the comic's comic

After SNL, @chrisgethard finally met @iamdiddy and the #diddygethard promise was reborn once more

Knowing that Sean Combs, aka "Diddy," was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live, and knowing that many friends and colleagues of comedian Chris Gethard work on SNL, then it's not surprising that forces of karma worked for good and got the two of them to meet face-to-face.

If you need catching up, then read my Christmas Day/New Year's Eve 2009 report from Gethard about his mission to get Diddy to appear on his monthly show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in NYC. Diddy said he would, but then he hadn't. So Gethard, while promoting his Comedy Central series Big Lake this summer, got Jimmy Fallon to spread the word once again on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Again, Diddy said he'd do the show, but then he hadn't.

But early Sunday morning, after SNL, Diddy met Gethard. This is how that looked:

 

I'm not sure why Diddy needs Twitter to remind him to do the show in January. He could just do the show. Diddy: Do the show.

Gethard's message accompanying this clip on YouTube? 

"Attention everyone who doubted and hated on the likelihood of DiddyGethard ever actually happening - you lose."

Watch this, Diddy! Jimmy Fallon helps Chris Gethard invite you to his UCB show #diddygethard

This reminds me of the time Lorne Michaels went on Saturday Night Live to invite the Beatles to reunite on SNL.

Except in this case, Diddy really did promise on New Year's Eve to attend the monthly Chris Gethard Show at the UCB Theatre, and here we are nine months later, promise yet-to-be fulfilled, and Gethard is the star of a Comedy Central sitcom (Big Lake) and guesting on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Fallon even told his TV viewers and Twitter followers to ask @iamdiddy to follow through, with the hashtag #diddygethard. Gethard's next UCB show is Sept. 18. The gauntlet has been thrown. Your move, Diddy.

Discovering a TV star: How Funny or Die found Chris Gethard for Comedy Central's "Big Lake"

Big Lake debuts a week from tonight on Comedy Central, and the guys producing the show from Gary Sanchez Productions (aka the guys who run Funny or Die) decided to reveal the backstory on how they found Chris Gethard to star in the sitcom. As you may recall, Gethard was a replacement after Jon Heder was not a dynamite fit for the part. So to speak. Anyhow. You UCB comedy fans may think you know everything about Chris Gethard. Adam McKay and Chris Henchy want to fill you in on the other part of the story, wherein they found him in the wild and then tamed him for TV. Sounds about right.

And if you don't know what Big Lake is about, then watch this extended trailer. Roll it.

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!

Comedy Central launches Portable Lounge, a new online "talk show" with a rotating cast

Comedy Central has unveiled a new online plaything of a talk show called Portable Lounge. 

The portable part means just that, the lounge where comedians talk about this and that and these other things will take place wherever the mood feels right. Chris Gethard, star of Comedy Central's upcoming Big Lake, chats with his UCB comrade and current SNL cast member Bobby Moynihan in a bowling alley in the Bronx. Other shows will beam to you from a butcher shop, barber shop, comic book store and chocolate factory. Comedy Central has yet to reveal which comedians will be chatting it up and when, but promises to give me and you the head's up.

In the lounge, the chat will be broken up into segments such as "Tweet of the Moment," "Delete A Friend" from Facebook, "Non-Sexual Fantasy" and "Whodja Rather." In this clip, Gethard asks Moynihan who he'd rather have as his investment partner in his fantasy business: Chewbacca or Falcor? And in the process, Moynihan will show you his impersonation of Adm. Blackbar that he used to do with Gethard in shows at the UCB. Roll the clip!

"Big Lake," Comedy Central's Funny or Die multi-cam sitcom, was screened before a live audience

Chris Gethard, Horatio Sanz presented an exclusive preview of their upcoming Comedy Central sitcom, Big Lake, that was more than just your basic sneak peek. For one thing, the audience last night at the UCB Theatre would be providing the live laugh track for two episodes that already were taped as a multi-camera sitcom (without an audience) at Silvercup Studios in Long Island City.

Well, I guess that one thing would be enough, wouldn't it? But Gethard and Sanz themselves acknowledged it was their first time seeing any of the footage themselves, too! Gethard joked for the packed audience -- which also included fellow cast members Chris Parnell and Dylan Blue, others from Gary Sanchez Productions (Funny or Die) such as Owen Burke and Chris Henchy, and still others from UCB's L.A. branch who'd come "home" to catch a glimpse of FoD's first sitcom. We didn't get to see the pilot, but we did get to watch two of the other first 10 episodes ordered by Comedy Central (with the network holding an option to order 90 more).

