1) Paul Provenza & the Art of Stand-Up Comedy on NPR.

2) Steve Martin & Ed Helms with banjos for Rolling Stone [via Comedy Nerds United]

3) Curb Your Enthusiasm returns for it’s last season (maybe) tonight. HBO. 10PM.

4) Many wonder what, “Carmeggedon”, the shutting down of the 405 Freeway on July 16th will look like. Tony Sam and Aparna Nancherla help give us an idea.

5) Craig Vanswers whether he likes dogs (sort of…)

7) ON THE HORIZON
 

6) COMEDY CRAWL
Set List @ Flappers YooHoo Room 7PM $10/2 item min.
8 Ball Stand-Up @ Westwood Brew Co 7:30PM FREE
ASSSSCAT @ UCB Theatre 7:30PM FREE
Re-Animator: The Musical @ Steve Allen Theater 8PM $30
French Toast @ Taix 8:30PM FREE
Powerviolence @ The Complex 8:30PM FREE
Top Story Weekly! w/Greg Proops @ iO West 9PM $5
BIFF’s Flappers Funny Film Fest @ Flappers Burbank 9PM $10/2 item min.
Hot Sauce @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5 (stand by only)
Love Machine Comedy Show @ M Bar 10PM FREE/$10 min. 
Skinny Sundays @ Hollywood Improv 9:30PM $14/2 item min. 
Shitty Jobs @ UCB Theatre 11PM $5 (stand by only) 

7) OPEN MIC RUN
PALMS 8572 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/lottery
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/$4 min./first come, first served
NERDIST THEATRE 7522 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (back room of Meltdown Comics)/Sign-up 7:15PM/Starts 7:30PM/lottery/30 spots available/no purchase necessary
TSUNAMEDY @ TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA (Echo Park)/Sign-up 8PM/Starts 9PM/first come, first served/mixed mic
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5/multiple sets allowed/bottled water and coffee available  

8) Oh yeah, go see Beginners as soon as possible. Maybe not alone while nothing but happy couples sit around you and you’re clearly on the verge of crying, but you guys should go see it the first chance you get.

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1) Kyle Kinane on Conan. Don’t you even think about reading anything else on here until you watch this.

2) CNN has comedy? Oh, it’s with Maria Bamford… [via Punchline Magazine]

3) Yesterday, hashtag game #DescribeYourPenisWithaMovie trended on Twitter and though you may have skipped metaphorical descriptions of male genitalia on your Twitter feed (and we understand), here are the five that are damn funny no matter what your stance on penis tweets are.
Wendy Liebman-@WendyLiebman Missing
Jim Hegarty-@JimHegarty The Untouchables
Steve Agee-@SteveAgee There Will Be Blood
Ryan Stout-@StoutRyan-Kids
Megan Amram-@MeganAmram The Hurt Locker (#describeyourvaginawithamovietitle) 

4) In the tradition of Follow Friday on Twitter, we here at the Comedy Bureau are going to give 3 weekly picks as to who killed it on Twitter over a seven day period and thus follow. THIS WEEK: Matt Knudsen-@MattKnudsen, Abbey Londer-@abbeylonder, Andrés Du Bouchet-@dubouchet.

5) LA Noire in real life.

Real Life L.A. Noire - watch more funny videos

6) A pilot taping starring Paul F. Tompkins needs audience members!!! E-mail tmsaudience@gmail.com if you want to join in.

7) Rob Corddry Interview by Vice Magazine

8) Garfunkel & Oates need extras for their webseries:

Garfunkel and Oates is looking for guys and girls who could be available for one or several days Tues-Friday next week. There are opportunities for men and women to be in featured parts. This is non-paid, non-union work. It’s also best if you live in the Los Angeles area or can get here on your own. We do not pay for travel or other expenses.

We are also looking for women over 18 who might be interested in some more specific roles. There will be some pay for these roles only.

