the comic's comic

No joke: Jimmy Kimmel among those evacuating French Polynesia to avoid Pacific Ocean tsunami

After today's devastating 8.9-magnitude earthquake in Japan provoked an even more horrifying tsunami in the Pacific Ocean, the reverberations are being felt on both sides of the Pacific and everywhere in between.

Which is where ABC talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel comes in. He was off this week vacationing in French Polynesia. On his Twitter handle @jimmykimmel, he tried to put up a brave front at first, with an initial reaction of "Suddenly, relaxing on an island in the South Pacific isn't so relaxing anymore. Good thing I brought my aqua stilts." Six hours later, he replied to one fan's query by saying he was at a "solid 7" on a scared scale of 1-10, adding: "on a small island, with no high ground."

And two hours ago, he Tweeted this:

In fortuitous timing, the French Polynesian capital of Papeete had just held tsunami-readiness exercises a day earlier.

Updated: Kimmel has since reported that he's back at his hotel and the coast is clear, so to speak, at least for the island where he is.

My thoughts go out to everyone in Japan and throughout the Pacific Rim and our own West Coast and anyone else impacted by today's earthquake and tsunami. I hope as many people make it out OK as possible.

Post-Oscars Jimmy Kimmel: Hottie Body Hump Club, Tom Hanks in Toddlers & Tiaras, and Mike Tyson

If the 83rd annual Academy Awards left much to be desired, then you were rewarded for sticking around to see the special post-show edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live.

First, Kimmel tapped several hot actresses to appear in his seven-minute infomercial for his "Hottie Body Hump Club" to hump big balls. Literally. Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Minka Kelly, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Kelly Ripa, Eva Longoria, Emily Blunt and Sofia Vergara. Possibly some of Alba's finest acting since Honey! Oh, and Lindsay Lohan appeared and let Kimmel joke about her ongoing felony theft case! Also: Someone find out what kind of tanning spray Jimmy used on his legs.

Roll it.

 

Then he had Mike Tyson offer his own speech therapy, a la big Oscar-winning film The King's Speech, to former President George W. Bush. Because, of course, when you think of our nation's great speakers, you think of Iron Mike Tyson. Naturally.

 

But the piece de resistance may have been Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks in a short film showing off his "daughter" Sophie in their attempt to win a Toddlers-and-Tiaras beauty pageant. Look out for extra celebrity cameos!

"Oh, now don't be a Hooch!" Roll the clip.

 

Conflict of interest: In which I need to add friends on National Unfriend Day. Help me, @jimmykimmel!

Today is Nov. 17, 2010, which Jimmy Kimmel has dubbed "National Unfriend Day."

And I don't know how what to do. On the one hand, I have firsthand anecdotal life knowledge that there's no way I have 2,372 friends -- with 95 friend requests pending! -- despite the fact that that's what my Facebook page clearly tells me. On the other hand, there's a button on my home page at The Comic's Comic telling readers to interact with me by becoming my Facebook friend. And I still haven't gone through the Facebook ritual of asking all of my Facebook friends to "like" The Comic's Comic. Which, for someone who wants to expand his readership to as many comedy fans as possible, seems like a triple-dog-dare of a conflict.

I want my Facebook network to reflect my true friends and acquaintances in the worlds of comedy and journalism, but I need my Facebook network to include as many people to spread the good word about The Comic's Comic to their friends, and their friends, and so on and so forth. Hmmm.

While I think it over, here's a new video from Jeffrey Ross for Newsweek/The Daily Beast trying to get New Yorkers to shed fake friends.

 

And here's the original missive from Kimmel that started this effort.

 

Related: You can find more National Unfriend Day videos on My Damn Channel.

Tim & Eric prepare for fall tour by talking Chrimbus, posing uncomfortably on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Tim and Eric are about to hit the road in November for a national tour leading up to their Dec. 5 "Chrimbus Special" on Adult Swim.

