The Year Of The Gore
October 18, 2007 · Print This Article
It is a jam packed week on Behind The Bricks, and from 14 year old comics to Al Gore parlaying polar bears into pussy, Brian’s got something for everyone.
Topics include, performing in front of your significant other, bringing stand up to the comedy impoverished, Dane Cook sizzling the mic, but not with jokes, and a spotlight on one of the most polarizing “voices” in stand up. Excuse me ladies, the fellatio line starts here.
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Good to hear about the changes in your life Brian. It’s not about being worried about how things maybe not being what you thought it would be; it’s about how you adapt and change with your life…..everyone has to do it, I certainly have.
And don’t worry, BTB boys and girls will be here for you always, buddy!
Yeah, dont sweat it B-mo, You’ll always have us to back you up. Dont know if thats a good thing but i degress.
I appreciate the support. I hope it didn’t sound like I was giving up stand up, because that’s definitely not the case, just comedy as I’ve known it over the past 8 years.
By the way, how many of you thought I was going to cut off the Dane Cook ballad at some point? If he has the balls to record a 4 minute single, then I’m playing the whole fucking thing unadulterated.
I’m pretty sure that playing that song to a POW would qualify as a breach of the Geneva Conventions.
Well said asterion. I vote next year’s Nobel Peace Prize go to whoever squashes his follow up record.
Good luck with the new job, Brian.
Loved the show, but that Dane Cook song? CHRIST ON A BIKE! What an appalling abonomation. I thought Eddie Murphy’s attempts at a pop star career years back were ridiculous enough , but he had all the authenticity of James Brown next to Cook’s effort.
For the last all request spot, could i nominate Larry Miller’s awesome The 5 Levels Of Drinking routine? That has to be one of the gretest pieces of comedy writing I’ve ever heard.
R.
That song makes “Party All The Time” sound like Stairway.
Normally I would gladly oblige on the Larry Miller routine as it is one of my favs, however we just played it in August (30th I think?) so I’ll have to hold off. But you’re right. An all time classic.
Fair enough - I probably missed hearing Miller on BRB thanks to my cheap MP3 player which burns up batteries like crazy and means I’ve missed the featured comedian a few times due to the power cutting out 10 minutes before the end of the podcast - just my luck it never cut out when Dane Cook began to croon!
I watched some Dane Cook using youtube. I think he’s funny but nothing great, just thought I’d say what I thought of him. Oh yes that song… Well… Thanks for that lol.
-In true Dane Cook fashion, he apparently stole that song’s music from the band chicago, i heard about it on xm radio and i think they have the audio of it posted on cringehumor.net
-My favorite part of Dane’s baseball commercial? “there’s only one october” Are you sure? I could’ve sworen there were like 6 octobers last year.
-I’m shooting for my standup debut in late january, so i better get to writing
-Good luck coming to terms w/ life and work and kids and everything, i just hope this podcast doesn’t turn into wacky emails you get and crazy kid stories.
“-Good luck coming to terms w/ life and work and kids and everything, i just hope this podcast doesn’t turn into wacky emails you get and crazy kid stories.”
Oh, I’ll commit suicide long before that…
Wow, so much to say after listening to that show. Thanks for answering my questions Brian. I’m a Dane fan but i have to admit that the song is just too much. Its one thing to cross to acting but not singing. Whats next? Dancing? Im with Ben, I heard he kinda copied that from the band Chicago. Brian, if he starts to sing, I will defintely call that one in! His “meet and greet” tickets for the Dallas show went for $120 each. They were auctioned off. I didn’t have that kinda money for all that.
I was really thinking about seeing if you would be the first person at the comedy club if I ever started it. Im still confused on how the comedy club pays the comic. Do they do it off a certain amount of the cover charge? The one comedy club I go to in Oklahoma City I heard doesn’t pay that much to the comic, at The Loony Bin, but pays for the hotel. So, I was also wondering about how comedy clubs do that. Im not the type of guy that really likes a 8-5 type of job and being 24 im still trying to figure out what to do. I really love stand up but since I am married I can’t really do the whole touring thing so I think opening my own would be a good idea for my town.
Im glad that your wife is that supportive of comedy. I would not feel comfortable having my family come see me do comedy and see me eat shit and just die on stage. Plus, i don’t want my wife to heckle me while im up there.
