When Johnny Carson retired into the late-night sunset, never to be seen again except for a rare appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman, I was OK with that. But Letterman retiring didn’t seem exactly right. Certainly he couldn’t keep up with the Jimmy Fallons or James Cordens. Certainly he never wanted to learn […]
Continue ReadingSince Sam Rockwell was announced as the first SNL host of 2018, I’ve been stoked. I’ve been a rabid Sam Rockwell fan since he danced to Pharoahe Monch in Charlie’s Angels. Then danced again in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. I can’t remember if he danced in Moon, but it was a very good movie. […]
Continue ReadingTom Segura reminds me of every great stand-up comedian that I used to see in comedy clubs before/between the booms. Segura takes relatively unpopular positions and makes you laugh along with him at them, and does so with a tightly structured set infused with callbacks that pay off. He’s one-half of one of the funniest […]
Continue ReadingWe saw a record number of hour-long stand-up comedy specials released on video in 2017. Were they all worth your time? Probably not. But I can recommend more than a few. A few dozen, in fact. These are the comedy specials from the year just passed that I’d watch with you again (and in some […]
Continue ReadingWhen you think of spicy honey, you think of Todd Barry? I don’t know that I’d ever describe Barry’s comedic styling as sweet with fiery undertones, but that’s what he called his first Netflix stand-up special. Todd Barry: Spicy Honey. Instead: I’d call him sardonic. As I wrote in my review for Decider, he doesn’t […]
Continue ReadingRussell Howard is a big TV star in Britain, but you’d only know him in America if you’re an ex-pat or if you’re an avid watcher of the late-night telly. In that case, you’d have seen him pop up from time to time, once on Conan, once on The Tonight Show, and once on The […]
Continue ReadingThis episode of SNL was a disappointment to me because I didn’t get to see the one thing I wanted more than anything: Pete Davidson’s new Hillary Clinton tattoo. Instead we got cameos ranging from the welcome (Scarlett Johansson), the tired (Alec Baldwin) and the delightful (a llama!). At the center was energetic Kevin Hart, […]
Continue ReadingJudd Apatow just released his first stand-up special this week at age 50, after only returning to stand-up comedy stages three years ago. Of course, if you read The Comic’s Comic, then you already know how Apatow hasn’t left the comedy game at all since diving in as a teenager, and it’s just that you’ve […]
Continue ReadingAt the halfway point of South Park’s 21st season, my reaction was a bit mixed. On one hand, they gave us a brilliant look at the opioid epidemic with “Hummels and Heroin,” and Tweek’s fear of Garrison/Trump in “Put It Down” cleverly reflected the existential dread that many Americans have been feeling ever since November 9th, 2016. […]
Continue ReadingSeth Rogen said what we were all thinking: SZA was the thing to get stoked for last week on SNL. “This is my fourth time hosting,” admitted James Franco, “which is the most you can do without it being special.” And this was not a special night of television. It was a very quotidian affair. But […]
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