Please send a phone number, photo, your full name and your availability from June 20 to June 24, plus any questions to gandocasting@gmail.com. 

9) Larry David on the Tonight Show-Part 1-Part 2

10) We’ve talked about making sure you watch when Louie (Thurs. June 23rd 10:30PM on FX) and Futurama (also Thurs. June 23rd at 10PM on Comedy Central) come back, but make absolutely sure that you watch when the Green Room with Paul Provenza makes its return to Showtime on Thurs. July 14th 11PM.

11) Puddin’-“Lil’ Bow Wow”

12) COMEDY CRAWL
Comedy Central Showcase @ Flappers Burbank 7:30PM FREE
Brian Posehn @ Hollywood Improv 8PM $20/2 item min.
Jimmy Dore @ Flappers Burbank 8PM/10PM $17/2 item min.
The 12 Shiny Nickels Show @ Hollywood Improv Lab 8:30PM $5 
Stood Up Friday Night: Look At It This Way @ Moving Arts Theater 10PM $5
The Also Ran Comedy Hour @ Hollywood Improv Lab 10:30PM $5
The LA Indie Improv Tournament Finals @ UCB Theatre 11PM $5 

13) OPEN MIC RUN
SET LIST @ FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia, Burbank, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 5:30PM/given “set list” of topics to do jokes off of/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
iCANDY 1708 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served/$3 min./mixed mic/booked show in middle around 8PM
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE 2906 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)/Sign-up (lottery) 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/4 min./no purchase necessary
MAX BLOOM’S 200 N. Malden Ave., Fullerton, CA/Starts 7PM/booked show after/no purchase necessary
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM
GLENDALE DAYS INN 450 N. Pioneer Dr., Glendale, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 8PM/No foul language/No purchase necessary/first come, first served   
TRINITY CHURCH 1015 California Ave., Santa Monica, CA/Starts 8PM/must work clean/no purchase necessary/first come, first served 

14) Do people know how to genuinely laugh anymore? Can you be the only person laughing and not be embarrassed? I’m starting to suspect that people can’t do either of these things or maybe I just like laughing at suicide jokes and people inappropriately (or appropriately depending on how you look at it) clapping at it.

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1) American: The Bill Hicks Story is out on DVD today here in the States!!! 

2) You can win a copy of American if you submit your favorite Bill Hicks quote at the Sataristas FB event page here.

3) Do Modern Comedy Roasts Need More Class? (Punchline Magazine Article by the Comedy Bureau)

4) The Walsh Brothers Go “Planking”

5) One of the funniest people we know here at the Comedy Bureau (an early recipient of the Tip of the Hat) Abbey Londer is actually using her Twitter account, so we highly suggest that you follow @abbeylonder so you can catch “Stop fucking smiling at me it’s just a latte you idiot. #firemealready”.

6) Sappity Tappity, the Drunken Roller Skating English Christmas Tree (Jon Daly) Tries to Explain Himself.

7) Theatre of Life w/Nick Rutherford and Beck Bennett.  Essentially, it’s “extreme people watching”, well… as extreme as “people watching” can get.

8) Connected Comedy: What I’ve Learned in My First Three Months on Tumblr.  Great Article AND we’re mentioned in it.  Thanks Connected Comedy.

9) Bad Hostage Negotiator with Rob Corddry.  Plenty of you have seen this, but, truly, we’d regret not posting here.

