los angeles

Morning Debriefing 2/10/12

1) Jon Glaser spread his, as @cleftclips put it, “blissful stupidity” all over LA last night both on Conan and at Cinefamily for the Delocated Show.

2) Did you forget how brilliant Dana Gould is for a second? Here he is as “Maurice Evans as Dr. Zaius as Hal Holbrook as Mark Twain” just as a reminder.

3) Last night on late night, Carol Burnett recounted how writers’ rooms haven’t changed much in comedy on Conan, Chris Hardwick announced the launching of the Nerdist YouTube channel on April 1st (or will it?) on Fallon. Tonight on late night, catch Neal Brennan on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM) and Portlandia on IFC at 10PM right before that.

5) Whether you’re a nerd or the former bully that has learned the error of their ways, you should definitely check out print (yes, that medium hasn’t died yet) comedy publication THE DEVASTATOR because, as you’ll find out, the world is in jeopardy unless you do so. Also, plenty of hilarious people contribute to it that are from Conan, The Simpsons, Adult Swim, as well as people who are Asterios Kokkinos. 

6) The March Comedy Madness, the stand-up comedy single elimination tournament, is back and is having open auditions today at the Comedy Store from 3PM to 7PM, of which, “we” will be sitting in on the panel. 

7) Check out the trailer for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World with Steve Carell, Keira Knightley, Patton Oswalt, and even TJ Miller as a TGI Friday’s-ish host. It sure reminds us a lot of a Canadian movie with Sandra Oh, Last Night.

8) Speaking of Patton Oswalt, he is currently in talks to be in a Ben Stiller remake of a 1947 Danny Kaye film with Shirley MacLaine and Kristen Wiig.

9) Jake Weisman addresses his last Superbowl op-ed and his identity as a deity and the Lombardi trophy’s identity as a trophy.

10) Speaking of the Superbowl, we gave advertisers and marketing companies a bunch of suggestions to make more effective ads at the Nerdist for the 2013 Superbowl because they didn’t convince anyone to buy anything this year.

11) The LA Weekly, somehow, found out the 5 spots where we’d most likely spend Valentine’s Day daytime drinking.

12) …and now, for an important message from future Paul Cibis.

13) Many in LA poke fun at the people writing their screenplays in the coffee shops of LA as if it’s a metaphor for the pathetic desperation that keeps this city alive enough to have a pulse. I like to point out the fact that too many in LA make metaphors of how they’re doing nothing.

Report 00424
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/9/12

1) “Absolutely.” Michael Showalter answering question about there being a sequel to Wet Hot American Summer before he’s force fed food on TV.

2) Funny or Die has predicted the career path of Jean Dujardin, star of the Artist, in America as a villain. 

3) Portlandia is being adapted into a book and it’s not being put on MagCloud. What?

4) On late night tonight, Jon Glaser will be on Conan probably wearing Lakers and Clippers apparel right in front of Carol Burnett, who is also a guest (TBS 11PM), Weird Al Yankovic will be on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (CBS 12:35AM), and both Chris Hardwick and Zooey Deschanel will be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM). Earlier in the evening, don’t forget about Billy on the Street (Fuse TV 11PM), delocated

5) Foreign comedies have perhaps gotten a bad rap for being the same screwball comedy that involves saving an establishment or trying to reconnect with “the old world”, but The Fairy is anything but that (and it’s also pretty funny).

6) Kelly Carlin, daughter of George Carlin, just got her own Sirius XM show.

7) Bridesmaids has made several millions of dollars in VOD sales and continues to be the most recognizable movie nominated at the Oscars.

8) Kenny Powers wrote an inspirational letter to Tim Tebow and y’all shall straight up read that shit.

9) PHD or stand-up comedy? Read about the very funny Jono Zalay’s dilemma.

10) Though this one guy is admitting to legitimately threatening South Park, there is little doubt in our minds that if he had planned to have a South Park episode made about him, he just succeeded.

11) You wanted a list of the Funniest Late Night TV Guests in This Millennium Thus Far, right? Yeah, you did.

12) Our picks for the 5 Most Intentionally Funny Videos This Week for the Nerdist go all the way from Billy Eichner yelling at the Superbowl to Ryan O’Flanagan yelling about dishes.

13) The look on the faces of the New Orleans Hornets as Will Ferrell is announcing them is priceless.

