the comic's comic

In other news...

Ready for the weekend? Me, too. But first, a few things to mention and link to that people are reading and talking about in comedy circles...

• I would have put the animated GIF version of Conan's Tonight Show backdrop (shown above as stills) on the site, but I didn't want your minds to explode all Nintendo-like. Click on Serious Lunch, if you dare.
• Speaking of Tonight Show matters, I have learned exclusively (exclusively? really? everyone knew about it when I put it on my Twitter yesterday) that Bill Burr will be the first stand-up comedian to perform on Conan's Tonight Show on Monday, June 8, 2009. Trivia! Anthony Jeselnik, a writer for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, has a joke about how he was the first stand-up to perform on Fallon's show -- and if that's not a big deal to you, then it should be. I'm trying to think of who the other first stand-ups were on Leno, Letterman and the biggie, Carson. Johnny Carson. Who was thinking I meant Carson Daly?! Google is not helping.
• New York magazine talked to Mike Birbiglia today, as he ends his "limited run" engagement Off-Broadway of Sleepwalk with Me this weekend at 198 performances.
• Lin-Manuel Miranda from Freestyle Love Supreme (and Tony-winning musical man) will co-star in the new season of House as Hugh Laurie's roommate, says EW's Michael Ausiello.
• The Laugh Track assembled 17 yearbook photographs of funny people, in case you didn't get a chance to see what any of these folks looked like when they were in high school and college. 
• The Television Critics Association (TCA) announced their nominations for best in TV shows yesterday, and all of you yahoos who don't think Saturday Night Live hasn't been funny in years will find yourselves in stark contrast to TV critics: They think SNL was one of the best overall shows of the year. In the comedy bracket, they narrowed the field to 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, The Daily Show, How I Met Your Mother and The Office. For individual achievement in comedy, they liked Alec Baldwin, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Neil Patrick Harris and Jim Parsons. They also liked United States of Tara as one of the best new shows. Chelsea Handler will open the awards show Aug. 1 in Pasadena.

NYT profiles Conan O'Brien, late-night TV shuffle

This coming Sunday's New York Times Magazine profiles Conan O'Brien, and is as much about the changes in late-night TV coming this summer and fall, as it is about O'Brien himself. Some great quotes. Such as this tidbit, in which O'Brien talked about how, earlier this year, he'd tape two Late Nights on Thursdays so he could spend his Fridays building his relationships with various NBC affiliates around the country:

“I felt like Lyndon Johnson in the hill country, running a grass-roots campaign,” O’Brien said. “In places like Oklahoma City, everyone was wearing Conan wigs and they brought a Clydesdale out of a truck. I grabbed a cowboy hat and rode in circles in front of the station. There were cheerleaders doing cheers for me and banners with my name on them. I kept thinking, I came into show business through the back door of SNL and The Simpsons, and now I’m in the carnival. Which I love. If you want to host The Tonight Show, you need to go to Kansas City and Cleveland and Milwaukee and San Jose and Oklahoma City. There’s something about the show that does belong to those people.”

(photo by Dewey Nicks for the NYT)

Tonight Show comings (Conan) and goings (Leno)

We have news on both the outgoing and incoming versions of The Tonight Show. First, the new: TV Guide obtained a publicity photo from NBC showing Conan O'Brien's new set in California -- which is twice the size of his digs up in 30 Rock in NYC, and also somewhat reminiscent of Leno's set, no? Perhaps more importantly, sidekick Andy Richter is back in action, giving us a backstage look at the new offices, whilst pretending to be Conan!

The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien debuts June 1.

Meanwhile, Jay Leno has two more weeks to go before vacating his late-night seat and getting ready for primetime in September. Leno's final guests on his version of The Tonight Show will be Conan O'Brien and James Taylor, plus a surprise or two, he told reporters on a conference call late yesterday. Here are some excerpts, courtesy of Eric Deggans at the St. Petersburg Times.

On doing a nightly 10 p.m. comedy showcase: “The real key to this, is having a lot more comedy in the last half hour. Research shows people like the monologue, people like Headlines . . . we'll update those and freshen them up. The real trick is that second half hour. Although my job previous to this was to give a good lead-in to Conan, the job giving a good lead-in to the 11 p.m. news is really, really important. That's where a lot of our affiliates make most of their money. We have some interesting elements that will be a little different There hasn’t been a successful 10 o'clock launch of a dramatic series in the last five or 10 years. There’s no laughs at 10 o'clock. And to me, 10 o'clock is like 11:30. Even young people go, I can't stay up past 11."

