What if I told you that even if you’re not terribly funny, you can still effectively punch-up whatever you’ve just written? In the film and television industry, they pay humorous writers a lot of money to make scripts even funnier – it’s called ‘punching up the script’ – but any writer can do the same... Continue Reading →

At one point during my old job voice-writing news captions, I had to choose whether to sign a pro-union email. It’s a complicated story that I did a six-part blog series on, click here if you care to read all the gory details. But bottom line, my employer wasn’t treating the employees right, and when a... Continue Reading →

On a recent trip with my kids to the Walmart to buy my wife’s birthday gifts, I got angry. Furious, really. And as much as it pissed me off to have to shop at one of those lousy Sam Walton emporiums whose mere existence in a city forces all the local mom-and-pops to whither and... Continue Reading →

Every game day since he was a high school football player, NFL slot receiver Cole Beasley has gotten so nervous about what he’s about to do that he literally throws up. I can relate. Despite the fact that I love the IDEA of meeting and socializing with new people, it also totally makes me want... Continue Reading →

For twenty-four years, I toured the world as a comedy entertainer, and every night of it, there was a decent chance I’d get heckled. Hecklers are some comics’ worst nightmare, but not mine. I started out doing standup performing at small town bars that did comedy one-nighters and weekends. From Toledo and Peoria to Valdosta... Continue Reading →

Quitting your day job to become a full-time freelancer is rarely a smooth transition. A lot of brand new freelancers get trapped in something called the Day Job / Freelancer Endless Loop, which typically starts when you have a decent (yet uninspiring) day job but also have a side-skill you’ve always been good at, been passionate about... Continue Reading →

Worse thing you can do as a potential freelancer is quit your day job before you’re ready. For a lot of people in this modern economy, the dream of being a boss-less freelancer has become more than just an ideal preference, it’s become a situational necessity. Whether it’s because these days ‘real jobs’ are scarcer... Continue Reading →

One interesting thing about Bud and Ben Mufflers in Oak Cliff is that there is no Ben. It’s not that he’s dead – Ben was never alive in the first place. Over a few decades ago the sign actually read, “Bud and Ken Mufflers” because those two were brothers-in-law and they were in business together... Continue Reading →

  Allie Daus, Kate Dailey & Roger Palmer (not pictured: Lydia Torrez) Kate Dailey, president of Bishop Dunne Catholic School (BDCS), has always taken her school’s mission seriously. Officially, it’s “to empower each student to explore, inquire, lead, and serve through a college preparatory education in a joyful community of faith.” For over the last... Continue Reading →