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I’m happy to announce that I’ll be taping my debut stand-up comedy album at the Spotlight Comedy Club on August 14th, 2010. I’m going back to basics by recording my album for audio only. My goal is to produce (3) 30 minute audio CD’s, the first entitled “Who Am I?” a routine structured around the events that shaped my life which has led me to become a stand-up comedian. The second album, is entitled “Where Am I?” a routine that explains where I’ve been and where I’m going. The third album, is entitled “What Am I?” a routine describing what has become of my life after all of my experiences to date.

My goal is to explain my story from my bi-coastal upbringing, living in both New York and California and raised by my single mother. To growing up on a small farm on 14 acres of upstate New York property. I’ve moved around a lot as a kid, from the most rural of areas to moving back to the city to watch my mother graduate from Law School. I talk about my own failures and successes, like failing out of high school as well as pursuing my own personal interests.

And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Reserve your spot today for this show. I guarantee you won’t regret it.

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Yesterday, stand-up comedian Jimmy Shubert and I recorded episode #2 of the Jimmy Shubert Podcast, where we focused the conversation around online social media and other technologies. I expressed my personal philosophy regarding the Internet as well as other trending online applications. I also discussed my option relating to online video as it pertains to gaining exposure. I introduce the idea of going back to basics by returning to an old faithful method, audio CD’s.

To listen to Jimmy’s Podcast, please visit his website at jimmyshubert.com.

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I guess, I’m old now, because I’ll tell you what… I got to say, I’m over this overwhelming tattoo fad we’ve got ourselves in. EVERYBODY with their freakin’ sleeves tatted up! It’s becoming crazy! I’ll tell you, my favorite tattoo is that one…that is ever SO slowly encroaching the neck region,… as if it is trying to escape the hosts body through the ear canal.You know that tattoo I’m talking about… the real gangster looking one!

Remember, when you had to kill someone first before you got a tattoo. Those were the days. Tattoos were supposed to be for tough people like bikers or war veterans. You know, someone who actually saw some shit! Not your average, run-of-the-mill, Mr. Joe computer geek types. I mean, what the fuck!

What’s up people? Are we that desperate for attention? That now… we have to try aspire to look like the cast of Apocalypto to get a WHAT WHAT out of people. I can’t wait for unique personality traits to make a comeback!

IN OTHER NEWS

Remember, I’m performing stand-up comedy this Saturday at the Spotlight Comedy Club. If you would like to get on my guest list to get in free, please email me and let me know how many people will be attending.

Also, please check out my friend, Jimmy Shubert’s new podcast. Next week, I will be his guest discussing my philosophy regarding the most effected use of social media as well as other technologies.

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Well, I’ve been away for awhile and for good reason. What can I say, I needed time to mature or better yet, I needed time to simply grow up. I needed to find myself. Well, the good news is, I’ve found him. I’ve got to say, “I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it, ohhhhhh… no… no… no… I know, I know, I know, I know, I know I want to, I want to.” This is the first time in my life where I feel completely confident in the decisions I’m making. Guess what? I’m 34. To be honest, the hardest part about being a stand-up comedian is finding the confidence to take the next step and boy, I hope I don’t trip!

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot in this pursuit to find the funny. I’ve learned that regardless of how funny your are, in order to sustain playing time you must understand the business. Today’s comedian, must be both creative and business savvy. Long gone are the days of just getting by with your talent. Now, you must solicit your fans first, build up a base of comedy patrons regionally and commit to them through multiple forms of social media. That’s right, today’s comedian must NOT be afraid of the computer. They must embrace it and become familiar with how it works. They must learn online marketing strategies specifically relating to promoting to a variety of different demographics, if they truly want to be successful. It’s unfortunate, but makes sense if you think about it. I mean, why should a comedy club take the risk of booking comedians that don’t have a following or a built in audience. So, the deal is…Its now up to us to individually take care of putting people in the seats as well as come up with cutting edge and original comedy. That’s the game and I’m ready to play!

