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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Nov. 21: Brad "Shlomo McPeakowitz" McPeake

You wouldn't expect the world of pugilism to be known for its funnymen. Or would you? Muhammad Ali always had the gift of gab and made sportswriters laugh. The latter-day George Foreman was flat-out hilarious. Tex Cobb was pretty funny, too. And even Mike Tyson, when not biting opponents' ears off or tattooing his face, has shown he's got a funny bone, too, with his appearances in Who's the Boss? and The Hangover and on Jimmy Kimmel Live. But a boxer as a stand-up comic? There might be others out there, but I only know of one: Vancouver's Brad "Shlomo McPeakowitz" McPeake. I first saw Brad, as he was then known, at the old Urban Well, and he killed with a unique old-timey literate style of spoken word comedy. He placed highly in at least one comedy competition that I recall. And then he disappeared from the comedy scene.

Whither Brad McPeake? Well, he came back to comedy as Shlomo McPeakowitz, embracing his Jewish heritage. I believe he even fights under that name. Which brings us to his boxing career. I wouldn't call him a tomato can (to his face, anyway), but let's just say his boxing record is hardly reminiscent of a young Tyson. But he can take a punch, that's for sure. (I can't, which is why I wouldn't say that to his face.)

Shlomo considers himself a real-life Rocky Balboa only minus, you know, the dramatic wins against big-time opponents. But he's a dreamer. He's got some big news to discuss in that area, so you'll want to tune in tonight to hear all about it. He's even bringing along a 4-person documentary film crew to record it for posterity.

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