Dec272005

Mitch Hedberg Lived

Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy

Apparently Spin Magazine has confirmed that Mitch Hedberg died of a drug overdose, including cocaine and heroin. It’s not surprising news, but it doesn’t change how funny the man was. I think the best thought I ever read on this was from Doug Stanhope back in March:

I don’t know how Mitch died. I know how Mitch lived and he lived brilliantly and by his own rules. The number of years next to his name is trivia. The contents of those years is inspiration.

More of Doug Stanhope’s words on Mitch Hedberg’s death here.

• Doug and Hedberg’s Wife Lynn Shawcroft’s Sirius Radio Tribute to Mitch
• Mitch Hedberg Memorial Board
• Mitch Hedberg’s Site
• Lynn Shawcroft’s Site

UPDATE: Peter Hyman, author of the Spin piece, has commentary on his reporting on his blog.

Dec272005

Chronicling “Chronicles”

Filed Under Sketch Comedy

Though I know it’s not true, I still wonder if Lorne Michaels didn’t know the popularity of the Chronicles of Narnia rap until he read about it in the New York Times story today. The Times story covers the video’s viral success, along with mentioning how the Lonely Island dudes have used the Internet from the beginning to build their careers. (Particularly in building other rap parodies - see Just2Guyz, My Pants, Kablamo and The Bing Bong Brothers on their site.) The account of its production also makes it sound a bit like it was outside the usual gut-wrenching process SNL goes through - did it even have to be table read? Is that what it takes?

I take a different tack than the New York Times story, which makes it sound like the short was written to be aggressively nerdy. Like rappers who’ve write about the dangerous experiences they’ve had, I get the feeling that the Lonely Island guys spend their Sundays refueling for SNL by going to a movie and indulging their sweet tooth. They keep true to who to they are, which makes the bit all the funnier, rather than any exaggerated dorkiness. They just contrast their lives against a hardcore music style. (Similar thoughts play out in this Village Voice article, which talks about the merits of Chronicles as rap.)

I think a lot of the passion and excitement for the video comes from the goodwill people still have for SNL. They want it to be good. When they get something that inarguably funny, it brings all the feelings of the first time they discovered the show. I doubt SNL will ever be cancelled, with its history, it’s only a few sketches away from turning from an institution into a “beloved” institution. Chronicles is one. Now, what else you got?

Dec212005

More Revealed about The Chappelle Theory

Filed Under Comedy Writers, Sketch Comedy

What is the Chappelle Theory? According to the site, It’s a film with Charlie Murphy, written by Neal Brennan (though I suspect that might just be wrong). Just got dropped this in my mail box - uncertain of source yet. Visit http://www.chappelletheory.com/next. The video links are not working (possibly because they don’t exist).

(Picture of Chappelle Theory movie page removed because the site is complete bullshit)

More to come. Considering I’ve heard Neal Brennan was bothered by Chappelle believing the sketches for the third season were racist, perhaps this is a pointed satire of that.

It may instead also seems to be the coming out party for anti-social.com (another weblinc domain), which has added this disclaimer to the site (though not in an easy place to find), asking peeps, particularly Cosby, not to sue. See my earlier speculation. It may just also mean that it’s not a film and the whole site, including this update, is a hilarious parody. (Yes, I did just swallow the red pill.)

UPDATE: Site has been changed to show the link to the disclaimer and the logo updated with the addition of word “Bullshit.” I’m impressed - they didn’t get me with the first thing, but they did with the reveal of the fake film. I’ll have to check out anti-social whenever it launches.

Dec212005

And the Grammy Might Go To…

Filed Under Awards, Records

Grammy Nominations are in for best Comedy Album of 2005. They are:

• The Agoraphobic Cowboy - Rick Moranis
• Family Guy Live in Las Vegas - Seth MacFarlane & Walter Murphy
• Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues - Lewis Black
• Never Scared - Chris Rock
• The Right to Bare Arms - Larry the Cable Guy

I imagine it’s pretty likely Chris Rock is lock for this (considering he’s won twice already and still putting out quality material ), with Larry the Cable Guy a close second. Lewis Black has an outside chance, considering the Daily Show audio companion to America the book won last year. I’m a little surprised Dane Cook’s Retaliation, with it being the biggest comedy album in years sales-wise, didn’t make it. Of course, Dane lives in a strange fame forcefield - a number of blog posts I read about his recent hosting of SNL started with “I’ve never heard of him, but...” And of course, it’d be a bit more interesting to see something a bit more experimental and independent on the list, like The Absurd Nightclub Comedy of Eugene Mirman or Todd Barry’s Falling Off the Bone. I know, I know. It rains puppies and gumdrops in my chocolate Shangri-La!

