The Definitive Guide to Comedy
The Second City, the venerable comedy institution with branches in Chicago, Toronto and elsewhere, is up for sale for only the second time in its 61-year history. Yes, and? Variety broke the news today. “While all our lives have been affected by the pandemic, The Second City has found green …
Chris Rock hosted the season 46 premiere of Saturday Night Live, and set the tone for his eight-minute monologue, emerging from the traditional entry wearing a mask as the SNL house band was safely behind two plexiglass partitions. Rock quickly de-masked, though, holding it for the monologue, and letting us …
Ready or not, “They Ready” with Tiffany Haddish is back shooting new half-hour stand-up specials tonight and tomorrow for Netflix. It’s all happening in Long Beach, Calif., filmed in front of a select live audience who have been tested for COVID-19 before the taping. Godfrey, Tony Woods, Barbara Carlyle, Erin …
It’s such a joy to see Michelle Buteau’s career climbing now, and her debut solo hour special on Netflix kicks off with the voice of Cardi B introducing her to the stage at Times Square’s Sony Hall. Also got a kick out of VICE’s interview with Buteau promoting this special …
Adam Conover is a comedian and writer best known for the truTV series Adam Ruins Everything, which he created and hosted from 2015-2019. Conover’s comedy career began while still a student at Bard College, where he was part of the sketch comedy group, Olde English, along with future Bojack Horseman …
The rumors weren’t rumors. Sacha Baron Cohen really was filming scenes for a new Borat movie this year during the pandemic. Amazon Studios has acquired the finished feature film, with plans to premiere it in late October on Amazon Prime worldwide. Cohen was caught in September performing at a rally …
With just 10 days to go before the postponed Just For Laughs debuts its first virtual comedy confab, the folks at JFL have announced some additional headliner events, dialogues and panels. The virtual JFL (Oct. 9-10, 2020) plans to offer multiple opportunities to Zoom in, so just like the normal …
Sam Jay is getting her own late-night talk show! HBO announced a series order for a weekly half-hour talker from Jay, a Saturday Night Live writer who just released her debut stand-up special on Netflix. The untitled series will debut in 2021 on HBO, and stream on HBO Max. “Sam …
Dave Chappelle’s hometown comedy and music series, which resulted in at least one YouTube Netflix half-hour special (8:46) in June, and attracted all sorts of A-listers to Yellow Springs, Ohio, over the summer, was forced to shut down operations last week due to “possible exposure within our inner circle” of …
Everything’s different about 2020, and that includes the annual New Faces of Comedy hullaballoo out of Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival. This year, with the fest postponed from July to October and going online only, JFL isn’t presenting stand-ups or character comedians. Just the New Faces Creators, the category JFL …
