Nick Offerman takes the stage in a one-man showcase of his abilites as a humourist. Watch it for yourself and comment if you agree or disagree with my review!
Sixteen months ago I was directionless. I had moved back from London, England where I had been living and working as a missionary for six months to my home town. I decided it was time to move on to something, anything different and that meant Winnipeg. I worked as a delivery driver, made new friends, starting listening to more comedy than evert before, and felt like maybe I was turning into a person I wanted to be. A good friend pushed me to take a hard look at myself, and move forward in life. It wasn't that I was particularly stuck I think, but it's easier to turn the wheels if the car is moving, right? I realized the thing I love most about my passions is telling a story; D&D, all the video games I play, and my passion for comedy all pointed me towards a life where I wanted to be able to tell stories for a career. I started Creative Communications having graduated high school five years prior and never pursuing post-secondary education. It's been some of the most challenging time in my life. Now, I'm really not a person who likes to overspiritualize things in my life BUT I do believe my life has a plan and purpose, and I do trust that there's more to life than just living. My teachers have taught me a buttload about storytelling (and other stuff too) and I've still got a lot to learn, but you know what? I'm starting to see my life as a story being told. I know, I KNOW that's a brutal cliche, but I mean it sincerely in this case. The offers I've been given this last year—real tangible offers to write about things I'm deeply passionate about—are a direct result of my efforts to find the next chapter in my life. I don't know what's next. This summer, next year, after that... Will I find my dream job? Will I become a national sensation? Will I find that special gal and settle down? I don't know, man. But I'm excited. And that's enough right now.
I had the opportunity to shoot a photo essay as part of my Journalism course. I'm still gaining experience as a photographer, so I searched online for events in Winnipeg that seemed interesting and were within my time frame. I was elated to find that C4 Wonderland (essentially a mini version of Central Canadian Comic-Con) was on. I've never felt more comfortable talking to strangers than I was here, because these are my people: nerds, geeks, and gamers. Jason - Essay - 1 - Scene
People mill about at C4 (Central Canadian Comic-Con) Wonderland at the Viscount Gort Hotel, taking in the sites and shops.
Jason - Essay - 2 - Medium
Gamers are packed in tight to face off against each other in a variety of games in the gaming lounge sponsored by All Your Base Online at C4 Wonderland.
Jason - Essay - 3 - Portrait
Emma and Joey McCorrie show off their best action pose as "Spider-Man without his mask" and "my own hero, Invincible Man."
Jason - Essay - 4 - Portrait
Joshua Cook—as Garrus from Mass Effect—poses to let a convention goer take a photo. " I've been cosplaying for about 10 years. I made this costume in about two weeks from EVA foam."
Jason - Essay - 5 - Detail
Stacks of classic Nintendo Entertainment System games take up a sizeable portion of Cobra Collectibles' table.
Jason - Essay - 6 - Action
A young fan records a short, selfie-style interview with Jason Faunt, the Red Power Ranger in Power Rangers: Time Force.
Jason - Essay - 7 - Medium
"These days, the name 'Comic-Con' is almost a misnomer. There's only a few of us that still sell comics at these things." - Nathan Laherty, running the booth for Raven Toys, Comics & Games (not pictured).
Normally I post something about some comedy I watched recently, but nothing in my brain is functioning properly after I watched the new trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Here it is for your viewing pleasure, I hope it excites you as much as it does me.
I watched all three Austin Powers movies on Netflix this weekend, and you know what I learned? They totally hold up. That's right, I threw it back and watched International Man of Mystery, The Spy Who Shagged Me, and Goldmember and they still made me laugh. These movies are silly and ridiculous, but like Airplane! (which is the most timeless comedy in existence) the jokes are so slapsticky and vaudevillian that the comedy is not lost. The adventures of the James Bond parody fighting against Dr. Evil—whose voice is just Lorne Michaels turned up to 11—are full of throwback gags to classic spy thrillers. Incredibly specific henchmen, femme fatales with names like "Ivanna Humpalot" and "Felicity Shagwell", and giant "laser beams" still make me laugh like they did when I was 10 years old.
