Where you left your keys ...Rick's Cafe Americain

I am really excited about our lineup this month:

Elna Baker, Babies Buying Babies: Observations from FAO Schwarz
Elna Baker is a writer, comedic storyteller and monologist. She’s performed her stories for This American Life, Studio 360, The Moth, Upright Citizens Brigade, and at many other comedy clubs throughout New York City. Her memoir, The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance, will be published by Penguin in 2009.

Gaylord Fields, Yeah Yeah ... Uh, No: Exploring the Audiovisual Phenomenon of Beatles-Lookalike Long Playing Albums
Gaylord Fields, the senior editor at AOL Music, has previously worked at Rolling Stone and Spin. He also currently hosts a free-form radio program on WFMU in Jersey City every Sunday evening. He has met one Beatle — and three Rutles.

Julie Klausner, Cats, Musicals, Fan Fiction and Fan Fiction about Cats: The Musical: The Fan as Demented Creator
Julie Klausner is a lover of cats, musical theater, and at least three other things that are not fascinating to heterosexual men, including heterosexual men. She’s written for the New York Times, Salon and The Huffington Post, and she co-hosts the monthly show Obsessed at the UCB Theater. Her latest endeavor, a monthly live Soap Opera called Wasp Cove, stars David Rakoff and runs at Comix in monthly episodic installations.

Carrie McLaren, The Media Made Me Do It: The Human Being As Copycat
Carrie McLaren founded Stay Free!, curates Adult Education, and blogs sporadically at Hawthorne Street. Her book Shopping for Cancer: A Field Guild to Consumer Culture, will be published by Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux in 2009. Ms. McLaren’s last lecture for Adult Ed was “How NOT to Raise a Chimp in Your Home: the Legacy of W.N. Kellogg.”

And your host, Charles Star, talking about something or other
Charles Star is a lawyer sans portfolio and a stand-up comedian sans recognition. He lives in Brooklyn with his excellent wife, his awesome cat, and a fetus who is already tracking well above grade level.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 8 pm (doors at 7:30)
Union Hall in Park Slope
702 Union St. @ 5th Ave
$5 cover

Adult Education is a monthly lecture series organized by the Brooklyn-based nonprofit, Stay Free! Each month is devoted to a given theme, and 4-5 speakers will address some aspect of that theme using visual aids.

| Pamela Paul, “Baby Gear Your Mother Didn’t Have”
| Daniel Radosh,"Marketing to Christian Kids or The Secret Identity of Bibleman”
| Charles Star, “A Short List of the Worst Children’s Toys Ever”
| Gary Drevitch, “How Princesses and Pokemon Conquered America”
| Susan Gregory Thomas, “Barbie Goes Vertical: How the Marketing Industry Brands Infants and Toddlers”

DANIEL RADOSH is author of the new book Rapture Ready! Adventures in the Parallel Universe of Christian Pop Culture. He is a frequent contributor to The New Yorker and a contributing editor at The Week magazine. His writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including The New York Times, Playboy, Esquire, and GQ. In the early 1990s, Radosh was a staff writer and editor at Spy magazine.

PAMELA PAUL is the author of Parenting, Inc: How We Are Sold on $800
Strollers, Fetal Education, Baby Sign Language, Sleeping Coaches, Toddler Couture, and Diaper Wipe Warmers—and What It Means for Our Children. She writes for Time magazine and the New York Times Book Review, and is the author of two previous books, Pornified and The Starter Marriage. She and her family live in Harlem.

GARY DREVITCH produces the parenting Web site freelancedad.com, contributes to magazines like Parents and Jewish Living, and writes non-fiction books for children. He is also the senior editor of
grandparents.com. A father of three, he has become part of the Pokemon problem, and now seeks its solution.

SUSAN GREGORY THOMAS is an investigative journalist and broadcaster. Formerly a senior editor at U.S. News & World Report and co-host of public television’s Digital Duo, she has also written for Time, the Washington Post, Glamour, and elsewhere. She has two children, seven and four years old.

CHARLES STAR is a sometimes lawyer, sometimes comic, and host of Adult Ed. But he is mostly known for his excellent cat.

On March 1 I am going to be in the Laughing Liberally show as the token in the Black Comedy Experiment. My show is one of a slate of great shows going on throughout the Leap Day weekend. The Laughing Liberally show includes me, Leighann Lord, Robert George, Elon James White and host Baratunde Thurston.

The Black Comedy Experiment
The Tank @ Collective:Unconscious
279 Church Street
$5 or $8 for a single show; $15 for a day pass; $25 for a weekend pass
Buy tickets here.

