The Definitive Guide to Comedy
Lashonda Lester, a Detroit native named 2016’s Funniest Person in Austin, was supposed to record her first half-hour comedy special for Comedy Central two weeks from tonight in New Orleans. Instead, Lester has died. From Martha Kelly, Austin resident and co-star on FX’s Baskets: “Lashonda was one of the most …
Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, there were two places to go to find the best sketch comedians and improvising funny people in America: The Second City in Chicago and The Groundlings in Los Angeles. Gary Austin put The Groundlings on the map, founding the sketch and improv troupe …
Last year feels so much farther away than two months ago, doesn’t it? At the end of 2016, so many of us felt melancholy, lamenting the losses of so many icons. Not only in comedy but everywhere else in the world, role models seemed to be swept up almost as …
He may be remembered today as the one man who kept Sean Hannity in check for 13 years, or even as a radio talk-show giant before and after that, but Alan Colmes was at heart a stand-up comedian. Colmes died today, after recently taking a hiatus at the end of …
The “World’s Foremost Authority” and oldest living stand-up comedian, Professor Irwin Corey, has died. Corey was 102. Praised by Lenny Bruce as one of the brightest voices in comedy, Corey was born July 29, 1914, in Brooklyn. Eight decades before the “World Champion” Judah Friedlander took on any audience member’s …
Ricky Harris, a comedian, actor and childhood friend of Snoop Dogg who provided background vocals on the seminal debut rap albums of both Snoop and Ice Cube, died on Monday. Harris was 54. Harris died of a heart attack, his manager reported. Harris had suffered another heart attack two years …
Alan Thicke was never known as a comedian, but his playful sense of humor allowed him to impact our collective comedy psyche for more than a generation — as a writer/producer of a cult classic talk-show parody, songwriter for classic 1980s sitcoms, host of an infamous late-night talk show challenge …
Adrianne Tolsch, a Brooklyn native who influenced the New York City comedy scene in the 1970s as the first female MC at Catch A Rising Star and later the club’s booker and manager for years, has died from esophageal cancer. Tolsch was 78. Her husband, longtime David Letterman writer Bill …
One of the brightest lights in any comedy club over four separate decades, Kevin Meaney has died suddenly and tragically. Meaney was 60. It’s at once both flippant and altogether appropriate to respond to the news with one of Meaney’s classic bits: “That’s not right.” Meaney’s agent confirmed that the …
Gene Wilder, the wonderfully witty actor who shined in several Mel Brooks films and captivated children of all ages as Willy Wonka, has died from complications with Alzheimer’s. Wilder was 83. Born Jerome Silberman in Milwaukee, Wilder took his stage name as a young adult, although he showed interest in …
