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“Laughing Matters: The Funny Business of Being Sad” Doc Short Follows Many of Your Favorite Comedy Folks and Their Journey in Dealing with Depression

October 10, 2019

anna akana, aparna nancherla, baron vaughn, chris gethard, docu short, documentary, funny business of being sad, laughing matters, neal brennan, rachel bloom, rainn wilson, riki lindhome, sara benincasa, sarah silverman, wayne brady, world mental health day

This very riveting documentary short Laughing Matters: The Funny Business of Being Sad from SoulPancake, Funny or Die, director Mike Bernstein, and producer/editor Georgia Koch shows how depression has woven its way through the lives of many of your favorite comedic writers, actors, and stand-ups and how they’ve managed to cope.

Included in the doc are harrowing stories of such celebrated funny people Chris Gethard, Sarah Silverman, Rachel Bloom, Baron Vaughn, Neal Brennan, Aparna Nancherla, Rainn Wilson, Sara Benincasa, Riki Lindhome, Wayne Brady, and Anna Akana.

It is indeed #WorldMentalHealthDay and it’s especially worth watching today, but how Laughing Matters effectively navigates the thread of everyone journey with depression, anxiety, and more in this doc is pretty amazing and worth a watch at any time. It’s yet another reminder of how prolific issues with mental health are and why it’s important to take care of it and to know that you’re not alone in how you feel (even though it might feel that way)

You can (and should) watch it here.

Conan’s Latest Conan Without Borders Special for Ghana Coming in Less Than a Month

October 10, 2019

conan ghana, conan without borders, tbs

We’re really digging the frequency of which these Conan Without Borders travel specials are coming out. It was only a month or so ago that Conan’s brilliant trip to Greenland premiered and, in just a few weeks, his latest trip to Ghana will air.

On Thurs., Nov. 7th, we’ll just see what hijinks that one of the best ambassadors for America got into on Conan Ghana.

HBO Put Gary Gulman’s The Great Depresh on YouTube for To Stream for Free (Up Until Saturday)

October 10, 2019

gary gulman, great depresh, world mental health day

HBO Put Gary Gulman’s The Great Depresh on YouTube for To Stream for Free (Up Until Saturday)

As it is World Mental Health Day today and Gary Gulman’s wonderful special The Great Depresh just came out this week on HBO, HBO was nice enough to put this special that focuses specifically on Gary’s clinical depression up on YouTube so you can stream it for free for a few days.

The Great Depresh spans being so very funny and a crucial, important work from Gulman, so go watch it however you can ASAP.

October 10, 2019

comedy show, danny pellegrino, dynasty typewriter, eliot glazer, georgia hardstark, haunting renditions, los angeles, musical comedy

It has been a minute since the magic of Eliot Glazer’s Haunting Renditions has graced us all with beautiful arrangements of some of pop music’s more overplayed, overdone, bizarre earworms.

Fortunately, next week, Glazer will be back with Haunting Renditions at Dynasty Typewriter along with a pretty swell set of special podcast star guests (as you can see above), Georgia Hardstark and Danny Pellegrino.

We have a feeling that this thing might sell out, so you best get your tickets ($15 in adv., $20 day of) quick. Do so here.

Baron Vaughn, Open Mike Eagle, and The New Negroes Are Going on Tour

October 9, 2019

baron vaughn, comedy tour, new negroes, nyc, oakland, open mike eagle, philadelphia, portland, santa cruz, seattle, washington d.c.

The New Negroes has grown from a show that would happen every once in awhile in LA, celebrating a new wave of black comedians to an entire Comedy Central series to something that’s going on a nationwide tour.

Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle have created something really special in this marvelous blend of comedy, music, and bits and you shouldn’t really miss out if The New Negroes are coming to your town.

Get tickets for the dates above right here.

