2Pac...Is That Your Boy?

"And though I been around clowning with the Underground
I'm still down with my homies from the hometown.
And if you need, need anything at all, I'll drop it all for y'all
If my homies call."

I've never been the biggest 2Pac fan. I never claimed to be. If I had to listen to 2Pac I would definately choose his days with Digital Underground over his Death Row Dr. Dre days. I always found it hard to believe that he went from partying with Humpty Hump to living on Death Row. That's like being a Hobbit and growing up in the Shire and then you move to...fuck it you move to Compton. But I give credit when credit is due and 2Pac deserves credit for one of the best hooks on a 90's hip hop track. "If My Homies Call" is a cut. This is what I consider "Get Out My Way" music. That means if I hear this when you're around me get out my way because I'm gonna tear it up. This track has everything you want in a hip hop song, a hot beat and story telling lyrics to go. When that bass line kicks into that piano breakdown and vice versa well, it can't be faded.

The Skin I'm In.

Sometimes I wish I was white. Not because of any type of self-loathing but because my Halloween costume choices would make more sense to people. "I'm not homeless. I'm Serpico. I'm Frank Serpico!!!"

People's Sexiest Man Alive & OPRA-Haters

People magazine revealed their Sexiest Man Alive issue this week and it's Johnny Depp. Apparently they didn't get my photo submission:

Haters. Speaking of haters. Oprah announced that she is ending her show after 2011 and the haters are out celebrating. I don't understand why someone would hate Oprah? What is it that you hate about someone who has a billion dollars, takes their employees (and me!) on paid vacations, and helped elect the country's 1st Black President?
Oh you hate yourself and your job because those are things you can't do? Oh okay. That makes sense. I could've sworn I thought I heard you say you hate Oprah.
Alright let's get away from the hate and spread the love. My boy Kyle Kinane has a site called I'm dead and it's all my fault. You should holler at that cause it's funny. What.

That's it. Got it. I'm gone. But if you wanted to keep kicking it with me follow me on Twitter.

Won't You Come In Out Of The Rain?

It's a gray rainy day in Chicago. What can take you out of this funk but more funk. This song is fitting for the day and the times. Ladies and Gentlemens, allow myself to bring to the stage Parliament with the Oh Soul Funky "Come In Out Of The Rain".

UnFunkinLimited and Edumucation! 2 Awesome Shows!

How we doing Beautiful Peoples! I hope all is good with you. I've got 2 really big fun shows coming up in the next few weeks. It'd be great to see you.

Dec. 1st: RICKY CARMONA:UnFunkinLimited: I will be doing a special headlining set at the Beat Kitchen Tuesday Dec. 1st at the Beat Kitchen at 9:30pm. IT'S FREE!!! You can check out the press release for the show here. Some of my favorite comedians are performing and the whole evening is underscored by a live DJ onstage Ms. DJ Sadie Woods. This will be the Good Times.

Nov. 25th: The Return of The ESL Players in "We Don't Need Know Stinkin' Edumucation!": If you missed the sketch show the first time around now is your chance to see it again. Opening night is Wednesday Nov.25th at 8pm at The Chicago Center For The Performing Arts (777 N. Green Street). Opening Night will be a special party. We have from Groove Parlor DJ Mario Romay playing Deep House music before the show. Tickets for the show are $12 and are available at the theater box office.

Thanks. Laugh and Funk. It Will Do You No Harm.

Ricky C.

Become my friend on Facebook!

Follow me on Twitter!

Funkadelic...Is That Your Boy?

George Clinton. Funkadelic. Soul. Funk. Stank. It will do you no harm. What is Soul? The answer is here.

I Wanna Talk About The Blues!!!

I do not play no Blues. I play....ROCK & ROLL!!!

CHUC 2009 - Halloween Highlights!!

For those of you who missed the annual CHUC Halloween show including The Randy Watson Sexual Chocolate Tour, the one and only Elizabeth McQuern has put this cool highlight video for you to enjoy. Talk to this!

Hey Have You Seen That New Clash Of The Titans Trailer?

