Category: Youtube

Cameron Esposito: Lesbian Comic, Also Just Pretty Darn Funny

Cameron Esposito is visiting my alma mater this week for a performance, which is great! And as colleges tend to go, the people who invited her probably don’t really know who she is. She’s a lesbian comic, and that seems to be their main selling point on students going to see her. College students tending to be liberal and thinking, “oh that’s great! I support lesbians! I’m gonna go see that!” and going to see the show for that reason instead of just, like, just wanting to see good comedy.

I have no problem with that strategy, because Esposito also happens to be a really great comic. But, I wanted to point out that she’s not simply a lesbian with a voice, but also just damn funny. She’s really funny and she just happens to talk about how she is a lesbian sometimes.

Some people even call her the next big star of stand up. Who’s to say? She’s from Chicago originally (like me) so I’d be pretty down with that happening. Some great comics lately coming from there: Hannibal Buress, Kyle Kinane. Represent!

Typing “my alma mater” feels weird. I feel like I wouldn’t like someone who talks about “their alma mater” for some reason. Like, “Ooh, so fancy! You know Latin!” But I’m pretty sure that’s the only word for that.

Seth Meyers’ ‘Making a Murderer’ Parody

So apparently all the rage right now is making jokes about Making a Murderer – that Netflix documentary series that everybody’s been watching. It seems like every other joke at open mics is about it (exaggeration).

Yes, I watched the whole thing pretty much straight and yes it is an addicting show. And yes you should watch it. If you have seen it, you’ll find this video pretty funny, which Meyers used as his cold open for his first night back to Late Night.

Young Louis C.K. Video

Writing “Young Louis” reminds me of “Young Link.” Like, from video games. Which makes me think: “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun if there was a comedian video game? You know, where like you go to clubs every night and try out jokes for ten years and then you go on late night and bomb? No, you’re right – that probably wouldn’t be fun.”

I’d still love to see an animated “Young Louis” though.

Well, here’s a clip of Young Louis doing a set when he still had all his hair. Part of him certainly sounds like he does today, but there are lots of differences too.

 

 

Bill Burr’s Pie Crust Tutorial

This might be the first time I’m posting about Bill Burr, and for what I think is as fantastic a reason as any. I listened to his latest podcast episode yesterday and he mentioned a pie crust video that he uploaded to YouTube that got like 600k views. He said it has gotten more views than some of his comedy specials, which is pretty funny.

The video has got more than 700k, last I checked. It’s pretty funny. Just the idea of a tough guy with a thick Boston accent walking you through how to make pie crust is funny. It’s not every day you hear a baking video where the host goes, “You know what? I bet someone, somewhere is jerking off to this.”

I’ve heard from other famous comedians that he’s actually pretty awesome at cooking and baking. So I’d listen to him.

Reggie Watts’ Why Shit So Crazy Is Great

Do you like funny music? Have you heard of Reggie Watts? He might be my favorite musical comedian because of his ridiculous, fresh approach to comedy.

If you’ve never seen him before, you need to see his Netflix special, Why Shit So Crazy. He uses a looping machine to beatbox entire songs of himself singing and playing on the keyboard. It’s a lot of “whoa, that’s awesome” moments mixed with “what the fuck is he doing, this is hilarious” moments. It isn’t just music that’s special, though. He starts out the set by just rambling on stage pretty incoherently for a while, saying “crazy shit” that doesn’t really make much sense until people start to laugh at it. Was “incoherent” and “doesn’t really make sense” redundant? Well now it certainly is.

One of my favorite parts in the special is where he fumbles around with his microphone for several minutes straight. You can find the video on YouTube currently, although who knows how long those videos will last.

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.

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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

Randy Liedtke On Conan

Once in a while I’ll look to share a cool stand up set from a comic I find cool or interesting. This is one of those times. Right, now. It’s happening, people!

This set that Randy Liedtke did on Conan was not your typical late night set, which I think makes it really cool. For part of it, he grabs his iPad and plays his “audiobook.”

Not your typical stuff. Check it out! Liedtke recently recorded his Comedy Central album. You can learn more about Liedtke here.

Louis CK Tells A Story About Russia At The Moth

Remember how awesome story time was? Wasn’t it the coolest? Chilling in the classroom after recess, kicking back and hearing a fable or a yarn performed by your teacher just for you, with all the acting prowess of a Hollywood superstar like Keanu Reeves.

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a place where people would come and tell stories to crowds of people? Like really, really awesome stories. Like, the best stories in the world. The kind of stories you only hear once every few years and they make you think, “Whoa, that was an amazing story.” (How often does your friend actually tell you an interesting story? Let’s be honest: never.)

Well, that fantastical fantasy actually happens at The Moth in New York City. It’s like story time for adults and it’s awesome.

In this video, Louis CK accepts some storytelling award at The Moth and starts his speech by humorously characterizing the storytelling organization as follows:

It’s nice to know you can reliably cry by listening to something.

Well, apparently there are a lot of sad stories told there. CK goes on to share a brief word about how awesome storytelling is before sharing his own story about a visit to Russia. The story is fantastic. It’s a great glimpse into Louis doing material that isn’t all punch lines, but is still hilariously fun.

You can also listen to The Moth on the radio, on iTunes, or on their website.

Shout out to a friend for sharing this great video with me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1iXJPFnFyA

A Joke About OkCupid

I usually don’t post stuff like this, viral things that people already kind of know about. This is something I found on one of the front pages of Reddit. I know, I know. Anyone who wanted to see this saw it. It’s got like 500,000 views. However, sometimes viral stuff can also be good. I found the video entertaining, mostly, because Mike Bobrinskoy does something that I’ve done a lot of times, and that is to mess with people. He just takes it to the absolute extreme and has a great story from it.

Bobrinskoy reads out, for 10 minutes, a dialogue between him and a “girl” he met on OkCupid. What’s unique about this interaction is that it all reads like a joke. All of the writing in it, although I presume it happened real-time, is actually really funny.

I wanted to share it because it’s a crazy unique story and it inspires me to weird stuff on stage too. Bobrinskoy is a Chicago comic who has only been performing for about 5 years. He isn’t super experienced, but he has the ability to deliver this joke, and that’s pretty good. You can check out his website here. I like the small touch that his ex-girlfriend wrote his about page.