The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Dick Van Patten, famously known as the TV dad on Eight is Enough in the late 1970s, died on Tuesday. Van Patten was 86. Van Patten started as a child actor on stage productions in his native New York City He really began to show off his comedic touch, though, …
CollegeHumor and IFC created the hour TV special, CollegeHumor’s Comedy Music Hall of Fame, but after watching it twice over the weekend, I still cannot figure out why this exists. Both CollegeHumor and IFC enjoy reputations of existing on the fringes of mainstream comedy, but they’re not trying to make …
Rick Ducommun began and ended his life in Canada, but in between, the comedian became one of those character actors you’d see in many movies and sitcoms through the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ducommun died June 12 in a Vancouver hospice, surrounded by family, due to complications from diabetes. …
Everything’s coming up big and bigger for Amy Schumer in 2015, as today already has seen announcements for two major gigs for the comedian this summer — she’ll co-headline a Fourth of July celebration in New York City with Queen Latifah on the Intrepid; in September, she’ll open for Madonna’s …
Owen Smith bought 10 iPhones, filmed a stand-up hour with them, and then returned the phones the next day at the Apple Store. True story. “The best iPhone comedy special of all time,” according to Chris Rock in a testimonial quote on Smith’s page. Also the first iPhone comedy special, …
FX’s Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll rolls out July 16, 2015, but a month ahead of the premiere, the cable network is giving us a special sneak peek at the band at the heart of the series with its first music video. This is “Die Trying,” featuring Liz Gillies and Denis Leary. They play …
Forget punching up. If you really want to speak truth to power, and you’re a comedian, what’s the best way to go about it? Sarah Silverman has produced several videos on her own or for various non-profit organizations to advance causes she believes in, including election issues on the ballot and …
The Three Stooges can never die, and that’s not just written into their plotlines. Forty years after Moe Howard and Larry Fine both died in 1975, the often-violent slapstick antics of Moe, Larry and Curly continue to be revived and reanimated. Just in the past month, The Three Stooges estate …
Bringer, (noun? adjective? adverb? all of the above!): In comedy terms, a bringer is a booked stand-up showcase in which the producer requires each comedian to recruit a pre-determined number of paying customers into the club before said comedian may perform on said show. In some instances, the comedian may …
It has now been a year since the June 7, 2014, New Jersey Turnpike crash that killed comedian James “Jimmy Mack” McNair and almost killed Tracy Morgan, Ardie Fuqua and Morgan’s assistant, Jeffrey Millea. On May 27, Walmart — whose tractor-trailer driver had rear-ended the limo van carrying the comedians …
