caffeine-headache

Remember last month when we asked you to help bring This American Life to a movie theater near you? Well, it worked! On May 1st Ira Glass will bring his show to the big screen for a one-night only event. Broadcast live from New York via satellite, Glass will debut never-before-seen stories from everyday life, show outtakes, and feature a special Q&A session with the audience. Tickets go on sale today (April 4th)!

Get a complete theatre list of: This American Life - Live! right here

Here's one of my favorite clips from a past This American Life episode: The Allure of The Mean Friend. This clip is from Mike Albo's book The Underminer (because I've known plenty of 'em). Give it a listen...

"The Underminer"

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First off, I've got to give a great big thank you to Mica over at Showtime for sending me an advanced screening of the first four episodes of the forthcoming television series This American Life and autographed posters (email me for one...sorry all gone). If by some strange design you've never gotten wrapped up in the NPR radio show I've got a couple of clips that you simply must listen to right here.

Despite This American Life (the radio show) being one of my absolute favorite things on earth, I remained a bit skeptical of how the show would transpire onscreen. After watching however, I am convinced that the television show will be as equally entertaining as the radio format. In fact, the Showtime series stays so true to the format you could close your eyes and swear you're listening to the show you know and love. Ira Glass (who looks great, btw), Christopher Wilcha and Adam Beckman do an amazing job of transfering the NPR program to a Showtime series. As with the NPR radio program each episode explores a single theme or topic through the unique juxtaposition of first-person storytelling and whimsical narrative. The visual interpretation of the radio series indeed reflects the structure and spirit of the radio show that has grown to be one of the most popular and innovative programs in the medium. This American Life premieres on Showtime on March 22nd.

Checkout Sundance Channel Festival Dailies exclusive look at This American Life The Television Show here.

Visit the Showtime This American Life Site for lotsa great stuff, including clips of the show and soundclips from the radio show.

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Some good friends were kind enough to get me this great 2-disc collection of This American Life episodes titled Stories of Hope & Fear.

There are a wide range of stories featured by familiar names like David Sedaris and Joathan Goldstein. This one however, is one of my absolute favorites. This is why this is one of the best (if not thee) radio shows around. Grab a kleenex and have a listen...

"Thinking Inside the Box" by David Wilcox

Here's a bonus emotional clip that originally aired on the very same episode titled Remember Me...

"Storycore Clip"

Purchase This American Life: Stories of Hope & Fear (and sample a couple of stories) here

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Listen to the Mp3 of "The Dead of September 11" written by Toni Morrison here. (Courtesy of A Socilaites Life)

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He hints at doing some solo performances!

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I've been meaning to begin posting bits from comedy albums for awhile now, but I get side-tracked very easily. So, now that I remembered, I'll kick this off with a couple of tracks from George Carlin's 2002's audiobook Brain Droppings. I bought this ahwile back from eMusic and the bits are simply listed as Track 1, Track 2, and so-forth, so I don't know the actual titles, so I'm just going to go ahead and re-name these myself because I prefer to call them something...

"N.Y. vs. L.A."

"Stuff"

Get the rest of this album with eMusic's 50 Free Downloads offer now.

Here's George Carlin doing the Aristocrats joke. WARNING: Mature Content.

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{Overheard in New York}

I was listening to NPR and heard a great time waster. Overheard in New York is just that...quotes people submit that have been overheard. It was started by friends S. Morgan Friedman, Michael Malice and 8 million of their closest friends. They've been eavesdropping on strangers since 2003 and It's pretty damn funny, here are a few examples;

Girl #1: My friend Chandra thinks she's still a virgin because she's
only had anal sex.
Girl #2: How do you know this girl?
Girl #1: She goes to my church.
--New York Public Library, 40th & 5th

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!
Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY
ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

Woman #1: It's really small, you know, but the sex is wonderful.
Woman #2: You mean he's rich?
Woman #1: Yeah. Exactly.

--Union Square

Dumb teen: Hey, look at this! It says "Train for jobs in biotch."
Smarter teen: Fool! That word is biotech. Why you gotta be ignorant all
your life?

--1 train

Girl #1: Guess who my dad saw in an elevator yesterday? Johnny Carson.
Girl #2: I'm pretty sure he's dead. Don't you mean Johnny Cash?

--55th & 3rd

Read more examples here.

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