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Morning Debriefing 1/16/12

Here’s Everything You Wanted to Know About the 2012 Golden Globes In Regards to Comedy But Were Too Apathetic to Click On

1) Notable Winners:
Best Screenplay-Woody Allen-Midnight in Paris 
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture-Christopher Plummer-Beginners
Best TV Series Comedy or Musical-“Modern Family”
Best Actor on TV Series Comedy or Musical-Matt LeBlanc-“Episodes”
Best Actress on TV Series Comedy or Musical-Laura Dern-“Enlightened" 
*Also, though not a comedy, several comedians are happy Downtown Abbey won best Mini-Series.

2) Best Tweets during the 2012 Golden Globes Telecast
@EveryTweet_Ever "Except for Modern Family, they pretty much got everything wrong.”
@SeanOConnz “Is "Homeland” a show about nerds?“ 
@Gibblertron "Jessica Alba should be a professional speaker because she’s so good at using words to make sentences.”
@LouisPietzman “Third-best joke of the night: American Horror Story is nominated for Best Drama.”
@Scharpling “Fun fact: Chrisopher Plummer has murdered thirteen people in his life." 

3) Best Tweets during the 2012 Golden Globes Telecast That Weren’t Really About the Golden Globes
@BabsGray "I didn’t win any awards tonight but I did eat 10 pieces of sourdough bread for dinner. Your move, Hollywood.”
@AlexBlagg “IT’S BEEN SUNNY EVERY DAY IN L.A. FOR LIKE TWO WEEKS STRAIGHT. GO OUTSIDE, YOU GUYS!”
@Boopityba “I auditioned for that AT&T commercial.”
@BenKronberg “The bed is the safest and funnest place to fart, but the scariest and most dangerous place to poop.”
@AlexKoll “Audience member drinks water." 

4) As some might have expected, Ricky Gervais withheld his wrath as host to the delight of NBC brass, but that doesn’t matter because one of the best .gifs ever was made at the Golden Globes.

This concludes Everything You Wanted to Know About the 2012 Golden Globes In Regards to Comedy But Were Too Apathetic to Click On

6) The greatest joke David Copperfield ever pulled was being in Bec Benit and Nick Rutherford’s web series Theatre of Life.

7) On late night, Stephen Merchant will be on Conan (TBS 11PM) and based off his last appearance on Kimmel, it seems he’ll be possibly telling another story of debauchery possibly involving Vegas.

8) The world got to know him as the drunken rollerblading incarnation of the Tree of Life on the Critics Choice Movie Awards, but know the world will know his real name Sappity Tappity.

9) The Creek and Cave, one of the homes of independent NYC comedy, needs help via Kickstarter.

10) The next issue of RE:COM is here and aside from being a fantastic look into what’s happening in comedy right now with comedy at Occupy LA, Eddie Pepitone, Best Show on WFMU, a piece by us, and more, all of you should buy it because James Adomian graces the cover. 

11) Edna (Jamie Lee), the Norwegian vlogger, talks about her favorite stand-up comedy that is only sort of stand-up comedy.

12) Eddie Brill clears his name in regards to out-of-context quotes in recent NY Times column about him.

13) Riot LA totals for their Kickstarter: $13,299 of $20,000 with 18 days to go.

14) "Anyone dare going to get more meta by hating on the people that hate the "Shit [insert demographic] Say” trend?“-Shit Snarky Comedy Journalists Say

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Morning Debriefing 1/15/12

1) Just as an FYI, Twitter will break at 5PM PST/8PM EST tonight. Oh yeah, Ricky Gervais is hosting the Golden Globes on NBC at that time too.

2) Another round of Chris Lilley’s Angry Boys is on tonight (HBO 10PM) to calm us all down after Twitter crashes.

3) Not only is Diablo Cody’s adaptation of Sweet Valley High going to be a “hard R”, but it’s also going to be a musical.

4) So for all the hardcore comedy nerds, Pete Holmes painted Kyle Kinane for his upcoming episode of Holmes’ “You Made It Weird”. This will be worth a whole lot of money in the future when comedy is as popular as baseball. 

5) OK, we’ve been all watching Home Movie Commentaries, which is both exactly what it sounds like and is as awesome as it sounds, right?

6) Following Paul F. Tompkins, John Mulaney, and The Super Serious Show, we’re glad to hear that Judah Friedlander is now on Tumblr.

7) Let’s keep Erin Judge’s meme on “genuine jokes from a genuine lady” going.

 

8) Poetry can be really funny. Evidence regularly posted by Eilzabeth Laime at ElizabethWritesPoems.Tumblr.com like this one.

9) So, for the first time ever, I found a comedy fan who hates callbacks or, as he put it, “fuckin’ bending it all back around like ‘You know when you’re having a mac and cheese sandwich,’ then ending with ‘So I had a mac and cheese sandwich.’ I fucking hate that shit.” I mean, that was a pretty great callback he did. I don’t understand all the hatred.

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Morning Debriefing 1/14/12

1) John Mulaney was on Fallon last night. Simply put, just watch and enjoy.

