The Definitive Guide to Comedy
The eighth annual New York Nightlife Awards held their celebration Monday night with Bruce Vilanch hosting performances from the previously announced winners in cabaret, jazz and comedy at Town Hall. The New York Times sent a reporter who filed this piece for today's paper. At first, I confused the New …
While word slowly spreads about the return of NBC's Last Comic Standing, Improv owner Budd Friedman is helping preside over a lesser-known contest for aspiring talent that's tied to the video release of Funny People. The search for "The Next Funniest Person in America" accepted submissions online at Friedman's iJoke.com, …
You don't have to be on Team Coco to realize that Leno-bashing has reached a hyperbolic pitch. Just pick up the current issue of Entertainment Weekly, which put a photo illustration of Jay Leno on its cover and named him TV's biggest bomb ever. Ever? Forever ever? Clearly the mag …
Over on Television Without Pity, comedian Sean Crespo has been filing regular video blogs — or as the old people call them, vlogs — about television from the perspective of a complete outsider. His series, "No Prior Knowledge," celebrated its 100th episode with a look back at some other statistics, …
When this thing looks like that thing looks suspiciously like the other thing, that's what the mainstream media calls a trend. So what should we make of Showtime's original programming for comedy series? It appears that whomever is greenlighting new series responds quite well to any pitch in which the …
I'm surprised that nobody in the mainstream media decided to pick up on my report from Jan. 20 that NBC's Last Comic Standing is returning after a year hiatus for season seven this summer. Maybe they were all too focused on Leno and Conan to notice? So let me repeat …
Arj Barker is one of my favorite absurdist stand-up comedians, and the debut of his latest stand-up special, LYAO, gets its premiere tonight on Comedy Central (air times: 11 p.m. Eastern, and also 4 a.m. Eastern Sunday) before coming out on CD and DVD next week. I'll have more to …
"I'm glad Heath Ledger died, and I'll tell you why." Artie Lange, who came way too close to dying himself earlier this year, opens his Jack and Coke stand-up comedy special that way. Programming Note: You'll see half of his hour-and-half DVD recording tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on Comedy …
If you're wondering why Tom Hanks was on the final edition of The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, well, perhaps you thought, maybe it's because Hanks nicknamed Conan "Coco" on his second Tonight Show. Close. But not quite. As Hanks explained in last night's show, he and Conan go way, …
HBO has a new look online, and that includes a home page for the upcoming series of sketches from Funny or Die called Funny or Die Presents, and along with it, a fresh "Buzz" video that offers insider looks at FoD Presents (Brett Gelman dancing in 1,000 Cats! Leo Allen …