the comic's comic

Watch Mike Vecchione on The Tonight Show

It's been a higher-profile year so far for Mike Vecchione. He performed well into the semifinals of Last Comic Standing, taped a set for Comedy Central's new Russell Simmons Presents Stand-Up at the El Rey, was just a "New Face" at Montreal's Just For Laughs, and last night, performed a set on The Tonight Show. You can tell by the smile on Vecchione's face how much fun he's having. He even pulls a fake ending on the audience. Roll the clip!

Watch Bill Burr on Letterman, and watch him challenge the audience's pre-conceived notions

Four years ago, Bill Burr infamously turned the tables on a horribly behaved audience in Philadelphia. Since then, most comedy fans have come around to Burr's way of thinking, but it has been interesting to see what the comedian has been up to recently. Whether seeing him headline an hour at Carolines in New York City, do a one-man show or showcase sets at Just For Laughs in Montreal, Burr has seemed more than content to launch a first strike offensive against the audience from the very top of his set, acknowledging "I've dug myself a hole in the first thirty seconds" or something to that effect.

It's not that Burr wants the audience to hate him. It seems as though he merely wants to challenge their pre-conceived notions on what constitutes societal norms. Burr performed last night on Late Show with David Letterman, and there, he could not get away with opening on a bit wherein he attempts to put a new perspective on domestic abuse, but he does something even more challenging. On Letterman's stage, Burr opened by taking on Oprah. I'm sure Letterman's audience didn't know what to do with that, what with Letterman's long awkward history with Oprah. Burr was taking on Oprah's stance that mothers have the most important jobs, and from there, he also tells audience members that they're wrong to think they're "rescuing" dogs. Like I said, it's really something to see how Burr puts the audience back on their heels and is fully at ease with the challenge of getting them to come around to his side. It's not the kind of set designed for maximum applause breaks. But isn't a comedian looking for laughs more than applause, anyhow? Give this a watch/listen and see what you think:

Look at this new promo for "Look Around You" season one on DVD and you want to look at all of it

If I had been hip to BBC America back in 2005, or lived in the U.K. in 2002, then I would have known long and well about the wonderment that was Look Around You, the spoof on science and educational videos presented by Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper. The first season is just out now on DVD, and Serafinowicz has cut a new promo for it that is, just, well, look at it.

Related: The BBC still has an outdated site up for the programme, as they spell it across the pond, because they're brilliant like that.

Furthermore: It's available from Amazon.com and other retailers.

Ellen DeGeneres votes herself off of American Idol

A lot of people thought Ellen DeGeneres seemed uncomfortable as a judge last season on FOX's American Idol, including DeGeneres, who just put out a statement late today that she would not return to the series.

She said on her site:

A couple months ago, I let FOX and the "American Idol" producers know that this didn't feel like the right fit for me. I told them I wouldn't leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next. It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for. I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on "Idol" and I am very grateful for the year I had. I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.

Related: One of the things keeping her busy is her own record label, which she announced she was starting this summer after pre-teen Greyson Michael Chance's videos singing and playing the piano blew up on YouTube.

Pic of the Day: Drew Carey, before and after losing 80 pounds

Drew Carey hosts The Price is Right, not The Biggest Loser, but sometime between taping his game show and Tweeting about the World Cup, the comedian improvised a weight-loss plan of basic diet and exercise to drop upward of 80 pounds. Carey, 52, told People magazine that he cut the carbs and hit the cardio because he was sick of being fat and having Type-2 diabetes. 

"I like being skinny," Carey said. "I was sick of being fat on the camera. Really, I just got sick of it. Once I started losing weight, again, like once I started dropping a couple pant sizes, then it was easy 'cause once you see the results, then you don't wanna stop."

Congrats, Drew!

Mike Birbiglia performs "Sleepwalk Unplugged" shows to raise money to clean up Gulf of Mexico

Mike Birbiglia will perform stories from his off-Broadway production of "Sleepwalk With Me" as part of a special run next week to raise money for The Nature Conservancy and its efforts to clean up after the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Tickets cost $20. Other details? Check the picture.

Steve Carell turns the tables on Zach Galifianakis in a schmucky episode of Between Two Ferns

Even a movie promotion cannot stop this new episode of "Between Two Ferns" from being surprisingly funny, but then again, when both Zach Galifianakis and Steve Carell star in the movie Dinner with Schmucks, and they both are funny in pretty much every situation they choose to be, then this will all work out just fine. You're fat! You have a big nose! See? We're all good. Roll the clip!