2) Also last night, Josh Adam Meyers took the stage at the Downtown Comedy Club and The Comedy Store for the first time since the tragic accident involving both him and Angelo Bowers. Donations for his medical expenses are still being taken at DonateForJosh.com.

(via @thecomedystore)

3) ABC’s Work It was just cancelled, effective immediately. Jake Fogelnest couldn’t be happier to stop recapping something.

4) In case you’re either a) not getting excited about Key & Peele premiering on Comedy Central Tues. Jan 31st 10:30PM or b) haven’t seen any of their great sketches thus far, then now’s a perfect time to watch: Obama’s Anger Translator.

5) Did you know that Wendy Liebman is a sidekick for terrestrial radio show? Maybe we should check out 88.5FM KCSN from 6PM to 8PM tonight.

6) The Guardian wrote an interesting article regarding the prevalence of rape jokes, then claim while they have been successfully written and told, they’re no longer “terribly funny either”. The Guardian obviously has no idea who Anthony Jeselnik, Ryan Stout, or Steve Schneider are.

7) Just in case you were wondering what you were missing at the Gallery 1988 x Adult Swim show at Gallery 1988 Melrose, there’s a tribal mask of Brak from Space Ghost…

8) Riot LA totals for their Kickstarter: $12,708 of $20,000 raised with 20 days to go.

9) I’m all for supporting comedians exploring the depths of any topic for material, bits, etc., testing the limits of what can and can’t be comedy, but I have yet to hear an actually funny joke about Tim Tebow. Feel free to prove me wrong by e-mailing thecomedybureau@gmail.com or tweeting @thecomedybureau.

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Morning Debriefing 1/13/12

1) Having Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer host the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards is already a win for comedy as they had Jon Daly play the Tree of Life/Sappity Tappity on TV, but some of comedy’s best in film last year got recognized:

Best Comedy–Bridesmaids
Best Supporting Actor-Christopher Plummer-Beginners
Best Original Screenplay-Woody Allen-Midnight in Paris

Also, Bridesmaids producer Judd Apatow righteously burned Jerry Lewis for saying women aren’t funny.

2) The Gentlemen Scumbags Podcast with Mike Bridenstine and Mike Burns has just come out with the Best of Gentemen Scumbags Vol. 1. Bridenstine and Burns are funny and this is the first attempt, to our knowledge, of a podcast releasing an album of their “best of”, so you should just buy it and be part of comedy history already.

3) Many of you’ve already seen this and have apologized for how much of hipster you feel like for wanting to see this movie even though you kind of hate hipsters, but it’s going to be OK. Liking Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom from just the trailer is OK, in case no one told you.

4) The Nerdist is having another special on BBCA this weekend (Sat. 10:15PM)!

5) Last night, Stephen Merchant was so excited to go to Vegas because he was in the Tooth Fairy with the Rock on Jimmy Kimmel Live. 

6) Julieanne Smolinkski/@boobsradley wins on the Colbert Report via decision by Mike D. This really happened.

7) Splitsider makes it really easy to stalk the comedy writers, performers, and more of various TV programs on Twitter.

8) The book of Portroids for the Never Not Funny Pardcast-a-thon is now available!

9) Riot LA’s totals for their Kickstarter: $12,536 of $20,000 with 21 days to go.

10) On today’s Puddin’, Eddie Pepitone shows why dental history is best discovered through x-rays.

11) Who knew that saying “No, this is good. I’m feeling really good right now,” as a comedian at any time on stage is a dead giveaway that you’re feeling like you want to stage dive into the floor? It’s kind of like when someone says your comedy is interesting when they don’t want to hurt your feelings.

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Morning Debriefing 1/12/12

1) A meltdown scene from a Hitler movie + Duncan Trussell redoing the subtitles as a hysterical PSA about comedians performing completely for free at SXSW = What you will be watching right now.

2) Crash Test’s Paul Scheer and Rob Hubel are hosting the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards on VH1 at 8PM. With Billy Crystal back hosting the Oscars, maybe their should be an awards for awards show hosting that could have a race…

3) If you’re a comedian and dream of proposing to your significant other at a show you just killed at it, watch the hilarious Tyler Greene do exactly that at Nerdist Theater.

(via @MikeRosenstein)

4) In late night talk show news, both Dwayne Perkins & Tom Papa stay sharp on Conan while, tonight, Stephen Merchant on will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live (ABC 12AM) and his counterpart Ricky Gervais will be on Conan (TBS 11PM) and not not apologizing for something at least for 10 minutes. 

5) College Humor is going to make its first film with Ben Schwartz, Glenn Howerton, Steve Little, directed by Brad Copeland who has worked on Arrested Development. Again, we say, “Arrested Development movie rumors… your move.”

6) Articles on comedy by big time publications round-up: The NY Times reported that Eddie Brill is a comedy gatekeeper for Letterman and likes to female comedians that are assertive and Bill Cosby gets appreciated at the Paley Center while The Hollywood Reporter does a big feature piece on Funny or Die. I mean, when are they going to run a story about Twitter fights between comedians?