October 9, 2019

ace hotel, biggest show, chelsea peretti, drennon davis, kaitlin olson, max greenfield, mike nissen, randall park, young storytellers

In support of the wonderful organization Young Storytellers (a group dedicated to sharing the stories of young people), The Biggest Show returns once more to the Theatre at Ace Hotel to have some of the brightest stars including Randall Park, Chelsea Peretti, Max Greenfield, and Kaitlin Olson acting out scripts written by fifth graders.

In almost any way we can imagine, this ought to be pretty damn fun and support the voices of the future.

If that all sounds swell to you, The Biggest Show is set to take place Wed. Oct. 23rd at 8PM. You can (and should) get tickets starting at $20 here.

Jenny Slate’s “Stage Fright” Netflix Special Gets a Trailer

October 8, 2019

comedy special, jenny slate, netflix, stand up comedy, trailer

Perhaps taking a cue from HBO’s latest row of comedy specials, the latest comedy special offering from Netflix, Jenny Slate: Stage Fright, will intercut between documentary footage and stand-up that paints a more complete, deeper picture of Jenny.

Slate, who jumps between starring in such movies as Obvious Child, performing live as a stand-up, and voicing wonderful characters like Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, has such a dynamic, undeniable charm, making you hang on to everything she says.

From the looks of Stage Fright in this trailer, we’ll get a bit of a better glimpse of what drives Jenny (the name of the special perhaps?).

Look for Jenny Slate: Stage Fright to drop on Netflix later this month on Tues. Oct. 22nd.

China Purges the Existence of South Park in China Because South Park Made Fun of Them

October 8, 2019

china, south park

China Purges the Existence of South Park in China Because South Park Made Fun of Them

It’s kind of unsurprising at this point that the Chinese government instantly retaliated like a petulant child against of one of America’s longest running satirical animated series, South Park, after they dedicated an episode specifically making fun of how Hollywood often attempts to curry favor with Chinese audiences/government because, of course, there’s potential to make more money. If President Xi Jinping can’t take being compared to Winnie the Pooh, they definitely aren’t going to like South Park’s take on how they run things.

As China has the mechanisms in place to scrub their Internet clean of something, all South Park content and mentions of South Park are reportedly gone.

For a country that has over a billion people, we wonder how long they can keep stupid charade going (this reeks of an Emperor’s New Clothes situation). It seems pretty unsustainable to have censorship operate at this level of that many people, especially as tech gets more and more clever to get around censors to get to a free Internet and the world is watching.

Anyways, we guess China still hasn’t figured out that their actions are only going to bolster many people to want to roast them more.

October 8, 2019

biodome, casey wilson, pack theater

The Pack Theater’s awesome biographical sketch show Biodome has a very, very special guest this month: Casey Wilson (Happy Endings, Hotwives). As always, the Biodome team (Sam Brown, Jed Alcantara, Niv Brook, Elizabeth Hayhurst, Jesse Arlen Klein, Angela McLafferty, Elyssa Phillips, Cameron Rice, and Jasper Sams) does a bang up job making sketches of various stories of the lives of their guests and this should be a pretty swell one (just listen to Casey’s ep. of Need to Fail).

Biodome with Casey Wilson will happen this Fri., Oct. 11th at 9PM at the Pack Theater and (as always is the case with the Pack), admission is pay what you can.

Get more details here.

Gary Gulman’s The Great Depresh Shows a Truly Uplifting Side of Comedy

October 8, 2019

comedy special, gary gulman, great depresh, hbo, stand up comedy

As with all things done by Gary Gulman, great time and care has been put into this latest special, The Great Depresh, and, consequently, it was absolutely worth the wait (many years have passed since his last special).

The Great Depresh is the latest hour from Gulman that actually cuts between stand-up and documentary footage of Gary visiting his childhood home, apartment, therapist’s office, sometimes with his wife and his mother. It’s touching, sweet, and still brilliant and boundary pushing, all within a neatly packed comedy special.