But lastly thanks Brian for keeping this podcast up! I love coming here and listening every thursday. It really helps understand more of the business.
Gilley
Great question Gilly. I can’t believe we haven’t discussed payouts yet. We’ll hit it up next Thursday.
I actually told that stripper joke during my second set. And it got a decent response, considering the audience was pretty much female only. I threw in the joke at the last minute while preparing the set.
And on the Dane Cook song. I was just waiting for you to cut it off. I was laughing at first. Then I got really tense, as I realized, you were dead serious on “letting” us listen to the ENTIRE song.
Good luck to Ben.
Mike (NR)
Thanks brian. Im guessing that the bigger clubs probably pay more though. Hey Mike, did the females in the crowd take offense to the stripper joke? I think its a really great joke. I have a joke (thats actually true) about being in the labor room when my sister was giving birth. I had someone say to me to be careful with that joke because I can offend the audience if done to early in the set. Its on my blog on my myspace if you want to check it out. No man should ever have to see his sisters snatch. EVER.
OH Brian, what did you think of Al Gore on SNL that one time? I thought he was actually pretty decent as an actor. I knew after that, that he wouldn’t be running for office again. I was actually surprised on how well he did for being a political figure. Then again Regan was an actor. I also wanted to add about the Dane Cook “Foward” song….Its almost like Rodney Dangerfields rap that he tried to come out with. Did you ever hear that?
Mike (NR) congrats on the shows. I’ve done a fair few presentations and trade show demos (all from fairly tight scripts), I’ve even done a little bit of acting, but to stand up on stage and try and entertain people with my own material, that’d scare the crap out of me. And that’s now, when I was in my teens you wouldn’t have even got me near the stage.
And that Dane Cook song - is it me or do other people think they heard that somewhere before as well?
The females in the crowd didn’t take offense. There were three people in the crowd, and all three were females, and they were pretty cool about it. Probably because I told the stripper joke, after a joke about how small I am.
Thanks Bob and Gilley.
I actually am semi used to performing in front of people. Since I am in Hawaii, I have had the opportunity to dance hula. And after dancing in front of crowds, half naked. Talking doesn’t seem quite so intimidating. It’s still scary. But not so much.
Gilley: I like your blog posts. I’d read them all, but I have homework. So that will be for the weekend.
But, I am still going to make the obvious joke, that politicians are going to be naturally gifted as an actor. They tell lies during their entire campaign; pretending to be someone else isn’t different from what they normally do.
Dane Cook song - I def thought that shyte sounded exactly like Chicago. And many thanks for giving us the entire song Brian you bastard. I was actually listening in bed late at night (a scary thought to have you talking to me in bed) and almost drifted off to sleep to the dulcet tones of Mr cook.
Gilley- The women were actually pretty cool about it. I sorta exaggerated about the crowd. It was about three people in chairs, and everyone else at their booths were half listening. It may have helped that before the stripper joke, I had a bit on how small I am. And I’m not talking height here. Oh, and I liked your blog. It was pretty neat.
An interesting tidbit to me. I actually dance hula. And there is something about dancing half naked on stage, in a malo (for those who dont know what it is, look it up), that helps with stage fright. It still makes me nervous, but it helps somewhat.
Ugh that Dane Cook track is awful. If I remember rightly he once did a bit about hearing certain sounds that ‘make you want to punch a baby’. Never really knew what he meant until listening to that track…
Anyway.. how about a Jim Norton clip?
Just caught up on the shows, I’ve been hooked on TAI so I had to play catch up.
Mike (not really) congrats on your gig and hope you keep it up. Dont worry about the biz or being big time, that stuff takes care of itself if you work hard.
My thoughts on starting a comedy club. Where I live there is no such thing. Like Brian said, if you have no competition it makes business eaiser. Honestly, because there is no comedy club in my area I have never been to one, but sounds like you need a booze license, employees, ways to bring in comics, ect…so the biz plans would have to be good and you would need big $$.
Why is dude Cook trying to sing. I’m not sure who wrote the songs, but if he wants to be a song writter go ahead. 99% of the music biz is image and even if he sings the best songs no one is going to buy into it.
BMo, congrats on the job and soon to be baby. Look forward to hearing more about things in later shows.