7) Our picks for the 5 Most Intentionally Funny Videos this week for the Nerdist feature hot dog puppets and Indiana Jones going meta, so watch please.

8) KCET keeps finding the funniest people in Los Angeles and places they love to eat with Dave Ross and Jake Weisman at the Astro Family Restaurant.

9) Riot LA totals on their Kickstarter: $11,997 of $20,000 with 22 days to go.

10) Perhaps, if comedy was promoted as a “funny people talking while people watching do not talk and just laugh”, there wouldn’t be less problems with watching live comedy. Anyone have a catchy way to say that?

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Morning Debriefing 1/11/12

1) Last night, Billy Eichner gave a subtle PSA about why you should hate Johnny Depp on Conan and Tina Fey has to outwit own her kid because of her show on Fallon. Tonight, Conan has the goods with both Jack McBrayer & Dwayne Perkins (TBS 11PM).

2) Tomorrow, The Critics’ Choice Movie Awards will roll the dice on incredibly funny people who host their own hilarious live show every two weeks with Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel (VH1 8PM). If the Crash Test duo do as they’re known to do, they’d probably take those dice and throw it aggressively at each other.

3) Congrats to Esther Povitsky for just being passed as a paid regular at the Comedy Store.

4) We’re not a big fan of recaps, but you’ll be entertaining yourself as well as not giving ABC’s Work It ratings by following Jake Fogelnest’s hate recaps of the show.

5) Justine Barron wrote a hilarious story of how she had to sell her sex to get existence. We don’t need to say more other than read it and enjoy.

6) Improv Everywhere’s 11th Annual No Pants Subway Ride appears more pants-less than ever…

7) Remember that NYTVF/Comedy Central Short Pilot Contest? Whether you do or don’t, this is just a friendly reminder that the deadline is at 12PM EST Jan. 27th, 2012.

8) YouTube.com/AzizAnsari just became official.

9) If you’re looking to move to NYC or already live there (and, we take it, interested in working in comedy as you’re reading this) College Humor is looking for an Assistant Editor for Jest.com. 

10) Riot LA totals for their Kickstarter: $10,850 of $20,000 with 23 days to go.

11) Today’s Puddin’ features jar opening as jar opening has never seen before with Eddie Pepitone, Weird Al Yankovic, and more.

12) Just hearing the phrase “happy checks” from Pete Holmes makes all self-help books, tapes, etc. seem like a complete and total waste.

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Morning Debriefing 1/10/12

1) Tom Scharpling does it again (meaning make music videos worth watching again) with Real Estate’s “Easy” that features Chris Gethard roughing up Jake Fogelnest.

2) Last night, we found that no one will ever intro a clip on a talk show better than David Cross did on Conan. Tonight that claim will probably stay true (watch the clip to see what we’re talking about) Tina Fey will be on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (NBC 12:35AM) and Billy Eichner will be on Conan (TBS 11PM).

3) The Bridgetown Comedy Festival is open for submissions and if you’re a comedian, you’ll want to spend your gas money for the next few days on this instead of drinks, unnecessary nostalgia, or anything else.

4) The bi-weekly stand-up show in Echo Park, Brunch at the Park Restaurant, sadly came to an end last night. Still, there are worst ways to end a show than have Sean Patton close it out.

5) Another thing to submit to that you’ll enjoy: The LA Film Festival.

6) Never seen the late Angelo Bowers do a set to see what everyone was talking about? Laughspin fixed that. 

7) Two of comedy’s most prolific photographers Robyn Von Swank and Liezl Estipona are selling prints of their work here and here, respectively.

8) On Episode 6 of This Better Be Funny, the podcast we chose to not be about comedy news because we got that covered here, hosts Jake Kroeger and Jeremy Paul try to have comedian Joe Braza as a guest, but get (thankfully) interrupted by other comedians, car sales, and other comedians leaving.

9) Riot LA: $10,438 of $20,000 with 24 days to go. They even got mentioned in the Nerdist!

10) Every Coachella joke ever: COACHELLA! WHY DO I FORGET THAT YOU HAPPEN AROUND THE SAME TIME EVERY YEAR AND PLAN SOMETHING I CAN’T GET OUT OF?

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Morning Debriefing 1/9/12

1) “FOX FORGES NEW UNIT TO CREATE ALTERNATIVE ANIMATED CONTENT” and many are interested in how this move is such a blatant copy of the development, production, and programming of Adult Swim. Well, we say, good for Fox because we like what Adult Swim is doing.

2) According to Megan Mullally, the Party Down movie is really happening. Your move Arrested Development.

3) Tonight, the late night talk show circuit will feature Seth Green and David Cross on Conan (TBS 11PM) and, this should be really interesting, George Lucas on The Daily Show (Comedy Central 11PM). If only there was a talk show crossover where Green and Lucas debate the fate of the Star Wars franchise in stop motion animation form.

4) Welcome your new favorite podcast that’s barely over 8 minutes long: The Songs We Sing from Greg Heller and Mike Henry. 

