The Definitive Guide to Comedy
What happens when a major comedy festival such as Just For Laughs comes to town, only to find the town's major comedy blog is no more? Well, all is not lost for Chicago comedy fans who no have The Bastion to guide them. In fact, the former Bastion editors are …
Robert Smigel began his comedy career in Chicago, and during the 1988 writers strike, Smigel returned to the Windy City and, with fellow SNL striking writers Conan O'Brien and Bob Odenkirk, wrote and produced a revue called Happy Happy Good Show. One of Smigel's sketches portrayed Chicago's super sports fans, …
Ellen DeGeneres taped her third TBS variety special last night as part of the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival — Ellen's Bigger Longer & Wider Show will air at 9 p.m. Saturday, June 27, on TBS, but I can share some insight with you already. During a post-show question-and-answer …
Joe Rogan has a new one-hour stand-up comedy special that debuts Saturday, June 20, on SPIKE-TV. Let's talk about it. Better yet, let's talk to Rogan. Actually, here's a great place to start. This is a clip from the special, "Talking Monkeys in Space," in which Rogan talks about how …
Just when I thought we were starting the Just For Laughs comedy fest in Chicago (we are doing this today), the New York Comedy Festival named its headliners and increased partnership with Comedy Central for its sixth annual week of headliners in the Big Apple, this coming Nov. 4-8, 2009. …
Mere hours after his appearance on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, Dane Cook called me up last week so we could chat about what it's like to have two stand-up comedy CDs debut in the top five on the Billboard charts, perform for arena-sized crowds as only a few …
I'm making my plans to jet over to Chicago on Wednesday for the start of the inaugural Just For Laughs Chicago comedy festival, and guess who else will be there? Bob Odenkirk and Andy Dick! Bob's teaming up with his longtime comedy partner David Cross for something special, while Andy …
Did you know they have a Funny or Die in the U.K.? Even more alarming, did you know that in the U.K., they also have funny couplings of comedic actors and actresses to match wits with the likes of our beloved Amy Poehler and Will Arnett? Yes, and yes. And …
Everyone is hungry for laughs this year, and cue the rest of this metaphor, because the fifth annual edition of certainly delivered with a healthy appetite (Zoinks!) of fun times, served up with a side of…you know what I'm trying to say, right? Food was on the brain and onstage …
Melanie Hutsell performed on Saturday Night Live for three seasons in the early 1990s, and by far her most recognizable character was her portrayal of Jan Brady (you may also get partial credit for thinking it was her sorority sister, Di). But what's Hutsell doing now? Raising children. Also, mastering her …