The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Doug Stanhope is seemingly afraid of nothing. Certainly not death. Most definitely not offending anyone’s sensibilities. Showtime premieres the video version tonight of his most recently recorded hour, “Before Turning the Gun On Himself” (Roadrunner Records), with rebroadcasts throughout August 2012 on Showtime’s various pay-movie channels. Even when he starts off …
Jay Chandrasekhar is quick to point out that the latest film that he has directed and co-stars with Kevin Heffernan in, The Babymakers, is NOT a Broken Lizard movie. Those films, both he and Heffernan said, rely on plots that revolve around teams or squads that can include all five …
About two years ago, riders of the New York City subway system noticed a different type of vandalism on the large posters advertising upcoming movies, TV shows or other products. Instead of having eyes cut out, or vulgar graffiti, someone had begun inking mustaches on the faces depicted on these …
For the second consecutive year, Montreal’s Just For Laughs expanded its New Faces concept to include separate showcases for sketch performers (New Faces Characters) and stand-up comedians who do not yet have agents or managers (New Faces Unrepped). NEW FACES CHARACTERS The New Faces Characters show has the feel of …
For the past couple of decades, Montreal’s “New Faces of Comedy” has represented a watershed moment in the careers of stand-up comedians. Getting invited to Montreal for New Faces meant you had made it. Or maybe you hadn’t made it just yet, but this represented your big break, your chance …
For someone who grew up on camera in front of much of England the United Kingdom, and performs his one-man shows around the world, Simon Amstell remains socially awkward, lonely and depressed. That much Amstell is quick to remind his audiences in his latest one-man show, Numb. “That’s the hour!” …
I’ve been a fan of Dave Waite’s onstage persona and joke tags since I first saw him several years ago as a Cincinnati stand-up comedian competing in the Boston Comedy Festival contest. Waite now lives in New York City. Last week, he destroyed at a showcase for Late Night with …
Sports movies, eh? No, I meant that in a Canadian way, because that’s where most of Goon takes place. Goon, made available a month ago On Demand, debuted on only a handful of movie screens over the weekend. It’s silly, juvenile, full of profanities and praises gratuitous yet non-life-threatening violence. …
If the Republican presidential field, the inaction of Congress and the European debt crisis makes you suspect that Lewis Black might go off on a bit of a rant, well, your suspicions would be well-founded but misplaced. Because that’s not what has Black’s attention in In God We Rust, the …
If you’re at all familiar with the work of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, then there is nothing I can write that will surprise you or change your opinion on seeing Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. But if you’re not familiar with Tim and Eric’s comedy, then let me …
