The Definitive Guide to Comedy
The 29th annual edition of the Seattle Comedy Competition begins tonight with 16 comedians beginning a weeklong battle of preliminary stand-up contests across Washington state. Another group of 16 stand-ups will enter their preliminaries Nov. 11-16. Five from each prelim make it to a week of semifinal competition, with five …
Friend and fellow funny reporter winner Mandy Stadtmiller interviewed Sarah Silverman, Tracy Morgan, Joel McHale and Louis CK in advance of this week’s New York Comedy Festival for the New York Post (an official fest media partner). In print, we only got a taste from each of the comics. Online, …
I am otherwise occupied this Election Day, so I won’t be attending an election-related comedy show, or perhaps even seeing it on TV, and maybe not even monitoring any liveblogs. But that doesn’t mean you cannot have fun (or hide out) tonight as the vote totals start coming in… In …
We can all agree that there is no place for heckling in a comedy club. Just because you’re drunk, or because you want to hear a particular joke, or even because you think you’re "helping" the comedian, well, you’re not helping. You’re interrupting the performance that everyone else gladly paid …
When Sacha Baron Cohen pulled off the trick of "Borat" on enough unsuspecting Americans (mostly targeting the Bible Belt portions of the South who’d be more likely not to have known him or his character from HBO, and also easier pickings to mock their beliefs and values), many fans and …
Plenty of comedians have used jokes and satire to make their opinions known about the 2008 presidential election. But as Election Eve turns to Election Day, Louis CK decided to sit down at his kitchen table and tell you, in his own simple, no b.s. but still including language that’s …
It’s the last night to make jokes about Obama, McCain, Biden and Palin before it all gets a little too real for all of us, and for comedians, also perhaps outdated. Election Day is Nov. 4, 2008. So tonight, plenty of opportunities in New York City exist to see some …
For all of the heightened awareness of Saturday Night Live this fall, you’d think that perhaps the media or viewers likewise would tune in to see how MADtv is spoofing current affairs. But, ah, ha, no. You would be wrong. Both SNL and MADtv spoofed the women of ABC’s The …
One of my newspaper alma maters, the New York Daily News, devoted much of its Sunday features section to comedy, thanks in part to this week’s New York Comedy Festival, but also to how much comedy has impacted politics this campaign season. There’s a story from Caroline Waxler about how …
Ricky Gervais is in New York City this week to promote his upcoming first HBO special, Out of England: The Stand-Up Special, which debuts Nov. 15. Among the known things on his schedule: Gervais will present the Top Ten tonight on the Late Show with David Letterman; he joins the …