14) People involved in comedy have to unfortunately realize that the prevailing attitude amongst non-comedy fans are “Why the hell should we pay for comedy?” and “What’s the worst joke?”. Damn it.

Report 00423
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/8/12

1) Did you know that Matt Walsh’s directorial debut, High Road, with a cavalcade of UCB’s best, has a new trailer and can be purchased from Target.com? Well, now you do.

2) Last night on late night, Jon Glaser makes a straight up fool of himself on Fallon.

3) If you’ve ever wondered why there isn’t a March Madness for comedy, then you haven’t heard about the aptly named March Comedy Madness, a single-elimination comedian tournament, that will be having open call auditions (it doesn’t cost anything to enter) this Fri. at the Comedy Store from 3PM-7PM.

4) Three great comedy Kickstarters to donate to:
The Creek and the Cave
The Los Angeles Podcast Festival
Rick Shapiro

5) Joesph Gordon Levitt will make his directorial debut in an untitled comedy with Scarlett Johannson, which, from the sound of it, sounds like the exact opposite of 500 Days of Summer.

6) Did you know that Mel Brooks and Neil Simon used to write for Sid Caesar? You know who comedian Sid Caesar is right? How about Neil Simon? Mel Brooks? Anything? Why aren’t you answering us? There’s a DVD called Caesar’s Writers where you can learn all about it.

7) …and now for some invaluable life advice from Ron Swanson…

8) The LA Times broke down the shift in what the comedy category at the Grammys has become.

9) Of course, Jimmy Kimmel would challenge America to unplug their TV at a crucial moment during the Superbowl and have a hilarious montage of it.

10) The writing duo behind the Black List hit Chewie, are rewriting the live action adaptation of the Jetsons. Yes, that was a very “industry insider” sentence.

11) On today’s Puddin’, Eddie Pepitone teaches us the value of a dollar after the world ends.

12) To anyone who says, “Comedy is a dead art form.” You’re a fucking cunt-tard. No elaboration necessary.

Report 00422
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/7/12

1) Patrice O’Neal’s Mr. P is available today. Pay your respects and laugh.

2) Last night on late night, John Roy brings it on Conan. Tonight on late night, Keegan Michael-Key from Key & Peele will be on Conan (TBS 11PM) and Jon Glaser from Delocated on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM).

3) Who care what you think of Madonna at the Superbowl? Billy Eichner loves her and that’s good enough.

4) Lindsay Ames and Ron Babcock demonstrate How to End a Date in 30 Seconds for MTV!

5) Cameos to watch for, Kristen Wiig will be on Portlandia as a catnapper this Friday (IFC 10PM) and Louis CK will be on Parks and Recreation next Thurs. (NBC 8:30PM)

6) To help get through his cancer treatment, Miles Austrevich is looking for jokes to laugh at…

7) Rob O’Reilly also released his album today “Don’t Sioux Me”!

8) We can’t wait for Nick Turner’s web series, King Temp, coming out next week.

9) The 9th episode of This Better Be Funny is an exercise in futility in trying to not seem not creepy with three guys including guest Jerry Brandt, co-host of the Drinking Buddies, sitting on a bench in Downtown Burbank shouting obscenities and making mulatto not seem like a racist term anymore.

10) On today’s Puddin’, Eddie Pepitone shows us how we should all eat ravioli out of a can in a break room.

11) So from what I can gather, comedy has collectively said that you can’t have a sincere opinion on Lana Del Rey.

Report 00421
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/6/12

1) …and now for Everything about the Super Bowl 2012 That’s Comedy Relevant But Weren’t Really Going to Ask

What to Catch Up On:
Watch all the commercials here.
Watch the Will Ferrell Old Milwaukee ad that only aired in Nebraska here.
Watch Dan Harmon celebrate at JD Ryznar’s house the last time the Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl here.

The final touchdown of the game by NY Giants’ Ahmad Bradshaw will go down as the funniest TD ever in Super Bowl history.