So, here’s what I’m doing about it! I’m taking my already established business sense as well as my seasoned comedian routine and I’m putting together a freakin’ “GAME PLAN.” My strategy is consider everything like it’s a small business and build the freakin’ franchise!

So, here’s how methodical I am!

Over the past 5 years, I’ve been working hard on establishing confidence with my friend Bryan Callen, who is a professional comedian, actor, television and film star. He is a working stand-up comedian performing all over the country and around the world. My goal has always been to work with Bryan, because not only do we get along really well, but we also share similar characteristic and comedic attributes. We simply compliment each other in our styles, because quite frankly we are like bothers. We see things in sort of the same way. So, I’m embarking on a road (late summer, early fall) with Bryan as his feature performer and the “GAME PLAN” doesn’t stop there.

Also attached to the “GAME PLAN” is a marketing/promotional mechanism, that I’ll be fulfilling as a role and responsibility while touring on the road. We will be approaching each city with a fully mapped objective, pushing promotions to the comedy venue as well as local radio and other popular establishments. We will have a big-ass bag of goodies, merchandise with some giveaways, like posters, postcards, audio CD’s, DVD’s, t-shirt, baby-t’s, hat’s and much more. I can’t express enough how extremely important it is to have something to hand to the comedy patrons as they leave the venue after a show, regardless of what it is. It can be as simple as a business card with a promo link to your website as an example. If you don’t have that thing, then you simply lose!

The biggest golden nugget to my “GAME PLAN” is something that has never been done before in the history of the comedy business. It’s so raw and original, that I believe it will revolutionize the game as well as spark new interest into the comedy scene. So, you’ll definitely have to come out to a show to see what I am talking about. I’ll give you a hint…You’ll be able to leave with something that will be one of a kind and it won’t be a personalized autograph.

Stay tuned!

P.S. The good news is, once you’ve proven yourself to have a sustainable fan base, then someone else on your team will take over the marketing/promotional responsibilities. It doesn’t have to be your permanent job.

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It’s been a while since I’ve actually participated in my OWN website, I’m feeling a little nostalgic. I’ve really missed promoting myself in comedy. What have I been doing all this time? Well, for past few years I’ve been working on several projects in the comedy and entertainment industry. For instance, I launched a comedy networking and promotions website called the Heavy Hitters of Comedy, which features an array of comedy related content from events to original commentary from up-and-coming comedians in the game. It’s a must see for all those interested in stand-up comedy or for all those who aspire to become a professional comedian. I am very excited for the future and what the Heavy Hitters can become as a true resource for comedians.

For myself, well…I’ve been soul searching. I’ve been trying diligently to figure out, “what is my comic voice and character to tell my story.” I’ve never really struggled with coming up with something funny to say, it’s been the packaging that has been the hardest thing to become confident with. I’ve always felt that in time my character would appear and at that moment I would pounce on it like a tiger caught in a nightclub. Well, I’ve got great, I think I’ve finally found that voice. It’s probably been there the whole time, It just took me 8 years to see it.

For the next 2 months, I’ll be working out at comedy clubs throughout Los Angeles, creating my NEW set for my debut stand-up comedy album, which will be debuting August 1st 2010. Stay tuned, and if ever you are in the area and would like to go to a show, let me put you on my guest list. Simply, drop me an email.

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Where does my comedy come from? Well, that’s a very good questions, and one that is often asked. My comedy is usually derived from actual events that have occurred in my life. I feel it’s the truth that really sets all of us apart. And the truth is, my life is turbulent… Or, what my therapist likes to call “dysfunctional.” I am aware of both the positive and negative sides of these situations, which I am only able to translate and explain through comedy.

I’ve experienced almost too much to be so optimistic: drugs, jail, infidelity, static-cling, menopause, and owning a small dog that fits in a purse but not being at all gay for that. I was and continue to be heavily influenced by the work of Bill Cosby, Robert Klein, Robin Williams, Jerry Seinfeld and George Carlin. I discuss politics, technologies and current events as well as childcare and being responsible.

