Leave it to Billy Eichner to have New Yorkers gush about Reese Witherspoon while staring straight into the eyes of Kate McKinnon (i.e. not Reese Witherspoon). Don’t worry, there are a few that figured it out.
In any case, it’s another great ep. of Billy on the Street. Get into it here.
Some of you might have been lucky enough to catch Jacqueline Novak here in LA work on what is now going to be a full-fledged Off-Broadway show, Get On Your Knees.
Certainly, there has been plenty of buzz about this exquisite show (Mike Birbiglia and Natasha Lyonne have attached their names as well as John Early set as director) have attached the that dissects the concept of the blowjob since Jacqueline has been “quietly” workshopping it around LA over the last few months. We caught it for ourselves a few months ago and it truly was a magnificent exploration of something that’s normally reserved for the arena of mere “dick jokes”.
Get On Your Knees will indeed be headed to the Cherry Lane Theatre in NYC this Summer, but you really ought to keep tabs on Jacqueline’s Twitter and Instagram so you might just get one last chance to catch this like on Jun. 20th at Lyric Hyperion.
So, on one level, you have a musical adaptation of Swingers, which would be pretty fun with the right folks. Then, there’s this other level where said musical is done from memory and nothing else by Nick Thorburn and Jason Tippet. On the third level, there’s an amazing cast to do said memory-based-Swingers-musical with Steve Little, Josh Fadem, Jamie Loftus, Fat Tony, Carlen Altman, Donny Divanian, Anna Seregina, Kyle Mizono, Zora Bikangaga, Shane Carpenter, and Susan Berger.
You get all of this meta-nostalgia-musical in one package with Swingers From Memory, which is playing this Friday and Saturday at the Lyric Hyperion. You’ve probably already said it in your head about this, but, just in case you haven’t, this looks money.
Go get your tickets here.
For those unfamiliar with Sean Jordan or uninitiated to All Fantasy Everything podcast (where he is a regularly recurring member of the podcast), you’re in for a sweet treat if you (and you should) give Jordan’s new album “The Buck Starts Here”.
Jordan himself is a sweet, sweet man that happens to also contain an encyclopedia’s worth of colloquialisms (perhaps he has made up a few?). All of that is put lovingly on display in this new hour. His stories of his life and the uniquely playful way he goes about telling them are undeniably delightful. In fact, we’ll be that whatever idea you had of someone who loves skateboarding that grew up in Sioux Falls, SD that went on to be a comedian will be changed for the better from The Buck Starts Here.
The Buck Starts Here is available now and you can (and, again, you should) get it on Apple Music here.
If you’ve ever wanted the origin stories of Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, hosts of one of the world’s favorite podcasts, My Favorite Murder, then take note that their dual memoir Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered is officially out now.
It’s a carefully curated collection of stories from both that offer insight how they became a cultural institution from simply hosting a weekly comedy true podcast. Of course, it’s written with their signature sassy, clever, and unapologetic voices and offers up a fun read (perhaps the book of the summer?).
Oh, the audiobook not only has Karen and Georgia, but the voice of Paul Giamatti as well.
Well, go get Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered already.
The trailer for Los Espookys already had us very excited for what could be one of HBO’s most intriguing new, high-concept comedies in awhile. Still, there is still plenty of mystery as to the characters, stories, etc. that Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega, and Julio Torres have cooking.
Conveniently, this behind-the-scenes inside look into the world of Los Espookys just got posted and, we have to say, we’re even more enticed for what’s to come.
Though A.P. Bio has gotten the ax (for now), it still can strive to get some revenge on NBC by living well and snagging some awards in the upcoming awards season.
As this is the case, a conversation “with the cast and executive producers of A.P. Bio, including Mike O’Brien (Executive Producer), Patton Oswalt, Glenn Howerton, Lyric Lewis, Mary Sohn, Jean Villepique, and Paula Pell*.” ought to be pretty damn fascinating as well as a fun deep dive into what makes this show special (and why it should be saved).
Don’t miss out on exactly that at FYC at UCB @ UCB Sunset next week. Tickets are $12 and you can (and should) snag ‘em here.
*line-up subject to change
This special “Not Normal” is a great reminder that Wanda can still have audience rolling with laughs and applause for a whole damn hour and that she’s, without a doubt, one of the best comics working today.
It has been a few years (2016 to be exact) since Wanda Skyes put out a special. So, in that time between then and now, as the U.S. and the world has gotten a little crazy (if not really crazy), the title for this latest special, Not Normal, seems very apt. It also should clue you in to the political bent of the special. In fact, Wanda, almost seeming to get it out of the way, shares her firebrand feelings on Trump.
