Recent News

Pick of the Day: Vidiots Comedy Show Benefit 6/26

atsuko okatsuka, benefit show, dana gould, georgia hardstark, ify nwadiwe, mary elizabeth ellis, niccole thurman, vidiots

It was so exciting to hear that there was not only going to be a revival of the video rental institution that was Vidiots in Santa Monica all the way on the other side of LA county, but they were also going to open up a live theater in conjunction with it.

The pandemic hitting, of course, made us wonder what exactly was going to happen and if this dream new venue, ostensibly a Cinefamily for Eastiders was going to still be a reality.

Well, luckily, it’s still going to happen (the plan aims for a 2022 opening) and you can help that reality coming to fruition by attending a grand comedy show benefit hosted by two wondrous parts of two different generations of comedy in Atsuko Okatsuka and Dana Gould. Also, on the bill will be the great comedy stylings of Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Georgia Hardstark, Ify Nwadiwe, and Niccole Thurman.

Tickets are only $10 for a live-stream for this Vidiots Comedy Show Benefit set to go live on Sat. Jun. 26th at 7:30PM PT/10:30PM ET. Go get your tickets here.

There’s a Whole Docu-Special on Dick Gregory That’s Coming Out on July 4th

dick gregory, documentary, showtime

In regards to comedy both being a bridge between worlds and speaking truth to power, the name Dick Gregory better be at the top of the list. Gregory was a comedy pioneer unlike any other, especially for all the barriers he broke down and how much irony and absurdity he pointed out in race relations and in the actions of the U.S. government. Also, you ought to know that’s just scratching the surface of what he did throughout his comedy career and his lifetime.

Thus, Showtime is giving Gregory his due with a docu-special The One and Only Dick Gregory and having it premiere on, of all days, the Fourth of July, which is fitting for how much truth he freely spoke in his comedy.

Get a taste of what’s to come with The One and Only Dick Gregory here, then look for it to premiere on Sun., July 4th at 9PM on Showtime.

Get Your First Look at FX’s Latest Audacious Talk Show “The Choe Show”

So much upheaval has been coming to the world of late night over the last year (and don’t get it twisted, it’s very much welcome and very much needed). One of the most recent and most radical turns for a late night talk show is FX tapping artist and personality David Choe to front their latest attempt at a talk show.

Choe won’t be in a soundstage on a backlot or be behind a desk with a beautifully rendered backdrop of a various metropolis at night. The Choe Show will actually be done at Dave’s studio where he’ll interview the likes of anyone from Will Arnett to Maya Erskine to Val Kilmer and plenty more and paint a portrait of them.

It’s pretty wild. It has a bit of The Eric Andre Show‘s energy, but it’s not such a radical satirical send-up of late night. Choe genuine wants to connect through his unique lens and, from the looks of it, get messy in the best way possible with painting the portrait. Also, atypical to late night talk shows, all the episodes will premiere on Jun. 25th, then be available on Hulu the next day.

We can only wonder if that’s a way for FX to get us hooked so we’ll tune in every week if they do more.

Get your first look at all of this with the official trailer for The Choe Show here

Hacks Is Getting a Second Season at HBO Max

hannah einbinder, jean smart, lucia aniello, paul w downs

As Hacks get towards the end of its first season, it really has proven itself as one of the best explorations of stand-up comedy in all of TV and film. The intergenerational dynamic between fictitious comedy legend Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and her new writer Ava (Hannah Einbinder) captures so much about being a comedian both in decades past and the current moment as well how it has gotten better/hasn’t changed at all for comedians that are women. Also, Smart and Einbinder’s pairing is one of the more compelling relationships we’ve seen on a screen this year.

Thus, HBO Max has smartly given Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky a second season, which, hopefully will get under way soon and won’t be held up by being in the thick of a pandemic.

If you haven’t given Hacks a shot yet, please get into it as it really is, again, one of the best representations of stand-up ever outside of the real life version of it and is currently one of the best shows on television.

