The precision of Gary Gulman’s observations never cease to amaze as shown in this bit from his upcoming HBO special Gary Gulman: The Great Depresh.
There have been many bits about the usage/transformation of the word “literally” in modern parlance, but, for our money, Gary is “literally” the best one we’ve heard.
Watch it here, then be sure to watch Gary Gulman: The Grat Depresh premiere on HBO on Sat. Oct. 5th at 10PM.
Joey Clift is back again for his wonderful Ghost of Christopher Columbus Theater Smudging Spectacular at UCB, that will come just in time for Indigenous Peoples Day (the day that has officially been recognized over Christopher Columbus Day in Los Angeles).
This night will be a special night showcasing great Native American comedy including:
Stand Up From
Kaitlyn Jeffers (Sisseton-Wahpeton)
Monique Moreau (Saulteaux Cree First Nations)
Jana Schmieding (Cheyenne River Lakota Sioux)
Jim Ruel (Ojibwe)
Characters From
Tai Leclaire (Mohawk + Mi’qmak)
Timmy Mayse (Cherokee)
Storytelling From
Taylor Orci (Sandia Pueblo)
William Jehu Garroutte (Cherokee)
Reading Excerpts From Her Book Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s
Tiffany Midge (Standing Rock Sioux)
A Short Film From
Joey Clift (Cowlitz)
Native Weekend Update With Jason Grasl and Darrell Dennis
Featuring Jason Grasl (Blackfeet), Darrell Dennis (Secwepemc) and Lucas Brown Eyes (Oglala Lakota)
A Sketch Written By Erik Fritts (Ojibwe)
Starring Benny Wayne Sully (Sicangu Lakota), Kyla Garcia (Taíno), Shannon Joy Rodgers (Cherokee) and Erik Fritts (Ojibwe)
Hosted by Lucas Brown Eyes, Jana Schmieding, Joey Clift
Also, if we our memory serves us correctly, there is a very fun bit with a “ghost of Christopher Columbus”.
Don’t miss out and get tickets here.
Heather Anne Campbell Sells Warehouse Comedy to Fox
Heather Anne Campbell is one of the most imaginative, fearless, and hysterical minds and voices that we know in comedy.
So, we hope that Fox will not only pick up this project where Heather seems to satirize life in an Amazon-esque warehouse to series, but let her do this show on her terms.
If that happens, we bet that we’ll see something really special.
It’s hard to not imagine Space Force as some sort of version of the American version of The Office.
Sure, there’s much more tension inherent in creating another branch of the Armed Forces set in space (not to mention how incompetent that all might be Greg Daniels really wants to satirize Trump’s actual shiny distraction of the same name) versus selling paper to local business to a small section of the Northeastern United States.
The presence of Michael Scott AKA Steve Carell and Ben Schwartz from The Office’s successor, Parks and Recreation along with the likes of Diana Silvers who stood out in Booksmart this year and Bajillion Dollar Propertie$’s Tawny Newsome all under the creative umbrella of Greg Daniels and Carell would suggest that fans of The Office, Parks and Recreation, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine all have something new potentially in the same vein very soon.
Adding John Malkovich to the cast is definitely a very intriguing wrinkle that might end up being quite the role for Malkovich.
You bet we’re excited for whenever Netflix’s drops the full trailer for Space Force.
We can still remember people’s astonishment at the first tonal shift in the first season of Raphael Bob-Waksberg’s BoJack Horseman. It took so many people by surprise and then encouraged to beg people to watch all of the first season without revealing too much.
In the years since, BoJack Horseman continued to be one of the most innovative, hysterical, gratifying, and artful shows on TV, constantly reinventing itself and, if you think about it, never having a standard or typical episode.
If anything is to be expected, it’s that Raphael has a season worth of more surprises that are as funny as they are heart wrenching and this trailer for the sixth and final season of BoJack Horseman certainly backs up that notion.
Watch the Season 6 BoJack Horseman trailer here, then set a reminder for Oct. 25th and Jan. 31st as the premiere dates for both halves of this final season.
Enough with black walls, doors, and chairs. It’s time to see improv in an immersive art installation and have an experience that you’ve probably never had.
Bad Traffic in the Alchemy Tunnel, thanks to host Christiana Morgenroth and producer Max Lasser, will combine some really swell improv teams with UCB Cagematch champs WILD, K3WLAZN420 that does improv off your first experiences w/the Internet, and experimental darlings Funk Shuffle and an aforementioned art installation called the ALCHEMY TUNNEL by one Laurie Shapiro.
