In this week’s episode the @Macktion goes on a rant about a certain used game store (I bet you can guess which one it is!) and @NiceGuyGaming gives an update on his arcade cabinet. The guys discuss what effect if any release dates can have on a game’s success. Oh and of course we have some laughs over the stupidity of our “dummy of the week”!
This week @macktion and @niceguygaming talk about what Nintendo NEEDS to do for the “Switch” to succeed, as well as what they WANT to see in the Switch. Also, discussion about Bethesda no longer providing early copies of games to reviewers, an interesting kickstarter, and a very unintelligent “dummy of the week”! Recorded 10/25/16
Enjoy the podcast? Leave a rating and subscribe? Want more of 2NIAP? Watch us LIVE every Tuesday at 8PM mst/9PM CST on twitch.tv/2nerdsinapod. Aaaaaaand @Niceguygaming’s comedy website is http://www.lamguluka.com and @macktion can be found on twitch.tv/macktion!
In this week’s episode @NiceGuyGaming and @Macktion talk about RDR2, Esports becoming even more mainstream, and other gaming news! Recorded on 10/18/16
Wasssssup Westies!
I’m addressing this post to you guys since I assume at least a few of you will read it. Also I assume you can read since you’re in college. Let me know if I’ve made too many assumptions….
Anyway! Last week I went to NACA West in Portland Oregon (aka Rip City!). NACA is…well….a party, lets be honest. It’s disguised as “serious business” but its an awesome event where college students get to watch a lot of entertainers (like yours truly) do their thing in hopes of getting some college gigs. This was my first NACA experience, and I learned a ton! First off, NACA doesn’t start at 9AM on the first day! If you show up at 9am and ask the even coordinators where everybody is (like I did) you’ll look like a fool. This actually makes sense, what college student do you know that takes 9am classes??? The student who registered for classes late and got stuck with 9am classes because everything else was full, that’s who.
Sooooo after making a fool of myself to start things off, I managed to have an AWESOME weekend. College students are HILARIOUS! I’ve only been out of college for two years, and I don’t remember college being a CONSTANT dance party. When music would play: students would dance. Someone won a bucket of Voodoo donuts: students would dance. An announcement came over the intercom that a cell phone had been lost; students started dancing. It was like a Justin Timberlake video 24/7! Good times.
One of the cooler parts of the weekend was that since I grew up in Seattle I got to spend some time with my family AND since my wife has a sister in Portland we didn’t have to pay for a hotel! #IAMCHEAP. Even cooler than that were all the awesome artists showcasing. I’m a comedian, but I’m also a comedy NERD to the nth power! I love watching comedy only slightly less than I love writing and performing my own comedy. Second City Chicago performed! This is the group that has produced many of the best improvisers/comedy minds in the game! Also there was a lot of awesome/eccentric/mind blowing music on stage at various times. One group that I remember in particular was called Fly Panda. They’re a rap-rock duo that has a dude in a panda suit dance on stage while they perform. I couldn’t make that up if I tried.
Of course I spent a lot of time networking, handing out business cards and other promo to college students/agencies/fellow performers, and oh yeah eating. I ate a lot. I at at Red Robin, twice. Even though the first night I ordered some donuts and they tasted like they had been fried in the same oil as their onion rings. If you haven’t ever tried onion flavored donuts, you aren’t missing anything.
In short, NACA was excellent! If you’re a NACA West attendee and you’re reading this I hope I got to meet you! If you’re considering bringing to your school STOP considering and start doing! I’d love to make you laugh (and your school’s students too, of course).
I livestream video games on Twitch.tv. Nightly. Where you ask? Here: http://twitch.tv/misterniceguy425.
This basically helps fill the void of not getting to perform in front of a live in-your-face audience as much as I would like. Not to mention that it’s a great excuse to play video games while riffing with my viewers. For the uninitiated, Twitch.tv is a place where people can play video games and broadcast it over the internet with a live camera shot of themselves. I know what you’re thinking; “doesn’t that have the possibility to get out of hand? Someone could broadcast (fill in the blank).” All of the vulgar possibilities that you’re imagining have probably happened, and there are people way more creative that you thinking of other crazy stuff to broadcast as you’re reading this. Never fear, my stream is pretty tame.
