Patreon Newsletter #50: December 2023! (Patreon)

From Adal:

Hey Future Lizards!

Lots of enjoyable travel this month but the past few weeks I’ve felt burnt out and overall like my mental health is in as rough a shape as it’s ever been. I’m hoping this month is rejuvenating and I can get back on the rails a bit. Hope you all are doing well and the holidays provide you some relaxation, tasty food and most importantly - a few good pairs of socks. I’ll be in Vermont over xmas and I’m hoping to not see nor taste a single drop of maple syrup.

Here’s what I consumed in November:

TV:

• Blue Eye Samurai - incredible storytelling and one of my favorite tv shows of the past 10 years - very graphic and gory though. Like Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Kill Bill.
• Invincible season 2 - wild how awesome the soundtrack is for this season
• The Devil’s Plan - if you enjoy reality tv/board games, then you should    absolutely check this out
• Slow Horses season 3
• The Curse
• Mr. In Between seasons 1, 2 & 3
• Scott Pilgrim Takes Off - very enjoyable retake on the comics
• Fargo season 5
• The Crown season 6
• Hard Knocks: In Season

Movies:

• The Equalizer
• The Equalizer 2
• The Equalizer 3
• Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas - my family’s traditional holiday time movie. I’m excited to go see the musical based on it in a few weeks here in Chicago
• The Killer
• Sly
• Todd Barry: Domestic Shorthair
• Dina Hashem - Dark Little Whispers
• Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

Music:

• Alvvays: Blue Rev - highly recommend if you’re looking for a new album to keep on rotation
• Alvvays: Antisocialites
• Depeche Mode: Memento Mori
• My Morning Jacket: Tennessee Fire
• Feet: What’s Inside is More Than Just Ham
• Beirut: Hadsel
• Andre 3000: New Blue Sun

Other Stuffs:

• Sleep No More - I went for my 13th visit at the beginning of the month and brought along my bud Stuart for his first time. He seemed to enjoy most of it and also be very annoyed by the audience. I’m thrilled to say after twelve years of trying for the secret sixth floor one on one - I finally stumbled upon it. I was absolutely giddy the whole time. Sadly, a few days after we went, they announced the show is closing in January. I’m hoping to go at least once or twice more before the end.
• Saw The Great Gatsby musical (one of two currently in the works). This one has Eva Noblezada and Jeremy Jordan - the show was meh but they were outstanding.
• Saw the touring Beetlejuice musical as it came through Chicago and the cast was very impressive. Definitely check it out if it’s coming near you
• Saw the musical Islander in Chicago
• Enjoying the new podcast, Business Trips, hosted by two of my improv heroes - Mike O’Brien and Brad Morris
• Just started listening to the Hey Randy podcast on CBB World and it’s one of the funniest podcasts I’ve heard. Dan Lippert can’t miss.
• Jemma and I really enjoyed the Jungle Book Reimagined movement piece we saw on tour. Would recommend if it’s coming near you - https://www.akramkhancompany.net/productions/jungle-book-reimagined/
• Loving Super Mario Wonder so far
• A friend turned me on to the internet comic Mr. Boop. It’s dumb, weird and beautiful. You can knock it out in about 90 minutes here - https://mrboop.net/
• Started listening to the audio version of Barbara Streisand’s new memoir, narrated by her. Big fan so far.
• Played some more Blood On The Clock Tower and wrongly thought Matt was evil. Whoops!
• Had a delightful visit to Nashville to visit my sister and brother-in-law. Had some incredible food (including the best birria tacos of “myyy liiiiife”) and tiki drinks. DM me if you want specifics.
• Spent Thanksgiving in San Juan with Jemma and her family. I wasn't aware it was lousy with fantastic food. DM if you want a list of recs. 
• I was a guest on the That’s What I’m Tolkien About podcast (episode out tomorrow Dec. 5th) - and had a blast learning all about the formation of the titular rings!
• Please check out Erin crushing on recent episodes of Comedy Bang Bang and Man Dog Pod
• Make sure you wish JPC a piss filled birthday on December 14th
• Two performers from The Burnt City are bringing their dance piece ‘Volcano’ to NYC in January. Jemma and I snagged tix. If you’re in the city you should check it out: https://stannswarehouse.org/calendar/month/2024-01/
• I’m excited for the upcoming January Magic Tavern live show in Chicago. You can find tix here
• Also excited for the Magic Tavern San Francisco Sketchfest show - tix here
• Fries, Brisket and Coco are uniting forces to try and dismantle the xmas tree as I type this...

Please let me know what you’ve been enjoying and any holiday traditions you have!

Love

Adal

From JPC:

Hey Riddiots -

(TLDR: video games)

I have been very behind on my video game intake as of late and I could use your help. I'm gonna give you some games that I own but have never played and you can let me know in the comments if one of them should be at the top of my list. Also, it doesn't help that there was just a big steam sale so like half of my wish-list was marked down. Anyway, here is what I've got so far:

Cosmoteer: Starship Architect & Commander - this one was an Arne Parrott rec so it's already high up on my list, even though this list is organized alphabetically

Crab Champions - truly don't even remember how I ended up buying this game. I basically do no research if a game has positive reviews and is under $10

Cult of the Lamb - my buddy James told me to get this game like a year ago?

Darkest Dungeon II - I played the first one back in my Twitch streaming days and I was excited to pick up the second one. But I know I sunk a lot of hours into it so I'm nervous about starting it up.

DAVE THE DIVER - I've heard nothing but good things

Dead Space - Okay, I actually paid full retail for this and played it for like 2 hours when I was doing a fundraiser stream for my brother's campaign (he won btw) and I need to pick it back up and finish it. I'm not really a horror games guy even though I did really love playing it when it first released.

Death Must Die - I told myself I needed to stop buying games in early access but, you know what, I probably never will.

Pentiment - Okay, Casey got this one for me and said I would love it and I probably will but I just haven't started it yet.

Sekiro - yeah, I know.

TUNIC - again, heard great things

Wizard with a Gun - I mean, come on, how would I not buy it based on that title?

Wow, I thought looking at that list would give me anxiety but writing them all out did make me really want to jump in. But then I also remembered that I haven't started the new Spiderman game or Tears of the Kingdom so I'm basically fucked. Anyway, eager to hear what you all think I should play!

Hope everyone has a safe and festive holiday season!

-JPC

HRR Updates/News:

• We’re thrilled to be back for our 3rd San Francisco Sketchfest with Janet Varney joining our live show! Tickets can be bought here.

• Our December Review Crew (Return of the Obra Dinn) will come out on Monday December 11th.

• The December Review Crew Live Stream will be tomorrow Tuesday December 5th from 8pm to 9pm CT with special guest Sleepo ‘Casey’ Toney!

• A special Columbo-nus episode, DM’d by the tatiest of DM’s - Anthony Burch, will be released when we hit 7200 Patreon subscribers!

Love,

Adal, Erin & JPC