The summer is over. Kids are going to back to school and await anxiously for lunch time and recess. Young adults go back to school and await anxiously as they know student loans will, one day, destroy their lives. And sadly, the summer movie season ends.

In all honesty, it isn’t that memorable. I don’t feel like it was a very exciting season. There were some cool movies, some really bad movies, and some sexy movies (Chris Evans, hello! I mean, um, shit, what women were in movies this summer?)

Here are my summer movie awards. All of these were voted on by a committee of myself and my collection of Ninja Turtle action figures (the large, 12-inch tall ones.)

BIGGEST SURPRISE – CAPTAIN AMERICA
Here is a movie that was just asking to be hated. I mean, it’s called Captain America. It kind of seems like an idea that Tea Partiers would come up with in between protests and destroying our country.

But director Joe Johnson and super-hunk Chris Evans delivered a really fun and exciting film. They found a great way to deal with the entire “Captain America” shtick, almost making a joke out of it. They gave it what all good superhero moves need, a heart.

Unfortunately, the screenwriters had to stick with the timeline made for “The Avengers,” so they had to get the Cap to modern times. I would have loved for there to have been more World War 2 adventures. But now, we get to see him fight along other awesome Marvel superheroes. That might be a pretty awesome trade off.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT – GREEN LANTERN
Really? The main villain will be a giant cloud? Come on!

This film has a great lesson for young filmmakers: a sense of place. It’s always good to establish your location in some way. Real locations are easiest because they come in with pre-established information and emotions. But fictional cities need some time to establish. Metropolis for Superman, Gotham for Batman, my sexpad for sexy ladies. All are giving sweeping establishing shots, scenes of its citizens, anything to make the city real.

In Green Lantern, I couldn’t tell you where the hell this city was. Apparently, it is a fictional city, but I have no idea. I didn’t feel anything for the city, its citizens, buildings, anything. Big emotional disconnect.

Also, if you’re going to make a superhero movie, don’t have him spend most of the movie pouting. Also, don’t establish a cool bad buy and then have him killed so easily and quickly. Also, more Ryan Reynolds being an awesome badass, less in-space crap.

Also, no giant cloud bad guys. Lame.

BEST COMEDY – BRIDESMAIDS
I loved this movie. One of the most-fun times I’ve had in a movie theatre.

Filmmakers often find humor in giving women vulgar things to say, thinking that is all you need for a good comedy. Luckily, everyone involved in this one knew that the vulgar had to be placed within a meaningful story and wasn’t just meant for shock and laughs.

Kristen Wiig, an actress that easily gets on my nerves on Saturday Night Live (mostly because she is overused, not because of anything with her) is perfect in this. It’s nice to see Maya Rudolph back, also. But Melissa McCarthy steals the show.

Lots of funny ladies. Lots of funny boners. I mean, sexy boners. My boners are sexy. And veiny.

BEST FILM THAT WAS SUPPOSE TO KICK MY DICK, IN A GOOD WAY, BUT ENDED UP JUST KICKING MY DICK IN WAYS THAT HURT AND LEAVE BRUISING AND MAKE ME SUPER UPSET AND MAD – TRANSFORMERS 3: DARK OF THE BLAH BLAH BLAH
I don’t want to get in into too much. This movie just pisses me off.

Again, a lame story. What the hell was going on most of the time? Why do Transformers build pillars to bring their planet to Earth? Why does it take hundreds of them? Why is only one the key? Wouldn’t there be a number that were important and keys? Why didn’t they build a backup plan just in case one broke? “Well, fakers, we broke one. No planet for us!” Why take their old planet? Why not just destroy Earth and take it.

Anyway, like I said, I don’t want to get into it…

When did Shia LeBeouf learn parkour? Why Chicago? Seriously, why the fuck did the Transformers need Chicago? It’s never explained! How come a film about fighting robots gets made without a lot of fighting robots? Why did the humans chose to jump out of the building and slide down it without a backup plan? Why did MY DICK HURTS.