This is not a joke. The queens of comedy are returning for Season 2 of Hacks! #HacksOnHBOMax pic.twitter.com/zb3vsL1WDf

— HBO Max (@hbomax) June 8, 2021

The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 63: Ashley Ray & Balancing TV/Going Out Again

News, The Comedy Bureau Field Report

hacks, i think you should leave, jfl, netflix is a joke fest, new faces, tv i say

Welp, the tides of going back out again and, subsequently, live comedy being performed in person and also, being seen in-person, are rising. Ashley Ray is riding high on that said tide as she has road dates now all across America and a special coming out this month on HBO Max after making it through quarantine with a popular newsletter and podcast, TV, I Say. Ray runs through her comedy journey through the pandemic with TCB’s Jake Kroeger leading to quite an entrance back into the world. Also, we definitely talk about Jeff Singer resigning as the JFL New Faces Booker, Netflix Is a Joke Fest returning, and more.

Follow Ashley @theeashleyray on Twitter, @theashleyray on IG, and listen to TV, I Say wherever you get podcasts.

The Comedy Bureau @thecomedybureau across platforms and please, please support TCB via GoFundMe, Patreon, or on Venmo (@jakekroeger).

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and KT

Pick of the Day: FresHair 6/25

comedy shows, dave merheje, echo park, in person shows, jade catta preta, los angeles, rell battle

Before the pandemic happened, one of Echo Park’s biggest barbershops, American Barbershop, was home to a handful of really fun comedy shows. During the pandemic, they transitioned to having it outside, but still with a very cool, vintage barber’s chair on stage.

Now, with things opening up again, FresHair Comedy is going strong putting on a very cool comedy show in the heart of Echo Park in LA. They’ve got, for this latest show this month, Dave Merheje, Rell Battle, and Jade Catta-Preta along with esteemed producers Renee Gauthier, Ryan Dalton, and Allison Leber on the line-up and there will be, as we have seen them do in the past, plenty more great LA-based comedians (or ones that just happen to be in town).

This June edition of FresHair is set for Fri. Jun. 25th at 9PM PT and tickets are on sale starting at $15. Go snag them up before they sell out.

I Think You Should Leave Season 2 Is Coming Less Than a Month From Now

i think you should leave, netflix

Whether you think 2020 was ten years long or not, it has been way too long since one of the best sketch shows in recent memory, I Think You Should Leave, has been away. Sure, the season 1 sketches are timeless and, for our money, the nachos sketch will be something will be telling folks about for years, but we very much need unabashed absurdity from Tim Robinson and company that ties into insufferable characters needing to leave a given situation.

Fortunately, we won’t have to wait too much (depending on your sense of time these days) longer as it has just been announced that season 2 is premiering on July 6th on Netflix. Make sure you clear out your schedule and are recovered from whatever the hell you’re planning on doing on July 4th, so you can get ready for what, we believe, will be the most quoted sketches of 2021.

I Think You Should Leave Season 2 is coming to Netflix on July 6! Until then? Here's some of the GREATEST HITS from Season 1.@samrichardson pic.twitter.com/4D8PpK5df3

— Netflix Is A Joke (@NetflixIsAJoke) June 8, 2021

Pick of the Day: The Frogtown Show 6/12

chris garcia, comedy show, daniel webb, danielle perez, emily maya mills, erin lennox, frogtown show, jared goldstein, lindsay ames, naomi ekperigin, stand up comedy

Way before the pandemic was even a shadow of a worry of a thought, there was a magical outdoor venue in LA, Spoke Bicycle Cafe, that had a magical comedy show, The Frogtown Show.

It was a bi-weekly stand-up show that happened in the open spaces within this part-cafe-part-bar-part-bicycle-repair-shop-part-playground that is flanked by the more scenic parts of the LA River. They always got fantastic line-ups and this Jun. 12th edition is no different. The amazing trio of Jared Goldstein, Emily Maya Mills, and Erin Lennox will lead off Chris Garcia, Naomi Ekperigin, Danielle Perez, Daniel Webb, and Lindsay Ames.

