The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Does a Good Times reunion sound DYN-O-MITE to you? The surviving original cast members — John Amos (father James Evans, Sr.), Jimmie Walker (J.J.), Bern Nadette Stanis (Thelma), Ralph Carter (Michael) and Ja’Net Dubois (Willona Woods) — have joined in on a united Kickstarter effort to find a movie that …
MST3K will come back with a brand-new cast, Kickstarted by 30,000 fans already to the tune of $3.5 million and counting. Original creator and star of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Joel Hodgson, launched the Kickstarter in November. Hodgson said the money raised so far will fund six new episodes. If …
Even before its world premiere this weekend at the Sundance Film Festival, Kevin Pollak’s TV misery (spoiler alert!) can be pushed aside for joy and gratitude as his new stand-up comedy documentary, Misery Loves Comedy, has been picked up for North American distribution by Tribeca Film. “Misery Loves Comedy is …
Why go to Kickstarter when you can appeal directly to everyone? Comedian Jarret Berenstein takes it to the next level by making himself a full-fledged charity case, with Christina Gausas as his celebrity spokeswoman to make the pitch on his behalf. It’s really sad, the life of an aspiring stand-up …
She had played Carnegie Hall, headlined the Apollo with Cab Calloway for decades, but in 1967, Dick Smothers introduced her to a whole new audience, saying: “Some of you may not have heard of her yet. She’s only started recently doing television.” She was Jackie “Moms” Mabley. “She’s been lost somewhere …
Improv. Say that one word in comedy circles and you’ll see a multitude of reactions. OK. Mostly likely one of three: Love. Hate. Indifference. Or maybe even something that’s along the spectrum that connects those three. Who decides to pursue a life or career in improv comedy, what are their …
On March 23, 2013, a funny thing happened in the sky above Los Angeles. A skywriting plane wrote letters in cloud form amid the blue sky. An “H,” followed by an “O,” then a “W,” eventually spelling out: “HOW DO I LAND?” The joke culminated the efforts of Kurt Braunohler’s Cloud …
Not all Kickstarters are created equal. While “The Veronica Mars Movie Project” by the TV show’s creator, Rob Thomas, and Hollywood studio Warner Bros. roped in its $2 million goal from eager private citizens within a day — and more than $3.7 million in its first week on Kickstarter from …
Robert Schimmel “wanted to be the next Barry Manilow, for some unknown reason,” according to his younger brother, Jeff. Instead, Robert wrote the jokes that made the whole world laugh, and titter, and repeat to their friends. When Robert Schimmel died in 2010 following a car accident at the age …
“Meet Skinja. She’s a stripper by night, ninja by later that night.” That’s a joke. Well, it started out as a joke in a longer bit of stand-up comedian Dan Goodman’s in which he imagines other movies. Only Skinja might actually become a real feature film. “After enough people came up …
