The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Myq Kaplan is having himself a good year when it comes to competing in short-set stand-up comedy contests in Manhattan, winning the inaugural "New York Comedy Contest" last weekend. The weeklong contest included 96 comics, who performed at Comic Strip Live, Laugh Lounge, Stand-Up NY, Eastville, Broadway and The Green …
This might not be the news anyone was expecting, but as soon as I get done with an obligatory "blame it on the alcohol" reference, it's time to tell you that MTV has added Jamie Foxx's "Untitled Sketch Comedy Show" to its development slate of upcoming TV series (read the …
The recurring downpours last weekend at the 2009 U.S. Open tournament on Long Island didn’t scare off comedian Bill Murray. During this interview with WPIX-TV, Murray, long known for his love of golf, also briefly channels his famous movie golf character from Caddyshack, greens superintendent Carl Spackler. Wait for it. …
Ed McMahon died earlier today at the age of 86, and while most will remember him as the affable sidekick to Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show (or as the pitchman for Publisher's Clearing House, or even as cohort in TV bloopers and practical jokes with Dick Clark), we should …
This serves as your very own pop quiz on comedy. In the online series, "Stand-Up Apartment," Brown Levinson-Butler and King Ace are two New York City stand-up comedians who decided to turn their apartment into a comedy club. In reality, it's Greg Johnson (who hosts a Sunday night show at Pianos …
The residents of Seattle got to know the madness that comes from the mind of comedian Brody Stevens in the 1990s when he co-hosted a cable access show and made fellow stand-ups laugh with his regular outbursts at the Comedy Underground. A decade later, he's living larger in Los Angeles, …
David Koechner, that character actor who has made you laugh in many movies and TV guest appearances, got his start in Chicago studying improv at the iO (improv Olympic). Coincidence? Only in that I just spent the weekend there for the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago festival, and that Koechner stars …
While I decompress and get my notes and videos in order from my weekend in Chicago, let me catch up on the funny that happened in the rest of the world. Which means we have to mention John Hodgman's performance over the weekend at the 2009 Radio and TV Correspondents' …
Martin Short blew into Chicago this week and created a flurry of excitement with the return of some of his most famous comedy characters, and may have even topped that last night by delivering zingers that shocked the live audience for the taping of Let Freedom Hum, the TBS special …
What happens when a major comedy festival such as Just For Laughs comes to town, only to find the town's major comedy blog is no more? Well, all is not lost for Chicago comedy fans who no have The Bastion to guide them. In fact, the former Bastion editors are …