NonSociety – Live Differently. Harrison's Tumblr A stand-up kind of guy

Following My Lifecast: Here's a glimpse into my life. Scroll to the right to view chronologically, and click 'earlier' to see more.

Nov 30, 09 12:49pm
I was definitely inspired by the documentary, Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project.  I had seen it once before on HBO, but found it on Hulu yesterday (link here) and couldn’t resist the opportunity to see it again. People like Rickles give me the courage to push the art form and to take chances.  I mean that in a very concrete sense: at certain moments on stage, thinking about what they’ve done gives me the courage to really push the line and take chances.  Last night, there was a couple in the second row, a white guy and an Asian lady.  I was having fun with a lot of the crowd (telling an older couple that they’re probably the freakiest in the bedroom, trying to get the Norwegian women in the front to kiss - it was a weird show, to say the least) but was a bit hesitant with that couple for some reason.  Then the thought - “Don Rickles would do it.  Do it for Rickles” - literally popped into my head and I went for it.  Found out she was Korean - asked her husband if he knew that - did a little fantasy piece about him taking her to Japanese restaurants for years trying to impress her and her finally saying “Sushi!  Always sushi!  I just want some goddamn kimchi!”  (By “fantasy piece,” I mean I made up a little story about them using actual details.  I like to think of crowdwork as story construction - you get some information and then work them into the fabric of an overarching story.  Then, you tie that story in with your stand-up material and you get a interconnected web of callbacks that leads to a completely cohesive set.  But that’s far too much technical talk…) Bottom line - Rickles was a great comedian and a huge influence not only on comedians but on comedy and where the line is in comedy.  If you haven’t seen Mr. Warmth, you should definitely check it out - it’s free on Hulu here.

I was definitely inspired by the documentary, Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project.  I had seen it once before on HBO, but found it on Hulu yesterday (link here) and couldn’t resist the opportunity to see it again.

People like Rickles give me the courage to push the art form and to take chances.  I mean that in a very concrete sense: at certain moments on stage, thinking about what they’ve done gives me the courage to really push the line and take chances.  Last night, there was a couple in the second row, a white guy and an Asian lady.  I was having fun with a lot of the crowd (telling an older couple that they’re probably the freakiest in the bedroom, trying to get the Norwegian women in the front to kiss - it was a weird show, to say the least) but was a bit hesitant with that couple for some reason.  Then the thought - “Don Rickles would do it.  Do it for Rickles” - literally popped into my head and I went for it.  Found out she was Korean - asked her husband if he knew that - did a little fantasy piece about him taking her to Japanese restaurants for years trying to impress her and her finally saying “Sushi!  Always sushi!  I just want some goddamn kimchi!”  (By “fantasy piece,” I mean I made up a little story about them using actual details.  I like to think of crowdwork as story construction - you get some information and then work them into the fabric of an overarching story.  Then, you tie that story in with your stand-up material and you get a interconnected web of callbacks that leads to a completely cohesive set.  But that’s far too much technical talk…)

Bottom line - Rickles was a great comedian and a huge influence not only on comedians but on comedy and where the line is in comedy.  If you haven’t seen Mr. Warmth, you should definitely check it out - it’s free on Hulu here.

Nov 24, 09 4:08pm
Took this picture at a Walgreens, so that I had evidence that civilization as we know it is coming to an end.

Took this picture at a Walgreens, so that I had evidence that civilization as we know it is coming to an end.

Nov 20, 09 4:03am
Just inducted into the Friars Club!  (From left to right: Adam Stone, me, Sam Morril, Todd Stone, & Stu Cantor) Sam, Adam, and Todd were my sponsors for membership; Stu Cantor is the Scribe of the Friars Club.  The picture was taken in the Milton Berle Room, a beautiful room on the 2nd floor of the Friars Club Monastery.

