Rolling Stand-Up Comedy 2014

one of his standup bits came on Sirius/XM and it was just five minutes of "I'm a nerd, I hate sports!" and "Sports are so confusing, make Star Wars references so that I, a nerd, can understand them!"

There was actually a Nerdist episode a few weeks ago where they brought in a guy from Grantland to help Hardwick understand sports, and his angle of entry was nerding out on stats.

I think it's the best use of his skills imo

I like him best in conversation on the podcast, especially with the other dudes. His standup stinks.

I think my main exposure to Hardwick was through the sound blob in the later Best Show on WFMU episodes.

I don't mind Hardwick on his podcast but when I saw him on tv he was yelling so much I thought he was a fill-in host at first, since his voice sounded nothing like it does on the Nerdist.

The only reason America knows Hardwick anyway is because he started out as a host, so he kinda knows what he's doing.

can't follow that logic

I'm saying he parlayed his host gig on Singled Out into another twenty years of fame (and counting), so it's kind of old hat to him at this point. He's nobody's fill-in.

I think Hardwick seems like a deceptively normal guy until he takes a left turn way into nerdland and you realize he's full-on dorky.

By "I thought he was a fill-in host" I meant that having listened to the Nerdist but never seen Hardwick on tv, I turned on his show and heard a dude who sounded nothing like him shouting at me and thought "Oh, maybe Hardwick is off tonight. Who's this guy?"

i saw Hannibal a week or two before his new special came out, he killlled. definitely the best comedy show i've been this year, and for the first time i've actually been going to see a lot of comedy (let's see, al madrigal, maria bamford, bobcat goldthwait, ms pat, etc).

The only reason America knows Hardwick anyway is because he started out as a host, so he kinda knows what he's doing.

There are countless examples of people who started as hosts who I do not enjoy as hosts.

Hannibal also kills it on @Midnight when he's on

had tears in my eyes listening to the new hannibal on the commute today

I die every time I hear this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz6xpBBNjMY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz6xpBBNjMY

My pal April is going to be on @midnight this Thursday night. That's cool.

ha, i played a show with hannibal's dj once.

Daniel Kitson doing a US tour with Eugene Mirman - no prepared material:

May 3rd @ Berklee Performance Center: Boston, MA
May 8th @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple: Brooklyn, NY
May 9th @ The Loving Touch: Ferndale, MI
May 11th @ Women's Club Assembly Hall: Minneapolis, MN
May 12th @ House of Blues: Chicago, IL
May 13th @ Bogart's: Cincinnati, OH
May 14th @ Belcourt Theater: Nashville, TN

Interesting trend...I'm seeing Todd Barry do the same...

just saw Aziz in Milwaukee, his new set is really good, though quite repetitive (get ready for a LOT of stuff about phones and relationships. plus one really good joke where the punchline was "spaghetti fetuccini ravioli"

some funny contestants on last comic standing this year

yeah first episode was promising. although it's a little depressing when you see people on there who've had actual Comedy Central specials and stuff years ago go on LCS trying to revive their careers.

i feel like mike vecchione must've been on previous seasons of this show? i think i remember some of his jokes. or maybe just his "persona"

i loved Chloe Hillard (the comic from south williamsburg) and thought her introduction segment w/ the rabbi was pretty funny

First episode of the Garfunkel and Oates show on IFC was pretty good. And I say this as someone who doesn't really go for the comedy music thing.

I don't know if the show I saw has already been a special in the States or not, but I saw Anthony Jeselnik at the Soho Theatre in London last week and it was a blast, at least partially because Jimmy Carr (who's probably closest in the UK to what Jeselnik does, even if Jeselnik's press here kept saying "America's Frankie Boyle") was in the audience and Jeselnik roasted him for a bit about his tax avoidance and OTT mansion, which was really funny.

At the end, he opened the floor for questions and some guy in the crowd said "Why the hell does Amy Schumer have a show?" and Jeselnik was sort of initially hostile to the guy (jokingly, I'm sure, although he also said "she's a hell of a lot more talented than anyone in this country," which made the crowd uncomfortable) and then said "no, she's incredibly gifted, hard working, and if you get a chance to have sex with her - and you will - I highly recommend it."

After Jeselnik's show I stuck around and took a punt on a guy named Dave Hughes, whose poster referred to him as one of the biggest stand-ups in Australia. I didn't get about 85% of the guy's references but was amused by his performance, even though the material might have been in Mandarin for all I got out of it.

I sort of gathered he was most famous for a radio show. Does anyone know his deal?

it's just commercial FM breakfast radio, not a comedy show or anything

Is he massive there? The quote on the top of his poster says "There is no bigger name in Australian comedy than Dave Hughes" and I'm always suspicious of quotes like that. It's like on Edinburgh Fringe posters when the top says "Star of Mock the Week" and the dude (always a dude) has done one appearance nine years ago

A bigger name than Yahoo Serious?

i love amy schumer and if either of them was going to get to keep their show, i'm glad it was her. still wish they both had shows on tv tho.

Cancel Tosh.0 with extreme prejudice, return Jeselnik.