Funniest Tweets During the Superbowl about the Superbowl:
“@robdelaney If you tweet about ANYTHING other than the Superbowl for the next 3 hrs you are literally worse than Osama bin Laden.”
“@kurtbraunohler HEY WHEN’S THE LAST TIME SO MUCH IRRELEVANCE TOOK AN ELEVATOR TOGETHER?!?!?!" [RE: ad with Madonna and Jay Leno in elevator]
”@EveryTweet_Ever MADONNA IS ON MY TV AND I HAVE ALL THE OPINIONS THAT MATTER" 
“@GuyEndoreKaiser That’ll do, Madonna… that’ll do." 
”@thesulk Dear Coca Cola, we’re aware of you. Spend money on other stuff.“
@mrseanpatton had a whole series of tweets that deserve a slow clap: 
"That girl in the telaflora commercial, I fucked her.”
“All the actors in that Avengers commercial, I fucked them. The green one is a freak in the sack!”
“Whoa! Saw that angel do a backflip?! Yeah I fucked him. How do you think he learned to backflip?" 
"There were over 100 people involved in this halftime show. I would not fuck any of them. Not again anyway.”

Funniest Tweet During the Superbowl That Had Nothing Whatsoever To Do With The Superbowl or Anything Else on TV:
“@Katie_Crown "I have no eyes!” – president boob"

…and that concludes Everything about the Super Bowl 2012 That’s Comedy Relevant But Weren’t Really Going to Ask. Back to the normal debriefing.

2) SXSW announces their comedy podcast line-up featuring WTF!, Comedy Bang Bang, Smartest Man in the World, You Made It Weird w/Pete Homes, and more.

3) Comedy finally gets some unfiltered respected long form professional criticism with the Spit Take officially launching today.

4) Tonight on late night, watch John Roy do a set on Conan! (TBS 11PM)

5) Improv Everywhere challenges Aspen, CO to meet a black person and white people are still sort of weird about in 2012. 

6) The Unbookables, a documentary about comedy’s dark side i.e. when comedy becomes a battle (sometimes started by the person on stage), is now available on DVD with the likes of Kristine Levine, Brendon Walsh, Sean Rouse, and more.

7) The very funny Wendy Liebman chatted with the very funny Josh Fadem. Oh, comedy nerdom…

8) We got to chat with Susan Burke for Laughspin before she went to Sundance for Smashed, which she co-wrote, and hopefully became all big and famous, especially since Sony Pictures Classics just bought the movie.

9) Watch sketch group Dead Kevin explore the intricacies of assigned dish washing between roommates in a way that you should ever do. 

10) Patton Oswalt touched on this on Finest Hour, but as it has been discovered that law enforcement agencies can remotely activate microphones attached to mobile devices, it’s pretty hilarious how much non-sense they’d have to listen to ESPECIALLY if they listened to any comedian for just one day.

Report 00420
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/5/12

1) The NY Giants mistakenly updated that they are Super Bowl Champions. Can we all not tweet during the Super Bowl because that’s clearly the funniest thing that will happen today?

2) The NY Times Magazine, apparently, has a co-dependent relationship of sorts with comedy podcasts.

3) You might have heard that Hannibal Buress got in a car accident, but has said, “Thanks for the kind wishes everyone. This was my first hospital visit in about 6 years. My shit is legit smashed up but I’ll be fine.”  Even with a big scar on his face, Hannibal has such a great sense of humor that Chelsea Peretti can run jokes about the whole ordeal via text.

4) Sarah Chalke is moving on up to get top billing in new ABC comedy pilot.

5) In case you haven’t heard, one of the alternative comedy shows in LA back when “alternative comedy” wasn’t such a divisive label, Uncabaret, is back every Sunday.

6) The Humordour chatted with Kurt Braunohler, and, well… found out what happens when you ask Kurt leading questions and more.

7) People getting arrested for trying to be funny is still a thing in 2012. Wow.

8) …and now for a comedy history lesson about alt comedy in San Francisco when Patton Oswalt and his class were coming up by Dan Dion.

9) Prediction: #MoreExcitingThanTheSuperBowl will be a trending topic on Twitter later today. Also, I imagine some comic will start #FuckThePuppyBowl.

Report 00419
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/4/12

1) If you missed Paul Mooney’s latest Showtime special, “The Godfather of Comedy”, it’s playing throughout this month, that is, if you have Showtime or Showtime 2…

2) Riot LA is officially funded. 

3) The Burbank International Film Festival, which has a couple of comedy categories, is taking submissions.

4) Hey, look who’s playing at the Sasquatch Music Festival that isn’t one of the lauded music acts: Pete Holmes, Todd Barry, Rob Delaney, Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Howard Kremer, and more. This comedy thing seems to be catching on.

5) Splitsider rounded up the Ten Most-Hated Comedies Rated 0% on Rotten Tomatoes, which, not surprisingly, doesn’t feature anything that’s objectively terrible like Manos: the Hands of Fate.

