Carl Treadway VII is a Monster Hunter. It is his life. He comes from a long line of Carl Treadways and a long line of monster hunters. He is on a mission to avenge the deaths of all the Carl Treadways that came before him who lost their lives hunting down monsters of the night. With the love and support of his beautiful wife Janet Treadway and now being followed by a documentary film crew, we follow Carl on his dangerous and epic hunts.

Carl embarks on the hunt to avenge the death of his great grandfather, Carl Treadway II. This hunt focuses on the Dryad, a tree nymph. What highly advanced tactics will Carl use to capture the Dryad? Watch to find out.

Also starring Alex Stone (Boom Mic) and Mike Cronin (Cameraman)

A Mystic has disappeared into the night. Of course, when I say a “Mystic,” what I am referring to is one of the wise, kind and beautiful creatures from the movie, “The Dark Crystal.” These creatures represented love and kindness, wisdom of the world in which they lived and quiet devotion to whatever it was that they were doing. At least, that is what they meant to me. And those same things were represented in my brain by the man Robert Schimmel. This is how I first saw him and its a good clip in case you don’t know him yet:

I know the phrase, “People die everyday. Lots of them.” I am sure I have even used that phrase many times and a lot of those times I certainly meant them in a very dismissive way regarding someone’s death. I am no doubt a bastard and that is just one example of how I often embody the traits of a bastard. But, today is a sad day for comedy. Many will echo this and me writing it is just an echo of people who have already said it and said it loudly.

Robert Schimmel was my brother’s favorite comedian. He was the only comedian my brother ever, ever, ever asked me to get tickets for him to a show. I have not been doing comedy for an extremely long period of time, but almost nine years is not short period, I suppose. For all of those nine years, there have been comedians at the two comedy clubs every weekend, with the exception of only a few. Nine years, fifty-two weekends in every year and one time did he ask me to do this for him. If you can do that math at home that is roughly 468 times to see comedy at one of the clubs in town. That is almost 1,000 opportunities to try to cash in my pull at the local clubs. One in a thousand.

I am not saying there were not other times he wanted to ask, but if there were, he didn’t. Robert Schimmel stands alone as the one comedian that my brother could not deny himself the urge to get me to get him tickets.  To say Schimmel was 1 in a 1,000 does not do him justice. It does not even come close.

I am sitting in a packed up room of an apartment that I have rented for the last year and nine months and I am sad. I am sad in the same way that many people are sad. I look around my packed up and nearly empty room and know that it is this way because of comedy. I am 34 years old and essentially everything I own can fit into my car. Sometimes I feel like this life choice is dragging me down into some thankless gutter, but never do I think that it is not worth it. I know it is worth it because someday, if I work hard enough, believe enough, someday I may be able to get to a point where I could believe that I made it to a point that is 1/100th as good as Schimmel. That would be damned good.

For those in the know, he went through many different personal wars and survived all but the last one. And each time he came out on the other side, he went back to stand up comedy. First time I saw him, I was waiting tables at the now long gone Joker’s Comedy Cafe in Dayton, Ohio. My tables did not get very good service that weekend. This was before the smoking ban and all the shows were made to be smoke free per his request. What people in the audience didn’t know, was that the shows were that reason because of his illness. Yet, he still came to Dayton, Ohio, to tell his jokes. Dayton is or was widely considered to be a hell gig of a town. Why would someone battling for their life come do a hell gig? Because he loved it so much. Wow.

That makes me embarrassed to think about all the little shit I bitched about along the way.

I used to think that the purpose or meaning of other people’s lives was to give other people’s lives meaning. Not sure if that makes sense or not? Let me explain: whenever someone dies, especially young or before their “time,” people always say it makes them evaluate their life and not take it for granted. Seems like other lives give our lives meaning when those other lives are taken away. But, here is where I was wrong. His life may be over and I may be evaluating the gift of my own during this time and because of his death, but I will continue to be inspired by him the same way I was when he was alive. His life doesn’t give my life meaning, his life was meaning, at least to me.

I do not know what the future holds or where I will even be living 3 months from now. I do know that I will keep trying to reach a level of my craft that would make me not be embarrassed to be in a room with someone like Robert Schimmel and call myself a comedian. That day may never come, but what fun is it if I don’t keep trying. A little self doubt seems like a small obstacle in comparison to the mountains he climbed to keep telling jokes…even in Dayton, Ohio.

In “The Dark Crystal,” whenever a Mystic died, so did one of its evil counterparts, a Skeksis. So maybe, just maybe, somewhere in the world at the moment when Robert Schimmel left his planet, so did some kind of dark force of sadness. Maybe it was a Federal Reserve banker?

