Regarding the Pope

Feb. 20, 2010 Enjoy

Another Rubinton classic.

Here's one from a while back. I hope you enjoy.
BTW, I recorded my 15th performance on my phone, so that's not going online.

I did my first show outside of Emerson tonight, and I think it went pretty well.



Thanks to Sam Crimmins and Tommy's Comedy Lounge for putting this on. I had a lot of fun.

I will be doing my first off-campus show this Thursday at Tommy's Comedy Lounge in Boston, MA. Come one by at 8:30. There's an $8 cover, and it will be 18+, so don't bring toddlers or anything, unless they have a fake.

This is my performance on Nov. 15, 2009. I think it went really well. Everyone that night was great.

This is my performance at the Eddie Brill Workshop on Nov. 8, 2009. It was a lot of fun, but not my best performance by a long shot.

For those who don't know, crowdsourcing is a collaborative effort, like Wikipedia, that allows people from all over to create something piece by piece to create something whole. It is sort of like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with each person controlling just one piece. Today it is somewhat of a buzz word in marketing, as companies are relying on Web 2.0 sites to help market their products for them, and in many cases it's working.

I recently found the website Cameesa, whose motto is "Crowdfunding Fashion." Cameesa makes users created t-shirts, much like Threadless, but instead of voting, Cameesa asks you to fund the shirts. It takes $500 to get a t-shirt made, so if you want a certain shirt, you put down anywhere from $10 to the full price in the hopes that it gets made. If not, you can use that money towards another shirt. This system makes sure that there is a market for each shirt before investing any money into its production. By eliminating overhead costs, it allows for the company to guarantee they turn a profit. Threadless measures votes, which may or may not turn into sales, but Cameesa basically takes pre-orders, so they know they will get their money.

This method could wisely be applied to comedians just starting out. Having a CD or a DVD is a great way to promote yourself and make some money, but it requires investing money without the guarantee of returns. By letting fans on your website, Twitter, Facebook, or any other site you want to use invest in your products and help pick out what bits and acts they want you to include, you can make the ideal product, as well as find out what your audience is interested in hearing about. This can help turn you from a starving comedian into a thriving comedian. Plus, if you are one of the first to do so, it will be newsworthy, and there is a good chance people will talk about your innovative methods, further raising your profile.

Here I am at the Multipurpose room on Oct. 29th. Thank you Girlie Project for putting the event on.

Dear Famous Comedians,

The Internet is a great place to interact with fans, share your work, and to promote your performances. Twitter and Facebook are both powerful tools for promotion, but it is important to know when to use each. For this lesson, I will simply discuss status updates. They're short, sweet, and to the point.

As Dana Boyd points out on her blog, a major difference between Twitter and Facebook is audience. Facebook is a two-way street primarily, relying on a relationship between users. Twitter, on the other hand, allows you to speak out to all of your followers, but does not require you to listen back. For this reason, Twitter is probably the best choice for promotion. If you have a gig coming up, tell people. Some comedians are great at this. Mike Birbiglia and Bo Burnham both tweet about each of their shows, while comedians like Dave Attel post once every few months, and therefore has less of a Twitter presence. If comedians have fan pages, they should promote their events there too.

new york show sold out except for single seats. but they're very good single seats. could be a great singles event? - Mike Birbiglia

When it comes to random thoughts, either platform will do, though again, it is important to remember audience. I follow a lot of comedians on Twitter, just for their funny tweets. Michael Ian Black recently tweeted

"Worst decision I ever made: Getting that cosmetic C section scar."

Comedians don't often have the same sort of coverage that musicians do, so you won't see music videos or hear their songs a lot. Instead, tweets can be a great way of keeping large amounts of fans entertained between events, which are pretty infrequent. If I didn't follow Michael Ian Black, I probably would not have any new material from him until the next season of his show, but instead, I get stuff a few times a day. Facebook can also be good for these to keep closer friends entertained, or for fan pages.

It is also important to see that these comedians are real people. It is always fun to see comedians I follow tweet back and forth with other comedians or with fans. Suddenly these comedians are not these unreal celebrities, but actual people, sitting at a computer or on their phone, living real lives. Interacting with friends and fans is always helpful for making people care about you, and in general, they make people seem really nice. This is where both Facebook and Twitter have strong purposes. Either one allows for personal conversations, but on twitter, it seems to allow for more public conversations, which shows off how friendly a comedian can be.

