the comic's comic

FOX orders animated series "Bob's Burgers" with all-comedian voice cast?

 FOX has ordered 13 episodes of the animated half-hour sitcom, Bob's Burgers, but with a long lead-time in production meaning the series may not air until early 2011, according to Variety and other trades. But what about that cast??? The show, which centers around a family-run burger joint and is co-created and executive-produced by Loren Bouchard (Dr. Katz) and Jim Dauterive (King of the Hill), featured a voice cast in the pilot presentation of H. Jon Benjamin, Kristen Schaal, John Roberts, Eugene Mirman and Dan Mintz. The trades, however, said that 20th Century Fox was still working out contract details with the cast -- Bouchard told The Hollywood Reporter he hoped to have them all on board. Wish them all luck and congrats!

Behind the scenes with WTFpod: Watch Marc Maron interview El Chupacabra (Nick Kroll)

If you're not listening to Marc Maron's WTF podcast, then you're missing out! Fun and interesting conversations with comedians twice a week. In today's episode (#26), Maron revealed his pre-Thanksgiving WTF moments with his mother in Florida, sat down with comedian Jen Kirkman to talk about her personal (newlywed) and professional (writing/performing on Chelsea Lately) life, and also welcomed Latino radio host "El Chupacabra" (aka comedian/actor Nick Kroll). You can listen to Episode #26 of WTF here.

I watched the latter part happen in front of me own two eyes and me Flip camera two weeks ago, live from the garage of Maron's "cat ranch" in Los Angeles. Improvised, all in one take. YouTube allows me to share only 10 minutes of it with you. Are you ready for it? Here it comes. Roll it!

This isn't the first time El Chupacabra has been seen in the flesh. Kroll's radio host also made an appearance on Comedy Central's Reno 911! Relive the good times...

Sean Kent prevails, winning the 30th annual Seattle comedy competition

Some years, Seattle's monthlong stand-up comedy competition hits the final Thanksgiving weekend with a clear front-runner setting the pace. That most definitely did not happen this past weekend, when four of the five finalists each scored nightly victories, with Texas native Sean Kent prevailing to take home the title in its 30th anniversary. As Kent himself noted on his Twitter feed, he went into Sunday's final night of the competition with only a .17-point lead. "I should probably try and not suck," he quipped. His lead held up! You've previously seen Kent, a cancer survivor, on network TV in the original season (and again in season three) of NBC's Last Comic Standing.

Congrats to Sean Kent and the other finalists in the 2009 Seattle International Comedy Competition: Paul Hooper, Travis Simmons, Rodger Lizaola and Jose Sarduy.

CBS Sunday Morning spotlights Second City at 50

In case you had a case of the holiday weekends and didn't wake up Sunday morning to watch CBS Sunday Morning, here is the newscast's profile of The Second City in honor of its 50th anniversary. The venerable Chicago comedy institution hosts a huge celebration Dec. 11-13. Check out the lineup! CBS News contributor Nancy Giles (herself a Second City alum) filed the report. And here is the video of it:

Are you watching Pardcast-A-Thon 2009?

Pardcast-A-Thon 2009 began just over an hour ago and continues live until 6 a.m. Pacific (9 a.m. Eastern) this morning, with host Jimmy Pardo, co-host Matt Belknap (A Special Thing's Editorial Director, isoS), Pat Francis and a cavalcade of guest comedians and stars. Todd Levin just left the booth, and Jon Hamm is sitting in with the guys now. Tune in to watch PARDCAST-A-THON 2009 on Ustream. It's all a benefit to raise money for Smile Train. Need further convincing? Watch this short video:

Spend "Black Friday" at Target with Maria Bamford: She voices company's 2009 holiday ad campaign

It's 5 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving. Are you in line for a big holiday shopping deal? If so, I wonder if you're hunting for bargains at Target. The Minnesota-based discount retail giant turned to a comedian from its home state, Maria Bamford, to voice its holiday ad campaign. Of course the ads are funny. They tap into Bamford's many voices to great effect. To comedy fans, there's an extra layer of fun knowing that Bamford has a bit about running into one of her high-school classmates at a Target. You can see the entire Maria Bamford campaign for Target's 2-Day Sale on YouTube, or check out the other goodies with Bamford and her "sister" on Target's site. Here are the two newest ads:

And if you want to hear more from Bamford, she has a new stand-up comedy special that you can download from her site for FREE on Dec. 1. Check out that and other news from the Bammer here. Happy holidays!

