Life and Death

I haven't blogged in quite awhile, probably this entire year. I have been pretty busy with school and really didn't feel like blogging too much. I have been doing mostly local gigs, including a short-lived show at JB'z Sports Bar, which I was hosting on Saturday nights. The restaurant closed down a couple of weeks ago, but we had some great lineups and the crowd was usually pretty solid. Thanks to everyone who performed and supported the show! I'm now 0 for 2 on promoting shows, the other place I did shows at closed down as well. I think I'll just stick to performing and let everyone else deal with promoting.

I've been a regular guest on the Potential Problems Podcast with Allen Clark and John Cuellar. I have been on there for a little over a month now and it's always fun. We have had some really cool guests on there. Check it out!

As far as shows go, I haven't done many road gigs while focusing on school. The semester ended last week and I did a gig in Angelfire with Matt Peterson and Keith Breckenridge, and then went to Hondah Casino with Freddy Charles. I'm trying to fill up my schedule for the next couple of months before getting a job and finishing my associate's degree!

I've lost a handful of friends in the past half-year also, which has been extremely shitty. In December, two of my friends died. Gabby was a former co-worker at the comedy club, she left behind a young child, which breaks my heart. My friend, Jimmy, from Iowa, also died. He was a good friend of the family.

Earlier this year I learned that Lori Callahan, a comic from Denver, had died. I met Lori probably around 2005, I was doing a guest spot at Laffs in Albuquerque and she was headlining. When I got off stage she came up and complimented me on my joke writing and gave me some pointers, she said, "you know you said 'fuck' 17 times?" That was in a five minute set, I had no idea that I had, so I made it a point to completely cut it out of my act, and I rarely say it onstage now because of her. When I moved to Denver in 2009 she was great to me. She took me on some gigs with her to Douglas, Wyoming, and Hill City, South Dakota. She never made me pay any gas, either, which is super cool of a comic to do. Lori actually talked to Wende Curtis, the owner of Comedy Works about getting me a guest spot. I didn't ask her to do it, she did it because that's how Lori was. I never did get the guest spot, but a very cool gesture by Lori. You will be missed!

Last week, I also found out that my biggest fan, Shawn Chamberlain, passed away. My first time featuring at Laffs in Tucson, Shawn was there to see headliner, Dave Ashley, and he really enjoyed my show. Every time I came to Tucson he bought merch, came to all the shows, and even took me out to eat, knowing that I wasn't making much money, he was willing to help out a little bit. I've kept in touch with his family over the years as his health declined. His family was always great to me and very welcoming.

Colorado Tour and Pinetop, AZ

MAY 2-4 COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO: LOONEES COMEDY CORNER W/MATT PETERSON AND LANDRY

Had a fun week at Loonees in Colorado Springs! Matt Peterson was our opening act for the week. It was nice getting him some stage time at a comedy club, he did a great job! Had fun with him. Landry was the headliner for the week, I had met him before in Las Vegas and Atlanta at a couple comedy festivals. He won the World Series of Comedy, super funny guy and really nice, too. It was nice hanging out with the Loonees crew.

MAY 3 DENVER, COLORADO: COMIC CENTS RADIO W/JESSE CARTER, JODEE CHAMPTION, JOHN T. WREN AND ANDREW ORVEDAHL

Friday I cruised up to Denver for an hour on Comic Cents Radio, you can check it out here. It was fun shooting the shit with Jesse and Jodee, Andrew Orvedahl popped in a little late.



MAY 6 FORT COLLINS, COLORADO: EAST COAST BAR W/BRETT CRANDALL, BEN ADAMS, STEVE YOUNG

Had a show at the East Coast Bar in Fort Collins! Steve Young headlined, it was nice seeing Steve again, he was always one of my favorite guys in the Denver scene, super nice guy and funny. I had never seen Ben Adams before, but he was hilarious! Brett was a great host, too, another super nice guy as well. They had some burlesque dancers on the show as well, which is always pretty rad. Met some cool people up there. Had a solid 10 minute set!



MAY 8 DENVER, COLORADO: DEER PILE W/CHRISTIE BUCHELE, BOBBY CRANE, NATHAN LUND, DR. KEVIN FITZGERALD, SAM TALLENT, A.J. FINNEY AND CHRIS CHARPENTIER

Wednesday night I went to Comedy Works downtown to see Troy Baxley headline, he's one of my favorites! It was an awesome show, got to see Stephanie McHugh, Phil Palisoul and George McClure also.

Afterwards, I walked over to the Deer Pile for the show with the Fine Gentlemen's Club show, Too Much Fun. Christie Buchele, Bobby Crane, Nathan Lund, Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald, Sam Tallent, A.J. Finney and Chris Charpentier were all on the show, too! Holy shit, what a great lineup. Had a fun set, a little edgier than normal! Tried some new shit that did great, too.



MAY 9 DENVER, COLORADO: VOODOO COMEDY PLAYHOUSE W/AMBER HOTT, CHRIS CARLTON, BRENDAN BIRCH AND ULTRA SEX LASERS

This was another fantastic show at a little improv theatre in Denver. Fun crowd, really enjoyed the show, and the band, Ultra Sex Lasers were really cool! Got to see some old friends, too.



