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Pick of the Day: Call & Response with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle
June 10, 2020
News
baron vaughn, blavity, call and response, funny or die, mike eagle

Whether you’re missing The New Negroes and/or you enjoy the beautiful comedy of Baron Vaughn and the fantastic music of Open Mike Eagle and/or you support the need for their to be more amplified representation of BIPOC in media, you’ll be happy to know that Baron and Mike are getting a brand new live-stream show Call & Response.

Their show New Negroes focused on presenting a class of black comedians that should been on your radar and featured plenty of sketch/music video hybrids. Call & Response is going to expand their reach and have a much more topical bent with Vaughn and Eagle talking with all sorts of creatives about this current historical moment, how they’re part of it, and what to do going forward.

Best of all, you’ll get this crucial delight of a variety talk show daily from Funny or Die and Blavity.

Specifically, the show will be live-streamed every day at 12PM PT/3PM ET starting Tues. Jun. 16th at all these places:
Funny or Die’s channels on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and Twitch
Blavity’s channels on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook

View this post on Instagram

OH YES. Open Mike and I are at it again. Thanks to @funnyordie and @blavity For helping us C-section this baby into the world.

A post shared by Baron Vaughn (@barvonblaq) on Jun 9, 2020 at 12:32pm PDT

Trailer for SoulPancake and Funny or Die’s Mental Health Doc “It’s Not That Funny”
June 4, 2019
Uncategorized
chris gethard, depression, documentary, funny or die, mental health, sara benincasa, sarah silverman, wayne brady

Though the thumbnail here says that “comedy won’t save you”, we will say that comedy has done a lot to shine a light on the importance of mental health via the struggles of many a comedian (though it’s not a pre-requisite to be depressed to do comedy) with anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, bipolar disorder, etc.

SoulPancake and Funny or Die are continuing with that notion with this documentary It’s Not That Funny featuring Sarah Silverman, Chris Gethard, Wayne Brady, Sara Benincasa, and more talking frankly about how they’ve managed and dealt with their mental health while in comedy. 

See a bit of it for yourself with this trailer.

We’re guessing if you’re a fan of the Hilarious World of Depression, this will be right up your alley. Look for It’s Not That Funny to release soon via SoulPancake and Funny or Die.

Billy on the Street to Return as 8 Short Form Digital Episodes
September 5, 2018
Uncategorized
billy eichner, billy on the street, funny or die, lyft

Billy on the Street to Return as 8 Short Form Digital Episodes

Per @billyeichner on Twitter:

I HAVE SOME NEWS…BILLY ON THE STREET is COMING BACK!!!!!!! With special guests EMMA STONE, TIFFANY HADDISH, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, KATE McKINNON and MORE!!! LET’S GO LESBIANS, LET’S GO!!!!!!

“These 8 new segments will be available for the whole world to see on the Billy on the Street YouTube channel (https://t.co/2C65abOaPr) and ALL MY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter). Presented by @funnyordie and @lyft. SPREAD THE WORD!!!! AND AWAY WE GO!!!!!”

Your favorite ambush quizmaster will indeed be back very soon. Somehow, even though Billy has been doing this for several years, people in the streets of NYC will still be taken surprise.

Funny Or Die Will Be Moving To Vox Media’s Digital Platform Starting This Summer
March 6, 2018
Uncategorized
comedy boom, funny or die, partnership, vox media

Funny Or Die Will Be Moving To Vox Media’s Digital Platform Starting This Summer

Funny or Die started years ago with The Landlord and spawned an online comedy empire that even had its own proprietary media player separate from YouTube and Vimeo, but has come across hard times as of late.

Now, they’ll be partnering with online media conglomerate Vox and using their digital platforms and technology to keep FoD going. Their exact plans are vague at this point, especially with a list of goals of the parternship that FoD has already had for quite some time, 

However, the idea that Funny or Die recently had a notable wave of layoffs and is fully partnering with another media company has to make one think of the ongoing struggle between art and commerce when it comes making money from comedy online (i.e. even something as established as FoD needs help these days).

The 2018 Rose Parade Hosted by Cord (Will Ferrell) & Tish (Molly Shannon) Now Streaming at Amazon
January 1, 2018
Uncategorized
amazon, cord and tish, funny or die, molly shannon, rose parade, will ferrell
image

We’re going to go ahead and guess you didn’t wake up at 8AM PST to catch Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon bring some mischief to the venerable tradition of New Year’s Day Rose Parade.

