the comic's comic

Chris Rock plays MSG tonight

It's New Year's Eve, and Chris Rock will perform tonight at Madison Square Garden. As the New York Times goes out of its way to mention, Rock's routine doesn't just magically appear. He actually works on his jokes. More than once. No, really! He does.

For me, the money quote comes later in the NYT story, in which Rock talks about seeing Eddie Murphy perform. “There were moments you could hear a pin drop, and that’s really what it’s all about,” he said. “Anybody can just say stuff and get people to scream. If you’re really good, you can get them to be quiet. Quiet is true ownership of the room.”

Silence? Yes. Silence means they're not just listening but also paying attention to you in between laughs. It makes me wonder, of course, about a guy like Dane Cook, who also played Madison Square Garden this year. Cook's audience is full of screamers. Does this mean that Cook, often described as a rock star of comedy, doesn't really own the room?

I had the chance to see Chris Rock's first theater show in November in Las Vegas, and also saw him a couple of times this summer at the Comedy Cellar in unannounced sets, in case you want to know what's been on his mind.

David Cross defends his "Alvin" gig

David Cross writes today about his decision to take a small role in the Alvin and the Chipmunks movie, and isn't about to take any trash talk from anyone, even Patton Oswalt, about it. So there. Actually, what's really interesting to me about this is how something that normally a few years ago might've been a private conversation between two comedians has become something much more public and open thanks to the Internet and how it has modified our social behaviors, and with it, our expectations. But there's no turning back, is there?

Steve Martin sits down with Charlie Rose

The "hour" has lots of insight, but the real meat comes about halfway through at the 26-minute mark. This interview is from earlier this month.

My year in interviews

Before I get to recapping the year in comedy, circa 2007, let's look back at some of my more illuminating, insightful and interesting comedy interviews from the year.

My sit-down with Ricky Gervais has to take the top spot in my mind, because his strongly held opinions on sticking to your creative guns and not sacrificing your beliefs in your own sense of humor (and humour) are words that any creative artists -- whether they're comedians, musicians, writers or actors -- can live by.

A close second, then, has to have been my September face-to-face with Dane Cook. Arguably the biggest headliner in the country this year and last, in terms of tickets and CDs sold, Cook met me in a Manhattan hotel lounge as part of his promotional tour for Good Luck Chuck. But we barely talked about the movie, instead tackling every question you've probably wanted to hear Cook answer, and then some. He even brought up Louis CK!

Speaking of whom, Louis CK was just one of the many other bright lights of comedy I got to talk to at length in 2007 -- the others included Nick Swardson, Christian Finnegan, Jim Gaffigan, Michael Ian Black, Eddie Brill, Bob Saget, Artie Lange, Doug Benson, Damon Wayans, Charlie Murphy, Frank Caliendo and Tim Minchin. Of course, there were hundreds of other comedians I got to witness and talk to this past year, and hopefully, I'll get to tell you more about all of them in 2008.

WGA showdown: And so it begins

The Writers Guild strike enters a critical phase now...Next week, the late-night shows re-enter production, and I got this email today about The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. They're looking for audience members. And here's their pitch:

"These tickets are not available to the general public as these will be our very first tapings since the writer’s strike began and the shows promise to be AMAZING.

Tickets are free and only available by using the following private links. Please do not pass them on as tickets are limited and we would like to make this special offer available only to our fans on the waitlist.

The tapings are next Wednesday and Thursday, January 2nd and 3rd at CBS Studios in Hollywood. On Wednesday the arrival time is 3:30 PM and on Thursday we are taping two shows with arrival times of 3:30 PM and 5 PM. As always, the minimum age to attend is 17."

Worldwide Pants, David Letterman's production company, runs Ferguson's show. But I don't get the sense that Ferugson's show has the same level of bonding that Letterman's show has -- I saw it firsthand last month when, during the strike, the producers and other staffers stood by the writers. They have a connection. They're in this together. And when Letterman goes on the air, he'll find a way to make his show happen the way it should. That said...Ferguson doesn't rely as much on writers. He scripts his own monologue each night. He may have a sketch each night, but losing that doesn't hurt the flow of his show or his banter with guests, provided he can get guests to cross the picket line. Which brings back to do, do, do, do. We're at a critical point in the coming week, as the late-night shows try to return to the airwaves, with or without the writers. The networks will launch a bunch of new "midseason" replacements and "reality" shows, too. Will we care? Should we care? The answers, in case you were wondering, are yes and yes.

