stephanie hsu – The Comedy Bureau

TCB Debriefing 7/21-8/10: Roy Wood Jr. on CNN, Inside Out TV Series, Saturday Night Trailer+++

1. Roy Wood Jr. will be hosting his own topical panel show on, not Comedy Central, but CNN with Have I Got News For You. While The Daily Show did get Jon Stewart back, there is an unmistakable feeling that they missed out here.

2. Disney’s own version of Comic Con, D23, is this weekend and the big takeaway is that Mickey and company will be sticking with their big hits from Pixar in the form of an Inside Out series, another sequel to The Incredibles, and another sequel to Toy Story (which begs the question how much more existential crises can they explore through the nature of sentient toys).

3. Let’s call that a take 2 on Studio 60, but this time, from Jason Reitman that actually tackles the origin story of SNL head on (and it looks pretty damn great). Take a gander at the trailer for Saturday Night here, then look for it in theaters come Oct. 11th.

4. Adam Sandler took a big leap into the Safdie Brothers’ world when diving into Uncut Gems, and Josh Safdie is returning the favor by directing Sandler’s latest stand-up special, Love You (take a look at the trailer here). Let’s see if this leads to a Safdie Brothers slapstick comedy. Love You will hit Netflix later this month on Aug. 27th.

5. The High Plains Comedy Festival in Denver, CO is still one of the very best comedy festivals around (and is coming up soon on Sept. 19th-21st). Peep their first line-up announcement! THEN, go get your fest passes here.

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6. Given how truly insane the winds of change feels these days, a wave of absurdism/non-sequitur/unapologetic deconstructionist satire in a comedy special (as opposed to more litanies of crowd-work-fueled comedy specials) feels more than needed. Fortunately, Carmen Christopher has come through with his latest and very hilarious special Live from the Windy City that serves up many shots of all those ingredients in addition to thankfully showcasing Christopher’s stand up chops in a non-COVID-socially-distanced setting. If you’re any level of fan of I Think You Should Leave, you might recognized Carmen from a sketch or two and, as such, you’re really going to dig Live from the Windy City (after all, Tim Robinson does have his name attached to this special). Live from the Windy City is now streaming on VEEPS and you can (and should) stream it here.

7. While Abbott Elementary has the hearts and minds of America’s primetime viewing audience, FX is giving the high school work place comedy its own treatment with English Teacher from Brian Jordan Alvarez (that seems to have the same very satisfying bite that Election had over 20 years ago). Also, Sean Patton as Markie might be TV’s latest scene stealer. See for yourself with the trailer here, then look for the premiere on FX/Hulu on Sept. 2nd.

8. James Adomian, who voices many of your favorite adult animated series, is one of comedy’s best minds and voices and has been for years now. Thankfully, his very first hour special is due out on 800 Pound Gorilla on Aug. 16th and then, for everyone, on Sept. 19th. Please enjoy his retro comedy special trailer for Path of Most Resistance here.

9. After having some of the very best moments in season 1 of White Lotus, Natasha Rothwell is taking center stage with her very own series How to Die Alone, a comedy following a carpe-diem-turn for a woman who is afraid to fly, but works an airport. See what Natasha has up her sleeve with the trailer for How To Die Alone here, then look for it exclusively on Hulu come Sept. 13th.

10. Both Punkie Johnson and Molly Kearney are leaving SNL, which means the new cast announcement for the next season might be big (and plenty diverse).

11. Ramy Youssef has signed a first look deal with Netflix, which is yet another step for the rising comedy star. Note that this doesn’t mean he has the answer to achieving peace in the Middle East (only great jokes about it).

12. Quinta Brunson and Stephanie Hsu are teaming up on a comedy feature for Universal. No plot details are available at this time, which leaves us to assume that it’s about a multiverse of public schools that also don’t have enough funding.

13. It’s about time there was a Mitch Hedberg documentary especially considering that he set an intention of telling jokes without references so he could be timeless. Keep an eye out for this doc from 222-2222 Films.

13. While Chloe Radcliffe is in Edinburgh right now racking up well deserved acclaimed for her marvelous solo show, CHEAT, let’s not forget that Chloe is really damn good at stand-up. See her Don’t Tell set here for proof.

14. Not only is the fifth season of Solar Opposites around the corner (Aug. 12th on Hulu) and it just got renewed for another season, but it seems as any lingering controversy with Justin Roiland’s exit is well in the rear view mirror. All looks like a well oiled machine in this trailer for the new season.

