(via Deadline)
The series premiere of Better Call Saul last night on AMC scored the highest ratings in key demos (18-49) on cable ever. 6.9 million total viewers and 4.4 million in key demos is what overnight ratings report, despite the shift away from dependence on Nielsen ratings.
We’d bet that the ratings over a month are probably going to be even more astounding if all the positive response from critics and fans alike keeps building.
While it’s impossible to probably hear and see the entirety of every bit of stand-up comedy that’s ever been performed at this point in time, we feel it’s safe to say that the great Cameron Esposito has come up with, as she herself claims, one of the greatest period jokes of all time (Chelsea Peretti also has a pretty great one about what stand-up comedy would be if dudes got periods).
Why is it one of the greatest? Well, it’s so rare that period jokes get so unabashed and unfiltered and very blue for how bloody really get. You can hear more of Cameron’s frankness on today’s episode of WTF w/Marc Maron.
Watch this recent set by Cameron that’s capped off by this very joke towards the end.
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
Leading up to the Mar. 1st premiere of Last Man on Earth, there is a promotional campaign that has led to giving a cell phone to star Will Forte and then giving the real phone number to that phone to the rest of us via flyers in major cities.
520-428-1174 will probably get you to voicemail, but there’s a chance you could get in touch with Forte, though we’re not sure whether he’ll answer as Will or his character Phil Miller or even someone else like Jenjamin Franklin.
John Oliver and Last Week Tonight hit the ground running again with their return last night.
Their target for this episode was pharmaceutical companies that took aggressive tactics in marketing to doctors and it’s both on point and damn funny just like all the other reports last season were.
(via ComingSoon.net/Bad Taste)
For all the rumors and subsequent crossing of fingers by the rest of us for a sequel to Zoolander, Zoolander 2 is now officially set to shoot.
Over spring, Stiller and Blue Steel will return to Derek Zoolander, this time, in Rome with the blessing of Rome’s mayor Ignazio Marino.
How that will figure into Zoolander attempting to foil a plot to dominate the fashion industry/the world is unclear, but we’re more than happy that it’s happening. So, this means a release early next year hopefully?
The latest story from This Is Not Happening with Ari Shaffir has Tom Papa showing us why being able to intrude into a child’s life as their parent in 2015 hasn’t been a good thing necessarily.
We’re going to guess that you’d wish your parents had seen this story when you were a kid (or right now if you’re currently a kid).
We’re still just over a month away from James Corden and his bandleader Reggie Watts taking over The Late Late Show and we’re curious as to how/what/etc. the show will fit into the realm of late night.
At this point, we’re still unsure, but it would seem in this first promo that James and Reggie will be keep themselves busy on and off the show (as well as having some famous British friends in One Direction right from the get go).
ON THE HORIZON
The BEATdown presents Turnt Up @ UCB Franklin Tues. Feb. 10th $5
The Last Man on Earth Sneak Preview @ Cinefamily Wed. Feb. 18th 7:30PM FREE w/RSVP
COMEDY CRAWL
Comedy Central’s “@midnight w/Chris Hardwick” @ Hollywood Center Studios 3:15PM FREE w/RSVP
The Grand Budapest Hotel/To Be Or Not To Be @ Egyptian Theatre 7:30PM $11
Dirty Birdie Story Hour @ Three Clubs 7:30PM FREE
Interview with Patton Oswalt on Silver Screen Fiend w/Matt Oswalt moderating @ Skylight Books 7:30PM FREE
It Happened One Night + The Apartment @ New Beverly Cinema 7:30PM $8
Brave New Show @ UCB Sunset Inner Sanctum 8PM FREE
Hot Tub with Kurt Braunohler & Kristen Schaal @ The Virgil 8PM $5 in adv., $8 at door
The Black Version @ Groundlings 8PM $17
Frankenmatt presents: Triple Double @ iO West 8PM $5
Wil Anderson’s FOFOP 200: FOFENGERS @ Nerdmelt Showroom 9PM FREE w/RSVP
FRINGE with JC Coccoli @ 1739 Public House 10PM FREE
Round 2 @ El Cid 10PM $5
Pretty, Pretty Pony @ Westside Comedy Theater 10PM FREE
OPEN MIC RUN
NERDMELT SHOWROOM 7522 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 5:30PM/3 min./Lottery/No purchase necessary
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 6PM/5 min./First come, first served
ROCKPAPER COFFEE 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 6PM/End 8PM/First come, first served/One item min.
