The Definitive Guide to Comedy
TV networks spend billions of dollars each year for ideas you’ll never see on television. That’s a bold statement. But it’s nevertheless true. Literally. And also by the bass-ackward “new” “definition” of “literally” adopted through repeated utterances on Parks and Recreation. So, too, there’s research and development, and then there’s what’s …
Unlike other performers on America’s Got Talent, stand-up comedian Taylor Williamson didn’t try to pull at anyone’s heartstrings with his background video, nor did he ramp up his routine with bells and whistles to make it anything more than it is. Williamson just wanted to make you laugh. Of course. …
On Friday night’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Fallon showed audiences how NBC crews had constructed an exact replica of his set next door in Studio 6A, where the show will air when it returns from this break until February 2014. That’s when Studio 6B (where Fallon had taped for …
For his quarterfinal appearance/performance on America’s Got Talent, Jim Meskimen took a page out of 2012 runner up Tom Cotter’s playbook and invited the judges and the audience into his act — asking them to help decide which jokes he’d tell. In Meskimen’s case, as a celebrity impersonator, he put …
You knew and loved NBC’s adaptation of The Office. Would you have felt the same way, if: Seth Rogen had played Dwight instead of Rainn Wilson? Bob Odenkirk had played Michael instead of Steve Carell? Eric Stonestreet had played Kevin? Kathryn Hahn had played Pam? John Cho had played Jim? …
Before working with talent manager Barry Katz on the NBC comedian contest showcase Last Comic Standing, producer Peter Engel already had cemented his producing legacy with the Saturday morning hit of the early 1990s, Saved by the Bell. On Katz’s new podcast, Industry Standard, Engel sat down with Katz to …
The host of NBC’s America’s Got Talent, Nick Cannon, performs stand-up comedy. One of the show’s judges, Howie Mandel, got his big break in show business as a stand-up comedian. But could a comedian ever win AGT? Before you say Terry Fator, remember this: Fator, listed among the biggest-earning comedians …
For her quarterfinal performance last night on America’s Got Talent, Angela Hoover decided to use her 90 seconds of stage time to poke fun at the judges — impersonating both Mel B. and Heidi Klum — a tactic which served her well with those two. Howard Stern, on the other …
Kevin Downey Jr. was the first of the six comedians to perform in the quarterfinals of 2013’s edition of America’s Got Talent. A pre-taped package on Downey showed him at home with a Howie Mandel record (!), and him saying: “You play it safe and no one’s ever going to …
The Emmys love Louis C.K. Louis C.K. this year earned more Emmy nominations for an individual in a single year than anyone before him with nine — covering his FX series (Louie), his HBO special (Oh My God) and his hosting stint on SNL — and honoring him as an actor, …