10) COMEDY CRAWL
Drinking Buddies Presents @ Hollywood Improv 8PM $14/2 item min. 
Drunk On Stage: Pride Week! @ Akbar 8PM FREE
The LA Improv Comedy Fest: The Armando Show w/Drew Carey @ iO West 8:30PM $25
Comedy Bang Bang @ UCB Theatre 8:30PM $5 (stand by only)
For a Few Geeks More @ Michael’s Bar & Grill 9PM FREE 
Lower Crust Comedy @ Genghis Cohen 9PM $6  

11) OPEN MIC RUN
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE TOKYO @ SEÑOR FISH 422 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/6 min./first come, first served/no purchase necessary
LIBRARY A COFFEE HOUSE 3418 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
WESTWOOD BREWCO 1097 Glendon Ave., Westwood, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/lottery/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA/Starts 8PM/first come, first served/$4 min.
WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATER 1323-A 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA (in alley between 3rd St. Promenade and 4th St.)/Sign-up 9:45PM/Starts 10PM/lottery/$1 cover
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5 min./multiple sets allowed/bottled water and coffee provided 

12) A comedian asked me last night, “Is comedy even cool?”  To that I say, “YES!!!” and suggest you watch this.

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eliolsberg:

Episode 42: Annie Cruz & Abbey Londer

This week, we are joined by Annie Cruz and Abbey Londer. Annie reveals the connection between being a Scorpio and sex addiction, Abbey talks about porn in a neon orange box, and Eli & Jake try very hard to keep their banter in check. The bells & whistles come…

OK, the sex stuff weirds me out a little, but there are enough hilarious people on the Morning After to make up for it.

Amidst almost every monday night in Los Angeles where any expectations have faded under the muted rumblings of never-ending traffic, I wondered to myself, “It’s 10:17.  Should I go to Public House yet?”

For as long as I can remember since going up to Los Angeles proper for comedy, I tended to end my Monday nights late at a comfy little hipster bar known as 1739 Public House for JC Coccoli’s wonderful stand up comedy showcase Keep it Clean Comedy, affectionally abbreviated by those in-the-LA-comedy-know as just “Public House”.  It’s a place where some of Los Angeles’ best, both of the established and up n’ coming variety, go up and perform to varying crowds of hipsters, struggling artists of various media, some celebrities and industry members of varying stature, and a significant and consistent showing of the LA comedy community.  If there were to be a Frommer’s guide to live comedy in LA, they would have to feature Public House as the “secret” late night spot tucked away in the hippest parts of town on Monday nights where comedy really happens.

On the late night of March 7th, 2011, Public House transcended its reputation as it was more than just a night of comedy, but a night that will live on as one of those “were you there…?”, “did you hear…?”, “remember that one night at…?” types of nights.  It was not only the most hilarious and tense experiences of comedy I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of, but it was a rare night where by the end, you can legitimately say, “Comedy was victorious.”

After a quick great 5 minutes from Eric Andre preparing for Lopez Tonight, a fun poking at a group of Green Peace promoters by Dave Hanson, and a lovely and always hilarious delving into the relationship exploits of Abbey Londer, one Sean Green took the stage to a relatively attentive, but packed crowd at Public House.  

As it is a bar comedy show, there is some of amount of talking that happens, which JC does a great job of trying to “shush” as much as possible, but about 2 minutes into Sean’s set, a drunk typical of the Los Feliz neighborhood Public House is located in with his wrinkled plaid collared shirt and jeans, jeered randomly at one of Sean’s jokes. Rolling with wherever the moment takes him, Sean went over to high five him only to, moments later, engage in an unwanted conversation with him, then, shockingly getting dry-humped by the heckler on stage.  After a good 20 seconds that felt like 10 minutes, this heckler stopped the sexually over-suggestive motions, but then resumed the conversation about a book of Russian Tattoos that the heckler just had at his disposal in his pocket.  Despite Sean repeatedly asking the guy to cease talking to which the heckler resumed the dryhumping until Sean forcibly pushed him away to his where his original position.

Despite the behavior on display just a few seconds earlier by the heckler, the crowd found out that he actually had a girlfriend that equally “gave two shits” about the show taking place as she yelled out something along the lines of “You suck!” to Sean.  The manager of 1739 Public House stepped in at this point and only a few seconds later, a rally of “Get Out!” was being chanted by the wholly attentive room.  The heckler responded with a flurry of “fuck you” and stiffly raised middle fingers to anyone in his immediate vicinity including the manager.  He was finally to the delight of everyone in this establishment kicked out. There was some muffled back-and-forth during this portion of the show, but, for whatever reason, there was a distinct shift in chants from “Get Out!” to “Change your hair!” before the tossing of the heckler.