How we living peoples? Here's the teaser trailer to Clash Of The Titans. I'm actually surprised at how much I was into this trailer. This movie already had two strikes going against it for me. It's a remake, strrrike 1! And the lead is Sam Worthington, strrriii-actually hold off on that. Sam Worthington isn't a bad thing. Honestly I just don't understand his popularity. Where'd he come from? When he was cast in the lead in Terminator 4:Go Hate Yourself I had no idea who he was but part of me felt like I should have. Now he's got Avatar coming up in December and Titans next year. Good for you Sam. Clash of The Titans arrives in theaters on March 26, 2010. Check out the trailer for yourselves. Look closely to see quick glimpses of the cool monster designs, Liam Neeson as Zeus, and absolutely no sign of the original star Harry Hamlin.



SIDE BAR: When I went to Google images to find the poster for Clash Of The Titans it gave me the following as one of the choices:

Google, even when you are wrong you are right.

Stevie Wonder...Is That Your Boy?

The answer to this question is and will always be Hell Yes. Why? Exhibit A. Stevie tearing it up on Sesame Street. That's right. Sesame Street. Talk to this.

Hey Have You Seen That New Kick Ass Trailer?

Hey Hey Hey! Here's the trailer for the upcoming "Kick Ass". First off I love the poster above. It reminds me of the poster for Spider Man 2.


Something about the image of a hero looking over a city has always struck a chord with me. That being said it's still hard to trump this Dark Knight poster.

Something about Batman not even looking at the city and burning his symbol in the side of a building proves my theory once again that you're never going to grow up to be normal after your millionaire parents are murdered right in front of you.

But let's keep kicking it with "Kick Ass" shall we. "Kick Ass" is about a group of kids who take it upon themselves to become superheros. You had me at the word "Kick" my beloved film. CHUD wasn't crazy about the trailer. The trailer doesn't exactly knock it out the park but it's a teaser and it accomplishes just that. CHUD says the footage they saw at Comic Con is what's really going to turn people onto this film. We shall see. "Kick Ass" arrives in theaters on April 16, 2010.



You can check out the rest of the "Kick Ass" posters here.

(*This installment has won the award for "Most Appearances By The Words Kick Ass In One Blog". It would like to thank it's Mom and Jesus.)

Ricky Carmona: UnFunkinLimited

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chicago Underground Comedy Presents "Ricky Carmona UnFunkinLimited" Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009

Chicago, IL, November 2009 -- Chicago Underground Comedy (aka "ChUC") presents "Ricky Carmona UnFunkinLimited," at 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, December 1, 2009, at the Beat Kitchen (2100 W. Belmont, near Damen), in Chicago. The show will be free - no cover charge. The evening will be underscored by a live, professional DJ.

"Ricky Carmona UnFunkinLimited" is the fourth in a series of "Unlimited" shows designed to give ChUC's most powerful performers special extra-long sets. Carmona will headline the show with 45 minutes of his favorite jokes. Opening acts include host Chad Briggs, Joe Fernandez, and Carrie Callahan. Carmona chose his openers because, simply, "they're funny as hell."

Chicago's NewCity Magazine has praised Carmona's "High energy and free-wheeling, fearless delivery," describing him as "one of Chicago's best and brightest locals...unafraid to talk race and politics, he counteracts his edge with his unique style and affability." Last month, Ricky Carmona was named one of the top 20 stand-up comics in Chicago by Los Angeles based website Comedy.com, which claimed “...nobody fixes a bad mood quite like Ricky Carmona.” He was also featured in the award-winning documentary “Habla Mas,” on HBO Latino, (clip here) which chronicled the story of Latinos in Chicago.

The theme of the show, in Carmona's words, is "Good Funkin' Times. If it was up to me I would get a time machine and go back to the Parliament Funkadelic Mothership Connection Tour. I would bring P-Funk back with me and the show would start with P-Funk climbing out of the stage and funk just being smacked in people's faces. It's a party and errrybody is invited."

Carmona is a founding member of Chicago Underground Comedy and has been performing stand-up in Chicago since 2001, gracing the stages at the Lincoln Lodge, Joe's On Weed Street, The Chicago Center For The Performing Arts, Zanies and The Improv. He also currently performs with sketch group The ESL Players, who will kick off their new show "We Don't Need Know Stinkin' Edumucation!" November 25 at The Chicago Center For The Performing Arts.