SFSketchfest much more than simply sketchy

The City By The Bay certainly wants to get 2008 started on a good comedic note, as the schedule for its SFSketchfest proves that its subtitle, The San Francisco Comedy Festival, will be in full effect come Jan. 10-27 at several clubs and theaters throughout the city.

The list of performers scheduled to perform include...take a deep breath now...

Adam McKay Aimee Mann Andy Kindler The Apple Sisters Arj Barker Backpack Picnic Bob Odenkirk Boomtime Brent Weinbach Brian Posehn BriTANick Bro'in Out Bucky Sinister Busy Philipps: Freaks and Geeks Speak! Cheap City: The Show with Michael Capozzola Comedy Death-Ray Dave (Gruber) Allen: Freaks and Geeks Speak! Davidson! Diani & Devine Doug Benson Drennon Davis Eugene Mirman An Evening With Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, and Patients Freaks and Geeks Speak! freeloveforum The Fun Bunch (Scott Aukerman & BJ Porter) The Geek System Gene Wilder GET IT!? Hard 'n Phirm Ian Roberts Iron Comic with Nato Green Jimmy Pardo John Francis Daley: Freaks and Geeks Speak! John Lehr John Vanderslice Jon Benjamin Kasper Hauser Kathleen Phillips The Kids in the Hall Kristen Schaal Kurt Braunohler Les Milton Linda Cardellini: Freaks and Geeks Speak! Maria Bamford Mark & Ari Mark Pitta Mark Silverman Martin Starr: Freaks and Geeks Speak! Mary Lynn Rajskub

Mary Van Note Match Game Live Matt Besser Matt Walsh Michael Showalter Morgan Murphy Mort Sahl Mosey with Scott Adsit from 30 Rock Moshe Kasher Muff 'n Tops Naked Babies with The Daily Show's Rob Corddry Naomi Crystal Neil Patrick Harris Oh, You and Your Bone Spurs Pangea 3000 Patton Oswalt Paul Feig: Freaks and Geeks Speak! Paul F. Tompkins Rachel Dratch Reggie Watts Rhys Darby RiffTrax Live at the Castro: Plan 9 from Outer Space with Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett from Mystery Science Theater 3000 Rob Riggle Ronna and Beverly Roy Zimmerman Samm Levine: Freaks and Geeks Speak! Scott Aukerman Seth Morris Siblings of Doctors The Smug Shift Something With Genitals The Sound of Young America Live with Jesse Thorn SPF7 Steve Bannos: Freaks and Geeks Speak! Sunshine Fortress Things We Made Tim and Eric Todd Barry Tossing Alice Trophy Dad TV You Can Heckle Uphill Both Ways Upright Citizens Brigade A.S.S.S.S.C.A.T. Improv The Whitest Kids U Know Will Franken Zach Rogue

This obviously is a lot more than just a sketchfest. Your eyes probably caught a gander at the fact that there's a reunion of the Freeks and Geeks cast, a Kids in the Hall show, old boys from MST3K in action, and an evening with Dr. Katz -- in addition to all of the other great performers on the bills.

It all kicks off Jan. 10 with the opening night show and party, which features Aimee Mann, Paul F. Tompkins, Todd Barry, Rhys Darby and hosts Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal.

If you're like me and cannot spend all 18 days in San Francisco for the fest, then you're at least like me and wishing you could make it happen, for at least a couple of days. Where are you now when I need you, Santa???

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Home for the holidays, I managed to make it to the Comedy Studio's annual Christmas-themed cavalcade of comedy Sunday night, in which much merriment is had (much of it insidery and offensive) followed by much Chinese grub, beverage and dancing in the Harvard Square establishment. Not all by me. Not this year, anyhow. But good times nonetheless. Faces from the near and not-so-near past, once again gathered together. And for one night, at least, comedians could let loose and enjoy life without wondering about the next audition or gig.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

See you on the other side.

