Writer/director Ian Samuels and MTV Other have made a short film, Myrna The Monster, following an alien that tries to just make a go of living in LA, which, even sans alien, can be alienating (pun absolutely intended).
It’s currently selected to play at next year’s Sundance Film Festival.
When it comes to pushing the boundaries of comedy, The Duplass Brothers, Mark and Jay, have not only push boundaries, but do so in an unexpected, but delightful way.
From The Puffy Chair to Jeff Who Lives at Home to Cyrus to their latest project, an HBO series, Togetherness and so much more (both together and individually), Mark and Jay find the comedy in life in some of the most organic ways possible.
So, of course we’re going to watch a nice, long intimate conversation that they have with Paul F. Tompkins on his nice, long intimate conversation web series Speakeasy.
ON THE HORIZON
Last New Year’s Eve Comedy Celebration @ UCB Franklin Sun. Dec. 28th 7:30PM $5
Tomorrow! w/Ron Lynch’s New Year’s Eve @ Steve Allen Theater Wed. Dec. 31st 10PM $15
COMEDY CRAWL
Brand New Ball @ UCB Franklin 7PM $5
ReGifted! @ UCB Sunset 7:30PM $10
Unnecessary Evil Presents Al Jackson @ Westside Comedy Theater 8PM $10
Jimmy Dore @ Flappers Burbank 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
Kira Soltanovich @ Hollywood Improv 8PM $15/2 item min.
Steve Rannazzisi @ Brea Improv 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
Laughs For Thirst @ Westside Comedy Theater 10PM $10
Masturing with Film Masters: Winter Session @ UCB Sunset 10:30PM $5
OPEN MIC RUN
ROCKPAPER COFFEE CO 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 6PM/5 min./One item min.
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 6PM/Ends 8PM/5 min./First come, first served
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE 2906 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5;30PM/Starts 6PM/Ends 8:30PM/Lottery35 spots only/Hosted by Megan Koester & Alison Stevenson
MAX BLOOM’S 200 N. Malden Ave., Fullerton, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 6:30PM/booked show after/no purchase necessary
THE IMPROV SPACE 954 Gayley Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 8PM/First come, first served/5 min./No purchase necessary/Hosted by Ibo Brewer
SABOR Y CULTURA 5625 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 8PM/Sign-up is a lottery/3 min./No purchase necessary
THE CLUBHOUSE 1607 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/Ends 10PM/Mixed mic/5 min./First come, first served/No purchase necessary
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts 11:30PM/lottery/3-5 min./1 item min.
For a lot of us, the holidays and especially Christmas can be a real lonesome time. Friends, family, and more are out of town and it can be hard to muster the wherewithal to reach out or see anyone.
Luckily, sketch group The Dress Up Gang feels the same way and knows exactly what you’re going through (provided you just went through a break-up with a celebrity). So, they made this holiday sketch/short film for you to enjoy and hopefully cure your holiday blues whether you know you have them or not.
Watch the latest installment of their web series My Roommate, My Friend, “A Christmas Rebound" here.
ON THE HORIZON
Laughs for Thirst @ Westside Comedy Theater Fri. Dec. 26th 10PM $10
Sean O’Connor’s Christmas Is Cancelled @ UCB Sunset Sat. Dec. 27th 9PM $10
Greg Proops Film Club: My Man Godfrey @ Cinefamily Sun. Dec. 28th 7:30PM $12
Good Looks in Arts District Tues. Dec. 30th 8PM FREE
Brian Regan @ Dolby Theatre Sat. Feb. 28th 8PM $49-$60.20
COMEDY CRAWL
The Interview @ Several Theaters in the LA Area
OPEN MIC RUN
THE LEXINGTON 129 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/Ends 12AM/First come, first served/5 min./Hosted by Geoffrey Feldman
(via /Film)
So, it turns out that the Army of Darkness sequel that Bruce Campbell and Sam Raimi were working on, is ending up as a series on Starz.
Bruce Campbell as Ash, Sam Raimi, and his boomstick are all set to return in 2015 to follow up after where Army of Darkness left off.
This series adaptation of Evil Dead franchise along with Jonathan Ames-Seth MacFarlane’s Blunt Talk starring Patrick Stewart will be two very good reasons to tune into Starz next year.
Since last year, Rob Delaney has tucked himself away with Sharon Horgan over in the UK for their Channel 4 series Catastrophe.
Details as to when it was going to come out in the UK, much less when/if we get to see it here in The States, have been largely a secret.
Such details are still sort of under wraps, but there’s now a teaser trailer to outline Delaney’s knocking up of Horgan as an American staying in the UK and the glorious aftermath that follows.
Watch the teaser trailer here.
