Joel Fry- DJ, MC, Comedian
[Most Recent Entries]
[Calendar View]
[Friends]
Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
jolfrey's LiveJournal:
[ << Previous 20 ]
| Monday, December 29th, 2008 | | 9:27 pm |
Haven't posted in awhile
Hey, I've paid NO attention to this thing for about a month. I've been working very hard trying to get rich and famous telling jokes. BIG NEWS: The Cornstar Comedy Tour is going strong in 2009. Here is my tour schedule for January and February (more dates to come): Jan. 16- Sandals Lounge, Knoxville Jan. 23- Road Hog Bar, State Center Jan. 24- BK's, Ogden Jan. 30- Pit Stop, Red Oak Jan. 31- Iowa Roadhouse, Mt. Ayr Feb. 14- TG's, Webster City Feb. 21- Long Branch, Creston Like I said, there are a lot more dates to come. Working on getting at LEAST one paid show every weekend. ALSO: We found a new place to do comedy after Billy Joe's closes (last show at Billy's: February 5th). We're going to be doing comedy at: AK O'Connor's Court Avenue District Under Peoples, next to Legends and The Liars Club This is incredible news. The hottest nightlife spot in Des Moines, the most prime real estate... this is going to give Des Moines comics a level of notoriety they have not yet gotten. It'll also be a great opportunity to give Cornstar comedy some pub. Sa-weet. | | Monday, December 1st, 2008 | | 2:16 pm |
Billy Joe's is CLOSING!
http://desmoines.metromix.com/bars-and-clubs/blog_post/billy-joes-pitcher-show/805641/content This is some incredibly sad news. Billy Joe's Pitcher Show, the only place in Iowa to consistently perform and see local open mic comedy in Des Moines over the past 4 years (and several prior to that), is closing its doors at the First of February if nobody purchases the place. The smoking ban, which I considered idiotic from the first time I ever heard of it, has now taken one of its most substantial victims in Iowa. The relationship between the comics performing at Billy's and the venue itself has been one that benefited both sides, and the friendship and community that formed between the regular comics is a unique and special one that wouldn't have happened if we had not all began doing comedy in Chicago or some other city where competition overrules camaraderie. There are 7 shows at Billy Joe's Pitcher Show left: Dec. 4th Dec. 11th Dec. 18th Jan. 8th Jan. 15th Jan. 22nd Jan. 29th Please make it out to as many as you can. I promise there will be somewhere else in the near future that Des Moines comics will be able to be seen regularly, and hopefully over time we can build it up to be as special as Billy's. But that'll be a pretty Herculean task. Also, check out www.cornstarcomedy.com | | Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 | | 12:04 am |
Keswick Tavern- November 28
Oh my freaking gosh. I agreed to do a show at the KT. I've never been this nervous about doing a show. I'm very excited but very freaked out too. The nice thing is, I'm basically going to be doing NO jokes; I'm going to do maaaaaybe 10 minutes of set material and just riff with inside jokes for the other 20. I've got a few minutes planned out about some things people in Keswick and Tri-Co will get: Shanoah Keep The reaction EVERY TC student gets when they tell someone else their graduating class size. What a total craphole Thornburg is. What a total craphole Webster is. What a total craphole Gibson is. What a total craphole What Cheer is. What a total craphole Keswick WOULD be if not for Teet N Tobe's. Carrie Zugg How much Keswick has changed since I graduated. But, wow, I still have to be SO careful with what I say. | | Sunday, November 9th, 2008 | | 1:36 am |
After the Contest
So I went up, thought I completely sucked, but then got 4th. I admit it; I have NO idea when I do well. Thank goodness Dannie T was a judge and likes my stuff. | | Saturday, November 8th, 2008 | | 11:45 am |
Funniest Person in Des Moines