Thankfully, the replay of Cord & Tish’s 2018 Rose Parade coverage is streaming for you at Amazon Prime. See it for yourself (if you have Amazon Prime) here.

Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon, Er, Tish Cattigan and Cord Hosenbeck Will Host 2018 Rose Parade for Amazon Prime
November 22, 2017
Uncategorized
2018, amazon prime, funny or die, molly shannon, new year's, pasadena, rose parade, will ferrell

Perhaps, this Jan. 1st, you might want to either pull an all nighter on New Year’s Eve or not get so hammered on champagne that you sleep through the morning. 

That way, you can watch Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon, in character as Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan, bring some mischief to the time honored New Year’s Day tradition of the Rose Parade.

You’ll be able to watch their hijinks at 8AM PST live via Amazon Prime.

Here’s a taste of what’s up their sleeve.

CBS Gets a Bit Edgy with “No Activity” from Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Funny or Die
October 30, 2017
Uncategorized
adam mckay, cbs all access, funny or die, no activity, trailer, will ferrell

This uncensored trailer for No Activity, which will be a marquee series of CBS streaming platform, CBS All Access, is decidedly (and thankfully) against type for the broadcast network. 

Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Funny or Die along with the cavalcade of your favorite comedy stars (Tim Meadows, Jason Mantzoukas, Arturo Castro,  Bridget Everett, Amy Sedaris, etc.) explore what happens in the downtime of detectives and criminals (i.e. the countless hours spent waiting for something to happen).

Of course, such downtime leaves room for plenty of decidedly non-professional police or criminal syndicate behavior. See for yourself in the trailer here.

No Activity debuts on CBS All Access on November 12th.

IFC to Start Airing FODtv from Funny or Die on Saturdays
October 3, 2017
Uncategorized
fodtv, funny or die, ifc

IFC to Start Airing FODtv from Funny or Die on Saturdays

IFC brass are actually billing it as Funny or Die hacking the network feed of IFC to play new and exclusive Funny or Die content and IFC letting it happen on a weekly basis.

So, maybe Funny or Die is trying to couch themselves in the linear TV world kind of like Adult Swim does with Cartoon Network? We’ll have to wait and see. 

Funny or Die’s “Pitch” App Aims to Streamline Making Money and Moving Up in Comedy Writing
July 27, 2017
Uncategorized
funny or die, jfl, matt klinman, pitch

Funny or Die’s “Pitch” App Aims to Streamline Making Money and Moving Up in Comedy Writing

Basically, Matt Klinman, Pitch’s creator, has made a sort of digital writers room for specific topics, ad campaigns, etc. where, if invited, you stand to possibly make money from writing jokes, humorous copy, and the like based on the performance (i.e. likes) of whatever you write. 

The app will launch at JFL Montreal this weekend and is, again, invite only. 

However, we’re thoroughly intrigued to see where this might go and how it possibly might provide a path to those who follow the writing path in comedy. If you can get in on “Pitch” somehow, you might want to try it out.

Funny or Die Celebrates 10 Years with a Special Retrospective Series by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay
July 12, 2017
Uncategorized
adam mckay, docu series, funny or die, history, the landlord, will ferrell
image

10 years ago, The Landlord came out on Funny or Die and led Will Ferrell and Adam McKay on a path towards changing the game in terms of comedy content on the Web. 

To mark the milestone, Will and Adam are doing their own “accurate” recounting of FoD’s history in a new weekly series. Start with part one here. 

Here Are Your Comedy Nominees for the 21st Annual Webby Awards
April 12, 2017
Uncategorized
2017, college humor, conan o'brien, cracked, funny or die, last podcast on the left, nominees, the onion, vote, webby awards

There are a lot of perennial favorites and heavy hitters here, but we are really happy to see The Last Podcast on The Left, possibly the best distillation of comedy and horror that there has been, getting some love here.

Also, you can vote on all of these categories up until April 20th and see the rest of the nominees, of which there are hundreds, here.

