the comic's comic

Recently on The Laugh Track and in comedy news

We've got ourselves a big Monday here, which means it's time to catch up on what's been happening in comedy and see if we missed anything. First up, what funny things from comedians have I posted recently over on The Laugh Track?

• Matt McCarthy and Pete Holmes star in an infomercial to end all infomercials.
• Did you know that The Comedy Store in Hollywood fielded its own basketball team in 1978, and that David Letterman, JJ Walker, John Witherspoon, Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen played on it. Want to see what that looked like? Is that why they went on strike, again?
• Frank Caliendo is about to start a 10-year contract performing four nights a week at the Monte Carlo resort and casino in Las Vegas (hey, that's where I stayed last November during the comedy festival!), but first, he swung by ESPN's Mike and Mike in the morning and breezed through a bunch of his voices.
• Lisa Lampanelli got engaged (to a white guy!), while Chelsea Handler reportedly broke up with her boyfriend (who's also her boss). Yikes and double yikes!
• Sunda Croonquist got a lot of "free" publicity by having her mother-in-law sue her over her jokes, while Eddie Izzard is earning his media attention by running more than a marathon a day around the United Kingdom. Watch clips from both!

But that's not all. There was also some comedy in the news. Such as, for instance, this, that and the other thing:

• Lewis Black is filming a new stand-up comedy special for a network that's not on the air yet. The network, Epix, is debuting this fall, but you'll have to check with your cable or satellite provider to see if you'll get it.
• The toughest comedy ticket in L.A. is going to be the UCB, seeing as the Los Angeles Times just wrote a big profile of the UCB Theatre and how it's helping comedians such as Harris Wittels. Also featured: Aziz Ansari, Paul Rust, Ben Schwartz, Wyatt Cenac and Aubrey Plaza.
• Today is the deadline to apply for The PIT's second annual NBC Diversity Workshop, as well as The PIT's SketchProv 2009.
• TIME magazine interviewed David Cross about his new book, but really seemed more interested in trying to get a scoop about an Arrested Development movie. In related news, they had an article last week about comedians trying to make Obama jokes. The weird thing about that story is that the author, Richard Zoglin (who just wrote a book about stand-up in the 1970s), wants us to believe that political comedy disappeared in the 1980s and only came back on the scene thanks to George W. Bush. Did he forget about Bill Clinton? Or Dan Quayle? Really?!?

Boston Comedy Festival 2009 results, prelims 1 & 2

Just because I'm not there doesn't mean the Boston Comedy Festival's annual contest is going to wait for me. The first two preliminary rounds were held on Sunday night at the Hard Rock Cafe, with four comics from each group of 12 advancing to semifinals later in the week. Notably, all of the comedians making it through last night either live in Boston or used to live there. And here they are:

Prelim 1: Dan Crohn, Giulia Rozzi, Tyler Boeh, Zach Sherwin (aka MC Mr. Napkins)

Prelim 2: Joe Wong, Mike Whitman, Lamont Price, Sean Sullivan

Two more prelims happen tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday, all at the Hard Rock.

UCB-LA's "Pop Genius" a genius idea for a TV game show?

If I were in Los Angeles tonight, then I would definitely be hoping to check out "Pop Genius" at the UCB Theatre. A friend shared this clip with me, and dare I say (nay, no dare needed), this seems to be the kind of game show that would be an instant hit on the TV. Looks like a 21st-century version of Match Game, combined with the silly celebrity world that gets parodied by folks such as Best Week Ever and The Soup, with hints from funny people a la Password or Pyramid. Jimmy Pardo is a natural as a game-show host, as anyone who knows anything knows (although the Internets tell me that Paul Scheer used to host the monthly Pop Genius last year?), and the panels look funny, too. Here's a clip, with a panel that includes Andy Daly, Matt Besser, Danielle Schneider and Andy Richter:

Comedy poet Tim Key wins big at 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards

The 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly known as the Perriers and briefly as the if.comedy awards) were announced today in Scotland, with poet Tim Key winning the main £8,000 prize, plus an invite to next year's Just For Laughs festivals in Chicago, Toronto and Montreal.

