the comic's comic

Judd Apatow, Comedy Central team up for great behind-the-scenes looks inside "Funny People"

If the initial trailers for Funny People, the third film written and directed by Judd Apatow, looked a little bit too melodramatic to be a comedy, then, well, that's because it is just that. As Apatow explains in the hourlong documentary, Inside Funny People (which debuted at midnight on Comedy Central, with repeats planned for noon Tuesday and 3 a.m. Thursday): “It's hard to make a comedy that’s really more a drama than a comedy. I don’t know if I can do it.” But do it he did.

The wealth of background material on the "funny people" who inhabit the film already has proven to be quite remarkable in promoting the movie and showing that it is about comedians. Apatow's documentary featurettes also reveal just how much of himself he poured into the film, as well as how much of a comedy nerd he was and still is. Case in point: Apatow says the following early in his Comedy Central documentary about the need to get all of his actors back onstage in comedy clubs...

“There’s a feeling you get when you do stand-up, that you just need to experience to know what it’s about. It’s the terror of revealing yourself, and the feeling that if I don’t get a laugh this time, I must get it next time or I will not be able to sleep at night.”

In the special (sure to be on the DVD, which at this point may have to be a box set!), Apatow shows us how he incorporated video he shot of Sandler back when the two shared an apartment in Los Angeles right after both had left college, and used it as a plot device in the film (with Sandler's character making actual prank phone calls, just as he had as a 21-year-old). It's a meta move, but seeing it documented on film is also very endearing. Apatow also shows clips of Sandler performing at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, Calif., 18 years ago, and then again last year as Sandler shook off the stand-up rust to get into character. You see clips of both Sandler and Apatow on A&E's at the Improv with Budd Friedman, then also Sandler at a lunch roundtable in the Improv last year with Friedman, Paul Reiser, George Wallace, Carol Leifer, Monty Hoffman and Mark Schiff (comics Apatow said he and Sandler looked up to when they were trying to get stage time). There's footage of Seth Rogen performing stand-up at the tender age of 13 (different from the clip of 13-year-old Seth Rogen I posted back in April), as well as joke-writing sessions that included help from Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn and Allen Covert, and footage from several of the stand-up performances -- much of which I'm sure will also pop up in a separate Comedy Central special this Friday, Funny People: Live.

Emmy comedy actress roundtable: Always acting

I remember reading The Hollywood Reporter's Emmy package earlier this month, but Gabe at Videogum (aka Master of the Internet's Videos) saw that the trade mag put portions of these roundtable discussions on the YouTube, too. Yes, it's a happy coincidence that THR managed to get/predict the nominees for comedy actresses (not quite as lucky on the male side, however). But in this clip, you also get to see and hear how Sarah Silverman and Mary-Louise Parker deal with strangers coming up to them with their hee-haw-hilarious callback quotes and fandomness. Silverman shares her secret to managing the fan experience so everyone wins. Hint: Acting! It's something that most comedians who reach a certain level of fame and popularity can relate to. I've witnessed this many times hanging out with comedians in New York City, and Ben Bailey, host of Cash Cab, talks about his own experiences with fans in his current stand-up routines. Roll the clip:

Nostalgia tripping: Sarah Silverman's friends; early Jim Carrey stand-up

If you want to attain a more natural high, just go back in time and remember when you and your favorite comedians were younger, back before they were famous. First up, Sarah Silverman shares with us this photo that shows her and her pals, circa 1993: Todd Barry, Janeane Garofalo, Dave Attell, and Dave Juskow.

And if you think that's something, then please check out this rare footage of a young Jim Carrey, circa mid-1980s (Brezhney, My Three Sons and E.T.?), performing five minutes of facial impersonations for a crowd at The Comedy Store that had no idea what they were seeing.

Oh, to be a young comedian again. Happy days.

The Return of Pilot Season

So here it is, my friends. Pilot Season is back where audiences can actually relive the magic of the mockumentary that looked at how various relationships unfolded in show business during the actual "pilot season," starring Sam Seder, Sarah Silverman, H. Jon Benjamin, Isla Fisher, David Cross and Andy Dick, among others. New episodes will appear on Mondays via My Damn Channel. Enjoy it all over again, or for the first time:

Episode two is after the jump...