That's the contest that is tonight at the 4th Street Theater next to Vaudeville Mews downtown. Out of the 16 guys performing, probably 7 have a realistic shot at placing in the Top 3. It just depends on how the crowd is feeling and what the judges are more tuned-in to. I'm very nervous because I have no clue in hell what I'm going to do tonight. I'd love to use my new material (stuff I've been working on since June 1), but to be totally honest with myself, I don't feel like most of that stuff is up to par with the material I created in the two years prior. New Material: Women at Strip Clubs Money Buys Happiness Ben Franklin Psychic Death Cat Challenger Explosion (easily my best new bit) Crohn's Disease College Majors Katrina Vacuum Now that I write them out, I would only be confident in most of those jokes during a longer set. The Challenger joke is probably about a B+. But I don't wanna do older stuff, to tell the truth. What's messed up about this is, I shouldn't even be thinking about it. I should just go in there, do my 5 best minutes, and get offstage. And yet, I'm contemplating going up there with my less-than-perfect stuff. What the heck is THAT all about? This is the kind of thought process that cost me Funniest Person in Iowa back in May. I decided to do my best stuff from the previous year, instead of my best stuff overall, and I got 2nd instead of 1st. And I got 2nd by two (2!) points. Damn. In fact, the stuff I used in the Finals wasn't even my best stuff from the past year; I used those jokes up in the prelims trying to GET to the finals. And then I didn't want to repeat myself. Aaaaand it caused me to F myself over in the end. 5 Puns Buffalo Wings Facial Hair Wiggity Whack Half & Half 2 Packs a Day Awkward Vacation Kosher Wine Out of those jokes, I'm gonna try to figure out a 5-minute set. I'm gonna try to shy away from doing the "Awkward Vacation" joke anymore, especially in a short set. At least until my parents are dead. | | Sunday, November 2nd, 2008 | | 10:32 pm |
Oh God.
I... I didn't get a spot as Relays talent this year. I feel like I got punched in the stomach. I can't breathe. I feel dizzy. I don't want to go here anymore. I feel like I'm going to puke. How the HELL did this happen? I had the best audition I've e-v-e-r had in 3 years of auditioning for the Relays. Oh my God. Next semester just came crashing down on me. I can't even feel anything right now, because it doesn't seem real. This is awful. I honestly feel terribly dizzy. | | Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 | | 1:55 pm |
| | Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 | | 3:14 pm |
Dammit, Fletcher.
Booking shows with places that have been burned by JLF productions in the past is rough. I wish that guy had never decided to do comedy. | | Sunday, October 5th, 2008 | | 1:08 pm |
Yay Headlining Spots.
I'm going to be at Cabaret in Clive on October 15th. I'm going to be doing 45 minutes, which is 10 minutes longer than I've ever done. This works out well, since I want to have a SOLID hour by this time next year. I'm not 100% sold on how good my 45 will be, but if nothing else I wanna be s-u-r-e I can do 30 really good minutes. At least. If I don't have that at this point, I need to work harder at writing. | | Friday, October 3rd, 2008 | | 2:15 pm |
Dammit Cubs!
The Cubs are down 2 games to nothing in a best-of-5, which is a kiss of death. 97 wins? Pointless. Dang. So my buddy Ben got taken down to the Boone police department last night during a show. Some redneck got up onstage while Doug Stone was performing and punched Doug, so Ben went apeshit on this redneck mofo and pummeled him to the ground. Someone called the cops, the guy who hit Doug got away, and Ben got taken in. Marc and Doug pleaded their cases to the cops, who let Ben go. THEN, Ben calls me and says he's still in jail and needs 300 bucks to get out. I say sure, and Ben tells me to call the station at 515-FUKIN-W... and then I told Ben to fuck himself and we all had a good laugh. Great times! I reeeeally wish I had been there, that's a cool stand-up story. Marc started the whole thing, I'm sure. I'm calling the Roosevelt game tonight, should be fun. Nobody call me between 7:00 and 9:45! Although I don't think Marc, Ben, Jerad or anyone else really reads this, so it's falling on deaf ears. | | Friday, September 26th, 2008 | | 11:18 am |
Criminitly.
