Recent News

On Late Night 5/9/12

Tonight on late night:

Joel McHale and Reggie Watts on Conan (TBS 11PM)
Garry Shandling and Alison Brie on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC 11:35PM)
Jenna Fischer on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS 12:35AM)
Howard Stern on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM)

Late night on late night:

Casey Wilson forged letters to prisoners on Kimmel

Live Storytelling at UCB Animated Starting Off with a Bear Costume Story

John Bander recounted a story of day in the life of wearing a bear costume head on a new UCB series Animated Stories created by Todd Bieber.

Louis CK & Aziz Ansari’s Web Specials to Air

Louis CK’s award winning Live at the Beacon Theater will air on FX May 12th.

Aziz Ansari’s Dangerously Delicious will air on Comedy Central May 20th 10PM.

Hopefully, this doesn’t mean the “great experiment” in comedian self-distribution is over.

Stephen Colbert’s I Am Pole (And So Can You!) is Now Available

Yes, the children’s book that Colbert came up with while interviewing the late great Maurice Sendak is now a reality. Also, the audiobook version is read by Tom Hanks. Just try and have a bad Wednesday, now.

Support Lauren Ludwig’s Short Because She’s Really Funny

She’s the director of the amazing comedy extravaganza Lost Moon Radio and now she’s doing a short film for AFI (American Film Institute, not A Fire Inside). If our words and this funny donation video doesn’t convince, well, then, you’re beyond us.

On Late Night 5/10/12

Last night on late night:

Reggie Watts showed what he would do with a full band on Conan, which is, by the way, continue to be awesome…

Garry Shandling still has it on Leno

Howard Stern claimed that he was going to ruin America’s Got Talent on Fallon

Tonight on late night:

Will Ferrell and Ellie Kemper on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM)

Comedy abroad-ish 5/10/12

W. Kamau Bell @ The Stress Factory (New Jersey) This Weekend
The Beards of Comedy throughout the Midwest in May
Kyle Kinane @ The Jukebox (Peoria, Il) Thurs. May 19th $12
Hari Kondabolu @ The Hollywood Theatre Sat. May 21st 9PM $10
Sean Patton @ The New Parish (Oakland, CA) June 6th 8PM $15 in adv., $20 at door

Patton Oswalt @ Spreckels Theatre (San Diego, CA) July 12th 8PM

Chatting with Eric Andre at Bridgetown After His Prostitute Story

Check out our interview/hang out for HAHAJK.com with the hilarious Eric Andre (Don’t Trust the B**** in Apartment 23, The Eric Andre Show) outside the Bagdad Theater in Portland, OR during Bridgetown after his hysterical story about getting turned down by a prostitute. There’s a part two as well.

Memes Have Crossed Over IRL

The great folks over at Gallery 1988 Melrose have curated an entire exhibition of art in real life dedicated to Internet memes. Let the .gifs begin. 
(via jakefogelnest)

The Comedy “Trades” 5/10

If we had water cooler’s in comedy, this is what we’d be talking about (hopefully).

–Mindy Kaling’s comedy got the greenlight from Fox. Considering Steve Carell has left, how worried exactly are fans of The Office now?

–Jimmy Fallon’s Guys with Kids got picked up by NBC. Still can’t outdo slow-jamming the news with Obama though.

–Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost together again (on movie The World’s End). They have apocalyptic comedy on lock, wouldn’t you say?

–Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler, and David Wain to team up for They Came Together. It should be a welcome parody of a genre (romantic comedy) unlike announced Scary Movie 5.

–Conan O’Brien will be on The Late Show with David Letterman. Odds are that this won’t be the historic moment in late night history that many blogs would hope it would be.

–Cougar Town to move to TBS. Not quite sure if that means the gap between cable and network comedy is coming closer or farther.

–Sundance favorite comedy Liberal Arts with Josh Radnor, Elizabeth Olsen, Richard Jenkins, and Allison Janney to be released by IFC Sept. 14th. Given the rise of Portlandia and the coming of Comedy Bang Bang and Bunk, IFC still can do movies even though no one thinks of them as the Independent Film Channel much any more.

Just For Laughs Will Be Epic This Year

photo via Laughspin

Both Montreal and Chicago are set to be overtaken by live comedy by The Just For Laughs Comedy Arts Festival this summer before the world is let down when absolutely nothing happens in regards to it ending. From a Paul F. Tompkins fresh off his amazing 1-hr storytelling special Laboring Under Delusions to Epic Meal Time to the Muppets to Wendy Liebman to names people should know more like James Adomian, Sean Patton, and Jerrod Carmichael, JFL 2012 is shaping up to be epic (even beyond Epic Meal Time standards).

