WWW.REJECTIONSHOW.COM

Sometimes it is unavoidable and you will end up doing a show on the same night at the same time as your peers. Here is one to check out:

The WYSIWYG Talent Show Celebrates
THREE YEARS OF REALLY BAD SEX
with "Worst. Sex. Ever. IV: Getting It Ain’t Getting Any Better"
an Anti-Valentine's Day Celebration
ADVANCE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT WYSIWYGTALENTSHOW.ORG

Worst. Sex. Ever. IV. performs Wednesday, February 14 at The Bowery Poetry
Club (308 Bowery between Bleecker and Houston). Doors open at 7:30 p.m.,
and the show show starts at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $7.00 at the door or
available in advance at www.wysiwygtalentshow.org. For more information,
visit the WYSIWYG website, www.bowerypoetry.com, or call 212-614-0505.

With performances by:

* Dan Allen (TaoofDan.com)
* Joe Jervis (JoeMyGod.blogspot.com)
* Heather Ann Snodgrass (fauxy.net)
* Jon W. Collins (JonWCollins.livejournal.com)
* Stroll (TheButchStroll.blogspot.com)
* Chris Hampton (uffish.com)

Upright Citizen's Brigade Theater
307 West 26th Street
Between 8th and 9th Avenue

THE REJECTION SHOW'S
HEARTBREAK HAVEN
FEBRUARY 14, 2007
8PM - 1AM



The cult-favorite live comedy series The Rejection Show and Mortified join forces for an evening of their best breakup, heartbreak and love related performances from shows past blending into and evening of love song karaoke, live music, DJ, drinks and partying. If you’re single, feeling alone, rejected, don’t have a date or don’t like traditional Valentine’s Day routines then The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater is the place to be on Valentine’s Day ‘07! Don't feel left out happy couples. All are welcome to party and see some hilariously heartbreaking performances.

"Find someone to french!"

Featuring HEARTBREAKING performances from:

Jon Friedman
Gabe & Jenny
Adam Wade
Sara Schaefer
Katina Corrao
Adrianne Frost
Matt Goldich
Todd Levin
Rachel Kramer Bussel
Mike Albo
Mandy Stadtmiller
Giulia Rozzi
Brandy Barber
Sara Jo Allocco
Victoria Scroggins
A Cartoon from Odd Todd
AND MORE SPECIAL GUESTS!

I'm going to post over here on this site again. The "new" Rejection Show site was never really able to get off of the ground because of technical glitches (what was with those wacky urls?) and it quickly having to be rebuilt to reflect the upcoming Rejected book that I am editing. So, a new site is being built for all things "The Rejection Show" under the urls rejectionshow.com and therejectionshow.com. For now, I'll have some blogging fun over here again. Hi.

I will be doing all of my "blogging" over at REJECTIONSHOW.COM from now on. In addition to it being a site to display rejected material (coming soon), videos, clips, insights from The Rejection Show and all things related to The Rejection Show I will also use it as my personal blog. Hope to see you there.

REJECTIONSHOW.COM

I'll be an in studio guest on The Leonard Lopate Show Monday August 21st at noon discussing rejection and The Rejection Show.

The Leonard Lopate Show
New York Public Radio
WNYC 93.9 FM and AM 820

WHEN: Saturday, August 26th @ 1PM WHERE: Near The Picnic House @ Prospect Park, Brooklyn (click here for map)

The Rules: 1. Bring one FULL delicious sandwich (hero, hoagie, roll, bread) with you to the event. 2. Label and submit one half of your sandwich to the DSS advisory board. 3. Sandwiches will be labled with the name of submitter, and/or vegetarian, meat, dairy, etc. This can be done at the event. 4. Every participant will get one half of another participant's sandwich submission and keep the other half of their own. 5. One lucky random sandwich half will contain THE GOLDEN TICKET redeemable for the DSS prize package. 6. Enjoy your sandwiches, find the person who's sandwich you've eaten, throw a frisbee, have some fun! 7. Eat delicious cupcakes courtesy of Cupcakes Take the Cake! (Rachel Kramer Bussel, Alizinha and Nichelle)

Delicious Sandwich Social FAQ's 1. Is this event free? Yes, all you need to participate is a sandwich. 2. Can I bring a hot sandwich? Sure, but remember, you will only be trading one half of your sandwich so make sure what you bring is also something you like. 3. Who will be inserting the Golden Ticket? The Golden Ticket will be insterted by Jon Friedman and Jon Bulette. They are ineligible from winning the prize. 4. What is the prize package? That will be revealed during the actual event. 5. Will there be a man in a sandwich suit hanging around and taking pictures with us? I surely hope so. 6. Will persons with dietary restrictions (ie. veg.) be paired with another of the same restrictive family? Yes, they absolutely will. The DSS is diet restriction friendly. 7. I make several "mean" sandwiches...what if I want to bring more than one? That is absolutely acceptable. The more sandwiches the better! 8. What if it is raining? If it is raining check the website for up to the minute notifications. 9. Are you serious? Yes 10. What happens after all of the sandwiches are traded? Then we eat them. You're free to do whatever you like (no hitting.) It'll be like a fun day in the park and such. 11. Can I bring my dog? Uh-huh. 12. Can I bring my baby? Yes 13. Instead of a sandwich can I bring a wrap? Are you asking about wraps? Wraps? YOU WANT A WRAP? There's no wraps, there's no wraps at the DSS! 14. What about a panini? Yeah, sure. 15. Is it true that the First Annual Delicious Sandwich Social spawned a Sydney Sandwich Social in Australia? Yes, it is true. They even asked for my permission. Here's a link.

Directions: Enter from Grand Army Plaza or 3rd St. Entrance. We'll be somewhere between the 'G' and the 'M' in the words 'Long Meadow' on the black and white map (near the Picnic House.) Grand Army Plaza is formed by the intersection of Flatbush Ave., Eastern Parkway, Prospect Park West and other streets. By Public Transportation: (click here for MTA map) 2 or 3 Train to Grand Army Plaza station Q Train to 7th Ave. Station (Flatbush Ave.) B-41 or B-71 Bus along Flatbush Ave. to Grand Army Plaza B-69 Bus along Prospect Park West By Car: From Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges: Take Flatbush Ave. to Grand Army Plaza From BQE: Take BQE to Tillary St. exit, left on Flatbush Ave. to Grand Army Plaza

If you were at the last Rejection Show you heard me talk about the possibility of a rejected Roseanne Barr look-a-like appearing on the next show (August 1st.) Will she be there? I'm still not certain but I have my fingers crossed.

How did this come about? I received this email in my inbox a few weeks ago:

Subject: Roseanne Barr Look Aalike
Date: Friday, July 14, 2006 12:42 PM
From: Gerry Laabs
To:
Conversation: Roseanne Barr Look Aalike

Jon,
I am always asked in stores, walking on the streets, "there she is...are you Roseanne Barr?" Thought I find out if there is any look alike jobs , shows or contest. Please contact me and inform me if there is.......Thanks

Waiting to hear from you.

Gerry Laabs
******

Anyone that knows me would know that I LOVED THAT EMAIL. Although I don't know why she would think that I have the answer.

I responded with this:

Subject: Re: Roseanne Barr Look Aalike
Date: Sunday, July 16, 2006 12:49 PM
From: Jon Friedman
To: Gerry Laabs
Conversation: Roseanne Barr Look Aalike

Hi Gerry. Thanks for the email. It seems as though you are having trouble finding work as a Roseanne Barr Look-A-Like. That sounds perfect for my show “The Rejection Show.” I can book you on my show for August 1st and we can do a mini Q & A on what it is like to get work as a look-a-like and the rejection you face and then you can do your actual Roseanne routine. How does this sound? It will be laid back and in a fun supportive environment.

The show is at 7:30PM on August 1st at Mo Pitkin’s House of Satisfaction.

I can send you many more details if you are available and interested.

Let me know asap.

Jon
**********

She did respond asking for more specific details, which I gave her. I have not heard back from her after that but I don't know if that means she'll be there or decided to brush it off.

WE'LL SEE!

Come to the show to find out....

TICKETS FOR THE AUGUST 1st REJECTION SHOW HERE!

Don't forget to send or give me your own rejected material for the new Rejection Show website, soon to be updated daily with tons of rejections.

THE REJECTION SHOW 'SUMMERFEST OF REJECTION' CONTINUES....

JULY 25, 2006
FEATURING REJECTIONS FROM:

JACKIE ‘THE JOKEMAN’ MARTLING
(Howard Stern, Private Parts, Jokeland.com)

MICHELLE COLLINS & HER MOTHER
(Michelle will do a live interview with her mother confronting her about rejections from her childhood, youcantmakeitup.org)

ADAM WADE
(Wade will screen and discuss some of his early rejected short film work, adamwade.com, ESPN Classic)

HOSTED BY JON FRIEDMAN
(I’ll be telling my CHICKEN SUIT story at this show)

And as always more fun rejection surprises!!

The Rejection Show
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
July 25th @ 7:30PM
34 Avenue A (2nd and 3rd St.)
Call or visit the Mo Pitkin's box office at (212) 777-5660
F or V to Second Ave.

TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

JULY 25, 2006
JACKIE "THE JOKEMAN" MARTLING
MICHELLE COLLINS & HER MOTHER
ADAM WADE
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

"Rejection hurts. Luckily, this hurt comes from laughing so hard you pull a muscle. Comic Jon Friedman offers a ‘Summerfest of Rejection’ -- TV sketches, movie pitches, and cartoons go from the cutting-room floor to Mo Pitkin's. Friedman cracks us up all summer by making his previously sporadic Show quasi-weekly."

-FLAVORPILL

JULY 18, 2006
FEATURING REJECTIONS FROM:

THE ONION (Staff writers share rejections from the popular satirical newspaper)
BARON VAUGHN (Comedy Central, VH1, various commercials)
GABE & JENNY (Hosts of 'At Night with Gabe & Jenny')
&
Music from FUTURE FOLK (two actual men from the future!)

HOSTED BY JON FRIEDMAN

And as always more fun rejection surprises!!

The Rejection Show
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
July 18th @ 7:30PM
34 Avenue A (2nd and 3rd St.)
Call or visit the Mo Pitkin's box office at (212) 777-5660
F or V to Second Ave.
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

I was asked to help produce this fun event and it is FREE! PARTY! ON A BOAT!

HAMstravaganza
Tuesday, July 11th, 2006
The Frying Pan in NYC
Pier 63 North River (Boat Docked at Chelsea Piers)
23rd Street @ Hudson River
7pm - 11pm
Free!

Celebrate Gideon Defoe's best-selling "Pirates!" series at this amazing Ham and Pirate themed show at the Frying Pan, a mid century lighthouse-boat that has been dredged up and festooned in the Hudson River, right by the Chelsea Piers.

Pirate and ham themed fun!

With live music from:
The Hazzards
Future Folk
The Scurvy Pirates
Rob Paravonian

Free hugs from Jon Friedman!

Free books and ham and pirate stuff!

Come to the Tank and see Mortified & Swollen Head back to back, not in that order!

After Swollen Head I will step out of the "directors" booth (or rickety wooden box with a tape deck in it) and land on stage to read some of my teenage journal entries as part of tonight's Mortified.

Here is some more info on these two unique shows:

The 2005 ECNY Award Winner for BEST ONE PERSON SHOW, 'SWOLLEN HEAD' returns this June for a one month run at The Tank.

"So candid and real, it's hysterically funny."
-NY PRESS

It's a secret that was kept for a long time.

When he was 11-and-a-half, Rich Zeroth was diagnosed with a rare brain disease called encephalitis. As a result he missed 127 consecutive days of 5th grade.

That part everyone knows.

This June, he will let you in on his deepest, darkest, secret. He wasn't really sick at all.

He was faking the whole thing.

In 'Swollen Head' Rich Zeroth comes clean about everything from pretending to collapse in the doctor's office to making an appearance at the school play which was dedicated to his good health and fast recovery.

How did he do it? Why did he do it? And what did he do with all that free time?

If telling a bunch of strangers the truth behind his encephalitis isn't enough. . . wait until you see the REAL HIDDEN CAMERA surprise ending.

SWOLLEN HEAD
Written & Performed by Rich Zeroth
Produced & Directed by Jon Friedman

Featuring Brandy Barber, Sara Allocco, Gabe Liedman, Mike Barry &
Audio & video recordings & new live re-enactments!


MORTIFIED stars everyday adults sharing aloud
their most embarrassing, pathetic and private teenage
diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics and locker
notes... in front of total strangers.

FEATURING PATHETIC TEEN CRAP BY : Katina Corero, Sara
Jo Allocco, Jon Friedman, Brianna Jacobson, Carrie
Gross, Sara Baron, Lianne Stokes, and Giulia Rozzi.

Get to the Tank Theatre early and see Rich Zeroth's
solo show "Swollen Head" at 7:30pm, directed by Jon
Friedman. More info at www.tremendousrabbit.com


It all begins at 7:30 PM
The Tank @ Collective: Unconscious is located at 279 Church Street between Franklin and White.

To get to The Tank by subway take:
A, C, E, J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W, Z, or 6 to Canal Street
1, 9 to Franklin Street

The first ever OUTTAKES NIGHT!

Bloopers, blunders and mishaps!

Comedic video outtakes!

Tomorrow night at The Rejection Show.

Featuring outtakes from: Variety Shac, I Love the 30's, The Post Show, The Rejection Show, Sara Schaefer and more!

Rejected cartoons from the New Yorker with Eric Lewis and Andy Friedman and music from Andy too!

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS


WHAT IS THE REJECTION SHOW?

The Rejection Show is a comedic based event that embraces the rejected and "turned down" material of professional and amateur writers, comedians, cartoonists, artists, and human beings whom display their creative "failures" live on stage and now on the web.

MEDIA ANALYST TOO REVEALING
via Gawker
via The Apiary
via RKB
via Allison Bojarski

The "Summerfest of Rejection" continues this Tuesday, June 13th with a special lineup featuring some of NYC's favorite comedians.

"On the surface, The Rejection Show is a mere demonstration of unsuccessful work by usually successful comedians, writers, filmmakers, and cartoonists. Deep down, though, it provides an interesting look into the thought processes of magazine editors, network executives, and others who wield power. Films rejected by festivals, cartoons that never made it to press, and comedy sketches that weren't good enough for TV all finally see the light of day, some more deservedly than others."
–THE ONION

JUNE 13, 2006
FEATURING REJECTIONS FROM:

BOBBY TISDALE (Invite Them Up, The Baxter)
KRISTEN SCHAAL (Hot Tub, HBO Comedy Festival Winner)
JORDAN CARLOS (Flying Blind, Pepsi Sumo Chicken)
PETE HOLMES (VH1's Best Week Ever)
&
REJECTED CARTOONS FROM THE NEW YORKER
with ERIC LEWIS & SAM GROSS!

HOSTED BY JON FRIEDMAN

And as always more fun rejection surprises!!

The Rejection Show
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
June 13th @ 7:30PM
34 Avenue A (2nd and 3rd St.)
Call or visit the Mo Pitkin's box office at (212) 777-5660
F or V to Second Ave.
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=55647

The 2005 ECNY Award Winner for BEST ONE PERSON SHOW, 'SWOLLEN HEAD' returns this June for a one month run at The Tank.

"So candid and real, it's hysterically funny."
-NY PRESS

It's a secret that was kept for a long time.

When he was 11-and-a-half, Rich Zeroth was diagnosed with a rare brain disease called encephalitis. As a result he missed 127 consecutive days of 5th grade.

That part everyone knows.

This June, he will let you in on his deepest, darkest, secret. He wasn't really sick at all.

He was faking the whole thing.

In 'Swollen Head' Rich Zeroth comes clean about everything from pretending to collapse in the doctor's office to making an appearance at the school play which was dedicated to his good health and fast recovery.

How did he do it? Why did he do it? And what did he do with all that free time?

If telling a bunch of strangers the truth behind his encephalitis isn't enough. . . wait until you see the REAL HIDDEN CAMERA surprise ending.

SWOLLEN HEAD
Written & Performed by Rich Zeroth
Produced & Directed by Jon Friedman

Featuring Brandy Barber, Sara Allocco, Gabe Liedman, Mike Barry &
Audio & video recordings & new live re-enactments!