Can there be a Comedy MVP in a world of American Comedy Awards? Rewriting humor history

The recent Bill Simmons mailbag came to my attention last night, and I couldn't stop thinking about it for a couple of reasons. Simmons fielded a reader question about who he'd pick as the "funniest man alive" and says that he "spent way too much time thinking about this," and yet, that could not possibly be right, because what follows -- his so-called Comedy MVP list -- doesn't fit our actual timeline or even his own rules for the theoretical trophy. Plus, Simmons fails to remember that for several years (and coming back this year, reportedly), show business actually did single out comedians with the American Comedy Awards. They didn't hand out a Comedy MVP trophy back then. But what if they did?

Can we help Simmons rewrite history in a more accurate way?

1975: He picks Richard Pryor. Not a bad choice. You also could say the entire rookie cast of Saturday Night Live. I'd also accept Norman Lear, who at the end of the 1974-1975 TV season, was responsible for five of the top 10 shows in the country, including the top two -- All in the Family and Sanford and Son, plus The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude. And all five sitcoms dealt with topics in a humorous way that TV network executives would be scared to do 35 years later!

1976: This truly was Richard Pryor's year. Simmons picked Chevy Chase, who was the breakout star on the breakout show (SNL), but naming him your MVP while saying he made a boneheaded decision really makes your selection moot, doesn't it? Pryor, meanwhile, recorded and released "Bicentennial Nigger," which earned him his third consecutive Grammy Award for best comedy album. He also starred in his first of several collaborations with Gene Wilder in the hit film Silver Streak.

1977: Quick. How many comedy films can you name that won the Academy Award for Best Picture? You'd think Woody Allen should be the MVP for Annie Hall. Simmons picked John Belushi, because, well, he was the star of SNL?

1978: John Belushi. No arguments here. Not only a bonafide star on SNL, but also the scene-stealer in the number-one movie, Animal House, and co-star (with Dan Aykroyd) on the number-one album with "The Blues Brothers."

1979: Robin Williams? Sure he was a hit with Mork & Mindy, but enough of one to tie with Steve Martin? Martin really was huge, not only with the hit movie he wrote in The Jerk, but also in winning the Grammy in 1979 for "A Wild and Crazy Guy," and even more so playing to large theaters and arenas.

1980: Rodney Dangerfield. Simmons makes the case that Dangerfield was the star of Caddyshack, and notes that he made the cover of Rolling Stone (true) and won a Grammy (that came a year later). You also, though, could make the case for Bill Murray, who also stole his scenes in Caddyshack and played Hunter S. Thompson in Where the Buffalo Roam.

For 1981-2010...

Jimmy Kimmel Live recreates cliche comedy club stage to welcome Shane Mauss to the program

If you wonder, what good is it to try out for Last Comic Standing if you're not going to make it to the finals, well, I've noticed that a few of the semifinalists already have cashed in with new late-night TV credits -- Kurt Metzger did Fallon a couple of weeks ago, Mike Vecchione is on Leno this week, and last night, Shane Mauss had a set on Jimmy Kimmel Live. But what's with the 1980s-era cliche brick wall comedy boom makeshift club stage that Kimmel's staff has set up here? I know at heart it's more about the corporate beer sponsorship, but still, a little distracting to see Mauss (or anyone) perform in front of cardboard walls faked to look like cliche brick. The spotlight also makes the lighting weird.

While I continue to mutter to myself like the old man I am becoming, you sit back and watch the clip. Mauss manages to get in another joke on TV at the expense of his real-life girlfriend. The streak is alive! Roll it.

Complete your Hannibal Buress collection by buying his CD, "My Name Is Hannibal"

Hannibal Buress recorded "My Name is Hannibal" back in January 2009 at the Lakeshore Theater in his native Chicago. The Lakeshore has since closed, but everything else in comedy opened up for Buress in a big way between then and now.

We're talking about a guy whose TV set was so strong, that in only a few minutes on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, he impressed them and Lorne Michaels enough to offer him a job -- without a writing packet -- writing for SNL. A guy who started a weekly comedy night from scratch in a rock club lounge in Williamsburg that is packed despite the fact that crowds likely know none of the other comedians on the bill -- except for the times that someone like Chris Rock drops in. That's the kind of respect Buress has garnered in the past year and a half from the industry and his peers. And it's all well-deserved.

I may have said before on this site that Buress in some ways reminds me a bit of the late Mitch Hedberg, and I mean that in only the great ways. The ways he creates suspense where you might not have found any, and how his laidback style does not in any way shortchange his stage presence or confidence, not even when he acknowledges the weirdness of any situation in the room. On "My Name is Hannibal," Buress even jokes during the track "In the Streets" about taking an intermission -- or maybe two or three -- and breaking all of the momentum for the recording. Since he recorded this more than 18 months ago, many of you who have seen Buress live in 2010 have heard all-new material that's not on the disc, so for that reason alone, you'll have to pick it up to catch up and complete your collection.