Jonny Sweet won half that amount as Best Newcomer for his show, "Mostly About Arthur," while Peter Buckley Hill also won 4,000 in earning the Panel Prize (open to all shows at the Edinburgh Fringe) for "The Peter Buckley Hill Free Fringe." Hill, coincidentally or not, founded the Free Fringe as an alternative to Edinburgh's commercial comedy entity.

Here's a taste of what Tim Key does, as seen on BBC Four. Oh, you Brits with your wits. You'll see what I mean...

Ready for the 10th Annual Boston Comedy Festival?

The 10th annual Boston Comedy Festival "officially" begins tonight with "Jim McCue's Festival Pre-Show" at Nick's Comedy Stop. McCue co-founded the fest with Boston City Councilman John Tobin, who recently opened Tommy's Comedy Lounge in the original home of the Connection. McCue's sister, Helen, is the fest's vice president, while his sister-in-law Midge helps as a major organizer. And Lewis Black, a longtime friend of McCue's, once again has timed his Boston appearance to coincide with the fest. He'll be at the Wang (or is it Citi Center?) on Saturday.

There are a variety of shows around Boston from tonight through next Saturday, Sept. 5, but the meat of the Boston fest continues to be its annual weeklong stand-up comedy contest. As it did last year, most of the comedy contest rounds will be held at the Hard Rock Cafe, starting on Sunday with the first of eight preliminary rounds. Ninety-six comics from around the country are participating and competing for $10,000 in prize money, although there's a heavy dose of locals and stand-ups who have recently left Boston for New York City or elsewhere.

I cannot say that I'll be roped into judging much of the contest this year (you may sigh or applaud, according to whether you were hoping I would/wouldn't be a factor). But I will be doing everything I can to try to make it up north in time for the Boston Comedy Festival Roast of Tony V. I'll have much more to say about this once I'm back in Boston, but there should be lots of great stories from some big-names and multiple generations of comedians about Tony V, and I'll be glad to share mine here then, too. Among the people on the dais: Tony's longtime friend Bobcat Goldthwait, who directed Tony in his new movie, World's Greatest Dad; Lenny Clarke, Kenny Rogerson, and more.

Alter-egos: 10 comedy character acts who have had a life of their own

When I heard that Pee-Wee Herman would be returning to the stage this November in Los Angeles, part of me was excited and intrigued to see how Pee-Wee's childish naivete would play now that actor Paul Reubens is 57. You can watch any of these 10 videos of Pee-Wee Herman in action to relive some of his great moments since Reubens first developed the character as a member of The Groundlings in the late 1970s. There's a part of me, though, and perhaps a part of you that has wondered about Reubens over the years since he ran afoul of the law in 1991. That incident put a kibosh on Pee-Wee, but what about the comedian/actor who was Reubens? Although he has had some delightfully quirky character parts recently on shows such as 30 Rock and Pushing Daisies, Reubens never really has gotten us to forget about Pee-Wee. Is it typecasting when you cast the type yourself? It really couldn't surprise anyone, then, to see Reubens going back to the well once more.

He's not alone, though.

Comedians have created and pulled off countless characters over the years (just think of your favorite sketch groups or shows, such as Saturday Night Live, Monty Python or Kids in the Hall, for plenty of examples). But every once in a while, a comedian creates a character so memorable that the alter-ego takes on a life of his/her own, so much so that the comedian's ego is fed by the alter-ego. Here are 9 more comedy acts, who, for better or worse, are known for being someone else.

Larry the Cable Guy (Dan Whitney)

Dan Whitney grew up in Nebraska and Florida, and went about pursuing his stand-up career in the 1980s. It was going well enough, one would suppose. Here's a clip of Dan Whitney performing on TV at a "Comedy From the Caribbean" show. S'ok, but let's just say it was not getting it done. Then Whitney's radio career took a twist, and during a period in which he was calling in to radio programs with various characters, he hit upon Larry the Cable Guy, a redneck with family values and a catchphrase. "Git-R-Done!" would not only make him a comedy club headliner, but catapult him to stardom, and after going on the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, he began becoming as big, if not bigger, than his cohorts. A 60 Minutes profile in 2006 revealed how many millions of dollars "Larry" was raking in, despite a couple of "Larry" movies that didn't go anywhere. It's rare to see or hear him out of character. And when you can turn that catchphrase into a foundation that can make a $1 million donation, as he did earlier this month, well, we don't blame him for continuing to put on a fake accent and sleeveless flannel. He played to a stadium crowd at the University of Nebraska this July 4, and will release the "Tailgate Party" performance as a CD in September.