For $5.99 to rent and $14.99 to buy, The Interview is now available for you to watch via YouTube.
You now don’t have to be near one of few hundred independent/art house theaters to go see it tomorrow, though you should go do that if you can. You can stand for the freedom of expression from foreign oppressors from the comfort of your own home. It’s the way that many Americans prefer to stand up for their rights these days.
Go watch Seth Rogen, James Franco, Lizzy Caplan, and Randall Park satirize the North Korean regime right now, right here.
UPDATE: You can also watch The Interview on VOD via Xbox Video and Google Play.
Get #TheInterview NOW on digital HD. Available for U.S. consumers on: http://t.co/HlSOpKgsRQ pic.twitter.com/4NzPjlWVGj
— The Interview (@TheInterview) December 24, 2014
ON THE HORIZON
OPEN MIC @ THE LEXINGTON Thurs. Dec. 25th (Christmas Day)/129 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/Ends MIDNIGHT/5 min./First come, first served/Hosted by Geoffrey Feldman
Louis C.K. @ The Forum Sun. Jan. 11th 8PM $25-$45
COMEDY CRAWL
On account of it being Christmas Eve, today’s Comedy Crawl will have to be whatever comedic situations you run into at various Christmas parties.
OPEN MIC RUN
THE COMEDY STORE PATIO 8433 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 4PM/Ends 6PM/Lottery/4 min./No purchase necessary/Hosted by Josh Martin
LIQUID ZOO 7214 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM w/one drink min./Starts 9PM/first come, first served/Mixed in with booked spots/7 min.
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 10PM/Starts 10:30PM/Lottery/3-5 min./1 item min.
As we expected, more theaters jumped on board for screening The Interview today after The Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas/Fort Worth and The Plaza Theatre in Atlanta, GA announced that they were going ahead with a Christmas day screening of the movie.
In the LA area alone, The Los Feliz 3, Crest Westwood, Laemmle NoHo, Sid Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre in Hollywoood, Regency Theatres in Azusa/Agoura Hills/San Bernardino/Granada Hills/Commerce/Van Nuys/Fontana/Thousand Oaks/Westminster have all joined in putting Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s lightning bolt of a movie on their screens.
Theaters from around the country from the likes of Champaign, IL to Puerto Rico to Baltimore, MD, to Tempe, AZ, to Ann Arbor, MI, and way more have also joined in. Deadline has an up-to-date list here.
For now, Rogen and Goldberg probably have created the most patriotic dick jokes, given the circumstances of The Interview’s release, in the cinematic canon.
(via The Wrap)
Netflix has already nabbed up The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt from NBC and now they’ve gotten distribution rights from Universal, the film side of NBC Universal, to the upcoming Pee-wee Herman movie that will start shooting sometime next year.
Judd Apatow is producing and Paul Reubens and Paul Rust are co-writing the movie together, which makes for another big score for the online streaming giant and yet another sign of where movie and TV distribution is headed.
In the comedy puppet panel show world, the competition is “fierce”. Well, we didn’t know that until just now when we found that Paul F. Tompkins faced off with Paul Scheer on Fusion‘s No, You Shut Up!, to see who will reign supreme in making fun of today’s issues with a mix of puppets and real people.
Watch the battle of Paul and Paul here.
The beloved holiday tradition created by legendary sitcom Seinfeld, Festivus, has grown steadily in popularity over the years.
There’s an entire site dedicated to it and the numerous traditions to observe such as the feats of strength. Now, Tumblr has put up their version of Christmas lights by making a Seinfeld-esque version of their logo and temporarily enabling you to have a Festivus Mode if you’re a Tumblr user, which enables the Seinfeld theme to play while you scroll.
For however many times we’ve heard Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You played anywhere recently, we’re more than happy to get in the Festivus mood with some fun bass and synth.
See the movie North Korea really, REALLY doesn’t want you to see….this time for realsies. http://t.co/cZ2x1KUHjA pic.twitter.com/VlLeDVb17L
— Alamo Drafthouse DFW (@AlamoDFW) December 23, 2014
(via The Hollywood Reporter)
The Interview is now back on track for its original release date, Christmas Day, though just not with the expansive nationwide release that Sony had originally planned on.
The Interview -Times Christmas Day 4pm 5pm 6:30 7:30 9:35 12/26 to 1/1 times will be announced tomorrow. On 2 screens
— Plaza Atlanta (@PlazaAtlanta) December 23, 2014
As of this post, both the Alamo Drafthouse in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX and The Plaza Theatre in Atlanta, GA are set to give The Interview a run on their screens starting on Christmas Day.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, a Sony insider says that there are indeed plans for a VOD release, but further details are not available at this time.