Here’s another great clip…enjoy! Thanks for the laughs, Robert.

Carl Treadway VII is a Monster Hunter. It is his life. He comes from a long line of Carl Treadways and a long line of monster hunters. He is on a mission to avenge the deaths of all the Carl Treadways that came before him who lost their lives hunting down monsters of the night. With the love and support of his beautiful wife Janet Treadway and now being followed by a documentary film crew, we follow Carl on his dangerous and epic hunts.

The hunt for Big Foot is on and Carl has zeroed in on his location. With the doucmentary film crew in toe, Carl vows to find and do something remarkable to Big Foot. What is that? You’ll have to watch and find out if Carl puts Big Foot on ice once and for all.

Also starring Alex Stone as “Boom Mic,” and Mike Cronin as “Cameraman”

Carl Treadway VII is a Monster Hunter. It is his life. He comes from a long line of Carl Treadways and a long line of monster hunters. He is on a mission to avenge the deaths of all the Carl Treadways that came before him who lost their lives hunting down monsters of the night. With the love and support of his beautiful wife Janet Treadway and now being followed by a documentary film crew, we follow Carl on his dangerous and epic hunts.

The hunt for the elusive Tanuki is on! Carl closes in on the hunt for the legendary Japanese Raccoon Dog. Can Carl triumph and capture or kill the monster that took away the life of his great great great grandfather? Or will this hunt prove to be perilous? Armed with his vast knowledge of monsters, hunting and a rag-tag documentary film crew, Carl embarks on his next adventure.

Episode #2 “Tanuki”

Also Starring Alex Stone as Boom Mic and Mike Cronin as Cameraman

Carl Treadway VII is a Monster Hunter. It is his life. He comes from a long line of Carl Treadways and a long line of monster hunters. He is on a mission to avenge the deaths of all the Carl Treadways that came before him who lost their lives hunting down monsters of the night. With the love and support of his beautiful wife Janet Treadway and now being followed by a documentary film crew, we follow Carl on his dangerous and epic hunts.

The first hunt is that of the ever elusive Chupacabra. Carl is armed with the knowledge of his forefathers as embarks on these perilous adventures. Will he succeed? You must watch to find out and you just may see the first ever video footage of this beast of folklore. One thing is for certain, Carl Treadway VII will not stop until he has avenged the deaths of the previous Carl Treadways.

Episode #1 – “Chupacabra”

Also Starring: Alex Stone as Boom Mic and Mike Cronin as Camera Man

I cannot believe I forgot to post this as soon as it became available, but when I was out for a couple weeks in the Kansas/Oklahoma area, my mind got a bit bent and melted.  So, please forgive me.  While I was out there, this live episode of WTF became available.  I have been lucky enough in my career to do a lot of cool stuff and this is tops on the list.  WTF is a must listen podcast hosted by Marc Maron for anyone who claims to love stand up comedy or comedy in general.

You should definitely check it out, as it has some of the best interviews with anyone from the world of comedy who has helped shaped the landscape in the past 25 years.  The list just keeps growing and becoming more impressive and the fact that I can add my name to the list of guests is a bit mind blowing.  But, I will definitely take it.  I hope you enjoy it.

This episode is considered to be a “premium” episode, which means you have to pay for it.  Why?  Because it is just that damned good.  That is why.  It costs less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks and this will last you an hour.  That caffeine rush is gone after 30 minutes.

Don’t forget to check my schedule to see if I’m coming to drop Boz Scaggs on people in your area anytime soon.

While I was in Aspen at the Rooftop Comedy Festival this past year, Dylan Gadino from PunchlineMagazine.com sat down and interviewed me about my cd and some other stuff.  I am pretty sure if you watch closely enough you can see cameos on my interview by Moshe Kasher and Chris Fairbanks in the background.  Thanks, guys for doing that for me.

I am trying to remember if I was delusional or not during this interview.  I am pretty sure I had not quite reached the level of delusion that I was experiencing during the live WTF podcast taping.  But, if anything, I really appreciate Dylan giving me some extra press and getting my name and cd out there to his readers.

It is a thrill for me to be a part of the Tight5 series as some really great comics have done it and now even if they take it down at some point, I will forever be able to say that I, too was a part of stand up comedy history.  We shall keep plugging away at it until someday you will say to yourself, “this god damned Singer guy won’t go away!”

