The Definitive Guide to Comedy
In the wake of the departure of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, comedy itself in Aspen has taken a dark turn. If that previous Aspen Times report on the Aspen Comedy Club’s woes wasn’t enough for you, then here’s the follow-up piece from Friday’s paper. Still full of damning he-said, …
The Bridgetown Comedy Festival runs March 6-8 in Portland at four separate venues, with a great rate of a $20 wristband (proceeds go to Oregon Red Cross Local Disaster Relief Fund) getting you into all of the shows. Plenty of homegrown and Portland-based comedians on the bill, but also groups …
After all of the hype, Brett Gelman’s "1,000 Cats" became a full-fledged, stand-alone show last night at the UCB Theatre in New York City. That is, it’s the show described by Brett Gelman, as Brett Gelman, serious musical theatre actor, as what the show could be when fully realized onstage. …
DEVELOPING! In case you missed it, the "world famous" Laugh Factory no longer lists New York City among the club locations on its home page. A fellow comedian told me the other night that he had done a gig at Funny Biz. When I replied, "Funny Biz?" he informed me …
So I finally got to witness Grammy-winning rock star John Mayer perform stand-up, as he dropped in at the Comedy Cellar late Saturday night (well, 1:39 a.m. Sunday) and did an eight-minute set. What’s to say? The guy is a rock star. Which means he already has command of the …
Always looking to improve upon my intention to be a definitive guide to comedy, I’ve added links to the regional comedy blog sites for Washington, D.C. (DC Comedy: 4 Now), Los Angeles (where The Coming claims it’s making a comeback), Philadelphia (Comic Vs. Audience) and San Francisco (SF Standup). Be …
So…Prof. Dave Saldana sent me an email requesting me to "throttle back on the accusatory tone," because if I were to Google "killing frogs" (they do have Google in Iowa!), I would see (as would you) that no one else was using that term for a comedy blog. Indeed. Point …
Dave Saldana teaches journalism at Iowa State University. He also just launched a comedy blog called Killing Frogs. That’s right. Killing Frogs. That sounds awfully familiar, doesn’t it, Todd Jackson? Do they have Google in Iowa? What would Saldana’s students think? And why must frogs die for comedy to thrive, …
The New York Post finally writes about Brett Gelman’s "Little Bit of Luck" Take 5 New York Lottery ad campaign that’s taking the city and state by storm. Related: My earlier take on it. Thanks to Adweek’s Ad Freak for the link!
The New York Underground Comedy Festival will return this year, specifically from Oct. 3-12, and even more specifically, announcing its focus will be on serving the industry. Another sign of a post-Aspen comedy world, perhaps? The festival will accept submissions from comics in two categories: Professional Comic and Emerging Comic. …