Today marks the one-year anniversary for me on Amiright. I don't recall exactly how I found this place but, I am glad I did.

My first parody was greeted very well by the likes of Johnny D, John A Barry, Phil Alexander, Michael Pacholek and DAK. I was docked for pacing, rightfully so but, learned quickly what I did wrong on that first one. I posted a couple more in the days that followed and, they too were well received. The pacing was much improved on those.

This sparked a parody writing/submitting obsession which lasted for a few months. I lived for parodies. I lived for votes and comments. I submitted them every day and read and voted on hundreds a week. I was nearly as prolific as Alvin Rhodes, John A Barry (nah, nobody else is THAT prolific) or Michael Pacholek. I was so obsessed that I developed tendonitis in my right hand (from overusing the mouse, you perverts).

That obsession is gone now. Performing is still my first love so, writing will have to wait. I have a few recording projects going on now. I still visit here occasionally but, only read and vote on new parodies two or three times a week. I only submit an average of one a month since this past November. But, I will never leave here. I've still got some tricks up my sleeve.

I am still thrilled that I stumbled upon this happy place. I thank ChuckyG, for enabling me to meet all of the wonderfully talented and humorous people that visit here every day or, just from time to time.

Thank you all for your support, I will try to return the favor.

Rick

As a kindred spirit, I'm glad to have "met" you here. I feel there is a chance we will met in person someday, as I'd love to come out your way and jam. My life is in flux right now, and anything can happen.

As a kindred spirit, I'm glad to have "met" you here. I feel there is a chance we will met in person someday, as I'd love to come out your way and jam. My life is in flux right now, and anything can happen.
I am glad to have met you too. I hope you are well, Rick. I am also in flux so, perhaps that meeting will occur soon. It would be great to jam some night, whether here or on the west coast. :-)

Congratulations on your First AmIRight Anniversary, Rick C.  It's been a pleasure both to read your work & to meet you and your daughter in-person at a performance of "The Awards Show" at The Nashoba Players this past November.

Highlander, if you travel to New England, let's all three of us meet for dinner and maybe some music or an open mike.

Congratulations on your First AmIRight Anniversary, Rick C.  It's been a pleasure both to read your work & to meet you and your daughter in-person at a performance of "The Awards Show" at The Nashoba Players this past November.

Highlander, if you travel to New England, let's all three of us meet for dinner and maybe some music or an open mike.
Now that would be a treat! Thanks, John. It's been a pleasure to meet you and your wife, Mary, for me and, to read your work as well. I enjoyed "The Award Show" immensely, as did my daughter, Melissa.

I hear John A Barry is coming this way shortly. We've got to get Chucky and anyone else who may be around to join up with us.

Congrats Rick! I've always liked reading your work. :)

I think I discovered this place last May, since it was mentioned in the May 2005 issue of Spin magazine (as one of Four Excellent Rock Websites in their annual List Issue) but I didn't start writing parodies until August.

Congrats Rick! I've always liked reading your work. :)

I think I discovered this place last May, since it was mentioned in the May 2005 issue of Spin magazine (as one of Four Excellent Rock Websites in their annual List Issue) but I didn't start writing parodies until August.
Thanks, Cat. I like your work too. Hopefully, I'll get to see alot more of it in the future. :-)

Congratulations Rick!  8)

Time goes by so quickly it doesn't seem like a year already.

I very much look foward to your next recording, and hope some day that "I'm Pinned Beneath My Things" (as well as "Large Derriere") will be amongst those. No pressure though, I'm sure you've got many other projects lined up ahead of those.

Jack

Yes, congrats, Rick.  Your description of your initial experiences with amiright would match those of many of us, I believe - certainly me, who arrived here a few months before you. 

I remember your first submissions were all classy and it was clear you were one to watch.  I also concur with your thought that "you will never leave here." 

It's hard to keep a regular presence here,with so many other things going on in life, but it's a nice thing to have, and there's nothing quite like amiright for addressing the need to creatively self-express! 

And I like to think it will always be around to go away from and come back to.  And you always know that when you return there will be 6 John.A.Barry parodies to choose from. 

Have a drink (or 5) for a faraway Aussie if you guys every get together for dinner  ;)

Congratulations Rick!  8)

Time goes by so quickly it doesn't seem like a year already.

I very much look foward to your next recording, and hope some day that "I'm Pinned Beneath My Things" (as well as "Large Derriere") will be amongst those. No pressure though, I'm sure you've got many other projects lined up ahead of those.

Jack
Thanks, Jack. Actually, "I'm Pinned Beneath My Things" is on the short list to be recorded soon. It will be done as a country/western ballad. The only thing stopping me is that I can't play pedal steel or slide guitar and, I think either of those would sound good in the song. I have a friend who plays slide and, I've asked him to help out but, I'm not sure when he'll be available.

