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Well folks, I was going to write a hilarious write up about my night at the Black Bear Casino in Carlton, MN. But that will have to wait until a Monday Mega Minnesota (MMM) recap because TODAY MY NEW STAND UP ALBUM IS OUT! Reviews should start to come in soon, but take my word for it – it is excellent. Buy it here.
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I know 9/11 is the date we are supposed to Never Forget, but I would like to add four dates (they all take place in September so it should be easy) that you should put in your calendar:
September 17th – The debut of Tim and Aaron. The pilot for CBS I shot this weekend, which takes place in a fictional world where accused murderer/tight end Aaron Hernandez is left under house arrest with unemployed Quarterback/2nd Coming Tim Tebow. It is outstanding and will definitely be a big hit. Here is the promotional shot for it:
September 23rd – this is when Dumb in the First Degree is supposed to finally launch on InvestigationDiscovery.com. This is the web series where I co-host offering legal knowledge wrapped in humorous attitude. It was a lot of fun to make so hopefully they did not make me look like a (bigger) a-hole in post-production.
September 24th – Keep My Enemies Closer comes out on iTunes and other digital distributors. This is the big one folks. Buy it for yourself, for friends, leave nice reviews and spread the word.
September 30th – Heckler Seminar, my second September sketch comes out. This is a great compliment to my well-received (within the comedy world) video Scared Straight. It is an infomercial showing hecklers how to become better and dominate the comedy club experience.
So for two weeks I hope you can spare some attention, some shares/retweets/likes and a little bit of money. Also – I guess I should have included September 29th – Breaking Bad finale as one of the dates.
For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic or iTunes. New Every Tuesday! This week’s episode – a debate/discussion about paying college athletes.
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I am not very good at promotion or business or anything else that is not actually comedy content. But I thought, maybe with the release of my new album I can incentivize some people to help me, in turn helping them. My album goes on digital sale September 24th. But I will have advance copies the first week of September and am willing to give ten away for free, shipping and handling included if you are one of the first ten people to get five friends to become followers of my podcast on Podomatic. Perhaps they are a friend who likes debate or humor, maybe they are a comedian who likes to hear unvarnished truth and criticism about the business, maybe they just want you to get a free CD. Whatever the case, share with a friend or friends an episode you think they would like to entice them to become a follower. (If you are already a follower or become a follower that can count as one towards your five). I want them to remain followers so sharing an episode you think they will like would help. Here are the simple steps:
I don’t know if this will work, but what the hell, right?
Ok – spread the word. Hope to give out some free copies.
For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic or iTunes. New Every Tuesday!
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As of today we are 36 days from the release of Keep My Enemies Closer, my new album that will either be a launching pad for the next phase of my comedy career or the epitaph on my comedy career tombstone. Either way it will be worth a buy and listen, preferably in that order. As the final touches are done on artwork and production before I start promoting the holy hell out of it I offer you my August JLComedy video of the month. I took this month off from impressions and skewering the comedy business to honor my favorite television show and character. If you are a fan of Breaking Bad you will get this and enjoy it. If not, just watch the fu*king thing as a show of support and mark your calendars to get on iTunes on September 24th. Here’s the video:
Just to show you that I still have a stalker who is willing to fight a sad and lonely fight. He has used a couple of false names on-line to draw attention away from the positive attention my work has been getting recently. Sadly when you post 9 consecutive hateful comments filled with information stated by me on my podcasts people do not actually think you are stirring a debate, but just in need of mental health assistance. So if you enjoyed the video and are looking forward to the album, thank you and here is an example of the kind of people who are REALLY excited about the album:
Oh yeah – on a positive note I have lost 11 pounds in my first 8 days on the Paleo diet so I hope “Claymaker” can one day by my friend!
For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic or iTunes. New Every Tuesday!
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This weekend I recorded the final show for my new album Keep My Enemies Closer and this recording was a home run. I will use this set as the base for the new album and add a couple of the tracks from the Triad Theater recording for what will be about 76 minutes of comedy (mega album!). I have rarely been happier than I was with Saturday’s show. I am now working on album artwork and editing the album together. I expect a late September or first week of October release date.
The night of the show was great. A few friends, a few comedians and a few strangers came to watch (fortunately the small venue was nearly full so it sounded great). Of course it was still bitter sweet that the best thing I have ever done in comedy, and the culmination of my best work over ten years in and in my hometown could not draw a bigger crowd, but this is an ugly reality of a career in stand up comedy. There is a point in your career where you don’t yet have industry heat to draw more strangers or people pretending to be your friend, but your real friends have long since become disinterested in the novelty of their friend doing comedy and are more interested in their varied pursuits ranging from their new children to their fantasy football leagues. But I am hoping that that will all be irrelevant in a few months. I feel confident that this album will rank among the very best comedy albums of 2013 and my only hope is to get it listened to by as many people and comedy insiders so it gets the exposure it deserves.