The beauty of this latest work is three fold. The Great Depresh simultaneously shows how Gulman remains one of comedy’s best artisans when it comes to crafting and telling jokes (Gulman’s diction is unrivaled as far as we’re concerned), aims to lift up (as opposed to punch up or down), and sheds light on the importance of mental health (a topic that continually needs to talk about no matter how many comedians are talking about it).

We were left with a sweet, satisfying smile as the credits rolled on Gulman’s latest and we hope that it does the same for you.

Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh premiered this past weekend on HBO and is now streaming on HBO NOW and HBO GO.

October 7, 2019

adam cayton holland, comedy show, los angeles, memoir, stand up comedy, storytelling

Adam Cayton-Holland wrote such a powerful book in Happy Place recounting the loss of his sister to suicide. There was such a vast response to Adam’s story within the pages that Cayton-Holland took to the stage and adapted Happy Place into a solo show. Given that Adam is one of the most respected stand-up comedians today, it’s no surprise that there is already buzz around this live show version of Happy Place.

Get your tickets for this exclusive LA performance on Tues. Oct. 29th at 8PM of Happy Place by Adam Cayton-Holland at UCB Franklin here.

Rick and Morty Season 4 Trailer Is Finally Here

October 7, 2019

adult swim, dan harmon, justin roiland, rick and morty, season 4, trailer

It has been so long since the season 3 finale of Rick and Morty, it feels like perhaps we’re in an alternate dimension from October 2017.

However, as far as we can tell, we’re still in dimension C-137 and, thankfully, new episodes of season 4 are just around the corner. In fact, 5 new episodes are coming, starting Sunday, Nov. 10th at 11:30PM on Adult Swim.

Get delicious, very gooey, juicy taste of what’s to come with Rick and Morty’s season 4 trailer here.

Daniel Sloss’ Latest Hour “X” Coming to HBO

October 4, 2019

comedy special, daniel sloss, hbo, stand up comedy, trailer, x

To call a comedy special “X” should denote that one will be going into some sort of dark territory, a place that Daniel Sloss is more than familiar with.

We actually got to catch X while Sloss was running it at Largo and it might be his best hour yet. Sloss dives head on into toxic masculinity and picks it apart in his signature bouncy, yet subversive style.

Get a taste of what’s to come with Daniel Sloss: X with this trailer, then look for its premiere on HBO on Nov. 2nd.

October 4, 2019

alex edelman, business casual, courtney pauroso, natalie palamides, neil hamburger, viggo venn

Many of the most decorated and celebrated performers of the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Melbourne International Comedy Festival will gather under the wondrous roof of the Lyric Hyperion for one hell of a night of internationally award winning comedy, Stamptown Comedy Night, of clowning, characters, stand-up, and so much more.

Just look and marvel at that line-up up there in the poster. Zach Zucker will even be presiding over the evening as his clown-inspired ideation of a stand-up, Jack Tucker.

So, don’t miss out on Stamptown Comedy Night, happening Fri. Oct. 11th at 10PM. Tickets are $15 and you can (and very much should) get them here.

Big Mouth Scores Spin-Off “Human Resources” at Netflix

October 4, 2019

big mouth, human resources, netflix, spin off

One of the most intriguing parts of the hit Netflix animated series Big Mouth is the anthropomorphized feelings, emotions, fears, etc. that govern human behavior.

Thus, announced today, Netflix ordered a spin-off of Big Mouth that focuses on that part of the magically real universe created by Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Jennifer Flackett, and Mark Levin. Basically, from what we can gather from this announcement teaser, it’ll be a whole series that part Monsters Inc., part Inside Out, and, for sure, more explicit than both combined that follows Hormone Monsters, Depression Kitties, Shame Wizards, and more in their daily lives.

Your guess is as good as ours as to who might this butterfly like character might be. Our money is on a manifestation of hope or an inner child.

Nikki Glaser Announces Nationwide ‘Bang It Out’ Tour

October 3, 2019

comedy tour, nikki glaser, stand up comedy

Already, Nikki Glaser has one of the best comedy specials of the year, Bangin’, that just dropped on Netflix this week.

