>Ochi’s Lounge has undergone some scheduling changes but what hasn’t changed is how much I love that little room. And two amazing headliners will join the growing list of big names that have graced the wee wooden stage. Details are below.

Wednesday, April 2nd @ 8pm
ANDRES DU BOUCHET HAS BEEN EXPECTING YOU
Guests this month: David Cross, Lisa deLarios and Reggie Watts

Tuesday, April 8th @ 9pm
DRINK AT WORK with JOHN OLIVER (The Daily Show) and more great comics TBA!

Both shows are in Ochi’s Lounge (lower level of Comix)
353 West 14th Street (9th Ave.)
No cover + One item minimum food or drink purchase from the discounted Ochi’s menu.

—Kambri
I recommend the Chicken BLT.

>Yes, you read that right and they’re all in the Latest Ballyhoo!

—Kambri

>I was interviewed in this month’s issue of The Comedians magazine. Click here to check it out.

—Kambri

>Exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe how we feel right now. We’ve slept and napped but it never seems to be enough. We’re just done. But we are home and, no matter what, there is work to be done. Even over this weekend my phone rang and texts and emails came through that needed attending to by no one other than me. Two phone interviews for papers with impending deadlines, a comedian late for his live radio appearance, two television crews needing releases and such. It’s the life I’ve chosen, I suppose, but I just want to turn everything off tomorrow and sleep till 2:00.

—Kambri
Instead, I’ll go into the office for the first time in a week and play catch up and smile though my heart is aching.

>Not to sound too cryptic but life throws you a curve ball every now and again. Our wonky pitch means a trip to PA. And comedians, despite all the bad rap they get about being crazy and dysfunctional, are a good bunch. Oh, crazy and dysfunctional still apply, but goodness lies underneath. Paquita is making the trip for those who kindly offered to take her. She’s got more friends than she knows!

—Kambri
Thanks. Really.

>I used a neti pot for the first time tonight. Disaster! I clearly did something wrong as my ears are plugged, I’m completely congested and the back of my nose and throat feel like they’re on fire. And I didn’t start out that way at all. I’ll try it again tomorrow as I’ve only heard good things and am really sick of always sounding sick with a cold. Maybe I just need surgery.

Friday’s show was awesome and I rocked it. Afterwards, Tom Shillue said he was going to recommend me to producers for a couple of shows that I have thought myself perfect for but didn’t think would want little old me. Woo! Very nice of him even if nothing comes of it. I admire him so much that his compliments mean enough.

This Friday will be the LAST Family Hour on a Friday night (we move to Thursdays at 7:30). I’ll be continuing on the same story thread with Part IV which I think will mark the end of this current line of writing about my a$$hole brother. Christian is done traveling for a couple of weeks and will come out to watch me. Hopefully I won’t stink it up. The last time he came to watch me read a new piece, I was so conscious of it I could hardly breathe. He’s read the last three monologues I’ve written and has been so effusive with his encouragement and generous with his patience and time that I can’t thank him enough. Having a third great reading and such a supportive husband re-energized me to focus on my writing. So I cracked open the old proposal and have been tweaking some things. I even had a little breakthrough. I owe Chapter One to my agent and had been procrastinating for a while now because I simply had no clue where to start. I’ve got it now and I can’t wait to finish it.

I’ve got to invest in a word processor or cheap laptop so I can get out to write. I find myself sitting in my apartment, playing with the animals, browsing the net for NOTHING, commenting on comedy sites, checking my email 5,000 times, etc. I want to get a really light piece of machinery to take somewhere without wi-fi and just write. Christian’s birthday is coming up and he’s been considering a new laptop as a gift to himself. If so, I think I’ll take his old MAC and strip it of all time gobbling programs…because, you know, self restraint is imfu*kingpossible.

—Kambri
I am getting him a Playstation 3 because we are grown ups and can’t play all the awesome new video games.

>I wrote a new piece to read tonight at The Family Hour with Auntie Sara. Part three of an ongoing discussion and I got to say, being forced to write on the fly every week has made it easier and easier. I’m digging what I put together for tonight and I only spent an hour or so on it. The show starts at 7:00, there’s no cover and a one item cheap food or drink purchase. But don’t just come for me (I know you were, don’t lie), come to see Tom Shillue, master storytelling, comedian and all around great guy. Come on out to Ochi’s Lounge at 353 W 14th St. near 9th Ave. See you tonight!

