#53. Some Sincere Recommendations and You

*Jim Gaffigan voice* "I wanna talk about it now!"

Hi everyone,

A couple of times last month I pinch-hit as a dog walker for a friend who lives in my neighborhood. Her dog is a fluffy little cloud with a lot of energy and affection, and his vibe is a direct contrast to my dog who is a grumpy little 16-year-old pug. I remarked to my wife that it was fun getting to hang out with a “real dog” for an hour at a time. Bizzy, who has lived with us for 8.5 years, is also technically a real dog. But between her semi-nocturnal lifestyle and her indifference to most people most of the time, she’s more like a chunky owl or a limber cinderblock. The funny thing is that walking another (very charming) dog has only increased my appreciation for my own weird reclusive pet. She is a special little clown who yes, has a digestive system that is in Shakira mode (meaning she poops wherever/whenever), and I love her so much and would certainly die for her and legitimately might if she keeps waking me up at 4am to take her for a walk and then hang out on the couch until 6.

That’s all very nice but in more recent news, I blew it this week by getting suckered into arguing online, which is so rarely a productive endeavor. I’ve gotten a bunch of replies on X (the DMX fan community message board) to the effect that supporting a ceasefire in Israel/Gaza is naive, and I don’t really have an essay about this in me, but I will reiterate here that I think that it is the moral thing to do and could save lives on all sides (including the side that is currently seeing civilians of all ages murdered at a horrifying rate). I don’t think social media is an especially effective place to discuss things of this nature, honestly, so I am just writing a little paragraph about it in the petty fiefdom of my newsletter. If you disagree, I don’t really need to know unless you’re a close enough friend or relative to text me about it.

It’s remained extremely bizarre to feel such sorrow at the state of the world while also having to/getting to be professionally silly. It has been really psychologically helpful for me to get to do fun shows with friends lately. Pictured below (captured by the truly peerless Mindy Tucker) are the guests from Jesse David Fox’s book release show last week (Clockwise from the left: Adam Pally, Rosebud Baker, Marie Faustin, Noré Davis, me (duh), Natalie Walker, Jo Firestone). Not picture: Jesse, who was signing books. We are all, except Natalie (lol), laughing at Mindy’s impression of Reese Witherspoon being pulled over by the police. Oh also the book itself is extremely good, and I’m tearing through it!

We are all (except Natalie) laughing at Mindy's impression of Reese Witherspoon being pulled over.

THIS WEEK! I’m performing on Saturday 11/18 at Bottlerocket in Pittsburgh!!! Come enjoy my jokes as I get them into shape to record in the spring!!!

ALSO! On 12/6, I’m doing a live show in NYC that’s a trivia competition against my friend the much-smarter-than-me John Hodgman!

For one night, John Hodgman and I will be RIVALS!

AND! From January 18-20, I’ll be at the Comedy Vault in Batavia, IL, outside of Chicago. (Hopefully I’ll have a show inside of Chicago soon too!)

SOME THINGS YOU MIGHT ENJOY

With the new WGA contract in place (hooray!) and a tentative agreement for a new SAG-AFTRA contract (tentative hooray!), the strike rules have been lifted, and I am at liberty to yap my head off about tv shows and films I’ve been enjoying! So I’m gonna! I will probably miss a bunch of stuff because it’s been 6+ months of strike. So feel free to get hyped up in the comments about things you’ve enjoyed lately!

Killing It

I had no idea that the first season of Killing It happened at all. That’s partly because it airs on Peacock which in terms of public awareness is slightly better than having a show that only airs in a toddler’s dreams. There are now two excellent seasons of the show, which is an extremely cutting and funny satire about the American dream and hustle/entrepreneur culture. The performances by Craig Robinson, Rell Battle, and Tim Heidecker are great, and Claudia O’Doherty is on another level still. The closest comparison I can think of is something like The Righteous Gemstones, in that it’s a half-hour comedy with a propulsive plot and lots of hard jokes. Speaking of Gemstones, I liked the third season a lot even though it felt slightly scattered compared to the first two! There are also new seasons of What We Do In The Shadows, Our Flag Means Death, and This Fool that I’ve enjoyed a ton! We’ve been saving I’m a Virgo and the final season of Reservation Dogs and intend to watch them soon! Finally on this topic (television comedies), as a long-time Bob’s Burgers fan, “The Amazing Rudy” episode from the current season is an instant classic!!! It tugs on the heartstrings more than any episode since the Thanksgiving one at Teddy’s apartment.

Bottoms

Given how few mainstream film comedies have come out over the past few years, 2023 has felt unexpectedly full of them! As I mentioned last week I loved Dicks: The Musical which is maybe a little too dirty and weird to be a fully mainstream hit. I also really enjoyed Bottoms, which to me immediately became ensconced in the conversation for most fun high school movies. It’s definitely my favorite one that’s come out since I graduated high school. I liked Barbie a bunch too, especially the big comedic sequences. Although I’m sure that the movie’s massive success will lead to a bunch of tepid movies starring the DRAW FOUR card from Uno and those sticky hands you win at carnivals instead of big budget comedies helmed by acclaimed writers and directors. I also had a very nice time watching No Hard Feelings (the one where Jennifer Lawrence tries to seduce an of-age high school student) and Joyride (shout out to Sabrina Wu, excellent comedian and now movie star). I haven’t seen Theater Camp yet because Maris watched it while I was on the road, but I would like to!!!