With that out of the way, Nikki is kicking off a big, long running, nationwide theater tour starting in Jan. 2020 with dates lined-up through May stretching from Seattle to Tampa and all over the place in between. As mentioned in the poster above, it’ll be all new material, which is just a testament to how prolific Nikki is (Alec Baldwin Roast, a Netflix special, You Up with Nikki Glaser, etc.).

Find cities, dates, tickets, and more for Nikki Glaser’s Bang It Out Tour here.

Randall Park Forms Production Company, Imminent Collision, and Signs First-Look Deal With 20th Century Fox TV

October 3, 2019

20th century fox television, imminent collision, randall park

Randall Park Forms Production Company, Imminent Collision, and Signs First-Look Deal With 20th Century Fox TV

This is good news on a couple of counts.

1) Randall Park, along with company partners Michael Golamco and Hieu Ho, are out to “comedy-forward stories from Asian American perspectives for all audiences”. This very well may be the shot in the arm that Asian representation in mainstream media needs.

2) We first came across Randall Park at a little thing called Channel 101, a home for fiercely indie, short form TV for several years now, started by Dan Harmon and Rob Schrab eons ago (it would seem). It’s wonderful to see him rise up to having his own production banner and we’ll be intrigued to see if any of that weird goodness from Channel 101 will find its way to Imminent Collision.

With all of that in mind, we can’t wait to see what Imminent Collision is cooking up for us all.

October 3, 2019

comedy show, comedy special, jesus trejo, los angeles, north hollywood, showtime, stand up comedy, tv taping

The latest stand-up special that Showtime has lined-up has us pretty damn excited as it will be for Jesus Trejo.

Trejo has perfected his craft, climbing his way carefully up through the LA comedy scene for years, to become a paid regular at The Comedy Store and having a great set on Corden. Personally, we enjoy his mix of grounded, personal observations, penchant for a bit of silliness, and his cool, gnarly voice.

So, please make yourself present at the taping for Jesus Trejo’s first special Stay at Home Son for Showtime. There are two tapings (7PM and 9:30PM) at NoHo’s El Portal Theatre and you can RSVP here.

‘Kevin Can F— Himself’ from Rashida Jones Ordered to Series at AMC

October 2, 2019

amc, kevin can f himself, rashida jones

‘Kevin Can F— Himself’ from Rashida Jones Ordered to Series at AMC

Even when hearing rumblings of Kevin Can F— Himself being in development, we were so excited at what this could be, especially given how formulaic and stiff multi-cam sitcoms still are in 2019.

With Kevin Can F— Himself, Rashida Jones is getting meta by switching between multi-cam and single cam from the perspective of the stereotypical sitcom wife and the breaking away from such a traditionally reductive role. AMC has ordered 10 hour long episodes, which makes us curious of what tone this will strike. Sure, it’ll be satiric, but there’s a lot of range on the dramedy spectrum where this could fall, especially since it’s at AMC.

This is one of the most exciting, daring shows that we’ve heard about coming to TV in the not so distant future as it has so much potential (perhaps to start a paradigm shift in how women are portrayed in sitcoms and TV in general).

October 2, 2019

asif ali, byron bowers, eddie pepitone, ian edwards, james fritz, karen kilgariff, lizzy cooperman, taylor tomlinson

If you follow us, you ought to know that The Super Serious Show is something that you should always be in attendance for as they always have a magnificent line-up featuring all sorts of comedy, both of stage and screen.

This edition for Oct. 2019 is no different as you can see above. In fact, this month, you’ll get to see, in addition to the fantastic comedic stylings of Byron Bowers, Lizzy Cooperman, James Fritz, Eddie Pepitone, Taylor Tomlinson, and host/headliner Asif Ali, My Favorite Murder’s Karen Kilgariff return to the stage and short films from the TBS-made-a-huge-mistake-by-shelving-their-brilliant-series sketch group The Dress Up Gang.