WEBSITE-HUMOR
-Funny or Die
-The Onion
-The Daily Show: Black Trump
-CollegeHumor
-Cracked
Honoree:
-Above Average

FILM & VIDEO-COMEDY-INDIVIDUAL SHORT OR EPISODE
-The New iPhone is Just Worse, CollegeHumor
-3AM, The Simpsons
-Tinder: The Superhero Movie, Rooster Teeth
-Epic Rap Battles of History: Wonder Woman vs. Stevie Wonder, Maker Studios
-Woke Bois-White Male Feminist, Casual Sketch
Honorees: 
-Absolutely Beautiful: Watch This Woman Tell Her Husband She’s Pregnant While Conan O’Brien Pours Good Milk Down The Sink, The Onion
-Pac-Dog (Animal Arcade Ep. 1), Denizen Company
-Stranger Things: The Truth About Steve & Jean-Ralphio, CBS Interactive
-Katy Perry Votes Naked, Funny or Die
-What If Donald Trump’s Been Using a Teleprompter This Whole Time?, Bloomberg Politics
-White Fragility Workplace Training, AJ+

FILM & VIDEO-COMEDY-LONG FORM OR SERIES
-Brooklyn Sound
-Mean Tweets, Jimmy Kimmel Live
-Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis, Funny or Die
-Clueless Gamer with Conan O’Brien, Team Coco
-If Google Was a Guy, College Humor
Honorees:
-Celebs Have Issues, AOL Studios
-Hashtaggers, Stun Creativetoon
-Toon, Newbe TV
-Jingle Ballin’: A Holiday Special Starring Liza Koshy, Above Average
-Funny Or Die Presents Donald Trump’s The Art of the Deal: The Movie, Funny or Die
-How To Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps!, JASH
-The 5th Quarter, OBB Pictures
-BuzzFeed’s The Try Guys, BuzzFeed Motion Pictures

FILM & VIDEO-BRANDED-COMEDY
-Say my name, say my name, Jhpiego
-Lemonade, Not Ice T, The Martin Agency
-Craft Services: Old Spice Sweat-Blastin’ Robot Tank, Viacom Velocity
-Giphy Keys to Sucess, Giphy
-Undercover Lyft, Lyft
Honorees:
-We Know Acne, We Don’t Know Teens, Ways & Means
-Timer: Behind the Scenes, TBWAMedia Arts Lab
-Rise of the Tomb Raider and Broad City Vignette, The Story Lab
-Emily Ratajkowski Shares Her Social Media Secrets, Capture This
-Viralocity: Linsanity, Viacom Velocity
-Kevin Hart Press Conference, R/GA New York, R/GA London, and R/GA Portland
-Girls Can’t Code – Boobs, McCann New York/Tool

SOCIAL-HUMOR
-Eavesdropper, Mete Design
-TSA/Instagram, TSA/Public Affairs
-Kirby Jenner
-@ConanOBrien, Team Coco
-The Onion
Honorees:
-Cracked on Facebook, CRACKED.COM
-Vice Principals Morning Announcements, HBO

PODCASTS & DIGITAL AUDIO-COMEDY
-The Last Podcast on the Left, Cave Comedy Radio
-The Carson Podcast, Mark Malkoff LLC
-2 Dope Queens, WNYC Radio
-My Dad Wrote a Porno, Medium Maze
-The Hilarious World of Depression, American Public Media
Honorees:
-Hard Nation, EARWOLF/MIDROLL
-Comedy Bang Bang, EARWOLF/MIDROLL
-The Cracked Podcast, CRACKED.COM

Hulu Orders Topical Weekly Show with Sarah Silverman from Funny Or Die
March 27, 2017
Uncategorized
funny or die, hulu, I love you america, sarah silverman, satirical news show, talk show

Hulu Orders Topical Weekly Show with Sarah Silverman from Funny Or Die

We’re curious to see where this will go as Sarah Silverman is definitely politically active and will be going for a show that’s balanced inviting other perspectives, beliefs, etc. to have a conversation with her. 

We’re guessing that’d go much differently than it does on Real Time with Bill Maher, especially because of the fact that it’s called “I Love You America”. Also, if you’ve ever seen Sarah do crowd work multiple times, you’d notice that her curiosity does indeed lead her down a path of trying to hear people out. 

10 episodes have been ordered from Funny or Die and a premiere date has yet to be announced. 
January 10, 2017
Uncategorized
bryan safi, erin gibson, funny or die, throwing shade, tv land, tv taping

The latest podcast to rise to the occasion of a TV series will be Bryan Safi and Erin Gibson’s Throwing Shade and you can witness this latest milestone by attending their TV tapings.

