Welcome to August, 2024
Welcome to August, 2024
Andrew Jackson Waving From The Concrete + The Top Jokes of Last Month & more!
— This is a longer post than usual, so if you’re reading this via email, you might want to hop on over the the web version here to read the full thing! —
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Table of Contents:
August Letter From African America:
Andrew Jackson Waving From The Concrete
The Top Jokes of Last Month!
You Are The Genre Episodes + Yub Nub & more!
TV, film, audio, and text recs!
Discussing Kamala Harris
“Angela” by Bob James
Letter From African America (August, 2024)
Dear readers,
I’ll never forget the day I found a twenty-dollar bill on a Chicago sidewalk. It’s the Windy City, so I’m lucky a vindictive gust didn’t blow it away.
I was nearing my mid-twenties and eager to embrace a life of comedy that injected some of that Obama-era hopefulness into my veins. I was also young, living off adrenaline more than anything else, and wearing the badge of a “struggling artist” with pride because it felt great to feel anything at all.
More important than the discovery of that desperately needed twenty-dollar bill, and whatever it is that I spent it on, was what changed in me afterward. For months, I never truly stopped looking down. There was always the smallest of possibilities that Andrew Jackson would be somewhere on the concrete waving for me to pick him up. He never was. Understandable, considering his track record as a president.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that moment lately, as every industry I’ve entered is constricting, contracting, and consolidating. And the strange part of it all is that I kind of like the intense focus that such circumstances require of me to survive, both in the fantasy world of career building in the arts and the practical world the almond milk in my fridge.
I’ve been watching a lot of the 70s sitcom Taxi lately. A curiosity that morphed into genuine enjoyment.
Sure, the characters in Taxi drive people around for a living, but the bulk of them aren’t defined by the gig. And the ones who are, don’t feel guilty or unworthy because of it. These characters have become my friends as I navigate the terrain of gig vs career, and craft vs commerce.
Things do seem to be looking up though. A project of mine, three years in the making, is finally entering the mythical phase of “production.” But with the grace of age, my excitement about such things screeches at a low frequency. I’m weaving a quilt after all, not a single square.
The You Are The Genre podcast that I launched at the start of the year has finally reached 30 episode. Where has the time gone? In fact, how is it even 2024?
A part of me is still halted in January 2020.
I an episode coming up — I interview poet Dr. Mahogany L. Browne. Someone I never would have met were I not working part-time in a bookstore. And in preparation for the conversation, I watched this speech of hers to Marymount Manhattan College graduate.
I appreciate her calling out the series of strange and disturbing circumstances we’ve endured is quick succession — while pointing out how these circumstances sharpen our sense of purpose. Who knows what things we miss while searching for a president’s face on the pavement.
Perhaps it’s the face of a friend like you.
Best,
-Tim
last month right now! (best jokes)
Each weekday, I email five jokes and subscribers vote on the ones that make them laugh the most! Here are your favorite jokes from July, 2024!
MONDAY: 7-1-2024
O.J. Simpson was featured in the BET Awards’ “In Memorium” video. And it got pretty awkward for the one white member of the audience, O.J.’s 1993 Ford Bronco.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
FRIDAY : 7-12-2024
For Nicolas Cage, making a serial killer horror movie was a healing experience. So, for the love of God, keep him away from rom-coms!
[read other jokes from that week here]
WEDNESDAY: 7-17-2024
Elon Musk blames California’s new trans privacy law for why he’s moving SpaceX and X from California to Texas. Which isn’t surprising once you realize he’s been naming companies after the X chromosome and hasn’t stopped to ask Y.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
FRIDAY : 7-26-2024
Snoop Dogg carried the Olympic torch before the opening ceremony in Paris. He quickly handed it off in the first ever “dream Olympic torch rotation.”
[read the other jokes from that week here]
MONDAY: 7-29-2024
Voters under 30 are now splitting by gender with men shifting their support to former President Trump and women remaining strongly behind Democrats. We just need two brave souls at this homecoming who dare to dance.
[read the other jokes from that week here]
stuff you might’ve missed
Listen to the latest four episodes of You Are The Genre!
Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get podcasts!