June 7, 14, 21, 28
7:30 PM
The Tank @ Collective: Unconscious is located at 279 Church Street between Franklin and White.
$7


To get to The Tank by subway take:
A, C, E, J, M, Z, N, Q, R, W, Z, or 6 to Canal Street
1, 9 to Franklin Street

The winner and judges from The New York City Beard and Moustache Championships on ABC's The View today!

The Rejection Show returns live in a "Summerfest of Rejection" with 11 (eleven!) shows throughout the summer to celebrate the launch of the new REJECTIONSHOW.COM!!

Much like the live show, the new REJECTIONSHOW.COM will feature rejected material from anyone, anywhere in a variety of categories including: cartoons, animation, stand-up comedy, television, radio, literary work, magazines, personal stories, rejection letters, rejected greeting cards, recipes, paintings, pictures, videos, audio clips, scripts, pilots, music and a whole slew of failed and turned down pieces and segments. Anything goes! Spread the word and send in your rejected material and or stories and insights. Updated daily (eventually!)

The new site will also serve as a companion to the live show featuring recaps, pictures, video clips and contests!

SUBMIT YOUR REJECTED MATERIAL AND VISIT THE NEW REJECTION SHOW.COM

WHAT IS THE REJECTION SHOW?

The Rejection Show is a comedic based event that embraces the rejected and "turned down" material of professional and amateur writers, comedians, cartoonists, artists, and human beings whom display their creative "failures" live on stage (and now on the web.)

THE REJECTION SHOW
"SUMMERFEST OF REJECTION"
HOSTED BY JON FRIEDMAN

BEGINS JUNE 6, 2006!
MO PITKIN'S HOUSE OF SATISFACTION
7:30PM - $8
34 Avenue A at 2nd & 3rd St.
TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW

June 6th lineup Featuring rejections from:

DAVID WAIN (Stella, The State, Wet Hot American Summer)

RACHEL KRAMER BUSSEL (Village Voice, Penthouse)

JON FRIEDMAN (CBS Marketwatch)
I finally get to interview him.

REJECTED CARTOONS FROM THE NEW YORKER
with ERIC LEWIS & GLEN LELIEVRE

A SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY THE DEVIL (6-6-06)

And as always more fun rejection surprises!!

Continuing "SUMMERFEST" dates
JUNE 13, 20, 27
JULY 18, 25
AUGUST 1, 8, 15, 22

Special editions include: OUTTAKES NIGHT, SKETCH COMEDY NIGHT, STAND UP COMEDY NIGHT & MORE!

Stay tuned for future lineups!

"On the surface, The Rejection Show is a mere demonstration of unsuccessful work by usually successful comedians, writers, filmmakers, and cartoonists. Deep down, though, it provides an interesting look into the thought processes of magazine editors, network executives, and others who wield power."
–THE ONION

"Ever wonder what you're not seeing? Each month comedians perform pieces that have been rejected by anything from Conan O'Brien to The New Yorker..."
–TIMEOUT NEW YORK

“Novelists, TV writers, stand-up comics, cartoonists, filmmakers, recording artists, dramatists, and poets come together for a friendly but edgy celebration of failure.”
–LA TIMES

"In New York, audiences are finding that failure is fun!"
–ABC NEWS

"'The Rejection Show' is a refuge for the rebuffed, a haven for the heave-hoed,
a destination for the deep-sixed."
–NEWSDAY

"A show like this is like the ultimate catharsis, for sure."
-NY DAILY NEWS

"Like a gang of Farmer Ted’s leading the geeks through the brutal, estranged halls of high school, the Rejection Show features some of NY’s finest rejected writers and performers, in this comedy-centric event."
-THE L MAGAZINE

"Not just a brilliant idea, it’s a well executed one."
–COMEDY CENTRAL

"'What do you get when you display a whole bunch of stuff that didn’t make the cut
at the New Yorker, Conan, and a bevy of other shows and publications?
Evidently, some funny shit.”
–GAWKER

"True to it’s maxim, ‘Just because it’s been rejected doesn’t mean it’s not good,’
the show continues to attract an audience that can relate.”
–FLAVORPILL

From The Comedy Central Insider:

Inside with: Jon Friedman, Comedian/Producer of the NYC Beard & Moustache Championships

http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/cc_insider/2006/05/inside_with_jon.html

New York City Beard and Moustache Championships
when: Tue 5.16 (8pm)
where: Knitting Factory (74 Leonard St, 212.219.3132)
price: $15 / $12 advance

FROM TIME OUT NEW YORK

"A harem of mustached men descends on New York Tuesday 16, and its not Fleet Week. The New York City Beard and Moustache Championships (see listings) will crown winners in several facial-hair categories, and will feature several performances by local comics. Producer Jon Friedman promises to keep ladies involved, too, with an artificial hair competition. Somewhere Tom Selleck is fainting."

FROM AOL

"In ancient Greece, a beard meant wisdom. Orthodox Jews grow beards for religious reasons. And in 'Broadway Danny Rose', Woody Allen was just Mia Farrow's beard and not her real partner. Add to the list this special variety night combining music, comedy and facial hair. Hosted by Jon Friedman of the Rejection Show, it features the cream of downtown performers, including Comedy Central stand-up Todd Levin, and music by Curtis Eller's American Circus -- a slovenly group whose unshaven appearance normally only scores them hip status, but here awards them actual cash and prizes. Tied in to promote a documentary, the facial hair competition includes categories like freestyle, artificial and patchy. Open to men and women, wacky or conservative, a celebrity panel will judge all styles of beards: the Hemingway, the ZZ Top, the Mr. Miyagi; and mousta"ches: the Saddam, the Poirot, the Rollie Fingers." -- Yon Motskin


FROM GAWKER

"Put your weeks worth of stubble to use at the NYC Beard and Mustache Championships. Extra points if you can actually find enough scraps in your beard to make yourself dinner."

FROM PAPER MAGAZINE

"Looks like the folks behind the New York City Beard and Moustache Championships beat us to the chase and registered the domain name nycbeard.com before we could. Damn! Putting that aside, its beard and moustache season, people! Head on over to the Knitting Factory this evening as a bevy of comedians (Todd Levin, Nick Kroll, Christian Finnegan, et. al.) make facial hair-related jokes and New York Citys hairiest compete in four different hairy categories. Theyre promising celebrity judges and appearances from subjects featured in the upcoming doc, Splitting Hairs, which follows the United States Beard and Mustache team through Europe. We hear theres a Kenny Rogers category. Hairs to that!"
Knitting Factory, 74 Leonard St., (212) 219-3006. 8 p.m. $12 in advance, $15 at the door.

FROM FLAVORPILL

"Extravagantly coiffed hair is hardly rare on New York streets, but handlebar moustaches can still turn our jaded heads. Local comic luminaries, including Nick Kroll, Chris Finnegan, and Jon Friedman of The Rejection Show host the New York Beard and Moustache Championships for Gotham's finest facial groomers. The event celebrates Splitting Hairs, an upcoming documentary following the United States Beard and Moustache Team as they travel through Europe to take on the formidable Association of German Beard Clubs at the World B&M Championships. Five of the flick's trophied protagonists judge fuzzy-faced contestants in six categories, including a "Patchy" division for the follicularly challenged and an "Artificial" class for the fairer sex."

FROM NEW YORK MAGAZINE

"Hairy participants compete for top honors in categories such as patchy, freestyle, Kenny Rogers, and artificial (for the ladies and follicly-challenged) at the first ever NYC Beard and Moustache Championships. In addition to live music from Valley Lodge and Curtis Eller's American Circus, comics Christian Finnegan (VH1's Best Week Ever) and Michelle Collins (VH1's So Jewtastic) are among those slated to introduce the different facial hair categories." Leaya Lee"

FROM CITY SEARCH

"Think the perfect handlebar can top a patchy-faced fellow any day? Not so fast--there's no standard of beauty at the NYCBMC. It's anyone's game up on stage, where multiple categories will face judgement--the quintessential mustache and beard; freestyle for glorified sideburns, goatees and the like; one for patchy looks; even a woman-friendly artificial competition when cross-dressing is encouraged. Prizes will be awarded by comedians, and bands will be performing in between rounds throughout the night."


http://www.nycbeard.com/

Contestants and judges from The New York City Beard and Moustache Championships on Good Morning America today between 8AM & 8:30AM.

Wednesday May 3rd on the Knitting Factory mainstage with Michael Showalter, Jon Friedman and Cracked out.
74 leonard St. ( Church and B'way)
8$ cover
Show time 8-10

I hope you enjoy the first ever JFI, where I finally get a chance to ask the questions I want to ask.

I chose to interview Rachel Kramer Bussel first because

1) I always wanted to interview someone who does interviews
2) She is a Village Voice Columnist
3) She blogs at LUSTY LADY
4) She is a comedy fan
5) I always wanted to ask her these questions....

'Jon Friedman Interview' with Rachel Kramer Bussel

Hi. How are things?

Things are good, thank you for asking.

You do a lot of interviews. Are you only able to answer me in the form of a
question? I'm just kidding.

What?

Have you ever thought of going on Jeopardy? You know, because of the whole
question asking thing.

I once tried out for college Jeopardy! but soon found that I actually
knew very, very little compared to the real trivia nerds out there.
I'm good at asking questions though.

If you had an uncle named Ben how often would you make references to him
about rice?

(No answer given)

If you saw the book "Tuck Everlasting" in the street would you pick it up
and put it on your bookshelf? What if I told you the author's last name is
Babbitt.

Ummmm . . . I don't know. It would depend if I had room in my bag.

Raaaar! Did that scare you? But seriously what scares you. Demons? I bet
it's demons.

Real demons or fake demons? Actually, lots of things scare me—cars,
for one. I'm terrified of them and try to avoid them as often as I
can.

Does this mean anything to you? "When you retire, you're not just retiring
you, man! You're retiring us!"

Sorry, no. I feel like I'm failing your interview here.

Did you cry at the end of Armaggedon? One of my friends did when it was
just he and I watching it on his couch. It was weird.

I don't think I did, but I do cry really easily during super cheesy movies.

You're a sex columnist right? What would you rather do, go bowling with
Geraldo or make pancakes with...Geraldo?

Pancakes, I guess—but can we change it and say cupcakes?

Tell me about some memories you have from loosing your first tooth.

I have an okay memory but I really don't remember this. See? Failing again.

Ok, that's more than enough tooth memories.

Fine! Whatever. I was lying above and I really do remember but just
didn't want to tell you.

What would you rather have...A topless picture of you on a comedy website or a
funny picture of you on a sex website? Oh wait.

No comment.

Thanks for doing the "Jon Friedman Interview"

I'm not sure if you'll want to thank me after reading my answers!

It was Riggs. Riggs from Lethal Weapon 3.


--If you'd like to take part in 'The Jon Friedman Interview' send me an email with the word INTERVIEW in the subject line (but also say more in the actual email.)

Thanks.

Rent Party
Hosted by Jon Friedman
Friday April 28th
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
34 Avenue A (b. 2nd and 3rd St.)
7:30 PM

A benefit show for the individual.

What is a rent party?
A rent party is a party in which tenants hire a musician or band to play for a party and pass around a hat to raise money to pay their rent. The rent party played a major role in the development of jazz and blues music. In this case, comedian Jon Friedman revives the "rent party" and extends it to comedy to help individuals with causes outside of just paying rent.

This month's Rent Party is to benefit Peter Kassnove and Kim Ritter who were victims of a burglary. Kim and Peter were recently engaged but lost the engagement ring during the robbery. All proceeds from this months show will help them recover some of their losses.

Jon Friedman invites friends and comedians to come out and perform for a good cause.

Cassidy Henehan (The $1 Room)
Rich Zeroth (Swollen Head)
Lindsay Robertson (Ritalin Readings)
Jessica Coen (Gawker)
Brandy and Sara (Super Comedy Duo)
Lang Fisher (The Wiener Philharmonic)
Agent Murray Lundquist and his newest
act Caleb Hodgekiss
Peter Kassnove (comedian and burglary victim)


$10
Tickets available here: http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=53080

More info at NYCBEARD.COM

Tickets, entry form, faq, and more.

I like the Winter because it makes you earn your Spring.

Ouch! My hand, I slammed it in a door....I'm having trouble typing, ow, ow, it's blue. LIhkfsjhka akjdfhlalk laskdgl;a

My hand is fine.

April Fools.

Ow my hand.

Hand is fine.

Seriously though, this time I really just hurt it.

Hand is fine.

You're not going to believe this but I seriously this time really did just hit my hand and it really kind of hurt.

Hand is fine. April Fools.

Oh my god. My phone just rang and I went over to answer it and hit my hand into the wall. It seriously hurts. I can't even bend it.

Just kidding, my hand is fine.

Happy April Fools Day.

I hate this holiday.

Just kidding I like it. April Fools.

No really, I actually do hate it.

'Doody Calls' ends its two month run tonight.

Come on out and see it again or for the first time if you haven't yet seen it because like I said previously just before this that this is going to be the last one ever which means that after tonight you can't really ever see it anymore unless I get it on tape and then you come over to my house and watch it with me but you might not feel comfortable watching it in that way becasue then you might feel obligated to laugh because it will just be you and I sitting there watching this show that was made to be seen live and the sound probably won't be that good and all that and then I'll feel all weird because I can tell that you're just laughing because you'll feel bad and weird about not laughing because I am sitting right there and then I'll probably want to shut it off and start drinking but I really shouldn't be drinking that early in the afternoon and then I'd wonder why you were even in my apartment so early and then I'd start to think about when you're going to leave because what if I need to use the bathroom and then you'll hear me in there because my apartment is so small well it's not so small but it's just a studio and the bathroom is definitely in ear shot and then I'll wind up holding it all in until you leave and then I'll start acting even weirder because I really just have to use the bathroom but I won't really be hearing what you're saying and then you'll be confused and frustrated by me.......

"DOODY CALLS"
The Peoples Improv Theater
154 W. 29th Street (6th and 7th Ave)
March 31st @ 8PM
Performed by The Wiener Philharmonic
Written and Directed by Jon Friedman
Produced by Jon Friedman, Sara Schaefer and The Wiener Philharmonic
Tickets - $8
212-563-7488
2,3,9,B,D,F,V,N,Q,R,W,A,C,E to 34th St.
http://www.thepit-nyc.com
http://www.tremendousrabbit.com/
http://www.wienerphilharmonic.com/
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3164

Thank you all for the nice birthday wishes.

I usually get yelled at by my friends for never letting anyone know about when I have stand-up appearances (even though I put it directly on the homepage of my website) other than when I am hosting my own shows.....so, here's one for tonight, on the ol' b-day....

Monday, March 20, 2006

Twin Killing
Swift
34 E. 4th Street (between Bowery and Lafayette)
NYC
8:30 pm
FREE

Hosted by Matt Goldich (Comedy Central's Premium Blend) and Chris Jurek (Comedy Central's Laugh Riots)

Recommended by Time Out New York!

This month's lineup:

Mike Burns (Telephone Bar)
Jordan Carlos (Pepsi's "Sumo Chicken Guy")
Jon Friedman (creator of The Rejection Show)
Sean O'Connor (VH1)

Sara Schaefer will be playing the part of Julia Langbein tonight only!

The New York Times calls The Wiener Philharmonic "A delightfully sophomoric young comedy troupe." "Doody Calls" is written and directed by Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show, ECNY 2004’s Best Writer)

The Wiener Philharmonic is:
Julia Langbein, Lang Fisher, Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate, Mike Barry and Toby Lawless

WE'LL BE GIVING OUT FREE BEER TONIGHT!

"DOODY CALLS"
The Peoples Improv Theater
154 W. 29th Street (6th and 7th Ave)
March 17 @ 8PM
Tickets - $8
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3164

Yes, you must grow up, but no one ever mentions that you
also need to lapse back into adolescence every once in a
while. The good folks at the Wiener Philharmonic offer a
brief sophomoric jaunt that's guilt-free and fun.
-FLAVORPILL

Since The Rejection Show is on hiatus I felt as though it is a good time to share some of my own rejections. It is my birthday next week and some people are throwing me a party at a bar in Brooklyn on Saturday night. (All are welcome to join the fun.) Here are some fresh rejection responses to the invite. XXXXX's are provided to protect the innocent.

Enjoy!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey jon...

