Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
I moved my blog to myspace because I was tired of these stupid talking ads telling me I won a free IPOD and what not. They're almost as bad as those talking emoticons. SHUT UP!!!!
So go to www.myspace.com/tomclarkcomedy for all future updates. Thanks!
Sunday, August 5th, 2007
I've been spending most of this month in LA and it's been fairly exhausting, which is good. This past week I had to drive back and forth between Ontario and LA to do do shows at the Improv. It's about an hour to two hour drive each night back and forth b/c they don't put you up. It reminded me of the old days of doing comedy in Milwaukee and driving two hours to the gig so I could be up the next morning to go to work. The shows at The Improv were great. I worked with Alonzo Bodden, who was a nice guy and funny to boot. He's gotten quite the following since Last Comic Standing and it's well deserved.
My commercial agent has been great. I go out on at least two or three auditions each week, which is great. I actually landed one audition for Fox's "On the Lot". It was a union gig, which is nice and now I'm SAG eligible. Once I become a SAG member I can get free foot massages from Tony Danza anytime I want. Check out the "On the Lot" short film here. It's called "Road Closed"
Danny Jelinek and I also got another pilot into the Channel 101 show this past Sunday. It's called "Revengeance". Unfortunately we did not get enough votes to get another episode. It was a little more dramatic than comedic so perhaps that may have been the reason, but it's good to be diverse. You can judge for yourself here:
I have to start preparing for my trip to South Africa. My brother bought me a book about South Africa. It sounds amazing. I have shows just about every night, but it's only 15 minutes every night, but I really want to take advantage of my time there and see everything. I'm planning on keeping a daily or at least every other day blog while I'm there. I'll probably post it on my myspace so you may need to go there to see it. Also, I'm going to try to post some photos while I'm there. If you haven't gone to my myspace profile, check it out here:
I'm doing Jimmy Pardo's show this Thursday at the UCB in LA and the other guest will be Rob Corddry from "The Daily Show"
Sweet!
Friday, July 13th, 2007
I am currently in Grand Rapids, MI. It's a really nice club, it's a 4 story night club for all your dancing and drinking needs and I have a lot of dancing needs as many of you know. Last week a girl asked me if I had any vices and I said my only vice is I love to dance. I don't think she quite understood and she said she was sorry to hear that...or maybe she's seen me dance.
Last week I was in Vegas. The Trop was a lot of fun. I did a private gig on Saturday---7/07/07---which was also my birthday and the luckiest day in human history. I ended up doing a private gig in Rancho Cucamonga. Check out my blog on myspace if you want to see how that went: www.myspace.com/tomclarkcomedy
Last week, with the help of Danny Jelinek I was able to complete the script I had mentioned from last blog. We're planning on shooting it next weekend and hopefully getting it into Channel 101 for the July screening.
I was able to get a good tape from my week in San Jose back in June. My agent submitted it to the person who books the Late Late Show and hopefully I'll hear something in the next week or two. I have a new commercial agent so hopefully I'll get some auditions once I get back to LA.
Toodles!
Saturday, June 16th, 2007
I'm trying to work on a show for Channel 101 and I have the basic concept, but cannot for the life of me create a story. I've even tried just thinking of other concepts, but I keep shooting my own ideas down. The inner critic can kill you for writing. I know the first draft is usually going to be terrible, but the key is to see the project to the end and then fix it. I know I can work through it.
I'm currently in San Jose at the Improv a great club. A friend of mine from back in the Milwaukee days is actually the manager here so it's been good to see him. The club is beautiful. I'm trying to get a six minute set together for The Late Late Show. I had a great tape on Friday for the early show, but I'm afraid it's too far away. The late show I ended up recording my right shoulder. I have three more shows, I feel like the set is solid it's just a matter of getting it shot just right.
I'm gonna miss Summerfest in Milwaukee for the first time in a while. I see that Social Distortion is playing July 2nd, but I'll be in Vegas. My trip to Africa is still on, I may be leaving a week earlier to do some warm up shows. If you haven't seen my myspace profile check it out. I have some new pictures up and a couple new videos:
Sunday, May 20th, 2007
Well, I'm back in LA for the next six weeks or so. I have some shows around the California area, but nothing that will require me to get on a plane. It's nice to be home again and see my friends out here. Yesterday I went paintballing, which was a lot of fun...until I got shot for the third time. Paintballs are unforgiving. They leave tremendous welts on your body. I probably have at least seven welts on various parts of my body, if you can find all seven well we should probably be dating first. Luckily nothing below the waist that could've been nasty.
