My social networking radars informed me late this afternoon that New York City comedians would be on the NBC news at 6 p.m. But why? Did they do something newsworthy? Did the local TV newscast want them to make funny comments on the news? Nope, and noper. Turns out that Mayor Mike Bloomberg and other local candidates for controller, public advocate and Manhattan district attorney were telling jokes. Not as part of some "funniest politician" contest in a comedy club, either? Would you believe they were cracking groaners because the New York Daily News asked them to? I couldn't believe it, either. And I used to work there!
There's such a thing as a slow news cycle. There's also such a thing as a horrible story assignment from an editor. When those two things collide, look out!
Sarah Silverman was the special "surprise" guest late Saturday night for Seth & Ed's Puppet Talk Show at the UCB's Del Close Marathon. Silverman had been hanging around with Rob Huebel and the gang from Respecto Montalban on Friday night (although she remained offstage then), as well as backstage at the UCB's theater, so if there was anyone to be a special guest, it had to be her. (Photo thanks to Rachel Sklar, who when she's not keeping the media in check at Mediaite, and before that, HuffPo, is also a great comedy fan. Follow her on Twitter! @rachelsklar)
As you can see in this clip, Silverman had some early mic issues, so Helms and Morris joked with her about that, as well as Steven Tyler's recent stage accident, Aerosmith tours, a potential sitcom co-starring Silverman and a puppet, the early New York City apartments for Silverman (she and her roommate had a run in with an ex-con) and Helms (who heard rats everywhere around him in Alphabet City), and naturally, a few jokes that skirt the lines of good taste. Burn victims, am I right? It was all in good fun, though:
So we're a day into the 11th Del Close Marathon (aka on Twitter as #dcm11), and well, lots of highlights and crazy things to talk about already. I have been and will continue to share newsy tidbits throughout the weekend on my Twitter feed @thecomicscomic, but I also have my handy Flip cam with me, just for moments like this one, which happened shortly before 3 a.m. today -- when Brett Gelman got into character as Star Wars Jedi master Yoda for "Yoda Hot Tub" to be interviewed by comedians Paul Rust and Neil Campbell in their underwears. (Photo courtesy of the official DCM11 Tumblr)
Even getting into character, it turns out, includes a lot of improvisation, as I learned watching Gelman at work. With cameos by comedian/actor Nick Kroll, Funny or Die's resident comedy expert Seth Morris, and Whitest Kids U Know's Sam Brown. This is a rough video montage. It could be cut tighter, I know, but did you know that Flip cameras also include a variety of music scores you could lay down underneath the "movie" and that the first one I tried sounded a little bit like the Star Wars Cantina theme?! Anyhow. Watch and learn, people. Watch and learn.
I don't know how it took so long for us to get an hourlong stand-up special from Greg Giraldo, but my wait and yours has ended, as Giraldo's "Midlife Vices" makes its broadcast debut on Sunday, Aug. 16 (with repeats Aug. 17 and Sept. 1) on Comedy Central. I just watched the full 66-minute version (Comedy Central will edit about a third of it out to fit ads into its hour), and it's great stuff. At Comedy Central's celebrity roasts, comedians like to rib Giraldo for seemingly only getting work at the roasts, but watching "Midlife Vices," you'll discover why the cable network makes sure to save him a seat.
Said it before, but will repeat it here: Giraldo has a knack for blending serious political commentary with outrageous social material and finding the hard-hitting joke. Take this clip, in which he explains how quickly New York City bounced back after 9/11:
All good staycations must come to an end, or ultimately be replaced by another staycation, which is how and why several hundred people are expected to spend this weekend where? In the basement underneath a grocery store in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City, sweating in cramped quarters with limited to no wireless access, laughing uproariously day and night as the Upright Citizens Brigade hosts the 11th Del Close Marathon.
What's the best way to enjoy the DCM? Everyone has a theory. Keith Huang, noted lover and photographer of improvised comedy in NYC, asked several comedians for their tips (some gave funny answers, some answered sincerely). Sharilyn Johnson, who blogs about comedy from Toronto, makes the trip and has provided some advance coverage this time around. The Onion's Decider page tried to map out one potential itinerary for you, too. Although, of course, that battle plan fails to take into consideration the very real threat that one Rob Riggle will not be attending any of the shows he's scheduled to be in. Wha? Riggle wrote on his Twitter feed on Aug. 12 that he would miss DCM11 because he's filming a new movie. "Only missed two before; both because of war. Now, filming a movie." Riggle did manage to find the time this week, however, to fly to Las Vegas and back to attend a red-carpet premiere of another movie he's in, The Goods. And as Paul Scheer replied via Twitter: "stop being a pussy get on a train and come down from Boston for the weekend." As someone who has made the NYC-Boston roundtrip many times, I can verify that it is more than possible. So you'll have to keep that in mind, since online, the DCM11 schedule has not been changed to reflect Riggle's absence.
