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Diving Deep Into Canadian Comedy in 'Comedy Gold'
It’s no secret that sometimes comedy is taken a bit too seriously. Comedy obsessives love not just the jokes, but the mechanics and emotions of the comedy world. There are a raft of comedy documentaries exploring comedy and comedians, but do they really have anything significant to add to the discussion? This series looks at comedy documentaries and whether they’re interesting, insightful, and possibly even…funny?
Like Why We Laugh, Comedy Gold: The Hilarious Story of Canadian Comedy is an overview of a culture’s comedy. Comedy Gold is a 3-hour Canadian comedy extravaganza, originally aired over two nights on CBC in 2006. It features an incredible breadth of old TV and film clips, as well as an impressive list of interviewees, including Lorne Michaels, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, and pretty much the entire casts of SCTV and Kids in the Hall.
The documentary spotlights a number of prominent Canadian comedians and comedy projects, in no particular order. There’s little structure, but the show does spend a good chunk of part one devoted to Saturday Night Live and bookends the second part with at look at SCTV and its impressive alums. These two shows are presented as both the brainchild of and the breeding ground for some of the best funny people Canada has to offer. READ MORE
Why 'How I Met Your Mother's' "Ducky Tie" Was the Best Sitcom Episode of the Season
Unpopular Opinions is a bi-weekly column in which a writer takes a stand against popular opinion, whether it's asserting the true merit of a supposedly guilty pleasure or dissenting against the universally lauded.
Earlier this year, after a hard-fought tournament, you decided that Community's "Remedial Chaos Theory" was the best sitcom episode ever. There is no way to say for sure with these things but maybe it's true; maybe when you zoom out completely, the dynamism and ambition of "Chaos" wins. However, in the context of this one season, I'd argue, and will argue for a bunch of words below, that "Chaos" loses out to another very ambitious episode, though more quietly so, How I Met Your Mother's "Ducky Tie", simply because the latter using its technique to best foster the story, not vice versa.
Community and How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) are both in some capacity about storytelling. For Community this means exploring the different ways to tell a story by looking at how they've historically been told in popular culture. In contrast, HIMYM, since the whole show is structured around a narrator relating the memories of his adulthood, is about the concept of storytelling itself. As a result, they are both at their best when they're pushing the limits of their storytelling devices in ways that allow for a more unique and deeper understanding of its characters. Both tried to do just that with their third episodes of this season "Remedial Chaos Theory" and "Ducky Tie", respectively (though "Chaos" had to be postponed so it aired fourth not third). However, where in "Ducky Tie" technique provided for a tonal balance that best allowed for character exploration, "Chaos" failed in its decision to prioritize its technique over everything else. READ MORE
Hanging Out with Dave Hill
The first time I saw Dave Hill perform, he was giving a celebrity interview to Ira Glass and wearing — at least in my memory — some kind of kimono-inspired bathrobe. His answers were slow and sleepy and totally absurd. Periodically and without provocation, he’d solo for a while on the electric guitar, just because, you know. But while another performer might go broad, Hill remains disarmingly sincere: you feel a little like you’re watching him vamp in front of the bathroom mirror when nobody else is home. In his just-off-the-mark version of reality, none of this is a joke. In our world, it is, which is good — Dave Hill is one of the funniest people I’ve ever seen.
In addition to his live performances, his TV and radio projects (he’s everywhere, from MTV to This American Life), his various bands (he may not be a kimono-wearing megastar, but the musician thing is real), his assorted web hijinx (take the three days straight of round-the-clock tweets remembering fun times with Kim Jong-il), Hill has just finished his first essay collection, Tasteful Nudes, which comes out today from St. Martin’s.
I recently sat down with Hill to chat about stumbling into comedy, tiramisu vs. Twinkies, and his one remaining life goal. READ MORE
Tracking the Rise of Comedy as Something Worth Following with 'The Lowbrow Reader Reader'
In the hierarchy of artistic endeavors comedy occupies a hazy, confused space. The enthusiasm comedians are capable of generating among the general public is considerable but often fleeting; they seem unjustly deficient at inspiring the kind of long term devotion more commonly reserved for their peers in music and film. It was precisely this frustrating divide that drove Patton Oswalt to launch his Comedians of Comedy tour in 2004, a string of stand-up dates that circumvented the two-drink minimum drudgery of conventional comedy clubs in favor of smaller, hipper venues. “These are the kind of people that will support indie rock bands — for twenty years they’ll follow a band,” said Oswalt of the largely untapped fan base of younger, more enthusiastic audiences he was seeking out. “Very few people follow comedians and how they develop. It can be just as enriching and infuriating and fun.” Put simply, when it came to comedy, most people just weren’t all that invested.