Ha-ha-has for your ho-ho-hos

Christmas is coming, and who cares if the goose is getting fat, because where are the comedy audiences? Probably off to their families, much like the comedians themselves. But the holidays also tend to bring comedians together, too, with holiday-themed parties, shows and sketches. Tonight in New York City, you have several opportunities for holiday ha-ha-hoedowns. Yes, really. Such as and therefore like (sorry, watching a repeat of VH1's Best Year Ever whilst typing not a good idea) here are a few shows you might want to mark on your calendar, except that it's tonight, so no need for calendar-marking...

Auntie Sara's Big-Ass X-Mas Spectacular and Afterparty, 7 p.m. at Ochi's Lounge, downstairs from Comix -- hosted by Sara Benincasa, with Oren Brimer, Ces Marciuliano, Diana Saez, Sean Lynch and Pat Stango

The Apple Sisters Holidoozy of a 1940s Christmas radio show, 7 p.m. at The PIT

Holiday Dazzles, 8 p.m. at the UCB, hosted by Eliza Skinner and Carolyn Castiglia, and featuring Adira Amram, Ann Carr, Katina Corrao, Jessica Delfino, Becky Drysdale, Robert Keller, Nate Kushner, Tom Middleditch, Matt McCarthy, Glennis McMurray, the New York Neo-Futurists, Mindy Raf, Mike Still and more.

And finally, last but not least as they say, it's the Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Christmas Show, starting sometime in the 8 o'clock hour at Rififi, with Andy Blitz, Chelsea Peretti, Bobby Tisdale, Santa Claus, Brian Kiley, Mike Burns (on his last night in NY) and special surprises.

But what about last night, you ask? Last night I got to see some of this holiday razzle dazzlematazz up close and in person, thanks to the Slightly Buzzed show put on by Jon Friedman and Stuckey & Murray (no Stuckey this night, as he's off to Alabama). First up, The Apple Sisters. I'd heard more than slight buzz about these three ladies, and they lived up to it last night with their musical ode to Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus and the Three Wise Men. They pack a wallop, these three! Fast, fun, full of surprises. Here's a photo that barely captures that:

See what I mean. No, really. Go and see them live and you'll see what I mean.

Sean Crespo followed with a Christmas miracle story about rescuing a small bird from the clutches of Central Park South. Murray, sans Stuckey, sang a love song for a Jew. Eliza Skinner presented one of her hilarious theatrical pieces from her one-woman show, Eliza Skinner is SHAMELESS! Adam Wade didn't talk so much about the holidays as he provided evidence that while he may have peaked in the sixth grade, he's still scrappy. Scrappy-Doo! Adira Amram and Ann Carr presented something so wild that if I were to have photographed it, the picture would've blown your mind. They'll be performing their Christmas sketch again tonight at the UCB, so you can go see it there and then. Let's just paint the opening for you, though: Amram is Hal the Square Snowman, and Carr is Randy the Red-Balled Reindeer.

Friedman, for his part, showed a short film that he'd written the screenplay for in college. Sean W. Cunningham filmed it. And it is "Santa Claus and the Jew." Friedman read some of the YouTube comments for it and offered that perhaps the comments would be different if they knew his backstory on it. It's about Friedman wondering why, as a child, Santa never visited his house. In the video, the explanation, and the truth, hurts.

After the jump, a photo of Jon Friedman and I in happier, sunnier times!

New Comedy Central Presents debut Jan. 11

Comedy Central has announced that it's 12th season of Comedy Central Presents -- otherwise known as the network's half-hour stand-up specials -- will begin airing in groups of two on Friday, Jan. 11, with Stephen Lynch at 10 p.m. and Dan Cummins at 10:30 p.m.

Future Friday-night installments will showcase Jo Koy, Hard N' Phirm, Eugene Mirman, Leo Allen, Lavell Crawford, Robert Kelly, Bonnie McFarlane, Rich Vos and others, all taped back in August at the Hudson Theatre in New York City. I saw about half of the tapings firsthand and backstage, so be sure to click back here for scouting reports.

