Judy McDonald Comedy - San Antonio, TX NFCYM 2014

Daisy's View of the YM Extravaganza

I'm Like An Old Car

Don't bring me in to the mechanic, all you find is problems!

Daisy & I went for a walk last week with Theresa Phan on the beach & while looking at a tide pool I took a step on a slimy rock & saw sky then saw an inside of a tide pool. A week long headache didn't seem normal even for me plus I  just wanted to make sure that titanium in my spine was smack dab where it was suppose to be. 👍 

All was well, no blood on my brain. Just some narrowing of the spinal canal and arthritis just like I had in my lower back. Some cars just shouldn't be driven. 

Dog Shot

Yep, it happened. I'm that lady now. The one with the dog in her head shot!

Ha. Next come the 78 cats! Deal with it!

Momma & Daisy

Patricia Ward Kelly at the Moonlight

 

Daisy's newest Auntie PK.

Anyone Who Works For, Volunteers For or Has Anything to Do with the Church Will Love This

Liturgy Clones from Holy Spirit Church on Vimeo.

My surfing Service Dog

Bad family photo

Guest Post By George

Post by George W. Bush.

Louisiana This Weekend!

by PAUL F. TOMPKINS

by PAUL F. TOMPKINS @ThisIsFusion

Posted 08/11/2014, 08:40PM

Updated 08/11/2014, 08:46PM

One of the first comedy albums I was ever given was "Reality... What A Concept." I loved it. I loved "Mork & Mindy." I even loved Robert Altman’s "Popeye." Robin Williams meant a lot to me when I was a kid. I knew nothing of drug use or depression. It never occurred to me that comedians, these magical creatures that I worshiped, ever felt anything other than the serene satisfaction derived from making people laugh.
Eventually, I started doing standup myself, and I very quickly learned that comedians were all too human. There is no less sadness in the comedy community than there is in any other workforce; that is to say, jobs are jobs and people are people and no occupation makes anyone depression-proof. This both comforts and frustrates me.
Robin Williams made me laugh so many times. So many times. When I was a kid, having problems of my own, feeling unpleasantly different from the people who populated my world, I found sanctuary watching this guy on TV who was celebrated for being a weirdo, for being an oddball, for being silly. He was praised for having a mind that produced delightful absurdities with great speed. No one told him to be quiet. No one tried to make him act like everyone else.
He was a hero to me.
I had occasion to meet him once, not too long ago, and he could not have been nicer or friendlier or calmer. He was just there to watch the show that was happening that night. He wasn't trying to get on stage; he just -- still -- loved comedy.
I didn't tell him any of the things I just wrote here. No doubt, he heard similar things from countless people over his decades-long career. And it's a colossal shame that being a meaningful presence in the lives of many people, family, friends and strangers alike, isn't an impenetrable bulwark against despair. It's profoundly unfair that, if he couldn't live forever, he couldn't at least feel able to keep going for his allotted time. I know something of depression, and how bottomless and relentless and insurmountable it feels, but I have never known the unfathomable despair that Robin Williams must have felt. I can't even begin to imagine it.
Robin Williams will live on in shadows and light and sound, at least. He will continue to comfort weird little kids (and odd adults, for that matter) with his performances, those who know his work today and those who have yet to be born, who may experience him ten, fifty, a hundred years from now. But this is cold comfort indeed.
There will be much celebration, in the coming weeks and months, of Robin Williams’ life and career. But perhaps the best tribute to him would be if we all reached out to the troubled people in our lives and let them know that we are here for them. Because Robin Williams was there for us.

Robin Williams

@robinwilliams One of the reasons why I am a comedian today. I believe the joy you brought to people here earned you the elevator to heaven!
— judymcdonald (@judymcdonald) August 11, 2014

Jude in Da Bayou - Byherself - NFYCM _ New Orleans

                   New Orleans Comedy 2010 - Judy McDonald from Judy McDonald on Vimeo.

Thanks Southern Cross!

Catholic Comedian Promotes  

‘New Evangelization’