This past Thursday I had a great set at Room 5 in LA. I just felt really comfortable on stage. I've gotten a few comments from friends of mine who have seen me from the beginning, that my act has changed a bit since I first started. I guess I agree, my material is not necessarily darker, but a little edgier. I think it's still from that naive point of view, but it is a bit different. I'm not sure how to describe it. Hopefully next Saturday I'll have some new video you can check out of the new and improved Tom Clark.
I have some pictures up on my myspace of me dressed up in my paint ball gear (sorry no pictures of the welts). www.myspace.com.
I am helping shoot a local commercial tomorrow in LA. I was supposed to be cast in one of the roles, but it didn't work out, but I was able to get a few of my friends jobs so that makes me happy. It should be fun.
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
I found out today that I'm going to be performing at the Cape Town Comedy Festival in South Africa in September. This is very exciting as it sort of came out of the blue. A few months ago a radio station from South Africa e-mailed me for a copy of my CD. I sent them one and the DJ said if I'm ever in South Africa to let them know. I let him know I didn't think there were any gigs there and he mentioned the festival there and said I should send them a note.
I did and really didn't think I'd hear anything back, but the guy liked my stuff off my website and asked me to send a DVD, which I did. He and his staff liked that and the next thing I knew I was invited to perform. Not only do they pay air and accomodations, but it's pretty good pay as well. I haven't really figured out what this all means, but I'm very happy about it. I haven't been to a festival since Montreal in 2004. I think I'll enjoy this one much more.
I was in Dallas last week for my nephew's baptism. I'll probably put some pictures up once I get back to LA. I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan last week doing some shows. The Sunday night show was rough b/c I lost my voice. It was a weird room there was a table full of people talking right up front as if I was some sort of jazz band providing background music for their conversation. I did what I normally do when I encounter this, I start doing the voices for everyone sitting at the table, until they realize I'm doing it. It must've been 10 minutes before they realized what I was doing and then the guy got upset with me and one guy was so angry he couldn't even heckle me. He would just say things like, "Why don't you go back to the junkyard, 'cause you're junk." And "Go eat a baloney sandwich." I thought that last one was a little harsh.
Headed to Lansing this week and then finally back to LA. My tour starts winding down after I get back from Vegas in mid May, which will be nice. I need to spend some time in LA. I haven't shot any shorts or anything since I left and it's something I really want to do. Thanks for reading my blog.
Sunday, April 1st, 2007
I had a great time this past week doing shows in the Midwest. My worries about Dubuque were unfounded. I didn't realize until I had finished performing that they actually closed down the venue I had previously been at and had moved to a new location down the street. It was fun!
Madison was great! I had so many friends come out to the show, which was nice and the shows were stellar. I really felt like my set was really tight. I have a new idea for a closing bit. I plan on following through with it, but there's a couple things I need to do first. It should prove interesting. I really need to get a set together for a half hour special on Comedy Central. I have the material, but I just need to figure out the order. I want the set to be memorable, so that's something I need to work on this year.
I also need to get a six minute set together on tape so I can do another TV appearance. It's been a long time between my last stand up appearance on TV. This week is a really busy week. I have shows every night. As soon as I get back to LA, I have to do a show in LA at Garage Comedy. It's sort of a hipster comic sort of place, but if I can play in Dubuque I can play anywhere.
Wednesday, March 21st, 2007
Time really flies, my past two weeks in Vegas and Utah were fun. I made some nice dough and then came back to my apartment and had to deal with setting up my router for my internet. My cable provider makes me call the people who made my router and then the router people blame the cable provider. It was a neverending circle. It's working okay right now, which I can live with for the time being.
