Fancy Boys Club

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.

Continue reading →

Comedy

Little League Baseball Umpiring Tales: Part 1

January 28, 2022January 25, 2022by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment

The middle of the 2000’s was a weird time. I had lazily rolled my odometer over past 21 years. I wasn’t really a productive member of society. Summers were spent hanging out by the pool, drinking the day away, and playing MVP 2005 on X Box. I wasn’t exactly career driven, or driven by anything other than a desire to drink and carouse my way through life.

The nice thing about being young and slovenly was that I didn’t really need much money to get by. I worked odd jobs here and there. At one point, we were hired to put a small stream that led down into a tiny reflecting pond in a yard. I won’t bore you with all of the details, but I do seem to remember the yard flooding soon after due to our handiwork. There was also a stint at a gym, a self storage place, and a particularly spectacular flame out at Home Depot.

Continue reading →

Uncategorized

Future Potential Chicago Bears Coach Power Rankings

January 25, 2022January 25, 2022by Brandon AndreasenLeave a Comment

With the announcement on Tuesday that the Bears have signed former Kansas City Chiefs director of player personnel Ryan Poles to be their new General Manager, they have cleared an incredibly low bar that many people in Chicago thought they would still manage to botch. The team managed to put someone in charge of football operations BEFORE they signed a head coach. While this seems like a pretty basic rule of thumb, especially since nobody above the GM actually knows their ass from the fail son hole in the ground they popped out of, there was a lack of confidence in them doing the signing in the right order that was very discouraging. In Poles, they also pulled off the rare feat of hiring someone to a position that doesn’t require team owner, family matriarch, and former lover of William Henry Harrison, Virginia McCaskey to have to learn a new name. She can say Ryan Pace and it still sounds really close to the correct name, so she has that going for her!

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

Misc., Pop Culture, Uncategorized

Farewell Girl Group Goddess

January 18, 2022January 18, 2022by Billy Sullivan1 Comment

I’ve always had a fascination and affinity for the name Veronica. As a an Elvis Costello fan, his 1989 single bearing the name is still a favorite of mine. In the Archie Comics universe, I choose her over Betty. In the film Heathers, Winona Ryder played its heroine with the moniker. I also have been heard to say that I love the name because of a cute nickname that can be given to it….Ronnie.

Sadly and too soon, we lost one this week. The one, only and unforgettable Ronnie Spector (born Veronica Bennet in case you weren’t aware).

Continue reading →

Comedy

Bob Saget had more than a Solid 7

January 11, 2022January 11, 2022by copperwriteLeave a Comment

I had a solid 15-hour workday today – minus a half hour taken for lunch, half hour for dinner and the 90-minute break I took to go to the gym. But Bob Saget? He’s got more than a solid 7. A solid 7 minutes of fame? You could look at it that way. He did a lot. But that’s not it. Now kick back your feet and relax a bit as I wind my way to his ‘more than a solid 7.”

So today as I kept working I felt like I was being someone I really am not – someone who keeps working. I like my job, but criminy that’s a lot of time you know? But it got me to thinking. Generally, when someone starts any sentence off with “it got me to thinking” right after that something will spill out of their mouths possibly a tad daft. Strap it down people and slam open your thought cavity because here it comes.

What does one do when they are acting like someone they clearly are not?

Bob Saget doing his best work – you’ll understand what I mean in a moment.

Continue reading →

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?

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

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…

Continue reading →