By Denis Grasska
SAN DIEGO — Some people seem to think that taking their faith seriously and having a sense of humor about life are mutually exclusive.
To them, Catholic comedian Judy McDonald says, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
“Everything we have is from God and, of course, God gave us a sense of humor,” said McDonald, 37, a lifelong member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Vista. “He gave us this ability to laugh at certain things, because He thinks certain things are funny.”
Referencing one of the Holy Father’s many comments about Christian joy, she said, “I don’t understand theology as much as I would like to, but I think ‘theology of laughter’ is something Pope Francis is into.”
McDonald sees her stand-up routines as a way of participating in what Blessed John Paul II called “the new evangelization,” the Church’s effort to re-evangelize those who have heard the Gospel but have rejected it or turned away from it, perhaps because of poor catechesis.
When hired for a gig, she said, event organizers typically are interested not only in her comedy chops, but also in whether she is able to “deliver the message.” On stage, the Gospel is not something that is ham-fistedly tacked on to the end of an otherwise secular routine. From the outset, her audiences know that she is “a Catholic comedian,” she said, and her comedy and her Catholic message go hand in hand.
“Laughter is the great communicator,” she said. “It just drops barriers, and people relax.”
She explained that, if the audience accepts that she has been honest with them about funny and embarrassing moments in her own life, like the time she accidentally got ashes in a kid’s eye on Ash Wednesday — a second-grader who “had to wear a pirate patch for a couple weeks after” — then they know that she would never lie about something as important as Jesus’ love for them.
The openness and authenticity of her comedy gives her credibility in the eyes of her audience.
Just as good priests use their homilies to explain the Gospel through the prism of their own life experiences, she said, good comedians devote much of their stand-up routines to simply talking about their own lives.
A professional comedian for about 20 years, McDonald describes her comedic style as “very observational.” If Robin Williams and Bob Newhart adopted a child together, she quipped, “I think it would be me ... but less hairy.”
McDonald’s first foray into stand-up comedy came unexpectedly in 1994, during her freshman year at the University of San Diego. She was serving in student government at the time. A comedian had been invited to perform on campus, but the warm-up act had not arrived. She was asked to fill in.
“I was too dumb and young to be scared,” she recalled, “and I talked and they laughed.”
The $50 she received for her performance convinced her that she might have stumbled upon a potential career. She began performing regularly as an opening act on campus and, later that year, she made her debut at The Comedy Store in Hollywood, where she received a standing ovation.
At one point, she was driving up to The Comedy Store as many as three times a week to perform.
Since her graduation from USD in 1999, McDonald has worked in Catholic youth and young adult ministry as well as comedy. While working for The Gathering, a multi-parish Catholic youth ministry in La Jolla, from 2000-2003, she also was performing at The Comedy Store in La Jolla.
“It was cool because I really started to minister to comedians,” she said, noting that many comedy performers are “just really depressed people” and in need of such outreach.
McDonald herself suffers from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder and, for the past year and a half, has been assisted by a service dog named Daisy. The 4-year-old yellow Labrador retriever even accompanies her on stage.
Highlights of McDonald’s career include appearing on comedian Dennis Miller’s CNBC show and opening for such comedians as Paula Poundstone, Caroline Rhea and Mark Curry.
Since 2003, McDonald has taken her comedy on the road, traveling throughout the world and appearing at Catholic parishes, youth conferences, retreats and other forums. For the past three years, she has also had a part-time job maintaining her parish’s Web site.    
The product of a churchgoing Irish-German family, McDonald said that her parish pastors have always been like “older brothers” to her, that she and her mother both have keys to the parish church, and that she suspects that her mother “sweats holy water.” (Her mother is also her manager, a position for which she does not get paid; McDonald quips, “She’ll get her reward in heaven.”)
McDonald prides herself on being “a clean comedian” who does not use “F-bombs” or other crude language in her act. Admitting that she once may have used the word “damn” on stage, she said, “That is technically in the Bible.” (Based on that criterion, she suggests that “whore of Babylon” and “ass” might also qualify for the list of Bible-friendly cusswords.)
As a comedian, McDonald does not just want to make people laugh. She wants her comedy to be “healing” as well.
“If I can make someone who hasn’t laughed in several years laugh ... that is the best gift in the world for me,” she said.
When her shows are over, she gladly sticks around to chat with anyone who wants to speak with her.
“That’s what I’m there for,” she said.
As for how long she will continue as a professional comedian, McDonald said, “I tell God all the time, ‘If You want me to continue doing this, get me more shows; if You want me to stop, stop the phone from ringing.’ But the phone keeps ringing, so I keep going.”
For more information on McDonald and her comedy, visit www.judymcdonald.net.
The Southern Cross

Judy McDonald Speaking at Saint Thomas on 9/16/2012

St. Joeseph the Worker, Pray For Us especially Sister

I often wonder if Sister is still kicking.  If she is alive I know she is and if she is up with Himself I know she has His ear!

St. Joseph the worker from Judy McDonald on Vimeo.

Aloha!

I hope Daisy doesn't get use to this first class stuff!

We land in Hawaii in 5 hours and 14 minutes and they ate going to have to pry me outta this seat!

Notice Garrison Keillor's doppelgänger in the background. And the photobomber who's super happy in purple. Yay Hawaii!

Daisy Mae McDonald

To all my Daisy-Loving friends,

 

I've been busted by Daisy's dog trainer. She came out to give me a lesson with Daisy because I had been experiencing some difficult behaviors from her. Since my surgery she has lost all self-control when she sees people she knows. I have a really hard time controlling her, she loses focus on me, doesn't help me, and sometimes even breaks away from me to go and play with her Daisy-Loving friends. My trainer tells me this is happening because I am letting people pet her and play with her. I was reminded that her vest says "Do Not Pet' for a reason. I've been ignoring it because it is so fun to see her interact with everyone she loves, and I hate saying no to people, because I don't want anyone to be mad at me but in the end I do see how it is causing her to lose focus and that's not good!