Things have changed considerably in the time since The Comedians of Comedy helped forge the market for comedy nerds, but years before that demographic began edging toward the mainstream Jay Ruttenberg was already the kind of devotee that Patton Oswalt was hoping to create. By day the 25 year-old Ruttenberg worked as a New York City music critic, but by night he skulked along the streets of Manhattan dreaming up an outlet for his less exercised passion for comedy. Observing there was “a general dearth of writing about comedy, especially when compared with the fawning reporting on other corners of entertainment — most egregiously mainstream indie-rock,” Ruttenberg set about cobbling together a zine for likeminded enthusiasts. Not only would the publication attempt to improve upon the sorry state of comedy journalism, but it would also seek to hit back at a certain type of uptight, curmudgeonly newspaper reviewer — those crusty old men who exited Chris Farley movies shaking their heads in disgust and muttering about the decline of civilization. Launched in 2001, The Lowbrow Reader was both a labor of love and an act of protest. READ MORE
The Best of 'SNL' Season 37
Now that Season 37 of Saturday Night Live has come to a close, let’s talk about some of the highlights from the past 22 episodes.
What struck me most about this season was the apparent hunger for new hit sketches. While the show’s tendency to recycle worn sketch premises lives on, Seth Meyers and his writing staff have eased back a bit from tentpoling the lineup with pieces from seasons past, occasionally striking gold with a new premise, and hustling to bring it back as soon as possible. J Pop America Fun Time Now, Drunk Uncle, Lord Wyndemere, Bein’ Quirky with Zooey Deschanel, Piers Morgan Tonight, and The Californians — children of Season 37 — were all reprised within a few episodes of their first appearances.
With the departure of Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer at the end of last season, the digital short, after enjoying five years as SNL's most popular segment, fell to a sporadic hit-or-miss status. In its ashes arose a crop of fresh live sketches, often with dark, bizarre premises, which have crept up from the final (often cut) 10-to-1 timeslot into the front half of the show. Sketches like Les Jeunes de Paris, Brutus the sexually abused monkey, and Slow Motion Hallway let their freak flags fly more than typical SNL sketches. READ MORE
Crossing the River Styx with Your Host Ryan Seacrest, by Robert Hershorn
Welcome back! Okay guys, the final hour of coverage underway, comin’ to you live from within the brackish mire! We’ve been getting the scoop from the swarms of cast-off souls assuming their quest to the great unseen, and we are here now with Angelos Constantinou, Angelos, you succumbed to acute lymphoblastic leukemia, but I have to say, you are positively glowing, what is the secret?
…okay, he’s a little dazed, but hey, that’s all right! You know, this is his first trip to the realm of Hades and a lot of times with these rookies on the big night, they get a little nervous, but we’ll let him slide this time!
Okay, now, the music you can probably hear behind me, is, you guessed it, Krzysztof Penderecki’s Polymorphia, and it’s being piped in…well, we’re not really sure where it’s coming from at this point, since we’re surrounded on all sides by jagged cliffs, tendrils of ragged grass and reeds, and waters blacker than any howling abyss certainly than I’ve ever seen, but, I can tell you, the crews at these events are real pros, so, a safe bet that they worked a little magic to bring us the tunes tonight! READ MORE
How Realistic Are Our Sitcom Workplaces?
This post is brought to you by Milk. Who needs imitations when you can have the real thing? Check out gotmilk.com.
Workplace-centric sitcoms have been a TV fixture since the days of Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore, when it was discovered that basing a show around a group of oddballs who are forced to work together can be a successful formula for scoring laughs. As with most shows and movies, entertainment is the top priority, not realism, and that’s very much the case with the workplace comedy, where accurately depicting a job environment takes a backseat to amusing audiences.
