soft focus – The Comedy Bureau

The Comedy Bureau Field Report Ep. 18: Jena Friedman & Dark Comedy Now

July 29, 2020

adult swim, bridget everett, corporate, emmy nominations, emmys, i may destroy you, i'll be gone in the dark, jena friedman, soft focus

Jena Friedman (Soft Focus), one of the best dark comedians/humorists out there today, is TCB Field Report’s honored guest this week. As the pandemic has taken hold of Jena’s computer, Jena calls in on the phone with TCB’s Jake Kroeger and discusses the unfortunate luck of being right about the pandemic, some optimism about an eventual return of comedy, and some hints at what to look out for from Jena in the future when we have a vaccine. Also, they do some quick takes on being excited about the just announced Primetime Emmy nominations and Bridget Everett’s also just announced new HBO series, Somebody Somewhere.

Follow Jena @jenafriedman on Twitter. Watch Jena’s Soft Focus specials here and her last set on Conan here.

Shout outs: I May Destroy You on HBO, I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Supernatural with Ashley Flowers, Corporate on Comedy Central

The Comedy Bureau @thecomedybureau across platforms and please, please support TCB via GoFundMe, Patreon, or on Venmo (@jakekroeger).
Produced by Jake Kroeger
Music by Brian Granillo
Artwork by Andrew Delman and KT

You Can Now Stream “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman 2” Over at AdultSwim.com

January 28, 2019

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jena friedman, now streaming, soft focus

You Can Now Stream “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman 2” Over at AdultSwim.com

We believe that Jena Friedman is creating masterworks of satirical comedy for our times with these Soft Focus specials and you’re really doing yourself a disservice if you’re not watching them.

Just off the idea of having a VR game that gives a woman’s perspective to men and interviewing John McAfee because the former software security head is running for POTUS again should be enough to peak your interest

Anyways, you can (and should) watch the latest Soft Focus with Jena Friedman for free at your convenience right here.

Count the New “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman” as The First Great Comedy Special of 2019

January 25, 2019

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adult swim, comedy special, jena friedman, soft focus

Jena Friedman already dazzled us with the daring, nail-bitingly hilarious first Soft Focus special at Adult Swim that, amongst many wonderful things it pulled off, found a way to make the man nicknamed the Cannibal Cop uncomfortable.

This next Soft Focus special ups the ante and expertly and satirically covers sexual harassment in gaming and interviews one of the more controversial figures of our time, former security software entrepreneur John McAfee about his new 2020 presidential campaign (Note: he did have a failed 2016 presidential bid).

We don’t want to give anything away really as Friedman’s uber-clever style of twisting-the-comedic-knife in these situations deserves a full surprise. We will say that Jena has quite the knack for subtly letting her subjects not only have enough rope to hang themselves, but make sure that the knot that they hang themselves is just right and so damn funny the whole way though. Honestly, we enjoyed this more than Who Is America.

We sincerely hope leads to a full-fledged series or feature length project or just something that allows Jena to make more things like this as she has for so many years.

So, this new Soft Focus with Jena Friedman premieres tonight at midnight on Adult Swim and you should absolutely make plans to watch it.

You Can Now Watch “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman” at AdultSwim.com and Marvel at Jena’s Viciously Funny Satirical Special

February 20, 2018

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adult swim, jena friedman, soft focus

You Can Now Watch “Soft Focus with Jena Friedman” at AdultSwim.com and Marvel at Jena’s Viciously Funny Satirical Special

There are great echoes of the field pieces of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart in this special, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as Jena used to produce said field pieces there.

What is amazing about Soft Focus is how Jena is so calm in her delivery the entire time (as if she has ice running through her veins), maximizing the awkwardness and absurdity of the interviews she set up. From that calmness, there comes an almost tangible, metaphorical twisting-of-the-knife in her conversations with real folks (that might need a bit of a metaphorical knife twisting to be honest). No matter how dark it gets, we still find ourselves laughing heartily.

So, please watch Soft Focus with Jena Friedman, which, we hope, will become a show itself very soon.