The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Phil Austin, writer/comedian, founding member of Firesign Theatre and creator of the character, “Nick Danger,” has died. Austin was 74. This obituary was provided by fellow Firesign member Philip Proctor. Phil Austin was born in Denver, April 6, 1941 and grew up in Fresno, California. He passed away on June …
Jesse Elias was a “New Face” in Montreal last summer, and last night, he remained a new face one last time for network television, as Elias made his debut as a stand-up comedian on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The young man from the Bay Area and a stage presence evoking memories …
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, …
The Film Society of Lincoln Center will have a five-day feast of funny feature films this summer by presenting “I Found This Funny: The Comedy World of Judd Apatow,” from July 10-14. Highlights include screenings of many movies Apatow either has directed or produced, a marathon free screening of Freaks and Geeks, …
Conan O’Brien is taking his Team Coco to Comic-Con 2015 in San Diego for a week’s worth of tapings this July, and on Monday night’s show on TBS, Conan unveiled a new set of toy figurines that Funko has made just for the occasion. Which one is your favorite? Conan …
When Greg Gutfield stepped away from his late-night FOX News talk-show creation to host his own primetime Sunday show, who would take over the 3 a.m. hour (midnight Pacific) on Red Eye? As The Comic’s Comic first reported in February, stand-up comedian and storyteller Tom Shillue already had emerged as …
If you want to get a sense of where Comedy Central stands in the TV landscape, consider this. Consider these two things, really. The basic cable TV network has so much quality programming that its “For Your Consideration” video for Emmy voters will remind you of such — Broad City, …
“How do we talk to folks who already aren’t so dug in to a particular way of thinking about politics? That we can create more space for people to have a normal, ordinary conversation? And one in which the lines aren’t clearly drawn in black and white, and it’s not …
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 …
Now it can be told: Netflix has ordered 13 half-hour episodes of Lady Dynamite, a comedy series starring Maria Bamford based on “her life” (quotes theirs). Bamford already had hinted at pre-production work on the series in recent weeks. Today’s formal announcement from Netflix reveals that Lady Dynamite will be …