Seeing what just happened, any sensible person could see what would happen if they took on the comedian, which is still Sean Green, on stage.  Any sensible person could see that they would promptly be met with the disgust of at room full of people intoxicated enough to take drastic action if necessary. 

Yet, a 50 year-old looking man wearing cargo shorts, a yellow hoodie, and a craggy face that seemed worn of any sort of compassion for humanity opted to not observe the situation as a sensible person.  As Sean was still trying to set up a bit about Charlie Sheen that has been applauded at other venues, this second heckler shouted, “When are you going to start being funny?”.  

The crowd, as a unit now, collectively groaned as we had chanced upon the one-in-a-million chance where a horribly drunk heckler would be followed by yet another horribly drunk even worst heckler while the same comedian was on stage.  Wanting merely to just go through his material, Sean tried to take the high road by relating to the second heckler through asking, “What’s wrong, man?”

This second heckler who appeared so faded that it was honestly surprising that he was as vehement in his protest of Sean’s comedy would have none of Sean’s reaching out, responding, “I don’t hear any laughs.  I’ve been listening and I don’t hear any laughs. I’m not the one trying to be a comedian over here.  I just want to know when you’re going to do something funny.”  

Through the boos and barbs thrown the second heckler’s way, Sean still try to probe as to why this man took a personal offense to Sean merely setting up material, “What’s the problem, man?”  

The second heckler finally responding by demanding, “Why don’t you do something funny?”

In a move of chivalry, Sean obliged with a worked out joke about Obama that got a big room laugh at the punchline, but was met with a sarcastic gasp of a laugh by the second heckler in the middle of the joke.

Sean snapped, “Hey, see that?  They’re laughing.  They’re all laughing.  You can’t say anything about that. Hey, we get it.  You’ve been stuck being a grip for most of your life and things aren’t working out.  Well, join the club!”  

Uproarious applause and cheers flooded the whole room between every sentence that Sean yelled at the second heckler, “I don’t give a fuck about you.  I’m a man.  I have a podcast that gets over 8,000 downloads a month. We can take this outside.  I don’t give a fuck.  I was born and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where we made steel that killed the Nazis (Sean proudly pumped his chest at this appropriate opportunity).  This is a man unraveling right before your eyes.  I don’t give a fuck.  You want to take this outside?” 

Lauding Sean as a hero just fresh off a duel as he got off stage, Sean went straight to the second heckler still offering to “take it outside” at which point they both had to be separated by respective parties.  Still within the premises, the second heckler was then given the same treatment as the first heckler by the crowd and was kicked out.

The bizarre events that just filled the last 20 minutes I just described might encourage some people to think negatively of the evening, despite everything before the two hecklers being pretty funny.  March 7th at Public House still had more in store for the crowd at hand.

Taking advantage of the moment and the situation present, comedian Davey Johnson of the Doorknockers duo improvised a sketch with host JC Coccoli’s permission in which he played a drunker brother of the first heckler that fell all over the stage, incidentally breaking the mic for a few minutes.  Comedian Kyle Kinane, fresh off the road and the premiere of his Comedy Central Special, hid amidst the crowd at the table where the second heckler was standing, taking the cue to stall for time while JC fixed the mix, started yelling at Davey as the brother of the second heckler, “You’re brother’s funnier.  Bring him back.”  

You almost couldn’t understand what either of them were saying as there was so much laughter.  With Kyle egging him on, Davey took off his shirt and went off just like Sean, “You wanna take this outside?”, when JC had just fixed the mic and promptly ended the sketch as Davey, by this time, had his pants off.  Taking the cue from his “brother”, the first heckler, he started dry humping JC, which made nearly the entire audience doubled over in laughter.  

