Daniel O'Brien's Blog, page 2
December 21, 2017
We’re Putting on a Show
Hey Friends!
I don’t expect everyone to follow me on every little social media platform I have, so some of this might be news to you, but if you’ve been even tangentially following me on Twitter or Instagram, you’ve maybe heard a whisper or two about the following two items:
1.) I and a number of my talented coworkers are no longer working at cracked.com, a comedy website that was my professional home since 2007;
2.) I am now a shower-at-night person after years of being a shower-in-the-morning person;
Both of those things are true. I shower at night now, and then I sit around in my Parachute robe that I love so much and I go to sleep smelling and feeling great. I know that showering in the morning is a great way to wake yourself up, but honestly showering at night is just more pleasant and turns something that could seem perfunctory into some luxurious. Also, Cracked the site continues (and has my full support), but a bunch of its employees were laid off, and it was sad for a little bit. I was sad for a little bit.
Everyone processes sadness in their own way. The day after being laid off, I contacted the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica and requested a slot to make a live comedy/variety show, because my instinct was to create a showcase for me and all of the other amazing people who were also laid off to create comedy and music and to say goodbye to (at least) our Los Angeles fans. I reached out to Westside to say “Everyone I know got laid off and we want to make comedy,” and they instantly responded “Sounds great. Does January 5th work?”
It does.
My instinct is to take something negative and build something positive out of it, so I’m taking advantage of the fact that a lot of my favorite comedy people suddenly have free time to make comedy and bring some magic into the world. It’s silly to think of comedy as magic, but I’ve always thought about comedy as magic, because I’m a pretty silly person. So I wanted to create a night that could only exist under very specific and unrepeatable circumstances, which makes it magic to me. It’s the only thing I know how to do.
The result is a one-night-only comedy event we’re calling:
Broked Dot Com Presents a Night of Legally Non-Disparaging Comedy
TOM REIMANN
KATIE WILLERT
CODY JOHNSTON
DAVID BELL
ADAM TOD BROWN
JACK O’BRIEN HAS PROMISED TO DO “SOMETHING”
TERESA LEE
ZORA BIKANGAGA
KATIE GOLDIN
LOTS LOTS MORE, SOME I CAN’T EVEN MENTION, IT’S GONNA BE NUTS
I’m hosting. We’ve got stand ups. We’re going to do some jokes. We’re going to do some music. We’re going to have some INSANE special guests. I will also try to arrange cupcakes or donuts or something. This isn’t going to be a bunch of jobless people sobbing or complaining; it’s going to be the funniest people I know making jokes and music for you. Whatever else, I promise that we are going to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience to celebrate an amazing website and the people who no longer work there.
(No filming will be allowed.)
Do you like Cracked? Do you want an opportunity to see some former Cracked folks and their hilarious friends make jokes and say goodbye?
Get tickets here:
January 5th, 2018.
Westside Comedy Theater (Santa Monica, LA)
11:30pm-1:00am
Hahaha you beautiful babies I made a Tumblr post at night on a Wednesday and the show sold out in under ten hours hahahahaha you beautiful babies thank you..
The theater says if you didn’t get a ticket, you can get on the waitlist by getting to the theater early and hoping that people who bought tickets don’t show up.
Thank you thank you thank you.
December 20, 2017
We’re Putting on a Show
Hey Friends!
I don’t expect everyone to follow me on every little social media platform I have, so some of this might be news to you, but if you’ve been even tangentially following me on Twitter or Instagram, you’ve maybe heard a whisper or two about the following two items:
1.) I and a number of my talented coworkers are no longer working at cracked.com, a comedy website that was my professional home since 2007;
2.) I am now a shower-at-night person after years of being a shower-in-the-morning person;
Both of those things are true. I shower at night now, and then I sit around in my Parachute robe that I love so much and I go to sleep smelling and feeling great. I know that showering in the morning is a great way to wake yourself up, but honestly showering at night is just more pleasant and turns something that could seem perfunctory into some luxurious. Also, Cracked the site continues (and has my full support), but a bunch of its employees were laid off, and it was sad for a little bit. I was sad for a little bit.
