dark comedy – Page 2 – The Comedy Bureau

Aasif Mandvi Developing Dark Comedy ‘Fatwa’ at Showtime with Writer/Producer Dave Holstein

August 31, 2016

aasif mandvi, dark comedy, dave holstein, development, fatwa, satire, showtime

Aasif Mandvi Developing Dark Comedy ‘Fatwa’ at Showtime with Writer/Producer Dave Holstein

It’s about time someone made an entire dark comedy series about cartoonists who get death threats for certain cartoons that cross certain religious lines.

Aasif Mandvi and Dave Holstein, who Mandvi worked with on The Brink, are developing the dark comedy Fatwa over at Showtime that will focus entirely on that and have Mandvi star.

It should be a nice follow-up to the last series that Mandvi got top-billing in, Halal in the Family.

Please Help Wendy McColm Finish Her Feature Film “Birds Without Feathers”

August 16, 2016

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birds without feathers, dark comedy, feature film, indie film, kickstarter, nate cornett, wendy mccolm

Basically, Wendy McColm is a great filmmaker and actress on the rise whose work you’ve might seen and enjoyed, like we have, at Channel 101 and she and her feature film need your help.

She is currently working on completing a feature length dark comedy called Birds Without Feathers and is trying to raise $10K worth of finishing funds. As of this post, she has just over $4K of it raised with three weeks to go.

You can watch the Kickstater campaign video to see herself, the cast, DP, and other crew really explain to you why it might be worth donating $10 for a digital download of the movie.

In case you need a little more convincing of putting your money down for this, here’s one of our favorites, I Am Radio, from her unique body of work.

UK Dark Comedy “Flowers” Now Streaming at Seeso

May 7, 2016

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dark comedy, flowers, julian barratt, olivia colman, will sharpe

The series from Will Sharpe made its Seeso debut just yesterday.

The latest UK comedy export comes in the form of the dark comedy Flowers that centers on a eccentric, dysfunctional family. From the looks of it, there’s a nice otherworldly mood that the show is set in that takes its dark comedy label to another level.

This is only one of several British comedies that you should check out on Seeso by the way.

Please Help Joey Izzo Make His Latest Dark Comedy Short “I Was There Too”

May 3, 2016

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crowdfunding, dark comedy, demorge brown, eric dadourian, i was there too, joey izzo, kickstarter, mass shooting, short film

Joey Izzo is a great director who has been repeatedly knocking it out of the park with his short films and sketches for years now.

He is setting to make his latest dark comedy short I Was There Too about a man lying about surviving a mass shooting in order to get sympathy from family members. The film will star the fantastic DeMorge Brown and Eric Dadourian.

All Joey is looking for is $5K on Kickstarter and he already has $3220 raised at the time of this post. There is a month left to go on the campaign.

Cary Fukunaga Developing Mental Institution Dark Comedy Starring Emma Stone and Jonah Hill

March 18, 2016

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cary fukunaga, dark comedy, emma stone, jonah hill, maniac, mental institution

(via Deadline)

So, a dark comedy is tad lighter in tone for Fukunaga, right?

Though it has yet to find a home, the man behind Beasts of No Nation and season 1 of True Detective, Cary Fukunaga is making his way into the world of comedy with a potential new series, Maniac.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise with Fukunaga at the helm that the project revolves around the fantasies of a man committed to a mental institution.

Emma Stone and Jonah Hill are almost set to star, which makes us think it won’t be long before Maniac is on its way to a series order.

Dave Ross & Ryan Singer’s Sketch Album “Three” Is Darkly Hysterical and Also Very NSFW

March 8, 2016

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comedy album, dark comedy, dave ross, ryan singer, sketch, three

Often, inspiration come in the 11th hour and at the spur of the moment. Such is the case with Three, a sketch album from Dave Ross and Ryan Singer recorded in four hours after they were having dinner one random night.

Oddly enough, the sketches contained therein pretty much cover all the bases of what you’re not supposed to talk about at the dinner table, mostly sex and religion. Also, they seemingly improvise in such a ridiculous way that wouldn’t be kosher at any table, save for the one for the sketch group that Ross is in, Women.

The outright, ultra-blue absurdity of Three toes the line between being cringeworthy and the sort of comedy that breaks your brain for how farcical it is.

If you’re into really dark comedy, you might really get into Three (just probably don’t play it loud at work as we mentioned in the headline).

Oh, did we mention it’s free to stream and download?

Showtime Developing 80s NYC Restauranteur Dark Comedy from Alan Cumming, “Florent”

September 26, 2015

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alan cumming, dark comedy, florent morellet, showtime

(via Deadline)

Along with the Jim Carrey 70s LA comedy scene project, Showtime seems to be getting into period pieces right now.

HBO has got enjoy a plethora of critical and commercial success with their comedies as of late with Veep, Silicon Valley, and Girls. We can only imagine that Showtime wants to join more in the premium cable comedy boom, probably prompting some really interesting projects that they’ve put in development.

NYC’s Meatpacking district in the 80s will be the setting for a project entitled Florent from Alan Cumming. It follows a period of real life restauranteur Florent Morellet wherein he opened a french restaurant in the aforementioned district, known for the crazy melting pot of people that crowded around it.

