All the hopes and dreams and innermost feelings that I, Dave Hill, can muster.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Another Funtime Video For You Plus Something To Read
Here is another exciting video for you to watch in your spare time that I did with my friend Meredith Scardino. It was shotted and edited by the unstoppable Alex Brady and Ned Lindau. I hope you enjoy it a whole bunch. Also, if you would like to read something good, here is a nice interview on Gothamist with my close personal friend David Rakoff.
The Sound Of Young America Interview with Me, Dave Hill
Hi there. How are you? I am good. Thanks for asking. Anyway, on my recent trip to scenic Los Angeles, I totally got interviewed on the excellent show the Sound of Young America (A Public Radio Show About Things That Are Awesome). You can listen to the whole thing right here. Thanks to Jesse for totally letting me come over to his house and talk with him. I hope you enjoy it so much.
If you like watching stuff on the Internet, above is an interview I did with the popular comedian Robert Kelly, whom you might know from the Tourgasm program on the popular HBO network. At one point during the interview, Robert grabs my balls. Brace yourself. I know I did.
Speaking of being touched, here is something nice. As hinted at a couple posts ago, Robin Williams was in attendance at my most recent Los Angeles Explosion. As if that weren’t a nice enough surprise, he ended up talking about me in an interview the next day, saying “A lot of things make me laugh, a lot of comics. I saw a great young guy last night named Dave Hill who is really funny. He has a site on YouTube.” You can read the full interview here. Thanks to my friend Meredith, who has the Internet at her house, for pointing it out to me.
In the interest of keeping things fair and balanced, however, I would also like to share with you an e-mail I received from a guy named Mike who works at a company called Megadyne America, which is apparently a world class manufacturer of belts and pulleys. Anyway, Mike writes in an e-mail with subject line of “power dork of Miami”:
“Your show is retarded. I really don't know how someone with absolutely no character can get their own show. Have you ever watched 1 episode? I think a monkey could be 1000 times more funny. I'm not trying to be a jerk but I just thought someone should tell you.”
As hinted at in his e-mail, Mike is not trying to be a jerk. However, a small part of me thinks he might be succeeding anyway. Generally though, I am more inclined to simply respect Mike’s right to not like me or the show to which he is referring, “The King of Miami” (which is playing now on the futuristic MoJo network). After all, no one made me go into show business. And for the record, I think monkeys are really funny too. At least Mike and I can agree on that. For example:
Speaking of “The King of Miami,” a show hated by pretty much every belt and pulley manufacturer I have ever come in contact with via the Internet (which is to say, Mike), if you are so inclined, you can watch an entire episode here. I hope you like it more than Mike did. But if you don’t that’s okay too. I just want you to be the best you you can be and I’ll do the same. In other news, above is a photo (courtesy of Anya Garrett from my most recent New York Explosion featuring special guests John Hodgman and Jonathan Coulton, who were both delightful.
Above are a couple videos from the night. The first is me performing and incredible magic trick and the second is me singing a song I wrote for John and Jonathan. Thanks to Marianne for documenting these incredible moments in life. In still other news, it’s Gay Pride weekend here in New York City. There are parades and all sorts of gayness going on all over the place. Gay or straight, it’s pretty much a fun time for everyone. There is even a big rainbow flag hanging in front of my apartment building. I guess the landlord put it there to let the gays know all of us residents support whatever gaying it up they’ve got planned. And he is right! A friend of mine just called to tell me that something called the Dyke March had just started and there were packs of lesbians walking down Fifth Avenue. I really shouldn’t be sitting here at this computer right now with this kind of excitement going on.
Here is a video for Rufus Wainwright's "Rules and Regulations" from his excellent new album "Release the Stars." If you've got a thing for fake mustaches, choreography, and long johns, you are going to like this one a whole bunch.
I’ve just returned from spending the past week in scenic Los Angeles, home of the stars. It was a fun, busy, and- as you can probably imagine- very glamorous week. I did my Dave Hill Explosion show at the UCB Theatre over there in Hollywood on Thursday night and it turned out to be one of the more explosive Explosions in recent memory. My guests were musician Abby Travis, who was excellent, and Andy Dick, who was pretty much just as Andy Dick-like as one might expect, which made for a fun/scary night. Adding to the mayhem was the fact that Robin Williams was in the audience and ended up coming on stage at the end of the show. He was super funny too. It was pretty surreal for me since he is Robin Williams and all (That is a picture of Robin, Andy, Abby, Andy's friend Tim, and me above, as you might have guessed). After the show, Robin and Andy hung out backstage and we all talked for a bit, which was a totally bizarre and nice experience. I’m still all like “What the fuck just happened?” about the whole thing. Hollywood- am I right or am I right?
I would like to digress for a moment and point out that I am sitting in a coffee shop as I type this and the Gipsy Kings are blaring in the background. How did these guys get to be the official Sunday coffee shop/brunch place band? Seriously, what the fuck? It never ends. Oh wait, maybe this is Buena Vista Social Club. Okay, getting back to my trip to Los Angeles, above is a photo of me during the dance portion of my explosive Explosion show. Thanks to my friend Bill Price for having his camera at the ready during my show in case I did pushups or Robin Williams showed up from out of nowhere.
