Recent News

Ted Alexandro: Jazz Informed Comedian

Comedian Ted Alexandro, who has made numerous late night appearances, actually started out as a jazz pianist. Much of what he went though he still carries on to comedy, even up into and past opening for Louis CK at Carnegie Hall.

Watch him talk about that and more on this latest episode of Scott Moran’s Modern Comedian.

Kyle Kinane Back For His 2nd Time on Conan

This holiday season, Conan is pulling out the crowd favorites for stand-up. First, Jon Dore & Rory Scovel, now, one of our favorites, Kyle Kinane. Watch his second appearance on Conan here.

See How Far TJ Miller and Nick Vatterott Will Go For the Sake of Their Home Shopping Network

On this, RVC, one of several series that TJ Miller has going, TJ Miller, Nick Vatterott, Ron Lynch, and more all play members of a failing home shopping network. Of course, with it being TJ Miller, it gets a little more ridiculous than that, especially in this episode where there is incredibly NSFW scenes with squids and other animal parts at a restaurant with a enthusiastic Bobby Lee egging them on.

Watch all of this madness here.

Both the Announcement Trailer and Trailer For ‘This Is The End’ Are Pretty Great

First, Seth Rogen and James Franco make an announcement about their movie about the end of the world as the world doesn’t end today, then Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen & James Franco all go by their real names and show what could be one great apocalyptic comedy in “This Is The End”. 

Watch the trailer(s) now.

Jimmy Fallon, Billy Crystal, Jerry Seinfeld, A.D. Miles, and Steve Higgins Do Sequel to Abbott and Costello’s Who’s On First

Abbott and Costello classic bit of comedy, Who’s On First?, gets a sequel on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with the help of comedy legends Billy Crystal and Jerry Seinfeld as well as Fallon writer A.D. Miles and announcer Steve Higgins. It’s pretty great and Higgins proves he could have been a force of comedy back in the days Abbott and Costello. 

Along with Andy Sandford’s witnessing of a meta Who’s On First?, this is proof that some bits, no matter how silly are dated, can last well past their creators. 

The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy Done As It Has Never Been Done Before… By Frat Bros

The immensely talented and very funny Drennon Davis has completely redone the famous The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, lyrics and all, to resemble a version that would be done by fraternity brothers, otherwise known as bros. From this, we gather that frat brothers’ meaning of Christmas is vastly different from most other people who are not into to keeping deep dark secrets.

Watch The Nutcracker in Brah-Capella now.

So, The Nielsen Twitter Rating Will Be a Thing, Which Means Something For Your Favorite Comedy

Earlier this week, Nielsen, the group responsible for TV ratings that simultaneously dictate the rates for which networks can charge for advertising as well as the fate of individual shows on those networks, announced that it’s officially partnering with microblogging giant Twitter in taking a step forward, shall we say, past the end of the world. Together, they will make a “Nielsen Twitter Rating” to account for online buzz about a show in addition to the rather outdated traditional rating from Nielsen households. This could be a plus for some of our favorite comedies on television like Community, Conan, The Daily Show, Louie, and even The Chris Gethard Show.

This seems like a step in the right direction for accurately gauging viewership in an age where there is an ever more blurred line between the Internet and TV. However, given the nature of Twitter, we have our doubts.

There are no specifics at this time on how this will actually work or what the math will be, but we can’t figure how to pin a solid number that translates to real people tuned into a show off of them tweeting about it. Initially, this has to mean that there will be reminders ad nauseum to hashtag things while you’re doing them. Also, you don’t have to be watching the show to tweet about it. How will Nielsen account for negative tweeting towards a show?

It’s more of the same murky numbers that are only representative of what the popularity of a Thursday sitcom would be rather than the actual one. How is it that with DVRs, mandatory conversion to digital television, and an aggregate viewership of cable that beats out network, that there isn’t a way to much more closely count the number of people watching their favorite weeknight comedy?

We are glad to see that there is some changing of the old guard with TV ratings, but we’ll be watching closely to see how this all plays out and whether it would have made a difference for something like Arrested Development.

The SNL Writing Staff Gets Interviewed by Reserve Channel

Here’s a pretty informative, in-depth talk with the writers of Saturday Night Live including Seth Meyers, John Mulaney, and more at the Paley Center for Media for the Reserve Channel. Following up their nearly hour long interview with Louis CK, hopefully more of this will pop up.

