[transmission from...Tyler Sonnichsen]



Hey, out there. I'm still in the process of realigning this site and generating more fascinating crap for you guys to read and subsequently thank yourselves for waking up. For those of you who missed it, The Improv show was a blast, despite my set being heavily mediocre (as far as I was concerned). But congrats to J McB, Bryson, Eick, and of course, Marcus as well as all the others who were fortunate to be a part of it. For those of you who were there, thanks so much for coming out, laughing, and reminding me why I do this.

You see, we all have sucky days. Comics, as has been discussed widely in the message boards and blogs, all have sucky sets. Athletes have sucky games and matches. It's a part of life. Those of us who try to do anything remotely considerable as "art" without sucking constantly for long periods of time are fortunate to not have to suffer that fate. But, there are many who do, and to explain how, I will dub that intangible quality that contitutes a thin line between good/greatness and cultural expendability as "the suck."

Here are three example of the "suck" equation in action.

Josh Todd of Buck Cherry - 'The Suck' = Mark Lind of Ducky Boys

Upon discovering Boston street/oi!/subjective punk rockers The Ducky Boys last spring, it occurred to me how similar singer/bassist Mark Lind sounds to Buck Cherry's singer Josh Todd. In fact, there's really nothing that Lind has that Todd doesn't...unless you consider a decent band...and talent...and songs about logical things...and some form of sobriety. Actually, the only thing that Todd has that Lind doesn't is a hit. Remember that song about doing coke on airplanes? Don't ask me why I hate the music industry.

Norm MacDonald Doing Anything Other Than "Weekend Update" - 'The Suck' = Norm MacDonald on "Weekend Update"

This guy makes me cringe, but he was pretty damn funny on Weekend Update during the mid/late 90's SNL boom. Good thing he's an asshole. Granted, Dirty Work is supposed to be okay, and I have a friend who claims he lost his virginity while watching it. So, three cheers for trying to branch out.

Kevin Costner in General - 'The Suck' = Kevin Costner 1987-1991

Dances with Wolves! Field of Fucking Dreams! I wasn't too crazy about his rendition of Robin Hood, but he had some steam going into it. Oh well, I think three examples is enough for now. That, and I'm tired.

Listen to that new podcast I put up. It's got Norm Wilkerson and Sampson acting like their respective selves and makes for genuinely compelling radio. Sorry this took forever to post. Like I said... act. Getting back together. Talk to you all soon.

[transmission from... Tyler Sonnichsen]

Sorry, I've been putting off actually posting anything of substance for a couple of weeks, but there have been reasons. To observe the fruition of the biggest reason, just come to the DC Improv tonight to see me, Jon McBride, Bryson Turner, Marcus Brown, Travis Spencer, Jon Eick, Andre Gatling, and Matt Sapsford turn out some high-quality hilarity with host Erik Myers. This is going to be awesome.

Since I don't have anything new and amazing to throw in here (there are a few items coming soon, don't worry), I'm just going to revert to Schlegel again, because this nearly made me piss my pants. Enjoy.