Friday, June 08, 2018
Tuesday, May 09, 2017
Thursday, October 06, 2016
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
Monday, April 04, 2016
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
The Mourning Commute
There are countless reasons why I enjoy waking up and being over taxed in Cook County. One of which is this odd stigma about our city not moving on to say, present day life. If only Saturday Night Live immortalized the Bulls Dynasty better we wouldn’t have to walk around like its still 1985.
If you’re lucky (and stubborn) enough to regularly wake up in Chicago, then you know what it feels like. Bill Murray has nothing on this perpetual sunrise face plant. I wake up, snooze, wake up again, and tell myself I’ll work out when I get home, wake up walk the dog and then hit the road. That’s where for many of the RedEye readers, the similarities end.
I drive to work. Yes, I get in my car drive past the L stop my family thinks I use every time I step outside and head north of Skokie to a land with Acura’s as far as they eye can see. The joys of a morning commute not packed in next to people whose headphone are purely decorative rather than functional is quickly wasted upon realizing I’m surrounded by approximately 1,000 first time drivers headed to the North Shore at 7:00 a.m. It’s too bad the CTA can’t adopt the IDOT method of keeping an active death count to scare people into being respectful commuters. If you’re unaware, throughout our fine highway system, IDOT gives us a real-time death count ticker of vehicular fatalities that happen in our fine state. You don’t have to be named Katniss to realize that is Orwellian governing.
After my podcast wraps up I turn on the finest retreat for Chicagoans to plunge back into a time capsule, our morning radio shows. Scan across the FM dial in Chicago and it’s like a teleport back to a time where life was much simpler, and the clichés were just beginning to take their first steps.
I know since I’m white and in my thirties I am supposed to LOVE XRT. Back when I was younger I always thought from the way that it sounds like they’re broadcasting from the back of a public library that XRT was NPR. I was sadly, kind of right. XRT never let go of vinyl and likely never will. If there were a frequency in the late 70s it may be more fitting for them.
While hunting for my fifth play of “shake it off” on my drive, I’ll hit B96. Why do they act like they’re above having Eddie and Jobo on their station? I have found them doing crank calls, yeah those things were clutch. So was Pepsi Clear and snap bracelets. B96 is Chicago’s older sibling who just couldn’t finish community college and move out of the basement.
I generally don’t think there’s a station more stubbornly in love with the 80’s than WLUP. Well, they’re not completely lost, they still to do a “Rock Girl” right? Although misogyny and rock going together like pb &j, I thought that was a bit unfair to have a very attractive 20 something year old woman paraded around their dive bar events when we all know that girl’s mom is really the woman best suited for WLUP listeners.
According to ratings, most of Chicago takes solace just a bit higher on the dial with The Mix 101.9. It’s fair to say that I can turn on the Eric & Kathy show any day and not know if it was live or a rebroadcast from 1993. I love Seinfeld like no one else but Eric, my man, you can let go of the references. I know it hurts but if I could get my dad to stop quoting Cheers in 2009 maybe I can help you. Insisting we see a DJ photo on a billboard, yeah, could you be any more 90s?!
Whenever I’m ready to catch this week’s guilty pleasure jam made on Auto tune I hit up Kiss FM. It’s our gateway to the present day as any artist over 24 is immediately sent to Throwback Thursday.
As mind numbing the morning grind is to us all, these frequencies allow us to take solace in reminiscing to when the dread that fills our gut was once sweet blissful ignorance of starting something new.
If you’re lucky (and stubborn) enough to regularly wake up in Chicago, then you know what it feels like. Bill Murray has nothing on this perpetual sunrise face plant. I wake up, snooze, wake up again, and tell myself I’ll work out when I get home, wake up walk the dog and then hit the road. That’s where for many of the RedEye readers, the similarities end.
I drive to work. Yes, I get in my car drive past the L stop my family thinks I use every time I step outside and head north of Skokie to a land with Acura’s as far as they eye can see. The joys of a morning commute not packed in next to people whose headphone are purely decorative rather than functional is quickly wasted upon realizing I’m surrounded by approximately 1,000 first time drivers headed to the North Shore at 7:00 a.m. It’s too bad the CTA can’t adopt the IDOT method of keeping an active death count to scare people into being respectful commuters. If you’re unaware, throughout our fine highway system, IDOT gives us a real-time death count ticker of vehicular fatalities that happen in our fine state. You don’t have to be named Katniss to realize that is Orwellian governing.
