The Definitive Guide to Comedy
It just got a little bit easier for a comedy to win a major Academy Award. No, the Oscars aren’t considering great comedies as potential Best Picture nominees, nor are they creating a specific Best Picture (Comedy) category. But the Academy did announce today that they’re adding a new category …
Wil Sylvince’s passion project outside of stand-up comedy has been almost a decade in the making. Sylvince first showed me a short spec video back in 2010 of him as a boxer. Seven years later, his boxing film, I Am Maurice, has successfully raised more than $104,000 via Kickstarter from 641 …
Bo Burnham grew up in front of the world, thanks to YouTube. Burnham now has translated that experience to 2018 and to everyone else, with his wonderful new movie, Eighth Grade. It premiered at Sundance in January, and goes nationwide this weekend. I enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with …
“I wrote a film while on the road about starting off as a comic on the road. Now it’s officially happening. Proud to be directing this with an incredible cast and crew.” So said stand-up comedian Steve Byrne, who previously starred in the TBS sitcom Sullivan & Son from 2012-2014, …
Since you already were thinking about Pride this weekend, now’s a good time to let you know that Fathom Events is hosting a special one-night movie event in July featuring 90 minutes of stand-up from gay and lesbian comedians called OUT on Stage. Hosted by comedian Zach Noe Towers, the lineup …
National Lampoon and Stage 32 have launched a contest to find the next great comedy screenwriter. The contest, which is taking submissions through July, offers a grand prize of $5,000 with an 18-month option at the Lampoon, as well as mentoring from Lampoon creatives and executives. “We’ve admired Stage 32’s …
On Sunday night’s episode of The Simpsons, the writers had little Lisa give advice to her mom about something or other, using it instead as an opportunity to defend themselves against charges of racism for having a white actor voice an Indian character with a heavily stereotyped accent. “It’s hard …
Viacom, Comedy Central’s parent company, is keeping Daily Show host Trevor Noah in the fold for a while. The deal includes multiple platforms for Noah’s production shingle, Day Zero. It helps that Noah already has lined up with Paramount for the movie adaptation of his memoir, Born a Crime: Stories from …
Some people quit stand-up comedy. Some people don’t quit until they die. And others just fade away, for a variety of reasons. What was Lou DiMaggio’s excuse? That’s one of the questions answered in Where Have You Gone Lou DiMaggio?, a documentary film by Brad Kulhman which opens today in Los Angeles …
truTV and Funny or Die are keeping Murr, Q, Joe and Sal in the pranking business, both on the small and big screens, for the next few years. Not only is Impractical Jokers getting an eighth season on truTV for 2019, but the fellas also will star together in their first …
