Day: February 23, 2010

Maybe all of those ads in Aruba for Aruba have convinced Lewis Black that he's ready to take his comedy to the Caribbean. Well, at least for a week. On a boat. With some of his funny stand-up comedian friends: John Pinette, Susie Essman, Dom Irrera, Kathleen Madigan, John Bowman, Larry Wilmore and Ted Alexandro. Because that's what's happening this November. It's Lew's Cruise? Yes. Lew's Cruise. As Black himself explains on the site: "Because this show just can't happen on dry land. A cruise offers the possibility of a week of unlimited fun. And we can all go a little crazy and just walk back to our rooms. It provided me the opportunity to spend time with my good friends, who also happen to be some of the funniest people I know. And its a week of non-stop comedy and all sorts of chances for you guys to see where the funny comes from with q and a's and all sorts of other surprises that will be revealed shortly on this site. "Don't whine to me if you miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. A vacation. And constant live entertainment. You can rock climb on this boat, why I don't know but you can. You can surf on this boat. Don't ask it wasn't my idea. So join us you pricks, who knows, it may even make...

Perhaps you have read something on this site previously about Comedy Boot Camps? Well, comedians Duncan Trussell and Natasha Leggero decided to offer their own response, via their new weekly podcast, The Lavender Hour. Listen to their commercial for the Legussel Comedy Bootcamp. Awaiting a reply from Kyle Cease in...

What do they say about New York City? "Concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do." No, the lyric before that, a generation or two before that. "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere." But what if you cannot make it in NYC? It's a tough city. Outrageously expensive. Outrageously demanding, as millions of ambitious and determined people bump up against each other day after day, dog eating dog, and making every day a battle. As someone working solo on the fringes, I've always had a curious eye on The Onion. Even more so when not long after I launched The Comic's Comic, The Onion rolled out a series of local city editions of its A.V. Club to cover local entertainment (first as something called Decider, then folded back into the main publication). Well, the funded publication announced today it's scaling back its operations. Andy Battaglia sent out an email to associates saying it's his last day as city editor of NYC's A.V. Club, which is shutting down the local content entirely. Battaglia also just posted a public goodbye notice on the site. Meanwhile, Kyle Ryan posted his own note to readers from his office in Chicago, reassuring everyone that the national print edition of The A.V. Club remains intact. He wrote, in part: "We will still be printed in eight cities...