Meet Me In New York: Damien Lemon

What do they say about New York City: There are eight million stories, and sometimes it seems as though eight million of the people telling them think they're comedians? No, that's not it. It is a fact, though, that America's biggest city is also its biggest comedy mecca. Hollywood may be Hollywood, but New York City is where comedians are born funny, become funny or arrive to thrust their funny upon us. I think we should meet some of these people. This is a new recurring feature, a mini-profile of newcomers, up-and-comers and overcomers of New York's vibrant comedy scene. It's called Meet Me In New York.

Perhaps you're heading home for the holiday weekend? Sounds about as good a time to bring "Meet Me In New York" home for the holidays, too, by profiling a native New Yorker. Plenty of aspiring comedians move to the big city seeking fame and fortune. What about those of us who grew up right in the thick of it? Meet Damien Lemon (on Twitter, on Tumblr, on MySpace, photo by Aviva Klein). He presents a stand-up showcase every Wednesday night at the Laugh Lounge in the Lower East Side. And Lemon has a clever voice himself. Learn a little bit more about him now.

Name: Damien Lemon
Arrival date: Since birth
Arrived from: The womb, but I represent New York
When and where did you start performing comedy? December 2005, at Sal's Comedy Hole in the Village.
What was your first credit? I'm still working on my first TV credit, but I've featured for Dick Gregory at Carolines and opened for Aretha Franklin at Radio City Music Hall. I'm also working to repair that other credit.

How did growing up in NYC shape your desire to be in show business? I grew up between Brooklyn and Westchester County so I've always considered Manhattan "The City." The beautiful thing about Manhattan is you can see performers when they are a "nobody" and watch their talent develop and witness their long grind until...BOOM they are instant stars to the rest of the world. I think when you see that enough, you start to believe it can happen to you, if you have the talent and work hard.

Grammy Hall of Fame welcomes George Carlin's "Class Clown"

George Carlin's 1972 album, "Class Clown," will be inducted next year into the Grammy Hall of Fame, according to the Los Angeles Times. Grammy Hall of Fame? Is that like the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame? Not exactly. The Grammys reserve their Hall of Fame Awards for recordings at least 25 years old judged by a special committee to have "lasting qualitative or historical significance." Plenty of music giants on that list already, but the comedy pickings are slim. How slim?

When Carlin's "Class Clown" gets inducted in 2010, it'll join these other comedy titles in the Grammy Hall of Fame: 

THE BUTTON-DOWN MIND OF BOB NEWHART
Bob Newhart
Warner Bros. (1960)
Comedy (Album)
Inducted 2007

COCKTAILS FOR TWO
Spike Jones And His City Slickers
RCA Victor (1945)
Comedy (Single) 
Inducted 1995 

STAN FREBERG PRESENTS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Stan Freberg
Capitol (1961)
Comedy (Album)
Inducted 1999

2000 AND THIRTEEN
Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks
Warner Bros. (1973)
Comedy (Album)
Inducted 1999

That's it. No Bill Cosby -- despite him dominating the Grammys for six years in a row to close out the 1960s -- no Richard Pryor (also a multiple Grammy winner), no Steve Martin. Then again, the Grammys long have been accused of being late to the party in acknowledging great recordings, so why should their Hall of Fame be any less surprising in that regard.

Inside "The Wanda Sykes Show" with sidekick Keith Robinson

When you're in Hollywood, you can witness screen magic in person in many different ways. Some shows film live to tape, which means you're there, they're there and it all happens as if we're in real time even though nobody will see this on TV until hours later (which means we could see it twice, you guys!). Other TV shows and movies film at a hurry-up-and-wait pace, which means if you're there, it's exciting for the first two seconds, then not exciting again until hours later when the one person says "Rolling!" and the other person says "Action!" and then the famous people begin saying their lines on camera. The Wanda Sykes Show on FOX operates on that other, rarer schedule, which is taped before a live audience, but without regard to clocks because it tapes a night ahead of its air date.

Which is how you can find yourself spending two hours on a Friday night watching a show that's ultimately only 40 minutes long when it airs on Saturday night.

Not that that's not fun. If you're at Stage 56 inside CBS Television City in Los Angeles, then you get to see that around the corner is The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and if you look it up on Wikipedia (which is a thing that exists), then you'll learn that Sykes tapes where The Pat Sajak Show taped. History! You'll also get to experience the unique anti-warm-up skills of comedian Brody Stevens -- you'll learn a lot about Brody, which will come in handy in your Trivial Pursuit games of the future -- and also a tight stand-up set from Sykes' announcer sidekick, Keith Robinson. Robinson, a regular host at the Comedy Cellar when he was living in New York City, moved out to L.A. to join his longtime friend Sykes for her show. Their chemistry shows on-camera, too, as you believe that's the one segment in the show in which they don't need a teleprompter. Here's an extra video in which Sykes and Robinson dish on one another.