I’m only half-way through this week’s podcast, but I’ve got to comment:
I think sometimes Dane Cook is very funny, and sometimes I have no idea what he’s going on about. And now I find myself listening to that song you stuck in the middle of the podcast. This sounds like really bad Christian Rock! (Yeah, yeah, I’m being redundant…hah, hah…)
I think his play to become a “media personality” is too far too soon, but I will give him this: he doesn’t have a stupid made up name like “Dave the Latte Guy” nor use a moronic tag like “Getty up!”.
But that doesn’t excuse the Don Johnson-esque crooning by a long shot…
Okay, done the podcast. More comments:
You describe Emo perfectly. I sometimes find his personna something I have to “get past” in order to appreciate him, and yet doing so reveals him as someone with great comedic talent. Some of his stuff is mind-bendingly funny, yet irritating. One thing on the bit you played: I don’t know if everyone is ripping from him or if he was just lifting material from the collective public consciousness, but that routine about baptist denominations is today the equivalent of a “bar joke” among we ordained folk. In fact, along with a bit that starts “If Catholicism were a car, it would…”, it is probably one of the most forwarded emails among the religiously trained. Doesn’t make it not funny, of course.
On another note, I feel for ya with regard to facing the realities of your career. I think the second worst thing about getting older is the slow accumulation of reality-checks about your own limitations that happens as the years roll by. (The absolute worst part of getting older is, of course, slowly losing your dignity to the medical profession as parts of your body one by one turn traitor on you.) Life is full of choices, and opening one door often closes another. I applaud you for realizing that being a good Dad and being on the road all year would probably be a source of strife in your life. I’m also really glad you’re not giving up stand up entirely, either.
Look, if your dream included a development deal, then I’m sorry that you no-longer see that in your future. If your dream was mostly about making people laugh and have a good time, then being a kick-ass local or regional comic sounds like a great way to do that. Plus you get to be there for your kid. My first kids came along when I was a business man who travelled and who worked 100-hour weeks; my last kid came after I quit business to go get my MDiv. Trust me: if I have any regrets at all about any part of my life, it’s that I wasn’t able to enjoy being a good and present dad in the early years for the older kids as I have for the youngest. My oldest is 10, now, and I wonder where the time went.
Time once again for Leonardo’s Musings…
In the most recent debate amongst the Democrats running for Presudent, Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel was asked by Tim russert about his filing personal bankruptcy after he left the senate. “I stuck the credit card companies with $90,000 worth of bills,” Gravel said. “They deserved it, and I used the money to finance the empowerment of the American people with the National Initiative,” he responded (that is for real), perfectly oblivious to how, oh, I don’t know-maybe everyone-would think this sounded.
The bad news is that his irresponsibility led to that company closing its doors forever and 4500 people being laid off. 344 of those people turned to a life of crime, while 87 suffered nervous breakdowns and 6 killed themselves.
The good news is that the company was a subsidiary of Haliburton, and those jobs had all been outsourced to India!
- Will next week’s podcast be brought to us by the hours 9 to 5. Killing people’s dreams since 1776? thank you i’ll be here all week
- 120 dollars to ‘meet’ Dane Cook? next thing you know he’ll book himself in basketball arenas and assume he can sell them all out. oh wait…
-It only cost me 27.50 for tickets to see Dane’s main material source (Louis C.K.) which is coincidentally only 2 weeks before dane comes to seattle, maybe he’ll be seated next to me.
- speaking of jim norton (markus did), i didn’t get the chance to see his hbo special since i don’t get that channel, but opie and anthony were gushing about it and he is one of the funnier comics around. can i get a review from somebody on it?
-thanks for you’re support mike, and good luck to you to, although you’re material makes me a little self conscious, since i’ve really only been able to come up w/ topics so far, and punchlines aren’t really coming to me yet. maybe i should push back the starting date more.
I’ll be doing a review of Monster Rain on Thursday. I find O & A to be unlistenable, but Norton is a great comic.
Leonardo - Be careful with your material because I’m afraid you’re treading into a territory a lot of political comics mistakenly go down, and that’s preaching instead of joking. Make sure you have your punchline in place.
Leonardo- I think its a good concept, because I see what could be funny about it. The way you put it though, I agree with Brian, that it makes it seem like it could be preachy.