Andy Richter named announcer for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien

Andy Richter and Conan O'Brien once again will be side-by-side launching a late-night talk show, as NBC announced today that Richter will serve as the announcer and also sketch comedy player for The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien when it debuts on June 1.

Richter appeared on O'Brien's final "Late Night" last Friday. But he had been O'Brien's sidekick for close to seven years, from his "Late Night" start in September 1993 until May 26, 2000. From the official NBC press release, this statement from O'Brien: "Andy is one of the funniest people I know and we've maintained a close friendship since he left 'Late Night.' We have a proven chemistry that will be an incredible asset to 'The Tonight Show.' I'm looking forward to working with Andy on a daily basis again, particularly since he owes me $300."

That reminds me, I'm going to need to create a few new categories.

Inside the Last Days of Late Night with Conan O'Brien

The elevators open on the sixth floor of 30 Rockefeller Center to reveal a hallway full of activity. We're hours away from another taping of NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien (not to mention test shows underway in an adjacent studio for Jimmy Fallon!). Three floors up on nine, where O'Brien and the writers work, however, the mood feels decidedly different. It's almost as if it's the last week of high school. Make that the funniest high school in America, and most of the students don't know how to react, because they're about to go on summer break in the spring, and meet up again in college in Los Angeles, where they'll put their own spin on The Tonight Show in June. How do you say goodbye, exactly?

The Letterman folks went through this all before in 1993, of course, when David Letterman jumped from 12:35 a.m. at NBC to 11:35 p.m. at CBS, providing the opening that O'Brien and his staff have more than ably filled.

Despite the high-school/college metaphors above, though, you don't get the sense that O'Brien's staff is suffering from a case of senioritis. It's just...different. Fewer guests to plan panel stories for, more clip packages to hunt down and edit, and a completely overhauled monologue for the final week. Out with the topical news and celebrity jokes, in with the goodbye quips. For Tuesday, writers prepared an elaborate farewell to the show's Masturbating Bear (played by writer Michael Gordon) that involved O'Brien trying to freeze him in carbonite in tribute to Han Solo, only to have Carrie Fisher herself rescue the bear and reunite with him after a chase through the streets of Manhattan.

Most clip packages got debated and selected months ago. On Wednesday, writers huddled in one of the offices trying to select clips for a last-minute addition to the highlight reels. Packages on Wednesday's show included a blooper reel of sketches gone awry, and a reel that showed how much they relied on robots, bears and Abraham Lincoln over the years.

Meanwhile, writers Brian Kiley and Guy Nicolucci are staring at their respective computer screens, racking their brains to come up with farewell one-liners for O'Brien's prepenultimate monologue. "Normally, you have a sense of what the good ones are and aren't," Kiley says of writing monologue jokes. He has known O'Brien since both attended the same Sunday School in a Boston-area Catholic church, and has a good feel for what kinds of topical jokes O'Brien likes to tell and which subjects to avoid. He'll go through the morning newspapers, find his marks, fact-check them, then type and email them over. For the final week, though, O'Brien just wants to use the monologue to say goodbye. One of Kiley's more TV-daring punchlines that made it onto the late-night airwaves Tuesday noted how you couldn't say the word "douchebag" on TV when Conan started in 1993. Nicolucci says it's like throwing jokes over a wall, waiting to hear which ones land and which ones don't. With an hour to go before the daily 4:45 p.m. meeting on the set with O'Brien, Kiley joins Nicolucci in his cramped office for some team brainstorming. Is there some way to still get a Paris Hilton mention into the monologue? Kiley offers: "We won't be on the air until June, so for the next three months, I'll be going door-to-door telling Paris Hilton jokes." Nicolucci exclaims, "Yes!" and types it up, quickly adding it to a lengthy e-mail correspondence.