Hello friends, One of the best parts of my life right now is my gig writing at Geekdom House. On Fridays, we post fun, silly articles. I want to present my current favourite of these, posted today: The Battle of Cute and Deadly.
Tired, old Yoda was strolling along through the Dagobah swamp like nothing was wrong when suddenly Mega Gnar popped out of the mist and pummeled into Yoda with his great, big fist Yoda force-shoved him back, Gnar landed on his feet Gnar leapt away through the air as they both felt the heat of a lightning bolt crashing between them on the ground and Pikachu came tumbling through the air with the sound of “Pika!” he cried as he zapped Gnar away then “Kupo!” Mog the moogle chose to join in the fray for a moment there was silence, when from out of the fog sinking teeth into Mog’s ear was the Rabbit of Caerbannog
Then River Tam, Skull the Troll, Reepicheep, Krtek the mole, Mogwai Gizmo, the Duck of Doom, May Chang’s panda and Rocket Raccoon shouted “for Narnia!” and “Bring the pain!” and “I can kill you with my brain.”
Killua Zoldyk sauntered in with a sigh dodging every strike like it was easy as pie Gizmo tried with a leap to jump on his head Gnar was standing by a tree and looking kinda fed Nibbler toddled in, confusion on his face Skull the Troll aimed to smash his head in with a mace Then Nibbler bared his teeth, they were ready to rend And he gobbled up the group entirely. So satisfied.
Kurt Braunohler is a comedian I love and he did something hilarious and meaningful this last year. He jetskiied 200 miles of the Mississippi in seven days to raise $35,000 for Heifer International. He recorded the whole thing an it's up for free on Comedy Central's website and YouTube. Here's the first of nine episodes, the whole thing is about an hour and you should definitely watch it.
Bo Burnham's first hour-long special what has been on Netflix for around two years now and I can not think of a more fitting name for it. I started watching it when it first came out and was immediately turned off. If you're not familiar with Burnham, he first rose to popularity on YouTube as a teenager with some wholly original, if strange, comedy. I really didn't like his YouTube stuff so I was not coming into this with high hopes. I really didn't like what the first time I watched it, but I couldn't quite put my finger on why. I went back to watch it and it has become one of my favourite stand-up specials to listen to whenever. To be fair, it's closer to a one-man show or performance art than conventional stand-up, but it is safe to say you won't find anything quite like this on Netflix. He does weird joke songs like "Hashtag Deep", weird tongue-in-cheek parody poems like "I F**k Sluts", and his opening and finale bits are quasi-pantomime bits set to strangely specific music. If you like comedy that's not traditional brick-wall stand-up, and think you have a brain that can process the difference between a stage persona and someone's real personality, i would highly, HIGHLY recommend watching Bo Burnham: what.
This week I'm going to post something that doesn't really fit in my blog's normal format. I am a staff writer at a fantastic new website called Geekdom House, and this is a feature I recently wrote. It's something I've been trying to find a way to express for a long time, and Geekdom House gave me an outlet to do it in a way I am very proud of. Please read it and enjoy! http://geekdomhouse.com/the-prodigal-geek/
Before I get into it, here is Kyle Mooney's unaired sketch from the SNL 40 celebration, it is weird, awkward, and I'm so sad it didn't make it to air. I was so, SO excited for the celebration of 40 years of Saturday Night Live. Obviously, I'm a huge fan, but this was going to be a family reunion for most of the important people in comedy for the last half-century. My fear was that it may be taken too seriously, or devolve into a 4-hour comedic masturbation session. It did neither! Every moment of this special was steeped—STEEPED—in the long history of the show's comedic voice. The so-so opening with Jimmy Fallon and Justin Timberlake (saved by Dratch's perfect Debbie Downer and Steve Martin's impeccable timing) into a live performance from Sir Paul McCartney and Paul Simon as if to say, "That's right New York City, we're OPENING with a m*********ing Beatles song!" Dan Aykroyd peddling the Bass-O-Matic 2150; Will Ferrell anchoring a belligerent Sean Connery, vapid Tony Bennett, and decidedly Norm Macdonald-y Burt Reynolds; Bradley Cooper trying his best to break the Polygrip holding Betty White's dentures in her mouth; Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Jane "you ignorant slut" Curtin hosting a Weekend Update featuring the shark at the door; it was picture perfect. And then it got better. Giving Eddie Murphy, Chevy Chase, and a few others their due was a great touch without derailing the whole show, but what really brought it home for me was the audition tapes. Everyone who tries out for the show has to audition live on the stage of Studio 8H, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in front of Lorne Michaels, the head writer and some producers. These are recorded for posterity and occasionally have been released for individuals or leaked, but they've remained largely guarded. Seth Meyers revealed on his talk show that no one knew they were going to run the auditions package, so it was a blindside to everyone. Seeing Gilda Radner, Phil Hartman, Dan Aykroyd, Amy Poehler, Jason Sudeikis, Dana Carvey, Tracy Morgan and all of the others in young faces and strange clothes talking nervously to a camera. None of them had any idea what was in front of them, what their next phone call from Lorne would mean for their lives. Next to the "in memoriam" reel, it was the most emotional moment of the evening for me. I hope SNL doesn't go anywhere soon, but if it does, my ~TOTALLY LEGALLY~ download of SNL 40 will keep me warm at night. P.S. All the credit in the world to Mike and Dana for giving a shoutout to the crew of SNL. Norm Macdonald commented that the immediate standing ovation was not prompted at all, and was something he had never seen before in that theatre.
