Recent News

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.

Rory Scovel and Michael Palascak Kick Off Comedy Central’s The Half Hour Tonight

Don’t miss the inaugural pairing of episodes TONIGHT at 11PM for Comedy Central’s The Half Hour with the diametrically opposed, comedically, though still both very funny, Rory Scovel and Michal Palascak.

The above picture will probably the most serious Rory will be during his entire special.

Stay Up For Reggie Watts’ A Live at Central Park

It’s really hard to explain the awesomeness of Reggie Watts to people or animals or anything for that matter. If you’re alive yourself, you should stay up at 1AM tonight and watch A Live at Central Park and feel the pure goodness that reverberates from where ever Reggie is performing (we’ve watched the special and feel confident in this assessment)

Identity of @EveryTweet_Ever Revealed

        

If you’re not one of the 23,000+ followers on Twitter that follow @EveryTweet_Ever, it’s a Twitter account that encapsulates the nature of Twitter and how the majority of its users act/react in a very funny way. His name is Chris Serico and he’s thankful his experiment has worked.

Comedy Abroad-ish 5/12

Kelly Carlin’s A Carlin Home Companion @ Alberta Rose Theatre (Portland, OR) Sun. May 13th 7PM $18

Brent Weinbach w/DJ Douggpound @ Comedy Underground (Seattle, WA) May. 17th-20th
Nick Youssef and Nick Griffin @ The Punch Line (San Francisco, CA) May 23rd-26th 
Pete Holmes @ Addison Improv (Addison, TX) July 12th-15th 

Women’s Musical Chairs

If we gave you a hundred guesses as to what happens in this sketch from Women Comedy (Dave Ross, Jake Weisman, and Allen Strickland Williams) just based off the title, you wouldn’t guess correctly and still laugh pretty hard when you watch (despite being tired from all the guessing).

Tommy Johnagin Back on Letterman

Tommy Johnagin’s got more than a handful of great appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman and this set is certainly no different. Click picture of Johnagin in a “politician pose” to watch clip.

Colbert Wants Super PACs and Buried Treasure for Everyone

Out to promote his new children’s book I Am Pole (and So Can You), Stephen Colbert got sublimely absurd on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon telling everyone to get a Super PAC in order to find buried treasure, then, to only play soccer while in a bubble against Fallon.

Just watch the clips if you’re in doubt about what you just read. 

Parks and Recreation Also Renewed

–Parks and Recreation got renewed. So, the cross-generational war founded on so-called .gif based comedy" can rage on.

–Don’t Trust the B**** in Apt. 23 and Happy Endings also go renewed. Can’t wait to see Andre do a late night panel and talk about the polar opposites characters on Apt. 23 and The Eric Andre Show.

–The trailer for Anchorman 2 attached to Dictator screenings. Expect a trailer for the online trailer to be teased out by some random appearance by Ferrell.

–The director of horror comedy favorite “Tucker & Dale vs. Evil”, Eli Craig, set for next film. With this news, horror comedy as a genre will have gotten past Jennifer’s Body.

–Best Friends Forever got cancelled. We said that Facebook campaign wouldn’t help.

Garfunkel & Oates Playing at a Smart Phone Near You

Yes, the delightful comedy music duo of Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome, Garfunkel & Oates, are now in iPhone app form that offers photos, videos, tour dates, and most importantly, karaoke. Also, it’s free so there’s little stopping you from humming “I Would Never (Have Sex With You)” wherever you happen tobe.

Kyle Kinane Will Sign Your Clipboard

Kyle Kinane’s fans are so dedicated in their fandom that they seemingly would grab the nearest thing to have signed by the hysterical Kinane. According to Pete Holmes, Kyle will sign clipboards, “Because you’re the king, Kyle. Because you’re the king.”

New Podcasts from HAHAJK.com and Esther Povitsky

Absurdist news site HAHAJK.com is getting into the comedy podcast game with “It’s Your Journey Boo…” and “Air Quotes”. Featuring an incredibly talented and hilarious roster of hosts, Lauren Rochelle & Michelle Buteau interviewing interesting folks and Tony Sam & Kurtis Rintala chatting about the week in news with funny guests, respectively, it’ll be interesting to hear what direction HAHAJK.com goes with delving into the podcast medium. 

Having been on several podcasts herself, the very funny Esther Povitsky just launched her own podcast “Weird Adults” to spread “irreplaceable quirk” to the podcast world.

                                

Dead Kevin & Naked Jeremy for Mother’s Day

We’re not going to say anything else besides watch two freshly baked videos from sketch group Dead Kevin (Ahmed Bharoocha, Jack Robichaud, and Ryan O’Flanagan) and web series Naked Jeremy’s (Jeremy Paul) Declarative Statements for a great start to Mother’s Day 2012.

Catch Screenings of Moonrise Kingdom & This American Life

In the form of Jeopardy question: Two things that you can catch in theaters that aren’t The Avengers.

What are…

-Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated upcoming film, Moonrise Kingdom, can be seen this Sun. May 20th for free at LACMA IF you’re a Film Independent member

&

-Famed radio show This American Life did a live show screened at theaters across the country last Thursday and will be doing an encore tomorrow night, this time, featuring David Sedaris, Tig Notaro and more.

Comedy Nerd Out on This Wednesday’s Episode of Conan

          

WTF’s Marc Maron, The 818’s Brody Stevens, and Liam Neeson (the man behind one of the funniest clips on Ricky Gervais’ Life’s Too Short ever) are all on the same episode this Wed. Maybe you won’t want to TIVO this one.

The PBS Documentary of Johnny Carson Airs Tonight

At 9PM, PBS follows up their in-depth look into Woody Allen by covering another comedy legend, Johnny Carson with Emmy award winning filmmaker Peter Jones. 

Speaking of late night TV tonight, Adam Scott and Tenacious D will be on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS 11:35PM)

Craig Ferguson Takes Late Late Show to Scotland

One of the few late night hosts to actually venture outside of their studios this year with their entire show, Craig Ferguson is having The Late Late Show in Scotland. Going from town to town back in his home country including his hometown of Cumbernauld (though it sounds like a name Craig would make up, it probably isn’t), Ferguson will have the likes of Mila Kunis, Rashida Jones, David Sedaris, and more to get weird in the Highlands every night this week.

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson airs on CBS 12:35AM following Letterman.