My Damn Channel to revive "Pilot Season"

Say the word "Trio" and you'll think of many things (but probably not about the short-lived cable network), which is why when I tell you about "Pilot Season," you'll maybe think of a real thing that happens in Hollywood each winter/spring, but you're not likely to think of the documentary that Trio did about that real-life thing, and definitely not going to say, hey, wasn't there an improvised comedy about that real thing? (Unless you are a comedy nerd to the nerd power, or knew these people personally) Before NBC Universal acquired and terminated the Trio network, the channel was perhaps best known for celebrating TV pilots and programs that didn't get their due in Brilliant But Cancelled. In 2004, Sam Seder (who now co-hosts a daily online show with Marc Maron) wrote, directed and starred in Pilot Season, a six-episode mockumentary about actors and actresses going through the TV pilot process. The cast included -- are you ready for this -- Sarah Silverman, David Cross, Jon Benjamin, Isla Fisher, Andy Dick, Matt Besser, Ross Brockley, Laura Krafft, Marc Maron, Matt Price, Laura Silverman, Brendon Small and David Waterman. And now, "8 years later," My Damn Channel is giving us another look at Pilot Season. More coming in April. Here's a teaser voiced by Janeane Garofalo, who famously does not have an email or use computers, and yet voices an Internet comedy spectacle. UPDATE: Sam Seder wisely reminded me that Pilot Season was, as explained in this clip, the sequel to a 1997 project Seder and company did called Who's The Caboose? If only that was available on Netflix! Enjoy:

Pilot Season - 8 Years
Uploaded by MyDamnChannel

Related: See more Pilot Season clips at My Damn Channel.

Comedian testimonials for Jim Gaffigan

I'm slowly getting the feeling that Jim Gaffigan is hijacking my site to promote his new DVD and Comedy Central special, King Baby, and that it's working, thanks to his trip out to Los Angeles to enlist the help of Sarah Silverman, Todd Glass and Jimmy Dore. Here they talk about how "edgy" Jim Gaffigan's comedy is compared to everyone else in the stand-up game:

And here Glass and Dore show what it must be like for Gaffigan to interact with fans who only know and love him for saying the words, "Hot Pockets!"

Sarah Silverman Program will return for third season on Comedy Central

It's official. Via The Hollywood Reporter comes news that Comedy Central has agreed to a third season of The Sarah Silverman Program, a 10-episode order that had come into doubt over the weekend when Silverman and her fellow executive producers threatened to quit unless they could retain an adequate production budget for said third season.

"Things were tough on Friday and over the weekend," said Comedy Central's president of original programming Lauren Corrao, who headed the network's efforts to keep "Sarah Silverman" on the air. "We very much wanted the show, we just couldn't come to an agreement for a budget that was acceptable and uncompromising to the producers and that we could afford."

"We're happy," Silverman said. "All we ever wanted was just to make our show. Nothing fancy -- just our show."

At issue: The second season had ended Dec. 11, 2008, and previously, Comedy Central was quick to renew the series. This time, however, Comedy Central had suggested Silverman's crew produce the third-season episodes for $850,000 an episode, down from $1.1 million. The E.P.'s all said no thanks and threatened to walk on Friday. By Monday, Comedy Central was talking to sister network Logo on a financial and content sharing agreement, and the deal was struck. It's not that much of a stretch. Silverman appeals to gay audiences, and has two main characters (comedians Brian Posehn and Steve Agee) portray a gay stoner couple. Writing should begin shortly with new episodes airing most likely in 2010.

Friday Face-Off: Sarah Silverman vs. 30 Rock

My friends at Videogum shared this short digital allegation earlier today, in which YouTube user juanjuan5768 claims that a 30 Rock plot is way too similar to an earlier episode of The Sarah Silverman Program that aired on Comedy Central. Watch:

My first thought: Meh. This literal take on a racial-facial face-off isn't anything new, from the groundbreaking work of "Black Like Me" to the what-were-they-thinking efforts of C. Thomas Howell in Soul Man and Shawn and Marlon Wayans in White Chicks. Who did it best? NBC's 30 Rock certainly goes for it more than Silverman's simpleton black clown look, although the latter's choice makes the outrage in her episode absurdist. But the correct answer is and always will be: Eddie Murphy in his "White Like Me" short film for Saturday Night Live.

NY Post Q&As for 2008 New York Comedy Festival

Friend and fellow funny reporter winner Mandy Stadtmiller interviewed Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan, Joel McHale and Louis CK in advance of this week's New York Comedy Festival for the New York Post (an official fest media partner). In print, we only got a taste from each of the comics. Online, we get the full Q&As. And after the jump, I'll share my favorite tidbits from each interview.

NY Daily News spotlights comedy/politics in advance of New York Comedy Festival

One of my newspaper alma maters, the New York Daily News, devoted much of its Sunday features section to comedy, thanks in part to this week's New York Comedy Festival, but also to how much comedy has impacted politics this campaign season. There's a story from Caroline Waxler about how comedians might react to an Obama presidency, brief interviews with fest headliners Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan and Carlos Mencia, a profile roundup of the 11 finalists in the New York's Funniest Stand-Up contest, and a look-back at some quotes from Bernie Mac, who appears posthumously in the new movies Madagascar 2 and Soul Men.

