I volunteered for the High Plains Comedy Festival back in August. At orientation, all the volunteers took a moment to introduce themselves, explain their volunteering roles, and name their favorite comedians. When I admitted that my favorite comic was Louis C.K., it was with a lot of angst-ridden facial expressions, wringing hands, and the preface of, "I know this is bad, but..."

My strenuous ambivalence was due to the revelation that Louis C.K. had, over the years, engaged what is euphemistically called "sexual misconduct," but which was, more accurately, "masturbating in front of women who were intimidated by him."

Fast-forward to the end of last month, when a bootleg recording of a recent Louis C.K. performance surfaced. It contained disparaging comments about "kids today" (my cliché, not his), painting them as overly confident, overly demanding, and overly entitled. Specifically, he derided 1) the survivors of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and 2) kids who don't identify as male or female and have the audacity to say so.

I'm not going to talk here about whether this was cruel or tasteless. I'm not going to opine about whether it was funny or not.

I'm just going to say this: The idea that today's teenagers should behave exactly like Louis CK did in the early 1980s is not only fallacious, it's the very definition of anti-progressive. It's no different from crotchety old racists who want to keep abusing black people because that's what they've always done. Progress means recognizing that old does not equal good, and that we always need to work to recognize our shortcomings and mistakes and commit to do better.  

So, though the rosy tableau Louis C.K. paints of youths of lore "finger-fucking each other and doing Jello shots" is surely charming, I'm going to point out that It's not the immutable ideal. It's not helpful. It's not good enough.

Progress means realizing that when your friends and siblings are getting gunned down in front of you and adults are doing absolutely nothing to stop it, it's time for you to effect change. Despite Louis C.K.'s declaration to teens that, "You’re young. You should be crazy. You should be unhinged," they can't really afford to indulge themselves like you did, Louie.

Look at Mari Copeny. This child isn't even a teenager yet and she's done more for residents of Flint, Michigan (whose water is still poisoned), than politicians five times her age seem to be able to. She's raised tens of thousands of dollars to provide residents with clean water and to give students backpacks filled with school supplies. I wish this little girl could enjoy a more carefree life. But I deeply respect the fact that she decided she can't afford to. She has a true moral compass. A commitment to positive change. She has optimism and a conscience, and she serves as a shining example for how we can—and should—do better.

Louis C.K. could learn a lot from her.

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It was just over a year ago that I blogged here about how much I love The Jackie & Laurie Show podcast, hosted by comedians Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin​. Well, my opinion hasn't changed a bit—I've listened to every single podcast episode since I posted that blog. 

Also over the past year, I've continued to work at learning Adobe Suite—Illustrator and InDesign in particular. I've taken Lynda classes (which, chances are, you can access through your public library!) as well as SkillShare classes. (If you'd like two free months of SkillShare Premium, which is terrific, you can use this link.) I certainly haven't *mastered* these complex programs, but I can honestly say that I've learned a lot and have significantly more capabilities than I used to.

So, to kill two cravings with one stone, I volunteered to typeset something for The Jackie and Laurie Show: a list of their "Comics of the Week"—female comedians they think are particularly wonderful.

Quick aside: The comedy world continues to be grossly imbalanced, gender-wise. Women comedians still get less credit and fewer opportunities, and are simply less well known than their male counterparts. Therefore,  the "Comic of the Week" is a great vehicle for improving women comedians' visibility, attendance, bookings, and success.

So about a year ago, I took all of Jackie and Laurie's Comics of the Week and used Adobe InDesign to arrange them into a shareworthy list entitled, "Laugh More in 2018." And recently, since the list of comedians had grown to 150, I laid out a new list. And here it is! Give it a good look, and then check out these great comedians. Watch their videos. Listen to their albums. And go see them live—you'll be glad you did, and so will they.

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• This is the audiobook I'm listening to right now. And it is. So. Good.

As discussed in a previous post, I am an audiobook fiend. Also, a great fan of stand-up comedy. So it's no surprise that I adore comedians' memoirs. Following are a few that I have greatly enjoyed (in alphabetical order by the authors' last names). And because they are all in my Audible library, I can send you any one of them for free! Let me know if you'd like me to shoot one to you by text or email—it's very easy to do. And you won't be sorry. (If you click on the titles, you can listen to a sample.)
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• If at Birth You Don't Succeed: My Adventures with Disaster and Destiny, Zach Anner
• Nothing's Sacred, Lewis Black
• Drunk with Power, Margaret Cho
• Girl Walks into a Bar...: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle, Rachel Dratch
• Bossypants, Tina Fey
• Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons (The Audiobook), Greg Fitzsimmons
• A Bad Idea I'm About to Do: True Tales of Seriously Poor Judgment and Stunningly Awkward Adventure, Chris Gethard
• I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons, Kevin Hart
• Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), by Mindy Kaling
• Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16, Moshe Kasher
• I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales from a Happy Life Without Kids, Jen Kirkman
• I Know What I'm Doing and Other Lies I Tell Myself: Dispatches from a Life Under Construction, Jen Kirkman
• You'll Grow Out of It, Jessi Klein
• Attempting Normal, Mark Maron
• Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life, Steve Martin
• Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Trevor Noah
• Yes Please, Amy Poehler
• You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain, Phoebe Robinson
• The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption, and Pee, Sarah Silverman

Some of the above may not be pure memoirs, and there are countless funny memoirs by the likes of David Sedaris, Julia Sweeney, Jonathan Ames, and others that aren't included because the authors aren't really stand-up comedians. But it's a solid list, and I'd be happy to share any one of the titles with you. (You can contact me directly here.)

Last night, my husband and I went to see comedians Maria Bamford and Jackie Kashian at the Paramount Theatre in Denver. Predictably, it was a fabulous show.

Here's how I know about Jackie Kashian. Somehow, many moons ago, I discovered a podcast called The Jackie and Laurie Show, and I've listened to every. Single. Episode. It's hosted by comedians Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin (who are my age), and they talk comedy shop—in a very engaging and funny way.

Stand-up has a special place in my heart, as I used to do it myself. I participated in my first open-mic night at Catch a Rising Star in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in December 1989, and proceeded to get on stage as often as I possibly could for the next couple of years. Until my day job at an advertising agency got serious, and I got engaged, and there really wasn't much room in my life for stand-up anymore.

Excuses, excuses. Jackie Kashian and Laurie Kilmartin would never let anything get in the way of their stand-up careers. Not day jobs, not relationships, not even—in Laurie's case—motherhood. These dynamos have remained steadfast, dedicated, and indefatigable, jumping on every possible second of stage time and using it to hone their craft.

And it's paid off. Today, Laurie is a writer for Conan; she recently produced a comedy special called 45 Jokes about My Dead Dad; and she has written the books Shitty Mom and Dead People Suck. Jackie recently performed on Conan and at Carnegie Hall and hosts The Dork Forest podcast. Her latest CD is I Am Not the Hero of this Story. These are just a sampling of their accomplishments, however. Though they constantly berate themselves for not achieving enough, I'm here to tell you: they are successful.

So my fascination with Jackie and Laurie is multidimensional. I love to hear them talk about their professional struggles and successes, and I love to hear about the comedy world that I got a taste of so long ago, but that I left behind for those who really deserve to thrive in it.​