Just inducted into the Friars Club!  (From left to right: Adam Stone, me, Sam Morril, Todd Stone, & Stu Cantor)

Sam, Adam, and Todd were my sponsors for membership; Stu Cantor is the Scribe of the Friars Club.  The picture was taken in the Milton Berle Room, a beautiful room on the 2nd floor of the Friars Club Monastery.

Nov 20, 09 3:58am
Today was really exciting - first I got to see my interview in am New York (turns out the page it’s on is dead center in the paper - it’s the easiest thing for you to turn to, since it’s we’re all the ads are stuck in), then I got sent by an agent on an audition for a radio spot for Pizza Hut, and finally ended my night by going to the Friars Club for my official induction. The Friars Club is one of my favorite places in the city - it’s beautiful and filled with comedy history.  The Friars themselves are also an amazing bunch - everyone I’ve met so far at the club as been unbelievably cool and amazingly nice.  I had the pleasure of receiving my official certificate of membership in front of not only my sponsors (Sam Morril, Adam Stone, and Todd Stone, all close friends of mine), other members, and on the same night that Elvis Costello got his, but also in front of my mom, sister, and grandmother, which made the night that much more special.  It was also a treat to have my friend Jessica there, whose excitement about being there was contagious.  (Did I mention the open bar and buffet?  That was awesome, too.  It was also classic Friars’ Club, with all sorts of Jewish delicacies: cocktail franks, potato puffs, and Chinese food.) An incredible night and one I hope to never forget!

Today was really exciting - first I got to see my interview in am New York (turns out the page it’s on is dead center in the paper - it’s the easiest thing for you to turn to, since it’s we’re all the ads are stuck in), then I got sent by an agent on an audition for a radio spot for Pizza Hut, and finally ended my night by going to the Friars Club for my official induction.

The Friars Club is one of my favorite places in the city - it’s beautiful and filled with comedy history.  The Friars themselves are also an amazing bunch - everyone I’ve met so far at the club as been unbelievably cool and amazingly nice.  I had the pleasure of receiving my official certificate of membership in front of not only my sponsors (Sam Morril, Adam Stone, and Todd Stone, all close friends of mine), other members, and on the same night that Elvis Costello got his, but also in front of my mom, sister, and grandmother, which made the night that much more special.  It was also a treat to have my friend Jessica there, whose excitement about being there was contagious.  (Did I mention the open bar and buffet?  That was awesome, too.  It was also classic Friars’ Club, with all sorts of Jewish delicacies: cocktail franks, potato puffs, and Chinese food.)

An incredible night and one I hope to never forget!

Nov 19, 09 2:45am
The daily newspaper, am New York, published an interview with me today, so make sure you pick up a copy or two (it’s free!). Here’s a link to a .pdf of today’s paper: amNY 11/19/09. Also, here’s a link to the video interview that my answers were excerpted from: amNY video interview. Some thoughts about the interview: The interviewer, Adam Ullian, was a super-sweet guy who did a great job.  A while back, he wrote a nice assessment of my performance in this year’s Boston Comedy Festival on his blog (“Needless to say, Harrison is a funny guy who almost made me spit out my Sam Adams - and I don’t easily spit out a $7.50 Sam Adams”; full post here).  He followed up with me a couple of weeks ago to do this interview and here we are! In regards to the interview itself, I do kind of wish they referred to me as a “comedian who does magic” as opposed to a “comedy magician” (they sound similar, but the former performs comedy with a sprinkling of magic while the latter performs magic with a sprinkling of jokes), but that’s a relatively small thing with which to quibble.  More importantly, I like the picture they chose, the questions they chose to run in the paper, and the way they excerpted me, so am thrilled with how everything turned out.  All in all, I’m really happy with it and can’t thank Adam and am New York enough! Finally, I’d love to add to the last answer I gave in the interview (“I think jokes and magic are very connected”).  I think that answer deserves a fuller explanation.  Both comedy and magic rely and surprise and misdirection, using and changing the audience’s expectations in order to get them to question the very reasons they hold these expectations in the first place.  Comedy and magic both look at the arbitrariness of our subjective view of reality and allow us to look beyond it.  The reason I do comedy is that I like to question these things directly, to literally use my words to call into question things I find arbitrary in some way.  In magic, you have to be more indirect (audience thought process: “I know the ball can’t disappear, but it seemed like it did” —>” what assumption did I make that was wrong that caused me to miss the method behind the ball’s disappearance?” —> “what other assumptions do I hold that are incorrect or in need of adjustment?”); in comedy, you can go right after those important, universal assumptions.  In the end, however, comedy and magic are deeply tied to each other, leading to my statement that these two arts are “very connected.”

