max – The Comedy Bureau

TCB Debriefing 5/19-6/1: Hacks/Hannah Einbinder, JFL, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Fantasmas, Ali Clayton, Ali Siddiq, Clare O’Kane, Paul Scheer/June Diane Raphael, Am I OK?, Make Some Noise, Ren Faire, Jenny Zigrino, The Undervale, Steph Curry, Aubrey Plaza/Joe Wengert, Laid, Steve Carell

1. Well, everything is coming up Hacks (and, by extension, Hannah Einbinder). Coming hot off the heels of a blisteringly hot 3rd season, Hacks, has been renewed for a fourth season (Zaslav allowed a good creative decision to happen?). On top of that, Hannah Einbinder’s very first comedy special, Everything Must Go, just released its first special and set the premiere date of Jun. 13th on Max. Taped live at LA’s El Rey Theatre, it truly was something marvelous, especially as a goddamn debut special (the ingenuity, poise, and sharpness would make one believe this is far past her first hour special). Take a gander with the trailer for Hannah Einbinder: Everything Must Go here.

2. Just For Laughs indeed has filed for bankruptcy protections in Canada as they were operating with millions of dollar of debt to their name. They have begun the sale of select assets to ensure they stay afloat, which still sounds uncertain (THR).

3. Maybe you didn’t get to see Everything Everywhere All at Once in theaters (or at all for some ungodly reason), but thankfully, you’ll have a chance to see the Oscar Best Picture Winner in IMAX come August (Indiewire).

4. While Los Espookys is long gone, Julio Torres is finally on the track he should be on with nothing but accolades for Problemista and more magically real, beautifully funny absurdity with his HBO series, Fantasmas. Take a gander at what he has up his ethereal sleeves with the trailer here, then look out for it’s premiere on HBO/Max come next week on Jun. 7th.

5. Ali Clayton has arrived. She has done so in quite the fashion too with her debut album, Country Queer, that dives deep into discovering herself and her queer identity being from the South. Clayton’s drawl, warmth contrasted with her candor and vividly colorful writing is one of the best ways to kick off Pride this June. Please enjoy and listen to Country Queer now, fresh off the presses from Blonde Medicine here.

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6. It’s a rare feat to tell a story over the course of an hour and it be so thoroughly engaging that it makes for a captivating special, especially when it’s a hilarious take on your journey through the criminal justice system here in the U.S. of A. Ali Siddiq has not only achieved said feat, but done a hat trick with part 3 of Domino Effect, which might be the first legit comedy special trilogy that is narratively tied altogether. Siddiq’s poise and uncanny ability to find the comedy gold in his time going to prison are so solid that you kind of don’t notice the special is almost 90 minutes long. Please enjoy Domino Effect Part 3: First Day of School, now on YouTube, here.

7. Clare O’Kane is yet another shining example of someone who did write at SNL and has yet to show off their true potential in comedy (Tim Robinson anyone?). Fresh off Eugene Mirman‘s Pretty Good Friends Records, Clare’s sophomore album, Everything I know how to do, maintains a delightfully bubbly spirit while wading into the deep end of many personal anecdotes about polyamory, pansexuality, rejected SNL sketch pitches, sharp feet, and more often with Clare’s ironically silly flourishes. You can and should listen to Everything I know how to do here.

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8. Paul Scheer and June Diane Raphael are taking the next step in their ascent as a comedy power couple by co-hosting an awards show, The Humanitas Prizes, this year in September (Variety).

9. Speaking of comedy power couples, Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne are co-directing their first feature together, Am I OK?, that seems like it’s probably taking a lot of cues from early on in their relationship with a sort of lost Dakota Johnson finding that she might be into women after having nothing but misfires in dating men. See how close they come to real life with the trailer here, then look for it on Max come Jun. 6th.

10. Dropout might have gameshows better figured out than GSN as you can see with the season 3 trailer of Make Some Noise. This game show in particular has such a beautifully simple game, but gets many of the world’s very best improvisers to twist and contort the show into some Dropout magic.

11. Ren Faire, a doc coming to HBO seems like King of Kong, but for one particular Ren Faire in Texas. See for yourself in the trailer here, then look for it on HBO/Max come this Sunday, June 2nd.

12. A good amount of the country will have a chance to see the amazing Jenny Zigrino live coming up and a good amount of the country should not miss out.

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13. CBS’ Ghosts will have some competition at Netflix with The Undervale (not to mention that it will have the guiding hand of Dan Harmon as a producer) (Variety).

14. Let’s see if Steph Curry can best LeBron and Space Jam: A New Legacy with GOAT, Steph’s animated sports comedy feature (THR).

15. There’s more animated comedy worth keeping track with an animated series order for Joe Wengert and Aubrey Plaza‘s Kevin that follows a cat that wants to not live with humans anymore (THR). Not sure whether Joe or Aubrey (or someone else) would voice the cat, but either of them would be the perfect voice for an wonderfully anti-human cat.

