TRIUMPH OF THE LOW-MAINTENANCE TRIO

Ottawa was just as great as I had hoped, and working with Kerry Unger and Dave Hudson was a treat. Laid-back good time, with only one disruptive drunken disorderly night for one of them on the Thursday (I forget which one, I think he was celebrating an anniversary of sorts).

Thanks to the staff and management of Yuks for having me back for a fun weekend, and to the Ottawa crowds who continue to be, on average, the smartest, funnest crowds in the land, and to the patrons of the Elgin Street Diner for their tolerance and patience.

As of this weekend, cd sales have gone zinc!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY AND UNRELATED PICTURE

Eight years ago today I did my first open mike at Jimbo's Comedyworks, which would become a weekly occurrence over the next year, and pretty much begins my life as a regularly working stand-up comic. The open mike was actually a Just for Laughs Showcase, so the room was packed, and it went really well. I didn't get the festival, (five minutes on porn just wasn't the sort of envelope-pushing edginess they were looking for that year) but I did get on their radar and Jimbo really liked my style, which was a main reason I was able to keep going back each week.

It has been a pleasant journey, and I very much look forward to celebrating the anniversary tonight at the Ottawa Yuks.

And on a more self-promotional note, Ryan Wilner just sent me the promo for the Montreal Fringe play "Never Surrender: Centaur, Centaur, Centaur!" I'm the guy holding back the groupie.

And my Dad is 67, my hint couldn't have been more clear!

Off to Ottawa!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD

How old is he? Well, let's just say if you matched his age number with the corresponding issue of Rick Veitch's enjoyable "Swamp Thing" run, you'd see Swampy on the cover caught in a headlock from an unusually green Solomon Grundy.

Sorry for giving it away, father.

EMERGENCY DEPLOYMENT TO THE CAPITAL

I had planned on doing no stand-up this weekend, but got a call to fill-in as the middle spot at the Ottawa Yuk-Yuks this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I always really enjoy the Ottawa Club, so if anything was going to pull me out of self-imposed stand-up exile, these gigs would do it.

So for this weekend:

Thursday May 25th, 8:30
Friday May 26th, 9:30
Saturday May 27th, 8:00 and 10:30

at Ottawa Yukyuks, 88 Albert Street, (613)-236-5233

I'll be on with Dave Hudson and headliner Kerry Unger. I forsee the ensuancy of laughter (as well as more made-up words like "ensuancy").

THE REVIEWS (SINGULAR) ARE (IS) IN!

The good folks at The Serious Comedy Site just posted a review of "David Pryde Googly" that I will place in the "thumbs up" category.

Read it here.

P.S. CADBURY

Was the codeword, as it was easier to guess than Bascombe (Richie Rich's chauffer) or Irona (Richie Rich's robot maid). Irona was truly a product of a more innocent age, as a robot maid in today's comics would react to self-awareness with a deep-seeded drive to explore free will and the elusive moral concepts of morality and empathy, which would no doubt culminate with broken necks for Freckles, Pee Wee and Reggie Van Dough.

Can't wait for X-men 3, by the way.

BACK FROM AJAX

I'm taking it easy this week after a very fun and successful stint at the Ajax Yukyuks. Much thanks to Esfandiar (sp?) and the staff for providing a very nice stage, and to the audiences for their enthusiasm. Also nods to Tim Nutt and Dana Alexander for being very funny and fun to watch at work.

I'll do assorted stand-up and improv shows starting next week until roughly JUNE 10TH, which is opening night for the fringe play NEVER SURRENDER, CENTAUR, CENTAUR, CENTAUR! which marks my official fringe debut! Watch this space for details forthcoming...

HAPPY RADIO TIME AND OTHER UPDATES

Thanks to Ernie Butler and the nifty crew at CJAD for a pleasant time on the radio, and to all the listeners who called in or otherwise tuned in to my nonsensical chatter alternating with pauses filled with stoic introspection (makes great radio, those pauses!).

Some schedule updates:

May 12 and 13; Ernie Butler's Comedynest with Mike Storck; 8:30 shows, plus a late show on Saturday at 10:30 (and I'm going to try to jump on the 10:30 open mike show on Friday, too).

May 17-20; Yukyuks in Ajax, Ontario with Tim Nutt and Dana Alexander

Plus, I'm happy to be doing the Comedy Night in Canada shows for year's Just for Laughs Festival. Those are held at the Comedynest, and will feature a great line-up including Steve Patterson, very funny and quick on his feet, Alan Park, who is one of the smartest and most intersting comics to watch (and who's getting some good exposure on the Royal Canadian Air Farce) and Derek Edwards, who is one of my all-time favorites. Those shows will be during the third week of July, I'll try to give more details as the time draws near.