I miss my friends. Scott “Reverend” Ramsey is in Ohio starring in another play, Christian is a traveling fool, and for many scheduling reasons I just haven’t seen anyone for a NON-work related event. It’s bumming me out. The plus side is my inbox is completely empty. I’ve attended to every possible thing which is also a handy way for procrastinating on my book project.

—Kambri
I did go to Tori’s book party, though.

>

Christian and Papi
Originally uploaded by kambricrews

Christian is two timing on Paquita with Lil Papi!

>Van Halen officially postponed their concert at MSG. Bummer. But tonight is Tori’s book launch party so I’ll make it through this rough time.

—Kambri
I wonder if Unchained is playing anywhere in the meantime?

>Christian flew from Vail to LA yesterday where he’ll be auditioning and taking meetings all week. I hope it’s a more productive trip than my weekend was. I’ve been so extraordinarily tired the last few weeks coupled with odd sleeping patterns (and an achy back for fun) so every other day I end up sleeping till noon. I hate that. I watched Little Children and Babel. First was long but very well acted and interesting. Second was also well acted but *way* too long and many slow or pointless scenes for my taste. Especially when it’s subtitled and I’m watching from home where I’m easily distracted.

Ochi’s Lounge will have lots of scheduling changes unveiled in the next week. Friday and Saturday night shows are being moved to the weekday so lots of juggling ensued. But it’s still a strong line up of great “underground” shows including the three plugged in yesterday’s NY Post: Andres du Bouchet is Expecting You, The Family Hour with Auntie Sara and Morrison’s Motel aka Ochi’s Motel. Details coming soon.

—Kambri
Along with the promised Latest Ballyhoo.

>Check out today’s NY Post to read a feature article by Sara Stewart about the whole underground comedy scene here in NYC. Ballyhoo Promotions, Ochi’s Lounge and Comix are all mentioned and I’m quoted once or twice.

Also a few shows in Ochi’s Lounge are picked as the best bets for laughs, including “The Family Hour” show on which I perform every Friday. Click on the image at right to see the details on those shows and more.

Speaking of “The Family Hour,” the last two Fridays I have written something in about two hours and performed it that night for the first time. I’m usually pretty good the second time I’ve read something but not the first — even if I’ve had time to read it out loud at home first — and especially when I’ve written it just that very afternoon.

As a sign that my confidence is improving, both times I’ve maintained pretty good breathing and didn’t get cotton mouth even though both times I never even read it out loud to myself. This Friday, I will be reading something new as well, but will have to write it soon since Friday I’ll be doing TV and radio with Lenny Clarke of FX’s “Rescue Me” and have a 5:00 AM wake up call. Yuck.

“The Family Hour” will be moving to Thursdays at 7:30 starting March 27th which actually will work out better for me for precisely the above reason. Doing press Friday mornings means I’m usually exhausted and behind on my calls and emails from being away from my desk all day. Having no commitment Friday night means I can head home from press and rest up. Hopefully that will improve the amount of writing I get done on the weekends. Right now, I’ve been getting zilch done.

—Kambri
Speaking of…gotta get cracking. Ugh!

>Rumors are swirling that Van Halen will cancel their MSG date on March 17th. NO!!! Please, no!

But, all is not lost! I was invited to Tori Spelling’s book launch party celebrating her new memoir. CanNOT wait.

—Kambri

>Best Week Ever’s Christian Finnegan (also I “do” him) and Chuck Nice (I don’t “do” him but I do “dig” him) will be on The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch tonight – Tuesday, March 4th — at 10:00 PM EST. Check your local listings folks, because I have no idea if that’s a universal air date / time.

For more info, here’s a link to Donny’s show: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15838512/

—Kambri

>If water is odorless, how do animals find it?

—Kambri
Seriously, I want to know. A quick Google search didn’t help but perhaps I queried the wrong search words.