16. The Stephanie Hsu comedy Laid that follows the mystery of formers lovers all strangely dying has gotten a stacked supporting cast now featuring John Early, Chloe Fineman, David Denman, and Andre Hyland (Deadline).

17.. Steve Carrell will be returning to a comedy series that ISN’T the revival of The Office, but, instead, takes him to a college campus with the producing hands of Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses (Deadline).

18. We’ll leave you with this: Sorry for taking so long. Turns out that running a theater while running a bureau is a lot of work.

TCB Debriefing 3/1-3/4/24: Dan Soder, DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD, Hacks, Worldwide Comedy Month, Martin McDonagh

March 5, 2024

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1. Much of the art form of stand-up comedy comes in subtleties. The skills of presence and delivery and writing often are best when they’re seamless in someone’s act. If you throw in some of the very best impressions/voices at the ready, you’ll get a fantastic piece of stand-up from one Dan Soder. Soder’s second special, On The Road, just released on YouTube covers a lot of common ground when it comes to subject matter, but Dan’s almost undeniable warmth, specificity in his takes, and uncanny knack for nailing a voice of a character really this 40 minute special crackle, almost without you knowing it since it’s delivered so very casually. A more classical, observational style of stand-up can still very much work in 2024, especially if your name is Dan Soder. Please enjoy Dan Soder: On The Road here.

2. It would make sense that a movie called DO NOT EXPECT TOO MUCH FROM THE END OF THE WORLD throws pretty much every traditional cinematic and narrative convention aggressively out of a window. Romanian filmmaker Radu Jude made a foreign comedy/satire that thankfully isn’t a cutesy rom com or fish-out-of-water story, but something that feels more akin to an episode of The Eric Andre Show. See for yourself with the official trailer here.

3. Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder return as one of the best duos that television has to offer these days on Hacks. Please enjoy a taste of what’s to come with season 3 with Hacks S3 teaser here (then set a reminder for the premiere on May 2nd on Max).

4. 800 Pound Gorilla Media is declaring April as Worldwide Comedy Month and given what April 1st is, was there really any other choice.

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5. For as much as Hong Kong has really squashed any sort of subversive ideas, especially regarding beliefs, philosophies that don’t fall in line with Beijing and Xi Jinping, it’s pretty curious that one Martin McDonagh (In Bruges, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, Banshees of Inisherin), one of the more subversive voices we have in film and theater, is having a “Masterclass Retrospective” in the upcoming Hong Kong International Film Festival (Deadline)

6. We’ll leave you with this: NYC comedian Nomie K. Baker joins in a 24 hour vigil to demand the NYC City Council call for a ceasefire in Gaza and a sobering reminder that innocent folks are dying every day in Gaza and that noise should be continued to be made for a ceasefire until it happens.

John Early Wonderfully Gives All Sides of Himself on “Now More Than Ever”

June 30, 2023

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A comedian on the threshold of doing an hour special can take a look at the landscape of comedy today and very easily get the notion of doing something, anything different, since the majority of comedy specials are still predominantly comprised of a single person on stage talking for an hour in front of a full theater or club. Then, comedians like John Early opt to let their imagination run wild and give us a rollicking pastiche of all facets of themselves as Early did with Now More Than Ever.

On paper, there are several different levels to Early’s hour on Max (notably referenced as HBO Max in this special, which will be a fun deep cut reference the more time that passes). Early couches his genuine, painstakingly crafted stand-up as interstitials within a sort of rock-doc/concert film for his fictional band The Lemon Squares (though they’re pretty damn fun as a cover band). So, that’s technically two sides of Now More Than Ever.

Then, there’s the meta/mockumentary element where John has the sort of chaotic fun that he has done so long with his long time comedy collaborator, Kate Berlant, showing comedic discord behind the scenes with The Lemon Squares. On top of those three layers, there seems to be final topping of Early being satirically self-aware of himself, his material, the concept of a comedy special, etc. Early doesn’t recuse himself from “being part of the problem” when calling it out in jokes and takes a mischievous pleasure in shouting out his parents out in the crowd with a spotlight and dragging them at the same time. In some schools of comedy thought, there might be “too many hats on hats” here, but Early’s magnetism, shrewd observations, and impeccable Britney voice does really ties everything together.

Suffice it to say that there’s a lot that’s packed into Now More Than Ever, but it all meshes together in a dreamlike fashion, blurring between varying levels of verisimilitude of John, but resulting in a special that’s a hilariously delightful greeting card to waking up in the awkwardness-fueled, tech-obsessed, new-new lost generation of the 2020s. It might be the choice special to watch on July 4th weekend.

John Early: Now More Than Ever is now streaming on Max, formerly HBO Max.

