Comedy Thursday Aug. 2

Somehow, I always get suckered into doing stand-up comedy. And this week is my week to go in front of an angry, hostile crowd and make them even more angry and hostile. It's a thankless job, but, God, I love it.

I'll be performing this Thursday night, August 2, at 8:30 p.m. at the Smokehouse, 1231 Van Ness Ave -- that's in downtown Fresno, on Van Ness just north of Fresno St.

I'll be talking my usual drivel, about sex (good, especially when I can get some), death (really good when it happens to other people), religion (very bad, except when it helps me get sex), women (they don't sleep with me; I wonder why?), and God (the job that's my lifelong ambition.)

Plus more comedy from Ken Lewis, Will Wright and more! And you get to eat those delicious Smokehouse ribs! What more could you want?!

Cover is $15. Proceeds to go to my favorite charity -- guess which one!

“Fresno” on TV!

Be one of the first to see a clip from Entandem Productions’ upcoming documentary, “Fresno!” Christine and Jaguar are scheduled to appear on Channel 26’s morning show, “Great Day,” this Tuesday, June 19, at way too early in the morning. We’ll be showing a clip from “Fresno”—the first time anyone in the world, anywhere, will get a chance to see a portion of the film.

Want to see a little bit of what we’ve been doing, get up early (or stay up late, depending on your habits) and catch us on Great Day! Tell all your friends!

[Note on the headline: This is an extremely private joke, which I'm now going to spoil by explaining it to you. When I very briefly lived in San Francisco in the nineties, I couch-surfed with an ex-Fresnan and we lived in a neighborhood that was infested with Fresno ex-pats. One day, I was watching the TV news in the living room while there was a gaggle of Fresnans in the kitchen. I saw a story about a horrible plane crash in Fresno. Did I stop to think about the people who were injured and killed? Of course not. Dumbstruck, all I could think was to yell incoherently, "Fresno on TV! Fresno on TV" to bring everyone running. After that, "Fresno on TV" became our catchword for unexpected publicity.]

Comedy This Thursday at the Smokehouse in Downtown Fresno

I'm putting on a little comedy show this Thursday, June 14, 8:00 PM, at the Smokehouse, 1231 Van Ness Ave. in downtown Fresno.

This is kind of a return of Fresno comedy to its roots. For those who don't know, the Smokehouse is in the location of what was once Fresno's only comedy club, the Athenian. (I played the Athenian once at the very beginning of my comedy career.) After the Athenian closed, the club was bought by new owners who renamed it Screwballz, and after Screwballz closed, comedy was pretty dead in Fresno.

But we're bringing that comedy spirit back to the place this week. We're featuring seven comedians: me, Ken Lewis, Rick Rodham, Nick Nocketback, Kris Devoid, Will Wright and Aimee Ortiz.

Cover is only $15--that's a mere $2.14 per comedian. Now that's your best entertainment value. See you there!

Accidental Camera Phone Picture #3

"Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism" by Susan Jacoby. Winter 2007

Constant reader reports ...

When people ask me what I do, I say I'm a writer, but being a reader is actually closer to my true identity. The actual work of writing is nearly always sheer drudgery, and the profession of writing is precarious and ill-paid, but reading always affords real pleasure. If I were forced to never write again, I wouldn't like it, but I'd adjust. If I were forced to never read again—I simply don't know what I would do with myself. The idea is simply too alien to even consider.

I am always reading something. I frequently dine in public alone with a book. (When I had a girlfriend, we would go out to restaurants and read and eat together in silence, which always amazed the wait staff.) I never leave the house without a book in my pocket or in my car; after all, you never know when you'll have to wait five minutes, and far better to spend that time reading than just waiting. I really can't understand it when I see people in restaurants, eating or drinking by themselves, and just staring into space, doing nothing.

I'm pretty sure that makes me a rarity in today's world. Even the bookish people I know don't really read all that much. God knows few people read for pleasure nowadays. I much prefer honest uneducated illiterates to middle-class educated illiterates. The honest illiterate may read twice a year, and he or she may only read People or Lowrider magazine, but at least they read what they read because they enjoy it. The middle-class educated illiterate, who only reads books of guaranteed quality that will improve them, are the real death of literature.

A friend once announced to me with great solemnity, that she was going to read a book that summer and she wanted me to select a really good book that would be worth the time investment. As if reading a book were a grand cultural experience that you might take in once a year, like going to the opera or traveling to Rome.

Bizarre, if True

The incredibly prolix Eric Field (aka Lacquer, Semi-Gloss Lacquer) made a comment to my last post that I found surprising. In order to give this startling news more publicity, I decided that it needed to be upgraded from a mere comment on a blog that no one reads to a main article on a blog that no one reads.

Here is Eric's comment:

so, um, like, yah... I was catching up with my younger brother about the NY scene, the potential of Rogue East:
(Peter) '..uh, good luck on that one, bud, that's going to be an uphill to get people to hand over venues, things are really tight if not closing down in a lot of ways, it's just not artist friendly...'

then he drops the bomb..

'...actually, what the buzz is, is how Fresno is going to be the third wave... yep, they're even talking about the Rogue and everything over here, and how that it's the last really affordable and decent place to break in your stuff, has a strong performer-artist base, lots of friendly venues, and affordable housing and all that... you guys are about to boom...'

(me) '...you're kidding.'

(Peter) '...nope, that's what I'm hearing this ways... the trend is now shifting away from places like NYC and S.F. and towards Fresno...'

I just don't know whether to believe this at all. If that's actually the buzz about Fresno in New York, there has got to be a Fresnan in NYC who is a demon publicist.

In other news: Entandem Productions' new film "Fresno: the Documentary" (working title) is now in production, with four days of shooting in the virtual digital video can. Check out our progress on the Entandem Blog!

A new venture is launched ... Entandem Productions

In my birthday post, I made some cryptic comments about new projects. It's time to introduce New Project #1: Entandem Productions, the new Fresno film company founded by my partner Christine Mitchell and myself.

The goal of Entandem is to create unabashedly smart films for smart people, with uncompromising standards of originality and quality. And if that wasn't ambitious enough, we want to build a successful independent film studio right here in Fresno, using San Joaquin Valley locations and talent.

Our first production will be a documentary about Fresno itself, and its past, present and probable future. Fresno is a paradox: a small town that's a big city, a backwater with an amazing arts scene, the fruit garden of the world set in a desert, a place that everyone is dying to leave, but everyone comes back to.

Our new documentary will try to capture Fresno in all its contradictions and complexity. We start filming tonight, at the Fresno Art Council's Horizon Awards, where we'll observe the movers and shakers of the Fresno art scene in their native habitat.

We'll be filming all this summer -- you can watch our progress by checking out the updates on Entandem's website and blog.