Missing out on mistletoe, comedy-style

Did you know that if you were to lead your social life solely by Facebook event invitations, that, at least at the end of 2007, still miss out on a ho-ho-whole lot of holiday parties? Tis true this season, anyhow. Completely spaced on the Comix shindig on Monday night because I was, now where was I then, welcoming Liam McEneaney back from his first European comedy tour and then later getting a sneak preview of the second season of Human Giant, coming in spring to MTV.

Tuesday brought my friend Shane Mauss down from Boston, and considering he was performing across the street from my Brooklyn abode, I couldn't well not see him, even if the comedians seemed to outnumber the audience (still laughs were had) and yet that made us late for The Onion's holiday celebratoriness at Crash Mansion/BLVD. And can I just say, "Mandatory Coat Check?" Actually, could I say that as if I were Greg Johnson saying, "Security in the basement???" Because that's how it sounded in my head as I was saying, "Mandatory Coat Check????" See how I added a question mark there. Good. Anyhowsitgoing. Too late for live comedy, but in time to take a snapshot of Mauss and Dan Hirshon listening to bands perform songs that seem absolutely connected to New York City audiences. Though upon further review, my snapshot does not convey actual excitement and will not be shown at this time. We did see several hoot-and-hollerworthy comedians mingling about the premises, however, and that's always nice. Hi, Mike Birbiglia! Look, it's Max Silvestri! Esther Ku? And so on, and so forth. Olde English, looking forever young. Where did you go, Jim Gaffigan? Hollywood calling. Did I mention and so on?

And so on we trudged, or drove, well one of us drove the rest of us to the Comedy Cellar, where every night is a comedy party. Just not officially like the other clubs. Judah Friedlander and I quizzed a young woman on her drug preferences, to which she seemed to reply yes all too frequently. As to the amount and frequency of cocaine, her response: "Once a month is fine." Alrighty then! Moving on...that was Kurt Metzger's suggestion. Let's move on because Stand-Up NY was having their holiday Tuesday night, as well, and by the time their cab and our car made it from the West Village to the Upper West Side, we could see a comedian congregration conflagrating on the sidewalk outside. Which meant we were late for the party, but not for small talk.

But that's OK. We were all OK. Maybe in 2008, I should resolve not to live by Facebook invites alone. In fact, I should update my status right now. Then again...

Continuing work on the archives

Have piles of documents and interviews in front of me, hoping to upload more of them today and tonight. Thanks for your patience.

RIP, Adara Almonte

Maybe you knew Adara Almonte. Maybe you didn't. Almonte was a stand-up comedian in New York City, and she died earlier this week.

I didn't really know Almonte well. We were MySpace friends. We exchanged emails a couple of times, around the time of this performance of hers captured below in August. I'd seen one of the shows she had produced on a rainy night this summer in the back of a Midtown bar, with a lineup of comedians I'd never heard of before. Not that they weren't funny. But it helped show me once more how no matter small you may think New York's comedy scene is, it's actually much larger than you realize. Comedians of all shapes and sizes and colors, young men and women, desperately trying to get their voices and their jokes heard.

For those of you who knew Almonte, you already may be aware of her funeral arrangements, or even of the circumstances of her passing. It's so sad to see another young comedian lost, another voice silenced much too soon, seemingly self-destructing. Why must it be this way? You can hear Almonte say herself late in this clip, talking about live comedy: "It's the only place where people can get together and rip each other apart, and it's like, no, but we're really all in this together." She's right. We really are all in this together. We recognize this during the happy times, trading barbs in the bar or backstage. I wish we'd recognize this more often during the times when one of our own needs us most. Too many times, we haven't been there to save our friends in comedy. We need to be there for each other. We're really all in this together.

And now, a performance from Adara Almonte:

Almonte's viewing will run from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Green Funeral Home, 57 Main St., Danbury Conn. Funeral Services (Mass and Burial ) will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 20 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church 29 Golden Hill Road, Danbury, Conn.