Super Dave Osborne (Bob Einstein)

Would you believe that Bob Einstein is a comedy genius? Just ask his younger brother: Albert Brooks. Einstein was a writer for The Smothers Brothers on TV in the 1960s, but he first appeared as an inept parody of daredevil stuntmen in the early 1970s, when Evel Knievel had the nation's rapt attention. While Knievel retired, Super Dave Osborne just kept going and going, from Showtime's Bizzare in the 1980s to his own variety show and animated series. He still shows up as Super Dave on Jimmy Kimmel's show and Spike TV agreed to air a four-part Super Dave special this summer.

Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait talk about each other on Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel had both Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait as guests on his TV show late Wednesday night, which made sense since they're both promoting the same project, World's Greatest Dad, in which Goldthwait directed Williams. But Goldthwait also directed the first years of Kimmel's show, which added a little something something to the chat dynamic. Kimmel's show has embraced YouTube, so you can see four segments from the episode. Williams came out first and discussed his open heart surgery. Then he talked about his surgery's impact on his current stand-up tour, which resumes in September, and how long he has been friends with Goldthwait.

Then Goldthwait came out, and talked about his relationship with Kimmel, as well as his friendship with Williams, going back to their first meeting in a Boston comedy club, and their Chinese tattoos.

And here's them talking about the movie a bit, and while Williams is quick to remind everyone that Goldthwait had made "the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies" in Shakes the Clown, Goldthwait returns the favor by complimenting Williams on the length of his full frontal nudity. Also, Goldthwait said he is not on Facebook or Twitter, so if you're following or friends with him, that's a fake Bobcat.

Shortlist for 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards short on Yanks

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is in its final week, which means it's time to find out who the critical mass thinks is worthy for the fest's major awards. And in 2009, it appears none of the American acts to cross the Atlantic have made the shortlist (Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler got nominated last year, while Demetri Martin won the best show prize in 2003). But one Canadian did: Pete Johansson. I didn't make it to Scotland this August, so I cannot vouch for the nominees, although I did get to enjoy Idiots of Ants when they performed short sketch revues at Just For Laughs in Montreal last month. Anyhow. Here are your 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Awards nominees...

Edinburgh Comedy Award (Best Comedy Show) shortlist

Idiots of Ants: This Is War
John Bishop: Elvis Has Left the Building
Jon Richardson: This Guy at Night
Russell Kane: Human Dressage
Tim Key: The Slutcracker
Tom Wrigglesworth: Open Return Letter to Richard Branson

Best Newcomer shortlist

Carl Donnelly: Relax Everyone, It's Carl Donnelly!
Jack Whitehall: Nearly Rebellious
Jonny Sweet: Mostly About Arthur
Kevin Bridges: An Hour to Sing for Your Soul
Pete Johansson: Naked Pictures of My Life

Winners will be announced on Saturday, Aug. 29. The Best Comedy Show winner will receive a cash prize of £8,000 and an invitation to perform at the Montreal, Toronto and Chicago Just for Laughs Comedy Festivals in 2010. The Best Newcomer gets a cash prize of £4,000, and there's also a Panel Prize that will give an act £4,000.

Pittsburgh comics organize their own festival

When you think of great comedians to come out of Pittsburgh, whom do you think of?

