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Comedy Night at the Guggenheim with Mark Christopher Lawrence Aug. 16,2024

UC San Diego Park & Market to Partner with Mark Christopher Lawrence

San Diego, CA (For Release) - UC San Diego Park and Market is proud to announce an exciting partnership with actor, comedian and producer Mark Christopher Lawrence to present Comedy Night at the Guggenheim Theatre on Friday, August 16.  Joining Mark will be musical act Ash Foster, Lisa Gilbert featured act Kurt Swann, and headliner Scott Wood. Doors open with a red carpet at 7:00 p.m. and show time at 8:00 p.m.

CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

Part of the UC San Diego Park & Market complex run by the Collaboratory for Downtown Innovation, The Guggenheim Theatre is one
of the most desired stages in San Diego. This partnership between UC San Diego Extension and the Downtown San Diego Partnership is designed to support entrepreneurs and Downtown innovators. Partner agencies in the project include the City of San Diego, Startup San Diego and SEED San Diego. Slated to be the best show in San Diego, Comedy Night at the Guggenheim is not to be missed.

“I am excited to be presenting the first of a new series of comedy shows at the Guggenheim Theatre in San Diego.”

- Mark Christopher Lawrence, Emmy Nominated Actor, Host of KPBS Pure Laughter

An international headliner who has worked with the likes of Sinbad, Jerry Seinfeld, Rodney Dangerfield, and Jeff Foxworthy, Mark Christopher Lawrence is best known for his series regular role as Big Mike on the NBC TV series CHUCK. He has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work on the short film “The Flourish” and his co-produced short “$TACK$” and appeared in the PurFlix mini-series “Fragment: Oblivion.” Mark is also Co-Executive Producer and host of the new clean comedy series Pure Laughter, now showing on KPBS and available on the KPBS APP.

Headliner Mr. Punchline, Scott Wood

Known as "Mr. Punchline," headliner Scott Wood has performed at such venues as The Ice House, The Comedy Store, and The Laugh Factory, and was named Stand Up Comedy Champion at the Improv Comedy Club. He is also the creator and host of the comedy cooking show "Something Smells Funny," currently streaming on Tubi TV.

Kurt Swann performs in comedy clubs and at corporate events and hosts the long-running comedy show, “West Coast Funnies.” HE is also a writer for the award-winning comic strip, “Dustin.”

 

Lisa Gilbert is a regular at Mic Drop Comedy Club and is recognized as one of the Best Of at The Comedy Store. Lisa has been featured in Comedy festivals like The Ladies Room Comedy Festival, Cactus Comedy Classic, Black Woman in Comedy Festival, and was a runner-up in the Funniest Housewives Comedy Competition.

A San Diego native, musical guest Ash Foster sings with multiple projects, including The Mondaze and The Gray Kats, as well as performing solo. She also hosts several events with House Concert Series and Make Music Day.

Musical Guest Ash Foster

“I am excited to be presenting the first of a new series of comedy shows at the Guggenheim Theatre in San Diego,” says Mark Christopher Lawrence. “We’ve put together an awesome team for this night, and I encourage you to get your tickets right away. We’re gonna ‘bring da funny’ to Downtown and send everyone home laughing.”

Tickets for Comedy Night at the Guggenheim are available on Eventbrite. To learn more about UC San Diego Park & Market, visit the website at parkandmarket.ucsd.edu. For information about Mark Christopher Lawrence, visit his website at MarkChristopherLawrence.com.

Mark Christopher Lawrence Hosts Squeaky Clean Comedy at Mic Drop in San Diego

San Diego, CA (For Release) -  Actor, comedian and producer Mark Christopher Lawrence, best known for his series regular role as Big Mike on the NBC TV series CHUCK, will host a comedy show in the Main Showroom at Mic Drop Comedy on Wednesday, May 15. Joining Mr. Lawrence will be headliner Lester Barrie, featured act Jesse Egan, and opening act. The evening will include a red carpet before the show, with doors opening at 6:00 p.m. for the 7:00 p.m. show.

Wednesday 5.15.2024 7:00 p.m. in San Diego, CA
CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS

An international headliner who has worked with the likes of Sinbad, Jerry Seinfeld, Rodney Dangerfield, and Jeff Foxworthy, Mark Christopher Lawrence was the 2012  recipient of the San Diego Critics Circle’s Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Actor Of The Year. He has been nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work on the short film “The Flourish” and on his co-produced short “$TACK$.” His most recent film, “Bringing Back Christmas” with Leigh-Allyn Baker, streamed over the Christmas season on multiple platforms.

 

Lester Barrie is not only a headlining comic, but he is also a Christian pastor. He has been the opening act for Ray Charles and been a co-headliner with Mike Epps, Jonnie Witherspoon, and Bruce Bruce. Mr. Barrie holds the distinction of being named best comedian on Star Search over a young Dave Chappelle in 1993, and he continues to appear on stage at the Laugh Factory in both Hollywood and Long Beach

Jesse Egan is a winner of the San Diego’s Funniest Person contest and performs stand-up in venues around the country. A graduate of UC San Diego, Mr. Egan has won 2 Emmys and an American Advertising Award as a script writer for Raindrop marketing. He also teaches courses in stand-up comedy and public speaking.

With a focus on slice-of-life situations, Jessica Alaniz has performed around Southern California. She has appeared at such venues as the Pasadena Ice House and the Laugh Factory in Long Beach and Hollywood.

 

“I’m excited to be back at Mic Drop for this night of Squeaky Clean Comedy,” says Mr. Lawrence. “We’re going to raise the roof with laughter and send everyone home smiling. I encourage everyone to come out and join us as we bring da funny. It will be holarious!”

Mic Drop Comedy is located at 8878 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. in San Diego. To order tickets for the show, visit https://www.micdropcomedy.com/events/90362. For more information about Mic Drop Comedy, visit the website at MicDropComedy.com. For information about Mark Christopher Lawrence, visit his website at MarkChristopherLawrence.com.

I am back...

Hello Typepad and Blog peeps.

As an early adopter and advocate of blogging it feels awkward that I stopped blogging. But like anything it's a muscle that needs to be used. 

Like exercising, you stop doing it and when you come back to it. You feel good about it and wonder why you stopped and want to do it again. 

I am hoping that it takes again. 

 

What's been happening? LIFE!

 

In the last 10 years I produced a ton of business television and radio. Covid Happened, lost a lot of people and it really put me into the very comfortable but uncomfortable "introverted" space. 

 

I mean seriously being an high extrovert makes for a fairly bad producer. You can't be bigger than the client. 

Does this mean that I'll stop producing, absolutely not. 

I am simply going back to the beginning when I did both. I have the less prominent producer position and the more noticeable extrovert / GURU position. 

The Guru us back people. 

 

 

Kumu Lua Michelle Manu Interviews SahyunNim Victor Teran at the 2019 Masters Hall of Fame

Costa Mesa, CA (For Release) - SahyunNim Victor Teran, a 7th Dan Black Belt in Taekwon-Do, was inducted into the Masters Hall of Fame at the 20th Anniversary Awards Banquet at the Hilton Orange County Costa Mesa. The event featured Dr. Robert Goldman as Grandmaster of Ceremonies and action film star Sifu Cynthia Rothrock as Keynote Speaker. Following the induction ceremony, Master Teran spoke with Kumu Lua Michelle Manu, a Senior Black Belt and instructor in Hawai’ian Kaihewalu Lua, on the red carpet.

A combat veteran and trainer for the United States Marine Corps, Master Teran also spent more than a decade working for the U.S. State Department in the Diplomatic Security Service before returning home to open the International Taekwon Do Academy in New Jersey. His experiences teaching, especially with young children, inspired Teran to write the first of his three children’s books, Landon’s First Taekwon-Do Lesson. The book recounts the experiences of his own son at his first lesson.

SahyunNim Victor Teran

Masters Hall of Fame Red Carpet 2019

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“I can see a lot of difference in the kids when they practice the martial arts, especially a lot of positive changes in their bodies and mentally as well,” explains Teran. “I decided to share my experience with what I see with all the children.”

The Masters Hall of Fame was founded in 1999 and is recognized as the premier Martial Arts event on the West Coast. The association recognizes exceptional Martial Arts Leaders and Legends through induction into the Masters Hall of Fame. Honorees are chosen for their dedication to and support of the martial arts and their work in the community. 

For more information or to contact Master Teran, visit his website at internationaltkdacademy.com. Find more information on the Masters Hall of Fame at mastershalloffame.org.

Victor Teran and I having fun on the Red Carpet. 

Special Thanks to Kumu Lua Michelle Manu for being our on camera talent. She has knowledge, appreciation and talent that goes beyond martial arts. Bringing great depth to the Red Carpet Marital Arts interview.

CES 2020: Mark Christopher Lawrence & Jonathan Winbush Awarded DreamlandXR “Best Director

_{Congrats to Jonathan Winbush, Mark Christopher Lawrence and Hugh Hou on this VR Win. Such a fun project, when technology and comedy meet...}

San Diego, CA (For Release) - The creative team behind actor and producer Mark Christopher Lawrence’s virtual reality (VR) comedy special, “Live at the Mad House Comedy Club,” has been honored with the Best Director Award at the 2020 DreamlandXR Festival. The Festival took place in Las Vegas January 6-10, 2020, in connection with the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES). In addition to Lawrence, the team included award-winning motion graphics artist Jonathan Winbush and immersive technology guru Hugh Hou.

DreamlandXR Red Carpet

DreamlandXR Red Carpet CES 2020 SHOW. 

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The DreamlandXR Festival brought together the best and newest in virtual reality and augmented reality entertainment, music and E-sports. The organization is dedicated to being a driving force in the immersive technology industry. “Live at the Mad House Comedy Club” took honors alongside such industry giants as the Cartoon Network, The Lion King Movie, CNN, and Lego Batman. The judging panel included experts from HTC, Paramount, Dell, Google, Lenovo, and HP. A full list of DreamlandXR winners can be found at dreamlandxr.com/voting.

The project began more than a year before, when the VR360 technology it featured was still new. Merging the 360 and 180 formats used required a number of platforms and some creative mixing of the 8K footage. Because it was filmed in an actual comedy club, lighting presented an additional challenge. Adding to all this was the fact that, as a stand-up comedy show with a live audience, the team had only one chance to get it right. 

“Filming VR in the dark usually is very costly,” explained Hou, who is a Co-Founder and Creative Director for production studio CreatorUp. “We had to be very creative on camera placement and remote monitoring to make the camera angles feel like an audience so viewers can feel like they are really there.”

“This is a big win because we did create something that's the first of its kind, being a standup comedy special in VR,” said Winbush, who has been rated as one of the top 25 artists in Hollywood by Inferno Development. “Since releasing the project we've been invited by Chinese VR company VeeR to do a virtual Q&A about the project, we've had the project featured by software company Mettle, and it was FireFox's VR pick of the week for December.”

“Working with Jonathan and Hugh on this project was just amazing,” said Lawrence of the collaboration. “These two guys simply worked magic. It was an honor and a pleasure to put this show together.”

Mark Christopher Lawrence is available for media interviews on his current projects. For more information about Mark Christopher Lawrence, visit markchristopherlawrence.com. Learn more about projects by Jonathan Winbush at winbushimmersive.com and by Hugh Hou at creatorup.com. Media and PR inquiries please contact KamatoyMediaGroup.com by clicking here. 

#Twizzlers vs. #Redvines, Who you got?

Today we ask the ultimate question one that may continue to reinforce the great emotional divide occurring in our country.

Twizzlers or Red Vines?

I recently picked up a pack of Red Vines after rewatching Fringe a few months ago. Today I was inspired when I walked past the two packages on the shelf and was listening to the impeachment hearings.

A quick history lesson...

“Red Vines is a brand of red licorice candy manufactured in Union City, California by the American Licorice Company. ... The original Red Vines were raspberry-flavored, but in 1952, with a slight formula change, the Red Vines Original Red Twist flavor was introduced.” Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Vines

Twizzlers is the product of Y&S Candies, Inc., of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, now a subsidiary of The Hershey Company.

“Twizzlers are made of corn syrup, wheat flour, sugar, cornstarch, and in smaller amounts palm oil, salt, artificial flavor, glycerin, citric acid, potassium sorbate, Red 40, and soy lecithin.

While the original flavor introduced in 1845 was licorice, in the late 1970s the company began to expand its flavors to include strawberry, grape, chocolate, cherry, and watermelon flavors, and a variety of shapes and sizes.” Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twizzlers

I did not expect that Twizzlers history dates back farther than Red Vines.

The Facts

Both use Corn Syrup which is lame but that’s just the reality of the candy world. Neither contain Licorice in the Red variant.

Twizzlers has more ingredients  vs. a more simple recipe for Red Vines. 

Also Red Vines is owned by a small company vs. the behemoth that is The Hershey Company. 

I think its clear why Red Vines seems to climb to the top of the gelatin rope here. Also Red Vines gets our vote from packaging as well. They actually have copy on the packaging, telling a story and Twizzlers has no copy  on the package I bought.

Personally I seem to prefer  Red Vines. Its interesting to note that I read a review that mentioned the softness of the Twizzlers but my two batches. The twizzlers were hard and honestly it was like eating plastic. I am open to testing other flavors etc. 

Even though Red Vines seems to be the winner here. As I was writing this, at the end of the day I still reached for some grapes which were sweeter. 

The Alternative Fact (Just Kidding)

 

 

Who you got?

Let me know and I will include some references and comments in the final post.

David Kamatoy has been blogging since 2005. The Multi-Creative Entrepreneur is a juggler literally and figuratively. After producing Nationally Syndicated Radio and TV for the last 5 years he returns to the blogosphere with entertainment and entrepreneurship. Join his circle of influence via the email list which will give you first right of refusal to join the cult. 

 

Starting a movement is a weird thing. Re-brand is about to launch

(BLOG JOURNAL) We are about to start rebranding projects under a movement, self -development things, cult? Not sure what to call it really. 

Since the inception of the show years ago and my work with start-up and emerging companies to variety artists, martial artists, actors, and performers. There have been these philosophical traits, strategies...guideposts. As we got closer to figuring out what to call it, comically the bottleneck got smaller as we realized we were onto something.

I am all for being productive and in the world of social media, just talking about and sharing the process has value.

But I also think there is a reason that studios don't allow you to talk about a film until you get distribution. I think there is a balance. If you are closer to a start-up and you're young then you definitely want to figure out how to grow the audience while growing the business. The more established you are the more you want or feel the need to show up "perfect." 

The only problem with that is if you do not have an audience to be perfect with. It's like performing in the desert with no audience and no recording devices.

I am coming back online. We are launching this THING. But we are going to do it slowly and build a following in the process. 

This blog and twitter will be my most raw thought process. 

The original intention of a web blog was just that an online journal. Weblog or Web log. A log that is available on the worldwide web. 

Here we go, again. This is going to be interesting. 

 

 

"Typewriter Blog Theme" on Typepad, David Kamatoy's original Blog gets retro update.

It seems like a typewriter blog theme on typepad make perfect sense. I did a version of this in the past but I am trying to get a bit more detailed. 

My design idea for the blog is a typed paper sitting on a desk.  Iv'e been trying to get warmer tones out this last website build for a client and I think that carried over to this idea. I wanted to keep our red, black and white Kamatoy Media Group and Jugglemail theme but give it a warm retro typewriter feeling. Here are the elements I used to create to piece this blog theme together. It is a work in progress...

 

Element #1: Special Elite Font

The font. I ended up choosing the "Special Elite" Google Font by Astigmatic, Principal Design that mimics the Smith Corona Special Elite Number NR6 and the Remington Noiseless typewriter models according to the Google Font website. Which can be found here. https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Special+Elite

I really think the effect of this font on top of the paper backdrop really works well. I want add some white out or a coffee stain. 

Using CSS in Typepad is a little tricky but not too bad. I used the customized template with adding the CSS. I could have really gone deep with it and played with the HTML but for now, this worked. 

Element #2: Paper Post Background

I chose a paper background from Envato. I had to play with a texture that was not too distracting. As close to white as possible. In case the image doesn't load. The color behind the image is white or near white.

I am a true believer of white backgrounds especially for email marketing. Image backgrounds on email is never a good idea.So typically in order for us to continue the style guide from website to email on the Jugglemail (our project) platform I typically choose white. 

Element #3: Desktop Backdrop

I also went with an an Envato wood backdrop for now. After playing with a few options,  Ideally I need an image that is repeatable that has warmth without drawing attention away from the text. I uploaded this as 4000 px accross, the reason is that I found that the repeating image worked better on a 1920 screen. Above the fold with one scroll kept the theme. There are other wood options that I played with but this was the one that did the best job of being a background vs. a "Ooh look at that background." background. 

I may go crazy at some point and try to overlay images on my hands on the sides of the blog as if they are sitting on the desk.  If I can set it up so that my hands stay while the background moves. That would be cool. 

Here is the code link for Typepad CSS. https://help.typepad.com/background_images.html

Element #4: The Banner

The banner is using another typewriter font from Adobe, Typeka Regular. I used the same paper backdrop and added a few lines on the blog to help break up the layout a bit. I had to incorporate the 3 ball mark, my name and additional text. 

This typepad format is suggesting a 1000px- 1200px native accross. So I did 1000px. I included a little of my bio which I feel is always going to be confusing but that's one the reasons for the blog. To show the crazy diversity skill set. I ended up going flatter with the logo vs. shadowed. But I did throw in that Typewriter image to carry the retro theme through. 

This is a work in progress and I am going to continue to tweak the code on this and also play with the layouts of blog posts, so that they fit. 

This typewriter theme blog allows me to have a little fun since my other related sites should  take a more traditional tone to them.

Please comment if you are doing something similar or found something similar. I did a cursory search and was surprised that nothing immediately came up. There was a cool typing effect blog theme though so that's cool.