the comic's comic

What NBC's The Marriage Ref got right and wrong in rebooting for season two

NBC brought back The Marriage Ref for a second season, which premiered last night. It's Jerry Seinfeld's pet project and hosted by his friend and longtime opening act, Tom Papa.

Some people think the very concept is silly, having celebrities -- not particularly known for their ability to maintain their matrimonies -- serve as referees for civilian couples. Especially when the marital spats may seem to be silly themselves. You could argue that most family sitcoms rely on those very premises, though. Besides, The Newlywed Game has done this for decades, just without the starpower. But the thought of becoming a star through a fight with your spouse may produce an actual split in the marriage (see these two New Yorkers from season one). So.

 

What did The Marriage Ref get right in returning for a second season? For one thing, they actually brought the married couples on set. Before, they were stuck at home and on tape (or closed circuit), getting mocked by celebrities without any ability to even interact with them. The show also made it clearer that all of the couples would earn a vacation, with the studio audience rewarding one couple with $25,000. They got rid of Today correspondent Natalie Morales and her recaps, as well as Marv Albert and his replay commentary. And they even let Ricky Gervais throw a joke at the show by saying he had bet he wouldn't be on it a second time.

What did The Marriage Ref get wrong? Well, the idea of letting celebrities make fun of your marriage remains a bit of a reverse roast, even if you know you're getting paid to be on TV for this privilege. Aren't roasts supposed to be reserved for taking the powerful people down a notch? Also: Among next week's celebrity panelists is Tracy Morgan. I wonder if NBC already has re-edited the tapes on that episode. Can't wait to (not) find out!

"Walk With Me," a short film by The Stepfathers, produced with money from The Friars Club

The Stepfathers, an improv comedy supergroup that performs at New York City's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, won at the inaugural Friars Club Improv & Sketch Competition last summer. Winning meant they received a cash prize to make a short film for the 2010 Friars Club Comedy Film Festival.

Behold: "Walk With Me." So many laugh lines. A few profanities to make it NSFW, too, but just a bit.

With roles for Michael Delaney, Will Hines, Andrew Secunda, Kate Hess, Neil Casey, Shannon O'Neill, Riley Soloner, John Gemberling, Silvija Ozols, Anthony Atamanuik and more. Roll it!

Just one more thing: Kevin Pollak as Lt. Columbo (RIP Peter Falk)

Actor Peter Falk died last night at the age of 83. Younger people may only know of Falk as the grandfather storyteller from The Princess Bride, but everyone else pretty much knew him as Lt. Columbo, the clever rumpled police detective he began playing on TV in the 1970s.

Comedian Kevin Pollak has been doing a Falk/Columbo impersonation for decades, too. Here he is from a 1991 special.

 

And here's the real deal Peter Falk playing Columbo for a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Frank Sinatra in the late 1970s. Roll it!

If a drunk Parisien thought you were Bruce Willis, what would you do? Jon Benjamin tells Jimmy Fallon

This clip from Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is cut weirdly for time, so if you didn't watch the entire episode last night, you're not entirely sure why Jon Benjamin's shirt is wet, nor do you ever really get to learn that much about his Comedy Central series, Jon Benjamin Has a Van.

You do learn, however, what happened years ago when Jon Benjamin went to Paris and had a drunk guy confuse him for Bruce Willis. Because, obviously. I bet you cannot guess how this story ends. Roll the clip!

 

On Conan, Nick Kroll explains the origins of Bobby Bottleservice, El Chupacabra and his first stand-up gig

On last night's episode of Conan, comedian/actor Nick Kroll showed off a bit of his Latino radio DJ, El Chupacabra, explained a clip of him as Bobby Bottleservice, and told Conan O'Brien about the first time he ever performed stand-up in college, and how that didn't go quite as planned.

If you want some classic El Chupacabra in action, I captured Kroll on video during an early episode of WTF with Marc Maron.

If you want to see Kroll's appearance on Conan last night, then just roll the clip!