Even though audiences are fatigued with Trump material these days, Sykes’ panache shines through and is instantly charming. Wanda transitions the rest of the hour from politics to less divisive topics with her take on The Bachelor and the inner workings of her family as Wanda is married to a French woman. It’s a great, classic hour of stand-up from the inimitable voice of Wanda Sykes and you should definitely watch Not Normal (or watch it again).
Since Historical Roasts just dropped on Netflix today, we only feel it only appropriate to give you a heads up on what certainly will be an inappropriate evening, a Historical Roast of Mother Teresa at the Comedy Store this week. This might actually be the most prestigious dais they’ve had on a roast with Gandhi, Princess Di, Mr. Rogers, Jesus, Oprah, Martin Luther King Jr., and Pope John Paul II.
The original co-reators and hosts Eddie Furth and Ryan Pigg of the show will be presiding over the evening in the Belly Room of The Comedy Store (so you best get your tickets quick). Do so here.
It’s about time we put on another show.
So, we’re doing another gathering of our favorite comedy folks from every corner of comedy for another edition of our Most Wanted List on June 30th at Silverlake landmark, The Satellite.
As mentioned above, you’re cordially invited.
Scheduled to appear:
Frankie Quinones
Billy Wayne Davis
Wild Improv
Carl Tart
James Austin Johnson (host)
TCB’s own Jake Kroeger
Tickets are only $8 and you really ought to snag up quick here.
We already said our peace about the wonderful feature debut from Olivia Wilde, Booksmart. In short, it’s a high school buddy comedy that’s not only timely, but hopeful for the future (and gives star making turns for Beanie Feldstein and Kaitlyn Dever).
Booksmart is now in theaters nationwide and, again, you absolutely should go see it. If you need more goading, then get into the first six minutes that Annapurna has been nice enough to put up on YouTube.
Comedy Central has been throwing a pretty nice shindig of a festival up in San Francisco for a few years and the latest edition of Clusterfest seems like it’ll be no different.
Here’s Patton Oswalt, Ilana Glazer, Nicole Byer, Craig Robinson, Jonathan Van Ness, Jeff Ross, Guy Branum, Nick Thune, Quinta Brunson, Chris DiStefano, and Matteo Lane to give you a “PSA” about it. Of course, that’s only a fraction of the line-up (which also includes Amy Poehler, John Mulaney, My Favorite Murder, The Roots, Chelsea Peretti, Courtney Barnett, and way more).
Get more details about Clusterfest (happening Jun. 21st-23rd) here.
Just before the summer ends on Sept. 20th, there’s one more big tentpole blockbuster set to come out that you’ll absolutely need to see.
That’s right, Rambo V, the latest installment in the Rambo film empire, will be in theaters around the world.
(sound of shuffling papers)
Oh yeah, that Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis movie is coming out too on Netflix.
Come to think of it, maybe Aukerman and Galifianakis were able to land Sly Stone? We sincerely hope so.
The Living Room is a wild, thoughtful, thought-provoking, and touching comedic journey through, of all things, grief and loss. Amrita Dhaliwal and Gemma Soldati who created and star in the show do a beautiful job of realizing and expressing the process of mourning through absurd vignettes and involving the audience in “the living room”. It has been transformative and hilarious every time we’ve seen it.
The Living Room is about to have a run at the upcoming Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Theatre of NOTE in Hollywood. Tickets are $15 and dates are below.
Sun. Jun. 9th 5PM
Thu. Jun. 13th 8PM
Wed. Jun. 19th 10PM
Fri. Jun. 21st 9PM
Sun. Jun. 23rd 3PM
Thu. Jun. 27th 9PM
Go snag your tickets here.
It has been more than a decade since we’ve gotten a great dark comedy centered around taking and giving martial arts lessons (i.e. The Foot Fist Way came out in 2006).
Yet, from the looks of this trailer of Riley Stearns’ The Art of Self Defense, we’ve got a wonderfully dark, subtly ridiculous comedy that perhaps put Jesse Eisenberg in a perfect role as a man desperate to conquer his fears of other men via ‘strip-mall karate’.
If you’re digging it, look for The Art of Self-Defense to come out in theaters in July.
‘Archer: 1999’ to Get Aftershow ‘Archer After Hours’ on FXx
The aftershow trend is still sticking around.
Archer: 1999 will be getting a companion aftershow at FXx called Archer After Hours to be hosted by cast members Amber Nash and Lucky Yates. For Archer’s longevity and rabid fan base, this makes a certain sense, but we’ll be curious to see how this plays out (and if this means that Archer will have more cliffhangers to drive the after show conversation).
