The Definitive Guide to Comedy
After months of tinkering and working on his new one-man show at the Comedy Cellar’s Fat Black Pussycat lounge, Colin Quinn is ready to take “Red State Blue State” on an off-Broadway run. The strictly limited engagement kicks off Jan. 5, 2019, at Minetta Lane Theatre (where Quinn has launched …
Comedic actress and director Penny Marshall has died. Marshall was 75. She died peacefully Monday night in her Hollywood Hills home, from complications due to diabetes. You might not have guessed the kid sister of Garry Marshall would grow up to be an icon. But just as the lyrics to …
David Shepherd, who co-founded the Compass Players in Chicago with Paul Sills in 1955, thereby giving birth to a revolution in improvisation and comedy which led to The Second City and much of everything we know and love today about sketch comedy in America, has died. Shepherd was 94. Born …
The comedian Coolaide, a Detroit native who performed on BET’s ComicView and Bill Bellamy’s Who’s Got Jokes? and was touring with Lil Duval, died earlier this month after living with cancer for the past five years. As Coolaide himself said in a recent video message before he died: “Take advantage …
Of all of the comedy comeback specials in 2018, Ellen DeGeneres delivers the most fascinating and funniest take. In case you’re keeping track, the other stand-up comedians who returned to the stage after a long break (10 years or more) with new hours for Netflix this year included Chris Rock, …
Pete Holmes is one of only two people who have called me “Sean L.” in everyday conversation, and it makes perfect sense. Holmes is a comedian who loves the sounds of words. Sean L. becomes Shonnelle, which bequeaths me an alter-ego. In his previous stand-up comedy specials, Holmes has invited …
Vir Das got America’s attention with his first Netflix special, last year’s Abroad Understanding. Filming it in a small theater in New York City, then cutting it together with footage of him performing the same material in an arena in India, we learned that Das is a comedian to listen …
I’ve long held a love/ambivalence about the comedian and actor Russell Brand. On the one hand, Brand holds a world of ideas within his head and a dazzling gift for sharing his ideas and prompting bigger conversations about life and love and everything else. On the other, Brand’s ego and …
Adam McKay won the Academy Award for best screenplay for his adaptation of The Big Short. His newest film at the end of 2018 is VICE, McKay’s darkly satiric yet mostly true retelling of the life and career of Dick Cheney. He has come a long way since his Second …
Joe Wong has performed on the Ed Sullivan stage before to perform on David Letterman’s Late Show, and returned this past week to tell Stephen Colbert’s audience a thing or two about China, immigration and walls. Roll the clip!
