the comic's comic

Just For Laughs Chicago 2010: Ellen, Cedric The Entertainer, Denis Leary, Aziz Ansari, Russell Peters

For its second year in the Second City, Just For Laughs Chicago is bringing back Ellen DeGeneres for another TV variety show, recording a special with Cedric The Entertainer, and welcoming Aziz Ansari, Russell Peters, Denis Leary's "Rescue Me" tour, a Nasty Show hosted by Greg Giraldo with special guest Jim Norton, and a daytime sketch show for kids produced by Bob and Naomi Odenkirk.

There's much more to come for the Just For Laughs Chicago 2010 schedule, happening in various theaters and clubs around the city from June 15-19, 2010, including a third TV special to be announced later.

But here is the initial slate of headlining acts. Tickets for all shows go on sale March 29.

THE CHICAGO THEATRE
Ellen’s Somewhat Special – Wednesday, June 16, at 7:30 p.m. (Taped for TBS)

Cedric The Entertainer’s Urban Circus (working title) – Friday, June 18, at 8 p.m.
Featuring comedians, sketches, music and more. (Taped for TBS)

The Rescue Me Comedy Tour with Denis Leary – Saturday, June 19, at 8 p.m.
Featuring Lenny Clarke, Adam Ferrara and music with The Enablers and the Rehab Horns. Portion of the proceeds benefits the Leary Firefighters Foundation.

ROSEMONT THEATRE
Russell Peters - The Green Card Tour - Saturday, June 19, at 8 p.m.

THE VIC THEATRE
Aziz Ansari – The Dangerously Delicious Tour – Thursday, June 17, at 7 p.m.

The Nasty Show hosted by Greg Giraldo with special guest Jim Norton – Friday, June 18, at 7 and 9:30 p.m.

PARK WEST
Lucha VaVOOM – Wednesday, June 16, at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. – 21+ only show
Featuring Mexican masked wrestling and not-so masked burlesque.

MERCURY THEATRE
The Not Inappropriate Show – Friday, June 18, at 4 p.m. and Saturday, June 19, at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Made especially for kids ages 6 and up, this sketch comedy show stars Bob Odenkirk and Kate Micucci, along with some of Los Angeles’ hottest sketch performers. The show, which is being produced by Naomi Odenkirk, will feature a collection of specially chosen sketches and songs designed for kids who love great comedy.

TBS will bring Rooftop Comedy's funniest collegians from Aspen to Chicago at Just For Laughs

Rooftop Comedy's third annual National College Comedy Competition won't end in Aspen with Rooftop Comedy's fest, because the company has partnered with TBS to send the four top college stand-ups to Chicago for one more final face-off at Just For Laughs Chicago. Or as TBS calls it, "TBS Presents a 'Very Funny' Festival: Just For Laughs." That's a mouthful! At any rate.

The competition opens this spring with 32 colleges and universities competing in both live stage matches and online voting, via stand-up plus rival roast videos and one-liners. The "Funniest Four" teams head to the Aspen Rooftop Comedy Festival from June 10-13, and the top four individuals will be invited to move on to the "National Student Finals" at JFL Chicago from June 15-19.

But what to the executives have to say about it? “Teaming up with Rooftop Comedy for the 2010 National College Comedy Competition is a great way for us to check out some of the incredible talent emerging from the college scene,” said Dennis Adamovich, senior vice president of brand and digital activation/general manager of festivals for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). “For the four young comics chosen to perform at our Festival in Chicago, it will be the opportunity of a lifetime as they pursue their comedy dreams in the city that has been the proving ground for some of America’s greatest comedians.” As for Rooftop? “Joining with TBS on this extraordinarily exciting college series marks a huge milestone for the National College Comedy Competition,” says Will C. Rogers, CEO of Rooftop Comedy. "The NCCC has become the top college series of its kind with thousands of students participating across the country. Working with TBS, it will now just get that much bigger and that much funnier.”