There's not a long list, but the Steel City of Three Rivers has given us the likes of Dennis Miller, Charles Grodin, Michael Keaton and Frank Gorshin (the Riddler!). Among current stand-ups, you've got Billy Gardell, Jesse Joyce, Anthony Jeselnik and Melanie Malloy. But the locals who live in and around Pittsburgh are hoping to prove to their neighbors that there are more just like them, living in their midst. Which brings us to this week's Pittsburgh comedy festival. It's organized by the local comedians as an underground event -- I say underground because it doesn't include any shows at the city's Improv or Funny Bone. FYI: Sebastian Maniscalco headlines the former this weekend; Dobie Maxwell is at the latter. And they just missed out on a chance to tie into their own Sen. Arlen Specter's brand of humor, which he displayed again last week at the Pittsburgh Improv:

Now that you've seen that, here's what the locals have been up to this week...

Mary Lynn Rajskub takes over The Laugh Factory with all-star "24" comedy show

Mary Lynn Rajskub hinted on her Twitter last week that she'd be organizing an all-star comedy show involving her cast members from the past two seasons and upcoming edition of 24, and sure enough, it's going to happen this Thursday, Aug. 27, at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood. Tickets for the 8 p.m. show Thursday are $20-$30 via Ticketweb. Rajskub has both the most experience on 24, as Jack Bauer's best helper Chloe O'Brien, and also as an accomplished stand-up comedian and comedy actress. The rest of the lineup is still being assembled, but as of this afternoon, Rajskub announced on Twitter that the following actors would be participating: From Day 8, newcomers Katee Sackhoff (expect some cylon jokes?!) and John Boyd; plus former faves such as Glenn Morshower (Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce!), Roger Cross (Curtis Manning!); Jean Smart (former First Lady Martha Logan), Marisol Nichols (CTU's Nadia) and more.

The Laugh Factory, meanwhile, hinted to me that Rajskub might be taking over Thursdays on a more permanent basis at the Hollywood club. We'll just have to stay tuned to find out. Beep. BEEP. Beep. BEEP. Beep. BEEP.

Memo to FOX: Family Guy already has aired plenty of abortion material!

I have been spending the weekend in Boston with family, and one of the local comedians here claimed via chat that I was dead wrong about Family Guy (regarding my post from Thursday about the show's derivative Emmy campaign) and that the show is funny and I should watch it more. Coincidentally, I just so happened to be up late Sunday night and saw that Family Guy was on the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and zipped on over for a look-see, and what should my wandering eyes find but an episode in which Meg announces she is pregnant, cutting to a scene with Peter waving a coat hanger at her, and later, Lois suggesting that Meg smoke and drink more to get rid of it.

The first thing I thought was not how funny that was, but rather...isn't there currently some hullabaloo about FOX not airing a Family Guy episode because it talks about abortion?! Why yes. My short-term memory has been working properly, because the show's mastermind was just talking to everyone who'd listen about that very thing. Here's a video chat with trade mag The Hollywood Reporter from earlier this very month:

And after saying how FOX wouldn't allow this to air, they held a public table read with the cast of the "abortion" episode for TV critics and Emmy voters (!), and said if you want to see the whole thing, they'd just have to go and buy, buy, buy up the DVDs when they come out in 2010.

OK. So the line about China is nice. And if you go back over the last 30-35 years, as Seth MacFarlane argues, you won't find many TV comedies that devote the entire episode to abortions. Except, of course, for all of the existing evidence that this show and this network have had seemingly no problems whatsoever joking about abortions plenty of times over. 

Review: Patton Oswalt's "My Weakness is Strong" (CD/DVD)

There's no doubt that more people know about comedian Patton Oswalt than ever. And I'm not just talking about people in comedy. Oswalt's new CD, "My Weakness is Strong," has bounced around the top 10 among all albums in Apple's iTunes since it became available for purchase there on Aug. 18 -- it comes out as a CD/DVD package this coming Tuesday, after part of it gets broadcast tonight as an hourlong Comedy Central special.