It goes without saying (he says hopefully) that this is a stupid, asinine question. "Women" are no less funny than "men" are and to believe so is not only ignorant, but misogynistic. I watched a "documentary" called Women Aren't Funny recently which is the brain-child of Bonnie McFarlane a comedian who I don't think is funny at all (having nothing to do with her lack of Y chromosome.) It sought to ask a number of professional comedians—both male and female—if women are "as funny as men." It was not meant to be hard-hitting investigative journalism and it wasn't really all that well done. But it did show me how many comedians I once respected are misogynist ass-hats.
An artist's rendering of the illusive "Ass-hat"
I don't have the energy to properly articulate exactly how upset it makes me when someone says "Women just aren't as funny as men." There are a number of comedians who I will not support anymore after hearing them say something like that. Todd Glass (a great comedian) made a great point when asked to list "5 funny woman comics". Would anyone let you get away with saying "Ok, name 5 funny black comedians. They're just not as funny as white ones!" It's bullshit, frankly. There are certainly far fewer female professional comedians, this much is true. For the few ladies who make it their career choice, its a tough unbalanced group. Often, women won't be picked to headline because promoters know (or believe) that a male comedian simply brings more people into a club. I'm not going to demean anyone by listing 5 "female comedians who ARE funny" because that simply perpetuates a garbage cycle. But I am going to link to a few comedians who rank highly on my personal comedy scale. I hope you enjoy them! Tina Fey is awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
Hello comedy lovers, this week I want to take it down for a second. As you may have seen on the internet last week, the Bell Let's Talk campaign was going strong. The campaign is raising awareness and funds to support mental illness and the stigma too often attached to it. Many of my CreComm friends have written amazing and honest accounts of their struggles in different areas. Check out posts on Bailey, Danielle, Raegan, Scott, and Rachel's blogs as a few of the great posts in the vein of personal mental health. I have not had any notable or specific struggle with mental illness, and I'm incredibly thankful for that. What I want to write about today is my struggle with being funny — or more specifically — wanting people to think I'm funny. Comedy has always been an escape for me. I wasn't a popular kid through most of school but I was mostly good with it. I had friends and we got along just fine. I've always been a "funny" person. Both my grandfathers loved telling me jokes and hearing mine. The first joke I remember from my grandpa Braun is, "How do you catch a squirrel? Climb up a tree and act like a nut!". Not exactly Chris Rock at the Apollo but it made 4-year-old me laugh. When he passed away I shared the story and the joke at this funeral and made everyone laugh. Which brings me to the next point. Laughter is "the best medicine" and can be therapeutic for many people. I think it's deeper even than that. There is nothing that makes me like someone more than if they laugh with me or make me laugh. Likewise, observing what makes someone laugh tells me enough about that person to make an informed decision about them. Making a joke or trying to be "funny" is putting yourself out there, you're basically saying "do you like this?" every time. I don't expect everything I say to make anyone laugh, when someone is "funny" a 75% average for landing a joke is phenomenal. Robin Williams' suicide earlier this year brought a lot of media attention to the confusing relationship between comedy and depression. Many notable comedians have said they got into comedy because they learned to be funny to avoid abuse. More comedians still have come out in support of Williams and discussed their own struggles. It seems like comedians who get into the business to fill some void in their life realize (sometimes too late) that making people laugh feels great, but it doesn't inherently mean you've formed a new relationship. Louis C.K. has made millions of people laugh and feel like they know him. But he's a real person who a fraction of a fraction of those people would actually like and get along with in real life. Comedy is important to me. My blogs name isn't just a cute play on words — I really do take comedy seriously. It's the lens through which I observe the world. Keeping laughing.
