The Peanut Gallery Anniversary - Ramapo's Comedy Troupe

Today March 14th marks the 14th anniversary of the very first PEANUT GALLERY SHOW at Ramapo College. The Peanut Gallery was Ramapo COllege's first and foremost comedy troupe. Founded by Josh Ritter, Rob Pantano, Christine D'Agostino and myself we tackled everything from slap-stick comedy to political satire. Here is a clip from our very first show. SAMURAI BREATH SPRAY

A Video Blog From the Future - 2101

Time Travel with us and take a sneak peak at the future. Laz Vic's Great Great Great Great Great Grandson sends in a Video Blog from the Future!http://youtu.be/BYYDImKP6tY

BRAH!TV Episode 1

Ladies and Gentlemen Welcome to BRAH!TVEpisode 1 - A Brief History of Brah.

Laz on Jimmy Fallon

I was lucky enough to get one of my tweets read on the air. It played all weekend in NYC cabs and I kept getting calls from drunk friends claiming I was on Jimmy Fallon to my denial. Thanks Jimmy!!

Greenwich Village Comedy Club

July 2012 Set

Copyright THIS!

This Article is in the Public Domain. Ladies and gents, we have goose stepped our way into a brave new world; a world where everything under the sun is up for “ownership”.  All you need is a copyright or patent. The song "Happy Birthday"; is currently owned by Time Warner until 2030.  They purchased it for 2 million dollars back in 2008. Really? You can own Happy Birthday?  Should we be afraid of singing this at our next birthday bash?  Will herds of pre-teens be thrown in prison with ice-cream cake stains still on their overalls?

If the Beastie Boys were to put out the same albums that we loved so much today, they would be sued under our current copyright laws. How many other songs, works of art, or films are we missing out on because of these new infringements upon our freedom to express ourselves?  The sad result of these restrictions is all around us. Entertainment has become watered down. It's obvious when you watch a movie trailer like Battleship.  I don't recall any aliens invading my Battleship when I was a kid.

Transformers...I mean Battleship? Trailer: http://youtu.be/N_mmHf-z22k

Who could forget the finale of Smallville.  We waited 10 years for Superman to put on the damn suit.  We FINALLY see him fly…without the suit?! WHAT!?!  Superman finally flies…in plain clothes…while clutching in one hand the iconic red and blue suit. Really?! Did he need to dry clean it before putting it on? If I were Tom Welling I’d be pissed! That last shot where he opens his shirt and reveals just the “S” logo was bullshit! The producers claim it was a creative decision but this blogger thinks it was over “ownership” issues.

Superman - Fail: http://youtu.be/N_mmHf-z22k

YouTube is the biggest hypocrite of them all. They built a successful business by knowingly allowing copyrighted material to flourish on their site.  They made hundreds of millions selling the company to Google who immediately backpedaled by introducing new copyright requirements and punishing us, the users. Do you really think videos of cats playing the piano made the company rich alone?

Today Judge David Shaw recommended that the Xbox 360 be banned in the United States over a patent dispute with Motorola. He actually said that intellectual property supersedes maintaining diversity in the market.  In other words, screw the consumer, its MINE MINE MINE! What are we two year olds who can't share?  This guy isn't fit to judge a spelling bee. There's nothing intellectual about that.

We as a society must evolve into the notion that once an idea is out in the universe; it belongs to all of us.

     “If nature has made any one thing less susceptible than all others of exclusive property, it is the action of the thinking power called an idea, which an individual may exclusively possess as long as he keeps it to himself; but the moment it is divulged, it forces itself into the possession of every one, and the receiver cannot dispossess himself of it. Its peculiar character, too, is that no one possesses the less, because every other possesses the whole of it. He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.”

                        Thomas Jefferson 1813

I’m surprised they haven't tried to copyright the planet Earth.

John Lennon wrote "Imagine", for all of us. Sure, he was compensated for his work and I agree with that.  I also agree no one should reproduce his work and make a profit from it.  With that said, I also believe that once that work is finished anyone should be able to enjoy it in anyway they see fit. If I want to listen to the Beatles underwater while wearing a turban I should be able too.  If I want to mash up the entire Beatles album and call it, "The Polka Dot Album", that is my right. If I post it online I'm doing so for fun, not profit. Of course it’s not all that black and white, artists should be protected. That is when a little thing called “Common Sense” can be employed.