In case you forgot, that’s some of LA comedy’s best and brightest.

Tickets are going for $10 per table (tables are for 2) and upwards with a 2 drink min. Go get them here before they sell out fast.

Julio Torres Gives Ziwe Permission to ADR Lots of His Interview However She Pleases

julio torres, ziwe

In a very short time, Ziwe has become noted for her interview style, which some interviewees see as walking through a devilishly fun minefield of getting baited on any sort of controversial topics.

Her latest guest on this past Sunday’s episode of Ziwe, comedian, SNL writer and Los Espookys co-creator Julio Torres opted a new, pandemic friendly tactic with engaging with Ziwe’s often sharply barbed questions by keeping his face mask on the whole time and encouraging Ziwe and her staff to ADR (automated dialogue replacement) any of his answers as to make them much more spicy and problematic.

Please enjoy how much this interview is augmented here. Also, you really ought to be watching Ziwe every Sunday on Showtime (or streaming on Showtime Anytime). Truly, we can’t say that enough for how damn funny it is.

Netflix Is a Joke Festival Is Happening in 2022

comedy festival, netflix, netflix is a joke fest

One of the first major comedy festivals to get taken away by COVID-19 was what was supposed to be LA’s next big comedy festival, Netflix Is a Joke Festival. They had all sorts of big time headliners and plenty of their handpicked talent lined up for dozens and dozens of shows set for spring 2020.

Of course, that didn’t happen and seemingly, we were unsure of the fate of the festival when it the whole thing was scrapped as lockdown took hold in America.

Now, Netflix is aiming for Apr. 29th-May 8th of 2022, ostensibly just over two years from the original date for the actual, inaugural Netflix Is a Joke Festival. No line-up is announced as of yet, but trust that with several months time and it being Netflix footing the bill, it’s will very likely big and, by then, you might not even need a mask to watch a comedy show indoors.

Get more info at netflixisajokefest.com

Pick of the Day: Stamptown (in NY & LA)

clowning, comedy shows, daniel simonsen, idiot, jo firestone, jordan temple, la comedy, Marcia Belsky, martin urbano, nyc comedy, rosebud baker, stamptown, stavros halkias, zach zucker

Before lockdown, you may have not gotten a chance to catch the madcap variety show that is Stamptown hosted by one of its fearless leader Zach Zucker, but you damn well better not miss your chance this time around. It’s a wild round-up of comedians from every corner of comedy, though it definitely leans in to comedy’s more chaotic, alternative edges.

They’re currently doing recurring shows in both NY and LA, outdoors and indoors, for fully vaccinated audiences. They’ve got a backyard show lined-up for Jun. 15th in NYC as well two indoors shows, Jun. 17th @ Asylum NYC and Jun. 23rd @ Union Hall.

Follow them @stamptown on IG for further updates on shows as they sell out pretty quick.

Line-up for 6/17:
Rosebud Baker
Marcia Belsky
Please Don’t Destroy
Aj Holmes
Steve Girard
Daniel Simonsen
Jordan Temple
& Emily Wilson

Line-up for 6/23:
Jo Firestone
Martin Urbano
Larry Owens
Daniel Simonsen
Stavros Halkias
Marcia Belsky

HBO Max to Release Specials from Meg Stalter and Ashley Ray as Part of Pride 2021

ashley ray, comedy special, Meg Stalter

Pride 2021 or not, (Happy Pride, by the way) both Meg Stalter and Ashley Ray both deserve their own comedy specials.

You very likely have seen Stalter play a gloriously oblivious assistant on Hacks, but she has been a delightful agent of chaos on comedy stages for years (and also on her fantastic podcast, Confronting Demons). Ray has had a sharp, whip smart voice when it comes to dissecting pop culture from a black, queer lens and has also been sharing her pinpoint observations on stages all across the country for quite some time.