Super Bowl ad: Conan sells Bud Light to Sweden

One more thing from the Super Bowl I want to point out for you before we move on to other funny business. Yes, you probably saw and chuckled at Conan O'Brien's attempt to sell Bud Light to Sweden. But I also want you to keep an eye on the guy who convinces O'Brien to do the ad. That's H. Jon Benjamin, who not only has worked for O'Brien as a "Late Night" writer, but also was a voice for Dr. Katz and is a major player for the new Comedy Central show, Important Things with Demetri Martin. So here's to seeing more of Benjamin on your TV. Enjoy:

Conan O'Brien on Inside the Actors Studio

Conan O'Brien will tell you he is not an actor, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have plenty of stories to tell, and he shall share some of them on a special two-hour edition Monday of Bravo's Inside the Actors Studio. Conan has a month left in his Late Night slot in NYC, before heading to California to take over the Tonight Show. Here, Conan talks about writing for SNL, pitching famous comedians, how you can find something funny without laughing because you have simply seen and heard so much comedy before (oh, do I know that feeling), and how SNL was different from Not Necessarily The News!

More clips after the jump!

Jay Leno at 10 p.m. (or 9 p.m.!): A closer look

The morning after NBC made it official, we all need to put the announcement of Jay Leno moving from late-night into primetime in 2009 into perspective.

First, realize and recognize that while Leno's fall 2009 show will air weeknights at 10 p.m. on the East and West coasts, he'll actually be on at 9 p.m. in the Central and Mountain time zones! When Leno told the press yesterday that 10:30 was the new 11:30 for many folks, he could have and should have said that for all of middle America, that long has been the case. Instead, when I heard Leno tell NBC Universal sibling show Access Hollywood (their studios are literally across the hallway from Leno's studio in Burbank) that “11:30 seems really late to most people,” what I heard translated as most people = old people?! That Leno asked NBC to do research (focus groups, anyone?) and found that his audience wanted to see him earlier, that only bolsters this circumstantial claim that Leno's ratings will fall outside the 18-49 demo.

Ah, ratings. In the just completed November sweeps season, Leno's Tonight Show averaged 4.9 million viewers (though only 1.7 million fell within the 18-49 age bracket), for a 1.3 rating and 5 share.

From jail to Carnegie Hall, It's Pimpin', Pimpin': A long day's night in NYC for Katt Williams

So, that happened. What a weird, wild 30 hours for Katt Williams in New York City last week. It began on Wednesday afternoon, when NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien taped its show and never heard from Williams, a scheduled guest for that night's program. His people told me the next day that Williams, traveling by tour bus, simply got stuck in traffic and never made it into Manhattan in time.

Williams and his entourage did arrive later that night, and sometime in the 2 a.m. hour, NYPD searched a car (allegedly lacking a license plate) traveling with said tour bus, found a handgun in the car, and arrested the entire entourage, including Williams. A source close to Williams tried to assure me that he had been detained on charges of "Pimpin." Ha! Either way, the comedian didn't make bail until 18 hours later, and hurried over to Carnegie Hall, arriving at 8:36 p.m. Considering his stand-up concert was supposed to start at 8 p.m., theater staff and the New York Comedy Festival people were more than a bit anxious awaiting his arrival, and started the show late, plus had opener Wil Sylvince pad his time onstage. Williams emerged to applause at 9:09 p.m. and promptly filled us all in on at least some of the details. He first asked for patience. "I just got out of jail 35 minutes ago," he said. "I had 15 n!&&ers with me. They took us all in!" He also quipped that he didn't rush over just to cash a paycheck, as he'd been paid in advance. After a few more thoughts about the discomforts of incarceration, Williams launched into his regularly scheduled routines, talking about what Barack Obama's presidency means to black Americans, a lengthy historical retrospective on the pilgrims, the great American melting pot, and the beginnings of slavery. If blacks had begged for reparations before, Williams wasn't asking on this night. "This week was the greatest gift you ever gave us, period," he said. He also took a few moments to discuss his dislike of Sarah Palin, and after delivering an hour of material, Williams closed with another five minutes of rapping. Very impressive stuff for a guy who had not gotten a wink of sleep the entire day and barely a minute to decompress from 18 hours in jail! Even Chris Rock, in attendance, was smiling as he left Carnegie Hall. After the show, Williams seemed to be in good spirits as he wound down a very eventful day and night with other comedians at the festival's official afterparty at Carolines.

If any publicity is good publicity, then this is as good a time as any to remind you that Williams has a new DVD out on Tuesday, It's Pimpin', Pimpin'.

