A lot of people who aren’t as knowledgeable about comedy today – especially the younger audiences – have never heard of Patrice O’Neal because he died young in 2011, at which time he hadn’t produced a ton of material. But comics pretty much all know and love his work. And I’m one of his fans.
If there’s anyone who deserves his own show it’s Jim Gaffigan. He’s been around forever and he’s such a big and well-liked name. Finally, he’s got one. And although it isn’t 100% about Hot Pockets, it’s pretty much what you would expect: a funny take on family life with a lot of food sprinkled in. Sprinkled in pretty much everywhere.
The show is actually super easy to find online since it’s on TV Land, a primarily online network. I didn’t know that TV Land existed until now, but it seems like a really cool space with a few different interesting-looking comedies.
As far as the Gaffigan Show episodes go, they are all pretty darn well written. They’re probably funniest to an older “I am a parent” audience, but I’m young and I still think they’re great. One thing to mention is that the show addresses comedy (Jim plays a comedian) but there’s no actual stand up in the show. I think it’s a cool balance between TV and stand up, since most comics who do a show either tend to one extreme or another in terms of incorporating stand up comedy.
It looks like they’ve taken away some of the episodes on the website, but you can still get a taste for the show! Below is a little clip.
Look, I’m no fan of politics. But I am a fan of comedy. Which is why I think it’s pretty cool that a former television comic, Jimmy Morales, won the national election in Guatemala. Apparently he didn’t just win; it was a landslide.
It is interesting because comics are often known for their social and political commentary. And they can be really brilliant people who are efficient communicators. So in a way it kind of makes sense that they could be elected to government positions.
I’m reminded of senator Al Franken, who I really know nothing about (was on SNL before my time), but I remember being a big deal when he was elected.
Anyways, here’s an article about the election. I think I found this on r/nottheonion on reddit. I really wanted to find some of Morales’s material on video but I couldn’t find anything. I guess that could have been expected.
You might have heard of Adult Swim comedy duo Tim & Eric and you might have seen Loctite’s crazy popular Super Bowl XL commercial Positive Feelings (where middle-aged people dance around awkwardly with fanny packs, singing along to a song about glue). But you might not know that Tim & Eric had anything to do with the TV spot.
The advertising agency that launched the ad, Fallon, hired Tim & Eric to direct the shooting of the commercial, as they wanted a weird, goofy feel that would catch the eye. They certainly achieved that; it’s one of the most memorable spots of the year.
I loved the commercial. And I only recently found out that a couple of comics had anything to do with the production, which makes me wonder why more comics aren’t sought out for consultation in advertising.
Here’s a fifty-minute round table conversation about comedy between some of the best stand up comics of today. I’ve listened to this video several times over. It’s always fascinating to hear different perspectives on the nuances of comedy, from how jokes are written to how comedy compares to other art forms to whether sound checks are worth it. Apparently this happened on HBO and the segment is called Talking Funny, but I don’t know much more about it than that.
Todd Barry is a touring, headlining comic who most people know as “that comic guy from Louie.” He has a very flat, deadpan delivery but he does it better than most people I’ve heard. He sounds super sarcastic and a little like me but even drier, so maybe that’s partly why I like him.
His delivery is what makes his crowd work so impressive to me. With such a flat delivery it forces the conversation to be funny because of what Barry says and discovers. The crowd work really has content. Barry isn’t just being silly on stage, he’s quick and intuitive.
Speaking of Louie, Louis CK actually released Todd Barry: The Crowd Work Tour on his website for $5. You can also find it on Netflix. Or, I found it on YouTube as well. I’ll link that below, but who knows when it will disappear! Whoever uploaded the video to YouTube also put “Best Comedian Ever” in the title of the video, so take that as you will.
Brian Regan recently performed the first ever live Comedy Central special at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan. It was a huge deal in the comedy community and most of my friends were either watching together online or actually there in person.
One of the reasons Regan was one of the only people who could be considered to do such an unprecedented show was because he is known so well as a clean comic.
Jim Gaffigan is one of the best known clean comics who actually resents being labeled as one. That’s just one of the things these two comics talk about in this Comics Talk to Comics piece in Vulture. It actually came out just before Regan’s special, so you’ll benefit from the extra excitement.
Here’s an article that I found that was written by Adam Newman, a comic who recently recorded his Comedy Central half hour. Half hours are a huge deal in the industry because Comedy Central gets your name out there. You probably have never heard of Adam Newman, even though he’s a fantastic comic who has performed on several late night talk shows.
In the article Newman describes the process for submitting to Comedy Central and discusses his approach for the submission video. I hadn’t heard of ComedianU before I read this article, which seems blasphemous. It looks like a fantastically cool site and now I’m going to check it out all the time!
Read How Adam Newman Got His Half Hour Special On Comedy Centralhere.
For whatever reason, people (on the internet, especially) are obsessed with comedians interacting with hecklers. They love seeing a comic take hecklers down. Which I think actually kind of hurts the comedy experience. It’s a negative feedback loop where people see comics dealing with hecklers and think, “that’s hilarious! I want to heckle so that the show is funnier.” But the show is the funniest when the comic is doing his material and no one interrupts.
However, I thought I’d share this video because it shows a lot of creative ways of dealing with hecklers that I admire. It takes a lot of talent to deal with a heckler in a new creative way. Here are some great comedians doing that.
The first time I heard Paul F. Tompkins was in the car on the way home from a comic’s retreat in upstate New York. Never before had I heard a guy who was so willing to push a joke concept to the extreme. He just seems to keep hammering a concept until you’re forced to laugh.
This is a fantastic bit of his about peanut brittle. Enjoy.
stumelton.com 