All of this will happen at Radiant Space at 1444 N. Sierra Bonita Ave. (right around where Meltdown used to be) on Fri. Oct. 11th at 9PM (doors 8:30PM).
Tickets are on sale right now $15 and you can (and very much should) go get them here.
Well, it’s pretty clear. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim’s gigantic world tour requires your presence as it is titled the Tim & Eric 2020 Mandatory Attendance Tour.
Indeed, they are hitting so many cities that you’ll have your chance to fulfill your obligation of going to one of these shows which spans Australia, the U.S., and Canada.
We’ll let Tim & Eric fill you in on the specifics of your legal requirements.
Here’s where Tim & Eric and co. are headed thus far:
Jan. 15 – Sydney, AU @ Enmore Theatre
Jan. 16 – Brisbane, AU @ The Tivoli
Jan. 18 – Perth, AU @ Astor Theatre
Jan. 20 – Adelaide, AU @ The Gov
Jan. 21 – Melbourne, AU @ Hamer Hall
Jan. 27 – San Diego, CA @ Balboa Theatre
Jan. 28 – Phoenix, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre
Jan. 30 – Dallas, TX @ Majestic Theatre
Jan. 31 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
Feb. 1 – Houston, TX @ Worthan Center/Cullen Theater
Feb. 3 – New Orleans, LA @ The Joy Theater
Feb. 4 – Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
Feb. 5 – Nashville, TN @ War Memorial Auditorium
Feb. 7 – Durham, NC @ Carolina Theatre
Feb. 8 – Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
Feb. 10 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Met Philadelphia
Feb. 11 – Brooklyn, NY @ Kings Theatre
Feb. 13 – Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre
Feb. 14 – Albany, NY @ The Egg
Feb. 15 – Toronto, ON @ Danforth Music Hall
Feb. 17 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Carnegie Music Hall of Oakland
Feb. 18 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Theatre
Feb. 19 – Detroit, MI @ The Masonic – Jack White Theater
Feb. 20 – Indianapolis, IN @ Clowes Memorial Hall
Feb. 21 – Columbus, OH @ Express Live
Feb. 22 – Chicago, IL @ Chicago Theatre
Feb. 23 – Madison, WI @ Orpheum Theater
Feb. 25 – Minneapolis, MN @ State Theater
Feb. 28 – Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre
Feb. 29 – Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre
March 2 – Portland, OR @ Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
March 4 – San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
March 6 – Los Angeles, CA @ Theatre at Ace Hotel
You can get your tickets at http://www.timanderic.com/ right now (pre-sale code: BEEF)
The ultra epicurean comedy night from CleftClips and Yelling About Pâté, Amuse Bouche, is back once more for another round of delectable food and libations and comedy.
As you can see above, there will be delicious offerings from Steve Samson, Kronnerburger, Melody, Kyle Kinane, Yassir Lester, Sara Schaefer, and Karl Hess making for fine, fine evening.
This night always sells out and you best get your tickets, on sale now for $35, real quick.
As Team Coco has had immense success with their foray into podcasting via Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, they’re expanding their slate to include scripted podcasts.
Their first release Frontier Tween is a hoot of a series from Jen Jackson, Louisa Kellogg, and Katy Yeiser that features quite the cast in Maria Bamford, Kerri Kenney, Mary Sohn, Tim Baltz, Jen Jackson, and Conan O’Brien. As the title suggests, a follows the life of one Tilly Mulch, a so-called Frontier Tween, and her life coming-of-age in the wide open plains.
The writing is charming, not unlike the warmth of a fire at a genuine country diner, and Bamford’s performance, per usual, is absolutely engrossing and so hilarious.
Get a small taste of Frontier Tween in this trailer.
If you’re into it, get into Frontier Tween over at Luminary Podcast here.
Joel Kim Booster Developing ‘Trip’, Inspired by Pride & Prejudce, Set in Modern Day, at Quibi
Jeffrey Katzenberg’s upcoming streaming service Quibi continues to have a more and more intriguing slate that it really has us chomping at the bit as to what all of this will look like.
This latest addition of a potential series, Trip, from the hysterical Joel Kim Booster (along with Jax Media producing) with his modern day take on Jane Austen’s landmark novel Pride & Prejudice only bolsters their Quibi’s profile from where we’re standing. Already, we’re enjoying imagining Joel’s razor sharp writing within a Pride & Prejudice framework.
Hopefully, we’ll get a glimpse of Trip, pending a series order or not, and everything else that’s peaked our interest at Quibi relatively soon.
