Guests for the Week of August 17, 2015

Monday

Ian Bagg

Ian Bagg started his comedy career in his native country, Canada. He proceeded to do all the show business things that every successful Canadian entertainer does. He went to a “Hockey Night in Canada” game on a Saturday night, performed at the “Montreal Comedy Festival,” kissed a fish in New Foundland and a “Comedy Now” special on CTV. So what does a Canadian do when he has done it all? He boards a train to New York City, lives in a youth hostel and ends up on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “The Late Late show with Craig Ferguson” and “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” It is not always fun and games. He was forced to do “Make Me Laugh,” “Showcase Comics with Louie Anderson,” “Fridays” on NBC and the “Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.”

His new, one-hour special “Ian Bagg: Getting to F*cking Know You” premiered on Showtime in April 2013. Bagg has acted in Tim Robbins’ “The Cradle will Rock,” “MVP 2,” and “MXP”. Fun fact: he’s the the only known comic to have worked for famed director/producer Judd Apatow and not become a multi-billionaire. Life has been amazing for Bagg being on such diverse platforms as the History Channel, the Food Network, the Biography Channel and being the first ever Canadian to meet three US presidents– Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter and George Bush…although only one was in the White House at the time while he met one on a plane and the other at a hockey practice. While working red carpet interviews, Ian has pissed off Brad Pitt, been hit with a champagne bottle and asked for chocolate covered pretzels by Alec Baldwin.

You probably wonder what kind of man does this and without imploding? The answer is a man whose dog survived a three- story fall and who’s been known to think he is twelve–but may actually be twenty-nine or seventy-two. Ian went to school to be an explosives engineer, but a lucky chance at an open mic made him the volatile one. He may be in your area sooner than you think, because this manchild does over 100,000 air miles a year…or you could listen to his radio/podcast show on XM Radio channel 160 or The Toadhopnetwork (The Ian Bagg Show.) He has performed 2 successful half-hour specials, “Comedy Central Presents” and HBO’s “A Comics Climb” and has been seen on “Gabriel Iglesias Presents Stand-Up Revolution.” Visit his website here. Follow him on twitter here.

Wednesday

Dr. Will Miller

Long time friend of the show, Dr. Will Miller, is an ordained minister, former standup comedian, keynote speaker, teacher and full-time therapist at a major University, yet somehow he still finds time to write books including  Why We Watch  and  Refrigerator Rights  (the latter of which has just recently been re-released with an all new chapter and updated research.) He’s also the foremost expert on how classic television secretly reveals the inner struggles in all of us. Meaning, while you watch shows like “Mr. Ed” and “Bewitched” to get a few laughs, he’s looking to find out what’s going on in that messed up brain of yours. Follow Dr. Will on twitter.

Jeff Saturday

About GameDay Coffee

GameDay Coffee is designed to create one on one time between dads and their children around a game, match, Boy Scout meeting, a school event, etc. It can be as simple as having a cup of coffee, a glass of milk, a soft drink or breakfast with your child.  There’s not much to it except being intentional about spending quality of time with your child.  Your time with them can be before a game, school event or whatever.  For more information visit www.gamedaycoffee.org.

What Do Dads Do?

Dads wake up an hour earlier once a week to show how much their child means to them.  Dads and their children go to their local coffee shop, or sit in the comfort of their own home. Dads can pray for their child before they play a game, attend school or go to a Boy Scout or Girls Scout event before he straps his helmet on or plays hoops, etc., or your little girl before she goes to her soccer, basketball or softball game.  Talk about how they are really doing.  Go deeper with questions/topics rather than, how the NFL team is doing.  Ask them real questions. Such as how can I be a better dad?  How can I serve you better?  What am I doing right or wrong? How’s your walk with Christ? Is there anything that you need to tell me?

Five important things to do with them:

1. Make time to become a more involved dad.

2. Pray with them before and/or after your time together.

3. Spend one on one time. Your child wants you to themselves.

4. Ask questions and discuss topics that are important to each other.

5. Take a picture with them and document it through social media to share with others.

Children from a fatherless home are:

  • 5 times more likely to commit suicide
  • 32 times more likely to run away
  • 20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders
  • 14 times more likely to commit rape
  • 9 times more likely to drop out of school
  • 20 times more likely to end up in prison

About Jeff Saturday

Jeff Saturday spent 13 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts as the Center from 1999-2011 and ranks tied for fifth in team history in 197 games played. Saturday was named to six Pro Bowls, was a two-time Associated Press First Team All-Pro and was a three-time PFWA All-Conference choice.  Saturday joins GameDay Coffee as not only the national spokesperson, but also a contributor with his three children, Jeffrey, Savannah, and Joshua.  

