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Happy New Year’s Wishes From Paul F. Tompkins

December 31, 2012
Uncategorized

Happy New Year’s Wishes From Paul F. Tompkins

Paul F. Tompkins wrote a nice little note to tie 2012 off on his blog promising that we’ll see more of The Paul F. Tompkins Show at Largo online in the coming year.

Also, there’s a video attached where he sings an amazing cover that could be the closer at any New Year’s Eve show/party you’ll be attending tonight.

Top 5 On Camera Comedy Interviews That Weren’t So Much Interviews

December 31, 2012
Uncategorized

Top 5 On Camera Comedy Interviews That Weren’t So Much Interviews

As a contributor to The Nerdist, we were asked for a Top 5 something for 2012. We decided to something incredibly specific, bordering on esoteric, but had enough choices to pick from so it wasn’t. That’s how we came up with “On Camera Comedy Interviews That Weren’t So Much Interviews” like Maurice Sendak and Stephen Colbert or Shelby Fero and Mike Birbiglia & Ira Glass. It’s just past the middle of the page amongst all the other Nerdist contributors picks that you should give a look to as well.

Required Online Comedy Reading List 12/31

December 31, 2012
Uncategorized

First, we should mention this isn’t a year end list. Our really big year end list will be coming sometime tomorrow when, that’s right, 2012 is actually over. However, that shouldn’t stop you from sipping some champagne early and reading all these fantastic articles, interviews, blog posts, lists, features, etc. about, for, or on comedy from the likes of David Rees, Chris Gethard, Jason Woliner, Conan O’Brien, John Roy, Sara Schaefer, and more.

Enjoy and happy next week, everyone.

“Place Your Bits” by Matt Champagne
“Best of 2012” by David Rees 
“Jack & Diane” for Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction by Jim Hamilton
The Je Shirt Saga: A Letter From Our CEO & Company Update by Jason Woliner 
Paul Gilmartin on the finances of getting basic-cable big, losing it all, and what happened next for The AV Club by Nathan Rabin
“The Art of the Interview: Dick Cavett on How to Elevate a Q&A” for Fast Co.Create by Joe Berkowitz
L.A.’s ‘Comedy Church’ Tries to Make Religion Funny, Even in the Face of Financial Hardship for LA Weekly by Michael Ciriaco 
Why Johnny Carson ‘Never Ever Spoke to Me Again’ for The Hollywood Reporter by Joan Rivers 
“2 Good 2 Be 4Gotten: An Oral History of Freaks and Geeks” for Vanity Fair by Robert Lloyd 
“An Aural History of the Inception Horn” for Vulture by Margaret Lyons and Amanda Dobbins
“The United States of Comedy: 2035” for Vanity Fair by Conan O’Brien 
“On Sports and Comedy” by Adam Cayton-Holland 
“Inside the Greatest Writers’ Room You’ve Never Heard Of” for Splitsider by Nell Scovell 
“The 47 Stages of Grief” by Paul Isakson
“Lost in the Desert” by John Roy 
“Ten Sacred Cows Destroyed by Doug Stanhope” for IFC’s blog by Andy Hunsaker
“Run the Light with Scott Moran” for Stand Up Talk by Ari Mannis
Proust Questionnaire for Vanity Fair by Louis C.K.
“Things to Consider When Submitting to Write For a Late Night Show” by Sara Schaefer
“Jerry Seinfeld Intends to Die Standing Up” for NY Times by Jonah Weiner
Talking to Ted Alexandro About Stand Up and Why Comedy Shouldn’t Be a Competition for Splitsider by Phil Davidson 
“Top Ten Ways to Misspell Ingebretson in 2012” by Matt Ingebretson 
Mel Brooks on how to play Hitler, and how he almost died making Spaceballs for The AV Club by Steve Heisler 
How do I stop trying to be funny, and start being actually funny? by Chris Gethard 
“Friends First, Talk Show Hosts Later: Nikki Glaser & Sara Schaefer Get Ready for MTV” for NY Times by Megan Angelo
“That’s A Thing: How Eugene Mirman Cut His Own Path in Comedy” for Splitsider by Robert Schoon

This Better Be Funny Ep. 55 with Kyle Kinane

January 1, 2013
Uncategorized

This Better Be Funny Ep. 55 with Kyle Kinane

This week’s This Better Be Funny is with Kyle Kinane!

It’s New Year’s Eve and while there are plenty of overpriced options to welcome in 2013, there’s plenty of entertainment value to be had with this free podcast featuring a great chat between Jake and Jeremy and the one and only Kyle Kinane (Comedy Central, Conan). Not only did they discuss on Kyle’s disdain for unchecked city pride in food, specifically Geno’s in Philadelphia, but dug through Jeremy’s brick of business cards that he carries with him (i.e. a Costanza wallet minus the wallet and money).