HARRY POTTER IS AWESOME AWARD: HARRY POTTER: THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2
I love these movies. We will never get a film series as well made, acted, and written than these. SNAPE 4EVA!

BEST FILM OF THE SUMMER: SUPER 8
I want to make sweet, deep love to this film and just cuddle forever afterward. From the heartbreaking first shot to the final frame, everything about this film was amazing.

JJ Abrams channels his inner-Spielberg and gives us a film that feels like the films I saw as a child. It’s my generation’s ET.

I laughed, I cried, and held in urine for longer than I could ever imagine just so I didn’t miss anything. And then I cried some more (half because of the ending, half because of the pain.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Horrible Bosses – It’s nice to see Charlie Day getting some primetime play.
X-Men: First Class – A lot of fun. Nice to see the franchise get a good reboot and a great palate cleanser from the Wolverine movie.
Beginners – Indie movie Heaven. This could be my favorite film of the year.
Thor – I expected this to be terrible, but was a lot of fun and pretty damn good. Makes me more excited about “The Avengers.”

Posted: August 29th, 2011 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, Movie Reviews.
Comments: 32

Reiders. How kind of you to join me again.

I am only a couple weeks away now from my year anniversary in New York City. It’s already been a year –I am in a state of minor disbelief. Lately at work, I’ve been taking extra bathroom breaks, sitting on the toilet, and listening to old sets of mine I recorded on my phone. It helps pass the time, while also providing some insight into just how far I’ve come. Listening back to even February (sometimes I don’t dare dredge up October and September, they were a little rough), I’m amazed how far I have come. I hear jokes and wonder, “Where did I think that was going? Why couldn’t I get to the point?” I was so jittery on stage, I could hardly stick to a topic, and if I did a lot of the times it was so abstract with no real point or reason. Then again, some of the sets went great –as nice as it is to think I’ve improved so tremendously, I can’t be unreasonable and hate everything I did back then. But the point remains: I’ve come a long way.

I think the first five months were the worst. I lacked confidence, didn’t know anyone, was alone for a while heading out to mics and shows. I was lonely, and you can hear it in the jokes I was doing: “Do you ever get depressed and start eating ice cream, only to stop so you can save some for when you’re depressed tomorrow?” After that though, I found my group of friends, started getting booked on shows, and everything has gone uphill from there. Those first months though, I am happy to know I will never have to do that again, but on the same note happy that I could get through it.

This past week I was booked on five separate shows in the city, the most I’ve been booked on in one week as of yet. These were also some of the best shows I’ve done in the city as well –incredibly booked, great audiences, great reactions. I’m starting to get really confident in some of my material, and finding a way to lead audiences into my more abstract jokes. One of my new bits, one I actually really like, is surprisingly observational and clear to understand. It’s a joke where the idea is so relatable yet unaddressed, that one of the bigger laughs I get is by simply stating the truth of the matter. This is something very new for me. Yet I still perform it in my style, it still feels very “Reid” despite being relatively simple and straightforward. I’ve been pairing this with some shorter punchier jokes in the beginning, and have found it is so much easier to tackle the more abstract, convoluted, patience-requiring material I love so much. These are the kinds of ideas I would have never thought of when I first arrived. Sure, I knew I had to lead audiences into my style, but most of the time this was done by sacrificing what I like for what works with the audience, so that when I finally did make the leap into “my” material, they were still lost. I’m learning how to guide people in and make what I do relatable, as absurd as that may seem.