There are no funny Australian people comedians.. or maybe it's only the unfunny ones who insist on infecting Edinburgh this time every year (ditto Irishers).

..infesting .. wtf's up with this stupid phone, doesn't know the word 'infesting'?

i fking hate jeselnick. all that casual misogyny reminds me of dudes from my hometown. which is a sick burn if you know anything about my bogany hometown.

Hate Jeselnik, love Schumer, have resigned myself to the fact that Daniel Tosh will continue to be famous whether I like it or not.

love Jeselnik, love Schumer, glad Tosh doesn’t exist in my world.

saw Jeselnik unannounced trying out new material in LA last year, and it was super-delightful to see him semi-out of character – as in he’d go mostly into it for each bit, but introed himself, and would banter between them, while being smiley and meta. “You liked that? You people are sick,” while drawing a tick beside that one on his notes; saying he wouldn’t do this one, but would give it to Aziz or Pete Holmes, but wanted us to hear it; “No? Not for my voice? But you can see how it would be funny, right?”

Yeah, he's very clever about how he presents his material - always makes a point to remind the audience he's in character (but never so much that it takes away from the 'I can't believe that guy said that' shock). It's a tricky balance!

For me the shocking subject matter is pretty much second to his craftsmanship - he clearly works hard at the structure and timing of jokes without being boring about it.

He reminds me of a guy in the UK named Gary Delaney, who is an incredible one-liner guy whose jokes are often built around funny misdirection and wordplay.

was about to pass out last nite when i decided to check the last thing by buress; my drunk judgement made me quit about 10 minutes into it...(i was done anyway) his flow was so fast, "happening", sort of like kevin hart or something. did he figured that others were "happening" and it might as well be him so he just stop doing that stuff "most people" hated ... sounds like the setup of a joke he could have made. will have to get back to it with a clearer head in any case.

Cancel Tosh.0 with extreme prejudice, return Jeselnik.

probably won't happen anytime soon, ratings or no Comedy Central loves anything that's cheap and moderately successful, so a show where 80% of the content is just out there on the internet is probably sticking around. btw I think it's weird to dislike Tosh but not Jeselnik, to me they're pretty much the same. Jeselnik is a bit more clever but I find his delivery to be super irritating

subject matter is pretty much second to his craftsmanship - he clearly works hard at the structure and timing of jokes without being boring about it.

otm, he can get three twists into a short two-liner.

and afair any "casual misogyny" in his act is jokes about casual misogyny. he took Cameron Esposito on tour as his post-TV-show support act, if that says anything about the message he's trying to send to an audience about who he wants his audience to be.

Jeselnik seems good as a writer but i feel like his delivery is TOO slow and deliberate, almost like he's concentrating too hard on remembering the exact wording. actually preferred his CC show to his standup because he had a prompter and kept it moving.

He *definitely* tells misogynistic jokes that it would be a stretch to say are about misogyny*. But you never believe that he believes what he's saying, and I think it works.

* He has a bit where he goes "I met this gorgeous woman in a bar the other night - she looked like a model. I asked her what she does for a living, and she told me she's a brain surgeon. Obviously my jaw dropped a little TOO much, and she kind of defensively said "what?!" and I was like "God, sorry for seeming surprised - usually attractive women don't do sarcasm."

(is it uncool to type gags from peoples' acts? Is that like a spoiler?)

new wyatt cenac on the way??
http://www.avclub.com/article/exclusive-puppet-wyatt-cenac-explains-how-his-new--208918

Exciting!

so i got tickets to see Wyatt next month. then there was a Chappelle show announced and i jumped on that, and it turns out they're the same night. luckily i got tix for the early Chappelle set, so i can head down the street afterward and catch them both, crazy.

saw Wyatt last night, in a concrete-floored basement without seats. turns out this is not an ideal environment to see stand-up.

Neal Brennan's kind of creepy and dead-eyed, isn't he?

yeah he coulda stayed in a writer's room his whole career imo

saw Kathleen Madigan the other night, she was hilarious, as was her opener, Mike Gaffney

also Beth Stelling is the best standup i've seen on tv for the first time lately, this was great:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zp1qswDd6E

i used to like him but idk if i care anymore

I'd never seen any of his standup before tbh, only knew him from American Splendor and 30 Rock

saw him at the village underground earlier this year, i'm interested to see the special to see if any clips from that show made it

he was funny, but his schtick grated over the course of an hour

everything is from January and May at the Comedy Cellar, I think?

and it's all just him riffing with the audience re: geography and politics

watched the latest Seinfeld thing (the wife wanted to). Really odd how lazy it is, just this kind of nostalgic self-hagiography and a bunch of (mostly?) old jokes. I still laughed a couple times cuz he does know how to work his material but it felt like a really strange thing for him to do, like, why bother.

I thought there had been some discussion of it around here, must've been on some other thread tho?

mods please delete thread and replace with photo of Cold Pockets

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8oDtI_dL3Y

Jaboukie Young-White's TV debut on Fallon. I hope we see more of this guy.

Dennis Perrin on the late Barry Crimmins

https://dennisperrinblog.wordpress.com/2018/03/08/whatever-threatens-us/