LA Comedy Rundown 1/1/13

January 1, 2013
Uncategorized

ON THE HORIZON
The Midnight Show @ UCB Theatre Sat. Jan. 5th MIDNIGHT $5 
The Show Where TREVOR MOORE Does a Talk Show Thing & JOSH FADEM Does Some Other Stuff Too @ Steve Allen Theater Tues. Jan. 8th 8PM $10 
An Evening with Tim Robbins in Conversation with Marc Maron @ Aero Theatre 8PM $20 
Bobcat Goldthwait @ Brea Improv 8PM $20/2 item min. 

COMEDY CRAWL
Duck Soup/Monkey Business @ Aero Theatre 5PM $11
Patrick Keane @ Irvine Improv 8PM $17/2 item min. 

OPEN MIC RUN
FLAPPERS BURBANK 102 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA/Starts 5:30PM/Stand-up, sketch, improv welcome/5 min.
PALMS BAR 8572 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 6:15PM/Starts 6:30PM/Ends 7:55PM/First come, first served/One drink min./5-7 min.
DAVE’S BAR 708 Broadway, Glendale, CA/Starts 9PM/First come, first served/One drink min./8-10 min.
WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATER 1323-A 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up 9:45PM/Starts 10PM/lottery/3-5 min./$1 cover 

Kumail Nanjiani Visits Portland Tattoo & Piercing Shop While You Wait for Portlandia Premiere

January 1, 2013
Uncategorized

We only count 3 days (or 4 if you’re obsessive and counting today) until the season premiere of Portlandia on IFC, Fri, Jan. 4th 10PM. In the meantime, the behind-the-Portlandia web series where Kumail Nanjiani visits real life inspirations for the show continues as Kumail visits Black Hole Body Piercing & Tattoo and discusses Academy Award tattoos and genitalia piercings with a geriatric woman.

Hopefully, this will tide you over (click through picture above to watch).

See Concept Art For Next Three Disney Pixar Films, One of Which Will Be About Dinosaurs

January 1, 2013
Uncategorized

See Concept Art For Next Three Disney Pixar Films, One of Which Will Be About Dinosaurs

Pixar’s upcoming slate of films is set and, while we are always excited for what Pixar is coming out with, it’s especially intriguing that they’re next three films will be about going inside the mind, Dia De Los Muertos, and dinosaurs (called “The Good Dinosaur”). 

Hopefully, there will be a trailer for one of these sometime this year.

The 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To in No Particular Order of 2012

January 2, 2013
Uncategorized

It’s January 1st, 2013, which means 2012 is officially over. That means that we can finally and assuredly post our 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To In No Particular Order in 2012 without worrying if we were going to miss a really great joke at some New Year’s Eve Party (full disclosure: we worked on New Year’s Eve instead of partying in order to get this list ready). There are some repeats because some people like Louis C.K. and Kyle Kinane are probably going to make our list for something every year, but plenty of new things that you might have overlooked here at The Comedy Bureau.

So, now enjoy our favorite comedians, albums, specials, sketches, podcasts, tweets, shows, festivals, moments, etc. from the past year.

1. Jon Dore and Rory Scovel make a tradition out of doing something amazing on Conan with their latest appearance/interruption.

2. Chris Gethard not only has one of the best shows being broadcasted despite its public access format, but he also got adopted by IFC, hitchhiked to Bonnaroo, and has kept an amazing Tumblr answering almost any question asked of him whether it be about comedy or feeling better about life in general.

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3. Sarah Beattie/@nachosarah was one of our favorite Twitter accounts this year with biting self-deprecating humor “I just dropped a steak on the floor and declared that it was ground beef why the fuck am I single”

4. Modern Comedian by Scott Moran is hands down one of the best looks into the process of comedy, especially since they’re looking into the comedic processes of Kurt Braunohler, Ben Kronberg, Todd Glass, Rory Scovel, and more.

5. Todd Glass had one of the most amazing episodes of WTF! w/Marc Maron by coming out as gay as well as making his podcast The Todd Glass Show one of the funnest experiences to listen to and also had one of our favorite moments of the year with handling a heckler by saying, “I believe in you. You’re better than this.”

6. We got to see Jim Jefferies do an hour of brilliant stand-up comedy, which, to our surprise, he opened up and made himself vulnerable when talking about relationships after saying cunt a bunch and doing anti-religion material. Basically, we can’t wait for Legit on FX this year.

7. This year, Louis C.K. makes this list for revolutionizing the business of comedy yet again by selling tickets tickets independently for his tour, hosted a very memorable episode of SNL, and earned his self-improsed hiatus from his critically acclaimed series Louie until 2014.

8. Sketch group Goatface (Aristotle Athiras, Hasan Minhaj, Asif Ali, and Fahim Anwar) shows what happens when a “man on the street” bit goes awry.

9. Andrés du Bouchet returns to our list for writing, in our opinion, the funniest sketch about drawing penises on foreheads ever.