Now, HBO Max will have their latest specials from Meg and Ashley as part of their nod, as a network, to Pride 2021. Again, no matter the month or what we’re celebrating, we’re very much looking forward to see what both Stalter and Ray have cooked up for their very first specials in the coming weeks.

Robby Hoffman Series “Rivkah” in Development at Showtime

development, rivkah, robby hoffman, showtime

Robby Hoffman has been a favorite of ours for awhile now with her alpha-queer energy that’s undeniably hysterical to us. Even when she is taking over The Chris Gethard Show or pivoting towards a call-in show Robby Hoffman Consulting Group on Planet Scum, Robby has been equal parts domineering and sweet and so damn funny.

So, naturally, it’s thrilling to know that Showtime and A24 have made another smart move (their last one being ZIWE) by developing a scripted series based around Robby’s real life going between her current life as a genderqueer LA woman and her childhood as a closeted girl in a very Hasidic community in Brooklyn.

Whatever the show ends up being, we hope that it gets picked up to series so we can see what Hoffman taking a leading role (like she deserves) looks like.

Also, note that Showtime is making some strong moves with their comedy brand as they have Desus & Mero, ZIWE, and potentially Rivkah.

Robby Hoffman Comedy ‘Rivkah’ In Works At Showtime https://t.co/4gwwiyazjy

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) June 4, 2021

Pick of the Day: Maria Bamford @ Dynasty Typewriter (Residency)

dynasty typewriter, maria bamford, residency

As we get back to more and more live shows, one of the best people to usher us all into the world of live comedy is the one and only, gracious and hilarious Maria Bamford. Maria had been doing so many virtual comedy shows and helped so many get through so much of quarantine with her life-affirming humor (and, of course, Maria was legitimately great on Zoom too).

Now, with the Dynasty Typewriter open once again (for fully vaccinated audiences), LA audiences can see Maria, live and in-person, once more. In fact, they’ll have several chances to do so with her residency that’ll be at 11:30AM PT (Dynasty Typewriter will have coffee on hand) every Sunday in June and July.

Also, she’ll has lined-up a wondrous showcase of openers for each Sunday that will include Virginia Jones, Laurie Kilmartin, Brandie Posey, Pallavi Gunalan, Laura Park, Pamela Walt, and Danielle Perez.

Tickets are only $10-$15 and you can (and should) go get them here before they sell out.

Season 3 of What We Do In The Shadows To Premiere Sept. 2nd

fx, what we do in the shadows

Remember how What We Do In The Shadows, both season 1 and 2, saved your sanity throughout quarantine? It truly was a godsend for being one of the most hysterical things on TV and season 2 coming in right as lockdown in America started.

That said, we’ve been left wanting more, almost as if we’re vampires ourselves surviving on new episodes of What We Do In The Shadows, but without any premiere date for season 3.

Well, thirst no more as FX just announced that season 3, which has been in and out of production throughout the last year, will premiere on Thurs. Sept. 2nd (and the day after on FX on Hulu). Nandor, Nadja, Laszlo, Colin Robinson, and Guillermo will once try to survive as some “well meaning” vampires on the mean streets of Staten Island.

Getting in on this third season of What We Do In the Shadows will probably be one of the few reasons we’d want to stay home in September.

Pick of the Day: GAYME SHOW 6/25 & 7/2

dave mizzoni, gayme show, matt rogers

Dave Mizzoni and Matt Rogers made GAYME SHOW, hands down, one of the best comedy game shows ever. Straight men are challenged to see if they can become QUEEN OF THE STRAIGHTS via challenges and trivia of the gayest order.

This show was indeed so uproariously fun that it was made into an actual TV show via Quibi (and can be now found on Roku?), but with live comedy coming back, it’ll be happening in one of Brooklyn’s favorite comedy haunts, The Bell House. They’ve got two dates lined-up: Fri. Jun. 25th & Jul. 2nd.

Note: this is an indoors event for vaccinated people only. You will have to show proof of vaccination and there will be no distancing for the show.