5) The finale of the absurdly brilliant Tommy-Wi Show is here and has a cliff-hanger (with guest iJustine) that doesn’t have to do with TW being stuck on a Start Menu. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

6) The Shorty Awards, awards exclusively for Twitter, are open for nominations. FYI, they do not accept #FF as votes..

7) BuzzFeed names 10 Hilarious Comedians You (Probably) Haven’t Heard Of and while we certainly have heard of every one of these indeed very funny people, we understand that there are several people that still know Patton Oswalt from Ratatouille before his stand-up, so check it out. 

9) Speaking of Patton Oswalt, want to see his tweets done up Star Wars style? Wait, did you think we’re kidding? Follow @PattonOswars and see exactly what we’re talking about.

10) On today’s Puddin’, keep Redi-whip away from Eddie Pepitone.

11) As Pabst Blue Ribbon and Dunkin’ Donuts are both coming to LA, there will be a whole new set of references that plenty of comics will use to bash hipsters that are completely baseless.

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Morning Debriefing 1/8/12

1) The Final(?) episode of Henry Phillips’ fantastic web series “Henry’s Kitchen” is finally here. Apparently there might be “lost episodes”…

2) Today is the Annual Improv Everywhere No Pants Subway Ride. Just a reminder to Los Angelenos, we do have a subway to partake in this great tradition. In fact, Charlie Todd, founder of Improv Everywhere has captured the attention of so many with large scale pranks that a race driver wanted sponsorship from Improv Everywhere.

3) In case you were wondering why the LA Times was so excited about 50 First Jokes, here’s some fantastic pictures from Megan Baker, the Comedy Hipster.

4) Josh Adam Meyers, while still in recovery in Cedars Sinai, is standing and, finally, live Angelo Bowers’ performances are being uploaded such as this one at the Comedy Store.

5) In Parks and Recreation news, Carl Reiner will guest star and Amy Poehler will direct an episode.

6) Did you know Elizabeth Laime from the Totally Laime podcast on Earwolf writes poetry that’s pretty damn funny? We’re glad we know now.

7) Riot LA Kickstarter Total: $7,699 of $20,000 with 26 days to go.

8) Where are both the Comedy Crawl and Open Mic Run? Not to worry, here, now called the LA Comedy Rundown, they are. Seriously, calm down and click that hyperlink.

9) If I hear someone else tell me, “Hey, stand-up is hard. Keep it at.” I AM ABSOLUTELY GOING TO ponder for several more days than I should and tell the blogosphere about it, but never really resolving the issue at hand because that’s what comics usually do.

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Morning Debriefing 1/7/12

1) The wildly popular comedy podcast that first rose to prominence as Comedy Death Ray, Comedy Bang Bang, is now going to be a show on IFC and now the world will know of its hilarity. (Hopefully, “the world” will be bigger than that of cable and Internet users that don’t generally watch comedy).

2) F’yeah! Eastbound and Down just dropped their promo for Season 3.

3) David Cross wore a giant sweatshirt on Kimmel (Parts One and Two).

4) Somewhat in the same vein, Andre Hyland, AKA Jesse Miller, eats old pizza on Channel 9 in Cincinnati. 

5) LA Weekly made one of the most solid comedy lists we’ve seen in the last several months with their 10 Comedy Acts to Watch in 2012 because some of the “most-in-the-know” people were consulted on it including us. Speaking of which, please take a look at our exhaustive list that basically tells you what comedy was in 2011.

6) Good job by the Oscars having Funny or Die help them with their first promo. It definitely works for us.

7) Alright, here’s a whole situation that we wished dearly didn’t happen:
–Patton Oswalt lashed out an audience member who was taping him from center 2nd row last Thursday at the Palace Restaurant consequently walking her and her two friends from the show that they just stopped into to see him.
-Upset at the degree of lashing out that occurred even after the audience member had left, comedienne Barbara Gray felt compelled to write about the event on her blog setting many in the comedy blogosphere to task writing about the virtue of not taping comedians working on material to make a living.
-Luckily, thankfully, and several other affirmative adverbs, Patton Oswalt wrote his own explanation and WILL continue to perform at the Palace Restaurant and other small venues “when he can”.
–Barbara Gray will continue to do stand-up, like she did wonderfully at last night’s 50 First Jokes, because being “blackballed” for writing something like that would be incredibly petty and unnecessary, especially for how talented (as Oswalt has said about her) she is.

9) So, Patton Oswalt, after his critically acclaimed Finest Hour, is already working on another album and Barbara Gray is going on tour. These are two things to definitely both be happy about and to watch for.

10) Another thing to be happy about: Riot LA’s Alternative Comedy Festival Total on Kickstarter: $6,879 of $20,000 with 27 days to go. 