Comedian Davey Johnson goes a little further than off the cuff with ‘Keep It Clean’ host JC Coccoli [pic taken by Scott Boxenbaum]

Davey left the stage and Kyle resumed his position as an intently listening audience member while JC took her time in settling the show down as best she could claiming, “I don’t know how we can top this,” before she brought up the next comic, in town from Canada, Simon King.  Simon did his best to stick to his guns and got some good laughs throughout his set, especially when a cleaning lady walked right behind him during his set to clean a corner, but everyone at Public House got caught up in verbally processing the events that just occurred.

With the post-fight excitement still very much palpable in the loud whispers throughout the room, JC actually restarted the show with the same routine she always does at the top of Keep It Clean Comedy with greeting the audience then taking the wireless microphone to see who else is talking while she breaks the crowd in for a show.  From this point on, the night resumed relatively according to plan with Lauren Ashley Bishop, Shawn Pearlman, Julia Lillis, and Josh Adam Meyers, pretty much doing their act (save for Chris Gordon who opened up some party poppers) and faring well.  We were well into 3 hour territory when JC finally ended the show, but, for me, it was glaring exception in regards to duration of live comedy shows.  

In short, the night was won and the answer to the question posed at the beginning, “Should I go to Public House yet?” should always be a resounding yes.

Something that can never be and will never be replicated had taken place at Public House.  Even as I’ve taken on the task on trying to provide a reliable picture as to what happened, there is so many tiny quips and nuances that I’m surely missed, but would ultimately be out of context like how amazing it was that a single audience member, Michael Stuart, sat front and center for the entire show, hecklers, poppers, random improv sketches, and all.  

No matter how fantastical and incredible I made any of this sound, I guarantee you it was exponentially better in person.  This is why you go see live comedy instead of seeing someone vastly edited and filtered set on TV even if gas is $4 a gallon because you just might get to be a part of a night like the Battle of 1739 (Public House).

There are a plethora of “comedian on comedian” shows/podcasts and even a handful that are good.  Marc Maron would almost seem to be at the top of the comedy insider mountain with the WTF Podcast, especially just having been featured in the NY Times, but I would suggest that perhaps you take a listen to an insider perspective from the ground floor on the Drinking Buddies Podcast with comedians Chris Adams and Jerry Brandt.

Both hard working comics trying to come up through the ultra-competitive Los Angeles comedy scene, Chris and Jerry take advantage of the podcast format, though its broadcast live on KBeach Radio at CSULB, with a very laid back, conversational approach, apropos to the name of the show, through floating between what happened to them in the past week, which may include how hilariously trashed Jerry got at Coachella or Chris’ continuing travails of working at a coffee shop, to having in-depth discussions about the art form and industry that is stand up comedy.  

Not only do they get nationally touring comedians such as Dana Gould or even the aforementioned Marc Maron, but they also have comedians/other drinking buddies on the show that gives a wonderful contrast between people that can do as they please with comedy and people who go night in and night out performing at whatever stage that will give them 5 minutes.  From this, one gets a wonderfully visceral sense of what the process of being a comedian entails as well as the sort of constitution it takes to pursue this creative path.  On a recent episode, they interviewed nationally touring comedian Todd Glass and Los Angeles darling comedienne Abbey Londer, which combined the tales of frustrations of performing stand up comedy on the road with the dissection of the various comedy clicks that exist within the massive Los Angeles comedy scene into a great portrait of what stand up comedy is right now in a way that other “comedy insider” podcasts fall short of.

With all of that being said, it’s just as much a fun listen as it is insightful through the playful banter between Chris and Jerry who are each other’s roommate, go back and forth with each other in the vastly entertaining way that only roommates can.  So, comedians and comedians fans alike, I highly recommend tuning into the Drinking Buddies every Wednesday at 10PM PST or download episodes here when they’re available or get it off iTunes.