There may be late additions, subtractions and multiplications as it gets closer to the festival dates of Sept. 17-20, 2009. It's a lot of Mirman's friends in comedy -- and he has good friends in comedy -- plus a great get in multiple dates from Daniel Kitson and an "Invite Them Up" reunion. Here's how the schedule is shaping up so far...(all descriptions provided by the festival)...
The 2009 New York Comedy Festival, run by the folks at Carolines in partnership with Comedy Central, has announced the initial slate of confirmed headliner acts for this November. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Aug. 17 (though if you have Citi card privileges, you can start ordering now). The fest focuses on getting big names in a variety of venues throughout Midtown Manhattan, and this sixth year is no different, based on the initial list. Look for more names and shows to be added closer to the event -- including a full slate of Comedy Central Presents half-hour tapings, the return of the Andy Kaufman Award competition and all sorts of special shows at Carolines. Here is the confirmed list of NYCF shows so far:
Nov. 4: “STAND UP FOR HEROES” a special benefit presented by NYCF and the Bob Woodruff Foundation at Town Hall (in its third year)
Nov. 5:
DANE COOK “Dane Cook and Friends” at Madison Square Garden, 7 p.m.; RICKY GERVAIS “Out of England II” at Carnegie Hall, 8 p.m.; MIKE BIRBIGLIA “I’m in the Future Also” at Town Hall, 8 p.m.
Nov. 6: BILL BURR “Let It Go” at Town Hall, 8 p.m.; TRACY MORGAN “Tracy Morgan’s Hard Knock Life” at Carnegie Hall, 8 p.m.; ARTIE LANGE "Artie Lange Live" at Beacon Theatre, 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 7: MIKE EPPS “The Mike Epps Is Rottin’ in the Apple Comedy Show” at Beacon Theatre, 8 p.m; PATTON OSWALT “Patton Oswalt Live” at Town Hall, 8 p.m.; THE PALEY CENTER FOR MEDIA - PANELS TBA, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Nov. 8: BILL MAHER “An Evening with Bill Maher” at Avery Fisher Hall, 7 p.m.; ANDY SAMBERG “Andy Samberg and Friends Live from Town Hall” at Town Hall, 8 p.m.
For more information on applying for the Andy Kaufman Award, keep reading...
Dog days, am I right? While I cozy up to the air conditioner, please allow me to share with you a few things I have posted recently to the recently redesigned Comedy.com site for funny things by and about comedians, aka The Laugh Track:
As a writer and as someone who felt like an outsider growing up in the 1980s, it should be easy for me to talk about what writer/director John Hughes meant to me. Hughes died yesterday at 59, a year or two younger than my parents, and yet despite being one of Them, he spoke so truthfully to my generation, who came of age to his coming-of-age movies.
Whether you're now in your 20s, 30s or even 40s, there was something about his comedies that felt as though they were tapping into your own life experience. The Breakfast Club. Sixteen Candles. Weird Science. Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Hughes wrote, produced and directed all of those films in a few short years in the mid-1980s. He also wrote National Lampoon's Vacation (based on his first short story for the Lampoon) as well as its sequels, Mr. Mom, Pretty in Pink, Some Kind of Wonderful, Uncle Buck, and made a ton of money on the Home Alone series. We all have our own entry point into the Hughes oeuvre, and a character or two who we reference and identify with more closely than the others. If Michael Jackson provided a soundtrack for our collective experience, then John Hughes provided our pre-Web version of blogging, documenting our adolescent angst and giving it life on the big screen. Whether we were a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess or a criminal, we worried about making it out of high school, or even just surviving in the world, and Hughes made us feel as though we were not alone. I still remember watching Ferris Bueller in the cinema and thinking he was me, even though I was never popular in high school. Sure, I did get away with a few outrageous pranks in both high school and college, but because of that, there were other events that people tried to link me to -- my biology teacher remained convinced for years that I somehow placed worms all over campus (really? I can't even see me doing that?), and my parents for a while played the role of Ferris' sister (Jennifer Grey) wondering how other parents in town could think I was an angel. Maybe it was my cherubic look? Anyhow. This isn't about me.