The funeral was this past week. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was a casket bearer for it (all 6 of us grandsons were), which I was thankful for. I wanted to be involved somehow. Seeing my grandpa inside his casket at the visitation was the first time I'd seen a dead relative. I almost fainted and had to sit down. I completely, uncontrollably lost it. That was a common theme for a lot of people that night. I'm getting my car fixed today, which is great. Jerad's gonna do it for free. Shouldn't be too hard for him, since he fixes planes for the Guard. I've been riding the bus around in the meantime, which isn't too bad! The bus gets a bad rap. It's pretty cool. I think I'm finally going to utilize my awesome hang-out space in this apartment and invite Greg, Ben, Marc and Jerad over to watch football this Sunday. We only get 3 games, but if Jerad complains that he gets to watch every game over at his place, he can suck on a fat one. And then I'll thank him for fixing my car. | | Monday, September 22nd, 2008 | | 2:02 am |
RIP Grandpa Krumm
My mom called me at 7:52 this morning and told me that my grandpa, Claude Krumm, had past away after a 1 1/2- year battle with cancer. It went into remission a couple times, but the most recent time it came back it hit my grandpa very fast and very hard. It was so difficult to talk to my mom on the phone; I could tell she was trying her absolute hardest to hold back tears. This is the first death in my immediate family, second overall. My cousin Jack took his own life this summer, but I knew my grandpa far better. Nobody in my life has ever led by example more than my grandpa. He worked incredibly hard and spoke very little. He didn't have much use for words, only actions. He worked on every building and house in the town where I grew up, and did it for far cheaper than anyone else would have done it for. A few years ago, there was a large amount of flood damage to my Grandpa Fry's cabin. The insulation had to be dug out from underneath the floor and the carpeting needed to be torn up. After my dad and I got rid of the insulation and floor (which was a bitch of epic proportions), my Grandpa Fry knew he didn't have enough money to get both problems taken care of (at least not sufficiently). My Grandpa Krumm charged my other grandpa half what it should've cost, and threw in some linoleum that makes the cabin look nicer than ever. He refused every later attempt my Grandpa Fry made to give him the full amount. That's one way I try to emulate him. He was honest and fair, more so than I will ever be. I've always gravitated more toward my father's side of the family, but in a lot of ways I wish I was more like my Grandpa Krumm. The funeral is on Wednesday; I'm going to be home Tuesday morning through Thursday afternoon. There's a good chance I will be spending 75% of my time with my Grandma Krumm, along with the rest of my family, to make sure she isn't alone in their comfortable home for the first time in 50 years. At least until some time has passed. My grandpa held on long enough to get to his 50th wedding anniversary with my Grandma Krumm. They celebrated it only a week before he died. The next to last time I saw my grandpa was at a family reunion on August. My grandma said that if I had anything I needed to say to my grandpa, I'd darn well better say it. That scared me to hear. It was the first time I ever told my grandpa that I loved him. He said "Yup." It was the last thing he ever said to me, and it was fitting. Great, now I'm crying as I write this. I had few lengthy conversations with my grandpa, but then again, few people who weren't his own children (or my dad, whom my grandpa truly loved and respected) ever had. We didn't have much in common, but he came to EVERYTHING I did in high school. And he was proud of me. He said that a lot. He was at all the football games, the plays, the award ceremonies, whenever I hosted a band that toured through our town (even if he knew he was going to hate the band). One regret I have is that I didn't thank him enough for being there. I'm going to be doing a lot of thanking from now on. I feel really bad for my cousins Colton, Dustin and Kenton right now. Both of their grandpas have died this year. I am very fortunate that my Grandpa Fry is the healthiest 82-year-old man I know. I don't know how to grieve, as I have done very little of it in my life. I felt guilty that I didn't cry when Mom told me about Grandpa Krumm's death this morning. But I haven't gone 30 seconds (except when I was on-stage tonight at A.K. O'Connor's) without thinking about him and what he meant to me. And that he's not going to be there anymore. That's sinking in, and it hurts so horribly bad. I loved you, Grandpa. I always will. I'm lucky that I lived in the same town as you, and that you got to see me grow up. When you're looking down on my life, it is my greatest wish that you are proud of who I have and will become. | | Friday, September 12th, 2008 | | 1:42 am |
Shpadoinkle
Tonight was awesome. The show kicked ass. It was the best set I've had at Billy's since the roast. I'm finally starting to develop some new material I'm comfortable with. | | Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 | | 1:58 am |
Huh.