When they were young: Sarah Silverman on Community Auditions

If you saw Jimmy Kimmel Live last night, then you already know that Sarah Silverman appeared as one of Kimmel's guests, and it was their first time together on the TV since they had broken up and gotten back together. So they made some awkward panel chat to let us all in on the joke. Which led to a lot of discussion of Silverman's childhood interest in musical theater, playing Annie at 11 in New Hampshire, and her early TV performance on the Boston show, Community Auditions, in 1985. Yet another twist in this comedy duo's ongoing surprise video sessions. Relive that all here (you can also watch full episodes on ABC's video player):

Good or bad, Sarah Silverman's making news

You may have your own opinion, but over the past couple of weeks, fans of comedian Sarah Silverman have decided they either love her, or they love her so much that they hate her if she lets them down. For those of you who need catching up, follow me...

Two weeks ago, Silverman's Comedy Central program began its third season, which prompted a series of interviews and promotional appearances. She also appeared in a video pushing "The Great Schlep" asking young Jews to visit their grandparents in Florida and convince them to vote for Barack Obama for president. Combined, that got Silverman profiled again in The New York Times. She also appeared on David Letterman's show and got the CBS Sunday Morning profile treatment from Katie Couric. Here is an extended video remix of Couric and Silverman:

Meanwhile, across the pond, Silverman was completing a weekend promotional tour of the U.K., complete with TV appearances and a live performance at the Hammersmith Apollo. Her TV gig made news for the fun she had with fellow guest Ricky Gervais. Her live performance made news for fans heckling her and general disappointment that the show did not go on as long or as orderly as planned. Steve Bennett at Chortle chided Silverman for not delivering her best or fullest: "Silverman may be more than a simple insult comedy, but with this shockingly brief performance she delivers a stinging insult to the fans who had been so ready to laud her." In The Telegraph, Dominic Cavendish quipped: "She came, she saw, she fizzled out." And in The Guardian, Ed Stafford offered a mix of praise and criticism: "I'd still rate Sarah Silverman as one of the strongest US comics of the moment, but surely even she can't believe she's worth £1 a minute." Steve Agee, who performs on Silverman's Comedy Central show and literally had to phone it in for Sunday's U.K. show due to illness, went on the message boards at A Special Thing to defend Silverman.

Let me add my two cents with another example: Ricky Gervais. Earlier this year, Gervais performed three shows at the Madison Square Garden theater taping his first HBO stand-up special. Practically all the material he performed for the special, which debuts on TV in November, already appears on his three U.K. specials. Should we boo Gervais for that? Should we take him to task for it? In his mind, certainly, he's treating this special as his formal introduction as a stand-up comedian to American audiences. But Americans who already adore Gervais probably have sought out and heard this material. Which puts them in the same boat as the British fans of Silverman who wondered why she didn't deliver more new jokes for them. That, combined with a short running time for a theater show, likely made some fans feel shortchanged. Literally. I'm sure casual fans who only know Silverman and Gervais from what they've seen on TV enjoyed these shows a lot more than eager fans who already had seen their comic idols say all of these routines several times before via the Internet. Yet another example of how comedy differs from music and other performing arts. You pay a lot of money to see the Rolling Stones, you want to hear their greatest hits. But pay that same high ticket price to see your favorite comedian, and you may like hearing a reference to a popular routine, though you're really hoping to hear something new, different or unique that makes your live comedy experience special. The Brits obviously didn't get what they wanted.

For further reference, I've compiled most of Silverman's recent videos to get you caught up after the jump...

The return of The Sarah Silverman Program

Are you ready for new episodes of The Sarah Silverman Program to appear on Comedy Central? The show returns to the airwaves on Wednesday, Oct. 8. To pique your interest, the TV gods have prepared this reel of goodies for you to enjoy:

See more Sarah Silverman videos at Funny or Die

Give to the War PSA, with Sarah Silverman

Did you know that our foreign wars are costing us $3 trillion dollars? If Sarah Silverman asked you to help out with a financial contribution, would you? Watch this public service announcement Silverman shot for the Shoot the Messenger folks and "Friends of Foreign Wars" and see if she can sway you...