So, hopefully, by the end of today, we’ll find that a bunch of other indie, art house theaters will follow and screen the Interview and we can, as a country, go back to watching and making movies without being intimidated by a foreign regime.
ON THE HORIZON
Masturing with Film Masters: Winter Session @ UCB Sunset Fri. Dec. 26th 10:30PM $5
Triple Header @ Nerdmelt Showroom Tues. Jan. 6th $8 in adv., $10 at door
COMEDY CRAWL
Doug Loves Movies @ UCB Franklin 7PM FREE
Trifecta @ UCB Sunset 8:30PM $5
Sleepaway Camp @ Downtown Independent Theater 9PM FREE
Roast Battle @ Comedy Store Belly Room 10:30PM FREE
OPEN MIC RUN
HOLLYWOOD IMPROV 8162 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5:30PM/Starts 5:45PM/Lottery/20 spots available
GRINDHOUSE CAFE 1051 N. Havenhurst Dr., West Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/First come, first served/5 min./Hosted by Steve Hernandez and Paul Laier
FLAPPERS BURBANK 102 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA/Starts 6PM/Stand-up, sketch, improv all welcome/5 min.
AMSTERDAM CAFE 10905 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 6:30PM
ROCKPAPER COFFEE CO. 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 6PM/Ends 8PM/First come, first served/One item min.
KIBITZ ROOM @ CANTER’S 419 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5:30PM/Starts 6PM/Ends 7:30PM/Lottery/No over the top vulgarity/6 min. w/any purchase, 3 min./without/Hosted by Burt Teplitzky and Danny McDermott
SMALL TALK COMPETITION @ NERDMELT SHOWROOM 7522 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Go head to head with a stranger for 90 seconds of small talk about a topic selected from a hat/Panel of Professional Comedians decide winner and who moves onto a Grand Melee,a group conversation of the top 5 scorers of the evening/The winner will take home an amazing prize Guy has not yet purchased.It’s fight club for polite chit chat! Hosted by Guy BranumPart of Guy Branum’s Hanukkah Party
COFFEE GALLERY 2029 Lake Ave., Altadena, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/lottery/5 min.
WANG’S PLACE 120 E. Lemon Ave., Monrovia, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM/First come, first served/One item min./6 min.
PEDONE’S PIZZA 1332 Hermosa Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 7:45PM/Ends 9:30PM/5-7min.
THE COMEDY STORE BELLY ROOM 8433 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/Lottery/3 min./No purchase necessary
THE BIG CHRISTMAS OPEN MIC @ WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATER 1323-A 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA (in alley between 3rd St. Promenade & 4th St.)/Starts 8:30PM/Ends MIDNIGHT/Lottery/3-5 min./$1 cover
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA (Echo Park)/Starts 8PM/mixed mic
CAFE UNURBAN 3301 W. Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA/Starts 9PM/Sign-up is lottery/No purchase necessary
88 CHINESE & SUSHI 418 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM/Starts 9PM/First come, first served/7 min./$5 min. purchase/Hosted by Cindy Liebman
THE PALACE RESTAURANT 2112 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 9:45PM/Lottery/4.5 min./after booked show
THE LEXINGTON 129 E. 3rd St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 9PM/Starts 10:30PM after booked show/Ends 12AM/No purchase necessary
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts 11:30PM/First come, first served
Earlier this year, we followed the adventures of The Undone Sweaters, a Weezer cover band in Brooklyn with comedians Jim Tews, Reid Faylor, and Andrew Short as members.
Just from season one, things got pretty intense.
There will be a season two coming soon and this great, trippy trailer proves that it takes more than some crunchy chords to cover Weezer these days. A whole lot more like Dave Hill, Jared Logan, disguises, Christmas charts, etc.
Every day, TV/movies and the Internet come closer and closer to becoming one. There are signs of this shift everywhere.
Most recently, HBO has announced that it will only use Nielsen’s Live Plus 7 measure which encompasses the rating for a TV show right when it airs all the way to 7 days after (via Variety). The amount of people that watch their favorite HBO shows like Veep and Silicon Valley on their DVR or on HBOGO grows everyday.
Online streaming giant Netflix is also stepping up its game, which, already, is changing the dynamic of how Hollywood works with the likes of Amazon, Hulu, etc.. Titles of TV series and films that aren’t original Netflix productions often have a finite time to be streamed on Netflix. Notifications of what and when those shows and movies would disappear were scarce, but with a “Last Call” section of a newsletter that Netflix sends out. they’ll be doing away with that problem altogether (via The AV Club). If, for some reason, The Office was to no longer be available to stream via Netflix, you’d know a month ahead of time.
Soon, there will likely be no separation between your favorite comedy web series and comedy TV series.