In the lead role, Gethard told us that everyone in the supporting cast plays a different level of crazy, which is odd, because as he said: "My character singlehandedly brought down a bank. An institution. And I'm the straight-man."

"You say straight-man. I say Irish Woody Allen," Sanz added.

So Gethard's character, having squandered $200 million and losing all $385,000 of his parents' retirement fund, moves back in with them. I forgot to write down his TV mother's name, but Deborah Rush plays his TV mother, while his father is played by character actor James Rebhorn (whom I once saw at a comedy show at Rififi, so how's that for nerd cred), while 14-year-old Dylan Blue plays Gethard's younger brother who's operating a secret crime ring. Sanz plays Gethard's longtime friend who's also a lovable loser. And Parnell plays a burned-out high school teacher who hangs out with Sanz and Gethard. The second episode they screened for us, described as "Chris falls in love," was a stand-out. I don't want to give anything away, but I did write down one of the many laugh-out-loud lines from that episode, as Parnell's character answers a question thusly: "If I told you what was under it, that would defeat the purpose of the tarp."

Big Lake debuts Aug. 3 on Comedy Central.

UCB fave Chris Gethard takes the lead in Comedy Central series with Horatio Sanz, Chris Parnell

If you see a comedy nerd acting extra weird today, it's because they're slowly figuring out the news that Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre fixture Chris Gethard reported for work today as the new lead of the untitled Gary Sanchez Productions Comedy Central series that also features Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell.

Yes. That's correct. When Gethard said on Twitter that he had to get up this morning for work, he meant this.

The sitcom that Comedy Central greenlit for 10 episodes, with an option for 90 more, was supposed to begin production March 31 with Jon Heder in the lead role, until Heder dropped out last week. We can speculate all we want on why Heder dropped out. I have my theory. Anyhow. With the sets ready to go in New York City, producers quickly looked to fill the lead role and auditioned several comedians over the past week. Gethard, as a UCB fave and ASSSSCAT regular, obviously already has chemistry with UCB original Sanz. Gethard also has generated buzz in his ESPN basketball commercials, his Christmas morning appeal to Sean "Diddy" Combs, and making an Ohio comedy nerd's dream come true.

Welcome to karma. In his biggest break yet, Gethard will play a young man who loses his job and has to move back in with his parents. Sanz plays one of his friends, an ex-con, while Parnell plays a "burn-out" high-school teacher, as they plan a variety of schemes to save their hometown. Adam McKay had this to say on the record just a couple of weeks ago: "Anyone in the comedy world knows that Horatio Sanz and Chris Parnell are two of the funniest guys around. So we're absolutely giddy that we got them for this show." McKay is an executive producer along with his Gary Sanchez cohorts Will Ferrell and Chris Henchy. The series is set to premiere in the third quarter of this year.

Chris Gethard hosts a show in his NYC apartment, with SNL's Seth Meyers and Kung Fu Monkeys

Some comedians are content to perform in comedy clubs and theaters, perhaps even alt-rooms such as bars and rock clubs. Chris Gethard is a little bit different. In the past year, this skilled Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre performer has taken fans along on a full-day bus tour to see the places he talks about in his stories, invited select fans to his parents house for a sleepover, and yesterday, held a "secret show" in his Queens apartment.

Did I mention his guests yesterday were Saturday Night Live head writer and "Weekend Update" anchor Seth Meyers, and music performed acoustically by Kung Fu Monkeys? Here's a picture someone snapped from inside the secret show.

Gethard told me today: "Seth was the guest, Kung Fu Monkeys (who play all my shows and are great) were the band, and everything went great! I think people had a good time - I just hope it was worth the trip to Queens. Now I gotta get to work organizing March's show!"

That would be his monthly variety showcase, The Chris Gethard Show, at the UCB Theatre. For March, he's bringing in a comedy nerd all the way from Ohio named Mitchell Stephen Fesh. No word yet on whether Sean Combs -- aka Diddy aka Puffy Puff Daddy -- will be able to make it to this show.

Previously: Chris Gethard asked Diddy on Christmas to perform on his show, and Diddy said yes.

