Early this morning, my mom texted me about an MSNBC segment that aired last night on a group of psychiatrists and mental health experts who have banded together to warn that Donald Trump is “psychologically off the chain.” “Donald has a lot of scary monsters in his head like the short you showed me from the president show, […]
Continue ReadingTonight at 12:30 Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents will air a half hour that is arguably unlike any you’ve seen before. If this sounds like hyperbole, please know that the special involves giant sentient glowing crystals and excerpts from Melania Trump’s secret diary delivered by someone who refers to himself as a Space Prince. The half […]
Continue ReadingEvery so often you hear somebody say something like “Oh, I would love to do standup comedy, I’m just too shy.” And more often than not, they never do. Luckily for us, Anthony DeVito managed to overcome his shyness — so effectively, in fact, that this year alone he performed on The Late Show and […]
Continue ReadingWith well over three decades in the game, Dana Gould has experienced many of comedy’s highs and lows. From humble beginnings (“I started doing standup two weeks out of high school. I was taken to my first mic by my high school librarian and her husband”), he went on to survive booms and busts (“The […]
Continue ReadingFelipe Esparza’s story is a twisted, modern-day fairy tale: The son of immigrant parents learns English to help his parents, joins a gang, gets addicted to drugs, has his life threatened, then meets a spiritual advisor who pushes him to get clean and follow his dream of being a comedian. These vignettes make up Felipe’s […]
Continue ReadingWyatt Cenac has stretched himself about as much as any comedian has over the last decade-plus. Cenac is an accomplished standup, having written, directed, and performed his Netflix special Brooklyn, which was nominated for a Grammy in 2016. As an actor, he has a starring role on TBS’s People of Earth. As a writer, he worked on King of the […]
Continue ReadingMatt Besser has done all there is to do in comedy, but ask him and he’ll tell you about a life that could have been as a musician. In Stolen Idea, a new punk rock comedy musical that Besser co-created for Stitcher Premium, he gets the chance to live out that fantasy and continue to […]
Continue ReadingJanelle James is in too deep. Eight years ago she started down the difficult and objectively foolish path of standup comedy, and now it’s too late to turn back. “It’s the dumbest thing. It’s a needle-in-a-haystack-ass career. And I’m a woman. And I’m black. What? But I like it so much.” Comedy appears to be […]
Continue ReadingJo Firestone spent the day before her Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents (her episode premieres tonight at 12:30) taping sitting by the pool doing Sudoku. “I like to be alone. I have some people here, so I might push them away. That’s my style, to push people away.” Alone time is important since the behind-the-scenes at […]
Continue ReadingLooking at animated versions of middle schoolers’ penises and vaginas would typically get someone put on a watch list, but prepare for it to be the talk of the TV comedy world pretty soon. Netflix’s Big Mouth, starring, co-created, and executive produced by Nick Kroll (The League, Kroll Show), centers around a group of middle […]
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