Getting the most out of art endeavors by slogging through the preliminary work.

What's So Funny!

014 Pencils, Improvising, and Do-Overs

A walk in the woods with nothing to say delves into trees, poetry, WWI, world culinary and etymological history, and a fart joke.  

013 Trees, WW1, and Ketchup

A little navel-gazing about how I got started in the Renaissance Festivals as an awkward teenager with almost no performing experience. These exploits include finding funny things to say, funny things to do, what things are not funny, and my shoulder-brushing with three people who went on to become celebrities.

012 My Renaissance History

This time Rich explores an ongoing gig, working as a frontman for a fortune telling booth at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Looking at crowd work, salesmanship, and the dilemma between the art and the mission.

011 Renaissance Man of Fortunes

So last week, I went to perform my comedy/juggling act a local juvenile detention center. At first, I thought it would be immigrant teens separated from their parents at the border. The revolving door quality of the facility makes it difficult to predict who will be in at any given time. All that could be … Continue reading 010 Comedy in Prison →

010 Comedy in Prison

I spent the last couple weeks teaching at a summer youth circus camp. Some insights into learning theory, comedy theory, childlike thinking, and a touch of scatology.

009 Teaching the Circus

We explore the “Clown’s Eye view” of classic comedy movie, “The Blues Brothers,” (1980) and look at some of the ways that this modern era movie touches on timeless clown archetypes and situations going back hundreds, if not thousands of years.

008 Blues Brothers, Belushi and Clowns

This time, Rich is tired, semi-coherent, and is barely vertical. On the plus side, it’s the shortest podcast to date. Tune in next week when he’s more awake. Recorded while walking down the double yellow lines down the middle of his neighborhood’s main road at midnight. A couple edits were to remove the sound of … Continue reading 007 Labor of Love →

007 Labor of Love

Come enjoy a moderately amusing unscripted stroll down a Mid-Atlantic American beach with Rich, as he talks, stream of consciousness, giving voice to his rampant ADD. I did get *almost* through the entire podcast without using any “Explicit Content” words (Apple gets very indignant if you use “grown-up” words and don’t label “Explicit Content”). Well, … Continue reading 006 A Walk on the Beach →

006 A Walk on the Beach

At the foundation of almost all comedy is structure. And one of the most common, and most useful structures, starts with a simple concept: the number three. Take a look at how and why three is woven into the fabric of some beloved jokes.

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What's So Funny!

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