6) Forgot what the word diction meant? Here’s 5 comedians who aren’t George Carlin (because you could argue that he had the best diction) that can help you regain that knowledge from HS English.

7) Everyone should be talking about Christopher Plummer in Beginners and how he’s silently cleaning up in the Best Supporting Actor award everywhere. Here’s why.

8) If only more football fans were like Jake Weisman as shown by this piece about the NY Giants, the world would be, well, like… it would be at the least, a much funnier place.

9) If there’s an official profile of the job of comedian in a list of careers somewhere, under occupational hazards should be listed “must be told to be happy.”

Report 00418
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/3/12

1) The biggest Tenacious D news since Pick of Destiny tanked (which they address): RISE OF THE FENIX, the new Tenacious D album, to come out in May!

2) It’s very hard to not think of the following news item this way, but we wish we could: Chris Rock is writing a romance with Melissa McCarthy in mind that will begin to undo the damage Tyler Perry has done.

3) LA might just have it’s own podcast festival with WTF, Never Not Funny, the Dork Forest, and more (off of donations to their Kickstarter), which hopefully we’ll cure a few very specific agoraphobics that love listening to comedy podcasts, but hate going outside.

4) Last night on late night late night, Jenny Slate creeped Conan out with her Marcel, the Shell with Shoes voice. Tonight, Key & Peele are on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC 1:35AM)

5) Politico calls out Joe Mande for “trolling” politicians on Twitter.

6) Ken Leung and Tig Notaro joins Sarah Silverman’s pilot for NBC!

7) Win a trip to the South Beach Comedy Festival. You wanna go to the South Beach Comedy Festival to see comedy, right?

8) “Dana Gould’s Day” continues as he has just joined Tumblr.

9) Riot LA has 7 hours to go and has raised $21,677 of $20,000. One last push?

10) On today’s Puddin’, Eddie Pepitone manages to top himself in being creepy.

11) I wonder if other people at other occupations that are not comedy waste people’s time at meetings talking about metaphors for how weird their occupation is like shitty comedians do when they’re wasting time at open mics.

Report 00417
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/2/12

1) Dana Gould and Dave Grohl are making a rock band comedy for FX! Dana Gould and Dave Grohl are making a rock band comedy for FX! Dana Gould and Dave Grohl are making a rock band comedy for FX! Three times should be enough, right? No? OK… Dana Gould and Dave Grohl are making a rock band comedy for FX!

2) Also, Dana Gould now has a podcast, the Dana Gould Hour! Forget groundhogs, it’s Dana Gould’s day.

3) Last night on late night, Howard Stern was just as confused as the rest of us to whether the late night “war” between Letterman and Leno is still on. Tonight on late night, Jenny Slate will be on Conan (TBS 11PM) and Tim & Eric will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC 12AM)

4) You can watch why Comedy Central’s new sketch series Key & Peele killed it in the ratings because their first episode is online.

5) In things you can submit to news, you could win $100,000 by making a short documentary on innovation that’s had a positive impact for Focus Forward. We’re sure making it funny in some way helps.

6) Here’s our reasons why you should pick up and listen to John Mulaney’s New In Town.

7) Our picks for the 5 Most Intentionally Funny Videos at the Nerdist this week range from interviews with a children’s author to sexy revisionist history.

8) Riot LA’s Kickstarter totals: $21,162 of $20,000 with 1 day to go.

9) On today’s Puddin’, Eddie Pepitone found the best way to pick your cell phone service provider.

10) Perhaps, if any of the significant Republican candidates went to an open mic and saw the jokes that were made about them and how outlandish they are, they’d have a brief moment of clarity.

Report 00416
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 2/1/12

1) Last night on late night, Jack McBrayer revealed his excitement about “football sports” on Fallon and Bill Murray nearly sets Letterman’s desk on fire. Tonight, Howard Stern will have to maybe censor himself on the Late Show with David Letterman (CBS 11:35PM) and Glenn Howerton will be on Last Call with Carson Daly (NBC 1:35AM).

2) Judy Greer gets another shot in being the lead in a pilot with ABC and Showtime renews Californication, House of Lies, and more. Still, there’s been no word on the Green Room with Paul Provenza, though.

3) The Moontower Comedy Festival that will be in Austin, TX has run out of their “introductory badges” and are moving on to “You Betcha” badges.

4) Another fantastic edition of an owner and his cat instant messaging back and forth in Louis vs. Rick.