With that in mind, we took a look at four modern sitcom workplaces and compared them to their real-life equivalents to see how America’s nonfictional paper companies, parks and recreation departments, diners, and late night talk shows stack up against the ones we see on TV. READ MORE
Follow Friday: @FranGillespie
Everybody is a comedian on Twitter, but only a select few are worthy enough to have all of their witticisms transmitted to you, the ever busy comedy fan trying to navigate through an increasingly congested internet. Every Friday we'll make your life a little bit easier by introducing you to an individual who consistently makes us laugh. You're welcome.
(If you're reading this from an RSS feed, jump on over to the website where you can actually view the tweets.)
Fran Gillespie has been performing at the UCB Theatre since 2004, and dropping funny bombs on Twitter since 2011. Unfortunately most of the world isn't familiar with Gillespie yet, because she's being typecast as "girl who doesn't get the part." READ MORE
Who Is Christwire Really Mocking, Anyway?
Personality-driven reporting has become the rule rather than the exception. On Fox News and MSNBC, breaking stories come with a built-in perspective, keeping viewers loyal while helping insulate them from dissenting, challenging or complex opinions. Most blogs operate in a similar way. Try, if you can, to count how many times in the last few days you’ve skimmed over insight-free outrage at the childhood behavior of Mitt Romney. This is a question of hits, of course — a famous man being awful is news everyone wants to click on, and taking a righteous stance against him is easy, safe, and brand-building. On its own, this seems to be just another quirk of the opinionated internet media. But writ large, it’s pernicious. No matter what your political views are, the RSS feeds, Facebook pages, and Twitters you probably spend the most time on are the ones that flatter you, pander to you, and reaffirm beliefs you already hold.
Given that prevalent attitude, it’s a bit hard to understand the popularity of Christwire. A played-extremely-straight satire of the religious far right, Christwire at first glance seems more like a collection of terrifying opinions than any sort of insight you might agree with, let alone one you’d find humorous. It shares a small handful of commonalities with Hipster Runoff — firstly, that one may have to read a few articles to realize there’s a joke at all, and secondly, that when the joke finally emerges, it seems more bitter and resigned than laugh out loud funny. But while Hipster Runoff is largely read and commented on by those who are in on the gimmick, Christwire attracts a much larger array of different responses, from various displays of reactive vitriol, to people who jump in and participate in the site’s antagonistic fun, to to my personal favorite: commenters who condescendingly call the site “hilarious.” READ MORE
The Silly, If Delusional, Charm of the Beach Party Genre
The beach party genre began in 1963 with the release of Beach Party by American International Pictures (the irony of the name presumably lost on the company). Largely inspired by Gidget and tropical Elvis Presley musicals, the genre grew as AIP and imitators released more films that centered on teens partying at the beach. And nothing else.
While the first film Beach Party was conflict-free, the sequels added villains who threatened to stop the teens’ beach partying, including jocks (Muscle Beach Party), land developers (Bikini Beach), Martians (Pajama Party), and ghosts (The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini). Every time, these outside forces are defeated. Although these films were intended as comedies, taking the context of the 1960’s into consideration reveals a dark undercurrent within the beach party genre. READ MORE
Anniversary Spooktacular with Tina Fey on 'The Nerdist' and Sean Conroy's New Show
You know what this is? It's a celebration, bitches. I'm not trying to be a misogynist, it’s that I'm only addressing female dawgs right now. What up, dawgs? Woof? Of course. Female dawgs who love comedy podcasts that is. Let's take a second to think about how adorable that is…"What's your favorite podcast, dog?" "What The Bark with Bark Maron. You?" "Either improv4dogs or You Made it Woof." And scene. Anyway, the actual celebration is this columns one year anniversary (well one year and 11 days). On Cinco De Mayo, 2011, Joe Berkowitz and I started "This Week in Comedy Podcasts" and what a long, not that strange trip it has been. It has been exciting to see to see the medium grow and evolve. Though it hasn't necessarily exploded in popularity, it has realized certain artistic possibilities. Thank you for reading our over 250 recommendations and tolerating "jokes" like "Bark Maron." Here's to many more. Without further ado, here's this week's picks.