This past week felt especially good considering I was still feeling down about missing some work at my home club in Cincinnati. A good friend of mine, Ryan Singer, was heading back for his first headlining week there, and had hoped to bring me with him as his feature. I was really excited about it, the owner had told me even the year prior he was looking for a time when I could feature (doing the middle, 20-25 minute act) there, and I was looking forward to returning. When Ryan suggested it though, it was shot down, and for good reasons. It was Ryan’s first time headlining there, it would be my first time featuring there, not to mention that given our styles it would be the weirdest piece of shit ever. The show would simply be too much of a risk, and though I understand that, I was still disappointed. I found this out only a week after getting rejected from the Comic Strip for very similar reasons –being too alternative, too weird for club audiences. My confidence took a definite dip. Yet it felt like this week New York was making it up to me. Some of the people I performed for (namely the drunk patrons of a Thai restaurant on a beach) were clearly not my type of crowd, were not into comedy, and were not seeking out the strange and alternative. But when I did “my” material and did great, hell, better than I could’ve imagined given the scenario, it felt very good. Sure, I can be a risk, what I do is not really within the norm, but I can still make people laugh –and if I do that one where I kiss myself as a twelve year old boy just right, I can make them laugh hard.

This year has been very difficult at points, but I don’t think I’ve been happier with any other choice. I’ve learned and improved more than I could have anywhere else almost, and all it took was feeling like a wet piece of shit for a few months.

GUEST SENTENCE: Reid from October –“Oh, I’m a sad little boy. Why is the joke about the new Bible I’m writing not working? Boo hoo, I wish I had friends.” As OctoberReid went over his sentence allotment, he will not be returning.

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Watch clips by Reid

Posted: August 25th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 35

Dozens of comedians will have a chance to square off against each other for their own TV special and over $80,000 worth of cash and prizes in Comcast’s “Trial By Laughter” comedy competition. Taping Tuesday, November 8th through Saturday, November 13th at Morty’s in Indianapolis, Trial By Laughter features three rounds of fierce competition. All three rounds will be taped and aired on Comcast, and all three rounds will be sent to Sirius/XM. Submit an audition clip on the Trial By Laughter website.
Good luck!

Posted: August 24th, 2011 under contests, Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy.
Comments: 12

The great reviews keep on rolling in for Adam Newman debut album, Not for Horses.

First there was Ed Placencia’s review, followed by a glowing review on Laughspin, and now entertainment blog Under the Gun has chimed in.

Here’s a teaser of the review written by UTG’s comedy writer Angie Frissore.

“Newman’s material is not only hilarious and well-timed, but also personal. Each of his jokes shows you a glimpse of Newman’s true personality – and this openness instantly generates a huge amount of likability that keeps you eager for more.”

Read the rest of the review on Under the Gun

Pick up your copy of Not for Horses

Posted: August 23rd, 2011 under Reviews, Rooftop Talent Institute.
Comments: 11

Tonight at Rooftop’s partner club, Go Bananas, some of Cincinnati’s finest funny people come together for a night of hilarious short films. This year marks the fourth “Flip Your Clip” festival and showcases original short films from Mike Shelton, MC Mr. Napkins, Ryan Singer (PICTURED), and many more. Check out the full line-up of films and filmmakers.

Posted: August 23rd, 2011 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, News'n'stuff, Shows.
Comments: 20

We’re very proud to announce the debut of “Today in the Park”, Rooftop’s new comedic web series, made for MSN’s Lifestyle page. Are you a mom? Do you know any moms? Do you have a mom? If you answered yes to any of these, then you’ll definitely enjoy this new series chronicling the adventures of a new mom and her son as they visit their neighborhood park. Watch the first episode below and visit MSN to watch them all!

Posted: August 22nd, 2011 under Video.
Comments: 18

Nate Bargatze is a good friend of Rooftop and we’re so happy to see his recent set on Conan. Watch him read his hilarious back-and-forth text exchange with his wife and find out his complex feelings on mosh pits. Congrats Nate on getting onto Conan again! Keep up the good work.

P.S. If you enjoy his late night set, be sure to check out his Rooftop Comedy page and learn about his Tennessee roots, his reasons for wanting to visit Cambodia, and more (hilarious) glimpses from his marriage.