And here's a clip:

Comedy Central joins New York Comedy Festival

The New York Comedy Festival today announced it has entered a multi-year partnership deal with Comedy Central, which means Caroline Hirsch's annual celebration of big-name comedy in the Big Apple now will get a bigger TV presence. The deal includes an annual Comedy Central special, and perhaps more. So the fifth New York Comedy Festival, running Nov. 5-9, 2008, in varied venues around Manhattan, unveils this early lineup:

11/5: Frank Caliendo, Carnegie Hall
11/5: “We Have a Winner” moderated by Lizz Winstead, 92nd Street Y

11/6: Louis C.K., They’re With Me, Town Hall
11/6: Katt Williams, Live In Concert, Carnegie Hall

11/7: Carlos Mencia: At Close Range, Avery Fisher Hall
11/7: An Evening with Craig Ferguson, Town Hall
11/7: Writers Speak! A Potentially Regrettable Evening with the Writers of The Daily Show, Paley Center

11/8: Tracy Morgan: Coming Back Home, Apollo Theater
11/8: Sarah Silverman and Friends, Hammerstein Ballroom
11/8: Joel McHale Live at Town Hall, Town Hall
11/8: Late Night with Conan O’Brien Writers’ Panel Discussion, Paley Center

11/9: Brian Regan Live in Concert, Avery Fisher Hall
11/9: B.J. Novak and Friends, Town Hall

Tickets start going on sale at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 7. They still have to release the names and special events happening during that week at Carolines. Plenty of big names, though, on the slate, including several repeat performers from last year. Louis CK rocked Town Hall last year, so already looking forward to that. We'll see how McHale and Novak handle the larger stage. Tracy Morgan plays the Apollo. Sarah Silverman moves from last year's Carnegie Hall to this year at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Carlos Mencia? The Late Night writers talk should be very interesting, coming as it does near the end of the road for some of them as the show prepares to move to California.

Eugene Mirman on Conan O'Brien

Did you miss Eugene Mirman's recent performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien? Did you see it, but would like to relive it again? Either way, hooray! Mirman has uploaded his performance for all of us to enjoy...some classic bits he has done around the New York City club and alt circuit, as well as on the road, but here on the TV, he manages to hold his spot and stay focused on the camera. Lots of greatness. All in under five minutes.

Eugene Mirman on Late Night With Conan O'Brien

NBC's 2009 late-night TV shuffle

NBC officially unveiled the timeline it plans for shuffling Jimmy Fallon into late-late night and Conan O'Brien into Jay Leno's Tonight Show slot, which left Leno playing a cartoon version of a TV critic in disguise (pictured!) at the TV Critics Association tour yesterday.

That timeline?
Jimmy Fallon begins not on TV, but online with nightly mini episodes this fall.
Conan O'Brien will leave his Late Night slot in spring 2009, for Fallon to take over in March or April 2009.
Jay Leno's final Tonight Show will be Friday, May 29, 2009.
Conan O'Brien's first Tonight Show will be the following Monday, June 1, 2009.
(Trade coverage via Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, plus the New York Times take here)

Lorne Michaels, who shepherded Fallon on Saturday Night Live and will serve as his executive producer, wants to ease Fallon into the game slowly. Perhaps he thinks letting Fallon experiment online on a nightly basis not only will let him get his hosting feet under him, but also tamper any early criticism of his TV debut. The media and fans alike bashed Conan in his early years, but he grew into the role and then some, becoming NBC's favorite late-night guy. The network already began construction on Conan's new West Coast set, and it's still unclear how many of his writing crew will move west with him. Which means it's still unclear what kind of show we'll get with Conan at 11:30/11:35 p.m. And what of Carson Daly? No, really, what of Carson Daly? I'm also not sure this timeline really serves as a vote of confidence for Fallon, either.

Dave Attell on Conan tonight!

It's not on your DVRs or TiVos, so here's your official bulletin: Dave Attell will perform tonight on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. Attell got the call yesterday. If you do miss it on TV, you can find it online tomorrow on Hulu!

Jimmy Fallon to take over Late Night in 2009

You heard it here first-thousandth! Everyone is reporting that Jimmy Fallon has inked a deal with NBC to take over Late Night in 2009 when Conan O'Brien takes over The Tonight Show from Jay Leno. (THR, Variety)

John Oliver: From Conan to the basement

One thing comedians always love to mention about the New York City scene is the ability to book multiple gigs any night of the week. They don't often mention that all of these gigs are not equal. Take Tuesday night, for example, when Daily Show correspondent John Oliver taped a performance in the late afternoon for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and a nationwide TV audience, then ventured over to the basement of Comix to perform mostly new material for a few dozen people at the free Drink at Work showcase. Two wildly different experiences, with two wildly different results.