15. In addition to Sam Morril making his Amazon debut with his brand spankin’ new special You’ve Changed, there’s, essentially, a bonus track of crowd work/material available exclusively on newly forged comedian streaming platform PunchUp called “Buying Drinks”. If you loved Sam’s rooftop stuff, you’ll love this.

16. In addition to doing a sharply honed high school comedy, it would seem FX is angling on a Gen-Z version of Friends with their new series, Snowflakes. Shout out to comedian Malik Elassal has is kind of having a banner year in 2024.

17. We don’t know how many seasons What We Do In the Shadows will ultimately go, but thank goodness Danny McBride is getting to work on adapting his own vampire comedy from Grady Hendrix’s book The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires.

18. While a return to pure comedy might seem unlikely for acclaimed horror director Jordan Peele, him taking on prank series Scare Tactics is a welcome dip back into comedy. Look for Peele to possibly revolutionize prank shows later this Fall on USA Network.

19. We’ll leave you with this: Free tickets to John Early @ The Bellwether on 9/17 anyone? Yes? Hit us up at thecomedybureau@gmail.com and we’ll see if we can hook you up.

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 1/14/24: Critics Choice Awards, AI Carlin, Get on Your Knees, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Laurie Kilmartin, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Jenny Slate, Wes Anderson, Laid, Snowflakes, Drew Barrymore

January 14, 2024

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ai, critics choice awards, curb your enthusiasm, donald glover, drew barrymore, george carlin, jacqueline novak, jenny slate, kelly carlin, laid, laurie kilmartin, maya erskine, mr and mrs smith, snowflakes, stephanie hsu, wes anderson

1. Barbie and The Bear win for Best Comedy, film and TV show respectively, for the Critics Choice Awards. Barbenheimer was Summer 2023 and Winter 2024 will be “The Barbear”?.

2. AI tried impersonating George Carlin for a whole hour and called it a “George Carlin special” only to offer a disclaimer that it was an impersonation. Suffice it to say, it didn’t go well (stick to original, human Carlin) and Kelly Carlin responded in “kind”.

3. Witness the poesy of fellatio in the celebrated Jacqueline Novak solo show Get On Your Knees that’s due out as a Netflix special on 1/23.

4. The Donald Glover/Maya Erskine version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith is different than the Brad and Angelina version (and definitely the Hitchcock one), but, then again, is it? (it is, it’s more grounded and they’re not such expert level spies) Take a gander at the first full-length trailer here, then look for it on Amazon Prime starting Feb. 2nd.

5. Laurie Kilmartin is coming out with her latest special, the wonderfully named Cis Woke Grief Slut on Jan. 30th, which will probably make it the first noteworthy special of 2024 (sorry Pete Davidson).

6. Here’s the trailer for season 12 of Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is supposedly the final season, but, then again, how many Cher farewell tours were there? Look for what might be the final episodes of Larry David on Curb starting Feb. 4th on Max.

7. Jenny Slate makes shorts classy as they’ve ever been in the first look of her new special Seasoned Professional. Take a gander here, then look for it on Amazon Prime on Feb. 23rd.

8. Wes Anderson already has a cast so stacked that it would be more than enough star power as is with Bill Murray, Michael Cera, and Benecio Del Toro (Deadline). Expect at least 10 more of Hollywood’s biggest stars to sign on.

9. Stephanie Hsu will be the star of Peacock’s latest comedy series, Laid, from Nahnatchka Khan and Sally Bradford McKenna (Variety). Since it’s a comedy that involves confronting the past as a result of all of her former lovers dying all of a sudden, it’s a pretty nice middle ground for Hsu between Everything Everywhere All At Once and Joy Ride.

10. Since Atlanta is over and who knows exactly when the next round of What We Do in The Shadows will be coming, you might be wondering what’s going on with comedy at FX. Cue in the Nick Kroll produced pilot from Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw, Snowflakes (THR).

11. Guy Maddin, the mind behind one of the trippiest documentaries/meta pieces of art we’ve ever seen (My Winnipeg), has a G7 comedy in the works called Rumours with Cate Blanchett and Alicia Vikander already attached (Deadline).

12. Drew Barrymore is getting a fifth season of her daytime talk show (Variety). Daytime is still way more diverse than late night. Weird, isn’t it?

13. We’ll leave you with this: Maybe Jo Koy should have opened with AI written jokes to set expectations lower before launching into his Barbie joke?