Ardie Fuqua also has set up a memorial for Almonte on Facebook.

UPDATED (Jan. 14, 2008): A memorial date has been set for Feb. 17. You can keep track of updated information either through the Facebook site or by asking Ardie Fuqua.

Human Giant's season 2 preview

The UCB Theatre in NYC hadn't seen all three members of Human Giant (Aziz, Paul and Rob) together onstage for Monday night's Crash Test in quite some time. In fact, they'd been out and about so long that the joint changed the late-night Monday show name from Crash Test to Cavalcade. But last night, there they were once again, in front of a packed crowd -- helped in part because half of the seats were reserved for friends and TV show crew for a special preview of season two of their MTV show (which debuts in March 2008).

Look, here's a video!

Human Giant gets a Sponsor for Season 2 from PaulScheer on Vimeo.

No. Wait. Here's a photo of all three together on the UCB stage last night, which means we need a microphone tech to clear things up (as well as an education in cameraphone technology).

They opened with some jokes about Hannah Montana and The Hills. "I'm not contributing to this because I'm too old to watch that channel," joked Rob Huebel.

"Paul and I have no problem watching shows geared to other demographics," countered Aziz Ansari.

On to the preview!

They showed three videos.

The first offered a darkly humorous look at a police sketch artist who turns out to be more of a caricaturist (the above video spins off of that sketch). The second video I'd seen before. It's a spoof of crime shows called "Crimetime," and has a re-enactment that needs to add a re-enactment of the re-enactment when things go awry. When I saw it months earlier in this same UCB basement, the fellas said they couldn't get this onto the air for season one. I didn't see anything this time around that looked different (Brian Posehn and A.D. Miles both have guest turns in the sketch) so wonder if they're merely showing it here to get the word out, or if they hope they can prevail upon MTV's censors this season. The third video got even weirder, as it became a spoof of M. Night Shyamalan movies in a twist on a ghost tale involving gay porn star Bruce Penis. "That's the only time you'll be able to see that version," Paul Scheer told the audience afterward. "We're going to have some problems with the legal team on this!" Huebel said.

Ansari promised the guys would return in the new year with more videos and previews to test out on live audiences. "This is the first stuff we've edited," he said.

So...see you in January!

Shark Show Holiday Party recapper

For the first time in months, the fellas from the Shark Show all found themselves in New York City at the same time and Gabe, Nick, Dan and Ari decided to celebrate with a special reunion/holiday show back in the Parkside Lounge on Dec. 13. As Ari said up front, "We killed Mo Pitkin's House of Satisfaction! Shark Show is like a virus. We've been around for six years, going from club to club, slaying!" Methinks he meant that in the good, comedic way, right? Actually, both ways.

Nick Stevens trotted out several oddball characters, including toy inventor genius Lester Frank, old-school comic Noodles O'Reilly and one-half of gift-wrapping specialists Ribbons and Bow, which involved a lot of audience wrapping and wrestling mayhem. Pete Holmes, the Drink at Work crew, God's Pottery, Seth Herzog and Shark satellite member Jeffrey James all got in on the act in a show that lasted what seemed like three hours but actually clocked in a minute or two less than that. But since this was the first full Shark Show in ages, and a holiday party to boot, they get a pass on this one.

Managed to snap a few photos, displayed in a photo album on the right-hand side of this Web site. Enjoy.

HBO vs. Showtime vs. Comedy Central

Late into the night, or early this morning, after seeing parts of three different comedy specials on Showtime, I couldn't help but think about how Showtime's comedy specials all have a uniquely odd look and feel to them. Especially when compared to the consistent theater sets and production values of one-hour comedy specials that get aired on HBO and Comedy Central.

Why is that? For one thing, HBO tends to control its own comedy output, which means its comedians often tape their hourlong sets at the same venue with the same crews. Comedy Central does the same for its half-hour Comedy Central Presents, and for hour specials, they're most likely edited versions of highly stylized and produced DVDs. But Showtime is another matter. Whether it's Joe Rogan (at the Tempe Improv), Paul Mooney (at the Laugh Factory) or Mo'Nique at an Ohio prison (or even Doug Stanhope at Gotham Comedy Club), these specials will go anywhere. They'll feature lots of close-ups. They'll bounce the camera angles around the room. They're as OK filming in a small club as they are outdoors. They're independent. They're rogue, even. Performance art pieces. I get the sense that many of these specials were made by the artists themselves, then later sold to Showtime.

