Hi, and Happy New Year. This is Alonzo Bowden, and I want to welcome you to episode 165 of my podcast. Who's paying attention? Yes, it is a new year. There have been a couple of weeks with no podcast. There was a switchmate. I am now with the All Things Comedy Network. I want to thank them for picking me up. My previous network went out of business.

So here we are.

It's 2017.

We've, well, first of all, let me apologize for the soundtrack of leaf blowers.

It's the holiday.

I figured the gardeners around the building would take the day off, but apparently leaves don't take a rest.

So, sorry about that noise.

But anyway, it's 2017.

It's a new year.

Now, we all know 2016 was a ass kicking year for deaths.

We lost everyone from Prince to Muhammad Ali to Carrie Fisher to George Michael,

to Abe Vagoda, to, uh, the list goes on and on it. And yet somehow Dick Cheney's still

alive. I can't explain it. Evil outlasts all. That's all I can tell you. Um, so goodbye, 2016. It was a bad year. It was,

it was, I'm sure there was some good. I just can't think of it. And, and judging by the year-end

reviews and best-ofs and blah, blah, blah, that nobody really found the good in 2016 other than it leaving.

We're hoping 2017 is better.

It's going to be difficult.

Okay.

My challenge as a comic for 2017 is not make it all about Donald Trump.

And that ain't going to be easy because he's in the news every day.

He started the new year with the same old bullshit.

If you haven't heard, his New Year's tweet was, and by the way, this president will communicate via Twitter.

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