Ray Lau! Power-obsessed, optimization expert, or just chill funny dude?
Or: "Out of the fraternity, into the other fraternity"
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SHOWS!
Pizza Party @ The Crow. July 22nd.
Pulling Something Together for Edinburgh Fringe. All of August.
Hello Sternal Journalists!
A quick one this week to say I’ve got a new episode of my very infrequent podcast, A Violent Act of Desperation, in which I interview interesting people about something which I find interesting about them.
This episode, Ray Lau! Ray is a very funny and very up-and-coming comic in the LA scene. A couple years ago, I went on a trip. Before I left, Ray was a young comic hanging around and starting to get on shows. When I came back, I distinctly remember a comic friend saying “Is everyone pre-jealous of how successful Ray’s gonna be?” I thought, “Ray?! Who’s jealous of Ray?”
But within weeks, I realized that Ray had quite a bit to be jealous of. He was getting on good shows, he was taking off on social media, and most importantly, he was working to get funnier every time you saw him, and his efforts were paying off.
I tell Ray this story during our conversation and ask him what exactly it is that he thinks gives him the je ne sais quoi that seems to emanate from him on top of his good jokes and work ethic. The answer bounces from Ray getting kicked out of a fraternity for talking too much about American Sniper to a good old NoHo Floor Cry to being the guy in the friend group who coordinates hangs, whether he likes it or not.
It’s a fun conversation and a worthwhile listen for anyone who’s ever been or wanted to be successful while remaining chill.
You can watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify (Apple Podcasts and others should be live soon), both are below!
Enjoy! But now!
Recommendations!
Chevalier’s Books in Larchmont. Bookstore. If you’re in LA, I dropped by their new (ish?) location for the first time today and it was buzzing! There was a cute zine fest going on in the back and a lot of people around and I said to my friend, “If this place were in New York and someone from LA walked in, they would say, ‘See, we never have stuff like this in LA,” but we do! LA is cool!
Lithonia. Song. This new Childish Gambino song has elements of, dare I say, Olivia Rodrigo and I love that.
Twister. Movie. Watched it for the first time since I was a child to get ready for the sequel and boy, is it fun! Also, the director of Tár plays the most bit part in the movie which I thought was wild.
Fantasmas. Television Show. I only watched the pilot of this Julio Torres show, but it was delightful and not as spooky as one might assume. It’s got a little taste of sketch, but just enough plot that it’s not just some sketch anthology. I loved it. I want everyone to watch it.
Alrighty! That’s all! Much love!
Julian!
Normally, I use this area to say that you can upgrade to paid if you’re rich. I hugely appreciate those of you who have, but nobody should ever feel pressured to! (Although huge thanks to my recent new paid subscribers! You have made it slightly easier to do this!) AAAAALSO though, if you’re the type to hit a like or leave a comment and you just haven’t thought of doing it on the SternJourn yet, come on in! Lemme know if you love or hate the recs! All engagement unfortunately is good engagement. But if you do not have time, get outta here and don’t worry about it! I’ll see ya next week!
Fantasmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!