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Emery Emery
Emery Emery (born December 25, 1963) is an American comedian, film editor and producer, and outspoken atheist, known for his contribution to numerous comedy-related films and TV shows, his two podcasts, ''Skeptically Yours'', and the award-winning ''Ardent Atheist''. Further, he has the distinction of being a contributor to '' The Atheist's Guide to Christmas'', and the editor of the documentary '' The Aristocrats''. Early life and comedy career Emery was born Emery Emery II in Anaheim, California, his father was Emery Emery also, but later changed his name to Bob. Emery and his family moved to Kansas City when he was two. He got his start doing open-mic nights in 1981 in the Kansas City area, and got his first solo gig at the comedy club Stanford and Sons in 1984. Emery developed an act that was a blend of dark comedy and observational humor, which he said was inspired by Bill Hicks. He has also listed Sam Kinison and Lenny Bruce as key influences. Emery quickly gained local ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anaheim, California
Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most populous city in California, and the 56th-most populous city in the United States. Anaheim is the second-largest city in Orange County in terms of land area, and is known for being the home of the Disneyland Resort, the Anaheim Convention Center, and two major sports teams: the Los Angeles Angels baseball team and the Anaheim Ducks ice hockey club. Anaheim was founded by fifty German families in 1857 and incorporated as the second city in Los Angeles County on March 18, 1876; Orange County was split off from Los Angeles County in 1889. Anaheim remained largely an agricultural community until Disneyland opened in 1955. This led to the construction of several hotels and motels around the area, and residential districts in Anaheim soon fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brian Dunning (author)
Brian Andrew Dunning (born 1965) is an American writer and producer who focuses on science and skepticism. He has hosted a weekly podcast, ''Skeptoid'', since 2006, and he is an author of a series of books on the subject of scientific skepticism Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refe ..., some of which are based on the podcast. ''Skeptoid'' has been the recipient of several podcast awards such as the Parsec Award. Dunning has also created the ''Skeptoid.org'' spin-off video series, ''inFact'', and ''The Feeding Tube'' both available on YouTube. Dunning has produced two educational films on the subject of critical thinking: ''Here Be Dragons'' in 2008, and ''Principles of Curiosity'' in 2017. Dunning co-founded Buylink, a business-to-business service provider, in 1996, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its luxurious and extremely large casino-hotels together with their associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CSICon
CSICon or CSIConference is an annual list of skeptical conferences, skeptical conference typically held in the United States. CSICon is hosted by the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), which is a program of the Center for Inquiry (CFI). CSI publishes the magazine ''Skeptical Inquirer.'' History 1983–2005: CSICOP conferences CSICon's current format stems from 2011, but similar conferences by CSI (until 2006 known as CSICOP, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) go back as far as 1983, when the first was held at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY). The second international CSICOP conference, themed "Paranormal Beliefs: Scientific Facts and Fictions", was held at Stanford University in 1984. The third, the first European CSICOP conference, was held at University College London in Britain, themed "Investigation and Belief". Throughout the 1980s, the European readership of the ''Skeptical Inquirer'' was increasing, whil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jamie Kennedy
James Harvey Kennedy (born May 25, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He has played Randy Meeks in the ''Scream'' franchise (1996–2000) and a multitude of characters in ''The Jamie Kennedy Experiment'' (2002–2004) on The WB. His other film roles include ''Romeo + Juliet'' (1996), '' Bowfinger'' (1999), ''Malibu's Most Wanted'' (2003), ''Finding Bliss'' (2009), and ''Good Deeds'' (2012). He has starred in the CBS drama ''Ghost Whisperer'' (2005–2010), provided voice-work for ''The Cleveland Show'' (2009–2013) and regularly tours as a stand-up comedian and podcaster. Early life Kennedy was born on May 25, 1970, in Upper Darby Township, a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Kennedy was raised Catholic. He attended and graduated from Monsignor Bonner High School in 1988. After high school, Kennedy began his career as a Hollywood extra. Meanwhile, he worked on voice impersonations. Career When Kennedy first arrived in Los Angeles, he became a professional Hol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heckler (film)
''Heckler'' is a 2007 documentary film about hecklers. The film begins with an examination of the means, methods, and motives of hecklers and their effect on live performances, particularly stand up comedy. A common observation by professional comics is that hecklers can be categorized in two groups: those who want to participate and sincerely believe they're helping the comedian, and those who intend to disrupt the comedian. Several male comedians suggest that female hecklers are often motivated by a desire to flirt with the performer. Subsequently, the film segues into a longer examination of film and music critics, including their effect on performers. The documentary suggests that most critics are motivated by frustrated artistic ambitions, and are no better than hecklers given that internet criticism has emboldened critics to engage in vicious personal attacks rather than critiques of artists' work. The film is hosted by actor/comedian Jamie Kennedy, who was inspired to cre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burning The Bridge To Nowhere
Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combustion does not always result in fire, because a flame is only visible when substances undergoing combustion vaporize, but when it does, a flame is a characteristic indicator of the reaction. While the activation energy must be overcome to initiate combustion (e.g., using a lit match to light a fire), the heat from a flame may provide enough energy to make the reaction self-sustaining. Combustion is often a complicated sequence of elementary radical reactions. Solid fuels, such as wood and coal, first undergo endothermic pyrolysis to produce gaseous fuels whose combustion then supplies the heat required to produce more of them. Combustion is often hot enough that incandescent light in the form of either glowing or a flame is produced. A sim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jake Johannsen
Jake Johannsen (born July 28, 1960) is an American comedian, writer, and actor. Early life Johannsen attended Iowa State University in the early 1980s, originally majoring in veterinary medicine, and then later changing to chemical engineering. He left after three years in college and relocated to San Francisco, California, in order to pursue a career in comedy. Johannsen made his debut at Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco, and by 1986 had won the 11th Annual San Francisco International Comedy Competition. Career During the 1990s, Johannsen starred in his own HBO comedy special, ''This'll Take About an Hour'', which was listed as one of the Ten Best Television Shows by ''People Magazine'' in 1992. In 1994, he was nominated as "Best Male Stand-Up Comedian" for the 1994 American Comedy Awards. According to Jerry Seinfeld, Johannsen was originally wanted for the role of George Costanza in '' Seinfeld'', but he refused the part. In 2010, Johannsen starred in his second Comedy S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Green Room With Paul Provenza
''The Green Room with Paul Provenza'' is a talk show on Showtime, hosted by Paul Provenza. Each episode featured a panel of guests discussing comedy. Synopsis At the start of each episode, the camera would approach a stage door in an alley, where one of that series' guests appeared, only to warn the viewer off, saying that the event is for "comics only." In another nearby doorway, Provenza then motioned the viewer in, with the advice to "be cool," warning, "if you've ever been offended by anything, don't come in." The camera then followed Provenza into the building, via hallways and stairs to a final door, which would open onto the soundstage, where the evening's guests were already in conversation. After the show's halfway mark, if a guest uses music in their comedy act, such as Bo Burnham or Franklyn Ajaye, they may perform a comedic musical number. The song played during the opening and closing credits is a modified version of the song "Somebody Start a Fight or Something" by TI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Play Dead (show)
''Play Dead'' is a 2010 Off-Broadway show co-written by magicians Todd Robbins and Teller, the latter best known as the non-speaking half of the illusionist duo Penn & Teller. The show also features Charlotte Pines as Margery Crandon, Geri Berman as Eusapia Palladino, Don Meehan as Albert Fish, and Drea Lorraine as Phantoms. The opening minutes of the show are performed in complete darkness, and the show itself features carefully crafted tricks and illusions ranging from killing a real audience member, to contact with the dead. The show stars Robbins as the narrator and is directed by Teller. This incarnation of Play Dead began with two weeks of workshop performances at ''The Calypso Room'' in Las Vegas in September, 2010, at the Rio, the home of Penn and Teller. Teller told the opening night audience that the show marked the first time ever that a show was created in Las Vegas to bring to New York, and was headed directly for an off-broadway venue in New York City. It opened fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Teller (magician)
Teller (born Raymond Joseph Teller; February 14, 1948) is an American magician, illusionist, writer, actor, painter, and film director. He is half of the comedy magic duo Penn & Teller, along with Penn Jillette, where he usually does not speak during performances. Teller, along with Jillette, is an H.L. Mencken Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C. Personal life Teller was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Biography based on sources including "Email correspondence with Teller. 12–14 August 2007". the son of Irene B. (''née'' Derrickson) and Israel Max "Joseph" Teller (1913–2004). His father, who was of Russian-Jewish descent, was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Philadelphia. His mother was from a Delaware farming family. They met as painters attending art school at Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial. His mother was Methodist, and Teller was raised as "a sort of half-assed Methodist". He graduated from Philadelphia's Central High School in 1965, and in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
