The Definitive Guide to Comedy
When I launched this site, oh so many days ago, people in the comedy festival business wondered if there’d be much of an American comedy festival business in 2008. Or at least, not the same comedy confabs that we’d become accustomed to. When last we left Las Vegas in November, …
When I first saw Will Franken perform last fall, the best I could come up with on my Daily News blog was this description: "manic brilliance." Speaking to Franken at length this week over coffee amid the Williamsburg types, I realized the words really do fit this untraditional comedian. First, …
Just finished watching my advance copy of Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, which debuts tonight at 8 p.m. on HBO (re-airing several Tuesday, Friday and several other times this month), and I’ve got to say, it’s great that director John Landis took the time to get this documentary done …
Now that I’ve had a chance to rest and gather my thoughts, a few things still left to be said about The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. For one thing, I’m still not really sure what Ellen DeGeneres was trying to accomplish with "Ellen’s Really Big Show" at Caesars Palace. …
The last time many American audiences saw Eddie Izzard perform stand-up, he was wearing a dress and makeup. Ah, the life of a cross-dressing straight transvestite. Or is that redundant? Well, at least we know it’s not drag, as Izzard explained to reporters before his sold-out performance Saturday night at …
After electrifying the Las Vegas audience with his extended introductory performance of "So F–king Rock," Tim Minchin said this was his first time in America. Well. Not quite. I’d seen Minchin earlier this year when he wowed the crowds in Aspen. "Aspen’s not America, really," Minchin told me backstage after …
Through methods not entirely spelled out — although, really, anything associated with the late Andy Kaufman should go without any easy explanations — eight comedians from across America got invites to Las Vegas to perform in front of Kaufman’s dad, Stanley, and his manager, George Shapiro, for the coveted award …
I had the chance to watch Chris Rock try out new material twice in recent months in the intimate environment of the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village, so imagine my delight and surprise (not to mention the 4,000-plus people at Caesars Palace) to hear him deliver even newer riffs Friday …
If people were tired of seeing Jerry Seinfeld seemingly everywhere this month, it didn’t show Friday night for either him or the 4,000 cheering fans at Caesars Palace for The Comedy Festival, where he was introduced to the stage as "the star of the number one movie in America." After …
Could relatively unknown sketch comedy groups compete with national headlining comics for eyeballs, attention and laughs at The Comedy Festival in Las Vegas? That was the challenge for "Unprotected Sketch!" a series of sketches hosted by NYC’s Kurt Braunohler and Kristen Schaal. Kurt and Kristen, who host Hot Tub at …