News – The Apiary find that New York downtown venue Rififi is for sale. How will the new owner take to the shows like Invite them Up?

News – Andrew Dice Clay has his own search engine. Users can win prizes, including a phone call from Dice. "Google my dick, Larry and Sergei," Dice did not say.

News – Joke about New England Patriot's Tom Brady excised from last weekend's Peyton Manning-hosted SNL. Gossip columnists dismayed by lack of cheap shot in monologue.

News – Are the Japanese far too serious? Apparently, there is no easy translation for the English term "sense of humor."

News – Just for Laughs will have a mini comedy fest in Toronto July 26-28. Right after Montreal celebrates its 25th anniversary July 12-22.

News – Monty Python's Spamalot heads to Vegas. It's a bit shorter, so the audience can go back to seeking their own grail - a jackpot.

Filed Under Live Events

Melbourne Comedy Fest: Laughter has Rhythm

This is a fun ad for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival (in Australia, if you failed geography). (thanks Adrants)

First off, it’s great that a comedy festival is a big enough to advertise on TV. And then, it’s even better than it can hire great creatives to make a spot like this. I kinda wish I was goin’ now.

Folks performing at the Melbourne Fest include Dylan Moran, Ardal O’Hanlan, Rich Hall and Jim Henson’s Puppet Up!, which was part of 2006’s Aspen and Vegas Fest. There’s also a course in comedy appreciation called Dissecting the Frog.

Hmm…

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News – The paper of record says we're all Comedy Central's bitch when it comes to TV comedy. And they're right. Nobody else even come close to programming the funny.

News – Rita Rudner will perform in Vegas at Harrah's Las Vegas for three more years Set to sell her millionth ticket sometime in 2008.

News – RIcky Gervais to star in romantic comedy Ghost Town, about a dentist who see ghosts and ask for help in contacting the living. Greg Kinnear also stars.

Filed Under Records

Out Now: Tom Shillue’s “Overconfident”

I’ve enjoyed Tom Shillue’s stand-up for a long time. One of the finest comics working the NY clubs today, Tom is casually himself on stage in a time when screaming and over-gesticulating seems to hold sway. He’s funny without frantic force, a tone mastered by folks like Newhart and Cosby. His first CD “Overconfident” was just released today. Here’s one of my favorite tracks from the album, where Tom finds Philadelphia’s ad campaign to entice lovers to visit the city to be a little disturbing. And possibly unpatriotic.

It’s not currently on sale at Amazon, but you can get it on iTunes or, if you prefer a physical copy with photos of Tom cavorting with Jen Dziura and Molly Crabapple, you can go to Tom’s Online Store.

Posted by Todd Jackson at 08:05 PM | Send to Friend | Comments (0)
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News – Uncabaret's Other Network releases Volume 1 & 2 of The Other Network Writer' Room for aspiring TV writers. Features interviews with Larry Charles, Alan Zweibel and Seth MacFarlane. Both sets, 9 CDs $199.

News – NBC's Dot Comedy has some NSFW clips of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog in the Tropicana showroom in Vegas. This is what Bugsy Siegel had in mind when he saw that desert...

News – Chris Rock did a surprise set last night at Stand Up NY. And then, later, at the Comedy Cellar. Working on that next HBO special...

News – How does South Park deliver a new episode in six days? They use Macs. Take that John Hodgman.

News – It's taken almost 20 seasons, but The Simpsons have evolved the best couch gag ever. Best part: look what happens to Moe.

News – For the NY Times, Patton Oswalt pens an ode to Guns and Yoga. One is good against zombies, and the other... isn't.

News – Ricky Gervais will bring his stand-up show Fame to New York's Madison Square Garden. No dates mentioned, but keep checking Gervais' Fame page for when they're announced.

News – The Scots have a Comedy Academy 4 Kids. The school, which was part of last year's Edinburgh Fringe Fest, teaches children as young as 7 how to perform stand-up.

News – TV Guide suggests an unnamed TV comedy is on the bubble despite a fan and critic favorite. All because a network exec doesn't think it's funny. Comedy... it's subjective.

Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy

New Evidence: Carlos Mencia vs. Bill Cosby

There was a shadow of doubt possible in prior accusations of Carlos Mencia, but for this latest charge of joke stealing, I have a difficult time imagining how this is defensible.