Here are your Regional Rival match-ups. Do you need to see and fill out a bracket, just like the other kids? Here are your brackets! 
March 28 – Temple University vs. Penn State @ Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia
March 28 – Florida State University vs. University of Florida @ The Comedy Zone in Tallahassee, Fla.
March 29 – Michigan State University vs. Western Michigan @ Connxtions Comedy Club in Lansing, Mich.
March 30 – Boston College vs. Massachusetts Institute of Technology @ Mottley’s in Boston
March 31 – Northwestern vs. Columbia College @ Lincoln Lodge in Chicago
March 31 – Emerson vs. Tufts University @ Mottley’s in Boston
April 5 – University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire vs. University of Minnesota @ Acme Comedy Club in Minneapolis
April 6 – Syracuse University vs. Cornell University @ Wise Guys in Syracuse, N.Y.
April 7 – Xavier University vs. Ohio State University @ Go Bananas in Cincinnati
April 7 – New York University vs. Marymount Manhattan @ Comic Strip Live in New York
April 10 – Stanford University vs. University of California at Berkeley @ The Purple Onion in San Francisco
April 11 – UCSC vs. San Francisco State @ The Purple Onion in San Francisco
April 11 – Colorado University at Boulder vs. Colorado State University @ Comedy Works in Denver
April 11 – George Washington University vs. University of Virginia @ The Comedy Spot in Arlington, Va.
April 12 – University of North Carolina vs. Duke University @ DSI Comedy Theatre in Carrboro, N.C.
April 13 – University of Southern California vs. Loyola Marymount University @ Hollywood Improv in Hollywood

Some comedians not funny enough for "The Very Funny Show" on TBS?! 15 get cut from tapings

When TBS announced the lineups for its inaugural stand-up showcase series, The Very Funny Show, I looked at the list yesterday, posted it, then did a double- and triple-take wondering what was missing. What were missing were several of the comedians who performed sets for the show when it taped at Zanies in Chicago's North End during the TBS/Just For Laughs Chicago festival. I knew this -- not only because I had posted the initial press release in May with a different set of stand-ups, but also because I was there to watch some of it in person. You can see me filming Godfrey behind Zanies during production (and also other comics in the background). Roll it, me!

What happened? When the 10-episode order went from production to reality, and TBS decided upon pairings of two per half-hour, that wasn't going to leave enough room for everyone. Network sources told me they made edits based upon who paired well. Those who didn't make the cut still could show up on TBS at a later date. Whether that's in a second "season" of the show, or in ads promoting the series, or other interstitials, is something TBS is going to have to figure out.

Sorry to be the messenger of this unlucky Friday the 13th news, my funny friends. One of the comics I contacted last night had no idea what was going on.

To wit. Here was the Just For Laughs Chicago taping list for The Very Funny Show, or how it appeared to us then:

Tim Meadows (TBS's The Bill Engvall Show, Saturday Night Live) hosts thirty of the freshest and funniest faces in stand-up as they take the stage at Chicago’s legendary Zanies comedy club. The Very Funny Show will be taped as part of a new series slated to air on TBS. Note: The Very Funny Show will have a different lineup of comedians each night. Please confirm the lineup before completing your ticket purchase.
SCHEDULE OF PERFORMERS
Friday, June 19 at 8:30pm: Sebastian, Henry Cho, Jeff Dye, Bob Oschack, Patti Vasquez, John Caparulo
Friday, June 19 at 10:30pm: Steve Byrne, Rachel Feinstein, Joe Matarese, Billy Gardell, John Mulaney, Hannibal Buress, Danny Bhoy
Saturday, June 20 at 7:00pm: John Roy, Dwayne Perkins, Andrew Kennedy, Godfrey, Wendy Liebman, Kyle Kinane, Dale Jones, Rocky LaPorte
Saturday, June 20 at 9:15pm: Al Madrigal, Erin Jackson, Dwight Slade, Roy Wood Jr., Matt Braunger, Mike Palascak, Bob Marley
Saturday, June 20 at 11:30pm: Tommy Johnagin, Ian Edwards, Pete Correale, Nick Thune, Whitney Cummings, TJ Miller, Louis Ramey

Actually, that list had 35 comedians. And here again is the list of 20 comedians appearing on The Very Funny Show when it's on TBS this winter:

Thursday, Nov. 19, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Henry Cho and Nick Thune 
Thursday, Nov. 19, at 12:30 a.m. (ET/PT) Danny Bhoy and Whitney Cummings 
Thursday, Nov. 26, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) John Roy and Louis Ramey 
Thursday, Dec. 3, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Rocky LaPorte and Andrew Kennedy 
Thursday, Dec. 10, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Jeff Dye and Wendy Liebman 
Thursday, Dec. 17, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) John Caparulo and Kyle Kinane 
Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Mike Palascak and Patti Vasquez 
Thursday, Dec. 31, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Sebastian and Tommy Johnagin 
Thursday, Jan. 7, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) John Mulaney and Pete Correale 
Thursday, Jan. 14, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Al Madrigal and Billy Gardell

Oschack and Jeff Cesario are listed in the second TBS press release as contributing additional materials.

