Erik Griffin is a workaholic. Workaholics, the show that introduced him to a broader audience with his portrayal of Montez Walker, recently ended its seventh and final season. But Griffin is keeping himself on the radar this summer with his role in I’m Dying Up Here and his first hour-long comedy special, The Ugly Truth, […]
Continue ReadingErik Griffin is a workaholic. Workaholics, the show that introduced him to a broader audience with his portrayal of Montez Walker, recently ended its seventh and final season. But Griffin is keeping himself on the radar this summer with his role in I’m Dying Up Here and his first hour-long comedy special, The Ugly Truth, […]
Continue ReadingWith only four comedy specials released last month it would be easy to say that we’re in a bit of a summer drought compared to previous months. But instead of complaining about the metaphorical weather, let’s just spend some time reviewing what fell from the skies in June. In case you missed it, here’s a rundown […]
Continue ReadingSince (not entirely voluntarily) retiring from screenwriting, I wrote Funny: The Book / Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Comedy. When sales skyrocketed into double figures, a university invited me to a conference about ethics in standup comedy. But really, what kind of humorless, self-important asshole would go to something like that? I landed […]
Continue ReadingComedy Central’s newest half-hour standup series, Kevin Hart Presents: The Next Level, continues this Sunday night at 11/10c with up-and-coming Chicago comedian Taneshia “Just Nesh” Rice. Nesh is a relatively young comic, having spent just a little over five years onstage. She ran the light at her first open mic but a year and a half […]
Continue ReadingNetflix is adding so much standup this year that now they’re even inviting non-comedians to host their own comedy specials — first there was Michael Bolton’s Valentine’s Day special, and now country singer Brad Paisley has a special of his own in the works. The streaming network has added an hourlong standup special hosted by […]
Continue ReadingStanding in line on the sidewalk in front of the Nuyorican Poets Café is usually a time of sensory overload. The performance space, located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, is best known for raucous poetry slams, and while you wait to get in on an ordinary Friday night, you knock elbows with scores […]
Continue ReadingMan on Fire, Chris D’Elia’s third standup special, dropped today on Netflix. Filmed at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver, the special captures the 37 year old comedian at a bit of an existential crossroads: “I’m at the point where in five years I’m going to be in my 40s…not to get all heady, but I’m […]
Continue ReadingKevin Hart Presents: The Next Level on Comedy Central. Following that, his new Comedy Central series Hood Adjacent premieres next Wednesday at 9:00/8:00c. Hood Adjacent is Davis’ move to bridge the gap between urban and mainstream comedy by exploring topics through his point of view, a point of view that has always straddled the fence […]
Continue ReadingDoug Stanhope has been called all sorts of things like depraved, rude, hostile, and raunchy. All of those are fitting descriptions, but one trait stands out above all others: honesty. His candor extends from the stage to his everyday interactions. Take this interview, for instance. The goal was to promote his new special The Comedians’ […]
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