Comedy Central joins New York Comedy Festival

The New York Comedy Festival today announced it has entered a multi-year partnership deal with Comedy Central, which means Caroline Hirsch's annual celebration of big-name comedy in the Big Apple now will get a bigger TV presence. The deal includes an annual Comedy Central special, and perhaps more. So the fifth New York Comedy Festival, running Nov. 5-9, 2008, in varied venues around Manhattan, unveils this early lineup:

11/5: Frank Caliendo, Carnegie Hall
11/5: “We Have a Winner” moderated by Lizz Winstead, 92nd Street Y

11/6: Louis C.K., They’re With Me, Town Hall
11/6: Katt Williams, Live In Concert, Carnegie Hall

11/7: Carlos Mencia: At Close Range, Avery Fisher Hall
11/7: An Evening with Craig Ferguson, Town Hall
11/7: Writers Speak! A Potentially Regrettable Evening with the Writers of The Daily Show, Paley Center

11/8: Tracy Morgan: Coming Back Home, Apollo Theater
11/8: Sarah Silverman and Friends, Hammerstein Ballroom
11/8: Joel McHale Live at Town Hall, Town Hall
11/8: Late Night with Conan O’Brien Writers’ Panel Discussion, Paley Center

11/9: Brian Regan Live in Concert, Avery Fisher Hall
11/9: B.J. Novak and Friends, Town Hall

Tickets start going on sale at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 7. They still have to release the names and special events happening during that week at Carolines. Plenty of big names, though, on the slate, including several repeat performers from last year. Louis CK rocked Town Hall last year, so already looking forward to that. We'll see how McHale and Novak handle the larger stage. Tracy Morgan plays the Apollo. Sarah Silverman moves from last year's Carnegie Hall to this year at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Carlos Mencia? The Late Night writers talk should be very interesting, coming as it does near the end of the road for some of them as the show prepares to move to California.

Match Game returns to TV

Don't let this picture fool you. Match Game is returning to TV, with two tapings today in Los Angeles at CBS. But Sarah Silverman isn't hosting. She'll be one of the celebrity panelists. UPDATE: The other panelists for the pilot, shot at CBS but for TBS, were Norm MacDonald, Scott Thompson (Kids in the Hall version, not Carrot Top), Rashida Jones, Super Dave Osborne and Niecy Nash.

So who will be hosting in place of the late Gene Rayburn?

Despite mass petitions to hire Jimmy Pardo, the man who's been holding down the fort on Match Game Live at the UCB in Los Angeles, the producers went with Andy Daly.

Pardo went to the message boards and offered congratulations to his friend Daly, writing...

Hey everyone,
Since the petition was started here on AST, I feel I should let you guys know what has happened. I am sad to report that I did not get the job.
Obviously, I am very disappointed but ASTers can rejoice in knowing that the producers picked a great talent in one Mr. Andy Daly.
Andy is a great friend and will do a super job.
I don't have to tell anyone on this board how funny Andy is and I'm sure the show is going to be a great success.
JIMMY

It doesn't end there...

Stand-up comics as bikini babes

The folks at Defamer used this photo of Sarah Silverman to promote her gig over the weekend in Los Angeles. Just when I thought it was safe to cancel my subscription to Rolling Stone. More importantly, though, the photo of Silverman reminded me of a note NYC comedian Heather Fink sent out to her friends via Facebook, MySpace and her email list. Fink told me after sending it that she received both complimentary and odd replies from people. Well, perhaps you should read the note yourselves...

Dear Comedy People,

I write this because I need you all to know my position, and I need you to stop asking. It happens too damn frequently and no it's really not a compliment:
NO, I will not play a hot babe in your comedy video. I will not wear a bikini in your video. I will not get undressed in your video. I will not do comedy burlesque on your stages. I will not play a hot babe or a sexy chick in your comedy sketch. No I will not do bikini improv or the bikini babes standup comedy tour.

Exceptions: You are one of my good friends, and you are a smart comedian who I completely trust, and the joke you are making is worth it - or - I wrote it.

As for taking enough money- why would anyone pay me lots of money to be their hot babe? Get a model. That's their job.

It's not acceptable for you to ask me to be eye candy or an accessory in your comedy bit. I am a f***ing writer and a motherf***ing comedian, and you're disrespecting my goddamn credibility. Write me some real lines and then we will talk.

Thank you,
Heather Fink

So for those of you looking for a bikini babe in your comedy video, ask Sarah Silverman first? On second thought, perhaps this is as good a time as any -- not including whenever Vanity Fair (2007 edition; 2008 edition) or anyone else questions the credibility or female stand-up comedians -- to wonder why we invariably have different standards for judging male and female comics. The more recent VF piece certainly suggested that today's funny ladies also need to be attractive.