But does that make one network's comedy specials better than the others? Depends upon what you mean by better, I suppose. Comedy being so subjective, you cannot say one form of televised special is funnier than another -- that's left in the hands of the performer and the gutteral reactions of you as a viewer and listener.

Do you think, however, that one network does a better job of showcasing stand-up comedy and comedians as artists? Does one network offer more in the way of helping further a comedian's career? Is that answer different now than it would've been even a year ago (looking at you HBO)?

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

My Extras special interview with Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais welcomes me into a nondescript conference room at HBO’s Midtown Manhattan offices, looking cool and casual. Wait. I’m not writing some sort of clichéd magazine piece, am I? How could I?

Sometime in the middle of our half-hour chat, what started as an interview became, unbeknownst to Gervais, a pep talk – not just for me, but for anyone in the creative arts to stand up for what we believe in and tell the naysayers off. He just got Golden Globe nominations for best actor and show this morning. This following his Emmy win this fall. And his Extras finale debuts Sunday on HBO. Gervais told me the finale really can exist as a stand-alone.

"People who have never seen us can enjoy this, kind of like a TV movie. I think we hit the ground running. It's pretty clear what's going on. This is a guy who's struggling with his fame and his press perception, and it's not what he expected. And he sort of sold out to get this awful comedy on the air and now he wants more. And then soon he forgets what he wants altogether and it's just fame is the master...I think whether you've watched this series or not, by the end of the finale, I think you realize that Extras was about friendship. It wasn't about media. That was just his job. It was about friendship and what's important in life."

How much of that hits home with your own experience trying to choose between fame and integrity?
"I've never found it a problem. That's never ever been (laughing) a no-brainer. Integrity wins every time. Because you can't lie to yourself. You cannot lie to yourself, so you've let your conscience take it out for one day and that day will come back to haunt you. So you've always got to know why you're doing it, and as far as how autobiographical is it? Obviously, Andy's hopefully the antithesis to me in his decisions and his luck and whatever. But he's a nice bloke. He's just a bit wounded. He wasn't a bad man. Redemption's a great thing, particularly for drama. He said sorry and meant it. His speech at the end -- that's just me, overtly. That's a thinly veiled character. That's me in that (laughing)."

More, more, more insight and humor follows after the jump, including his secrets for success for you and me alike, so read to the end!

ECNY Award nominees announced

This just in...The ECNY Awards are back this year, and they've announced their list of 2007 nominees. Winners to be announced Jan. 28, 2008, at a ceremony at Comix in NYC. It's no longer just about recognizing emerging comedians, the EC in the ECNY.

From the press release: "The ECNY Awards reflect the best comedy in New York, and therefore the world," said ECNY producer Alex Goldberg. " We couldn't be more proud of this list of nominees, and consider them all winners. Except for those who are going to lose."

Nominees were selected after three rounds of selection: a public nomination process; voting by a committee composed of industry professionals; and advisement from the ECNY panel. Nominees must have lived and performed in New York for the majority of the year ending Oct. 31. For further rules and regulations, please go to ECNYAwards.com. The ECNY Awards are produced by Alex Goldberg (Fearsome), Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show), Carol Hartsell (Drink at Work), Nate (The Apiary), and Alexander Zalben (SketchFest NYC).

And here are the nominees!