What’s curious here is that this is, to our knowledge, the second network aftershow show for a comedy series. For a brief window of time, Rick and Morty had a live aftershow when Starburns Castle existed (RIP). It was pretty grand as they interviewed the writers in front of a live audience that got to watch the episode right before the aftershow taping.
If Archer After Hours does well enough, we’ll be curious to see if other series will make the jump (maybe The Simpsons, Barry, or maybe another Rick and Morty aftershow)
The one and only Todd Glass is doing another run of his Intimate Evening with Todd Glass at the Hollywood Improv Lab. Per usual, you can expect an even more dressed up Lab and Todd with his signature brand of high-flying riffing, bits, bits on bits, songs (probably with a band), and merriment.
An Intimate Evening with Todd Glass is happening Fri., Jun. 7th 8PM/10:15PM & Sat. Jun. 8th 7PM/9:30PM. Tickets are only $12/1 item min. Please go get them right now right here.
Josh Gondelman and is kind of perfect for late night as his craftsmanship of jokes are fantastic and he has an upbeat charm, but it’s never overbearing. Those are just a couple of the reasons he gets to make the rounds performing stand-up on late night .
See for yourself in his latest set on The Late Late Show with James Corden here.
This coming Memorial Day, some of history’s most notable figures are being brought back to life just to get put in the crosshairs of the Roastmaster General Jeff Ross and the perfect dais for said historical figure (i.e. Anne Frank roasting Hitler) on Historical Roasts.
The Netflix TV adaptation of Eddie Furth, Ryan Pigg, and Samee Junio’s live show will feature the likes of Rosa Parks (Sasheer Zamata), Freddie Mercury (James Adomian), the aforementioned Hitler (Gilbert Gottfried), and more. This should be one of the more spicy history lessons that you’ve ever gotten.
Get a taste of it all in the trailer here, then look for all episodes to start streaming May 27th on Netflix.
This comedy debate show, Straw Men, really pushes the envelope with how hilariously childish you can get in a debate and it’s all the more brilliant for it. The catharsis you’ll get from seeing adults resort to name calling in debates over the weirdest topics is just so damn fun.
So, don’t miss this latest edition of Straw Men, which has a killer line-up as well. Go get your tickets here.
After watching this trailer for Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s latest Diamantino that mashes up soccer, political intrigue, gender politics, and a bonkers absurdist comedy sensibility, you might think you just saw one of those Adult Swim informercials for things/programs that don’t exist.
Rest assured, Diamantino is very real and has just played at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. We won’t spoil anything else about it, so just enjoy the trailer.
If you’re on board for Diamantino, look for it in its limited release come this Friday, May 24th.
If you’ve been missing Billy Eichner darting around NYC to get in the face of strangers, you’re in luck as there is a fresh, brand new episode where Billy is tasked with getting people hyped for the return of The Jonas Brothers.
Of course, that means plenty of yelling from Billy. Please enjoy it here.
If you both desire the superiority that comes with being a member of a book club AND also don’t want to really put in the work to actually be in a book club AND want to see a great comedy show with LA comedy’s best and brightest doing the work of a book club for you, then Drew Spears’ Cook Blub might just be for you.
For this debut at Blue Rooster Art Supplies, fantastic line-up will be breaking down Chris Kattan’s SNL memoir “Baby Don’t Hurt Me: Stories and Scars from Saturday Night Live” (you’re free to read the book or not by the way).
Also, you’ll get to be part of a book club that meets in the back of an art supplies store, so you definitely will feel intellectually superior after attending.
Go get your tickets here.
Tapping into the ridiculous and absurd is often risky proposition in comedy as it very likely that you might just make something that is so esoteric and weird that it’s more off-putting than comedic.
However, cleverly pulling off being “stupid” (and we mean that in the best way possible) in sketch comedy is a thing of beauty. We believe that is what Butt (Chris Stephens and Joe McAdam) have done with this sketch, Shrinker’s Pizza.
We don’t want to ruin it, so just watch it and if you dug it like us, you should go check out Chris and Joe as Butt at Dynasty Typewriter on May 31st.
The success and longevity of Drunk History with Derek Waters and co. often makes us wish that his show existed back when we were studying history in high school and college.
Per usual, there are great drunk folks including Duncan Trussell and Brian Tyree Henry and exquisite reenactments lipsync’d to the drunk storyteller.
Get your taste of all of that with this trailer and look forward to Drunk History: Season 6 Pt. 2 on Comedy Central on Tues., June 18th.