This week has been a long one and next week I intend to do something a little more introspective, but I really don't have the time to do it justice this week.
So instead, I leave you with my two all-time favourite bits. If these don't make you laugh, then I don't know what to do. Enjoy!
The events of the horrific attack in Paris have gone through the 24-hour news cycle enough times that its probably lost a sock. There have been a lot of great discussions about the freedom of speech, and freedom of press as a result. French illustrator Lucille Clerc published my favourite comic in solidarity.
Charlie Hebdo was a magazine that I likely would not have enjoyed. From what I understand, it was akin to a francophone MAD Magazine. But it was satire, and if we decide we want to defend free speech, that means the kind of speech that offends some people.
Being offensive does not make you funny. I can not say this enough. Sadly, like so many of our rights, when we enforce the freedom to speak, some people speak like idiots.
Bad satire – which seems to make up the majority of it these days – has given good, amazing, thought-provoking satire a bad name.
The Onion is the New York Times of satire. Seriously, you know those people who believe fake articles they see on Facebook? They come from The Onion.
Good satire, real satire is difficult to do. Stephen Colbert did it for eight years masterfully, and Fox News hasn't realized they've been doing it all along.
Key and Peele are another source of spectacular social commentary today. My generation's Chappelle's Show, these two comedians are masters at poking the tropes and stereotypes of race culture in America. The duo's writing ability is only heightened by their ability to believably inhabit the outrageous characters they create, leading to grounded performances from decidedly ungrounded people. The Auction Block
Soul Food
Alien Imposters
But if you really want to find the Abbott and Costello, the Moses and Aaron, the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck of satire, look no further than:
Oh yeah, we're talking about South Park. Matt Stone and Trey Parker have carved out a piece of real estate in which they have an unprecedented amount of creative freedom.
From the Sexual Harassment Panda to Man-Bear-Pig, Matt and Trey have never found a line they didn't want to cross. And they do so with an insane amount of intellect and intention – these are the same guys who wrote The Book of Mormon, the Broadway play that won 9 Tonys and were nominated for an Oscar (I'll repeat that) an OSCAR for the song "Blame Canada."
Note: I totally understand the style of comedy in South Park is NOT for everyone. But people who dismiss it entirely do not understand the level on which the show operates.
When South Park mercilessly mocked Family Guy for their lazy writing on a special two-parter that showed the people of the US shoving their heads into sand to avoid watching the show, the writers of King of the Hill and The Simpsons sent flowers.
When, earlier this season, Randy Marsh revealed that he is actually Lorde and he records all his music on the toilet and auto-tunes it, Lorde said she loved the joke.
The list of episodes with original, current references that say what so many comedians fail to is endless, but something interesting happened on episode 200, which aired early in 2015.
– Some back story first, South Park has aired images of Muhammad the prophet in early episodes. During the controversy over a Swedish cartoonist drawing him in 2007, Comedy Central censored any images of Muhammad in South Park's reruns.
Matt and Trey do not like being told what to do, and aired a number of episodes that were not subtle about the danger of censorship.
Back to 200, the plot of the episode is that every single celebrity made fun of in South Park's history decides to file a class-action lawsuit against the town of South Park. Everyone is there, Tom Cruise, Bill Cosby, Hillary Clinton, the whole gang.