The daily newspaper, am New York, published an interview with me today, so make sure you pick up a copy or two (it’s free!).

Here’s a link to a .pdf of today’s paper: amNY 11/19/09.

Also, here’s a link to the video interview that my answers were excerpted from: amNY video interview.

Some thoughts about the interview:

The interviewer, Adam Ullian, was a super-sweet guy who did a great job.  A while back, he wrote a nice assessment of my performance in this year’s Boston Comedy Festival on his blog (“Needless to say, Harrison is a funny guy who almost made me spit out my Sam Adams - and I don’t easily spit out a $7.50 Sam Adams”; full post here).  He followed up with me a couple of weeks ago to do this interview and here we are!

In regards to the interview itself, I do kind of wish they referred to me as a “comedian who does magic” as opposed to a “comedy magician” (they sound similar, but the former performs comedy with a sprinkling of magic while the latter performs magic with a sprinkling of jokes), but that’s a relatively small thing with which to quibble.  More importantly, I like the picture they chose, the questions they chose to run in the paper, and the way they excerpted me, so am thrilled with how everything turned out.  All in all, I’m really happy with it and can’t thank Adam and am New York enough!

Finally, I’d love to add to the last answer I gave in the interview (“I think jokes and magic are very connected”).  I think that answer deserves a fuller explanation.  Both comedy and magic rely and surprise and misdirection, using and changing the audience’s expectations in order to get them to question the very reasons they hold these expectations in the first place.  Comedy and magic both look at the arbitrariness of our subjective view of reality and allow us to look beyond it.  The reason I do comedy is that I like to question these things directly, to literally use my words to call into question things I find arbitrary in some way.  In magic, you have to be more indirect (audience thought process: “I know the ball can’t disappear, but it seemed like it did” —>” what assumption did I make that was wrong that caused me to miss the method behind the ball’s disappearance?” —> “what other assumptions do I hold that are incorrect or in need of adjustment?”); in comedy, you can go right after those important, universal assumptions.  In the end, however, comedy and magic are deeply tied to each other, leading to my statement that these two arts are “very connected.”

Nov 18, 09 6:12pm

Ultimate Pocket Camcorder Comparison

Earlier today I posted my feelings about several pocket cams on the market, so I thought I’d share this really good article Gizmodo just published, putting all of those cams to the test.  I didn’t know the Flip Ultra HD had a removable battery, so Flip definitely has taken the criticism of previous models to heart, which is great to see.  Having held both the Ultra and the Mino, I also agree with the assessment that the Mino feels much better in the hand.  (I’m fine with the touch controls, save for the fact that you can’t zoom in or out before hitting record, which is frustrating and wastes precious memory, as you have to hit the record button early in order to make sure you’re properly zoomed.)  Still, it’s not that much bigger that it’s a deal breaker, unless you only want to carry this thing in your tight jeans.

