Though it’s been a long time coming, Mark and Jay Duplass’ Do Deca Pentathlon is coming out in theaters. Following two brothers settling(?) their sibling rivalry, there are 25 gruesome events of physical, mental, and emotional strength that make up their made-up sport.
Also, a refreshing bit of comedic vomiting is in here, if you were looking for something like that.
In case you don’t know, Jesse Case is a hilarious comedian who know has a hilarious web series, Normal, exploring the relationship between two people that may or not may be right for each other. With this episode, it’s a NSFW exploration.
You could say it appeals to the lizard side of our brain if you believe in that sort of thing, but Elephants and Lazers digitally inserted over promos for upcoming network shows that we’re not excited for makes us laugh pretty hard.
For Wes Anderson’s upcoming Moonrise Kingdom, actor Bob Balaban narrates and keeps the style and tone of Wes Anderson consistent in behind the scenes coverage of each actor like this one of Bill Murray. If more DVD extras were like this, we’d consider buying DVDs.
Check out more clips with Edward Norton and Bruce Willis at IFC.com.
Bill Maher showed, yet again, he’s always up for a killer Mormon joke followed by Hannibal Buress doing a tight 5 on Conan. Then Tenacious D killed it with their song “Beelzeboss” on Fallon with plenty of accompaniment from the NBC bleep button.
Tonight on late night:
Marc Maron, Brody Stevens, and Liam Neeson on Conan (TBS 11PM)
Joel McHale on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC 11:35PM)
Tony Hale on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM)
Judah Friedlander on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC 1:35AM)
Adult Swim Orders Eight Pilots, Including a Project From ‘Community’s’ Dan Harmon. One of the pilots is an animated Harold and Kumar project, which we’re guessing is being animated in order to further jump the shark from the first movie.
and other comedy ‘trades’ news:
TNT and TBS announce development slates. Both Conan O’Brien and Norm MacDonald have projects with the networks, which hopefully translates to Norm telling bad jokes to Conan over coffee.
Adult Swim greenlit a Children’s Hospital spin-off, Newsreaders. Score yet another for fake news.
Alexander Payne wants Bruce Dern and Will Forte to accompany him to ‘Nebraska’. It’s a black and white road comedy which will undoubtedly inspire countless short films that will go nowhere trying to imitate it.
Jimmy Kimmel Live is coming to Brooklyn for a week. Maybe there could be a Warriors-inspired cross town rivalry between Kimmel and Fallon?
Feral Audio podcast guests to be paid based on donations. This is actually historic comedy podcast news everyone.
ON THE HORIZON
Maria Bamford @ Flappers Burbank Fri. May 18th & Sat. May 19th 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
Jim Jefferies @ Ontario Improv Fri. May 18th-Sun. May 20th $20/2 item min.
The Comedy Garage @ Rafas Lounge Art Gallery Sat. May 19th 9PM FREE
Sean Conroy and Kyle Kinane Present The Incubator @ Nerdist Theater Thurs. May 31st 8PM $8 in adv., $10 at door
COMEDY CRAWL
JFL Montreal Showcase @ Hollywood Improv Lab 7PM $5
The Super Serious Show @ Club Fais Do-Do 8PM $13 in adv., $20 at door
Anthony Jeselnik @ Irvine Improv 8PM $20/2 item min.
Holly & Rebecca Present Catastrofun @ UCB Theatre 8PM $5
Jeremy Martin’s Self Intervention @ Dangerfield’s 3 8PM $5
A Night of Comedy: Celebrating George Carlin’s 75th Birthday @ Comedy & Magic Club 8:30PM $25-$75/2 item min.
Maya Rudolph & Gretchen Liberum are Princess @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 8:30PM $30 (stand by only)
The Josh & Josh Show @ Bar Lubitsch 8:30PM FREE
Mapping the Heavens @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5
Joke Lab: Fear @ Hollywood Improv Lab 10:30PM $5
Freak Dance Screening @ UCB Theatre 11PM $5
OPEN MIC RUN
ROCKPAPER COFFEE 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/Ends 8PM/lottery
FLAPPERS BURBANK 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Starts 6PM/3 min./Counts as audition/No purchase necessary
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
ZAPATA VIVE 101 S. First Ave., Arcadia, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/20 spots available/5 min.
