Protect Your Groove

The Josh Wells Weekly, Episode 350

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Last Friday I was on a show of all Joshes at Bobo’s Comedy Club in Staten Island. It was a super fun and cool time. Here’s a list of all the Joshes’ IG handles plus Molly who took a bunch of cool pics and also the show’s IG handle. Go check out all their stuff! Shout out to Josh Rabin for making it all happen.

@josh.rabin

@joshuabstokes

@thatsjtcomedy

@joshualay

@josh__martier

@joshistyping

@themooksterr

@allstarsupershow

Random Thought

I stumbled into a time machine recently when I was going through some old videos and I decided to give my 40th birthday show a watch. It’s on YouTube and I’ve plugged it at the bottom of every issue of the newsletter because that’s how much I believe in it. But it’s been a while since I’ve looked at it or even thought about it. So, it was cool to take a breezy trip six or so years back when the grey hair wasn’t as apparent as it is now.

One thing that hit me hard is 40-year-old me had a certain groove to him. I have a hard time defining it exactly or finding the words to describe it. But watching me from six years ago hit differently. I think so much has happened in the past six years. With age comes some mental beatdowns (death, breakups, pandemics, injuries, etc) and I think in a certain way, it may have taken some of the wind out of my sail.

I’m not trying to say I’m defeated or lesser now than I was then. I know this probably almost sounds like the beginning of something someone would write if they were gonna quit comedy. I’m not gonna quit comedy. Are you crazy? I love comedy. And I’m almost certain I’m a better comedian now than I was back then. But if the me of now could somehow find a way to bottle up some of that groove and mix it into this current version of me, that shit would be cool.

I think somewhere along the way I didn’t defend the groove (with lack of a better word to describe it, I’m just gonna keep calling it ‘groove’). And you gotta keep your groove protected to a certain degree. The world is looking to beat the groove out of you, and it will do that if you’re not vigilant in protecting it and making sure it doesn’t dull or go out completely.

I suppose groove is a thing that comes in different amounts. It’s not an absolute where you either have it or don’t. I think I still got groove, just not as much as I used to. I also believe that there are ways to up your groove levels although I’m not 100% sure how to do that. I don’t think I can just go around pretending to be six years younger than I am now. That feels like a fraudulent approach. I am my age. I just gotta be my age with more groove.

So, how do I go about getting some of my groove back? I think I’ll try things like not overthinking, not giving as much of a fuck as to what others think, and trying to get back to my core belief that life is supposed to be fun. I know that’s a thing that I believe but I don’t know if I live my life by that principle as much as I used to.

Anyways, here’s to the groove. We all got it, some more than others. Protect the groove you got, and if possible, look for ways to increase your groove.

Oozing groove. Also, way less grey.

Movie I Watched Recently: Bugonia

(Netflix)

This was a pretty cool and, at times, pretty weird movie. I mostly enjoyed it. But the ending is pretty wild, and I feel very conflicted about it. As the ending was happening, I was like, “this is bullshit! I hate this!” But then after the fact, I thought about it a bit and I kinda warmed up to it. I don’t think I totally hate it. A part of me thinks maybe it was the right ending after all.

All I know is this movie has gotten a lot of weird reactions from some of my friends. I posted this on Facebook:

and in the comments, it seemed like there were a range of weird reactions to this movie.

But in brief, I think the story is great. Jesse Plemons’s character is an eccentric off-the-grid type who wants to kidnap this CEO (Michelle Fuller played by Emma Stone) because he thinks she’s an alien. That’s all you need to know going in. If I type anything else, it might be a spoiler.

Emma Stone shaved her head for this movie. Don’t let that be in vain.

TV show I watched this week

Breaking Bad

I was only able to watch one additional episode this week, so I don’t have a whole lot to report. I think it’s crazy though that Walter turned down the offer from his rich friend, Elliot, for a job and health coverage for his cancer.

I did enjoy the intervention scene, if only because you don’t hear the uncomfortable case that can be made for refusing cancer treatment if it looks like the odds are stacked heavily against you. That can’t be easy to navigate and to each their own but in the end, I think the most important thing to keep in mind is that the person it’s happening to should have the greatest say. That scene felt bigger than the rest of the episode in some ways.

In an attempt to avoid spoilers, I think I might just post the poster for the current season I’m in here. So, that’s why you’ll probably be looking at Bryan Cranston in his tighty whities for the next few issues. (I fear that googling for images from Breaking Bad will lead to spoilers).

Album I listened to this week: Detonate / The Casualties

I guess I’ve had my head buried in the sand and I’m showing my age because I didn’t know the Casualties have a “new” lead singer. I put quotes around the word “new” because it’s new to me, but not to the world.

So, when I gave this album a spin, it felt a little different and definitely out of sorts with what I was expecting. It’s a solid punk album but replacing a lead singer (especially after such a long run) is tough business. The Casualties got a right to keep it moving of course but if I’m looking for something of theirs to spin, I’d probably still stick with the old stuff.