It's about how John Hughes knew how we all felt as teenagers (and in his later efforts, he tried to convey how we felt as even younger kids, or as adults). It comforted me to read that, in fact, Hughes had a singular connection to one of my own generation through a series of pen pal letters. Read this post by Alison Byrne Fields about how she reached out to Hughes, and made such a connection.
How did you connect with John Hughes? Was there a specific character that spoke to your life experience?
Here is a montage of Hughes movie clips that someone edited earlier this year to "Baba O'Riley" (known by its strains of "teenage wasteland") by The Who:
One of my favorite up-and-coming stand-up comedians is Hannibal Buress, a Chicago native who now lives in New York City. Last night, he killed it on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and this weekend, he'll be slaying audiences at my original "home" club in Seattle, the Comedy Underground. Go see Hannibal, wherever he is performing. You will laugh! A lot! I think he's one of the freshest, smartest voices in stand-up right now, and his laid-back vibe and insight reminds me a bit of Mitch Hedberg, in only the best ways. Here's his performance from last night's Fallon, with routines about apple juice, his name and more:
His website is still under construction. You can follow my coverage of Hannibal Buress, or follow him on Twitter @hannibalburess. Through the magic of technology, Buress and I happened to both be on Gmail last night when the show came on, and I've included a portion of our chat...after the jump...
Many independent comedy showcases in New York City go dark in August, either because the potential audience members all have gone on vacation, or perhaps because the comedians themselves would like to enjoy a summer break.
Kevin Allison is going the other way. This alum from MTV's The State is starting up his new weekly comedy storytelling showcase in August, starting Thursday at Arlene's Grocery in NYC's Lower East Side. A risk, you say? Well, that sounds about right for a title, too, so there you go, and here we are, talking to Allison about his new show, RISK! This week's debut focuses on "Strange Sex: Our Wildest Encounters," with stories from Margot Leitman, Marc Maron, Jessi Klein and Jonathan Kesselman.
"I had been doing these character monologues for so long, because I was never really into stand-up for myself personally. I loved telling a story," Allison told me. "(The shows) were always great. But the last show I did, I felt I was trying to say a lot more about myself...and then I thought, f*ck it. why not just get up and tell my own f*cking stories? Why such a production? And the response, was a full 180 degrees. People were giving me really big laughs, (saying) thanks, that was inspiring hearing you talk about that stuff."
How would you compare RISK! to other storytelling series that already exist, such as the long-running "Moth" showcase, which itself has seemed to spawn other comedy storytelling shows around New York City?
"A lot of people in the storytelling world aren't really pursuing it for a career. They have jobs that they love," Allison said. "It's more relaxed than the stand-up scene is. Just a lot of nice people. When you go to a lot of those shows that are storytelling...they hang on your every word, and they're fine to go for a few minutes without any laughs." When Allison has talked to comedians, he has found they realize that would "take some getting used to," knowing they can talk without laughs punctuating every single line.
They say history is written by the winners. For Robert Wuhl, who has brought his humorous lecture on history, Assume the Position, from HBO to the stage, he prefers to go with Aldous Huxley's take on life, "who says the charm of history lies in the fact that nothing changes from age to age, and yet everything's different."
Wuhl said the motives of people don't ever change. We act out of our desires, for food, for power, for sex, or for money. "Nothing changes and yet everything's different," he said.
And he hopes that looking back on it all provides some laughs along the way.
Wuhl is one week into a two-week workshopping run of the live show at New York City's Ars Nova theater (Ars Nova schedule here), and so far, so good. "They're very much with it," he told me.
Here is a clip from the first HBO special in 2006:
He followed that up with a second HBO special, Assume the Position 201, in 2007. In all cases, the audience becomes part of the show -- that's no different now that it's a theater and not a formal classroom. Wuhl already has workshopped the theatrical version at the La Jolla Playhouse, and then in Los Angeles. This is the second of two weeks here in New York City.
"Then I believe in probably the fall, or early winter, we'll do a full-scale production and go back to La Jolla -- that's where Billy Crystal's '500 Sundays' started, where 'Jersey Boys' started."
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