10. Will Weldon got to be a Fresh Face at JFL Montreal this year as well as kill it on Twitter @oldmanweldon with both original material and RT people who tweet about taking meetings, not to mention being one hell of a stand-up.

11. Keith Apicary (Nathan Barnatt) is a dancing fiend no matter his retro sweater, hair, and glasses as shown in his audition for a Kimberly Cole music video.

12. In promotion of This Is 40, Albert Brooks showed us all how to be the perfect late night guest on Leno and Letterman.

13. Joe Pera’s submission video for The Andy Kaufman Award this year is deserving of an award for best submission video in quite sometime.

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14. Stephen Colbert had a banner 2012 with chatting with Maurice Sendak and creating “I Am Pole (and So Can You)” (that Tom Hanks did the audiobook version for) as well as his unbelievable Colbert Super PAC during the election.

15. James Adomian’s debut stand-up album “Low Hanging Fruit” is proof positive that he’s you should be trying to see live wherever he is playing. 

16. The long awaited hour comedy special, Whiskey Icarus, from Kyle Kinane was well worth the wait and it was our privilege to see Kinane work it all out.

17. The Bitter Buddha is not only a documentary about one of our favorite comedians, Eddie Pepitone, but a wonderful documentary of its own accord by director Steve Feinartz. It’s still making the rounds on the festival circuit, but will hopefully play in a theater near you soon.

18. While at JFL Montreal this year, one of the names we had never heard, but we were so glad to learn was Joe Machi. See why with his Fallon set.

19. David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook deserves all the accolades it’s getting for pulling off being a dark romantic comedy about both sports betting and mental illness.

20. Please give Bill Burr a travel show. Just a camcorder and him walking around taking shit about everything is hilarious. 

21. Amidst the thick field of podcasts, one of the new ones we were excited to see get started was Call Chelsea Peretti where Peretti basically deals with the Internet calling her.

22. Maria Bamford’s Special Special Special is not only a fine hour of a comedy special, but it’s also a great reassurance from Bamford that life is going to be alright no matter what happens (like accidentally killing your dog).

23. Comedy Central’s Mash-Up hosted by TJ Miller and created, directed, and produced by Jordan Vogt Roberts might have been several years in the making with its original iteration as The Blerds, but we’re glad the sketch/stand-up mix finally made it to televisions across the country in 2012.

24. Martin McDonagh’s 7 Psychopaths might be one of the most underrated comedies of 2012 with how brilliant all of it’s layers were and how fantastically dark the humor was, as is the style of McDonagh.

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25. Los Angeles finally got the live comedy festival that it could be proud of thanks to Abbey Londer in Riot LA. 

26. Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction, a previously Seattle based show, relocated here to LA along with its creator Bryan Cook, thankfully, as comedians doing fan fiction about the Geico gecko, Diners Drive-ins & Dives, and Occupy Wall St./Black people has proven to be hysterical.

27. Tig Notaro’s unplanned album “Live” that was an impromptu set about her cancer, pneumonia, mother dying, and break-up is absolutely amazing and deserving of it selling enough copies that it would have made the non-comedy Billboard charts.

28. Getting to see him perform several times to roaring laughter and applause (always at the end of a show because no one , be part of his taping of his album Standard Operating Procedure and even just casually chatting with Sean Patton has made for some our best times in comedy in 2012.

29. Jen Kirkman has a great book coming out this year “I Can Barely Take Care of Myself”, has brought a fresh comedic perspective in working on her material about her divorce, and started off a show the way we should always start off a show by singing a holiday song and hugging people in the audience.

30. It is tragic that Dan Harmon was ousted from his own show, Community, on NBC last year. Yet, that has made Harmon channel his creativity and spirit towards wonderful things like Harmontown, Anomalisa, and a project developing at Adult Swim and Fox.

31. The first ever LA Podcast Festival was a hit as several non-Californians who seemingly listen to every episode of every comedy podcast and we’ll be looking forward to the next one.

32. Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained might be one of finest films, but certainly is one of his funniest (even with the violence and language that people seem to always complain about with Quentin). 

33. Rory Scovel had one hell of a 2012 in making this list again with his awesome Comedy Central half hour, appearances on Conan and Ferguson, a great car commercial, and having a show being developed around him at ABC.

34. Armando Iannucci’s political comedy genius is finally getting some appreciation with the HBO series Veep.

35. The legend of Patrice O’Neal and his comedy lived on in one spectacular album called, Mr. P.

36. Set List, The Improvised Stand-Up Show, finally got made into a TV show. While it’s only in the UK for now, we were at some of the tapings to see the likes of Maria Bamford, Paul F. Tompkins, Fred Willard, Hannibal Buress, and more pull off the feat of making up comedy in front of a TV audience.

37. Kurt Braunohler has been rewriting messages in greeting cards with something way funnier and better than what was originally written and placing them back. We hope that we’ll stumble on one at some Rite-Aid in LA this year. 