After my podcast wraps up I turn on the finest retreat for Chicagoans to plunge back into a time capsule, our morning radio shows. Scan across the FM dial in Chicago and it’s like a teleport back to a time where life was much simpler, and the clichés were just beginning to take their first steps.
I know since I’m white and in my thirties I am supposed to LOVE XRT. Back when I was younger I always thought from the way that it sounds like they’re broadcasting from the back of a public library that XRT was NPR. I was sadly, kind of right. XRT never let go of vinyl and likely never will. If there were a frequency in the late 70s it may be more fitting for them.
While hunting for my fifth play of “shake it off” on my drive, I’ll hit B96. Why do they act like they’re above having Eddie and Jobo on their station? I have found them doing crank calls, yeah those things were clutch. So was Pepsi Clear and snap bracelets. B96 is Chicago’s older sibling who just couldn’t finish community college and move out of the basement.
I generally don’t think there’s a station more stubbornly in love with the 80’s than WLUP. Well, they’re not completely lost, they still to do a “Rock Girl” right? Although misogyny and rock going together like pb &j, I thought that was a bit unfair to have a very attractive 20 something year old woman paraded around their dive bar events when we all know that girl’s mom is really the woman best suited for WLUP listeners.
According to ratings, most of Chicago takes solace just a bit higher on the dial with The Mix 101.9. It’s fair to say that I can turn on the Eric & Kathy show any day and not know if it was live or a rebroadcast from 1993. I love Seinfeld like no one else but Eric, my man, you can let go of the references. I know it hurts but if I could get my dad to stop quoting Cheers in 2009 maybe I can help you. Insisting we see a DJ photo on a billboard, yeah, could you be any more 90s?!
Whenever I’m ready to catch this week’s guilty pleasure jam made on Auto tune I hit up Kiss FM. It’s our gateway to the present day as any artist over 24 is immediately sent to Throwback Thursday.
As mind numbing the morning grind is to us all, these frequencies allow us to take solace in reminiscing to when the dread that fills our gut was once sweet blissful ignorance of starting something new.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Friday, October 31, 2014
Wednesday, October 08, 2014
Don't Make Me Get Out of the Booth!
Without inflating my friend's ego, I hope to not become as he says, a Jack of all trades, master of none. That being said, I've ventured into a new space that allows me to perform in the awkward silence that without years of professional improv training and performances from Second City, I would be ill-prepared.
Last night I stepped into the sound booth for the first time ever. It was a local voice over actor's apartment in Ukranian Village and he had a professional sound proof room next to the microphone and recording space I used in the corner. It was like Jack Lemmon knowing that Baldwin had the good leads locked away but just at an arms reach.
Voice over work is something I know nothing about. Darren was a very impressive professional voice over actor who gave a quick crash course. I got the low down on where to look for auditions that I could too could be rejected from. He let me know what to expect with auditions, the cost of a demo, and how hard it may be to crack into.
Then he had me read. Out loud. It was fun. Even fumbling over a fifth grad vocabulary in front of a stranger was simply therapeutic. The big breakthrough came when I relaxed and talked with my hands and let it fly. Darren was critical and also complimentary of my reads. I'm one of the gifted souls who can make three sentences about the beaches of Cabo San Lucas sound like they're a parking lot in Milwaukee.
It was not a loss though. I read two sentences about Midas breaks. Yeah, Darren said it was very impressive on how I was able to bring such an honest and real interpretation to the copy (of break warranties and certified mechanics). Which is impressive to me, as I know squat about my car.
I agree with Darren 100%. I'm not the best he's ever seen, but I showed promise on day one and that's a great thing seeing as I'm in my early thirties and although it's never to late to pursue a passion in life, I am too old to expect my parents to blindly support me.
I completely recommend taking Darren's Voice Over Exploration class. He was really great to work with!
Last night I stepped into the sound booth for the first time ever. It was a local voice over actor's apartment in Ukranian Village and he had a professional sound proof room next to the microphone and recording space I used in the corner. It was like Jack Lemmon knowing that Baldwin had the good leads locked away but just at an arms reach.
Voice over work is something I know nothing about. Darren was a very impressive professional voice over actor who gave a quick crash course. I got the low down on where to look for auditions that I could too could be rejected from. He let me know what to expect with auditions, the cost of a demo, and how hard it may be to crack into.