Reading that joke almost two months later, it's idiotic. I have a show at the Elks Club coming up on Friday. A show at Billy's the Thursday of next week. A show in Peoria the week after that. I performed in Peoria on the 7th and qualified for the semi-finals in some amateur competition they're running. The club is terrific and the owner is a great guy; he's someone who actually CARES about comedy and not just running a business. That's refreshing. Peoria sucks. The comedy club is right next to a strip club. And from what people tell me, you're WAY more likely to see a "tight" set at the comedy club. I had a TERRIBLE set at Billy's last week, but it was my fault for being totally unprepared. I need to find ways to get myself up for smaller shows and open mics and stuff. That's really awful of me to say; I shouldn't need to have to get up for ANY show, let alone Billy's. It's always a thrill to perform there, it's just getting harder whenever there's a small crowd. I work nights at Wal-Mart. I don't dislike the job, I just dislike the hours. I have my apartment to myself right now. There's a chinchilla living here for a short time. I get my paycheck on Thursday and that'll take care of rent. My next paycheck will take care of West Village. Then I am worry-free about that. Went to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City with my family for the last couple days. It was a great time and I enjoyed myself. Went to Chicago last week and finally saw the Cubs win. That was S-W-E-E-T. Also saw a Slipknot concert. Not as sweet, but Dragonforce and Disturbed were incredible. Mastadon was alright too. I swear, I spent the maximum amount of time alone with John Zugg that a person can peaceably endure. One more day and I would've screamed at him for being annoying, pointing out painfully obvious stuff, or trying to one-up me in things. It was wonderful to see Gary, Carol, and Cody in Chicago. I missed them a lot. A song Cody recorded caught the eye of a representative for Disney Radio. Cody had been firm that he does NOT want his songs playing on Disney Radio for read of being lumped in with the kinds of "musicians" that are regulars at Disney. He doesn't consider them legitimate artists or musicians (they aren't). But my Aunt Carol has been wanting him to be okay with Disney Radio liking his music, because it's a foot in the door. I think Cody can get his foot into a much larger door if he waits. I don't know many other 18-year-olds who have performed at the Grammys with no major airplay on commercial radio. Come September I'm going to be setting up 2009 stand-up dates a places like Bricktown, House of Bricks, and Jokers/Jukebox Comedy Clubs as well as other venues. I'm going to reach my goal of 100 shows this year; I want a goal of 100 paying shows next year. Upping my goals annually is, obviously, the way to go. I want to be able to go full-time once I get my loans paid off ("full-time" means I will be able to pay rent and cover basic living expenses-- I finally won't have other expenses to worry about-- on my stand-up income alone). Doug Stone tried to go full-time professional while he still had credi card debt and car payments. He now works for a temp agency accepting $7/hour jobs just to get by. I don't want that to be me. I'd rather spend the next few years honing what I have, expending and developing my material, then hitting the ground running when I am financially capable (which I consider to pretty much be anything above 0 debt). I'll do stuff like making week-long trips to NYC or Chicago to get stagetime with the big guns, but I love Des Moines enough to wanna stay here awhile and call this home. The cost of living is low, too. That helps. I'm optimistic because 2008 has been, by far, the best year for me comedically. It should be. 2009 should blow '08 out of the water, though. And 2010 should make 2009 look like it was my first year in comedy. I have to keep growing; if 2008 WASN'T my best year of comedy, I would have to re-assess what I'm doing and see why I'm not advancing in my stand-up career. Comics should get funnier. Not all of them do. I'm thankful to God that so far, I have been one of the lucky ones. ...Again, though, I'm still in Des Moines where nobody outside of Iowa knows who I am and probably won't for awhile yet. So even though it's felt like a big year for me, in the grand scheme of things, it's peanuts. Peanuts are delicious. | | Sunday, June 29th, 2008 | | 1:08 am |
Something I thought of, but can't find paper to write it down
It's very early int he morning, but I thought of this in a semi-dream state. I'm almost positive it won't be funny in the morning, but in case it is, I wanna hold on to it. Bee experts say that every beehive has one Queen Bee. You know who this must be offensive to? Gay bees. | | Monday, June 23rd, 2008 | | 12:30 am |
RIP George Carlin