Joy Ride Looks to Be the Raunchiest R-Rated Comedy of 2023 (That Happens to Be About Adoption)

March 17, 2023

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ashley park, joy ride, red band trailer, sabrina wu, sherry cola, stephanie hsu

Between This Is Us, Trying, and Blue Bayou, there is an uptick in stories about adoption in TV and movies as of late, though, as you might notice they’re either incredibly maudlin or saccharine.

That’s going to change this year come July 7th as Teresa Hsiao, Adele Lim, and Cherry Chevapravatdumrong‘s R-rated transcontinental road-trip buddy comedy, Joy Ride, will hit theaters. Ashley Park plays an adoptee that assembles Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu, all play kind-of life long friends, to help her find her birth mother on the other side of the world. What ensues is a Hangover/Bridesmaids-esque gauntlet of everything going spectacularly awry as one can see and enjoy in this first official red band trailer, just released today.

Joy Ride has the makings of an R-rated comedy of 2023, especially with it being slotted right after the 4th of July, but also offer up a film we haven’t seen before, a big studio adult comedy that sports an all-Asian top billed cast that hinges on an actual adoption story (versus something like Elf, which is probably the best adoptee comedy to date) and is chock full of blue humor.

It’s so damn intriguing where this Joy Ride might take us. Take your first look at what that might be with the Joy Ride red band trailer here.

If Any Major Movie Awards Want to Progress Upwards, Everything Everywhere All at Once Better Get a Bunch of Nominations/Wins

March 31, 2022

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daniels, everything everywhere all at once, jamie lee curtis, ke huy quan, michelle yeoh, stephanie hsu

When Swiss Army Man came out in 2016, lots of buzz swirled around the concept of Daniel Radcliffe playing a somewhat animated corpse that could propel himself across a body of water via farting. It was such the focus of any discussion of Swiss Army Man that Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s tender message about self-love and belief might have gotten drowned out by, well, farts.

That said, that would prove a good blueprint for Daniels (the moniker by which Kwan and Scheinert go with as a duo) as to do something, arguably, more ambitious with an arguably wilder story that happens to include a parallel universe where everyone has hot dog fingers. That movie would be the brilliant, delightfully bonkers, strangely sweet opus Everything Everywhere All at Once.

There are so many multitudes of facets to the story of the movie itself (that’s what happens when dealing with the multiverse) that it’s somehow even more ridiculous than last year’s demented fairy tale Cannes Palme D’or winner Titane. Any attempt at a detailed explanation of Michelle Yeoh trying to save her family and all of the multiverse via some sort of Sense8-ish ability might take away from the visceral experience of seeing the Daniels’ maximalist vision about staying present and loving people for who they are. We want you to truly have as much of that experience that those well worn movie review descriptors (captivating, engrossing, unlike anything you’ve seen before) always promise, but often come up short on.

Instead, we’ll say that there is a child like wonder that gets the exquisite touch and precision of seasoned filmmakers and visionaries, Daniels. There’s a hope and grandiose vision from them (expertly executed from the principal cast of Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis) that reminds of us of the sort unlimited potential of imagination that we personally had in film school, but was ultimately tempered by the many tightly fitted cogs that run Tinseltown. They achieve truly heartfelt moments that are accented by plastic googly eyes and the aforementioned hot dog fingers while jumping in and out of highly choreographed, intricate fight scenes. If you wonder what the magic of the movies looks like in 2022, this is it.

It’s almost as if Daniels threw everything at the wall and everything stuck because it was all worth keeping in. At almost 2 1/2 hours, the trip fantastic that Everything Everywhere All at Once takes you on will remind you why we go to the movies (even better than Nicole Kidman’s maudlin AMC theatrical pre-roll spot).

Lastly, awards season could take a great step forward if Everything Everywhere All at Once becomes a legitimate contender. Comedies, genre movies, and Asian representation are often severely lacking when it comes to major movie awards and, at this juncture right now, but this is more than just about optics. If Best Picture is supposed to really mean Best Picture, there shouldn’t be any tinge of the oft-satirized idea of “Oscar Bait” anymore.

We could go on and on about how the movie is an equally satisfying balance of genre and tone that has bits of Tarantino, Wong Kar Wai, Airplane, but, truly, it’s something to behold for yourself (hopefully, in a movie theater). Everything Everywhere All at Once is playing in select theaters and expanding this weekend to major U.S. cities and then theaters everywhere starting Apr. 8th.