>After reading at the Family Hour last night in Ochi’s Lounge, I was chatting with Sean McCarthy and Hy Bender about parallel thinking and industry trends. As an example, we talked about Capote coming out shortly before Infamous and how none of us watched the latter because of the tremendous success and riveting portrayal of Capote by Philip Seymour Hoffman. To top off, my love of the first was cemented by seeing it at the AMMI with a Q&A with the director. But we had heard about how great Toby Jones’ take was. Lo and behold, as I sat on the couch going through hundreds of digital photos to submit with a feature interview of me in an upcoming magazine issue, Infamous came on. I watched it mainly due to the synchronicity. At first, I wasn’t digging Toby but by the end I was wracked with just as much sorrow as when I watched Hoffman’s version. The story hits close to home for me, obviously, due to my relationship with My Jailed Deaf Dad and how conflicted I feel about the Dad I know and the Dad who tries* to kill people. It’s almost too much to bear.

—Kambri
*And who may have actually killed people.

>I’m on this show every Friday, and so I got it some buzz. Thanks AM NY.

>We slept till NOON we were so exhausted from last night’s Oscar party. This year we had 200 in attendance –woah, that’s a lot of ballots to score!– and a major panic crisis to kick things off when the CABLE WENT OUT!!! I downed two beers and had a minor meltdown in the green room bathroom, slipped the Time Warner guy $50, a bottle of champagne and some tickets for shows and VOILA! It was fixed just after 7:00. About 40 minutes after we were supposed to open the doors so it was very hectic and stressful from that point out. Ah well, at least it went on after that.

Sean McCarthy wrote up a nice re-cap along with video taken a the top of the event. You can see me and Sara on the far left furiously grading the tons of trivia entries we received.

thecomicscomic.typepad.com/thecomicscomic/2008/02/watching-the-os.html

—Kambri
Breathe, Kambri, breathe.

>

—Kambri

>This month, I recommend:

My friend Eric Drysdale, gamillion time Emmy winner for writing for a couple of cable shows, up and quit his day job and has started his own blog: edrysdale.com/blog/. Eric also bestowed one of the most amazing, unique, special, memorable wedding gifts to me and Finny when he snapped 3D photos with his camera, developed them into slides and presented them to us in an antique carrying case equipped with its own special view finder scope thing. Come over to our apartment some time and I’ll make you look at each and every slide. They rule. Anyway, bookmark his site as I’m sure he will be doing something clever and entertaining on a regular basis. Plus, he’s nice.

ALSO…my friend Susie Felber gave birth to a child and, unlike JLO who is cashing in a Six Million Dollar check, she is actually talented. Susie and her absurdly cute boy Hugo have gone and gotten a gig of their own. I wish she were my mom. Really. Here they are in all their Vlogging glory: http://babble.com/cs/blogs/toddlertube/default.aspx

—Kambri

>Reserverations for my annual Oscar party tomorrow are over 250. Um, I don’t know if I have enough man power to handle that. AND the NY Post is supposed to run something in tomorrow’s Pulse section. Too much of a good thing?

—Kambri

>

Christian was on Elliot in the Morning in DC on DC101 (zowie they have a lot of listeners!) and plugged my Love, Daddy site. They just posted the audio clip and he made me laugh out loud a few times. Especially when he called my dad the Fonzie of the Deaf community. Here’s the clip for you to enjoy . He starts talking about me and my family about mid-way through.

To listen to his whole hour on the show, visit the Elliot in the Morning site here: http://www.eitmonline.com/live.html

As for Christian, well, he’s busy writing Oscar jokes. Yes, for the party we’re hosting (we’re up to 120 RSVPs already!) but also for the actual Oscars. You read it right. Dude is writing jokes that have a slim chance of being spoken on air during the freaking Academy Awards. At our viewing party on Sunday, we’ll have a running tally of what jokes actually make it through. (We’re guessing zero.)

Um, what else? Debbie Harry is coming to John Robert’s show at Comix tomorrow. So is Babydaddy from Scissor Sisters and Amy Carlson from Guiding Light. Some menagerie, huh?

—Kambri
This beats living in a trailer any day.

