Mikey Mason was invited to play during the Browncoats’ Mighty Fine Shindig at ConCarolinas.
He bills himself as a Comedy Rock Star and the appellation is …uh…apt.
Mason’s performance was of a style and verve new to me at any SFCon.
He’s an outright stand up comedian utilizing original songs written for the guitar and voice for his routine.
His inter-song chat is refreshingly humble and honest.
Mason’s showmanship and audience engagement is above par. I think it means a lot that at the end of the Saturday Morning Cartoon Mash-Up song, everyone, including me, had fond “memories” of Muppet Babies: a show I’ve never seen.
Comedians play a special role in our society: we give them permission to say things that the rest of us too-polites would get punched in the face for saying out loud. Mason gently applies this permission, as many of his songs are just insightful enough to resonate with everyone in the audience, such as Too Fat to Troop and Cool Like Han Solo, my two faves. However, he lets all the stops out with TeenAged Gothling Mom To Be.
But even better than his concert, I got the opportunity to meet and talk with him a little, a prize special to my introverted self. He astonished me (me! astonished!) with how fantastically well-read he is, turning the tables on his own self with regards to his song “Yo Brain Turns Me On”. He’s versed in Discworld and happily chatted about Granny Weatherwax, and could recite one of the poems from Bored of the Rings–on demand and off the cuff. Sheesh!
When we see him at his next Con Concert (and we will) I hope he’s incorporated more of his lit-genius and dropped some of his eye-rollingly common dick jokes.
I recommend you find one of his concerts. He’s very well traveled, coming out of Indiana, and it’s not unlikely that he’s got a gig near you.
If not, his album Impotent Nerd Rage is available via Bandcamp.
Mason is working on his next album, Barbarian Jetpack via a Kickstarter, here.
All raging nerds in this household 100% unanimously agree that this could totally be a Mikey Mason Comedy Rock Star song title:
“Astro-muskrat Space Pirate… 1 Treasure”