OH, HEY GUYS @ UCB SUNSET’S INNER SANCTUM CAFE 5419 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Storytelling only/8 min./Lottery/4-5 spots only/No purchase necessary
IO WEST 6366 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6:15PM/Starts 6:30PM/Ends 8PM/Lottery/3-5 min.
ANCHOR BAR 2675 Irvine Ave., Costa Mesa, CA/Starts 7PM/Sign-up at evan@dudelyjones.com/4-5 min.
PALADINO’S 6101 Reseda Blvd., Tarzana, CA/Sign-up 6:45PM/Starts 7PM/Ends 9PM/5-7 min./First come, first served/No purchase necessary/Hosted by Thomas Fraser or David R
THE WAREHOUSE LOUNGE 4499 Admiralty Way, Marina Del Rey, CA/Starts 7PM/Ends 7:45PM/First come, first served/5 min./8 spots only/No purchase necessary
THE GOOD NIGHT 10721 Burbank Blvd., North Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 7:45PM/Ends 9:30PM/Lottery/3-5 min./1 item min./20 spots only/Hosted by Ever Mainaird, Lindsay Adams, and Caitlin Bergh
BREWDOG PUB 8300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 7:45PM/Starts 8PM/First come, first served/5-7 min./1 item min./Hosted by Pam
UCB SUNSET’S INNER SANCTUM CAFE 5419 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/5 min./Lottery/12 spots only/No purchase necessary/Hosted by Alice Wetterlund and Will Hines
ECHOES UNDER SUNSET 1310 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 8PM/Starts 8:15PM/Lottery/One item min./Hosted by Jay Weingarten
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 7:30PM/no purchase necessary/first come, first served
MELODY LOUNGE 939 N. Hill St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 9:15PM/Starts 9:30PM/Lottery until 11PM, then first come, first served from 11:30PM until close/Hosted by Wanjiko Eke, Meg Swertlow, and Chloe McGovern
JAKE’S 38 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA/Sign-up 9:30PM/Starts 10PM/Lottery/3 min./No purchase necessary
In the gigantic crowd of Grammy nominees, finding the comedy winners might be a little difficult, especially since they’re never all announced during the telecast.
So, we’ve hunted through all them and found 2015 Grammy winners in or somehow connected to comedy.
Best Comedy Album-Weird Al Yankovic “Mandatory Fun”
Best Spoken Word Album-Joan Rivers “Diary of a Mad Diva”
Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media-Alexandre Desplat “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Best Metal Performance-Tenacious D-“The Last In Line”
Honestly, there are no surprises here and we’re glad to see Yankovic cap off his 2014 Billboard #1 album with a Grammy win.
Now you can go enjoy the rest of your evening with Better Call Saul and Last Week Tonight.
NYC’s Village Voice has started a new web series following stand-up comedians around as they perform and then speak frankly about their craft. It’s very appropriately called This Is Stand Up and this episode follows Mark Normand as he goes up a bunch around town, offering his thoughts on how on the fringes stand-up comedians really are.
Also, Mark gets to be Mark’s goofy self, which is always fun to see. Watch it here.
Comedy continues to fare quite well this awards season with movies like Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) and Grand Budapest Hotel as well as shows like Transparent leading the way.
