MARSCON 2023’s COMEDY MUSIC CONCERT ACTS:
Music Guest
Of Honor:
BONNIE GORDON
Bonnie Gordon is an American actress and singer residing in Los Angeles, California. MarsCon was introduced to Bonnie Gordon in 2016 when she first performed there in the Comedy Music Track along with her partner Xander Jeanneret as the duo “The Library Bards”.
Bonnie‘s many epic credits include: Being a regular performer at the world famous “Magic Castle” in Hollywood for over 13 years; ABC’s reality TV series “The Quest” where she became known as the Paladin of Everealm; Geek & Sundry‘s Star Trek roleplayer gaming series “Shield Of Tomorrow” where she played as Lieutenant Lark Sage; The Library Bards’ two full albums of nerdy comedy parody music “Bardcore” and “BomBARDed” (available on Bandcamp) as well as many hilarious music videos; As a video game voice actor she plays Rainbow Mika in “Street Fighter V”, Silque in the Fire Emblem Heroes series, and Bounce Man in “Mega Man 11”, and many others; And as an animation voice actor she played multiple characters on Cartoon Network‘s “Mighty Magiswords” including Nana Mewfles, Candi Carrots, and Darlin‘ Narwhal Magisword, and she is the voice of the ship‘s computer, the USS Protostar, on Nickelodeon‘s “Star Trek: Prodigy”!
As well as appearing and performing at conventions all over the world regularly, Bonnie has been working on her debut solo album “Con Artist” following a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign in 2021. The album will feature original songs alongside some “hint of nerdy” cover songs, some special guests and more. All of her friends and colleagues from the Funny Music Project (The FuMP .com) are thoroughly excited to have Bonnie Gordon make her return to MarsCon as our 2023 Music Guest Of Honor.
IL NEIGE
Returning for his third year is Garett Snook, a.k.a. “Il Neige” (it’s French). He is an L.A. based songwriter who’s love of the electric guitar is matched only by his passion for Simpsons quotes. He began producing comedy music in 2014 with “Sub Zero,” widely regarded as the moment “Let It Go” parodies stopped being funny, and has since gone on to spoof Bastille, the Beatles, and more. His originals walk the line between silly and sincere, covering topics ranging from Nintendo, to the meme-ification of Christmas, to… okay, so it’s mostly Nintendo. His most recent project is “Rock that Pokemon,” a YouTube series that attempts to immortalize all 800+ of the little buggers through song. Citing influence from Green Day, Weezer, and whichever Ska band is playing in Anaheim tonight, Neige believes there’s always room for a little more Geek in your Rock.
TV’s KYLE & LINDZILLA
Kyle A. Carrozza, aka “TV’s Kyle” created an awesome hilarious animated program for Cartoon Network, “Mighty MagiSwords”, as well voicing the male lead Prohyas and MANY other characters on the show. Since then he has been pitching new cartoon shows to various networks and streaming services, and worked as a Storyboard Artist on Hulu’s revival of “Animaniacs” and Apple TV’s “The Snoopy Show”. Lindsay Smith, also known as “Lindzilla” (Kyle’s dinosaur-lifemate) also worked on “Mighty Magiswords” as a character designer and voice actor, and is currently the Co-Art Director on the popular Hulu animated series “Solar Opposites”. She also blows a mean baritone sax!
When the most adorable couple in Burbank aren’t making cartoons, they make excellent catchy fun comedy music together! They have had dozens of songs played on “The Dr. Demento Show” with many making the monthly Top Ten countdowns, and have been nominated for multiple Logan Awards over the past decade. In 2011, after they attended MarsCon for the first time, they vowed never to miss one ever, and they haven’t. Their live shows at MarsCon are always a highlight, bringing us their welcoming presence, big smiles and epic poses, and whenever necessary they will scream “Shut up, Ian!!!” Kyle also co-hosts the fortnightly animation podcast “Kyle & Luke Talk About Toons” with Luke Ski and is one half of the duo Scooter Picnic with Insane Ian, which he describes as “bloopcore quirkhop” as if those words have meaning. Silly cartoon man.
INSANE IAN
Insane Ian is a comedian/writer who has been in several bands and loves video games. He plays them, he reviews them, he collects them, he even writes comedy songs about video games. He’s gone so far as to combine reviews and comedy songs into his video game “Reviewsicals” on YouTube. Just one look at Ian’s Bandcamp page makes it obvious that Insane Ian is a comedy music juggernaut that cannot be stopped. Ian hit a milestone in his career a long time in coming, as he had the #1 most requested song of 2015 on “The Dr. Demento Show”, the name-mangling Brit-tribute, “Benedict Cumberbatch”, sitting firmly atop the Doctor’s year-end Funny 25. With a sharp wit, sarcastic smirk, and a bit of self-deprecation, he’s here to bring his unique sound to anyone who won’t tell him to shut up… and even a few that will.