The Conan appearance itself even provided a mixed bag, as his set didn't hit with the studio audience with quite the same punch and reaction that he normally gets live or on Comedy Central (perhaps he was too clever for the room?), but then, during his "panel" set with Conan, Oliver easily knocked all of Conan's set-up pitches out of the ballpark (so to speak). You can watch it all here, via Hulu. It begins at the 33-minute mark, which I've hopefully just led you to here:

Meanwhile, Oliver told the Drink at Work crowd upfront that he was testing out new bits. And, as I've seen him do this before, the unpredictability works in his favor. He's so witty and self-aware, in the moment able to react to the audience's reactions and create jokes about his jokes. "Good," he noted after one joke, then instantly poked fun at himself for commenting aloud on his performance. "Telling jokes is so arrogant," he said after another bit. "Sometimes a moment of silence is nice." Another bit that I've seen him perform earlier this spring continues to impress, as he workshops a routine that begins simply with nostalgia about an odd family dinner ritual, then spirals into something else completely that allows Oliver to go anywhere and everywhere, for as long as he and the audience are willing to enjoy the ride. The bit appears in a completely different form on his new Comedy Central special that airs April 20. For my insider report on that special, take a trip back with me to the taping.

This week's comedic late-night guests

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everybody. How are you celebrating? Are you going to be appearing on a late-night TV talk show? No? Well, then, who will? (Note: Listings subject to change)

David Letterman...Monday: Rainn Wilson; Tuesday: Al Franken; Wednesday: Seth Meyers; Thursday: Vince Vaughn; Friday: Al Lubel

Conan O'Brien...Monday: Lance Krall; Tuesday: Brian Posehn; Wednesday: Tracy Morgan

Jay Leno...Monday: Carlos Mencia; Wednesday: Lisa Lampanelli; Friday: Adam Carolla

Jimmy Kimmel...Monday: Martin Lawrence; Tuesday: Joel McHale; Wednesday: Adam Carolla; Thursday: Jackie Mason

Craig Ferguson...Monday: Ray Romano, Jeff Caldwell; Tuesday: Joe DeVito (Thursday and Friday TBA)

This week's comedic late-night guests

The late-night TV talkers are back in action this week, so let's take a look at which comedians and comedic actors will be making the rounds, shall we?

David Letterman...Monday: Jim Carrey; Wednesday: Lewis Black; Friday: Brian Regan

Conan O'Brien...Thursday: Harland Williams

Jay Leno...Tuesday: Bob Saget; Wednesday: Bill Cosby; Thursday: Howie Mandel

Craig Ferguson...Monday: Don Rickles; Wednesday: Denis Leary; Friday: Sebastian Maniscalco

Jimmy Kimmel...Monday: Anthony Jeselnik (didn't air as scheduled)

This week's comedic late-night guests

Time again to check in with comedians and comedic actors making the late-night TV rounds...

David Letterman (in repeats) --  Thursday: Don Rickles

Conan O'Brien (in repeats) -- Monday: Howie Mandel

Jay Leno (in repeats) -- Wednesday: Larry the Cable Guy; Friday: Will Ferrell

Jimmy Kimmel -- Tuesday: Jackie Mason; Friday: Will Arnett

Craig Ferguson -- Monday: Michelle Billoon; Thursday: Wanda Sykes; Friday: Amy Sedaris

Todd Barry on Conan tonight

Todd Barry, last seen filling in on drums for Yo La Tengo on night two of the three-night Invite Them Up finale at Rififi, will perform on Conan tonight. Thanks for uploading your photo on Flickr, Marianne Ways, even though you told me last night you'd wait! (insert :) here) In slightly related news, Barry has a new CD coming out next week, From Heaven. I've got a review of it here. And in even more slightly related news, Barry will headline Comix next weekend.

And if you like that news, then you'll probably want to pre-order his new CD, which you can do via this handy Amazon.com link!

This week's comedic late-night TV guests

Time once again to check the late-night TV talk show listings to see which comedians and comedic actors will be making the rounds. Note: Some show listings still TBA.

David Letterman...Monday: Will Ferrell; Friday: Tommy Tiernan

Jay Leno...Monday: Catherine O'Hara; Tuesday: David Koechner; Thursday: Wanda Sykes

Conan O'Brien...Monday: Will Arnett; Tuesday: Will Ferrell; Thursday: Robert Schimmel

Jimmy Kimmel...Thursday: Martin Lawrence