Hey comedy music fans, here’s a list of all the Mainstage concerts (and other fun stuff) you'll find at MarsCon 2024.
Friday
9:00 pm - 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. FFI: https://holybongwater.bandcamp.com
9:45 pm - Power Salad
By day, Chris Mezzolesta is a professional voice-over artist whose voice can be heard in commercials for Kaopectate and Menards, among others. But when the moon is full, he gets out the vacuum cleaner and frightens his cat beyond consolation! His song “Letter From A Cruise Ship (Hello Mudduh, Hello Faddah! 2013)” won a Logan Award in 2014, and his song “Amazon Drone” won him another in 2015, however it’s his 30 plus years of making sketch audio and comedy music make him the wise elder of the scene, with recent Dr Demento Show hits like “Gas Station Disc Jockey” and “Smells Like Herb Alpert”, both from his first vinyl release (now sold out, but still available virtually) “Vaudeville”. Mostly, however he just yells about tile and honey mustard, much to the delight and confusion of those around him. He’s also a part of other groups of talented podcasters and comedy music makers like “BS de Resistance”, “ The Tamborine People”, “My Friend Lyssa”, and “The Suffolk & Goode Players”. FFI: https://www.powersalad.com
10:30 pm - 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. FFI: https://www.insaneian.com
11:15 pm - Scooter Picnic
You got Insane Ian in my TV’s Kyle! But you got TV’s Kyle in my Insane Ian! That’s about as good an explanation of Scooter Picnic as any. But we’ll press on anyway. Scooter Picnic is what happens when Kyle and Ian abandon all their regular methods of songwriting, except the part where there’s a song at the end. And yet it somehow works. Sure, it may take a random turn at any time, but it’s always entertaining. And don’t be surprised if they bring a friend or two along for the ride (that is, a song). Possibly even willingly! If you want to know more about them as individuals, well apparently you missed Insane Ian’s bio right above this one! And Kyle’s is down a couple. Go read those. They’ll make more sense than this, which mostly seems fitting.
Saturday
2:45 pm - Jake Dewar
Jake Dewar is a Chicago area actor, comedian, music producer, and filmmaker. He is a graduate of North Central College, where he received his B.A. in Theatre, and has trained in improvisation at the Second City, iO, and the Annoyance theater. On the stage and screen, Jake embodies a wide range of smart and silly characters. His musical mimicry is equally versatile, creating a theatrical style of humor that balances playful fun with thoughtful satire. Jake has produced numerous comedy albums, sketch revues, podcasts, plays, the Chicago improv documentary “Off the Cuff” and recently debuted his original musical “Rich People in Space”. Jake has been posting songs at the FuMP dot com since 2019, and he contributed a cover of “My Home Town” to the 2023 tribute album “The FuMP Desecrates Tom Lehrer“. FFI: http://www.jakedewarcomedy.com
3:30 pm - 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
4:15 pm - 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. last year Luke Ski released his first new album in over 8 years, “Needlessly Meta”, available at Table 27 all weekend. FFI: https://www.thegreatlukeski.com
5:00 pm - Comedy Music GoH Andy Merrill
Andy Merrill is a comedian, voice actor, writer, and multi-talented creative known for his significant contributions to the early years of Cartoon Network, Williams Street, and Adult Swim. Merrill’s breakthrough role was as the voice of the lovable and eccentric character “Brak” on the groundbreaking animated talk show Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. Premiering in 1994, this show was a pioneer in adult-oriented animation and played a crucial role in the establishment of Cartoon Network’s late-night programming block, Adult Swim.
Merrill continued his work with the character Brak in “Cartoon Planet, a show which started out as a showcase of classic cartoons from the Turner library with interstitial segments featuring Space Ghost (George Lowe), Zorak (C. Martin Croker), and Brak. With the popularity of the interstitial comedy sketch segments and funny songs surpassing the classic cartoons being shown, the show switched to being composed entirely of their sketches and songs, some of which were improvised. On both
In 2000, Merrill went on to create and star in the Adult Swim series The Brak Show, a spin-off from Space Ghost: Coast to Coast that focused on Brak, his best friend Zorak, Brak’s Mom and Dad, and their daily sitcom adventures. The show continued the tradition of having excellent funny songs and musical episodes, and ran for 3 seasons. Merrill expanded his involvement with Adult Swim, lending his voice to various characters in popular shows like Aqua Teen Hunger Force where he played the recurring role of Oglethorpe the inept alien invader. As the years progress, his voice work continues to extend to notable shows like Adventure Time, where he brought his unique style to James the Ice Cream Bar.
Merrill showcased his musical versatility by covering the Suicidal Tendencies song “Institutionalized” in character as Brak on the 2018 album “Dr. Demento Covered in Punk”. Some people (or at least some people named Luke Ski anyway) say it is the best track on the amazing collection.
Andy makes regular appearances at conventions in the midwest, as well as performances in stand-up clubs where he brings his ukulele and cracks up the crowds with his hilarious jokes and catchy songs. We at the MarsCon Comedy Music Track have been wanting to have him as our guest for many years, and we are very honored to have him join us as our 2024 Comedy Music Guest Of Honor. All hail Brak. FFI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Merrill
6:15 pm - 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. FFI: http://www.nuclearbubblewrap.com
Sunday
2:15 pm - MeowMeme
MeowMeme is the comedy music alter ego of Alexann, age 12, 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. FFI: https://www.thefump.com/music/song/woodland-creatures
2:30 pm - Dumb Parody Ideas Contest
Bring out your dumb.
3:00 pm - Comedy Music Smackdown
Grand Finale concert featuring many of the 2024 Comedy Music Track acts!
Send questions about MarsCon to info24d@marscon.org, we’ll do our best to send answers!
More about MarsCon may be found at...
• Comedy Music: marsconcomedy.com
• Discord: https://discord.gg/CfQQDk4fS7
• FaceBook: www.facebook.com/Marscon
• Twitter/X/TwiX: https://twitter.com/MarsconMpls
MarsCon is brought to you by the Fans Educational Network for Science Fiction (FenSF, Inc), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Tax deductible donations always accepted.
(If you are searching for the Marscon in Virginia Beach, VA click here.)
That’s Classified!
March 8-9-10, 2024
Hilton Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport
3800 American Blvd. E. / Bloomington, MN 55425
© 2023, FenSF