My trainer tells me that service dogs are supposed to be 'ignored' by everyone other than their handler because most dogs cannot focus when there is any chance they think they may get positive attention from anyone but me.

So, this is what's happening.

 I've been letting everyone pet her and talk to her, and so she has learned to get excited (very excited) when she sees all of you. If you want to send Daisy love letters, I will read them to her, but my trainer says no more attention. No Petting. No Talking to Daisy, think of her as the invisible 8-foot bunny ”Harvey” in the 1950 movie with Jimmy Stewart.

Please, this means you, yes, you.

Yes, I know you donated, but you donated for Daisy to help me and this is the only way she can continue to help me. So if you really need to pet something you can pet me.

I'm so sad, but I do see how this will help. Daisy has had so much money and time invested into her training to make sure she helps me and my trainer tells me I really have to crack down to make sure she behaves as she was trained to. I'm cc'ing the trainer in this email to prove how much I want to help Daisy with this. If you have any questions feel free to call Daisy’s Trainer, Katie at Little Angels (619)888-2268

Thank you all so much for your understanding and for helping me get Daisy back into action!

 Pax

Judy & Daisy

Ah Man, we are having Ashes, Again?!

Walking Time!

Urban Dance Camp

This made my day. I heard my dad watching this and thought, cool, my dad likes Bob Marley.  But it was more than my dad being a rastafarian it was this cool video:


Professional dance choreographers Keone and Mariel Madrid perform a routine as an old couple to Bob Marley's "Is This Love". In their spare time, this married couple teaches classes at the Urban Dance Camp.

http://www.wimp.com/coupledances/

Describe What Your Dog Does?

Pretty much, except no war. 

http://youtu.be/WIlPFRsseQ8

¡DUDE!

The Wonder Barnes Twins

 Follow this LINK to read & see a video from the Today Show about my friends, Lanny and Tracy who happen to be best friends, twins and Olympians and pretty amazing people.  

I think a lot has to do with their nice mama & Poppa bringing them up right! I wouldn't even give my sister the last roll at Thanksgiving!

Happy Birthday Daisy!

I can't believe I'm old enough to have a 4 year old!
You make me smile everyday, especially when what you do is naughty, like break the copier at work.
Bad dog!

(JUST KIDDING PEE ON WHATEVER YA WANT KID, YOU ARE CUTE ENOUGH TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER!)

Help Spread the Word About the Store!

If you have bought anything from my online store or from me in person at a show I am asking for your help. You can please help me by sending in pictures of you having fun with what you bought.

GET CREATIVE!

Take a picture of your beloved parakeet, Fred wearing a sheep happens T-shirt or a Fleece Navidad sweatshirt on your grandma as she cruises the neighborhood in her grandma-motorcycle gang, a  Sheep Happens sticker on your principal's car with their FULL consent, a sheep pin on your brain surgeons lab coat...are y'all starting to get the picture?

Please be tasteful yet crazy creative as I know my little sheep will be, and I will use your pictures,vines, videos for my new marketing campaign!
And the best part out if it for you? No money! Just knowing you helped your favorite Catholic Comedian raise money for her "Robotic Lumbar Spinal Fusion". 

Such a deal, you look cool on sheep swag and I get to walk again. Win, win!
Thank you so much for helping me pay for my back surgery and all the cost I incurred along the way who knew it would be so expensive? I guess that's why God just gave us one back. He knew what he was doing with 1, very cost effective! 

Please share & repost with your friends and family to repost to their friends and family on Facebook and Twitter. 

 

My recover time is 3 to 6 months but with God's & your love & support & addiction to online shopping ;for awesome Jesus/sheep T-shirts & sweatshirts & one of a kind art work (your addiction, not mine) I'm going to blow that time frame for recovery outta the water!

It all starts with you getting yourself & other people to my site
With their card in hand.
http://mkt.com/judy-mcdonald

I'm so excited to keep the store constantly changing. It's hard work but I'm outta of work and need your supportive than ever right now. Thank you so VERY much!
Pax,
Judy&Daisy

http://mkt.com/judy-mcdonald

Butterbeer aka Diabetes in a Cup

Cold Butterbeer Frappucino:

A Creme Frappuccino base.
"Don't skimp on the fat by asking for skim or 2% milk as whole milk is required for the right consistency."
Add 3 pumps of caramel syrup.
Add 3 pumps of toffee nut syrup.
Top with caramel drizzle.

 Hot Butterbeer Latte:
Whole milk steamer (I order it breve (half & half)
Add caramel syrup (2 for tall, 3 for grande, 4 for venti)
Add toffee nut syrup (2 for tall, 3 for grande, 4 for venti)
Add cinnamon dolce syrup (2 for tall, 3 for grande, 4 for venti)
Whipped cream and salted caramel bits on top Optional:
Add a shot of espresso (2 for a grande or venti)

According to StarbucksSecretMenu.net