LA Comedy Rundown 12/24/12

ON THE HORIZON
Laura Kightlinger @ Garrett Morris Downtown Blues & Comedy Club Fri. Dec 28th & Sat. Dec. 29th 9PM $20
Big Money: A Year End Stand-Up Comedy Bonanza @ UCB Theatre Sat. Dec. 29th MIDNIGHT $5 
Trouble in Paradise/Cluny Brown @ Aero Theatre Sun. Dec. 30th 7:30PM $11
Best of Rifftrax Live Jan. 24th & Jan. 31st 7:30PM  
Bobcat Goldthwait @ Brea Improv Fri. Jan. 25th-Sun. Jan. 27th $17-$20/2 item min. 

COMEDY CRAWL
Bertie Stands Up: The Christmas Eve Jewsmas Paganganza Secularacular @ Ruby Theater 8PM FREE 

OPEN MIC RUN
*No open mics today-check back throughout the day as this may change
**there will be an open mic tomorrow at Dangerfield’s 3 (2524 ½ James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA) 8PM  

Puddin’ Takes Down “It’s A Wonderful Life” in Marvelous Fashion

Puddin’ with Eddie Pepitone springs for one of their biggest episodes yet today by not only knocking Frank Capra’s classic It’s a Wonderful Life down a couple of notches, but having a supersized 3 min. episode featuring Weird Al Yankovic, Patton Oswalt, Colin Hanks, Dana Gould, James Urbaniak, David Koechner, and more. All while this is happening, creator Matt Oswalt is still eating his pudding.

Watch all this hilarious madness unfold now.

Please Don’t Let Your Current Sensitivities Towards Gun Violence and The Word “Nigger” Stop You From Seeing ‘Django Unchained’

Poster by Federico Mancosu Design

Many news outlets, blogs, people, etc. who have been lucky enough to catch Quentin Tarantino’s latest work ‘Django Unchained’ have been commenting on the film’s controversial nature, specifically of violence and language. Especially with the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary and the shooting of two Rochester, NY firefighters this morning, the topic of gun violence is incredibly tense right now in this country. This has made some people ‘iffy’ about ‘Django Unchained’, a film filled with gunfighting from start to finish. Those worries are in addition to some people’s knee jerk reaction to Tarantino’s trademark over-the-top depiction of violence, of which there is plenty in ‘Django’. Some notable advance screenings were cancelled when the news from Newtown broke, as it would be perceived to be inappropriate to have such a movie at a time of national tragedy. 

We were some of the fortunate people that got to see ‘Django Unchained’ at one of the non-cancelled screenings before it’s nationwide release tomorrow and we have to say that it is one of Tarantino’s best and most accessible films within his storied career as a writer/director. All the performances are Oscar worthy and it’s laugh-out-loud-applause-break funny, which is why we’re writing about it here.

In short, it’s a movie you should go see and don’t think you’re a bad person if you do and end up liking it too.

The issue of the word nigga/nigger (yes, we are not typing out the psuedo-PC “n-word”) has also been brought up as it is said throughout the entirety of ‘Django Unchained’. People live in fear of that word even when it’s said in such a far-removed context (i.e. in a movie about slavery depicting slave owners as evil people) that it shouldn’t actually be offensive upon hearing it. Much of the humor in Django comes from how sensitive we generally are with the word.

The things that are considered offensive nowadays, as far as entertainment and media are concerned, are largely offensive perceptually and pre-emptively. Rather than people actually being offended, it’s all a guessing game as to whether people should be offended whenever buzz words like race or, over the last two weeks, guns, has been brought up. On the surface, you can pick at Django Unchained’s depiction of several people shown being shot with a gun on camera or claim it’s using the word ‘nigga’ flippantly, but then why aren’t you writing a firebrand of an essay about the evils of rap music and nearly every action movie ever despite whether a tragic shooting has just happened or not? 

You weren’t offended then, supposedly. If you were, you probably did what most people do, they just turn it off or ignore it. Why the attitude adjustment now? So someone doesn’t make a disappointed face at you at a party because you’re somehow an insensitive person for watching a movie where people get shot and say nigga a bunch? How do you know that’s even going to happen? 

The root of the issue here is thinking for yourself versus just going with the flow. Be offended because you’re offended, not because it just happens to be appropriate and you think that people won’t think you’re a jerk. If you’re truly offended at violence on screen or the word “nigga” because of some traumatic past experience, that’s fair enough and then maybe you won’t want to watch ‘Django Unchained’ and hundreds of other great movies.

This Better Be Funny Ep. 54 with Aparna Nancherla

This week’s This Better Be Funny is with Aparna Nancherla:

Jake and Jeremy really tried to make a holiday episode, but instead, ended up going from talking about amputee porn to guns, Sandy Hook, censorship (in comedy and in general), and a boat load of other political issues with the delightful comedian/writer Aparna Nancherla (Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell). It’s really a great Christmas listen if you’re really annoyed by watching A Christmas Story over and over and over on TBS.