What's most likely is that TBS had planned to do 10 hours of programming for the series, only to decide later to go with half-hours, which then put the squeeze on for 15 unlucky stand-ups. I'm absolutely certain some of them will be just fine without this credit.

Exclusive: Bob Odenkirk & David Cross talk about reuniting onstage and their next TV project

I had the rare opportunity to spend a few minutes with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross right after their first new sketch show together at the Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival. It wasn't quite Mr. Show, but it had that same fun, loose vibe, as Bob & David, with little time to rehearse, put on competing one-man shows (including a Blues Brothers bit, managing to tie in references to both their host city and one of David's comedy nemeses), riffs against the overly corporate nature of their hosts, a funny play on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire called "Cash or Check," a sketch at the "first annual LGBTBBQ barbecue" gone awry, and a comedy club within the show that hosted the likes of John Mulaney, Nick Thune and Team Submarine. Bob & David used local Chicago improvisers from iO, Second City and Annoyance to help fill out their ranks for the sketches. The fans at the Lakeshore Theater loved it all. Backstage, I asked them what most fans want to know. When can we see more of Bob & David on our TVs?

They obliged with their thoughts about reuniting onstage, their own instant-review of their show, working with Chicago improvisers, how they're like the new Carol Burnett Show, what they learned from the David's Situation pilot they shot for HBO, what they have tried to pitch to HBO and Showtime, and Bob's sitcom script for NBC. "David and I continue to write so well, and enjoy working and writing together, that it's definitely a possibility," Bob told me, then turning to David: "In fact, I told you I wrote a part for you in the NBC thing." His idea at the Peacock network would have Bob & David working with Jeff Garlin and Andy Richter, at least in Bob's mind. Just in case NBC needs some primetime programming for midseason, maybe? Just maybe??? Watch the video and let Bob & David explain themselves:

Are you ready for the new Andy Dick?

Comedian/actor Andy Dick got his break along with many other alt-comics of the 1990s on the short-lived Ben Stiller Show, but he really got the public's attention later that decade with his portrayal of a wacky radio employee on NBC's NewsRadio. But somewhere along the line, his life became, well, a little Less Than Perfect, and the exploits offscreen became his persona and his reputation. Several trips to rehab later (including one televised on Sober House), Dick is attempting to come back again. This time, he's doing it online via his Atom.com talk show, House Arrest with Andy Dick, and a live touring musical production that shows its influences from another "crazy" Andy, Andy Kaufman. That tour comes to NYC this weekend at Carolines.

I saw Andy Dick's live show last month at Just For Laughs Chicago, and the next day, sat down with the performer to talk to him about that and more, including his new pilot deal to develop a talk show for Comedy Central. You'll notice he's not quite as wild and crazy as the guy who was getting press for all of the wrong reasons a couple of years ago.

Here's the first part of that chat, in which he talks about the differences between him and Kaufman, how he uses Twitter and technology to stream his shows free to fans, how he and his Los Angeles neighbors are all revolutionizing the talk-show game, and more:

After the jump, I asked him how it felt, a year clean-and-sober, to reflect on his career in terms of where he's been and where he could be going now...

Godfrey's stand-up comedy tribute to Michael Jackson

When "King of Pop" Michael Jackson died, some people wondered if, when and how comedians would react to the news. After all, plenty of stand-up comics had been telling jokes about the musician and his eclectic and allegedly not-so smooth criminal behavior for long enough that Michael Jackson jokes became a hack category long before he died two weeks ago at the young age of 50. Living in NYC, I was able to visit comedy clubs within hours of Jackson's sudden death and see firsthand how comedians and audiences handled the breaking news. Too soon? Perhaps for some, but most comics I witnessed knew enough then and now to address the veritable chimpanzee in the room without going on a tasteless offensive. And then there was Godfrey. Godfrey, a regular at the Comedy Cellar when he's in NYC, hasn't been able to stop talking about his love for Michael Jackson, whether he has been onstage, upstairs in the Olive Tree Cafe or outside on the sidewalk, showing off his dance moves. Last weekend, he devoted much of his set to MJ. Overnight, he got around to editing and posting some of it online (note: contains NSFW language):

