Fall Comedy Reads: ‘Thank You for Being a Friend: Life According to The Golden Girls’

Welcome to our Fall Comedy Reads series, where we take a closer look at some of the newly released comedy-related books worth checking out this month. It’s difficult to articulate exactly what it is about The Golden Girls that made it last this long in our hearts. Or at least, it can be difficult to point to […]

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Fall Comedy Reads: Carol Burnett’s ‘In Such Good Company’

Welcome to our Fall Comedy Reads series, where we take a closer look at some of the newly released comedy-related books worth checking out this month. By the end of 1966, Carol Burnett was living in Los Angeles “sitting on orange crates and packing boxes.” Her Broadway career had not exploded the way she’d expected while starring […]

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An Excerpt from ‘Paul Ryan Magazine’: Proust Questionnaire, by Anna Heyward

What is your greatest fear? My greatest fear is of teens, and the possibility of a reckless, bullying majority that they represent. It is worst when they are polite; that’s when I am most likely to have something thrown at me. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? The worst things about me […]

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Fall Comedy Reads: ‘Jack Benny and the Golden Age of American Radio Comedy’

Welcome to our Fall Comedy Reads series, where we take a closer look at some of the newly released comedy-related books worth checking out this month. In 1937, while visiting Los Angeles, British journalist Austin J. Putnam described the “Seven Wonders of Hollywood.” His list included restaurants, theaters, studios, and the live production of Jack […]

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Tim Minchin: ‘If you ask Mum who was the most trouble, she’d say it was me’

The comedian, actor and musician on being part of a strong, close family, his parents’ high expectations, and discovering he could write good riffs

My granddad had a 1,500-acre hobby farm that he had built up from scratch in Western Australia, so my siblings and I spent our childhoods going there a lot. That place – and the beach – was a huge part of our lives. I would define myself as someone who had a completely idyllic childhood. Except, of course, that childhood’s complicated!

I was the middle of three children and then the second of four kids when my little sister came along, when I was 10. We all got along, and were expected to do so. We had periods of arguing, but it is a real privilege being part of a gang. I guess that is something I worry about with my kids – that there are only two of them [Minchin and his wife, Sarah, have two children, Violet, 11, and Caspar, eight]. We kids did a lot together, so we never found a reason to reject each other’s choices. I guess it is an affirmation of our relationships – why wouldn’t we want to be with each other?

Related: Tim Minchin: My life as a dad

With the piano, I had that insatiable need to prove myself

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The Philosophy of JB Smoove

“Jolly” and “optimistic” aren’t descriptors you’d readily associate with your average hardened veteran comics, but then again, JB Smoove has never been an average comedian. The energetic, frenetic funnyman who rose to fame using his entire body as his instrument on the Def Comedy Jam stage has become even more of a household name after […]

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Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson Are on a Mission

When standup comic Corinne Fisher’s boyfriend waited for her to buy his lunch at Panera Bread and then promptly dumped her, her heartbreak became oddly fortunate. It inspired the idea for her podcast, Guys We Fucked, which she hosts with her comedy partner, Krystyna Hutchinson. With the subtitle “The Anti Slut-Shaming podcast,” episodes of GWF […]

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Episode #177: Guys We F@#ked: Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson

Comedians, writers and actors Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson co-host the incredibly successful podcast Guys We F*cked: The Anti Slut-Shaming Podcast which now has more than 200 episodes talking to comedians, porn stars, and more, a worldwide audience of more than a million listeners. They’ve taken their show on the road to comedy clubs, theaters, TED Talks and festivals. […]

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Phil Proctor of Firesign Theatre releases first memoir, “Where’s My Fortune Cookie?”

‘It’s very interesting, we really did have a cultural effect that we certainly did not plan to have. We basically… MORE

Phil Proctor of Firesign Theatre releases first memoir, “Where’s My Fortune Cookie?” appeared first on The Laugh Button.

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John Hodgman Announces ‘Vacationland’ Book Tour Dates

John Hodgman is hitting the road this fall. Today Hodgman announced a batch of tour dates to promote his new book Vacationland, which hits stores at the end of the month and is currently available for pre-order at Amazon. The tour makes stops in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, DC, Portland (the Maine one and the […]

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