11) ABC ran a story on Angelo Bowers and Josh Adam Meyers. It’s great to see that Angelo will be remembered on the LA local news. Maybe people in Cleveland will remember…

12) ON THE HORIZON
Herman Melville: A Whale of an Evening @ Hollywood Improv Lab Sun. Jan 15th 8PM $5
Portlandia @ Echoplex Mon. Jan 16th 8:30PM 

13) COMEDY CRAWL
Harland Williams @ Irvine Improv 7PM/9PM $22/2 item min.
Fargo & Big Lebowski Drink Along @ Downtown Independent Theater 7PM $10
Hutch’s Comedy BBQ & Laughs @ Hutch’s Barbecue 8PM FREE
Laurie Kilmartin @ Flappers Claremont 8PM/10PM $15
Two-Headed Beast: A Storytelling Show @ Stories, Books, & Cafe 8PM FREE
The Thrilling Adventure Hour @ Largo at the Coronet Theatre 8:30PM $25 (stand by only)
Magic Bag @ Underground Annex Theater 10PM $5
The Midnight Show w/TJ Miller @ UCB Theatre MIDNIGHT $5 (stand by only)
The Tomorrow Show @ Steve Allen Theater MIDNIGHT $8 

14) OPEN MIC RUN
SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Starts 2PM/feedback given at end
ICE HOUSE 24 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena, CA/Starts 4PM/Sign-up is lottery/No purchase necessary
MARTY’S/THE OPEN MIC 7351 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/5PM to 11PM/$5 min./multiple sets allowed/coffee & water provided
THE DAILY GRIND 109 E. Union St., Pasadena, CA/Starts 5PM/5 min./No purchase necessary
WESTSIDE COMEDY THEATER 1323-A 3rd St. Promenade, Santa Monica, CA (in alley between 3rd and 4th St.)/Sign-up (lottery) 6PM/Starts 6:30PM/no purchase necessary/4 min. 
SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min.
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 10PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/lottery  

15) One of the more uplifting things I’ve heard while going to an independently produced comedy show in 2012 thus far: As walking to a show, a man walking beside me turned and asked, “Do you have tickets to the show?” Surprised that strangers want to talk to me, I responded, “Yes.” Then, he said, “Do you have an extra ticket for me?” Random strangers want to see comedy. IT’S WORKING!!!

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Morning Debriefing 1/6/12

1) It’s just one those “drop everything you’re doing and watch this and forget about whether it’s fake or not” type of things: PLEASE WATCH Harrison Ford watching himself as Indiana Jones because he’s “never” done that before.

2) There have been many benefits for the recovering Josh Adam Meyers and late Angelo Bowers that have been popping up around LA. The Hollywood Improv is dedicating next week’s Comedy Juice, one of their stalwart main room shows, to both Josh and Angelo with Marc Maron, Harland Williams, and more. All sales will be donated. Also, Scott Boxenbaum’s PayPal link for donations has a new web address at DonateForJosh.com and stories, notes, etc. are being collected For Angelo’s mother. Lastly, do yourself a big favor and remember Angelo the best way possible by following on Twitter @AngeloJokes.

3) As the presidential candidates fall one by one, Funny or Die has thankfully partnered up with Yahoo to preserve their memory in hilarious parody debate form.

4) Unlike the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Writers’ Guild of America knows that comedies (as well as which ones) were pretty great in 2011.

5) LA JFL Montreal Showcase Schedule! Get ya LA JFL Montreal Showcase Schedule!

6) Totals for Riot-LA’s Alternative Comedy Festival after launching on Tuesday: $6,556. This is really happening and we couldn’t be happier. (Note: Total is probably higher when you’re reading this.)

7) According to these promos, Fox’s Bob’s Burgers and Adult Swim’s Delocated are coming back soon. That’s almost enough promos to loop on YouTube and watch over and over until their season premieres air. Also, NBC’s Community WILL BE coming back.

8) Pictures in the life of comedy that you will see posted everywhere on the Internet today: Bill Cosby sitting by himself amongst rows of seats with his face on it and Dan Harmon cleverly and hilariously channelling his rage.

9) Kate Micucci’s “Walking in Los Angeles” gets a wondrous music video.

10) COMEDY CRAWL
Dead Authors @ UCB Theatre 6:30PM $5
50 First Jokes LA @ Downtown Independent Theater 7PM $10 (stand by only)
Harland Williams @ Irvine Improv 8PM/10PM $22/2 item min.
Set List @ UCB Theatre 8PM $10
Eddie Pepitone @ Hollywood Improv 8PM $18/2 item min.
The 12 Shiny Nickels Show @ Hollywood Improv Lab 8:30PM $10
Really F*cking Great @ Fanatic Salon 9PM $10 

11) OPEN MIC RUN
SET LIST @ FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia, Burbank, CA/Sign-up 5PM/Starts 5:30PM/given “set list” of topics to do jokes off of/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE 2906 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA (Silverlake)/Sign-up (lottery) 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/4 min./no purchase necessary
SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min.
MAX BLOOM’S 200 N. Malden Ave., Fullerton, CA/Starts 7PM/booked show after/no purchase necessary
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
GLENDALE DAYS INN 450 N. Pioneer Dr., Glendale, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 8PM/No foul language/No purchase necessary/first come, first served   
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/first come, first served/coffee and bottled water available  
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 10PM/Starts MIDNIGHT/lottery  

12) For future reference to any idiot making a Worst Comedians of [insert a period of time], anyone who has made groups of people laugh on a regular basis is not anywhere close to being the worst comedian.

