Day: July 16, 2009

Showtime offers something new in an old-fashioned way tonight with the premiere of a six-episode summer stand-up showcase called Live Nude Comedy. Shannon Elizabeth hosts, and before you start thinking you'll see her perform stand-up in the nude, well, not quite. Elizabeth (who became famous going nude in American Pie, and later learned professional poker, then Dancing With the Stars) will perform in brief comedy sketches with a group of performers that incluldes Josh Fadem, Chad Fogland, Michael Busch and Ramsey Moore. Each episode also will include two burlesque performances. Oh, and yes, there will be stand-up comedy. In fact, each half-hour will spotlight two stand-ups and give each an uncensored 10-minute set. Whitney Cummings, who performs on one of the episodes, also helped put the production together. She sat down with me for a few minutes during the Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival to explain her motivations, including what she felt was a need to put new stand-ups in their best possible light (as in, longer sets, no censorship, fewer fake reaction shots). Watch: The full schedule and listings (and a teaser video!) appears after the jump… Episode 101 Sam Tripoli, Ian Edwards: SHO Thu 7/16/2009 12:00:00 AM SH3 Fri 7/17/2009 11:00:00 PM SHO Sat 7/18/2009 1:15:00 AM SHO Sun 7/19/2009 11:30:00 PM Episode 102 Harris Wittels, Whitney Cummings: SHO Thu 7/23/2009 12:00:00 AM SH3 Fri 7/24/2009...