Tag: comedy

Hannibal Buress’s Unemployable Pilot Released

Way back when, Comedy Central ordered a pilot of Hannibal Buress’s show Unemployable. It was never picked up. Hannibal was recently allowed to release the episode.

The premise is that Hannibal has never had a job other than comedy before, so he tries out a bunch of odd jobs to see how truly unemployable he is. Sort of like Dirty Jobs, but less dirty and more funny. Honestly, I think the show could be better given Hannibal’s awesome sense of humor. It doesn’t really play to his strengths and I can see why Comedy Central didn’t pick it up. But it is a fun 20 minutes with some funny editing. People love Hannibal. And he’s from Chicago, like me! Check it out!

My Name is All Over Long Island City

All over my neighborhood there are these graffiti tags that say “Stu.” Which on one hand makes me wanna be like,”Woah – I did not do that, officer!”

But on the other hand it makes me feel like I own Long Island City, which is pretty cool. I don’t mind owning all of the buildings and streets and cars that go by – I relish the power. People walk down the streets because I allow them to, not because they chose to do so. I let them take the train because I’m a good guy. I own that shit, but I’m humble about it. People bow down to me, but I’m cool about it. One time a man in a raggedy coat knelt down in the trash outside my apartment and I was like, “Oh no it’s totally fine, don’t worry about it.”

But a few weeks ago I noticed a new tag that as put up right next to one of mine. One that says “Randy.” And all of a sudden, more and more “Randy’s” are showing up all over Long Island City. Which makes me feel like I should be watching out for a guy named Randy. Who also lives in Long Island City. Because I feel like one day well just run into each other on the street and I’ll be like, “ARE YOU RANDY?!”

And he’ll be like, “YEAH!! ARE YOU STU?!”

And I’ll be like, “YEAH!!”

And then he’ll be like, “I’m a comic and my graffiti joke is better than yours! You didn’t even consider it from my perspective. Think of how much better the joke would be if you knew that we were both comics. You could say things like, ‘Mannnn, a comic will do anything for some free publicity!’ or ‘We should have been writing our jokes and twitter handles on the wall.'”

And I’ll be like, “Shit. You’re right. I am a pretender to this throne. Long Island City is yours.”

And he’ll be like “Nah dude, whatever.” Cuz we’re just regular dudes, neither of whom actually put up those tags.

I wish I also had a picture of a Randy tag.

Doug Stanhope on Giving Advice

Doug Stanhope is a comic whose style I don’t particularly like, but one who I really respect. Someone on reddit posted this great quote of his about why comics shouldn’t give advice to other less experienced comics. The redditor who posted it said they found it on his blog.

“I was once in my early years of comedy and semi-popular in the ranks of the open mics in Phoenix when a comic higher-up in the ranks – Joey Scazzola – caught me giving advice to a new guy.

He said ‘Never give anyone advice because you’re only telling them how to be more like you.’ Every time I’ve erred and given someone advice, I remembered that.

If you want advice, you most likely just want someone to reassure you of what you already know. If they tell you otherwise, you’ll either discount it or you’ll take their advice and no longer be following the instincts that got you in this to begin with. So either way, you didn’t need the advice.”

Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo Now On HBO

Amy Schumer has been everywhere this year. Trainwreck, Saturday Night Live, Inside Amy Schumer, and a million different talk shows.

Her new stand up special, Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo came out yesterday on HBO. Someone with HBO, hook me up?

Here’s her trailer for it.

Fun fact: Amy Schumer used to date Anthony Jeselnik, who’s special came out the day before on Netflix.

If You Appreciate Sports and Comedy…

Check out Bill Simmons’ old podcast, The B.S. Report. Bill Simmons is the former ESPN analyst, journalist, and founder of Grantland who was fired from ESPN last spring for “no one really knows why.”

I’m a huge fan of his, mostly because he’s interested in a lot of the same things I’m interested in: sports, film, and comedy.

His old podcast is mostly interviews with sports figures, but it’s also many other things. My favorite interviews are those with comedians, of which he has a decent number. And they’re all top notch comedians and writers who he invites on the show because he personally likes them, not because they’re promoting something. Bill Burr, Louis C.K., Jimmy Kimmel, Lena Dunham, etc. He also knows a surprising amount about comedy for not being a comedian and does a lot of great research for the show. He asks interesting questions that aren’t always about comedy, which is also a nice change of pace from the typical comedian interview.

You can find The B.S. Report on Youtube here and his new podcast, which I have not had the pleasure of hearing yet, here. I particularly like Simmons’ interview with Larry David, head writer of Seinfeld.

Joe Rogan’s Thoughts on P.C. and Caitlyn Jenner

Joe Rogan is not only a great comic, but he strikes me as a great guy. If you don’t know, he’s the guy who first confronted Carlos Mencia for joke stealing before joke stealing was ever talked about.

I just saw this video on Reddit and I can’t help but agree with him on his views about how we currently treat transgender people in society. His views are very similar to my own views on P.C.. A fascinating listen whether you agree with him or not.

Anthony Jeselnik’s Special Comes Out Today on Netflix

If you don’t know Anthony Jeselnik, you might know the witty asshole who hosted this past season of Last Comic Standing. That’s Anthony Jeselnik. He was also the creator and star of the show The Jeselnik Offensive.

If you love “I can’t believe he just said that” humor, you’ll love Jeselnik. He’s absurdly taboo. He makes Joan Rivers look like a sweet old grandmother. Speaking of which, he probably has jokes about Joan Rivers dying. Rape, abuse, cancer – it’s all in his sets. He’s the worst nightmare of the FCC.

To give you a little taste of what he’s all about, this is what Jeselnik tweeted on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing:

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Here’s the trailer for the special’s release on Netflix. It’s called Anthony Jeselnik: Thoughts and Prayers. In this interview, Jeselnik describes his Netflix special as “the darkest thing I’ve ever done.”

 

The Comedy on Vinyl Podcast is Great

I’ve been trying to get more and more into podcasts lately, listening to them on the go whenever i can remember to bring my headphones. As popular as podcasts are nowadays, it always surprises me how some people have absolutely no idea what they are or why you would ever listen to something like that.

I found the Comedy on Vinyl podcast on iTunes and I really like the concept. Basically, the guy (Jason Klamm) invites a guest who chooses a favorite or most influential comedy album to talk about for an entire episode. Klamm is an actor/writer, not a comic, but he can still have an opinion! He also brings in all types of guests, including comedians.

I appreciate that the podcast exists, but I also hate that it exists because I think it’s such a great idea. I’m a huge fan of old comedy albums and sometimes the only real way to get a good hold of the old albums is on vinyl. Talking old comedy is fun. Humor definitely changes over time and so a lot of the stuff might be funny in a different kind of way.

You can find out more about the podcast on its website. I’ve placed the first episode about Weird Al’s album In 3D here. If you don’t “get” podcasts…this might be a bad place to start. But if you like comedy albums it is not.