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38. Dave Hill compiled a great book in Tasteful Nudes, covered the Olympics in spectacular fashion for the BBC, and wrote some great erotic short stories on his Twitter. Just a typically awesome year for the awesome Dave Hill.

39. This sketch on Wits APM with John Moe featuring the voices of Rifftrax Live and Maria Bamford, and more,  written by Alison Agosti & Lauren McGuire was one of the funniest takes on Wizard of Oz we’ve ever seen.

40. Jerry Seinfeld’s web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee gave us all the inside look into what hanging out, as a comedian, with Brian Regan, Larry David, Michael Richards, and more is like, hopefully giving you an idea of the inner workings of really successful comedians.

41. Along with his fantastic memoir of his turbulent teenage years Kasher in the Rye, Moshe Kasher and his stand-up has gotten to a whole new level that’s enthralling, aggressive, and yet so eloquent. Please see him whenever and wherever you can.

42. Katie Crown tries to interview Nathan Fielder in a tree for Treeterviews. The only other thing we’ll say is just watch.

43. Jim Hamilton made our list again from going from his still really funny Twitter account, releasing his first stand-up album Poems About the Ocean, and being himself and great on Fallon. 

44. John Hodgman’s trilogy of Complete World Knowledge was completed and released as a box set, even though the world didn’t end like Hodgman had suggested.

45. Yassir Lester’s Twitter account @yassir_lester has been one of the funniest of 2012 almost, by Yassir’s own admission, trying to tweet things in order to lose followers.

46. Thing X, just launched this year gathering the left over writers from The Onion, had a great web series in having Xpert Matt Beacon (attempt to) explain how to do things while being clinically depressed.

47. Jim Gaffigan’s Mr. Universe is just out and out hilarious, but also densely filled with plenty of stuff to find for multiple listens/watches. Please get it or listen/watch again ASAP.

48. Guy Branum’s competitive talk show: Talk Show: The Game Show has been one of the most innovative and funny things we’ve seen all year. Talk show guests/comedians actually compete to have the best interview and can get points and/or yellow/red cards, so we got on board with it immediately. 

49. Cameron Esposito moved to LA this year and has quickly made her way as one of the most delightful people to watch in stage. You might have read our thoughts about her in The LA Weekly recently.

50. Though it was a fake promotion that Bill Murray was going on a party tour, he literally has been doing just that around the country including his appearance on Letterman last month.

51. TJ Miller’s Gorburger, RVC, Cashing In with TJ Miller with Cash Levy, his riffing on the stage lights and an off comment from a Marriott employee about Marriott Hotels into comedic magnificence, as well as hosting Mash Up only make us ponder what TJ will pull off in 2013.  

imagephoto by Rebecca Adler Rotenberg

52. The Nerdist YouTube Channel has made for some well produced, really funny online programming showing that the separation between great TV and the Internet isn’t that big.

53. Jason Woliner, the man behind the camera, for Human Giant and Eagleheart spent a good deal of his fortunes on making novelty t-shirts and cataloged what happened on a blog.

54. The Sessions is a beautiful, heartwarming, and emotionally gratifying movie about a poet in an iron lung trying to have sex. Definitely underrated for how little has been written about it this year. 

55. Thanks to Grant Lyon, Andy Peters, Matt Knudsen, and Jarrod Harris for a probably accurate reenactment of why John Hancock signature is so big on the Declaration of Independence. 

56. Eugene Mirman should give more commencement speeches as evidenced by this one at his alma mater this year.

57. Jon Daly absurdly merged the identities of himself and famous golfer John Daly to the point where ESPN took notice.

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58. It was only a matter of time before Dana Gould figured out on his own way to do a podcast and make the wondrous Dana Gould Hour. That and impersonating Maurice Evans as Dr. Zaius as Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain were great enough and yet Gould gave way more great comedy in 2012.

59. More undeniable feel good-ery/hilarity came from Reggie Watts: A Live At Central Park. 

60. Independent podcast collective Feral Audio started this year by the efforts of Dustin Marshall with shows from the likes of Chelsea Peretti, Duncan Trussell, Brody Stevens, Esther Povitsky, Sean Conroy, and more really funny people that should have a podcast.

61. Kevin Avery’s short film Thugs the Musical toured the film festival circuit to plenty of deserving accolades for being a mockumentary about black actors learning to be more black to get black roles.

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62. John Mulaney’s 1-hr Comedy Central Special “New in Town” was such a delight that it could have been 2 hours and we would barely notice.

63. Bobcat Goldthwait not only made another great film, God Bless America, in his ever burgeoning film career, but has made quite a few live appearances that have reshaped our perceptions of his live act (i.e. he dropped the voice and has been telling some really hilarious stories)

64. As The Grawlix (Adam Cayton Holland, Ben Roy, and Andrew Orvedahl) and individually, it’s been great to see them touring at festivals (JFL Montreal, Riot LA, Bridgetown) and get a deal with Amazon Studios.

