Day: January 5, 2009

Remember that original joke up for auction at eBay by a staff writer from The Onion? Bidding closed this afternoon, topping out at $365. Reading the more than 100 Q&As about the auction?...

This just in: The Minnesota Supreme Court has rejected Republican incumbent U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman's bid to extend his lengthy recount fight with Democratic challenger, satirist Al Franken. Franken, who entered the recount down by 215 votes out of more than 2.9 million cast on Nov. 4, currently holds a 225-vote lead. The new U.S. Senate takes office on...

By almost any indication, the 50 First Jokes show on Saturday night was a rousing success. A packed lounge at Webster Hall. An advance write-up in the New York Times. In just one of the four groups, we heard Jesse Popp reveal some of Mayor Bloomberg's new laws taking hold in 2009 ("no sweets before dinner" and neighborhood "swear jars," among them). Carolyn Castiglia announced her impending divorce to introduce a joke. Diana Saez followed that up by announcing she was newly pregnant with twins. And Seth Herzog joked about finding out he was the father of her kids at a comedy show (that last bit is just a bit). As Jackie Kashian said, "I live in Los Angeles, where this would never f—ing happen!" Laughs abounded. Organizing comedians Jiwon Lee and Claudia Cogan (pictured by Maryanne Ventrice, click here for her complete slideshow!) should be commended and applauded. That said, I'm not sure this is the kind of show that benefits from such mainstream exposure from the NYT. What? Did a crazy person just wrest control of my keyboard and type that? A jealous blogger? No, no, and no. Perhaps I am nostalgic for 2008's edition in Long Island City, when organizers kept adding comedians to the lineup, and the room had a festive, warm, supportive atmosphere. This year's show was tighter, to be sure, but also probably...