First D.C. show with my buddy Ray Lau sold out, come to the late show
Plus some recs!
[I did not reread this, apologies for any typos]
Sternal Journalists,
It’s 12:44 am in Kensington, Maryland—in the room where my childhood bedroom once lived, but now a murphy bed has replaced it so my parents can watch their obscure foreign kooky cop shows in (shout out H.I.P.!) in a dedicated space. I am in that murphy bed.
I am enjoying a “Mild Manor’d Amber” from Ellicot City, Maryland’s Manor Hill Brewing. Here’s a pic:
Anyway, this is a classic “Julian gives up on the formatting” episode of SternJourn. I love it. It reminds me I’m human. Before you glaze off, let me say that if you are in D.C., I am opening for my good friend Ray Lau THIS FRIDAY.
Ray is very funny and very much killing it. He has a Don’t Tell taping, an upcoming Netflix Introducing taping, and will surely just keep piling on the accolades. He writes a ton, so if you’ve seen his stuff before, I promise you’ll see something new this Friday. I’m only being this nice because I don’t think he reads the Sternal Journal anymore.
Dude, Ray is the best and you’ll be lucky to see him this early in his career (just as you’ll be lucky to see me this middle in mine).
The early show is SOLD OUT (screenshot below because it looks cool), so come on and see us at the 9:45. Tickets here!
One last thing before we get to recommendations. This week, I met a comic who I had a mutual friend with and he said, “WAIT! You’re JULIAN STERN?” And I said, “Yeah…” and he said, “Oh man! I read this thing you wrote. It was like… it was…” And I said very knowingly, “Aha, [chuckles knowingly] yes, it was the Sternal Journal.”
And he looked at me confused and said, “It was like a Snoop Dogg thing?” Which of course, is something I wrote for Maxim Magazine 13 years ago that I will never top. And it was a very privately embarrassing-in-a-fun-way moment for me. You, as the Sternal Journalist(a/o)s who read this far down, are surely the only other people who will appreciate that.
ANNNYWAY!
Recommendations!
Good Material. Book. If you are a comedian or a British person or a 36-year-old or anyone who has ever been through a breakup or a career difficulty before, then I think you might love this book by British write Dolly Alderton about a struggling British comedian in his mid-30s who is going through a breakup. It’s funny and heartfelt, and equal parts breezy and profound. I tore through it. As a person who was born one month before Ms. Alderton and like doing comedy in the UK, it might be tailor-made for me. Knowing my readership, it’s probably tailor-made for some of you as well.
Running the Light. Book. And if you’d hate Good Material, I think you will love this other novel about comedy I’m reading. This book about a true “road dog” dirtbag, washed up comic Billy Ray Schaefer was written by Sam Tallent (38 years old for what it’s worth), a profound comedy talent himself, which makes it all the more upsetting that he is one of the greatest prose writers I’ve recently come across. Fear and Loathing meets HBO’s Crashing. “He awoke at near noon, his face hatched by the sunlight clawing through the slats in the cheap plastic blinds. Bars of light segmented the darkness. The room looked like a cage built for an angel.” I mean, what the heck. And for him to be able to write like that and tell the jokes that he tells, (not going to print them here but you should watch his special).
Nonnas. Movie. I watched this tonight with my parents (really with my mom—my dad went to sleep 30 minutes in, but he claimed he was only going to make it 15 so that’s actually a lot from the Gunth). Vince Vaughn at his most charming about a very Italian man (not cartoony Italian, just New York Italian) who loses his mother and opens a restaurant staffed only by Italian grandmothers. There is absolutely a “I’ve assembled a team” montage. It’s based on a true story and cute and fun!
Kneecap. Movie. Speaking of movies based on true stories, this movie about the formation of the Irish rap group of the same name is very good. Fun, ragtag, poignant when it wants to be. The members play themselves and, though I’m sure there’s some movie magic in the writing, there’s a lot of real stuff in the story and it’s very cool. I barely knew Irish was a language.
Alllrighty, that’s all for this week! Sending much love to everyone!
Julian!