the comic's comic

On Conan, watch Jon Dore and Rory Scovel perform stand-up comedy together, yet separately

Love. Love. Love this. Jon Dore and Rory Scovel are two of my favorite stand-up comedians today who love to play with the rules of comedy and then chuck them out the proverbial window.

One thing they do that few others do is perform together, yet separately, onstage. If you've caught it live, it's something to behold. The duo put on show called The Jory Hour at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood. If you haven't seen it before, then now you can, thanks to Team Coco, who booked Dore and Scovel on Conan last night.

I advise watching it at least three or four times: Once to soak it all in, one time each focusing just on Dore or Scovel, and then once more to marvel at it again.

Behind the scenes: Jon Dore's stand-up set for Conan

Lots to talk about today. But first, here's some behind-the-scenes footage of Jon Dore and how he constructed his stand-up set for Conan last week. You didn't know a kiddie pool was involved, did you? Also, interesting to see what Conan booker J.P. Buck will fight for in defense of stand-up comedy. The balls on that guy. Am I right?

You know. Roll it.

 

Watch Jon Dore deliver an inspiringly foolish set as the first comedian to perform on "Conan" on TBS

I don't get to see Jon Dore perform live too often, but whenever I do, his willingness to commit to something completely foolish usually wins me over. Seeing him listed on the programming schedule as the first stand-up comedian to perform on Conan O'Brien's TBS show gave me hope that Conan also was willing to take a step forward into something different and silly that invites viewers to come along for the ride, instead of simply catering to them.

Jon Dore did not disappoint last night. When he worked out his set in NYC a few weeks ago, he drew out the opener even longer, but here, he only had five minutes. This train of fools is leaving the station. All aboard!

 

HBO Canada taping six-episode stand-up showcase with host Jon Dore at Just For Laughs Montreal

For all of my neighbors to the north who complain about not being able to watch online clips from Hulu or Comedy Central, this post's for you!

Several comedians have asked me if I'm going to Montreal next month for Just For Laughs, saying they'll be there for an HBO thing. Turns out that HBO thing is an HBO Canada production that's filming about 20 stand-ups for a six-episode showcase series that'll be hosted by Jon Dore. Score! The dates and times aren't listed on the JFL Montreal site yet -- a search just now turned up the fact that Dore will be hosting New Faces showcases on July 15, but my sources tell me the HBO Canada shows will be earlier in that week.

Dore turned in what was one of my favorite sets of the weekend at the Bridgetown Comedy Festival in Portland, Ore., this spring with what was possibly the most meta comedy routine I've seen in a while -- it included invisible crowd work and tattoos and, well, if I told you everything, it'd spoil it if he does it again, which I hope he does on the TV, in Canada or elsewhere. To celebrate, here's a clip from Dore's recent Comedy Central Presents. Roll it!