"I'm so mad he's dead," Godfrey told me the other night on the sidewalk outside of the Cellar. "He shaped me as a human being. It was like having breakfast with Mike." He recalled collecting lots of Michael Jackson gear when he was a kid growing up in Chicago, including both red and black jackets, posters and more. His mom even got him tickets to see the Jacksons on their Victory Tour stop at Comiskey Park. Clutching a new collectible magazine devoted to Jackson's life, Godfrey told me how Michael Jackson also shaped many black comedians, from giving Eddie Murphy a classic bit, to providing inspirations that helped both Chris Tucker and Eddie Griffin achieve their own stardom.

Ellen's Bigger, Longer, and Wider audience Q&A

Ellen DeGeneres took questions from the audience at the end of her latest variety special, which taped last week in Chicago at the Just For Laughs fest, and Ellen's Bigger, Longer and Wider Show debuts tonight on TBS. Not all of this footage from the Q&A makes it into the special. So if you'd like to hear Ellen talk about her marriage to Portia de Rossi and more, watch this:

I was at the taping, so if you'd like to know what happened, read my behind-the-scenes review of Ellen's Bigger, Longer and Wider Show. The show featured a live performance by Chicago's own Kanye West, a taped routine with David Blaine, stand-up comedy from Boston newcomer Joe Wong, and a variety of amazing acrobatic and just plain silly human tricks.

Review: "Let Freedom Hum" with Martin Short (TBS)

The TBS broadcasts from the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago festival kick off tonight with Let Freedom Hum, a stand-up showcase hosted by a Canadian sketch actor, Martin Short, and featuring very little in the way of humming and nothing that we heard about the joys of freedom. But they put the title on the Internet and your TV listings, so let's just get to it.

As I mentioned last week, Martin Short certainly did his part to enliven the proceedings -- in addition to taped bits that brought back Ed Grimley (without pants!), Jiminy Glick and Lawrence Orbach, Short's opening monologue was both topical and edgy. The audience gasped at a number of his zingers, including one joke in which he called Adam Lambert a fruit, and another in which, in front of several TBS executives, he zinged the network by saying: "Meanwhile, TBS viewers are saying, who knew Tyler Perry was so light-skinned!"

But what about the stand-ups? Chicago native John Roy warmed up the crowd beforehand and delivered one of the better sets of the night, joking about how the locals are tougher because of the city's frigid winters and are fatter because of what they eat (though you'll see none of this on TV tonight, Roy did tape a performance at Zanies last weekend for a new stand-up series TBS will debut later this year).

Earlier in the day, I caught up with Tom Papa and Kathleen Madigan as they ran through their promotional photo shoots. Through the magic of my Flip cam and the snapshot function, this moment in time has been captured for posterity. I think Papa had powder in his eye. Or he's winking at us! Either way, Papa got things rolling on the right note once he hit the stage, mocking billionaires who have been killing themselves because, having lost their money in the recession, they could not stand to live like the rest of us. He also poked fun at his own life as a husband and father, and had the audience in stitches as he recounted trying to have a conversation with his parents online via Skype. Madigan was next up, and wanted us all to know how not to be jealous of her for having to visit her parents outside of St. Louis, and how much drinking must be involved to cope with life as a Madigan. She also curiously was eager to revisit the 2008 presidential election and Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama (did I mention we were in Chicago?) and expressed the fact that she was too cynical for hope.

Jimmy Fallon, more comfortable as an impersonator than as himself?

It's still perhaps a bit too early to issue a final verdict on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, although with more than 70 episodes in the can, it can be said that The Roots remain a great hip-hop band with a great sense of humor, that Jimmy Fallon also has surrounded himself with funny comedians to write for him, and that their taped bits are generally far funnier than the sketches and "game shows" they have Fallon do with and in front of the live audience, many of which fall flat. As for Fallon himself? Well, after seeing him live in Chicago last weekend at the Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival, I have developed a new theory on what makes Jimmy Fallon work (and what's holding him back) as a performer and as a late-night TV host. (On a brief tangent, you probably didn't know -- I didn't -- that Jimmy Fallon ripped his pants during his show Saturday in Chicago, as he explained in this clip during Monday night's show)

Jimmy Fallon seems most at ease when he's pretending to be someone else.