Just to keep you updated. You know how I said I just had to get together with the xxxxx for xxxx wedding shower? well it turned into dinner plans. Since I work till 6 we are meeting at 7 for dinner. I dont know if I can make it. By the time we're done it may be later than I thought and then I have to work the next day. I wouldnt have much time in brooklyn. I'll see what happens though. Nothing is set yet.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

i wish i could make this!
happy birthday!
xo
-------------------------------------------------------------------------


Poop, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Happy
Birthday!

I'll be in town the following week and will owe you a
b-day drink

luv
XXXXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am working that evening, but I'll do my doodle-dandiest to get down there, and thanks for the invite.
XXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

happy birthday!

sorry i can't make it. i'll be lounging on the beach in the bahamas. poor me.

how's life? your adorable nephew?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Jon,

Happy birthday and thanks for the invite. I can't make it but here are
my good wishes! Hope to see you soon,
X
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

hey OLD BOY (did you see that amazing movie?)

sadly i will be leaving town this saturday.. headed for warmer weather
and pukier pollution (los angeles).
can i take you for a birthday beer when i get back?

hope you are well.
big hugs and smooches,

XXXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not sure if i'll make it out to brooklyn for your party on saturday but we'll most definitely live it up on monday. you're the XXXX in the biz, jon friedman.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

hi jon,
how are you! first, thank you so much for the invite!! it was so sweet of you! i would love to come however i'm babysitting for my brother on sat. night (well obviously it's not my brother-it's for his baby but you know what i mean..lol). i hope you have a great time and a great birthday! say hello to andrew and your parents! and one of these days, i'll make it to your shows! keep sending the emails!! happy birthday and i hope to see you soon!
XXXXXX

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey Jon,



I can't make the party, but have a great birthday!


XXXXXXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jon,

Turns out my friend XXXX is visiting from XXXXX this
weekend and will probably want to hang out in
Manhattan on Saturday night. Sorry I can't make it
for the party but have a wonderful birthday and I hope
to see you soon!

XXXXXXX

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey there Mr. Friedman,

Happy almost birthday.

Bad news: My boyfriend and I will be in Chicago this weekend, so I won't
be able to ring in your 29th year. Hope you have a ball, though...
XXXXXXXXXXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Jon!
I wish I could make this but I cannot.
But also, Happy Birthday sir!
Hearts,
X
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Birthday! Unfortunately I have XXXXXXXXXXXXX that night on the upper east side. I wish I
could be there to celebrate. Have a wonderful night!
much birthday love and well-wishes,
XXXXXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry but I have my nephew's 6th birthday party that same day.
XXXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Er....who are you?

Kidding. Provided I'm not passed out in a pool of my own vomit from the
night before (XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX) I'll be there with bells on.

XXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Happy in advance. Not sure if I can make the
party but I will try. I may be at XXXXXX tonight, I
want to go but am super XXXXXXX with XXXXXXXXXX but am
gonna do my best.

XXXXXX
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys - I'm sorry to say I won't be able to make it to young Mr.
Friedman's celebration. I'm leaving for XX on Thursday for the XXXXXX
Awards where I will meet Kermit. Of all the celebrities I've met
over the years, I'm most psyched about this one!

Have a great time at Soda and Happy Birthday Jon!
- XXXXXX
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am out of the office until Monday, March 20th, 2006. I will reply to your
message when I return.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

See you at the party!

Tickets to the next Ritalin Readings are now available HERE.

See lineup below.

THE RITALIN READING SERIES
TICKETS AVAILABLE SOON

Hosted by Lindsay Robertson, Alex Balk & Jon Friedman

Featuring the quick readings of:

Sam Lipsyte
Jonathan Coulton
John Green
Elizabeth Spiers
Brad Stuernagel
Chris Genoa
Jon Friedman
&
The Hilarious Nightclub Comedy
of a Secret Surprise Comedic Guest

What are Ritalin Readings?
Ritalin Readings are a humor based literary event designed for the ADHD generation. Each reader is limited to a maximum of only 4 minutes.

I'll post as soon as tickets become available.

There is NO 'Doody Calls' tonight.

Instead there is a super special Sara Schaefer is Obsessed With You Reunion Show.

Myself, and three other Wieners, Gabe Liedman, Jenny Slate, and Mike Barry will be guests on the show.

In addition to us of course there will be Sara's old crew from SSIOWY catching up and updating us all on what they've all been doing.

It'll be a laid back fun time.

Tickets are available here:
SARA SCHAEFER IS OBSESSED WITH YOU REUNION SPECIAL

'Doody Calls' returns next week on 3/17.

(CLICK IT FOR THE TICKET)

Share the joy!

From 'Doody Calls'

THE OFTEN BROKEN LEG GUY
Starring The Wiener Philharmonic
Written & Directed by Jon Friedman

FIND IT HERE!!

Love,
Jon

Just as the show was hitting its stride the run was coming to an end. But we've been asked to extend our run of Friday nights at The PIT at 8PM.

Come see Doody Calls. The show keeps shifting and changing!

Starring The Wiener Philharmonic


TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE

March 3, 10, 17, 24, 31

Tonight at 8PM at The PIT:

The Wiener Philharmonic in:
DOODY CALLS

The Peoples Improv Theater
154 W. 29th Street (6th and 7th Ave)
February 24 @ 8PM
Performed by The Wiener Philharmonic
Written and Directed by Jon Friedman
Produced by Jon Friedman, Sara Schaefer and The Wiener Philharmonic
Tickets - $8
212-563-7488
2,3,9,B,D,F,V,N,Q,R,W,A,C,E to 34th St.
http://www.thepit-nyc.com
http://www.tremendousrabbit.com/
http://www.wienerphilharmonic.com/
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3164

Hope to see you there,
Jon

Ritalin was a lot of fun last night. All of the performers were great and had a great sense of what the show is all about. Thanks audience!

It looks like Ritalin Readings will be at Mo's every fourth Tuesday of every month. I'm working out the final details right now.

Here's what I read last night.

Questions That I Have For Ronald McDonald
(Written to be read aloud and performed by what are ya gonna do)

You’re a clown, right?

I mean, obviously you are but….are you?

Why do you have such a normal name?

What about Clownio BurgerGiver?

How My Favorite Movies Would Be Different If They Were Starring A Cow
(Tonight's Movie: The Sixth Sense)

Cole/Haley Joel Osment:
(audience volunteer reads)
She wanted me to tell you she saw you dance. She said when you were little you and she had a fight, right before your dance recital. You thought she didn't come see you dance. She did. She hid in the back so you wouldn't see. She said you were like an angel. She said you came to the place where they buried her. Asked her a question? She said the answer is... everyday. What did you ask?

Lynn/Toni Collette
(Sound effects from a tape recorder)
Mooooooo, mooooo, moooooo, moooooo...

Suprise! Look what's this Tuesday....

The Ritalin Reading Series
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
February 21 @ 8:30PM
Hosted by Lindsay Roberston, Alex Balk, and Jon Friedman

Fast readings by:

Michael Cyril Creighton
Alex Blagg
Gabe and Jenny
Nick Poppy
Jeff Johnson
Emily Gould
Geoff Haggerty

What exactly are Ritalin Readings?
Ritalin Readings are a humor based literary event designed for the ADHD generation.
Each reader is limited to a maximum of 4 minutes.

DOODY CALLS YOU!

I did an appearance on XM Radio with Michelle Collins. We had fun. Here are the details:

Life’s Work with Lisa Belkin
XM Satellite Radio
On Take 5 – XM Channel 155

Airing:
Saturday 2/25 @ 3PM ET
Sunday 2/26 @ 12N ET

Satellites are so cool!

"Doody Calls" take two, tonight.

The Wiener Philharmonic presents
DOODY CALLS
at the People's Improv Theater
154 West 29th St.
8 pm TONIGHT

The Rejection Show in 2006: First stop at Mo Pitkin's. Have some drinks and enjoy rejections!

"On the surface, The Rejection Show is a mere demonstration of unsuccessful work by usually successful comedians, writers, filmmakers, and cartoonists. Deep down, though, it provides an interesting look into the thought processes of magazine editors, network executives, and others who wield power."
ˆTHE ONION

FEBRUARY 7th
FEATURING THE REJECTIONS OF:

MICHAEL SHOWALTER
PETER HYMAN
A REJECTED PILOT FROM CHANNEL 102
THE NEW YORKER CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST REJECTIONS &
SUBMISSIONS FROM THE NEW YORKER ANTI-CAPTION CONTEST

The Rejection Show
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
February 7th @ 8:30PM
34 Avenue A (2nd and 3rd St.)
Call or visit the Mo Pitkin's box office at (212) 777-5660
F or V to Second Ave.
TICKETS AVAILABLE HERE
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=29543
$10 (NO drink minimum)

Join us after the show in the Sadies Lounge at Mo Pitkin's for drinks and more fun.

See you there,
Jon Friedman
http://www.tremendousrabbit.com/

February 7th is The Rejection Show. Don't forget to check out these other great shows on the 7th as well:

Chicks and Giggles in the Sadies Lounge at Mo Pitkin's at 7:30PM.

Brutal Honesty at Otto's Shrunken Head at 8PM

Variety Shac with Chelsea Peretti, Andrea Rosen, Heather Lawless, Shonali Bhowmik at Galapagos at 8PM.

MCC (Finally) Has His Way (with Women) also at 8PM at Galapagos

So many friends, so many shows at the same time.

The tremendousrabbit.com website is back up and running. Oh, sweet relief. The Rejection Show is tomorrow!

There's a nice little write-up on The Rejection Show in today's Metro Paper. It's on page 18. Thanks Metro!

One of the Wieners has a broken body part, thus making "Doody Calls" all the more interesting!

The tremendousrabbit.com website is under repair. It should be back up and running on Friday February 3rd.

I miss it too. It'll be alright. (I'm talking to myself)

Advance "Doody Calls" Tickets

The Wiener Philharmonic returns with "Doody Calls," an original new sketch comedy show every Friday in February at The PIT! The New York Times calls The Wiener Philharmonic "A delightfully sophomoric young comedy troupe." "Doody Calls" is written and directed by Jon Friedman (ECNY Best Writer, The Rejection Show.)

"Doody Calls" is a grouping of sketches, scenes, and short films portraying everyday situations that cause anxiety, stress, and awkwardness and attacks them with hilarious absurdity.

MICHAEL SHOWALTER
(Stella, The State, The Baxter)

PETER HYMAN
(The Reluctant Metrosexual, Spin Magazine)

A REJECTED PILOT FROM CHANNEL 102
(Featuring the Channel 102 judging panel that rejected it and the filmmaker that submitted the film)

THE OFFICIAL NEW YORKER CARTOON CAPTION CONTEST REJECTIONS WITH MATT DIFFEE & SUBMISSIONS FROM THE NEW YORKER ANTI-CAPTION CONTEST WITH DANIEL RADOSH
(The New Yorker, Radosh.net)

THE REJECTION SHOW
Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
February 7th @ 8:30PM
34 Avenue A (2nd and 3rd St.)
Tickets available in advance via Ticketweb.com (available soon!)
or call or visit the Mo Pitkin's box office at (212) 777-5660
F or V to Second Ave.
$10

Woke up this morning with my ear folded under my head. It is very soar. I have a soar ear. My ear was folded all night. That's dangerous. People should be made more aware of folded ear. Surprised it doesn't happen more often. They're very foldable.

Happiest and warmest wishes on this Martin Luther King Eve. I'll be counting down at midnight. I love MLK eve.

(series of memo’s from the studio sent to writer Robert Klane)

August 1, 1987 - Not really buying this Bernie character ‘alive.’ Please fix.

August 2, 1987 – That is a great change. We love it. What do you mean you’re not thrilled with it?

August 3, 1987 - Went to the morgue today. Turns out you’re right. But we’re going to ignore that.

August 4, 1987 - I hear what you’re saying. Ignore that.

August 5, 1987 - Ignore that.

August 6, 1987 - Ignore that.

August 7, 1987 - Don’t worry about that.

August 12, 1987 - Ignore that.

August 14, 1987 - Instead of rotting can he be smiling? That would be great. Oh, and holding a cocktail?

August 14, 1987 – Sunglassses.

August 19, 1987 - I sense a trilogy here!

Don't forget to check out some other great shows run by some great people tonight:

Chicks and Giggles at 7:30 in Sadie's Lounge at Mo Pitkin's.
http://chicksandgiggles.blogspot.com/

Brutal Honesty at Otto's Shrunken Head
http://www.giuliarozzi.com/html/brutalhonesty.html

Sara Schaefer has joined us.

Sara Schaefer is now one of the producers of the sketch comedy show, "Doody Calls." (Every Friday at The PIT in February)

"Office Doody" had been re-named "Doody Calls"

Today I accidentally dropped my bar of soap into the toilet bowl. That is the exact opposite of what is supposed to go in there.

New York Magazine killed their story on "The Rejection Show." I'm trying to book them on the show.

http://www.tremendousrabbit.com/multimedia/happynewyear.wmv

Hope that works.

Think you need Windows Media Player to hear it.

I've been writing some kick-ass Transit strike humor during this crazy time.

Just kidding. I haven't been.

There's a bunch of cool "Offbeat Nightlife" events in NYC featured at AOL's City Guide including some of our favorites:

AOL CITY GUIDE: OFFBEAT NIGHTLIFE FEATURE

Ritalin Readings
January 10th at Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction
8:30pm

Hosted by Lindsay Robertson, Alex Balk, and Jon Friedman

Readers:
* Mike Albo, author of The Underminer

* Michelle Collins, Comedian

* Dennis DiClaudio, author of The Hypochondriac's Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have

* Jon Friedman, Comedian

* Francis Heaney, author of The Holy Tango of Literature

* Julia Langbein , Comedian

* Todd Levin , Comedian

* Lindsay Robertson, Writer, blogger, creator of Ritalin Readings

Here's the recent Rejection Show radio peice from Definitely Not the Opera on the CBC:

THE REJECTION SHOW ON DNTO

I'm happy to announce that two new monthly series have been added to the growing TRP roster:

The Ritalin Reading Series with Lindsay Robertson and Alex Balk

&

The Other Talent, Show Hosted by Michelle Collins and Jon Friedman

I will be acting as "Executive Producer" of both of these shows.

Stay tuned for venue, dates, lineups, and show info!

I'm the opening act tonight at Pete's Candy Store. I'll be opening for Andy Friedman & The Other Failures.

Doors open at 8.

Jon Friedman with special guests Cassidy Henehan, Peter Kassnove, Jenny Slate, and Gabe Liedman. (Jon, Peter, and Cassidy will be performing as their new comedy team, "The Uncles")

and then Andy Friedman & The Other Failures.

I hope that you can make it.

Performances will begin closer to 9.

The Rejection Show will be featured on a radio program called "Definitely Not The Opera" this Saturday at noon on the 26th. DNTO is on the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) which is Canada's version of NPR.

The content for the segment was recorded at "The Rejection Show" in May of 2005 as well as pre and post interviews.

The segment was produced by Allison Lichter from NPR's Soundcheck.

I'll post the segment on the Tremendous Rabbit website.

Happy Thanksgiving.

If you're having trouble getting your Rejection Show tickets online for tonight please try again or get tickets from the box office.

When the online ticket sales reaches a certain number it shuts off to allow for walk up sales the night of the show.

I just got word that they will put more up online. But if you can't get them online you still may have a chance to get them at the box office.

I hope that made sense and I hope to see you tonight at The Rejection Show.

I added the video of my story of my first Onion Headlines submission batch (told at The Rejection Show) to the multimedia section on the Tremendous Rabbit website.

I'm going to add the Michael Winslow story soon.

Lobster and Shirley opening credit sequence is up their too.

http://www.tremendousrabbit.com/multimedia/

By that I mean the last Rejection Show of '05 is this November 15th.

I'm really looking forward to this one. We have a lot of cool stuff lined up.

Hi.

I did some work on the new Odd Todd Halloween Special cartoon up on Comedy Central's new Motherload site. Check it out (you have to search for it to find it.) I'll be working on more of these toons too.

Comedy Central: Motherload

Also, check out Odd Todd.

P.S. Todd does the animated opening credit sequences for the Rejection Show too.

What am I dressed as for Halloween 2005?

A furnace!

This business is hard!