Louis CK's "Hilarious" concert film to air on EPIX in September; Comedy Central and DVD in 2011

Louis CK's stand-up concert film, Hilarious, which premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival, will make its TV debut first on cable and satellite via EPIX this September, followed by a 2011 run and DVD release through Comedy Central.

As Louis CK told me in our most recent interview, none of the stand-up you're seeing on his new FX sitcom, Louie, is from Hilarious. It's from the hour he wrote in 2009. And that's not all. He also is embarking on a completely new tour in September called "Word."

Comedy Central, Jon Stewart and Robert Smigel to present third "Night of Too Many Stars" in October

Comedy Central announced today it would go in for a third biennial production of Night of Too Many Stars: An Overbook Concert For Autism Education, hosted by Jon Stewart and spearheaded by Robert Smigel.

The event will tape Oct. 2, 2010, from the Beacon Theatre in NYC, and air on Comedy Central on Oct. 21.

Stewart will host an evening of live performances, video and more, with appearances and/or performances from, among others: Lewis Black, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Ricky Gervais, Joel McHale, John Oliver, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, and Triumph The Insult Comic Dog.

Tickets go on sale Aug. 2 via Ticketmaster or the Beacon Theatre. For VIP tickets ($1,250), which includes access to the afterparty with the comedians, email nightoftoomanystars@eventassociatesinc.com. Comedy Central also helped produce and broadcast this charity fund-raiser in 2006 and 2008.

Flashback: UCB all-stars (and Sarah Silverman) taunt Jack McBrayer in DCM11's "Match Game '76"

We're just a few days away from the start of the 12th annual Del Close Marathon -- that's DCM12 for short (and for Twitter hashtag purposes) -- and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre has released the footage from the show that's always a DCM showstopper: That late-late-night Saturday all-star showcase parody of "Match Game '76," where in recent years, the only things you can count on are Paul Scheer doing his own version of the late Gene Rayburn, contestant Jack McBrayer playing himself and seemingly more frightened every year because he doesn't know how or what the dozens of UCB players (in celebrity characters) will do to taunt him. It's at 2 a.m. Sunday this weekend.

Last year, for DCM11, the cast of characters were played by the likes of Rob Huebel, Brett Gelman, Nick Kroll, Doug Benson, Horatio Sanz, Anthony Atamanuik, Matt Besser, Matt Walsh, Chris Gethard, Rob Lathan, Jon Daly, Katie Dippold, Seth Morris, Sean Conroy, Owen Burke, James Adomian and yes, that is Sarah Silverman in disguise as Carl Weathers. Oh, and people also did the show completely disguised as Flipper and Dr. Zaius.

Let's just say it's Not Safe For Work, because it most definitely is. See you this weekend. Roll it!

Last Comic Standing 7: The Final 6, Just For Men

And suddenly, our nationally televised stand-up comedy competition has become a comedy pageant, because right off the top, our seven remaining comedians step up to the mic and tell us their names and "hometowns." But it's going to be too late for one of these seven to win our hearts and our votes, because those votes already have been cast and sealed away.

It has been brought to my attention that perhaps the one mistake Last Comic Standing has made this year that didn't seem like a mistake until now, is that they should not have gotten rid of the house. Some of the challenges of seasons past didn't really do justice to the art and life of a comedian, but the very fact that we got plenty of time to see the finalists offstage meant that we also got to find out whether we liked them, and that might have helped some of this year's contestants much more than an edited or scaled-down set of only two to three minutes. If anything, this season has given the most stage time to its three judges, which is great news for Andy Kindler, Natasha Leggero and Greg Giraldo -- and especially for Kindler, who has (if anyone wants to crunch the numbers and challenge me on this, you'll be wrong) generated the most quips, zingers and audible laughs out of anyone appearing on the show this season. So it's kind of weird that only now, with tonight's episode, that we're getting a little more of a look at our finalists. Note: Some semi-finalists and finalists did get introduced to us from the start with behind-the-scenes human-interest pieces, but of those, only a few remain in the running.

