The Sweet Life of JUSTIN KREDIBLE

I've been thinking a lot about my buddy, comic conjuror JUSTIN KREDIBLE. A lot, often and highly. As I've written pretty consistantly here in the H2o House and in entertainment and magic reviews on other websites, I think J KRED is the next big thing.

House of H2o is a place where I am allowed to write in the first person. You see, I happen to write loads about pop culture, but much of it is done in the third person, without my name. Some in haiku. But here on this blog I gets to say it like it is-some of the postings are nice, others, not so much. But when it comes to JUSTIN KREDIBLE, well, like the kids say, 'It's all good."

Justin has been appearing-and disappearing- on The Rachael Ray Show on the regular for several years now and wow, as a result, the popular performer has been seen by tens of millions of people. Last week he stole the show on Disney, guest starring on the popular Suite Life on Deck.

Even more exciting, JUSTIN KREDIBLE has been named the #1 Act on college campuses year-after-year-after-year-after-year.


I have had the pleasure of seeing Justin perform 'live,' and am honored to have hung with him from time-to-time, on the Las Vegas Strip as well as at Hollywood coffee houses and I have to say, he's a good guy. He's a hell of a good guy.

JUSTIN KREDIBLE is living the sweet life indeed.

JACKSON BROWNE: 'Live' in Las Vegas and 'Alive in the World'

" To open my eyes, and wake-up 'Alive in the World.' "


I love JACKSON BROWNE.

I love what JACKSON BROWNE stands for, what he longs for, what he has become. Hell, I love him. I love him with all of my heart.

I wasn't quite old enough to be into JB when he first hit, but, as I tended to hang with people a little bigger than me, I heard the music of JACKSON BROWNE before I listened, and I felt it before I understood. And what's amazing about the songs of one of the greatest American poets ever is that, no matter when you get to them, they are there, waiting for you.

Take, for example, 'Lives in the Balance.' ('I've been waiting for something to happen; For a week or a month or a year.'). This is a great anti-war song, released back in 1986, when Ronald Reagan was President and Jackson Browne had to have been thinking El Salvador and Nicaragua. But, hearing him perform it tonight, it is as if it was written for Iraq and Afganistan. It is as if he had anticipated things to come.

Great songs can take you back to a specific time and place. A kiss. Your girl. That summer. But in the case of the music of JACKSON BROWNE, it is the songs that seem to transmutate, shifting in ways that surprise, inform and often amuse. Kind of like the guy who, as he grew older was surprised how smart his dad had gotten, I am often shocked at how well Jackson knew me, back then.

The sun is just setting over the mountains. I'm Looking East, but dreaming west. The Red Rock Resort is home tonight to JACKSON BROWNE and his band. He looks great and sounds, well, he sounds just like JACKSON BROWNE. And his songs? They sound familiar and also brand new. A few of the selections from the new CD, 'Time the Conqueror,' feel like they could have been written in the 60's, 70's, 80's, or whenever.

It is funny to be watching this beautiful artist tonight, 40 years since Woodstock. It is a feast for the senses and for the soul.

The music of JACKSON BROWNE is irresistable. And now, as I finish thumbing these words into the BlackBerry, I head backstage, humming a line from his most recent hit, a line I've sung for months but somehow only just now heard:

"Time in my mind;
The past of least resistance.
The future almost blind;
Both in need of assistance."

Man, I love JACKSON BROWNE!

NICK THUNE- The Real Deal in Las Vegas

Comedy isn't easy, and it certainly isn't easy to write about. Like the Supreme Court Justice (something I'll never be) and pornography (something that I'll never understand), I know comedy when I hear it.

So very much of what passes for humor today just isn't funny, but, every once in a while someone with a new and authentic voice appears and is heard above the babble, reminding me what comedy is supposed to do: it is supposed to make me laugh.