65. Hannibal Buress’ latest hour of stand-up, Animal Furnace, shows a Hannibal Buress with a little fire in him, which is a Hannibal that’s as funny as ever 

66. Sketch group Dead Kevin (Ahmed Bharoocha, Ryan O’Flanagan, Jack Roubichaud) has managed to reinvent the dynamic of three twentysomething guy roommates into something we looked forward to every Monday when there’s a new episode.

67. It’s rare that we get to see veteran writer, director, comedian Joe Wagner do stand-up, but whenever we do, it’s magical. Ex: getting an applause break from having an “intimate moment” with a female audience member by simply maintaining eye contact and trying to not touch hands.

68. David Wain’s Wanderlust is yet another underrated comedy featuring many members of The State in 2012 that you should pay no mind to its rating on IMDB.

69. Both Andy Sanford and Jimmy Fallon with the aide of Jerry Seinfeld, Billy Crystal, and more put a modern spin on the classic Abbott & Costello bit “Who’s on First?”

70. Byron Bowers had one of our favorite jokes in 2012, that should be even greater as as we only saw it in its formative stages. It starts out, “I like slavery,” and ends in an applause break and isn’t completely about the shock value of a slavery joke. Watch for the polished version this year.

71. The storytelling of Dave Ross has been exceptional in 2012, running one of our favorite storytelling shows, Two Headed Beast, as well as notching in two wins at The Moth.

72. Arrested Development was officially put in production for a whole season at Netflix. 

73. Oh Shit!, a Channel 101 series from Mike McCafferty and Mike Manasewitsch, broke nearly any and every rule of linear storytelling that we could think of and we couldn’t be more thankful for how funny it was.  

74. In seeing fantastic Irish comedian Dylan Moran do over an hour at Largo, he took a break in the middle to eat wine and chocolate on stage while grumbling that Americans don’t do intermissions at their stand-up shows. It was hilarious as was the other 80 or so minutes of fast paced, hard hitting material.

75. Eric Andre pitted himself in a battle against the talk show in 2012. Whether it be on The Eric Andre Show or doing something unplanned on Fallon, Conan, or Attack of The Show, Eric threw talk show conventions out the door for some of the biggest laughs we’ve had in 2012.

76. Front Page Films’ parodying of Christopher Nolan’s take on Batman with Pete Holmes, Matt McCarthy, and Oren Brimer almost makes want there to be more Nolan Batman movies.

77. Jake Weisman, for our money, made one of the best election jokes in starting the Romney Ryan 1840 meme.

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78. Underbelly, a Cincinnati & NYC based show where stand-up comedians do anything but stand-up comedy, had a wonderful LA debut thanks to Ryan Singer and Chris Garcia. Watch for the next one at Echoes Under Sunset sometime this year. 

79. A time travel romantic comedy with Mark Duplass and Aubrey Plaza sounds great on paper. Turns out that Safety Not Guaranteed made very good on what that paper said.

80. Paul F. Tompkins’ hour special of stories about bad jobs he has had, Laboring Under Delusions, was plenty to make the list again for this year, but Paul F. Tompkins: The Video Game w/Jon Dore cemented his spot for sure.

81. Burning Love was beyond a pitch perfect parody of The Bachelor with Ken Marino, Michael Ian Black, and more. There’s a season 2 that is set to appropriately be a parody of The Bachelorette we’re highly anticipating.

82. Mike Birbiglia’s film adaptation of Sleepwalk With Me in of itself is a terrific film all around. But, it should be noted that all the promotions of it with Joss Whedon calling for its downfall and Shelby Fero doing a role playing interview were also really damn funny.

83. Myq Kaplan has continued to be a perfect wordsmith, keeping it tight on his late night appearances on Letterman, Conan, and Ferguson.

84. Gungan Style from Funny or Die’s Nick Wiger perfectly, succinctly, and darkly summarizes our thoughts about Internet trends and their accompanying coattail chasers.

85. Seattle’s own Barbara Holm charmed us with her humor when she won a round of Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction with a decidedly cute, albeit still erotic, Spider Man story where she ends up living happily ever after and defending being quirky like every comedian defends being an actual nerd.

86. British comedian Simon Amstell’s new show he’s touring with, Numb, is comedy of a higher order. It makes you double over in laughter, feel good about yourself, but, most importantly enlightens you in a way that isn’t confounding.

87. We’re not going to say whether Key & Peele on Comedy Central hit its stride or not in its second season, but there were so many really funny sketches like this one or this one or this one or this one.

88. Thanks to Josh Fadem, we got to see Ron Lynch, Hannibal Buress, Wendy Liebman, Sean Patton, Brent Weinbach and The Whitest Kids U Know perform live for free with free cupcakes at Cinefile Video, that’s right a video rental store, in West LA. 

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89. Brian Regan grossed over $1,000,000 in less than 10 shows in Salt Lake City, UT. We’re glad to see people still see live comedy in droves.

