The Definitive Guide to Comedy
The open mic holds everything for the new, aspiring comedian. The alpha and the omega, the dream and the nightmare, but the above all else, the primary entry point for stand-up comedy. An open mic often promises no regular audience members; instead, empty chairs up front and a gaggle of …
We may be a month into summer (and two months from Memorial Day already), but it’s never too late for news of a fourth consecutive Oddball Fest by Funny or Die. Especially when they announced today that this late summer’s tour of North American amphitheaters will include headliners Brian Regan, …
Jay Oakerson’s first TV credit was on BET. Big Jay started stand-up comedy in all-black rooms in Philadelphia, and now he’s playing to everyone while often relying on his sharp wit to riff with the crowds in the moment. He hosts an all-crowd-work series Big Jay Oakerson’s What’s Your F@#king …
Just For Laughs has announced the lineup for its fifth annual edition of JFL42, a 42-show headliner stand-up comedy festival held at the end of September in Toronto. Getting top billing in 2016? Jim Gaffigan, Tig Notaro, Trevor Noah, Jim Jefferies, Roseanne Barr, Anthony Jeselnik, Demetri Martin and Chris D’Elia. Of …
truTV’s behind-the-scenes comedy history series, truInside, has focused on classic big-screen comedies over its first six weeks: Airplane!, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Bridesmaids, The Jerk, Heathers. But this Monday’s episode spent an hour inside the Olive Tree Cafe and its more famous basement dwellers at The Comedy Cellar. The …
Seeso continues to roll out new original streaming comedy series in its second month as a standalone paid subscription platform, announcing a March 17, 2016, start date for Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, Big Jay Oakerson’s What’s Your F@%king Deal?! and New York’s Funniest. The following week, Cameron Esposito’s debut stand-up special, Marriage …
The year 2016 may just be the year we’re all convinced to stop watching TV the traditional way, and Seeso will go a long way in convincing comedy fans to do just that — if they haven’t already. Seeso, NBCUniversal’s new digital comedy streaming platform, officially launches Jan. 7, 2016, …
The Tenderloins — aka Sal, Joe, Murr and Q whom you love to watch torture each other on Impractical Jokers — are celebrating the renewal by truTV for a 26-episode fifth season by inviting a ton of comedy friends to join them on a cruise with fans in January 2016. “Even …
Stand-up comedians generally frown upon shows that have them performing outside and in the daylight. But Funny or Die’s Oddball Comedy and Curiosity Festival, now in its third summer run of dates across North America, offers just that to lure aspiring comics to its second stage. Not that the mainstage, …
What do they say about New York City: There are eight million stories, and sometimes it seems as though eight million of the people telling them think they’re comedians? No, that’s not it. It is a fact, though, that America’s biggest city is also its biggest comedy mecca. Hollywood may …
