Author Topic: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me  (Read 16424 times)

Rabid Rick

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #15 on: November 08, 2013, 09:56:51 AM »
Tom taught myself that "Ya gotta do your thang" and be a cool cat.

"How dare you."

The Dancing Cat - Kitty Dance
PHILLY BOY!!!

Bryan

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #16 on: November 08, 2013, 10:05:54 AM »
Isn't this guy supposed to be banned?

Rabid Rick

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #17 on: November 08, 2013, 11:06:54 AM »
I see the Bryan is a Space Champion!

Yeah, the VAST space betwixt his ears.
PHILLY BOY!!!

around the bend

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #18 on: November 19, 2013, 02:17:21 PM »
Tom introduced me to Big Dipper.  For that I say thanks!  That and all the hundreds of hours of free entertainment.

Yousef

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #19 on: November 19, 2013, 04:50:54 PM »
1. You don't always have to be nice, but there should be justice. Bad callers get the heave-ho or better yet a Bad Company send off. There is always justice. This should carry into everyday life.

2. People like what they like.

3. Passion is never embarrassing. It is important to care about what you do, and that's noble. Snark will only carry us so far. It's about people, and all the connections we forge between ourselves.

4. Don't talk over the host. Knowing your place seems like a Victorian concept, but every situation has an etiquette to it. Don't talk over Tom--be gracious and listen. It's not always about you.

5. Fight the fight. I've been in some tough schools (I'm a teacher), and Tom's attitude toward adversity, that you should just do the work and fight the good fight, has given me some perspective and helped me propel through some stuff.

6. Let things end. It can't go on forever, and we should enjoy what we get. Tom worked on the show for 13 years, and he should get no flack for doing what he has to do for his family.

The show will be missed, but I can only be grateful that I got to hear it.

KickTheBobo

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #20 on: November 22, 2013, 06:22:15 AM »
I was given the opportunity to work with Tom & Jon on a number of Best Show related projects (stickers, shirts, cd covers, etc) which was a fantastic experience. I consider Tom my #1 Comedy Hero of all time and being able to collaborate with him was the best damn creative internship an "artist" could ever ask for.

Some lessons:

1) DO IT. Put the work in.

2) Work with the tools you got. Heck, when I first started making Best Show related photoshops, it was on a PC that I pulled out from a snowbank that looked like it got hit by a truck. Back in 2009, I made a feeble attempt to land a creative gig down in NYC. I ended up doing some spec work (read: free) for some shitty production house. I remember the guy that owned the place (which was outfitted with all manner of Mac Stations, Recording Gear, Cameras) making fun of my shitty Toshiba laptop that I was making stuff on.

I told the guy: "hey, I made more stuff on this $400 laptop last month than your whole studio does in a year". Needless to say, I didn't end up landing a gig there.

3) NYC is not the be-all-end-all. I used to have this dumb idea that in order to REALLY "make it" in the creative field, you HAD to live in NYC. For some, like actors/ comedians, i can certainly see how being in close proximity to where things are being made would be beneficial. Every place, however, has creative outlets (theatres, workshops, spaces) and people willing to collaborate. Heck, why be one of hundreds of aspiring UCB-ers when you can be the ONE person in your town running the damn show. you can also use the internet to connect and collaborate with people. Many of the things I did for the Best Show were collaborations with other artists across the country who I had never even met with in person.

4) Splash some cold water on your face.

5) Dozens of other life and artistic lessons that Tom/ Jon/ TBSOWFMU have taught me.

mostlymeat

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #21 on: November 22, 2013, 11:34:26 AM »

4) Splash some cold water on your face.


Amen.

buffcoat

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #22 on: November 22, 2013, 01:40:38 PM »
I learned that "God bless 'em" might be the Northeastern equivalent of the Southern "bless his/her heart." 
I really don't appreciate your sarcastic, anti-comedy tone, Bro!

Geoff Johnston

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #23 on: November 22, 2013, 05:49:40 PM »
I say this without a stitch of hyperbole or irony: The Best Show made me a better person.

Also, it stopped me from putting a Ramones onesie on my son.

tripledeke

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #24 on: December 12, 2013, 10:43:13 PM »
I learned never to compare people's looks to those of celebrities whether that comparison is supposed to be positive or negative.  It's not something I had ever made a habit of but something about hearing that topic the first time it was raised made me keenly aware that it's never worth it.

Bridgey

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #25 on: December 13, 2013, 07:32:47 AM »
Tom once off-handedly talked about doing his pre-show vocal warm-ups at the start of a show once. As a soprano in far too many amateur choirs, this reminded me about the importance of stretching and practicing vowel sounds, no matter how busy I am.

Oh, and another thing. The pointlessness of swearing and turlet talk. I've always appreciated the show's "Hard G" rating throughout the past 13 years, and wouldn't have noticed anyway given that the anecdotes and phonecalls were funny and entertaining on their own.

I know it makes me sound like a pearl-clutching prude, but I really dislike that sort of thing. I don't swear often in real life and hate being sworn at as I associate it with playground bullies and being in nasty arguments with older brothers. I also hate when people resort to it in arguments about music or feminism as it is akin to a nuclear option which makes things even worse for everyone involved.

So thanks Tom. Just don't start writing "The Thick of It set in a high-school radio station" now you've left!


mike a

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #26 on: December 13, 2013, 02:18:17 PM »
<<3) NYC is not the be-all-end-all.>>

Yes, this.  I spent most of my life in and around NYC; then moved in the late '90s for family reasons.  It turns out I've had more creative/journalistic opportunities out here in this mid-sized Midwest city than I ever did in NYC.  And I've been able to take the lessons I learned in that crowded city, including the importance of perseverence, and apply them here.  Had I remained in NYC, I surely would've become bitter(er) at the 22-year-olds populating the rock shows.

Rabid Rick

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #27 on: January 08, 2014, 11:27:05 AM »
Tom has taught myself to be a man that ladies love.
PHILLY BOY!!!

Kormodd

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #28 on: January 08, 2014, 12:47:19 PM »
Tom has taught myself me to be a man that ladies love.

God, am I really doing THIS now?
Ever do nothing and gain nothing from it?
Ever feel stupid and then know that you really are?
Ever think you're smart and then find out you aren't?
Ever play the fool and then find out that you're worse?

ArchieFromPGH

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Re: Things Tom and The Best Show Taught Me
« Reply #29 on: May 31, 2014, 08:11:38 AM »
Tom's way of being funny is harder to grab on to, I think, because it's more bizarre and more genuine than other comedy. Snark and mean-spiritedness is easier to do, but the effect is that it drives the bar ever-downward. I'm glad I stuck around in spite of early misgivings. Although it's made less funny a lot of stuff that I once would've found funny, I feel like a more elevated human. I'll make that trade any day.