Last night, the fellas went on Jimmy Kimmel Live in their Chrimbus get-ups and tried to make Kimmel and the audience uncomfortable, first by acting as if they were not ready to be on TV, then by posing together on the floor. Cut to the old lady who's supposed to shocked and horrified. "It gets better"?

Roll the clips (which the show cuts in half for double your YouTube pleasure).

 

Dane Cook tells Jimmy Kimmel what he did on hiatus between comedy tours, and he told me even more

Last night on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Dane Cook stopped by to talk about his summer, and the things he has done to occupy his time in between massive stand-up comedy tours of U.S. arenas and theaters. He starts another tour this weekend in L.A. at the Greek Theatre.

Here's a clip of Cook on Kimmel.

The previous night, Cook sat down to dinner with me in West Hollywood and dished for a full hour about where his thought process is right about now. I'll post it as soon as I can set aside enough time to decipher and transcribe the recording off of my iPhone. In the meantime, please allow Cook to tease our latest interview and even turn the Flip cam on me. Note to self: I need to remember to look more Hollywood when I'm in Hollywood. Roll it.

Pic of the Day: Even Jimmy Kimmel wonders about Twitter's new "Who to Follow" feature

If you are on Twitter, then you have noticed the microblogging social network recently added a "Who to Follow" feature that suggests people for you to, well, follow, in the upper right-hand corner of your main page. It appears to simply look at whom you're already following, then generate suggestions based upon that, and then suggest the most popular people among that group. Which is usually redundant, because it'll suggest people you've probably thought of following or used to follow but later decided against doing so. In the case of Jimmy Kimmel, it gave him this combination that made him take a snapshot and wonder:

"Why is my "who to follow" feature intentionally F-ing with me?" We understand if you don't feel like reading the ongoing thoughts of your ex-girlfriend and your late-night TV rival. We completely understand. Thumbs down, Twitter. Thumbs down.

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.

Jimmy Kimmel broadcasts from his office on his laptop during a special "power outage" show

Look. I don't know how technology works. But I do know that when Craig Ferguson had a power outage recently, all of the lights went out in the studio, but the TV cameras continued to roll. That's weird, right? With Jimmy Kimmel, the exact opposite happened on Monday, as he had lights and action, but no camera. So he decided to take matters into his own hands, and broadcast an entire show from his laptop computer's camera. Webcam FTW.

Here is the introduction to his show which aired last night, as Kimmel talks to us from his office and shows his some of his writers and backstage staffers.

Letterman thanks Kimmel for bashing Jay Leno

On tonight's Late Show, Jimmy Kimmel sat down with David Letterman as they reminisced about roasting Jay Leno over the comedy coals. Just when you thought you had forgotten all about the "late night wars" of 2010...roll the clip!

In other random comedy news...

Today seems like random day in my comedy mailbag. To wit:

• TV Land, which started as a way to celebrate old sitcoms, is now doing new sitcoms, and its first one will co-star Betty White, who's all up in the comedy news in 2010. Finally. Hot in Cleveland debuts in June, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick. I got the email, too. Here's the AP brief.
• Laffapalooza Live from Las Vegas, hosted by Tracy Morgan way back in November 2008 (read my review from the taping), is just now out on DVD today? Buy it at Amazon: Laffapalooza Live From Las Vegas - Hosted By Tracy Morgan
• If you were at the Night of 140 Tweets, perhaps Robyn Von Swank took your picture?
• This lady has put the pie vs. cake argument to bed with various charts and graphs. Whom is more pleased by this development, Paul F. Tompkins or Jim Gaffigan? (Hyperbole and a Half)
• Sarah Silverman tells People magazine that she'll always love her ex-boyfriend, Jimmy Kimmel, even though she's dating another comedian, Alec Sulkin. See. Comedians, they're just like us! Crazy for their exes. (People)
• My friend Nick Zaino catches up with Joe Wong, who is preparing to tell jokes to President Barack Obama at the Radio and TV Correspondents banquet. (Boston Comedy)
• And last but not least, comedian David Angelo has alerted everyone that he's willing to pay you $500 if you can turn one of his bad jokes into comedy gold. (Code Name: Joke)

And here's a video Angelo made for his project:

Jimmy Kimmel's Leno experiment, with Chevy Chase as Conan?

