The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Thrash Lab has released a new 11-minute documentary on improvisation in comedy — specifically set in the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Hollywood, and speaking with Matt Walsh, Jason Mantzoukas, Paul Scheer, Ellie Kemper, Kay Cannon and others about “The Harold” form of improv. It’s a good, quick overview of …
In honor of MTV2’s decision to reboot Nick Cannon’s improv comedy series, Wild ‘N Out, let’s look back at some past episodes from the four seasons that originally aired on MTV from 2005-2007. The series pitted two teams of comedians against one another in short-form improv games, with one team …
I’d say 2012 is the year of the superhero movie, but that would be insulting to all of the other years of the 21st century dominated by superhero movies. Instead, focus on this fact: Every comic-book superhero has to face a villain, and each of these villains speaks in witty …
It’s one thing to talk about a TV show on Twitter while it’s on. It’s another thing — or about $300 in other things — to win money to take improv comedy classes because you said something meaningful on Twitter about that TV show. That’s what IFC’s Bunk is doing …
After a solid year-plus of experimentation on both sides of the pond, the improvised stand-up show, Set List: Comedy Without a Net, is getting a chance to wow TV viewers with a 14-episode order from Britain’s Sky Atlantic HD. The series begins taping July 4 in London, with additional tapings …
The improv groundhog saw Del Close’s shadow, which means, somehow, someway, we’re experiencing the Del Close Marathon six weeks early this year! That’s one of the new new things to make DCM14 different from its 13 predecessors. For one thing, DCM14 is bigger than ever! The improv comedy marathon has …
Mark Wilson Anderson, who owned the Tempe and D.C. Improv comedy clubs and was forced to shut down the venerable Tempe club on June 1 after a heated battle with a rival club, was found dead Wednesday. He had been reported missing a few weeks earlier. Anderson was 60. Housekeepers …
If you’re in Boston or New York City this week, then you can join in the fun as two different comedy festivals kick off tonight and run through the weekend. The PIT hosts the first-ever NYC Improv Festival from March 21-24. Festival organizers have described their mission: “Over the past …
Both of New York City’s major outlets for sketch and improv comedy announced new house teams for the 2012 calendar year. Nate Dern, the Upright Citizen Brigade Theater’s New York artistic director, said he received more than 400 audition submissions from actors and 160 writing packets for the UCB’s weekly …
Over the summer, Gary Rudoren (co-author of Comedy By The Numbers) told me he had a brilliant idea for another comedy book. Rudoren wanted to publish an oral history of the Upright Citizens Brigade. But he said he was too busy for it. Turns out I was too busy to …