Maybe try something where the setup is generally the same, but when you get to the good news, bad news, instead you say the bad news, is that 4,500 people got laid off. the good news is that only 6 people killed themselves. What a guy. Way to help the people.
I’m not too sure, just some ideas.
For the standup showcase, can we hear a little bit of Daniel Tosh? I just saw his special, and I thought he is pretty funny. He made me laugh. Maybe it makes everyone else laugh as well. I’m not too sure.
Ugh, i just realized I posted two comments, with essentially the same message. sorry about that. I watched Norton’s HBO special this weekend. I really like him. He has a sick sick sense of humor (in a good way).
————-
Ben- don’t worry about the punchlines, (sometimes it has taken me two-three months to come up with a “solid” joke, with punchline and set up) to tell you the truth, my style isn’t too original, and I tend to pattern my jokes after established comics (I’ve written a lot of jokes, inspired by Joe Rogan).
So, if you watch a lot of standup, maybe it can give you a better idea how to structure your joke, and what makes them so funny. Do you have an idea of the setup of the joke, but are just looking for the punchline, or do you just have part of a premise?
Something I’ve sorta been doing, is if something funny happens to me. I try to remember what made it so funny, and then try to take that, and turn it around into a bit. Also, what may help, is try practicing performing your set, (could be by yourself, or for other people), and sorta riff on it.
———–
Brian, if you ever get sick of the 9-5. I think you should do a Behind the Bricks comedy tour. And have me, ben, or mac open, Amelia, Joel, Smiley and you headline. Or maybe even do a Comedians of Comedy-esque tour. You host, (ala Patton Oswalt) and everyone else does stuff too.
Well, actually could you guys wait until I graduate from high school first. But then, we could all hit the road together. (BTW, I forget all the comics who contribute, so this is just the ones I remember off the top).
Thanks NorCal and Ben for the compliments. You guys are all inflating my already large ego.
Mike NR
p.s. please let me know if I start sounding a little uppity.
Thanks for the feedback, guys, but I don’t get what’s preachy. There’s a jab at both left and right here. I’m not saying you’re wrong, maybe it’s not even a funny bit. I thought the notion of this guy caused these bad things to happen, but good news! not only did it happen to Haliburton, but it all happened in India was a good bait and switch… I think now not funny.
Hey Brian
This is a random question and forgive me if it’s been asked before, but i was wondering if you could advise me on some current American stand-ups you think are worth checking out. Thanks to you namechecking US acts I’d never heard of before on BTB, I’ve been able to download some fantastic stand-up by people like Patton Oswalt - his classic piece on 80’s heavy metal is probably the funniest thing I’ve heard all year. So who else would you recommend checking out? I guess my favourite style of stand-up are acts who talk about random stuff - Dave Atell is a big favourite too. So far I’ve heard sets by Stanhope, Gaffigan, Titus, Black, Demetri Martin, and that Zach guy with the long Greek name. Any other American comics in this vein would be greatly appreciated.
That’s awesome that we’ve helped pique your interest in American comedy. If you’re into the more random stuff I would definitely recommend Daniel Tosh and Mike Birbiglia. Todd Barry is also a favorite of mine, and even though I’m sure you’re familiar with him, most people who like Patton Oswalt are into David Cross. That’s a good start. Hopefully some other members of the community can help fill in the gaps.
Anyone see Stephen Colbert on Meet the Press this morning? I can’t decide if Tim Russert didn’t get that the whole thing is a joke or if he was doing a marvelous job of being the straight man.
By the way, I got the audiobook version of I Am America (And So Can You!) and listened to it. It’s about 3+ hours and while it has its moments, I can’t really recommend it (and I assume the book would be about the same) unless you are a really big Colbert Report fan.
I did see Meet The Press this morning for some reason and I agree, Russert didn’t seem to be fully on board. It was just a so so performance in my opinion. Apparently you can go online and see an interview with Colbert out of character.
As far as colbert goes im completely behind him running for president. i relize its just a joke and probably just a publicity stunt for his show but the very idea that maybe, JUST MAYBE, he’ll actually run makes me luagh harder than anything else. I also really liked his book and as far as russert goes im sure he understood it was a joke, he’s just a really good straight man.
