A quick update:

-Spent most of December and early January in New York. Went there for some good ol’ fashioned head clearing, and happy to report that it did the trick. Stayed in Brooklyn, spending my days roaming around the city, hanging with pals, seeing some sights, and freezing my LA ass off. Spent the evenings doing stand-up, drinking a lot of beer and whiskey, and freezing my LA ass of. Because that’s just what you do in New York, I’m pretty sure. Did about ten stand-up shows, including one Be-Bop Heroin Hour which was a lot of fun. Had some great comics at Lolita Bar, including Jordan Carlos, Leo Allen, Kumail Najiani, Tim Molloy, and Liam McEaneany. The place was packed, and the show was well received, so mission accomplished. Overall, doing stand-up in NY had it’s ups and downs, which is about how it goes in LA. Typically, I do a set and immediately decide that stand-up is what I need to be doing for a living, or I do a set and immediately wonder why I subject myself to the pain. The net result was a decision to continue doing stand-up “casually.” We’ll see how that works out. The other fun part of the trip was getting the opportunity to shoot a couple episodes of a web series called “Mister Greenslacks” with comedian Bobby Tisdale. Hoping to get an edit of those together soon.

-Now that I am back in LA I am in transition mode. Still doing freelance video production, with one project due in a couple weeks. After that, the hunt is on for a job, which is promising given the current economic climate! But I’m hopeful something great will come soon. Or at least something that pays real money. Because I don’t know about you, but I like to buy things, like food and shelter.

-Did Be-Bop Heroin Hour at San Francisco Sketchfest this past weekend. It was a total blast, and we packed The Purple Onion and had a really fun time. Had a couple of great line-ups including Eddie Pepitone, Ron Lynch, Matt Champagne, Michelle Miracle, Sean Conroy, Vanessa Ragland, Jordan Carlos, Jeff Kriesler, and as always Chi Chi Lavie, Hugh Moore, and myself with two fantastic bands including The Lee Bob Quartet and The Sharp 4. Hope to do some more Be-Bops in LA and SF soon.

-Currently on Day 16 of a 30 Day plan to work out for at least 30 minutes a day. Half way through and I’ve only missed one day. I say that to brag.

-Other than that, just working on having a productive and focused year. Working on a fun podcast which should be out soon, and planning on a big year in creating more content for the web and beyond. Hope to update this site more often, and have a few other projects in the works. Stay tuned!

1. I am co-producing a new sketch/stand-up show called “Campfirin’!” that will be making it’s debut at The M Bar (1253 Vine St.) on Thursday, August 13th at 10pm. The show is FREE and has an all-star line-up of performers. Stay tuned for more info or visit the Facebook Event Page

2. As you can probably tell, I’ve decided to change WordPress themes. I got a lot of love for the old theme, The Morning After, and I put a lot of work into it, but it was more of a “magazine” style theme, meant for a constant stream of new content. Right now I am looking for more of a portfolio style theme, that still gives me some flexibility to blog leisurely (read: I am lazy). After months of searching, I’ve found one that will be simple to use and has a sharp look to it called Grid Focus. As you can probably tell, the site is currently in “Public Beta.” I am hoping to have working links and updated portfolio, show calendar, and archives soon. ‘Til then, be good.

All-star line-up, new venue, new band!

The line-up: For this first show back we have three phenomenal stand-up comics including Harold Kremer (aka Dragon Boy Suede), who you may have seen in his own Comedy Central Special, or on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He currently writes on ABC’s The Goode Family. Eddie Pepitone is a comedy veteran and Be-Bop staple that you’ve seen on shows including The Sara Silverman Program, Flight of the Conchords, and perhaps in the Atom.com web series Snack and a Commercial. Jason Nash is another Be-Bop veteran, and co-host of the very popular podcast Guys with Feelings and star of Atom.com’s The Shaman.

About the venue: The M Bar is a really cool venue with a rich history in the comedy world. With a full bar and menu, and cabaret style booths and table service, it is the perfect place for this jazz-club inspired show. So come with an appetite, relax, eat, drink and enjoy some top notch jazz and comedy. The perfect night!

About the band: The Kevin Kanner Quartet is lead by… Kevin Kanner. Kevin is a very accomplished drummer who has played with a long list of top tier jazz talent. He’s put together a fantastic Be-bop quartet for this show which I am really excited about working with. You can also see Kevin at the critically acclaimed Monday night jazz show at The Mint. In addition to the band we’ll have the special vocal stylings of jazz songstress Chi Chi Lavie.

So come on out for our first show back and join us for some special memories FOR ONLY $10!!!

*If the embed link above doesn’t work, you are screwed. But only for a short amount of time, as by simply clicking on “Meanest Man Contest” above will do the trick.

A couple of exciting upcoming shows to put on your calendar:

Mortified San Francisco
San Francisco, Friday, June 19 and Saturday, June 20th,
8:00 PM @ The Make-Out Room (3225 22nd St, 94110)
Tickets | More Info
I’ve done this show a couple times in LA, and it is without a doubt one of the most fun events I’ve ever been part of.  There’s something strangely exhilarating about reading my terrible high school journal entries to a crowd of strangers.  Come squirm!

