It’s often been said that writers and artists work best when they have a gun to their head. A theater in Plano will provide five casts with that kind of motivation, and since this is Texas, we should probably mention that it will only be a proverbial gun. Rover Dramawerks…
Today’s gamers have it so damn easy. You no longer have to go anywhere to play a top-of-the-line video game. You can sit at home, download one right from your console and play it until your thumbs turn to taffy. The fact that anyone can beat these games isn’t even…
History is full of great rivalries: David vs. Goliath, Patton vs. Rommel, Kanye vs. mankind’s tolerance. But none is more heated than the rivalry between people who ride motorcycles and people who ride scooters. Both are excellent modes of transportation, and yet their fans can’t seem to get along. To…
When the Dallas Comedy House booked Jackass star Preston Lacy to be one of their headliners for the stand-up section of their annual Dallas Comedy Festival, they had to make a special agreement. “I had to agree with the venue that I wouldn’t be bringing any animals or weapons or…
Almost a year ago, a group of Dallas gun owners decided their favorite hardware needed a little sunlight and fresh air. So these mouth-breathing locals started taking semi-automatic weapons on play dates to chain restaurants like Chili’s and Chipotle, causing a wave of confusion to pass over Awesome Blossom-stuffed faces…
No self respecting comic book convention can call itself such a thing without celebrity guests. It’s like having a baseball team without a ridiculously cartoonish mascot costume worn by a man whose distinct mixture of meth and failure to drive the fans into a frenzy. It’s like a role playing…
When the creepy podcast Welcome to Night Vale came to town last year, the show’s creator dropped one hell of a bombshell on me in our interview. Jeffrey Cranor and Joseph Fink talked about their inspiration for the show and I was surprised to learn that Cranor, a Mesquite native,…
The recent bouts of cold weather have taken a devastating toll on our roads, psyche and soul. We may not get as much snow as other parts of the country but as every resident Texan knows, just a few inches of snowfall means that certain doom is soon to follow…
Dallas has a growing comedy community but just the simple act of going to a comedy club can be a huge hassle. If you’re going to see just one comedian, there is no guarantee that the person you are paying your hard earned money to see will actually be funny…
Every now and again, rumors surface that a big time theme park developer wants to set up their rolly-coasters and flying thingamabobs somewhere in our neck of the woods. Not long after I first moved here and started working in the news business, someone gave me a tip that Disney…
There’s an ugly myth permeating the comedy sphere that you have to be a young man or a young woman to even make it to the starting line of the race. That’s just not true. Some of our most revered humorists and comedians like Larry David, Phyllis Diller, David Sedaris…
He may be known as “that guy” on the NBC sitcom “Newsradio,” the leather-jacket-wearing host of the long-running reality show “Fear Factor” and one half of the color commentary team for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, comedian Joe Rogan is more than a guy who makes a living encouraging people…
How do you usually celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? You probably put on a lot of green, drink as much as you can, boot and rally, then eat something that’s been boiled in a pot for two days. Technically, the 2015 North Texas Irish Festival is a week too early to…
He’s been called many things in his career: the King of Queens, a mall cop, that guy who was on “The King of Queens” and that guy in that movie about that mall cop. But before he earned all of those titles, Kevin James got his start the way most…
No one who goes to a Lisa Lampanelli show has the right to complain that they were offended by her material. Her numerous TV specials offer plenty of warnings that her material isn’t for sensitive viewers or people who enjoy writing angry letters to PR people. That would be like…
George Lopez has done just about everything that a comedian could hope to cross off of his bucket list. He’s been the star of two primetime sitcoms — the long running “George Lopez” on ABC and “Saint George” on FX. He’s had several stand-up specials on HBO and Showtime, and…
Comedian Jim Breuer must have one weird existence thanks to the foothold he’s gained in popular culture. He had a short but memorable run on “Saturday Night Live,” where he left his mark with characters such as the chemically engineered MTV show host Goat Boy and a completely over the…
Ricky, Julian and Bubbles, known together as the infamous Trailer Park Boys, are the best known criminal comedy group in the world. The heavily hairsprayed Ricky, the googly eyed Bubbles and the cocktail clutching Julian get recognized in all four hemispheres, an even more impressive feat for a show that…
The fans of the Canadian comedy trio the Trailer Park Boys are more than just fans. Ricky, Julian and Bubbles aren’t just characters on a TV screen, they’re like family — if that family includes three three dope-peddling dimwits who steal things out of parked cars to make a living,…
“Comedy king of Twitter” isn’t exactly the most regal title ever created. It’s up there with Queen of the Trailer Park or the Earl of the Fry Vat. In the case of comedian Rob Delaney, thought, it’s actually quite a compliment. If you can be ridiculously funny in 140 characters…
Imagine a society that’s run by computers where older people are deemed unfit for existence and shuffled away from the public’s eyes and conscience. Bummer, huh? OK then, dummy, stop watching the damn news and head out to Texas Theatre (231 W. Jefferson Blvd.). At 8 p.m. Saturday the Oak…
When you’re asked to name a great American storyteller in an opinion-based parlor game or meaningless survey, old fogies like Mark Twain, Garrison Keillor and Ernest Hemingway spring to mind. But director John Waters should be the first person you think of. The easily offended deem him and his artistic…
