On Saturday, I also talked to Dave Attell outside the Comedy Cellar who mentioned the need for… um… talent to be part of his upcoming revival of the Gong Show for Comedy Central. His message to you:
Help me kill American Idol. If you’re a weird freak with a debatable talent, write me at
I caught the second to last show at New York’s Comedy Village (formerly the Boston Comedy Club) this past Saturday. I wasn’t a regular at the club, but it definitely had its place in the comedy scene. As Joey Gay said at the end of his story about a rowdy audience: “At this comedy club you can throw five ashtrays at a comedian and still not be thrown out and that’s the kind of comedy club NYC needs.”
Above: The comics from the second to last show, including Gay, Judah Friedlander, Rick Shapiro and owner/performer PJ Landers, pose on stage, with the audience invited to join them. Photo by Julie Seabaugh.
The sixth season of Last Comic Standing is coming soon, and like the uncensored outtakes from earlier, it looks like NBC just dropped these on the web. These clips are from the auditions in front of a live audience, so they’re all folks who got past the judges.
Taken from the Tempe Improv, this video features Adam Hunter Christina Pazstitzky and Phil Palisoul.
And in NY’s Gotham Comedy Club, we have Dan Naturman, Marc Theobold and Louis Ramey (who gave NBC a bit they can use over and over again in promos).
It just started last night in Kentucky, but midwest and west coast comedy nerds should check out the Stand Uppity Tour, which features Marc Maron, Andy Kindler and Eugene Mirman. Produced by the Huffington Post’s humor site 236, it’s got an appropriately liberal elitist tag line: “Comedy That Makes You Feel Better About Yourself, and Superior To Others.” Or as Kindler told a Minnesota paper: “It’s the anti-Robin Williams show. If you don’t think you’ll enjoy Robin Williams, you’ll enjoy this show.”
Here’s the remaining dates:
May 12 Lake Shore Theater, Chicago, IL - 9:00 PM
Get tickets
May 13, 2008 Turf Club, St. Paul, MN - 7:00 PM
Get tickets
May 14, 2008 The Aquarium @ Dempseys, Fargo, ND - 7:00 PM
Get tickets
May 17, 2008 Neurolux, Boise, ID - 7:00 PM
Get tickets
May 18, 2008 Bagdad Theater, Portland, OR - 8:00 PM
Get tickets
May 20, 2008 Mezzanine, San Francisco, CA - 8:00 PM
Get tickets
May 22, 2008 Echo Plex, Los Angeles, CA - 7:00 PM
Get tickets
May 26, 2008 Sasquatch Music Festival Comedy Tent, George, WA
(No Andy, just Marc & Eugene)
Get tickets
Tonight, the PBS Show “America at the Crossroads” will take a look at Muslim performers and stand-up comedy. The focus of the series is the war on terror and the many aspects of American culture that have changed since 9/11, so naturally much of the show will be how these artists have responded to the events.
If you’re familiar at all with the Axis of Evil comedy tour and special, you’ll recognize some of the names and the comedy from this documentary, including Ahmed Ahmed. Here’s a look at Ahmed Ahmed doing something that’s, sadly, fertile ground for Muslims who perform stand-up… checking into the airport.
But there’s a look at other performers in an earlier spot in their careers. Here’s Maysoon Zayid talking particularly about the challenges on the other side of being a Muslim stand-up - those from her own community.
America at the Crossroads look at Muslim comics premieres tonight. It’s on at 10PM in most places, but check your local listings for times.
I put this is the news feed before, but I’m a little disappointed with Nerve’s list of 50 Greatest Commercial Parodies. Nerve’s a sex site, they’re not claiming to be experts on comedy. But still, it’s glaring that nothing from Mr. Show or Tim & Eric didn’t make it on there. Saturday Night Live has done some brilliant commercial parodies, but they don’t own the form as much as the list suggests.
Any future list writers should pick up the first season of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, which just came to DVD last month. Here’s a brilliant ad from their first episode called B’Owl, a Cinco toy. It’s #40 on that list at least.
Bob Odenkirk is a comedy writer I admire not only for his work, but for his unflinching words about his work. It’s in evidence in this recent interview with Bob (with David Cross) on Vanity Fair on their upcoming HBO sitcom David’s Situation. The interviewer brings up The Ben Stiller Show as a show – like Arrested Development or Mr. Show – that was canceled too early by the network. Odenkirk instantly objects, stating:
The Ben Stiller Show was a complete fucking mess. Watch that show. Just watch that show. Please!
and…
It was not a cohesive show. The voice of one scene was completely different from the voice of another.
and…
Look, I think the show was not completely realized, and we were all very young and we didn’t know what the hell we were doing. None of it held together. I mean, c’mon, what was your favorite moment of Ben hanging out with celebrities between scenes? Was that non-stop hilarity for you? People talk about that show like it was comedy genius, but in my opinion it never even came close. It had some high points and sometimes it could be offbeat, but it was mostly a lot of comedy sludge.
And generally you can trust his own self assessments. This weekend I caught part of the Odenkirk directed “Let’s Go to Prison.” I watched the first half hour and was pleasantly surprised how much I was enjoying it. I had remembered Odenkirk admitting some troubles with the film in an AV Club Interview. I had some run and ended up recording the rest on the DVR while I was out. Picking up where I left off, the prison setting started swallowing the humor, black comedy turning into bleak comedy. I had to go find what Odenkirk said in that AV Club interview. Sure enough, he described the film as lacking a target and ending up as “darkness to no end.”
There’s a reason why people think of Odenkirk as a premiere comedy mind. He doesn’t romanticize his own writing. He’s able to be unsparing critical and at the same time incredibly productive. So much of comedy - or any bit of creativity - requires some tunnel vision and denial just to get it done. How Odenkirk can create with such a powerful critic inside is remarkable. (Not that it saved Let’s Go to Prison, but you can be sure that he won’t make the same mistake next time.)
Susie Essman: "I don't get heckled that much. Most hecklers are men... When I'm on stage, I'm in control and I don't think men want to be humiliated by a woman. Where with other guys, it's a mano y mano thing, with me I don't think they want to go there." (AintItCool)
On Saturday, I also talked to Dave Attell outside the Comedy Cellar who mentioned the need for… um… talent to be part of his upcoming revival of the Gong Show for Comedy Central. His message to you:
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, which just came to DVD last month. Here’s a brilliant ad from their first episode called B’Owl, a Cinco toy. It’s #40 on that list at least.
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