Most television SitComs on the air today are really just trees upon which jokes are hung. And? They aren't very well hung I'm afraid. Very much like a porn, which is a series of sex scenes, SitComs seem to have been written not in one voice, but by a group of trying- to- be- funny writers, seemingly desperate to churn-out a script on time. In Hollyworld, the group write process is aptly called a 'Gang Bang.'

Comic/musician NICK THUNE is the real deal. Like, say, JOHNNY CARSON, who was, at the same time the smartest guy in the room and the boy next door, NICK THUNE is the hippest but also the weirdest performer you'll ever see open his heart and mind, 'live' on stage.

On the way back from seeing the great Jackson Browne, who performed out at Red Rock Resort's Sandbar, I passed by Playboy Club at Palms, at the invitation of my friends who run the place and who know that I'm crazy about the comedy of NICK THUNE. Palms is a super successful hotel casino, just off the Strip but right in the center of the Las Vegas action and NICK THUNE and PLAYBOY is a nice fit. He has that dry but deep delivery, a young and handsome guy more hip than cool, and way more original than any young performer who ever played Las Vegas- ever!

After taking in the great music followed by the real comedy, I decided to walk home. I did. You see, I wanted to clear my head and try to make sense of the evening's great entertainment. *** Also? There was a hell of a fight between me and my -now ex, and she had the car keys. It's about five miles from the casino to my pad, and I made good use of the time. Clomping along in my size 12 Dr. Martin's, singing lyrics and then wondering aloud why certain things are instantly popular in our culture, here's what I concluded: First- I have big feet and Second- the public will always dig artists who speak in their own voice. Sounds simple, but it couldn't be easy for a performer to find-and then stick with, their authentic self.

If you wanna laugh- I mean, REALLY LAUGH, maybe watch some of NICK THUNE'S standup at Funny or Die (it isn't either/or, it's the name of a website) or perhaps view some of his comedy shorts (not apparel although he does look okay in his gf's panties in one vid) at Nick's site: www.nickthune.com

JULIANNE HOUGH is gonna be Twitter's #1 Celeb

DEREK HOUGH is a hell of a nice guy, a talented musician and an incredible dancer. According to Derek's recent Tweet, he and sweetie Shannon Elizabeth are no longer dating, which is really none of my business, but I gotta say he is the ONE boy dancer I can watch-and cheer for- who doesn't make me feel weird. A beautiful guy.

A few months ago, when I was in LA bein' cool & shit, Derek was nice enough to intro me to his sis- the sensational JULIANNE HOUGH, a Las Vegas Academy grad and, I predict, soon to be TWITTER'S # 1 Celeb.

H2O LOVES HOUGH! And congrats to Derek and Juilanne on the Emmy nomination! Great Balls of Fire!

JUILANNE'S Twitter updates are always entertaining and, like the beautiful dancer Miss Hough, cute as can be.

Sweet Tweets indeed.

SHARK H2O

I'm watching The Discovery Channel last night. It's only the first night of 'Shark Week,' and I'm already starting to freak out a little.

So here's the scene: a diver splashes into chum-filled waters, sharks circling from every direction. And a guy on the boat calls out, "Be careful!"

Be careful? Really?
Be careful?

WTF?

What a stupid thing to yell.

That's like dropping off a friend at in-patient rehab with the parting line, "Have fun!"

Or a surgeon asking his patient, right before the anesthesia kicks-in, to "Call me!"

It's like a lawyer turing to his client and saying, just as the life sentence is handed down, "Happy Holidays!"

It was just weird; it made me feel weird.

Yelling 'Be careful' to a guy swimming with man-eating sharks makes no sense, no sense at all. Might as well say, "Don't take any wooden nickles," or "Holler at your boy!"


Another thing: Chum. You know what that is, right? I mean, I could SMELL it from my flatscreen. Yuck-k-k-k! So why does "chum' also mean 'friend?' I mean, I think I understand why Tennessee Tuxedo's fatass stoner walrus buddy is named Chumley, but I don't think I get why 'friend' = 'dead fish.'

"Phineas J. Whoopee- you're the greatest!"