 

Big Time Comedy Show heads to Hollywood for second big-time benefit for Greg Giraldo's family

After putting on the first "Big Time Comedy Show" in NYC in February for the family of the late Greg Giraldo, comedians have organized a second all-star comedy affair to take place on June 29 at the Wiltern in Hollywood.

As you can see, host Tom Papa has assembled some big names to pay tribute to Giraldo and help raise money for his three children as well as for The Greg Giraldo Fund.

Dave Attell, Bill Burr, Whitney Cummings, Jeffrey Ross and Daniel Tosh all are on the bill for the June 29 tribute.

Also performing: Marc Maron, Andy Kindler, Ralphie May.

Tickets are available from $34 to $80 via Live Nation.

On Lopez Tonight, Michelle Buteau searches for black people in Utah, finds a really white man in her life

George Lopez said last night on his show that Michelle Buteau was a part of the Lopez Tonight family, which I think means that she works there, and not that he had adopted her as a daughter, although it really could mean both. Who said it? Yeah, I said it!

Buteau made her debut stand-up performance on the show, and joked about not seeing any black people in Utah, as well as how she recently married a European man. Go, girl! Roll that clip.

 

On Leno, Louis CK says how much he loves Percocet, but why he cannot be an alcoholic or smoke pot

Louis CK could care less about which talk show he's on, just so long as people are watching. Which is why he returned to Leno last night, and had no problems revealing just how much he loved taking Percocet for a back injury -- so much so that he indulged Leno with a spit-take -- why he's not an alcoholic or a pot-head (blame Kansas City!), and the rudeness of strangers, and helicopters. Which leads to a clip from the second season of Louie (debuting tonight on FX) and a reminder that Louis CK remains deathly afraid when planes hit turbulence, even if it's for the cameras.

Brian Regan's hardcore fans might want to gloss over the first little bit about ranking pain on a scale of 1-10 and just get to the good parts.

Reggie Watts taping free show in Central Park, but first, he builds a song from scratch on Conan

From Conan O'Brien's lips to your ears and eyes: Last night, he said that Reggie Watts would be taping tonight's free show at NYC's Central Park SummerStage (with opener Natasha Leggero). Hmmm. Interesting. We like this!

But first. Watts returned to Conan to do what he does best, which is winging it and making music and comedy on the fly. This time Watts enlisted the "Basic Cable Band" at the end to create a new song. Fun times. Roll the clip!

 

Tracy Morgan returns to Nashville for a very public, very staged apology about his gay "joke"

How are we still talking about the latest dumb thing to come out of Tracy Morgan's mouth? Because he wasn't kidding about getting you pregnant behind the dumpster, but stabbing a fictional son for being gay. And even more so because one gay fan's Facebook post reacting to Morgan got GLAAD up in arms, and even more so than that, because Morgan would like to keep his well-paying job on NBC's 30 Rock.

So after first meeting with homeless gay teens in New York City, Morgan ventured back to Nashville -- the scene of his so-called comedy crime -- to deliver a very public apology. With the gay fan in attendance. Roll the clip, courtesy of the AP:

 

What makes a comedy act unique? Jim Tavare wants Sid Bowfin to explain himself

You may have seen Jim Tavare on the sitcom Wings many moons ago, on NBC's Last Comic Standing more recently than that, or even in a comedy club near you. He's difficult to forget. Bald guy. In black tie. Playing the cello.

So what happens when another British guy does essentially the same shtick? Jim Tavare has been on a Twitter tear today wondering what to make of Sid Bowfin. So far, he's been telling friends and colleagues that Bowfin has "cloned my stage image, premise behind my act, website."

Hmmm. What to do, what to do.

This is Tavare's landing page online. And this is Bowfin's. Certainly identical fonts and layouts going on there.

And Tavare notes that many of Bowfin's photos show him sporting a full head of hair until recently adopting the same bald look.

What about what they look like onstage with a microphone malfunction?

Is there room in the comedy world for more than one bald man in black tie to play the strings for laughs?

I'll let you watch these videos and then let your fight-or-flight instincts kick in, appropriately...

