Splitsider

The City of Angels. La-la Land. Lipstick City. Tinsel Town. Hollyweird. I could list hokey nicknames for LA all day long, but maybe it’s just best to describe the town as an overcrowded mess of traffic, pollution, street gangs, broken dreams, and one of the most vibrant and active live comedy scenes in human history.

Because Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world, most of your favorite comedians from movies and TV live here, and a lot of them make it a habit to, despite their busy day jobs, continue to perform live stand-up or improv to keep their chops up. Celebrities aren’t the only ones taking [...]

You can’t get through life as a black person without a sense of humor. The setup and premises of life all too often leave you the butt of the joke. That’s why most contemporary black folk have a little “Comedy BlackPack” in them. A little Richard Pryor, a little Eddie Murphy, a little Chris Rock, and finally some Dave Chappelle: This is the Mount Rushmore of contemporary black comedy. And the future of black comedy, the ideal up-and-comer — the Black Comedian 3000, if you will — takes a little from each to form his own shtick.

When I put together the first Somewhat Obsessive Guide to All 36 Seasons of SNL Streaming on Netflix, Netflix had yet to post seasons 26-30. That has since been corrected! So here's my guide to those five seasons, featuring Tina Fey and Jimmy Fallon's first episodes on the Weekend Update desk, Conan O'Brien's hosting gig, and the first show after 9/11. All of this is being edited into the original guide, so feel free to go bookmark that for reference, as it now includes all 36 seasons. Happy streaming!

Though I was not born in Texas, and did not get here as fast as I could, and while much of what lies outside Austin City Limits is a mystery to me, there’s one local fact I know for sure: Austin’s got an insanely great comedy scene, and it’s growing fast.

It took awhile to get the timing right. In 1997 Austin Stories premiered, an effort to introduce an emerging stand-up scene to MTV’s hip audience with the help of Howard Kremer, Chip Pope, Laura House and Matt Bearden (also Patton Oswalt, who briefly served as head writer). Decidedly Slacker-inspired, its washed-out world [...]

Ever since Cheech & Chong first took to the screen in the late ‘70s, the stoner comedy has been a popular subgenre in American cinema. Cheech & Chong set up the basic format that most stoner movies have followed ever since: two weed-loving slackers set out on a specific goal, often involving them smoking or selling large amounts of pot, as they evade the cops and have outrageous episodic experiences along the way. The two leads in a marijuana movie are usually comically mismatched; it’s the Odd Couple if Felix and Oscar spent the whole movie taking bong rips. Over the years, beloved stoner fare [...]

It's the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, which means lots of travel and lots of family time. It's a double-edged sword: it's always nice to see family, for a time. But when you're sleeping in your old bedroom for a few nights, waking up to and going to sleep after spending the day with the family with few opportunities to take a breather, things can get tense. Here, allow me to give you some things to do when you need a break from all of the forced family fun of Thanksgiving.

Are these Muppets planning on stopping their adorableness anytime soon? Their unabating, rampant cuteness is just pounding away at all of our shriveled, embittered, bronze-encased hearts. And it hurts. Their latest crime is this gift guide from the Secret Santa between Muppet and human Muppets co-stars, including Sarah Silverman, Rashida Jones, Kristen Schaal, and Whoopi Goldberg. They all love each other so much! I really can't wait for November 23 so the movie comes out and I can go back to my regular cynical, bleak existence without all this stupid joy in the way.

It’s official: there are now more essential comedy podcasts than there are hours in the day. We’re fully outnumbered, people. It would be an impossible, Icarus-like ambition to listen to them all and still function as a human adult person. Don’t even try — it’s not worth throwing your life away. Perhaps some of you haven’t listened to any podcasts yet, though, and merely clicked on this link to find out what your nerdy co-worker won’t shut up about. These jaded ears envy your innocence and adventurous spirit. You might not realize it but right now you’re like Jake Sully, newly arrived on the planet Pandora — except instead [...]