Guests: Actress and TV host Kelly Vrooman and “The Pint-Sized Storytelling Powerhouse” SM Shrake.

Topics: Novelty Sleeping Bags, Bad Camping Tips, Children’s TV Hosts’ Clothes, Comedy Improv, Puppet Hands, Junk Drawers, Story Telling, Barbra Streisand, Washington D.C. Etiquette, Adam West, Eyebrow Plucking, Joke Thieves, David Bowie’s Patented Brush Off Technique and so much more.

Playlist: “Philadelphia (The City of Brotherly Love)” by We Are Augustines and “Bobby” by Butcher The Bar

Play Now: http://www.usedwigs.com/pod/podcast87.mp3

iTunes: Download, Listen and Subscribe

Website: www.usedwigsradio.com

Related Links

• “Sunny Side Up Show”
• 24/7 Comedy Radio
• Story League
• ComedySportz
• First Person Arts
• Philly Fringe
• L’etage
• Barbra Streisand
• Henry Rollins
• Adam West
• Erin Gray
• Dave Jadico
• Story Todder
• Big Mural
• Seasame Street Classics
• Riot Fest East

Our Unstoppable Live Podcasting Machine continues to fire on all cylinders (and forty AAA batteries) at Philly’s most fancy crepe-slinging venue L’etage. Join us on Tuesday, August 16th, as we welcome two extremely talented and funny guests: actress and TV host Kelly Vrooman and “The Pint-Sized Storytelling Powerhouse” SM Shrake!

Learn a little about Kelly…

Kelly Vrooman began her career in comedy at the ripe old age of 4 when she single-handedly recreated ‘Three Amigos’ in her parents’ living room (it got great reviews). Now, as an “adult”, she’s built an extensive resume in theatre, television and improvisational comedy. Ms. Vrooman currently entertains children nationwide as a morning host for TV’s only live show for preschoolers, The Sunny Side Up Show, on the Sprout network. She has also voiced a variety of characters for Preschool Musical on a Stick and The Sprout Sharing Show, recipient of the Cablefax Award “Best Children’s Show” in 2009. Ms. Vrooman has appeared in numerous national commercials and can be seen performing regularly in the hilariously improvised comedy show, ComedySportz.

and UsedWigs fan favorite SM Shrake…

SM Shrake, known as “The Pint-Sized Storytelling Powerhouse” and “The Hardest-Working Man in the Story Business,” is the co-founder and co-producer of Story League in Washington, D.C. He has hosted and been the featured storyteller at First Person Arts in Philadelphia, and appeared in the first UsedWigs Live show at World Cafe Live in March 2010. He has been a frequent contributor to UsedWigs.com as well as the Huffington Post and, in a previous era, the Philadelphia City Paper. He has also been heard twice on This American Life and was a finalist in the first Moth GrandSlam in his hometown of Detroit. He has performed in 7 cities (D.C., Baltimore, Philly, New York, Boston, Detroit, and San Francisco) in the last year, is a regular at Mortified shows and has dabbled in stand-up comedy. That’s it.

Join us!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 – 8:30pm
L’etage
624 South 6th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

Admission: FREE!

RSVP: via Facebook and a free piece of art from Todd!

Past Shows

• UsedWigs Radio Podcast 86: Guests Doogie Horner and Maggie Serota
• UsedWigs Radio Podcast 85: Guests Dave Hill and Nikki Walter

Todd and Jeff chatted with the Pint-Sized Story-Telling Powerhouse, SM Shrake right before he hosted the “Holiday Cheer” themed StorySlam event at L’Etage on December 28, 2010.

Winner of “Best in Philly,” First Person Arts StorySlams are monthly, real-life-storytelling competitions held at World Cafe Live and L’Etage in Philadelphia. Each month’s theme elicits stories that come from the life experiences of Philly’s storytellers. StorySlams take place on the second Monday of each month at World Cafe Live and the fourth Tuesday of each month at L’Etage.