SANDWICH SPOT 3101 Ocean Park Ave., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served
DANGERFIELD’S 3 2524 ½ James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 7PM/Ends before show starting at 8PM/3 min./No purchase necessary
CAFE ON 2ND 7 S. 2nd St., Alhambra, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served/10 min.
COFFEE BEAN 12930 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA/Starts 7PM/mixed mic/lottery/No purchase necessary
SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min.
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/mixed mic
NOVEL CAFE 3760 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM/Starts 9PM/Lottery/No purchase necessary
CAFE UNURBAN 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 9PM/No purchase necessary
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel, past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5 min./multiple sets allowed/first come, first served/coffee and bottled water available
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts MIDNIGHT
If you have a cat, it most likely has drug problems*. Luckily, one of LA’s favorite sketch groups The Midnight Show (currently on tour) is here to get your cat clean**.
*This may not be true.
**The people of The Midnight Show aren’t licensed veterinarians, but they are hysterical, so maybe just watch, laugh, and repeat.
It’s (the live stand-up show) between two music stages, outside, and without much prior warning, but in our experience of going last year, it’s actually amazing to see people stop and NOT think to themselves “Comedy? GROSS!” and walk away.
That’s mostly because the line-up could handle it, those aren’t great conditions for comedy in case you were wondering, and this year’s comedy show at Silverlake Jubilee is no different:
w/
Iliza Shlesinger
TJ Miller
Moshe Kasher
Matt Braunger
Jodi Miller
Ben Gleib
Jonah Ray
Kumail Nanjiani
Bryan Callen
Brody Stevens
Ian Edwards
Joe Sib
Another round of written pieces by, about, or with comedians ranging from Megan Amram’s solution for our country’s financial problems to an interview with exquisite comedy photographer Mandee Johnson.
Kickstarter: National Debt by Megan Amram
Emily V. Gordon and Kumail Nanjiani: Nerds of a Feather by Julie Seabaugh for LA Weekly
Exclusive Moshe Kasher Intervew Part 1 by Courting Comedy
Mandee Johnson Shoots Super Serious Laughs by David Dean for Serial Optimist
Lady Comics: Who Needs Late Night? We’ve Got Tumblr by Alex Leo for Storyboard
Here, Mindy Kaling, I Will Help Name Your New Show by Lauren Ashley Bishop for HAHAJK.com
Tony Hale reconfirmed last night on Fallon that Arrested Development indeed is returning for 10 episodes. Maybe all the speculation can stop then and we can just think about the chicken dancing of the Bluths?
Tonight on late night:
Conan O’Brien on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS 11:35PM)
Arsenio Hall on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM)
One of our favorite web series in recent memory, The Tommy Wi-Show, is now on DVD. For those not familiar, the famed Tommy Wiseau of cult film The Room attempts to play video games after being taken hostage by aliens. You can try processing that or watching a clip of Tommy struggle to cross a virtual bridge in Driver: San Francisco.
With how many truly hilarious people were on last night’s episode of Conan, it reminded us of the time we got to see The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and both Jim Gaffigan and Norm MacDonald were on the same taping.
Marc Maron continued to draw great material from his not age-appropriate girlfriend.
Brody Stevens spread positive energy and made us lose count of the number of times he said “YES!!!”.
ON THE HORIZON
Anthony Jeselnik 1 Hr. Special Preview @ UCB Theatre Sat. May 26th 10PM $10
TJ Miller’s Hangover Matinee @ Cinefamily Sun. May 27th 11AM $12
COMEDY CRAWL
Anthony Jeselnik @ Irvine Improv 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
Jim Jefferies @ Ontario Improv 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
Maria Bamford @ Flappers Burbank 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
SuperEgo Live @ UCB Theatre 8PM $10
Frankenmatt @ Second City Hollywood 8PM $10
Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberium are Princess @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 8:30PM $30 (stand by only)
JFL Montreal Showcase @ Hollywood Improv Lab 8:30PM FREE
Indoor Kids LIVE @ Nerdist Theater 8PM $10
Don’t Tell the Neighbors 9:30PM FREE
The Ho Ho Show @ Hollywood Hotel 10PM $5
Freak Dance Screening @ UCB Theatre MIDNIGHT $5
OPEN MIC RUN
SET LIST @ FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia, Burbank, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 5:30PM/given “set list” of topics to do jokes off of/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
ROCKPAPER COFFEE CO 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/Ends 8PM/First come, first served/5 min./One item min.