But this is way too much positivity. What would a major event in my comedy career be without some ridiculously disappointing stories?! Here you go:
A few days before the recording I ran into a good friend from college on the street. We started talking and I ended up briefly sharing two of the big bits off of Keep My Enemies Closer and he laughed hysterically. He then told me he had to make it to the recording. Side note – is this where stand up is going? Now you don’t just have to win over new fans – you have to audition for your own friends to attend shows? Well the night of the show, this friend texted me two hours before show time, “Are you in Hunter City yet?” Now I think he meant Long Island City, the location of the venue I was performing at, but as a rule of thumb – if your friend gets the city of your show wrong in a text two hours before show time… they are not coming to the show.
And the next day, the same friend who in the first recording night invited me to watch the Knicks’ game during my recording (even though he said he might attend my album recording) texted me Saturday wishing me luck on my recording… 17 hours after it had occurred. Along this trajectory, I assume his next text will be “fu*k you” unless he is just that tone deaf to social norms.
These stories prove that there’s no such thing as a perfect night in comedy… but this was pretty close.
Check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic or iTunes. Special episode this Tuesday on Trayvon Martin & George Zimmerman
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Tomorrow (Friday July 12th) I record the last of the shows that will comprise my new stand up album Keep My Enemies Closer. I have never worked harder at my comedy that I have over the two years and this final recording will be the culmination of that effort. If I can get the album marketed well when it comes out this Fall I truly believe it will be considered one of the best stand up albums of 2013 with room to spare. Tickets are only $10 and can be bought HERE. Of course, true to the bittersweet nature of even my greatest accomplishments in comedy, the Laughing Devil Club, which has been very supportive of me (with spots, money and a location for my Louis CK parody) is up for sale. So come tomorrow!
But this week has also been chock full of all sorts of comedy exploits that pay no money (they don’t call me the King of All Unpaid Media for nothing!). If you want to prep for the show properly and hear what is at stake for me (or if you cannot make the show and just want to hear me be funny and depressing and angry all at once) check out these various items:
1. My appearance on comic-to-comic radio. An hour long chat about comedy and my blog for the 30,000 listeners of this fun show
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wazeoutradio/2013/07/11/comic-to-comic-with-guest-j-l-cauvin
2. My print interview with Examiner.com
3. My appearance on the very popular Off The Meter Podcast with comedian/former NYC cabbie Jimmy Failla
http://offthemeter.podomatic.com/entry/2013-07-10T14_08_58-07_00
4. Connected Comedy Podcast – no holds barred conversation about the comedy business and my career
http://connectedcomedy.com/podcastepisode40/
And just so you know this weekend I am filming SCARED STRAIGHT – STAND UP COMEDIANS EDITION, my newest sketch video. On the horizon are that, 2 weeks in San Antonio, a week in Cleveland and my web series with Investigation Discovery which I will bombard you with probably around the 22nd of July. But none of these are as important to me as the album recording tomorrow. The show is going to be great stand-up and is a cheap night out. So hope to see you Friday night (or just keep enjoying all the stuff on my site if you cannot – maybe share some stuff with a friend if you feel guilty about not going).
For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic or iTunes. New Every Tuesday!
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Sorry for the misleading title, but this is not going to be a list of all of the people in comedy and life that I want to wipe away like when Michael Corleone handled all family business. No, in much more pleasant news Keep My Enemies Closer is the title of my new album coming out in late September. I reviewed my set from the Triad in May this weekend, and for the first time I was extremely pleased with what I listened to. Even my last two albums, which I am extremely proud of (my very first one I am just proud of), did not please me on first listen as this one did. But that is not to say it is perfect. Yet. There were two bits I forgot to do and three bits I want to tighten up so if you missed the Triad taping (or if you were there but want to support again, since there will be around 20 minutes of material that was not recorded at the first taping), then please mark your calendar for July 12th. I am recording one more headlining set to complete the album at the Laughing Devil Comedy Club in Long Island City (one stop from Grand Central Station on the 7 train). Please get tickets HERE and share with friends. Opening for me are the hilarious Chris Lamberth and John Moses. And as a treat I have put a couple of short clips from the set up on YouTube and if you have ten minutes to spare check the clips out and share your favorite.
Lena Dunham
NYPD Cheaters
Gay Guys vs. Lesbians
Equal Storytime
Hopefully you enjoyed these. And if you like any of my previous albums I promise you this is the best one by far. Hope you can be part of the taping on July 12th.
For more opinions, comedy and bridge burning check out the Righteous Prick Podcast on Podomatic or iTunes. New Every Tuesday!