Recent News

Children’s Hospital & NTSF:SD:SUV Are Back Soon

On Thursday August 9th at Midnight, Adult Swim is premiering new seasons of both Children’s Hospital and NTSF:SD:SUV and, by the looks of their promos, they’re going to be really funny with blood and punches flying everywhere.

You Really Should Go To The Midnight Show with Pete Holmes Pilot Taping

One of the funniest people on the planet, Pete Holmes, is developing a late night talk series with Conan O’Brien to follow Conan on TBS during the week. There will be tapings later this month at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank and everyone reading this should go because of the first thing we said in the post.

A Quick Rundown of Our Favorite New Faces of Comedy at Just For Laughs

Altogether, there are 40 comedians for Just For Laughs Montreal’s 2012 class of the New Faces of Comedy. Divided up into New Faces, New Faces: Characters, and New Faces: Unrepped, we watched all three groups put their best comedic foot forward. For your ease, we’ll give you a quick rundown of highlights of the funniest stuff we saw of what very well might be, as the festival suggests, the future of comedy.

New Faces
Jared Logan-Jared is more than just a really funny high energy comic. The specificity in detail, which is largely personal observations from living in West Virginia made Logan rememberable amongst this incredibly talented pool of New Faces.
David Angelo-David wore his dapper suit quite well, which perfectly accents the cleverness, and sometimes, cheekiness of his jokes along with his hilarious punctuating of jokes with either a waving of his arms or a “what a beautiful crowd”. His act is almost nostalgic of another era of comedy, but, yet, nothing we’ve seen before.
Will Weldon-We love comedians that tell their jokes as if they’ve drawn a crowd in a public square to tell them the most important and funniest thing ever while having the quality material to actually call for such a scenario. Will Weldon proved he was that comedian here in Montreal.
Adam Cayton-Holland-Simply put, Adam Cayton-Holland has great multi-layered jokes and knows how to tell them flawlessly. That’s all Cayton-Holland needs to make people laugh hard, which he did at this New Faces.
Ron Babcock-The presence and stage persona of Ron Babcock were an absolute delight to watch, even if he’s yelling and showing his devil sticks skills off while doing it.
Emily Heller-Managing to defend feminism and poking fun at it, while not losing an ounce of likeability in the process, Emily Heller showed JFL a razor sharp comedic mind.
Joe Wengert-Joe Wengert’s comedy is confessional and vulnerable, but in the most inviting, enjoyable way possible. It’s a unique brand of introspective comedy that’s genuine and isn’t overwhelming in the slightest.
Mike Drucker-One of the best things about Mike Drucker is that he has quite the edge with his humor and knows how to deliver in spite of his unassuming nerdy looks and self-deprecating sensibilities. 
Jamie Lee-One of the most clever and saucy comics in this New Faces class, Jamie Lee showed that she is quite skilled in getting away with risqué humor with a smile and fantastic wordplay.
The Lucas Brothers-One could describe the delivery of the Lucas Brothers’ jokes as “baked”, but to relegate them into the label of stoner comedy would be a disservice to the wonderful dynamic and presence of their duo, which is completely absent of a traditional straight man and nicely plays with “white space” between jokes.

New Faces: Characters
Tony Cavalero-Tony’s combination of unbelievable physicality and weirdness in all his characters was hysterical. Not only is he willing to do pratfalls and pull them off, but he knows exactly where to put them.
Tim Baltz-The cleverness and sheer absurdity in Tim’s writing pulled some big laughs from the most unexpected places like being Dracula’s physician giving him a rundown of Dracula’s STDs.
Greg Worswick-Worswick committed to his performance to the point where it was funny just to see him be absolutely in character, no matter if he’s doing angst-ridden spoken word poetry or a clearly in the closet teenage boy giving a speech at his bar mitzvah.

New Faces: Unrepped
Joe Machi-Seemingly tense while on stage, Machi lured everyone in with his brilliant writing and a wonderfully unique cadence that made him one of the best new faces this year.
Ahmed Bharoocha-Undeniable in the craft of his jokes, Ahmed has an uncanny ability to dissect his observations in some of the most original ways we’ve heard.
Nick Mullen-Taking time to build to his punchlines and, at times, self-defeating in his material, Mullen takes a lot of risks with his personal truth-heavy comedy, but definitely made it work here.
Junior Stopka-We can’t get over the well-matched weird look and the sheer strangeness of Junior that makes him incredibly and subversively appealing.

