The Definitive Guide to Comedy
When Amy Schumer presents Rachel Feinstein tonight to Comedy Central, she really presents. Schumer not only gives Feinstein advice backstage in a pre-taped green room bit, but also walks onstage first, introducing her to the New York City crowd last November (I was at the taping) by saying of Feinstein: “This …
I don’t know if every stand-up comedian who performs on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has to have a direct personal connection to the host, but it certainly has started out that way. Sam Morril became the third stand-up to perform on Colbert’s Late Show since he took over …
On tonight’s season finale of Dr. Ken on ABC, Ken Jeong’s title character makes his stand-up debut at the Laugh Factory. In real life, Jeong made his TV debut on ABC’s The View, and this week he revisited the scene of the crime — where he won the show’s search …
My latest review for Decider is up, covering the new Patton Oswalt special, Talking For Clapping — his fifth hour of stand-up recorded on video and first exclusively for Netflix. Here’s an excerpt of my review: “If I want three Vicodin, I have to do the ‘Coffee is for closers’ …
You knew Joan Laurer as Chyna, the bodybuilder who broke through the gender lines of professional wrestling and became a superstar with the WWE when it was still known as the WWF in the late 1990s. Billed as “The Ninth Wonder of the World,” Chyna became the first and only …
Short-form comedy segments in late-night TV all are the rage now, as IFC becomes the third cable channel to jump into the field, announcing today that its Comedy Crib collection of more than two dozen webseries will begin airing on TV come Fall 2016. The weekly half-hour episodes of Comedy …
It’s one thing to say you’re going to “keep Austin weird.” It’s another to call your festival the Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival, and five years in, be able to not only look back on all of the big names you’ve attracted and celebrate it via sizzle reel, but also …
Roast battle, toast battle. Who’s going to be the first Comedy KO Champ tonight? Hosted by Damien Lemon and created by Mo Mandel, Comedy Knockout debuts on truTV, pitting three comedians against one another, with audience approval swaying Lemon into picking the winners. “You cheer, and I will dole out points …
Tiffany Haddish ended up in foster care after a serious car accident left her mother with even more serious complications. Getting into trouble herself, Tiffany found refuge and more as a teenager at the Laugh Factory Comedy Camp. It hasn’t all been easy since then, but after appearing on several …
Congrats to stand-up comedian Gary Owen, who with his wife and children will have his life and career documented in a new reality series for BET called Gary Owen Family! UPDATED (Sept. 12, 2016): It’s now called The Gary Owen Show, debuting Oct. 11, 2016. And I spoke with Gary …