That's it. It's that simple. Fallon is uncomfortable interviewing people he doesn't know, but it's not so much because he needs to learn that skill (though he really does), as much as it's because he has not yet figured out how to be at ease just being himself on camera. Here's what he told the crowd Saturday in Chicago: "I don't watch myself (at night on TV)...I'm not that much of an egomaniac," he said. "But I do TiVo myself...and watch it all on Sundays...(to see) how much I sweat during an interview." Any discomfort he has on-air behind the desk (and we all end up sharing as viewers) goes away, it seems, whenever he can slip into a character. Any character. And it turns out he has a lot of impersonations in his arsenal -- which, when combined with his musical talent, reminds you how he first got that SNL gig, and eventually his own NBC late-night showcase.

On Monday night, Fallon interviewed Nick Cannon with both of them doing Bill Cosby:

At Just For Laughs, he unleashed several more voices, including John Travolta, the Barry Gibb Talk Show (he really does love that sketch, incorporating it into an audience bit), Ty Pennington, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Richard Lewis, Robin Williams, Norm MacDonald, Yakoff Smirnoff, Mitch Hedberg, Gilbert Gottfried, Andrew Dice Clay, Jeff Foxworthy, Larry the Cable Guy, Steven Wright and Adam Sandler -- as well as musical parodies of Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg, Green Day, Maroon 5, Amy Winehouse and a full medley of 1980s pop hits. Here is an edited version of most of that from Fallon's show the previous weekend in Bonnaroo (wearing the same plaid shirt and not-yet-ripped khakis he sported in Chicago -- his lucky outfit?), after the jump...

JFL Chicago: Martin Short brings back Jiminy Glick, Lawrence Orbach & Ed Grimley; stuns crowd with monologue full of zingers

Martin Short blew into Chicago this week and created a flurry of excitement with the return of some of his most famous comedy characters, and may have even topped that last night by delivering zingers that shocked the live audience for the taping of Let Freedom Hum, the TBS special from Just For Laughs Chicago that will air a week from today, at 10 p.m. June 26.

Taped bits in the special include the return of Lawrence Orbach, best known as Short's synchronized swimmer who couldn't swim in one of Saturday Night Live's classic short films, as well as Jiminy Glick, Short's oversized oaf of an entertainment journalist who sits down with the stand-ups in the TBS special: Greg Giraldo, Jeremy Hotz, Kathleen Madigan, Tom Papa and John Pinette. (Pictured at right: Martin Short as Jiminy Glick with comedian John Pinette, by Barry Brecheisen)

The live audience, which included Second City legends Harold Ramis, SCTV co-founder Andrew Alexander and producer Joyce Sloane (Short saluted each of them individually during breaks in the taping), saw Short open the stand-up comedy special with a taped sketch featuring Short in a scene as a pantsless Ed Grimley, who upon getting the TBS gig, breaks into song, knocks out Kevin Nealon in a cameo and gets a radical face tattoo. Once he took the stage, Short meant to knock himself down a peg or two, suggesting he was the cable network's second choice after disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich -- but Short tripped over Blago's name and decided to switch the target to Robert Blake. That was quickly followed by this aside directed toward the network and its most popular comedy programming : "Meanwhile, TBS viewers are saying, who knew Tyler Perry was so light-skinned!"

That would seem rather tame, however, compared to these quips from Short that drew gasps from the audience:

To his accompanying pianist, Jeff Babko (the keyboardist in Jimmy Kimmel's late-night TV band), Short said that his new daughter was named Tangerine because they wanted to pick a fruity name, "Tangerine if a girl, Adam Lambert if it was a boy." (Pictured at left: Martin Short with Jeff Babko performing live Thursday night at The Vic Theatre in Chicago, by Edward Pio Roda)

On the difference between hockey and Scientology: "Unlike Scientology, hockey has let Katie Holmes escape."

On tensions in the world: "Look at Iran...They had fraudulent voting in a fixed election. Good thing that would never happen here in Chicago!"