Carlin died yesterday. Sunday, June 22 2008 was the last day the world got to enjoy George Carlin in person. I first knew about George Carlin through my uncle John when I was between the ages of 6 and 8. We were talking about comedians back in the 70's (when my uncle was young and began getting into comedy) and he told me about Carlin. Back then, Carlin relied almost solely on characters and making jokes of words, and Uncle John told me Carlin's "Baseball vs. Football" routine, fully accompanied with his best impression of the silly faces and voice inflections Carlin would utilize during the routine. I fell off my uncle's sofa laughing; I was floored by how funny and clever it was. (I also knew him from Shining Times Station, but I had no idea it was him when I was watching the show. Hell, I barely realized when he was replaced by Ringo Starr) When I was a little older, about 12, my dad bought Carlin's book "Brain Droppings." By this time, I was mostly familiar with Carlin's bits "Baseball vs. Football," "A Place for My Stuff," and the famous "Seven Dirty Words" bit. My dad didn't let me read the book, so I had to sneak into his shop when he wasn't around and read it. The writing was brilliant; even without the visual component, Carlin's jokes stood up against the best of them. One that still makes me cackle: "I don't think World War II would have lasted nearly as long if Germany had been run by a guy named Skippy Hitler." I have a pet peeve about people confusing "stand-up comics" with "comedians." This is a pretty ridiculous pet peeve to have, since there's no cut-and-dry way for me to distinguish between the two. When separating comics and comedians, I usually go with this example: look at Leonardo Da Vinci and Norman Rockwell. Da Vinci is an artist, while Rockwell was an illustrator. Now, on a basic level, both could draw. But what Leonardo Da Vinci did while drawing was so above-and-beyond what Norman Rockwell did that they can't possibly be put in the same category of greatness. There's some intangible quality about what each does that differentiates them from one-another and, unfortunately for Rockwell, forces us to laud Da Vinci with the greatest title we can bestow on someone who makes pictures: artist. Rockwell doesn't add up. The difference between comics and comedians is the same thing, for me. And George Carlin is comedy's Da Vinci. He transcended the idea of a guy telling jokes onstage as few (or nobody) ever have/has. He was more than clever; he was brilliant. He was more than funny; he was so hilarious that he was important. A comedic version of Rockwell would be like Nick Swardson or Dane Cook. I don't feel it's fair to give Dane Cook the same title as George Carlin. I call Cook a comic, and Carlin a comedian. I have a list of comedians I want to meet someday. Unfortunately, I have had to cross two off the list due to death: Rodney Dangerfield and now, George Carlin. Sometimes Carlin got too preachy for me. It felt like he wasn't doing stand-up anymore so much as just being a spoken-word performer. A couple of his later specials show him doing this; it's almost as if he didn't care that people came to his show expecting him to be funny. His most recent special, though, was great. And Carlin, at his funniest, was better in so many ways than anyone in history. He was literally a comedic genius, a professor of comedy. Carlin is one of the 2 most prolific comedians of all-time (along with Bill Cosby). He is one of the 3 most important (along with Lenny Bruce-- who I don't find funny in the least-- and Richard Pryor, whose material is unfortunately not relatable enough to me for me to consider him a great influence). Although there are some funnymen who I favor over him on a subjective level, there is no doubt in my mind that George Carlin is the greatest comedian to ever live. We are all diseased. | | Friday, May 30th, 2008 | | 3:13 pm |
The Finals
I got 2nd last night. Made $350, which means I've made about $1200 doing comedy this year. That's not bad. I have a guest set at The Funny Bone on June 11th which was confirmed last night by Willie Farrell, who is headlining that night. He thought I did pretty well last night. It was awesome to see Glen, Kleinmeyer and their girlfriends at the show last night. It was also fantastic to sit with Jeff Caudill and his wife, since they made the 1 1/4 hour trip up to DSM. I felt good during most of my set, but I didn't end it perfectly, so I actually had this sort of hollow feeling coming off the stage. I could've done better. Gunner (the head of Comedy Co-Operative) said it was disappointing that I didn't use my best material in the Finals. But some of my best material is almost two years old, and I did it in last year's Finals. Oh well. I just didn't want to repeat myself is all. Ben Herman got 3rd; I'm actually really surprised he didn't win. Dannie T won, which makes sense because he's a name and had a pretty good set, but he wasn't ON. Ben was ON. I had about an A-to-A-minus set, but I felt like Ben had an A-to-A-plus set. He didn't end fantastically though, so that may have hurt him. I have a show at the House of Bricks tonight, and I'm using the money from that show to get myself a new phone. I cracked the screen on the one I have now because I got distracted at Valley West and H-A-M-M-E-R-E-D the escalator. I've had the phone since November of '05, so it's a little disappointing that I have to give it up. I've received 6 text messages today and have no idea what the hell they say. I've just been calling back whoever sent me them to see what's up. Mostly well-wishers. I met a guy over at Chipotle(!) who is interested in having a Comedy Night over at Zanzibar's on Ingersoll. Maybe that'll materialize. I gave him my business card to told him to gimme a call once everything got hammered out. It wouldn't be a show with a set pay, we'd just be working for tips. But it's better than doing a show for free like we do at Billy's (although Billy's is my favorite room to work in the world). I'm satisfied. But I gotta get my set ready for tonight. Back to work! | | Saturday, May 10th, 2008 | | 3:22 pm |
Thursday Night was awesome.