90. In response to having to pay airfare and hotel and not getting paid at SXSW as a comedian, Duncan Trussell redid the subtitles a scene from the film ‘Downfall’ so Hitler is responding to this predicament.

91. Conan O’Brien’s remote segments (reviewing video games, Triumph letting loose at Weiner’s Circle, visiting a costume shop with a mask of his face) have really been proof that he needed the breathing room of cable to still be the Conan we knew from Late Night and be on at 11PM. 

92. Though Nick Turner moved back to NYC and we miss getting to see him perform regularly, he had some of the funniest sets we saw all year like this one where he locked himself out of his car as well as a great web series in King Temp. 

93. Joe DeRosa made quite an impression with us this year with his truthful, incredibly personal stand-up as shown in this episode of Modern Comedian and his Official Comedy web series We Should Break Up.

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via The Comic’s Comic

94. Andy Kindler’s State of the Industry Address is always a highlight at JFL Montreal, but was especially so as James Adomian opened as Andy Kindler, then Kindler closed with a 5 minute rant as a robot about Louis C.K.

95. Last year, Jackie Kashian made the list because of her podcast The Dork Forest, but this year we’re giving her a slot because of her sensational stand-up, especially the material dealing with the passing of family. Go see her when you can (she tours quite a bit).

96. Brent Weinbach’s Mostly Live off AST Records is what you have all been waiting for even if you didn’t know it or know who Brent Weinbach is; absurdist comedy at its finest

97. Brody Stevens is well on his way for his comeback from a Twitter meltdown with one hell of a set on Conan.

98. Tim Heidecker absolutely nailed an impression of a bad stand up whenever we saw him live this year to the point where it’s hilarious and, hopefully, people trying comedy won’t try to copy it.

99. Gallery 1988 had a slew of wonderful art tributes to comedy this year-Adult Swim, Arrested Development, Judd Apatow, and more.

100. Garfunkel & Oates really upped their comedy this year with just these two songs: The College Try and 29/31.

LA Comedy Rundown 1/2/13

January 2, 2013
Uncategorized
comedy shows, los angeles, open mics

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ON THE HORIZON
Put Your Hands Together with Cameron Esposito @ UCB Theatre Tues. Jan. 8th 8PM $5 
Marc Maron @ Ice House Sun. Jan. 13th 7PM $22.50/2 item min. 

COMEDY CRAWL
The Not So Inappropriate Show @ UCB Theatre 4PM $12 (stand by only) 
A Kiss From Daddy/Birthday Boys @ UCB Theatre 8PM $5 
Meltdown @ Nerdmelt Showroom 8:30PM $8 
The Parlor Comedy Show @ Echoes Under Sunset 9PM FREE 

OPEN MIC RUN
DANGERFIELD’S 3 2524 1/2 James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/Lottery/3-5min./$2 cover
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/Ends 8PM/5 min./First come, first served/No purchase necessary
FLAPPERS BURBANK 102 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, CA/Starts 6PM/3 min./No purchase necessary
ROCKPAPER COFFEE CO. 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 6:30PM/lottery/One item min.
REDWOOD BAR & GRILL 316 W. 2nd St., Los Angeles, CA (Downtown)/Starts 6:30PM/No purchase necessary
DAVE’S CHILLIN’ AND GRILLIN’ 2152 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM/First come, first served/Women sign-up only/No purchase necessary
THE MOTH @ ZANZIBAR 1301 5th St., Santa Monica, CA/Doors open 7PM/Starts 7:30PM sharp/Storytelling only/must be on theme of “outgrown”/5 min./10 spots only/$8 cover
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/mixed mic
LIQUID ZOO 7214 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM/Starts 9PM/first come, first served/7 min.
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/First come, first served   

The 5 Most Intentionally Funny Videos This Week at The Nerdist 1/1/13

January 2, 2013
Uncategorized

The 5 Most Intentionally Funny Videos This Week at The Nerdist 1/1/13

Here’s the first 5 Most Intentionally Funny Videos This Week at The Nerdist of 2013 and odds are you’ve probably seen most of what we picked, but, just in case you haven’t, they’re all the funniest things we saw in the waining moments of 2012.

If you want to be considered for 5 MIFV in the future, please, as always, read the rules at the post.

WTF with Marc Maron Is Going “Out of The Garage” to Tour

January 2, 2013
Uncategorized

Marc Maron is taking his critically acclaimed, award-winning podcast WTF across the country over the next couple of months, going outside of his garage away from cat ranch. Check if he’s playing near you as some of the tickets are on sale and the rest will go on sale this Fri. 7AM PST.

Rejected Dwight Spin Off Pilot From ‘The Office’ To Air Anyway on NBC

January 2, 2013
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Rejected Dwight Spin Off Pilot From ‘The Office’ To Air Anyway on NBC

This is definitely an interesting move. Rather than be it’s on show, the Dwight spin-off “The Farm” will be more like one of the final episodes of ‘The Office’.

