RAMP collaborator (and subject) Jeffery Straker is not only the featured artist on CBC.ca today but you can hear one of his amazing concerts live on CBC Radio 2 today. Get the full details on Jeff’s site or check out some of his previous work at the CBC on-demand.

Of course RAMP die-hards will remember Jeff from his role as “Evan” in Dead End Days (in fact, proto-evan “Man #1″ was one of the first four actors Rocket Ace EVER worked with) - but his music has also graced tonnes of RAMP productions (and in exchange RAMP produced and directed his music videos for “Walk Away” and “I Quit”). So check out Jeff’s music (or even better go see if he’s playing near you, as his live shows are amazing)! Congrats Jeff!

The point is you can go see Jason’s brilliance as part of the 2010 Soulpepper staging of “Oh What a Lovely War” playing through April 10!

We got to see the show last night, and it’s completely excellent - so all of you who missed out on the Academy’s amazing performances in last winters Canwest Cabaret Festival - don’t miss this one!

It’s another Tuesday Imponderables & Acquaintances at the Rivoli in Toronto. By now you should know you should know the drill:

1. show up at the Riv (334 Queen Street West, Toronto) at 9pm this Tuesday (March 2nd)
2. Fork over the hefty $5 door fee
3. Revel in japes. Jests. Hella-chuckles.

But before you sigh and file under “what else is new” you just might get a sneak peak at some 2010 model Rocket Ace video shennanigans. That’s right THE COMEDY OF THE NEXT DECADE.

And we’re not the only reason to check out the show… there is those Imps guys cranking out new material like someone’s lit a fire under them. A hilarious fie.

(Also Winston Spear is MC’ing tonight - so there will be dancing… HUMOROUS dancing. And opening act Dancycle… about which I know nothing… HUMOROUS nothing. And that Ron Sparks guy will do that Canadian-Comedy-Award-Winning “Newsdesk” thing so… AWESOME)

Usual RAMP live show rules in effect - hunt one of the RAMP crew down “Where’s-Waldo-style” and we’ll give you stickers and buttons just for the asking. Hope to see you there.

[LIVEBLOG-TYPE EDIT - Except I forgot our "swag bag" at home... so track us down and get a hearty handshake and some business cards, or paper-clips or some gum or something... haven't quite figured it out yet]

Hey there’s a big interview / profile with the Rocket Ace team in this week’s Time Out London. It’s not the cover pictured, but we’re across the pond and haven’t gotten our complementary copy yet - so we’re not entirely sure what’s on the cover… or if the article is different than the web one… so the whole thing is very exciting. We’re certainly appreciative… but questions are raised. Why “Time Out”? Why London? Why now? No idea - but it’s sure a great way to start the year… thanks Time Out London!

Anyone who (like us) does a little charitable giving come the end of the year could do a lot worse than to check out one of our favourite local charities: Operation Sock Monkey. Lindsey and the OSM crew run a tight, tight, ship and even a little holiday cheer goes a long way there to making a lot of kids lives better.

A safe, happy, holidays to you and yours!

RAMP fans in Toronto, come on out and join us for the 2010 Rock Paper Scissors World Championships. We’re long time friends of the folks at the World Rock Paper Scissors Society and the “Dance of Hands” is one of our favourite nights of the year. (And if you doubt our sincerity go pick up a copy of Rock, Paper, Scissors: A Geek Tragedy
“>Rock, Paper, Scissors: A Geek Tragedy the amazing documentary on the WRPS by Calgary filmmaker Mike McKeown - it’s not only a great doc, but features some of your favourite RAMP-ers (presuming Brad is one of your favorite RAMP-ers). Find us at the floor and challenge us to a match, we’ll have some bonus “street bucks” to wager, as well as Rocket Ace swag for anyone who asks - we guarantee it will be a one of a kind evening you’ll be telling others about for years to come!

Clearly award-worthy.

On behalf of the entire RAMP team, we’d like to sincerely thank the The Canadian Comedy Awards and everyone who voted for The Violator which was awarded funniest web clip of 2009 tonight! This really means a lot to us - especially as it’s one of only three Canadian Comedy Award categories which are voted on publicly. On a medium as democratic (and fickle) as the Internet - we’re very humbled that you think that one of our little videos are worthy of recognition.

We think Violator is a great representative of all the really fun work we’ve done with The Imponderables - they’re great collaborators, and even better friends - and it’s totally creepy to see both our names carved into a big shiny trophy creating a sentence so bizarre that it will one day puzzle alien linguists to no end: “VIOLATOR ROCKET ACE MOVING PICTURES AND THE IMPONDERABLES”.

