| Monday, May 18, 2009 |
| MaxFunCon Activity Signups |
Activity Signups are now available for MaxFunCon.
Each attendee should sign up for *one* activity in Session A and a second activity in Session B. Please sign up for an activity in each session, and please only sign up for one activity in each session.
Advance signups are now closed. If you haven't yet signed up for activities, don't worry, you'll have the opportunity to do so when you check in at the conference center.Labels: Education, Entertainment |
posted by Jesse Thorn @ 12:34 PM  |
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| Monday, February 2, 2009 |
| Entertainment & Education |
MaxFunCon is about being more awesome, and we've put together a comprehensive program of delightful entertainments and fascinating education. We'll add more to the list as they are confirmed (and of course the lineup is subject to change).
Keynote Address:
Thrill as John Hodgman (above), author of "The Areas of My Expertise" and "More Information Than You Require," resident expert on The Daily Show, and pseudo-actor in film and television offers his wit and wisdom to the gathered masses.
Podcasts:
Over the weekend, enjoy live tapings of some of the world's best comedy podcasts:
Never Not Funny
You Look Nice Today: A Journal of Emotional Hygiene
Jordan, Jesse GO!
Standup:
Saturday night, enjoy a blowout standup comedy spectacular, with some of the best standup comics in the country:
Maria Bamford
Tig Notaro
Jasper Redd
Chris Hardwick
Kasper Hauser
& More
Funny Music:
Who knew that funny music doesn't have to be awful? Join us Friday night at the mountain amphitheater for an evening of music that makes you laugh, with
Jonathan Coulton
& Hard & Phirm
and your host: Jimmy Pardo
Socializing:
Join your fellow MaxFunsters for a welcome reception Friday afternoon, with beer, wine, soft drinks and special punch prepared by Dr. Cocktail. Saturday night, frolic, dance and enjoy beer, wine, soft drinks and five historical cocktails hand-selected by the good doctor.
Educational:
You could spend all your time swimming or playing volleyball, but why not learn to be more awesome instead? Authors, thinkers and doers will help you learn stuff to impress your friends and win smartness contests. Also, how to make marshmallows.
Doing Creative Work with Merlin Mann
Wonderful Things with Mark Frauenfelder & Xeni Jardin
Improv Everywhere with Charlie Todd
Working Creatively in a Group with Kasper Hauser
Improvising with Jordan Morris
Cooking with Julia Crookston
10 Things You Didn't Know About Cocktails with Dr. Cocktail
& MoreLabels: Education, Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 2:00 PM |
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| Sunday, September 21, 2008 |
| Preliminary Schedule |
Scroll to June 12-14th, 2009 to check out the preliminary schedule for MaxFunCon!
Please note that this is entirely preliminary and subject to change.Labels: Education, Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 4:12 PM |
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| Tuesday, July 29, 2008 |
| Your Host: Jesse Thorn of MaximumFun.org |
 Thorn (right) interviews Stephen Colbert in 2007
Jesse Thorn is the host and curator of MaxFunCon, and the proprietor of maximumfun.org, a website about things that are awesome. The site is the home of Thorn's nationally syndicated public radio program, The Sound of Young America, as well as the podcasts Jordan, Jesse Go!, The Kasper Hauser Comedy Podcast, Coyle & Sharpe: The Imposters and more.
Thorn, 27, is the youngest nationally syndicated public radio host in history, and can be heard on the airwaves of major public radio stations like WNYC in New York and WHYY in Philadelphia. The Sound of Young America was the first public radio show west of the Mississippi to podcast, and is widely seen as a trailblazer in the convergence of public and new media.
Thorn and The Sound of Young America have been featured in Time Magazine, Salon.com, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and even the Santa Cruz Good Times.Labels: Education, Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 1:24 PM |
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| Monday, July 28, 2008 |
| Entertainment: John Hodgman: Keynote Address |
John Hodgman will be offering the Keynote Address of MaxFunCon 2009.
John Hodgman is a contributing writer for publications including The New York Times Magazine. He wrote an advice column for McSweeney's for over a year entitled "Ask a Former Professional Literary Agent," and currently curates and hosts the Little Gray Book Lectures—a monthly series that has been broadcast on This American Life. He now appears regularly on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show. He lives in New York City with his wife and children on the Upper West Side.Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 7:30 PM |
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| Sunday, July 27, 2008 |
| Entertainment: Jonathan Coulton |
 Comic singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton headlines our Friday night music show at MaxFunCon.
