After talking to my dad yesterday and having him tell me I’d had “quite a year”, and also seeing Matt Braunger’s 2009 list, I thought I’d do my own. Note that Braunger’s list will be much better than mine, but a boy’s gotta start (and possibly end) somewhere. Here are my 10 favorite comedy moments of 2009…
10. Mick Betencourt’s Show at an AA Hall in Sherman Oaks
When I showed up to this show, I had no idea what to expect. Nor did I know it was at an AA Hall for people in the program. It’s been almost 5 months since I did the show, and I still can’t stop raving about it. The best audience I’ve ever had for a stand-up show.
9. The Warner Bros Spokesman Videos
I wrote a few scripts for Rob Delaney to have fun with as the spokesman for Warner Bros. at the end of 2008, but this one, where he responds to the Christian Bale audio thing might have been my favorite. Or my favorite one that we didn’t take down because of death threats from Turkish people.
The weirdest comedy moment of 2009 is also a Comedy.com video, reposted from our old Stream.tv show by porn star Ashli Orion. You can watch the weirdness here.
8. The Lincoln Lodge/New Wave Showcase
I wasn’t even in Chicago for this one, but I was pretty thrilled that a little list I wrote for Comedy.com got into the hands of hotshot industry folks and a lot of good comics in Chicago got to be seen in their element. And reportedly, a ton of them came through.
7. ”Every Green Day Song Ever”
It’s pretty weird to be in a real Hollywood studio with a Grammy winning sound engineer and professional musicians nailing the shit out of your dumb idea, but that’s what happened. The next in the “Every Song Ever” catalogue was Green Day. This project isn’t fully fleshed out, but I will say that Mike Holmes and I performed the song live about a week ago at What’s Up Tiger Lily, and it was one of the most fun times I had on stage all year.
Also with Mike Holmes (and Bruno Tysh and Zach Ames), I did the Head No Good podcast, which is available for free on iTunes. My favorite show is coming soon, which was our Holiday Spectacular. A very fun night of getting drunk and fucking around with some of my favorite comics. Part 1 should be available right around Christmas.
6. The Blerds Roast
Blerds.com might not be up any longer, but Comedy Coalition brought us together for Inauguration Night to beat the shit out of each other for the benefit of a packed house at Blue Goose Lounge. It was one of the funnest shows I’ve ever been involved in. Maybe another one will be coming soon.
5. The Smoking Gun Presents Worlds Dumbest on Tru TV.
I taped two episodes of this ‘talking heads’ show, which will air on New Years Eve and also on January 7th on Tru TV. No, they haven’t aired yet. But I did manage to meet Todd Bridges and heard him say, “Whatchu talkin’ ‘bout, Willis?” Even though it was that other guy’s line. Worth it.
4. Continuing to Watch My Friends Blow Up
2009 was another ridiculous year for a lot of Chicago comics. Kumail Nanjiani did everything (Michael and Michael Have Issues, Montreal, Live at Gotham, Variety Comics to Watch, NBC sitcom, Letterman, Hot List, etc.). TJ Miller was in Extract, an amazing mugshot, Comedy Central’s Hot List and a bunch of other movies. Matt Braunger was also a Variety Comic to Watch, also on The Hot List and taped a Comedy Central Presents, amongst a bunch of other amazing shit. Hannibal Buress had such a great set on Fallon, that he was hired to write for SNL. Kyle Kinane taped a bunch of TV appearances, all while getting praise from Patton Oswalt. Pete Holmes also did Montreal and a Comedy Central Presents. Renee Gauthier did Carson Daly, Chelsea Lately and Montreal. And Jordan Vogt-Roberts got the short film he wrote and directed into Sundance. Plus a pretty great viral video also featuring TJ. I’m looking forward to seeing what these guys (as well as other Chicago comics on the cusp) do in 2010.
That all being said, the Homecoming Show I did at JFL Chicago (featuring TJ, Renee, Kinane, Hannibal, Nick Vatterott, Marina Franklin, Team Submarine, Jared Logan and John Mulaney) might go down as the most impressive lineup I’ve ever been on.
3. Carfax, Dunkin’ Donuts and Heineken Light
I shot the Dunkin’ Donuts commercial in November of 2008, but it was for iced coffee so it didn’t air until the Spring. That was right around the time my Carfax ad aired and then I got sent to Spain to be in a Eva Longora-starring Heineken Light commercial for one second. I’ll take it.
2. My First Time Doing Stand-Up on Televison
Dan Bialek and Mark Teich from 12 Shiny Nickels were nice enough to set up the showcase and the people at Last Call with Carson Daly were nice enough to select me to be on their show. And a small group of my friends were nice enough to come over and stay up late to watch it with me. And thanks to the heavyset girl who fell down the stairs right before I went on. Now I have a story I can tell for the rest of my life.
1. Being Selected at a New Face at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival.
When you start off doing stand-up, Montreal is one of the first things you hear about. It becomes a mantra of “one day… when I’m good enough… I’ll do Montreal.” So I was super happy to have been one of the 16 Americans selected for this year’s festival. It was surreal. And I was doubly happy to see the rest of the crew that was selected. All very funny and very awesome people. I’ve never been so nervous to stand-up in all my life, but it was amazing. I can’t say enough nice things about the JFL people.