I have to tell you. These days, I’ve been pretty caught up with politics and the news. I watch a lot of CNN, MSNBC, and FOX, which offers a lot of comedy ideas. Especially, when Sarah Palin is in the news.

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I founded the Heavy Hitters of Comedy in an effort to help comedians promote themselves to industry professionals and comedy clubs as well as the fans of comedy. Over the years, I’ve helped create websites for such experienced talent as John Ratzenberger, Bryan Callen, Greg Fitzsimmons, Orny Adams and Jimmy Shubert just to name a few. The experience has been extremely enlightening, as I’ve learned that people often have a hard time understanding how effective technology can be. Our goal is to create online applications that comedians, comedy clubs and industry professionals can utilize through emerging technologies and the Internet thus helping comedy professionals stay up to date and in front of technology changes.

The Heavy Hitters of Comedy offers the online tools that give comedians the ability to provide information regarding their professional comedy careers. Our Comic Profiles give the comedian a place on the Internet to provide comedy specific information like biography’s, links to community websites, videos, high resolution headshots, interview questionnaires, twitter feeds and event posts.

November is also an exciting month for our members, as we will be releasing the Comedian Career Tracker tool, which is an innovative way for a comedian to keep track of their career as well as market themselves to industry professionals. The tool provides the resources to record and share data such as performances, audience statistics, fan ratings, experience level, industry specific data and all other aspects of a comedians’ career. We believe this is currently the best way to track and monitor our comedians’ success.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. The Heavy Hitters of Comedy’s will continuously invent and create new applications to make technology work for the comedy community as well as continuously enhance its current applications. If there is something you would like us to focus on such as web design or web promo kits, please let us know as are here to help you succeed.

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About eight years ago, I came out to Los Angeles with a big dream of becoming a comedian. I had just started performing comedy about six months before moving to LA so I was pretty much, as you can guess, a newbie. In fact, I was such a newbie that I wasn’t even considered GREEN, I was INVISIBLE!

Shortly after my move, I immediately started making my rounds at all the major comedy clubs like the Improv, the Comedy Store, the Laugh Factory and so forth. I even worked the small venues and the bars with the make shift stages and even the places with no stage at all. I found that each comedy club came with their own rules, their own audience, and their own clicks but I always had two goals in my mind – To win laughs and to become a regular.

I met all sorts of funny individuals in that process, from the experienced comedians to the wannabes like myself. It was cool meeting the celebrities in the beginning, but then I quickly realize that they were just like me. The only difference is that someone gave them a chance, but guess what? I was the one on deck. So what could I do?

I decided to approach those that were further along in their careers than I was. I’ve always had lots of questions and I’m confident, but not enough to just start asking away at things. Fortunately, I was able to develop smart relationships with individuals that were working and continued to get more and more opportunities. All the while hoping that a little, no, a lot of their success would rub off on me.

Then, instead of waiting, I decided to take a chance. I asked the one question most commonly asked by comedians, and that is…“How long does it take before you make it to the next level?” The most common response I received was “EIGHT YEARS!”

So, it takes more years to become a comedian that it does to become a doctor. You know what? Maybe it should!

HDTV

This is just a simple public service announcement about the popular high definition movement sweeping the nation. I forced my friends Sheldon Anderson and Brandt Wille to create this short film, which I felt bad for even trying to attempt it. The goal was to create something funny, which I don’t believe we achieved. This is why it has barely seen the light of day. Now, here’s your chance to waste 50 seconds of your life. Let me know what you think.

TODAZE

“TODAZE” is a fully improvisational, non-scripted sketch comedy about 2 guys in their 30’s, who claim to have all the answers, while continuing to suspend time playing video games and avoiding the inevitable…work! Basically, we put on suits and acted like ourselves, choosing familiar topics on the fly, while answering genuinely and with confidence. This idea had potential at the time and has been copied by Sony and others in the commercial industry. Copyright 2007. Run-time: 5:15