Well, after fighting with Vista to work right, the new software I had to figure out, YouTube to get it uploaded correctly, and AT&T to figure out why their new "helpful" security patch screwed up all my mailing stuff, here is ... The Roadside Attraction April News!
So, this month, I've upped the ante on the the Living Room Bootleg Series you've all been enjoying over the last year. Now, it's a VIDEO bootleg series and comes to you straight from my new recording studio, "The Shed". So, I guess now I should call them "The Bootlegger's Shed". :)
Check out the video and let me know what you think. Still rough around the edges, but I'm new at this part, so it'll clean up as we go along. :)
Check out the tour dates below too. Come to a show and get your free Fridge Magnet!
April Tour Dates:
4/9/08 - Blue Rock Shoot, Saratoga, CA
4/11/08 - Jester Comedy Club, Beaverton, OR
4/12/08 - Jester Comedy Club, Beaverton, OR
4/16/08 - Pleasanton Hotel, Pleasanton, CA
4/18/08 - Spud's, Berkeley, CA
4/19/08 - El Toro Brewery, Morgan Hill, CA
4/23/08 - Ice House, Pasadena, CA
4/24/08 - Downtown Comedy Club, Los Angeles, CA
4/25/08 - Molly Malone's, Los Angeles, CA
4/26/08 - Godfather's, Chino, CA
4/27/08 - Harper's, Northridge, CA
4/30/08 - The Makeout Room, San Francisco, CA
All the times, addresses, and info are available at www.RoadsideAttraction.com
Stay funky....
Phil Johnson
Roadside Attraction
Showing posts with label Roadside Attraction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roadside Attraction. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
1st Annual Roadside Attraction Family Picnic - A Success!
Last Saturday we had the 1st annual Roadside Attraction Family Picnic at Murphy Park in Milpitas, CA. It turned out really great and we'll definitely be doing more events like this.
It was fantastic to get together all the folks from far flung parts of the Bay Area who hadn't officially met at my shows before. I think Diana and Matt and their crew get the "farthest drive" prize for coming from Antioch. With Tracy and Will a close 2nd from Berkeley.
I was proud to see so many different types of people having a great time together and being so helpful to each other. And the food was awesome! Thanks everyone!
Here's a few pics from the event. There's more in the "pictures" area on my website.
It was fantastic to get together all the folks from far flung parts of the Bay Area who hadn't officially met at my shows before. I think Diana and Matt and their crew get the "farthest drive" prize for coming from Antioch. With Tracy and Will a close 2nd from Berkeley.
I was proud to see so many different types of people having a great time together and being so helpful to each other. And the food was awesome! Thanks everyone!
Here's a few pics from the event. There's more in the "pictures" area on my website.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Magic For Marissa
Tickets are selling well for the Magic For Marissa event on September 8th. If you haven't heard about it yet, we're raising money for Marissa Montufar, a 13 year old girl fighting cervical cancer.
Marissa and her whole family have been very supportive fans of my art for the last few years. And I've even had the opportunity to teach Marissa how to play the guitar. She's very passionate about theater and music, and just a great kid.
For all the details on the event and how to donate money, visit www.MagicForMarissa.com.
It's going to be a great event: Music from my band Roadside Attraction plus Jonah (star of reality show Waiting 2B Discovered) and his band Timeless. Plus comedy from Justin McClure (San Jose Improv), Beth Schumann (Rooster T Feathers), and Yayne Abeba (everywhere).
We'll also have silent auction and raffle with great items: Comedy tickets, autographed items from fantastic artists like Criss Angel, Strata, and Constantine Maroulis (American Idol), original paintings, from Johanna Uribes and Lynn Ruth Miller, a Las Vegas vacation, private house concerts, and more!
Even if you can't get to the event, please do donate some money to help pay Marissa's overwhelming medical bills. You know how insurance companies like to back out as soon as something really bad happens.
Get your tickets now or donate money at www.MagicForMarissa.com.
Marissa and her whole family have been very supportive fans of my art for the last few years. And I've even had the opportunity to teach Marissa how to play the guitar. She's very passionate about theater and music, and just a great kid.
For all the details on the event and how to donate money, visit www.MagicForMarissa.com.
It's going to be a great event: Music from my band Roadside Attraction plus Jonah (star of reality show Waiting 2B Discovered) and his band Timeless. Plus comedy from Justin McClure (San Jose Improv), Beth Schumann (Rooster T Feathers), and Yayne Abeba (everywhere).
We'll also have silent auction and raffle with great items: Comedy tickets, autographed items from fantastic artists like Criss Angel, Strata, and Constantine Maroulis (American Idol), original paintings, from Johanna Uribes and Lynn Ruth Miller, a Las Vegas vacation, private house concerts, and more!
Even if you can't get to the event, please do donate some money to help pay Marissa's overwhelming medical bills. You know how insurance companies like to back out as soon as something really bad happens.
Get your tickets now or donate money at www.MagicForMarissa.com.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
What the heck is comedy music?
Alright... So, I'm going to try again to make a go of this blog thing. Seems I always get to busy with other things and sometimes forget to to communicate with the world. :)
So where to start... Well, maybe by defining a little bit about what I do. The world of comedy music brings up a lot of questions with people who don't know much about it. We are a comparitively small subsect of the comedy world, but there are the stars (Stephen Lynch, Weird Al, Adam Sandler) that people know.
