Quickies

🎯 I feel like they made a mistake calling that guy the BTK Killer. That just sounds like a new sandwich at Quizno’s.

🎯 Topsy turvy world these days: Climate stuff is scary AF, but we’re totally fine talking about serial killers. “How about this weather?” “Whoa, man. Lighten up. Let’s talk about Dahmer.”

🎯 I enjoy it when someone gets to the end of a sentence and spits, "...and things of that nature." Look, we all know you couldn't come up with another example. It's fine. You don't have to act all sorry, apologetic, and...well...gah, DON'T MAKE ME DO IT.

🎯 The most standup-like people who were never actually standup comedians: Mark Twain, Camille Paglia, Fran Lebowitz, Christopher Hitchens, Mae West, George Bernard Shaw, and Buddha.

🎯 WFH really killed off NSFW. You gotta send something really extra to label it NSFWFH.

🎯 IYKYK? Here’s the thing: I never know. Never.

🎯 Hilarious ESPN headline…

…That night in the Stafford home: "Hey, um, honey…can I talk to you about something?"

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Video quickies

🎯 How I’m like Einstein:

🎯 Drone light shows are un-American:

🎯 Are New Yorkers really a**holes? A:

🎯 Listen to my podcast, Kind of a Lot with Matt Ruby, for more like this:

Kind of a Lot with Matt Ruby Stereoactive Media 27 episodes

10 videos to watch

Get your YouTube on with these Ruby recs:

📺 Learn about divorce and you learn about love. Some great advice here and divorce attorney James Sexton is super entertaining too – could easily be turned into a one-man show that would sell out. (via NB)

📺 Smart series from John Vervaeke, an assistant professor at the University of Toronto, about shamanism, altered States of consciousness, mystical experience, existentialism, nihilism, and AI. Phew!

So why is the mindfulness revolution occurring? Well it's occurring particularly because of this intersection between Buddhism and cognitive science. But why is this happening and why is it so explosive in nature? And what do we mean by mindfulness? Some of the work I've done is trying to get clear about that! We're going to talk about that in this series.

📺 Reason’s Nick Gillespie goes to the Psychedelic Science Conference in Denver: "The Psychedelic Renaissance Is here! How will it change medicine, commerce, therapy, the arts, and your life?"

📺 This is a fun watch (or you can listen to podcast version) even if you dislike Bill Maher and Jordan Peterson since they both kinda call each other out on their respective BS re: spirituality, marriage, etc.

📺 You do know how to cut an onion,, right?

📺 The masculinity crisis is getting more run these days so it’s nice to hear one of the OG voices (he was an old school feminist too), Dr. Warren Farrell, give his take.

📺 Norm on Howard: Two comedy greats going head to head.

📺 There’s a tunnel in Vegas where a stream of Teslas go underground in a loop!?

📺 Some folks saw it all coming years ago. David Foster Wallace is one of ‘em.

📺 Leonard Cohen clearly doesn’t want to be doing this interview, but that’s part of why it’s so intriguing. "There is a wisdom that comes with the scars, but you can't tell anyone about. All you can do is lift your glass to those who have gone before, those who are with you and those that come after you," he says. Also: Not many people can give an interview where they slip in and out of reciting their own lyrics without sounding like a douche, but he totally pulls it off.

Comedy

🃏 I post clips of my standup (and more) at Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. A couple below:

🃏 NYC. Comedy + visuals + sounds. 9/14. Misguided Meditation with Matt Ruby comes to the Psychedelic Assembly (a neat space in midtown). There’s a one hour open bar from Misguided Spirits before the show too. Coupon code – MISGUIDED5 – gets Rubesletter readers $5 off.

🃏 NYC standup shows: I’m at Comedy Cellar every Tuesday night at 10:30pm for Hot Soup and NY Comedy Club (East Village) every Wednesday at 8pm for Good Eggs. Some big show announcements coming soon too.

🃏 Check out my other newsletter: Funny How: Letters to a Young Comedian.

🃏 Buy a “Substance” letterpressed, cool-*ass poster. Designed by Scott Sugiuchi.

FYI, this was the first draft version and the color palette inspiration:

Politicked off

🥜 I wish all the people who "give me hope for the future" polled at higher than .03%. I guess that means I'm .03% hopeful about the future.

🥜 “It’s not morning in America. We live in a dark moment.” What a shift in American politics. The winning candidate used to be the sunshiniest guy. The optimist. Hope, change, shining city on a hill, and all that. Now people want to be told they're living in Blade 3.

🥜 Watched that video of Vivek Ramaswamy playing tennis. If he becomes President, China's just gonna attack his backhand.

🥜 Mean-mug mug-shot mug:

Writer-for-hire

In addition to writing the Rubesletter and telling jokes, I also run a one-man copywriting and video production shop called Fort Pelican, where I write everything from think pieces for tech CEOs to commercial scripts. If you’re in need of good words, just respond to this email and we’ll hash it out.

5-spotted (and some bonus Quickies)

🗯 Fiona Apple wrote a letter explaining to her fans that she had to postpone a concert because her dog was dying...