(Discalaimer- it's 1:52 in the morning, I can't sleep, so prepare for yet more Early morning Ramblings!)

Well, this upcoming Saturday December the 8th 2007 @ 8PM marks the 1 year Anniversary that I started COMEDY PIE PRODUCTIONS. I learned a Helluva lot as a Producer/Booker in this short time and found my way around the ins and outs of the Producer Stuff & Thingamajigees in the Comedy Scene in NYC like a kid thrown into a swimming pool, not really knowing where the heck this would go or where it would take me or really what the heck I was doing. I was just angry at the scene and was determined to make some changes, at least in my shows. Unfortunately this biz is filled with a small population of Selfish & Greedy folks who unfortunately are the ones Comics rely on for Bookings. Again, I say a SMALL Number of folks are just Plain A-Holes to Comics. Some Producers are nice and are actually interested in the development of the comics. I wanted to make myself stand out as the counter balance and in 1 year I am proud to say that I think I am chipping away at things. To what extent I do not know, you'll have to ask those I work with. But things are changing at least with some of the folks I make contact with. They are not where they were when I found them, that's for sure.

I couldn't think of anything better to do to celebrate 1 Year than just put on another COMEDY PIE SPECTACLE at The Laugh Factory NYC, The BROADS of BROADWAY, our Flagship show, with a Kickass Line-Up I would put against any line-up of FAMOUS Female Comics you can possibly conceive. The SiStahs Edition will prove once again why The BROADS of BROADWAY IS 'The Premier Showcase For The Absolute Best Female Comics In All Of America!' No Parachutes, No Fireworks (yet!).... Just a good ol' show. (Don't worry Amy Tee- I have a Parachute Jump Planned for you for the BROADS you Headline in '08! Let me know if you have any Priors though! Otherwise we can't bail you out in time for the show! El Oh El! –that's my lol, BTW,… WTF did I just write? Hold on, BRB,…Okay I'm Back)

So yes, anyway, in COMEDY PIE, the original idea was to do Bringers & pay everyone 1/3 of door (Out of the $15.00 we charged, the rest would go to prize and myself and/or Co-Producer I chose for one of the shows) based on who came to see them and also to Produce Great shows also with NYC Comics and later to get them moving up to another level from when I found them. It was indeed born out of Anger from working with another Production Company who treated Comics badly, ripped others & myself off etc. I was so disgusted I Quit before start of second show with them, which was one I produced all by myself and had a great crowd that others took credit for because their show in the smaller room was cancelled. (I Stayed silent and moved on, everyone that was there knows I booked them with the exception of the only comic who showed up for the other show that was added to mine. Hmmmm wonder why? Reference to RULE 1 of "The PIE" 5 paragraphs down in the BLOG. Treat Comics bad and they wont even show up for you! Unheard of up until that time, well at least I've never seen it.)

And with that I took some months off to compile my contacts and picking the brains from folks I've known from back in the day etc. Having served in the Military for 4 years I learned to adjust pretty quickly and ended up booking on avg. 2-3 shows per month. I simply got good at it in a short time. Plus I felt I was making a little difference, chipping away at some of the bull. I found that SOME, Not All, producers were keeping some Comics stuck in bringers with absolutely no advancement or try at hosting, featuring or headlining. Just bringer spots period! And they reaped ALL the benefits and left some with hope that an agent was sitting in the audience. Incidentally this was the first thing that happened that I was told not to tell comics when I found out, that some College Scout Booker which we were advertising was not actually there. It made me wonder was there an effort made or was it just another scam, it also made me sick to my stomach because these comics were so hopeful that they were actually being seen. (Best Uncovering of a Scam Award goes to the comic who was told Jim Gaffigan would be at one of the shows they got booked in and they would be performing on the same stage that night, this savvy comic went to their My Space pages and found out Jim was in Florida doing a gig on a tour. So much for that!) You have to be a total idiot to believe that Jim would participate in a BRINGER show! His drawing power alone in Combo with the Producers & Club Promotion alone would have filled the house. And Jim If you're reading this, if they can't get you a full house, come with me to THE FACTORY, we'll call it, "The White Show", I'll bring in the surviving Beatles to perform some of the White Album, throw in Mumenshantz, show the Pale clip cartoon of you & Conan playing on My Space, jack up the price of admission and we got ourselves another awesome COMEDY PIE SPECTACLE! I'll even hire an Albino Dance troupe and throw in the Triple K Improv White Supremecist Players from the deep deep south, a Latino Improv group dressed as KKK, they are funny as hell, It'll be awesome!