**The Beat Kitchen is a 21-and-over club, and for this night, the show will be free - no cover charge**

Video of Ricky Carmona can be seen here and here, photos from ChUC can be seen here, and a brief highlight clip is here.

Chicago Underground Comedy is produced by rising stand-up star Dan Telfer, who has opened for Maria Bamford and Paul F. Tompkins at the Lakeshore Theater, and Elizabeth McQuern, who spoke about ChUC on Chicago Public Radio, and was profiled in Time Out Chicago.

Chicago Underground Comedy features today's best and brightest up-and-coming talent as well as returning guests including Chicago comedians who have found showbiz success on the coasts. Recent guests and alum include SNL and Colbert Report-featured Comedy Central and NBC writer Kumail Nanjiani, Letterman writer Kevin McCaffrey, Cloverfield star TJ Miller, John Roy (Craig Ferguson Show, Tonight Show With Jay Leno), John Mulaney (VH1, Comedians of Comedy), and Saturday Night Live writer Hannibal Buress (Craig Ferguson Show).

Media Contact: Elizabeth McQuern, Producer
Chicago Underground Comedy
elizabeth.mcquern@gmail.com

I Twit That Son!!!

Beautiful peoples! Now I'm on Twitter son. I'm up on that Twitter son! Follow me!

Aaaaand Here We Go....

What a world-what a world!!! I ain't gonna stop I just contin-yah! I haven't been promoting as much as I could, should, need to so here's some upcoming shows that you need to come out and see. Why? Cause it will do you no harm....it will do you no harm...do you no harm...you no harm.



Nov. 20-21st: Fajitas, Greens, & All in Betweens The line-up includes the amazing Brian Babylon, Joey Villagomez, Lucky Luciano, Marci Deloney, myself, along with poets Iasel and Free.

"Laughter is a universal language. It's a way to break the ice and bring people together. That's what YMCA youth development programs are about, transcending our differences and finding our commonalities....so it's a fun evening for a great cause. We couldn't ask for much more, " said Erskine Cunningham, Vice President of Human Services for the YMCA of Metro Chicago.

Tickets for the shows are $15 and can be purchased here.

Nov. 25th: It's the Opening Night celebration of "We Don't Need Know Stinkin' Edumucation!" After a successful run and due to popular demand The ESL Players have returned! Come out on Opening Night to El Teatro at The Center, 777 N. Green Street and enjoy this special event. Doors open at 7pm. Showtime is 8pm. Come for pre show drinks and house music by Chicago's very own Mario Romay. See the remounted show. Afterwards meet, drink, dance, and kick it with the cast!

Nov. 29th: Tony N' Tina's Wedding meets The Lopez Family: Get Ready! On Nov. 29th at 5pm "Tony n' Tinas Wedding" Goes Latino with Mikey O, Tita Lopez, and The ESL Players. Ticket includes full dinner, dancing to Salsa, Merengue, plus it wouldn't be a Lopez Party without some old school in the mix. Use "Mikey O' for discount when ordering tickets.


Dec. 1st: Ricky Carmona is UnFunkinLimited!!! Funk on over to the Beat Kitchen at 9:30 for another installment of CHUC's UNLIMITED series. I got some of my favorite comedians in the city for a night of some solid Chi-City Funkin' stand up. Hosted by Chad "Allow Me To Do It To Your Earhole" Briggs and featuring Joe "Don't Step On My Funk" Fernandez, Carrie "Can I Kick It" Callahan and I'll be your Headliner for the evening. Don't wipe that funk off yo' face! Did I mention this show is funkin' FREE. Dig it!!!

Halloween 2009 In Chi-City!!!

You want to know how Chicago comedians handled Halloween in the 2009? Check out this photo recap of all the good times courtesy of Kristy K-Rock! Mangel over at The Apiary. Randy Watson and I hope you all had a safe, fun, funky ass Halloweeen. Sexual Chocolate!