That should be more incentive than usual, which is a lot, to show up for this Super Serious Show.

You can tickets now for $7 (they’ll be $10 cash at door). Please do so here.

Nikki Glaser Bangin’ Is a Fantastic Special and Proof That You Can Still Be Hysterical and Edgy in 2019

October 1, 2019

bangin, comedy special, nikki glaser, stand up comedy

In the interests of making you watch Nikki Glaser’s awesome (and we use that superlative very sparingly around here) comedy special Bangin’ rather than another screed that dissects the art form of comedy in these times, we’ll try and keep this brief.

1) In case you didn’t notice, Nikki Glaser is as sharp (with a wonderful dash of silliness) as ever and this hour is a wonderful exhibition of that notion.

2) Bangin’ is undeniable proof you can be edgy with the current “woke culture” and still be so damn funny. Glaser starts off so blue as she opens up on an in-depth, explicit bit on blowjobs and then, talks candidly about sex for the whole hour. Speaking your truth (with a bit of brilliant comedic finesse) rather than going for shock seems to be the magic ingredient with Nikki on Bangin.

3) Nikki Glaser: Bangin’ is, in our opinion, the best stand-up special, out of literal dozens (including all the ones with the biggest names in comedy), from Netflix this year.

So, go watch Nikki Glaser’s Bangin’ on Netflix, streaming now.

Vidiots Set to Return, This Time in Eagle Rock with an Indie Theater

October 1, 2019

eagle rock, vidiots

Vidiots Set to Return, This Time in Eagle Rock with an Indie Theater

The jaunty local favorite Santa Monica based video store, Vidiots, sadly closed its doors a few years ago, only to become a non-profit organization.

Now, they’re planning a comeback to be bigger and better than ever (and relocating to the entire other side of LA county) later in 2020. They’ll be in Eagle Rock taking other Eagle Theatre, which will house an indie movie theater and their classic video store.

It’ll be a great place to watch some indie comedies and, perhaps, some exclusive screenings/previews (and maybe even some live shows?).

Might this be the new incarnation of Cinefamily we’ve all been waiting for? Sure looks like it with this post from @vidiots on IG:

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend Returns Next Monday

October 1, 2019

comedy podcast, conan o'brien needs a friend, earwolf, team coco

Conan O’Brien arrived into the wide world of podcasting with Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and hit the ground running. Getting to hear a Conan without the worry of network censors or having to cut segments short has been truly engrossing (as well as further confirming that Conan can find the funny in nearly any situation) and instantly a hit.

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, after some time off (so O’Brien could go to Greenland and such), is finally coming back this Mon., Oct. 7th and you can look forward to perking your ears up for a great row of guests including Paul Rudd, Ellen DeGeneres, David Letterman and Tina Fey.

If you haven’t gotten into Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, now would be great time to binge listen and catch up.

October 1, 2019

comedy show, conor mckenna, foil arms and hog, ireland, irish comedy, los angeles, sean finegan, sean flanagan, sketch comedy

Ireland’s beloved sketch comedy troupe Foil Arms and Hog (Sean Finegan, Sean Flanagan and Conor McKenna) are coming stateside once more.

Their pure absurdity is a true joy to watch and has gained them critical acclaim at such festivals as the Edinburgh Fringe and quite a following online. For their one night only appearance at Dynasty Typewriter next week, the early show is already sold out. Make sure you grab a ticket to their late show, 9PM on Thurs., Oct. 10th before they could sell out.

They’re going for $35 and you grab them now right here.

Please Enjoy Mike Lane’s Dark Comedy Short Film “Picture Frames”

September 30, 2019

mike lane, picture frames, short film

Mike Lane, who you might have seen on a handful of great LA sketch teams, has cooked quite the short film with Picture Frames that takes the idea of “strolling down memory lane” a little, if not a lot, further than most others folks would ever do, recalling both good and bad times.

Please watch and enjoy here.