Other excitement from my Los Angeles invasion included doing the popular Comedy Deathray show at UCB on Tuesday night. It was Paul F. Tompkins’ CD release party so it was an extra special night. Fred Armisen, Andy Kindler, Jimmy Pardo, and Jen Kirkman were also on the show and they were all hilarious. I was honored to be a part of it. Paul- as usual- was hilarious and exceptionally well-dressed in a seersucker suit. Fun times all around.
The rest of my time in scenic Los Angeles was spent running around to high-powered show business meetings and hanging out with my friend Tig in scenic Venice. One day while we were sitting on Tig’s porch, Julia Roberts kept riding past her house on a bicycle. I did my best to keep my composure.
As with about 50% of my entries, I am realizing I am pretty brain dead as I type this. I have an excuse this time though. Last night I went to the opening of some friends’ new bar in Greenpoint called the Black Rabbit. They have a bunch of beer there and I drank a whole bunch of it, which is a recipe for instant good times. I don’t feel too excellent today though. It’s funny how that sort of thing goes.
Okay, I am going to quit while I’m behind. Have a super day.
The Dave Hill Explosion: Crushing Los Angeles On Thurs. June 14 At The UCB Theatre
Attention People of Los Angeles:
Hello. This is your man Dave Hill writing to let you know that I will be getting on a plane to come to your town and kick you in the crotch next week. I mean that in the figurative sense. I will not actually kick you in the crotch. However, I hope to entertain you to the point where it seems as if someone has actually kicked you in the crotch only in a really good way that does not make you want to wear a cup or anything. I will actually be getting on a plane though. That part is totally for real and necessary since I live really far away in another town. Anyway, I guess what I am really trying to say is that on Thursday, June 14 at 9:30pm, I will be walking out on stage at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre over there in Hollywood to bring it like a motherf#@ker once again in the form of my critically acclaimed and just pretty incredible in general nightclub act the Dave Hill Explosion. This time I am not messing around either. In fact, I have already contacted the Los Angeles Fire Department to warn them about my show and tell them they had better not give anybody the night off next Thursday and they were all like "Oh, sh*t!" and then they got all quiet because they knew there was not a damn thing they could do about me or my explosive tendencies. And then they just hung up and stood there staring at the phone for a few seconds because they had just gotten their ass handed to them by Dave F@$king Hill. Getting back to my show though, it is going to be seriously great. I am going to be talking, dancing, reading, clapping, singing, playing a couple videos, and just sort of blowing minds in general for like an hour straight of something. Sh*t. And as if all that is not enough, I am also going to have a couple really incredible guests on my show too. I will sit there and interview them and it will be so great that you will be all like "Damn- I could sit here for like six more motherf#@king hours and watch this sh*t" but then I will be all like "No, seriously, we gotta go" and then you will probably just swear some more after that because you will be so upset that the show is over, which is understandable. Anyway, I really hope you can make it. That would be so great. Also, due to the explosive nature of my show, it is recommended that you reserve tickets in advance here. F it.
Thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can watch this video of me interviewing Triumph the Insult Comic Dog. Actually, I just kind of hold the microphone while Triumph works his magic. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it so much.
It is Friday afternoon and I am living the dream/nightmare as usual, doing laundry, drinking coffee, and typing on the computer and whatnot. This past week I saw a couple great shows here in the Big City. On Tuesday, I saw Rufus Wainwright at the Gramercy Theatre. He was excellent and had some pretty incredible outfits too, including the lederhosen he wore on Letterman. He played mostly songs from his new album “Release The Stars” plus a few from the “Want” albums and then some Judy Garland hits. Rufus’ sister Lucy opened the show and she was really great too. You should go buy her new EP on iTunes. You will be glad you did. In fact if you don’t I will kick you in the nuts. Dammit. On Wednesday, I kept the mayhem coming by going to see Dinosaur Jr. at Irving Plaza, which I guess is now called the Fillmore for some lame reason I can’t begin to understand. As you might imagine, there were a lot of dudes in attendance. This was the second time I’ve seen Dinosaur Jr. on their original lineup reunion tour and they rocked balls once again. They played a lot of old hits from the first three albums, a few from their new album “Beyond”, and then “Out There” and “Feel The Pain,” which was kind of surprising since they are songs from the Barlow-free years. J Mascis was shredding in top form too, so that was nice. I am a big fan of shredding. It’s important to make shredding a part of each and every day if you ask me. In fact, when I get done typing this I will probably shred for a bit. That’s just how I live my life.
I am realizing as I’m typing this that I probably wouldn’t make that good of a concert reviewer. I pretty much either like something or I don’t. I occasionally love something though and would put the above two shows in that category. So there.
Okay, I am going to go back to being brain dead for now. Thanks for reading. You are the best. And I’m pretty crazy about your new hair too. Keep up the good work.
Hi there. Here is a video of me interviewing comedian/actor/guy-in-track-suit Jamie Kennedy. I hope you have a really great time watching it. It has pretty much everything we- as Americans- look for in entertainment.