THE ODD DITTIES
Austin Aeschliman has been performing for years, both solo and as a part of bands under many different names, including Odd Austin, Smashy Claw, Rycehat, Killer Calamari, Soul Phage, not to mention a number of collaborations with other bands. This year at MarsCon, Austin is here as the frontman of “The Odd Ditties”, which also includes Nathan Long, Branden Strochinsky, and Kristin Katze. Austin is also one of the founders of Needlejuice Records, an independent record label specializing in the physical release of alternative music. Formed in September 2017 by Austin, Jace McClain of Nuclear Bubble Wrap, and Brandon Brown, the label is dedicated to the tangible, with a goal to create high quality vinyl records, cassette tapes, and compact discs with ambitious aesthetic value. You’ll be able to find a lot of Needlejuice Records vinyl and other merch at Table 27.
NUCLEAR BUBBLE WRAP
Nuclear Bubble Wrap is a psychedelic/alternative rock band from Nashville, TN. While their early work was devoted to creating humorous internet content, the band’s style evolved into whimsical art-rock influenced by Ween and The Flaming Lips. Their music is known for containing lush, multi-layered psychedelic arrangements, with catchy melodies and witty lyrics. Their live show features a bevy of masks and costumes. Founded by keyboardist Jace McLain and guitarist Kyle Thorne, Nuclear Bubble Wrap began recording home-made demo albums in 2005 before switching to fully-produced studio recordings in 2010. Some of this material was played on the Dr. Demento Show. Using the momentum from several popular viral music videos, the band built a cult following and has played in several cities across the United States. The current iteration of the group is filled out by bassist Stephen Smith and drummer Julia Larson.
KLINGON POP WARRIOR
Commander jenbom sutai-toQqul (Jen Usellis) and her guitar slinging Red Shirt (Joe Mizzi) travel to bring the best Klingon pop and rock to your ears. What started as a one-off background song for the Improvised Star Trek podcast has turned into a viral music video, 4 EP’s, musical collaborations and live performances for geeks and music lovers alike. jenbom has the 47th translation of “Let It Go” from Frozen in the Disney archives and is constantly on the look out for more songs you thought you knew. Tongue-firmly-planted-in-cheek humor backed up with impressive musicianship and vocals, the Klingon Pop Warrior is a unique and fun experience for audiences of all ages and all fandoms. And as if that weren’t enough – Jen is also the Klingon language consultant for Star Trek: Prodigy!
STEVE GOODIE
Steve Goodie is, in all modesty and candor, the genius of our age. Comedian, writer, singer, director and producer, Steve was a founding member of Monty Python and has written scripts for Sid Caesar, Woody Allen, Mahatma Gandhi, Matt Groening, and Queen Elizabeth (for which he was knighted in 1972 at the unprecedented age of six). The Beatles credit much of their fame to his early studio work, during which he developed their recording sound with his apprentice, George Martin. His film scores and theatre work need no introduction, and he became a household word with his ground-breaking recording of The Biggest Belch In The History Of Man. It is a tribute to his humility that, on the suggestion of his long-time fan and sometime paramour Liz Taylor, he entered the Federal Witness Protection Program and began a new career, “to level the playing field,” as he put it, “for the other idiots trying to make it in Show Business.”
ROBBIE ELLIS
Robbie Ellis is primarily a piano comedian, and has done feature-length musical comedy sets at venues around Chicago, including FuMPFest 2019, as well as around the US and his native New Zealand. His debut album Pumpkins has earned him multiple dollars of sales on Bandcamp and royalties on Spotify. He’s a regular musical guest at The Paper Machete at The Green Mill, on the faculty at the Second City Training Center, and is a music director for improv, sketch, and musical theatre. He’s a composer for orchestras, choirs, chamber ensembles etc, and headlined an orchestral comedy concert called The Mid-30s Guide to the Orchestra with the Oistrakh Symphony of Chicago. His day job is presenting and producing classical music radio on WFMT Chicago. He was the Music Guest of Honor zooming in on Virtual MarsCon 2021, and we are very happy to have him at MarsCon in person!
THE GREAT LUKE SKI
At Dragon*Con 2004, Dr. Demento declared “the great Luke Ski” (a former MarsCon Music Guest Of Honor) to be his radio program’s “Most Requested Artist of the 21st Century”. Since then, Luke held onto that title by having his nerdy comedy tracks on “The Dr. Demento Show’s” annual year-end “Funny 25” countdown of his most requested songs of the year for 18 years in a row, with a whopping FIVE of them reaching the #1 spot, including his 2018 hit “Candybars”, which earned him his 3rd Logan Award for Outstanding Parody Song. Luke has been the Chair of the MarsCon Comedy Music Track since it’s inception, now in its 20th year. Luke Ski is currently looking for his next full-time job in the animation industry in the Burbank / L.A. area, paying the bills by being a cannabis product delivery boy, and trying to make more new comedy songs when he has the time and money to do so. This year Luke Ski is releasing is first new album in over 8 years, “Needlessly Meta”, available at Table 27 all weekend.
