self help – The Comedy Bureau

Pick of the Day: Self Help Me w/ Jenny Yang: A Competitive Self Care Comedy Show (in LA) 5/21

May 18, 2023

daniel webb, desmond chiam, dr ally powell hicks, game show, health and wellness, jenny yang, joel kim booster, los angeles comedy, nicole byer, ron fnches, self help

With the conversation surrounding mental health being more prominent than ever in human history, one should wonder about how much they know about health and wellness (and not just what you’ve seen or heard of on Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop).

Lucky for us all, LA comedy’s Jenny Yang has created a self-help game show, Self Help Me, to test such niche knowledge and really dive into what’s really behind the latest trends in self-help (as well as create content through specialized anxieties). LA comedy scene favorites and wellness experts alike will face off and Yang is assembling quite the field of competitors including Nicole Byer, Joel Kim Booster, Ron Funches, Daniel Webb, Dr. Ally Powell-Hicks, and Desmond Chiam.

This round of Self Help Me is set for Sun. May 21st at 4PM @ Dynasty Typewriter. Tickets are $20 and you really ought to help yourself and go get them here.

Of Course Maria Bamford’s Self-Help Guide to Doing an Hour of Stand-Up Is Hysterically Self-Aware and Meta

September 4, 2020

News

audible, how to, how to do comedy, maria bamford, self help

There are so many books on how to do stand-up and a plethora of teachers that offer courses on how to do stand-up. Often, those books are very reductive in their understanding of comedy and can often feel dated and, even more importantly, not feel/seem/be that funny.

Cue Maria Bamford’s You Are (A Comedy) Special: A Simple 15-Step Self-Help Guide to Forcibly Force Yourself to Write and Perform a Full Hour of Stand-up Comedy.

Bamford created yet another marvel of comedy, following her handful of brilliant hour specials as well as her critically acclaimed TV show and beloved web series, with a colorful guide on her process of developing her own hour of material. For those in the know, Maria’s particular process for developing comedy is so incredibly unique, which shouldn’t be surprising as Maria is one of the most distinct voices (or collection of voices) in comedy history. This two hour plus audio guide details every step of Maria creating and honing her own hour, which is, in of itself, such a hysterical trek through Maria’s mind (very similar to her stand-up). As such, You Are (A Comedy) Special is unlike any other guide to doing comedy that more encourages you to find your path rather than paint by numbers. That’s probably one of the biggest takeaways you can have from any comedy course.

Get a bit of a taste of the audiobook here.

Maria Bamford’s You Are (A Comedy) Special: A Simple 15-Step Self-Help Guide to Forcibly Force Yourself to Write and Perform a Full Hour of Stand-up Comedy is available now, exclusively on Audible. Go get it here.

Some beloved Behind the Scenes of the making of my @audible_com Original "You are (A Comedy) Special" that's available NOW!!

HERE-> https://t.co/XvcGYtdc3E pic.twitter.com/s5mnr4Nnx7

— Maria Bamford (@mariabamfoo) September 3, 2020

June 21, 2017

Uncategorized

comedy show, hollywood, hollywood fringe, los angeles, lucia brizzi, parody, satire, self help, talia brava

If you’re into diving into seeing one of the shows at the Hollywood Fringe Festival going on right now, check out Lucia Brizzi’s Tony Robbins Netflix Special Special.

Basically, it’s an attempt at a self-help special by someone watched self-help magnate Tony Robbins, but clearly still needs help in their life. The result is a damn fun deconstruction of self-help that’s coming apart at its own seams.

They have one more engagement at the Hollywood Fringe this Saturday, June 24th at Three Clubs. Tickets are $12 and you can (and should) get them here.

The rest of our listings for comedy shows, events, open mics, maps, and more can be found at www.thecomedybureau.com.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Gang Writes a Self-Help Book: The 7 Secrets to Awakening the Highly Effective Four-Hour Giant, Today

July 26, 2014

Uncategorized

advice book, fx, fxx, it's always sunny in philadelphia, self help

(via Splitsider)

This is more than just an unusually long episode title for the FXx series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Charlie, Mac, Dennis, Sweet Dee, and Frank are indeed all putting together a book of advice, which will undoubtedly words to live by, so long as well all move to South Philly and work at a dive bar.

While they’ll cover such topics as varied as fashion and survival, we hope that the DENNIS system is broken down in even greater and more disgusting detail. The book is real and on pre-order.

The Comedian’s Guide to Feeling Better About Trying To Make It In Comedy

September 1, 2011

Uncategorized

comedy, dan harmon, fx, guide to, inspiration, ira glass, louis c.k., marc maron, patton oswalt, self help, wtf podcast

It’s no secret that there is a great deal of personal mental strain that comedians go through, often self-inflicted, despite having “making people laugh” in their job description. While self-help books are often a popular topic for jokes and I’ve surprised other comedians by not having ever entered therapy, any person legitimately doing comedy would tell you that any whisper of encouragement, even if not specifically directed at them, is more than welcome.

Over the last few months, such symbolic “pats on the back” and sincere echoes of “keep at it and believe in yourself” have popped up online and have given credence to the aforementioned claim of insecurity by comedians. The following is a collection of those metaphorical motivational posters in the form of podcasts, quotes, videos, etc. that might make you more feel comfortable along the road to answering the question:

What the fuck am I doing trying to make strangers laugh?

1) Marc Maron’s Just For Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival Keynote Address

2) Louis C.K. and the Joan Rivers episode of Louie

3) Dan Harmon (Creator of NBC’s Community) on meeting George Gallo, writer of Midnight Run, the dilemma of being creative, and nominations.

4) “It took me until my 40s to realize it: There’s no destination. There’s no getting anywhere. There’s just the going. The key to life is to make the going really fun. Because people that are like, “If I just get to this, then boom!” And then they get there and there’s this dawning of an afterwards. Whereas I’m just always in the going. And it’s not a frantic going like, “I gotta keep going or I’m gonna go nuts!” I can not do anything for weeks or months if I need to and just sit and read books or watch movies. I’m just as fine consuming and absorbing new art as I am trying to make it. But it’s all in the going.”

–Patton Oswalt in A.V. Club Interview

5) Ira Glass, though not strictly talking about comedy, encourages new artists.