Oh and two things from Mike(NR) post. i also endorse tosh, he is really funny. And also his idea for a behind the bricks tour is one of the best ideas ive ever heard and i am incredibly honored you think im even close to the level of headlining(i think thats waht the post meant). Also heres a long overdue congratulations to you mike for your first open mic, CHEERS my freind.
Also i just added a transcripts from one of the best sets of my life onto my myspace blog page(link provided) I also recorded for my personal collection. feel free to comment
Sorry I missed your post Mike. I’d be honored to work with all of you guys, unfortunately the BTB reign doesn’t quite reach as far as the Patton Oswalt fan base. But we are looking to launch a monthly online tv comedy showcase in’08, so we may all go on a virtual tour together in the near future.
Brian, what does the comedy showcase consist of? Do we get to submit videos of our standup?
More details in the coming months, but for the most part it will be 1 live show that we put together with 1-2 “guest sets” sent in by listeners.
You spoke about hecklers in a recent show (I think it was the last one?), while not stand up I think this youtube video of Bill Maher’s show is pretty good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzrUD-5hf1A
The line, “don’t be gentle with him… asskicking is what’s called for” slays me. I disagree with Bill Maher about many things, but the man has balls. Also, what’s up with the woman in the middle acting like people in the audience interrupting a television show is a 1st amendment issue? I HATE it when people say crap like that.
Hey B-mo, great show! Congratulations on the new job. I’m really excited about the “virtual tour” thing, I have a video that I don’t know how to upload onto the computer (it’s in a weird format) but once I get it uploaded I’ll send it in.
Mike (NR)- Congrats on the first show, I remember how nervous I was before my first open mic…it was all I thought about for the two weeks before I took the stage. Also, I’d l-o-v-e to do some kind of “Behind The Bricks” Tour with you guys; if there’s any way in hell we could pull that off someday, it’d be sweet. I’m the kind of person who gets ahead of himself, and as soon as I read the idea I already had visions of how it’d go down dancing in my head.
Smiley- Thought your transcript was really funny. Keep writing, man!
Leonardo - I think it’s not the content that’s preachy so much as the style… I think a clearer punchline would improve it, but overall, what’s missing is a sense of who the person is whose telling it. It’s a good premise, but there’s something journalistic about the way it’s laid out there, I don’t really have an idea of what your attitude to it specifically is.
Mark Thomas in the UK is an excellent political (left) comedian and activist, whose recordings are fairly easy to find, and all of his stuff is based in his personality. His research comes from his experiences as an activist (recently undercover in the arms trade) and so everything becomes little stories - fusing political comedy with relatable comedy… It’s good stuff.
Whilst we’re discussing heckler, it’s a different type of event from stand up but, Kevin Smith does show one way to deal with hecklers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ou2mVnElp6c
The best think he says is: It’s never a good idea to attack the guy with the microphone.
Hey thanks Joel Fry, that means alot. And when Mike talked about the tour i also got flashes in my head about what it would be like and it was awesome.
Oh and as far as the tour goes im sure we could convince comedy central to endorse us, hell they put little bush on the air why not us.
Hey joel I think that would be pretty sweet to have a BTB tour. Could I come along? Maybe I can be the one carrying all the shit?
Holy fuck. That’s all I said when I heard the Dane Cook song. Then I started cringing and felt totally embarrassed for him. I then fast forwarded it til it was over. OUCH!
Just finished day 1 of real work. It was ok, but I learned something. After 2 years of cursing anytime you want, it’s really hard to not say “fuck” for 8 consecutive hours.
Sounds like awesome daddy practice.
oh yeah. I was gonna say it earlier, but then I forgot. I liked the transcript Smiley you got some great stuff in there.
Another question- what every happened to the Dice Clay show? anyone following it?
Brian, im glad that day one went ok. I bet that is hard for you not to throw that out at work just anytime you want. I still do it at work and people frown on that.
Leonardo -
I think maybe part of the problem was the setup was a) too long, and b) an example of reality being so weirdly funny on its own that it sounds made up. I think you’ve got good raw material, though, and just need to work it out a little.
You’ve probably already seen it, but if you haven’t, I suggest you check out the blog,
http://www.ScrappleFace.com/
Great example of right-leaning political satire that riffs off of specific news items. It’s comedy writing, not stand-up, but it might give you some ideas about structure and approach. Plus I think it’ll make you laugh.
