Shis issue: (YW Behind the Laughter: Foley is funny! Been told you're too funny? Contact: Sharon Miki, Humour Editor (Y Daft Punk stuns entertainment world by launching new talk show © humour@theotherpress.ca ( 5 terrible ‘Cosmo’ sex tips And more! www theotherpress.ca Behind the Laughter: Foley is funny! » The Mick Foley interview Jeff Allen, Contributor Joy, comedy, and humour don’t just make themselves happen (usually)—for many comedians and performers, laughter is their product and theyre sell, sell, selling it. Join the Other Press as we get to know the people and places that create the comedy we LOL at. Ms Foley is a triple threat: a beloved wrestling icon, a best-selling author, and now, an in-demand comedy performer. Foley brings his unique brand of stand-up to New Westminster this month as part of the Northwest Comedy Festival. The Other Press spoke to Foley the day after a controversial WWE pay-per-view event, one that inspired him to vent his extreme disappointment with his former employer via Twitter. Prior to the event, Foley tweeted that he would throw a brick through his television if a fan favourite, Daniel Bryan, did not win the big match. What does Mick Foley do to relax? I don't get much time to relax. You know what I do? I’m here in my year-round Christmas room [Note: Mick Foley posted a : video of himself smashing his : daughter’s television set with a : baseball bat. It has generated : over 100,000 views on YouTube : as of this writing. ] : What’s more terrifying: : wrestling Terry Funk ina : ring with C-4 explosives and : barbed wire (Foleyactually — : : did this), or standing in front : : of aroom full of strangers : telling funny stories? Unless a set goes really awry, there will be no late-night * emergency room visits... but : up until about a year and a half : ago, every night, the prospect : of going on stage really did : intimidate me. : It seems part of being a : successful wrestler is having : the ability to reinvent : yourself every few years : (Foley had several personas : including Mankind, Cactus : Jack, and Dude Love—and " : he played both the hero and Mick Foley // By www.pro- : ductionparadise.com : and I just revamped it with some : instincts? : nice framed photos of the Foley : : family... I just got a message : that TMZ wants to record me : throwing a brick through my : television... villain). Does your foray into comedy stem from those : really did result in gradual : evolutions over the years. It : was always really helpful to stay : one step ahead of the curve, : to kind of change things up : before people realized it needed : changing. How would you describe your : act to someone who isn't : familiar with Mick Foley? [Laughs] He tells animated stories about interesting : people that are only slightly : exaggerated. : Isyourset constantly being : refined from city to city? Or : has it remained constant, : like a one-man show with set : dialogue? It’s a combination of both. : I found a few core stories that : IT revolve the show around, and : then I try and add personal : experiences and recent : observations. : Comedy inspirations? I remember sitting with : my brother at my cousin’s : house in New England and : finding the George Carlin Class : Clown album and listening to : it over and over. We obviously : knew it was something we : were not supposed to listen to. Yeah. The constant tweaking : : Words You Can Never Say On : Television’—it was his mastery : of finding humour and absurdity : : inthe human language. : But it wasn't just “The Seven Being on the road, have you : gotten to know any of your : fellow comedians? [Judah Friedlander] was the : guy who took me under his wing : and basically saved my comedy : life by telling me—when I got : off stage in New York City after : doing a set that was so bad I : swore I would never step foot : up there again—that it wasn't : as bad as I thought. And that : ordinarily if a comic went four : minutes without getting a single : laugh, they were done, but : people were actually listening, : they weren't laughing, but they : were listening, and if] could : find a way to make these stories : funny as opposed to interesting, : then I would be okay. : Is the camaraderie between : comedians the same as it is : between wrestlers? Yeah, the lifestyles are so : similar... one of the things we : bond over is the fact that the : best stories come from the worst gigs. You're a married guy. This : interview will appear in our : romance issue. Do you have : any advice for keeping your partner happy? Yeah, I'll give you an example. Last night, I went : outside to get the brick that I was going to throw through my : television set. A spirited debate : began between me and my : wife. I lost the spirited debate. : So I would say if you want to : be happily married: a) accept : that you will lose almost every : argument and, b) be prepared to : apologize for things you've done, : even when you know they’re not : wrong. Mick Foley appears at Lafflines : in New Westminster February 13, 14 and 15, BuzzFeed gets Pulitzer nod for hard-hitting list journalism » Once simply a bunch of ripped-off cat pictures, popular website now features hard news, apparently Liam Britten, Contributor nline news platform BuzzFeed’s early forays into serious, investigative journalism have yielded early results at the 2014 Pulitzer awards. The website was honoured with a Pulitzer Prize last Tuesday in the category of Excellence in List- Based Journalism for their investigative piece, “Top 14 atrocities of Central African Republic Conflict as acted out by corgi GIFs.” The article, while hard- hitting and illuminating, still managed to embed stirring prose in its adorable list of the civil war and its main players. One captioned image of a corgi puppy playing with a littermate read: “7. Seleka Rebels sure were ruff when they killed 18 civilians in the town of Bouar!” A photo of three corgis napping was simply captioned “3. THIS!” and was called “haunting in its simplicity” by one member of the Pulitzer Board. Board chairman Paul C Tash was effusive in his praise of BuzzFeed’s work. “I think this may be the most vapid article I’ve ever read in any medium. It lacks any real depth and glosses over one of the most complex and heartbreaking wars to haunt us in the 21st Century,’ Tash wrote in a statement. “But on the other hand, it was shared 47,000 times on Facebook, so it’s probably pretty good.” BuzzFeed was only awarded one Pulitzer for 2014, but could have won for several other categories. It was runner-up in the category of Excellence in Polluting Facebook with Useless Tripe and was a heavy favourite for the Joyce Dehli Memorial Award for Excellence in Shamelessly Pulling Content from Tumblr and Calling It an Original Article. The first-ever Pulitzer win is a promising sign in BuzzFeed’s quest for legitimacy. The push began in 2012 when former Spin Editor-in-chief Steve Kandell was hired to bring stronger, more authoritative writing to a website famous for giving dull people inoffensive content to share mindlessly on social media. “The change in strategy] raised more than a few eyebrows at the time,’ Kandell reminisced at a post-ceremony press conference. “No one thought we could take a website that was just a bunch of stupid lists and turn it into a website that is just a bunch of lists with three articles about gay rights in Russia. It’s a complete paradigm shift.” When asked about what BuzzFeed had in the works for next year’s Pulitzer season, Kandell was rather coy. “Believe me: our writers are already pounding the pavement to break the next big story someone else already reported on. Probably something about to do with Jennifer Lawrence and Republicans.”