Blogging about Chicago comedy

What happens when a major comedy festival such as Just For Laughs comes to town, only to find the town's major comedy blog is no more? Well, all is not lost for Chicago comedy fans who no have The Bastion to guide them.

In fact, the former Bastion editors are still keeping track of, and shining a spotlight on, the Windy City's up-and-coming comedic talents. Kristy Mangel is monitoring the goings-on via her blog, five drink minimum, while Elizabeth McQuern is producing Chicago Underground Comedy shows and blogging here and there as Bella Rossa. Stand-up comedian Cameron Esposito (who's performing in one of the homegrown shows at Lincoln Lodge, I believe) has started blogging on Chilarious, a new blog from ChicagoNow (owned by The Tribune). Also keeping tabs on the Chicago comedy scene from the mainstream to alternative media: The Chicago Reader,  Time Out Chicago and The Onion's Chicago edition of Decider, and Chicagoist. So if this weekend's ha-ha-hullaballoo has you hankering for more funny in Chicago, you'll have some places to start your search when I'm not around to help!

JFL Chicago: Robert Smigel on creating SNL's Super Fans, "Da Bears"

Robert Smigel began his comedy career in Chicago, and during the 1988 writers strike, Smigel returned to the Windy City and, with fellow SNL striking writers Conan O'Brien and Bob Odenkirk, wrote and produced a revue called Happy Happy Good Show. One of Smigel's sketches portrayed Chicago's super sports fans, which later famously became a recurring sketch on SNL called Bill Swerski's Super Fans, and people across America began emphasizing "Da Bears" and "Da Bulls."

Smigel is back in Chicago this week for Just For Laughs Chicago, showing the unaired Bozo pilot he wrote with Dino Stamatopoulos, as well as the original pilot for their animated "TV Funhouse." I spoke with them after last night's show -- they'll also be performing tonight at the Lakeshore Theater. Here is the portion of our backstage chat focusing on the Super Fans (I'll upload the full interview separately):

And here is perhaps the most well-known of the SNL "Super Fans" appearances from 1991, when Michael Jordan hosted. Smigel sits with Jordan, George Wendt, Mike Myers and Chris Farley, who has a heart attack and performs a luau dance for Jordan. Enjoy!

JFL Chicago: Behind the scenes of Ellen's Bigger Longer & Wider Show (TBS)

Ellen DeGeneres taped her third TBS variety special last night as part of the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival -- Ellen's Bigger Longer & Wider Show will air at 9 p.m. Saturday, June 27, on TBS, but I can share some insight with you already.

During a post-show question-and-answer session with the audience, Ellen's wife, Portia de Rossi, emerged from the wings to wave hello when a fan asked, "Where's Portia?!" Here is a backstage pic of Ellen and Portia with Chicago's own Kanye West, who performed his hits "Stronger" and "Heartless" to end the show. On the best part of being married, Ellen quipped: "Well, I'm finally off the pill!" And on a more serious note, when a gay man from the audience couldn't contain himself demonstrating his support for Ellen and wondering what the gay and lesbian community could do in the wake of California's Prop 8, DeGeneres offered that "we shouldn't be separate" in terms of the law. "Just remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others."

Everyone really does love Ellen these days. Gay men, lesbians, young women, middle-aged women, and other straights went crazy for her last night in Chicago. After a 40-minute warmup session (did it have to be that long?) of dance contests and karaoke contests that hyped up the crowd in a mini version of America's Got Talent, it only made sense to introduce celebrity guest DJ Nick Cannon, who is hosting this summer's version of the NBC talent show. Cannon had no qualms hyping his stint on the show, telling Ellen during the taping: "We're going to get our American Susan Boyle! Boyle and beyond!" OK.

Bob Odenkirk visits Andy Dick on House Arrest

I'm making my plans to jet over to Chicago on Wednesday for the start of the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival, and guess who else will be there? Bob Odenkirk and Andy Dick! Bob's teaming up with his longtime comedy partner David Cross for something special, while Andy is going back to his comedy roots. What better way to get in the mood than a video featuring both of these guys, as Bob stops by the second-season premiere of Andy's Internet talk show, House Arrest. It's on Atom.com, Comedy Central's home for original online comedy productions. Enjoy!

