the comic's comic

On Valentine's Day: Maron, Delaney, Klausner, The Axis of Awesome, Weinbach and Kasher

Calling all romantics. It's Valentine's Day today, and some comedians are ready to help and serve you with advice both real and really funny.

Marc Maron wrote an essay for the New York Post about how all men can learn from his past mistakes. Stick with chocolate and flowers, please. "Another thing, you might be tempted to get something cute and creative, like a cool rock, a daisy, an ironic vinyl record and a card you made out of a diner menu and used Metrocards. This is only okay if you are 14 to 25 (or emotionally that old)."

Rob Delaney has a few choice words for Funny or Die about the day, and his dream date: Jennifer Hudson.

If you wrote in to The A.V. Club looking for advice today, then Julie Klausner has some for you.

The Axis of Awesome knows that even down under, it's still Valentine's Day, and what better time to teach you how to write a love song:

 

When you think of romantic men, the first two names to pop up were Moshe Kasher and Brent Weinbach. Obvs. This short film on dating etiquette has a 25% funny rating! Which means three out of every four people have no idea what's going on here.

 

Moshe Kasher on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon"

One afternoon, you're sitting in the audience next to Moshe Kasher watching an episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and before you know it, you're soon watching Kasher himself on stage performing stand-up on Late Night. True story!

I first met Kasher last summer at Montreal's Just For Laughs, where his "New Faces" set was one of the more inventive and fearless of the bunch. He handed me his CD there, and that recording provides even more evidence of his commitment to being his own comedian. As you'll see in the clip from Fallon last night, Kasher has a definite style and personality, and while his rapid-fire delivery may prevent the studio audience from filling in spaces with laughs, he's not afraid or really concerned about that. Or being a set-up, punchline, hold for the laughs kind of performer. Kasher has a strong point of view, and he's most concerned about transferring it from his brain into yours, and if you're smart, you'll listen and agree with him.

If you like that and want more, do check out Moshe Kasher's CD, then look for him live. He developed his comedy in San Francisco but now is based in Los Angeles.

Buy Moshe Kasher's "Everyone You Know is Going to Die, and Then You Are!" on iTunes:

Are iTunes top comedy albums of 2009 on your list?

The only thing people love making more than year-end list are decade-end lists, and some of them seem as much about generating page-views as they are about subjectively ranking things that should not be ranked. That's rank! So where are my lists? I've got something else up my sleeves for this December, but in the meantime, I thought I'd share with you the iTunes list of their choices of the 20 best comedy discs from 2009, along with my thoughts on said list.

For one thing, it's really across the board. Any list that puts Brent Weinbach side-by-side with Katt Williams is looking to appeal to all sorts. I'm not exactly sure I agree with everything on here, but then again, I haven't quite listened to all of them just yet -- there are stacks of CDs and DVDs in my apartment, and I hope to get through them all by year's end and share my own thoughts on them with you. I have listened to and reviewed eight of the iTunes 20; most of the rest are waiting in my queue, and a few I don't even have my hands on just yet? My loss or yours? Also, iTunes missed some great ones from the past year. No John Mulaney? I haven't heard Paul F. Tompkins new disc yet, but would presume it's worthy. And no ladies on the list? Not even Maria Bamford? Harumph. Here, then, are the iTunes choices from the year in comedy -- I'm not sure if they have a ranking order from iTunes, so I'll list them alphabetically:

Doug Benson, Unbalanced Load

Matt Braunger, Soak Up The Night

Bo Burnham, Bo Burnham

John Caparulo, Meet Cap

Christian Finnegan, Au Contraire!

Flight of the Conchords, I Told You I Was Freaky

Jim Gaffigan, King Baby

Greg Giraldo, Midlife Vices

Kyle Grooms, The Legend of the Jersey Devil

Moshe Kasher, Everyone You Know Is Going To Die, and Then You Are!

Jon Lajoie, You Want Some of This?

Artie Lange, Jack and Coke

The Lonely Island, Incredibad

Eugene Mirman, God Is A 12-Year-Old Boy with Asperger's

Patton Oswalt, My Weakness Is Strong

Jon Reep, Metro Jethro

Nick Swardson, Seriously, Who Farted?

Brent Weinbach, The Night Shift

Katt Williams, It's Pimpin' Pimpin'

Weird Al Yankovic, Internet Leaks

Meet the New Faces, Class of 2009, at Montreal Just For Laughs

Are these the names you were looking for? The 2009 Montreal Just For Laughs comedy festival presents the "New Faces" for the industry to discover, fawn over and scrutinize. It looks to be a very strong class, just from the faces and names I already have come to discover, fawn over and scrutinize right here on The Comic's Comic.

So here they are! The New Faces perform in two groups tonight, Wednesday and Thursday -- this year at the Cabaret Juste Pour Rire (much closer to the rest of the action than the far-out Kola Note). Send your wishes of well to the following comedians...photos and links after the jump!