All Chris Gethard wants for Christmas is Al Roker -- make that Diddy! -- to appear on his UCB show

Do you believe in Christmas miracles? I sure do. So when I saw this posted overnight (Santa and I work similar hours), I just had to share it with you so you could spread the word. Comedian/actor Chris Gethard has a simple request this Christmas. He'd like Al Roker from NBC's Today show to appear on his upcoming UCB Theatre show, The Chris Gethard Show, on Jan. 9, 2010. Gethard made his personal request via video overnight. Roll the clip!

I asked him if he had anything to add, and Gethard told me the video pretty much speaks for itself. And here is a short statement from Gethard which accompanied this clip on YouTube:

I just want to live in a world where if enough of us ask nicely enough, Al Roker will come and make a random appearance at the Chris Gethard Show 1/9/10 at midnight at the UCB Theater in NYC. Please blog this video, please nicely tweet Al Roker @alroker to let him know about it (use #rokergethard), please come and be a part of the fun by making a reservation for the show (www.ucbtheater.com or 212-366-9176). How great would it be to know that stuff like this can happen? Let's all get behind it and engineer ourselves a Christmas miracle.

You heard the man. Can you help him?

UPDATED (9 a.m.)!?! What was Al Roker doing up late on Christmas Eve -- was he coming home from Midnight Mass, delivering presents to children via chimneys, or what -- because @alroker already replied via Twitter to Chris Gethard, saying:

So, Gethard, thinking quickly, made another video then raised the stakes. How about Diddy? Yes. Sean Puffy Puff Daddy P Diddy Diddy Combs. Diddy, can you hear him? If nothing else, this is saying something remarkable about how technology really is bringing us all a little bit closer together. Roll the new clip!

Let's see if we need to update this again today, people! Reblog it, Tweet @iamdiddy, and use the hashtag #DiddyGethard. "You are not a second choice at all, man. You're not a backburner choice...I'm saying, go even bigger!" Who's bigger than Diddy? Am I right, Diddy?

UPDATED Dec. 31, 2009: It's on! Diddy said on Twitter that he's out of town on Jan. 9, but he also talked to Gethard on the phone, then wrote this:

 

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...

Chris Gethard's Magic Box of Stories (birthday edition)

While you were launching headlong into your Memorial Day Weekend plans, I was one of about 100 fortunate souls to witness a special edition of Chris Gethard's "Magic Box of Stories," the comedian's engaging and entertaining autobiographical storytelling series at the UCB.

Chris Gethard is an improv superstar these days at the UCB's New York City theater, performing regularly with The Stepfathers, teaching classes, and receiving a lot of applause and attention each year during the Del Close Marathon. Gethard also has a lot of interesting tales to tell from his life experiences growing up in New Jersey; so many, in fact, that he has written the titles of these stories down on index cards and placed them in a container (or magic box, as it were). For his "Magic Box of Stories," he asks audience members to pull out an index card, he tells that story, then plays a video commentary from his mother, "Big" Sal, in which she adds her two cents.

Last night''s late show was extra special for Gethard, though, because it began at 11 p.m. on Morrissey's 50th birthday and ended just shy of midnight, the start of Gethard's 29th birthday. "I can't think of a better way of starting my birthday than by sharing it with you," he told the audience. That, despite his insistence early in the show that birthdays are not his favorite time of year because he tends to reflect on how close (or far) he is from achieving his dreams. What does this have to do with Morrissey? Well, as Gethard explained, he long has been a huge fan of Morrissey, and earlier this spring, he met The Smiths frontman and got an autograph tattooed into his arm. So Gethard recounted this story for the audience, with the follow-up of how Internet haters hated on him (on a Morrissey fan site, even?!). I'm not sure why Morrissey fans would hate one of their own for getting his autograph tattooed, but whatevs. We want to hear more from Gethard's life and travels.

On this night, audience members asked for and received tales of his "6 Red Bumps" (a sexual romp gone wrong), "My Father" (a hilarious recounting of how some teen punks incurred the wrath of his father) and "Button Woods." I'd tell you about this last one, but you can see and hear a version of it for yourself, from Gethard's "Magic Bus of Stories" -- when the comedian chartered a bus, packed it with fans and drove around to the sites of his experiences while telling the stories. Here is a video slideshow from that daylong event. The dramatic pacing and punchlines are tougher to convey while standing on a moving bus, but you'll get the idea (contains a few profanities):

Gethard's Magic Bus: The Beast of Button Woods from Brian Glidewell on Vimeo.

The next edition of Chris Gethard's Magic Box of Stories takes place June 6. Check the UCB-NY listings for future times and dates.