1) BIG THANKS to everyone who came out to cause some BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE TOKYO (there’s no intentional reference to Dec. 7th, 1941 here)!!! Thanks once again to the fantastic ABBEY LONDER!!!  Next week: We find the girls with green eyes and TONY SAM and JAMIE LEE!! WHAT!??!?!? DEC. 14TH. SEÑOR FISH. SIGN UP 6:30PM. STARTS 7PM.

2) COMEDY CRAWL COMICTHON @ Hollywood Laugh Factory HAPPENING RIGHT NOW one unwrapped toy, Joe Wengert’s Stages of Adulthood @ UCB Theatre 6:30PM $5, “If This Doesn’t Work, I’m Moving Home” A Variety Hour @ Harlem Place Cafe 8PM FREE, Eagle Rock Comedy Festival @ The York, Coffee Table Lounge, Brownstone Pizzeria, and more 8PM FREE, Meltdown @ Meltdown Comics 8:30PM $8, Riot! @ El Cid  9:30PM $10, Beer in the Shower @ Whitehorse Cocktail Lounge Inn 9:30PM FREE, The Jesse Miller Talk Show @ Next Stage Theatre 11PM $5

3) OPEN MIC RUN: HOLLYWOOD STUDIO BAR & GRILL 6122 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Sign up 5:30PM/Starts 6PM/1 item min., THE SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Sign up (lottery) 7PM, CAFE ON 2ND 7 S. 2nd St., Alhambra, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM, LIBRARY A COFFEEHOUSE 3418 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM, MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5/multiple sets allowed.

4) Some regular readers of the Comedy Bureau posts wonder what I’m going to do as a “Year in the Review” since several other comedy news websites are already doing their “Year in Review” posts or countdowns/top 10 lists.  Again, one of the goals here at the Comedy Bureau is to get rid of “comedy red tape” and as such, I’m going to make a “Top 10 List of 2010 Comedy Lists” so you don’t have to wonder about which list to actually pay attention to.  Check back at the Comedy Bureau for more details.

5) Paul F Tompkins DVD “You Should Have Told Me” NOW available for pre-sale at AST Records.  Consider it as one of those “Christmas presents for yourself”, especially if you live alone.

6) Brand Spankin’ New Podcasts are about to drop very soon on Earwolf from none other than Howard Kremer, Drew Droege, and Paul Scheer.  I really shouldn’t have to say more than that, but you can indulge yourself in a higher word-count/more details here. 

7) The Comedy Bureau “Tips Its Hat” to today to RYAN STOUT-“@stoutryan #StoutsGuideToSuicide - Tip 396 - The best day to kill yourself is ALWAYS yesterday.”  Now having the select distinction of being one of three people to get another “Tip of the Hat”, Ryan shows why he’s regarded not only one of the fastest rising comics right now, but also why he’s one of the best joke writers in “the biz”.  Check him out at his website and follow him on Twitter or suffer the consequences (inquire at thecomedybureau@gmail.com for details on consequences)

8) From the “You Should Have Been There” Lagoon: Late World w/Zach Galifianakis-Pre-School

9) Some asked why I would do Marty’s from 5PM to 11PM and it’s not because I’m a comedy masochist.  I do it so none of you have to go through it in case you ever had the curiosity of what it may be like as you can see on Twitter (look for #martysmarathon).  That’s why I ask for donations.

10) Comedy Bureau PSA to the General Public: No comic ever wants feedback in the form of audible comments DURING their set.  THIS HAS NEVER BEEN THE CASE.  So, please, show your appreciation/disdain in uproarious laughter/silence.  This ad has been sponsored by the Comedy Bureau.

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1) Last night, Sweet and Sour Comedy @ Genghis Cohen proved why you shouldn’t miss ANY of the three remaining shows produced/hosted/rocked by Abbey Londer, her theatre degree, and her “poor decision making skills” most recently on display on a trip to NYC.

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