Another Bandwagon Doggans Jumped On Far Too Late

I am standing in the middle of a cold and hungry ocean to tell you that VACATIONLAND will be available as a Viking book this fall. A recording of the show that inspired this book will thereafter be available. Thank you for your support. Please send a boat to collect me.

A Charlie “Stillman” Stillmanberger Mystery

Emma Stone Says Directors Have Given Her Improvised Jokes to Male Co-Stars

New episode!

The Thrilling Adventure Hour #235: Beyond Belief, “Snakes in a Mane”

Starring Paul F. Tompkins and Paget Brewster as those married mediums Frank and Sadie Doyle. Also starring Hal Lublin as the Spooky Narrator; Annie Savage as a gorgon; Mark Gagliardi as Pterodactyl Jones; and Autumn Reeser as Bloody Mary.

Music by Jordan Katz & the Elements of Style. Written, produced, and directed by Ben Acker & Ben Blacker.

“Love Ain’t No Billy Goat” written by Jonathan Coulton.

Recorded November 12, 2016 at the Bell House in Brooklyn, NY.

itunes // nerdist

Tickets are on sale NOW for the FINAL THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR show for many years. It’s at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles this Saturday, December 17, 2016.

Starring Paul F. Tompkins, Paget Brewster, Busy Philipps, Joshua Malina, all of the WorkJuice Players, and special guests including Timothy Omundson (Galavant; Psych) and rapper Open Mike Eagle!

Tickets here

NY photo Credit: Mindy Tucker

I’m trying to make time to speak up more on social media. I don’t know what good it does ultimately but I’d like to try.

During the primaries, I was hesitant to post about supporting Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time debating politics on social media. During the general election, I posted once or twice about supporting Clinton and more times about NOT supporting Trump. Still, I could have been much more vocal.

Now more than ever, it’s hard to separate politics from daily life. We might not all immediately feel it, but politics shape everything in our lives. At this point, even if you want to indulge in escapism, it’s not very effective.

I can post a fun thing about Star Wars, but Star Wars is inherently political. It’s a story about fighting fascism. There’s even a movement from some people to boycott Rogue One because the screenwriters criticized Trump. To the people boycotting Star Wars I say, so be it. Enjoy all those great Scott Baio moves I’m sure are coming soon.

Obviously, there’s a lot going on with Trump’s cabinet appointments, policies, business conflicts of interest, etc, but I wanted to take a moment to share my feelings about his actual defeat of Hillary Clinton.

On election night, the moment it became clear that Trump would win via the electoral college, if not the popular vote, my immediate gut punch reaction was to be horrified about the enduring sexism in America. And I still can’t shake that.

If you don’t like Hillary Clinton or agree with her policies, again, so be it. But on a factual level she is one of the most qualified candidates ever to run. Regardless of what she’s been accused of over the years, she has never been convicted of any crime. She is a solid, experienced candidate who thoroughly understands and respects the office of the Presidency.

Trump is, at best, a man who jokes about sexual assault. If you believe the multiple people who have shared their stories, he is guilty of committing sexual assault. Trump’s “jokes” on the Access Hollywood tape about being able to physically assault women because he is a star are awful. The fact that we are forgetting those comments and they’re just fading into the background as one more ingredient in the toxic stew of his discourse is horrifying.

Over the years, I’ve taken a long hard look at myself and realized how many small, subtle jokes and ideas I’ve accepted that contribute to the message that men are superior to women. There are small constant reminders that men are the norm and women (and anyone else on the gender spectrum) are lesser.

For example, the narrative that an incredibly experienced political candidate and a totally inexperienced reality TV star candidate are two equally bad choices is ridiculous. I believe the narrative got that way after years of hounding and attacking Hillary Clinton for the audacity of being a woman.

We had the choice between an experienced candidate who would have been the first woman to be President and a loud, inexperienced, self-involved man who thinks sexual assault is funny.

If you voted for Trump or are still keeping an open mind for whatever reason, once again, so be it. But I ask that you not forget the comments on the Access Hollywood tape. His words are not a little political gaffe. It’s part of who he is as a person. At the best, our soon-to-be President thinks it’s funny to joke that he can do whatever he wants to a woman without her permission. At the worst, he has committed the acts he described.

For me, this is not about political correctness. It’s not about saying the right thing to make sure I don’t get in trouble. It’s about what I believe to be morally right. We are all equal regardless of gender and this election reflects that we have a long way to go to make that a functioning truth in our society.

I was hesitant to post this because it feels like it’s already been said by many others and probably said more eloquently. But I’m trying to do a better job of speaking up about the things that matter to me.