LITTLE MODERN 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 6:15PM/Starts 6:30PM/lottery/10 spots only/5 min./No purchase necessary
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE 2906 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)/Sign-up (lottery) 6PM/Starts 6:30PM/4 min./no purchase necessary
SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min.
MAX BLOOM’S 200 N. Malden Ave., Fullerton, CA/Starts 7PM/booked show after/no purchase necessary
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
SABOR Y CULTURA 5625 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 8PM/Sign-up is a lottery/5 min. with 3 min. work-in’s/No purchase necessary
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel, past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5 min./multiple sets allowed/first come, first served/coffee and bottled water available
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 10PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/lottery
As one of the Texas Outlaw Comics of which Bill Hicks was a part of, Ron Shock has sadly passed away as of yesterday. He was battling cancer since last year and was quite open about it on YouTube. It’s a sad loss to comedy, but hopefully comics will remember him and his stories (breaking sobriety to warm-up for Hicks) or even learn who Ron Shock was.
Conan O’Brien and David Letterman did manage to discuss other things, but it was mostly what everyone wanted to hear about: Conan leaving NBC for TBS because of Jay Leno. Click the picture to play this great interview because CBS doesn’t like making easily shared videos.
Tonight on late night:
Sacha Baron Cohen on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS 11:35PM)
Tenacious D on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (NBC 12:35AM)
Jason Mantzoukas on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC 12AM)
If you’re in LA or a city big enough to get limited releases (or not for some of the bigger releases), here are some comedies you might want to spend that first bit of your paycheck on.
The Dictator-Maybe you’ll find Sacha Baron Cohen’s new film to be a “minstrel show” or you can agree with Time Magazine’s assessment of “infernally funny”, but why wouldn’t you see the follow-up to pissing Ryan Seacrest off.
Mansome-A new documentary from acclaimed documentarian Morgan Spurlock that explores the changing mystique behind being a man prominently featuring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Zach Galifianakis.
Natural Selection (at the Nuart Theatre)-A favorite at SXSW, Rachael Harris stars in one of her first leading roles in trying to connect with a son she didn’t know she had that is an ex-con with a mullet.
Lola Versus (Upcoming screening on May 23rd)–Greta Gerwig of the indie hit Greenberg stars in an indie romantic comedy that doesn’t completely say “then hilarity ensues”.
The Bitter Buddha (Eddie Pepitone) Screening @ Gene Siskel Film Center (at JFL Chicago) Fri. Jun. 15th 8PM $11
Paul F. Tompkins @ The 29th Street Ballroom (Austin, TX) Sun. May 27th 8PM $22
Dan Telfer’s “Tendrils of Ruin” CD Release Party @ Mayne Stage (Chicago, Il) Thurs. July 26th 8PM $
Eddie Pepitone @ Rooster T Feathers (Sunnyvale, CA) Tonight thru Sun.
Nick Vatterott @ The Jukebox Comedy Club (Peoria, Il) Thurs. May 31st 8PM
Beards of Comedy @ Comedy Club on State (Madison, WI) Mon. May 21st 8PM $10
Neal Brennan’s Half Hour airs Tonight 11:30PM
Aziz Ansari’s Dangerously Delicious makes its world premiere on TV Sun. May 20th 10PM.
Hannibal Buress 1-hr Animal Furnace, which is fantastic when we heard it earlier this week, airs this Sun. May 20th 11PM
TBS, already in association with Adult Swim, forged ad sales alliance with Funny or Die. This alliance follows working with HBO, Fuse, and Yahoo, which increasingly makes us wonder if there will be a Funny or Die channel (perhaps leading the internet television revolution)
Larry David to work with Greg Mottola on possible upcoming movie. Get ready for a bunch of bits of how Larry gets frustrated between the “#” and “@” symbols on Twitter.
Marc Maron will be on Louie. Anyone have odds on whether he’ll play a comedian with cats?
Donald Glover might be on HBO’s Girls. Special interest groups now decide the direction of casting on TV?
Brody Stevens podcast “The Steven Brody Stevens Festival of Friendship” launched on Feral Audio. Following his great set on Conan, someone needs to make a positive energy counter that has a bonus Yes! counter.
Make your way to the Bay area because Comedy Central is taping their next round of hour specials at the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA. Mulaney’s, Tompkins’, Watt’s, and Hannibal’s hours were all quite delightful and these should be no different.
Kyle Kinane, Kristen Schaal, Eugene Mirman, and Amy Schumer all tape over four nights in late June.