>Ask and you shall receive! After my morning rant, AOL published this about the candidate’s wives so the heat will soon be on:
http://news.aol.com/elections/story/_a/candidates-wives-jump-into-the-fray/20080220093209990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

AND! Crazy Eyes McCain wore the same hideous pink suit last night that she wore in this photo from May 25, 2007: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=3213349&page=1

Video from last night when McCain thanks Wisconsin: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/19/feb19.contests/index.html#cnnSTCVideo

—Kambri

Let’s get down to the brass tacks already:

John McCain’s wife’s eyes are creeping me out. Can’t we start talking about that and her tacky taste in skirts suits in varying flourescent colors instead of the issues? You know, just like we did back when folks bad mouthed Hillary’s headbands? Seriously, John needs to re-think having her over his right shoulder during every speech. I have NO idea what he said tonight* because I was too busy wondering if Cindy was in need of an exorcism.

And Christian is writing jokes for a certain awards show. And he sold out SIX shows in DC.

And Richard Lewis had a fantastic weekend at Comix. Richard Belzer introduced him to one show to the delight of the sold out crowd.

And, most importantly, the Australian dude on American Idol has me and Molly swooning.

—Kambri
*Sadly, it’s true. She was freaking me out. But I did catch his lame dig at Obama about his eloquent speeches. Weak. It’s like pulling the pigtail of a girl you like. If you’re gonna pick a fight, just do it or wait it out till you can do it right.

>Christian sold out all six shows at the DC Improv! Kudos to him, again…he sold out in Ft. Lauderdale, too. Atta boy!

Tonight, I’m reading on The Family Hour in Ochi’s Lounge while Richard Lews slays them upstairs in the showroom. I’ll be running up and down the stairs hoping to manage both but am determined not to drive myself crazy. I really need to get back to writing and I have high hopes for that this weekend. It won’t do myself any favors if I exhaust myself before the weekend even starts.

Richard was on Keith Olbermann last night which reminded me how long it’s been since Christian has been a guest. It’s been since Christmas, I think. Gotta get him back on soon! Meanwhile, catch him on Best Week Ever on VH1 tonight, as usual.

—Kambri

>In the cartoon “Battle Pope” produced by Spike. Check out the first episode here:

—Kambri

>I had just finished reading “Girbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir” (good, quick read, drummed up lots of memories of my junior high and high school days of partying on the edge) the night we flew to Ft. Lauderdale and decided to finally begin reading “The Alienist,” a book Christian bought me years ago convinced I would love it.

Set in 1896 New York City, “The Alienist” is about the search for a serial killer using the then unheard of method of profiling and other forensic tools. These days I’m all about non-fiction, biographies and memoirs, so I hesitated picking it up all this time. The book always seemed impossibly long and a fictional piece –historical to boot — just wasn’t up my alley. But lordy am I glad Christian “stole” the next book on my list – “Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” – so I finally picked up “The Alienist”. Having nothing to do in Ft. Lauderdale besides sleep in and lounge around (ah, the life!) I sped through the 600 page book in two days. It was riveting. And being a historical fiction, there were lots of factual references that piqued my interest about the history of this City. Anyway, I highly recommend it and will gladly loan you my copy.

—Kambri

>My annual Academy Awards viewing party extravaganza is back! No cover charge and no minimum purchase required! Discounted food and drinks available all night.

Hosts Christian Finnegan & Kambri Crews will have the whole Comix bar and showroom to enjoy with big flat screen TVs showing nothing but the Oscars. We’ll have ballots for sale with chances to win some fabulous gift packages and random drawings and trivia prizes, too. Even if you show up late, you won’t be out of the running to go home with a prize.

Doors open at 6:30 so if you’re into the red carpet coverage you won’t miss out. Oscars start at 8:00.

Everyone is welcome and there’s plenty of space for all of us, so invite anyone and everyone who loves the Oscars or gambling!

** To reserve a spot at our Academy Award Gala 2008, please RSVP to kcrews@comixny.com with your name and number of party in attendance **

Sunday, February 24th @ 6:30 PM
Comix
353 W. 14th Street (near 9th Ave.)
New York, NY
NO COVER / NO MINIMUMS

Check out www.comixny.com or call 212.524.2500 for more.

—Kambri

>I’m enjoying the sun here in Florida where I’m staying at the Hard Rock Casino hotel. The same spot where Anna Nicole Smith died one year ago today. Christian is headlining the Improv here and I tagged along for some much needed R&R. For 2008, I really want to incorporate more of that into my schedule. You know you need it when you sleep 12 hours two nights in a row. Zowie.

