RADIO TITANS' STAR OF THE DAY: 
CRAIG ROBINSON!

Anyone who has seen the classic American version of "The Office" knows that Craig Robinson has got acting chops that go far beyond just being one of the funniest guys in Seth Rogen movies. His portrayal of Darryl and that character's ascent from warehouse worker to one of the top managers of the Dunder-Mifflin branch was a well-rounded, three-dimensional creation and Robinson met the challenge with a performance far better than most comics deliver anywhere.

But until this past weekend, he hasn't really had a role in movies to match that level of range. However, his portrayal in the new movie "Morris From America," of a widowed father to a 13-year-old boy adjusting to a new life in Germany after his mom dies, is both funny and touching, and hopefully opens far more doors to this very talented funnyman.

Tune in to a fun interview with Craig from last summer, when he was promoting his NBC sitcom "Mr. Robinson",  and wound up talking about the earliest days of his career since we were friends stretching back 20 years. The stories are revealing and inspiring, and show the hard work ethic he put into where he's going.

Tune in here: bit.ly/2bqqXKq

IT'S CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST!
aka I just found how to read every issue of SPY magazine - the greatest read of all time - again online!

OMG. SO . THRILLED. ELATED. ITS CHRISTMAS IN AUGUST.

I just stumbled across the fact that somehow Google has made seemingly every issue of the Greatest Magazine Of All Time available for reading page by glorious page online.

Spy was a perfect combination of satirical snark and brilliant investigation that was daring, funny and gasp-inducing with each and every issue, spanning most of the '90s before finally dying out because it was simply Too Damn Good.

Covering Hollywood, politics and many other hot topics before and immediately after the dawn of the Internet, it was ahead of its time. But I still welcome you - nay, challenge! - to take a read and see how it's done, kids.

Imagine John Oliver and Jon Stewart at their best, but in print form.

Behold the wonder. Here's the link to them all, all 63 glorious issues: 

https://books.google.com/books?id=24tXv1nFv40C&as_pt=MAGAZINES&source=gbs_all_issues_r&atm_aiy=1990&hl=en#all_issues_anchor

IT'S A DAMN SHAME JAY PHAROAH 'S NOT ON SNL THIS SEASON, BUT HERE'S A BUNCH OF HIS BEST CLIPS... AND THE STORY OF HOW I GOT TO HANG WITH HIM AND HIS ADVICE AFFECTED MY LIFE

Jay Pharoah recently announced he's leaving SNL after six seasons, which is great for him as he hopefully has even brighter things ahead, but sad for the show. I had the good fortune to hang with Jay and Christina Myers Heoburn in the green room at Politicon back in June. He was supercool and gave me meaningful encouragement on comedy and life, then just as I thanked him my usual bad luck happened: he stepped backwards while fist bumping me and nearly flipped over on the chair behind him . So I almost ruined SNL by getting him paralyzed. But far more important than that was his inspiring story of never giving up on his dreams in comedy even when his parents and teachers begged him to, time and again, stop being funny and get a 'real job.' He didn't stop and at 22, became one of the youngest cast members in 'SNL' history. I told him something i'm working on and he said not to give up, make it happen. And soon after, i did. And i'm still working on that and a couple other things. I let my health get in the way of a lot of things over the years, but no more. 
Thanks, Jay, I'm on it. 
http://www.vulture.com/2016/08/jay-pharoah-best-saturday-night-live-moments.html

HERE'S A RARE MOMENT: I DEFEND HILLARY CLINTON ON SOMETHING!
I don't know how this happened, and it's rare, but i got hit with a sudden dose of empathy for Hillary on the health talk.
Drudge is linking to some guy who's referencing an email from 2009 from a friend wishing her to get some rest. If that's what we're hanging things on, pretty weak sauce. I've had health struggles myself and on July 3 wound up in a hospital ER for a few hours for what turned out to be basically exhaustion because i'd over done things for days on end. I can't imagine what someone with the job of Secretary of State must feel like, whether i like them or not.
The weird head gestures, the freeze ups and the mysterious dude telling her to "keep talking" when she goes silent in a speech (at least twice now) is another matter. But just as I've tried to keep in mind always with Obama when i was more rabidly against him, if people jump on every little thing they don't like about someone, they lose credibility when there's something legit to complain about.
Also, to anyone comparing her look to Trump aside from direct health matters - they're BOTH 69 years old, for crying out loud. I'm sure he's not great looking either under the suit. As far as I know i've steered clear of knocking her on issues of weight and certainly the ridiculous unfairness done by some people knocking her for "cankles."
There are questions that should be answered. but cheap shots at her appearance, or her age or pantsuits, is beneath the dignity and intelligence of any decent person.

WE'RE BACK! A recap of the world's biggest comedy festival, a bizarre hospital stay and my upcoming trip home...

Hey everyone, 
Sorry i missed a couple weeks here on what's supposed to be a Daily Koz blog. Life gets in the way sometimes, though. 

First off, i was in Montreal July 27-31 for the Just For Laughs comedy festival, which is the world's biggest such event. Dozens if not hundreds of the world's greatest comics go there each year to perform at huge theatre events as well as small underground-style rooms, as well as talk on panels or host live-audience editions of their podcasts. 

You can see photos from the fest, and from Radio Titans' show "Koz Effect"'s appearance at the epic politics and comedy fest called Politicon in June, at our Instagram by clicking the icon for Instagram at our site, www.radiotitans.com. Lots of great stuff to look at! 

Anyway, Montreal is always a shot in the arm for me as a comedy fan, and someone who wants to be in the business. I'm in the midst of a real creative explosion as i have lost 60 pounds since late March and this year, being at the fest really inspired me to come back as an artist, producer or both by next year's event. 