Tomorrow night is The Rejection Show. I'm having my usual pre-performance nerves right now. I'm pacing and jittery. This usually doesn't happen until the afternoon of the show. What gives? Hopefully I can calm down. Calm down Jon. Ok, that helped a little. Anyway, tomorrow's show will be a lot of fun and different than the others. The audience can ask questions. That's fun.

OCTOBER 18TH 8PM
Q & A EDITION
Featuring the rejection panel:
CHELSEA PERETTI
BOB POWERS
ADAM WADE
NICK KROLL
ADAM MUTTERPERL
JULIE KLAUSNER
ADRIANNE FROST
CARTOONISTS FROM THE NEW YORKER
CAROLITA JOHNSON, SAM GROSS, MATT DIFFEE

You ask the questions!
And as always more fun rejection surprises!

I added some new clips to the multimedia section on the Tremendous Rabbit website --Including the Extro: Rejected Superhero cartoon that opened the last Rejection Show. There's a bunch of new stuff there so check it out. There's a lot more I still plan on adding....

http://www.tremendousrabbit.com/multimedia/

Tonight I will be reading selections from my 7th Grade journal. Oh, what a year that was.

Here are some titles from the journal I will NOT be reading tonight:

My Goals in Life
My Monster
A Promise
When I Am Bored

Mortified
The Magnet Theater
September 30th 9:30pm
254 W. 29th Street

See you.

Here are the song titles from my critically acclaimed album I made in High School:

1. Blacks and Whites
2. I’m So Impressed (With Your Hitting Streak)
3. Fuel Me Up
4. Coffee Cakes with Medicine
5. Brushy Brushy (cover)
6. Selma Tannenbaum Retirement
7. To the Tic-Toc – Ya Dig My Flakes?
8. Never Nervous Pervis
9. Food No Waste (You Say It’s Dry)
10. Reappearing Bob
11. Dyin’ In Ya Arms Tonight (cover)
12. Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitters Dead
13. Eat a Bag of Poo, How ‘Bout You?
14. Who Stole the Cookie From the Cookie Jar (cover)
15. Malakov, Is He For Real?
16. If I Had a Pool I’d Swim All Night
17. Whore (Maybe)
18. Around the Maypole

The Rejection Show: Q & A Edition

October 18th, 2005

Featuring the rejection panel:

Details coming extremely soon...

Here's a peek:

The Rejection Show: Q & A Edition

October 18th, 2005

Help me spread the word about this fantastic program!

via iMentor
You DO have time to be a mentor!

Join over 400 New Yorkers who volunteer with iMentor to make a difference in the lives of young people in New York City!

iMentor provides a flexible and meaningful way to work with high school students from underserved communities in New York City. iMentor matches adult volunteers one-on-one with students based on shared career or personal interests. Mentors and mentees correspond weekly via email, utilizing iMentor’s curriculum and writing prompts. Pairs also meet in person at iMentor-hosted events and collaborate online on projects designed to improve mentees’ reading, writing, research and technology skills.

Volunteers must be at least 21 years old, and must live or work in the New York City metropolitan area. iMentor requires a minimum of a one year commitment to our program. Two, three and four year matches are also available. Mentors’ time commitment averages 4 hours a month, including structured, weekly email exchanges and required face-to-face meetings at iMentor-sponsored events every 6 to 8 weeks (5 meeting per year).

For more information, check out iMentor's web site at www.imentor.org. If you would like to apply, visit the “Get involved” section of our website to complete an application online.

If you have any questions, please contact Michelle Choi at michelle@imentor.org or 212-461-4330 x21.

Volunteer to be a mentor @:
http://www.imentor.org/get_involved/be_mentor.php

Thanks to everyone who came out to The Rejection Show on Tuesday. The support has been outstanding. I'll get clips from the show up on the Tremendous Rabbit Productions site soon.

My friend Rachel wrote a great review in response to the show:

via They Make Me Laugh
Rejection Show raves

Last September, I went to my first Rejection Show, the last one they held at The Tank. I don’t remember everything about it, but I do recall Jon talking about Weekend at Bernies and Andres du Bouchet doing some rejected SNL skits. In that last year that I’ve been going (I missed I think the May one), the show has improved by leaps and bounds, and I last night was really excellent. There was so much going on and a real camaraderie amongst the performers, something I’ve found really makes a show work, and which I suppose is unpredictable but is heartwarming to see. Cassidy Henehan of The $1 Room, a New Orleans native, did a set that was funny but also very touching, and he’s clearly been through a hellish time these last few weeks. He showed us his NOLA tattoo and made us laugh about Katrina, and it seemed like it was really cathartic for him to be up there. Jon was a really funny host, as always - he read some rejected headlines he’d sent to The Onion, and used lots of dirty words that he rarely uses onstage. Adam Cole-Kelly did these hilarious back to school fashions, like a guy wearing just shorts, bare-chested, and a ghost and was just so deadpan about it while people were coming out in the most ridiculous getups, it was awesome. Michelle Collins seems to invoke The Holocaust almost every time I see her perform, but she was awesome as always - she kindof gives the impression that she’s just talking, telling a story like you’d hear at a bar, and this time it was about her Barnard days and waiting till 4days before graduation to write her thesis (“The Chosen Won?”) while also writing a skit about a girl whose retarded parents give her a baby for Christmas, where she was aided by Gabe and Lang from The Wiener Philharmonic. Bill Plympton, who I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t really know who he was, showed the pilot for his animated sitcom Helter Shelter that was really funny - it wouldn’t be as funny if I told you about it, but it’s about three mismatched roommates. Jackie The Jokeman Martling told about having an audience member heckle him loud enough for him to hear, and even though he made it into a funny story, it was also clear that those words had stayed with him for over a decade.

I think one of the best things about the show is that while there’s not audience participation per se (usually), there’s very rarely the sense of being shouted at, or being talked to or at, that there can be at comedy shows. There’s an inclusiveness between the stage and the crowd, and it’s as much about hearing the reactions of the people around you, of seeing who gets which New Yorker cartoons, of the rustles of excitement and laughter that make their way through the crowd, and I think this is in part because of the format of the show. There’s a sense that even though the people before us are successful in their chosen field, they are not always successful–they are not perfect. They have work rejected, even if they’ve been on TV, in movies, nominated for an Oscar, etc. And to be able to laugh at that, and at themselves, while also refuting the idea that those who hold the power to reject us hold all the power, is a really wonderful thing.

The show last night just held together really well, and it was clear from the little musical interludes to various segments that it wasn’t just cobbled together, that it was both deliberately crafted but also left room for improvising and the unexpected. I was kindof coughing my way through it but was really glad I was there and encourage those of you who haven’t been to check it out, for no other reason than I think it’ll make you laugh. Where I think the show really succeeds is that it’s not just a bunch of random people getting up and doing their own individual thing, but a definite cause of the whole being much greater than the sum of its parts, and it was clear that the performers also got a lot out of each others’ contributions. Nobody is full of themself or out to prove anything at the show, but simply to share something they wrote or made that might never otherwise be seen, and that also makes it special, because I know for me, when my work gets rejected, it’s very hard not to just take that at face value, to say, “Oh, okay, it wasn’t that good anyway, let’s move onto the next thing,” rather than actually examining how it might be improved or what parts of it might still be worthy.

Season Three Begins Tonight

"On the surface, The Rejection Show is a mere demonstration of unsuccessful work by usually successful comedians, writers, filmmakers, and cartoonists. Deep down, though, it provides an interesting look into the thought processes of magazine editors, network executives, and others who wield power. Films rejected by festivals, cartoons that never made it to press, and comedy sketches that weren't good enough for TV all finally see the light of day, some more deservedly than others."
--THE ONION

THE REJECTION SHOW
September 13, 2005
Performance Space 122 @ 8PM
150 First Avenue
New York, NY 10009

Still only $7 and NO MORE online fee

GET YOUR TICKETS IN ADVANCE HERE:
http://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pe/113
or visit the P.S. 122 BOX OFFICE

Proceeds from this show will be going to THE RED CROSS.
http://www.redcross.org/

I'm making an appearance at 7:30 PM tonight on K-Rock - 92.3 FM as an in studio guest on the Lazlow Show.

It should be a nice time.

A Delicious Sandwich Social has been organized in Australia.

The Sydney Sandwich Social is on the 24th of September:

http://sydneysandwichsocial.blogspot.com/

Ha!

I'll be on The Lazlow Show on Sunday September 11th at 6PM on 92.3 FM. More details coming.

via Gawker
In tonight’s installment of How to Kick People, titled “Missed Connections,” two Jons (Friedman and Ames), a Jesse (Hartman) and an Ophira (Eisenberg) ruminate on, well, we’re not quite sure. But it’s sure to be funny and witty and clever and other assorted glowing adjectives.

HOW TO KICK PEOPLE

Here's another recap from the Delicious Sandwich Social via Fig and Plum.

Thanks Jessica.

My volunteer was so perfect on THIS.
(audio)

It was a rainy and overcast day but we still had a nice turnout for the first annual Delicious Sandwich Social. There was something like 26 sandwiches traded and some nice socializing. Thanks to everyone who participated.

There's a nice little recap via Nate at The Apiary HERE.

RAP TO PROSE #1

Recently my life got all flipped and turned upside down. I was born and raised in a town in West Philadelphia. Most of my time was spent on the playground just doing stuff like chilling out, relaxing all cool, maxing. On one particular day I was playing basketball outside of my school and two guys came up to me, they were clearly looking for trouble. I heard about these guys making trouble all over the neighborhood and I wanted to do something about it. I stood up to them and we got into a little skirmish. When I got home my mom was so scared that she told me that I was going to go live with my aunt and uncle out in California. I guess it was something she was thinking about for a long time but this little fight was the straw that broke the camels back.

I didn’t want to go and leave my roots behind. I like where I come from. She wouldn’t listen. She packed my suitcase and basically sent me on my way. I remember when I got into the cab that the license plate said something like “fresh,” or “flash” and there were fluffy dice hanging from the rearview mirror. It was pretty cool, I don’t remember seeing many cabs like that. Anyway, it was kind of funny cause I told the cab driver to take me to California forgetting that he was only taking me to the airport.

I finally got to my aunt and uncles at around 7 or 8 west coast time. I was relieved to get out because that cab smelled really bad. I think it was the driver. The house was amazing. It was like a huge mansion. I kind of felt like this was my new kingdom. Like I was going to go inside and sit on a throne or something. I was glad to finally be there. It felt ok. Like a new start. I was feeling kind of like a prince.

I'm going to do some stand-up comedy tonight. Get some of the ol' rust off. I'll tell some old jokes, mix in a couple of new ones, and perhaps share a little story about my new nephew. That 'aint so bad.

I Can't Believe It's Not Manhattan
Galapagos Art Space
August 23rd - 10pm
70 N. 6th Street (b. Kent & Wythe

Come out to the first annual Delicious Sandwich Social.
www.tremendousrabbit.com/DSS/

WHEN: Sunday, August 28th @ 1PM
WHERE: Near the Picnic House in Prospect Park, Brooklyn

The Rules:

1. Bring one FULL delicious sandwich (hero, hoagie, roll, bread) with you to the event.

2. Label and submit one half of your sandwich to the DSS advisory board.

3. Sandwiches will be labled with the name of submitter, and/or vegetarian, meat, dairy, etc. This can be done at the event.

4. Every participant will get one half of another participant's sandwich submission and keep the other half of their own.

5. One lucky random sandwich half will contain THE GOLDEN TICKET redeemable for the DSS prize package.

6. Enjoy your sandwiches, find the person who's sandwich you've eaten, throw a frisbee, have some fun!

Delicious Sandwich Social FAQ's

1. Is this event free?
Yes, all you need to participate is a sandwich.

2. Can I bring a hot sandwich?
Sure, but remember, you will only be trading one half of your sandwich so make sure what you bring is also something you like.

3. Who will be inserting the Golden Ticket?
The Golden Ticket will be insterted by Jon Friedman and Jon Bulette. They are ineligible from winning the prize.

4. What is the prize package?
That will be revealed during the actual event.

5. Will there be a man in a sandwich suit hanging around and taking pictures with us?
I surely hope so.

6. Will persons with dietary restrictions (ie. veg.) be paired with another of the same restrictive family?
Yes, they absolutely will. The DSS is diet restriction friendly.

7. I make several "mean" sandwiches...what if I want to bring more than one?
That is absolutely acceptable. The more sandwiches the better!

Fall 2005 Tickets and Memberships go on Sale
Tuesday August 16!

Official Rejection Show lineup posted on TRP website!

New Multimedia Page on TRP!

There will be more on there soon. Check out the Andy For Mayor interview live at The Rejection Show!

Here's some insider information:

The Rejection Show is shifting from Wednesdays to Tuesdays this fall.

Season Premiere: Tuesday September 13th at 8:00 PM - P.S. 122.

Lineup and more info to be announced soon.

Hello my friends. I am finally an Uncle. He just wanted to wait to have an August birthday.

Hard at work preparing for Season 3 of The Rejection Show. Info coming soon...

I broke a mug! It fell and the handle cracked off. Now it's in the garbage. One less mug to worry about. This reminded me of something I wrote two Christmas's ago. Here's an excerpt....Oh, Jon, you were so young back then....

I must preface this next section by saying the following gifts that I mention were all given to me by my parents…who I love.
I didn’t even know that Dunkin Donuts had gift certificates. Seems kind of a waste when the most expensive thing there is 55 cents. Have I been unaware of hinting about a love or need for donuts? I don’t think I’ve mentioned the word “donut” since 1989. At least now I can go there and get a lot of donuts for a long time. That’s one stress I don’t have to worry about for the New Year. Donuts are covered. I don’t really like donuts. What else does Dunkin Donuts have? Coffee? I enjoy coffee but I have a stomach disease and I really shouldn’t drink that much coffee— at least that would warrant getting me a gift certificate for it. Tea? Yeah, I guess I could get tea. The main problem with this gift is that I have to take the subway to even get to a Dunkin Donuts. I’m going to lose money in getting my “gift” tea. I already have my own running water, stove, teakettle, and tea bags. Does anybody want Dunkin Donuts gift certificates? I’ll trade them…for a hug.
The next gift I got was the game Twister. That’s fun. I do like that game. I guess. I also “like” a lot of things. I like carrots. I’m a 26 year-old aspiring writer and comedian who recently chose to begin going to therapy and start taking new intestinal medications. Twister was not on my list this year. I was almost surprised the card attached did not say, “Remember when you would have wanted to play this?” I immediately thought…Right foot “humiliating.” Left hand “dry heave.” Anybody want to play? Next year they should buy me the game “Sorry.”
Is there something about me, my personality, my appearance that cries “mugs!” At least four people bought me multiple mugs and that doesn’t include the people that got me individual mugs. Basically every other gift I got was a mug or variation of one. I live alone in a small apartment in Brooklyn. I already have three mugs. I had five and I gave two away last year because I simply did not have the room for them. I have nineteen mugs now. Does anybody need some mugs? To top it all off, my parents also gave me two mugs that say Twister on them. I do not lie.....


I was a bratty sad 26 year old bastard. I don't like that attitude. Shape up!

People often tell me that I look familiar or that I remind them of someone else but they can't quite figure out who it is. More than a handful of times those people will run back up to me and say, "I know who it is! You remind me of my brother's friend!"

Now, everytime I get the look or the question --I say right away, "I remind you of your brother's friend." More than once the response has been "YES!"


But every so often I am greeted with an immediate match to a celebrity that "I look like." Here is the (all true) roster of celebrities I've been told I resemble or remind people of:

I am going to be missing this southern portion of the Stuckey and Murray tour due to the pending birth of my very first nephew.

He's not born yet.

Can't wait to meet him.

We will be touring again in the fall. This current tour is still going on but I won't be traveling.

You can see us all tonight at The Tank.

Stuckey and Murray's Family Reunion
The Tank
208 37th St. (b. 7th and 8th Ave.)
July 13th - 8pm

I'm a little teapot, short and stout
Here is my handle [one hand on hip], here is my spout [other arm out straight]
When I get all steamed up, hear me shout
Just tip me over and pour me out!
[as song ends, lean over and tip arm out like a spout]

I'm a clever teapot, yes it's true
Here's an example of what I can do
I can change my handle to my spout [switch arm positions and repeat tipping motion]
Just tip me over and pour me out

I'm an amazing teapot, can't you see?
I supply hot water for your tea!
Be careful when you pour me - I get real hot [light a match]
Especially doing this - you should not [put lit match in your hair]

My voice in a cartoon on ABC's Nightline tonight? Yes! I'm the voice of Johnny, the young man trying to buy a home.