CODE WORD BELOW

Just a reminder to anyone listening (or has listened, depending on when you're reading this) to Montreal's CJAD at 800 on the AM dial, specifically me yammering on with Ernie Butler during the Comedy Hour, that this Friday and Saturday (May 12 and 13) at ERNIE BUTLER'S COMEDYNEST you can get Googly for $10 by saying the code word to me during intermission.

CODE WORD BEING: The name of Richie Rich's butler. Rhymes with "Bradbury". It's on lots of chocolate eggs.

Yes, it's cheesy, but I'm new at this promo game, and trying to have fun with it.

I was going to make the words "Cecil" and "Winthrop", but I've besmirched their names enough.

HOW'D THAT F**KING SWEAR WORD GET IN THERE?

I am most dismayed to realize that the "Eyes" track (#14) on the Googly CD has a low, under-my-breath swear word on it that I hadn't noticed. This is dismaying because I made a point of marking each track that contained profanity on the back cover, but missed that one. So for anybody who plays that track with an expectation of absolute cleanliness, I apologize for any surprise. Thing is, that's typically a clean joke but this mumbled word was clearly just an in-the-moment unconscious muttering on my part. So again, sorry if I fudged up.

Of course, you can judge the severity of this Janet Jacksonian controversy, as that clip is on as one of the samples on the newly overhauled "Buy Stuff" page, where the cd is now available to Paypal subscribers. I'll be looking into alternative e-venues to sell the cd to people who aren't with paypal. Of course, if you're at a show where I'm performing, that'd be the cheapest place to buy, and you don't have to punch in a credit card number (I may ask what your number is if I'm in a creepy mood, but you don't have to tell me, and in fact have every right to pepper spray me in such a scenario.

BUSY WEEK IN MONTREAL

I'm part of a show tonight kicking off a new venue in downtown Montreal. It's at SEGAFREDO which is at 966 Saint Catherine. Show's at 8:00 and it's featuring Mike Storck, who is a very funny American guy.

Then I'm doing ON THE SPOT IMPROV on Wednesday at the COMEDYWORKS at 1238 Bishop at 9:00 with a lot of very funny Canadian guys.

No gig on Thursday but I will be doing a bit of radio chat with Ernie Butler on the CJAD Comedy Hour. Ernie has kindly given me another opportunity to plug the Googly cd.

Speaking of which, I'll be at the COMEDYNEST in the Pepsi Forum on Friday and Saturday (8:30 both nights, plus 10:30 Saturday). The Nest is now stocked with cds going for $15. Just for fun if anybody reading this plans on attending and would like to buy a cd, just say the password when you see me at the front (during intermission) and you'll get it for $10. The password, in honor of Ernie Butler is the name of Richie Rich's butler (clever). If you ate chocolate eggs recently you've probably read this name on the package. It rhymes with "Ray BRADBURY". If those hints aren't good enough, well, you're on the internet, so google something. This offer is good for Friday May 12th and Saturday May 13th.

Yeah, I may know nothing about marketing, but I do love cheesy espionage riffs.

And in case people like the OPEN MIKES at the COMEDYWORKS, I announced last night that whenever I'm there on a Monday I'll sell whatever cd's I've got for $10, in the spirit of making Mondays more bearable (apparently 9 to 5 folks don't like 'em. Personally, it's part of my weekend, but that's showbiz).

Should have news on my Just for Laughs plans soon!

NEVER SAY NEVER (SURRENDER)

I am pleased to announce that I will be taking a delightful opportunity to practice my awesome thespian talent at this summer's fringe festival. I have been cast as the main villain in the latest installment of the hit "Never Surrender" series, entitled "Never Surrender---Centaur, Centaur, Centaur!!!"

For those who don't know, Never Surrender is the world's greatest lip synch band. I recorded my dialogue yesterday (the entire script is lip synched during the show, which is easy on the vocals, for sure, no pickled dodo bird egg-related mishaps in this production).

The promo picture apparently looks great. I'll post that here as soon as it's available.

Summer's looking interesting already. Always good.

CD AVAILABLE ON THIS SITE BY WEEK'S END

That's the plan, anyway. I finally got my paypal account confirmed, a labyrinthine (sp?) process that was fun for its scavenger-hunt qualities (getting 3 cents put in your account as a signal, having your phone ring to confirm reception of your e-mail where you have to respond with a dial-up password, vials of yak blood hung from your fig tree...). So once that's set up, hopefully traffic will follow.

Speaking of which, Google finally has me up on the search engine, so that's exciting. If you found your way here through google, welcome. If you were looking for "Charlie Pride's Greatest Hits" you spelled something wrong (but I'll happily pass on any messages to "Uncle Charlie" as our family lovingly calls him).