I won’t bore you about our awful flight –delayed four hours, taking off at 1:00 AM with scary turbulence and two SCREEEEAMING twins on board– but I will tell you that Dan from an early season of the Real World was on our flight. He was the gay male model wanna be. He was smitten with Paquita and had the misfortune of sitting directly behind the aforementioned twin. Well, Dan also happens to work at the Hard Rock Hotel. Guess the modeling didn’t pan out.

—Kambri
Off to the pool!

>Voting never gets old. I grabbed a cup of coffee from Panera because it was on my way to the polling station. After voting, I headed back to my usual deli to pick up all the daily newspapers. My deli guy asked, “Coffee?” I patted my Panera coffee and said no. He said, “Ohhhh…Panera….” Something in his tone and look said the big guy was slowly winning out and taking all his business. I felt like a traitor. I love him and his coffee and our discussions about current events (usually tied to NY Post headlines) so felt compelled to defend my decision. “Oh, no, I voted…it was on my way. Just this time, I promise!” I will forever only get Panera coffee when it’s to stay.

—Kambri
Until November, of course.

>

>The Latest Ballyhoo is pretty great as is the Carnegie Hall playbill that had my name in it. Woot!

I’m reading the final piece to my 3 part story tonight in Ochi’s Lounge at 7:00 PM. The line up is ridiculously awesome so tonight would be the perfect time for you to check it out.

And, finally, check out this quick interview with Christian in the Huffington Post.

—Kambri

>

Brooke Van Poppelen, Danny Leary and I on the red carpet at Comix right before the ECNY Awards.

>Sean McCarthy, aka The Comic’s Comic,
very thorough re-cap .

Time Out NY re-cap with pics.

The Apiary re-cap with pics.

Pictured at right: Danny & Brooke on the Red Carpet

The nominee video filmed in Ochi’s Lounge and edited very, very well:

>Long time, no see. Been busy with things, you know how it is. Monday are the ECNY Awards, which I’m super excited about. I’ve gotten a real red carpet and my new Ballyhoo client Danny Leary will co-host the red carpet arrivals with Brooke Van Poppelen. We plan to produce a post-show re-cap of the best and worst dressed…tongue-in-cheek, of course. These are comedians, after all.

Only a dozen or so tickets remain, so get yours quick! They’re only $10 and there is no minimum purchase. Pre- and post-show partying will ensue.

This week Alex Borstein and Seth MacFarlane reprise their “cabaret roles” they created on the Comix stage at Carnegie Hall. Carnegie freaking Hall, people! Comix (and me, too!) will be mentioned in the Playbill. And, if you’re in NYC, no doubt you’ve seen the amazing ads all over town. Cool. Kudos to Comix Programming Director, Rocky Benloulou-Dubin, for the creativity and insight and awesomeness to bring the show to Comix and beyond.

Tomorrow is movie and brunch day with Christian. Something we haven’t done enough of but with the Oscar nominations out we need our fix. If the Oscars happen(I hope they do!), look for my annual Oscar viewing party with ballots and prizes and cheap food and drinks and that aforementioned red carpet being rolled out just for you!

That’s it for now, I guess. So much more to say but my place is a mess and I have to write the final piece to a three part story I’ve been telling on The Family Hour with Auntie Sarah. I didn’t realize the timing was so good for the ending until I got her promo email today. Leo Allen, Todd Levin, Tom Shillue and other amazing people are on the show this Friday. Holy crap. I gotta get cracking! If you want to check it out, it’s at 7:00 this Friday in Ochi’s Lounge. No cover and a cheap one item minimum purchase. You can’t beat that for the show Sarah has booked for you.

—Kambri
I plugged Guitar Hero back in today. Mistake.

>

—Kambri

>Last night at Comix was a sold out show called “Next Week’s News” hosted by Andy Borowitz. Christian Finnegan, John Oliver & Amy Sedaris were the guests, so, yeah, GREAT show. John is always spot on and Amy was fun, as expected. She didn’t perform or read but was interviewed by Andy and the audience got a Q&A with her. One asked, “Which Republican candidate would you hump.” She settled on Fred Thompson because she loves Law & Order because it’s so easy to figure out who the killer is, “Whoever the guest star is…they did it!” Turns out the audience member had asked which candidate she would HOST. “Oh, host. Same guy; same reason.” Christian did some stuff about me and My Jailed Deaf Dad so Amy and John were quizzing me backstage about it. Now, if I can get a manuscript in their hands, I wonder if they’d read it? Give me a quote? Help me? Sideways over-eager grinning smiley face. (How do you type that? :-D)

Speaking of…I’m reading tonight on “The Family Hour with Auntie Sara” in Ochi’s Lounge. No cover, cheap one item minimum purchase required. I’m going to re-start the three part episode thing I began writing before the holidays. So part one of three is tonight. Be there!