This Friday marks the last Faded to happen at Blue Rooster Art Supplies. That also means that the likes of stand-up baseball show On Deck and live tapings of hit podcast All Fantasy Everything are saying farewell to Blue Rooster too.
However, Faded Comedy has a brand new venue in Mid City Arts Center already lined-up along with a month’s worth of shows starting next week. That includes the aforementioned Faded, On Deck, All Fantasy Everything, and lovely backyard show High Priestess.
Tickets for all of ‘em are on sale now for just $10. Go get your tickets now right here!
Jordan Weiss’ first outing with a series Dollface seems to take a big swing with following a woman whose world is upturned (played by Kat Dennings) by an out-of-nowhere break-up, starting to see cat heads on humans, and realizing she’s been lacking on female friendships.
There are echoes of the fantastical nature of Man Seeking Woman, but with a much different perspective and approach of course. We’re intrigued to see how out there Dollface is willing to get.
Get a taste of what’s to come with Dollface with the trailer here, then look for the series to premiere on Hulu on Fri., Nov. 15th.
Though you might have seen Anna Drezen’s name most frequently as a writer for SNL, you should know that Anna is quite the wonderfully madcap stand-up.
The way she absurdly twists and turns her premises into punchlines is very satisfying and a joy to watch.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge Signs Big Overall Deal with Amazon
“Under the deal, Waller-Bridge will create and produce new television content for Amazon Studios that will premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
Sources say the deal is worth around $20 million a year.”
For all that you can say about Amazon these days, at least they did the right thing here by paying Phoebe Waller-Bridge a bunch of money to keep making TV and content.
Even though Waller-Bridge says that Fleabag is done as a series, we’re sure that she has something else cooking that will take all of our collective breaths away between taking us through the entire spectrum of human emotions.
This Thursday, you might want to make your way up to Highland Park to spend an evening in the gorgeous Owl Bureau as esteemed comedian/actor/playwright Drew Droege will be gathering the likes of other funny luminaries including James Adomian, Bryan Safi, Sam Pancake, and Marc Anthony Samuel for a special evening of reading “lady monologues”.
Frankly, this evening, called NightOwl has a line-up that we’d probably watch do a live reading of almost anything.
This event is FREE to attend so long as you RSVP at nightowl@chandeliercreative.com.
FX (and FXx) have solidified themselves as purveyors of boundary pushing narrative sitcoms whether it be Atlanta, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or Baskets.
Starting this Wed. Sept. 25th at 10:30PM, FXx will be dipping their toes into the Adult Swim side of things with a cornucopia of short form creations, both live action and animated, in a series known as Cake.
From the looks of it, FXx will be swinging for the fences of going out there with these beautiful/trippy/weird/hysterical/absurd morsels.
You can get a nice little taste of what’s going to be served with this trailer, then look out for the series premiere of Cake at 10:30PM, Sept. 25th on FXx.
All Hail Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Fleabag with Their Emmy Wins
The outstanding second season of Fleabag got its proper due as it nabbed the Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series, Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, Directing for a Comedy Series, and Writing for a Comedy Series (three of which went to the very deserving series creator and star Phoebe Waller-Bridge).
This should make up for the lack of awards for Fleabag’s also brilliant first season and really make Waller-Bridge shine in real life as much as her character does in the saintly key art for season 2.
Also, what’s interesting to note from last night’s Emmys is that The Marvelous Ms. Maisel’s Alex Borstein and Tony Shaloub won Outstanding Supporting Actress and Actor. That’s quite a sweep for Amazon in the comedy field (made all the more impressive by the fact that we did wonder a couple years ago what was going to happen with their comedy branding after Transparent had to reconfigure after the #MeToo exit of Jeffrey Tambor).
Here are the rest of the comedy winners from 2019 Emmys:
OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
Fleabag
OUTSTANDING VARIETY TALK SERIES
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Saturday Night Live • Host: Adam Sandler
Don Roy King, Directed by
OUTSTANDING VARIETY SKETCH SERIES
Saturday Night Live
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A VARIETY SERIES
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Dan Gurewitch, Senior Writer
Jeff Maurer, Senior Writer
Jill Twiss, Senior Writer
Juli Weiner, Senior Writer
Tim Carvell, Written by
Raquel D’Apice, Written by
Josh Gondelman, Written by
Daniel O’Brien, Written by
John Oliver, Written by
Owen Parsons, Written by
Charlie Redd, Written by
Joanna Rothkopf, Written by
Ben Silva, Written by
Seena Vali, Written by
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Fleabag
Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Fleabag
OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Barry
Bill Hader as Barry
OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Fleabag • Episode 1
Harry Bradbeer, Directed by
OUTSTANDING WRITING FOR A COMEDY SERIES
Fleabag • Episode 1
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Written by
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Alex Borstein as Susie Myerson
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Tony Shalhoub as Abe Weissman
Jon Glaser from Delocated and Jon Glaser Loves Gear fame so rarely comes around LA. His mastery of character and meta comedy is something that should never be missed, which is why you definitely need to be in attendance for his solo show Jon Glaser Comes to Town next month at The Virgil.