It makes us iven networks attitude about primetime on Fridays, maybe more rejected pilots should get a chance to air for a month on Fridays. I mean, they paid to make a few episodes anyway and send shows to Friday primetime to fade away into a ratings graveyard.

Why not?

LA Comedy Rundown 1/3/13

January 3, 2013
Uncategorized
comedy shows, los angeles, open mics

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ON THE HORIZON
Big Money @ The Virgil Thurs. Jan. 10th 7:30PM FREE 
Broad City Live @ UCB Theatre Thurs. Jan. 24th 8PM $5 

COMEDY CRAWL
The Business LA @ Lyric Hyperion Theatre & Cafe 8PM $5 
Tony Danza Won’t Be Here @ Westside Comedy Theater 8PM $5 
Boners & Bread: A Tragedy with Jokes @ UCB Theatre 8PM $5 (stand by only)
Sketchmelt @ Nerdmelt Showroom 8:30PM $10 
The Josh & Josh Show @ Bar Lubitsch 8:30PM FREE 
The Comedy Palace @ The Palace Restaurant 9PM FREE
How to Live with Chelsea Peretti @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5 

OPEN MIC RUN
CAFE AMERICANO 5770 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 5:30PM/3 min./No purchase necessary
PALMS BAR 
8572 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 6:15PM/Starts 6:30PM/First come, first served/One drink min.
ROCKPAPER COFFEE
 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/Ends 8PM/lottery
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM-ish/5 min./First come, first served/No purchase necessary
FLAPPERS BURBANK 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Starts 6PM/3 min./Counts as audition/No purchase necessary
AMSTERDAM CAFE 10905 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/First come, first served/No purchase necessary
SANDWICH SPOT 3101 Ocean Park Ave., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served
TRIBAL CAFE BEVERLY 3253 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 8PM/Ends 10PM/First come, first served/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.
ECHOES UNDER SUNSET 1310 Glendale Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/Lottery/4 min./1 drink min.
COFFEE BEAN 12930 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, CA/Starts 7PM/mixed mic/lottery/No purchase necessary
ZAPATA VIVE 101 S. First Ave., Arcadia, CA/Sign-up 6:45PM/Only 20 spots/5 min./Lottery
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/mixed mic
CAFE UNURBAN 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 9PM/No purchase necessary 
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts MIDNIGHT        

Fox Developing Conan O’Brien’s & Warner Bros. “Bob’s New Heart Show”

January 3, 2013
Uncategorized

Fox Developing Conan O’Brien’s & Warner Bros. “Bob’s New Heart Show”

Glad to hear this news. With Team Coco, Conan on TBS, and Eagleheart in place, the Conan empire in comedy, thankfully, continues to grow. 

‘Moonrise Kingdom’ and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Are in Top Grossing Specialty Box Office of 2012

January 3, 2013
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‘Moonrise Kingdom’ and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Are in Top Grossing Specialty Box Office of 2012

Indiewire compiled the top earning indie and limited release films of 2012 and two of our favorites, ’Moonrise Kingdom’ and ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ (check our Best 100 List) are in the top 10.

Hopefully, this is good tidings for indie comedies in 2013? 

Watch First Episode of The Kroll Show on iTunes For Free

January 3, 2013
Uncategorized

Watch First Episode of The Kroll Show on iTunes For Free

Nick Kroll’s The Kroll Show debuts Wed., Jan. 16th at 10:30PM on Comedy Central, but you can get a look into what we’re all in for two weeks ahead of time free of charge.

Stop reading this and watch it already.

Paul F. Tompkins Roasts SkyMall on Twitter

January 3, 2013
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Paul F. Tompkins Roasts SkyMall on Twitter

Paul F. Tompkins is just saying what we’re all thinking when we see stuff like an upside tomato garden several thousand feet in the sky.

Angelo Bowers Passed Away a Year Ago, But Not His Jokes

January 3, 2013
Uncategorized

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The tragic drunk driving accident that took the life of Angelo Bowers and hospitalized Josh Adam Meyers was exactly one year ago from today. If you can spare it, please take a moment to remember the great talent that Angelo was and that his jokes are still pretty damn funny though we’ve read them dozens of times. 

Also, remember that drunk driving is amongst the dumbest horrible things you can ever do in your life.