MEOWMEME
MeowMeme is the comedy music alter ego of Alexandria Rasey, age 11, daughter of comedy musician Carrie Dahlby, and has attended the MarsCon Comedy Music Track every year following her birth year. She has performed during the FuMP Jukebox and at the Comedy Music Smackdown in years past, and last year she and her new persona performed a 15 minute comedy music concert of her own to kick off our Sunday concert block, and this year she’s doing it again with some brand new songs! Her first song, done with Carrie Dahlby and darkNES of the Gothsicles, “Woodland Creatures”, can be heard at the FuMP dot com.
HOLY BONGWATER
Holy Bongwater is the musical project of adorable couple Jace McLain (of Nuclear Bubble Wrap) and Julia Larson. They do psychedelic comedy and parody music. Their EP “Mock The Vote” is a series of parodies made about each main candidate during the 2016 presidential election: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, and Bernie Sanders. Although the election was intense and stressful, this little parody EP hopefully serves as a nice little time capsule that showcases how a lot of people felt at the time. Many of their songs can be heard at the Funny Music Project, aka The FuMP dot com.
REGDAR AND THE FIGHTERS
Regdar and the Fighters is a glitch punk band out of Nashville, TN. Since 2007, who have been making weird, energetic music for nerds and music lovers. The core lineup is Steve “Fighter #1” Smith on bass/guitar and vocals, and Regdar “Why Did We Give the Computer Free Will?” on drums and synthesizers. Other musicians are frequently featured in recordings and live performances. They have existed in some form or another since 2007 and have played live with this lineup since 2009. They’re on all the major streaming platforms. If you’re looking for that, you know how to find it.
OTHER FOLKS INVOLVED WITH THE MARSCON COMEDY MUSIC TRACK:
BETH KINDERMAN
and the Player Characters
Beth Kinderman mainly performs serious folk music, but her recent album “Return of the Son of More Songs About Robots & Death” is a full-on comedy album!
Another important thing of note is that Beth Kinderman and her friends from the Feng Shui Ninjas also host the annual “Space Oddity Brew Club & Pub” Room Party on the 11th floor!
DAVE STAGNER
The enigma known as Dave Stagner has groups under many names: “The Feng Shui Ninjas”, “The Gernsback Continuum”, or sometimes even “Dave Stagner”. We’re never quite sure what Dave may be up to at any given MarsCon, but it may or may not also include such other people as Justin Hartley, Dennis Maddix, Tamara Anne, John Kentner, Beth Kinderman, Nikki Walker, or other passers by he may grab and give a tambourine, güiro, vibra slap, or whatever percussion instrument is handy. Blurring the lines between rock, folk, and common sense, they bring the bizarre when they rock the MarsCon stage.
BRETT GLASS
Brett Glass travels all across the U.S. and even into international waters via the Jonathan Coulton Cruise, a.k.a. JoCo Cruise Crazy, to listen to all his favorite comedy musicians, and occasionally, he joins in the fun with some tunes of his own! He’s our only performer who has created his own karaoke system from which he plays his backing tracks while singing along with the lyrics on his laptop screen. He has performed individual songs in the MarsCon Dementia Track over the past several years, and a 30-minute concert in 2019!
CARRIE DAHLBY
Carrie Dahlby is originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, now a Chicago area resident for over 20 years. In 2014 Carrie released her 3rd album “Sing All Funny Jokes”, and frequently appears in songs by other members of the FuMP. Her song about the sweet bliss of being a parent who finally gets some time to watch the R-rated movies and geeky TV shows they love away from their kids, “Almost Parent Time”, hit #5 on Dr. Demento’s Funny 25 countdown of 2014. Carrie also joined the Ren Faire singing group “Court And Country”, an a capella vocal ensemble with a focus on bringing a variety of historically researched medieval and renaissance choral music to popular audiences. She was the Music Guest Of Honor at CapriCon 2019 in Chicago.
VERSATILE FLUFF
Elizabeth Thompson and Sharla Stemski are “Versatile Fluff”! They have performed during the FuMP Jukebox and at the Comedy Music Smackdown in years past, and they have returned to perform their own concert this year! Their bio says: We are an Internet Meme Cover Band. We harmonize about nerdy things over acoustic guitar or funky Bass VI. We convert memes and video game music into song. We drag pop music and Disney tunes kicking and screaming into the baritone range.
DJs BRYNN LEE
& CHRIS PETERSON
Brynn Lee & Chris Peterson man the live streaming booth in the back of the Main Stage room for DEMENTIA RADIO dot ORG, streaming the audio of concerts all weekend, recording them for next year’s Fund Raiser, and making witty commentary between the concerts. They also started streaming video of each year’s concerts on Twitch TV. Watch the concerts at: https://twitch.tv/marscondementia, or listen at: http://listen.dementiaradio.org:8027/listen.pls!
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