[Yedoye Travis] Is The Genre: How comedian Yedoye Travis follows his natural interests instead of chasing the Hollywood dream machine.
[Maggie Serota] Is The Genre: How culture writer Maggie Serota went from watching "garbage" television to getting paid to cover it.
[Branson Reese] Is The Genre: How Branson Reese casually fuses comedy and horror in his 'Swan Boy' comics and other creative endeavors.
[Chrissy Shackelford] Is The Genre: How 'Last Week Tonight' writer Chrissy Shackelford stays true to herself while engaging in multiple creative pursuits.
PODCAST: Yub Nub
Yub Nub — the podcast that I co-host with Jim Fagan about Star Wars had a busy month in July! First, we continued our weekly SUMMER OF GEORGE coverage focusing on the media that inspired George Lucas to create the Star Wars franchise as well as the media he made leading up to the 1977 release of the original film with guests including Ryan Perez (SNL), Anne Rieman (Funny or Die), Brandon Bird (Brandon Bird’s Astonishing World of Art), filmmaker/journalist
, and more! But in addition to that, we also completed our weekly coverage of Star Wars: The Acolyte. Find links to them all here in the newsletter!
current obsessions
SOUNDS:
PODCAST: WTF with Marc Maron featuring Clare O’Kane
Strange living in a time where people I know are guests on a show so formative to both of our careers. I felt that way when watching my friend Ian Abramson perform on Conan — and I felt that way again while listening to this WTF episode with — who also has an excellent newsletter called :
AUDIO SITCOM: Life With Althaar
For one reason or another, I’ve been listening to different audio sitcoms and like some mad jazz aficionado — trying to find ones that have a good “groove.” Life With Althaar stopped me in my tracks. It’s inventive, and the actors display a rare level of realism for an audio series that’s so outlandish. It just… somehow… works! And the best part is that it’s a group effort from the many actors and writers at Gemini Collision Works.
MUSIC: KingKlavé
In preparation for my upcoming show at the Queens Public Library, I’ve been listening to quite of bit of KingKlavé — who will be performing there. He drums some of the coolest beats to study too.
SIGHTS:
YOUTUBE: The Sci-fi Flop That Became a Masterpiece by Beghast
Some YouTubers fill me with concern. Others fill me with hope for a greater world. This is a fun, fact-filled breakdown of the impact and significance of John Carpenters The Thing.
TV: Wolf Like Me
Sometimes your significant other convinces you to watch a show that you fall in love with against all odds. Not only that, but Wolf Like Me has officially made me a Josh Gad fan — a.k.a., a Gaddy. This series is a beautiful mix of genres that doesn’t rely too heavily on any of their tropes.
TV: Batman Beyond
Perhaps due to the release of our episode with about his silent film edit of Tim Burton’s Batman, I decided to check out the 1999 animated series Batman Beyond again. I remember staying up to watch the original premiere with my dad and I was just as blown away by it now as I was back then. The Batman animated universe back then had this unique sense of timelessness, and it was cool to see how they kept that sensibility when projecting Bruce Wayne into the future of Gotham City.
DOC: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm Behind The Scenes
Speaking of Batman — the algorithm graced me with this sweet behind the scenes feature about the most iconic voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy. It reveals in great detail how much goes into voice work, and how Conroy’s personal struggles informed his crafting of the brooding Batman / upbeat Bruce Wayne dichotomy.
ARCHIVAL: Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall on Retirement
I’ve watched this on repeat because Thurgood Marshall was just so damn cool and reminds me quite a bit of my late grandfather in how he cuts to the chase.
somethin’ else
Another gig I’ve had as of late has been as a podcast producer at Slickback Studios. It’s a great recording space — and has gotten me back into the grove of live mixing audio and working with lights and cameras. Here’s us talking about Kamala Harris’ surprise run for office.
song of the month
It’’s impossible to watch Taxi and not fall in love with the Bob James hit, “Angela.” It has an inviting warmth that is at times somber but mostly zen and reflective.
🎶—🎶
UPCOMING SHOWS
And, again… To any New Yorkers out there — on August 14, I’m hosting Banned Book Comedy at Queens Public Library! (TIX/INFO)
Until next time, remember YOU ARE THE GENRE!
PAST LETTERS:
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