Cincinnati Brew Ha Ha Comedy Festival is coming up (8/27 – 8/28) and I am doing a few sets, check the schedule to see what stage, what time and what other debauchery may take place.  There are going to be a lot of great comics and there is sure to be some major law breaking happening at various junctures.  I have not dipped my toes into the absurd and stupid for awhile, so maybe this is the weekend to do it?

After that, I will be headed back to Bloomington, Indiana, to do Bear’s Place for a 1030 Monday night (8/30) show and then I’m off to Atlanta, Georgia, (9/11 – 9/14) to do the “Consipracy Comedy Show.”  This show is at the Laughing Skull Comedy Club and it will be with myself, Tom Simmons and Billy Wayne Davis.  This show is not only about conspiracies, but it is a total experiment.  Can this shit be funny?  We shall certainly find out by the end of the weekend.  If you’re in Atlanta or close by, come out and see shit get really weird when we do nothing but really weird shit.

That is just a photo, not a video – sorry about the confusion if you clicked above here.  I was a guest on the super sweet and radical internet television show, “Today’s Riff” with Matt Arden. There is a lot of footage that you will not see in this video, you will catch only a glimpse of our hate date on Jared Leto.  In all honesty, I had an absolute blast shooting this thing even though I genuinely had to shit my pants almost the whole time I was there.  That was no joke.

Maybe someday Matt and I will reunite and we continue hating on Joey Chestnut and Jared Leto and maybe on that fateful day, we will have a camera recording our intense hatred.

If you have a job that you are not a big fan of and like watching things on the internet, you should check out this site everyday as Matt and the awesome crew are putting up a new video with a comedian everyday.

I’m in Wichita, Kansas, as I write this and am having a blast working with some funny dudes.  Check out Gabriel Rutledge when you get a chance.  Also, working with Dan Skaggs.  He is NOT related to Boz, so settle down.  We are playing a fun game in the condo this weekend that is in such poor taste it is even too extreme for me to post on this website.  I will let you use your imagination, it starts something like this:

“Take off your _____ and stay awhile.”

The fill in the blank line is a word that you would never call a woman.  From there it turns into a game where that word is used in place of everything.  Grown men, doing grown men things.  Life on the road.  I will be in Indianapolis next weekend, yo!  At Crackers Comedy Club in Broad Ripple with Ryan Stout.  Talk about good times coming.

I have reached a time in my life that I feel lucky to have reached:  acceptance.  We all have turning points in our lives and most of us are fortunate enough to look back on them later and learn those lessons that maybe were not clear at the time.  I spend most of my days looking for these moments in my life to see if there is something funny in them.  Sometimes I just realize that these moments did nothing more than show me and the rest of the world the type of adult I would someday grow up to be.

I can remember the specific day, although I cannot tell you how old or what exact calender day it was, but I can remember the day itself as if it were yesterday.  I am sure I was roughly the age I was in the picture above.  It was the day that I realized I would never be a man’s man.  Or at least what I had come to believe at a very young age what a man’s man was.  To me, a man’s man was a cowboy, a soldier, or Dalton from Roadhouse.  That is not me exaggerating for affect about Swayze’s character, either.  A man was someone who could kick ass and then make sweet love the most beautiful woman around.  I wanted to be a man.  A man’s man.

It is no coincidence now that I think of it that shortly after this fateful day is when the priesthood initially called to me.  There is one common theme in all of my fantasies and dreams growing up and currently:  I was going to be great.  This need for greatness still consumes my mind to this day even though as an adult I know it to be a silly thing.  There is greatness in being good.  When I write good, I do not mean just being average or passable, I mean being a good person.  There is greatness all around us, everyday, all the time.  I believe that.  But, that does not change the fact the I still strive to be better than good.  So, for the record, I know it to be foolish.  The worst kind of fool is one that does not know he is a fool because that fool does not have a sense of humor about his or her foolishness.  Yes, I wrote “her.”

Sidenote:  When I think of the term fool or when people speak of fools, it seems they are always talking about a man.  Maybe that is my implied meaning or just the way I hear it when it is said?  But, maybe the reason I think that is because only a fool wants to be a “man’s man.”  Maybe we just had a break through?  Maybe I could use the word maybe more?  Get a thesaurus, asshole.

Back to the vague point.

I knew I was not going to be a real man when my family took my to the rodeo one summer day.  Talk about excitement!  I was familiar and had been around horses and other livestock quite a bit by this time in my life.  So, I was no stranger to the large beasts that “civilized” society has commanded and tamed.  The rodeo is a whole different animal, though.  There were real cowboys at the rodeo.  My heroes, the pinnacles of man were in the same general area.  Maybe their greatness would rub off on me?  I would learn from watching the best of men how to be a man.  This was not just another Saturday afternoon fun trip, this was advanced level education immersion.  The immersion part would soon come.

