Monthly Archives: June 2011

Goodbye to Club Bart

To anyone that’s known me for the last twelve years or so, you’ve known one thing – I spent every Thursday night at Club Bart, a restaurant and bar in Ferndale, Michigan. Every Thursday night. OK, I went on the road a few weeks a year, but aside from that, every Thursday was spent at Club Bart. The reason – comedy night.

Founded in 1998, Club Bart’s comedy night was Detroit’s alt-comedy night, the “wild” open mike, a place for new comics to learn the ropes, and a place for comics that the big clubs wouldn’t book. The list of freaks, failures, and weirdos that made an attempt at performing comedy would melt my WordPress database if I tried describing them all. Instead I want to write about my experiences, says some thank yous, and describe why something often described as “truly awful” was actually something wonderful. Read the rest of this entry

The best movies of 2011 so far….

Not that I’ve seen all that many this year.

Here’s my top 5 (half a top 10 for half a year):

  1. Win Win – Great indie comedy with Paul Giamatti
  2. Super 8 – E.T. bangs Cloverfield, makes this – awesome
  3. Hanna – Tense, fluid, cinematic. No love for The Chemical Brothers score? Much better than what Daft Punk did for Tron: Legacy.
  4. X-Men: First Class – Surprised me. Kind of like the J.J. Abrams Star Trek reboot from a few summers ago. Fun.
  5. Source Code – A modern, Twilight Zone inspired thriller. Puts stand-up comedy in a great light, too. You have to see it to understand.

Honorable mention to the comedies Cedar Rapids, Bridesmaids and, go ahead and hate me, The Hangover II.

My top 10 movies (and those of MetroTimes critic Corey Hall) can be heard on episode #54 of Joel Radio which you can access by clicking here.

I’m a jerk

I told my GF I was getting us Paul McCartney tickets. Then I went to 7-11 and came home with these:

 

 

Don’t worry, honey – we’re going to McCartney at Comerica Park.

 

Probably this too, though. xoxo

Joel Radio #64: Cars 2 Sucks

Cars sucked. The sequel Cars 2 comes out this week. It sucks too, according to Corey Hall. Joel hasn’t seen Cars 2, but will go along will that sentiment anyway. Other things that suck this week: Club Bart closing, the first half of that ESPN book, Ryan Dunn’s death, The Green Lantern, David Bowie’s saxophone and Pirates of the Caribbean 4 at the drive-in. Things that don’t suck this week: X-Men First Class at the drive-in, the second half of that ESPN book, jokes about Ryan Dunn’s death, Paul McCartney live, Super 8, this show, and you.

Right click here to download – 120 minutes, 55 megs

OR press the play button below and listen right now:

Joel Radio #63: Weiner U

It’s the week of E3 – that’s the big videogame convention – so nerds like Joel and Corey Hall are excited. Usually. This year’s show was a bit duller than usual, although Nintendo announced it’s new console, the Wii U. The guys talk about the innovative new controller, whether they’d actually buy it, and why the original Wii was a failure. Also, congressman Anthony Weiner put his junk on Twitter in one of the dumbest career-killing moves of all-time. But the guys are divided over the humor of the situation whether it’s not something “every guy” would do. Plus, X-Men First Class gets reviewed, the guys split on Hangover 2, USA is better than Canada (in soccer!), and rumbling seats = fail.

Right click here to download – 123 minutes, 57 megs

OR press the play button below and listen right now:

weinerU.jpg
The congressman from New York is first in line for the Wii U