I did complete a show for Acceptable.TV, the new show on VH-1. Airing this Friday on VH-1 at 10pm. My show will not be seen by the masses, but I did complete it. I shot it with Blake Bard and Aaron Burrell while I was in Utah. You can check it out here: http://acceptable.tv/videos/85-Three-Of-A-Kind
Two people who have commented on it were a bit critical. One accused me of ripping off Stella. I guess I can see it b/c it's 3 dumb guys who live together, but we just shot it on a lark and it was just a very simple script. If anything I was trying to rip off Seventh Heaven.
It always upsets me to get criticism, but I guess that's the life I've chosen. And I guess criticism in any profession is necessary and you take it for what it's worth. The bottom line with anything you do is you should do it because it's something you enjoy and something you genuinely find funny. So there.
Heading out on the road quite a bit in April. I'm back in Madison next week that should be fun. I'm in Dubuque on Wednesday that has me a bit worried. The club is called The Brass Ring and I was there about four years ago and the crowd hated me. After the show this woman told me how much I sucked not realizing she was talking to me. Another guy walked passed me and gave the thumbs down along with a fart noise. I asked him where he worked and he said a butcher shop. I asked what if he had a bad day at work and accidentally cut off his thumb and I made light of him. He said he didn't care, he would just grow a new thumb. Should make for an interesting week.
I may be shooting a local commercial out here in May. There's an article about me in the latest issue of M Magazine. You can check it out here: http://www.tomclark.com/images/PressKit/pdf/M_magazine.pdf
Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
I'm finally all moved into my new apartment here in Encino. It's so great and it's so much bigger than my old place. I'm really excited about living here because a lot of my friends from Comedy Sportz are here.
This has been a great month for me as I didn't have to go out on the road once to do stand up. I was able to make all my money in town, which can be difficult at times. I did audience warm up for the Nick at Nite show and I also shot something for Direct TV, which I think I mentioned in my previous blog.
The short film I shot was okay. I got to don a football uniform and you can check out some of the photos here - www.myspace.com/tomclarkcomedy and click on my photos to see them. I felt I was tricked a bit in this shoot, they said I was a featured player, but I didn't have any lines. I had a line at one point and just before they were going to shoot they took it away from me. At first I was upset, but then I realized I didn't really want to say the line anyways 'cause it was kind of cheesy. Me and the other guys who thought we'd be featured had fun on the shoot and we even got to play in the fake rain. I really think I still have another year left in me and I know I have another year of eligibility left at St. Norbert College so I'd like to announce my return to college football.
Head to Utah and Vegas the next two weeks and I'm shooting a spec commercial in a couple weeks. Also, there's a new show that's going to start airing on VH-1 called Dept. of Acceptable Media. It's a show featuring people from Channel 101. It was started by Rob Schrab and Dan Harmon two Milwaukee guys, you should definitely watch it every day, esp if you have a Nielsen box. Okay I have to put stuff in some drawers and forget where I left them.
Sunday, February 11th, 2007
All is well here at Tom Clark Central. My pillot False Start did get into Channel 101 and you can check it out here: http://www.channel101.com/shows/show.php?show_id=232. We didn't make it into Prime Time, but it was just an honor to be nominated as the big celebrities say.
This month has really been great. My week in South Bend was fun and while I was there I found out I had been cast in a short film. I get to wear a football uniform for this role, something I haven't done since my college days and sometimes when I role play. I actually missed the callback, but they liked me enough to let me do it anyways. I also shot a segment for Reelz Channel on Direct TV. It's called Movie Rants and you can see me talk about my hatred of people who talk in the movies and my love of the movie previews. I think you need Direc TV to actually see it, but if I get my grubby little hands on a copy I will post it.
And in other big news I'm doing audience warm up for a TV show. I can't give any of the details yet, but it's been a lot of fun. I'll only be doing it for a few days, but it's a nice chunk of change and Daddy needs to eat. Speaking of eating, I got a lose some weight. I did the South Beach diet about two years ago and lost almost 30 lbs and since then I've put about 15 back on. I wish I could say I was putting it on for a big movie role, but I'm just eating more.
I'll be in Salt Lake City and Vegas the beginning of next month. Salt Lake City to Sin City should be an interesting contrast. I'm also moving out of my lovely apartment here in West LA to beautiful Encino. It's in the Valley in the Sherman Oaks area. It'll be a nice change of pace. I gotta make that move at the end of the month. That is all. Good talk.