For all that he has done for independent comedy venues and comedians over the past five years through "The Comedians of Comedy," and for all of the mainstream appeal he garnered playing "Spence" on the CBS sitcom, King of Queens, or even his character roles in Blade: Trinity, Reno 911! and Balls of Fury, none of that has done as much to raise his profile as his voiceover role as Remy the rat in 2007's Ratatouille. The success of that film ($206-million-plus at the U.S. box office, and double that worldwide) got everyone to take another look at Oswalt. He's followed that up with a recurring role on Showtime's United States of Tara, multiple shots taking on pop culture evils on 2008's The Root of All Evil on Comedy Central, and now stars in the upcoming movie, Big Fan, which debuted to raves at Sundance and begins appearing in cinemas next weekend.

But Oswalt has been first and foremost a stand-up comedian. As he told AST back in December 2005: "I’m not doing stand-up so that I can start doing movies or TV shows and never have to do stand-up anymore. I do movies and TV shows and write things so that I have more free time to do stand-up. Or I’m trying to increase my exposure so that I can do more stand-up. Everything is so that I can do stand-up; it’s not the other way around."

Which is probably why he was so excited to promote his new special with his first appearance Friday night on The Late Show with David Letterman. You could see it on his face when he took the stage, and even hear it in his voice. "Wow."

This set is a quick TV-friendly run through parts of three tracks from the CD: 12) Obama, 2) Birth, and 3) Fat. On the CD and DVD, Oswalt tags them up quite a bit.

Rhys Darby has a stand-up special: "Imagine That"

If you missed Comedy Central's network television debut of Rhys Darby's stand-up special, "Imagine That," well, then, you missed it. Or did you, really? Comedy Central broadcast the special at midnight Friday, with no plans for future broadcasts on the schedule, at least for the time being (with Comedy Central, specials can reappear at any time, and sometimes at the oddest times). Anyhow. You want to know how "Murray" from HBO's Flight of the Conchords is as a stand-up?

Turns out he's an odd mix of his self-deprecating character from the HBO show, lightweight stories about his childhood and history in the New Zealand (or is it Kiwi?) army, with a heaping portion of sound-effects as if he were New Zealand's answer to Michael Winslow. Which he may very well be. No, seriously. That's what you get. I was as surprised myself when I first saw him make helicopter and robot noises during a live spot in one of Ellen Degeneres' variety shows at the Las Vegas Comedy Festival. So you are forewarned, or at least sitting down now? Good. Here is a clip of Rhys Darby doing his robot:

And now, here is he showing us how when he played war as a kid, he really got into it. Cue the guns:

Imagine That was filmed in 2008 at the El Rey in Los Angeles, and came out on DVD late last year. But despite airing on Comedy Central, it's not available for North Americans to buy on DVD (import only!). So you'll just have to be content with getting your Rhys Darby fix via Internet videos and Flight of the Conchords. Which may just as well be for the best. Imagine that.

The week in review from The Laugh Track

It's Sunday. Were you looking for some funny diversions, or merely trying to track down a video somebody told you about that just showed up on the Internets? Well, then, you're probably in luck, because odds are I might have posted what you're looking for over on Comedy.com's comedians channel, The Laugh Track. Let's review:

• Ben Stiller tried to explain Twitter to Mickey Rooney. Ah, to be old again! They're so wise in the ways of youth.
• Want to win a brand-new Patton Oswalt DVD? Then watch this collection of Patton Oswalt videos and comment via Facebook Connect.
• Chicago's Big Dog Eat Child uploaded a public statement from Toby Jones clarifying his stance on dinosaur meet and foot massages, which can mean only one thing: He must be starting up another business soon!
• Christian Finnegan offered 10 funny things for you to say to a waiter. If you follow him on Twitter @christfinnegan then perhaps you already knew that.
• Tim Heidecker not only knows how to talk to telemarketers, but he's also been nice enough to record and share one of his conversations for us to listen and learn from.
• Laurie Kilmartin launched a new Atom.com series, "American English with Jimmy T.," starring comedian Rio Koike as a Japanese man trying to learn American slang. All of the words you wish he wouldn't know.
• Weird Al Yankovic discovered Tsunami Electronics.
• Joy Behar has pegged the start date of her second daily TV chat show (this one on CNN's HLN), to appeal to the Jews. Sensitive, this one.
• Joe Rogan has a video in which he demonstrates shoving a water pick with salty solution up one nostril and out the other (following nasal surgery), but it's not the Neti Pot. In this same video, he also demonstrates the ability to drink his own urine. Related?!
• SNL's Abby Elliott showed off her ability to mock Gwyneth Paltrow whilst cooking roast chicken. Goopy!
• Here's a way to relive last week's Del Close Marathon 11 via Twitter without actually having been there (although if you there, this is instant nostalgia!).

