The Definitive Guide to Comedy
What do they say about New York City: There are eight million stories, and sometimes it seems as though eight million of the people telling them think they’re comedians? No, that’s not it. It is a fact, though, that America’s biggest city is also its biggest comedy mecca. Hollywood may …
So rarely do you find out as much about a comedian’s process as we are this week with the release of Louis CK’s new stand-up special. Certainly, Louis CK is doing a lot of press to help promote it to the widest possible audience. But he’s also opening up and …
Pablo Francisco is a whirling dervish of voices, noises, sound effects and impersonations. And on Francisco’s new CD/DVD, “They Put It Out There,” he puts it all out there. Before you can ask — Who is they, what did they put and where did they put it? — let’s take a look …
“This is my last hit,” says Dave Attell between cigarette puffs, in typical self deprecating fashion. “No, Dave, The Gong Show was your last hit,” I reply. This is Attell’s next potential hit, and it goes back to something near and dear to the stand-up comedian: Pornography. Specifically, old porn. …
What do they say about New York City: There are eight million stories, and sometimes it seems as though eight million of the people telling them think they’re comedians? No, that’s not it. It is a fact, though, that America’s biggest city is also its biggest comedy mecca. Hollywood may …
Over the summer, Gary Rudoren (co-author of Comedy By The Numbers) told me he had a brilliant idea for another comedy book. Rudoren wanted to publish an oral history of the Upright Citizens Brigade. But he said he was too busy for it. Turns out I was too busy to …
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 …
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 …