Best Host: Jackie Clarke and Julie Klausner (Obsessed @ The UCBT), Jon Friedman (The Rejection Show @ The UCBT), Seth Herzog (Sweet @ The Slipper Room), Margot Leitman and Giulia Rozzi (Stripped Stories @ Comix), Eugene Mirman and Michael Showalter (Tearing the Veil of Maya @ Union Hall)

Best Improv Group: Big Black Car, Death By Roo Roo, Fancy Dragon, I Eat Pandas, Reuben Williams

Best One Person Show: Ann Carr (There is Only One You), Mike Dobbins (A Stand-upish Set of Koo Koo), Nick Kroll (Fabrice Fabrice), Livia Scott (Goodnight O.J.) , Eliza Skinner (Eliza Skinner is Shameless)

Outstanding Achievement in Postcard or Flyer Design: Keith Huang & Matt Johnson (The Apple Sisters), Shayna Ferm (Fearsome: Gun Grease), Anya Garrett & Tim Owens (Stripped Stories), Scott Gursky (The Mantzoukas Brothers), Dyna Moe (The Longest Sketch Show Ever)

Best Technician: Pat Baer, Mo Fathelbab, Carol Hartsell, Richard Jones, Jasper Reams

Best Male Stand Up Comedian: Jordan Carlos , Pete Holmes, Julian McCullough, John Mulaney , Baron Vaughn

Best Female Stand Up Comedian: Claudia Cogan , Becky Donohue, Chelsea Peretti, Andrea Rosen, Kristen Schaal

Best Variety Show: At Night With Gabe and Jenny, Comic Book Club, Drink at Work, Get Psyched, The Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Show

Best Sketch Comedy: Group Buffoons - myspace.com/buffoons, Derrick - derrickcomedy.com, Drop Six - dropsixcomedy.com, Elephant Larry - elephantlarry.com, Harvard Sailing Team - harvardsailingteam.com

Best Musical Comedy Act: Adira Amram - adiraamram.com, The Apple Sisters - myspace.com/theapplesisters, Cracked Out - myspace.com/crackedout, God's Pottery - godspottery.com, Reggie Watts - reggiewatts.com

Best Short Comedic Film: Free NYC Rap" (Olde English), "Gabe and Max's Internet Thing" (Gabriel Delahaye and Max Silvestri), "Little Michael Jackson and Me" (Dave Hill) , "Minesweeper" (Elephant Larry), "Welcome to Our House #2: Exuhcise" (Julie Klausner & Jackie Clarke)

Best Director: Kurt Braunohler (Penelope: Princess of Pets, Big Black Ballet, Police Procedures), Oren Brimer (Mad-Lib Answering Machine, Prices, News Team, Nickel Jar, The Mexican Dishwasher), Jackie Clarke (Get Psyched, Film Noir), Kimmy Gatewood (Kidnapped by Craigslist, Nerdcore Rising, Guy on the Subway Platform), Anthony King (Dumb Girls, The Concert for LaVert, House of Men)

Best Web Site/Original Comedic Content: Best Week Ever (Alex Blagg, Michelle Collins, Dan Hopper), CollegeHumor Originals (Sam Reich, Ricky Van Veen, Dan Gurewitch, Vincent Peone, Jen Dunlap, Jordan Hall, David Fishel), The Onion News Network, Rejected Jokes (Ben Schwartz), Adam Wade

Best Web Site/News or Commentary: The Apiary (Nate X), Brooklyn Vegan (Brooklyn Vegan, Klaus Kinski), Comedy Central Insider (Lindsay Robertson, Chris Principe), Dead Frog (Todd Jackson), Gothamist (Ben Kharakh)

Emerging Comic Award: Katina Corrao, Drop Six, Heather Fink , Joe Mande, John F. O'Donnell, Livia Scott

Comedians, on comedy and the industry

If you want to find common ground among comedians, no matter whether they consider themselves club comics or "alternative" comics, observational or prop, just ask them how they feel about the industry. The machinations of show business, that's what all comedians love to mock. So let's look at a couple of recent examples of this courtesy of Super Deluxe.

First up, ["(Layers)"], which follows the workings of an agent for agents (Nick Kroll) and his publicists (the Sklar Brothers). Here is their latest episode, the conclusion of the "cold war" between Kroll's agent and a potential competitor.

Very inside humor, but also a good release for comedians to spoof agents, managers, publicists and the whole Hollywood dance. More than a few performers approached Kroll during The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas last month to tell him how much they love him in that Web series -- and this is the same season in which Kroll has made his network TV primetime debut as the main reason to watch ABC's Cavemen. To catch up with the rest of ["(Layers)"], click here.