LA Comedy Rundown 1/4/13

January 4, 2013
Uncategorized
comedy shows, los angeles, open mics

image

ON THE HORIZON
The Tomorrow Show w/Ron Lynch @ Steve Allen Theater Sat. Jan. 5th MIDNIGHT $8
50 First Jokes @ Downtown Independent Theater Sun. Jan. 7th 7PM $10 in adv., $12 at door 
Hot Tub with Kurt & Kristen @ The Virgil Mon. Jan. 7th 8PM $5 

COMEDY CRAWL
Only the Young @ Cinefamily 7:30PM $12
Horrible Movie Night @ Nerdmelt Showroom 8PM $10 
Peachy Keen @ Bar Lubitsch 8PM FREE 
Unnecessary Evil @ Westside Comedy Theater 8PM $10 
Shitty Holidays @ UCB Theatre 8PM $10 

OPEN MIC RUN
SET LIST @ FLAPPERS BAR
ROCKPAPER COFFEE CO
 7509 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 6:30PM/5 min./One item min.
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM-ish/5 min./First come, first served/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
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
MAX BLOOM’S 200 N. Malden Ave., Fullerton, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 6:30PM/booked show after/no purchase necessary
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
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 10PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/lottery          

In Case You Missed It, Here’s Eric Andre’s New Year’s Eve Spooktacular

January 4, 2013
Uncategorized

In Case You Missed It, Here’s Eric Andre’s New Year’s Eve Spooktacular

If you can stomach it, rewatch all the New Year’s specials you can, then watch Eric Andre satirize the whole New Year’s Eve special concept on his Adult Swim New Year’s special in its entirety.

IFC Getting Into Animated Comedy Series Territory with ‘Out There’

January 4, 2013
Uncategorized

IFC Getting Into Animated Comedy Series Territory with ‘Out There’

IFC is doing well in continuing to extend the reach of their comedy brand with a new animated series, ‘Out There’, set to premiere next month. They’ve enlisted a more than impressive cast with the voices of Pamela Adlon, Fred Armisen, Megan Mullally, Kate Micucci, John DiMaggio, and more. The show’s creator, Ryan Quincy, has been a South Park producer, which, if you know what working on South Park in any capacity entails, which makes this all the more intriguing.

So, as Fri. Feb. 22nd 10:30PM, the premiere date, gets closer, watch for a preview or two.

Nikki & Sara’s Advice on How to Get a Talk Show Is Why We’re Glad They’re Getting One at MTV

January 4, 2013
Uncategorized

The roll out of promos and clips have thankfully begun for Nikki & Sara LIVE, Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer’s late night talk show on MTV. This very funny, informative clip is of the exact steps you need to take on how to get a talk show on television.

Whether we get a talk following these steps, we’re getting more and more excited for Tues. Jan. 29th 11PM, when Nikki & Sara Live premieres. 

Holy Fuck, One of LA’s Best Live Comedy Shows, Is Recording an Album

January 4, 2013
Uncategorized

Holy Fuck, One of LA’s Best Live Comedy Shows, Is Recording an Album

Downtown LA on Tuesdays nights have become a go to spot for live comedy, if only for the show called Holy Fuck (they’ve been written about plenty here, The LA Weekly, The LA Times, and much much more). Going on its 4th year, they’re recording an album compiling 5 min. each of some of the best LA has to offer (Dana Gould, TJ Miller, Kyle Kinane), which everyone, both here in LA and around the world wherever one can understand comedy in English should be hyped for.

Seriously, go to this. You have 4 chances to do so.

Christopher Guest’s HBO Series ‘Family Tree’ To Premiere in Spring

January 4, 2013
Uncategorized

Christopher Guest’s HBO Series ‘Family Tree’ To Premiere in Spring

“Family Tree” will be a more than welcome return to seeing something created by Christopher Guest along with Jim Piddock regularly, especially for it being on HBO. Also, it stars Chris O’Dowd, which will be a very nice bonus.  

For once, maybe Groundhog Day can tells us that there’s a shorter winter.

LA Comedy Rundown 1/5/13

January 5, 2013
Uncategorized

ON THE HORIZON
Holy Fuck @ Downtown Independent Theater Tues. Jan. 8th 9PM FREE 
Adult Swim’s Newsreaders Night @ Nerdmelt Showroom Sat. Jan. 12th 7PM FREE 

COMEDY CRAWL
Drinking Buddies Presents @ Flappers YooHoo Room 7:30PM $10/2 item min. 
Two-Headed Beast: A Storytelling Show @ Stories Books & Cafe 8PM FREE 
Jimmy Dore & Friends @ Hollywood Improv 8PM $18/2 item min. 
ASSSSCAT @ UCB Theatre 8PM $10 (stand by only) 
Patton Oswalt @ Friends @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 8:30PM $25 (stand by only) 
Girth @ Echoes Under Sunset 9PM $5 
BJ Novak: Uncollected Stories @ UCB Theatre 10PM $10 (stand by only) 
The Midnight Show @ UCB Theatre MIDNIGHT $5
The Tomorrow Show w/Ron Lynch @ Steve Allen Theater MIDNIGHT $8 

OPEN MIC RUN
DANGERFIELD’S 3 2524 1/2 James M. Wood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM/Lottery/3-5min./$2 cover
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 6PM-ish/5 min./First come, first served/No purchase necessary
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/One drink min./First come, first served
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. 
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 10PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/lottery      

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