Tickets are $5 right now and $8 at the door. Save a few clams and get your tickets now right here.
Wes Anderson’s Latest Film “The French Dispatch” to Come Out via Fox Searchlight
Three interwoven stories that come from a fictional French magazine, that’s set up by American journalists, and another stacked ensemble cast (to be expected at this point) that includes Timothée Chalemet, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux are the perfect elements that’ll allow Wes Anderson to bake another perfectly twee, yet bittersweet comedy where every frame could be made into a postcard.
In fact, we’d bet that, will we know thus far, The French Dispatch might be a frontrunner for Best Production Design for whatever awards season it would be in consideration for.
As far as Fox Searchlight is concerned, we’re digging that it has both JoJo Rabbit and The French Dispatch on it.
Dan Soder Will Get Be Taping and Premiering His First HBO Special This Year
Though many know Dan Soder these days as Mafee from Billions, Dan has carved out an extensive career as a great stand-up comedian (including a deep repertoire of voices and characters) with late night appearances, big time radio appearances, specials, etc. for several years now.
Now, he’ll be getting his very HBO special, which will tape, “10/23 at Bowery Ballroom in NYC. 2 shows, tickets at dansoder.com”. Definitely be in attendance for the taping if you’re in or around NYC around late October and then tune in December when it premieres.
Also, it’s interesting to note that this might be the first traditional stand-up special HBO has done in several months.
The mere cadence of Andrew Orolfo has such a bouncy rhythm that takes whatever joke he’s telling to another level. His observations are silly, but also carefully considered if you’re really listening making for some very good, tailor made jokes.
Immediately following the premiere of her Netflix special Stage Fright, Jenny Slate will be embarking on a nationwide tour charmingly called Little Weirds.
For those only acquainted with Slate from the big screen, she brings an infectious whimsy to the stage and keeps you guessing as to how weird and wondrous her stories and observations are going to get.
One of the stops of Little Weirds will be at the Theatre at Ace Hotel on Nov. 12th. Tickets are going for $39.50 and they’re on sale now! Go get ‘em here.
We watched Nikki run this hour leading up to this taping and it was something special (you know, like the notion that’s in the title of a “comedy special”). There was a purity in her jokes (certainly not in material though as it is wonderfully, hysterically blue) in that there was seem as perfectly crafted and delivered as they possibly could be and that every transition was seamless, etc. etc.
If you think that Nikki’s roasts are great, we’d bet you’ll thoroughly enjoy seeing her when she has free reign to sink her comedic teeth into whatever she wants.
So, we’ll be excited to for Oct. 1st when Nikki Glaser: Bangin’ drops on Netflix. Get a taste of Bangin’ with this trailer.
We don’t discuss snubs too much around here, but Desus & Mero definitely should be much more in the conversation (perhaps nominated throughout awards season) when it comes to recognizing excellence in late night.
Thankfully, they’ll be back on Showtime on Oct. 14th to everyone on notice for the freshest voices on the far side of 11PM. They were on tour were they just riffed for around two hours for sold out crowds and we can’t wait to see what sort of energy that brings when they come back next month.
Sarah Squirm and her Helltrap Nightmare gang (Scott Egleston, The Shrimp Boys-Luke Taylor, Wyatt Fair and David Brown) has charmed us for a number of years now (so much that she has made our 100 Best List in 2017 and 2018).
Her mastery of blending the grotesque and the comedic is something to behold (and so damn funny). Helltrap Nightmare became and stayed a cornerstone show for comedy that was “out there” in Chicago as you can read in a lovely farewell piece in the Chicago Tribune.
So, we’re thrilled to her that she’s making the move to LA and bringing all of Helltrap Nightmare with her, starting with a date at Dynasty Typewriter. Please go get your tickets now for $10 before they kick up to $15 on the day of.