But first! I have press with Mr. Emo Philips all day today. He is so funny, so nice AND hasn’t performed in NYC in YEARS so you won’t want to miss this rare chance. Did you see the feature interviews I scored him in AM NY and Time Out NY? Great reads.

Then tonight Christian is doing a PR charity thing called Saints and Spinners in Grand Central Terminal. And we have a wedding this weekend. And somewhere in there we’ll sleep.

—Kambri
It never ends. And I don’t want it to!

>I forgot how delicious American Idol can be. Four chocolate dipped donuts and two large coffees on a Sunday morning delicious. You don’t want to admit you like it but Good Christ, bring it.

—Kambri
Bring it, I say!

>

So every Friday at 7:00 my friend and hilarious MTV reporter, Sara Benincasa, hosts “The Family Hour with Auntie Sara” in Ochi’s Lounge. She has kindly annointed me “cousin-in-residence” to allow me time every week to tell you kids about my wacky life. Well, MetroMix caught wind of the show and did a little report for their website and it turned out pretty well, I think. To make it easier, I’ll just post the YouTube version:

—Kambri

>It is five years ago today that Christian and I stole away for a date at Cafe Bar. Best move I ever made. We celebrated yesterday as today was too slammed with work and performing around town and such. So he flew home in the early hours, we slept in, and spent the day and night together reminiscing over the scrapbooks I created for us the first three years. I could only manage to find one list of goals we made in January of 2005 and, lo and behold, we have done everything including the –at the time– pie-in-the-sky goals of having a TV show deal (him) and a book proposal and agent (me).

Tonight I got home super late, installed my new schmancy printer and had fun reading through my blog entries from January 2003. The time we met and I was so bored at work that I was able to be more creative and funny on this here old blog and my old boss “Jack” kept me guessing: http://www.kambricrews.com/2003_01_01_

—Kambri
Wrote a new chapter during a lovely solo lunch of Asian Chicken Salad at the new Vynl on 8th Ave. Might make it a habit.

>I think I’m a size 9 1/2 show now. Been a size 9 for years but I guess the time has come.

I taught the “Business of Comedy” course today and it was awesome, IMO. Stay tuned for the next one. More than a few people have said I should teach it for Mediabistro. Hmm…

I unplugged Guitar Hero. Then I found my Guitar Hero hero: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUzNcheoY6U. Then I learned exactly what hammer ons and pull offs mean and had to plug it back in. I completed Hard without knowing or using them. Imagine my potential!

—Kambri
See you in 2009.

>This weekend Comix has an amazing line up of comedians and is giving you a chance to enjoy them for free admission! The lineups and details are here. For FREE tickets, email your name, number of tickets requested and date & time of show to me at kcrews@comixny.com no later than 4:00 PM the day of the show. You will receive an email confirmation.

—Kambri

>Check out these pics of the SNL show I produced last night taken by
Andrew Walker of Getty Images. The crowd was very cool and included Akiva Schaffer and Kristen Wiig and a slew of other writers for the show. Afterwards the party moved to a bar but I came home like a good girl. Part of my New Year’s resolution thing is to not always say yes when invited to hang out…yes, even if it’s Jason Sudeikis (so great as a host), Andy Samberg and the bunch.

—Kambri
There were people who paid for SRO tickets in the bar watching it on flat screens, that’s how crazy packed we were!

>–Seth & Alex’s shows were better than I could have ever imagined.
–All four were sold out. There were no glitches.
—J@neane Gar0falo said she can’t wait to read my book. Her exact quote was, “I can’t wait to read your book.”
–I got a free ride home.
–Christian didn’t get eaten by a tiger during his “backstage” tour.
–I beat Guitar Hero II on Hard. Got a bonafide callous on my thumb to prove it.

—Kambri
Which one am I most excited about?