Even Muhammad.
Comedy Central demanded any depiction of Muhammad be censored from the episode and Matt and Trey didn't really have a choice, but they handled it in true South Park fashion. Watch the video below to see what good satire looks like.
THAT is what satire is supposed to do.
Fun fact for you all, Comedy Central is even censoring the episode on the DVD release, so that episode will never run uncensored again.
My good friend Laina Groom is a very funny person. I don't say this about every person I know who makes jokes. I may write a comedy blog, but her writing is way, WAY funnier than mine is.
She wrote that blog post as a response to a joke I made on a previous one, and in doing so, proved her own point about the importance of commitment to a bit.
There is nothing worse (in comedy) than someone who fails to commit to the bit.
Stand-ups respect sketch actors because, to them, the idea of being locked into a written piece in front of an audience that isn't on board is the scariest thing in the world. Good stand-ups build their sets with break-away points so they have an out if something falls flat.
Conversely, sketch actors often express that same terror at the idea of being the only person on stage when something flops, and not having the herd mentality that sketch acting brings.
They're both right. In either case, a comedian who doesn't commit to whatever premise they're trying to establish will fail, every time.
For a very low-video-quality example, observe this sketch from MADtv, where Josh Meyers and Ike Barinholtz pretend they're simply explaining how improv works. Like the sketch or not, it takes commitment to make this funny.
It's impossible to talk about commitment to a joke without bring up Will Ferrell.
Whether you love him or hate him (in my experience there is no middle ground) there is no one better at committing to a joke.
Many of his SNL colleagues have shared stories of Will's attitude towards this. If a sketch bombed in front of the audience at dress rehearsal or live, he shifted into a "if we're going down, you're coming with us" mindset, and would dig into every uncomfortable aspect of the character he could.
His acceptance speech for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is brilliant.
His Golden Globes bit with the incredible Kristen Wiig
Ferrell in character as Ron Burgundy sitting in on a real newscast KXMB-TV from North Dakota. Bonus points for watching the curling commentators struggle to deal with Ron Burgundy at the Tim Hortons Roar of the Rings
Nick Offerman was skyrocketed into pop culture in 2009 with his portrayal of Ron Swanson on NBC's Parks and Recreation. Ron Swanson is so traditionally masculine that Hemingway himself might think twice about trading shots with him. Interestingly, Nick Offerman's personality is nearer to Swanson's than many actors are to their characters. He has successfully operated a woodshop for a number of years, and has made everything from canoes to ukeleles himself. I've listened to Offerman's great interviews on the Nerdist Podcast (first and second) and loved his philosophies and attitudes on life, acting, and what it means to be a man.
I've said all this because I want you to know how ready I was to love his special, American Ham. Offerman is not a stand-up, per se, but a "humourist". Think of Mark Twain, and how he wasn't doing bits about airplane food, but more specific observational anecdotes. Sadly, I did not like American Ham.
I know Chris, I know Leslie. I was shocked too.
Offerman doesn't even have the problem of being "not funny". He has the problem of being a very funny person doing material that is unoriginal and, more much of the special, rather boring.
He does almost 15 minutes on "Man, the Bible sure says some stupid stuff!" which isn't bad because it could be considered offensive by some, but bad because it's so unoriginal and uninspired that you'd hear much of it at Sunday School (minus the frequent references to oral sex).
There are, of course, redeeming moments, like when he is forced to cut out a parody of a Johnny Cash song and it cuts to a pre-taped video segment featuring Offerman in his workshop feigning bewilderment at the "lawyer" telling him why he can't show the song, while speaking to camera about where fans can go find the song on YouTube.
I will continue to love Nick Offerman despite this special. I think he's still an inspiring figure, and I tend to agree with much of his personal philosophy. I just won't concern myself with seeking out tickets to any of his one-man shows.
My name is Jason Dueck.
I am a Creative Communications student at Red River College.
This is where I talk about comedy. Sitcoms, stand-up, improv, movies, whatever. I love comedy and I love breaking it down.
All opinions expressed are my own and are informed by my experience and love for the performers and their ability.
To me, comedy is no laughing matter.
