TCB Debriefing 6/2-6/14/24: Hannah Einbinder, After Midnight, Conner O’Malley, Petey DeAbreu, Pope Visit, Sabrina Brier, John Early, NIAJF Introducing, Sam Morril, Comedy of War, Group Therapy, Ghosts, Carmen Lynch, Liz Miele, Adventure Time, Abbi Jacobson, Palm Royale, Beavis & Butthead, Owen Thiele, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Wallace & Gromit, Animation+, Tim Robinson, Free Eric Andre Tix
1. Every now and again, we’ve gotten to see comedians from their very inception of their career, cutting their teeth at whatever venue that they can possibly find to the storied, yet rarefied success and fame that one would hope for as a stand-up comedian, often reflected by their face and name being plastered on a giant billboard. We’re thrilled that Hannah Einbinder is one such person as we’ve bore witness to some of her earliest sets in the strangest places that had seeds of her undeniable comedic verve and prowess these days on display at a gorgeous El Rey Theatre. Her very first comedy special, HBO’s latest comedy release, Everything Must Go, shows off not only a confident Einbinder that seems like she’s on her third special, but is a very welcome, colorful, agile, and hysterical break (shout out also to director/one of the the Three Busy Debras, Sandy Honig) from the litany of stand-up crowd work videos that seem to be all that the art form has to offer these days. Additionally, Hannah impressively makes a go at tackling critical, current issues, often in a very niche ways, but cleverly devises very layered, nuanced, very fun bits as sugar to make the necessary medicine go down. With that all said, please enjoy Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go now streaming on Max.
2. After Midnight officially scored a season 2 (Forbes). That’s not entirely surprising given that the original went for 600 episodes, but we’ll be curious to see if Taylor Tomlinson and co. will get their own original recurring segment that rivals #hashtagwars.
3. Leave it to the imagination (and screaming ability) of the one and only Conner O’Malley to create a definitive satirical comedy special of the zeitgeist that perfectly skewers the intersection of A.I. and comedy and everyone’s anxiety around it. Please enjoy the brilliance of Stand Up Solutions right now if you haven’t done so already. SERIOUSLY, stop reading this and go and watch it. DO IT. One can only hope that this guides a whole new wave of what comedy specials can and should be in the months and years to come.
4. The sheer exuberance and poetry of Petey DeAbreu‘s comedy and vision of NYC should qualify him to be a “comedian laureate of the five boroughs”. If that’s not a thing, let’s make it one. See why with his Don’t Tell set here.
5. From Chris Rock to Seinfeld to Jimmy Fallon to Conan O’Brien to dozens upon dozens of comedians from around the globe (though it should be noted that this includes well over 50 Italian comedians and only one British one, Stephen Merchant) met with Pope Francis this week (via THR). This will be all of their late night stories for the next three to five years.
6. THE TikTok star to watch, Sabrina Brier, is going into the audiobook game with a title that might surprise you, “That Friend” (via Variety).
7. John Early is having yet another banner year with one of the most fun entrances Seth Meyers has had in awhile and going on a tour with his band, The Lemon Squares, that we had previously thought we were only going to get to see in his special Now More Than Ever.
8. Netflix Is a Joke Festival concluded it’s second edition a few weeks ago and, with it, their second round of “Introducing…”, their version of New Faces/Comics to Watch. For our money, keep an eye out on the wondrous and original stylings of Kel Cripe and Mandal.
9. Amazon is placing its latest bets of comedy special money on Sam Morril with You’ve Changed. Wonder what sort of money (or Amazon gift cards) Amazon is shelling out to bring on folks who have Netflix specials on to their side from the streaming giant. From the looks of it, it doesn’t get more classic looking of a comedy special than what Morril has up suit sleeves for this one, especially since it was only a few years ago that he did a rooftop special.
10. As there are comedians in the Ukraine doing comedy during this war with Russia, so comes a documentary of them doing just that, Comedy of War: Laughter in Ukraine. That has to be the first war in history that has had multiple documentary works made of it while it still is very much going on. Take a gander at Comedy of War‘s trailer here, then you can stream it via Comedy Dynamics right now.
11. Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat is doing “Group Therapy” as a comedy show with the likes of Mike Birbiglia, Neil Patrick Harris, Nicole Byer, Tig Notaro, Atsuko Okatsuka, Gary Gulman, and London Hughes. That’s a gala worthy line-up, but something that ought to be undeniably engrossing to watch. Take a gander at Group Therapy here.
12. Ghosts is such a hit for CBS that it’s following in the footsteps of The Office and having a German spin-off (Deadline).
13. Carmen Lynch might be setting a new bar for comedians that started in English and expanded to performing en Español. Get a taste of what that’s like with a trailer for Una Hora de Carmen Lynch here. Watch the whole special here.
14. Liz Miele is the latest comedian to unfairly suffer the wrath of YouTube’s hate speech algorithm. Thankfully, making a video about it has resulted in a reinstatement of ads, which Liz can go on and continue to make money off her self-produced and self-released special, as is the hope of many a comedian these days.
15. FYI, Adventure Time is pretty much getting into the cinematic universe business now (Variety).
16. First, Broad City, then an expansive remake/spin-off of A League of Their Own, and now Abbi Jacobson is getting into an adaptation of a “gender-bending, body switching” story that explores the “nature of true partnership” with Isle McElroy’s People Collide (Deadline). Love Jacobson’s arc of projects here and can’t wait to see where else she goes with it.
17. The creme de la creme of comedy classes will meet again between Kristen Wiig and Carol Burnett since Palm Royale has got a second season (Deadline).
18. The revived Beavis & Butthead scored a third season at Comedy Central (Deadline). A special thanks should go to Heidi Gardner and Ryan Gosling and Mikey Day.
19. There’s another adopted comedy based off the life of actor Owen Thiele in the works (THR). Fingers crossed that it will be more realistic and, thus, less rosy than Trying.
20. Late Night with Seth Meyers will no longer have a house band in just a few months (Variety) and this very well might be the first sign of late night being REALLY reimagined/shaken up/imploding.
21. There will be a Wallace & Gromit holiday movie and, honestly, no one else should even try as that’ll be more than enough adorable humor/adventure for the holiday season (via THR).
22. Hey Millennials, remember when Cartoon Network was the center of your universe? Well, there’s a new streaming service (that has to be your favorite phrase to hear these days, right?), Animation+, looking to fill in that nostalgic void (via The Wrap)
23. Please enjoy Tim Robinson in not a ITYSL sketch (but it kind of is?), but a promo for the new edition of skate. here.
24. Jimmy Fallon will be giggling his way through interviews through 2028 (via Variety).
25. We’ll leave you with this: If you want tix to Eric Andre @ The Bellwether in LA on 7/19, we might know someone. Hit us up.