RT @RealJeffreyRoss: Break a firm tan leg. RT @thomaslennon: Have landed at Largo for @sarahksilverman and friends! - Thomas Lennon

Here's me on October 24, 2009 at the Cabaret. It went much better in retrospect. I was so nervous and thought I bombed, but it went alright. Thanks to everyone who showed up.

Imagine that the Frisbee was just being released. There would be a few early adopters, but it might take a little while for it to really catch on. The Frisbee barely works without two or more people using it, so it may be a hard sell. In today's world, it would be useful to build a network of Frisbee users around the world to help improve the experience and grow the brand.

At first, it might just start out with some Craigslist-type site. People with frisbees could post wanted ads like F4F, or even F4NF if they want someone without a Frisbee. This would help set up single Frisbee users with people curious about trying Frisbees.


It could develop into a social network of people sharing their experiences and interest in Frisbees with people all over the world on MyFrisb or Frisbook. People could post pictures of themselves and friends using Frisbees, comment on other Frisbee user's experiences, and just network to meet other Frisbee enthusiasts.


Eventually, Frisbee could set up a microblogging site called Frisbeer, where people could quickly share info on Frisb-ups. People could use the hashtag #frisbee to find people looking to play or discuss Frisbees.

RT@UltimateFrizB Anyone in Boston wanna toss a Frisbee at 3? meet by Park st #frisbee #paranormalactivity

All of these methods would allow people who want to get the most out of their Frisbees to meet other people as enthusiastic as them. Also, it would allow people who do not have Frisbees to learn about them and consider buying their own. Besides, this doesn't even take into account the artists who would share their work customizing their Frisbees. Frisbees could have an internet of thei own, but for now, they would be smart using the tools already available to them.

Having tried to shield my eyes from her for years, I have finally seen Tila Tequila, and realize that I have known her for year.

Tila Tequila is, in reality, none other than Yoshi from Super Mario Bros The Movie!


-- Pretentiously Posted From My iPhone

Thanks to everyone who showed up. Here's the video for those who couldn't.

Becoming a professional comedian is hard, and like most things that are enjoyable, it can take a while to get right. Aside from being funny, promoting yourself is probably the most important thing to do to stop being an up-and-coming comedian and become a star. I don’t claim to be an expert, as you can tell by my lack of an entourage, but I have some tips that might help others looking to get big.

Promote
If you are serious about becoming a comedian, you’re probably going to have a few gigs planned every now and then. Reach out to your friends on Facebook and ask them to come out and see you. They can help build word of mouth, and hopefully they already like you, so you barely have to win them over.

ex. I’m gonna be doing some new material this Friday the 25th at 80 Boylston St. around 8pm. Please come on by.

Take Comedy Seriously
People tend to remember bad things far better than good things, so when you try to be funny, make sure you are funny. You’re typing things out, so hopefully you have time to stop and plan your jokes.

Groups
If you have, or want to have, a dedicated group of people who like going to your shows and following your career, start a Group that will allow you to message your followers and keep them updated.

Fan Page
Until you actually have followers, it might seem pretentious to start a Fan Page. If you happen to have enough of a following, or ego, these can be used like more professional Groups.

Profile Picture
Make your profile picture reflect your interest in comedy. Make it something intriguing even when small that will make people want to further investigate it. If you can have a picture of you performing, it can help attract random Facebook friends that don’t even know you perform.


Link
Hopefully by now you have a Twitter account. They’re great for posting small, simple jokes, or even just humorous observations. Let people on Facebook know about it. Post links to your Twitter, blog, youtube channel, etc whenever you can. Give people as many opportunities to find you funny as possible.

ex. www.twitter.com/d_rubes

Show Your Stuff
If you have any videos of performances, post them. This is probably the easiest way to disseminate your stand-up, skits, etc.


Be Genuine
Remember, you’re a comedian. Be funny and be likable. It’s great to promote yourself, but remember to be a respectable Facebook user as well. Don’t spam your friends, simply keep them informed.

Update
It is very important to stay relevant. Any time you have something to new, be it a gig, video, joke, whatever, tell people. Your fans will care, and if they don’t they probably weren’t very big fans. Remember to keep at it, and don’t give up.