Nightline on ABC tonight at 11:30PM - June 30th.

I'm going on a mini tour with some great comedians. If you have friends in or near these towns tell 'em to come see us...

via goldich.blogspot.com
SOUTHERN SWING: Great news everybody...the details of the Stuckey and Murray Family Reunion Tour have been finalized. It's a great show, featuring myself (Matt Goldich) as well as Jon Friedman (creator of the Rejection Show), Andrew Goldstein (my former camp co-counselor (Goldich) and a writer for MTV's "Boiling Points"), and, of course, the sensational musical comedy duo Stuckey and Murray. If you or anyone you know is going to be in Birmingham, Nashville, or Atlanta this summer, please come check us out - it's going to be a lot of fun. Here are the details:

Thursday, July 14, 2005
3rd and Lindsley
818 3rd Avenue South
Nashville, TN
9:30 pm
$5

Friday, July 15, 2005
WorkPlay
500 23rd Street
Birmingham, AL
Doors: 8 pm, Show: 9 pm
$10 advance, $12 day of show

Saturday, July 16, 2005
The Brandyhouse 4365 Roswell Rd. N.E.
Atlanta, GA
Doors: 9 pm, Show: 10 pm
$8

I'm having trouble updating the tremendousrabbit.com website. Should be able to update the site soon.

Dear Web Designer,

I want to let you know that I think the websites that you design are really cool looking. The work you’ve done on my site is great. Really it is. I love the colors and the layout. You know I’ve been excited about its official launch for a long time.

I want to tell you something. Since you’ve started designing my site I met someone else. I didn’t mean for anything to happen between us but things kind of escalated. We had a few talks about hosting fees. He knows Flash. It just kind of happened. I didn’t even know he designed websites when I first met him. It was at a fundraiser event. After the evening, I logged on to the event's Website to see the next month’s activities. I’ve been to a lot of Websites since you first started designing mine but this one made me feel -- different. It was so easy to navigate. I started logging on to it a lot. It had a message board. The updates were almost daily and I found myself wondering what it would be like to have updates as soon as I needed them. When I found out that it was he who designed that site I started to feel confused. I really like the work you’ve done so far but it’s been taking too long. I know I said that it didn’t matter how long it took and I can work around your schedule but my needs have changed. The amount of information that I need on my site has advanced faster than I thought could happen.

I’ll never forget when you showed me that first mock up. It was exciting and new. But I haven’t felt that excitement for a long time. Designing a site for someone is more than just plugging in text when you have the time. Don’t take this the wrong way but --I don’t think you can keep up with me. This is not your fault. I’m not used to having a web designer in my life. I told you that I need someone who won’t make me feel bad about asking for sudden updates. I think this new guy can do this for me and I want to try with him. He doesn’t yet know because I wanted to tell you first. I hope you respect that. I’m going to send him my FTP information tomorrow.

I know that there’s a great client out there for you. Whoever that lucky person is will have a terrific site with nice splash pages. I never meant for it to happen this way. I hope I can still add you as a link. If it’s too weird I’ll understand.

Sincerely,
Jon

I'm really looking forward to tonight's Rejection Show.

Come bring your heated faces into the refreshing AIR CONDITIONED breeze of rejection!

The Rejection Show SEASON FINALE tonight at 8!

Featuring the rejection of:

LIAM McENEANEY
MARGOT LEITMAN
J.B. HANDELSMAN, GAHAN WILSON, & MATT DIFFEE
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED SHORT FILM
"REJECTED"

& SPECIAL GUEST ANDY HORWITZ (Blog Party candidate for Mayor of NYC)

and more rejection surprises and fun!

Join us after the show for drinks at CHEAP SHOTS (140 1st AVE.)

Tickets available at the box office. Still only $7!
Advance tickets available here:
http://www.ticketweb.com/user/?region=nyc&query=detail&event=609027

JUNE 15, 2005
AT Performance Space 122
150 1st. Ave @ 9th St.
8PM
http://www.tremendousrabbit.com

FROM AOL DIGITAL CITY
"Rejection can be hilarious -- especially when it's someone else's. But the Rejection Show is not just your chance to laugh at the misfortune of others. It's the best of the rest, so to speak; a showcase of comedians turned down by Conan O'Brien, rejected television writers, and cartoonists who find more SASEs in their mailboxes than checks. Comedian/writer/producer/t-shirt designer Jon Friedman hosts the monthly show at P.S. 122, which began two years ago at The Tank and has since gathered a cult following. But although the guests have been rejected, they aren't rejects. They are cartoonists for The New Yorker, writers for Comedy Central and working actors. Oftentimes material is turned down because it's too weird or too risque -- not necessarily because the work is poor. Considering what's on TV these days, an artist could take a rejection a complement -- and a ticket to be featured in this underground show. -- Dan Glass"

Check out "Confessions of a Rejected Man" at Paper Magazine
http://www.papermag.com/

Love ya lots,
Jon Friedman

Wish You Were Here
Juvie Hall at the Gene Frankel Theater
24 Bond Street (bet. Lafayette and Bowery)
June 9th
9:30 PM
SPECIAL GUEST MATT GOLDICH

From Gothamist:

Gothamist went to poetry slams in high school to feel artistic and deep. But then we realized we didn’t have what it takes to be a poet, all we wanted was to laugh at how serious some people took themselves. Granted that’s our own shortcoming and perhaps we need to work on getting in touch with our emotions, but tonight it is ok to laugh at the poets at Galapagos. At the Poetry Vs. Comedy Variety Show poets rage against comedians in a battle of wits. Featuring poets Scotty The Blue Bunny, Nathan Penlington and Thaddeus Rutkowski and comedians Carolyn Castiglia, Jon Friedman and Becky Yamamoto.
Cheryl B. presents The Poetry Vs. Comedy Variety Hour – Tonight @ 10pm – FREE
Galapagos Art Space – 70 N. 6th Street in Brooklyn

Maybe I'll see some of you there.

Love,
Jon F.

New show from The Wiener Philharmonic debuts tonight. New videos and new sketch! It is funny!

These guys work so hard and it really shows. Special thanks to Jon Bulette for his behind the scenes selfless hard work.

Wish You Were Here
Juvie Hall at the Gene Frankel Theater
24 Bond Street (bet. Lafayette and Bowery)
June 2nd
9:30 PM
SPECIAL GUEST MICHELLE COLLINS

THE WIENER PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS:

"WISH YOU WERE HERE!!!"

Let us shove your sausagey arms into a pair of water wings and drag you to the beach in our new sketch show about vacation. We promise that you'll get a randy sunburn and bring home an illegitimate child, because, Sugarpuff, it's gonna get crazy!!

Wish You Were Here
Juvie Hall at the Gene Frankel Theater
24 Bond Street (bet. Lafayette and Bowery)
June 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th
9:30 PM
$7


You can purchase tickets on Smarttix!

Heading out to New Jersey now to do my first show "on the road." I'll be back as soon as it's over.

Comedy in a different state! Wow! Big time!

A terrific interview with my brother Andy today at www.gothamist.com. That RKB really knows how to ask a question. She is something special.

Somebody mailed me a cookie.

And I ate it.

Mermaid Parade Ball—This year ball-attendees will be taken back in time to the vintage 1920’s for a Coney Island Future Party. Hosted by future-telling, time traveling carnival barker, Harpo Henderson, the ball will feature live musical performances, DJ’s, sideshow acts, circus performers, burlesque, raffles, prizes, soul-piercing predictions about the future (from the past,) and affordable time travel. Produced by Straight Forward Entertainment (Dog Show Party.)

More details coming soon.

JUNE 25, 2005

For This Show, 'Rejection' Leads to Success!

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertai...1p-265394c.html

By ROBERT DOMINGUEZ
DAILY NEWS FEATURE WRITER

Anne Altman's cat toilet-training video was out at 'America's Funniest' but not 'Rejection.'
Anne Altman thought the short film she made about toilet-training* her cat would be perfect for "America's* Funniest Home *Videos."

The producers must have thought otherwise.

"I submitted a hilarious video on my cat, Doodle, being taught to do her business in a toilet a couple of years ago," says Altman, a Manhattan comic.

"But I never heard back from the show. I guess they thought clips of men constantly getting hit in the groin was funnier."

America's loss is now New York's gain. Audiences will finally get to see Doodle do her thing tomorrow night at a monthly event where only also-rans, losers and *wanna-bes are welcome.

Call it Revenge of the Showbiz Rejects.

Altman is one of several comedians, *cartoonists, writers and artists who will turn their failures into funny routines for "The Rejection Show" at the downtown theater space P.S. 122.

"Rejection" gives creative types the chance to thumb their noses at the *publishers, *producers and network execs who gave their material a thumbs-down, says "Rejection" creator/producer Jon Friedman.

"Most of them feel like their stuff is *really great, but for whatever reason it never got a chance to be seen," says Friedman, a *comedy writer and standup from Brooklyn. "They now get the chance to show off something they're still proud of."

Tomorrow's lineup is typical of the cult show, which originated two years ago at The Tank on W. 42nd St.

Participants include a trio of *cartoonists from The New Yorker, who will discuss their drawings deemed unfit for publication, and Nick Stevens, a comedian who didn't make the final cut on the ESPN game show "Dream Job."

"I always look for people who represent different types of rejection, whether it's *literary, standup comedy or cartoons," says Friedman, 28, a former Comedy Central* *intern who came up with the idea after *experiencing his own rejections. His dream of writing a script for a new Comedy Central show ended when "they pulled the plug on the whole thing."

Being on "The Rejection Show" also proved to be therapeutic for comedian and actress Andrea Rosen, one of tomorrow's performers.

A few years ago, Rosen helped create a reality series about party crashers, but was forced to audition to be on the show. Of course, she didn't get the role. Then, *after settling for a job as one of the show's writers, she was eventually phased out — while her boyfriend stayed on as a *producer. She's no longer with him, either.

"The whole thing was a total nightmare," says Rosen. "I never even wanted to think about any of it because it made me feel like a total reject.

"But a show like this is like the ultimate *catharsis, for sure."

Me? Read smutty material? Uh, alright, sure. I guess. You've seen me perform before right? Ok, just making sure.

SMUT presents
Jane Ormerod, Jon Friedman, and Christine Hamm5.16 8pm FREE

Our weekly program of provocate readings and performance, starring some of NYC's greatest talents. This week, featuring perfomers Jane Ormerod, John Friedman (creator of the NYC hit The Rejection Show, pictured) wil, and poet Christine Hamm

Yesterday I wore my sunglasses for the first time this spring. Four people went out of their way to say hello to me. They were strangers. They waved and said hello. Some asked how I was doing.

Is there a connection between wearing sunglasses and people saying hello to you on the street?

New Tremendous Rabbit Productions in development. Coming soon!

Including "The Movies I Made as a Kid Film Festival."

You got to see these submissions....you got to.

The Tank is losing its home and has invited back a bunch of performers to help raise funds for a new home.

FAREWELL TO 42ND STREET: THE TANK ANTHOLOGY

The Tank bids farewell to its 42nd Street home with a month-long schedule filled with our favorite acts from the past two years. All proceeds for the month go directly to The Tank's fund to find a new, permanent space. So come out and come often to enjoy the great programming and events, to celebrate our final days at 42nd Street, and to help us make our way to a new home.

They invited me to come perform on Friday May 6th @ 8PM...

Here's how they are billing it:

JON FRIEDMAN PRESENTS...

May 6 @ 8:00
"From the creator of the Rejection Show -- the NYC sensation that accepts no acceptions and originated at The Tank -- comes a return performance of new material, high concepts and big laughs."
$5

I'm going to perform and then lead into the super talented Wiener Philharmonic who will perform segments from their smash hit show, "Wine Teeth." Then they'll talk about their brand new show in June on Thursdays at Juvie Hall. I will be giving out ham.

Tickets HERE

The Rejection Show
“Failure is fun!”

The Rejection Show returns to P.S. 122 on May 18th!
The Rejection Show is a comedic based event that embraces the rejected and “turned down” material of writers, comedians, cartoonists, artists, and human beings whom display their creative “failures” live on stage.


The Rejection Show
May 18, 2005
P.S. 122 @ 8PM

Hosted by Jon Friedman

Featuring:

Mike Albo
(Author, The Underminer)

Andrea Rosen
(Comedian, Variety Shac)

Nick Stevens
(Comedian, The Shark Show)

Chad Darbyshire, Drew Dernavich, & Matt Diffee
(Cartoonists, The New Yorker)

& The winner of the "Air Guitar with a Llama Contest!"

Plus "Rejection Inspection," special guest clapper with “Rejectee” (The rejected Rejection Show mascot,) & more rejection surprises!

May 18, 2005
P.S. 122 @ 8PM - $7
150 1st Avenue and 9th St.
F train to 2nd Ave., R to 8th St., 6 train to Astor Pl.
212.477.5829
Tickets available via Ticketweb.com or at the P.S. 122 box office

1. When brewing your own coffee at home try adding one chocolate chip into the filter. It'll give you a nice hint of chocolate without over doing it.

Jon F. has a new best friend and her name is Slippery Elm Bark!

Dear Everyone,

As you may have heard tomorrow is my last day here. I got a job working for a marketing company. Their main goal is to examine their product, a “Mirror Hat” and their various innovative marketing techniques and its effects. The “Mirror Hat” looks like a regular hat except it is covered in mirror sheets. Imagine if all of the fabric on your hat were mirrors. That’s a mirror hat. I really believe in this product. I think it’s the latest and greatest in hat. On Monday morning I am to report to work and wear the “hat” around the city. I’ll have a notebook and a wind blocker. I’m supposed to record the reactions of males ages 14 – 90 and ask questions to anyone milling about. Some of the questions are as follows.
1. So, what do you think of my hat?
2. Do you like this hat?
3. Look at these mirrors on this hat.
4. Would you wear a mirror hat?
5. What do you all think of this?
6. Hat!
7. What’s your deal?
8. But seriously, mirror hat?
I’m a bit nervous about this but I think I can handle it. After all I did organize the fax room. Thanks for the memories.

Best,
Jon F.


There's more here www.tremendousrabbit.com/writing

Thanks ya'll.

This year I did not participate in the horseradish eating contest but I did extend my afikoman finding winning streak to three consecutive years (under the kitchen seat cushion.)

I will post my farewell letter to my co-workers that I read at WYSIWYG on the writing page of my website (www.tremendousrabbit.com) soon.

Welcome to Our Week
Rififi Cinema Classics
April 21st - 8pm
332 E. 11th St.
Hosted by Jessi Klein & Nick Kroll

Double April's at the April Rejection Show! What a crazy world.

Thanks to Mike, Sara, Jane, Susanna, Glen, PC, Diffee, Cole-Kelly, a chicken, Odd Todd, Visa, Jon B., Marko, 122, Holy, and everyone that came to see the show.

I'll be at Welcome to Our Week tonight at Rififi if anyone wants to come say hi. I'll put up more details in a few.

WYSIWYG was a great time last night. A truly supportive fun crowd and a well organized intelligent show...what more can you ask for? Thanks to the gang at WYSIWYG for having me and a big thank you to all of the other readers who were all fantastic.

Elizabeth Spiers (mediabistro.com/fishbowlny)

Daniel Radosh (radosh.net)

Michelle Collins (youcantmakeitup.blogspot.com)

Brian Grosz (blog.doctorgrosz.com)

Andy Horwitz (andyschest.com/wp)

Check them out!

Wysiwyg tonight, The Rejection Show tomorrow, Welcome to Our Week on Thursday............(slight dry heave....recover....breathe....mini dry heave....recovered!)

Keep those haikus coming in! Got some great submissions so far...

Enter the "Clap with Rejectee" Contest and you can be the one clapping with Rejectee "The rejected Rejection Show mascot" at the April 20th Rejection Show.

Rejectee claps to "We Will Rock You" by Queen to open every Rejection Show. It's terrible.