Jeff will have GameDay Coffee weekly with his children. Saturday was part of a team that produced 115 regular season victories from 2000-09, the most wins by an NFL team in a single decade in league history. During his career in Indianapolis, the club made 11 playoff appearances, won eight division titles and appeared in two Super Bowls. Saturday and the Colts also won the franchise’s fourth World Championship with a victory over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. In seven seasons, Saturday was part of an offensive line that ranked first in the NFL in fewest sacks allowed. Saturday and Peyton Manning started 170 games as a quarterback-center duo, which is the most in NFL history. The duo recorded a 120-50 record together.

Tim Lee

Tim wasn’t supposed to be a comedian. A biologist by training, he graduated magna cum laude from UC San Diego with honors in biology. He went on to complete his PhD at UC Davis. He spent years developing simulation and analytical models of population dynamics before he discovered that this bored him to tears. When he tried comedy for the first time the tears stopped.

  Tim has become an underground sensation with over 4 million views on his YouTube videos. Piggybacking that success, Tim took the show on the road selling out shows from New York to Sydney. Audiences hungry for comedy that is smart and funny flocked to the show. Lee’s comedy uses scientific phenomena and tools to explain everything from the hair that collects on a bar of soap to how his standards drop rapidly with abstinence.

  Tim has performed for universities across the country, companies such as Johnson and Johnson, Genentech and Microsoft and at venues like the Venetian, the Punch Line and the Improv.

Thursday

David Koechner

Actor, writer and producer David Koechner, an alumnus of Chicago’s Second City Theater, got his first break as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” and since has become an instantly recognizable face appearing in more than 120 films and television shows. He is best known for his roles as Todd Packer on “The Office” and Champ Kind from “Anchorman” and  “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.” Koechner  recently received rave reviews for his role in the dark, twisted and film festival award-winning thriller “Cheap Thrills.” In early 2015, he’ll appear in Paramount’s “Scouts vs. Zombies. Additional notable film credits include “Waiting,” “Out Cold,” “Talladega Nights,” “Get Smart,” “Extract,” “Thank You for Smoking” and “A Haunted House.”  When not filming, Koechner performs live stand-up comedy across the country and creates original content videos for his YouTube channel, Full On Koechner. He currently resides in Los Angeles, Calif. with his wife and five children. Visit his website. Follow his twitter(Photo by Eva Rinaldi via Wikimedia Commons) 

Lunell

Luenell is a force of nature. This talented comedienne, actress and singer, was born in Tollette, Arkansas, a town whose population barely registers with the U.S. census. At the tender age of 10, she caught the acting bug after seeing the plays South Pacific and Ain’t S’posed to Die a Natural Death. She enrolled in theatre classes at the grade school level and continued to study through college and cut her teeth at the Oakland Ensemble Theatre.

In March of 1995, Luenell’s mom passed away and one month later  she discovered she was pregnant. Some months later, a beautiful daughter Da’Nelle was born and she is the joy of her life, her “miracle child” as Luenell puts it.

Not long after this however, Luenell got a rude awakening. Luenell was sentenced to 365 days in jail for a series of indiscretions taken while working at a bank months earlier. It played out like an episode of Lil’ Kim on Court TV. She eventually served just over 4 months.

These days, Luenell’s life is on track. Her star continues to rise due to her appearances in television, film and music videos.  Best know for her breakthrough role as the “hooker with the heart of gold” in the blockbuster comedy of 2006 “Borat” – Luenell is recognized by both mainstream AND urban sectors of the population. Her two-year tour and DVD appearances in “Katt Williams American Hustle” have created an almost cult-like following.

Luenell had an amazing 2012 with appearances in three #1 feature films – “Think Like A Man” with Arielle Kebell and Meagan Good, 3D animated hit “Hotel Transylvania” with Adam Sandler, and “Taken 2″ with Liam Neeson. She also starred in the hilarious comedy “That’s My Boy” with Adam Sandler and Leighton Meester.

Luenell hasn’t been short on television appearances either with recent episodes of “The Middle” and “Always Sunny In Philadelphia,” as well as stand-up appearances on “Snoop Dog’s Bad Girls of Comedy” on SHOWTIME and “Stand-up In Stilettos” on the TV Guide Network.

Luenell is living her dream.  With such an intriguing past, one would wonder how can she be so funny, but it’s just that…life.  Her reputation as a comic superstar continues to flourish, “…comedy demolition machine” (EURweb report) “a sidesplitting high wired act without a net…” (Scoop LA), “…comedy to die for.” (Metro LA)  “…one of the top 25 funniest people in LA (Los Angeles Magazine) and the accolades continue to roll.

Friday

Rob Haney

Our good friend, comedian Rob Haney is known to be an extremely funny guy, a wonderful joke teller, and most importantly, extremely cheap, (or as he likes to spin it, “price conscience”). Astute listeners out there will recognize his voice from the famous Dog for Sale joke that appears on the album  Gone Wild . When not on the road performing, Rob Haney lives in Dayton, OH where he owns the world famous Wiley’s Comedy Club. Follow him on twitter here.