If you’ve got some spare time, I just found this on the web: 5 ways to handle a heckler (or not to). If you look for it the Bill Hicks “Hitler had the right idea” rant is on here and he apparently went off on some woman at the same show. There’s a hell-gig for you BMO.
http://www.topsocialite.com/how-to-handle-a-heckler-like-a-pro/
BTW sorry to hear about your real job, if you’re lucky you’ll hate yours less than I do mine.
OK, we heard from Abbott and Costello a while ago so why not show my boys the Marx Brothers some love? Not really stand up per se but Vaudville was as close as you got to that normally.
Nice clip LX. The Hicks Hitler bit is a classic.
I don’t hate my new job per se, just the idea of having a job. It’s actually not that bad. I’ll talk about it a little on Thursday and probably a little more on TAI, but for the most part I’m using this show/forum as a release for the creative energy that is being squashed by my 9-5.
BIG NEWS PEOPLE, our boy Patton Oswalt will be on next weeks halloween episode of “reaper”. Its a really good show and patton will probably make it perfect. check it out
I’m curious. I know I should know this, but when someone describes a performance as being very raw. What does they mean?
(I feel like such a dumbass for not knowing)
BMO: Any thoughts on Frank Caliendo’s TBS show? Do you plan on watching it? I might but if it’s just him doing impressions I think I’d rather be off reading Sanskrit.
Mike - I dont know whether im right or not but i think Raw means when a comic goes off compleately unedited. i think the best example is any show Sam Kinison. He didnt care if he offended or people didnt understand. he just went off and did his thing. Bill Hicks is also a good example.
Speaking of “crowd control”, I had an entertaining yet off-putting experience last night. Here in Pittsburgh we’ve got two regular weekly open mics. I’ve decided that next week I’m going to try to get up at both of them, but first I’m going to just go and watch each of them this week. You know, to get a feel for how things work.
On the way over to the Funny Bone’s “Best of the Burgh” (what they call their open mic), I toyed with the idea of just throwing caution to the wind and going for it right away. In the end, I decided to stick with my original plan of a dry run, partially because I wanted to record my set and I hadn’t brought my digital recorder with me. Good thing!
There were probably about thirty people there, and almost half of them were the drunken staff from a Texas Roadhouse restaurant in West Virginia. They were sitting up front and in the center section, chattering away, puffing on cigars, shouting out anticipated punchlines, and some of them were pass-out drunk before the show was half over. The MC spent most of his time working the crowd with a combo of heckler put-downs and stock West Virginia jokes. Some of the comedians were notably tripped up by this crowd, and one of the more experienced “pros” ended up just standing over on the side of the stage facing the non-asshole wing of the club, complaining about finishing his time.
This would not have been a fun first time, to say the least!
One thing I noticed: you can tell the pros from the wannabes by their mic skills as much as by their material. A couple of guys had our ears ringing by the end of their respective sets. I actually physically covered my ears for the last minute of one guy’s time, just because of the pain!
Two highlights: one comedian got up and did a Demitri Martin / Steven Wright deadpan-type delivery, and actually won respect and (relative) silence from the West Virginia mob. Why? Because he was both very, very funny, and because he clearly acted like he owned the place, and had no concern whatsoever for what others were doing around him. The other highlight? There was a blind comedian who went over his time, and they gave him the red light! (Well, then the MC announced “one minute” over the PA a couple of times, too.)
For all that, though, I find myself more and more jazzed for my own first time next Tuesday. First, though, I’m scouting the other open mic, tomorrow.
Not had a chance to listen to this Podcast yet, still catching up as only found this site about a week ago and downloaded them all and have been listening to the last ten so far. Just wanted to say Hi, I’m a 20 year comedy fan ( probably more but thats the earliest i can remember watching comedy ). Looking forward to hearing about Mike (NR) experiance. How about doing a month highlighting some UK comics, much as i love hearing about those american comics that we don’t really hear over here in the UK i’d love to hear your opinions on some of our UK talent, and i’m sure your American listeners would be interested too.
Hey CJack, welcome to the boards. If you go back to the episodes from July, you can hear some of the British Comedians highlighted on the show.
Good luck Mac. I’m definitely excited to hear about what happens during your open mic. Hopefully, we can hear it as well.
Thanks Mike (NR), I shall do just that