Enjoy this deleted scene from the pilot of "Louie" and buy the first season of Louis CK's FX sitcom on DVD

Louis CK just posted this deleted scene from the pilot of his FX sitcom, Louie. It features himself, Todd Barry, Nick DiPaolo and Rick Shapiro sitting in a booth in the Olive Tree Cafe above the Comedy Cellar, trying to get the attention of a waitress (played by Rachel Feinstein) and imagining the lives of the restaurant staff.

Todd Barry makes fun of Louis CK. Nick DiPaolo says something bigoted. Rick Shapiro goes off the rails. So. You know. About what you'd expect out. Roll the clip!

 

This scene and everything else from season one is out on DVD now.

The second season of Louie starts on FX this Thursday at 10:30 p.m. Eastern/Pacific. You can catch up with a few episodes on the FX site now if you need to.

FYI: Jeff Dunham has sold more than 7 million DVDs

Just thought Jeff Dunham's publicists would want you to know...

The ventriloquist now has sold more than seven million DVDs worldwide of his four current titles -- "Arguing with Myself," "Spark of Insanity," "A Very Special Christmas Special" and his Comedy Central series, "The Jeff Dunham Show" -- with a fifth one (his fourth special, "Controlled Chaos") to be released in September 2011.

Dunham also has been the top-grossing live comedy act on the road for three years in a row in North America (and the past two years globally).

So stick your hand in a puppet and make it say offensive things you'd never ever dream of saying or believing yourself if you want to be tops in comedy in 2011, people.

On Conan, Tom Segura breaks down the three different types of stupid, and also face tattoos

Tom Segura spends way too much time in downtown Los Angeles, which isn't like spending time in your downtown, as he explained last night on Conan. Segura also explained what it means to have a face tattoo (not from his own personal experience, though), and how there are three different kinds of stupid people.

Let him break it down for you. Roll it!

 

Happy birthday Birbigs! Last week to catch Mike Birbiglia's My Girlfriend's Boyfriend at Barrow Street

It's Mike Birbiglia's birthday today. Happy birthday, Birbigs!

It's also the final weekend for his successful one-man show, Mike Birbiglia's My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, enjoying an off-Broadway run at the Barrow Street Theatre. Here's ticket info for the final weekend of shows June 24-25, 2011. Birbigs won the Lucille Lortel Award this spring for outstanding one-person show, and deservedly so.

Even more emotionally engaging than his previous one-man show, Sleepwalk With Me, Birbiglia explores his path love, happiness and marriage -- despite his long-seated misgivings about the latter and his struggles to find the former. You may have heard some chapters of this story as Birbiglia told them on radio's This American Life or late-night TV spots. This, for instance, is Birbiglia's story about his first girlfriend, as told on This American Life episode #374. And on Jimmy Kimmel Live last fall, Birbiglia talked about an even earlier experience with a girl and a ride on the Scrambler. There's plenty of humor in these stories, but they're also counterbalanced by a weight that hits close to every heart.

When he recently appeared on Late Show with David Letterman, Birbiglia performed a piece of his pre-show routine, in which he lets audience members to know to turn off their cell phones by joking about his own experiences with the phone company. It's a nice touch, and allows Birbiglia to warm up the audience while giving them a chance to get used to his presence onstage as the storyteller.

Roll the clip!

 

Poor sports: Comedy Central cancels both Sports Show with Norm Macdonald and Onion SportsDome

Tough case of the Mondays for fans of sports-themed comedy news programs, as Comedy Central decided not to renew either of its new series -- canceling both Sports Show with Norm Macdonald and Onion SportsDome.

I cannot say I'm surprised. More people were watching A&E's Storage Wars than they were Macdonald. And for all of the comedians I know who love Norm, none of them reside within Comedy Central's target demographic of man-boys 18-24. Besides, anyone who has been paying attention to the the basic cable network recently has known that when they like a new series, they often renew it before the initial episode order is up, touting the show's ratings in men 18-24 as proof. See: Workaholics. See: What I wrote about Workaholics getting renewed.