Remember when I said it took two hours to film 40 minutes? What up with that? This is up with that. Sykes had several stops and starts with her opening monologue, muffing enough lines that at one point between takes, she turned to the audience and joked: "Boy, that was rough, huh?" "When you see this on TV, it'll look so smooth," Sykes added. "You can play a drinking game at home, and say, 'She f*cked up right there!" In the few hours they had to edit the footage, they wisely cut one of the clunkier bits with drag queen Porsche and an audience member, but they also had to drop some wild and silly moments with Sykes' roundtable panel guests: JB Smoove, Margaret Cho and Seth Green. I suppose they had to keep that "Inappropriate Games" segment with one of Sykes' production assistants (because he appeared and got credited in the good-nights), but really, the panel with Smoove, Cho and Green provided more of the fun and unexpected moments that would make for good television viewing. More of that, please!

To do that, perhaps they should just go ahead and tape it live-to-tape, or even just go live with it on Saturday night. You know. Like that other live show on Saturday night. Do it. Do. It. Magic.

Meet Me In New York: Nate Bargatze

What do they say about New York City: There are eight million stories, and sometimes it seems as though eight million of the people telling them think they're comedians? No, that's not it. It is a fact, though, that America's biggest city is also its biggest comedy mecca. Hollywood may be Hollywood, but New York City is where comedians are born funny, become funny or arrive to thrust their funny upon us. I think we should meet some of these people. This is a new recurring feature, a mini-profile of newcomers, up-and-comers and overcomers of New York's vibrant comedy scene. It's called Meet Me In New York.

Today I'm going to introduce you to Nate Bargatze, who has a mouth from the South (and the rest of him hails from there, too), has performed on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Comedy Central's Live at Gotham, as well as Just For Laughs in Montreal.

Name: Nate Bargatze
Arrival date: October 2004
Arrived from: Chicago
When and where did you start performing comedy? I started January of 2003. I am from Nashville, Tenn., but moved to Chicago to start comedy. I was there for a couple of years, went back to Nashville for a couple of months and then moved to NYC with another comedian, Sven Weschler.
What was your best credit before moving here? I got a review in a newspaper in Chicago were I was described as a "pudgy Southerner."

Why did you pick NYC over LA or anywhere else? I was already in Chicago and knew a couple of comics that had moved here. New York also has a lot more stage time and I knew NYC is where I could get better faster with the stage time and being around so many great comics.

How long did it take to get your first paid gig in NYC after moving here? About a year

How is this scene better/same/worse than the scene you moved from? Chicago has a great scene as does Nashville. But the stage time is the main difference that makes New York the best in my opinion. Also you can go watch some of the best comics out there every night and it keeps pushing you to get better.

Did Judd Apatow answer your question on the Internets?

Funny or Die hosted a live chatty session with one of its masterminds, Judd Apatow, last week. Did you take part in it? Did you get Apatow to read your question out loud? Hooray. Even if you didn't, or if you just want to relive it all again, but this time in under five minutes, then you, my friend, are in luck. Because FoD just produced an edited version of Apatow's chat session. Among the highlights, yes, of course you'll get the soft sell on the Funny People DVD release, but also you'll learn: Is Bill Hader working on a horror movie with Apatow? Will Aziz Ansari star in a Funny People spin-off focusing on his alter-ego stand-up character, Raaaaaaaandy? SPOILER ALERT! Click and find out.

Judd Apatow Funny People Live Chat from Judd Apatow

What would Louis CK have done, if not for "Louie" debuting on FX in March 2010? (NSFW, obvs)

I know that you know that I know that we all think Louis CK is doing some great things for stand-up comedy these days, and it's great to see that FX is giving him another chance at making some sitcom magic in March 2010. Here is his first video tease for that, which isn't so much a look at what you're going to see on FX, but rather, what you would see if Louis CK didn't have any other options. Two words: Gay porn. One Internet acronym: NSFW. Are you fully prepared and forewarned? If so, then watch at your own risk. Roll the clip!

Behold, Chris Gethard: Superfan, super ad man

Chris Gethard may be known to Upright Citizens Brigade fans for his ability to improvise, or perhaps for his curious impersonation of Darryl Strawberry. But on the TV, for ESPN, he is the Superfan. Here is Gethard's latest commercial for ESPN. When can we get our own Me + Lo = Melo shirts?

