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 [...]
Book clubs are a complicated lot. On the plus side, you get a necessary peer-pressure push to read. On the negative, you have to go places and your "friends" probably don't want to read all your comedy nerd books. I'm like you and so I decided to start The Splitsider Comedy Book Club (not to be confused with the Splitsider Book Club Comedy Club, in which we teach you to book comedy clubs). The goal is present you, our readers, a space to virtually gather and discuss a book, knowing that others will also gather and discuss said book. We'll pick a book and then a month or so [...]
When reading respected literature from the Western canon, it can be difficult to process humor found within a thick tome. Sometimes it’s too difficult to understand the comedy because it relies on antiquated references (imagine how well Family Guy might hold up). Oftentimes it’s just too difficult to accept that there even can be humor in a work that’s made it into the all-important canon. While there are exceptions (Mark Twain being the most obvious one), most classic works tend to be very serious, or at least have such a reputation. With comedy already unexpected, it becomes all the more surprising when one encounters what amounts to a series of dick jokes.
Edith Wharton’s The [...]
“All the great story lines are great practical jokes that people fall for over and over again.” — Kurt Vonnegut, The Paris Review – The Art Of Fiction No. 64
Five years ago this week, 84-year-old Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. — humanist, satirist, father of seven, World War II veteran, and man after whom an asteroid is named — died from irreversible head injuries caused from falling down a flight of stairs.
Lung cancer would have made sense, at least. He'd chain-smoked since adolescence and only made two brief attempts at quitting. But you'd just assume he'd gently waft, like Pall Mall smoke, to wherever he so well pleased to go [...]
Fun! Amy Poehler interviewed Rachel Dratch about her new book, Girl Walks into a Bar . . .: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters, and a Midlife Miracle, and it is every bit as great as eavesdropping on a conversation between Poehler and Dratch should be. They talk about gay ghosts, the best flavors to scoop at the ice cream shop they both worked at in Massachussetts, and how their sons wear each other's hand-me-downs. Those sons are gonna be a power team in 20 years, man. Good god, and if Penelope Fey starts hanging out with them…I can't even imagine.