To enter:
Tell me in a haiku why you should win this contest.
Winners also receive two free tickets to the show.
Send submissions to
jon@rejectionshow.com

The Rejection Show returns to Performance Space 122 on April 20th!

Listen to the new "Rejection Show" piece from NPR's All Things Considered that aired April 5th!
ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
"A Visit to The Rejection Show"

The Rejection Show
"Failure is fun!"
April 20, 2005
Hosted by Jon Friedman

Featuring:
Mike Daisey
(Author, 21 Dog years, All Stories Are Fiction)

Sara Schaefer
(Comedian, Sara Schaefer is Obsessed With You)

Jane Borden & Susanna Hegner
(Freelance joke writers for SNL’s Weekend Update)

PC Vey, Glen Le Lievre, & Matt Diffee
(Cartoonists, The New Yorker)

&
The winner of the
“Clap with Rejectee Contest!”
Plus
Adam Cole-Kelly's
Rejection Inspection
and more rejection surprises!

Enter the "Clap with Rejectee" Contest and you can be the one clapping with Rejectee "The rejected Rejection Show mascot" at the April 20th Rejection Show.

Rejectee claps to "We Will Rock You" by Queen to open every Rejection Show. It's terrible.

To enter:
Tell me in a haiku why you should win this contest.
Winners also receive two free tickets to the show.
Send submissions to
jon@rejectionshow.com

What is The Rejection Show?
The Rejection Show is a comedic based event that embraces the rejected or “turned down” material
of writers, comedians, cartoonists, and artists whom display their creative “failures” live on stage.

April 20, 2005
P.S. 122 @ 8PM - $7
150 1st Avenue and 9th St.
F train to 2nd Ave., R to 8th St., 6 train to Astor Pl.
212.477.5829
Tickets available via Ticketweb.com or at the P.S. 122 box office

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*SPECIAL OFFER*

This month we're offering a two-fer deal with the good folks at The WYSIWYG
Talent Show! See WYSIWYG on the 19th and The Rejection Show on the 20th
for a combined total of only $10 — saves you four bucks! Call the
P.S. 122 box office at 212-477-5288 or visit Ticketweb.

Featuring:
Elizabeth Spiers (mediabistro.com/fishbowlny)
Daniel Radosh (radosh.net)
Jon Friedman (tremendousrabbit.com)
Michelle Collins (youcantmakeitup.blogspot.com)
Brian Grosz (blog.doctorgrosz.com)
Frank Beekman (accidentalnewyorker.blogspot.com)
Andy Horwitz (andyschest.com/wp)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------






Our Price: $7

Tickets available by clicking HERE or at the P.S. 122 Box Office

------------------------------------------------------------------------




What are they saying about The Rejection Show?
"Ever wonder what you're not seeing? Each month comedians perform pieces that have been rejected by anything from Conan O'Brien to The New Yorker..."
–TIMEOUT NEW YORK

“Novelists, TV writers, stand-up comics, cartoonists, filmmakers, recording artists, dramatists and poets come together for a friendly but edgy celebration of failure.”
–LA TIMES

"In New York, audiences are finding that failure is fun!"
–ABC NEWS

"'The Rejection Show' is a refuge for the rebuffed, a haven for the heave-hoed,
a destination for the deep-sixed."
–NEWSDAY

"…Not just a brilliant idea, it’s a well executed one."
–COMEDY CENTRAL SPOTLIGHT NEWSLETTER

"'What do you get when you display a whole bunch of stuff that didn’t make the cut at the New Yorker, Conan,
and a bevy of other shows and publications? Evidently, some funny shit.”
–GAWKER

"True to it’s maxim, ‘Just because it’s been rejected doesn’t mean it’s not good,’ the show continues to attract an audience that can relate.”
–FLAVORPILL

Outside is the new inside.

Here's the link to a new story on The Rejection Show that was covered by All Things Considered on NPR from April 5, 2005

A Visit to the 'Rejection Show'

Enjoy!

This month we're offering a two-fer deal with the good folks at The WYSIWYG Talent Show! See WYSIWYG on the 19th & The Rejection Show on the 20th for a combined total of only $10 - That saves you dollars and makes a lot of sense (see that.)

Call the P.S. 122 box office at 212-477-5288 or visit Ticketweb, right here.

More info on this soon. Check www.tremendousrabbit.com, www.wysiwygtalentshow.org, & www.ps122.org for more info....

Purchase tickets for The WYSIWYG Talent Show and The Rejection Show in April together and pay only $10! Special 2fer promotion!

More info soon.

WYSIWYG - April 19th
The Rejection Show - April 20th

"Its" not "It's."

It's a typo. See what I did there. Correctly used.

A message from the Wiener Philharmonic...

The keg is almost cashed at the Wiener Philharmonic's epic run of
party nights. You've got one more chance to see your favorite
revellers dance, prance, and furtively glance all over the stage!
WINE TEETH
A sketch comedy/video party
TOMORROW, MARCH 30! CLOSING NIGHT!
JUVIE HALL, 24 Bond St. (between Bowery and Lafayette)
9:30 pm
$7
Be sure to join us after the show for a closing night fest of beer,
Combos brand pretzel snacks, and listening to "Heal the World" on
repeat.
Love,
The Wieners

WINE TEETH TICKETS

Opening tonight: Jon Bulette!

Produced by Jon Friedman

I sat next to an eight year old boy and his ten year old brother on my flight home. I had my headphones on and noticed them whispering to each other, possibly about me.

The younger one tapped me on the shoulder and I removed my headphones. Here is our one and only conversation....

BOY: What's your name?

ME: Jon

BOY: Oh.

Pause

BOY: You look like my counselor from camp this summer.

Pause

ME: Oh, really? What was his name?

BOY: Alan.

Pause

ME: Oh, well...he's not me. (smile)

BOY: I know.

ME: Yeah.

Awkward pause....

Headphones back on.

I am out of NYC for a few days. I shall return on Tuesday. Please feed my hen.

Two shows left! Tonight is one of them. March 23 - 9:30PM at Juvie Hall

WINE TEETH TICKETS

look at 'em...

What a week. I became 28 during it. Thank you to everyone who sent me birthday well wishes and to everyone who came to celebrate in person. It was a lot of fun. 'Twas a nice way to start off being 2-8. I've officially outlived such people as, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, and Jimmy Hendrix. I'm also the same age my parents were when they had me. Thanks to the lovely group that made a big batch of cupcakes for everyone. I don't feel as though I thanked you all enough for that. Some other presents that I received were: a piece of rope, a bird magnet with flappy wings, a People magazine, a pornographic magazine, two new pillows, a bar of soap, a pig key chain, paints and new brushes, and a picture of a bear.

Also, last Wednesday was The Rejection Show. A little too hot and a little too long but other than that it was a great time. The performers were terrific. They had a great sense of what the show is all about. Thanks to Lang, Todd, Jessi, Marisa, Mort, Diffee, Adam, Peter, Bob, and Matt. The audience was enthusiastic and supportive. I can't ask for anything more than that. Thanks to Azalea for getting up and singing "Hello" by Lionel Richie for us. She kept going even though someone actually yelled out to me, "Please make her stop." It was a good time and we'll continue to try our best to improve on each show.

This is the most bloggiest blog entry I have ever blogged.

Rejections are ready!

Tonight at 8PM @ Performance Space 122

THE REJECTION SHOW

Hosted by Jon Friedman

FEATURING:

TODD LEVIN
BOB WILTFONG & MATT OBERG
MARISA ACOCELLA, MORT GERBERG, MATT DIFFEE
JESSI KLEIN
LANG FISHER
ADAM COLE-KELLY

& Lots of rejected fun...

GET TICKETS IN ADVANCE HERE:
http://www.ticketweb.com/user/?region=nyc&query=detail&event=577835

OR visit the P.S. 122 box office

March 16, 2005
P.S. 122 @ 8PM - $7 - UPSTAIRS
150 1st Avenue and 9th St. in Manhattan

See you there,
Jon Friedman
www.tremendousrabbit.com





"'What do you get when you display a whole bunch of stuff that didn’t make the cut at the New Yorker, Conan, and a bevy of other shows and publications? Evidently, some funny shit.”
–GAWKER

Lots of last minute details are being hammered out right now. Nerves are slowly turning over into excited anticipation of fun. I'm looking forward to it and I hope you are too. Did you get your tickets yet?

THE REJECTION SHOW TICKETS MAY BE PURCHASED BY CLICKING THIS ENTIRE SENTENCE.

Featuring:
JESSI KLEIN
BOB WILTFONG & MATT OBERG
MARISA ACOCELLA, MORT GERBERG, & MATT DIFFEE
TODD LEVIN
ADAM COLE-KELLY
AN AMERICAN IDOL REJECT
AND MORE!

at P.S. 122 upstairs!

Love ya lots,
Jon

Avoid taking a sip of apple cider while also drinking hot coffee. The body does not like this combination and will want to get rid of it quickly. It will say things like, "No, no Jon. Don't drink that while you're drinking that." and "Hey these don't mix. Here it comes!"

It's that time of the week again! Turn that frown upside down, and
tack on some lung-collapsing cackles at:
The Wiener Philharmonic Presents
WINE TEETH
A sketch comedy party
Juvie Hall, 24 Bond St. (between Bowery and Lafayette)
9:30 pm
$7

with a special opening act:
JON FRIEDMAN
Host of the Rejection Show at P.S. 122

Get your tickets at smarttix.com before they're lapped up!
love,
The Wiener Philharmonic
www.wienerphilharmonic.com

I'm looking forward to it.

7:30 PM DEKK-a-thlon -- GETTIN' IT DONE: Comedy You Can Count On.

10 Monday Nights. 10 events you don't want to miss. The Columbia School of the Arts students bring their best stuff to Tribeca every Monday night for a showcase of films, plays, comedy, and more.

This Monday, it's comedy night: "Laugh and the world laughs with you. Stay at home like a bum this Monday night, and you'll be alone. No, you owe it to yourself to make the trek down to DEKK on March 7 to see some genuine comedy. We promise you hysterics in both improv and stand-up forms. Enjoy the week before Spring Break. Because it's only Monday. You could use a few laughs."

Hosted by Sara Schaefer
Featuring:
Jon Friedman (of the Rejection Show)
Krompf
and MORE!
plus a film by Don Hertzfeld

THURSDAY, MARCH 3RD @ 7pm
376 9th St. (@ 6th Ave.)
Park Slope, Brooklyn; price: $0

--guest host JOSH SAITZ--
JON FRIEDMAN
BLAKE NELSON
RICHARD FULCO

SPEICAL DEAL: Richard Fulco will be doing a staged reading of one of this three-person, fifteen-minute plays.

• JON FRIEDMAN is a writer, stand-up comic, and producer living in New York City. He is the creator, producer, and host of The Rejection Show, an event at PS 122 that embraces the rejected material of professional and amateur comedians. The show has been featured on ABC News, The Brian Lehrer Show, and in the pages of The New York Times. He also sells great t-shirts.
• BLAKE NELSON is the author of Girl, The New Rules of High School, and Rockstar (Viking, fall 2004). He splits his time between Portland, OR and New York, NY.
• RICHARD FULCO's poetry and reviews have been published in Failbetter, Poetz, Serpentine, Third Rail, Propaganda, and the New York Review of Records. His plays, Flat Pop, Swedish Fish, New Hope, Bullshit and Goin' South, have been produced throughout New York. Richard has been the recipient of the Edward J. Rehberg Memorial Prize for poetry and the MacArthur Scholarship for playwriting. He teaches at Pace University and Hunter College High School.
• JOSH SAITZ is the publisher of the zine Negative Capability, where he rants with an attitude (and reveals his forbidden love for stuffed animals).

I'm going to give away some shirts too!

The Wiener Philharmonic's "Wine Teeth" has been extended through March. Tickets are now available online at SMARTTIX.

Sketch and video comedy!

Every show opens with a different stand-up comedian.

March 2nd, 9th, 23rd, & 30th.

Tip #1

If you buy bagels and they come in a paper bag don't leave them in that paper bag because then they'll get all hard very fast. When you get home switch them to a plastic bag and you'll find they they stay fresher, longer.

Tip #2

Save your plastic bags from grocery shopping to put bagels in.

Tip #3

Cream Cheese and I may be on the outs.

Tip #4

When giving people tips make sure it is a tip and not just a statement.

Tip #5

If you happen to look out your window and make direct eye contact with someone in their apartment try to hold back from waving.

Tremendous Rabbit Productions presents:

The Movies I Made as a Kid Festival

Did you make movies as a kid? Did you try to make movies as a kid?
Do you want to talk about them and have them seen by large audiences?

Tremendous Rabbit Productions is accepting submissions NOW for
"The Movies I Made as a Kid" Festival...

Did you dress up like GI JOE and film it?

Did you make a parody of The Karate Kid except you substituted Yahtzee for
karate? I did!

Whatever you did...music videos, practical jokes, spoofs, full movies, shorts, etc.
Send it in...as long as you were a kid when you made it.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL SUBMISSION FORM HERE

or just hand me your video....I am Jon.

Tickets are available now at TICKETWEB

Get 'm while they're hot, fresh, and available!

The Rejection Show
“Failure is fun!”

The Rejection Show returns to P.S. 122 on March 16th!
The Rejection Show is a comedic based event that embraces the rejected or “turned down” material of writers, comedians, cartoonists, and artists whom display their creative “failures” live on stage.

The Rejection Show
March 16, 2005
P.S. 122 @ 8PM

Hosted by Jon Friedman

Featuring:

Jessi Klein
(VH1, Rolling Stone Magazine)

Bob Wiltfong & Matt Oberg
(The Daily Show, Professional Opportunities Workshop)

Marisa Acocella & Matt Diffee
(Cartoonists, The New Yorker)

Todd Levin
(Author, tremble.com)

& an American Idol reject and Adam Cole-Kelly's Rejection Inspection!

March 16, 2005
P.S. 122 @ 8PM - $7
150 1st Avenue and 9th St.
F train to 2nd Ave., R to 8th St., 6 train to Astor Pl.
212.477.5829

TICKETWEB for tickets...

"Remember when you were a total slut in college? Remember when people saw you being a total slut in college as you made the 6:00am trek back to your dorm room wearing the same clothes as the night before? If so, then “Brutal Honesty: The Walk of Shame” at Sutra 16 is for you." --GAWKER

SUTRA 16 First Ave (at first and first)8PM!
"NYC's best Stand-ups and writers tell all in this hilarious new reading series. Your mouth will drop when you hear what Jon Friedman, Jeffrey Dinsmore, Giulia Rozzi, Lianne Stokes and the adorible Becky Yamamoto have to say. This week's topic... Ahhh.. THE WALK OF SHAME. I don't know about you- but my ears are glued. Only $5 cover!"--UPCOMING.ORG

Brutal Honesty
Sutra
February 21st - 8PM
16 1st Avenue & 1st
"Walk of Shame, College Tales"

That groundhog is full of shit.

Dancers, music, dogs, people, video, drinks!

Dogs! Dogs!

DOG SHOW PARTY 2005
www.dogshowparty.com

FEBRUARY 15TH
AT TONIC
107 NORFOLK STREET
7PM


Where my dogs at?

Today I'll be on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" at 3PM.

Happy 30th birthday to Andy Friedman!

The Wiener Philharmonics's "Wine Teeth" opened to a packed house with a rockin' party atmosphere. They were great. Tonight they perform the show again at Juvie Hall at 9:30PM.

That's Feb. 9th at 9:30 at Juvie Hall. 24 Bond Street between Bowery and Lafayette.

I laugh from the booth.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot -- STUCKEY AND MURRAY are opening for them TONIGHT!

Good article on the show in today's NY Post. It's actually a much shorter version of the article from The LA Times but the Post has a great picture of Matt Goldich...I believe taken right after he smashed his mouth with the microphone. Ooops, did I just bring that up again?

Nellie McKay has been added to the already great lineup of performers and events at the Dog Show Party 2005!

Columbia Recording Artist Nellie McKay Will Perform at the Dog Show Party 2005.
NEW YORK, NY – Nellie McKay, whose critically-acclaimed debut album Get Away From Me was named “Best of 2004” by everyone from Rolling Stone and Blender to the Los Angeles Times and USA Today, has agreed to perform a short set – including “The Dog Song” – at this year’s Dog Show Party.

Dogs!

