BY HENRY SAVAGE David A. Arnold is the funniest guy you never saw. He’s been behind the scenes of some of America’s favorite comedy shows and is now bringing his comedic genius to the national stage with a stand up tour that stops at Punch Line Philly from January 3rd to the 5th. Originally from Cleveland, Arnold worked his way up the ranks of LA’s comedy scene in the early 2000s with performances at Mitzi Shore’s Comedy Store and his first recording, …Cause I Have Work in the Morning!!!. He was eventually discovered by the head writers at Tyler […]
MEMOIR: I Was A SCUBA-Diving Christmas Elf
BY TONY CARO I’m the rookie on Dive Team 13. I was hired as a volunteer diver at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden in July of 2018, while our most veteran member of the team has been diving here for over 22 years. I started SCUBA diving early last year when I took an introductory class at Temple University. It was there that I met some other divers who told me Adventure Aquarium was looking for volunteer divers. SCUBA diving had never been a passion of mine, but the opportunity seemed too good not to jump at. Our main […]
CINEMA: Water World
AQUAMAN (Directed by James Wan, 143 minutes, USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Aquaman, the latest offering of the much-maligned DCU, is more or less a sequel to Justice League this time focusing on Arthur Curry AKA “The Aquaman” (Jason Momoa) and his origin story. Taking place a year after the battle over the Mother Boxes in Justice League, the film has the half-Atlantean/half-human now reluctantly falling into the role of superhero, when he is suddenly confronted by his past. As garbage and warships are cast from the ocean showing up on our shores, Arthur is tasked with stopping […]
THE FLAMING LIPS: Little Drummer Boy
Also, Steven Drozd has created a podcast that covers their 35 year recorded career. This multi-part series will illustrate their inimitable and out there creative process covering their aural oeuvre in their own dulcet tones. Episode Four: The Sorcerer’s Orphan: A song By Song History of The Flaming Lips audio podcast is available now on iTunes. Click HERE for details. PREVIOUSLY: Last night the Flaming Lips unveiled the more-awesome-than-you-could-possibly-imagine reboot of their stage show, which replaces the happy-happy-joy-joy bliss rallies they’ve been staging for the past decade. Gone are the balloons and blood and bubble-walking and the dancing Santa Clauses and […]
LOCAL BOY MAKES GOOD: Q&A W/ Derek Gaines
BY HENRY SAVAGE Sitting in a Los Angeles Roscoe’s Chicken with his mother, Derek Gaines took some time to discuss his career, comedic inspiration, and growing up in a multicultural suburb of Philadelphia. Gaines started doing stand up over a decade ago when he was the ripe age of 19 years old and hasn’t looked back since. Moving to New York City, he was able to improve his craft in the comedy circuits there, where he would later live with SNL cast member, Pete Davidson. Soon after, Gaines started getting booked for gigs on MTV, including his own series, […]
RIP: Goodnight Laverne Defazio Wherever You Are
NEW YORK TIMES: She made her film debut in “The Savage Seven,” a 1968 biker-gang drama, and had a small part the same year in “How Sweet It Is!,” a romantic comedy starring Debbie Reynolds and James Garner. Ms. Marshall continued acting, mostly playing guest roles on television series, until she got her big break in 1971, when she was cast in the recurring part of Jack Klugman’s gloomy secretary, Myrna Turner, on the ABC sitcom “The Odd Couple.” Her brother, a producer of the show, got her the job, but nepotism had nothing to do with it when […]
SO, YOU’RE GOING TO JAIL: The 17 Active Federal Criminal Investigations Into Donald Trump/Russia
WIRED: While popular memory today remembers Watergate as five DNC burglars leading inexorably to Richard Nixon’s resignation two years later, history recalls that the case and special prosecutor’s investigation at the time were much broader; ultimately 69 people were charged as part of the investigation, 48 of whom pleaded guilty or were found guilty at trial. After three weeks of back-to-back-to-back-to-back bombshells by federal prosecutors and special counsel Robert Mueller, it’s increasingly clear that, as 2018 winds down, Donald Trump faces a legal assault unlike anything previously seen by any president—at least 17 distinct court cases stemming from at […]
CINEMA: All Work No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy
THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT (Dir. by Lars von Trier, 152 min., USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC Lars von Trier is no stranger to controversy and his latest effort, and The House that Jack Built, may be his most controversial film to date. The film that prompted about 100 walkouts in Cannes has the Danish filmmaker tackling the horror genre in his most audacious film to date. When it comes to auteurs no one personifies this term more than the eccentric von Trier, who while sometimes problematic, is still responsible for some the best cinema of last two […]
BEING THERE: Weezer @ The Met Philly
Photos by JOSH PELTA-HELLER Twenty-five years ago, a band that deliberately named itself Weezer helped rescue self-indulgent no-fucks-given arena rock from the grungy abyss of dejected disaffection that devoured the early ‘90s. In an era where Ed Vedder’s yarling angst and Kurt Cobain’s anthems for the apathetic were the prevailing aesthetic markers, Weezer again reminded us music didn’t always need a movement, and that the message didn’t need to be heavy for the guitars to be. If Soundgarden and Mudhoney reclaimed the hair from hair metal, and Beck made it cool to be a loser — Rivers Cuomo was there […]
CINEMA: Can’t We All Get Along
GREEN BOOK (Directed by Peter Farelly, 140 minutes, USA, 2018) BY DAN TABOR FILM CRITIC ‘Based on a true story’ Green Book borrows its title from the Negro Motorist Green Book, informally called the “Green Book”. This mid-20th century guidebook was meant for African-American travelers, to let them know which hotels would be willing to host them in the Deep South. The film, which takes place in the mid-1960s stars as Viggo Mortensen as Tony “Lip” Vallelonga, a cardboard cutout of an Italian American stereotype who was a bouncer for the local night club. When the club closes for renovations, […]
BEING THERE: Manchester Orchestra @ Fillmore
Photo by MATT SHAVER Sitting in the lobby bar of the Fillmore, we can hear the first strains of Manchester Orchestra seeping through the showroom doors. “All of their songs are so slow,” Hannah is complaining. I don’t feel like arguing with her, so I just nod. Last year’s A Black Mile to the Surface feels cinematic and elaborately arranged, without being overbearing. It doesn’t feel like they’re trying to prove anything, scaling back after the noisy overproduction of their last projects. Singer-guitarist Andy Hull’s songwriting is his strongest attribute, his lyrics arresting in their vivid intensity. “I Know How […]
INCOMING: God Save The Ween
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following was first published in the pages of the Philadelphia Inquirer back in 2007 in advance of their concert at The Tower. In eager anticipation of Ween’s performance at the Met Philly on Friday, we are reprising both here. Enjoy. ___________ They say actors are the ultimate existential heroes because they get to live multiple lives, while the rest of us have to settle for just one. Similarly, there is something heroic about Ween’s 23-year quest for the ultimate buzz, musical or otherwise, and their Zelig-like ability to utterly inhabit any genre they choose – shit-kicker […]
Gritty Volunteers To Host The Academy Awards
TWITTER: OK Fine, I’ll Do It