Last night The Directors Guild of America handed out their annual awards and Alejandro González Iñárritu took home the DGA Award for Feature Film and his work on Birdman while Jill Soloway took home the award for Comedy Series and her work on Transparent.
Hopefully, the ceiling for comedy getting notoriety during awards seasons is slowly cracking.
See the full list of DGA Awards winners for this year here.
Sure, plenty of you will be wanting to sincerely or ironically watch The Grammys tonight, but we’re sure there’s plenty of you that will want to watch the premiere of Better Call Saul on AMC and the return of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO.
Luckily, Better Call Saul is at 10PM and Last Week Tonight is at 11PM if you were planning to watch it live or set your DVR.
Otherwise, you can check Twitter to see who won/did something weird at The Grammys.
ON THE HORIZON
Blamblamblam! 7 Year Anniversary @ R-Bar Tues. Feb. 10th 9PM FREE
The Super Serious Show @ The Virgil Wed. Feb. 18th 8PM $7 in adv., $10 at door
COMEDY CRAWL
A Carlin Home Companion @ Falcon Theatre 4PM $29-$44
ASSSSCAT @ UCB Sunset 7PM FREE
Hot Sauce @ UCB Franklin 7:30PM $5 (stand by only)
It Happened One Night + The Apartment @ New Beverly Cinema 7:30PM $8
Third Base Showcase @ Ham & Eggs Tavern 8PM FREE
¡El Show! @ El Cid 8PM FREE
Harmontown @ Nerdmelt Showroom 8PM $10
Rendezvous @ Artisan House LA 8PM FREE
The Junk Show @ Copper Still Bar 8PM $5
Top Story Weekly! @ iO West 8PM $5
2Wet Crew Live @ The Satellite LA 8:30PM $8
Bo Burnham & Friends @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 8:30PM $30 (stand by only)
Sucker Punch @ The Improv Space 8:30PM FREE
Church @ UCB Sunset 9:30PM $5
Required Viewing @ UCB Sunset Inner Sanctum 9PM FREE
French Toast @ Taix 9:30PM FREE
Power Violence @ Theatre 6470 9:30PM FREE
Shitty Jobs @ UCB Franklin 9:30PM $5 (stand by only)
Search History @ UCB Franklin 11PM $5
OPEN MIC RUN
ROCKPAPER COFFEE CO 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 4PM/Ends 6PM/5 min./One item min.
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE 2906 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 4:30PM/Starts 5PM/Lottery/5 min./Hosted by Lizzy Pilcher
FLITE ROOM 4111 Lakewood Blvd., Lakewood, CA/Sign-up 5:25PM/Starts 6PM/Ends 8PM/First come, first served/5-6 min./Hosted by LaDon and Brickz
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 6PM/5 min./First come, first served
LYRIC HYPERION THEATRE 2106 Hyperion Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 7PM/Lottery/3 min./No purchase necessary/Hosted by Miranda King and Kat Yeary
THE PIG & WHISTLE 6714 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/Ends 10PM/First come, first served/20 spots only/$5 cover/5 min./Hosted by Sally Mullins
THE LEXINGTON 129 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign up is 12PM at Facebook page/See http://www.facebook.com/BombShelterComedy for more info and to sign up/Starts 5PM/Ends 9PM/Lottery/5 min./Hosted by John Silver & Ryan Pfeiffer
LIQUID ZOO 7214 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM/Starts 9PM/First come, first served/7 min./One drink min.
COCK N BULL 2947 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up 8:45PM/Starts 9PM/First come, first served/5 min./No purchase necessary
THE COMEDY STORE BELLY ROOM 8433 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 11:30PM/Lottery/3 min./Hosted by Erik Marino and Brian Moses
Once reserved to the living quarters of a van, Dave Stone has made his way up the comedic ranks here in LA and across the country. He’s also gotten into a real apartment as well all on the merit of his own carefully honed material.
