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James Fritz’s New Album “Still Together” Is the Feel Good Fire That You Might Need Right Now

November 13, 2016

a special thing, ast records, comedy album, james fritz, stand up, still together

Rising from that Bill Hicks-ian, firebrand, deeply personal side of comedy, James Fritz has been a welcome thrill to have in LA’s gigantic comedy scene.

Fritz’s comedic voice and persona are refreshing, though more fire than just a breath of air. He personally juggles growing up in rural Kentucky with his more forward thinking ideology along with his own wonderfully bleak self-deprecation. That makes for a wildly colorful, strangely hopeful* style of comedy that you might want to hear right now at this moment in time (or probably for the next several years).

All of that is captured in his new, spectacular album, Still Together. Even as James takes the stage and begins, you can enjoy his playful rage right from the get go. You can get Still Together now off of AST Records here.

*the liner notes do mention how this was recorded at a time between the RNC and the DNC for this year’s election (i.e. objectively brighter days)

Watch Taylor Moore Figure Out the Gender of a Seedless Watermelon

November 12, 2016

how to sex your food, late night snack, rachel dratch, taylor moore, trutv

Need some completely absurd to watch right now?

Well, watch Taylor Moore do his thing and show you how to be able to find which side of the gender spectrum your food starts out at. (We’re sure if food was sentient that it could identify with other genders FYI)

This, and many other silly bits and videos are part of the new season of Rachel Dratch’s Late Night Snack on TruTV.

November 12, 2016

aclu, alice wetterlund, american civil liberties union, cartoons, courtney karwal, hell toupee, hollywood, jamie loftus, live comedy, los angeles, meltdown comics, neel nanda, nerdmelt, riley silverman, sheng wang, stand up

Just like millions of other people are doing and will be doing, comedy will be doing its part to keep as many vulnerable people safe as possible. This Hell Toupee: An ACLU Benefit, which should be a hell of a show too (in the colloquial-good-way), is just the start of that.

Get your tickets here.

Flyer by Jamie Loftus.

Funny or Die’s The Earliest Show Has Ben Schwartz and Lauren Lapkus Deal with a Talk Show Gone Off the Rails

November 12, 2016

ben schwartz, earliest show, funny or die, lauren lapkus, parody, reggie miller, reggie watts

Funny or Die’s The Earliest Show Has Ben Schwartz and Lauren Lapkus Deal with a Talk Show Gone Off the Rails

TJ Miller has been noted to make morning talk shows go off the rails.

Funny or Die’s faux version of an early morning talk show might just be somehow even more chaotic.

Ben Schwartz and Lauren Lapkus co-host The Earliest Show on Funny or Die that has all the trappings of your stereotypical, cheery talk show that’s on at 6AM. However, there’s a dark undertone that Schwarz and Lapkus deal with that makes this a little more absurdly serious than your average talk show parody.

There are two episodes released right now, but there are more coming each week.

Watch John Cleese and Eric Idle Be John Cleese and Eric Idle on Conan

November 11, 2016

always look on the bright side of life, conan o'brien, eric idle, interview, john cleese, team coco

Two of the members of Monty Python, John Cleese and Eric Idle, are currently on tour together and this interview makes it seem like it’d be a delightful thing to go see.

Also, they close out their segment with singing Always Look on the Bright Side of Life with the studio audience, which you might just want to join in on for how nice that sounds even though you weren’t at the taping.

Season 9 of Curb Your Enthusiasm Has Started Production, So At Least That’s Something We Have to Look Forward to Soon

November 11, 2016

curb your enthusiasm, jb smoove, larry david

It was a much different time in America when the last season of Curb Your Enthusiasm aired and thank goodness that another season is coming soon.

Here’s the proof as JB Smoove knocks on Larry David’s trailer on day 1 of production of season 9.

Tickets are $8 and you can (and should) get them here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows/events as well as open mics and maps are embedded at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Dave Ross Shares the Story of How Was Once Tripping on Acid in One of the Most Dangerous Places in LA

November 10, 2016

acid trip, dave ross, storytelling, this is not happening

Dave Ross is hilarious and this is a hilarious acid tripping story that just found it’s way to Comedy Central’s storytelling series This Is Not Happening.

We don’t need to explain any further (i.e. comedians on acid usually make for a great story later and that’s that). So, just watch and enjoy.

Bill Maher’s “Whiny Little Bitch” Special About the New President Elect Is Streaming on YouTube

November 10, 2016

bill maher, comedy special, president elect, stand up, trump, whiny little bitch

If you’re needing to continue needing to vent your frustrations and not feel like you’re crazy that what just happened with the election was crazy, the live stand-up special that Bill Maher just did on Facebook Live is now on YouTube.