Posted: August 18th, 2011 under Lucille Ball Festival of Comedy, Video.
Comments: 17

Weinbach, Walsh, and Cooperman

The Nevada City Film Festival Comedy Show returns this weekend with the wickedly funny Brent Weinbach (Lopez Tonight, Comedy Central, FunnyOrDie.com) Brendon Walsh (Conan, Jimmy Kimmel, HBO), Eric Andre (Lopez, Comedy Central), Lizzy Cooperman (Tosh.0, MTV, Last Comic Standing) and hosted by DJ Douggpound (Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!). Local comedy group Best Friends Club open up the show.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

10pm-Midnight, $15, Ages 16+, Miners Foundry, 325 Spring Street, Nevada City, CA.

Click Here for tickets

Here are a few clips from Nevada City Film Festival performers Brent Weinbach and Brendon Walsh. Enjoy!

Posted: August 17th, 2011 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, Press Releases, Shows.
Comments: 14

When Rooftop last talked to Dylan Gadino from Punchline Magazine, big changes were afoot. His baby had just received major backing from Salient Media, and with that everything was about to move forward with serious intent.

Well, it’s been almost a year and big changes did happen. Punchline moved under the Salient Media umbrella, brainstorming took place, and the new project—Laugh Spin—was created.

The essence of Laugh Spin is that of Punchline Magazine, but with bold new steps being taken. Nathan Timmel phoned up Dylan to discuss the events of the past eleven months.

NT: So, Punchline has become Laugh Spin, talk us through the transition.

DG: A little over a year ago now I made a deal with a company in Los Angeles called Salient Media. They are the digital arm of The Collective, which is a management agency that reps bands and comedians and the like. Salient Media is their production side; it puts out DVDs and CDs and they deal with websites, they have another popular website, bloodydisgusting.com, which is part of the horror film genre. Anyway, I teamed up with them, so they are essentially now the parent company of the website. They are mainly in charge of business development.

As we were going through the process of transitioning from Punchline being something I owned exclusively to having their backing, we decided it was probably a good idea to take the opportunity to reformat and re-brand everything, which I think is a good thing. For one thing, we wanted to make sure our new brand was singular, and that there would be no confusion with anything else. With Punchline Magazine, you have the Punchline comedy clubs and other Punchline branded entities. The other thing was the word Magazine; the word is becoming less and less relevant.

NT: I remember you talking about that last year; the problem with the whole magazine format, and that you went digital on purpose, because physical magazines are a dying breed.

DG: Yeah, in ten years, no one is going to even know what a magazine is. When I launched the site in 2005, magazines were already bombing. So I wanted to move away from that, and then the final thing is that punchline magazine dot com is a long URL to type, so we wanted to tighten that up, too. We wanted something short, punchy, and obviously relatable. Laugh is obvious, and Spin is a word that sounds active, and looks OK when smashed up against Laugh…

NT: Better than “Laugh Sneeze” or something like that.

DG: [Laughs] Right.

NT: What will be the new directions Laugh Spin goes in?

DG: Well, we’ll still be mainly editorial, but one of the new developments is we have a record label and we’re starting to put out records. We released something from a band from Australia called “The Axis of Awesome.” We’re also concentrating on getting a lot more video content on the website. We’re very interested in working with comedians and having them produce their own editorial content. We’re not looking to compete with Funny or Die or College Humor; we’re not looking to create funny web serials or that, we’re interested in editorial content. If a comedian is on tour, and wants to do a bi-weekly video diary of life on the road, that would be our angle. We’re also interested in getting into Podcasting.

NT: So who have you enjoyed talking to in the past year?

DG: I sat down with Colin Quinn when he was promoting the HBO version of his one-man show. I’d seen him on stage before, but I’d never actually talked to him, and it was cool because he was a super nice guy, very easy going… I’d heard from other comics that he was decent, and a caring guy, and yeah… very easy to talk to and laid back.

NT: Did he talk about his special being a tough sell, because that was historical comedy, and audiences don’t always like to think?