I will say that I’ve always thought that pound-for-pound, the Casualties are one of the “punkest” bands around and I don’t think they’ve lost any of that authenticity.

Book I’m currently reading: 60 Songs That Explain the ‘90s / Rob Harvilla

I finished this up this week. Overall, it was a very good, very fun read. A lot of times when I’m pontificating on ‘90s nostalgia, I tend to do it from a very rigid alternative rock point of view because that was (and still is) my shit. This book forced me to see music of the ‘90s from different perspectives that I took for granted, ignored, or thought less of because I was a dumb grungy hipster back then. But we can all learn a little something important from things like Celine Dion and ‘Semi-Charmed Life.’ Don’t let your own obsession with being cool blind you from what’s cool about everything else.

This book does a lot of fun things, like for instance, at one point the author shares a collection of quotes from other musicians from the ‘90s on what an asshole Third Eye Blind frontman, Stephan Jenkins is.

Random Sports Thought

Some quick NBA playoffs thoughts:

-Ever since I wrote the Knicks should be worried about the Atlanta Hawks, they haven’t lost a playoff game and three of those games were blowouts. They sorta look like the best team in the East right now. I chose Detroit to go all the way in the East and so I’ll stick with that. But damn, the Knicks look like a sleeping monster that just woke up.

-I think it’s fun to watch LeBron compete in the playoffs still so I’m glad the Lakers made it this far. But the only purpose of their series with the Oklahoma City Thunder is to symbolically hand the generational baton from LeBron to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

-I think the Timberwolves/Spurs series might be closer than I thought it was gonna be. I know, I’m writing this after the Spurs blew them out completely in Game 2. But T-Wolves stole that first game on the Spurs’ court and I don’t think there’ll be another blowout like it in this series (as long as all the main characters remain healthy). This could turn out to be the best series of the second round.

-The Cavs vs The Pistons is such an interesting match up to me. There’s a lot of great, possibly overlooked players on both squads. This is like the blue-collar series of the second round. Winning this one is gonna be physical. I think the Pistons are the better squad, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cavs steal a game or two.

I don’t think the Lakers pose any sort of realistic threat to the Thunder (especially without Luka) BUT this is still the showdown I wanna see the most in all of the second round of the playoffs.

Random Pro Wrestling Thought

End of an era.

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods recently left WWE amid heavy rumors that they were confronted with a substantial pay cut in the form of a contract “restructuring.” If this is the reason they left (and so far, no one anywhere has put forth any effort to deny it), I say good for them. They’re betting on themselves.

Kofi and Woods are/were the New Day, which at one time was an institution in WWE. With Big E, they were one of the most popular teams/forces of nature in pro wrestling for several years. They were beloved. They were cool. And to WWE’s benefit, they sold a ton of merch.

Then Big E suffered a career ending injury and it was like WWE suddenly didn’t know what to do with New Day. I feel like I can give WWE some slack at first for not knowing what to do since Big E getting injured wasn’t part of the plan. But WWE has now had a few years to try different things, and it seems all they did was allow Kofi and Woods to slowly end up at the bottom of the booking barrel. It’s a sad state of affairs and I think WWE should be criticized heavily for allowing it to happen.

I don’t know where Woods and Kofi go from here. Obviously, AEW feels like the place to go. But who knows for sure? Kofi’s been at it for a long time. Maybe he takes a well-deserved long break. But Woods… he’s still got a bunch of years in him and of all three of the members of the New Day, he’s probably the one who still has the most to prove. I know we’ll see him again somewhere soon.

But what I wouldn’t give for some kind of a New Day reunion somewhere else outside of WWE. I know it’ll be hard with trademarks and all that. The name thing could get a little weird. But anything is possible.

So, for the moment, there’s no more New Day. But I will not let that sour me. The power of positivity must prevail. On to the next chapter. I’m not ready to close the book completely on New Day just yet.

New Day rocks. Forever.

Weekly Top 5: Songs of the ‘90s

1- Sabotage (Beastie Boys)

2- Smells Like Teen Spirit (Nirvana)

3- Basket Case (Green Day)

4- Loser (Beck)

5- Nuthin’ but a G Thang (Dr. Dre / Snoop Dogg)

Weekly Quote

“We are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different.”

-Kurt Vonnegut

Thanks for reading!

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If you haven’t seen it yet, please go to YouTube and give my 40th birthday comedy set a spin, and while you’re at it, a like, a comment, or a share would be appreciated and goes a long way as well. If you’re feeling really crazy, hit subscribe… no pressure.

I got some other videos as well if you want to check them out. I just uploaded a raw phone recording of my 30-minute set for my 45th birthday. Unpolished, unedited, warts and all, if you’re into that sorta thing, click here.

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