But that's not all. You saw how that said "The Return of Superfan," right? In case you missed it last year, here was what happened when Gethard got picked up by an RV carrying the Celtics' Paul Pierce.

Of course, neither of those videos are as cruelly funny as the music video Gethard did last year for another NBA star, "I'm Gay (for Gilbert Arenas)." Now that's a superfan. Meanwhile, here are some other ads that have featured Gethard in the past year...

Robin Williams brings "Weapons of Self Destruction" to NYC for final run before HBO

Robin Williams began an extended run tonight in New York City, with seven nights at Town Hall (and the weekend in Atlantic City), finishing up his "Weapons of Self Destruction" tour before bringing it to HBO on Dec. 6.

Dave Itzkoff at the New York Times recently caught up with Williams during a swing through the Southeast. Here's a money quote from the piece, which ran yesterday:

Only now that the hyper-verbal Mr. Williams finds himself in a confessional mood, he isn’t sure he knows when to stop. “How much more can you give?” he asked rhetorically. “Other than, literally, open-heart surgery onstage? Not much. But the only cure you have right now is the honesty of going, this is who you are. I know who I am.”

Although this quote might be even more compelling: “I’ve always felt that Robin’s blinding speed and flash of wit was an effort at concealment, rather than revealing,” said Eric Idle, a longtime friend. “He would be talking about something personal or sexual, but it was always in general, not about him.”

The rest of the article takes stock of where Williams is, at 58, in both his personal life and his career, and where he goes from here. It's a bit like Idle's quote in that way, hinting at something deeper. Will we see a different, bolder Robin Williams onstage? Maybe someday soon. Until then, here's a clip previewing his HBO special. Roll it!

Michaela Watkins returns to "The New Adventures of Old Christine" Dec. 9, w/ guest star Amy Sedaris!

If people ask me, "Are women funny?", I shall direct them to the CBS television network, which broadcasts a funny sitcom that features several funny women, called The New Adventures of Old Christine. It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus, with her character's best friend played by Wanda Sykes.

And I can report exclusively that Michaela Watkins, unfairly booted from SNL after less than a full season, returns to her recurring role as Matthew's ex-girlfriend, Lucy, on the Dec. 9 episode in a very memorable scene when she SPOILER ALERT. I don't want to say much more. But suffice it to say, she'll appear in future episodes. In the Dec. 9 show, meanwhile, Amy Sedaris also takes on a large guest-starring role as the SPOILER ALERT who interacts with Christine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and Barb (Wanda Sykes) because she was a SPOILER ALERT. Sedaris steals pretty much all of her scenes. It's quite funny. How do I know all of this? Because I was at the taping.

Is Deon Cole the first black writer for "The Tonight Show"? Not exactly. But still...

Something about this recent piece in Chicago's RedEye publication sounded a bit off. What could it have been? Oh, that's right. It was the part wherein the writer claims that Deon Cole was the first black writer ever for The Tonight Show, and cites an NBC spokesperson then has Cole talking about getting a congratulations call from the Rev. Jesse Jackson. "This is a big deal," as Cole told RedEye. Except. Well. Cole isn't the first black writer for The Tonight Show, unless we're narrowly defining that as the Conan O'Brien edition, which is 109 episodes long.

Fact is, Jay Leno employed Larry Wilmore, Kal Clarke and Suli McCullough as writers on staff at one point or another. Not sure what Johnny Carson's track record was, because I wasn't alive then*. *Not true.

One thing I can say, however, is that Conan and company have quickly made Deon Cole a bigger part of the show after his initial appearance as a stand-up, not only hiring him as a writer but putting him front and center to vocalize racially sensitive topics. He did so as recently as Friday's show, which I saw in person (no, you did not see me on camera). Would you like a recapper on this? I can do that for you in 3, 2, 1...Roll the clips!

SNL #35.7 with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, DMB, Al Gore and a Mindy Kaling cameo

And we're back. When you have a show that most everyone agrees is a bit of a bummer, it's good to have another crack at it right away. So let's get to it, SNL! But first. Let's play a game. Here's a sketch from dress rehearsal that didn't make it into the actual broadcast -- watch host Joseph Gordon-Levitt with country music legends Clancy T. Bachleratt (Will Forte) and Jackie Snad (Kristen Wiig), then try to figure out where and when this should've aired instead of something that did. Spaceships, toddler, model T cars and jars of beer! Ready, set, watch!

I would've cut it by a minute and found room for it. How about you?