Last night, Jimmy Kimmel would not be denied the spotlight, even though he knew, you knew, I knew, we all knew that everyone would be tuning into Conan O'Brien to see what he'd do on The Tonight Show. So. What to do? How about putting on a fake wig and chin and doing the entire show as Jay Leno? No. Seriously? That's what Kimmel did. It was amazingly weird, for all of the reasons you're guessing, but even more so considering that one of his guests was Chevy Chase, who not only works on an NBC show currently but also more infamously had one of the more infamously brief appearances of his own in late-night TV. Which probably explains why Chase dressed up as Conan but for some reason tried to duplicate Kimmel's Leno accent. That's what his lisp was about, right? I don't know. Just watch the clip.

Jimmy Kimmel takes a late-night TV question from Carson Daly

My day has been kinda not what I expected. Same goes for anyone with a late-night TV show, except different. I'm just getting around to posting new things on the Internet today, so here is something from last night's edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live, in which Kimmel took questions from the audience about the possible reshuffling of everyone not on CBS. Says a lot that this is where Carson Daly had to go to make people remember that he still has a show. And no, if anyone is going to get Kimmel's spot, it's not going to be Daly. And please stop with the people calling him Carson in shorthand, because there was a Carson and his name was Johnny Carson. You fools! Roll the clip.

CollegeHumor's Streeter and Amir take their Prank War to new heights on Jimmy Kimmel Live?

Streeter Seidell and Amir Blumenfeld have been pranking each other for years now, only their pranks are big-budget and seen by millions on the Internets, because Streeter and Amir work for CollegeHumor.com. You can find Streeter and Amir's full Prank War collection here. This time they've reached new heights, literally and figuratively, as the latest prank involved sky-diving, and also debuted on TV on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. Streeter and Amir explained it all to Kimmel. Doing shots of limoncello with Danny DeVito is merely a bonus, right? But is their best effort yet? Well, there is the element of death involved. I don't know. I'm going to need some Axe body spray money to make up my mind. In the meantime, here is their TV appearance in two parts, followed by the full CollegeHumor version. Roll the clips!

What did Gawker know about Jimmy Kimmel's love life, and when did it know it?

With all of the hoo-ha over whose hoo-ha late-night funnyman David Letterman has been dilly-dallying with, the news that Jimmy Kimmel has been dating his younger head writer, Molly McNearny, came at a great time for all parties involved, didn't it? People magazine claimed an exclusive on this late Saturday, saying that Kimmel and McNearny have dated for several months. That's odd. Why? Because Google tells me when I type in "Molly McNearny" that several months ago, Gawker Media's older guard of Defamer writers had posted this gossip along with a vigorously anonymous denial from within the show's ranks.

BTW, not for nothing, but for any of you aspiring comedy writers out there, here's how McNearny's career arc has gone with Kimmel: Joined the staff as an assistant to the executive producer in July 2003, began writing for the show in 2006, promoted to co-head writer in May 2008. I know staffs at other late-night TV shows have acknowledged publicly that many writers began there as interns or executive assistants. Whether you're a lady with ladyparts or a guy with guyparts, is there ever a chance for a funny writer to get a job writing funny on the TV, or is this antiquated start in the mailroom or making coffee/copies shtick still the way of the future? Just curious.