More: firstpersonarts.org and usedwigsradio.com

Topics: Advent Calendars, Holiday Parties, The Biggest Sammy Hagar Fan in The World, Joe Walsh, Favorite and Least Favorite Christmas Songs, Rather Have a Human Virus or Computer Virus?, Russ’s Moccasins, Anyone Can Play Bass, Shopping with Golems, Robert DeNiro, SNL, The Camera Work of Lawrence Welk and Crepes!

Preview:

• “Wasn’t Bing Crosby racist? Yes, his song was originally called ‘White Power Christmas’”
• “How many hours would it take me to learn bass?”

Playlist: Summer Camp, Freebass, Slow Club and Duvall

Play Now: http://www.usedwigs.com/pod/podcast83.mp3

iTunes: Download, Listen and Subscribe

Podcast Website: www.usedwigsradio.com

Podcast Video: http://www.ustream.tv

Junk Mail: Just got Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk in the mail. Yup, had to order online, I was too ashamed to buy it in the bookstore during my weekly visit to pick up OK!, People and Asian Lady Holz. Since ripping open the package 2 hours ago, I’ve been hiding from my family, reading and enjoying the hell out of this very funny and highly uninformative sex manual. The book is jam-packed full of sexy, hairy nuggets of info and advice separated into short, easy-to-digest segments, perfect for the sporadic reader. It was researched and written by The Association For The Betterment of Sex aka Scott Jacobson, Todd Levin, Jason Roeder, Mike Sacks, and Ted Travelstead (writers for esteemed shows and mags like Conan, Daily Show, The Onion, Esquire, Vanity Fair) with additional morsels provided by Andy Richter, Allison Silverman and Jon Wurster.

If you’re a fan of finely-tuned parody, stellar design and highly-detailed illustrations of mushroom-shaped penises, this book is a must. Sample:

…or the do’s and don’ts of fisting at high altitudes. Or whether it’s still considered safe to store your condoms in Barbicide. Sexual truth is never a constant—it varies from one mature, engorged partner to the next. It’s up to you to decide what turns you on and what gives you AIDS.  We’re here not to judge you but to guide you. To gently take your hand while you’re having sex and to sit on a bedside stool, patiently waiting for you to finish.

It’s the perfect coffee table book. If your coffee table is located in the seldom-used, third floor bathroom.

Buy: Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk

Promo: Video

Follow The Authors: @ourbodiesourj @toddlevin @trumpetcake @straintest @michaelbsacks @jasonsroeder

Parade of Frightening T-Shirts: Intrepid UsedWigs and Huff Post reporter SM Shrake went deep undercover to the Beck Rally and snapped some lovely photos! He also documented his day of hunting the big fat tee shirts. It’s a good read, and you might be surprised by his take on the participants.

Mr. Clapton, Me, too.

Ha Ha! Enjoy a great video of Scott Weiland and his dumb megaphone falling off the stage during a concert. Somehow, he was able to keep singing without missing a note… wait a minute… is that a backing track? Best fall since Frasier ate it. (via eachnotesecure)

Emmy Thought #1: I’d love to see Jim Belushi in this show… dressed as his dead brother and smashing Jimmy Fallon’s guitar.

Emmy Thought #2: Emily Deschanel is the sister that doesn’t sing, right? I thank her for that.

Emmy Thought #3: Fake confusion and fake anger for winning is always endearing. Nice job, Soprano mom.

Looking for a Social Media job? Need to prepare with some extremely unhelpful interview questions?

Great & Sad & Heartbreaking & Inspiring: Please, please please read this. If you’re a parent or a just human who enjoys incredibly well-written and emotional stories, this should move you: A Supposedly Fun Thing I Would Do Again in a Second. Thanks to @caissie

Free MP3! Versus is back and serves up two beauties (via Magnet). Download: “Gone to Earth” and “Invincible Hero”

Bad Ads: Give Golden Corral credit, they use people with real buffet aficionado bodies in their ads. So you know who you’re up against when vying for the ham.

Scary Good Art! Monster Friends Poster Series by Family Tree Design! The Sasquatch, The Kraken, a Yeti and this cute fella…

See all four!

Low Bridge: 13 Crashes in 13 Months “This is a compilation of the 13 crashes from April 2008 to May 2009 at the Gregson St RR trestle in Durham. The soundtrack is by Killer Filler.”