But anyway here I am some new Guy who wants to produce shows and while no one told me to my face, the talk was and I was told by others as such who heard folks say stuff like "Who the hell does this guy think he is? There's no stars on his show, he jacks up the price to $15.00 and gets Prime Saturday night 8PM spots for these Bringer comics who never been there!" This and more was being said but with me, in thru the right ear, filtered thru the wax & brain and out the left. I continued to do my thing. Until I was driven out of the club by having them cut our booked time by ½ an hour which was a total sham and ruined a couple of shows. Who was behind the crap, I could guess, but I don't even care, but know this, I'm still standing! Despite all the crap, I gave out prizes like ACI School training, Websites with Scene Interactive etc. Paid for by the profits of the shows, it was an amazing experience. Just recently another person was overheard saying "We got to get rid of this guy" and that's just what happened. One of my shows got bumped not too soon after and I have moved on. Julio doesn't stay where he's not wanted.

Everything I did when I started, yes, it was the George Costanza Strategy! Whatever else was the norm, do the other thing and good things will happen! And it did. First 2 shows I paid everyone who bought folks, put on the ones who didn't come thru without cutting their time and put on great shows because I just did not book them from an e-mail on Craigslist, but I actually screened everyone I booked, which at the time many did not do, which makes for an awful show. (I do recruit thru Craigslist from time to time, but after we make contact I either get a DVD or see them live)

In COMEDY PIE, we've had our ups & downs, a lot more ups than downs, but the lucky break came when on January 27th, 2007 of this year I decided to put on a little show called The All Female Comedy Showcase1,(if anyone has that flyer saved on their hardrive, send it to me, it's the only one I do not have anymore)) it was later to become the BROADS of BROADWAY show. Had the show went smoothly, I do not know if I would have conceived the BROADS show. At the time there was no Major Regular All Female Showcase in any Major NYC Club, but there were many in the smaller lesser-known venues, which I attended and pretty quickly figured out that Female Comics are pretty damned funny. Maybe having grown up in a mostly Female house and hearing the perspectives of all the Comediennes I saw is what made me get it. Bottom line is "FUNNY is FUNNY" (RULE2 @ The Pie!)

So I booked a line up I scouted and one of our comics Uncles & other family members and then other Audience members actually heckled damn near the entire show! And I had an Agent there from Abrams agency too! Had that not happened I would not have re-booked 2 in March 07 to give the Ladies a second shot. But still, despite the constant interruptions, they handled it in a dignified and funny way and no one got offended and even viewing the DVD today you can see these folks were future stars. Unfortunately I had to bump Jen Dzuira for that first show, but I think I paid her something for the inconvenience and made it up when she headlined at the Factory on the first show I called BROADS of BROADWAY, which also kicked ass and was performed in the Beautiful Big Room on a Thursday night 8:30PM show at the Factory. (The BROADS DO NOT MESS AROUND!) How the hell did Lil Ol' me get the Big Room at the Factory? You surround yourself with the best that's how! Treat others well with Respect & Dignity and you will be treated the same also,....Rule 1 @ The PIE! …Oh I also offered Jen the free year of Scene Interactive Web Site that was to be the prize that night, she declined because she already had a website and so it went to another comic that night. I remembered that unselfishness and so made up the Headlining spot as soon as it came up. I owe one comic a spot (ES) -I haven't forgotten! I will be sure to make it a headlining @ The Factory as soon as it comes I will let you know. Again, since she was bumped I paid to get a cab to her next gig. We don't screw folks @ CP, where Justice needs to be done, we do it.

