Month: December 2015

Women In Comedy: A Documentary

Usually, I’m not a huge fan of separating men and women comedians. And that’s why I actually really enjoyed this documentary. Usually, the point of a documentary like this would be to go: “Oh wow, look how much of a path woman have blazed for other women in comedy.” But this documentary isn’t like that.

Yes, it’s all about women comedians and what they’ve accomplished in comedy. But what I enjoyed about it the most is the ending. The documentary gradually moves towards saying something to the effect of: “There is no difference between men and women in comedy anymore.” Which, I think, is really healthy. Sure, there are still some slight differences between men and women in comedy today, as there are always bound to be. But, those differences just aren’t worth bringing up anymore for the sake of moving past them. And that’s pretty much the consensus among every woman who is interviewed in the documentary.

Sarah Silverman, one of the last to share her two cents at the end, pretty much sums it up.

“The last relic of it being hard for women in comedy is the question – is the question: ‘What’s it like being a woman in a man’s world?’ And you go, ‘Oh, that question is the last thing left of it, because women run comedy.'”

The documentary was produced by Makers and you can watch it here. Sorry, I can’t find a way to embed it here because they used some weird format – probably precisely for that reason.

 

If you found this interesting, you can read more about my thoughts on women in comedy here.

Who Draws Comedy Posters?

One of my favorite parts of putting on a show is coming up with a poster. Comedy posters can be some of the coolest art out there. And they’re for a brilliant cause!

Joe Karg is an illustrator who has been drawing posters for hundreds of comedians for a few years now. He’s been drawing a poster for Whiplash, one of the best weekly shows in NYC, for the past year and he’s put together a book of all 52 posters.

If you can support the guy, great. But, I put the video here mostly so you can get a better look at what comedy posters are all about. I think it’s such a cool way for two different art forms to collide. Read this article to find out more.

80 Woody Allen Quotes Because He’s 80 Now Someone Says

Woody Allen turned 80 on December first, so The Laugh Button compiled a list of his top 80 quotes. There were two realizations I made from reading all of these quotes: 1) humor changes over time and 2) Woody Allen has made a ton of jokes about sex.

What I mean about humor changing is that these quotes might be seen as more “clever” than laugh out loud funny. At least that’s how I see them. Most of the quotes here are from Woody Allen movies, but a few are from his stand up. I have a few of his stand up records and I think they’re better told than read.

What I mean about lots of sex jokes is…well, just look at the article.

Here’s a quote I liked:

“I thought of that old joke: This guy goes to a psychiatrist and says, ‘Doc, my brother’s crazy, he thinks he’s a chicken.’ And the doctor says, ‘Well why don’t you turn him in?’ and the guy says, ‘I would, but I need the eggs.’ Well, I guess that’s pretty much now how I feel about relationships. They’re totally irrational and crazy and absurd, but I guess we keep going through it because most of us need the eggs.” – from Annie Hall

15 Reasons Not To Date A Comedian

I saw this fun little list come up somewhere recently: 15 Reasons to Date a Comedian. And I read it. And it made me think, “eHarmony definitely does not have any comedians on staff.” So, I decided to dispute each of their 15 reasons to date a comedian, hopefully providing people with many more (more realistic) reasons why not to.

Continue reading “15 Reasons Not To Date A Comedian” →

Bill Burr Quote

A comedian friend posted this on Facebook saying that he’d seen it a few times before, but that looking at his bank account balance while sleeping on the couch made him remember it.

Here’s why I’m not a sad computer programmer, for instance:

Realize that sleeping on a futon when you’re 30 is not the worst thing. You know what’s worse, sleeping in a king bed next to a wife you’re not really in love with but for some reason you married, and you got a couple kids, and a job you hate. You’ll be laying there fantasizing about sleeping on a futon. There’s no risk when you go after a dream. There’s a tremendous amount of risk to playing it safe.