Everyone processes sadness in their own way. The day after being laid off, I contacted the Westside Comedy Theater in Santa Monica and requested a slot to make a live comedy/variety show, because my instinct was to create a showcase for me and all of the other amazing people who were also laid off to create comedy and music and to say goodbye to (at least) our Los Angeles fans. I reached out to Westside to say “Everyone I know got laid off and we want to make comedy,” and they instantly responded “Sounds great. Does January 5th work?”
It does.
My instinct is to take something negative and build something positive out of it, so I’m taking advantage of the fact that a lot of my favorite comedy people suddenly have free time to make comedy and bring some magic into the world. It’s silly to think of comedy as magic, but I’ve always thought about comedy as magic, because I’m a pretty silly person. So I wanted to create a night that could only exist under very specific and unrepeatable circumstances, which makes it magic to me. It’s the only thing I know how to do.
The result is a one-night-only comedy event we’re calling:
Broked Dot Com Presents a Night of Legally Non-Disparaging Comedy
TOM REIMANN
KATIE WILLERT
CODY JOHNSTON
DAVID BELL
ADAM TOD BROWN
JACK O’BRIEN HAS PROMISED TO DO “SOMETHING”
TERESA LEE
ZORA BIKANGAGA
KATIE GOLDIN
LOTS LOTS MORE, SOME I CAN’T EVEN MENTION, IT’S GONNA BE NUTS
I’m hosting. We’ve got stand ups. We’re going to do some jokes. We’re going to do some music. We’re going to have some INSANE special guests. I will also try to arrange cupcakes or donuts or something. This isn’t going to be a bunch of jobless people sobbing or complaining; it’s going to be the funniest people I know making jokes and music for you. Whatever else, I promise that we are going to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience to celebrate an amazing website and the people who no longer work there.
(No filming will be allowed.)
Do you like Cracked? Do you want an opportunity to see some former Cracked folks and their hilarious friends make jokes and say goodbye?
Get tickets here:
January 5th, 2018.
Westside Comedy Theater (Santa Monica, LA)
11:30pm-1:00am
December 2, 2017
You are the entire reason I started watching Gilmore Girls ❤ thanks for always recommending new pop culture things. You seem like a cool dude
No problem! I am in fact a very cool dude. Let me also suggest:
On Netflix:
American Vandal- A fake true crime documentary about a stupid high school prank. This is probably one of my favorite things in recent memory. Spoofs all of those true crime things perfectly while also building a legitimately compelling mystery with a lot of moving parts and ALSO ALSO is one of the most accurate portrayals of high school dynamics I’ve ever seen.
Big Mouth- Really foul cartoon about puberty full of all of your favorite people in comedy. This is a show written from a place of honesty and love.
Mr. Roosevelt- This technically won’t be on Netflix until December 26th, but I don’t know when you’ll be reading this, maybe it’ll be the future, who knows. This is a movie about people with big hearts who sometimes make mistakes and who sometimes don’t know what to do.
On TV:
Crazy Ex Girlfriend- I will never stop recommending this show to anyone and everyone. Rachel is a friend, but even if we’d never met and spent a long time brainstorming a Cool Runnings app over a plate of nachos, I know I’d still love this show and recommend it just as fiercely.
The Good Place- This is the best comedy on television.
Movies Movies Movies:
This has been a real shit-fire of a year, but every once in a while I remember to acknowledge that I’m lucky that artists who are much better than me channelled their frustrations and feelings into amazing movies that I get to see.
The Shape of Water- This movie is everything. It’s a movie for optimists, it’s a fairy tale for people who love love and an indictment against cynicism. Everyone in it is incredible and also there’s a cute monster.
