Russell Brand quits BBC radio show. Brand was just suspended for making a prank call to the answer machine of Andrew Sachs (Fawlty Tower's Manuel) where Brand says he's had sex with Sachs' granddaughter, drawing 18,000 complaints.

Does Little Britain promote hatred in the UK? A London School of Economics professor claims the characters represent whole groups as targets for derisive laughter, including the gay character Daffyd played by gay actor Matt Lucas. Bollocks, right?

Scott Adsit on his role on "30 Rock": "I have faith that eventually we'll get around to Pete being comedy gold, or at least comedy reliability... I enjoy doing physical comedy. I'd love, you know, them to throw me some shtick that way." (AV Club)

MST3K's Joel Hodgson on Gallagher: "I met him once at a club, and he was picking through my props and looking at them. I said, 'Yeah, I do prop comedy, too!' And he said, 'You call them 'props'!?!? When a surgeon goes in to work on somebody, do you think he calls his instruments 'props'?'" (aintitcool)

Amy Poehler and Will Arnett welcomed their new baby Archie on Saturday. Belated best wishes to the new first family of funny.

New on DVD: 20th Anniversary of MST3K , The Complete Newsradio and the 30th Anniversary version of Animal House

Despite Dave Chappelle signing on as an investor, D.C. will likely not get a new comedy club at 14th and T. A big box retailer is interested in the space.

Paul F. Tompkins on the new Best Week Ever: "I don’t ever want to be picking on the little guy, because I think that’s the lowest form of comedy — comedy that points downward as opposed to pointing upward." (Buzzine)

Caroline Hirsch on Carolines talks about running a comedy club in tough times. They've got increased costs but say they're not raising prices during the downturn.

Larry David will start shooting Curb Your Enthusiasm's 7th Season in December. One can only hope that J.B. Smoove will be a part of them.

The Weekly World News is back, but only online for now.. The new owner Neil McGinness, a former NatLamp and Broadway Vid exec, says the model for the relaunched paper in the Onion.

Comedy Central's German analogue fails. One reason: they actually dubbed the shows in German, ruining the gags. Doesn't destroy the stereotype, does it?

RooftopComedy coming to CurrentTV. The website's stand-up clips of young comics will form the basis of a ten-minute currently-untitled show for the cable net.

Will Barack Obama make it on SNL before Election Day? Lorne Michaels hints more of the candidates will make it to Studio 8H but isn't saying who.

Nielsen Report: Republicans are the most engaged with South Park and Democrats are the most engaged with The Colbert Report.

Obama doesn't think Fred Armisen's impersonation of him is very good. (And he's right, IMHO) But the candidate does note that the caricature's ears get bigger each SNL episode.

CBS and Second City make a deal. CBS gets first look at any idea from the troupe and will use their stages to workshop ideas for shows.

Gervais has an "Extras" idea. Wants to do another Xmas episodes, with Andy Millman trying to make it in Hollywood. Sticking point: does Stephen Merchant want to do it?

SNL working on its own comedy website featuring show clips plus dropped rehersal sketches and original vids. Modeled after "Funny or Die" which "isn't doing that great."

Despite a sputtering economy and the disbandment of Second City Detroit, Michigan will soon have a new improv theater. The theater Go Comedy! will have shows Wednesday to Saturday weekly.

Samantha Bee on Comedy's effect on Politics: "I remember back in 2004 people were like, 'How does it feel knowing that you're going to be part of the shifting tide in the political system?' And in the end nothing changed, and we weren't part of anything." (AV Club)

Stephen Colbert portrait at the National Museum of American History will stay permanently. It's likely move from his spot near the restrooms to the Treasures of American History collection.

On November 9, big names will perform to help a peer's kidney. Elayne Boosler, Kevin James, Carol Leifer, Jay Leno, Larry Miller and Ray Romano will work a benefit for LA comic Max Alexander.

Comedian Rudy Ray Moore dead at 81. Though most famous for "Dolemite", Moore as a stand-up was a ghetto contemporary of Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx.

Is laughter yoga "comedy for people with no sense of humor." See it in action and judge for yourself. One thing for sure, it is a little creepy.

Rodney Dangerfield's widow wins an injunction preventing producer David Permut from distributing video footage of the comic's later years. Permut had planed on editing the footage into a documentary called "Respect"

Rob Riggle the latest Daily Show correspondent to get a TV deal. He's developing a sitcom for CBS, with Jon Stewart's blessing. Riggle: "...he gave me a high five. He totally got it."

Saturday Night Live gets best ratings in 14 years with a cameo by Republican VP Candidate Sarah Palin. No news if ratings declined after her initial appearance in the show open.

Will Ferrell's coming to Broadway in January with "You're Welcome America", where Ferrell will reprise his George W. Bush impression from SNL. The show is currently planned to run only until March 15.

As McCain told Letterman last night, GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin confirmed to be on SNL on Saturday. Sorry to get political, but could she do a press conference? Just one?