Tonight at Magnetic Field, I’ll be on the panel of a live version of Match Game in which I play the inimitable Charles Nelson Star.

Match Game 2008
March 20 at 8PM
Magnetic Field
97 Atlantic Avenue between Hicks and Henry
Free to watch (fun!) $5* to play (more fun!)

* All entry fees go into the prize pool.

I’m very happy to report that Adult Education has been recommended by both the New Yorker and TimeOut NY.

See you on the 22d?

I’m very excited to announce that Carrie and I are starting a new monthly lecture series called Adult Education at Union Hall in Park Slope. The presentations will be short, amusing and informative ... but you won’t learn anything that you really need to know.

The first show, “Micro-genre” is about genres that are so specific that you probably didn’t even realize that they were genres. I’ll let Carrie’s description take over from here:

Adult Education
Tuesday, January 22, 2008 at 8PM
Union Hall
702 Union St. @ 5th Ave (Park Slope)
FREE!

On YouTube, there are scores of toddler’s expressions after sucking on lemons. Entire groups of flickr photos are organized around photos of people wearing sweatshirts, photos of painted trains, photos of body hair. You could fill a small bookshelf with fake children’s memoirs. In this show, we discuss several examples of what we’re calling “micro-genres.”

Liz Clayton: The Architecture of Converted Fast-Food Restaurants

Paul Lukas: On Elevator World, American Jails, Nut Grower Monthly, and other obscure trade magazines

Heidi Cody: First National Icons: Native Americans in Grocery Brands

Jim Hanas: On meta-tourism: photos of tourists taking photos

Russell Scholl: On TV Commercials for Personal Hygiene Products

With HOST Charles Star

BIOS

LIZ CLAYTON is an obsessive-compulsive who tries to contain the world in words and pictures. Her work has been published in the Globe and Mail, Time Out New York, and on three million websites. She recently moved to Brooklyn from Toronto, where she ran the Pontiac Quarterly reading series.

HEIDI CODY is a Brooklyn-based artist and founder of CHOW

JIM HANAS is a freelance editor and writer who lives and works in Brooklyn.

PAUL LUKAS is a freelance writer and former zinester (Beer Frame) in Brooklyn. His Uni Watch column currently runs on ESPN.com

RUSSELL SCHOLL is a New York-based media archivist. He assembles moving image programs on a wide variety of subjects (the history of animation; early jazz shorts; burlesque; educational and propaganda films, etc.) and exhibits them at Barbes in Park Slope and other NYC venues.

CHARLES STAR (HOST) is a Brooklyn-based comedian who has written for the Onion News Network and Stay Free! magazine. Charles hosts the comedy show Pant-Hoot on the third Tuesday of every month at Magnetic Field.

Great comedy and information about monkeys and apes this Tuesday:

Tom Shillue (Conan O’Brien)
Becky Donohue (Premium Blend, Tough Crowd)
Jesse Popp (Premium Blend)
Joe Mande (Totally J/K)
Matt Taylor

Hosted by Charles Star with an educational interlude about chimpanzees by Monkeywire.

Pant-Hoot!
Magnetic Field
97 Atlantic Ave. between Hicks and Henry
Free! (and happy hour all night)

Hope you can make it,


(Feel free to reblog this...)

I’m starting a new (FREE!) show in Brooklyn on August 28 at 8PM. Please join me.

Pant-Hoot is a night of excellent stand-up comedy and chimpanzee information from Charles Star and Monkeywire. This is going to be a monthly Tuesday night show.

This month:

Pete Holmes (VH1’s Best Week Ever, Comedy Central’s Premium Blend)
Dan Allen (Comedy Central’s Premium Blend)
Amy Crossfield (Comedy Central’s Open Mic Fight)
Pat O’Shea
Claudia Cogan
Hosted by Charles Star with an educational interlude from Monkeywire.org.

Pant-Hoot at Magnetic Field
97 Atlantic Avenue (Hicks / Henry)
Brooklyn Heights

What does this mean? It means that it is time for me to make another audition tape! This time, the jokes will be as funny as the last tape but I won’t jerk around like I’m davening.

So click on the images to get the details about the show or just read this:

Thursday, May 10 at 8PM at Mo Pitkin’s - 34 Avenue A between 2d St. and 3d St. Only $5!

So, who else is on this show? My coproducer once again is Rachael Parenta. She is an excellent coproducer because she does most of the work. Adrienne Iapalucci and Claudia Cogan complete the bill.