Jonathan Coulton is the Contributing Troubadour for Popular Science magazine and the musical director for John Hodgman’s Little Gray Book Lectures. He recently accompanied Hodgman on his book tour, singing songs about hobos and furry lobsters, all while wearing a funny hat. His songs about vengeful nerds, ennui-afflicted clowns, self-loathing giant squids, and devotees of a certain Swedish prefab furniture store are insanely clever without ever being too clever for their own good. They repeatedly lure you into laughing before suddenly breaking your heart. And the sick part is, you keep coming back. Coulton's is the voice of every spooky elementary school kid who could never quite keep his shirt tucked in or shoes tied; every lovelorn mason and mad scientist; every one of us who has ever sat despairingly on the floor, surrounded by parts of an Ikea endtable, weeping over our allen wrenches.
In 2005-2006 he recorded and published a new song every week as a free podcast called Thing a Week. This rate of output wouldn't be so astonishing if the songs weren't so constently well-written and produced. A few of these songs have become full-fledged internet smashes: his folky cover of Sir Mix-a-Lot's "Baby Got Back," a visual ode to Creative Commons called "Flickr," and of course "Code Monkey," the anthem of software designers everywhere. The office zombie song "Re: Your Brains" made the Dr. Demento Funny 25 countdown for 2006. But it's the less obvious ones that sneak up on you and punch you right in the chest - the song about George Plimpton that makes you want to get out there and do something that really matters, or the song about an office crush that you're certain was written about you and that girl you keep meaning to ask out on a date.
A fully independent musician with the heart of a geek, Coulton has a pioneering (and so far, surprisingly successful) plan to make a living as a niche artist. He's passionate about Creative Commons, and releases all his music under a CC license that allows for file sharing and copying, as well as non-commercial derivative works. And his community of fans has rallied around him to generate airplay on hundreds of podcasts, create a library of music videos, and even set up gigs through Eventful.com.
All songs from the Thing a Week project are now available on CD, either individually or in a charmingly packaged box set - an entire year's worth of songs from a bold experiment in independent musicianship and internet superstardom.Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 2:43 PM |
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| Friday, July 25, 2008 |
| Entertainment: Maria Bamford |
 Maria Bamford & Blossom the Pug
Maria Bamford will be performing at our Saturday night standup comedy showcase.
What 37-year old comedian stars in her own web sitcom on SuperDeluxe.com, starred in the Comedy Central series, "The Comedians of Comedy Tour" (as well as in the independent film of the same title out on NETFLIX), is in Variety's TOP TEN COMICS TO WATCH, has been the talk of Montreal, Edinburgh, Aspen, Kilkenny and Melbourne Comedy Festivals and was voted by Comedy Central viewers as one of their Top Ten Favorite Comics? ME! MARIA BAMFORD! That's who, sweetpeas! Maria started her performing arts career in Duluth, Minnesota at the age of 11 where she starred in the Chester Park Elementary production of "How the West Was REALLY Won!" (Conservative message that didn't include the perspective of indigenous nations). A short 24 years of self-discovery and secretarial work later, look at her now! She is certainly on some kind of predestined journey! - NETFLIX "The Comedians of Comedy Tour"
- Comedy Central's "The Comedians of Comedy Tour"
- Los Angeles Magazine's COMIC TO WATCH (2005)
- LA WEEKLY Pick of the Week
- Variety's Top Ten Comics to Watch
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
- Comedy Central Presents...Maria Bamford
- Comedy Central: Premium Blend, USO Tour,
World Comedy, Tough Crowd - International TV: ROVE LIVE, THE GLASS HOUSE, THE GALA
- Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor on PRI
- Best in the Festival Melbourne Comedy Festival Winner
Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 12:49 PM |
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| Thursday, July 24, 2008 |
| Entertainment: Jimmy Pardo |
Jimmy Pardo will be performing as part of our Saturday night comedy spectacular.
Jimmy Pardo is a stand-up comic. In fact, he is considered a comic's comic. In addition to having a half hour special on Comedy Central, his stand-up television credits include The Tonight show with Jay Leno, The Late Late Show, and countless others. Seriously. Countless others.
Maybe you've enjoyed his on-camera work while he was host of "National Lampoon's Funny Money", "Movies At Our House" or "The Surreal Life". He has also appeared on the sitcoms "That 70's Show", "Becker", a few others and countless pilots. Seriously. Countless.