Hello everyone. Just wanted to inform you that I will be performing this Friday, the 25th at 80 Boylston Street in The Cabaret. Bring all your friends, please. I plan on doing mostly new material. I'll try to post the video after.


-- Pretentiously Posted From My iPhone

As people I'm not trying to score with know, I like comic books. Lately I have really been getting into Green Lantern and its Blackest Night story-line. for those that don't know, Blackest Night is an overarching event about apocalyptic war and zombie superheroes that is being felt all over the DC Universe. Obviously, events like this are very dark and serious. As is Dark Reign. And Final Crisis. And Secret Invasion. And Civil War. Basically, every event in superherodom is dark. I like them and all, but it gets a bit repetitive. Everyone comes together for a cause, then goes their separate ways after about 7 issues.
I'm anxiously waiting for someone to announce a major crossover event in which a team of superheroes goes to Six Flags or something. Or how about JLU:Free Comic Book Day. The entire Justice League heads to the local comic shop one nice May afternoon to pick through the racks and get some free new comics. he Flash could read a comic so fast it would still be considered mint condition. Green Lantern can create a good issue of Marvel Noir for the first time ever. Martian Manhunter, may he rest in piece, can morph into a nerd who only has a little bit of acne, therefore becoming the envy of the comic store. Just a thought.

While I'm on the subject of comics, allow me to complain about Marvel Zombies. The first series was awesome and funny, plus it had terrific covers. Who wouldn't want to see their favorite superheroes shambling along in search of food? Then came the sequel, which was also good, but provided an end for the undying characters. After that, the writers at Marvel decided to go in another(stupid) direction. Instead of cool covers, funny dialogue, and classic characters, they used generic covers, crappy dialogue, and D-list characters fighting generic . Aaron Stack is only cool in the Earth X trilogy. Then, to follow that up, In Marvel Zombies 4, they used crappier characters with writing to match. I was just about to give up on the series, but then they announced that 5 is going back to basics with the good character. It shouldn't take a genius, and 2 miniseries, to realize that people don't want Kathy Griffin-level zombie fighters trying to cure a virus strain. We want cool, super powered zombies looking for food! Anywhooo, rant over.

Also, Marvel Noir sucks. I swore them off right before they come out with Noir: Punisher! Oh well, I just take solace in the fact that it will probably suck.

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately, i.e. the last month. Basically, I couldn't think of anything that needed to be said that was longer than 140 characters. Also, I have been far too busy updating The List. I would promise to blog more often, but I can't guarantee that I will.
I have a few ideas of things to do in the future of this site, but nothing is ready yet. I'm seriously tired of wanting to have a comic strip, but not actually having. I have considered my many options to relieve this situation and have arrived at two final options, either make a comic, or get a lobotomy and forget that I ever wanted a comic as well as soiling myself regularly.
Also, when I get back to Boston, I plan on doing stand-up again. I have been working out some new material lately, and my mind isn't a satisfying enough audience, so I will have to share it publicly. I'll try to keep everyone, meaning the few people who have heard of this site, informed about my upcoming gigs. And as usual, I'll try to post a video afterwards, or beforehand if I can figure out the time-flux equation that has been challenging me for the last few weeks. Emerson students are notoriously bad at math, but I refuse to outsource the work, lest they name the time-flux solution after someone else. But I digress.
Anywhooo, hopefully this update will shut up the relentless fans. You know who you are. And I know who you are. And I WILL find you.

While I was away, I realize that some celebrities have passed away. Due to my List being set for standard deaths, and not metric deaths, which is what England uses, I was not able to correctly read who was going to die. Do not see this as a fault of either mine or the List's. Instead, I implore my readers to please, above all else, blame the Jews.

In memory of:

Michael Jackson, noted black child star
another, clearly different Michael Jackson, noted white child-molesting star/songwriter
Farrah Fawcett, former Charlie's Angel, current Angel (or hellspawn, she may have been a horrible person for all I know)
Billy Mays, who is to be buried with his family, but if they act now, we'll throw in an extra body for free. Just pay shipping and handling.
Karl Malden, apparently a famous person

It has come to my attention that Saturday Night Live has called off their search for someone to replace Phil Hartman for their timely Carson/McMahon skits.


-- Pretentiously Posted From My iPhone