It’s really early in the process, but there are a lot of good ingredients at work here.

Open Mike Eagle’s “Doug Stamper” Co-Stars and Features Hannibal Buress

June 23, 2014

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dark comedy, doug stamper, hannibal buress, music video, open mike eagle

Open Mike Eagle’s “Doug Stamper” Co-Stars and Features Hannibal Buress

The music video for rapper Open Mike Eagle’s new song “Doug Stamper” off his new album Dark Comedy indeed has Hannibal Buress co-starring and rapping.

There’s a lot to digest and laugh at here such as credits, various blog backgrounds, “The Advice Show”, and more upon repeated viewings.

Zooey Deschanel & Anton Yelchin To Star in Dark Comedy ‘The Driftless Area’

April 25, 2014

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anton yelchin, dark comedy, driftless area, zooey deschanel

Zooey Deschanel & Anton Yelchin To Star in Dark Comedy ‘The Driftless Area’

Even with a vague description of being “pitted against a volatile crook” and “falling for a enigmatic woman”, The Driftless Area could be promising for the fact that it’s a dark comedy with Anton Yelchin, who you might have just seen in Only Lovers Left Alive, and Zooey Deschanel starring.

Perhaps, by “enigmatic woman”, which we’re assuming is Deschanel, there’s a chance that Zooey Could be the type of crazy enigmatic that she played so well on Weeds.

Henry Phillips to Release Album “Let’s Get Suicidal” as Musical Alter Ego José Suicidio

December 6, 2013

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comedy album, dark comedy, henry phillips, musical comedy

Being able to be dark, funny, and a talented musician is no easy feat, especially doing so as sort of character for an entire album.

We think Henry Phillips is going to pull that off with an album from “José Suicidio” entitled “Let’s Get Suicidal” coming out next week.

Listen to a preview here.

“It’s a Disaster” is Now on DVD

June 14, 2013

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apocalypse, dark comedy, david cross, it's a disaster

Without the benefit of a big budget, It’s A Disaster turned out to be one hell of a low key apocalypse dark comedy nicely written and directed by Todd Berger. It won’t have as much explosions or cameos from A-list celebrities (there’s David Cross, America Ferrera, and Julia Stiles if that’s what you looking for) left and right, but, if you get a chance, buy it and watch it on the recently released DVD.

Go See ‘It’s A Disaster’ Before You Have to Have a Real Life Apocalyptic Couples Brunch

April 19, 2013

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apocalypse, dark comedy, it's a disaster

It’s A Disaster by Todd Berger welcomes a wondrously nuanced dark comedy right at the apocalypse, as opposed to so many that are post-apocalyptic and full of zombies, of what will actually happen when most people’s dreaded afternoon at couples brunch was interrupted by their world basically ending.

Think if Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia was incredibly hilarious and you actually liked/related/identified with some of the characters, you’d get It’s A Disaster. Once you’re done with that, go see it at Vintage Los Feliz 3 now or when it opens up wider on June 20th or, we guess, on the Vine app for Twitter @OscopeLabs (starting in chronological order here).

Morning Debriefing 7/19/11

1) Paul Scheer’s NTSF:SD:SUV was interviewed by AOL TV and there’s a preview available on iTunes!!! Don’t miss the premiere this Thurs. at 12:15AM!

2) Funny or Die and/or Earwolf-FOD and Earwolf join in partnership!

3) Humblebrag’s monthly power list is out on Grantland!

4) The Comic’s Comic pointed out yet another random joke stealing accusation today. Hey people excited to be whistleblowers only for the sake of being a whistleblower, realize that there are plenty of incredibly creative and imaginative people not just in comedy, but the entirety of the entertainment industry, and that the possibility of someone coming up with very similar to what someone else came up with is very likely. In fact, it happens every single day.

If I had a nickel for every time I nearly had an aneurism when I read a log line for movie that just sold that’s basically what I’ve spend the better part of a year writing or hearing a similar joke that’s on an extremely esoteric topic to one that I have by a much more famous comedian than me, well, I would never ever work again. There’s a reason several intellectual property cases get thrown out every year because they are baseless and more often than not, the accusers care less about what they’re creating and more about the end result of trying to get rich quick.

Our advice: Think very carefully before you throw around the label of a “joke thief” around because it’s very hard to get rid of even if has no foundation in fact.

5) Watch Current TV’s Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi’s hilarious take on the Bachmann’s take on homosexuality.

Michele and Marcus Bachmann on Homosexuality – watch more funny videos

6) Kurt Braunohler’s World Wide of Animals: Seahorses. The funniest show about animal facts that did absolutely no fact checking whatsoever.

Kurt Braunohler’s World Wild of Animals: Seahorses – watch more funny videos

7) Amazing print comedy magazine RE:COM that’s distributed NATIONALLY is looking for photos from comedy happenings in the LA area. E-mail hi-res (300 dpi or better) pics to recomag@gmail.com if interested.

8) Maria Bamford interviewed in Midnight Poutine!