If you’re a comic looking for an HD pocket cam (a fantastic thing to have in your gig bag - I generally don’t use the footage for professional submissions, but do use the footage for YouTube stuff and for reviewing old sets to learn from them), I think the Flip UltraHD has the edge over the Kodak Zi8.*  The two features that the Zi8 has that the UltraHD doesn’t - image stabilization and swappable memory - is not as important as the Flip UltraHD’s better ability to film in dark indoor places.  As a comic, your camera will generally be stationary (on a table or tripod) and your sets over the course of a night probably won’t exceed two hours (the amount of memory the Flip UltraHD has built in), so the advantage seems to me to be with the UltraHD (which, by the way, is also cheaper - even though the cameras are the same amount of money, you have to buy SD cards to use the Kodak Zi8, so the total cost is less with the UltraHD and its built-in 8 GB of memory).  Furthermore, the UltraHD came out on top in terms of sound quality, which - when it comes to recording stand-up - is probably one of the most important factors.

* I actually have the MinoHD, but I purchased it before either the Zi8 or the UltraHD came out.

Nov 18, 09 4:28pm
Get ready to feel really conflicted.  This sexy actress is… drumroll please… the voice of Tommy Pickles in Rugrats.  No, really. Could you imagine her slinking up to you in a bar, pulling you close, and then whispering in your ear, “A baby’s got to do what a baby’s got to do!” in the Tommy Pickles’ voice?  Might feel a bit torn about that.  Still, love the old Nicktoons.

Get ready to feel really conflicted.  This sexy actress is… drumroll please… the voice of Tommy Pickles in Rugrats.  No, really.

Could you imagine her slinking up to you in a bar, pulling you close, and then whispering in your ear, “A baby’s got to do what a baby’s got to do!” in the Tommy Pickles’ voice?  Might feel a bit torn about that.  Still, love the old Nicktoons.

Nov 18, 09 3:27pm

New Flip Video Camcorder Rumored to Boast WiFi

I think the Kodak Zi8 is the HD pocket cam to beat, but this could definitely take the top position if it ever comes to fruition.  The addition of WiFi and a larger, sliding screen sound great.  However (as an owner of a Flip MinoHD myself), I would hope they would take Kodak’s lead and switch to using SD cards (a camcorder should have expandable, swappable memory, especially if you plan on going on the road with it and leaving your laptop behind) and replaceable batteries (again, if you’re out on the road and the batteries die, it would be nice to be able to swap in some AA batteries instead of waiting a lengthy time for the internal battery to recharge).

Nov 18, 09 2:16pm

New Stuff: German Words

Every once in a while, I’ll be blogging stand-up comedy material I have been working on in a recurring featured I call “New Stuff.”  You’ll get to see new material as it develops.  Once this gets worked out on stage, I’ll upload a video of me performing it and you’ll be able to see how my material progresses over time.

I was reading a travel guide and discovered that the word “gift” is German for “poison.”*  Which is great, because I needed another reason to be afraid of Germans.

German (with accent): “We’re sorry about what happened 60 years ago.  We’d like to offer you a gift.”  Wait, are you coming around or tricking us again?

The most common word in the English language is “the,” the definitive article.  The Germans have two words for “the,” “der” and “die.”  That means that the second most common word in the German language is die.**  How did we not see the Holocaust coming?  The average German says “die” six million times a day!  Who knew each one was an individual threat?

Recently at a comedy club, I was hanging out with a group of German women who had just seen me perform.  We’re hanging out right near where my headshot is hanging and it has my name written out at the bottom.  One of the girls sees it and asks me, “Oh, Greenbaum!  That’s a German name, right?”  To which I responded, “Actually, it is.  It was Gruenbaum.  My grandfather was German and they changed it when he came to America.”  Then she says, “Really?  Why did he leave?”

Really?  You don’t know why my grandfather had to leave the country?  It couldn’t be because they tried to murder him and his family, right?

So I gave her a gift.

* That’s totally true.  In fact, it’s a bit of a problem in Germany, especially around Christmas time, because Americans sending packages over to Germany sometimes right “GIFT” all over their parcels, which, as you can imagine, can be the cause of much concern in their post offices.

** That’s also totally true.

Nov 18, 09 1:12am
My sister (who is amazing, by the way) was on Jimmy Fallon!

My sister (who is amazing, by the way) was on Jimmy Fallon!