Then he had me read. Out loud. It was fun. Even fumbling over a fifth grad vocabulary in front of a stranger was simply therapeutic. The big breakthrough came when I relaxed and talked with my hands and let it fly. Darren was critical and also complimentary of my reads. I'm one of the gifted souls who can make three sentences about the beaches of Cabo San Lucas sound like they're a parking lot in Milwaukee.
It was not a loss though. I read two sentences about Midas breaks. Yeah, Darren said it was very impressive on how I was able to bring such an honest and real interpretation to the copy (of break warranties and certified mechanics). Which is impressive to me, as I know squat about my car.
I agree with Darren 100%. I'm not the best he's ever seen, but I showed promise on day one and that's a great thing seeing as I'm in my early thirties and although it's never to late to pursue a passion in life, I am too old to expect my parents to blindly support me.
I completely recommend taking Darren's Voice Over Exploration class. He was really great to work with!
Friday, August 29, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Wednesday, August 13, 2014
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Social Interaction Bucket List (for a 33 yr old)
Every year around my birthday I write a bucket list of things to do that I've never done before. 1 for each year. Rarely do I get them all crossed off but it's fun to do dozens of things I would not make time for.
I want to do or say the following things in the next year in regards to correcting some butthead socially accepted things. Yes, butthead needs to be used more.
1. Tell someone that they're hat is on crooked.
2. Photo bomb a gym selfie.
3. Make a teenager yield the sidewalk to me.
4. Grow the worst beard to end all this facial hair nonsense once and for all.
5. Put a Calvin peeing cartoon over someone's 26.2 sticker on their car.
6. Ask a 30 year old guy in a graphic t-shirt where his younger brother got that shirt.
7. Ask a female coworker for help changing the water cooler.
8. Tell a kid throwing a tantrum that God is watching.
I want to do or say the following things in the next year in regards to correcting some butthead socially accepted things. Yes, butthead needs to be used more.
1. Tell someone that they're hat is on crooked.
2. Photo bomb a gym selfie.
3. Make a teenager yield the sidewalk to me.
4. Grow the worst beard to end all this facial hair nonsense once and for all.
5. Put a Calvin peeing cartoon over someone's 26.2 sticker on their car.
6. Ask a 30 year old guy in a graphic t-shirt where his younger brother got that shirt.
7. Ask a female coworker for help changing the water cooler.
8. Tell a kid throwing a tantrum that God is watching.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Thursday, April 03, 2014
What's the Point?! (Comedy Festival Edition)
Take LaughFest. I've heard it's the biggest comedy festival in North America. I've done their Community Showcases the last three years. (That's code for non-agency shows) Before I get too far into the ever so popular self deprecating, I should note that even for us under the radar comics, LaughFest treats us super well.
The staff and volunteers are probably the most prepared and willing to assist that I've seen in a comedy festival. Add to that, a city of say about 300k, that supports each and every night and show that is on the line up! As an insignificant athlete in my younger days, it sure is pretty cool to watch a bevy of foot traffic pass up a giant arena in downtown Grand Rapids to duck into a small bar or theater show instead.
Big picture time: What can I/anyone get out of a festival like LaughFest? First it's worth noting like comedy clubs, we have tiers of festivals too. The best thing I get from a festival is understanding of where I am funny. We tend to start comedy with friends, then an open mic nearby, then a club in the closest city to us. In my eyes, a comedy festival forces me to get out of my geographic comfort zone and make sure everywhere I go, I know I can be funny.
Where's my agent?! I've had the pipe dream that a festival could, would and should get me an agent. Maybe, as of now it hasn't. However, I have been given an opportunity to network and meet new comics from other states who share booking info to their region. It's just a bit of the ol' comedy karma. The majority of the comedians I meet at festivals are realistic and humble about the current GPS point in their career. That being said, I do enjoy the hell out of the diva comic who's under the radar who rolls out their own red carpet at these showcase events.
Pay to play? There's a skeptical thought that comics shouldn't have to pay to perform. This is an essay question most of us try to force as a fill in the blank. New York has the bringer shows, why is paying for a comedy fest any more or less offensive. Aside from the business operations that are often ignored by us comics, I get why there are fees to submit and fees to attend. These fees make me raise my expectations for my set, the audience and for my preparation.
Comedy festivals are just one of the packages we get to put ourselves in to get new audiences that in all honesty may not be so quick to come to our coffee shop shows. Sure there's an investment on us in the front end but that's nothing uncommon in this pursuit.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
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