Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 045
Sumukh and Golak are back with an Original Recipe/On The Road split! First, Sumukh and Golak rap about Lance Armstrong, cancer bracelets, charity, steroids, and Browns football. Then Sumukh heads down to Cincinnati and talks with Queen City comic Alex Stone. The two talk baseball, running, intramural sports, and comedy.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 044
Sumukh and Golak chat it up with guest Brooke Cartus. The gang talks Browns football, Bills football, Kan Jam, tailgating, lesbian sex, squish the fish, hockey, rivalries, perfect games, and cycles.
Friday, August 17, 2012
An Open Letter To The Next Browns' Quarterback
Dear 2013 1st Round Draft Pick/Overpriced, Old Free Agent or Trade Acquisition,
Welcome to our "team." I know there's a lot of excitement about your arrival, but please, please don't let it go to your head. Soon enough your will be gone or, at minimum, you will be demonized by the fan base for taking away playing time from the 2014 version of you who is "sinfully" riding the bench behind you.
But it's not all grim...if you just enjoy the ride. Hey, remember the guy you replaced? Weeden. He was highly touted too. Before he wasn't. By Week 8, he couldn't do ANYTHING right. But Week 2 of the pre-season? He was glorified for a mid-70s QB rating. Why? Mostly because it was an improvement. An improvement over the 19 he put up in his first pre-season start. Don't worry, the former savior of this team got a good job selling insurance back in Oklahoma. (Honestly, he may be playing third string for the Seahawks, but I thought I'd give his hypothetical future a more dignified and profitable lot.)
It's not that Cleveland Browns fans will come to hate you. It's just...they never really liked you in the first place. People think that Browns fans like being miserable. That's not true. We just LOVE hope. But happiness and success don't breed hope. Hope is an attribute of the destitute. The last half of any season (or in your case, Cleveland QB's career) is designed to setup a bottom. "Our future has floundered. We need more weapons. If we can just put it together in the offseason..." That way, the first half of the following season (and the months before it) can be filled with that sweet nectar of hope. "Great offseason moves! I think they're putting it together! (And in your case) This is our franchise QB of the future!!!" They need your fall to setup their rise. It's not that they don't want success, but at this point in the teams unfathomably bad history, it's really Super Bowl or Bust. Because while a Super Bowl is the dream, Bust ain't that bad either. An offseason of cathartic and fan-base-team-building complaining followed by a hope-filled 1st half of the following season isn't the worst parting gift.
Anyways, just wanted to give you a heads up. Good luck, and get your BJs in before midseason.
Sincerely,
A Browns Fan til I die, because it will probably kill me.
Welcome to our "team." I know there's a lot of excitement about your arrival, but please, please don't let it go to your head. Soon enough your will be gone or, at minimum, you will be demonized by the fan base for taking away playing time from the 2014 version of you who is "sinfully" riding the bench behind you.
But it's not all grim...if you just enjoy the ride. Hey, remember the guy you replaced? Weeden. He was highly touted too. Before he wasn't. By Week 8, he couldn't do ANYTHING right. But Week 2 of the pre-season? He was glorified for a mid-70s QB rating. Why? Mostly because it was an improvement. An improvement over the 19 he put up in his first pre-season start. Don't worry, the former savior of this team got a good job selling insurance back in Oklahoma. (Honestly, he may be playing third string for the Seahawks, but I thought I'd give his hypothetical future a more dignified and profitable lot.)
It's not that Cleveland Browns fans will come to hate you. It's just...they never really liked you in the first place. People think that Browns fans like being miserable. That's not true. We just LOVE hope. But happiness and success don't breed hope. Hope is an attribute of the destitute. The last half of any season (or in your case, Cleveland QB's career) is designed to setup a bottom. "Our future has floundered. We need more weapons. If we can just put it together in the offseason..." That way, the first half of the following season (and the months before it) can be filled with that sweet nectar of hope. "Great offseason moves! I think they're putting it together! (And in your case) This is our franchise QB of the future!!!" They need your fall to setup their rise. It's not that they don't want success, but at this point in the teams unfathomably bad history, it's really Super Bowl or Bust. Because while a Super Bowl is the dream, Bust ain't that bad either. An offseason of cathartic and fan-base-team-building complaining followed by a hope-filled 1st half of the following season isn't the worst parting gift.
Anyways, just wanted to give you a heads up. Good luck, and get your BJs in before midseason.
Sincerely,
A Browns Fan til I die, because it will probably kill me.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 043
Sumukh and Golak are back with 2 guests! Former guest (and former Sumukh and Golak roommate) Jon Perry and our first call-in guest, Nirish Doshi, are in studio. The four fellas talk pre-season football, the Browns' 2012-2013 outlook, the less sad Packers' 2012-2013 outlook, Dwight Howard, the new NBA playoff picture, LeBron, Olympics, Blade Runner, surgical procedures, dating, and cold opens.
Remembering J. Medicine Hat
Comedian J. Medicine Hat has passed away. I didn't know J. Medicine Hat. I can't call him a friend. I can only recount the one night that I worked with him, and how it still stands out as a strangely memorable night in my comedy life.
