Day: September 17, 2010

Do you really need a tornado to be transported to another world? Maybe. It certainly helped add to the theme last night when thunderstorms brought funnel clouds through Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, uprooting trees just a block or two away from the start of the third annual Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, which just so happened to be kicking off at The Bell House with a show themed "An Evening of Comedy From 1986." Mirman says the festival is a joke, but one in which he and his organizers have committed to fully. Each year they provide fun things for audiences to enjoy, both free and available for purchase. A merch table last night offered traditional items such as posters and free guides, but also "Industry Rocks" (rocks engraved with names of real-life comedy industry people, for $15), velvet Eugene paintings ($25) and more. Inside the venue, audience members could feast on free roasted duck, set up on a table beneath a banner that read "Eugene's Pee Your Pants Comedy Villa." At the door, each audience member received 3-D glasses to watch Mirman's 3-D "welcome video." As for the show itself, Mirman introduced Tony V with the credits he would have had in 1986, and Tony joked about his small role in the 1986 movie, One Crazy Summer. The "best impressionist" Sandy Gorman followed, played by Larry Murphy in a white...

After a series of teasing pre-announcements, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced last night on Comedy Central that they would, in fact, host actual rallies on the National Mall in Washington D.C. on Oct. 30, 2010. As Stewart pointed out, this coincides with the end of a week full of episodes The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will be broadcasting from the nation's capital. So does this mean New York magazine meant this was the beginning of the Jon Stewart Decade? Because if you read the article, it sounded like they meant it was the end of it. Either way, great way to cap it off. I know where I'll be spending my Cabbage Night. Stewart will lead the Rally to Restore Sanity. Colbert will lead the March to Keep Fear Alive. As you may recall, FOX News guy Glenn Beck recently held a big rally in D.C. and invited Sarah Palin to spread their own messages to the masses. Here's a quote from the NY Mag cover piece on Stewart that is about his visit to CNN's Crossfire several years ago, but applies here, too: “What’s been misconstrued is the idea that I’m saying I’m ‘just a comedian.’ I’m not saying I’m just a comedian. I think comedy is harder than what they do. We have to process things in a manner that’s more thoughtful.” OK. Here's the...

Some other comedy news and tidbits that caught my eye includes: Sacha Baron Cohen is going to play Queen's Freddie Mercury in a biopic? Wow. (Deadline) Mike Drucker spells out how comedians perceive themselves, versus how the rest of the world perceives them. No one is spared. Just like a Nintendo game. (The Apiary) Lisa Lampanelli wasn't the only insult comic to take over TMZ on the TV. Here's a clip of Jeffrey Ross doing so, too. (TMZ) Bill Maher got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and for some reason, Seth MacFarlane and Larry King showed up to watch it happen. (LA...