SCHED* Unofficial Guide to SXSW 2010

John Mulaney at SXSW

Guest Post from Al Im from Last Gas Comedy

If you didn’t catch John Mulaney’s performance with Nick Kroll and Eugene Mirman this past Tuesday at Emo’s, you can start kicking yourself.  Fortunately, you might not have to stay in self-inflicted purgatory for very long, as there will be plenty of opportunities to redeem yourself — Click here for the entire SXSW Comedy Schedule on SCHED*.

With stellar credentials including appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, and VH1’s Best Week Ever, 2008 was an especially good year for Mulaney who is now writing for Saturday Night Live and recently taped his first half-hour special for Comedy Central that premieres in April.

Barely into 2009, he’s scored another milestone with the release of his first full-length comedy album, The Top Part, which will be released by Comedy Central Records next Tuesday, March 24th.  Check out The Laugh Button to preview the album!

Recorded in San Francisco’s Punchline Comedy Club, the album is a document of growth for Mulaney; a culmination of material conceived and honed throughout the meteoric rise of his already impressive career.

The album captures Mulaney at his finest, systematically dissecting a wide range of subjects that include Donald Trump, drag queens, goths, and the movie Scarface, in hilarious detail. He also displays a superhuman self-awareness with stories about accidental subway encounters and his brain’s inability to communicate the rudiments of athleticism with the rest of his body. This album is an absolute gem, and while no record can replace a live performance, it does a damn good job of being the next best thing.

John Mulaney’s new album, The Top Part, released on Comedy Central Records will be available March 24th, 2009 and can be previewed on The Laugh Button.

Guest Post: What is Flatstock? And how to do it up right! by Clinton Reno

Clinton Reno is an illustrator living in Columbus OH.

Flatstock is a 4-day convention during SXSW featuring many of the biggest names in concert poster art. There are a number of Flatstocks over the course of the year at different music festivals, but the one at SXSW is by far the biggest and as a result can be somewhat overwhelming.

So before going in, these are the few things you should know:

If you’re looking to buy some original, fine art celebrating your favorite bands and concerts then bring cash. Some places will take your credit cards, but as a general rule of thumb cash is king.

The API (the American Poster Institute), a non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting the artists and the art form, puts on these flatstocks. Their booth is a great place to start. They’ll more than likely have a pamphlet listing every artist/studio and explain in better detail a little about the entire event.

Also, they should be selling tubes for 5 bucks- grab one early and fill it up with all sorts of poster goodness. Posters generally run about 20-30 bucks depending on the size of the print run, the artist and the availability. For these same reasons, some will run you more.

Walk the aisles before you drop any cash- maybe even twice. Take it all in. There’s a ton of amazing work, all of which appeals to a different aesthetic, or a different group of bands altogether. You’ll quickly figure out what artists or studios appeal to you individually.

Everything for sale is “official”, meaning it was contracted by the band, or by the promoter of an event to promote the show. And if you don’t find any concert posters that you want, but you love the art odds are good that the artists have art prints or cool t-shirts available- both of which generally have no affiliation with any band or event.

Talk to the artists, use it as an opportunity to get to know how they work or why they pick the bands they do. Every artist there is amazing but there are a few I personally think you should visit:

Hero Design
StrawberryLuna
Tara McPherson
Bobby Dixon
Cricket Press
Guy Burwell

Unfortunately I won’t be there this year- but feel free to check out my work here!

Here’s a full list of exhibitors and click here for the schedule.