Do you like volumes of comic essays that you’ll end up reading entirely in one sitting? How about amusingly embarrassing memoirs, unpredictably silly novels, or behind-the-scenes accounts of classic comedy movies? Are you at all interested in comic strips, hipster-mocking, the diaries of a genius, and novelizations of fictional movies? Then give a hoot — […]
Continue ReadingA Christian, Jew, pseudo-Scientologist, agnostic, atheist, Jehovah’s Witness, and a Muslim all enroll at a dysfunctional community college. How do they celebrate the holidays? No, this isn’t the setup to a particularly long-winded joke about religion or a public school Board of Education’s call to arms. Rather, this is an honest to goodness question posed […]
Continue ReadingWhile I am not usually a fan of these kinds of lists, I do miss my annual tradition of sending holiday mix tapes, and later mix CDs, to friends and family. So a few caveats. Please note that this playlist does not suggest any particular hierarchy, but rather is sequenced in my suggested order of […]
Continue ReadingBizzy Coy is a humor writer and copywriter who ditched the mean streets of NYC for the mean bears of the Catskills. She lives and writes in her cottage in the woods, with humor pieces appearing in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Splitsider, The Belladonna, The Establishment, and The Higgs Weldon. Check bizzycoy.com for upcoming readings […]
Continue ReadingComedy movie directors may not get as much credit as they deserve. Yes, there is Judd Apatow and Todd Phillips, but how many people could name the director of Tommy Boy (Peter Segal) or Wedding Crashers (David Dobkin) or Superbad (Greg Mottola)? And how does one even become a comedy film director to begin with? […]
Continue ReadingHoliday specials, for the most part, are a family affair. In general, they are (at best) sweet adventures or (at worst) cloying cash-grabs. There is a sweet spot for holiday specials, however, that make them entertaining for every member of the family and not something the older folks in the room dread having to watch […]
Continue ReadingIt’s a great time to be a standup with both a killer persona and writing chops, and Selena Coppock knows a lot about both. The Massachusetts native currently lives in New York City and has spent years performing at standup and storytelling events like The Moth and Yum’s the Word as well as co-hosting the […]
Continue ReadingThis is the last This Week in Web Videos column. Not forever, but for the year. I’m choosing not to feature a holiday-themed piece. Is that crazy? Yes, and it may not be popular, but Rachel Sennott’s The ATM Mechanic is worth the fallout. After a year that’s been nothing if not shut-the-lights-off-and-stare deplorable, we need […]
Continue ReadingBest known for his standup in the United Kingdom, Romesh Ranganathan was working as a high school math teacher before deciding to pursue his lifelong passion for comedy. Over the course of five years, Romesh went from performing pub gigs to becoming one of the UK’s most popular performers. After selling out theaters all over England and touring Australia, […]
Continue ReadingThe Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which is happening August 3rd through the 27th in 2018, is the largest performing arts festival in the world. Every year, thousands of performers go to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to showcase their work, build a UK following, make valuable connections, sell their shows to producers, and seek out local and […]
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