first time is on even playing field with an experienced veteran. All that matters are the jokes.

There are some open mics that are basically booking auditions. Usually held by comedy clubs, these mics are not about working on new material, but they’re about trying to get paid work. Those mics serve a purpose (comedians should learn how to professionally try out for spots) and they are important, and because of that, they’re usually very well attended.

But See You Next Tuesday, a mic celebrating its tenth anniversary of being in the bottom level of Plainfield bar MoeJoes, is not an audition mic. It’s something much, much more special than that.

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Advice, Comedy

Whose Lyric Is It? Taylor Swift or Gwar: Super Bowl Edition

by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment on Whose Lyric Is It? Taylor Swift or Gwar: Super Bowl Edition

The Grammys have just wrapped up. A night of Tracy Chapman and Billy Joel(both of which I very much care about) and..well pretty much everything else I don’t. While Miley Cyrus went to her hair stylist and said “Give me the Wynona Judd, 1989 edition” while operating sans undergarments (like Wynona Judd in 1989), a beauty came across the stage to regale herself in the “Album of the Year” victory most foresaw.

Taylor Swift isn’t so much an artist as a small nation. She is a blonde haired Che Guevara in the way she incites her followers. While she has become the angst of the Republican Party (and I love her so, so much for it) one nagging thing has always burdened her career: Has She Been Stealing Her Song Lyrics From GWAR?

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Comedy

An open letter to comedy…

by Matt Drufke4 Comments on An open letter to comedy…
An open letter to comedy…

My name is Matt Drufke and I have been doing standup comedy while based in the Chicago suburbs for almost eighteen years. I love being a suburban comedian. I have always found the scene out here so supportive and caring and filled with people who care as much about how you’re doing as they care about how much you make them laugh. And perhaps this is why I find myself needing to write this. Because something happened this week and it bothered me enough where I wanted to write this.

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