Ladybird- I wish I could see this movie for the first time a hundred times. It’s a coming-of-age tale about a 17-year-old girl growing up in Northern California that super resonated with this 31-year-old dude person who grew up in New Jersey.
Get Out- Can you believe we get to live in a timeline where Get Out and Ladybird came out in the same year? Both movies are such gifts, it seems almost greedy to me that we get both of them. Get Out is a perfect fucking film.
Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri- This movie definitely has its flaws but I don’t care I live for the marriage of Martin McDonagh, Sam Rockwell and Power House Frances McDormand.
Books:
I’m putting together an end-of-year book list that will go out in my newsletter (subscribe today it’s fuckin free).
December 1, 2017
November 5, 2017
"… be aware of and curious about the world around you…give what you have with neither..."
-
Vacationland, by John Hodgman
I’m going to think about this advice for the rest of my life. This book is fantastic.
October 23, 2017
Hey Dan! Is EPCD done for? I kind of miss it.
Yes! Not enough people watched it, so I ruthlessly cancelled it.
October 17, 2017
"Fuck all white people". seriously? You need to qualify statements like that. Or those of us who have been your friends for years will understandably think we fall under that umbrella.
I don’t NEED to qualify shit.
You clearly didn’t care about your last rude post and didn’t looked at any of the links I provided at the end? My “qualifying” was there if you really needed that.
Since you can’t understand why it’s fucked up to place that burden on me, instead of maybe thinking outside of your bubble, then FUCK OFF. AND I MEAN YOU. SPECIFICALLY. NOT “ALL”. YOU. There now I made it personal (happy now?) You fall “under that umbrella” because you think your feelings are more important than addressing racism.
Your thoughts on this should actually be, “Man, my friend Star, seems to be really mad at White People because of racism. That sucks! White People do a lot of fucked up things to People of Color. I can’t possibly imagine what must feel like. I wonder what I, as a White Person, could I do to help stop racism? Maybe I should at least ask her if she’s doing okay considering all the horrible shit going on?”
If you are actually one of my RL friends (which I honestly doubt, since they don’t use Tumblr anymore?) and can’t speak to me directly about this, then don’t bother trying to be my friend anymore. BYE. I don’t want a “friend” who tries to shame me into considering how I might be making YOU uncomfortable about racism. IT’S SUPPOSED TO UNCOMFORTABLE. AND YET STILL NOT AN OUNCE OF WHAT IT ACTUAL FEELS LIKE TO EXPERIENCE RACISM.
October 15, 2017
Has it occurred to you yet that these unwarranted glib ugly disparaging comments you make painting all white people as racists might not be appreciated by friends and those who work with you? Or should they just take the blame for attitudes they do not pos
How fucking dare…
If these “friends” feel personally attacked by the things I say about racism, maybe they should check themselves and ask why they feel uncomfortable?
If these “friends” can’t handle me talking about white people and racism in a way that makes THEM feel comfortable, then they aren’t friends of mine.
I’ve already held my tongue and tried to talk about these issues in a “toned down” way to be nice. I continually do so in my everyday life in order to just “get along” and not be labeled the “angry black girl.” I’m not going to do that in my own online social media space too.
So let me be even blunter: White folks. Fuck your feelings. Your feelings aren’t more important than actual racism. I’m not here to make you comfortable.
And because I’m NICE, here’s some resources for white people who ACTUALLY mean well and not passive-aggressively trying to guilt me into shutting the fuck up:
- “’Not All White People’ and Derailing Conversations”
- “Dear White People, Stop Making Racism All About You”
- “5 Ways White People Can Fight White Supremacy”
- “What People Mean When They Say All White People Are Racist”
October 13, 2017
Hi, so as someone who works in YouTube media with a sometime focus on film (I really loved obsessive pop culture discussion btw) have you been following what's going on at Screen Junkies? Do you have views?
My view is that you shouldn’t sexually assault anyone. I’m fucking sick of bullies getting power.
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