TCB Debriefing 5/11-5/18: Spaghetti Fest, Nikki Glaser, Conan O’Brien Must Go, Hulu, Ramy Youssef/Will Ferrell, Only Murders in the Building, Blair Socci, Seth Meyers, Happy Gilmore, Entertainment System Is Down, Rick & Morty: The Anime
1. The Elysian is getting ready for the 3rd edition of its never-before-seen-genre/definition-defying comedy festival, Spaghetti Fest, where they look to present completely original, brand new productions that pretty much swing for the fences with whatever their intended goal is. Submissions are open, but are due Jun. 15th for the fest set for this November. Get more details/submit here.
2. Nikki Glaser dazzled the world of Netflix with her set on The Roast of Tom Brady (and blew everyone out of the water; no one even came close to her set). Her brand spankin’ new hour special, Someday You’ll Die is a further display of Nikki still ascending in her comedy powers. She never fails to put on a clinic with stand-up in regards to word economy, diction, delivery, stage presence, and the always tricky part of verisimilitude in one’s performance, but also, sneakily, goes on a journey of comedically exploring the inevitability of death from her vantage point. It’s material that should come off darker, but Glaser’s joke writing and telling are simply that death comes off a much more light topic. Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die is now streaming on Max.
3. Max finally made a smart decision regarding a TV show and renewed Conan O’Brien Must Go for a second season. Fingers crossed that O’Brien can not only travel to way more places for this second season, but will also get Werner Herzog for another brilliant, scorching intro.
4. We were wondering when Hulu was going to get into the comedy specials game with Netflix, Max, and Amazon already firmly planted in it. Looks like that time is now and they’re leading off with a sure bet in Jim Gaffigan (Variety).
5. Coming off the heat from Ramy Youssef in Poor Things, Josh Rabinowitz co-writing Babes, and Will Ferrell being Will Ferrell, the idea of a golf comedy with all these folks is pretty enticing (Variety).
6. Thank goodness that Only Murders in the Building is back for a fourth season and keeping Steve Martin in comedy and Martin Short on screen regularly as it should be. Take a gander at season 4, due out on Aug. 27th on Hulu, with the teaser here.
7. Both figuratively and literally, Blair Socci is one of the most unique and entertaining voices in stand-up comedy right now. See this notion in action with her Don’t Tell Comedy set here.
8. Seth Meyers and his revolutionary casual look as host of Late Night will keep on keepin’ on through 2028 as Meyers just renewed his NBCU deal this past week (Variety).
9. Many millennials are probably getting a sequel that they’ve wanted for a long, long time with Netflix greenlighting a sequel to one of Adam Sandler’s classics, Happy Gilmore (Deadline).
10. Molly Gordon is sitting back at the director’s chair for a new project, Small Parts, after pretty much nothing but love (and well deserved) for Theater Camp last year. Carmy really f’d up, didn’t he? (Deadline).
11. Ruben Östlund, the amazing comedy auteur behind Force Majeure and The Square and Triangle of Sadness, will have Keanu Reeves, Kirsten Dunst, and Daniel Brühl for his latest pic, the wonderfully titled, The Entertainment System of Down. That will have made Östlund taken down masculinity, the art world, rich/beautiful people, and, thankfully, “the biz”.
12. Rick and Morty is officially a cinematic universe unto itself with this first look at Rick and Morty: The Anime, due out to Adult Swim and Max later this year.
13. We’ll leave you with this: Timing standing ovations should be outlawed.
