The new Netflix series Disjointed, which premiered its first ten episodes (of 20 ordered so far) this past Friday, is an appropriately titled mishmash of two distinct styles that never completely coalesce. Created by David Javerbaum and Chuck Lorre, it is an achingly dull CBS-style sitcom “about” weed the same way The Big Bang Theory is […]
Continue ReadingThe morning I talked to Jay Mohr he had just returned from fishing in the ocean: “I am drunk on catching perch with a spinning lure.” He spoke about how he used to fish with his father as a child and how he recently returned to the sport, often bringing his own son along. “It’s […]
Continue ReadingPod-Canon is an ongoing tribute to the greatest individual comedy-related podcast episodes of all time. I was such a big fan of The Complete Woman, Amanda Lund’s brilliant satire of 1950s and 1960s-style institutional misogyny and cultural repression, that I not only wrote about it for this column, but I wrote about its sequel Complete Joy as […]
Continue ReadingWelcome to our series On the Verge, where our contributors highlight comedians they feel are ready for their next big break. Whether they’re already working in television or still waiting to land their breakout gig, these are just some of the comedians we’d like to see more of over the coming years — ideally with a show, film, or […]
Continue ReadingHidden camera pranks entered the zeitgeist back in 1948, courtesy of Allen Funt’s then-groundbreaking television program Candid Camera. The premise was simple yet universal: trick everyday folks with lighthearted gags, film their reactions, then watch the laughter wash over them when the hoax is revealed. Although comedy aficionados aren’t typically invested in the “televised pranks […]
Continue ReadingJacob Smith (@jacobjargon) is a writer, performer, activist, and Libra. He has worked as an intern at Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS and was featured as a playwright at the Mizzou New Play Series. Recently, he co-starred with Rachel Tiedemann in Noah and Sofia, a mockumentary which won first place in the True/False […]
Continue ReadingThe comedy podcast universe is ever expanding, not unlike the universe universe. We’re here to make it a bit smaller, a bit more manageable. There are a lot of great shows and each has a lot of great episodes, so we want to highlight the exceptional, the noteworthy. Each week our crack team of podcast […]
Continue ReadingMy prayers have been answered. Nah, not really. I’m not religious. Still. After lauding Jason Gudasz’s Somewhere in Highland Park, we’ve got here the second episode in a series that’s brought to life by Aaron Kee and Brodie Reed, and continues to make me laugh out loud. Check this one…and then go back and watch the […]
Continue ReadingWelcome to our series On the Verge, where our contributors highlight comedians they feel are ready for their next big break. Whether they’re already working in television or still waiting to land their breakout gig, these are just some of the comedians we’d like to see more of over the coming years — ideally with a show, film, or […]
Continue ReadingSay what you want about magicians, but Deon Cole thinks comedy should be more like magic. “I look at comedy like magic. If I’ve got the ball in this hand and I shake my hand and it’s gone, that’s how punchlines should be. You shouldn’t be able to read that shit. It’s magic. If I […]
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