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Morning Debriefing 1/5/12

1) It’s weird to say (when you think about it), but RIOT is definitely on pace and let’s keep it going. The proposed LA alternative comedy festival is at this moment $4,310 of $20,000 and was just mentioned on Vulture. Don’t you want RIOT? Let’s keep this going, please.

2) Dave Attell basked in the memories of his porn next to an attractive young lady again on Conan, Judy Greer also had great family stories also on Conan, Tracy Morgan got back to being Tracy Morgan on Leno. Can Tina Fey top all of this tonight on the Late Show with David Letterman (CBS 11:35PM)?

3) Educated yourself today as the South Park documentary “Six Days to Air” is now on Netflix.

3) So, Grace Helbig of Daily Grace is moving to LA for two months… 

4) Hot dog puppets and the lesbian pool scene from Wild Things make for a great start to Thursday thanks to Annie Lederman and Abbey Luck.

5) Michelle Bachmann isn’t done until Erin Gibson’s Michelle Bachmann has the final say.

6) Funny or Die is doing 80’s TV intro parodies. Our favorite, Prairie Children. Why can’t we invent time travel and make these really happen back in the 80’s already?

7) One of our favorite blogs, Concocted Conversations, now, is taking submissions as illustrated by this concocted conversation.

9) ON THE HORIZON
Emo Phillips Narrating Peter & The Wolf @ Glendale Philharmonic Sun. Jan. 8th 4PM $7.50-$14

10) COMEDY CRAWL
Greg Proops: Smartest Man in the World LIVE @ Nerdist Theater 8PM $10
Harland Williams @ Irvine Improv 8PM $22/2 item min.
The Eddie Peptione Bloodbath w/special guest Patton Oswalt @ Hollywood Improv Lab 8:30PM $5 
The Josh & Josh Show @ Bar Lubitsch 8:30PM FREE
Odd Thursdays @ The Palace Restaurant 9PM FREE 
Stand-up Spotlight: Moshe Kasher @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5 

11) OPEN MIC RUN
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 6PM/Starts 7PM/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
ZAPATA VIVE 101 S. First Ave., Arcadia, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/20 spots available/5 min.
SANDWICH SPOT 3101 Ocean Park Ave., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served
CAFE ON 2ND 7 S. 2nd St., Alhambra, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/first come, first served/10 min.
SUNSET GRILL 7439 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/one item min.
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/mixed mic
VINNY’S PIZZA 12740 Culver Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 8PM/Starts 8:30PM/first come, first served/No purchase necessary
CAFE UNURBAN 3301 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA/Sign-up (lottery) 9PM/No purchase necessary 
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/first come, first served/coffee and bottled water available   
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts MIDNIGHT  

12) Well, if anything that the last few days have proven, never ever believe comedians when they say they’re horrible people.

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Morning Debriefing 1/4/12

1) Whether you know it or not, this is the moment LA comedy has been waiting for, so don’t let it pass you by AND CERTAINLY MAKE SURE IT HAPPENS. We’re talking about RIOT, the proposed LA alternative comedy festival by Abbey Londer, and if it reaches its goal, more things like its hilarious PSA video with Patton Oswalt, Marc Maron, Megan Mullally, Jimmy Pardo, Kumail Nanjiani, Dana Gould, Todd Glass, Thomas Lennon, Kyle Kinane, Pete Holmes, Eric Andre, and more will happen (and that’s a good thing, in case you were wondering).

2) As you might have saw from our posts yesterday, comedians Angelo Bowers and Josh Adam Meyers were involved in a severe car accident with a drunk driver from which Angelo, sadly, has passed away. Meyers suffered several injuries and is in (according to the last we heard) critical condition, but is talking and is currently at Cedars Sinai in the North Tower, Room 8020 with available visiting hours from 7AM to 9PM. Tonight, donations will be collected for Josh’s medical expenses at Beer in the Shower at the Dreams Bar & Cafe in Hollywood and Venice Underground in Venice, a show that Josh was booked to perform at, or, if you cannot attend and still want to donate, you can do through a Paypal link on Scott Boxenbaum’s website. The best way to remember Angelo is through his jokes and a Twitter account @AngeloJokes has been started for that very purpose. Please follow because he was incredibly funny like so: “If you’ve never been to a Cher concert then you’ve never lived… With your aunt and her lover.” –Angelo Bowers

3) Last night on late night, Chris Gethard claims he’ll basically fight anyone on Fallon and Will Arnett shows how bad at Twitter he is on Letterman. Tonight, Dave Attell will be on Conan and might possibly look less homeless than he did on the Tonight Show (TBS 11PM)

4) Something to really watch for: there’s going to be comedy content from IGN and the very funny Mike Drucker is going to be the head writer of it.