MAY 10-11 GREELEY, COLORADO: THE DOWN UNDER COMEDY CLUB W/JASON "MUTT" RODGERS, J-SIN NOVAK, AND DON MORGAN

The Down Under in Greeley is a super cool little comedy club in Northern Colorado. I loved both of the shows there! First night we had about 25, but the crowd was solid. Saturday we had over 50 and they were great! Such a fun weekend, and Don Morgan rocked it! It was nice to see him do a feature set. Love that dude.





MAY 13 PINETOP, ARIZONA: HONDAH CASINO W/KEITH ELLIS

I drove out to Pinetop for the show at Hondah. Keith Ellis was the feature act, funny guy from Phoenix! Had a fun time out there.

Matt Peterson

Today is the birthday of my good friend, Matt Peterson, an Albuquerque comic. I've known Matt since before his comedy days when we worked together at Poppi's Pizza (I miss that place!) Matt was always a super cool guy to work with, in fact, on my final delivery there when my car broke down, Matt came and picked me up and took me on the delivery. It was like something out of a movie. An extremely gay movie, but still, a movie. I got to see Matt perform his first few shows over at Laffs Comedy Club, and I knew he was going to be good. He had a great stage presence, and never seemed nervous. I could usually always tell who the new comics were, mostly because I'd have to clean up their puke in the bathroom at the club. With Matt you could never tell if he was nervous.

Over the years Matt's act has gotten so much better. He's a great bit writer and he's an awesome performer, too. I love watching him get pissed off, his rants are the hilarious! I saw him one night at Howie's rip into some people, not going to mention their names, but holy shit! That was one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life.

I've taken Matt on the road a couple of times, and in May we are going to Loonees Comedy Corner in Colorado Springs! I love working with Matt on the road, he's so laid back. Some comics are hard to work with, but not Matt. Last time I took him up there was my birthday week, we got pretty hammered. We worked with Matt Baetz, who is hilarious. Had great shows all weekend, and had fun watching March Madness.

Happy birthday Matt Peterson! Love ya buddy.


To see Matt perform, he's at the Damn Bar in Rio Rancho ever Friday at 8 pm. Also, a big show at the Guild Theater March 15th. He's also one of my opening acts for my dvd taping, so get out and see Matt perform! He's on at the Box tonight at 10:30

Albuquerque, El Paso April 28-30

Sitting at the Greyhound station in El Paso about to head back home. I hate people who always have to talk, its like they get freaked out if its quiet for two seconds. Shut the fuck up lady. And there's a poster it says, "When the Globetrotters travel, they go Greyhound." Its probably because they all work there. And that explains why they only play one game a week, takes a few days just to get to the next city. I think they call it Greyhound because their time is like dog time.

Thursday night was my last time performing at Howies in Albuquerque. Its been a great venue the last couple years and I never had a bad show there. Thursday we had a great lineup-Roger Peterson, Brett Hiker, Joe Quesada, Sarah Kennedy, me and Matt Peterson. Show was great! Everyone of the comics rocked, Brett and Joe have really come a long way since we used to do shows at The Tavern. Only flaw of the night was the heckling. I've been doing comedy almost ten years and I've dealt with hundreds of hecklers, they don't bother me, unless the hecklers are other comics. There was also a guy who is looking to start up a weekly comedy show in town at a venue I'm not going to promote here, but I am gonna guess he's not going to get any of the good local comics on the lineup, good luck buddy. He was on his phone for the first part of the show, and heckled a little bit during as well. Like I said the heckling doesn't bother me, but if you're looking to do a local comedy show, don't piss off the comics. They finally left during Matt's set and he did some pretty funny rants about the trio of douches. Matt should rant more often, it was hilarious! And by the end of his set his hair looked like Bill Murrays at the end of "Kingpin."

Friday I headlined the Federal Courthouse Bar in El Paso. Had a solid lineup of comics, Tim Schultz from Nashville featured, he was great! Him and I rode down together with Dave Graham, a very funny comic from El Paso who happened to be in Albuquerque the night before. It was my first time following a guitar act, it was fun. Sam and Alex(I forgot his last name, its on the flyer though) both did great. I worked with Alex last year, he's improved a lot. Patrick Candelaria stopped in to check out the show, too, it was great to see him. I did a midwest run with him last year.

Last night the show was at House of Rock, a music venue. Good size venue, it would be cool to catch a concert there. Sam was the host again, but I missed his set. The opener was a magician, he was pretty entertaining, not a big fan of magic, but it was good for the show, had a lot of different styles of comedy. Aleks with a K featured, he's always funny. I had a fun set, didn't get to do a full headline set, they had a band booked after our show, so I had to get off stage at 10. I always like coming to El Paso, crowds are always great. They don't buy merchandise though, maybe I need to record a cd in Spanish.

This week I am back at Wits End featuring! Working with my good buddy Dante and his lady, Rebekah Kochan. Looking forward to it!

My television debut

I filmed for a 5 minute set for a show called "Duke City Comedy League" back in June of this year and it is airing Saturday night in New Mexico and southern Colorado on my50 TV at midnight! It sounds like the show has been doing pretty well! I'm excited to see how it turned out. Also on the show are Mary Byrd and Matt Peterson! So, check it out or tivo it or whatever it is you crazy kids are doing these days.

I'm hoping to line up another show in Albuquerque sometime this year, or early next year. I don't have much on the books for the rest of the year. I did submit for the Laughing Skull Festival though, and I'll know if I made it on November 1! I'm pretty excited, it's the first festival I've tried out for. If I do make it, I'll either get to perform in Austin on Nov 16, LA Nov 16 or Denver Nov 17 for the first round!