You can even patent living things! Yes, you too can now own your very own biological organism! Come on down to Billy’s Bio-Wonder Wall and Emporium! Off route 66! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_patent

If you don't think this issue affects you just wait until the new ISP Internet rules go into effect this summer.  Basically giving the entertainment industry carte blanche into your computer for downloading any material they deem violates their terms. If you do not comply they'll just shut down your Internet connection. Nice right? http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/15/2873515/isp-riaa-piracy-warning-july-12

One solution may be for all of us to band together and bombard the Internet with mash-ups of copyrighted material.  Remix the birthday song, post your favorite "Friends" episode with a porn soundtrack, or create a Budweiser commercial with inter-spliced scenes from Jurassic Park. Perhaps we should just stop buying their stuff and create our own.

Creativity is about using your imagination and building upon ideas. I refuse to recognize groups like the RIAA or MPAA because they never applied for a patent to my thoughts.  When it comes right down to it, there is no such thing as copyrights my friends. It is all in our heads…literally.

Source video for this article was found on, YouTube…Ironic isn’t it?

Friday the 13th - The Blog!

4-Alarm Fire in North Bergen.http://youtu.be/44FJLk7gD2E Che..Che...Che...Blog!

What's up party people.  Its Friday the 13th and I'm just glad its Friday!  Lots of adventure this week.  On Wednesday I came home from work to a huge 4-alarm fire a couple of blocks away from my apartment.  It looked like a war zone with fire, police, helicopters, and what seemed like every news van on earth. They closed down my entire block and you could see the black smoke from a mile away.  Every time their is a fire in my town a large group of people gather like lemmings to witness it.  It's like a morbid block party.  The irony of it all is that my girlfriend just dropped off her expensive suit jacket to the cleaners in that building just a day before. Since they are Chinese she still holds out hope they'll clean it anyway.

I recognized one of the reporters from Pix 11 news and I was tempted to jump into one of the live broadcasts and yell "BABABOOEE!". I noticed after broadcasting these reporters would just stand around in the cold and wait until the next one. Some would pile into the tight news van with their crew and suddenly the reporter's job didn't seem so glamorous.

A lil common sense goes a looong way.

 It seems as though the past few years have seen a slew of comedians who passed away too soon. Patrice O'Neil, Greg Geraldo, and Mike DeStefano to name a few. While living in LA it seemed like every other week I'd hear about another young comic's demise and it was unsettling.  A heart attack, a drug overdose, or a car crash were just some of the many causes of death.  My Facebook page quickly began to look like the daily obituaries.  I wondered if the proliferation of the social networks made it seem like their were more deaths or was the business of comedy just reaching a dangerous new level.

According to Steve Martin's book "Born Standing Up", their were about 100 or so comedians traveling the country in the 70's. Today it seems like every Tom, Dick, and Harry call themselves comedians. The competition is fierce and for the most part not based on talent at all. Rather its based on what I call the "What can you do for me" syndrome.

  Comedian: I'm interested in performing at your club.   Booker: How many people can you bring?

The fact is that comedians are getting the shit end of the stick.  Club owners and bookers are getting rich by promising exposure instead of real life dollars. Comics are nervous about pushing for compensation because another comic will just do it for free. The bottom line is we are working and  providing a specialized service that we should be compensated for.  I don't hire a painter and then tell him he should paint my house for the exposure.

I agree that new comics should be hungry for it and pay their dues but that's what open mics are for. While this isn't the only contributing factor to what's happening to these young comics it certainly is the big fat pink polka dotted elephant in the room. Until we demand our fair share we will never elevate ourselves in the field.  Maybe if these guys were making a better living they would have longer lives.

Congratulations are in order!

My good friend Mark Viera just landed a new sitcom on Fox. George Lopez is executive producer.  I wish him all the luck in the world.  It's nice to see truly funny artists making it!

Humor Mill Magazine Article

Learn Spanish - One Word a Day!

A revolutionary new language program that simplifies the learning process by teaching you just one word a day!

A Video Blog from the Future!