The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Josh Gondelman sincerely is one of the nicest people I know. Normally, in comedy circles, saying someone is nice is the “nice” way to say that person isn’t funny. Thankfully, though, Gondelman proves on his debut CD, “Everything’s The Best,” that he is an exception to this comedy rule. A …
Before you begin listening to Louis Katz’s CD, “If These Balls Could Talk,” it’s important that you know a couple of things. Dave Attell is a fan of his (often bringing Katz on the road with him as his feature act, and employing him on his Showtime series, Dave’s Old Porn). …
The CD, Wyatt Cenac: Comedy Person, begins with a bit of a bait-and-switch, as it’s not Cenac, but rather Daily Show colleague John Hodgman who is talking to the audience throughout the first introductory track. When Cenac does arrive onstage, he helps Hodgman out by explaining that his first bit, …
Norm Macdonald has gone on record saying that he tries to write jokes as short as possible. And on the record, Me Doing Standup (available in CD or DVD versions), Macdonald proceeds to do just that. He cuts to the chase in such a startling way that that in and …
Patrice O’Neal embodied and espoused brutal honesty. And in his first, and regrettably only full special released during his lifetime, Oneal addressed the “Elephant in the Room” as one of the best comedy CD/DVDs of 2011. Oneal had been tagged with too many unfair labels by critics and detractors over recent …
Richard Jeni has a new stand-up comedy DVD for sale this month, The Beach Crowd, which might surprise you, considering that Jeni died almost four-and-a-half years ago. The DVD includes 75 minutes of footage captured from two weekends of performances at The Comedy & Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, Calif. …
You may have seen Godfrey pop up on your TV screen in recent years on NBC’s 30 Rock or FX’s Louie, but until this weekend, you haven’t seen the comedian born Godfrey C. Danchimah Jr. perform in his own hour-long stand-up comedy special. Godfrey’s Black By Accident debuts Saturday, Aug. 27, …
Lavell Crawford has caught a few breaks over the past two decades, most notably when he finished runner-up in the 2007 season of NBC’s Last Comic Standing, and most recently nabbing a recurring role in this season of AMC’s Breaking Bad. But Crawford, 42, continues to tour as a stand-up …
Marc Maron, This Has To Be Funny (Comedy Central Records) The liner notes by public radio darling Ira Glass could just as well serve as an apt review of Maron’s latest stand-up CD, “This Has To Be Funny,” but since most people don’t buy physical CDs anymore (or do they …
Michael Ian Black jokes early in his new Comedy Central special, “Very Famous,” (premiering this Saturday) that he specializes in getting cancelled from TV shows. But you sure do get to see quite a bit of MIB on your TV, don’t you? So The Comic’s Comic asked him about this, and …