Tonight is the debut of the Wiener Philharmonic's "Wine Teeth" sketch and video show. They have worked so hard and deserve all of the credit. It has been a pleasure helping them out.

Juvie Hall, 24 Bond Street, between Lafayette Street and the Bowery, East Village; 9:30 p.m.; $7. (Also: every Wednesday in February)

Adam Cole-Kelly works both in front of and behind the scenes at The Rejection Show. He's a hardworker, creative, smart performer and comedian. He's a gracious talented young man with a nice mane. Let's all say thanks to Adam for his selfless hardwork next time we see him.

February 1, 2005


COLUMN ONE
Reveling in Their Rejection
On a New York stage, writers, comedians and artists bring new life to work
that was turned down. It's funny, it's cathartic, it's pathetic.


Reveling in Their Rejection


By Josh Getlin, Times Staff Writer

NEW YORK ˜ Chances are you don't remember a cartoon recently sent to the New
Yorker magazine, where a patriarchal grandfather thunders at small children
gathered around him: "I came to this country with nothing but the hair on my
back!"

Or recall the "Top Ten 'About Schmidt' Sequels" written for the "Late Show
With David Letterman," which included No. 6: "Enough About Schmidt Already,"
No. 3: "Catch Schmidt if You Can" and No. 1: "Who Gives a Schmidt?"

Or saw "Hugsy," an eight-minute sketch developed for NBC's "Saturday Night
Live," in which a sex-starved scientist invents a beautiful blond robot,
only to learn that she has purely platonic feelings for him and wants to
date other men.

You won't find any of this material on tape or in magazines because it was
all rejected. Turned down. Given the heave-ho by editors, producers and
others who either didn't think the jokes were funny or placed their bets on
other material.

Week after week, hundreds of submissions like these are tossed into circular
files in New York and Los Angeles. Some are hidden gems. Others are definite
duds. All have disappeared down a black hole of humor, never to be seen
again.

But now these works are being resurrected. They have found new life ˜ and
new fans ˜ at "The Rejection Show."

Once a month, in a dingy converted school building in Manhattan's East
Village, novelists, TV writers, stand-up comics, cartoonists, filmmakers,
recording artists, dramatists and poets come together for a friendly but
edgy celebration of failure. At "The Rejection Show," every performer loves
being a loser. At least for one night.

"Failure is a part of everyone's life, whether you're a comedian or somebody
working in an office job, and there's no reason to run from it," said Jon
Friedman, a 27-year-old stand-up comic and filmmaker who came up with the
idea for the show.

"We've found that sharing rejection can be therapeutic for performers and
also entertaining," he said. "Failure is sad ˜ but failure is also funny."

People have long been fascinated by comedians and other performers who
stumble in public. Johnny Carson built a good chunk of his persona around
"Tonight Show" monologues that bombed; Rodney Dangerfield and other
comedians turned personal setbacks and humiliation into successful careers.

The public is also hungry for outtakes in film, music, television and
literature ˜ the kind of extras that have become increasingly common on
DVDs, CDs and television blooper specials.

Both phenomena are on display at "The Rejection Show." Participants either
share work that has been turned down, or discuss "rejection-themed"
material, including magazine articles, fiction, and personal stories of
childhood and adult failure.

It's a loose, freewheeling affair where microphones go out, lights flicker
and a crowd of 100 or so jams into a spare, claustrophobic space. The
floor-level stage stands in front of a gray concrete wall, facing three
sections of folding chairs. Before the evening begins, the darkened room
looks like any other downtown club scene.

But "The Rejection Show" does not offer a typical night of stand-up
material.

Most New York comedy audiences are not forgiving. They want laughs. Now.
They'll tell performers if jokes aren't funny.

At "The Rejection Show," however, the very fact that material has failed is
the whole reason for the performance. Audiences have not come to judge. Many
say they show up to enjoy comedy they would not normally see; they are also
drawn by the spectacle of performers grappling with rejection.

The cast is constantly changing. Some are still struggling for recognition,
while others have achieved varying levels of fame. Friedman calls on a
growing list of contacts to recruit each month's performers, who appear for
free.

Colin Quinn, a "Saturday Night Live" alumnus and former host of Comedy
Central's "Tough Crowd," appeared at the show last year and gave the
audience an eye-opening example of how promising material can fizzle.

He performed a comic bit rejected by "Saturday Night Live," a
Elizabethan-era sketch he wrote featuring characters named Notorious and
Facetious who ask a pompous character named Thesaurus to give them one-word
definitions of their names. He played all of the characters himself.

Quinn admits that the skit did not succeed at "The Rejection Show," even
though the audience gave him a healthy round of applause for trying. He said
he'd gladly return and do new material.

"This show plays on a small stage, but it's about something much larger," he
said. "It's not just comedy, it's life.

"Here you can say, 'Look, this stuff wasn't so bad.' Or you can really let
it out in front of strangers and say, 'What could I have been thinking?' "



On a snowy night, a long line begins to form outside Performance Space 122.
Crowds are on the young side, in their late 20s and early 30s, with a
smattering of graybeards. Tickets are $7, a bargain by New York standards.

At 8 p.m., Friedman strides on stage, introduces the lineup and another show
gets underway. The performances usually begin with personal tales of woe.

"My whole life has been one long rejection," says comedian Matt Goldich, who
whips out a faded get-lost letter from Jody, a girl he had a crush on in the
sixth grade. He has held onto this document for 20 years, and wants to share
it with the world.

"Yo, Matt," Jody wrote. "I like you as a friend and nothing more. See ya."

The crowd chortles, many shaking their heads.

Goldich ticks off other rejections in his life, including dismissive letters
X-Hotmail-From: from Rolling Stone saying there are no writing jobs for him. He ends his
spiel with a performance of "Hugsy," the skit he wrote with a friend that
was spurned by "Saturday Night Live" producers. The audience roars with
laughter.

The mood gets racy ˜ and mean-spirited ˜ when The Hazzards take the stage.

Anne Harris and Sydney Maresca have been writing and singing songs and
accompanying themselves on a Casio keyboard and ukulele since 2000. They got
a break last year when their song "Gay Boyfriend" reached No. 67 on the
British pop charts.

It tanked after a week, though, and the group's record label lost interest
in them. Some fans loved the song. But others sent a flood of e-mails
attacking the two women and their tune. The Hazzards shared the nastiest
ones with the audience.

"You're fat! Get a life!" said one message.

"One guy sent an e-mail saying I reminded him of a woman on a TV soap
opera," Harris noted. "I looked her up on the Internet. She's a post-op
transsexual."

Next up are the New Yorker cartoonists, and several take the stage,
projecting transparencies of recently rejected work onto a screen.

Failure is a part of the game, said Matt Diffee, 35, a comedian and
cartoonist who is co-producer of "The Rejection Show." "But there are times
when it really hurts, you know? You wonder why something so good has just
been tossed and forgotten."

Diffee unveils a recent example: Two seagulls are bobbing on the ocean waves
and one mutters to the other: "Always an oil spill. Never a vodka spill."

He shows another, which he calls autobiographical: A man sits on a sofa,
complaining to his parents, "I'm 32 years old. Stop treating me like an
adult."

Then David Sipress pulls out a pile of his rejected work, winning cheers and
whistles for his drawing about the grandfather and the hair on his back.

He gets even bigger laughs for a drawing of two soldiers with binoculars who
are secretly watching a line of aliens as they leave a flying saucer, all
holding hands. One soldier turns to the other and says: "How the hell should
I know if they're gay?"

Soon it's time for the TV writers. Dan Cronin, who penned the rejected
"About Schmidt" top 10 list, is joined by two colleagues. All voice a
similar lament: There are too many talented writers sending in too much good
material.

"I'd say there are hundreds of people in New York alone who want to work for
someone like Letterman, and there are maybe 12 writing jobs on that show,"
Cronin said. "Getting this kind of job is like winning a seat on the Supreme
Court."

Sometimes the work is so surreal it doesn't stand a chance ˜ like Patrick
Borelli's "Top Ten Reasons You Know You've Committed Vehicular Manslaughter
in Massachusetts." (No. 6: "While driving on the Massachusetts Turnpike, you
become incensed while listening to a caller on WEEI, who suggests that the
Patriots might lose to Pittsburgh in this Sunday's playoff game, causing you
to swerve and murder a family of three driving to New Hampshire for a ski
vacation.")

He's also had lousy timing. Just before Sept. 11, 2001, Borelli sent in the
"Top Ten Two-for-One Bush Back-to-Work, Kids Back-to-School, Summer's Over,
Don't Be Sad List." (No. 8: Kids ˜ Pack a fun lunch and trade with your
friends. Bush ˜ Don't get sad when Cheney says, "Lunch is over. Get out of
my office.")

"That one didn't stand a chance," Borelli said. "Talk about rotten luck."



Friedman knows the feeling well. Rejection has been hovering over him since
he tried breaking into New York's super-competitive comedy scene four years
ago.

A Long Island native, he worked as an intern at NBC, Comedy Central and the
New Yorker, sifting through piles of unsolicited material that poured in
each week. He saw firsthand the rejection letters doled out daily to
hundreds of people like himself.

Friedman caught a break two years ago, when he got a job as the host of the
comedy show "Big Night Out" at a Midtown club. It didn't pay, but he got to
know people in the business and networked with up-and-coming comics. His
confidence onstage grew and he applied for a job as a writing assistant at
Comedy Central.

Then that fall, he said, his life was battered by "a perfect storm of
rejection." Within several weeks, Friedman was passed over for the writing
job. Comic material he submitted to TV shows was all turned down. His
girlfriend dumped him.

"I couldn't believe it," said the comic, a wryly amusing but intensely shy
person whose awkwardness onstage is part of his appeal. "I've experienced
rejection before, everyone has, but all of this happening at once felt like
a bomb exploding inside of me."

At about the same time, Diffee had signed up to appear on "Big Night Out."
On a whim, he decided to show transparencies of cartoons he had drawn that
were rejected by the New Yorker. The audience cheered his work and Friedman,
now obsessed with failure, was struck by the enthusiastic response.

Immediately after the show, he talked with Diffee about the possibility of
doing something even bigger with rejection. "I thought we could take the
theme and make it the basis for an entire evening," Friedman said.

He found a club near Times Square that agreed to play host to the new show.
Crowds began to grow at the Tank, and word of mouth spread. "The Rejection
Show" recently moved into larger digs at PS 122, and there is talk of
bringing a version to Los Angeles. Friedman is also thinking of writing a
book about the show.

"At first I thought this show was a bunch of whiners, complaining they were
misunderstood," said Cronin, the TV writer. "Then I saw there was something
deeper going on."

It's not just that people get up onstage and vent their frustrations, he
said, because the act of facing your frustrations as an artist is only half
the story.

"There's a quintessentially New York feeling in this show," Cronin said.
"We're saying, this is what we've done. We're proud. You got a problem with
that?"

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rejection1feb01,0,20124
23.story?coll=la-home-headlines

Visit latimes.com at http://www.latimes.com

THE WIENERS

The Wiener Philharmonic, a delightfully sophomoric young comedy troupe, performs "Wine Teeth," a sketch show inspired by the history of various kinds of parties, from cast parties to after-parties to funeral parties. Directed by Jon Friedman, last responsible for "The Rejection Show."

Gene Frankel Theater, 24 Bond Street, between Lafayette Street and the Bowery, East Village; 9:30 p.m.; $7. (Also: every Wednesday in February)

Saturday January 29th at 7PM. This show is FREE! Adam Wade's Penguin will not be performed as Wade is resting comfortably at his home in New Jersey, he's fine....In it's place we'll have a surprise performance leading into Rich Zeroth's Swollen Head. Come on out and see the show again --or for the first time --it's quite astonishing. Time Out New York calls Swollen Head a "despicable true story."

"SWOLLEN HEAD"

Written and performed by Rich Zeroth

Ever wanted people to feel sorry for you?

Ever faked sick to miss a day of school?

Ever done it 127 days in row?

A true story about a 5th grader desperately looking for attention who ultimately gets more than he bargained for: A rare brain disease and a school play dedicated to his speedy recovery.




FREE!

DIRECTED BY JON FRIEDMAN

Sat Jan 29th - 7pm

at Juvie Hall

24 Bond Street (at Layfayette)

New York, NY 10012

* #6 to Bleecker Street at Lafayette
* R to 8th Street or Prince St
* B,D,F to Broadway/Lafayette

THEN JOIN US AT SLAINTE FOR A SHOW WRAP DRINK OR TWO!
Slainte Bar & Lounge
304 Bowery (between Bleecker & Houston)
N.Y.C.

Penguin and Swollen Head has been cancelled for this evening due to an unforseen circumstance. The show will go on as planned on Saturday as Swollen Head and (surprise, surprise) with a wrap party celebration after the show at Slainte. Official post coming forthwith.

I've officially changed worlds and I am now a Mac man. I've been a PC guy my whole life but now I am a man. This is why the Tremendousrabbit.com website is lacking behind in updates because I am relearning how to update websites and transferring files over. This post is hilarious. I haven't eaten a Big Mac from McDonald's in about four years.




9:30 PM at Juvie Hall
February 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd

The Gene Frankel
Theater 24 Bond St. (btw Bowery & Lafayette)
New York City

February is right around the corner... That's weird that I just said that like that. "February is right around the corner." What am I, some sort of man who, speaks....like that? Anyway....

This week is your last chance to see Penguin and Swollen Head! There is a Saturday showing at 7PM and it's going to be a special showing. I'll give that it's own post.

Febraury has The Wiener Philharmonic presenting "Wine Teeth" at Juvie Hall at 9:30 on Wednesdays. Those shows are going to be fun. The Wieners remind me of a time and a place that I don't yet know.

Also, The Dog Show Party '05 is shaping up to be some sort of ridiculous fun.

Thanks again to everyone who came out to The Rejection Show on Wednesday night in the cold and the snow. An extra special thank you to those people who came out to the show and couldn't get in. Come back again, please. Did you realize that you were rejected from The Rejection Show....dahahahahaha....haha?....ha.

I'll post some highlights from the show on the www.tremendousrabbit.com website soon. I got some nice romantic polar bear footage. Site updates are coming. I got a new computer and don't fully know how to use it yet. What does this button do? +P^* Oh, I guess it does that.

Tonight is The Rejection Show
I hope that you can go
the forecast calls for snow
Did you ever stub your toe?
Did you, Joe?
As a poet I really need to grow.
To be more like Edgar Allan Poe
Then maybe you'd go
to The Rejection Show.
Tonight at 8PM at P.S 122 on First Ave. & 9th St.

Our good friend Adam Cole-Kelly will be performing at Eating It at the Luna Lounge on Monday the 17th. Let's go see him and laugh. It looks like a great lineup and Adam's stand-up is terrific, especially when he holds soap.

Somebody got a makeover today and his name is www.tremendousrabbit.com.

Yes, indeed that was The Rejection Show on CBS Sunday Morning last week. It was very cool to see it in that context. I'll eventually get that clip up on the TRP website along with some other clips.

I put up some new writing on the writing section of my website. These are things that I read at some recent readings. Happy Ending Reading Series and East Side Oral....ya'll.

www.tremendousrabbit.com/writing

Holy Jeebus last night was a lot of fun. Thanks to Stuckey and Murray for putting the whole night together. Great, great, fun.

The Knitting Factory Mainstage

74 Leonard St Tuesday, January 11th

(Between Church St & Broadway) 8pm

(212) 219-3006 $10

www.knittingfactory.com

Subway: 1 or 9 to Franklin St, or A,C,E, N, R to Canal St.

Bob Wiltfong - http://www.bobwiltfong.com/

Demetri Martin – http://www.demetrimartin.com

Liam McEneaney - http://kidliam.blogspot.com/

Stuckey & Murray – http://www.stuckeyandmurray.com

Don McCloskey - http://www.enormousd.com/

Matt Goldich - http://goldich.blogspot.com/

Jason Reich – http://www.plantsneedwater.com

Jon Friedman - http://www.tremendousrabbit.com/

Tickets are available now for The Rejection Show on January 19th. Get them here and here.

Get 'em now!!

Elamenotees.com has finally launched, but it 'aint done yet. Plenty more goodies coming to the site. Stay tuned.