He has made two albums with the great Beards of Comedy, which includes the likes of the very funny Andy Sandford and Joe Zimmerman, but now is striking out on his own for his very first solo album on Sat. Mar. 7th at Atlanta’s Laughing Skull Lounge.
Do not miss it. There’s a 8PM show and 10:30PM show just so you won’t.
UCB’s Goldwater aims to make short films rather than short web video/sketches and, consequently, ends up making something usually funny, sweet, with a touch of the ethereal.
Their latest short “The Woods are Lovely, Dark and Deep” hits those marks pretty well. We hope this is the sort of wood that Robert Frost was talking about in that poem.
Though the hilarious vampire mockumentary What We Do In The Shadows from Jemaine Clement and Taiki Waititi is going to play in limited release in LA and NYC on Feb. 13th, both Jemaine and Taika want to follow suit with David Cross’ Hits and expand the release to as many cities as possible around the good ol’ U.S. of A. They’re aiming for about 70.
So, to do this, they’re attempting to raise $400,000 to accomplish that goal on Kickstarter. As of this post, they’ve raised $289,863 and only have 5 more days, specifically until Feb. 12th 4:37PM, to crowdfund the rest.
The rewards are pretty great ranging from set visits and special screenings to baby onesies and cooking aprons.
So, please take the money you were going to spend on the corporate-created Valentine’s Day and make sure America gets to see What We Do In The Shadows. Your significant other will understand.
(via The AV Club)
Of all the name/word/phrase generators that exist including porn or pimp name generators, it’s been curious that there hasn’t been a go-to suggestion generator for improvisers and improv teams.
Well, now there is. Gil Browdy and Vinny Francois have created an easy-to-use suggestion generator for locations, relationships, and words called “Can I Get A…”.
It’s only a matter of time before some improv team not only uses it on stage, but figures out a unique twist to it.
Most performances by stand-up comedians on late night programs are rehearsed word-for-word and vetted in a similar fashion by the show and the network. The result is a highly polished display of jokes, one right after the other, timed out, usually, to be exactly 5 minutes. When you go see those comedians live, it’s usually a little more visceral, livelier, intimate, and personal.
Andy Kindler manages to do a tight set and still pull off being completely himself on late night. Andy is one of the few comedians that takes the national spotlight of a late night talk show to not only do his jokes, but give his signature commentary in between those jokes, which doesn’t seem rehearsed or vetted, but, instead freewheeling and so much fun.
His set from Letterman last night is another perfect example amidst a big pile of perfect examples of this. Note that he also ends right at 5:00.
ON THE HORIZON
Grand Budapest Hotel/To Be or Not To Be @ Egyptian Theatre Mon. Feb. 9th 7:30PM $11
Andy Kindler’s Particular Show @ Nerdmelt Showroom Fri. Feb. 20th 9PM $8 in adv., $10 at door
COMEDY CRAWL
Jeff Ross @ Brea Improv 7PM/9PM $25/2 item min.
A Carlin Home Companion @ Falcon Theatre 8PM $29-$44
Westside Stand-Up Showdown Finals @ Westside Comedy Theater 8PM FREE
Fresh Fish Variety Hour @ The Clubhouse 8PM FREE
Good Heroin @ Stories Books & Cafe 8PM FREE
Ithamar Has Nothing to Say @ Second City Hollywood 8PM $10
Jen Kirkman & Friends @ Hollywood Improv 8PM $15/2 item min.
ASSSSCAT @ UCB Franklin 8PM $10 (stand by only)
The Higgs Weldon Tournament of Champions II @ Neon Venus Theatre 9:30PM FREE
Picture This! An Animated Comedy Show @ Echoes Under Sunset 10PM FREE
Jamie Lee @ Hollywood Improv 10PM $15/2 item min.