Be-Bop Heroin Hour
Los Angeles, Friday July 10th
10:00pm @ The M Bar
More info to come, but I am super-pumped to bring the show back to LA!  We’re going to have a really sweet line-up, new band, new location, and if all goes well the plan is to bring it back regularly.

Other cool news:

It’s not “funny” per se, but I shot and edited a video for clothing company Revolve to promote their new Spring line.  The model is Rumi Neely of popular fashion blog FashionToast.com.  So if you like fashion, or are drawn to my vast Final Cut Pro editing skills, take a look!

A couple weeks ago I was a featured guest on popular podcast The Second Column.  It’s a weekly roundtable discussion with a bunch of funny fellows.  Per their website:

“Comedian Jamie Flam stopped by to talk about barcades, gangs of old people, men who sit when they pee and why Carlos would not only survive, but thrive, in prison.”

I like being described as a comedian by someone other than myself.  I had a great time doing it.  The other guys are hilarious and comfortable behind the mic.  But I don’t think I was very funny.  You be the judge!

Stand-up
I’ve been performing a lot of stand-up in recent weeks, with gigs in San Diego, the new Westside Comedy Theater, The Comedy Store, and The Improv.  Whereas the past few years I’ve gone up sporadically and generally unprepared, I’ve really been honing my act of late, and really enjoying the art of crafting jokes and seeing how they work.  It’s been a lot of fun, and I think it’s something I plan to do a lot more of the next few months.  I will be starting a stand-up log soon to start documenting my growth.  It’s part of my new, exciting life plan to “focus” and “take charge” and “not be dead broke when as an adult.”

Speaking of which, can anyone recommend good organization software for mac?  I am experimenting with Things and OmniFocus right now.  Thought you should know.

Finally, I am loving this live re-creation of the video game Paperboy.

2. Don’t follow “Crazy” Randy back to his bungalow in the hills.
3. Definitely don’t consume “Crazy” Randy’s “Bathtub Scotch.”

4. Don’t step inside “Crazy” Randy’s “Animal Room.”
5. Don’t drunkenly taunt “Crazy” Randy’s python.
6. When “Crazy” Randy invites you to pet his python, “follow your gut.”
7. When “Crazy” Randy’s python coils up, “Crazy” Randy’s python attacks.
8. “Crazy” Randy’s python isn’t quite finished biting yet.
9. Don’t wear scented facial moisturizer?
10. Avoid looking for new friends at ice skating rinks in Panorama City.

A cool friend of mine who is hip to new and emerging trends told me about a new site this week.  He was very hush-hush about it, so do me a favor and please don’t leak this information!

The site is called twitter.com, and the thing about it is that you can post, or “tweet,” about anything you want.  Then other people who are twitter.com (a very small number of ear-to-the-ground folks) can see these “tweets” and comment on them.

It’s only a matter of time before others catch on, so take my advice and KEEP IT SECRET!  It can be our little private online playground!

So won’t you be my twitter friend?

UPDATE: It’s kinda catching on a little.

JamieFlam.com Oregon readership rejoice!  I will be making my long awaited Portland debut this Sunday Night at The Hawthorne Theater as part of the Bridgetown Comedy Festival.  It’s quite a star-studded line-up, featuring people that get paid by others to perform their comedy.

The deets:

Hosted by Jamie Flam and Hugh Moore
with the musical stylings of Chi Chi Lavie
and of course LIVE JAZZ from Bossambop!

with:
David Koechner (The Anchorman, The Office)
Tig Notaro (The Sarah Silverman Program)
Matt Braunger (Letterman, MadTV)
Michelle Biloon (The Late, Late Show)
Kenny Stevenson (Fries on the Side)
Michael Busch (Human Giant, Miss March)

Check out the Bridgwtown festival site for more.

In other “news,” the Flam Front has been uncharacteristically busy the last several weeks.  Working on a handful of production gigs that have taken me to exciting places including: An orthodontist office (my first inner-mouth shoot!), the Port Hueneme Naval Base (with Judy Carter for an NPR piece — my first audio engineer gig!), and soon will be shooting a web series for small business owners.

My comedy appearances have been random most of this year, but I did have a blast doing the tax-themed Knuckle Sandwich show at The Mandrake last week.  I played Marshall Sprash, CPH (certified public humorist), and with a ChiPs and Beverly Hills Cop 3 reference in the script you know it was a crowd-pleaser.  Finally, in March I made my first appearance at The Hollywood Improv.  The house was packed, and it was nerve wrackingly fun.  I had a solid 5 minutes of material that I knew, as opposed to most of my stand-up gigs when I go up with a piece of paper and 15 half-written jokes.  The show has been a bit of a spark, and I am hoping that the show in Portland will be the first of many in the upcoming months.

Happy Earth Day!