Not to ignore his love of the footlights, he starred in his critically acclaimed one man show "Attention Must Be Paid" and "Jimmy Pardo's Dance Party". He is also a favorite on the syndicated "The Bob & Tom Radio Show".
You can currently catch him performing across the country, hosting his podcast "NEVER NOT FUNNY" and hosting his monthly show at The UCB Theatre in LA, "RUNNING YOUR TRAP WITH JIMMY PARDO"
How Jimmy is not yet a household name is considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World by the comedy community.Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 11:19 AM |
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| Tuesday, July 22, 2008 |
| Entertainment: Never Not Funny: The Jimmy Pardo Podcast |
 "Never Not Funny" is a party conversation with one of the funniest men on the planet: comedian and TV personality Jimmy Pardo ("The Tonight Show," "That '70s Show," "The Surreal Life"). Every week, he sits down with producer Matt Belknap and a guest from the world of comedy to shoot the breeze, share stories and laugh at life. The free-flowing discussion can lead anywhere, but whether Jimmy's talking about growing up in the '70s and '80s, his unbridled love of classic rock or facing the trials of modern life, it's bound to strike a chord with listeners of all ages, and it's guaranteed to make you laugh. Never Not Funny has twice been awarded "Best of iTunes" by the iTunes staff, and was the recipient of the Rooftop Comedy Award for Best Comedy Podcast.
Pardo and Belknap will be bringing the "Never Not Funny Live" experience to MaxFunCon. They've previously performed the show live at the esteemed Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles.Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 9:47 AM |
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| Sunday, July 20, 2008 |
| Entertainment: Jordan, Jesse Go! |
Jordan, Jesse GO! is probably America's favorite podcast, though we haven't run the numbers on that. Join Jesse Thorn, "America's Radio Sweetheart" (PRI's "The Sound of Young America") and Jordan Morris "Boy Detective," (Fuel TV's "The Daily Habit") on a hilarious journey through young adulthood. The program that decided America's most pressing question: Shia LaBouf or Boof Bonser?
Jordan, Jesse GO! will be performing with You Look Nice Today as part of the Monsters of Podcasting.Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 12:11 PM |
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| Entertainment: You Look Nice Today |
You Look Nice Today is an audio-based Journal of Emotional Hygiene, staffed by lonelysandwich, scottsimpson, and hotdogsladies. YLNT will be recording a podcast live for your enjoyment, as part of the Monsters of Podcasting.
The three hosts met on Twitter.com, and soon realized that none of them had anything better to do than this. And Twitter. Nota bene: You Look Nice Today is an audio program that has been prepared by and for “adults.” As a Journal of Emotional Hygiene, our program tackles many of the painful issues typically encountered by persons of this awkward age. Consequently, an uncontrollable level of candor and seemingly non-stop tsunami of profanity may be encountered by listeners. Please do not present this material to non-adults. Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 12:01 PM |
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| Saturday, July 19, 2008 |
| Entertainment & Education: Kasper Hauser |
Kasper Hauser, one of the country's most acclaimed sketch comedy groups, will be performing as part of our Saturday night comedy showcase. They'll also be leading a workshop on being creative as part of a team.
Kasper Hauser has headlined many of the best comedy clubs and festivals in the U.S. and won the Herald Angel award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They cowrote and starred in the feature films "Fishing with Gandhi" and "Cow Monkey," and have appeared on Comedy Central. Their podcast was nominated for a Rooftop Comedy award for "Best Comedy Podcast," and was chosen as one of the "Best of iTunes" by the iTunes staff. Their book, "SkyMaul: Happy Crap You Can Buy From A Plane," was probably the only book ever to be lauded by both Dave Barry and the late David Foster Wallace.
Time Out New York called the group's work "inspired lunacy," adding "this quartet is one of the few comedy teams which has rightfully earned the description 'Pythonesque.'"Labels: Education, Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 9:41 PM |
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| Monday, July 7, 2008 |
| Entertainment: Chris Hardwick |
 Chris Hardwick will perform as part of our Saturday night standup lineup. He'll also be performing, as one half of the duo Hard N Phirm, at Friday night's comedy music show.
Chris Hardwick is a Los Angeles-based standup comedian, musician, television host and dyed-in-the-wool geek. He first came to national prominence as the host of MTV's "Singled Out," and has since hosted shows like PBS' Wired Science, the syndicated "Shipmates," and G4 TV's "Attack of the Show." His varied acting resume includes appearances in "Termanator 3" and "House of 1000 Corpses."Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 2:42 PM |
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| Entertainment: Hard & Phirm |
Hard & Phirm will be performing as part of our Friday night funny music show.