House Arrest with Andy Dick: Bob Odenkirk

Atom.com: Funny Videos | Atom Originals | House Arrest with Andy Dick

TBS lines up talent for two TV specials from Just For Laughs Chicago

TBS has announced the lineups for two stand-up comedy specials it'll tape and broadcast from the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago festival in June. So who's added to the bills?

Martin Short will host Let Freedom Hum (tapes June 18 at The Vic, and airs June 26), with performances by John Pinette, Kathleen Madigan, Greg Giraldo, Tom Papa and Jeremy Hotz.

The following night, David Alan Grier will host Comedy You Can Believe In (tapes June 19 at The Vic, and airs June 28), with performances by Bruce Bruce, Jo Koy, Mark Curry, Aries Spears and Marina Franklin.

TBS previously announced its intentions to produce and broadcast a third variety special for Ellen DeGeneres at the Chicago fest, and that will air June 27. Tickets for the Martin Short special will go on sale this Friday. Tickets also are available for a fourth show with George Lopez during the fest, as the previously three Lopez shows already have sold out.

Just for Laughs (Chicago) adds to the lineup

The inaugural Just For Laughs (Chicago) has added some more names to the lineup, and announced that it will bestow Chicago native Harold Ramis with a Lifetime Achievement Award on June 16 -- not-so-coincidentally, Ramis also will screen his newest comedy, Year One, which stars Jack Black and Michael Cera and goes nationwide June 19.

Added to the bill at the Lakeshore Theater: Jim Breuer, Danny Bhoy, David Cross, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, and Jon Lajoie.

And befitting Chicago's improv heritage, there'll be a Best of Sketchfest, featuring the six top sketch groups from the Windy City's January fest, and an all-star improv jam called Chicagoland.

Just For Laughs (Chicago) 2009 will run from June 16-21.

TBS announces inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago lineup

TBS and Just For Laughs unveiled the first look at the lineup for their inaugural "Very Funny" Festival in Chicago this June 17-21, and it looks like a hybrid of what Just For Laughs does in Montreal, TBS does in Las Vegas and what the Chicago comedy scene does.

Tickets will go on sale Monday.

Are you ready? Here's the quick overview. TBS will tape three specials: Ellen's Bigger Longer and Wider Show (aka the third Ellen DeGeneres variety show for the basic cable network), Comedy You Can Believe in with David Alan Grier (Grier hosts an all-star lineup TBA), and a third yet-to-be announced special. It'll also see upcoming late-night competitors George Lopez and Jimmy Fallon headlining their own shows, as well as performances by Bill Engvall, Lisa Lampanelli, Russell Peters, Louis CK, Jim Jefferies, Bob Odenkirk and Andy Dick. Shows will take place throughout the Windy City, from the Chicago Theatre to the Rosemont, Lakeshore, The Vic, iO, The Lincoln Lodge, The Playground and Annoyance, plus four nights of films at the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“While our festival in Montreal made its humble beginning as a three-night local comedy showcase 27 years ago, Chicago has a rich history in comedy that needs no introduction,” said Gilbert Rozon, president of Just For Laughs.  “We are confident that the elite roster of talent at our inaugural event this summer will secure our status as the premier comedy festival in the United States.  So it seems our plan for world domination is coming along rather nicely.”

The full lineup, straight from the press release, is after the jump!

TBS, Just For Laughs, Chicago and Vegas

When I launched this site, oh so many days ago, people in the comedy festival business wondered if there'd be much of an American comedy festival business in 2008. Or at least, not the same comedy confabs that we'd become accustomed to. When last we left Las Vegas in November, though, more than a few people suspected that TBS might take over where HBO left off. And this press release from TBS confirms that, and more.

TBS not only will continue The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas this November, but also join forces with Montreal's Just For Laughs for a summer event in Chicago.

Ellen DeGeneres will present variety shows at both fests. Why? I was at her "Really Big Show" in Vegas last November, and found it to be, well, more than a bit lacking.

At any rate. What else is in store for this summer's Very Funny Festival? From the release: In addition to DeGeneres, there'll be "a series of stand-up concerts by top-name comedians; the very best in improv and sketch, including a collaboration with the famed Second City comedy troupe; Latino and urban comedy extravaganzas; various other events at local comedy clubs; and a film component." There you have it. For now.