Looking for comedy shows at the FringeNYC?

Edinboro (or Edinburgh) might get all of the attention in Scotland each August for staging the largest fringe comedy festival in the world, which is just one reason why FringeNYC (the New York International Fringe Festival) tends to get overlooked (as I write this, the fest already is a week old!). But there are plenty of new, visiting and popular shows being staged each August in New York City, in case you want to check one of them out between now and Aug. 30. Times, dates and locations vary. Here are the shows that are listed under the Improv/Sketch/Stand-Up banner:

A Fine Line

America's Next Top Bottom: Cycle 5!

Be A Man!!!

Dominizuelan Presents: People in the City

Hot Air Buffoons

Jen & Angie

The Meaning of Wife

That doesn't necessarily cover all of them, however, because some comedians have their shows slated under solo. Such as W. Kamau Bell's "The W. Kamau Bell Curve" and Paul Thomas' "Comedogenic." Bell has come in from the San Francisco Bay Area, while Thomas is based in Chicago.

Here is a promo for Bell's Curve show:

This clip isn't from "Comedogenic" but is a fine diversion for a Friday, isn't it?

Trial by Fire: The Making of a Chicago Stand-up from Paul Thomas on Vimeo.

E! televises "Comedians of Chelsea Lately" but doesn't promote it?

Chelsea Handler's long-term relationship with E! has not only been good for her own career, but also has provided a boon to many aspiring stand-up comedians who live in Los Angeles. Handler's Chelsea Lately includes a nightly roundtable panel in which she dishes about the celebrinews of the day with three of her friends in comedy. She has given them an additional TV credit boost with this summer's Friday-night series, Comedians of Chelsea Lately, which she hosts with her sidekick Chuy.

Tonight is the second week, featuring stand-up sets from Heather McDonald, John Caparulo and Whitney Cummings. Not that you would know that by going to, say, the E! network website. I tried looking for episode breakdowns and whatnot last week for the debut and came up empty. Certainly by now, they'd have something something, right? Here's what came up today when I entered "comedians of chelsea lately" in E!'s search bar:

To be fair, to the far far right of this screengrab, you can see that they did have a video clip from last week's debut to view. And if you root around on the Chelsea Lately pages, you can find some additional short clips (also on Hulu). But this show is not considered an actual show, according to E! Which is saying something, considering this is E! Is that what that "Awful Truth" button is for? I know that's not what that button is for, unfortunately, because I have been to this website before, and if I left my TV on E! around-the-clock, I may come across an ad for the show, but by then, I would have lost all sense of humanity.

But I won't leave you completely empty-handed...

Family Guy's Emmy campaign: As derivative as the show itself?

Seth MacFarlane has been actively campaigning for his Family Guy to become the first animated sitcom to win the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 20. Since I'm not an Emmy voter, I hadn't been giving it too much thought, leaving it to my friends and colleagues in the online entertainment world to deal with instead (prime example: Gabe at Videogum). But when a friend shared this latest tidbit via Google Reader (thanks for the tip, Eric!), well, I just had to watch. MacFarlane has taken to ribbing his competition by creating a separate YouTube channel called WheresMyEmmy. Today's victim: 30 Rock.

OK. So. Yes. He got it right in the end: 30 Rock will probably win. But there's something more disturbing about this, if only I could place it...

a) Is it taking on Judah Friedlander by calling him "Hat Guy"? I know and like Judah, but no, that's not it.
b) Is it taking on Tracy Morgan? No. They say he's hilarious.
c) Is it taking on the promotion of Kenneth's Internet page? No. NBC does push the promos a little too hard sometimes, although said Kenneth page is also nominated for an Emmy. Answers a, b and c are all OK, within reason, because comedians should be able to dish out and receive a little ribbing from each other, especially if it's warranted.
d) Is it because it's a clip that's essentially more about violence than jokes? That is an interesting way to sell yourself as comedy, talking gay baby and dog. Getting closer!
e) Is it because this clip seems like the kind of derivative work that was slapped together with not a lot of thought about content or getting in jokes or anything suggesting that this comes from the minds who make TV's Outstanding Comedy Series? Hold on a second...

