The Definitive Guide to Comedy
When Patton Oswalt walked onstage last summer at the Spreckels Theater during San Diego Comic-Con, an adoring crowd receives him with a standing ovation as the tune of The Ettes’ “Crown of Age” thunders through the speakers. “They asked me to pick the most rocking song that you like right now, …
What difference does a year make? Alonzo Bodden headlines this weekend at Carolines on Broadway to open 2014, just as he had 2013. Later this year, he’ll be recurring in the final season of Showtime’s Californication. When I met Bodden near Times Square almost a year ago, that gig hadn’t …
When Budd Friedman’s Improv comedy club turned 40, he celebrated with a primetime anniversary special on NBC (that aired against the final sing-off of the first season of American Idol). Now at 50, The Improv reminisces once more, this time with a one-hour documentary on cable/online via EPIX, The Improv: …
You don’t often see a comedy club owner on as a guest for a late-night TV talk show. But Budd Friedman has owned one or more clubs known as The Improv for 50 years now — and has the anniversary documentary airing next month on EPIX to show for it …
Jim Norton hopes you watch his new EPIX stand-up special, American Degenerate, but as the title of his 2012 special for the cable channel went, Please Be Offended. Please don’t waste your time writing on Facebook, Tumblr or whatever blogging/social media platform you use to let Norton and us know …
Forget self-distribution, forget concert films, and forget even the old models of cable TV — Lewis Black is going PPV for his ninth stand-up comedy special. “Lewis Black: Old Yeller, Live At Borgata” will debut Aug. 24, 2013, as a Pay-Per-View event. Asked about his choice of PPV over self-distribution, …
Tom Papa‘s new one-hour stand-up special, Tom Papa: Freaked Out, premieres tonight on EPIX HD (check your cable listings or go online to watch). While many Americans and others around the world might feel freaked out due to the global economy, national politics or local issues, Papa seems cool, calm …
What’s happening in the comedy world these days… Johnny Carson is coming back to your TVs in primetime, with Conan O’Brien hosting The Tonight Show once more? Yes, yes, and here’s why and how: A remix of classic interviews called Carson on TCM bows Monday nights this summer, starting July …
The last time I hung out with Jim Jefferies, we were not only in another country, but also in Doug Stanhope’s hotel room, before eventually taking the party to the hotel’s outdoor terrace as the sun rose over the French-Canadian skyline of Montreal. Jefferies was in full-blown “Alcoholocaust” mode then. …
EPIX unveiled a new trailer today for the documentary film about the late Graham Chapman from Monty Python. How Chapman managed to both write in and star in a 3-D animated movie about himself is beyond your comprehension, so you’ll just have to watch A Liar’s Autobiography when it premieres …