They kicked major ass at the Factory on that 2nd show! And today I am still kicking myself for not filming it! (By then I was only paying Headliners & Hosts $100.00 each because not everyone was coming thru and I was just switching over some comics from bringing to just promoting. Plus I took Rozzis advice on lowering admission to $10.00 instead of $15.00 and have done so since) I don't know why everyone was possessed that night, but I believe it was because I got their names up on the theater lights like Stars and so they performed like Stars, better than some Real Stars actually! Well that's my theory! Weird things happen in the clubs from time to time. They're Stars to me and that's what counts.

The line up included Host April Brucker, who ranted a Brilliant Racist joke tirade that had the folks roaring, no-one was left out, as each race was attacked, they are the ones who were Applauding & Cracking up, at first I thought "What The F is she doing?!" Then as I saw the reaction I realized nobody else in Comedy I've ever met could have gotten away with this, that bit was simply funny and you knew flat out she wasn't a racist, but even so, it couldn't be pulled off without controversy by anyone else. And this was before the Michael Richards incident in the L.A. Factory. It was one of those Gold moments and even the GM from Laugh Factory and Some Waitresses remembers that show, it was magic.

Others in the line up included Clea Wilson, Nethia Heyward (Making her return on the 8th of December) Giulia Rozzi, Nicky Sunshine, Christina Galston, Joanne Filan Headlined, and Angry Bob came out as Angry Roberta and killed on his COMEDY PIE Lifetime Free Spot once again! I do not recall who else was on, but it was a kickass show. ANg has been a great friend since this thing got started, drives me crazy sometimes, and the reverse as well, but I have NEVER met anyone who loves doing stand up as much as this guy, DO NOT MISS "THE BIG SHOW" ON DECEMBER 15th, my gift to the NYC Urban Legend Himself! I have never met a Comic who has a gazillion Gigs and gets depressed when one weekend goes by with no gig on a Friday or Saturday, now that's a freakin' Comic! I don't even remember how I booked him but we met last December 8th 2007 8PM, Happy Anniversary AB!

So anyways, (sorry I write on my blogs like I talk, if it's not a script, I write like I would say it in your face. Plus I jump from subject to subject, just like in real life… stop complaining, take an aspirin and keep reading!) The next thing I got into was doing something different than what was out there, Line-ups must compliment each other and be diverse, otherwise, it just doesn't work as an entire show and could get boring, So THEMED shows became my mantra and I came up with all kinds of crazy ideas, some I did, some I didn't, some are still in the works. (Eric Alexander calls me the King Of the THEME shows) AND YES ERIC I WILL MAKE HiP HoMEDY-- HAPPEN!

(Quick commercial break!) It's not Hip-Hop, Its not Comedy,.... it's HiP HoMeDY--! Nobody likes this name but me, but mark my words it'll be the best Urban show in town! (Not yet fully booked, so inquire! OPEN TO ALL RACES! I'M LOOKING FOR OUT OF THE ORDINARY Hip Hop Comics, Male, Female, Asian, Black, White, and Latino etc. Just have a HiP HoMEDY Vibe and be funny, I will book you! .... Yes its trademarked so don't even try it! Eric will headline the show incidentally! Don't Miss The HEBREW E UNIT ORIGINAL THUG GANSTA, Ladies & Gentleman! -Eric Alexander,…Schvitzing it up in HiP HoMeDY--! The UPRISING of the New Millennium NYC URBAN HiP Homedy LEGENDs SHOWCASE,… Can a Jewish Brotha with a Hip Hop accent get a WHooMp WhooMp?)

Back to my blog…the third show is when I used the Name BROADS of BROADWAY for the first time. It had been used in the past but was never Trademarked, so I hopped all over it when I found out I didn't make it up, and have been thru 2 Lawsuits already this year from previous users of the name, officially I am now the recognized owner of the name in the Eastern District Court and successfully sued for court & legal fees against these asses who were trying to tie me up in litigation for a settlement. I learn quickly and do my homework fast. One less thing to worry about. (Actually the other shows were called BROADS on BROADWAY, but still, it was a dark day when I found out I wasn't as brilliant as I thought!)

