Splitsider

May 22nd, 2013
Deals

Hannibal Buress Is Getting a Comedy Central Pilot and Co-Starring in 'Broad City'

by | May 22nd, 2013

You're going to be seeing a lot of Hannibal Buress on Comedy Central in the coming years. The cable network announced today they've signed a deal with Buress, a popular stand-up and former writer for 30 Rock and SNL,  to star in and executive produce his own pilot. He'll also be playing a recurring role on the upcoming Comedy Central show Broad City, starring/created by Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer and based on their web series of the same name. Buress has previously appeared on the web version of the show. The Comedy Central deal will also find Buress headlining a nationwide tour and starring in a new one-hour special for the network. His first hourlong special, Hannibal Buress: Animal Furnace, debuted on Comedy Central last year. "This is really exciting," Buress said in the press release. "I can finally quit my day job at Quiznos. People talk down about the Illuminati a lot but this is proof that membership has its benefits."

Interviews

Talking to Todd Barry About His New Podcast, 'Delocated,' and Doing an Hour of Pure Crowd Work

by | May 22nd, 2013

This podcasting thing must be here to stay because Todd Barry has one now. And Todd Barry is no Johnny-come-lately who’s going to fall for the latest fad. He’s far too much of an amazing and highly regarded comedian for that.

Barry launched The Todd Barry Podcast last month on the Feral Audio network. The format is nothing new – it’s essentially Barry interviewing his comedian friends in his New York apartment – but it’s great to hear him be sincere for a moment and break character from the Todd Barry World Famous Comedian he plays on his must-follow Twitter feed.

Barry has long been a staple of the NYC comedy scene known for his dry sarcasm. He’s released four albums, done three Comedy Central Specials, and appeared in several films and TV shows, including The Wrestler and Louie. I recently had the chance to chat with Barry about his podcast, his role in The Wrestler, and his recent crowd work tour. READ MORE

Channel Changing

With 'Happy Endings' Canceled, Damon Wayans Jr. May Come Back to 'New Girl'

by | May 22nd, 2013

While negotiations are still ongoing to bring Happy Endings to USA following ABC's decision to cancel the sitcom, it looks like star Damon Wayans Jr. is wanted back at New Girl. For the uninformed, in between Happy Endings' first and second seasons when a renewal for the show seemed uncertain, Wayans took a role on Fox's New Girl. He appeared in the pilot as a roommate named Coach but had to leave the show after Happy Endings got picked up for Season 2 and Lamorne Morris’s Winston took his place. With Happy Endings' future uncertain once again, TV Line's Michael Ausiello reports that if the show doesn't move to USA, "it’s an inevitability that Damon Wayans Jr. will find himself back on New Girl next season in some capacity."

New Girl star Jake Johnson, who's currently filming the buddy comedy Let's Be Cops with Damon Wayans Jr., tells TV Line he'd be excited to "welcome Coach back to the loft." He added, "I would be surprised if he doesn't come back for a while … There would be such funny episodes with the Coach seeing what's happened in the past two years since he's [been] gone." Even if Happy Endings no longer has a home on the primetime TV lineup, it's nice that Damon Wayans Jr. does.

Late Night

Watch Zach Galifianakis and Craig Ferguson Meet for the First Time

by | May 22nd, 2013


Zach Galifianakis and Craig Ferguson met each other for the first time last night when Galifianakis was a guest on The Late Late Show, and the result was a pretty nutty interview, which you can watch in its entirety above.

Short Films

Watch Michael Cera's New Short Film "Gregory Go Boom"

by | May 22nd, 2013


Here's Michael Cera's brand new short film "Gregory Go Boom," which was just released today on JASH, the YouTube comedy channel Cera co-founded with Reggie Watts, Tim & Eric, and Sarah Silverman. Written and directed by Janicza Bravo, "Gregory Go Boom" stars Cera as a paraplegic guy trying to find independence. Sarah Burns and Brett Gelman also star. This is Michael Cera's second short film for JASH, following "Brazzaville Teen-Ager," which debuted last month, just in case you want to have yourself a very short Michael Cera short film marathon.

Tweetin

Today's Funniest Tweets

by | May 21st, 2013

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reenactments

Paul Scheer and Jordan Peele Recreate an Insane Interview Between Arsenio Hall and Tupac

by | May 21st, 2013


Here's the latest episode of Paul Scheer's new JASH web series The ArScheerio Paul Show, which features him recreating a different Arsenio Hall Show interview each week as Arsenio Hall. The latest episode has Key & Peele's Jordan Peele playing Tupac Shakur in what would totally feel like something Scheer and Peele made up if not for the original interview being available online.