(via NY Times)
In your daily news on whether we’ll get to The Interview in the near future or not, the Treehouse Theater in NYC has opted to put on a live reading of a shooting script. The roles will be read by various performers, some of which will be comedians, though Seth Rogen and James Franco are currently not set to read their own roles.
The live reading, which is a good follow up to Cinefamily’s secret protest screening of The Red Chapel this past weekend, will take place this Sat. at 7PM at the Treehouse Theater.
Gauging from how well live reads have gone here in LA, this should be great as well as supporting freedom of speech and expression.
Give the gift of ME! BILLY ON THE STREET episodes now on Amazon! Perfect 4 holiday binge watching & binge screaming! http://t.co/j54BbQ7utK
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) December 22, 2014
You can now watch all of America’s Favorite Man Yelling About Pop Culture on the Street that you possibly can as Amazon has just gotten all three seasons of Billy On The Street to stream with purchase.
Buy and watch because we think this will be the perfect thing to bring your family together this holiday season, especially if things might be a little touchy and you need a release in tension.
Beloved Bay Area 12/30-1/3 @punchlinesf 12/30 Vodkast ½-3 Recording a new album http://t.co/hZ4zAontlW Yay, Giants pic.twitter.com/XYY4yiGRSa
— Greg Proops (@GregProops) December 7, 2014
When the Smartest Man in the World puts on all on notice that his next hour of stand-up will be committed to an album next week, you should make plans to be witness to the event.
So, baring that in mind, Greg Proops is recording his next album at the Punchline Comedy Club in San Francisco from Jan. 2nd at 7:30PM & 9:30PM and Jan. 3rd also with shows at 7:30PM & 9:30PM.
Don’t miss out on a chance to go to this taping and guffaw, think, and go on a dastardly fun ride all simultaneously if you can.
In making the rounds of promoting Top Five, Chris Rock has been illuminating, biting, and all around great in interviews wherever he goes.
His appearance on The Daily Show last week is no different. Watch it here.
Conan O’Brien has made it his business over the years to offer a place where celebrities can divulge their “secrets” that they have been “hiding” for years.
So, it would only stand to reason that legendary holiday season icon Santa Claus would choose Conan and nowhere else to reveal the things that torment him so.
Watch parts one, two, and three of Santa Secrets.
ON THE HORIZON
Unnecessary Evil Presents Al Jackson @ Westside Comedy Theater Fri. Dec. 26th 8PM $10
Fall Out Fan Fic @ UCB Sunset Thurs. Jan. 8th 10:30PM $5
COMEDY CRAWL
Doug Benson Movie Interruption: Long Kiss Goodnight @ Cinefamily 7:30PM $14 (stand by only)
improv4humans with Matt Besser @ UCB Sunset 8:30PM $5
Swallows Comedy Hour @ Spitz Los Feliz 8:30PM FREE
The Business LA @ Little Joy 9:30PM FREE
This Show Is Not Funny @ UCB Franklin 11PM $5
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.
ANCHOR BAR 2675 Irvine Ave., Costa Mesa, CA/Starts 7PM/Sign-up at evan@dudelyjones.com/4-5 min.
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./Hosted by Ever Mainaird, Lisa Laureta, Ryan Walker, and Caitlin Bergh
BREWDOG PUB 8300 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 7:45PM/Starts 8PM/First come, first served/3 min.+/Optional heckling after set where you can gain more time/1 item min./Hosted by Galit Levi
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
To your delight and/or dismay, Austin Powers’ nemesis Dr. Evil appears to still be around.
Last night, he “interrupted” SNL’s broadcast/a Sam Smith Christmas to share his displeasure over how petty the hackers The Guardians of Peace, Kim Jong-Un, and North Korea look for temporarily killing the release of The Interview.
Watch Dr. Evil throw some shade on some lesser cartoonish villains here.
My new special “I Liked His Old Stuff Better” premiers Friday, January 23rd at midnight on @ComedyCentral. Get some. pic.twitter.com/SZhKFfIdCI
— Kyle Kinane (@kylekinane) December 19, 2014
The announcement that Kyle Kinane’s new comedy special was happening sometime early next year and the art work for it was enough for us to get thoroughly excited for what’s coming after this holiday season.
Kinane tweeted this week that I Liked His Old Stuff will premiere on Jan. 23rd at MIDNIGHT on Comedy Central.Now, we have a specific date to mark down and obsessively count down to.
So, thus far, Comedy Central’s upcoming comedy specials have lined-up to be Kinane’s I Liked His Old Stuff in Jan., Matt Braunger’s Big Dumb Animal on Feb. 6th, and Bridget Everett’s Gynecological Wonder, which was just shot last week.
So, get ready for all of that.