Chris HARDwick aNd Mike PHIRMan’s work has been downloaded millions of times over from the vast expanse of Earth’s Internet. They also regularly perform in front of people, sometimes at such highly-touted venues as the Improv, the Punch Line, the Aspen Comedy Festival, Seattle’s celebrated Bumbershoot Festival, SxSW and Coachella. They’ve also appeared inside your home via ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live, MTV, and VH1’s I Love the [insert Generation X Demographic Era]. Hard ‘N Phirm are both able and eager to display their comedy wares with a non-stop hilarity smoothie of stand-up comedy, music and video. They currently reside in Los Angeles and are nice. Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 2:15 PM |
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| Wednesday, July 2, 2008 |
| Entertainment: Tig Notaro |
Tig Notaro will perform as part of our standup comedy showcase Saturday night.
Tig (affectionately named by her brother as a child) was born in Jackson, MS and raised by her single mother in Pass Christian, MS. During hot summer days, her artistic and free-spirited mother would feed the children all three meals at once, then hose down their diapered bodies in highchairs to cut back on cooking and cleaning, leaving more time for her to paint donkeys on the outside of their house. The family eventually moved to Texas, where they gained a new father who provided structure and alas...a house with no donkeys painted on the walls.
While serving time in a Texas high school, Tig failed three grades by entertaining classmates rather than entertaining the notion of a successful academic career. She decided to drop out of school in 9th grade at the tender age of 43 and move to Denver, CO., where she worked briefly in the music industry before moving to LA to lodge herself firmly into the always fun and always easy world of comedy.
Since getting her start in stand-up back in 1498, Tig has appeared in a number of television shows, including a recurring guest-hosting role on AMC's "Movies at Our House" and most recently as Officer Tig on "The Sarah Silverman Program." She has her own special, "Comedy Central Presents Tig," and guest-starred on Comedy Central's "Dog Bites Man." She has also performed on NBC's "Last Comic Standing," ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," NBC's "Last Call With Carson Daly," ABC's "Comics Unleashed," and Comedy Central's "Premium Blend."
But, most importantly, Tig was fired as the sidekick on E!'s "The Chelsea Handler Show" pilot and Fox's "Girl Least Likely" pilot.
In 2006, Tig and fellow comedian Martha Kelly started the innovative Crackpot Comedy Tour, a series of house concerts across the country in the living rooms, basements, rooftops, garages, backyards, lofts and barns of their fans. The tour features rotating guest comics and local MCs in each town with occasional surprise celebrity drop-ins. Look for the Crackpot DVD on Stand-up Records-coming soon. Tig also completed, "Have Tig at Your Party," her DVD that features Tig standing still for an hour and speaking infrequently into the camera, in hopes of blending into any party once you press play. A la the burning log in the fireplace video. "Have Tig at Your Party" also includes segments of her stand-up and an infomercial with testimonials from fellow actors and comedians about what it was like to actually have had Tig at their parties. Over the years, Tig has also worked on various short films funded by director Sam Raimi (Spider-man, Evil Dead, Simple Plan), and started the highly unknown and unsuccessful, "ZeroDollarsAndZeroSenseProductions" with her producing partner and childhood friend, Beth Schorr.
Sure, this all sounds pretty exciting and promising, but when all is said and done, you might want to know that Tig has never been invited to the prestigious Just For Laugh's Festival in Montreal. However, for whatever its worth, she will be appearing at Bumbershoot 08' in Seattle. In previous years, Tig has been to SXSW in Austin, The Chicago Comedy Festival, The Boston Comedy Festival, Toyota Comedy Festival in NYC, The Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Marshall's Women in Comedy Festival in LA and The Cat's Laugh Festival in Kilkenny, Ireland.
*On a side note, She has also been known to frequent county fairs. Totally unrelated to any and all of the above information.
These days, Tig performs regularly at the Hollywood Improv, the UCB Theater, and at Largo in her monthly show, "Tig Notaro and Friends"..... and of course, headlining clubs, colleges, theaters, and living rooms across the universe.
Tig currently resides in Venice Beach, CA, on the same street as Julia Roberts, but in a much smaller house.Labels: Entertainment |
| posted by Jesse Thorn @ 10:01 PM |
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