Host Craig Robinson calls our judges "incredibly powerful people," which is, well, obvs, since in Robinson's world, he's "the black Justin Bieber." He asks all seven comedians to step forward, and gives Jonathan Thymius the first proclamation of safety -- which, on this show, means buckle up and get ready to do a set. In our backstory for Thymius, we learn that his other business is something called Comedy O' Gram, and with his stand-up so far, we never know when he's setting us up for a fake-out. I mean, look at the sheet of paper as he scribbles out "aniversari" (sic) and replaces it with "anivercrye"! But, well, it appears to be a real thing he's plugging on his site to render Comedy O'Gram services. And here is a short he did that appeared on Funny or Die back in April:

So there's that. What about his actual set for the NBC audience, though? He opens by asking if it's Groundhog Day. Thymius is a weird one, that's for sure. It's almost as if he's not trying to win. I mean, I know from reading his Facebook and seeing his friends help get out the vote that he wants to win and others want him to, too. But still. His slow, absurd style, on a show like this, feels more like anti-comedy. Kindler loves his "lack of energy" and the idea that he would write down "birds" as a joke. Leggero says she thought his cowboy joke was dirty, and says nobody else could get away with doing his material. Giraldo loves that he stays in character all through the set, but feels like he is running out of his A-material. What do you think, America? It's too late to call, but never too late to think.

After the break, Robinson lets us know who is next to perform, and therefore safe for another week. It's Roy Wood Jr. There's something about seeing the looks on their faces, in which they go through a variety of emotions -- from shock that they made it, to relief that they made it, to shock that they have to deliver their set in about a minute or so. It's a complete reverse from American Idol results shows. There, the people who are safe can just sit and smile, while it's the person who is eliminated who is expected to shut down all human emotion and perform in that moment. So it's not the greatest psychological situation for a stand-up, but it certainly tests their mettle and fortitude. Meanwhile, in Wood's profile video, we see his mom saying the family had wished he would have gotten "a real job," followed by him saying it took him a couple of years but now his mom is his biggest fan. Just not enough of a fan to fake an injury to win him sympathy votes. As for his material onstage, he is immediately into the act, at a "certain fast-food restaurant" where another man tries to pull him into his drama for only getting four out of his five chicken nuggets. I'm going to put my vote on Wendy's for this one. Am I right, Roy? What do I win? Giraldo is seen smiling as Wood says he's not going to join the "Nugget Coalition." The crowd is on his side, as well. Wood also feels like he needs to have a bunch of kids at once, because then strangers will give him free stuff, because that is the hustle out there. As we see the audience clap and laugh, we also get a glimpse of a countdown clock. Is that better or worse than getting the light? I'd think some comics would see it and perhaps talk too quickly and/or skip a punchline or tag. Wood is OK, though, and the judges think he is more than OK.

After another break -- looks like we're getting one comedian per segment now -- Robinson asks for applause for "the biggest letters in primetime," as the giant C-O-M-I-C backdrop remains in place from weeks past. Myq Kaplan breathes a big ol' sigh of relief as his name is called, and in his video, he gives us a music video. It's wordy, it's quirky, it's Myq. Onstage, he does what he does in tagging Wood's bit on chicken nuggets, and he sets up his own bit on TV, and then other bits in which the audience laughs and applauds, quick hitters, until he gets to his closing bit about Final Destination. The judges all love him, and Leggero says he would definitely win Last Comedy Writer Standing. That's not what this show is, but you knew that, because you can read the title of this post.

Paul Rust, Michael Cassady and Harris Wittels are Don't Stop or We'll Die, a "piano-weirdo-pop trio"

When Paul Rust isn't writing a screenplay for Pee-wee Herman, Harris Wittels isn't writing an episode of Parks and Recreation, and Michael Cassady isn't appearing in TV episodes or the UCB-LA Harold Team Arts & Athletics and sketch team A Kiss From Daddy, the trio is making comedy music together in their self-described "piano-weirdo-pop" band, Don't Stop or We'll Die. Here is a video for their song, "I Got A Perm For Our Camping Trip." They're performing July 27 at the Steve Allen Theater in Los Angeles with guests Garfunkel and Oates, Nick Offerman and Scott Aukerman. Bonus: For you Del Close Marathon fans, Rust and Cassady are both on the schedule this coming weekend for DCM12. What more do I need to say? Roll it.

Sundance Channel's "Strokes of Genius" sits down with MAD Magazine's Al Jaffee and Sergio Aragones

Just in time to whet your appetite between Comic-Cons, the Sundance Channel presents a series of online short films called "Strokes of Genius" dedicated to two of the influential cartoonists from MAD Magazine -- Al Jaffee and Sergio Aragones. Steve Brodner celebrates their life and work in these shorts, sitting down with them to learn a little bit about their personal life stories, as well as a couple of their signature bits. Jaffee, responsible for the multiple fold-in cartoons that graced the back cover, talks about how he came up with "Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions."

Aragones talks about the idea of drawing cartoons with no words, aka Pantomimes.

