Merlin Mann shared his thoughts on creativity and producing creative work in a very popular talk at last year's MaxFunCon.

Maybe you couldn't make it in 2009. Well, luckily enough for you, Merlin will be joining us again this year. In anticipation of next week's podcast, in which Jesse will be talking to him about his upcoming book, we're sharing the advice he gave at MaxFunCon 2009.

Merlin is great at breaking down the process of making art, or writing, or however you choose to be awesome and helping you think clearly about how you can stop stalling and just get started. So what are you waiting for? Help him help you by heading over to the MaxFunCon site to get the podcast.

We guarantee the always epic Andrew WK will be ready to motivate and inspire you at this year's MaxFunCon. Need to get pumped up now? Head over to the MaxFunCon site to hear his live interview and performance on an episode of The Sound of Young America in NYC.

Al Madrigal is a super guy. He's hilarious, for one: You've probably seen him on Conan or on Craig Ferguson, and he was the Jury Award winner for Best Stand-Up Comedian at the Aspen Comedy Arts Festival.

We've actually known Al since our college radio show days... and even then he was always helpful, friendly and all-around awesome. And that is the kind of folks we want to surround ourselves with at MaxFunCon. He was recently a guest on Jordan, Jesse Go! - head over to the MaxFunCon site for a sneak of his standup as "Smiling Al Madrigal" at MaxfunCon. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

The Sound of Young America is proud to present Laugh Night: A Benefit for Art Share Los Angeles, a night of standup comedy in downtown LA.

Half a dozen headlining comics will be taping standup sets for The Sound of Young America, and 100% of ticket proceeds benefit Art Share LA, which provides free arts instruction to Los Angeles students. Art Share was recently featured in the Los Angeles Times - click the link to learn more.

The show's February 25th at Art Share's historic warehouse theater in downtown Los Angeles (801 E. 4th Place). Event parking is free in the lot across the street.

Comics performing include:

Greg Behrendt (The Greg Behrendt Show, "He's Just Not That Into You," The Tonight Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien)
Donald Glover (NBC's Community, Derrick Comedy)
Karen Kilgariff (Mr. Show, former head writer "Ellen")
James Adomian (The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson)
Holly Mills (The Improv)
Nick Adams ("Making Friends with Black People")

Tickets are just $8 ($6 for downtown residents)at the door. We'll see you there!

I'm headed to Alberta to speak at the College & University Press conference, so I thought I'd organize a little meetup. Join us for dinner, chai, beer or whatever you'd like at Remedy Cafe (8631 109 Street), an easy-going place recommended by multiple Edmonton MaxFunsters. I'll see you there Saturday night at 7.

Marc Maron is one of our headliners at MaxFunCon 2010 and one of our favorite comedians ever. His podcast, WTF, remains the top ten on iTunes popularity because yeah: he is that good.

Here he is with Janeane Garofalo, an old friend & partner in crime in the alternative comedy scene of the 90's.




Jump over to MaxFunCon.com to grab it, or subscribe in iTunes.

This week on The Sound of Young America, we explode your brain with the power of music and ideas. Our first guest, Daniel J. Levitin, is the author of "This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession." Levitin a former record producer, who today is a neuroscientist studying the relationship between the brain and music.

Then we speak with the electronic music duo Matmos. Their new album, "The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast," presents ten biographical sketches of historical figures they admire. The music itself is composed of sounds related to the figures, including a cow's reproductive system played in the manner of a bagpipe.

Listen to This Week's Show

Download This Week's Show (mp3)
Subscribe to TSOYA Classic: iTunes / Feed

We're proud to announce the launch of Put This On, a web video series about dressing like a grownup from Jesse Thorn and Adam Lisagor.

We'll be partying the night away on Friday, October 30th from 8-11PM at Rising Sun Jeans in Pasadena, California. Music will be provided by DJW, refreshments by your boys at Put This On. The pilot episode will screen at 9 and 10 PM.

Stay fly!