When I first started streaming, I’d never have imagined that there would be “hecklers” on the internet. You may know them as trolls, or keyboard warriors; people who do whatever they can to get an angry reaction out of you. Now that my stream is gaining a little (strong emphasis on “little”) traction, I have a few regular trolls who pop in every night and spew negativity in the chat. This post is not intended to bring attention to these hooligans (and I use the term ‘hooligans’ ironically, I’m well under 50 years of age), but rather to express my confusion.
In a comedy club someone who hecklers a comedian gets to see their reaction, and at least takes some ownership for their terrible actions. They might get kicked out of the club, cursed out, invited on stage to see if they can do better than the comedian who people actually paid to see (this is rare), or in extreme cases beat up. On the internet when someone heckles during a livestream, they do so somewhat anonymously and have to wait 30 seconds (twitch has a delay) to see the streamer’s reaction. By the time they see that reaction the zinger that they thought was so brilliant 30 seconds ago is now irrelevant and they look stupid.
My hecklers usually point out the fact that apparently I look like every single African American celebrity that has ever been on television. I find this hilarious because the comparisons are so over-the-top. I’ve been compared to: Cleveland Brown, Oprah, Rerun (yes, Rerun), Carlton from Fresh Prince, Steve Urkel, Barrack Obama, Denzel Washington, Stevie from Malcolm in the Middle, and Kenan Thompson. If Kenan Thompson, Oprah, and Denzel Washington were all at a Dinner party, nobody would go up to them as ask “hey are y’all related?” Yet somehow, I look like all of these people.
Regardless, streaming is awesome and has been a legitimate job for a lot of people. I stream nightly (here’s the link again in case you missed it earlier: http://twitch.tv/misterniceguy425) at 8PM MST. Come hang out, laugh, and compare me to celebrities of color that look nothing like me while I play videos games.
….only 6 days late, so the year looks promising!
Something about January 1st makes people think that they’re going to stop procrastinating things that weren’t important enough for them to stop procrastinating any other random day of the year. I’m one of those people. I won’t post my comedy goals here, they’re personal. I will say that they center around the creation of content, improving of my act, and putting myself out there more. Whether I fail or succeed I plan on doing it big. I think that most talented people who aren’t where they want to be fall into the trap of making excuses. I’ve been guilty of that. 2013 was a solid year for my comedy, but it could have been even better if Netflix and video games didn’t exist (see there I go making excuses again). Without going into specifics I plan on 2014 being better than 2013 was in certain areas. Can’t wait to see how it turns out.
I have a great day job that I love, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t take my comedy career extremely seriously.
I hear a lot of comedians say things like “If you have a Plan B (other than comedy) then you aren’t taking your comedy seriously enough.” That’s ridiculous! Of course I would love to write jokes all day, perform every night, and be heckled more regularly, but I have financial obligations that prevent me from doing that at this point in my career. I have a family that I wouldn’t trade for anything. Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t feel right about telling them that; “we’re gonna live in poverty for several years so that I can pursue my dream. I hope guys like Ramen! I know you’ve all been well behaved, but Santa felt you weren’t quite good enough this year!” Yeah, that’s not my style.
Not long ago I had a conversation with a guy I know who does improv, and is very good at it. We were talking about how being a starving artist isn’t really possible when you have a family; there is a certain standard of living that needs to be maintained. This isn’t an excuse, I still work hard when it comes to stand-up. It isn’t lost on me that I’m basically in competition with people who may not have the same responsibilities that I have. In fact I’ve even talked with veteran comics and watched their facial expression change when I mention that I have a family, as if to say; “Good luck kid! May the odds be ever in your favor!” (Pardon me, I watched the Hunger Games earlier this week!)
Also, there’s a part of me that really likes the idea of putting on a shirt and tie everyday. Even if I ever reach the point where I making tons of money doing comedy I’d probably still start side businesses, not only to multiply my money, but because being an entrepreneur is something that I enjoy . Having a day job is occasionally frowned upon in the entertainment industry, but I like to think that I have the best of both worlds. I have an amazing family, and I’m able to support them financially while still pursuing my dream. I have no problem with entertainers who want to establish themselves before “settling down”, but my path has been different. I’ll see you at the top!