To begin with, I had no idea who J. Medicine Hat was until I started doing stand-up comedy. As a new comedian in Columbus, I'd check out The Funny Bone's schedule and would often see J. Medicine Hat's name on it and this picture of him:
This headshot kind of scared me. Who was this mean looking guy who had to be quite a draw considering he worked several weekends out of the year in Columbus? I was told he was a hypnotist comedian. For some stand-up comedians, that probably left him open to criticism, but I've always been intrigued by hypnosis, so I checked out a show, and was part of a crowd that loved every minute of it.
I had the opportunity to open for J. Medicine Hat as a fill-in on some Saturday night shows at the Funny Bone. I got asked to do it the day of the show. It was a weird night for me. My girlfriend at the time and I had planned a date night. As a comedian, if I'm given an opportunity and I'm available to do it, I'm going to do it. I explained the situation to my girlfriend, she was understanding of it, and we spent our date night having drinks at the Funny Bone. It was made stranger because one of my best friends and his girlfriend came into town as well and met us up there. So, here I was, having a double date while also doing comedy at the same time. It was the first time that my personal social life came to a head with my comedy life on the same night. I juggled doing a few minutes of stage time in front of complete strangers with conversations with some of the closest people in my life in the bar area.
Besides conversations with my friends, I also had conversations with J. Medicine Hat. He was very kind. He was a fan of boxing. We talked about the Mayweather-Marquez fight, and our hope for Mayweather-Pacquiao, which still hasn't come to fruition. The most touching moment was when he was aware that my girlfriend was out in the bar area. He asked to meet her and was nothing but complimentary with both of us. It's all that you can ask for as an opener – to work with another comedian that's nice and, even better, with his experience and conversation, you are able to glean and learn more about comedy and the lifestyle that comes with it.
I guess I remember that night because I always reference it as one of the many reasons that my relationship with that girlfriend ended. I still have a difficult time juggling my personal life with what I want out of comedy. But, I also remember it equally for my interaction with J. Medicine Hat, and how highly opposite it was from whatever impression I may have gotten from his headshot. After that night, I looked at that headshot with even more intrigue. Simply put, J. Medicine Hat had decades of experience on stages, made tons of people laugh, was a constant draw that had his fans coming back every time he was in town, and was extremely nice to an opening act he had never met before and would never see again. There's not much more that you can ask from a comedian.
Rest in peace, J. Medicine Hat.
To begin with, I had no idea who J. Medicine Hat was until I started doing stand-up comedy. As a new comedian in Columbus, I'd check out The Funny Bone's schedule and would often see J. Medicine Hat's name on it and this picture of him:
This headshot kind of scared me. Who was this mean looking guy who had to be quite a draw considering he worked several weekends out of the year in Columbus? I was told he was a hypnotist comedian. For some stand-up comedians, that probably left him open to criticism, but I've always been intrigued by hypnosis, so I checked out a show, and was part of a crowd that loved every minute of it.
I had the opportunity to open for J. Medicine Hat as a fill-in on some Saturday night shows at the Funny Bone. I got asked to do it the day of the show. It was a weird night for me. My girlfriend at the time and I had planned a date night. As a comedian, if I'm given an opportunity and I'm available to do it, I'm going to do it. I explained the situation to my girlfriend, she was understanding of it, and we spent our date night having drinks at the Funny Bone. It was made stranger because one of my best friends and his girlfriend came into town as well and met us up there. So, here I was, having a double date while also doing comedy at the same time. It was the first time that my personal social life came to a head with my comedy life on the same night. I juggled doing a few minutes of stage time in front of complete strangers with conversations with some of the closest people in my life in the bar area.
Besides conversations with my friends, I also had conversations with J. Medicine Hat. He was very kind. He was a fan of boxing. We talked about the Mayweather-Marquez fight, and our hope for Mayweather-Pacquiao, which still hasn't come to fruition. The most touching moment was when he was aware that my girlfriend was out in the bar area. He asked to meet her and was nothing but complimentary with both of us. It's all that you can ask for as an opener – to work with another comedian that's nice and, even better, with his experience and conversation, you are able to glean and learn more about comedy and the lifestyle that comes with it.
I guess I remember that night because I always reference it as one of the many reasons that my relationship with that girlfriend ended. I still have a difficult time juggling my personal life with what I want out of comedy. But, I also remember it equally for my interaction with J. Medicine Hat, and how highly opposite it was from whatever impression I may have gotten from his headshot. After that night, I looked at that headshot with even more intrigue. Simply put, J. Medicine Hat had decades of experience on stages, made tons of people laugh, was a constant draw that had his fans coming back every time he was in town, and was extremely nice to an opening act he had never met before and would never see again. There's not much more that you can ask from a comedian.
Rest in peace, J. Medicine Hat.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Comedifans - Episode 042
Sumukh and Golak bring in guest Aaron Nemo for some sports talk. The group talks Olympics, Usain Bolt, Natrone Means, Wham!, B-Team Basketball, Judaism, wings, bars, MLB, Seether, and cartoons.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Deke Wilson's Mini-Mysteries
On Saturday, I found out a great fact:
all episodes of the TV show Deke Wilson's Mini-Mysteries are now available on YouTube! Deke Wilson's Mini-Mysteries was
a Canadian kids show that revolved around teenager Deke Wilson
solving mysteries around his neighborhood and school. It was kind of
like a Canadian television version of Encyclopedia Brown as Deke had
his own detective agency, friends, and cases.