ON THE HORIZON
Bill Burr @ Flappers Burbank Fri. May 25th & Sat. May 26th 8PM/10PM $25/2 item min.
The BEATdown: Los Angeles @ UCB Theatre Tues. May 22nd 11PM $5
COMEDY CRAWL
Anthony Jeselnik @ Irvine Improv 7PM/9PM $20/2 item min.
Jim Jefferies @ Ontario Improv 7PM/9PM $20/2 item min.
Maria Bamford @ Flappers Burbank 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
Travis’ Treasure Trove @ Moving Arts Theater 8PM $5
Hot Dogs vs. Hamburgers @ Vantage Apartments 8PM
The Comedy Garage @ Rafas Lounge Art Gallery 9PM FREE
The Armando Show @ iO West 9PM $10
Hour of Power: Presented by Devastator @ Hollywood Improv Lab 10PM $10
Freak Dance Screening @ UCB Theatre 10PM $5
The Tomorrow Show with Ron Lynch @ Steve Allen Theater MIDNIGHT $8
Tournament of Nerds @ UCB Theatre MIDNIGHT $5 (stand by only)
OPEN MIC RUN
SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Starts 2PM/feedback given at end
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/5PM to 11PM/$5 min./multiple sets allowed/coffee & water provided
DAILY GRIND 109 E. Union St., Pasadena, CA/Starts 5PM/First come, first served/No purchase necessary/5 min.
DANGERFIELD’S 3 2524 ½ James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/Lottery/3-5 min./$2 cover
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/One drink min./First come, first served
THE LITTLE MODERN 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 6:30PM/Sign-up 6:15PM/lottery/10 spots only/5 min. each/No purchase necessary
WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATER 1323-A 3rd St. Promenade, Santa Monica, CA (in alley between 3rd and 4th St.)/Sign-up (lottery) 6PM/Starts 6:30PM/no purchase necessary/4 min.
FLOODLAMP OPEN MEG[APHONE] @ VERDUGO PARK 3201 W. Verdugo Blvd., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM/Will take place under floodlamp in park/End promptly at 10/No purchase necessary
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 10PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/lottery
It’s almost too typical of a story you have filmmakers/people in comedy/artists that they had to sacrifice nearly everything to get to a place of success, but Morgan Spurlock, even in the face of horrifying debt, took even bigger risks to keep his film career going. He shared this and more in a candid interview with CNN.
Now, he’s one of the most recognizable names when it comes to documentarians and just released (limited) Mansome featuring Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, Zach Galifianakis, and more.
A great t-shirt from Pete Holmes’ podcast You Made It Weird based off one of his hilarious bits on Impregnated With Wonder and a shot glass to play any devious drinking game involving watching several shorts from 5 Second Films are the perfect gifts for comedy fans. Especially if you’re planning to actually go through with some sort of Christmas during the summertime thing.
Following his stellar recommendations for the comics to watch in Paste Magazine, Marc Maron told Rolling Stone that Nate Bargatze, Ryan Singer, Sam Lipsyte, and Jackie Kashian should be big and you’ll find no disagreement whatsoever here.
If you’ve simply haven’t turned your computer on, you’ve probably heard that Dan Harmon the creator of just renewed NBC comedy series Community will no longer be its showrunner and ostensibly having nothing to do with any of shortened season that’s announced to air. Harmon’s replacements will be David Guarascio and Moses Port, both writers from Happy Endings, news that Harmon was informed of just as the world was because he wasn’t even called about it.
While this is all very sad and has sent the Internet into a frenzy of grieving usually reserved for someone dying, this move seems to be another step in the direction of network TV segregating itself from the programming on cable. It’s not a blanket statement quite yet, but judging from the promos for nearly all the sitcoms that are set to air next season and mid-season, network TV collectively seems to be saying, “OK Cable, have your smart and original programming and the audience that comes with it. We’ll stick with our formulas of following trends instead of creating them and relying on star power of names to carry the weight of the uninspired shlock that comprises much of our fall line-ups.”
So, we wait at the edges of whatever social networking platform you prefer to hear what Harmon does next, which, will hopefully be on Adult Swim (or IFC, FX, HBO, Showtime, or even TBS), because his comedic genius can really run off the rails there. Maybe, Channel 101 could become a real channel or, perhaps, Harmontown, a live show where Dan Harmon does whatever he wants, because he and his comedy has that loyal of a following.