Any favorites in this group? Anything else that should have been nominated instead? Comment below.

Dec202005

Bob Odenkirk at Sundance

Filed Under Movies

At bobanddavid.com, Bob Odenkirk posted yesterday that a favorite project of his - a TV pilot entitled “Derek and Simon” - will, naturally, not be made into a series. The saving grace this time is that will be part of the Sundance Film Festival. And even if you can’t make it to Utah (due to not being a film executive, a mormon or Mr. Redford), they’ll also be showing it on the web starting January 19 at the following address:

http://festival.sundance.org/2006/watch/index.aspx

I’ll be sure to remind you when the time comes. I take Bob’s word that it’s good stuff, since another show of his “Next!” (which saw no light of day save for the Other Network) featured a fantastic sketch of a R & B singer cheating on the American flag. Sigh. Maybe if this is a huge download, Bob will forget network middlemen and just try podcasting.

Dec192005

Ricky, Larry… Larry, Ricky

Filed Under Comedy Writers

On January 5 of Oh-6, Britain’s Channel 4 will be running an hour-long special featuring a conversation between two masters of uncomfortable comedy, Ricky Gervais and Larry David. There’s been no announcement if or when it will show in the US, but considering HBO has both Curb Your Enthusiasm and Extras, it seems like a perfect fit for them to pick up. But if not them, Comedy Central. Or BBC America. Somebody, please.

Until someone in programing wakes up on this side of the pond, we can read a partial transcript of their meeting thanks to the Daily Telegraph. Included in the text are observations about sitcoms and laughter:

Larry David: That’s the thing with sitcoms: everybody always has to say something funny. And everybody’s saying all these funny things, the audience is laughing, but nobody else in the scene is. (My thoughts on this from an earlier post.)

Another is the assertion by Gervais (41) and David (58) that people under 30 aren’t really that funny:

Ricky Gervais:I think you have to be a certain age to be funny. So few people under the age of 30 are funny.
Larry David: You have to discover when you’re inadequate to be funny and you don’t know you’re inadequate when you’re a kid.
Ricky Gervais: Exactly. Who wants to see unfeasibly good-looking, clever, popular people doing things brilliantly? Who cares?

An interesting argument against the age-ism Hollywood suffers from for not only actors and actresses, but also writers. I think people in their 20s are funny, but I don’t think it would be very easy for young comics to create something like the Office or Curb, which have the stench of failure inbedded in them. They’re funny, just not funny in the beaten-by-life way that Gervais and David have mastered so well. Of course, if you’re in comedy in your 20s you get plenty of rejection. So you’re ready to be really funny when you’re 30.

Again, some cable station (or PBS) should pick this up. If it shows up in bittorrent or one of the P2P networks, write me.

Dec182005

Chappelle Theory: Conspiracy as Marketing?

Filed Under Sketch Comedy

The Chappelle Theory website has gotten a fair amount of pass along on the Internet since Friday.  With its mentions of “Dark Crusaders” ( a cabal of (among others) Cosby, Whoopi Goldberg, Al Sharpton, and, of course, Oprah) pursuing the end of Chappelle’s sketch show because they see it as a form of minstrelsy. The silliest part of Chappelle Theory comes when the group broadcasts a threatening message to Dave’s TV and Dave’s TV only:

On Tuesday, while watching an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show, Chappelle recalled being completely stunned when Winfrey turned to the camera in the middle of interviewing Tom Cruise and said “Dave Chappelle, you should be ashamed of yourself for airing that Niggars sketch on your show this week, I’m going to make sure you never work in Hollywood again.

It was obvious that this was either the work of a crackpot or someone who has comedy writing aspirations. But after being seeing the whois registrations for the URL at digg, which point to a webshop in Philly named Weblinc. I figured out the names of the heads, and found one of them - Jason Hill - had not only posted on it once, but twice, but also posted an original digg posting on Chappelle Theory that was removed. It was also blogged early on by another Weblinc employee, Anthony Bucci .

Now I’m certain that this is a viral marketing campaign for Chappelle’s Third Season. (According to my quick e-mail correspondence with Weblinc’s Jason Hill, he claims Comedy Central didn’t hire them.) It’s impressive to see the effort put into to push the new season, although if I was one of the viral marketers, I’d be a little uneasy about adding Bill Cosby’s name into this. He’s been known to sue. See the House of Cosbys.

Still, nice work. Rising black comics, you may continue your “negative stereotypes” without fear of “Dark Crusaders.”