Recorded just before the election at Largo, it’s called Whiny Little Bitch and is all about the newly elected 45th President of the United States. Maher is unapologetic (even more so than he is on Real Time) and showcases really what sort of Commander-in-Chief and VP we have to spend the next four years with.

Watch it here.

And Now, Chris Fleming Presents His Own Election Silver Lining

November 10, 2016

chris fleming, election 2016, silver lining

Like so many comedians right now, Chris Fleming is trying to make sense of a Trump/Pence win in the election and then processing it, as quickly as possible somehow, into comedy.

With a day of reflection past us, Fleming has managed to find his own “silver lining” in the new America that awaits us all in January.

Watch him explain here.

Leslie Knope Writes an Open Letter to America About This Election

November 10, 2016

leslie knope, open letter, parks and recreation

“The point is: people making their own decisions is, on balance, better than an autocrat making decisions for them. It’s just that sometimes those decisions are bad, or self-defeating, or maddening, and a day where you get dressed up in your best victory pantsuit and spend an ungodly amount of money decorating your house with American flags and custom-made cardboard-cutouts of suffragettes in anticipation of a glass-ceiling-shattering historical milestone ends with you getting (metaphorically) eaten by a giant farting T. rex.”

Thanks to a member of Parks and Recreation, a sitcom that will, we believe, stand the test of time (especially since it sang the praises of being ‘stronger together’), the unfortunately fictional Leslie Knope wrote an endearing letter sharing her thoughts on the election as only she can (after plenty of comforting from her great friend Ann).

For our money, it was one of the things we needed to read right at this moment.

Read the whole letter here.

November 10, 2016

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Jay Larson is one of our favorites and he is taping a new hour long special at The El Rey Theatre.

Tickets for this are free and you absolutely should go to this.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows/events as well as open mics and maps are embedded at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Here’s Samantha Bee Take on Donald Trump Becoming President-Elect

November 10, 2016

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In the same fashion that made Samantha Bee stand out from the rest of late night, Bee didn’t pull any punches in dealing with Trump winning while much of the rest of late night world was looking to be more positive or reconciliatory on the results.

Watch it here and you just might feel better for a few minutes (that is if you were with her).

With four years of a Trump administration lurking in the coming months, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, along with Last Week Tonight with John Oliver are probably going to be bigger deals than they already are (perhaps even as big as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)

Conan O’Brien on Being Thankful We Even Have Elections

November 10, 2016

conan, election 2016, team coco

Tonight’s episode of Conan, like any other televised program will be doing for the next several weeks, months, and years, put in his two cents on yesterday’s election results.

In contrast to Colbert’s sobering sign-off, Conan takes a silver-lining approach and, as is his contingency plan when things seem to take a turn for the worst in the country, shows us some great, wonderful, pure silliness.

Support the Nation’s Largest Anti-Sexual Violence Organization, RAINN, with the “Burn This Election” Comedy Album

November 10, 2016

anti trump, burn this election, charity, comedy album, rainn

A bunch of LA’s comedy best and brightest (including Dave Ross, Sean Keane, Kate Willett, Brandie Posey) got together at a house and recorded a comedy album called Burn This Election that might be exactly what you need right now.

Here’s a juicy taste of it.

In light of the results of yesterday’s election, not only might you want to hear great jokes decrying Trump, but you probably want to support a cause that stands against him and his actions.

In that spirit, the proceeds of this Burn This Election album goes to support RAINN, the country’s largest organization tasked with combatting sexual assault and helping sexual assault survivors.

You can get and listen to your own digital copy here.

By the way, the sweet album artwork is by Sean Keeton.

Watch Trailer for Foreign Comedy “The Brand New Testament” Where God Is Some Cranky Guy in Belgium and His Daughter Rebels Against Him

November 9, 2016

jaco van dormael, the brand new testament, thomas gunzi, trailer

It would seem that Belgium’s Jaco Van Dormael and Thomas Gunzig bring an incredibly imaginative, fantastical comedy to life with The Brand New Testament.

In the trailer, the all powerful being that is often referred to as God is depicted as a cranky old man living in Belgium that actually has a wife and daughter who cope with his interference in people’s lives. That being said, his daughter has a mind to free the people of the world from his seemingly unfair chaos that he dishes out at his discretion.

