the comic's comic

Watch the red band trailer for "30 Minutes or Less"

Here is the official "red band" (adults only, or mature immature audiences, please) for 30 Minutes or Less, arriving in a cinema near you in August 2011. Starring Aziz Ansari, Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride and Nick Swardson. Directed by Ruben Fleischer.

Roll the clip!

 

Nick Swardson's mustache has nothing to say about Danny McBride's other new movie with Aziz Ansari

The folks at MTV caught up with Danny McBride and Nick Swardson on the set of their upcoming movie, 30 Minutes or Less, which Ruben Fleischer is directing with a cast that also includes Aziz Ansari, Jessie Eisenberg and Fred Willard. But that's not what MTV wanted to talk about. Not in this clip, anyhow. In this clip, McBride talks about another upcoming movie project he's working on with Ansari, which McBride says is called "Olympic-Size Asshole."

That film is from a pitch by Ansari and 30 Rock's Matt Hubbard, with Parks and Rec scribe Harris Wittels attached to write the screenplay for McBride's production company. Nick Swardson and his mustache have no comment. Roll the clip!

Pic of the Day: Kenny Powers "Deep Inside Mexico" (Now playing the part of Mexico: Puerto Rico)

 

Hunter Stephenson reports for VICE from the Puerto Rico sets of Eastbound & Down's second season, officially subtitled "Season Dos: Deep Inside Mexico." Here's a quick tease from HBO with Kenny Powers riding that moped:

Kenny Powers pitches NSFW ad campaign for K-Swiss before Eastbound & Down's second season

File this under: Cross-cross-trainer-promotional-promotions. It's Aug. 1, 2010: Funny or Die unveils a redesign, and eight weeks before the start of HBO's second season of Eastbound & Down, Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) is back already -- and with his too-loyal Stevie Janowski (Steve Little) to boot -- to pitch an NSFW ad campaign to the makers of K-Swiss sneakers. Did I mention it was NSFW? Did I mention it was Kenny F-in Powers? Roll the clip, then.

Aziz Ansari will have more movie deals when he hosts the MTV Movie Awards than most nominees

Here's one fool-proof way to figure out if your career is hot: If you have more movie deals than most of the nominees when you host the MTV Movie Awards ceremony, then you win! That's you, Aziz Ansari. Ansari already sold three movie pitches to Judd Apatow, but that didn't stop him from sealing a fourth movie deal this week with Mandate Pictures, based on a pitch that involves Ansari and Danny McBride (who is producing in a first-look deal with Mandate), on a script to be written by Harris Wittels. (Read the trade report at THR)

Ansari hosts the MTV Movie Awards on June 6. Here's a new promo playing off of The Hurt Locker, with Ansari's explosive pants scaring off Kristen Bell. Roll the clip!

Comedy news that's good news

Today we have multiple tidings of joy to relay your way...

HBO has heard us and listened, granting us with a second season of Eastbound & Down. What will Kenny Powers do next? We'll find out in 2010.

Comedy Central has announced that it's next roast "victim" will be Joan Rivers, taping in Los Angeles on July 26, and airing on Aug. 9, 2009.

Comedy Central also has announced a deal with Levity Entertainment to release 12 stand-up specials over the next two years. The deal includes orders for Christopher Titus, Gabriel Iglesias, Pablo Francisco, Jim Breuer, Mitch Fatel, Pete Correale airing this year, and six more to shoot this year and air in 2010, including ventriloquist Jeff Dunham. It's all business. Longtime Levity client Dunham recorded the highest ratings ever for Comedy Central with last year's "Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special." A couple of weeks ago, the network inked Dunham individually to a deal that included not just another special and DVD, but also consumer products (his fans love to buy his puppets) and a new series(?). All of this also means the network is moving ahead with Levity on a fourth season of Live at Gotham, the showcase for up-and-coming stand-ups (also read as comedians who have yet to appear on Comedy Central in a half-hour or hour). Casting is happening now for the new Gotham lineups.

And Netflix announced it has lined up the first nine seasons of South Park for immediate streaming by its subscribers. Which sounded great until I remembered that you can watch any past episode of South Park already via the show's South Park Studios site.

The Kenny Powers book on audio

We may no longer have Eastbound & Down to watch on Sunday nights, but star Danny McBride has personally approved this message from a fan who stitched together the audiotape sessions of Kenny Powers reading from his book, "You're F---ing Out, I'm F---ing In." Life lessons, people. Life lessons. I think the thing about the Powers character that makes me laugh is that despite having delusions of grandeur, he always says what's on his mind and manages to have some understanding of reality. Needless to say, the content is NSFW. Enjoy:

Kenny Powers Audio Biography from Danny McBride

Behind the scenes: HBO's Eastbound & Down

Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Chris Henchy, the guys behind Funny or Die, also are responsible for getting Danny McBride his own comedy series, Eastbound & Down, which debuts Sunday, Feb. 15, on HBO. McBride plays Kenny Powers, a former Major League Baseball star whose star has fallen, landing him back in his North Carolina hometown teaching gym to middle schoolers. Here is HBO's documentary look behind the scenes of the show. Enjoy:

Oh, and Andy Daly plays the principal!