I can remember being in awe of the displays of manliness all day long.  The way they literally man-handled the animals, hog tying, lasso-ing, and being thrown from the backs of bucking horses.

The testosterone was so thick in the air it was the day I sprouted my first mustache hair.  There is something about the poor speaker sound quality of an outdoor corral that adds to the grit and toughness of the whole event.  But, make no mistake, when the PA announcer makes the call that changed my life, there was no doubt exactly what he had said.

“All children between the ages of 5 and 14 that would like to participate in the rodeo, please report to field level for a chance to win prizes.”

I was gone.  I was tucking in my tiny, plaid shirt and making sure my cowboy boots were on nice and tight.  A throng of children were descending down to the check in spot and I was one of them.  I was ready to stake my claim amongst the men.  I was ready to show the world that not only was I a man, I was the man they could all sleep easy at night knowing was out there protecting them.  I was the best damned man ever born.  If you cut me open, other, smaller men would just pour out of me doing manly things.  I did not cry tears, I cried whiskey.  I was such a man that when I took a shit I screamed because I shit the world out of my ass.  Woman would get pregnant if I made eye contact with them.  Everyone was about to meet me, the man.

A cowboy briefed us on the event.  A bunch of sheep would be released and a few of them would have ribbons tied onto them.  If you could get the ribbon, you would trade it in for a prize.  That seemed simple enough, especially for me, the ultimate man.  I was surrounded by at least one hundred other kids, I was on the younger and smaller size of them all and there were girls there, too.  I was a little offended that the “women folk” were allowed to participate, but I tried to open my mind a bit and told myself I would keep an extra eye on them to make sure they did not get hurt.  After all, it was well within the power of a man such as myself to win the prize and save the women.  In fact, it was going to happen as far as I was concerned.

Now, all of us stood there waiting.  Waiting for the release of the sheep so we could go get our prize.

The stands were full of spectators and they all watched, somehow knowing they were going to see me take my rightful place amongst men like Clint Eastwood, Jesse James and Dalton.  The countdown began:

“Ready…Set…(air horn blast!)

The gates opened up wide and a huge herd of sheep came storming out.  What appeared to me to be hundreds of sheep came charging towards us.  They were panicked and charged with a violence and hatred in their eyes.  For all these sheep knew, it was their day of reckoning.  They were going to run and fight for their lives and a small, frail, six year old ready to stake his claim to the man throne was not going to stand in their way.

It must have been no more than 2 or 3 seconds from the time the gates opened, releasing the angry horde that I ran screaming and crying the opposite direction.

As over a hundred other children laughed and screamed with joy and glee, running after the assuredly harmless sheep.  But, me, the ultimate man, I ran as if the devil himself was coming for me in a foot race and he would catch me if I was not as loud as I could possibly be.  I not only ran away from the sheep and the other children, I screamed and cried like I never had before and to this day have still never matched.

Luckily, the serve the beer in plastic cups at the rodeo because if there were glasses, my screeching would have shattered them all instantly.

I was sitting back in the stands before the event was even halfway over.  Sitting is not the right word.  I was convulsing and hyper-ventilating back in the stands, making my case for the injustice that was being perpetrated down on the field in between breathless sobs.

“The sheep…(gasp, gasp)…twice the size…(gasp, gasp)…would trample…(gasp, gasp)…kill…kill…(gasp, gasp)…danger…(crying).”

What kind of responsible adult would subject children to such torture and danger?  I could not believe what I had experienced.  It was the first time in my short life that I had truly feared for my life.  I ran.  I would run again.  As I ran away from the “fun”  the other kids were running towards, I imagine my parents in the stands watching me along with the thousands of other folks there and thinking:

“Look at that one there.  He’s going to be in involved in the arts someday.  Probably theater.”

And yes, thankfully yes.  I will never be a man’s man, but someday I will probably play one on tv.

Is this the truth of Studebaker Pie?  One thing is for certain, the only I can tell is that the mystery of Studebaker Pie has only become more complex and what I thought was over, has only just begun.

Special thanks to Bianca, Erin and Michael Booher for making sure this super secret footage made it into my hands and for coming out to the Comedy Attic for a couple shows this past weekend.  It is always great to see them and so much fun working that club.  I hope you all enjoy this video as much as I do.  Bianca is assuredly a comedy dynamo – check out her other hilariousness doing a tribute to Greg Warren’s stand up comedy.