Jan. 12th, 20th, 27th and Feb. 3rd and 10th, Throwing Shade will be taping at Hollywood Center Studios for TV Land.

Tickets are free and you can (and should) get them here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, open mics, and maps can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

Watch “The Earliest Show” Where Ben Schwartz Goes Through the Five Stages of Grief as a Morning Talk Show Co-Host Next to a Very Chipper Lauren Lapkus
December 21, 2016
Uncategorized
ben schwartz, betsy sodaro, earliest show, five stages of grief, funny or die, jake johnson, jane levy, joe hartzler, lauren lapkus, pedro pascal, reggie miller, reggie watts, thomas middleditch

Watch “The Earliest Show” Where Ben Schwartz Goes Through the Five Stages of Grief as a Morning Talk Show Co-Host Next to a Very Chipper Lauren Lapkus

Watching Ben Schwartz go through denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance in the setting of a blissfully aloof morning show with the uber-cheerful Lauren Lapkus is a performance worthy of some awards attention. 

Branded content (Cap’n Crunch is prominently featured) doesn’t get much more out there and, at the same time, better than this.

Funny or Die’s The Earliest Show Has Ben Schwartz and Lauren Lapkus Deal with a Talk Show Gone Off the Rails
November 12, 2016
Uncategorized
ben schwartz, earliest show, funny or die, lauren lapkus, parody, reggie miller, reggie watts

Funny or Die’s The Earliest Show Has Ben Schwartz and Lauren Lapkus Deal with a Talk Show Gone Off the Rails

TJ Miller has been noted to make morning talk shows go off the rails.

Funny or Die’s faux version of an early morning talk show might just be somehow even more chaotic.

Ben Schwartz and Lauren Lapkus co-host The Earliest Show on Funny or Die that has all the trappings of your stereotypical, cheery talk show that’s on at 6AM. However, there’s a dark undertone that Schwarz and Lapkus deal with that makes this a little more absurdly serious than your average talk show parody.

There are two episodes released right now, but there are more coming each week.

Funny or Die Putting on a Free “Jokes for Votes” Tour at Colleges All Through California
September 28, 2016
Uncategorized
baron vaughn, cal state la, comedy tour, csu northridge, elac, funny or die, humboldt state, james adomian, jokes for votes, kumail nanjiani, reggie watts, san diego state, sarah silverman, sonoma state, uc berkeley, uc riverside
image

Basically, to encourage voter registration, Funny or Die is bringing you the likes of Sarah Silverman, Reggie Watts, Kumail Nanjiani, Baron Vaughn, and James Adomian to perform at free shows at college campuses up, down, and all around CA on the Jokes For Votes tour. 

Tomorrow’s they’re kicking it off at LA’s very own ELAC (East Los Angeles College) and you can get free tickets here.

Watch Hillary Clinton on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis
September 22, 2016
Uncategorized
between two ferns, funny or die, hillary clinton, zach galifianakis
Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis: Hillary Clinton from Hillary Clinton

You know the drill by now. 

One of the funniest web series of all time has one of the most powerful people in the world essentially go through a round of back-and-forth roast jokes and it’s great.

This latest edition with Hillary Clinton is no exception to said drill and we definitely undid the damage of that Pokemon Go pun that Clinton used from a few weeks back.

Watch and enjoy here. 

When Asked to Make a Viral Video, Mike Birbiglia and The Cast of Don’t Think Twice Decided To Do This Instead
August 23, 2016
Uncategorized
chris gethard, don't think twice, funny or die, gillian jacobs, kate micucci, keegan michael key, mike birbiglia, satire, short film, tami sagher, viral video
The Viral Video: The Most Popular Short Film Ever (By Mike Birbiglia) from Keegan-Michael Key

As part of the promotion of a movie, the talent is often now required to do some sort of online content that needs to go viral. 

Such a dilemma befell Don’t Think Twice’s Mike Birbiglia, Keegan-Michael Key, Gillian Jacobs, Chris Gethard, Kate Micucci, and Tami Sagher.

So, they did this.

Is it a viral video? Is it a short film? Is it a sketch? Is it all three as a commentary of the debilitating allure of having content go viral? Is that in of itself a viral video?

We’ll let you decide for yourself (though we’re betting on the last two FYI). 

