This weekend, Punchline Magazine is presenting Marc Maron’s Scorching the Earthin New York, his one man show about lost love, divorce, anger and all that soul-bearing fun stuff! Here are the details:
I Plan To Stay Healthy
I have no choice. I can’t afford health care. Every time I visit an “in-network” doctor my claim gets kicked back. The last one was from my gynecologist. I didn’t know having a vagina was considered a “pre-existing condition.“
I Will Save Money This Year
I don’t need another pair of boots from Zappos. That plan is starting right after I pick up a new pair for this winter. I have no one to blame for not having saved more. I wish I could blame Bernie Madoff for wiping out my savings. For that matter, I wish I had savings to actually be wiped out. How will I do it differently this year? Millions in the bank tops off my vision board.
I Will Stop Yo-Yo Dieting
I can do it. I will break the physical paradigm of my Eastern European ancestors. Why? Well they all look like yo-yo’s. All the men have huge balls. No bellies just enormous balls. The women were equally round. No arms no legs just gi-normous boobs with big mouths on top. Count points? Food Delivery services? Nope. The austerity diet works best. What is that? Well it’s when you are so broke you can’t afford to eat. Eat Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches for all your meals and watch the pounds drop away!
I Will Volunteer More
You can only hit so many 12-step meetings when you’re unemployed. I wanted to maybe network at the meetings so I switched to a new 12 stepper class that was made up exclusively of comedians. The regular 12 step meets are at least colorful, “I slept with my wife’s mother after we booted heroin following my daughter’s communion. I’m a horrible person. Boo-hoo-.” It was depressing. I figured the 12 step with comics would at least bring some laughs. But it was no different than having lunch with any of my friends who are comics. It was the same conversation. “The economy sucks.. …No one has money to go to a comedy club; I need more TV credits… blah blah blah..” So I will be volunteering more this year. How else am I supposed to work out new material with no one going to the clubs because of the economy?
I Will Stay Positive
I promise to be very realistic this year and faithfully keep one resolution for at least 60 days…if not longer! They say it takes 30 days to make a habit so let’s see if I can make it to 30. See, staying positive…
Marla Schultz is a nationally touring headliner appearing regularly at clubs across the country. She’s a regular on Raw Dog Comedy Sirius 104 ‘Breuer Unleashed.” She’s appeared on “Comics Unleashed”,” Girls Behaving Badly”, “Dirt”, E! Entertainment, Fox “Redeye.” For more information visit Marla on MySpace.
It turns out this economic downturn has done more than just put people out of jobs. According to a recent New York Times article by Hannah Seligson, the huge amount of job loss in the financial sector has caused people to go for it in the realm of arts and entertainment.
The article profiles Michael Terry, Benjamin Cox, Shaun Gatter, and Greg Collet– three people who left jobs in finance to pursue improv, screenwriting, fiction writing and stand-up comedy, respectively.
“With Wall Street hemorrhaging jobs, bonuses disappearing and the financial sector going through a seismic shift, some bankers and lawyers are switching lanes to more creative career paths,” says Seligson. “They are putting down their Wall Street Journals and picking up Variety as they try their hands at comedy, filmmaking and writing.”
“People feel there’s nothing to lose in terms of taking a risk and pursuing a new direction, especially when you have a résumé that says ‘banking’ and no banks are hiring,” says Harry B. Weiner, who has noticed the trend through working for On-Ramps, a financial recruiting firm.
Could the loss of nine to five security spur a generation of people to stop making excuses and pursue the things they love?
An African-American group, Jack and Jill of America, has named comedian Tracy Morgan as their Man of the Year. According to their official site, the group “is a family organization that provides cultural, social, civic and recreational activities that stimulate and expand the mind to enhance life.” As Man of the Year, Morgan will act as Grand Marshall at the group’s upcoming Beautillion on Jan. 19.
This morning I was reading Al Bawaba - as I do everyday- and was pleased to read that the Amman Stand-up Comedy Festival will now be an annual event. The announcement came from Mayor Omar Maani after its first debut ever in the Middle East.
The Greater Amman Municipality adopted the Stand-Up Comedy Festival to fit in its cultural agenda, with plans to be held in December of every year,” said Mayor Maani.
For more information on the Amman Stand-up Comedy Festival, click here!
Comedy Central’s Stand-up Showdown 2009 has begun. My fantasy football team was a bust this year and March Madness is a long time coming, so we have come up with a new contest. Punchline Magazine presents The “Comedy Central’s Stand-up Showdown” Madness! Up for grabs in this contest is a great CD/DVD prize package too awesome to describe in this post (really we just haven’t decided on which CD’s or DVD’s to include.)
To enter, download the Madness bracket and complete list of comics who have appeared on Comedy Central Presents. You will select which comic you think will be in the Top 10 and Bottom 10 of the showdown for each week. For every box you guess right, you score points and the top score after Jan 25 wins.
Email your completed brackets to contest@punchlinemagazine.com by Monday, December 29. The first round of scoring will begin Jan 2 and follow every Friday afternoon. You may also download use the brackets for your own office party or friendly competition. Just remember, this is for exhibition only and as always- no wagering!
About the Stand-Up Showdown
All throughout January - starting now in fact - fans can visit ComedyCentral.com and vote for their favorite comic. On Jan 25 Comedy Central will countdown the top 20 comics by replaying their CC Presents special ending with the new King of Comedy.
Comedian Jonah Ray will star in ManiaTV’s new web talk show, Barbequay with Jonah Ray. Created by writer Mason Steinberg (Crank Yankers, Andy Milonakis Show) and comic Jonah Ray, the talk show will set itself apart from other similar formats by throwing a party for each of special guest and conversing in an informal, crowded party setting.
“This is a great format for showcasing prominent comedians and actors in an informal, real life setting” said VP of Programming, Amber J. Lawson. “The party atmosphere lends itself to a vibe that is unique and authentic. We know from other shows, that the more genuine an interview setting, the more trust we can maintain with the audience and thus, the advertiser.”
The ten part series will feature well-know comedians like Janeane Garofalo, Steve Agee from the Sarah Silverman Show, Rob Hubel from Human Giant. New episodes are posted every Friday at ManiaTV.
I Plan To Stay Healthy
It turns out this economic downturn has done more than just put people out of jobs. According to a recent 