Check out the real 1993 Arsenio/Tupac interview below: READ MORE

Advice

SNL writer and 30 Rock punching bag John Lutz wrote a piece for the Second City Network called "10 Things to Know About Life After The Second City." It's full of good advice for improvisers like "be patient," "don't hold grudges," and "if you own a pair of Skechers, throw them out," all of which double as good advice for regular people too.

Trailers

Watch a New Trailer for 'The Kings of Summer' Featuring Nick Offerman and Alison Brie

by | May 21st, 2013


Here's a new red band trailer for the upcoming comedy The Kings of Summer, which features Nick Offerman yelling at a teenager about masturbating and saying "fuck you" to a police officer. What else could you possibly want from a movie?

Web Videos

Olde English Looks Back at 'Blind Date'

by | May 21st, 2013


Splitsider is thrilled to offer our first digital download, The Exquisite Corpse Project, a fantastic film from the former members of legendary sketch group Olde English. I recently sat down with the guys to look through some of their classic Olde English sketches. Here, the group looked back at a niche favorite made as a part of their monthly Rules Show.

Caleb: I was looking through our YouTube channel about a year ago and realized that this one video that we had made, I think we watched it once had over a million hits out of nowhere. It is Blind Date.

Raphael: Oh, that's a sketch that came out of our Rules Show. This is a live show where we showed videos, and we showed footage of us giving each other rules and different assignements. And Adam Conover, my good friend, gave me the assignment — you have to make a sketch where it's a blind date between two mathematical constants, no phyiscal objects can appear in the sketch, and one of the mathematical constants has a dangerous secret. That was it. So I just ended up making a cartoon, because I didn't know how else…

Ben: You didn't know how to make a cartoon at the time.

Raphael: Oh right, yes.

Ben: You taught yourself how to animate.

Raphael: Yes. I didn't use Flash or anything. I used Final Cut Pro, which is not the best tool for making animation. READ MORE

Speeches

Watch Stephen Colbert Deliver a Joke-Filled Commencement Address

by | May 21st, 2013


Here's Stephen Colbert giving University of Virginia's commencement address this weekend. It's basically a giant 14-minute pile of jokes and then three minutes of serious stuff.

Comedy Docs

Delving Into the Fandom That Brought 'Arrested Development' Back To Life

by | May 21st, 2013

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?

Right now would seem like an ideal time to release The Arrested Development Documentary Project. In the midst of an almost dizzying amount of excitement about the fourth season of Arrested Development, premiering May 26 on Netflix, the show has gotten more press and attention than ever before. What a great opportunity to release a fan-made documentary chronicling the beloved series.

The documentary has clearly been in the works a long time, and it seems like it was intended as a rallying cry to force into existence the long-discussed Arrested Development movie. The film begins with random vox pops with people who had never watched, or often heard of, Arrested Development. It then flips between interviews with almost every major player—creator Mitch Hurwitz, seven of the nine regulars, and the show’s producers—and thoughts from die-hard fans of the show. READ MORE

reddit

Highlights from Patton Oswalt's Reddit AMA

by | May 21st, 2013

Patton Oswalt did an AMA question-and-answer session on Reddit yesterday afternoon, and a lot of important comedy stuff came up. From his thoughts on recent stand-up controversies to his favorite Mr. Show sketch, from his favorite young comedians to his plans for a second book, Oswalt touched on a variety of comedy-related topics, and we collected the most interesting answers below so that you don't have to weed through the Reddit thread for the good stuff. Enjoy! READ MORE

SNL

Saturday Night's Children: Matthew Laurance (1980-1981)

by | May 21st, 2013

Saturday Night Live has been home to over a hundred cast members throughout the past 37 years. In our column Saturday Night’s Children, we present the history, talent, and best sketches of one SNL cast member every other week for your viewing, learning, and laughing pleasure.

While it's difficult enough to track down the stories of oft-forgotten SNL cast members, early eighties bit player Matthew Laurance poses an added level of complication: He's an identical twin to slightly-older brother Mitchell Laurance, who not only worked alongside him as an SNL staffer in the late seventies but also appeared on HBO's Not Necessarily the News from 1983-1990. The sibling rivalry spilled from personal to professional for the Laurance brothers and has since blurred their shared but separately obscure histories as actors, but while Matthew would only land about half the roles as his brother, he can lay claim to SNL as his first onscreen gig in the biz. READ MORE

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