Launching, launching, trying to launch, launch, I need to launch! Where's the launching!!? LAUNCH! Launch? Jon ANGRY! Jon punch wall! Jon hurt hand. Jon look at hand. Jon hand throb. Jon remember why angry! Jon frustrated! Jon look at hand.

I'm very excited about the level of talent involved with The Rejection Show in January '05. The lineup has been announced! Check it out here THE REJECTION SHOW

"Can I get you some chocolate milk?"

"What am I, your son?"

Yeah, what that says above. Happy New Year.

I've linked the radio appearance from The Brian Lehrer Show on the Tremendous Rabbit Productions Press page. Also, Mcsweeney's is again featuring "Confessions of a New Coffee Drinker" on their main page today. Happy New Year!

Good times on the radio. It was a lot of fun. Thanks for listening and thanks to Chris Bannon and Brian Lehrer. You can listen to it here, eventually Jon Friedman and Matt Diffee and The Brian Lehrer Show

I'm very happy to announce that I will be directing a wonderfully talented, sparky, beautiful, zany, lovely, creative, intelligent, sassy bunch known as "The Wiener Philharmonic." Their show will debut in February '05 at Juvie Hall every Wednesday at 9:30pm. Until then, we'll be working to make the show great fun. Check 'em out here www.wienerphilharmonic.com and read their hilarious blog The Wiener Philharmonic Blog

P.S. They've already given me cookies.

I updated the Tremendous Rabbit Productions press page a bit over the weekend. It's here www.tremendousrabbit.com/press

Thanks to everyone who came out to The Rejection Show last night. You all warmed my heart a few degrees. More Tremendous Rabbit updates soon....

Sometimes I wish:

my name was, Jon Friedman (partially milled)

This is my impression of

Tom Hanks:

"You are a toyyyyyyyyy!"

Robert Deniro:

"I heard things."

Lindsay Lohan:

"Life can be so randomly beautiful."

Hurry up.

CBS Sunday Morning shifted their New Yorker cartoonist story to a future episode. Television is a crazy business and stories get edited, shifted, cut, enlarged, zapped, and zoomed at any given moment. I'll keep you posted to when it will be on, hopefully The Rejection Show gets represented nicely. Cripes.

Clearly it has to be the chicken. There were not hats in the days before chickens.

I know I'm getting older when I'm truly excited about getting a non stick frying pan for a present. This is not a bad thing.

Mr. Friedman,

Thank you for registering your record attempt with Guinness World Records.

One of our representatives will contact you within the next 4-6 weeks with
a decision on your record request.

If your suggested record is approved, we will get back to you with rules
and regulations so that you may attempt your proposed record. If you have
already attempted a record, and we are interested in your submission, we
may ask for the documentation needed to verify the record.

Should your record proposal/attempt be unsuccessful, we will send you a
detailed reason outlining our decision and we will often suggest a
similar, existing record.

Our online tracking service enables you to track the progress of your
record claim through the Guinness World Records website. You will need
your membership number and password to access this service - these will be
sent to you once your claim has been assigned to a researcher.

Thank you for contacting Guinness World Records. Good luck!

Record Research Services,
Guinness World Records

From the Chicagoist Gift Guide

Hipsters are hard to clothe. It's a sad fact—everything you like we liked like, two years ago, snore, you fucking conformist lame-o. Go back to the Gap! But we can't live on cigarettes and PBR alone. No, we too need a new shirt now and then, and the more ironic, the better. Threadless still has some awesome shirts in stock (you snooze, you lose, biatch). Our pick is clearly the unicorns bumping uglies. That's priceless.

Don't forget the 80s movie shirt. Real Genius, Revenge of the Nerds, UHF, Strange Brew--these are all essential viewing for cool kids. There is nothing more hardcore than an Elsinore Beer shirt.

Still too obvious? Really go the distance with Elamenotees, so you can wear a joke that no one, even you, really gets. THAT is what coolness is, friends. Actually, we think these shirts are hiiilarious.

Fine, fine, fine, you want a more DIY approach without actually having to, you know, do it yourself. You can head over to the T-shirt Deli at 1739 North Damen to have your idea slapped on a shirt for all to see. It's not particularly cheap, but then, neither are you.

--ML

Tonight at 7pm at Juvie Hall.

New slides added to Swollen Head!

If you haven't seen the show you have no idea what I'm talking about. Well, you probably have some idea, like, you probably assume that the show has some sort of slides in it and now there are some new ones.

Penguin & Swollen Head for more info

ANDY FRIEDMAN WITH BAND AT BOWERY POETRY CLUB MONDAY NIGHT, DECEMBER 20 @ 7PM

Andy Friedman brings his new slideshow-poetry performance to THE BOWERY POETRY CLUB on MONDAY, DECEMBER 20 at 7PM.

Special guest, NY magazine “Mating” columnist and all-around superstar Amy Sohn will open the evening with a reading from her new novel “My Old Man” (Simon & Schuster). If you haven’t experienced an Amy Sohn reading this is a great time and place to do it. (www.amysohn.com)

After a successful tour of the Pacific Northwest and inland through Idaho and Montana with a seven-piece bluegrass band, Andy’s experiments with jazz accompaniment have given way to a rootsier, more countrified sound. The “Other Failures” lineup will include upright bass, resonator guitar, mandolin, fiddle and drum.

More info at City Salvage Records

Dialing phone......

ME: Hi, is this Ken Watanabe?

ME: Wow, it's so great to speak to you.

ME: Yeah, yeah.

ME: Well, I just wanted to say that I thought you did a bag 'em up job in The Last Samurai.

ME: Yeah well, check this out, Ken....I never even actually saw it....sucker!

Hang up phone.

When I was a kid I wrote song about my sneakers called "My Adidas!" It went something like this...

walk through concert doors
and roam all over coliseum floors
I stepped on stage, at Live Aid
All the people gave an applause that paid
And out of speakers I did speak
I wore my sneakers but I'm not a sneak...

Oh wait, that was Run DMC that wrote that, my bad.

Every once in a while I force myself to write. I usually preach against it because the day I realized I am a better writer when I don't force it was the day I became better or at least it was more fun. Because of this I can sometimes go through very long stretches without writing anything new or I'll find myself in a stretch where I'm on a "hot streak" of writing tiny stand-up jokes and not anything of a longer substance and or vice versa. I've been busy lately playing the producing game and have not had much time to write. I have some new stuff that I haven't put on my site yet because I want to read them at some upcoming readings first --but other than that it's been pretty dry over the past month. So, I forced myself to write something. I forced myself to write a new letter. I've been having trouble writing new letters. When I first wrote them no one else had seen them. Now when I try to write them I can't shake the feeling that I'm imitating myself....anyhoo, with all that in mind I tried to write a new one with both forcing myself and this bad feeling of trying to "please" and it came out like this....(Oh yeah, my rule for writing these letters is that I can't go back and edit)

Dear Lost and Found,

I lost a brown leather coat. It is brown and made out of leather. I wear jeans a lot. Do you know who I am? I’m usually wearing jeans. You may have seen me in jeans and a brown leather coat when I came in but not in that when I left. I have to admit something to you. I didn’t lose a brown leather coat. I lost a blue nylon coaches jacket. I figured that since I lost my jacket I might as well try to upgrade to another type of jacket. One that is more expensive and that could make me look both cooler and more jovial. Is jovial used correctly there? It’s not. I looked it up and the definition had a word in it that I didn’t know the meaning of. That word was "conviviality," which means full of feasting, drinking, good company and sociable. That’s what I am. I’m that already without the brown leather coat. Jovial means full of joy. When I used the word jovial I was trying to express that it would make me look more successful in a business sense. What I’ve learned from this is that I don’t need a brown leather coat to make me happy. I’m already happy with the kind of coat I have and it took losing it and trying to swindle my way into getting a better one to realize this. I didn’t even lose my coaches jacket. I just left it at home and didn’t realize I walked out without it. Is there even a lost and found at the post office? How’s your father?

Sincerely,
Jon

So what does that mean? Why did that come out? Sometimes I go back and read and I can see parallels to more serious events in my life. Who knew? Oh wait, I did.

I'll post more about this as it gets closer but I found out last night that the story on New Yorker cartoonists for CBS Sunday Morning will air on the 12th of December. They were at The October Rejection Show shooting for the story. We'll see...

Rejection Show favorite David Sipress will be at the next Rejection Show on December 15th with newly rejected cartoons in hand.

There are a bunch of new Elameno Tees waiting to be unleashed on the new site. I'm keeping the same logo. Me likes it.

Send in your FAQS to www.tremendousrabbit.com/faq

Wed. the 1st - Penguin & Swollen Head

Wed. the 8th - Penguin and Swollen Head

Wed. the 15th - The Rejection Show

Wed. the 22nd - Jon & Andy Friedman read at Happy Ending

Wed. the 29th - My SILS's B-Day

December 15th at 8PM

Check it out at www.tremendousrabbit.com/rejection

I'm going to be on some small radio show on 1460 AM talking about rejection and comedy today. I'll try and post some of the interview on the site.

JONATHAN AMES
STUCKEY & MURRAY
MATT GOLDICH
&
CARTOONISTS FROM
THE NEW YORKER

Plus
The rejected short film:
"Santa Claus and the Jew"

MORE ANNOUNCED SOON!

www.tremendousrabbit.com/rejection

It's the perfect time to dig up your kid movies....


The Movies I Made as a Kid Festival

Did you make movies as a kid? Did you try to make movies as a kid?
Do you want to talk about them and have them seen by large audiences?

Tremendous Rabbit Productions is accepting submissions NOW for
"The Movies I Made as a Kid" Festival....set to be a monthly showcase
in New York City with an annual “Best Of” Film Festival at the end of the
comedy season.

Did you dress up like GI JOE and film it?

Did you make a parody of The Karate Kid except you substituted Yahtzee for
karate? I did!

Whatever you did...music videos, practical jokes, spoofs, full movies, shorts, etc.
Send it in...as long as you were a kid when you made it.

DOWNLOAD THE OFFICIAL SUBMISSION FORM HERE

You may be asking what is the definition of a "kid?" I'd like to leave that interpretation open to you....but as
a general guideline you should have been under 18 when you made it, preferably not have had a beard yet,
and other various very adult features. A kid, you know what a kid is. A child.

New Dates announced for Penguin & Swollen Head. If you have not had a chance to see this show yet, please do.

December 1st - 8PM

December 8th - 7PM

January 5th, 12th, 26th, 29th - 7PM

at Juvie Hall

24 Bond Street (at Layfayette)

(917) 650 5878

New York, NY 10012

* #6 to Bleecker Street at Lafayette
* R to 8th Street or Prince St
* B,D,F to Broadway/Lafayette

Penguin & Swollen Head

My true account of a strange event is up now on Eyeshot.net

You can read it here: The Night I Got Jumped...But Didn't

I'm learning how to gain full control of my Tremendous Rabbit Productions Website. There are lots of elements on it that are out of my grasp. For example, that little news box is un-updatable by me at this time. I see it and I know it's outdated and I want to change it but as of this moment I can't. There are other things that I will have in my control soon.

I want the home page to be more informative. I want to post dates and shows right on the homepage. I also want to put a bigger news box and have a section where you can see when something new has been added to the site. Stuff like that.

Also, Elameno Tees is getting a makeover. It's just taking some time. There are alot of shirts and I keep thinking up new ones. Like this, "My lion is cryin'" Just kidding, that's not a real one. Although now I might have to make it one. Cripes!

Come to the Rejection Show tonight! Thanks. www.tremendousrabbit.com/rejection

I'll give you a hug.

I wanted to see if something I performed at The Rejection Show would get rejected if I submitted it for publication. If it were to be accepted I might of had to shut down as my rejected and accepted universes collided...but sure enough...it was rejected.....

Jon:

Tempting, but I’m afraid that in the end, we’re going to pass. I do appreciate the look.

---

From: "Jon Friedman" <>>>>>>>@hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 15:08:43 -0500
To:
Subject: Rejected "Snaps!" Submissions

Rejected “Snaps!” Submissions
By Jon Friedman
<<<<<<<<@hotmail.com


Rejected “Snaps!” Submissions


Snaps: Creative insults from a unique African-American comic art form.


--Your momma’s cookies are so delicious that every time I bite into one I feel like I’m tasting heaven, motherfucker.

--Your momma is so contractually obligated to Verizon that she will be making phone calls with them for two years.

--Your momma’s intake of high fructose corn syrup is ridiculous.

--Your momma looks so much like you that there is no question that you were not adopted. Your father on the other hand looks like a washed up, run down Ray Liotta. What’s that, your father is Ray Liotta?

--Your momma is so fat that she researched gastric bypass surgery on the Internet after witnessing Al Roker’s mediocre success with it.

--Your father is so gay that he admitted it to your momma and now he has the confidence to move forward in a world that has always told him he cannot be who he truly is.

Time Out New York listed The Rejection Show as being at The Tank on November 17. The Rejection Show is at P.S. 122 in November. Time Out New York is still the bestest magazine and The Tank remains a great place to see some cool shows. Accidents happen, dudes.

Show good last night too. Enjoyed watching other performers. Went on stage not knowing exactly what I was going to do. Should never do that. I was a tad woozy. Tomorrow, Juvie Hall.

Last night show good. Me at Telephone Bar tonight. Me likes. Swollen Head and Penguin at Juvie Hall again on Saturday at 7PM. Someone called the show Shrunken Head. Shrunken is the opposite of Swollen.

Tonight is "Penguin & Swollen Head" at Juvie Hall. There was a nice review of the show in New York Press today....

http://www.nypress.com/17/45/listings/LionelBeehner.cfm


WEDNESDAYS AT JUVIE HALL

By Lionel Beehner

WEDNESDAYS AT JUVIE HALL A new theater has emerged in a basement on Bond Street. Juvie Hall, from the founder of Above Kleptomania, showcases an eclectic and experimental cast of sketch comedians. The theater is less a bunch of juvenile delinquents as its name suggests than a group of upstart performers with serious talent. Improv maestro Armando Diaz coaches from behind the scenes.

Wednesday nights feature an excellent combo of two one-man shows. First up is Penguin, a show by Adam Wade, a bespectacled 29-year-old with a New Hampshire accent and a confidence deficiency who chronicles his high school years through song and short monologues. He rhapsodizes and reminisces about failed romances, secret crushes and Winnebagos ("The world is an oyster? Fuck you, it's a Winnebago!"). His high school nickname was "Penguin Boy" (pronounced "pain-goowin boy"), hence the show's title. Anyone who's ever felt insecure or insignificant growing up will appreciate the show. Just don't expect his singing voice to move you to tears.

Keeping with the same theme, Rich Zeroth follows with Swollen Head, a multimedia slide-show, PowerPoint presentation and reality tv show wrapped into one. The show opens with a real-life taped recording of Zeroth as a fifth-grader who fakes his own encephalitis and misses 129 consecutive days of school. Goateed and clad in a red Michael Jordan t-shirt, Zeroth provides hilarious commentary over a slide show of grainy pictures of him and his humble Minnesotan family. "I had inadvertently made myself sick," he says of his ordeal. "Malnourished and dehydrated, I spent three days hooked up to an IV and had to use a bedpan." The show concludes with his telling the family many years later that he was never sick and it was all a prank (which he films by secret camera from their living room). The segment is so candid and real, it's hysterically funny (his sister and parents argue over who clogged the toilet with "poop").

Shrunken Head and Penguin are funny by not trying to be funny. There's no over-the-top humor or straight-up joke-telling. It's like listening to two average guys at a bar recount their funny memories from childhood. Pull up and have a seat—you'll enjoy what you hear.

Juvie Hall may emerge as one of the city's premier comedy venues, given its easy-going atmosphere, intimate stage and convenient location, (the space recalls UCB's humbler digs on 22nd St.). The lobby walls are painted bright purple and the waiting area consists of a collection of Salvation Army furniture (added bonus: a shower stall in the bathroom). The stage area is encased in black walls with a portrait of German playwright Bertolt Brecht clutching a cigar hanging from the wall, smiling at the audience.

Gene Frankel Theater, 24 Bond St. (betw. Bowery &amp;amp;amp; Lafayette Ave.), 212-868-4444; 8, $7.

Volume 17, Issue 45

It is. Sometimes I wish it was called Humongous Rabbit. Or Gigantic Pelican Productions. Maybe next time.