The Definitive Guide to Comedy
The shocking sudden death of Garry Shandling shook up the comedy community, with many comedians owing more than debts of gratitude to the 66-year-old. Conan O’Brien devoted much of his monologue and early program of Thursday’s Conan to talking about Shandling. A GQ profile of Shandling in 2010 opens with …
For as much as we think we know about the making of each Saturday Night Live episode, we still don’t get to see the magic of those early Monday pitch meetings, when the cast and writers meet with that week’s host and offer up ideas for sketches. I imagine JB …
In this age of “Too Much TV,” we’re also here in New York City living in the age of Too Much Tuna. Gil Faizon and George St. Geegland are peaking. Their Off-Broadway run at the Cherry Lane Theatre has drawn rave reviews from The New York Times and other comedians, …
For the Vanity Fair spread of fall 2015 that examines how men continue to dominate the late-night TV landscape, nine of them made fun of each other through half-hearted impersonations. Roll the clip. Stephen Colbert, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, James Corden, Larry Wilmore, Trevor Noah, John Oliver and …
It’s no secret that some of Saturday Night Live‘s most striking work in recent years has not come via live TV, but come alive via lightning-quick production of thrilling tributes to film via short films. Think of the Wes Anderson Halloween tribute “New Horror Trailer,” Louis CK as Lincoln, or Ian …
Each of the past couple of years has made a big impact personally and professionally on stand-up comedian Tig Notaro. And yet, somehow, it’s only April and Notaro’s already shaping up to make an even bigger splash comedically in 2015, with a stand-up special on tap with HBO, a documentary …
The opening monologue Seth Meyers delivered on Saturday night’s NFL Honors was everything you wished it could be and more, as Meyers roasted all of the league’s stars, Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the Super Bowl combatants: The New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. If you’re a sports fan, you …
TV networks may still use Nielsen ratings as their primary measuring stick for how successful their programs in gaining viewers and selling advertisements. But Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is on HBO, where such ratings are even less reliable and relevant than they are for the broadcast networks. So …
In Amy Poehler’s inspirational new book that’s part memoir of her life in comedy — up, up and still rising from iO to UCB to SNL to Parks and Rec — and into advising young comedians and other “Smart Girls at the Party” as an executive producer, Yes Please really …
Almost every comedian I know shared a photo and/or an anecdote about Joan Rivers tonight in the wake of her death at 81, a week after she suffered cardiac arrest and stopped breathing during throat surgery. (Read the obituary of Joan Rivers here) Looking at all of these photos shows …