Beth Stelling - If You Didn’t Want Me Then

Standup was sort of a strike grey area because a lot of it isn’t covered by the unions, but I tried not to promote work that appeared on the platforms owned by companies the strike was against. Beth Stelling’s new special is so good. She’s so smart and incisive but also really playful and charming. Her previous special Girl Daddy, which came out on HBO MAX and presumably is on MAX now as long as it didn’t disintegrate on its way between platforms, is also excellent.

The other special this year that felt really, well, special to me was John Early’s Now More Than Ever. It’s a standup special and (sort of) a concert film. It’s beautifully shot and a joy to watch. John is so funny, and the little sketches with the members of his band made me laugh a lot too. It’s so abundant in terms of the kinds of comedy included, and the (sort of) sincere musical performances are enjoyable even when they’re not jokey

Those are just the ones that jump out at me though! I’m sure I liked a bunch more standup over the past half a year that I am now forgetting while I’m sitting at my computer. I’ve been a little looser about shouting out specials I saw on YouTube, but I’m sure I forgot about a bunch of those too. Let me know if there are any you loved that I missed out on!

PEP TALK FOR A READER

Hi Josh! I recently accepted a new job after being recruited by a friend and former co-worker in their department at a local university. The day before I was to begin, I was informed that they were taking a leave of absence. I can’t help but feel like this info was purposely withheld until the last minute. I’m now conflicted about how/if to proceed with the job and friendship. Saw your tweet, and could use any words of encouragement. 
- Got Hired, Feeling Lower

If I were an advice-giver, I’d probably say something about talking to your friend candidly about what you’re feeling and openly communicating this confusion and dismay. That seems to me like the clear healthy path forward. And I think you probably know that deep down (or shallow…up?). But you came to me for some words of encouragement, not advice! So that’s what you’re gonna get!

There is, sincerely, a pretty good chance that the job will turn out okay! If your friend convinced you that this new position is right for you, it probably still is. If you were only taking the job to work with your friend…weird choice, but even so there’s nothing that says it has to be bad without them there. You weren’t lured into a boiling cauldron by a witch with a house made of candy. You were enticed into taking a job (fine) that turned out to be a slightly different job (fine?). Sometimes you go to a restaurant and they’re out of the thing you ordered, and that’s a disappointment, but it’s not a disaster. There are plenty of other things on the menu (unless you’re going to one of those restaurants that just serves one thing in which case, that’s on you to begin with for not getting there early enough). Similarly, this job could have plenty of other qualities that could make it worthwhile. Or, if not, there’s nothing holding you there; your friend job-ghosted on you!

Friendship-wise, this is still a fence that can be mended maybe? I don’t know! What your friend did here is so weird that it’s likely there’s some kind of explanation for it. I don’t know what they stand to gain by…tricking you into taking a job. It’s not a common prank. Even if there’s some kind of recruiting bonus, it can’t be that much that it’s worth ruining a friendship, right? If this were just about that, they may as well have fooled a stranger (or their mom’s friend’s son who is soooooo great and you should really get coffee sometime) into taking this job. Friends get over misunderstandings and miscommunications all the time, or they don’t! And again: You’ll be okay whichever way it goes!

There’s a chance that this can still be really good! Or that it will be marginally worse than you expected but still fine! Or it’ll be horrible in a way it was going to be anyway! It’s likely that this change in circumstances won’t be the make or break factor!

PICK-ME-UP SONG OF THE WEEK:
Queen of Jeans - “Karaoke”

I had heard of Queen of Jeans before, but this week in a big win for the algorithm I stumbled across their cover (feat. newsletter faves Gladie) of Wheatus’s “Teenage Dirtbag” and loved it, and then I poked around and found that they have a new song and it’s also really good. It sounds like it should be the theme song to a big popular tv show (complimentary) or like it would have been on the radio a ton back when the radio wasn’t primarily a way for people to hear Drake and Taylor Swift songs while they’re grocery shopping. It’s hard to explain, but it’s a real song-ass song. Like, damn, that’s what a SONG is, you know? And I happen to like songs!

UPCOMING SHOWS

I’ve got some really fun shows coming up! Come see one! More NYC spots are listed on my website! Some more road stuff coming soon plus a big announcement I think.

11/14: In conversation with Alison Roman (Arts at the Armory in Somerville, MA)

11/18: Bottle Rocket (Pittsburgh)

12/6: Wits End with John Hodgman at the Midnight Theater (NYC)

12/14: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me at Carnegie Hall (NYC)

1/18-1/20: The Comedy Vault (Batavia, IL)