If anything, this movie looks hopeful in the midst of what seems to be an existential nightmare. Such a movie couldn’t come sooner and will be playing in US theaters on December 9th,

Phil Lord and Chris Miller Just Got Their TV Deal Renewed at 20th Century Fox for Next 3 Years

November 9, 2016

20th century fox, chris miller, fox, phil lord

Phil Lord and Chris Miller Just Got Their TV Deal Renewed at 20th Century Fox for Next 3 Years

Here’s one thing to look forward to in the coming years.

Phil Lord and Chris Miller have been Hollywood golden boys of sorts with the successful launch of The Lego Movie franchise and having a hand in a good deal of Fox’s current TV comedy line-up.

Fox is making sure they’re staying in the Lord and Miller business as their deal to develop television projects has been renewed for another three years.

We can only hope that they get more wonderfully weird with their future shows that they’ll have in the works.

The Mitch Hedberg Complete Vinyl Collection Now on Sale

November 9, 2016

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Every album of from the brilliant Mitch Hedberg is now available on vinyl in one neatly packaged complete special collector’s set.

It seems like it’d be a pretty great thing to have right now and to have for the next four years.

Get the whole Mitch Hedberg Complete Vinyl Collection here for $94.99 on Amazon.

November 9, 2016

comedy shows, dolby theatre, hollywood, live comedy, los angeles, louis ck, stand up

Tickets are still available for Dec. 1st. They’re $50 and you can (and should) get them here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows/events as well as open mics and maps are embedded at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Stephen Colbert Signs Off on His Election Special with More Gravitas Than Jokes

November 9, 2016

election, showtime, stephen colbert

This is more of the type of monologue that late night hosts engage in when a national tragedy has just happened.

This election had not been called at the time, but Stephen Colbert closed his live election special on Showtime as best he could without alienating anyone too much. The tension was beyond palpable in the room (as it probably still is around the world while you’re reading these very words) and he handled it with as much grace as anyone could muster in this situation.

Vine May Not Come to an End After All If Twitter Sells It Off

November 9, 2016

Vine May Not Come to an End After All If Twitter Sells It Off

Looks like Twitter underestimated the love for Vine.

Slightly rolling back on their announcement that Vine will be closing up shop, Twitter has now announced a glimmer of hope for the app pending a decision to sell the app off.

The likelihood of this is happening is up in the air, but keeping Vine around without having to maintain the app on their end should prove beneficial to Twitter.

If it does get sold off, it will be intriguing to see it compete with the likes of Snapchat or Instagram Stories or any number of other apps for short form videos after Twitter announcing its final days had been numbered.

That does technically mean you could still have a chance to be a Vine star.

Watch Colin Quinn Go Through the History of NYC Diversity in Trailer for “The New York Story”

November 8, 2016

colin quinn, netflix, new york story, one man show

Colin Quinn’s latest one man show has been made into another Netflix special that will be coming very soon. This time around, Brooklyn born-and-bred Quinn goes through how NYC came to be the diverse melting pot that it is.

The special is called The New York Story and it’s set to start streaming on Netflix Friday, November 18th.

Here’s a trailer that’ll give you a quick run through of the wide swath of ethnicities that Quinn covers.

Here Are All The 2016 Election Day Comedy Specials/Events on TV Tonight

November 8, 2016

2016 election, chris hardwick, comedy central, daily show, desus and mero, election night, election special, midnight, showtime, stephen colbert, trevor noah, viceland

It probably won’t make up for the wall-to-wall news coverage and the anxiety that you’ve been feeling for months now, but Colbert will be cursing on Showtime with Patton Oswalt, Larry Wilmore, Jeff Goldblum, Jena Friedman, and Nick Offerman as guests and both The Daily Show and @midnight will go on live tonight.

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah LIVE 8PM PST on Comedy Central
Stephen Colbert’s Live Election Night: Democracy’s Series Finale: Who’s Going to Clean Up This Sh*t? 8PM PST on Showtime
@midnight with Chris Hardwick LIVE 9PM PST
Desus & Mero Live Election Special 11PM PST on Viceland

Until then, you can enjoy The Chris Gethard Election Special on MNN or The Weather Channel’s Chill Marathon starting at noon.

Carol Burnett Got Sweet Revenge on Theater Owner Who Fired Her

November 8, 2016

carol burnett, in such good company, jimmy kimmel, jimmy kimmel live

In promotion of her book In Such Good Company, the legendary Carol Burnett made a stop on Jimmy Kimmel Live and shared a story that’s equal parts sweet payback and feel good story.

Leave it to Burnett to tell such a charming tale that adds a bit of bonus to the maxim of “living well is the best revenge”.