From the ACT Theatre’s 19th annual Laff-Off
Alex Adney
From the ACT Theatre’s 19th annual Laff-Off
From the ACT Theatre’s 19th annual Laff-Off
Max Brockman
Randy Mendez
Nick Hough
MORE Comedians in Eugene!
Isaac and the Awkward Situations
Comics, Vaudeville, Art Education, and Music
Author Archives: isaacparis
Eugene and Portland Comedians
I have been attending open mics and comedy showcases here in Eugene. I went to the Bar of the Gods open mic a few times, hosted by Xander and Jen Tam.
events here in Eugene have been hosted by Seth Milstein, Mike McGowan, Leigh Anne Jasheway and Nick Hough. Its a fun scene. I’m glad to be a part of it, its kind of a drag to hear everyone do the same material every week, but that will happen in any scene. I hope we can play, improvise, be willing to flop sometimes and do some creative things with the scene. I’ll challenge my fellow comics in some way, and report on the results. Stay tuned for more on this issue. I have some drawings I have made of comics in the scene. Yes, I drew Gina Ginsberg three times. She said “hey, why did you draw Mia all sexy and not me.” I just draw what I see. I think Gina is beautiful, but in drawing her, I capture the “essence” that I see in front of me, and she judges those drawings to not be sexy.
I would say to the comics in my town: lets not be afraid to fail! There is no risk on stage, we have complete freedom, so lets flop and bomb sometimes. Please do new material, and even go up and don’t do anything you have planned- that will make us better. That will make it fun for us, so we can hear new material, so we can laugh at each other (because face it, most of the audience is… us) . We are free, so lets USE our freedom, instead of doing our same 7 or 5 minutes every time with small insignificant variations.
Can you record an album for under $2,000?
I have been surprised to see Kick Starter campaigns asking for 10,000 to record albums, and stories that people have told me that an album generally costs 1,000 per song. I have always wanted to record an album that is lush and full with horns and string arrangements. I grew up listening to the Beatles of course, and then heard some fantastic pop albums from artists like Ben Folds Five, Rufus Wainwright, and Elliot Smith. I knew I wanted to do a “real” album someday, with “real” musicians and overdubs.
I was able to record an excellent sounding album, 11 songs. I set a budget of $2000 and tried to save where ever I could.
I did the cd design myself. The photographer who took the picture on the back gave me the rights to the photo for free. The picture on the front has been modified, and I think qualifies as “Fair use.”
The musicians who played and sang all did so for free, or in exchange for some food and beer. These were mostly friends who I have worked with for several years, and I have played shows with them before. The stand up bass player was the only person who I didn’t know, I just found a student who played bass at the local university and he was willing to play on the album for experience and a chance to add to his resume.
Here is my budget:
I paid $600 dollars to my Recording Engineer. My engineer allowed me to use his studio to edit my tracks in Pro Tools. (James Bartlett at Sunnyside studios)
I paid $100 for a Hard drive to record onto.
I paid a Mastering Engineer $585 to master the tracks. (Grey market mastering in Montreal.)
I paid 146.63 for 100 cds from Tunecore.
When the album was done I paid 7$ to promote it on Facebook.
Total $1438.63
If I sell 96 cds at $15, I break even. The cd is available free at bandcamp because… I don’t want anyone who would like to hear it be unable to because they couldn’t afford it. I do value my labor and the value of my musicians. I share it in the hopes that people will support me and give me gigs and come see me live when I play in their area.
I’d be interested to see someone else’s cd budget as to explain why they spend $10,000 or more. Are session musicians paid well on those records? Does that include a $2,000 or more promotion campaign? Does most of the money go to Recording Engineers or those who are called “producers” who end up as arrangers, session musicians and consultants? I am very interested in this process. If anyone has been in the business awhile knows how much their albums cost, please share.
Rufus Wainwright (with Lucy Wainwright Roche)
Rufus Wainwright, cracking wise! at the Shedd
I got to see Martha Wainwright once years ago at South by South West. I think my mom is going to see Rufus tomorrow, and my brother got to see him play in Japan. Sorry to rub it in, dear reader. His control over his voice is fantastic, and his melodies, humor and wit are sublime. Then there is the piano skills to consider. There is a heavy dose of Russian and French classical music in his style. He played guitar on a few songs, and they were fun, poppy numbers like “You Will Believe in Love.”
Looks like he’s got some gray hairs in his beard! He’ll be such a handsome old man. Well, you didn’t tune in for my commentary. Who should I draw next?
The Moody Blues.
Here are a couple of my sketches of The Moody Blues show.
The Moody Blues in 2013 at the Holt Center in Eugene, Or.
They played 30 amazing songs. Their light show was fun, I was impressed. It was cool that they had a live flutist. Having no live string players was a little bit disappointing. The sound was amazing, never too loud. People might complain about bands that tour with only a few of the original members, but I think this band still had the original members that mattered, Justin? The main guy, his voice is definitely the one on all my favorite songs, and the drummer told jokes and had a thicker accent like Ringo kinda, and he did two of his odd Poem- songs/intros… The space was really nice, its called the Holt center, its gorgeous inside, and everywhere was a good view. (They couldn’t quite sing the parts that were supposed to be really high for really long though) the drummer said he;s 72!
They played Isn’t life strange? Tuesday Afternoon (of course), Question, Ride my see saw, the story in your eyes, the voice, your wildest dreams, blue world, You and me. say it with love” And many more.
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When I was 10 my family had only a few cds. Those got listened to over and over and over again. I even slept with the boombox next to my head and the music at the lowest possible level. I think I remember my mother telling me I wasn’t allowed to sing as I went to sleep. Sgt. Peppers was one of them, Bela Fleck: Fight of the Cosmic Hippo was another, and on the Threshold of a Dream was among the first 10 cds… also Apollo 13 by They Might Be Giants. Rubber Soul… So Moody Blues are a part of my eternal brain waves. They permanently were infused into my creative thought processing, and thats what I learned was “good” music.
Sexiest TV Witch on OkCupid?
Here we have a few cartoons I made for Halloween last year. I hope you enjoy them.
Huh, with all the Zombies on OkCupid, its looking like Ok Putrid.
Who is the sexiest witch on tv? Without a doubt, its Magica DeSpell. I love her vision, her focus, and that adorable accent.
Happy Halloween everybody! Thanks for reading my blog. I have a few more Halloween cartoons planned, if I have time I will make them.
The Cherry Poppin Daddies
Fancy shmancy swingin sleaze, delivered with so much charm and swagger. The horn section was so tight. the dance moves, hat juggling tricks and stage banter was all so much fun. I listened to these guys back when I was 19. I think they have new members now. They had a young Japanese guitarist. A fan told me that their bass player had been there from the beginning. I didn’t have my art stuff with me, so I just sketched them in pencil on some flyers that were on a table. Their fans are loyal. They were fantastic.
Man Man at the Hawthorne
Crazy wild band. Saxaphone, ukulele and malletKat joined in with an energetic drummer and humorous disturbing lyrics.