5) “Work It is a tightly written pilot. ABC, don’t you dare use that as a pull quote — please understand that "tightly written” does not mean well written.“-The Internet’s Jake Fogelnest recaps with no remorse the first episode of ABC’s "Work It”

6) Also on Twitter, Tommy Wiseau… 

7) Today’s Puddin w/Eddie Pepitone will make you think twice about what you’ll do with gift cards… 

8) ON THE HORIZON
Joke Lab @ Hollywood Improv Lab Wed. Jan. 18th 8:30PM $6
Reggie Watts @ Segerstrom Center for the Arts Sat. Jan 14th 9PM $20

9) COMEDY CRAWL
Just for Laughs Montreal Showcase @ Hollywood Improv Lab 7PM/8:30PM/10PM $5
A Kiss From Daddy/The Birthday Boys @ UCB Theatre 8PM $5
Meltdown @ Nerdist Theater 8:30PM $8
The Good Bits @ WitZend 9PM $5
Venice Underground @ Townhouse & the Del Monte 9PM FREE
Frolic! @ Far Bar 9PM FREE
A Very Special Bowser’s Castle @ Fenix 5-4 9PM FREE
Facebook @ UCB Theatre 9:30PM $5 (stand by only)
Beer in the Shower @ Dreams Bar & Cafe 9:30PM FREE
Fresh Faces @ Laugh Factory 10PM $20-$30/2 drink min.
Matty’s Pizza Party @ Next Stage Theater 11PM $5 

10) OPEN MIC RUN
THE SPOT CAFE 4455 Overland Ave., Culver City, CA/Starts 7PM/lottery
HOLLYWOOD HOTEL 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 7PM/Starts 7:30PM/5 min./first come, first served/one drink min.
GRINDHOUSE CAFE 1051 N. Havenhurst, West Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM
BRONSON’S 5851 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up 6:30PM/Starts 7PM/First come, first served/No purchase necessary
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/mixed mic
LIBRARY A COFFEE HOUSE 3418 Broadway, Long Beach, CA/Sign-up 8PM/Starts 8:30PM 
LIQUID ZOO 7214 Sepulveda Blvd., Van Nuys, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM/Starts 9PM/first come, first served/7 min.
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/first come, first served/coffee and bottled water available  
FLAPPERS BAR 102 E. Magnolia Ave., Burbank, CA/Sign-up 11PM/Starts MIDNIGHT  

11) It’s really sad that no one really says, “Eh, you should really stick to comedy.”

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Morning Debriefing 1/3/12

1) Someone named Troy Holm not only has the gumption to steal material from Doug Stanhope, but also has the, for the lack of a more vile word, daring to not bother changing any words or phrasing when posting on his blog, which has been taken down. That’s the type of thing that will screw your Wikipedia page over forever.

2) 2012 has barely started and already there are great comedy tapings a-plenty. Key & Peele are taping with a live audience and Jonah Ray is taping his next album both this month.

3) The LA Times included Ben Schwartz and Key & Peele in their Faces to Watch for 2012. Those are endorsements you should definitely listen to.

4) Chris Gethard has proclaimed himself the King of Authors as the release of his book A Bad Idea I’m About To Do is coming next week.

5) The Producers Guild Awards are out with nods to Bridesmaids, Midnight in Paris, Parks and Recreation, the Colbert Report, and more. Then, reality TV, as you’ll notice, now has its own categories.

6) Eddie Pepitone is everywhere (everywhere in this instance is Laughspin and the AV Club).

7) Anyone care to start a theme blog of Victoria Jackson being out of place?

8) Improv Everywhere’s Annual No Pants Subway Ride now has t-shirts to go with no pants.

9) The fifth episode of our This Better Be Funny Podcast asks the question: Can we write one truly original joke about Chipwrecked after watching it?

10) ON THE HORIZON
Fargo & The Big Lebowski Double Feature Drink-Along @ Downtown Independent Theater Sat. Jan. 7th 7PM $10 in adv, $15 at door

11) COMEDY CRAWL
This Is Not Happening @ Hollywood Improv 8PM $5/2 item min.
The BEATdown Los Angeles @ Nerdist Theater 8PM $10
The Good Luck Show @ Good Luck Bar 8PM FREE
This Is New… @ Lulu’s Beehive 8:30PM FREE
Comedy Bang Bang @ UCB Theatre 8:30PM $5 (stand by only)
Geekscape Presents: Tokyo Drift @ Michael’s Bar & Grill 9PM FREE
Holy Fuck @ Downtown Independent Theater 9PM FREE
JFL Montreal Showcase @ Hollywood Improv Lab 10PM $5 

12) THERE’S SOMETHING REALLY AMAZING THAT IS GOING TO GIVE COMEDY IN LA THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES AT HOLY FUCK TONIGHT THAT YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS, NECESSITATING OUR ANNOYINGLY TYPING IN ALL CAPS. 