First the video, which contrasts a joke from 1983’s Bill Cosby: Himself, a fantastic example of the comic working in his prime, and 2006’s Carlos Mencia: No Strings Attached, the same show which brought the accusations of stealing from Ari Shaffir. Here’s the video:

This video fits the exact criteria that I believe makes for true joke stealing. This is material is unique and fits with the personality of the original performer and cannot be transplanted into another. When Bill Cosby tells the story of teaching his son how to play football there’s such a humanity about it, a real awareness of what being a father is like that goes hand-in-hand with the humor. It’s almost touching and makes the twist of not being thanked after the big game that much more hysterical. With Mencia, the material looks shoehorned into the wrong performer. Not only is it not grounded in the small touches of being a parent, but there’s an attitude of anger at his own son which, if it’s a story drawn from personal experience, shouldn’t be there. While it isn’t the word for word plagiarism some have described it as, this is as close to a smoking gun as I can imagine.

This type of video will light the fire in detractors, making them likely to search for more evidence against Mencia. A new video quickly surfaced that contrasted a Sam Kinison bit about Jesus with a Mind of Mencia sketch (far less damaging in my mind because a staff writer other than Mencia could have wrote it). It’s not going to stop, If they are out there, more examples of Mencia’s potential larceny of comic material will come to light. I don’t see much damage yet to Mencia, but an abundance of examples drawing from multiple sources will eventually have its effect, if not on the industry then on fans, certainly many of whom become disillusioned as they have to defend the comic from the latest barrage of accusations.

When the original video came out, I had a short correspondence with a friend about how I was happy to see this brought to light, but I was worried that we don’t want to know how deep this rabbit hole goes. In truth, there’s a lot more parallel thinking going on out there than many comics will want to admit. I watched a Bill Maher special earlier this week and at one point got deja vu about a similar George Carlin bit. Neither of those two comics are thieves. Both are original comics who have similar attitudes to a lot of topics, so there’s a chance in some overlap in material. And if two comics who are as vital, smart and skillful as those two can have parallel thinking, comics who aren’t at that stage of their careers will too. But with YouTube video becoming the judge, jury and executioner for comedic integrity, I’m a little afraid we’re going to get carried away. Or are my fears unfounded?

Posted by Todd Jackson at 07:31 PM | Send to Friend | Comments (11)
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News – MoveOn.org sues Viacom for removing a parody of the Colbert Report from YouTube. Ah, the double-edged sword of copyright law. Read the EFF document. See the video.

News – Will Ferrell says the Academy should create an Oscar for Best Comedy Performance. So that song he sang with Jack Black at this year's ceremony - he meant that?

News – Calvin DeForest, aka Larry "Bud" Melman, dead at age 85. Late Night and then Late Show regular's last appearance was in 2002, celebrating his 81st birthday.

News – Dave Thomas on a SCTV reunion: "Forget it, we're not going to do it -- we don't have the time or the energy." Just have to do with the Second City: First Family of Comedy DVD

News – Anne Beats, a writer for the first seasons of SNL, named one of the judges of the web contest Project Breakout, which seeks videos to anoint the next comedy star.

News – Paul Mooney on Dave Chappelle: "He did what white people have been telling me to do for years: go to Africa."

News – Oshawa, Ontario doesn't welsh on its mayor's bet and celebrates Stephen Colbert Day. Host attends via taped message. Festivities include cake and look-alike contest.

Filed Under Stand-Up Comedy

Bernie Mac Hanging Up Stand Up

On Monday’s Late Show, Bernie Mac told Letterman that he’s retiring from stand-up later this year. But not without a last hurrah, in this case the film “The Whole Truth, Nothing but the Truth, So Help Me Mac”, which presumably will tape a farewell concert performance. There’s no word yet of where that final performance will tape or when, other than the less-than-definitive date of fall.

In his conversation with Letterman, he noted the difficult life of a road comic:

“Oh, man, you miss out on so much, you know, and you live in all these hotels _ I was on the road 47 weeks out of the year,”

He also cited this year would make 30 years since he first started performing in clubs, which sounds like a good round number to me. Still this might turn out to be one of those never say never deals, Bernie Mac is only 49. Though he’s best known for talking about how he will beat your kids in The Original Kings of Comedy, below is a clip from Def Jam before that groundbreaking tour and film. First you’ll notice the 90’s era red yellow and green clothing. And then, you’ll notice the repetition - it’s not really a catchphrase, more of a moodsetter.

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News – Billy Horrigan of University of Rhode Island wins AE Campus Comedy Challenge. He and runner-up Ross Parsons will perform in Cancun for Spring Break.