Both dates were sold out (and they didn’t even announce the cast/line-up yet), but tickets were added for 6/25 and we highly urge you to snag them at the nice price of $25 ASAP.

Pick of the Day: The Ocean Show (in LA) 6/6

blair socci, comedy shows, dj demers, jeremiah watkins, los angeles, malibu, outdoors comedy, zainab johnson

Without a doubt, The Ocean Show has the most gorgeous back drop of any live comedy show with the sunset glistening cinematically off of the Pacific Ocean. Also, it’s a very outdoors stand-up show that literally happens on the sands of Malibu’s heavenly Will Rogers State Beach.

There’s so much room to distance and keep to yourself/your bubble while enjoying many of LA’s finest. One of our favorite moments in comedy of all last year actually came at this show when Moses Storm frolicked in the ocean in a suit only to attempt to finish his set while soaking and freezing.

This edition of The Ocean Show is set for this Sun. Jun. 6th with a line-up that includes the Blair Socci, Zainab Johnson, Jeremiah Watkins, and DJ Demers.

“Doors” at 6PM PT and the show at 6:30PM PT and tickets are $20. Please go get them here and make this very worthy trek to the beach.

The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 62: Kevin Allison & Pandemic Storytelling

News, The Comedy Bureau Field Report

comedy dynamics, john oliver, kevin allison, risk, storytelling, tribeca film festival

Kevin Allison, founder of the nationally beloved storytelling institution RISK! and member of legendary sketch group The State, joins TCB’s Jake Kroeger to give a bit of a state-of-the-nation breakdown of what the storytelling scene/art form has gone through during the pandemic. As you might imagine, folks have gone through so much and are still, largely, processing what has happened/is happening still.

RISK! thankfully evolved into a recurring virtual show and survived through 2020 and 2021 and is now set to return to in-person events (where the intimacy and vulnerability of storytelling is best featured). Also “hot” takes on Comedy Dynamics x Tribeca Film Festival’s slate of comedy specials and John Oliver’s latest ‘gonzo comedy’ pranks.

Follow Kevin @thekevinallison on Twitter and RISK @riskshow on Twitter and IG. Tickets for upcoming RISK! shows including 6/17 @ Caveat in NYC can be purchased at risk-show.com/tour. Listen to RISK! wherever you get your podcasts.

The Comedy Bureau @thecomedybureau across platforms and please, please support TCB via GoFundMe, Patreon, or on Venmo (@jakekroeger).

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and KT

Pick of the Day: Rachel Bloom Is Rusty @ Dynasty Typewriter

dynasty typewriter, in person shows, live comedy, musical comedy, rachel bloom

First off, we’re thankful that Dynasty Typewriter, one of our absolute favorite venues in LA (a place that we, if we were to add up all the time that we’ve spent there would equal several weeks) has survived all the way to now as we get towards the other end of the pandemic.

Indeed, they have begun doing indoor shows for fully vaccinated audiences only that are distanced from each other. Also, they have started to fill their calendar with same sort of stellar talent that used to grace their gorgeous walls and stage in years past.

For starters, the musical comedy brilliance of Rachel Bloom will be doing three shows entitled “Rachel Bloom Is Rusty” on July 16th & 23rd and Aug. 20th, live at Dynasty Typewriter. It promises “music + comedy” and even though the title utilizes the word “rusty”, we have no doubt the excitement of both Rachel and everyone in attendance ought to be electric.

Tickets for each show are $30 and you can (and should) get them at DynastyTypewriter.com.

Bo Burnham Rises to the Challenge of Making a Pandemic Era Comedy Special with “Inside”

bo burnham, comedy special, netflix

At the beginning of lockdown, the live in-person element of comedy that is so vital to the art form disappeared leaving no clue as to when or if it would ever come back. Immediately, the absurdist questioning of what live comedy could even be without it had to not only be entertained, but faced and dealt with by every comedic performer everywhere in the world.