After the jump, two more shorts that are mini-autobiographies of the dynamic duo of MAD, plus see a MAD cover come to life within seconds!

Last Comic Standing's take on Mel Gibson lets Andy Kindler go off on a rant on Oksana-like comedian

I've received more than a few emails from people with their own spoofs of the leaked Mel Gibson phone calls, but only one of them comes with an ad for Last Comic Standing at the end of the video. So who wants to bet we see this on the show Monday night?

In it, comedian and LCS judge Andy Kindler goes off on a comedic rant against a would-be comedian with an accent suggesting she is Mel's baby mama Oksana, but instead of attracting a wild pack of racist slurs that would get him fired by his agents, Kindler suggests she wants a wild pack of hecklers on her ass instead. Roll the full clip. Don't worry. It's safe for work.

 

The Comedy Store adds signatures to its wall for first time in eight years; Names Night tonight

Perhaps you have seen some of the legendary names of comedians on the wall outside of The Comedy Store along West Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. For the first time in nearly eight years, the comedy club has added to the list of names. The celebration, known as Names Night, happens tonight at the club.

As the club wrote on its Comedy Store Tumblr: "Names Night means so much to the comics being honored.  It solidifies their place at The Comedy Store and is physical proof of the great efforts they have put in to their careers.  We will have comics performing in the Original Room and a reception in the Main Room with floating photographers, food, and comic interviews.  Very special guests will be dropping by including Louie Anderson, Andrew “Dice” Clay, and more! There will be a private reception for honorees that night, but the general public is welcome to attend the show for free (21+, 2-drink minimum)"

Who is getting added to the list? I have the list right here:

Alex Moore, Bill Burr, Brian Scolaro, Bryan Callen, Chris D'Elia, Chris Porter, Cisco, Cort McCown, Damienne Merlina, Darwin Hines, Davey Wester, Don Richardson, Dov Davidoff, Duncan Trussell, Eleanor Kerrigan, Erik Griffin, Fortune Feimster, Francisco Ramos, Freddy Lockhart, Greg Dean, Ian Edwards, Iliza Shlesinger, Jamie Kennedy, Jay Davis, Jeff Danis, Jeff Scott, Jodi Miller, Josh Nasar, Justin Martindale, Kaye West, Keith Ernst, Kevin Christy, KT Tatara, Mark Ellis, Matt Fulchiron, Matt Knost, Nader Modarres, Natasha Leggero, Neil Brennan, Nick Youssef, Owen Smith, PJ Stansbury, Rowdy Roddy Piper, Ryan O'Neill, Sarah Tiana, Shawn Halpin, Steve Byrne, Steve Rannazzisi, Steve Simeone, Steve Trevino, Tim Gaither, Vargus Mason, Whitney Cummings, Al Madrigal, Bill Maher, Burger, Dave Chappelle, Earthquake, Gad Elmaleh, Jeff Garlin, Leslie, Robert William Abbravia, Jason Lucas, John Little, Mike Young, The Mooney Twins

Nick Swardson's Pretend Time will include more Gay Robot, but here's a peek at "Wheelchair Cat"

Nick Swardson appeared at San Diego's Comic-Con to help stoke fan interest in his new sketch show, Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, which debuts on Comedy Central in October. Fans at Comic-Con got to see some new Gay Robot material, as well as this sketch starring Mr. Stitches as "Wheelchair Cat: Trust Fund Kitty." Roll the clip!

Help Picnicface make Roller Town into a feature film and you can win a prize with your donation

Canada is not just a country, it's also a great exporter of comedy. You knew that already, though, didn't you? Here's something you may or may not know, though: Halifax's Picnicface has received financial support from Telefilm Canada to make a movie called Roller Town.

Picnicface's Scott Vrooman told me "the trailer isn't indicative of the plot of the movie, it was filmed for tone and jokes, to kind of show producers we could do this ourselves. We actually didn't have the script written two years ago when we filmed that." Now that they've proven they can make a movie, they need your help. Specifically, they need your cash. "We've got some baseline funding, but we're hoping to use any funds we get to have more shooting days," Vrooman told me. "As it is, it's going to be tough to make it work, but we're going to do the best we can."

I saw Picnicface's Mark Little, who plays the lead in Roller Town, at the Montreal Just For Laughs comedy festival last weekend. He's funny. They're funny. Maybe you can help them out! In fact, they've even drawn up a list of prizes to include you in the filmmaking process if you decide to donate. You could have a character in it with your name. You could be in it yourself. You could even have Mark Little change his middle name to be your full name, for $500,000. Here's the list. And here's a video from Picnicface explaining some of the prizes. Roll it!