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Talking with Hannibal Buress About His Hour Special, 'The Eric Andre Show', and Enjoying the Moment
This Sunday, May 20th, is going to be big for Hannibal Buress. At 11:00pm, his hour special, Hannibal Buress: Animal Furnace, premieres on Comedy Central and then 30 minutes after it finishes, at 12:30am, The Eric Andre Show, for which he is the co-host, premieres on Adult Swim. After years of being the most buzzed about comedian by everyone from Chris Rock to Eugene Mirman to many powerful people in show business to any fan of comedy, the buzz is finally going to reach an unavoidable volume. I don't know Hannibal personally but my first reaction is pride.
That's because with one off-hand joke, Hannibal changed my life. I always really enjoyed watching stand-up as a kid but the interest waned after I graduated college. I was trying to work in music so if I was going to a venue, it wasn't to see someone crack jokes. But then a friend invited me to Comedy Death Ray (now Comedy Bang! Bang! Stand-up) at the UCB LA. Hannibal was the first act and after a chunk about the film Paranormal Activity, he started to talk about ordering fish at a restaurant and being served a whole fish. The punchline, as I remember it, went something like "Why are there bones in this? I am not Heathcliff. This is not a trashcan." It destroyed me. It was the funniest thing I've ever heard. Yeah, it's a simple reference but it was, as I've since learned, just so incredibly Hannibal: trenchant, irreverent without losing focus, hilarious. It sounds cheesy to write, and feel, but that one joke renewed my interest in comedy. For that, I've felt connected to Hannibal ever since.
And in that time since all he's done is evoke similar reactions in people. He got jobs writing for SNL and 30 Rock because very funny people saw him perform and realized how very funny he was. It's the same reason Jonah Hill wanted to work with him to develop a pilot for Fox and why he won the Best Club Comic award at this year's Comedy Awards. READ MORE
10 Promising Pilots the Networks Didn’t Pick Up This Year
Every year, each of the major TV networks produces a couple dozen pilots for new shows before determining which ones to air that fall. Programming execs at all the big networks just this week picked which pilots to scrap and which ones to air this coming season, but they left some rather promising shows by the wayside. Collected below is info on 10 of the coolest-sounding comedies that ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox passed over. I haven’t seen the pilots for these shows; this list is just going off of their premises and the previous work of the cast and crew.
One last thing before we start, I want iterate that this post isn’t about blaming any of the networks for passing up potentially-funny shows. Even if a pilot has a talented cast, an accomplished showrunner, and an engaging premise, the end product could still end up being garbage because of any number of factors. Or an awesome comedy might have been passed up because it was too smart or weird for a mainstream audience. Despite the glut of compelling shows that won’t be making it to air this fall (and a few unexciting ones that will be), the networks did a lot of good this year overal, sticking with some excellent but low-rated shows when they didn’t have to. Five of the best comedies on network TV – Parks and Rec, Community, 30 Rock, BFFs, and Happy Endings – all suffer from low ratings, but we should be thankful that their respective networks renewed all but one (sadly, BFFs) for next year.
Without further ado, let's take a look at some neat shows we'll never get to see from super talented people. READ MORE
The Complete "Weird Al" Music Video Library
For nearly three decades “Weird Al” Yankovic has been the unparalleled master of song parody. With over 150 songs in his repertoire, he's taken on nearly every musical genre and pop culture reference imaginable. He's also created a venerable roster of hilarious and memorable music videos. When MTV was just starting out, Al became one of the first people to inject humor into the relatively new art form. And as music videos became more sophisticated, so did Al's.
Part of the appeal of Al's videos is seeing him slip into the roles of the artists he's parodying. By becoming Kurt Cobain or Lady Gaga, he tears down the artifice of celebrity and the superficiality of mainstream music. But Al's more than a musical chameleon, he takes what's popular and makes it accessible to the people who aren't. As a kid who didn't fit in, I couldn't relate to the cool and popular version, but I could relate to Al's.
Al started directing most of his videos in the 90s, but more recently he's switched over to using animation to make his videos. His most recent album “Alpocalypse” was the first to have a music video for every single track, almost all of which were animated. Nowadays seeing a music video on MTV is a rarity but thanks to Youtube (and Al!), all his videos are available online. So without further ado, I proudly present all 45 official “Weird Al” music videos. READ MORE
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Stephen Colbert Is the 69th Most Beautiful Woman in the World
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Diving Deep Into Canadian Comedy in 'Comedy Gold'
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Hanging Out with Dave Hill
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