Scheduled to perform/appear in JFL Montreal:
The Muppets
Jim Gaffigan
Paul F. Tompkins 
Lewis Black
Aziz Ansari
Jim Jefferies
Key & Peele
Marc Maron
Todd Barry
Hannibal Buress
Jimmy Carr
Anthony Jeselnik
Andy Kindler
Paul Provenza
Pete Holmes
Wendy Liebman
Epic Meal Time
Kristen Schaal
Eric Andre
James Adomian
Rob Delaney
Rory Scovel
Moshe Kasher
Tommy Johnagin
Sean Patton
Hari Kondabolu
Mo Mandel
Greg Behrendt
Joe Mande
Mike Lawrence
Myq Kaplan
Nick Vatterott
Jerrod Carmichael
Brian Keith Etheridge
Nikki Glaser
and more!

Scheduled to perform/appear in JFL Chicago:
Patton Oswalt
Mike Birbiglia’s My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend
Stephen Merchant
John Oliver
Hannibal Buress
Kyle Kinane 
Nick Offerman’s American Ham
Henson Alternative
Jeff Ross
TJ Miller’s Performance Anxiety
Kelly Carlin’s A Carlin Home Companion 
and more!

If you were wondering, the 2012 New Faces are still unannounced.

No One Will Get in the Way of Will Ferrell’s Tight Pants

Will Ferrell was the lord of the tight pants on Fallon last night.

Tonight on late night:
Tommy Johnagin on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS 11:35PM)
Jenna Fischer on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC 11:35PM)
Stephen Colbert on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM)
Anna Chlumsky and Larry King on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS 12:35AM)

Trailers for The Campaign and Ruby Sparks

The Campaign has Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis in a heated smear campaign for Congress and baby punching has never so right on.

From the directors of Little Miss Sunshine, Ruby Sparks has Paul Dano write has dream girl into reality…

The question is what multiplex tentpole will these go up against?

Required Online Comedy Reading List 5/11

If you have love to read interviews, essays, articles, reviews etc. on the art form of comedy, then check out the following to nerd out/learn something/feel more comedy savvy than anyone else at the hipster party you’ll be going to tonight.

Stand Up Comedy and Mental Illness: A Conversation with Maria Bamford on Slate by David Haglund
Bobcat Goldthwait: Why Internet Commenters Hate My Movie on Huffington Post Comedy
Review of Reggie Watts “A Live in Central Park” on The Spit Take by Austin L. Ray
Parks and Recreation co-creator Mike Schur post-mortems Season 4 on HitFix by Alan Sepinwall
Eric Andre Talks His New Adult Swim Show That ABC Isn’t ‘Thrilled’ About on Huffington Post Comedy by Ross Luippold
Stereotypes and Comedy: Finding Where the Line Is on The Nerdist by Jake Kroeger 

Harland Williams and Henry Winkler Go Fishing

Eat your heart out OLN, that is, if you don’t do that already for some late night survival show.

Mike Birbiglia Made a “Sequel” to Terry Gross’ Fresh Air

It’s exactly what you would want out of said sequel (right?)

This was part of the live screening of This American Life yesterday.

Community Gets Another Season and Other Comedy “Trades” News

It’s true. Community is getting 13 more episodes for next season. So, don’t freak out when you just read someone hunting for web traffic by just making stuff up. 

In other “trade” news:

–HBO & Vice Magazine developing show with help from Bill Maher and Fareed Zakaria. We can’t help but think that Bill Maher would just laugh non-stop while reading an issue of Vice.

–Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell produced by Chris Rock will premiere in August. Good move to avoid premiering against IFC’s comedy series premiere line-up in June.

–NBC also renewed 30 Rock. That won’t save them from the wrath of comedy nerds online if they ever do get rid of their Thursday line-up.

–Conan writer Deon Cole gets comedy series greenlight from TBS. TBS might be starting to become a legitimate player in the cable comedy game. 

–ABC renewed Modern Family and expected to do the same with Happy Endings and Don’t Trust the B**** in Apt. 23. Modern Family might be this generation’s Married with Children whenever 90’s nostalgia gets around to Married with Children.

–Fox renewed Family Guy and American Dad. How long before South Park makes another Family Guy parody episode? Any takers?

–Ed Helms, John Krasinski, and Jenna Fischer are returning to The Office. Just make a movie already.