5) Zach Sherwin AKA MC Mr. Napkins pretty much has the lock on the word prefix game on lock with his music video “Pro/Con”.

6) Bryan Cranston will be directing an episode of Modern Family that probably won’t be nearly as dark as everyone thinks it will be.

7) We made a “Shit Comedians Say When They Bomb” yesterday, which explores an intense fascination with comparing not performing well to eating dicks and suicide.

8) Riot LA’s Kickstarter totals: $21,134 of $20,000 with just over 2 days to go.

9) I guess it’s taking comics a little time to come up with a new joke about Tyler Perry since the billboards for his new movie don’t feature misspelled words and him in drag.

Report 00415
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 1/31/12

1) Raise your fist and give a hell yeah for the trailer for Season 3 of Eastbound and Down. 

2) Last night on late night, Chris Gethard read his best fanmail ever on Conan and Marc Maron discussed fans of WTF that are more concerned about his personal well-being than his comedy on Kimmel. Tonight on late night, the venerable Bill Murray will be on The Late Show with David Letterman (CBS 11:35PM) and Jack McBrayer on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM)

3) Also tonight, the world premiere of Comedy Central’s new sketch show, Key & Peele, is tonight at 10:30PM. If you’re still on the fence, read this endorsement from Rob Delaney and also get free gas at Fairfax and Beverly thanks to the show.

4) John Mulaney’s New In Town is now available! Also, on DVD so you can see the wonderful opening that starts like this…

5) So, it will now be the commercials, Billy Eichner on the field, then the halftime show, and then the actual game in terms of what are the most to least interesting things at the Superbowl.

6) You do know that Brian Regan just grossed over a million by just doing ten shows, right?

7) Old school goofy chases are never old as proven by Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.

8) Many of you know that Matt Knudsen is a very talented comedian, but did you know that he can play several instruments, thanks to video effects, at the same time? That means you now know and should watch him do so.

9) We reviewed Sean Green’s “Whiskey Dick” in 5 sentences because who has time for six? Also, you should listen to the album, it’s really funny.

10) The This Better Be Funny Podcast is back with even fewer explanations than ever! We walk down Sunset Blvd. from an open mic to the Comedy Store in the most accurate depiction of two frustrated comedians walking around Hollywood with no show to do that night.

11) Riot LA’s totals for their Kickstarter: $20,924 of $20,000 with 3 days to go.

12) On today’s Puddin’, there’s snazzy new VFX and blasphemy!

13) Just a note to comics claiming they’re self-deprecating: if you say that you’re self-deprecating out loud on stage, you’re not self-deprecating.

Report 00414
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook

Morning Debriefing 1/30/12

1) We’re pretty sure that someone thinks that Louis CK was thinking, “I bet no one will expect that I’m developing a multi-cam sitcom for CBS with the writer of the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld, Spike Feresten,” when really, we’re pretty sure that he just thought, “This will be very interesting.”

It’ll be different this time around, right?

2) Despite the worries of David Cross, everything is a-go for new episodes of Arrested Development just the way we remember it, apparently.

3) SAG Awards for comedy: 
Best Cast, TV Comedy: Modern Family
Best Actress, TV Comedy: Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Best Actor, TV Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock 
Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture: Christopher Plummer, Beginners 

4) Tonight on late night, Marc Maron will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC 12AM) and Chris Gethard will be on Conan (TBS 11PM). We know it won’t happen, but it would be amazing if Maron and Gethard had a late night talk show guest crossover tonight.

5) Rather than the Year of the Dragon, doesn’t “Year of Rick Shapiro” sound better? Help his Kickstarter out to make that happen.

6) While waiting to buy/download/get in some way John Mulaney’s New in Town, you can read his interview with Black Book about it.

7) This “Our Least Favorite [Music] Genre Names” on the All Things Considered Blog makes us want to find these music genre placards at Amoeba Records. 

8) Riot LA’s totals for their Kickstarter: $20,909 of $20,000 with 4 days to go.

9) The top finisher of this weekend’s Channel 101 screening, the new episode of Intimate Indiscretions is absolutely required watching if you want to laugh and love alternative history. Also, it’s awesomely NSFW.

10) In realizing that several comedians live-tweeted the SAG Awards, it’s truly sad that the Razzies aren’t broadcasted because that would be worth live-tweeting.

Report 00413
THE COMEDY BUREAU
@thecomedybureau
Like us on Facebook