You may be asking
yourself: how could a kid who grew up in Cleveland even know about a
Canadian kids show? In middle school, our cable provider had the
Encore network's package of channels, which included WAM!, a channel
devoted to programming for children. WAM! was in its earliest
incarnation and other than family films that Encore had the rights
to, they clearly had some space to fill, which they did with Canadian
shows from the late 80s and early 90s. This included both Deke
and Kerrisdale High, a show most well known for kicking off
the careers of now recognizable actors Devon Sawa and Sarah Chalke.
The show's premise
was pretty simple. Deke has a detective agency where kids can ask him
to help solve a mystery for them. With his humorous sidekick Arthur,
Deke looks for clues and solves the mysteries. There's also their
mutual friend Zane, who is perhaps most memorable for being kidnapped
in one episode. In addition is Deke's pesky younger sister (because
it can't be a children's show without an annoying sibling) and
Jennifer, Deke's main squeeze.
Deke Wilson's
Mini-Mysteries lasted only one season. It was filmed in Windsor,
Canada, and contained local child actors in the leads. None of these
actors have gone on to careers in the field. Check out this episode
of Deke as he exposes who sent a threatening message to a
teacher and a suspicious new kid who is trying to pick up Deke's date
to the dance. This episode is particularly awesome because it
contains plenty of cheesy scenes in a 1980s middle school dance!
As a fan of the
show, I can't help but sit back and ask, “Where Are They Now?” so
I of course spent way too much time for this blog post trying to find
that out.
Eddie Hawkeswood,
who played Deke, is now known as Edwin Hawkeswood. He appears to have
continued to work in theatre and film in some capacity, but according
to this article, he then moved on to be the floor director for games
for various Toronto sports teams. He also went bald (we have something in common!) and has a family (we don't have something in common!).
He also seems to like beer as he's participated in a beer race. Simply put, I want to hang out with Edwin
Hawkeswood.
James Brejcha, who
played Arthur, was a lead singer for a popular band in the
underground Windsor scene according to this site. The same article
claims he moved West, and this still shows that he has a mySpace page
for some reason (I'm not sure why anyone still has a mySpace page).
Zane Handysides,
who played Zane, is now a lawyer in Windsor. Also, his brother Brook
recently got married. Congratulations Brook and Sarah! This is where
the Internet has made things insane. By just doing research, I ended
up on the wedding website of the brother of a supporting character in
a short-lived Canadian children's TV show. That's ridiculous. I have
no business knowing this information, but now I know this
information, and all of you do, too.
I couldn't find any
other information about anyone from the show. Strangely, the episodes
of Deke that have been posted that I've watched do not contain
credits, and so I don't recall the names of the other actors on the
show.
But, if you love
mysteries, being a kid again, Canada, and the 1980s, it's worth
checking out Deke Wilson's Mini-Mysteries.
Wow. This makes me
really want to go up to Windsor, gamble at the casino, hit up the
bars, and hang out with the entire cast from this show. Let's solve
the mystery of how much money we can blow at our favorite place
across the border!
Friday, August 3, 2012
That Familiar Olympics Theme Song
You may be asking yourself: who is this
guy? The answer is Randy Edelman. If you're watching NBC's coverage
of The Olympics and you hear the music in the background during any
commercial break, that's Edelman's work.
But, what you may not know is that this
song is nearly two decades old. It originally appeared on a
short-lived FOX show, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.
Though a forgettable show, its theme song was one of the best of
all-time in my opinion.
My first knowledge of Edelman's collaboration with NBC came when he composed the NFL on NBC's theme song beginning in 1995. This was a weird time for me as this was the season that Art Modell announced the Browns would move to Baltimore. I then filled my football fandom void with the Kansas City Chiefs, who not surprisingly blew two Divisional Round playoff games in 1995 and 1997 to the tune of this song.
NBC was smart. They knew how awesome of a theme song The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was that they re-used it in their sports coverage. Unfortunately, that sports coverage was the 1997 World Series. Edelman, why must you torture me with your excellent theme songs?! After Edgar Renteria knocked in the game winner in the 11th inning to give the Marlins the title over the Indians, these credits ran (FACT: I was asleep at this point. My parents forced me to go to bed after Jose Mesa blew the save. I found out the results of the game the next day on WKYC Channel 3's morning news prior to going to school).
After re-watching those credits, there's two initial thoughts. First, screw Moises Alou. He won a title with the Marlins, and then to be in part the cause of the Steve Bartman play? Second, the Cleveland Indians won this World Series as far as I'm concerned.
So, as much as Randy Edelman may have been a part of some torturous experiences for me as a fan, at least the torture is accompanied by some great music. I can now know that the music is only associated with The Olympics where America has a tendency to always do well unlike most teams I normally cheer for.
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