DG: He talked about it a little bit. He had Jerry Seinfeld directing it, so he obviously had a lot of power behind it with that name, but he talked about keeping it short. I think the tagline was “The history of the world in seventy-five minutes.” He wanted to make sure people knew what they were getting into, that it might be historical, but he was going to make it a tight set.

What I found interesting about that special is: live, Colin is a very divisive performer. Not because he’s controversial, but because of his style of performing; his stage voice is very ragged, he won’t push sentences, he’ll mumble, and some people really love that, but others just don’t like it. So what I found amazing about the HBO show was he was so polished; he was so disciplined. If you watch the show, it’s very George Carlin like, where every word is specific and has meaning.

You can find LaughSpin on the web, and follow them on Facebook.

Posted: August 16th, 2011 under Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy, Interview, Punchline Magazine.
Comments: 25

Oh, Reiders, I want to get frank and sexual with you. I want to write a poem with your ink.

There. I hope that’s non sequitur enough of an intro for you. How are you guys? Good? Oh, I’m alright. Thank you for asking.

Over the weekend I got to do my second real road gig since I’ve been here in New York. Did one before at Dartmouth College with Alex Fossella and Angel Costillo (who put on the mighty fine podcast called “The AA Meeting”, that a certain blogger/young man has appeared on/done the logo for (not the elephant one on iTunes. Is it up yet? The one with theirs souls escaping their bodies? Never mind)). It was strange, performing for college kids, all people younger than me; there was a freedom and confidence to it you don’t always get performing to your elders. This last show upped that ante: I performed at a children’s summer camp in Connecticut for a rowdy group of a hundred screaming eight to eleven year olds. In college I used to perform for children at grade schools as part of a volunteer comedy performance group, but that was in a school setting, for older children. This was not near as controlled.

As I took the stage, I came out to a chorus of children screaming, “You’re short! You’re short!” while smaller groups shouted, “You look like an elf!” One child, a nine year old boy, a cute kid with shaggy brown hair in the front, felt it in his heart to yell, “You look like a faggot!” I swear this is true. In his defense, he did not shout it with any malice, rather he shouted it like he had the right answer. It’s near impossible to do real material with kids of this age, let alone this level of hollerin’, regardless of the fact that one of my favorite jokes features phrases such as “shit in an open wound,” “smoosh your butthole into my butthole” and “my cock is so worn, withered, and calloused if I’m going to feel anything during sex it has to be pain.” So mostly I just led the kids in obscure animal impressions (a goat who’s afraid to get married) and fed a young girl a baby carrot from a baggie I’d been carrying around in my pocket all day. She ate the carrot –I’m not sure what it was I felt about this, but the closest word is “pride.” Performing for children is disconcerting in a way: they don’t laugh as a whole. There are pockets of laughter, but it’s as if they don’t know the social cues found in a joke to come together as one. A friend, Eli Sairs, who did the show before me, reasoned that all jokes to some level are a trick, and these kids simply didn’t enjoy being duped –they wanted to outsmart us. Every turn a joke would take they would try to avoid it, shout out the twist or their own punchline, anything to avoid the trick. Or maybe we just don’t know what kids think is funny.

Partway through the next comic’s set, a child ran on stage threatening to give him a wedgie. He agreed, on the condition he could give the boy one first. Not only did he give the kid a wedgie, he also enraged some of the parents watching, including the wife of the camp director. The next morning we were informed the second show was cancelled, we needed to leave the camp immediately, and that the camp counselor (and fellow comedian/friend Joel Walkowski) would be demoted. I’m not sure, but I think that means the trip was awesome.

Back in New York things have gone decently enough. I stopped hosting my open mic –it can be a good opportunity and a good service, but it was becoming tedious and seemingly worthless. I’m still co-producing Underbelly, and will soon start helping a friend produce her monthly stand-up show, so I figure two actual shows are worth at least one mic. I don’t really have much more to talk about.

I guess I just really wanted to tell you that a nine year old called me a “faggot.”

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Posted: August 15th, 2011 under BIG CITY, LITTLE REID.
Comments: 21