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JOEY

GRIHALVA

JOURNALISM, ETC.

As a high school student in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

I dreamed about writing for XXL, The Source or another major hip-hop magazine, but a series of romantic relationships and adventures abroad kept my professional life in flux.

In 2011 I completed a graduate program in journalism at Montreal's Concordia University. While in school I toyed with the idea of moving back to my hometown and writing for a local arts and entertainment publication.

After a few years in between Montreal and the Midwest I moved home and now freelance for UrbanMilwaukee.com and AMFM-Mag.com.

One of my professors in grad school suggested that the first big piece I write be about something I love. At the time that was comedy, specifically comedy podcasts, so I wrote one of the definitive articles on the rise of the comedy podcast. I tried to get it published in a physical magazine, going so far as to impersonate a bagel delivery guy to gain entry into an NYC office, but the piece was eventually published on Splitsider.com.

During my time in Montreal I wrote about comedy, hip-hop, politics, and sports for various publications in Canada and the United States. That writing from 2010-2013 can be found on this other website.

I currently write a happy hour column, review/preview national headliners and cover the Milwaukee music scene.

SIGNATURE PIECES

I Talked To (A) God [FICTION] From an eighth floor window inside Harold Washington Library you can see Lake Michigan glimmering just beyond Grant Park. Yet this compound is not as Zen as my mind, which swirls with activity as my body rests, asleep on a comfy chair. Riding the brainwaves that dance day and night in my head you can see virtually anything, or at least some combination of everything in my collective memory. And in this scene an obese version of Kanye West appears before me in a flash of Fendi Light.	The Rise of Comedy Podcasts The Montreal Just for Laughs Festival is not every comic’s cup of tea. That being said, many consider it to be the most prestigious event of the year. Not only is it the largest international comedy festival in the world, it is also the best attended by industry representatives, precisely the put-off for some.	Miley Madness In Milwaukee After a party a few Saturdays ago I was so far in the bag that I created a personal ad in the “men seeking women” – “casual encounters” subsection of Craigslist Milwaukee titled “Party in the USA.” I indicated I was looking for someone to go with me to the Miley Cyrus concert. I even included my picture.
Stefan Christoff Montréal-based activist Stefan Christoff sits onstage at a wooden bench in La Sala Rossa on The Main. A small crowd has gathered on a chilly Sunday evening in April. The show is starting late. A lanky, bespectacled man in his thirties, Christoff wears all black from his shoes to his turtleneck to his tousled hair. His thin figure is likely the result of a manic schedule. He rubs his eyes like a child blinded by the morning light and turns to the crowd.	BadBadNotGood x TNGHT "Oh, we got some Ghostface fans in the house?" Toronto DJ mymanhenri exclaimed after throwing on a classic Dini joint at The Opera House. "Is that really a question?" I thought to myself. After all, I was at a hip-hop show. Or at least that's what I thought. The genre designation that NOW Magazine assigned the headliner was simply "BASS." It's also possible that not every person born in the 1990s is familiar with the Wu-Tang Clan.	Arte Para Todos Recap I can’t remember a Monday in recent memory when it was as hard to get out of bed as it was yesterday. Not even my standard post-work 15-min power nap could allay the fatigue from running around Milwaukee over the weekend for the inaugural Arte Para Todos benefit festival. I’ve spent the last half-year acquainting myself with the local music scene. My girlfriend and I go to at least one show a weekend, but this would be a much different story...
La Marche Bleue The codeine-laced acetaminophen starts to ease my hangover as I exit the Métro station downtown. A crisp Montréal autumn wind slaps me in the face. I throw on my tuque, zip up my jacket, pop my collar and blow on my hands. There is no gray 1991 Honda two-door on Rue St-Denis. Two red-eyed, tattooed young white guys hustle across the street and put a finger in my face.	On the Nomad Pub's "Favela" I’ll admit, when I stopped by the Nomad World Pub two weeks ago to do research for my World Cup Bar Guide, I was skeptical about their plan to “build a favela.” The first thing that came to mind was the slums in Brazil that have been cleared out and cleaned up for the tourists. I wondered why the Nomad would want to be associated with that disturbing trend.	Guardian of the Gullible Concordia fine arts student Chuck Cameron* flips through a black leather album packed with pictures mailed to the online dating company where he works, profile shots of members who need help scanning and uploading their images to the Web. Cameron stops on a Polaroid of a middle-aged man with adragon shirt and a twisted mustache.
Brewers Fans Are Drunk/Rowdy [An homage to Hunter S. Thompson's "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent & Depraved" ] I amble out of the Roadway Inn around 3:30pm and sunlight blasts my retinas, a painful reminder of the previous night’s debauchery. The air is crisp and cool, posing no threat to my hangover and perfect for an evening ballgame. A few other guests drink Bud Light on the steps of the hotel.	James Adomian Last summer Janeane Garofalo shot a “What the fuck?” face my way as we walked past each other on Second Avenue in Manhattan’s East Village. It wasn’t anything I was doing. The brilliant comedian James Adomian was shouting into my microphone with an intensity and hilarity reminiscent of a young Robin Williams. I was interviewing Adomian for a feature on comedy podcasting, a universe in which he is a bright shining star.	Hannibal Buress An interview with Hannibal Buress is not something to be taken lightly. The 29-year-old Brooklyn-based comic has stated publicly that when he gets bored with a reporter's line of questioning or doesn't like their tone he will make stuff up. This can result in a genesis story about ninja kidnappings and the feta cheese business. If Hannibal detects lazy journalism he might even put you on blast on national television.