Thank Goodness, Conan O’Brien Is Coming Back to TV Soon with “Conan O’Brien Must Go”

May 17, 2023

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Conan O’Brien signed off from late night more than a few years ago at this point and, truly, it hasn’t really been the same ever since. The once elder statesman of late night also happened to be on the forefront of redefining what could be done with the late night format with his remotes, traveling abroad, and even playing videos games while not having a clue of what the hell was going on.

Since his hosting duties ended, Conan has amassed a podcast empire under the Team Coco banner, which has been amazing, but it’s not quite the same as having Conan O’Brien out in the field bringing joy to millions with his signature antics.

Thankfully, a rumored travel show at HBO is now coming to fruition as shown by the teaser for the Max Original, Conan O’Brien Must Go, where Conan travels to places all over the globe where his fans reside. That’ll include Noway, Thailand, and, from the looks of the teaser, somewhere in the UK. It’s a more personal, very likely less censored version of Conan Without Borders and we couldn’t be more excited for its arrival.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Conan is more than a natural at this and is probably more deserving of a travel show than the litany of other famous people who have done it over the last few years.

Get your first look at Conan O’Brien Must Go here, then look for it on HBO Max/Max soon (perhaps, pending the strike ending?)

The Other Two Season 3 Is Finally Coming Next Week

April 24, 2023

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While it has only been two years since season 2 aired, Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider‘s The Other Two is so blisteringly funny that the void left by the finale of season 2 made two years seem like a decade (in addition to COVID-19 and every other hellish thing that’s happening right now). Some of the very best jokes and bits about Hollywood and celebrity are in just the two seasons of the series (and some of the reason that it might be one of awards season’s biggest snubs).

Season 3 of The Other Two is just around the corner on HBO Max (not quite officially Max yet), and we sincerely hope that folks get to see what all the die-hard Other Two fans have been talking about since 2019. Get a taste of that yourself with the first look at season 3 here, then set a reminder for Thurs. May 3rd for the latest season premiere of The Other Two.

“Fired on Mars” Imagines an Interplanetary Office Space-Ish Comedy

April 17, 2023

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The prospect of terraforming and then, consequently, living on Mars gets envisioned so often these days that it’s hard to not also imagine some inevitable pitfalls that would be caused by various governments or multi-national corporations that are more powerful than most sovereign nations. Imagining that ought to lead one to imagine how having a 9-5 job on Mars, then losing said job would be a great source for a dark office comedy very much like those very same comedies set on Earth.

Nate Sherman and Nate Vokey made a buzzworthy short called Fired on Mars and it was so intriguing and resonant that Warner Discovery ordered it to series at Max (formerly HBO Max). Luke Wilson voices Jeff who is subject to the show’s title at the perfectly named Mars based company Mars.ly. What follows is probably the thing you needed after Silicon Valley ended/an outer space version of Office Space that you didn’t even know you wanted.

Take a look for yourself at Fired on Mars’ official trailer here and then look for the series on Max this Thurs. Apr. 20th.

The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 159: Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher & Living for Bits

April 12, 2023

News, The Comedy Bureau Field Report

chop and steele, documentary, found footage fest, joe pickett, max, nick prueher, taiwan, winnie the pooh, ziwe

When all is said and done, the exploits of comedy pioneers Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher, founders of The Found Footage Festival, should be well documented and celebrated.

Thankfully, not only are the life long friends and comedy partners back out on the road for the fest’s latest edition, but they’ve got an astounding and nearly unbelievable documentary, Chop & Steele, following a giant media company suing them for doing a bit on a local morning news show set for release very soon (May 9th). Pickett and Prueher commitment to bits is almost unrivaled as they essentially making a living through having every bit of fun they possibly can conceive of. This week’s TCB Field Report talks to Joe & Nick about their whole journey to court and back because of “news experiments” and the ethos behind their comedy that centers on awkward, cringe, and the “unintentional”.

Also, “hot’ takes on Max (formerly HBO Max) ordering a new Big Bang Theory, Taiwanese Winnie-the-Pooh-getting-punched patches, and more.

Follow Joe @jojopickett and Nick @chimplips on IG and Found Footage Festival at foundfootagefest.com and all things Chop & Steele at chopandsteele.com including screenings at LA’s Alamo Drafthouse on 4/13 & 4/14 and in NYC 4/21-4/24.

The Comedy Bureau @thecomedybureau across platforms and please, please support TCB via Patreon or on Venmo (@jakekroeger).

Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and Jake Kroeger

HBO Orders Lena Dunham Second Wave Feminism Pilot “Max”

October 14, 2015

Uncategorized

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(via Deadline)

As Lena Dunham has hinted at Girls possibly coming to a close in the not so distant future, HBO has made the smart move in keeping her around.

If Girls ends, the feminist comedy streak at HBO might keep going with Dunham’s latest project which delves into second wave feminism in 1963. Explored through the lens of a magazine writer played by Lisa Joyce, Max intrigues us as a 60s period piece as well as a progression of Dunham as a sort of a TV auteur.