Josh Fadem Offers a Great Counterpoint to Ghostbusters with “Ghost Trusters”
July 30, 2016
Uncategorized
demorge brown, funny or die, ghostbusters, ghosttrusters, josh fadem, parody, scott gairdner

Whether you’re a long time Josh Fadem fan that will revel in seeing one of his classic bits get expanded into an entire sketch or someone who is into great, silly riffs on the popular Ghostbusters franchise, we think you will enjoy this Ghost Trusters music video all the same.

Those are the only two types of people in this world, right?

Preview “Triumph’s Summer Election Special 2016″ Coming to Hulu Next Month
July 26, 2016
Uncategorized
bob schieffer, dnc, funny or die, hulu, rnc, robert smigel, triump the insult comic dog

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog is doing another whole election special, especially after the success of the first one from the primaries, covering the RNC and DNC. 

It’s set to start streaming on Thursday, August 11th on Hulu.

Until then, here’s a preview of Triumph roasting Bob Schieffer.

Line-Up for 2016 Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival
July 22, 2016
Uncategorized
ali wong, alice wetterlund, bert kreischer, bridget everett, cameron esposito, comedy festival, funny or die, hannibal buress, ifc, jim jefferies, john mulaney, john oliver, kumail nanjiani, kyle dunnigan, oddball, tom segura, tracy morgan

The Oddball Comedy & Curiosity Festival returns as one of the biggest comedy touring festivals ever. 

It’s interesting that they went with the bold red font for top billed acts and listed the line-up alphabetically instead of doing the traditional top-to-bottom-big-name-to-up-and-coming. It’s one way to be an oddball we suppose.

You can get your tickets here.

Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer Play Good Cop/Bad Cop for Funny or Die and Interrogate You in All 360˚
June 11, 2016
Uncategorized
360, fod exclusive, funny or die, good cop bad cop, paul scheer, rob huebel, virtual reality, vr

You probably already know this, but VR is coming back in a big way.

As the technology is being made more and more readily accessible to everyone with a smartphone, more and more folks are finding different ways to utilize it.

For Funny or Die, they decided to use VR in a classic good cop/bad cop scenario played out beautifully by Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer.

You can watch the 2D version here or the 3D Google Cardboard version here and enjoy being accused of a crime that you didn’t (or did?) commit.

Alexis Wilkinson Imagines What a Politically Correct Plantation Might Be Like So You Don’t Have To
April 28, 2016
Uncategorized
alexis wilkinson, baron vaughn, dean edwards, dulce sloan, funny or die, nick mandernach

PC Culture Comes To The Plantation

from

Funny Or Die

Writer/director Alexis Wilkinson managed to juxtapose the diametrically opposed concepts of a politically correct focus group and a slave plantation into this sketch. Even with non-offensive language, slavery, as you can imagine, still looks terrible.

The Throwing Shade Podcast Gets Picked Up as Late Night Series on TV Land and Is Going on a National Tour
April 16, 2016
Uncategorized
bryan safi, comedy podcast, comedy tour, erin gibson, funny or die, throwing shade, tv land

So, Throwing Shade is getting the shine it deserves?

The great topical and pop culture podcast Throwing Shade helmed by Erin Gibson and Bryan Safi has just gotten a big upgrade. 

The Hollywood Reporter announced that TV Land has ordered 10 episodes of an adapted TV version of the show to premiere in January in the fiercely contested 11PM slot. 

You can get a sense of what the show might be like with this clip from the pilot.

Gibson and Safi are also going on a big nationwide tour from Aug. 8th-Sept. 30th. Specific cities and dates are below and tickets are on sale now.

image

This might be one of the few times that the term ‘throwing shade’ has something positive attached to it.

Funny or Die Hires Obama’s Former Speech Writer David Litt as Head Writer and Producer at FoD’s Washington D.C. Office
February 24, 2016
Uncategorized
david litt, election year, funny or die, obama, washington d.c.

(via Variety)

Funny or Die is getting very serious about their content in this election year.

David Litt was not only President Barack Obama’s speech writer, but acted as a lead writer at the last four of Obama’s hit White House Correspondents Association Dinner performances where people consistently were amazed of how funny Obama was (sometimes, more so than the host who is actually a comedian).

So, being one of the lead creatives in heading writing and production at Funny or Die’s Washington D.C. offices is a good move on Funny or Die’s part. 

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