9) Connected Comedy interviews comedy booker Eric Yoder

10) Don’t know what photobombing is? Here’s an almost too perfect example from Ken Jeong in GQ (or from model Kate Upton depending on how you look at it)

11) Lighten up people, dark comedy is STILL comedy-a piece we wrote for Laughspin.com

12) Jesse Miller has a new client!!! (it’s his brother, Troy Miller, and he’s hard as hell with a Bo Staff)

13) Puddin’-Build-a-Bear

14) ON THE HORIZON
The 3rd Annual High School Talent Show @ Hot House Thurs. July 21st 9PM FREE (invite only)
Super Serious Show One Year Anniversary @ Smashbox Studios Thurs. July 21st 7PM $10 presale/$15 at door
Don’t Stop or We’ll Die LIVE @ UCB Theatre Sat. July 23rd 10PM $10
One Last Try for Comedy (Show) @ Fake Gallery Thurs. July 28th 8:30PM FREE

15) COMEDY CRAWL
The Good Luck Show @ Good Luck Bar 8PM FREE
Two Thumbs Way Down @ Nerdist Theater 8PM $10
Pizza Party Comedy @ Westside Comedy Theater 8:30PM $8
Comedy Bang Bang @ UCB Theatre $5 (stand by only)
Nick Thune & Friends w/Maria Bamford & Harland Williams @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 9PM $20
Holy Fuck @ Downtown Independent Theater 9PM FREE

16) OPEN MIC RUN
BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE TOKYO @ SEÑOR FISH 422 E. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/6 min./first come, first served/no purchase necessary
LIBRARY A COFFEE HOUSE 3418 E. Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
WESTWOOD BREW CO 1097 Glendon Ave., Westwood, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/lottery/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA/Starts 8PM/first come, first served/$4 min.
WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATER 1323-A 3rd St., Santa Monica, CA (in alley between 3rd St. Promenade and 4th St.)/Sign-up 9:45PM/Starts 10PM/lottery/$1 cover
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5 min./multiple sets allowed/bottled water and coffee provided

17) Was asked if I was human last night because of constantly overloading my plate with work by somehow finishing it? To be honest, I had a moment of doubt of whether I was indeed human or not. Even at this moment, there is a twinge of uncertainty only dismissed by the fact that it’s almost 1PM when I posting the Morning Debriefing.

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Morning Debriefing 7/17/11

1) Why can’t we have something like the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival here in LA? This sounds pretty fantastic and maybe you should donate to the cause…

2) Real Life: My Girlfriend’s A Bitch with Iliza Shlesinger.

3) Punchline Magazine became Laughspin.com and now there’s a whole page of stuff we contribute.

4) So Kristen Wiig is the voice of Babs in this slightly disturbing reboot of Looney Tunes on Cartoon Network and will produce and star in a suicide themed comedy that focuses on a woman who fakes suicide to gain the attention of an ex-boyfriend. We like this dark comedy streak by Wiig and hope it continues.

5) Remember when David Lynch used to do the daily weather? We’re surprised Lynch didn’t go the route of Rick Shapiro and his frequently posted and out of order Morning Meditations from Our Lady of No Thought Depot.

6) One of the more important things to note about GQ’s current “comedy” issue out on magazine racks now is that no one would know if it’s an issue about comedy if GQ didn’t tell anybody.

7) ON THE HORIZON
Jamie Kilstein-One Night Only @ Steve Allen Theater Mon. July 18th 8PM $10
The 2 & 45 @ All Star Lanes Mon. July 18th 8PM FREE

8) COMEDY CRAWL
Matt Besser: Enter the Hot Chicks Room @ UCB Theatre 6PM FREE
ASSSSCAT @ UCB Theatre 7:30PM FREE
Re-Animator: The Musical @ The Steve Allen Theater 8PM $30
A Gentle Evening With Josh & Don IV @ Fake Gallery 8:30PM FREE
French Toast @ Taix 8:30PM FREE
Top Story Weekly! @ iO West 9PM $5
Louis C.K. Working On New Shit During An Evening of Disjointed Comedy @ Largo 9PM $20-Sold Out
Power Violence @ The Complex 9PM FREE
Set List @ Flappers Burbank 9PM $12/2 item min.
Celebrity @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5 (stand by only)
Shitty Jobs @ UCB Theatre 11PM $5 (stand by only)

9) OPEN MIC RUN
PALMS 8572 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/lottery
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/$4 min./first come, first served
NERDIST THEATRE 7522 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (back room of Meltdown Comics)/Sign-up 7:15PM/Starts 7:30PM/lottery/30 spots available/no purchase necessary
TSUNAMEDY @ TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA (Echo Park)/Sign-up 8PM/Starts 9PM/first come, first served/mixed mic
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA (walk up Martel past Big Mama’s and Papa’s)/5PM to 11PM/$5/multiple sets allowed/bottled water and coffee available

10) As reporting of Carmeggedon continues, people are calling the 405 the main freeway in LA. That’s bullshit. The 10 gets no respect? If you want a real Carmeggedon shut down the 10 freeway between the 405 and the 110. (I obviously drive too much and think about these things)

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