We open cold with a C-SPAN broadcast from China of President Barack Obama (Fred Armisen) with Chinese President Hu Jintao (Will Forte?!?), and Nasim Pedrad is standing by as the translator. OK, this is weird. Did you know that we owe China $800 billion? Suddenly I feel less worrisome about being in debt myself. This is more funny scary than funny funny. Look at us, we're learning about the world through comedy! Plus, if you thought SNL liked to use gay sex as an easy joke, this at least gave it a bit of a twist. Right? Don't worry. I'm told the show gets much better after this.

And now a word from our host, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who started out in TV comedy as a kid on 3rd Rock From The Sun. I'm not sure why he's hosting now, but you and I might expect he'll be up to the task tonight. He sings "Make 'Em Laugh" for his monologue, and gets a slapstick assist from Bobby Moynihan. He's working hard early for you people! If nothing else, he and the show are out to prove that they mean business this week. Sorry about last week. We're back, people! We'll flip over backward for you.

SNL gets into the parody movie trailer mashup business with Palin 2012. It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. Palin/Beck 2012!?

John Mayer compares stand-up comedy to songwriting (VIDEO)

On my flight home to New York City, Virgin America carried the Fuse network which rebroadcast John Mayer's live concert from the Beacon Theatre, followed by an interview with the musician, Twitter fan and sometime stand-up comedian. There's shots of him onstage at the Comedy Cellar in his music video for "Who Says" as well as footage of his friend, Australian stand-up James Smith -- who also got an on-camera shout-out from Mayer during the NYC concert. Let's take a quick look at that, shall we?

Anyhow. During the Fuse interview, Mayer talks about going onstage as a comedian and how writing for that is similar/different to songwriting. Thought you'd be curious to see what he has to say about that. Roll the clip!

Going Hollywood: Meet James Adomian

I first encountered James Adomian before I knew he was James Adomian. At the time, he was playing Gary Busey in a show during the Upright Citizen Brigade's Del Close Marathon in New York City. And he was hysterical. I later saw him pull off a Frank Caliendo impersonation, which is quite meta-tastic. You can see James Adomian's Funny or Die videos or his UCBT-LA profile/videos for plenty of evidence of his talent. If I were putting together a sketch comedy show on TV, I'd cast him in a New York or Hollywood minute.

As my brief sojourn into the heart of darkness that is Hollywood, Calif., capital of Business Show, comes to a close this weekend, I thought I'd share a little bit more of James Adomian with you. During my week exploring the Los Angeles comedy scene, I saw Adomian follow Eddie Pepitone onstage at Largo by impersonating Pepitone, along with Lewis Black, Paul Giamatti and more; the next night, he blew away the audience at the Unknown Theatre with a grizzled comedian character named Manny Berg who was so good, one of my hosts didn't even know that it was Adomian. So, this week, instead of presenting you with a "Meet Me In New York" profile, I put the questions to James Adomian for this installment, called "Going Hollywood."

Name: James Adomian
Arrival date: August 1989 
Arrived from: Atlanta, Georgia
When and where did you start performing comedy? There were some very fun years of amateur comedy and theatre in college. Then I beat around the Groundlings program for a while in my late teens and early twenties. I met Josh Fadem there and started performing at his awesome shows at the Ramada basement lounge in Los Feliz. During that time, I joined The Deviants, a gay-oriented alternative sketch comedy group. In 2005, when I was 25, everything took off: I broke into uncredited late-night television and started performing at Garage Comedy and Comedy Death-Ray; that summer, the Upright Citizens Brigade opened their L.A. theatre, which has been my comedy home ever since.

What was your first credit? My first professional gig, uncredited at first, was playing George W. Bush on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. My earliest short film credit was Vincent Price in Yacht Rock, the celebrated Channel 101 series.

How did growing up in L.A. shape your desire to be in show business? Though showbiz seemed to me like an impossible and fantastical other world when I was a kid, I slowly realized that I had a rare geographical advantage to do what I loved. When was 14, I started doing impressions of political figures for local talk radio shows (B-1 Bob Dornan was my favorite). Later in high school and college, I became dimly aware that there was an alternative comedy scene on the other side of town, so I started taking the bus out to Hollywood to see shows and take classes whenever possible.

More Tosh.0 to come in 2010 with second-season order

I hear the kids over at Tosh.0 have received a second-season order from Comedy Central for 25 new episodes, which would start rolling out early in 2010 (probably January -- maybe tied in with the launch of John Oliver's stand-up showcase?). It's a fun show, and it makes good use of Daniel Tosh's humor and willingness to put himself out on a limb. Congrats!