Wild Horses Presents The Perspective @ UCB Franklin 10PM $10 (stand by only)
12 Shiny Nickels @ Westside Comedy Theater 11:30PM $10
The Midnight Show w/Pat Healy @ UCB Franklin MIDNIGHT $5
Tomorrow w/Ron Lynch Presents Tomorrow! Tonite w/Davey Johnson @ Steve Allen Theater MIDNIGHT $8
OPEN MIC RUN
ROCKPAPER COFFEE CO 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 3:30PM/Starts 4PM/Ends 6PM/5 min./One item min
BREWDOG PUB 8300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 4PM/First come, first served/5-7 min./Hosted by Pam/$5/All ages
FLAPPERS BURBANK YOO HOO ROOM 102 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 4PM/Starts 4:15PM/First come, first served
MAKAI COFFEE 2771 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 4:30PM/Starts 5PM/First come, first served/5-7 min./No purchase necessary
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Ends 6PM/5 min./First come, first served
WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATER 1323-A 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA (in alley between 3rd St. Promenade & 4th St.)/Sign-up 5:45PM/Starts 6PM/Lottery/3 min./No purchase necessary/Hosted by Graham Rodgers and Scott Schnurr
THE LEXINGTON 129 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 6:45PM/5 min./First come, first served/No purchase necessary/Hosted by Ashley Hamilton and Kasey Koop
GROUNDWORK COFFEE 1501 N. Cahuenga Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 7PM/Ends 10PM/First come, first served/5 min./One item min./Hosted by Raab
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/https://www.facebook.com/ComedydeBasement/First 20 spots guaranteed on Facebook/Lottery for remaining spots/Hosted by Pablo Avion & Eric Bustamante/5 min./1 drink min.
FLAPPERS YOO HOO ROOM 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts around 11:30PM/lottery/3-5 min./One item min.
There will be “a special sequence” at this year’s Oscars ceremony where Jack Black performs. There are no further details about what makes the sequence special or what the sequence entails or why it even necessitates a press release all by itself, but perhaps Jack will do a “Tribute” to the greatest movie of all time?
Adding more fun to the telecast will be The Lonely Island who will join Tegan and Sara for a live performance of Everything Is Awesome from The Lego Movie (via HitFix).
Potentially, there could be more good rambunctiousness at this year’s Oscars than the time Three 6 Mafia took home one of the coveted statues. Look for all of this when The Oscars go down on Sun. Feb. 22nd.
(via TV Line)
There’s has been plenty of build up over the last several months to TBS’ slapstick cop comedy Angie Tribeca including a trailer.
It’s set to premiere in the summer, but with David Koechner and Amy Smart coming into the series and Ground Floor getting the axe, we wouldn’t have any problem with the series premiering next week.
In a TV world beset by old school multi-cam sitcoms and dramadies, Angie Tribeca seems like it’ll be a breath of fresh air, especially with Koechner playing a police commissioner.
TWO available to download now for FREE https://t.co/pnTvYr9pVd please RT if you think someone may like this weird fun pic.twitter.com/0xNaXK0emN
When we were all obsessing over Katy Perry’s Super Bowl Sharks, Ryan Singer was hard at work in his, we think, comedy laboratory coming up with a new, short, but absurdly sweet album of audio sketches all by himself.
Called TWO, you can download it for free and we highly suggest you do that now right here.
The second season of Silicon Valley premieres Fri. Apr. 12th at 10PM on HBO and the whole gang is going to be back in full force, seated comfortably in a repurposed living room at their computers next to their white board with a disgruntled TJ Miller in a robe.
Just check the first promo and then save the date.
For all the stuff in sketches, desk pieces, remotes, etc. that Conan O’Brien has had on various iterations of his talk show, one can imagine how hard it would be to Conan seem even slightly confused.
Leave it to Jeff Bridges leading the entire studio, audience, crew, Conan, and Andy into an “omming session” to achieve that aforementioned confusion.
Though he was only at Saturday Night Live for a season, Brooks Wheelan sure made plenty of memories in his time there.
He recounts some of those fond memories as well as some fantasies with his old boss Seth Meyers.