Many comedians took to Zoom, IG Live, Twitch, drive-in theaters/pop-ups, etc. to try and salvage/reimagine what the form could be to several varying degrees of success. There was undoubtedly a feeling that live comedy had to figure out what it would do in 2035 right on the spot of March/April 2020. Despite the misanthropic and existential protestations of comedians declaring that “comedy is dead”, live comedy lived on through trailblazers, pioneers, and the super clever.

Bo Burnham encapsulates all three of those distinctions.

He reaffirmed that with his latest comedy special, Inside. Off the top, it’s a staggeringly magnificent work just from how it has an undeniably epic expanse both in aesthetic and content while all coming from Bo’s mind and his physical limitations as the sole person on the production to going through a Campbell-esque hero’s journey all within a single room.

The irony of Bo’s humble beginnings of doing a bunch of songs by himself in a room over several months and then returning to them, albeit with a cinematic scope and a global pandemic and reckoning at hand, isn’t lost on us. Perhaps, that’s an overarching, thematic bit in of itself? If anything, the evolution of Bo’s journey as a comedian, a content creator, a director, and, most importantly, as a person all coalesce here in what is such a thoroughly human meditation on what 2020/2021 has been like through Bo’s lens of super clever songs, transitions, and gorgeous lighting.

Bo’s collection of tunes and asides cover so many facets of what we all went through last year. He goes from a personal level in regards to his own anxiety and depression to the global anxieties of what COVID-19 hath wrought and the shaking of the world’s soul in regards to its systemic problems regarding race, precarity, and the unprecedented levels of isolation. There’s a rawness and vulnerability that comes with Inside too, both literally and figuratively, with moments of very personal confessions of his mental state and in a shaggy Bo dancing and posing in just his underwear.

Bo Burnham’s Inside is very much what a comedy special as a performance art exhibit in art museum could be at it’s very best and we deeply love it for that.

We know you’re sick of being inside, but please do watch this as Bo Burnham: Inside is streaming on Netflix right now right here.

Pick of the Day: The Comedy Roof 6/2

ahmed al-kadri, brian simpson, dtla, grand central market, jenny jennings, joe mande, la comedy, nick skardarasy

If you’ve followed for us any of our 10 year and a half run, you very likely know and enjoy LA comedy’s penchant and expertise for doing comedy outdoors. Having had years of comedy taking advantage of the postcard quality weather that we’re privileged to have in LA, doing comedy outdoors due to the pandemic wasn’t such a huge sweat around here.

Shows such as The Comedy Roof popped up on the roof of the parking garage next to Grand Central Market in DTLA to keep this facet of the scene going. Also, they observed as much COVID-19 protocols as they could (including mask policy, very socially distant tables/chairs, separate entrances and exits, etc.). On top of that, you literally get a pretty gorgeous view of DTLA’s skyline.

So, The Comedy Roof folks are back at it with their latest show coming this Wed. Jun. 2nd at 8PM PT (Doors 7:30PM PT) with a stacked line-up of:

Joe Mande (Comedy Cental, NBC)
Brian Simpson (Comedy Central, BS with Brian Simpson)
Nick Skardarasy (CollegeHumor, The A.V. Club)
Jenny Jennings (ROM-COMedians)
Ahmed Al-Kadri
+ Jeff Buck, Vee Bentley, Kate Mason, & Mikel Albagdadi

Tickets are only $15 and you can (and very much should before they sell out) get them here.

Please Enjoy Ziwe’s Latest Banger/Damning Piece of Satire “Black Friends”

black friends, music video, ziwe

One of the distinct things about the newly minted late night/variety series Ziwe is that iconic namesake star Ziwe makes a music video of a song that she wrote and performed herself with each episode. In line with the meta-satire of the show, each new banger is both a razor sharp pointed anthem about problematic issues pervasive in modern (though we seem to be stepping back quite a bit) society.