Why does it matter what a comedian looks like for one gender and not the other? And why does it seem acceptable for female comics to show skin or play up their looks, but when a male comic does it, it's considered a crutch he uses compensate for a lack of material? And yet, getting back to Fink's request, so many male comedians produce online videos featuring scantily-clad women, all in a shameless and desperate ploy for viewers. They usually get those increased views, but what does it say about their comedy?

Jimmy Kimmel's f--king Ben Affleck video

You knew this was coming. But Jimmy Kimmel delivered on the promise and then some with all of the celebrity backup singers in his "I'm F--king Ben Affleck" video, which debuted early this morning after the Oscars. How many celebrities can you spot? Enjoy.

Jimmy Kimmel, back with writers

I almost forgot Jimmy Kimmel. My bad. Kimmel returned to the airwaves, too, last night, and mentioned the writers right off the bat. Confetti dropped. Horns blared. "So sit back and get ready for top-notch professionally-made comedy," Kimmel said. "And I'll let you know when it kicks in." He talked about how writers had to watch all of this craziness happen without being able to joke about it. "Another gift from the comedy gods: Roger Clemens," he said. Which led to jokes and clips and a Carrot Top joke. "Welcome back, writers!" He said that's when the confetti was supposed to fall. "Are other people on strike now?" he asked. "Are they on shifts?"

Which reminds me, I didn't include this earlier, and you may have seen it, but still. Recently, Sarah Silverman produced this anniversary gift for her boyfriend, Kimmel. Yes, this is the Matt Damon revenge video.

Sarah Silverman is magic

Sarah Silverman checks her rack out during our interview in Boston a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, yeah, you've read a whole lot of media love for comedian Sarah Silverman this month as her film, Jesus Is Magic, (trailer on this link is NSFW) opened in cinemas. Lots of reporters saying the same thing and quoting the same jokes. Not this joker. At least I get Sarah to open up about different things and say new witty things. And I remembered to record some of it for online posterity. Read on, and click the Boston Herald headline link for access to audio clips and a photo gallery.

Hear me ask Sarah about why she doesn't own her own domain name: 'I know I should.'

'Jesus' is saving Silverman’s irreverent humor for posterity (Boston Herald)
Sarah Silverman is sweet and endearing offstage.
That makes her taboo-crossing humor that much more powerful onstage and onscreen - a formula that has drawn comparisons to Lenny Bruce and Larry David.
But the 34-year-old comedian and actress from Bedford, N.H., doesn’t get the latter reference.
“I don’t really see myself in any way like Larry David, except that I let myself be unlikable,” Silverman said.
Even then, she does so with a sly smile.
“I’ll tickle your back until you fall asleep while I’m feeding you these horrible things,” she said. “I’ll give you a nice warm sponge bath while talking about black people and Mexicans and rape.”
All of those topics - plus the Holocaust, AIDS, Sept. 11, 2001, and her infamous Asian joke that prompted an apology from Conan O’Brien - get covered in her new movie, Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic, which played to a soldout audience earlier this month as part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival. It opens officially in Boston on Friday.
One of Silverman’s older sisters, Susan, is a local rabbi.
Sarah Silverman, however, left New Hampshire for New York City after high school and soon embarked on her comedy career, getting her first, albeit brief, big break on Saturday Night Live.
Since the mid-1990s, she has cultivated a cult-like following, especially among comedians who wish they had the courage to write and deliver material like hers.
Earlier this year, she turned The Aristocrats joke inside-out. Film critics applauded her for it. She also appears briefly in the film adapatation of Rent (opening Wednesday). Silverman is developing her own half-hour show for Comedy Central, and many publications tout this as her moment to break out to mainstream success.
Silverman isn’t exactly holding her breath.
“I was always a button-pusher growing up,” she said. “But when you start doing standup, it takes years to kind of become yourself or find those best things about yourself comedically onstage. I’m certainly not myself onstage. But I am. I am, in that it’s me talking, it’s the way I talk, it’s the way I move. And those are things that are hard to finally get to. And to continue as I change, once I get old and become a Republican, my material will change and I’ll have to do ads for whatever Dennis Miller does ads for these days.”
But first, a musical number.
To some, the most surprising aspect of Jesus Is Magic is the revelation that Silverman has singing chops, displayed in several musical numbers.
“It was just fun. It was so fun,” she said. “I love musicals, although they’re a little cheesy. Although some are really good. I just saw ‘Wicked.’ That was so good. And ‘Spamalot.’ But I’m a total theater fag, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory homosexual way, but in an, I, too, am a fag for theater. No, wait. That’s still bad.”
The British meaning, perhaps?
“I’m a cigarette for theater,” she said. “See, theater’s smokin’!”
And so is she.