I have to admit I got lost in all the stuff I was doing because I tried to handle to much too quickly, Scouting , Booking, Producing the actual show etc. also, finding out about how to book College shows, do tours etc. None of which I will do anytime soon as I am not done meeting and working with a new Line up of comics in '08 to further refine the CLUB Producing thing until I get it right everytime! What can I say, yes I am a perfectionist, and when that flawless sold out show happens on a regular basis, then I will evolve and move on to bigger venues, but I don't believe I will ever leave the NYC Clubs for good, how could you not come back home? (I hope to see the day when I can bring back the ones who got famous for one REALLY BIG SHOW! It'll be on December 8th 8PM, sometime in the near future, location unknown.)

I suppose because of the way I was raised I also got distracted by helping out a lot of comics find their way around the scene and it just got to be too much to handle but I do make myself available to any comic I work with to share any info I can give them to further their careers. I get a lot of e-mails from comics who have heard of the stuff I am doing to help Comics and it became a dilemma as I could not accommodate every request for a booking, so the Co-producing I do to get Comics thru the process of producing your own show and reaping all the profits is helping raise up some new producers that will be forces to be reckoned with soon enough. The COMEDY PIE Network is a self supporting Production Company and I am thrilled to see the Progress of some of the Comics I've worked with. The new thing is we've organized writing sessions and the first one was a success. If I were Captain Picard on STAR TREK, I have to give a Shout out to my 1, Nicky Sunshine, who made it happen. The second in fact is today. This was necessary because I could not handle all the request for writing assistance I was getting and although I was doing it for a few, the demands with everything else just got too much. So Nicky Sunshine,…A Special rare WhooMp WhooMp Shout out!

All this success is due to the great Comics I work with and I hope that in some small measure I have made a difference in Someone's Comedy Life, but nobody has gone more above and beyond what I expect of anyone more so than Nicky Sunshine, you're a great friend and all your help is greatly appreciated, if COMEDY PIE ever becomes big, it'll be a Pharaoh & Joseph situation, You speak to Sunshine, you speak to me, but you cant have my COMEDY PIE throne! Michele Youngblood, Christina Galston, Kyle Bostic, Eric Alexander, Angry Bob & all the BROADS of BROADWAY, everyone I ever worked with, too many names to mention, A Million Thank Y'alls!!

On a personal note, I must tell you that doing this stuff this year has been lifesaving to me and I believe if all this stuff wasn't keeping me busy I'd probably given up a long time ago. But I am also a man of Hope and now I am determined to keep going in '08 stronger than ever. I believe in Miracles.

My little network will take over the NYC Comedy World by storm, and NOTHING and NOBODY will stop us! To quote a great man, "I may not get there with you, but I have seen the Promised Land!"

'07 personally has been a difficult year for me. I owe everyone a thank you for getting me thru it all. So Gracias Amigos and Amigas! I know I pushed a lot of you hard this year and stayed on top of your progress, but I hope y'all understand why I do things the way I do, in the end, although my methods are unconventional a times, the result I seek is met and the next challenge comes your way. For me, the end justifies the means. So apologies for all the headaches I caused, but you have to admit, wasn't it worth it?

By the way, New Challenge for 08- Join ijoke.tv and expand your network! At- http://www.ijoke.tv/club/ 2008, the Year of COMEDY PIE begins! I AM JULIO RAY! THE HISPANIC JOE FRANKLIN, THE LATINO BROADWAY DANNY ROSE, THE SPANISH VINCE McMAHON! MAKER OF DREAMS, FATHER OF THE MISFITS OF COMEDY, I AM THE PUERTO RICAN BERRY GORDY! AND COMEDY PIE IS MY MOTOWN!

I'm also now tired and sleepy…. Buenos Nachos! Goodnight!

Loved By Few, Hated By Many, Respected By All
.... Peace-N-Blessings, Life Is Good! -Julio