This week’s episode of Ziwe will take on one of the more iconic elements of the IG Live version of Baited where white interviewees seem to have quite a bit of trouble responding to the question “How many black friends do you have?” There were a myriad of hilariously awkward answers, but the response of “4 to 5” was so frequent, it seemed like shorthand for being an ally without thinking about it too much.

So, here’s Ziwe’s latest single, “Black Friends”, dedicated to performative allyship via having black friends. Please enjoy/make this go viral here.

Pick of the Day: Picture This! 6/23

atsuko okatsuka, brandie posey, live animation, mike hollingsworth, mike l mayfield, naked comedy, picture this, rushtix, stand up comedy, virtual comedy

Yes, live in-person comedy is coming back. That doesn’t mean that worthwhile virtual comedy is going away. In fact, there still is and will be plenty of great shows to be viewed from anywhere so long as you’ve got Internet for a long time to come.

One such upcoming show is the always genuinely fantastic Picture This! that combines splendid animation and stand-up all into one, in real time. It has toured everywhere and featured both many of your favorite comedians and animators from your favorite animated series for years, both pre-pandemic and during lockdown.

This virtual edition of Picture This! is being presented by RushTix on Wed. June 23rd at 7:30PM PT/10:30PM ET. and is set to feature Mike Hollingsworth, Mike L. Mayfield, Bryan Brinkman, Victoria Montes, Rotimi Olowu, comedy from Atsuko Okatsuka, and host Brandie Posey and more! Honestly, as the screen will be shared, you’ll have a better shot of seeing what the animators are up to than you might have if you were sitting in the back in person.

Tickets are only $10 and you can (and should) go get them here.

John Oliver’s Sexual Wellness Blanket Prank Are Actually Causing Local News Station to Change

john oliver, last week tonight, sexual wellness blanket

One of the many benefits to not having Trump around as POTUS is that John Oliver can focus on those niche issues that you, me, and everyone else overlook, but is very crucial to examine.

Case in point: this past week’s deep dive segment on Last Week Tonight went damningly in on sponsored content on local news station that wheel and deal in sponsored content. Despite laws being in place to prevent such practices, Oliver pointed out how some local news station barely notify their viewers that they’re watching products/brands buying air time to promote their goods, making it seem as though this potentially could be viewed as truthful news story or interview.

To the further point and get back to his penchant for “gonzo comedy”, Oliver created a “sexual wellness blanket” that he was easily able to get a segment on in several local news stations around the country. There was no actual backing to any of the claims made for the sexual wellness blanket, but that didn’t make seem a difference to the stations taking Last Week Tonight’s money to sell blankets.

Please enjoy the brilliant segment from Last Week Tonight here.

Following Sunday, a number of stations, especially the ones that took Oliver’s bait are reviewing their practices and are aggressively pleading that they integrity is important to them and that they do actually distinguish between their legitimate journalism and “non-news lifestyle” segments. Still, they’re re-examining their protocol as to not get hoodwinked again since, clearly, the sexual wellness blanket is just a blanket and no one dared check up on that.

So, cheers to John Oliver and company speaking truth to power yet again with some comedy/satire and actually making a difference.

Pick of the Day: The Unbirthday Show (in LA) 5/29

backyard show, brodie reed, danielle perez, hannah pilkes, lara beitz, live comedy, unbirthday show

The Unbirthday Show is the latest show taking up the mantle in the grand LA comedy tradition of backyard comedy. Yes, the LA comedy scene has been doing outdoor comedy way before we had to (you best bet that we take advantage of the weather out here).

Curated, produced, and hosted by Brooke Finegold, she dresses up a Silverlake backyard for a fun, fantastical comedy show full of LA favorites and up and coming stars. This latest edition of The Unbirthday Show is set for Sat. May 29th at 7:30PM PT (Doors 6:30PM) and has quite the fine line-up of:

Brodie Reed
Danielle Perez
Hannah Pilkes
Harper Rose
Lara Beitz
Matt LeGrande
Rebecca Rush

Tickets are only $10 and you can (and should) go get ’em here.