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Monday, February 28, 2011

Kyle Cease Wants to Give You a Ring

Kyle Cease broke up with his fiancee, and now he's giving away her diamond ring. Why? Who cares? He says it's worth 10K.

Here's how it works: Watch the first video of his stand up. You'll see what he means about "the worst way" to leave Catalina Island. Then in the comments, make your own suggestion about the worst way. If you get the most comments saying they vote for you, the ring is all yours.

[I made a suggestion, so look for ThirdGuyDucks' comment and vote for me! Unless you have your own suggestion to make.]


Go to page to comment.

Here's a link to the video announcing the contest.

Here's a link to a video in which he updates the rules and explains the new voting system.

Kyle Kinane on Ruining the Medieval Times Experience

Kyle Kinane is a storytelling comedian. But he doesn't sacrifice anything for it. In the balance between storytelling and joke telling, the typical performer leans either towards development, setting and character, or the number of laughs and the strength of the payoff. Some raconteurs, like Kinane, know how to crank up all at the same time.

He was included in a "Best of 2011" Comedy Central Presents special, and was given Episode 10 of Season 15 all to himself. It's a good one. But maybe I'm biased, because I have a special place in my heart for balding guys with big beards. My wife is fine with this, because she does too.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

3rd Rock from the Sun on Netflix Streaming

When 3rd Rock from the Sun first came out, John Lithgow disagreed with critics who said that the aliens-on-earth premise was too narrow and would wear thin. He argued it was wide open. That a show about humans as a foreign species was really a show about everything. The show was a success, running for 6 seasons and earning dozens of awards for the creators and the performers.

If you care to, you can watch all 6 seasons streaming on Netflix.

Even if you want to complain that it's just a recycled version of Mork & Mindy, (subtract the improv savant; add the veteran of classical theatre) the show held up with a consistent absurdity and more Dick jokes than any other show on network television. It's easy when your main character takes that name. Here are a few of the titles of episodes from the 1st season:

  • Post-Nasal Dick
  • Dick, Smoker
  • Body & Soul & Dick
  • Frozen Dick
  • The Dicks, They Are a Changin'
  • Assault with a Deadly Dick
  • Father Knows Dick
The second season added Gobble, Gobble, Dick, Dick, Fifteen Minutes of Dick, and a few more, then the episode titles calmed down. A bit.

But as is true of many shows, you won't see these titles on the screen. I wonder why.

Friday, February 04, 2011

Chris Elliott's Eagleheart debuts on Adult Swim

Chris Elliot deserves none of the inattention that some people have given him. Ick… hat's a horrible compliment. What I should say, and what is true, is that Elliott has made me laugh in everything he's done, no matter how weird it was. His writing and performing on Letterman, his sitcom Get a Life, his movie Cabin Boy, his recurring character on Everybody Loves Raymond, his season on SNL, his small but crucial role in There's Something About Mary… always weird. Always funny.

And his new weird project is Eagleheart, Adult Swim's new 'shorts' series on Cartoon Network. In it, Elliot plays Chris Monsanto, a Marshall who is driven partly by his need to avenge each of his dead partners, and partly by his desire "to punch people so hard that they explode."

Elliott is flanked by Maria Thayer and Brett Gelman, who play his partners. Why two partners? So it doesn't hurt him as much when one of them dies. At least that's the argument offered by Chief, played by Michael Gladis (you'll know him from Mad Men).

The characters are not believable. The plots are simple and contrived. They humor is ridiculous and the violence is graphic. It's wonderful. Really.

Watch it Thursdays at midnight. (So 'technically' Friday, but nobody really thinks that way. It's "Thursday night" for normal people.)