Sneak peek premiere: Season 2, Flight of the Conchords (HBO)

In real-life, the New Zealand comedy music duo Flight of the Conchords won a Grammy this year and is up for another one in 2009. In their HBO show, however, Bret and Jermaine are still trying to catch a break as the second season opens. Funny or Die gets to bring us the premiere a month before it airs on HBO, for American audiences only (sorry, not my call), so watch it now, and see what happens. Greg Proops, Andrea Rosen and Andrew Secunda make appearances, as well as season one regulars Kristen Schaal and Arj Barker. There's also a subplot for Crazy Doggs (the competing band from Todd Barry and Demetri Martin).

Watch to the end, and you'll also get a sneak peek at the HBO comedy, East Bound & Down, featuring Danny McBride, Will Ferrell and Andrew Daly. Enjoy!

Season 2 Online Premiere - Flight of the Conchords (US Only) - watch more funny videos

In other news, blogs...

Some quick hits and links of comedians and comedy making news around the Internets...

In Rob Corddry's interview with Defamer today, Corddry announces that he has sold a sitcom to HBO about an unlikely political candidate, and that the show, once pitched in a Bush world, has adapted to the new Obama Nation reality. Corddry: "At first it was a really cynical story about how we’re told growing up how anybody can become president. And the last eight years that’s been proven to pretty much be more terrifying than it is inspiring. So that was sort of our tagline before we even had a show: “Anybody can become President. Anyone.” But now we are burdened—burdened!—by hope and optimism. So the character has changed into one who feels the weight of other people’s hope, and is just a little too hungover to deal with it on most occasions."

The second Detroit International Comedy Festival continues to seek submissions for 2009 performers. You have until Dec. 31 to get considered for the March 16-21 fest, which shall include: Best of Detroit, Best of the Midwest, Best of the East Coast, Best of the West Coast and International showcases, plus a national headliner for the weekend at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle. Note: There is a $25 fee, which you'd include with your DVD, bio, and headshot to Aspen Talent, 11385 Shaffer Road, Davisburg MI, 48350. Questions? [email protected]

If you're looking for even more reasons to attend Mike Birbiglia's winning Off-Broadway production, Sleepwalk with Me, then try catching a new weekly post-show segment called "An Awkward Ten Minutes With Mike" in which a special guest shares a "previously untold uncomfortable story" to fit with the theme of Birbiglia's one-man show. Birbiglia's celebrity producer, Nathan Lane, chatted it up last week. This Thursday, it's Zach Galifianakis, and on Dec. 17, radio host Ira Glass sits in for a quick story. And if ticket prices are a concern, and you're young and broke, consider asking for one of a limited amount of 50% discounted tix ($25) at the box office an hour before showtime, and be prepared to show student ID or proof of your poverty.

Hunter Stephenson over at /film went down to North Carolina to visit the set of the upcoming HBO comedy, East Bound and Down, which stars Danny McBride and is brought to the cable network by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell. McBride plays a former big league pitcher who's not as big as he used to be, and he tells Stephenson: "When we wrote this, we really just wanted to do our take on a weird American epic modern hero. He has all the qualities that an epic hero should, but they’re only the worst qualities. It’s completely ass backwards. He’s sort of the current state of the modern American hero."

Speaking of Will Ferrell, the Funny or Die guy is doing a special promotion for the site's newsletter, because if you sign up to get the FOD emails, you may win a personalized voicemail message recorded by Ferrell (this sounds like something NPR does already, doesn't it?).

The Dec. 8, 2008, issue of The New Yorker features a review of 30 Rock, the TV show. The sitcom is in its third season. Third. I'm waiting for next week's critical review of Seinfeld, and whether they think that star surrounded himself with better talent, and whether that's going to work out for him.

Fred Simmons in The Foot Fist Way

In case you were wondering about the Fred Simmons appearance last night on Conan O'Brien, here are some clues to unlock the mystery for you. First, the video.

If the YouTube clip doesn't work, you also can watch the segment and the full episode online via NBC, and by doing so, you're supporting the writers. Did you know that? Now you know.

Fred Simmons, aka Danny McBride, aka Danny R. McBride, is the star of the movie, The Foot Fist Way (you saw the film's Web address displayed in the Conan clip), which debuted at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival, and gets a limited release nationally this April 11. Here was the Variety review from 2006. McBride also has roles in three other 2008 film comedies, Drillbit Taylor, Pineapple Express (those two both penned by McBride's friend in dumb comedy, Seth Rogen) and Tropic Thunder.

Interesting to see Conan welcoming a character comedian sketch onto a show that already had Will Ferrell performing a sketch, made even more interesting as the camera cuts to Conan and Will during McBride's bit to gauge their reactions.

Related: Fred Simmons on MySpace.