You’ve Seen Stand-Up Animated, But How About Having It Done Live?

There have been plenty of adaptations of great stand-up bits into animated shorts, in essence giving that rich visual that comedians are mostly limited to just painting with words. Picture This, a monthly live show at the wonderful Little Modern Theater, takes this idea one giant step further in that all the presented comedy is animated in real time and projected behind the performing comedian. Here’s an example with the very funny Jake Weisman with Titmouse Animation animator Felicia.

Simply, it’s amazing how fast and detailed some animators can draw, how hilarious in a completely different way a joke becomes, then, how quickly everything devolves into ironic sexuality.

Our Final Days at JFL Montreal 2012

Over our last two days of our stay in Montreal for the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival, we briskly walked throughout the Montreal rues to make it to almost too many shows. Even in the final days of the festival, the excitement for comedy is still palpable at the end of the very last shows some time around 1:30AM Sun. morning. From Andy Kindler roasting the industry or watching a wonderful documentary on one of the most under appreciated comedians on the planet, laughs abound and certainly no one is making a non-news story about something being unfunny and controversial. 

Here’s the frosting of the “comedy cake” we ate over last couple of days:

–Bring Me the Head of Adam Riches, one of the few one person shows here at JFL, was mind-bending, hysterical, and thrilling all at the same time. He’s a force that pre-emptively reckons, always involving several unsuspecting audience members in his outlandish set-up which involve lizard costumes, skateboards, tennis balls attached to a pole by a rope for the sole purpose of hitting people with it, and more.

-The Eddie Pepitone documentary, The Bitter Buddha, was not only a well-deserved profile of one the best and most original voices in comedy, but a beautifully crafted film directed by Steve Feinartz. There’s plenty of Pepitone’s hilarious stand-up as well as a great dose of the real life war against himself that many of his contemporaries cite as the source of his hysterical comedy. 

–Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry is a regular fixture, an institution if you will where the most inside baseball jokes of comedy are enjoyed by all those allowed in the dugout, a one man roast of the entertainment industry with no dais. It was pretty fantastic all around, but Kindler’s closer where he attacks the seemingly unchecked worship of Louis CK by talking non-stop like a robot that praises him was spectacular.

–Ari Shaffir’s This Is Not Happening storytelling showcased some of the most hilarious stories from hilarious folks like Pete Holmes, Sean Patton, and Ron Babcock involving crack, mushrooms (the theme was “I was so fucked up…”). It was like the Moth, but without the preening summer camp stories of the one that got away. 

–James Adomian absolutely killed it where ever he went in JFL Montreal this year. In his normal stand-up sets throughout various shows, as Andy Kindler opening for Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry (which Kindler commented that he might not be able to follow himself), as Paul Giamatti hosting the New Faces: Characters showcase, and even as Gary Busey during the This Is Not Happening storytelling show, Adomian thoroughly reminded us that he’s at a level of funny that’s near unstoppable.

Wherever you are, Montreal or not, please try to catch all these acts as soon as possible. 

July Channel 101 Results

Here’s our monthly update at the top finishers of Dan Harmon’s and Rob Schrab’s Channel 101/Reminder to watch what very well might be the future of short form series. Click through to watch the hysterical madness, specifically Oh Shit! and Gumbel.

The Tomorrow Show with Ron Lynch Is 7 Years Old

Poster by Steven Robles

Just as there are dog years in relation to human years, if there were comedy show years, we’re not sure of the exact conversion, but we know 7 is an incredible feat of longevity. Specifically, The Tomorrow Show, a long standing LA comedy institution, at this point, that’s been running out of the Steve Allen Theater every Saturday at midnight is celebrating it’s 7th anniversary this Saturday Aug. 4th. In short, it’s one of the longest running comedy shows, and deservedly so, in LA.

It’s only $15 for one of the biggest comedy extravaganzas, around with Craig Anton, Dave Foley, Laura Kightlinger, Kate Micucci, The Walsh Brothers, and FREE FOOD and TRINKETS, of course, the show’s brilliant host Ron Lynch.