Guest: Colin Helb

Topics: Joys of Canned Beer, Pop Culture, Reality TV, Old Guy Section at Rock Shows, Musicians’ Day Jobs, Comic-Con, Green Super Heroes, 3-D Movies, Jeff is Not a Fan of G. Love, Local Philly Celebrities, Crying During “Annie,” Michelob Ginger Wheat Detergent Beer.

Playlist: We Are Scientists, 1000000 A.D., Adam Franklin and The Bolts of Melody and Vertinsky Dogs.

Play Now: http://www.usedwigs.com/pod/podcast77.mp3

iTunes: Download, Listen and Subscribe

Podcast Website: www.usedwigsradio.com

“The minute you stop looking, that is when you will find the love of your life.” Don’t make me laugh. I completely gave up — like, in my heart of hearts I know it’s over for me — months and months ago and nothing has happened in my love life since, and I’ve got no leads for the foreseeable future.

“Money can’t buy happiness.” <—Well-known lie. So absurd that no comment is required.

“Getting there is half the fun.” Actually, getting there means: Missed trains, lost luggage, smelly and/or loud people next to you on the bus, forgotten bottle of heart medicine, expensive tickets, long layovers, delayed flights, plane crashes, hijackings, train crashes and/or heists, car crashes, all of them potentially fatal.

“Breaking up is hard to do.” No it’s not. You just text ’em and say, “U R not my BF/GF anymore.” Easy.

“The customer is always right.” Not so in: Philadelphia; Eastern Europe; any DMV or Post Office; the great, now-defunct Cafe Riche in D.C. (where the owner, who wore a turban made of a kitchen towel, would throw you out if he didn’t like how you looked), the list goes on and on.

“A stranger’s just a friend you’ve never met.” What?! This one is just morally reprehensible. Strangers are dirty; they’re not like us. That is why they are dangerous. Just ask all the people who’ve been murdered (or worse) by strangers! Oops, they can’t talk anymore, because they talked to strangers, a.k.a. their “friends.”

“Only the good die young.” Tell that to Adolf Hitler, who died at the relatively young age of 56.

“Everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.” When Mark Twain originally said this, it was quite the bon mot. But that was about 100 years before global warming. Nowadays we can take an active part in the weather by burning lots of fossil fuels. Turns out cars will kill us all! Dead planet walking!

“It is what it is.” No, it’s not. It is something different. I don’t know who made up this empty tautology, but here’s what it is: Stupid and not worth saying.

Read more SM SHRAKE at You Wanna Know What?

Photos by Tiffany Yoon and Kevin Ginsberg. Click thumbnails below.

[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157623550289705"]

Enjoy a few shots of Chaka Marrone, Nicole Brewer, SM Shrake, Jeff, Brian and Russell taken by our guest Dave Hill (@mrdavelhill). More to come soon. Cool photo effect by the Hipstamatic iPhone App.

Update!

A few tickets still available! Only $7.

UsedWigs Live at Upstairs at World Cafe Live!

Friday, March 19th

• Music: Audible
  Philly’s Audible delivers top-notch pop goodness, layered guy/girl harmonies and chiming guitars with just the right amount of grit and sun-soaked majesty. Get a Taste!
• Comedy: Dave Hill
  Simply put, Dave Hill is a perpetual volcanic eruption of entertainment — comedy, music, Twitter — his fiery flow cannot be contained. He’s also “Big in Japan”.
• Emcee: Nicole Brewer
  The enchanting and diligent digital journalist for Eyewitness News on CBS3 and the CWPhilly, Nicole Brewer, will keep everyone in line and the show running smoothly!

Plus the UsedWigs Emergency Response Team:

• Hosted by: Todd, Russ and Jeff
• Performances by: SM Shrake and Crazy Aaron
• Video by: After School Specialists

Comedy, music, prizes and danger guaranteed.

Only $7: BUY TICKETS NOW!

Keep in Touch: Get Updates

Website: www.usedwigsradio.com

Pass It On! Click to enlarge

View: UsedWigs Live Summer Spectacular 2009 Recap