Set List: Traffic and Weather

"It's time to check in with my co-producer Rob Schultz, up in the booth. Rob, how's it going up there?"

"Hello Jason! I'm glad you asked! It's a balmy 75 degrees outside, a saucy 69 degrees inside, and an unbelievable 85 degrees up here in the booth. Traffic is looking pretty good except for a slight fender bender in the right lane on Santa Monica Blvd. eastbound, which is backing up traffic to the 101, from the 101 to the 5, and from the 5 to Sacramento! My name's Rob Schultz, and that's your made-up traffic and weather on the sevens! Now back to the show!"

The Most Overused Superhero Movie Plot

The story of how a superhero gained their super powers might be the most commonly told story in the superhero movie genre, but the most boring story, almost as frequently told, is to do with how a superhero has lost their superpowers.  You know, to prove it's not the powers that make them so super?

• Superman loses his powers in Superman II.
• Spider-Man loses his powers in Spider-Man 2.
• Thor loses his powers in Thor 1.
• Iron Man loses all the suits in Iron Man Three.
• Mystique, Rogue, Magneto, really just a bunch of people 'cure' their powers in X-Men 3.
• Wolverine loses his healing powers in The Wolverine, just enough.
• Professor X loses his powers in Days of Future Past. (and all the other movies?)
• Batman is depowered (so to speak) in The Dark Knight Rises.
  • Twice!
  • And then he quits again!
    • I think he quits in Batman Forever too.
• How about that movie where Nick Cage is an angel?
• Or that movie where Nick Cage is Ghost Rider 2?
• Or Hancock in Hancock?
• Or Men in Black 2?
• Or Austin Powers 2?
• Meteor Man?
• The Power Rangers movie?
• The new TMNT?

This is the dumbest superhero movie plot. It's like if all those horror movies where someone takes ten seconds to go "damn! no cell reception!" so that they can get on with the movie made the next 75 minutes about the characters' journey to discover it was never the phone that made 911 calls, cellular communication was a gift that those characters had, deep inside their hearts all along.

Bat Night 3!

Over at the Gangbusters! comedy enjoyment program, we're always proudly presenting stuff.  Coming up next week, we're proud to proudly present the return of Bat Night! 

And let me tell you, just from you to me, this is really going to be a show to see.  We have completely stacked the deck with friends of the show, friends of Jason, friends of mine. We've got improv, we've got sketch, we've got stand-up. We've got the famous Gangbusters! charity auction.  The only thing we don't have is any lights at all.

Join us this week for a show performed in environmentally-friendly complete darkness!

Set List is coming! To The Pack!

Coming soon to a theater near you (as long as you live in Los Angeles), it's Set List at The Pack!

The Pack is LA's hot new comedy theater, built on sketch and improv and the blood of Miles Stroth.

Set List is a comedy show format invented by Troy Conrad in which stand-ups are shown words and phrases that are largely nonsense, and then they perform comedy based on that nonsense as though it were their polished and honed material.

Hosted and booked by Jason Van Glass (who acquired Troy's blessing), produced by me, and written by the two of us, Set List at the Pack is the newest addition to the Gangbusters! conglomerate of comedy enterprises. 

Join us every Thursday night at 10:30, at The Pack Theater, where every show will feature several booked comedians we hope will do a great job, and several randomly drawn audience members who we really hope will do a great job!

Hike Mic: The 5th Annual July 4th Nazi Bunker Edition

As I may have mentioned previously, in the 1930s, Nazi sympathizers spent $4 million ($32 million in today's dollars) building a fortified compound in the hills behind Pacific Palisades, from which Hitler, victorious in World War II, would rule over the Americas.

This July 4th, celebrate freedom by joining us for a hike into the hidden valley where the crumbling ruins of this alternate future have been reclaimed by nature. We'll eat snacks and tell jokes. We'll explore the woods and marvel at all the graffiti. 

This is an Open Mic. This is a Picnic. This is an Adventure. It's a Hike Mic! Join us, won't you?