Manoj: Confronting comedy stereotypes

The proverbial "they" always tell new comedians to embrace the things that make them unique but also relate to the audience. If you’re overweight, joke about that right away. If you have a different ethnic background, address it! That’s what they say, anyhow. I don’t even know who they are. …

New York Times columnist tries stand-up

A few folks have pointed my way toward this weekend’s Executive Pursuits column in the New York Times, in which Harry Hurt III writes about attempting stand-up comedy for the first time at the Comic Strip Live. What should I say about this? It seems as though the NYT inevitably …

Best of the Sarah Palin impersonations

With all of the hullabaloo about Tina Fey hobnobbing with the object of her mockery, Sarah Palin, on Saturday Night Live, I wonder if the meeting of the mind and the mindless marked the peak of Fey’s impersonation, a peak we can never meet again. It’s one thing for President …

Zach Galifianakis sings for David’s Situation

Bob Odenkirk talks about a newly released clip from the HBO sitcom David’s Situation, which he and comedy collaborator David Cross self-aborted before it could ever debut. The clip features Zach Galifianakis visiting Cross, only to find he’s the subject of a TV experiment called "Good Morning, Predator." That’s OK …

SNL #34.5, Backstage with Sarah Palin

Here’s an extra couple of minutes of footage shot backstage last night before and during Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s visit to Saturday Night Live. I’m pretty sure that was a llama. Anyhoosiers. We also see Will Arnett was in the house, ostensibly to be with his soon-to-be baby mama Amy …

Mike Birbiglia tonight: On Conan, Off-Broadway

Mike Birbiglia has a busy afternoon and evening planned for his Friday, Oct. 17. Not only will he perform stand-up and do his first panel chat on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, but he’ll also open his Off-Broadway show, Sleepwalk With Me, which begins previews tonight at the Bleecker Street …

Sarah Palin on SNL this weekend?!

Mere hours after Obama and McCain made jokey jokes at a fancy dinner that had global television reach, word comes down that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin — you know, the lady who might be (vice) president — will appear on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live. The AP gets confirmation but …