Macdonald, who couldn't stop abusing his Twitter feed during the U.S. Open golf tournament this weekend, hasn't commented there yet about his show's cancellation. He did, however, make a few comments to Entertainment Weekly. Among his ideas: “An Internet campaign to save the show, almost like they do with shows about witches and vampires and aliens from outer space…. Maybe I’ll call [the network] and ask them to bring it back. I’ll say, ‘Just bring it back. How much could it hurt television, really?’” 

As for Onion SportsDome, which hadn't been on the air in months anyhow, its inaugural season was a joyful enough parody of ESPN's SportsCenter, but all too often had to rely on segments that didn't even cover actual sports to fill the 22-minute weekly hole. The Onion people still can feel good about themselves today, as their trumped-up bid to win an actual Pulitzer gained plenty of mainstream media attention and celebrity starpower. And the organization's other new TV show, The Onion News Network, will return for a second season this fall on IFC.

This week in late-night TV

The following listings include comedians and comedic actors scheduled to appear/perform on the late-night TV talk show circuit this week. Check with the TV shows and local listings for last-minute changes.

What to look forward to this week? Well, for starters, just about every night on Conan, which really has been rocking the comedy bookings -- and it's a joy to see an episode feature both Larry the Cable Guy and Reggie Watts. Louis CK returns to Leno, and who knows what he'll have to say about everything. And will Chelsea Handler ask her buddy Jo Koy to talk about how he ruffled a feather or two in Chicago?

Tune in to find out...

For the week of June 20-24, 2011

Move over, Duggars. Here comes Atom.com's "Kid Farm," with background from co-creator Jamie Lee

A year after they released the pilot for Kid Farm, Jamie Lee, Pete Holmes and the Front Page Films gang are back with a full Atom.com webseries about the family that just keeps on reproducing. No, not the Duggars of TLC's 19 Kids and Counting. It's Bill and Jean Engvall. No. Not that Bill Engvall.

Just watch the first two episodes and you'll get the drift. The action begins as the Engvalls get ready to welcome their 18th child to the family. Holmes, as Bill Engvall, is in full "fun Dad" mode, and then some! Katina Corrao plays his busy wife, Jean.

 

And Episode 3 also is available, so let's watch that, and then find out how this all came about, via Kid Farm co-creator Jamie Lee!

Cash Cab's Ben Bailey wins 2nd consecutive Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host

Congratulations to stand-up comedian Ben Bailey, who last night won his second consecutive Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host for his work on Discovery's Cash Cab.

When the presenters read his name during the live ceremony in Las Vegas, it took a while for Bailey to emerge to accept his award. Why? Turns out he was backstage in the men's room. No joke. Bailey said so during his acceptance speech, and then again when CBS gave him a chance to talk to the network's Thank You Cam for YouTube.

Roll the clip!

 

Jon Stewart tells Chris Wallace on FOX News Sunday: "I'm a comedian...I'm not an ideologue."

Chris Wallace invited Jon Stewart to his Sunday-morning talk show, FOX News Sunday, with aims to prove that The Daily Show host not only has political intentions himself but also has a specific political point of view.

Only Stewart wouldn't buy into Wallace's agenda, telling him: "I'm a comedian, and my comedy is informed by ideology. But I'm not an ideologue."

Wallace hoped time and again that Stewart would say that the "mainstream media" has an inherent liberal bias, and that Stewart buys into that. But the comedian replied consistently that his view instead is that too many media outlets are merely lazy and go for the easy stories, the sensational stories and the stories that provide clear conflicts to push the viewers buttons. Stewart pointed to Nancy Pelosi's recent press conference, which the 24-hour news networks all cut away from as soon as Pelosi talked about jobs instead of Congressman Anthony Weiner. "What's your evidence of the partisan bias, again, and what I do?" Stewart said. "That's the embarrassment. The embarrassment is that I'm given credibility in this world because of the disappointment that the public has in what the news media does."

Then he told Wallace that FOX News viewers are the most misinformed. Which Wallace responded to by pulling a clip from the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson. Case closed?

Here's the full, unedited interview (not all of this made it to air on Sunday).