Joan Rivers and Stephen Colbert Go Head to Head Tonight

With Joan Rivers’ new book entitled “I Hate Everyone… Starting With Me” and Stephen Colbert’s latest book “I Am Pole (And So Can You!)”, it isn’t hard to imagine that sparks will fly when comedy gold is made tonight when she makes an appearance on The Colbert Report.

Comedy Central 11:30PM

Get Yourself Ready For James Adomian’s Album Low Hangin Fruit

For us, this is one the most anticipated comedy releases of the year since James Adomian has been an absolute favorite of ours to watch since the first time we saw him in the lounge of a French restaurant. Low Hangin’ Fruit comes out Aug. 13th from Earwolf, but if you’re smart enough to go to a live Comedy Bang Bang show during their nationwide tour, you can get a copy now, which we strongly suggest you do.

Get Jim Hamilton’s Poems About the Ocean Now

If you’re not going to buy his album after reading that self-promotion tweet, then just trust our word on Jim Hamilton and pick up Poems About the Ocean from AST Records now.

http://flailure.tumblr.com/post/28398557621/the-album-is-out-today-buy-it-on-itunes-or

Joan Rivers Really Insists She Hates Everyone

In an interesting role reversal on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert defends not hating while Joan Rivers recounts everyone she hates, which is literally everyone. 

Showtime Renews Inside Comedy And Not The Green Room with Paul Provenza

Recently, Showtime has decided that it is a network not big enough for two “behind-the-curtain” comedy shows. While having two seasons of The Green Room with Paul Provenza and one of Inside Comedy with David Steinberg, only Inside Comedy was renewed. 

Paul Provenza confirmed this on Twitter as he is looking for a new home for the Green Room. We can only hope that it does because the Green Room, unlike Inside Comedy, which is somewhat akin to what a Ken Burns documentary on comedy would be like, doesn’t feature the likes of Glenn Wool, Kumail Nanjiani, Bo Burnham, and more of the talented new blood, relatively, in today’s comedy landscape.

Full Trailer for NTSF:SD:SUV More Badass Than Skyfall

The full second season trailer of NTSF:SD:SUV doesn’t have to worry about keeping the ultra gritty tone and serialized plot line of the Daniel Craig installments of the James Bond franchise. That’s because there’s more fighting, throwing logic to the wind, etc. making it way cooler than an intense stare from Craig’s ice cold blue eyes.

NTSF:SD:SUV’s season premiere is Aug. 9th 12:15AM on Adult Swim.

Dave Hill Destined To Be Best Olympics Correspondent

Dave Hill is many things… a hilarious comedian, brilliant writer, accomplished rock star, and now, as some of you might not know, the potentially best field reporter at the 2012 Olympics in London. 

Just watch him cover gymnastics and never watch someone do the parallel bars the same way again. More to come from Dave as the Olympics continue.

Bill Hicks Marketing Bit Lives On in Greg Barris’ Stickers

Remember the famous Bill Hicks bit about marketing where he called for their suicide? Please watch at the link, if you don’t remember, then watch the same anti-marketing spirit live on this latest episode of Modern Comedian that profiled Greg Barris and his rebellious stickers. He sticks them over ads everywhere like a Bansky of comedy without maintaining a secret identity, which is what a Banksy of comedy would do, we suppose.

Still, we’re sure that Bill Hicks would be up for sticking a “Down with the Reptilian Agenda” sticker over a Madonna poster.  

On Top of Projects with Fox, Adult Swim, and Charlie Kaufman, Dan Harmon Gets Deal at CBA

Announced yesterday that Dan Harmon signed a script deal at CBS, it’s likely that Dan Harmon is not rubbing the interest by other networks as well as the Anomalisa project with Charlie Kaufman in NBC and Sony’s faces. Harmontown, now a podcast recorded from a live show, is also on his plate and it has risen amongst to the highest of comedy podcast rankings. Again, we’re pretty sure that he isn’t doing all of this just in spite of his high-profile firing.

Whether this is the case or not (and he is getting back at his former employers), Dan Harmon is killing it.