FX adds Louis CK's "Louie" plus more TV comedy

At the TCA tour this summer, FX's TV programmers spoke highly of two of its comedy pilots but did not announce their additions to the schedule. They rectified that last night, officially ordering 13 episodes of Louis CK's Louie, plus six episodes of The League.

Louis CK said on his site that he was "very, very excited" to get going on the 12 eps to follow the pilot. "This show is insanely fun. I'm starring in it, writing, directing and editing it. The show will be shot in New York City, my home," he wrote overnight. It'll be a mix of stand-up and offstage, revolving around his own life as a stand-up comic and single dad with two daughters, with "extended vignettes" as Variety reports depicting scenes from his life. The one vignette that already has been described in the trades -- about chaperoning a field trip -- already has been a staple of his stand-up act this year. But as he pointed out when he filmed the pilot, "I do some standup on the show and some of it is in narrative film form and some of it gets weird. It's kind of hard to describe. It doesn't follow the pattern of any show I've seen. It's not like Seinfeld or Pulp Comics." We'll all get to see what it is in early 2010.

As for The League, it does have some links to Seinfeld, sort of. It's created by Jeff and Jackie Marcus Schaffer, who have ties to Curb Your Enthusiasm, which like The League, is going to be semi-scripted, and the rest improvised, revolving around a fantasy football league. The cast includes Mark Duplass, Steve Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, Paul Scheer, Jon Lajoie, Leslie Bibb, Katie Aselton and Nadine Velazquez. It'll arrive later this fall, not only to get on the air during football season, but also to pair up with FX's first successful sitcom, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Reading the trades (Variety, The Hollywood Reporter), however, it struck me as a little more than odd that no mention whatsoever was made of Norm MacDonald's show that he thought was sure to go on FX. The THR piece, in fact, said that FX had ordered series from all three of of its pilots. So where did that leave Norm? Did he get pranked, or was he pranking us?

David Cross prepares for a new stand-up tour to support his first book, "I Drink For A Reason"

On Monday night in New York City, you could have seen two very different ways that David Cross is promoting his new book, I Drink For A Reason.

For a couple of hundred young fans crammed into the basement of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, they got to see Cross work out premises on the spot as he tries to establish a new headlining set for his upcoming tour to support the book. In fact, they almost heard none of it, as Cross almost bailed when he had difficulties getting his iPod working to record the set. "Now it's pointless for me to do a set!" Cross said in frustration, thinking he wouldn't have a recording to play back later. But Whiplash host Leo Allen stepped in to help, lending his own iPod to Cross. (You can see Cross explaining his dilemma in this photo by Mindy Tucker, along with others at her site, With Reservation)

"I could not look more informal," Cross said before launching into about 20 minutes of ideas, a lot of which I won't get into, except to say that hypocrites of all stripes will get their comeuppances. He did look pretty informal, though, didn't he? But hey, it's been a hot and humid few days in New York City!

See David Cross on TV, read part of his new book and even buy it...after the jump...

Ricky Gervais promotes his Carnegie Hall show for New York Comedy Festival

Whenever someone shows up with a camera, why does everyone have to get all weird about it? I'm not talking about me, of course. Never me. Never. Ever. Me. No, no. So I suppose it's somewhat comforting to see this new video of Ricky Gervais shilling for his show at the upcoming 2009 New York Comedy Festival and realize that someone told him to sit in front of a camera, unprompted, without a script, and just go go Gadget about it. Can you do it in one take? Solid. All of which is to say, how does Ricky Gervais get to Carnegie Hall? Yes, he practiced. And now you can buy tickets. Sold!

Ricky Gervais from NY Comedy Festival on Vimeo.