The other ongoing series is Comedy By The Numbers, shorts directed by Bob Odenkirk to promote the book of the same name. I'm not a huge fan of this week's new episode, on Universal Appeal, but here you go...think of this as their most "artistic" work...

Past episodes have covered such humorous how-to tips as funny names, shouting, fart sounds and novelty items. It takes the notion of a hack handbook to the next level of self-mockery, exposing how there likely are many people who'd love to know how to be funny, so why not instruct them (as Professors Hoffman and Rudoren do) in the simplest methods possible?

Richard Pryor, Live on the Sunset Strip

Showtime aired Richard Pryor's 1982 stand-up concert film, Live on the Sunset Strip, early this morning, and when you watch it 25 years later, you cannot help but notice how raw he was -- five years before Eddie Murphy called his concert special "Raw" -- in dealing with his fame and his personal troubles onstage. Also, watching the camera spot the Rev. Jesse Jackson laughing in the front row, a mere year or two before he'd pursue his presidential aspirations, you remember that he was just like you or me first, a guy who likes to laugh at brutally funny material.

The next Richard Pryor concert screening on cable comes Saturday on Cinemax (his 1979 special filmed in Long Beach, Calif.).

Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular?

As a child, returning home from vacation never sounded much like fun, but one of the few joys was seeing the huge pile of mail that awaited our return. Nowadays, it's the TV programming all queued up on my DVR that I turn to. So...what'd I miss? First up: Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular, on VH1. Wait. VH1??? Not CMT? Oh, it's there, too. And it's re-airing several times this week on VH1, and this coming weekend on CMT.

Like most people, when you think of a Larry the Cable Guy special, you think Vegas, right? Ahem. Anyhow. What we have here is an odd definition of spectacular. Not quite craptacular, either. It's just, well, tacular. Is that a word? Now it is. Tacular. Or in Git-R-Done speak, Tack-E-Yeah! Or something like it. At one point, "Larry" (Dan Whitney) asks, "You know what this show needs?" To which his special co-host Tony Orlando, yes, Tony Orlando, retorts: "Jeff Foxworthy."

The jokes themselves are simple and often sexual and traffic in stereotypes and easy targets -- Rosie O'Donnell gets hers in the opening monologue, while the closing bit spoofs the "need" for an all-inclusive nativity scene, which goes for the easiest hits on gays, Mormons, Jews, Tom Cruise and Scientology. Kid Rock shows up to perform a song. That's nice of him. There's also a taped Larry the Scrooge Guy bit with Jamie Kennedy, Penn Jillette and Carrot Top playing the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. There also is a roast of Santa (played by George Wendt) with an odder than odd panel that includes comedy roast regulars Jeffrey Ross as an elf, Lisa Lampanelli as Mrs. Claus, Jim Breuer as a drunken Easter Bunny, Vicki Lawrence as Mama from Mama's Family, and George Wallace, Katt Williams and Flavor Flav as the Three Wise Men. Williams gets off some spirited and naturally funny lines about Santa's decades-old red suit. Two other winning roast lines come at Larry's expense. From Jeffrey Ross, who noted that Larry was fatter than Santa: "C'mon Larry, you look like you celebrate 12 days of Christmas and 353 days of Thanksgiving." And this from Vicki Lawrence (Mama): "Larry's movies are doing really well in the retirement homes...they are making the old people stop clinging to life."

Larry also conveniently enough has a new Christmas CD out, called Christmastime in Larryland. A few of the TV special's jokes get repeated here, and Larry has the self-awareness to include a eulogy to the guy who invented the laugh track. And as he writes in the liner notes, "If you're not a fan of mine and bought this anyway, then you are a fool and mentally impaired. For those of you who are fans, I'm sure this will be just as you expected, and I love you."

The CD includes an extended trailer for Larry's upcoming movie, Witless Protection, in which Yaphet Kotto utters a Midnight Run reference to my dismay. Looks like another big hit in the retirement homes, Mama!