Comedy Showcase - May 27th - Beechwood Lounge

Frontier Ruckus, Omaha, April 5th, 2011

On Tuesday, Stacie, Nick, his girlfriend Megan (remember them, from The Great Iowa Beer Fest) and I drove across the state of Iowa to see Frontier Ruckus in Omaha.

I first told you about Frontier Ruckus a few years ago in a "READ/LISTEN/WATCH/RENT", and we saw them in concert in October of 2009 in Ames. At that show they signed an album for us congratulating Stacie and I on our engagement. Well, married for some months now, it was great to get the chance to see them again.

Now, "Deadmalls and Nightfalls" was my favorite album of 2010, so I was excited to hear the newer songs off of it live. And, since we asked Dave (banjo) before they went up, they played "Mona and Emmy" for us too. So that was great. And then, for the last 2 songs, they stood on the floor and played close to the crowd, which was very cool to see. Concert couldn't get much better right?



Well, it did.

After the set was over, we asked Matt (guitar/singer) if they were planning an encore. (Nick wanted really wanted to hear "The Upper Room" and I was hoping to get "I Do Need Saving" out of them.

Instead of a standard encore, the four of us followed Matt upstairs, and in a small room we drank and talked and Matt played songs for us. It was amazing. It was surreal.

We talked about 90's rock (Matt would go in and out on covers of Gin Blossoms and Lisa Loeb), Walt Whitman, and just life in general.



We were up there for about an hour, and we got to hear "The Upper Room", "I Do Need Saving", a new song titled "Blackhole" which was of course great and after the rest of the band joined us, he finished with "The Tower".

It was the best concert experience I have ever had. It was one of those things that it would have been great to have on film, or a recording of it, but, since there wasn't a tape player or camcorder it made it so much more intimate. A moment Nick, Stacie, Megan and I shared with this great band that we'll always have.



I really liked talking with Matt and hearing him talk about what he loved. Nick and I would comment about something, and his eyes would light up. It was like, giving him that validation that yes, we're hearing you and not just that, were really listening. As a fan it's one thing to root for the band, but after meeting them, and getting to know him (even just a little bit) it makes it so much more real.



Before we left, Matt signed a guitar pick for me, on which he wrote "Patrick is my friend". And the best thing about that friendship is I know that every year or so, this band will put out another great record that continues these stories. These trials and tribulations of this Orion town, a land I've never been but doesn't seem much different from a place called Glenwood. And with these records, I, as well as my friends, will have an on going soundtrack to our lives. And I can handle that.


"I hope everyone else made a funny face." - Ryan "Smalls" Etzcorn
(L/R: Zach, Matt, Nick, Dave, Me, (Ryan, kneeling), Stacie, and Megan)

Go to www.frontierruckus.com to find music, and tour dates. If they come near you, see 'em.

Below is a video the band shot earlier in the day on Tuesday in the old market (the same alleys Stacie and I shot our engagement photos.) The video is for one of my personal favorite songs, "Mona and Emmy".

Frontier Ruckus: Mona and Emmy from Love Drunk on Vimeo.

My Favorite Stand-Up Comedians...

These are my favorite (current) stand-up comedians, in no particular order. I hope you go through the list, and if you like them follow 'em on twitter. They are all extremely funny.

Paul F. Tompkins
(Paul's twitter)

Marc Maron
(Marc's twitter)


Kristen Schaal
(Kristen's twitter)


Doug Benson
(Doug's twitter)


Eugene Mirman
(Eugene's twitter)


The Sklar Brothers
(Jason and Randy's twitter)


Louis CK
(Louis' twitter)


Donald Glover
(Donald's twitter)


Rory Scovel
(Rory's Twitter)


Maria Bamford
(Maria's twitter)


Harris Wittels
(Harris' twitter)


Jimmy Pardo
(Jimmy's twitter)


Kyle Kinane
(Kyle's twitter)


Aziz Ansari
(Aziz's twitter)


Todd Barry
(Todd's twitter)


Jonah Ray
(Jonah's twitter)


Norm Mcdonald
(Norm's twitter)


Chris Hardwick
(Chris' twitter)


Steven Wright
(Steven's twitter)


Kumail Nanjiani
(Kumail's twitter)


Jon Dore
(Jon's twitter)


Zach Galifiankakis
(Zach's twitter)


Demetri Martin
(Demetri's twitter)


Patton Oswalt
(Patton's twitter)

Here, I made you a mixed tape...

I made you a playlist on youtube, of 17 wonderful songs you should listen too...

Click here to hear.

Enjoy friends.

My Oscar Picks

(get it, it's Oscar)

Last year I did Oscar picks and didn't do to bad.

So here I go again...

The Oscar Best Picture nominees for this year are:

127 Hours (saw it)
Black Swan (saw it)
The Fighter(saw it)
Inception (saw it)
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech(saw it)
The Social Network(saw it)
Toy Story 3 (saw it)
True Grit
Winter's Bone

My Picks (will win/should win in my eyes)...

Best Actor:
Jesse Eisenberg/James Franco
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale/Christian Bale
Best Actress:
Natalie Portman/Natalie Portman
Best Supporting Actress:
Helena Bonahm Carter/Hailee Steinfeld
Best Animated Film:
Toy Story 3/Toy Story 3
Best Documentary:
Inside Job/Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Director:
David Fincher/David O. Russell
Best Picture:
The Social Network/The Fighter

The 50 States of Beer - South Carolina

South Carolina

Thomas Creek Brewery - Greenville, SC

Best Beer:

Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale

The vanilla cream ale isn't your typical style of beer. As a matter of fact, this is only the third type of Vanilla Cream Ale I've had. The first, was the Raccoon River Brewery right here in Des Moines, and the second was my home brew "2 Scoops Vanilla Cream Ale". The Thomas Creek isn't as good as Raccoon River's, but it was slightly better then mine.

I spent the weekend in Iowa City with Nick, JJ and the girls and we got beers at this little store that really wanted to be a Walgreens. I grabbed the Thomas Creek because I'd never heard of it before, and when I saw they had the vanilla, I was stoked. We also got a 6 pack of the O'Fallons Hemp Hop Rye which was good. (Fun Fact: my taste for hops is back finally!!)

The Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale tastes great. I love the idea of the vanilla ales, because it's such a plain beer and they really don't do much to make it stand out. I'd like to know what it tastes like off the tap, so I'll have to find my way to South Carolina again one of these days. I am looking forward to trying other beers from Thomas Creek, and hopefully I can find them here in Des Moines Rock City.

For more information on Thomas Creek Brewery, go here.

Up Next: Ohio

Marc Maron was a member of The Kids in the Hall?

One of my favorite comedians, Marc Maron (host of the WTF Podcast, which I told you about here) was on Conan last week, and made a joke about how he looks like the cool professor at a small school, because something happened at the big school.

Here's the video:


Well, tonight I was watching old Kids in the Hall episodes on Netflix, and came across this sketch:

WTF indeed.