>
Alex Borstein and Seth MacFarlane on the Comix stage. Photo by Brian Friedman.

—Kambri

>Christian is getting an up close and personal tour of the zoo in Virginia Beach. He’s going to get to see the lions and tigers up close and pet a rhino! I’m so jealous! He wasn’t even going to do it until he mentioned it to me and I freaked out about how awesome it would be. I hope he takes lots of pictures. Next time he’s booked at that club you can bet I’ll be going.

Here in NYC, I’ll be celebrating a birthday before going to Comix to check out Seth and Alex’s sold out show. Last night went swimmingly so I’m really excited to be there tonight to enjoy the show. It’s the kind of event that makes me so happy to live in New York where there are different kinds of zoo animals.

—Kambri

>

My husband, comedian Christian Finnegan, returns to Houston to headline at the Laff Stop from January 30th through February 2nd, 2008. I’ll be making the trek down there, too, but I don’t think I’ll get there till Friday the 1st. I can’t decide yet as things are busy, busy but I definitely want to see my friends and pay a visit to My Jailed Deaf Dad in the clink. (Sorry, I’m not smuggling in any Juicy Fruit this time, Dad!)

Anyway, visit their website Houston Laff Stop for show dates and times and let me know if / when you’ll be there so I can make sure to see you!

—Kambri

>This weekend is going to be ridiculous! Four sold out shows, a baby grand piano, original music & comedy NEVER BEFORE SEEN and only at Comix. We’re stoked.

Alex Borstein will be on Good Day NY tomorrow which means she and I will be waking up around 6:00 tomorrow morning. Long day but the adrenaline will see us through. All the other press was canceled so I’ll be back at my home office in no time. Nice. That’s actually one of this year’s resolutions: to work from home more so I can be with my animals, get more sleep and eat better. We’ll see how long that lasts. Ack – scratch that last line! How negative! I fully intend to better monitor how much time I spend at Ochi’s Lounge and Comix. It’s hard, though, when you love the shows / comedians / your career so much. (Sorry, I can’t help it…I really, really do!)

Christian is headlining in Virginia Beach this weekend (read the feature interview with him in the Daily Press) so I’ll be celebrating Rev. (Scott) Ramsey’s partner’s birthday without him before going to Comix to watch the aforementioned awesome show. So coming home tomorrow after doing press isn’t THAT much of a stretch or change.

But I also intend to change the way I spend Sundays. I want to spend it with Christian on the road or, even better, by reading, writing my book, playing video games and watching movies (we watched I Am Legend and this morning I watched Sherrybaby – both, again, were just okay). You know, the stuff most every normal person does. I had started a couple of weeks ago and will further that trend as much as possible. I only wish my part of Astoria were more like Brooklyn or Paris where my awesome pooch Paquita could join me and my laptop for treks to a cafe or bistro. Alas, no place nearby allows dogs inside.* Spring can’t get here soon enough.

—Kambri
*Except for Veronica’s Bar where even the dustballs fight. Sketchy place. If you know of some place I’m missing, please do let me know. Otherwise, my writing and reading will be inhibited by my obsession with Guitar Hero and the internet.

>I watched an abundance of movies on the personal entertainment systems on our AA flight home from Paris. (On the way there I slept on my fully reclining chair / bed during the time I wasn’t eating and drinking my face off with real silverware, a menu and open bar! Holy crap 1st class is disgustingly decadent and awesome.) Ratatouille (sweet), Interview (interesting, I suppose) and Evening (quiet and reflective) were the three I chose plus two episodes of How I Met Your Mother and a few rounds of a maddening puzzle game. Yesterday we watched Sweeney Todd (good) and last night I caught Marie Antoinette (delicious eye candy).

That’s more movies than I’ve watched in months but all of them kind of left me with an “eh, okay, so I saw that,” kind of feeling. Each had scenes that were quite memorable and/or stirred my emotions but I wish I could mash them all together and saved those viewing hours for something else more impactful. I guess that’s why I don’t get to the movies that much these days. It feels like a risky investment of time. I’m so busy and stressed all the time these days that I need to know for sure that what I’m going to do or see is worth the expense of time. It is precious after all. I keep *hearing* about all the great movies that are in theaters but am I watching the wrong ones?

—Kambri
I hear Atonement is good.