If you can’t tell, we’re having a great time at the Canadian Comedy Festival in Saint John (and not just because they gave us a chunk of glass you could easily kill a man with) - everyone has been incredibly welcoming (even the folks in the Tim Horton’s who were disappointed the award didn’t look as good as it did on stage).

Sorry for the self-serving post - but let’s be frank; It’s not too often people working in short-form Internet comedy get any kind of public recognition (other than YouTube commentors questioning their sexuality) so we’re going to enjoy the rest of the weekend, and hopefully use it as a kick in the pants to get some new RAMP material your way as thanks.

Again, our sincerest “thank you” to everyone who made this amazing night possible!

N.B. - Also, as Matt said during our acceptance speech. This really wouldn’t have been possible without LEGO - so thank you LEGO for not suing us. We’re really grateful about that!

Canadian Comedy Award (may not be exactly as pictured)

[EDIT - We've updated our FAQ on Voting - Click here for more info!]

We were pretty thrilled last year to receive a record two nominations for funniest web video in the 2008 Canadian Comedy Awards - so we’re blown away to have recieved three nominations (for The Violator, Mushmouth, and Basement Accident) in 2009! As far as we know that’s a record for any Canadian Comedy Award category which we’ll be extremely shameless in awkwardly bringing up in uncomfortable social situations!

Of course this an honour that wouldn’t have been possible without our long-standing collaborative work with The Imponderables - whose “unique” brand of “genius” makes the whole thing possible.

…

I don’t think I was supposed to type the air-quotes.

Seriously, the Imponderables were nominated (for about the tenth year in a row) for funniest sketch group as well… and given the year they’ve had - they would sure be my favourites to pick up another block of lucite for their shelves.

The CCA’s always have a very special place in our heart - not only as they have long recognized some of Canada’s legendary comic talent (Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer, Rick Farrell, Mary Walsh, Mike Myers, Colin Mochrie, Eugine Levy, Seth Rogen - to name-drop but a few) but they are one of the few creative arts awards that recognize the work being done in short-form video on the web.

Even better the “Web Video” field is one of only three awards which include public voting (Pretty Funny Web Video, Pretty Funny Radio Clip, and Canadian Comedy Person of the Year). So if you want to help us out you can head over to the Canadian Comedy Awards Voting Website and Register for a free account to vote!.

[Edit - Yes, as with last year, feel free to link to our nomination badges from your own sites or blogs if you wish, I've included sample code below]

<a href=”http://ccavoting.com/register.php”><img src=”http://www.rocketace.ca/images/cca_sm_violator.jpg” alt=”The Violator is nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award - Vote Here!” /></a>

<a href=”http://ccavoting.com/register.php”><img src=”http://www.rocketace.ca/images/cca_sm_mushmouth.jpg” alt=”Mushmouth is nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award - Vote Here!” /></a>

<a href=”http://ccavoting.com/register.php”><img src=”http://www.rocketace.ca/images/cca_sm_basement.jpg” alt=”Basement Accident is nominated for a Canadian Comedy Award - Vote Here!” /></a>

Also there’s been some question if we have a preference which RAMP show people vote for. So as to not split our vote, we’re encouraging fans of RAMP to vote for “The Violator” this year. While we love all three of our nominees equally - how can you not want to see the improbable run of this plucky underdog continue?

MC Mark Forward! Bull Hooey! That Ron Sparks Guy! Two Weeks of City Garbage Piling up on the Streets! All for $5… there’s not a better deal to be had, friends.

Of course that’s only if you like AWESOME COMEDY.

As always at live shows, if you see any of the usual suspects - come say hello and get some free buttons and stickers and stuff!

It’s another Tuesday Imponderables & Acquaintances at the Rivoli in Toronto. By now you should know that if you show up at the Riv (334 Queen Street West, Toronto) at, say, 9pm this Tuesday (April 7th). Fork over the hefty $5 door fee and revel in japes. Jests. Hella-chuckles.

The “Imps & Acks” shows are always a great time, but this month should be particularly solid - what with the Imps coming off a sold out show in New York the previous weekend - we thought we’d help them out a little bit by throwing out some brand new, never before seen, RAMP video goodness. So hot off the press only 75% of it is actually completed. INFLUENCE the future of RAMP with how hard you laugh. If you don’t laugh we may get depressed and never finish any of this stuff!

(Also Winston Spear is MC’ing tonight - so there will be dancing… HUMOROUS dancing. And opening act Dancyle… about which I know nothing… HUMOROUS nothing. And that Ron Sparks guy will do that “Newsdesk” thing he does so well… which is… (wait for it)… HUMOROUS)

Usual RAMP live show rules in effect - hunt one of the RAMP crew down “Where’s-Waldo-style” and we’ll give you stickers and buttons just for the asking. Hope to see you there.