Basically I break it down into three different types:
Parody - This means using someone else's songs and writing new, funny (hopefully) lyrics to it. Weird Al is the king of this. On one level, this is an easy task because the music and arrangement are done for you. On the other hand it's really difficult to write a GOOD parody that actually elicits laughter and doesn't sound hokey. Parody has never been my style and I stay well away from it. Why? Because I'm a music artist before a comedian. The music part is of utmost importance (and enjoyment) to me as a writer.
Novelty Songs - These are songs that are quirky, but not neccessarily funny. The lyrics will fall outside the normal love/social issues/psychological whining of the average songs you hear on the radio. They might be about dinosaurs or cucumbers. While they may have some funny lines, they're more about being different. A good chunk of what you hear on Dr Demento falls under this category. Musically they can fall between the very simplistic and the very complex, ie. Frank Zappa. Unfortunately, the term "novelty song" oftens connotes a throwaway quality. Like, "Oh, it's just a little joke". Yeah, ok.. Tell Zappa that. While I've written some songs that can fall into this category, I don't call them novelty songs. I call them my "Fun, but not Funny" songs. "Afrodizzyac" (one of my current Roadside Attraction favorites) is an example of this type of song. But it's certainly not throwaway material. It's actually one of the more complex and difficult songs in our repertoire.
Comedy Music - This is where most of my concentration is these days. Comedy music uses the principles and techniques of standup comedy, but in a musical form. So, there's setups, punchlines, act-outs, surprise elements, rule of 3 runs, hard "k" sounds. All the different ideas that regular standups use to make you laugh. Just surrounded by music. I find it a difficult and challenging medium since, not only does it have to be funny, but it has to rhyme and make musical sense as well. Each song is a new puzzle to work out. "LCW" and "Asshole" are two of my songs that fit in this category pretty well.
I try to make the message of my comedy pretty clear - That's life just isn't that serious and there's always someone more screwed up than you. But sometimes I write straight music as well. Pieces to sort out the more serious aspects of what goes on in my head. "Share My Pixie Dust", "Judgment Day", "Dead City Support Club" and the like. Those are a different discipline of their own, but right now I'm into the comedy stuff. :)
So I hope that gives you a little more insight into my art and what it's about. More to come. :)
Gotta go write now. :)
Phil Johnson
Roadside Attraction
http://www.RoadsideAttraction.com
P.S. You can hear samples of all the songs mentioned here on my website.
P.P.S. Don't forget to pick up a copy of our new DVD "Raising A Rockus" while you're there!
So where to start... Well, maybe by defining a little bit about what I do. The world of comedy music brings up a lot of questions with people who don't know much about it. We are a comparitively small subsect of the comedy world, but there are the stars (Stephen Lynch, Weird Al, Adam Sandler) that people know.
Basically I break it down into three different types:
Parody - This means using someone else's songs and writing new, funny (hopefully) lyrics to it. Weird Al is the king of this. On one level, this is an easy task because the music and arrangement are done for you. On the other hand it's really difficult to write a GOOD parody that actually elicits laughter and doesn't sound hokey. Parody has never been my style and I stay well away from it. Why? Because I'm a music artist before a comedian. The music part is of utmost importance (and enjoyment) to me as a writer.
Novelty Songs - These are songs that are quirky, but not neccessarily funny. The lyrics will fall outside the normal love/social issues/psychological whining of the average songs you hear on the radio. They might be about dinosaurs or cucumbers. While they may have some funny lines, they're more about being different. A good chunk of what you hear on Dr Demento falls under this category. Musically they can fall between the very simplistic and the very complex, ie. Frank Zappa. Unfortunately, the term "novelty song" oftens connotes a throwaway quality. Like, "Oh, it's just a little joke". Yeah, ok.. Tell Zappa that. While I've written some songs that can fall into this category, I don't call them novelty songs. I call them my "Fun, but not Funny" songs. "Afrodizzyac" (one of my current Roadside Attraction favorites) is an example of this type of song. But it's certainly not throwaway material. It's actually one of the more complex and difficult songs in our repertoire.
Comedy Music - This is where most of my concentration is these days. Comedy music uses the principles and techniques of standup comedy, but in a musical form. So, there's setups, punchlines, act-outs, surprise elements, rule of 3 runs, hard "k" sounds. All the different ideas that regular standups use to make you laugh. Just surrounded by music. I find it a difficult and challenging medium since, not only does it have to be funny, but it has to rhyme and make musical sense as well. Each song is a new puzzle to work out. "LCW" and "Asshole" are two of my songs that fit in this category pretty well.
I try to make the message of my comedy pretty clear - That's life just isn't that serious and there's always someone more screwed up than you. But sometimes I write straight music as well. Pieces to sort out the more serious aspects of what goes on in my head. "Share My Pixie Dust", "Judgment Day", "Dead City Support Club" and the like. Those are a different discipline of their own, but right now I'm into the comedy stuff. :)
So I hope that gives you a little more insight into my art and what it's about. More to come. :)
Gotta go write now. :)
Phil Johnson
Roadside Attraction
http://www.RoadsideAttraction.com
P.S. You can hear samples of all the songs mentioned here on my website.
P.P.S. Don't forget to pick up a copy of our new DVD "Raising A Rockus" while you're there!
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