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My old friend Jeremy got a bee in his bonnet to have a talk show. At first I was super jealous. After all, it was just over a year ago when I went through a disastrous dry run holding my own live talk show. I had to put off my dreams of producing my own talk show. Who was I to object to Jeremy following his?

Especially when he invited Will and I to be guests for Cocktail Corner with the Lushes in Love.

His set was amazing. His guests were amazing — hilarious and educational. And at the end, the whole audience shared a round of Oakland, by the Goodtime Washboard Three. Continue Reading

Potential Talk Show Names

Last year I went through a month or two where I decided I wanted to be a talk show host (still do) and would produce my own talk show.  After frantically trying to put everything together I had a moment of clarity where I realized that I could not concentrate on both running my own business and producing my talk show.  First and foremost, I needed to work on the business.  The talk show will come later.

While digging through my notes last year, I found a list of potential talk show names. Keep in mind that this list was brainstormed over a gin and tonic or two with input from three new friends and my co-producer BoAe. Continue Reading

To deadpan or not to deadpan

I realized about ten or so days ago that I wanted to be a Talk Show Host.

I’ve been amazed at the reactions from the people in my life. Most of the time, without fail, they say something like, “You’d be good at that” or “What a good idea.” I’m not surprised by the support of the people in my life–they are always truly wonderful that way. What I’m surprised by is the way that all of a sudden all the pieces of all of my projects start fitting together. I am a person of many diverse and spontaneous interests, and the forum of a talk show is suddenly the perfect fit for all (or most) of these.

On Saturday I got it into my head to film my first show three hours later. I accepted that it was going to be a true experiment. I had no script–only a guest and a few silly questions, a couple products to plug and a spattering of friends to be the studio audience who I knew would come through with ideas if we hit a lull. And they did–without their urging I wouldn’t have attempted a monologue and I probably would have gone on and on about the virtues of Tupperware far longer then I did.

My inaugural studio audience was composed of great friends who happened to be available. I did give them each a free gift (like every good talk show host!), but that doesn't nearly thank them enough for attending.

This inaugural filming, I faced many challenges–logistics, nerves, fear, and, perhaps most importantly, my inability to deadpan. One of the questions I wanted to ask Mike, my guest, was, “I have a cabinet in my kitchen that won’t stay closed. Is there anything analogous to that in your life?” (I don’t recall whether his answer was usable… I’m afraid that it won’t be…) I had to ask the question twice because the first time I found it so ridiculously funny that I cracked up.  Even the second time will only be usable if I cut to his reaction because I could not suppress my wide smile. Continue Reading

My Theme Song

I realized last week what my dream is. I’ve been planning all these crazy videos for so long, and pumping so much time and energy into my blog… but I didn’t understand how it all comes together to make me happy. Honestly, sometimes it just feels like a bunch of work. But this past week when I have actually been devoting myself to my videos, I have felt continually creatively satisfied. It has been an amazing week.

Sometime during the past week, I made the realization: I want to be a talk show host. I was born to be a talk show host. I can talk and talk and talk. Believe me! I can think of crazy skits like nobody’s business. Content will never be a problem!

I do need to work on my deadpan…I crack myself up entirely too much! Continue Reading