Who’s On Season Two of EPIX’s Unprotected Sets

A second season of EPIX’s Unprotected Sets kicks off this Friday night, with weekly half-hour episodes spotlighting stand-up comedians on the rise. Comedians Featured by Episode (with their hometowns in parenthesis): Episode 201: Calvin Evans (Ch…

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Utopia to distribute Del Close Documentary in 2021

“Meet Del Close, the man with the keys to comedy. If only he can remember where he left them.” That’s the tagline on the poster for the new documentary, For Madmen Only: The Stories of Del Close, which Utopia Distribution has acquired…

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Kevin Iso and Dan Perlman Score Showtime Series: Flatbush Misdemeanors

Congrats to comedians Kevin Iso and Dan Perlman! Showtime has made a straight-to-series order for 10 episodes of their new half-hour comedy FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS, in which the duo serve as both creators and stars, based on their webseries (since t…

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Bill Burr’s Monologue on Saturday Night Live

After three decades of stand-up comedy, Bill Burr finally landed “a lifelong dream” by hosting Saturday Night Live in October 2020. He covered familiar themes from his catalog, updated for today. Among them: Earth’s overpopulation, an…

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Nate Bargatze on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, from Stand-Up Live Huntsville

After several months of no stand-up comedians performing on late-night TV, Jimmy Fallon found a way to bring back his favorite stand-up, Nate Bargatze, broadcasting this recent set of his from Stand-Up Live in Huntsville, Ala. Bargatze joked about the …

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Episode #315: Lewis Black Talks 2020

So much has changed in the world since the last time I caught up with Lewis Black in September of 2016. But last things first, obviously: Black managed to film his last live show before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live stand-up comedy, recording hi…

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The Second City is up for sale

The Second City, the venerable comedy institution with branches in Chicago, Toronto and elsewhere, is up for sale for only the second time in its 61-year history. Yes, and? Variety broke the news today. “While all our lives have been affected by the pa…

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Chris Rock’s Monologue for the Season 46 Premiere of Saturday Night Live

Chris Rock hosted the season 46 premiere of Saturday Night Live, and set the tone for his eight-minute monologue, emerging from the traditional entry wearing a mask as the SNL house band was safely behind two plexiglass partitions. Rock quickly de-mask…

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Tiffany Haddish Hosting Second Season of “They Ready” Netflix Half-Hours with Godfrey, Tony Woods, Barbara Carlyle, Erin Jackson, Kimberly Clark, and Dean Edwards

Ready or not, “They Ready” with Tiffany Haddish is back shooting new half-hour stand-up specials tonight and tomorrow for Netflix. It’s all happening in Long Beach, Calif., filmed in front of a select live audience who have been teste…

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Review: Michelle Buteau, “Welcome To Buteaupia” on Netflix

It’s such a joy to see Michelle Buteau’s career climbing now, and her debut solo hour special on Netflix kicks off with the voice of Cardi B introducing her to the stage at Times Square’s Sony Hall. Also got a kick out of VICE’s…

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