Our headliner is the hilarious Pete Holmes. Pete Holmes is on VH1’s Best Week Ever, was on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, is a favorite at CollegeHumor.com and is the host of periodic late-night open mic Gut Bucket at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre with TJ Miller. Also, we play poker together sometimes.

The whole thing is hosted by Tony Camin, who has also been on Premium Blend, is one of the co-writers of hit play The Marijuana-logues, and is the co-host of talk show Broin’ Out with Leo Allen, currently at UCB. Here is another clip of him.

Seriously, this is going to be awesome.

I have two spots tonight and tight braids.

First, 7:30 at Pete’s Candy Store in Williamsburg (709 Lorimer St. between Richardson and Frost). Hosted by Jen Dziura and also featuring Lucas Held, Brad Aldous, Amanda Pettit, Ray Devito, and Shawn Hollenbach. Free show.

Second, 10 at Freddy’s in Prospect Heights (Dean St. & 6th Ave.) Hosted by Pat O’Shea and featuring whoever else he happens to bring in. Free show.

Tomorrow I will be performing at Drink at Work‘s Summer Tuesdays with Eric Andre, Nick Kroll, Jiwon Li, John F. O’Donnell, Jesse Popp and David Rees.

And yes, for two days only (maybe a couple more), Charles Star is rockin’ the tight cornrows. I am going to post a full panel of pictures in a Flickr set as a memorial. For the only pic online go to Clarified. (It should be up any minute… and it’s up!)

Finally, I shouldn’t have lashed out at this guy. He was only trying to help.

What a witty title! Anyway, the Mo Pitkins show was fantastic; thanks to all who came and all who performed. The DVD has its flaws (most of them mine) but I am happy with it and will eventually be posting it online. Maybe here, maybe - after I get off of my lazy ass and start a myspace page because that is what all the cool kids were doing a year ago - on a myspace page. And maybe YouTube because I am curious about whether that would result in anything.

But why dwell on the past. Now that I am settled in (hahahahahahahaha -ed.) I am getting myself booked again around town. Four dates already planned, more to come (I hope.) Come see me before I am too famous to acknowledge you when you show up.

Needless to say, you still have plenty of time.

UPDATE: I admit it. This update is solely to remind the 8 people who still have this blog in bloglines about the show. Changing the date is part of the trick.

My friend Rachael Parenta has set up a show where we can get audition tapes made. Will McKinley is hosting. The show also features stranger Daniel Wright and headliner Jess Wood - the only white woman to perform on Def Comedy Jam.

Funny people all. You can read the show details on the flyer. For the record, this is the first flyer that has my name on it. I think that is a cool thing even if it’s not cool to say so out loud.

I should have posted about this earlier, but that kind of responsible behavior just isn’t my thing. I have two excellent shows coming up. By that I mean two shows on which I will be me, for whatever that is worth, but I will be surrounded by excellent comedians so even if you aren’t all that interested in seeing me, seeing them will be worthwhile.

Also, I really need to tape myself at one or (preferably) both of these shows. If you can help me out by lending me a digital camera or taping me, I would be most appreciative. I’d buy you a drink, at least.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 17
8:00 PM: Lolita - Broome @ Allen [Free!]
The Tell Your Friends show is already jumping. Daily News and Time Out have both featured the show as a pick of the week. In addition to the host, Baron Vaughn, this week’s show features three comics with substantial TV credits: Liam McEneaney, Nick Kroll and Eugene Mirman.

Nick Kroll hosts Welcome to Our Week at Rififi on Thursday nights (with Jessi Klein). Eugene Mirman hosts Invite Them Up at Rififi on Wednesday nights (with Bobby Tisdale). Both are shows that I very much want to be on, so I guess I should do a good job on Monday, huh?

More details here, including more credits for my fellow cast members than I care to list. Click through, because my “credits” are both true (sort of) and hilarious compared to the credits of my showmates.

--------------------------
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20
9:00 PM: Telephone Bar - 2d Ave. between 9th & 10th [$1 cover]
The cover charge at Telephone Bar is $1 and they always pack the place - and then share the door with the comics and give me a free drink. It is a great room and I’m always happy to be invited back. A very good cast here as well this week.

Matt Goldich is going to be on Comedy Central’s Premium Blend this year and Nic Novicki has a recurring character on SNL. Molly Reisner has no particular credits that I know of, but she is worth watching also.

More details here.

Hope to see you at one of these shows.

The gigs clock on the right is working correctly. So come on out; it has been a while.

UPDATE: Whether the showtimes in the calendar are correct appears to depend entirely on the computer one is using. What a mess. I’ll put up an upcoming shows post soon. *sigh*