I had a really good set at the Comedy Splash Stand-up Showdown at Billy's the other night. I qualified for the Finals on May 29th in the theater room, and it'd be amazing if as many people came to support me as possible. I'm still psyched; it feels like things are coming a little bit easier now. My stage presence and timing are improving, and I'm really fortunate that my new material is just as good or better than stuff I've written in the past. It's every comic's goal to improve over time material-wise, but that's not always the case. I am doing a better job of finding my voice and stage persona and playing to it, which is helping me out big-time. I hope the Finals go well. Accomplishing my goal in one try (and to have it happen in Week One) is sweet! Now I can go and cheer on my friends like Jerad and Doug as they try to make it in during the next couple weeks of preliminaries. Now, I'm off to a barbecue hosted by Marc and Ben (Ben and Dannie T also made it to the Finals). "You know what I find to be ironic? A black chick that's into bondage." -Unknown | | Monday, April 7th, 2008 | | 12:22 pm |
Relays. Looming.
Just finished my letter of recommendation to Fred for this $2,000 scholarship thing. Hope it's good enough! So Jeff Caudill's birthday party was awesome. It started out ominously enough, with me getting stuck in his driveway because there was some really soft dirt next to a steep embankment. Some of the people at the party (redneck, good-ol-boy jackasses) told me I should get a tow truck because we'd never be able to just push it out without knocking off the exhaust pipe and messing up the undercarriage. Look, I've gotten into tough messes with my car before, and I knew they were full of crap. As soft as the ground was, my car would be fine if we just revved the engine like SOB's and got about 5 guys behind it pushing. I was wrong. It took 4 guys. Screw you, ya hick bastards! Marc, Ben and I all did short sets to commemorate Jeff's 30th, although none of us knew we were gonna be doing comedy when we got there. Jeff's wife assumed that, as stand-up comics, we are essentially just a wandering caravan of jokesmiths, peddling our craft wherever we go. This isn't the case, but she already set up a karaoke machine with a pretty decent microphone and had people sit around their kitchen with us in the corner, doing a bunch of yuk-em-ups. By the way, their house is small but gorgeous. And I totally kicked Ben's ass at Ping Pong (which the more hardcore people at the party called "table tennis," but to heck with them, it's ping-pong). Gotta study for my World Pol test tomorrow, as well as go over to the Stadium at 4:00 for more filming. This "Track 101" thing better be worth all the extra work we talent have to do. Oh well. :) | | Friday, April 4th, 2008 | | 7:29 pm |
BIRTHDAY PAR-TAY!
Jeff Caudill's 30th birthday party is tomorrow, and it's a SURPRISE birthday party! I'm driving Marc and Benny down there with me to rock and roll with Jeff, his wife, and a bunch of their friends. Woo-hoo! We're finally putting on the Comic Showcase here at Drake on April 16th at 8pm on Pomerantz Stage. Myself, Ben, Greg and Marc have committed to it. We need two more guys. Jerad and Dusty are my next targets but I haven't heard back from them yet. It'll be an awesome show, 90 minutes of hardcore hilarity. I am soooooo excited! Nervous right now. Later, Journalator. Current Mood:  nervous |
[ << Previous 20 ]
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92){kind=small}
jolfrey's journal