The Comedy Nerds Is A Thing I Like

I just found this website called The Comedy Nerds and it’s a pretty darn cool little site dedicated to all different types of comedy. That’s right: stand up, sketch, improv – you name it. Seriously, name it. Okay, fine. Don’t.

So The Comedy Nerds has thousands of podcast episodes talking about everything comedy. On cool topics like “Were the 80’s the golden age of comedy movies?” I feel like I’ll spend a lot of time exploring the site.

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve added a “Things I Like” page to the site. Pretty self-explanatory. These are really just a bunch of links to things I like in the comedy world. Mostly great websites and stuff for people who are interested in comedy. Like, comedy nerds. This one’s been added to the list!

John Mulaney Talks Playing Colleges

This is a really fun interview that came out in April from Inside Joke (watchinsidejoke), a YouTube channel I’d never heard of before, but looks awesome.

As a recent college grad, I found Mulaney’s stories especially funny. We had comedians come to our school and I remember thinking, what is the audience doing? They would only laugh at set-ups instead of the punch lines and they would laugh and cheer uncontrollably just at references to like a TV show and they would yell out stuff! And the show would be generally unorganized. And the shows happened in weird spaces. College shows are weird.

A lot of the interview is also Mulaney and the host reminiscing about the last time she interviewed him. That was funny.

Check out Inside Joke – they have tons of videos with awesome comics, but somehow don’t have a thousand views on everything! I was pleasantly surprised by the quality.

If you enjoy these fun little ditties, like my face book page!

How To Look Like A Serial Killer

My room used to be all white with totally white walls, all white furniture, and white bed sheets. And I just recently realized that that is not normal.

So I called up my friend on the phone who is a photographer and I said, “Hey, why don’t you send me a picture so that I can put it up on my wall.”

So he sends me the picture, and I open it up and see that what he sent me is this giant print of…what looks like an empty, white room.

The only thing creepier than having a totally white room with all white walls and white furniture is having a totally white room with all white walls and white furniture, where the only thing on the wall is a picture of an empty white room.

Trying to seem less serial-killer-y, I decided to pin up my comedy notecards on the wall, too. Not that weird, right? After organizing them, I realized that all of the notecards are white as well. And they have the names of all my jokes on them. And the more you look, the weirder they sound, especially because you’d have no way of knowing why I wrote the phrases on these notecards without asking me.

“Make someone care about you?”

“Shower Ritual”

“Bill Cosby Cover”

“I think State Farm is there”

Normal people do not write these things on their wall.

I also acquired a new mattress. Not knowing what to do with my old one, I shoved it against the inner wall of my closet, thinking “Oh wow, I bet this would totally sound-proof the closet.”

Stop! Stop being a serial killer! How does being boring make me so creepy?! An all white room, one artsy photo, joke notecards, and a mattress are just boring things!

Maybe I should just embrace my inner serial killer and buy some tarps and an axe in preparation for my American Psycho-esque meltdown. The only problem is that I have no idea where they would sell axes in New York City.

You know, it really doesn’t make sense how having a really white room makes you seem crazy. It would just be way harder to clean when you do axe-murder someone. Just saying.

 

Sometimes when I don’t want to use a silly photo I found on the interwebs, I use my own pictures of NYC venues as a feature image. Greenwich Village Comedy club is in the heart of the West Village on Macdougal Street, just down the street from the Comedy Cellar. It’s where I’ve had my worst set: a grueling five minutes of complete silence. So it holds a special place in my heart. 

Learn What It’s Like To Be In A TV Show Writing Room

The Writers’ Room on Netflix and The Writers’ Room Podcast offer a glimpse into what goes on in the heads of the people who pen the most popular and interesting television scripts out there today.

I first found the show through a screenwriting class (cool, right?) and then rediscovered it on Netflix recently, prompting me to watch all six episodes in quick succession. If you’re curious about what it’s like to write for Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation, Dexter, New Girl, Game of Thrones, American Horror Story, and more, definitely take a look. It’s not just about comedy; it’s about the beautiful, lovely craft of writing!

Here’s a taste…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPBc_5CPeyA