I've got two others that are about half done. I should post one or both of those in the next few weeks.

Thanks for your interest in the recordings, Jack.

Yes, congrats, Rick.  Your description of your initial experiences with amiright would match those of many of us, I believe - certainly me, who arrived here a few months before you. 

I remember your first submissions were all classy and it was clear you were one to watch.  I also concur with your thought that "you will never leave here." 

It's hard to keep a regular presence here,with so many other things going on in life, but it's a nice thing to have, and there's nothing quite like amiright for addressing the need to creatively self-express! 

And I like to think it will always be around to go away from and come back to.  And you always know that when you return there will be 6 John.A.Barry parodies to choose from. 

Have a drink (or 5) for a faraway Aussie if you guys every get together for dinner  ;)


Thanks, Stu. You know I'm a big fan of yours.

It's an incredible thing to me to be able to communicate this way with people all over the globe so easily; to know that people across the world are not so different. We can laugh together about the same things.

Keep up the good work, Stu.

Congrats Rick. Many more says I.

Nice entrance into the world of amiright. You've got no fewer than 3 SOTM medals to your name, which is quality resume fodder.

And personally I have to thank ya for that backing track to 'When I'm 64'. It's the only backing track that's made an appearance in all three of my shows so far.

So thanks and Oi Oi Oi says I.

P.S. It recently became MUCH easier for me to record my stuff, so if you're still interested, I could send you the first track of that parody we talked about vewwy soon.

Congrats Rick. Many more says I.

Nice entrance into the world of amiright. You've got no fewer than 3 SOTM medals to your name, which is quality resume fodder.

And personally I have to thank ya for that backing track to 'When I'm 64'. It's the only backing track that's made an appearance in all three of my shows so far.

So thanks and Oi Oi Oi says I.

P.S. It recently became MUCH easier for me to record my stuff, so if you're still interested, I could send you the first track of that parody we talked about vewwy soon.
Thanks for popping in, Glen. How are the shows going?

I've done 2 shows now with other comedians on the bill. So far, I think I'm holding my own with them. I need to work a bit more on the standup part of it but, I'm getting better at it.

Yeah, I'm still intewested in that pawody you mentioned.

Is it a year already?  Damn, don't time fly...

I know what you mean about the obsessive side of parody writing, but I find that the obsession comes and goes in small amounts these days.  I'm envious of being able to take the time to record stuff: I'm looking forward to listening to it (having said that, I've downloaded a couple of CDs worth that I've still not got round to burning and putting in the car, which is the only time I get to listen to music much these days).  Anyway, good luck with it.


I've done 2 shows now with other comedians on the bill. So far, I think I'm holding my own with them. I need to work a bit more on the standup part of it but, I'm getting better at it.

I'm a bit uncertain on the standup part, too: but I'm hoping to do an open mike on 1st April... I was going to this month, but ended up being the only person in the house not afflicted with the dreaded lurgi and felt I couldn't leave 'em all to suffer together.  Incidentally, if you're into the observational comedy, I don't know if you get the signs on the back of trucks and the like "How good do you think my driving is.. .call 0845 123456"?  There's a variant on the wording, which makes things kind of funny: IMO there's nothing scarier on the road than a 40-ton artic with a sign on the back saying "How am I driving?"... shee-yit.. if he doesn't know by now.. ;)

Is it a year already?  Damn, don't time fly...

I know what you mean about the obsessive side of parody writing, but I find that the obsession comes and goes in small amounts these days.  I'm envious of being able to take the time to record stuff: I'm looking forward to listening to it (having said that, I've downloaded a couple of CDs worth that I've still not got round to burning and putting in the car, which is the only time I get to listen to music much these days).  Anyway, good luck with it.
I'm a bit uncertain on the standup part, too: but I'm hoping to do an open mike on 1st April... I was going to this month, but ended up being the only person in the house not afflicted with the dreaded lurgi and felt I couldn't leave 'em all to suffer together.  Incidentally, if you're into the observational comedy, I don't know if you get the signs on the back of trucks and the like "How good do you think my driving is.. .call 0845 123456"?  There's a variant on the wording, which makes things kind of funny: IMO there's nothing scarier on the road than a 40-ton artic with a sign on the back saying "How am I driving?"... shee-yit.. if he doesn't know by now.. ;)
Hello, Phil, great to have met you. The first recordings by Amirighters that I listened to were yours. I remember that "Mend My PC" was the very first. That one had me laughing all the way through so, I then listened to about seven or eight others of yours.

I know what you mean about those trucks and, most of the time they are driving like idiots. The signs should read something like, "How am I driving?" "I'm both blind and drunk". I do some observational comedy. It's mostly self-deprecating though. I've only been doing ten minute sets and, the parodies I had strung together the backing tracks for took up seven minutes. So, I only had to do three minutes of standup. I recorded my jokes so I could put the three minutes together and, found I had fifteen minutes worth of jokes so, I just used the best of them.

I'm thinking of making it more like five of standup and five of parodies though and, arranging the recordings so there are gaps for jokes between them. Nothing is set in stone yet. Eventually, I want to be doing twenty minute sets.

I hope everyone got through the dreaded lurgi and, all are well.

Rick

Congrats from me, too, Rick C - I echo all the remarks about how incredible it is to be able to communicate and share with folks from parts everywhere.  I still remember stumbling onto the site perhaps 3 or 4 years ago...I was trying to decipher some "difficult to understand lyrics" and someone where I worked suggested I "Google" "Misheard lyrics"...I was so unfamiliar with the InterNet he had to do it for me...lol...I didn't have a PC at home and we were only supposed to go on-line at work for "strictly business" stuff...But I copied the site address to a word doc...and promptly forgot all about it...then a few months later...right after the company told us they were giving the entire Torrance (CA) Support Division the heave-ho and relocating to Kansas I was going through my  word docs to see what I might want to print out (still no home PC...actually, I DID have one...but it didn't work anymore...and had been slow for the InterNet anyway.)  And there was this address...I couldn't remember what it was for...but for some reason I pasted it in the browser and went there...and noticed that in addition to "Misheard Lyrics" the place had "Parodies"....I remember there was one by Guy DiRito about some nut-case out here in L.A. who was trying to shoot his Lawyer but shot a tree instead.  OS was "I shot the Sheriff"...funny stuff...well, with the Company canning us, anyway, I didn't see any reason to stay off-line anymore...so I started looking in...and finally decided to take a flyer at submitting some pieces. I had written about 2 or 3 "almost" complete pieces in my entire life...a couple Steve Stills OS's...so I got the full lyrics and finished those and took about a week to write 3 more complete ones and then submitted 5 all at once...November 10th, 2003...boy, was it HARD to come up with ideas and FINISH a piece back then...Anyway, I've had to trim back my time here, too...like others have mentioned in this thread there does seem to be an "peak, valley, leveling off stage" progression..and finally somewhat of an "ebb and flow" relationship ends up developing...guess that's where I'm at now...I remember how obsessed I was with checking out the "New Entries" every morning for the first few months...particularly if I had anything posted that day...Anyway,  who was this thread about now???  OH...Rick C...right...I remember a few things about when I first noticed you on the site..You knew a lot of the OS material that I was familiar with and often used for my pieces (CSN, Tull, I think, a some others)...and that your pieces were pretty darned good, too...Well, Jeez...I really just came to the site to post something for tomorrow...and I've here, what...maybe 20-30 minutes already...OK...gotta go post that piece and take care of the real-life stuff before it gets too late tonight...Congrats again, man...glad you are still around...

pr

Congrats from me, too, Rick C - I echo all the remarks about how incredible it is to be able to communicate and share with folks from parts everywhere.  I still remember stumbling onto the site perhaps 3 or 4 years ago...I was trying to decipher some "difficult to understand lyrics" and someone where I worked suggested I "Google" "Misheard lyrics"...I was so unfamiliar with the InterNet he had to do it for me...lol...I didn't have a PC at home and we were only supposed to go on-line at work for "strictly business" stuff...But I copied the site address to a word doc...and promptly forgot all about it...then a few months later...right after the company told us they were giving the entire Torrance (CA) Support Division the heave-ho and relocating to Kansas I was going through my  word docs to see what I might want to print out (still no home PC...actually, I DID have one...but it didn't work anymore...and had been slow for the InterNet anyway.)  And there was this address...I couldn't remember what it was for...but for some reason I pasted it in the browser and went there...and noticed that in addition to "Misheard Lyrics" the place had "Parodies"....I remember there was one by Guy DiRito about some nut-case out here in L.A. who was trying to shoot his Lawyer but shot a tree instead.  OS was "I shot the Sheriff"...funny stuff...well, with the Company canning us, anyway, I didn't see any reason to stay off-line anymore...so I started looking in...and finally decided to take a flyer at submitting some pieces. I had written about 2 or 3 "almost" complete pieces in my entire life...a couple Steve Stills OS's...so I got the full lyrics and finished those and took about a week to write 3 more complete ones and then submitted 5 all at once...November 10th, 2003...boy, was it HARD to come up with ideas and FINISH a piece back then...Anyway, I've had to trim back my time here, too...like others have mentioned in this thread there does seem to be an "peak, valley, leveling off stage" progression..and finally somewhat of an "ebb and flow" relationship ends up developing...guess that's where I'm at now...I remember how obsessed I was with checking out the "New Entries" every morning for the first few months...particularly if I had anything posted that day...Anyway,  who was this thread about now???  OH...Rick C...right...I remember a few things about when I first noticed you on the site..You knew a lot of the OS material that I was familiar with and often used for my pieces (CSN, Tull, I think, a some others)...and that your pieces were pretty darned good, too...Well, Jeez...I really just came to the site to post something for tomorrow...and I've here, what...maybe 20-30 minutes already...OK...gotta go post that piece and take care of the real-life stuff before it gets too late tonight...Congrats again, man...glad you are still around...

pr
Yes, Paul, we do like a lot of the same music. I have always enjoyed CSN and sometimes Y, especially. In one of my early bands, we covered "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes", "Our House", "Everybody I Love You", "Cinnamon Girl" "Ohio" and "Helplessly Hoping".

I'm not sure where it came from but, I once saw this film of CSNY in which it appeared they were playing at a backyard party or a small concert. I believe it was in Monterey. Anyway, it was pretty obvious that Stills was high as a kite. There was an altercation of some sort and, he was freaking out. I figure if anybody else had seen that footage, it would be you. Do you know anything about this? I'd really like to see it again.

I recall one of the first of your parodies I had read was "I Pull Your Mane" about your unnatural love for horses. That cracked me up and I responded with "My Pony Has Eyes for You". Thanks for the inspiration.

Thanks for popping in, Glen. How are the shows going?

I've done 2 shows now with other comedians on the bill. So far, I think I'm holding my own with them. I need to work a bit more on the standup part of it but, I'm getting better at it.

Yeah, I'm still intewested in that pawody you mentioned.


Shows are going really well, thanks. How are yours going?

I've been learning some things about performing. The more you do it the more comfortable you get while you're up there, and that helps you improve with each show. The other big thing is to not worry about making mistakes. Just keep your cool and stay composed. A mistake followed up by some clever, improvised comment about it can turn into one of the highlights of your set. I prep like hell to make sure I know the lyrics and the rhythme of my parodies before I go up there, and I still make mistakes when I do a new song. But I just keep doing my thing and the audience enjoys it. Heck, even if you do a bit or a song that sails over the heads of everyone in the audience, all you need to do is acknowledge the puzzled looks that follow. Just keep it casual and keep it cool. But enough ranting, I've still got a bunch to learn myself.

Shows are going really well, thanks. How are yours going?

I've been learning some things about performing. The more you do it the more comfortable you get while you're up there, and that helps you improve with each show. The other big thing is to not worry about making mistakes. Just keep your cool and stay composed. A mistake followed up by some clever, improvised comment about it can turn into one of the highlights of your set. I prep like hell to make sure I know the lyrics and the rhythme of my parodies before I go up there, and I still make mistakes when I do a new song. But I just keep doing my thing and the audience enjoys it. Heck, even if you do a bit or a song that sails over the heads of everyone in the audience, all you need to do is acknowledge the puzzled looks that follow. Just keep it casual and keep it cool. But enough ranting, I've still got a bunch to learn myself.
My shows are going well but, I need to start going to some bigger clubs. At the last show, there were only about 30 people and, I brought 20 of them (all my relatives).

Rick,

Congratulations for your success, both here and in the "other" world. 

You're celebrating your one-year anniversary, and I'm celebrating my two-DAY one, at this site.  It all goes in cycles, I guess.

And yes, the bug has bitten me, as a newbie.  Even while watering the flowers or feeding the cats, the words, the tunes, those pesky voices in my head... won't leave me alone !!  Every daily activity seems to cry out for parodization! 

I am glad that you became normal hahaha  and the parody frenzy slowed a bit.  There's hope for me. 

Just wanted to thank you for your kind words about my stuff and to congratulate you on a career that seems to be taking off.  Best wishes !

Jill (aka Paree Dee)

Huh...I know this sounds horrible, but I didn't know Paree Dee was a girl!

It's really nice to see another female parodist around. :) Ever since Emi went on her sabbatical, it seems like the only active chicks in the spoof biz are Arwen, Adagio and myself! We need more girls here, so it's nice to see you.

Thanks, Para Dee. Yeah, it was quite an obsession when I first started but, I think I've got it under control. I still do hear the voices in my head but, my shrink has done a good job of hushing most of them. (just kidding, I've no reason to see a shrink) (yes, you do) (NO I DON'T!!!!!!!!!)

Huh...I know this sounds horrible, but I didn't know Paree Dee was a girl!

It's really nice to see another female parodist around. :) Ever since Emi went on her sabbatical, it seems like the only active chicks in the spoof biz are Arwen, Adagio and myself! We need more girls here, so it's nice to see you.
Don't forget Royce Miller. She's an excellent parodist.

Rick, are you serious? I always thought Royce Miller was a dude...Royce is usually a guy's name...

Rick, are you serious? I always thought Royce Miller was a dude...Royce is usually a guy's name...
Yes, Royce is a dudette. Tommy Turtle even mentioned her in a parody but, referred to her as a guy because he didn't know at the time either.