Sound preposterous? The message expressed time and again, particularly from Kevin Hart at JFL and Jay Pharaoh in a personal conversation at Politicon, is : it's never too late. If you apply yourself hard enough and have any talent at all, you will attain a level of success. 

And so, i'm determined to show that i've got that in spades and am going to unveil lots of things in the coming weeks and months. 

I'd have to say the greatest events at the fest were the Goddamn  Comedy Jam and the Comedy Central tapings of "Roast Battle." GCJ is a wildly successful show in LA, run on Monday nights by a highly energetic comic named Josh Adam Meyers who came up with the great idea of having star comics perform sets of fresh material before diving into singing a favorite rock song with a live backing band, completely unrehearsed. 

In Montreal, the Jam was held for four nights in a space called Le Balcon, which you could enter only after walking quietly through a giant church sanctuary in a Cathedral-sized Protestant church. Since the shows were at 10:30 at night and had  slightly blasphemous name, it was definitely kinda creepy walking through , but the payoff was worth it once you entered the actual performance space. 

There were indeed balconies surrounding the room on three sides, but no one was allowed to sit in them. Instead, everyone was seated cabaret-style on the main floor, while the live band and the comics strutted their stuff on an elevated stage. On Thursday night when i went, Judd Apatow, Iliza Schlesinger, and Matt Braunger were performing, with Apatow a particularly fun person to watch as he ripped through Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now," one of my all time favorite songs. Iliza did a fantastic job on Stevie Nicks' "Edge of Seventeen," while Braunger was kinda creepy doing Danzig's "Mother" - though, to be fair, anything by Danzig is MEANT to be creepy. 

Afterwards, I managed to pose for a couple of shots with Apatow, so scratch that off my bucket list! And find them on the Instagram. He let me into the green room, while one of his daughters (who both acted in his movie "This Is 40") took over the camera and made one of this guy's dreams come true. 

"Roast Battle" was an even wilder animal, a series of free tapings that supposedly were "sold out" way before. It's the next hot thing for Comedy Central, and will no doubt be a massive hit. Created by an LA-based comic named Brian Moses when he challenged two comics who were about to punch each other out behind the Comedy Store to instead settle their beef with  roast battle onstage, the show has grown into a midnight sensation that only recently ended a year-plus run in the club's Belly Room on Tuesday nights. 

Comedy Central has bought the concept, and brought in the ultimate celebrity roaster, Jeffrey Ross, to host the show, while an impressive array of famous judges - the night i went featured Jimmy Kimmel and Seth Rogen as the men who decided the battlers' fates. There were four battles in the hourlong show we saw, in which two comics each time faced off and delivered a series of devastating yet funny insults. Over the course of the following two nights, a lone champion would be decided. 

It was amazing - the crowd was wild, the mood was like a humorous version of "Gladiator" or "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," and the jokes mostly slayed. We weren't able to take photos or videos, especially after sneaking in like Ninjas, but check the show out on Comedy Central and you will NOT be disappointed. 

Another month, another hospital

Now, i've been literally working my ass off since March 22 to lose weight and regain control of my life and health after 15 years of battling sleep apnea and a decade of fighting off a recurring leg infection (which doesn't affect anyone else!) I'm down about 60 pounds and intend to go all the way to "full Kiedis" over a couple years - meaning, to get as buff as the most insanely buff dude in entertainment, Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. 

But I wound up in the hospital again last week, even though there were big signs of progress: i was in for 2 1/2 days this time rather than 5 or even 12 days; my diabetes is GONE; and my blood pressure is damn near normal all the time now. When i got out and sang karaoke Friday night, a 28 year old woman thought i was 36! (I'm somewhat older, but i'll take 36, so leave it at that.) 

I've been taking notes on my odd experiences in hospitals for awhile now, as i'm working on a book and a solo storytelling show about my experiences with strange situations, medications, doctors and "roommates." Most of the time, i get a private room at the Southern California Hospital of Culver City, but this time a guy named Joey was rolled into the other half of the room at 5 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 18 hours after i got there. 

There's a lot to tell with this story, and I'll have it in the book and the story show. But the important gist of it was that I at first rolled my eyes and scoffed to myself over this guy who was physically much bigger than me, was brought in in order to save his toes from neglect over diabetes, and was moping loudly to himself about how scared he was and how to get out of the hospital. 

I finally decided to calm him down by telling him it was a great place and that the doctors were better than anywhere in LA in my opinion (truth).  And then he started telling me how he's written children's books, and doesnt' know how to get them out into the world. I was thinking "Oh brother," but after awhile i invited him to recite them and they were stunningly GREAT. Well-written, engaging, funny, beyond clever. The guy is more than a little rough around the edges, but I know people in the book industry and Christian media (which could be a slam dunk since this was clean stuff) and i have a feeling that this guy is someone worth putting the time into and has a lot to share with the world. 

So, try not to jump to conclusions or judgments about people. You may never know what a great heart or mind might lie under the surface of even the seemingly oddest person. There is a great story about to unfold here, i can feel it. And i will continue to share it as it happens. I might have found the next Dr. Seuss. No kidding. 

HOMEWARD BOUND

Can't wait to go home! Flying home tomorrow to Little Rock, Arkansas, for first time since Oct. 2014. Been since Dec 2013 since i talked to my dad in person, but thats a whole crazy story that's now part of my standup act. :P
Going to be roadtripping with one brother to see Nashville, my sister and her five kids (familiar to all who know my standup :P) in Johnny Depp's hometown of Owensboro, KY, then driving with THEM to Indianapolis, and coming back to Little Rock through Memphis so i can see my other brother and his kid. 
This better result in another movie or TV idea :P. Three iconic American cities and way too much family in five days. :P