Hey, Fairfield-ians – I’ll be there TONIGHT doing a show at the Downtown Theatre. Come check it out and let’s party.

The Roast Battle at Doc’s Lab was a ton of fun. I’m sure there will be another one as the place was sold out like a mofo. Check out coverage of the shindig HERE.

About twice a week I get emails or Facebook messages from people who want to know how to produce a podcast. I’m no expert but I do produce two at the moment: one with the very talented Dhaya Lakshminarayanan for Ravishly called Sarcasmic (very cool 2nd episode coming soon) and my own show Chucklepedia with cohost Jim Cotter.

While neither show is exactly tearin’ up the charts, I like to think they both SOUND good. They sound that way because I have spent extra money on the equipment I use, I have spent lots of time tinkering with the editing process leading up to releasing the shows (listen to an early episode of Chucklepedia, if you can stand it, and hear the difference) and I typically spend about twice as long editing a show as it takes to record it.

So when people email me asking “how do I do that and what should I buy?” and I write a long email with suggestions for microphones, mixers and then a rundown on the process, most people subsequently ignore me completely, go buy one crappy USB microphone, record two episodes of a podcast for 17 people to listen to and then they stop doing it completely and put their microphone in the closet with that electric guitar, karate uniform and kettlebells and forget it forever. Which is fine.

But here’s the deal for me – if you want my help, please email me and we can discuss my either producing your podcast OR giving you some sessions to educate you on how to record, edit and what gear you could buy given your current budget and what you have already purchased. I will do these for a fair price. I am not insane and am able to shop on a budget, but you should still expect to be looking at around $400-$500 to start a podcast that doesn’t sound like muffled garbage.

Still interested? Drop me a line. If you’re not, have fun recording with your USB microphone in the middle of the dinner table. I’m sure it will sound great.

This Saturday night is the last-ever Cynic Cave at Lost Weekend Video. The show will run from 8-Midnight and I’ll be doing a set somewhere between 9-10pm. Presale tickets are sold out, but you can come, hang out on the first level and wait for seats to open up and soak in the comedy sadness. More info HERE.

Everybody has had somebody in customer service argue that the lousy, awful thing they’re doing to you is just because they’re “doing their job.” Back in the 40’s following World War 2 and claims from Nazi underlings that they were just “following orders,” a Yale Psychologist devised an experiment to see just how far the average person would take cruel orders when it meant other people were hurt. On our newest hella-big-sized ‘spode of Chucklepedia, cohost Jim and I discuss this experiment, as well as the aftermath of the Super Bowl in San Francisco, the homeless encampments being broken up and some of my most delightful bombing experiences.

Find the show HERE or on iTunes and Stitcher, and also Google Play whenever they start allowing podcast downloads.

Tomorrow night (2/8) wash off the Super Bowl ickiness with some down-home, wholesome comedy featuring your hosts ME and Joe Gorman. We’ll be bringing you a lineup of some of the Bay Area’s best and brightest, a few out-of-town surprises and also a handful of people who should really just give up already. It’s comedy, baby. Venue info HERE, but it’s free to get in for this show.

Taken near the end of January 2016 at the Throckmorton Theater in Mill Valley, California. I’d heard great things about this venue for years and they were all true, as evidenced by my super-edgy thumbs-up.

San Francisco has a history of really cool, awesome and lightning-in-a-bottle comedy venues. The Hungry i back in the Fifties. Then the Purple Onion in the Sixties. Then the Holy City Zoo in the Eighties.

San Francisco has had another of those for a while now – the Cynic Cave at Lost Weekend Video. For several years now, a tiny basement in a video store has been home to some really sharp, cutting-edge comedy (and some garbage, but, hey, whaddaya gonna do) and just like those earlier venues, the lightning in a bottle must eventually break out. Lost Weekend is closing in March, and while the store – and possibly comedy shows – may be moving elsewhere, the Cynic Cave as it has been will be no more.

It’s sad, but things only become historic when they go away. And part of the glory is to have been there when it happened in the first place. So – GO see a show before it closes. I happen to be part of the Saturday show this weekend for February 6th (tickets HERE) but be sure to go and sit in one of those old dusty movie theater seats one last time, drink a Tecate and watch some Bay Area comedians do what they love to do in a place that has always welcomed them to do it.

If you hadn’t heard, beloved San Francisco video rental shop-slash-comedy venue Lost Weekend Video will be leaving their current location in the next few months. Lost Weekend and its staff are great and have made producing a show there so easy, even idiots like ME can do it and have successful comedy shows!

After the runaway freight train of success that was the first edition of “I Think I’d Be Good At That,” Episode 2 is coming your way next weekend, Friday January 29th. I’ve got a great lineup and a very-excited newbie to take a shot at comedy glory. Let us know you’re coming via the Facebook Event or buy tickets HERE.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOW. 

The infamous Roast Battles at the Comedy Store are coming to San Francisco at Doc’s Lab on March 10th. I’m battling everybody’s favorite Cartman impersonator Joe Gorman. This will be fun. Buy tickets early.