13) OPEN MIC RUN
AMSTERDAM CAFE 10905 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood, CA
WESTWOOD BREW CO 1097 Glendon Ave., Westwood, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/lottery/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
COFFEE GALLERY 2029 Lake Ave., Altadena, CA/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA (Echo Park)/Starts 8PM/mixed mic 
VINNY’S PIZZA 12740 Culver Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Sign-up 8PM/Starts 8:30PM/first come, first served/no purchase necessary
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
DAVE’S BAR 708 Broadway, Glendale, CA/Starts 10PM/no purchase necessary/first come, first served
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   

14) HEY EVERYONE, LANA DEL REY LIKES BILL HICKS, SO CAN EVERYONE LIKE COMEDY NOW PLEASE?

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Morning Debriefing 1/2/12

1) From what we know, Comedy Central’s got a real good roster of specials coming up, starting with John Mulaney Jan. 28th 10PM.

2) Brent Weinbach will be live taping his next album at the UCB Theatre LA on Jan. 28th and we should all be in attendance because something hilarious in a way we never thought of ever is going to happen.

3) Finally, the late night talk show circuit resumes and tonight the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson has both Tim Meadows and Myq Kaplan (CBS 12:35AM)

4) A full episode of the new season of Portlandia? 2011 should be taking notes on how to start a year off.

5) Yes, though belated, A Drink With Dave delivered their Christmas special with Damien Fahey, Alie & Georgia, and more.

6) Who is Jake Fogelnest? Study up (it’s a short doc on Fogelnest trying to revive his show Squirt TV featuring Sarah Silverman, Andy Richter, and comedy faces/voices you’re probably familiar with) then follow his internet postings and never-ending fight against non-things/sea punks.

7) WordPress loses more ground to Tumblr as Paul F. Tompkins has taken the side of the Tumbls. Follow him now, even if you have to join Tumblr to do so.

8) Our 100 Best Things in Comedy We Were Witness To In No Particular Order of 2011 includes anything from Jon Stewart’s pizza rant to Aubrey Plaza being awkward on the late night talk circuit to Eddie Pepitone dominating to the World’s 1st 3D Stand-up Set to several other things that need to be on other comedy lists in 2012.

9) COMEDY CRAWL
The Not Inappropriate Show @ UCB Theatre 4PM $12
The Mixer @ Hollywood Improv Lab 8PM $5 

10) OPEN MIC RUN
SAL’S COMEDY HOLE 7356 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA/Starts 6PM/$4 min./first come, first served
RED ROCK 8782 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA/Starts 7PM/$5 min./multiple sets allowed/first come, first served
PALACE RESTAURANT 2112 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, CA (Los Feliz)/Sign-up 7:30PM/Starts 8PM/lottery
RAINBOW BAR & GRILL 9015 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA/Sign-up before 8PM/Starts 8:30PM/$2 cover/mixed mic
TRIBAL CAFE 1651 W. Temple St., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 8PM/no purchase necessary/first come, first served
PETIE’S PLACE 6025 Reseda Blvd., Tarzana, CA/Sign-up 8:30PM/Starts 9PM/one drink min./first come, first served
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    

11) I saw Chipwrecked and couldn’t come up with one joke that I liked because that’s how jokes about bad movies usually work.

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Morning Debriefing 1/1/12

1) We vastly underestimated how long it would take make a list of 100 things, much less a list of 100 of the funniest things we were lucky enough to see last year, so please do enjoy for our sake The 100 Best Things in Comedy That We Were Witness To In No Particular Order of 2011.

2) HBO is unveiling a new comedy series today from Chris Lilley (Summer Heights High) called Angry Boys at 10PM. Hopefully, HBO will be rolling out more comedies very soon after cancelling three of them.

3) Megan Amram gives an extremely accurate prediction of what New Year’s Resolutions in the year 3012 will be like

4) The Just for Laughs Montreal showcases in LA are just around the corner…. just sayin’. More updates to come.

5) The Monday night open mic, Jake’s in Pasadena, will be shifting to Wed., starting this week. So Jan. 4th go to 38 W. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA at 8:30PM for sign-up and 9:30PM start/4 min./no purchase necessary. Not a bad addition for Eastside comics for 2012.

6) Once again, if you’re thinking of resolving to do stand-up as your New Year’s resolution or thinking about doing it in general, here’s a handy guide to making it more palatable (NOTE: we said more palatable, not palatable).

7) ON THE HORIZON
Sklar Brothers @ Hollywood Improv Sat. Jan. 14th 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.
Jimmy Pardo @ Hollywood Improv Sat. Jan. 21st 8PM/10PM $20/2 item min.

8) COMEDY CRAWL
Ha: Stuffed & Unstrung @ Irvine Barclay Theatre 2PM/7PM $45-$55 

9) OPEN MIC RUN
SILVERLAKE LOUNGE 2906 W. Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA/Starts 5PM/No purchase necessary  
*IF THERE ARE ANY OTHER COMEDY OPENS MICS RUNNING TODAY that wish to be listed, please e-mail us at thecomedybureau@gmail.com

10) I know it is redundant, but I’d like to thank all who read, subscribe to, repost, RT, share, etc. what I post because it keeps all the work I do worth it. Also, a very special thanks to all the people that donated to the Comedy Bureau and helping sustaining our efforts. Oh, you didn’t know we took donations? Well, now you do.

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