"America's Funnyman", NEIL HAMBURGER Oct 11th, CASBAH (Hamilton)

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Cincinnati Records Proudly Presents

Wednesday October 11, 2006

Casbah

9pm, 306 King St W Hamilton

http://www.casbahlounge.ca

$12 at the door

NEIL HAMBURGER!

Heading out on tour next month with TENACIOUS D!, catch NEIL HAMBURGER in an intimate setting first.

This show is 19+, Fuzzy Navel's are $3 ($2 off) in honour of the Ham-man himself, cuz it's his favourite "cock"tail.

|| HIS WIKIPEDIA || DRAG CITY RECORDS || HIS URL ||

If you've been enrolled in a public college in the past eight years or so, you've likely heard the words "ironic" and "postmodern" on many an occasion - two, three, perchance even more - as layer upon sordid layer of sophomores, juniors, and yes, even foreigners, have attempted to prove their intellectual superiority to you and your loser knave friends with the Dead Kennedys t-shirts. And, as angry and bitter as you may have become, you must have at least learned to acknowledge that the mere existence of a concept like "postmodernism" opens up vast windows of opportunity in regard to stupid, pointless humor. No joke, Bill! In the hands of brave young goofballs like Negativland (well, not young, but....) and Gregg Turkington, the basest level of idiot humor can be played with just enough "irony" to pass, in spite of itself, as intelligent satire. And thank God for that, because without the bright sense of humor, folks like Negativland and Turkington would be nothing more than, well... Tool or Nine Inch Nails or something.

So who is Neil Hamburger, you may be asking yourself and/or the words of Mark Prindle? Well, he may or may not be a fictional nightclub comedian - possibly portrayed by aforementioned Mister Turkington, founder of Amarillo Records and member of such fine Californian combos as The Three Doctor's Band and Zip Code Rapists. If he's not portrayed by Gregg (or perhaps a whimsical friend of Gregg's), then he is by far the most depressing comedian ever to walk God's Fine America. And, quite frankly, as sickening a thought as it might be, Amarillo and Drag City are the sorts of labels that would release albums by an "artist" like this. Are they being ironic? Probably, but where does irony end and reality begin? For example, what if I decided to live my life in an entirely ironic manner? Dress in a suit every day, shave all of my hair except for one strand, grow a mustache - all while maintaining the strictest somberness about the project. I'd be laughing inside, but the joke would be entirely lost on the world because it would be entirely unclear whether or not I was kidding around. Similarly, if Neil Hamburger IS a real comedian, Amarillo and Drag City may be releasing his records as a strange joke - or they may actually like the guy in some strange way.

Whatever the deal is, most tend to believe in their hearts that Neil is a parody of a bad comedian. I mean, an awful comedian. I mean, the kind of comedian who says things like, "I have to warn you; my doctor just told me that I've come down with a serious case of 'funnyguy-itis'...." I'm mean and I fucking hate you, the kind of comedian raised to believe that Bob Hope's annual Easter Specials are the defining moments of hilarity. To put it succinctly, Neil Hamburger is the only comedian alive who is so bad, he is utterly brilliant. As such, he must be a fictional character, right? Or at least a comedian that's telling terrible jokes on purpose? But why would anybody do that?

>>> YOU-TUBE NEIL ON JIMMY KIMMEL <<<

ALSO PERFORMING in the lounge at Casbah on this night for a musical performance: WOOLLY LEAVES (Whil from The Constantines), BABY EAGLE (Steve from the Constantines) and RICHARD LAVIOLETTE.

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Great bill. Hey if Chives digs it who can complain. I thought some of the other dates were with Daquiri. Nice undercard with the 'Stines side projects. Richard LaViolette is really worth seeing as well he's one of the few really interesting things coming out of Guelph these days.

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It really is an "Event" at Casbah on this night. To clarify, Woolly, Baby and Richard are playing in the LOUNGE.

While NEIL is in the venue, and yes Daiquiri opens up for Neil, along with a Toronto group called 'GERMANS' who just signed to Arena Rock Recordings.

Lots of bang for your buck.