BTW BTW, is this really the best time for a new Sarah Silverman "viral" video? You be the judge. Here is Silverman's "Sell the Vatican" message, which she debuted Friday night on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher:

Jimmy Kimmel, naked, and in a sex video?! Twice, actually, but not with whom you were blogging about today. (VIDEOS)

They say one of the keys to comedy is timing. Well, how's this for timing? As all of the celebrity blogs were abuzz about reports of a reputed sex tape between one Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman being offered for sale -- the Los Angeles Times reported it, too, with a spokesperson's denial -- Kimmel actually was getting naked on TV and the Internet. Twice.

Here he was on last night's Jimmy Kimmel Live, stripped down in front of Ricky Gervais:

And in what can only be a coincidence (right, people?), Kimmel suggested Kevin Nealon promote the DVD of his stand-up special by putting out his very own sex tape, and then offering to help him out on that front. And back. Roll it!

Congrats, Jimmy Kimmel. You picked the perfect day to put yourself out there!

Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait talk about each other on Jimmy Kimmel

Jimmy Kimmel had both Robin Williams and Bobcat Goldthwait as guests on his TV show late Wednesday night, which made sense since they're both promoting the same project, World's Greatest Dad, in which Goldthwait directed Williams. But Goldthwait also directed the first years of Kimmel's show, which added a little something something to the chat dynamic. Kimmel's show has embraced YouTube, so you can see four segments from the episode. Williams came out first and discussed his open heart surgery. Then he talked about his surgery's impact on his current stand-up tour, which resumes in September, and how long he has been friends with Goldthwait.

Then Goldthwait came out, and talked about his relationship with Kimmel, as well as his friendship with Williams, going back to their first meeting in a Boston comedy club, and their Chinese tattoos.

And here's them talking about the movie a bit, and while Williams is quick to remind everyone that Goldthwait had made "the Citizen Kane of alcoholic clown movies" in Shakes the Clown, Goldthwait returns the favor by complimenting Williams on the length of his full frontal nudity. Also, Goldthwait said he is not on Facebook or Twitter, so if you're following or friends with him, that's a fake Bobcat.

More reasons why Todd Glass is funnier without limits

Todd Glass is a very funny man who is funniest when he speaks his mind and reacts to the situation in front of him. Here is an example this week of just that, with Glass riffing and ranting directly at Daniel Tosh about Tosh's upcoming Comedy Central show.

Infectious laughter, right? Right. Now, here was Todd Glass earlier this month on Jimmy Kimmel Live:

Something about having Glass be calm and restrained for the camera (or is it for the network execs?) is just not quite as special as seeing the Todd Glass we all know and love. Stop putting a leash on our funnyman, TV people! Let Todd Glass roam wild and free, where he can entertain us, and the rest of us, as well.

A.D. Miles presents "Hot Sluts"

Before A.D. Miles headed up the writing staff for NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but after he had completed his true-to-its-word online mockery of soap operas, Horrible People, he wrote and produced a second Internet series for you to enjoy. Showing his true understanding of how the Internet works, Miles presents for your pleasure...Hot Sluts. The Atom.com series, co-written with Joe Lo Truglio and starring Alison Brie (stuck in a terrible TV marriage as Trudy Campbell in Mad Men), is set in a seedy nightclub called Scenario's (where anything can happen!), and "sort of borrows from the sexploitation women-in-prison films of the 70s and 80s, but I don't think anyone under 35 will ever get that," Miles told C.J. Arabia earlier this year. "So hopefully super hot girls in skimpy outfits who stab each other for no reason will be enough to get people to tune in." Done, and done.

All five episodes went online yesterday, and you can enjoy them all...after the jump. Did we mention mature content? Alrighty then. You asked for this, Internet, and now you have it: "Hot Sluts."

Can you guess how many brands and pop-culture references Aziz Ansari name-dropped in eight minutes on Jimmy Kimmel Live?

No, really. How many pop-culture names and brands did Aziz Ansari name-drop during his eight-minute chat on Jimmy Kimmel Live? Make your guess, then watch and see how close you came: