Free Comic Book Day
Calling it free comic book day is a misnomer because this day turned out very expensive.
The day begin, meeting up with Travis and Wes at Jethros for some Banana, Peanut Butter, and Bacon pancakes. Most of the conversation was Travis trying to explain to Wes what happens in the movie Freaked and convulsing in laughter. Travis is a lot like me and has a pretty infectious laugh.
I then crossed the street to Jays. This was a bitter sweet Free Comic Book Day because it was the first one that didn't have a Simpsons comic from Bongo after the line ended. Being the giant Simpsons fan that I am I always looked forward to that.
You can see when my heart breaks in half.
But the upside is that I get a new Tick Comics. Which is strange; I do not understand how the Tick can get an animated series and two live action shows can't sustain a monthly comic? I did really enjoy this, the page with the "Worlds Greatest Meatloaf" made me laugh pretty hard!
Next Ryan asked if I could stop by his place to let Champ out to go to the bathroom, Champ is his dog by the way. Not an old man he keeps chained up in his basement. That man's name is Joe.
I was happy to let Champ out because I love me some dogs and Champ is a winner of the coveted Good Boy award from Dogs I Saw.
Food Truck Throwdown
My friend Felica reminded me of the Food Truck Throw down taking place about three blocks from where the Hold For Swank show was. My plan had been to take my comics home, walk the dogs, watch Star Wars, and then head to the show but the idea of food truck food sounded tasty. I have the cuisine of the entire world on a two block strip, I'd be a fool not to take advantage of that!
I had a plethora of options; everything ranging from Caribbean food to Venezuelan, Burgers to Mediterranean. I clearly didn't learn my lesson from last week and went to an old stand by, an Italian grinder, fried sausage and cheese on a bun. I washed that down at the Outside Scoop with a chocolate brownie batter ice cream cone.
After eating I made my way to the show. I took some shots of gorgeous Des Moines.
One place of note was this wall next to the Des Moines Social Club, there seems to be a different theme on the this wall every so often. The last one was ocean life, sharks, fish, turtles, ect. It has gotten a new theme since them.
My goal is to one day have this painted up like the vampire shark! The entire wall while be dedicated to the greatest vampire shark comic book that Des Moines Iowa has ever produced!
Maybe when the movie comes out. :)
Hold For Swank
I was pretty excited to do the show with Hold For Swank. I love their music and I've become pretty close friends with two of the band members. But I failed to read the invite and was unaware that this was an all ages show. That put my set into a bit of bind.
First up was a new band called Ten Four, a punk trio, I was really into them from the get go but when they did a cover of Rancid's Journey to the End of the East Bay I was officially a fan.
https://www.facebook.com/TenFourband/
As the show went on Wes told me he was feeling nervous because of the kids in the crowd, plus we didn't have anyone introducing us. For a comedian you kind of need someone to say "Hey everyone get your ears ready for Wes?" or whatever. We decided to introduce each other.
I knew Wes was nervous so I tried to give him a good intro by building up the crowd.
"Hey everyone, we have a very special comedian for you. He's pretty nervous because he is not used to performing in front of children. In fact he's legally not supposed to be around children." I said. I heard Wes say "I hate you," from the darkness of the club.
He had a good set. Like I said, this was a tough spot for a comedian and he followed all the rules put into place for him. He did his time, kept it clean, even wrote jokes about Star Wars.
Next up was a band called the Tough Ghosts. I am sorry I can't give you much feedback on them because at this point I was getting pretty tipsy. What I heard they were pretty good.
Next up, it was my turn. Max had said he wanted people to dress up like Star Wars characters. I had a plan to dress up as casual day Jek Porkins, just dress up in my dad's robe and then cover myself in Cheetos cheese dust.
I changed my plan when I felt I had to push my comic and brand so I wore my vampire shark shirt.
They can be bought here if you were wondering. :)
https://ahabvanhelsing.threadless.com/?fbclid=IwAR2MPp4xglHvKo9gs3AsmUsO4hOiBmP6__F6cBv8JlXNWYMO7oFYWdQhCoI
But that plan when out the door too when I got alcohol in me.
I took my shirt off, the one I wanted to entice people to buy (!) and then put my bag on my head and went as the Racncor Keeper.
The joke being that no one else (Save for the drummer in Ten Four) dressed up in Star Wars gear.
"I feel like a real horses ass," was the first thing I said at this all ages show.
I called myself the Boba Fett of sex because I look amazing but ultimately don't do anything and just disappointed people. (One part of this is a lie. I'll let you decided which part...ladies)
I wrote a joke about Hold For Swank where I called them the Jar Jar Binks of Des Moines Punk Rock, thinking Max and Eric would find that funny. That got me booed from the crowd.
I began doing movie related jokes, those got laughs, and then moved on to strip clubs and dating. At one point a woman exclaimed "I do not want to hear this!" when I began my closing joke about my stomach which I found out there is no clean way to say that.
I honestly felt bad after my set. But then people told me I was hilarious. Andrew, my nephew, told me that was the best he had ever seen me. So, when I was on stage I heard "I Hate You." "I Don't Want to Hear This." And then they booed me = the best set they had ever seen.
Holy shit that is a low bar!
Also got pictures of bygone era.
After that Andrew, Abby, Wes and myself made our way to Updown.
Two take aways
There Chicken and Waffle Pizza is delicious (as was their pepperoni)
They need an air conditioner. I was dripping sweat while playing GI Joe, it was like I walked up a flight of stairs. I finally felt like I was going to get sick so we made our way to the rooftop for some fresh air and then called it a night.
Ahab Van Helsing vs Nosferatu Carcharodon
I found out that issue 3 of Ahab Van Helsing vs Nosferatu Carcharodon sold out at the West Side Jays! South side still has stock or you can email me for a digital copy.
Dogs I Saw
I didn't get an episode of Dogs I Saw recorded this week but here's an old classic with Millie the Duck author Kaylin Von Ahnen!
https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/dogsisaw/episodes/2019-02-14T08_58_31-08_00
As always Thank you for reading and PLEASE SUBSCRIBE