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Web Videos
1

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

Comedy Docs
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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

Interviews
0

Talking to Gabe Liedman About 'The Half Hour', Re-writing Jokes, and Writing for TV

by | May 21st, 2013

For the past 15 years, Comedy Central’s half hour specials have showcased the future stars of standup. Looking back, the early years of Comedy Central Presents included memorable sets from the likes of Mitch Hedberg, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Dane Cook and dozens more. Re-branded The Half Hour in 2012, the series continues to feature the best up-and-coming comics in the country.

For many comedians, it’s that history that makes doing a half hour special so significant. While a half hour may once have been a comic’s first major exposure, comedians now have many ways to build an audience. Almost everyone who taped a special this year does non-standup comedy as well, branching out into the worlds of podcasting, sketch and improv, web series, acting, and more. In this new series, I sat down with each of this year’s 16 Half Hour comedians to talk about their specials, their careers, and their generation of comedians. Each interview will also feature an exclusive clip from the special. All the interviews can be found here.

Beloved as half of the fantastic comedy duo "Gabe and Jenny" with Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman co-created the amazing New York standup show Big Terrific with Slate and standup Max Silvestri. Though he now lives in LA, I caught up with him in Brooklyn before Big Terrific's fifth anniversary show to talk about his first ever televised standup and the benefit of doing a weekly show.

So how was the taping?

Awesome. It went perfectly. It was really fun and looking back, it just went perfectly. Can't wait to see it. No regrets.

What did doing a Half Hour mean to you?

I guess I've always thought of myself as doing something different than standup. And so when I got to do an album this year, and then a special, it made me feel like part of the community. I guess I always felt like what I was—when I started, I was worried that what I was doing was not standup and now I feel like it's definitely standup. READ MORE

Interviews
1

Talking to Jonah Ray About 'The Half Hour', 'Nerdist', and Zombie Jokes

by | May 20th, 2013

For the past 15 years, Comedy Central’s half hour specials have showcased the future stars of standup. Looking back, the early years of Comedy Central Presents included memorable sets from the likes of Mitch Hedberg, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Dane Cook and dozens more. Re-branded The Half Hour in 2012, the series continues to feature the best up-and-coming comics in the country.

For many comedians, it’s that history that makes doing a half hour special so significant. While a half hour may once have been a comic’s first major exposure, comedians now have many ways to build an audience. Almost everyone who taped a special this year does non-standup comedy as well, branching out into the worlds of podcasting, sketch and improv, web series, acting, and more. In this new series, I sat down with each of this year’s 16 Half Hour comedians to talk about their specials, their careers, and their generation of comedians. Each interview will also feature an exclusive clip from the special. All the interviews can be found here.

Jonah Ray is best known as one of the key members of the Nerdist empire, co-hosting the original podcast, appearing on the BBC America's spinoff show The Nerdist, and hosting his own podcast Jonah Raydio. He also co-hosts the popular LA standup show The Meltdown. I caught up with him over the phone to chat about his non-nerdy comedy and the value of a creative outlet.

So how did the taping go?

I feel it went well. Normally, I hate every performance I've ever done in my life. I walk away from most shows, be it at a bar, a club, or a taping, feeling like I want to murder myself. Not even commit suicide, I want to violently murder myself. But walking away from that taping, I felt good, which is rare. And that convinced me that it went horrible.

Yeah, I feel good about it. It'll be fixed in editing, but I messed up my last line. I literally stumbled over the last five words of the entire set. But I still had fun, and that's more important than any other fucking thing. Recovering from that and joking around with the audience like a real person, instead of somebody that was just going off of their pre-planned set, was probably my favorite part of the entire night. READ MORE

Web Videos
0

Olde English Looks Back at 'One Picture Every Day'

by | May 17th, 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 one of their biggest viral hits.

Ben: I think playing around with format was always the defining characteristic of our group. That's what we were most interested in, was experimenting with new ways to make comedy. So in 2006, there was a really popular video called "Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years". And I got really obsessed with pausing his video and seeing what was on his monitor or seeing what the girl in the background looked like, Oh now, he's got a new girlfriend. Just really pausing it and kind of creeping on this guy. And we came up with the idea that we could take that same sort of phenomenon and play it with in a comedy format. So we intentionally built in a lot of jokes that you only get if you pause it and go through frame by frame. If you don't pause it, there's levels of jokes that you do understand, but if you do go frame by frame, there's a whole other layer. That's fascinating to me.

Adam: That sketch was also a big turning point for us because, we had like a couple of videos that were different stages of viral hits, but that was the first one that was a hit on YouTube. And actually it was a hit because I remember they put it on the YouTube front page, which was a big deal at the time.

Ben: I remember calling our agent when we put that up and being like, "Hey dude, can you try and get this on the YouTube front page?" And he said, "I have no idea how to do that but I'll try." And then six hours later it was on the front page.

Adam: Coincidentally. He didn't do it.

Ben: Conicidentally. No, I called him and I was like, "You did it! You did it!" And he was like, "What did I do?" [They all laugh.] "It's on the front page!" He's like, "Yeah, I haven't done anything."

Adam: And it got like two million hits, which at the time was an enormous number, and right now is like a failure of a video.

Ben: In 2006, that was probably like 40 billion hits. READ MORE

Interviews
6

Talking to Colin Quinn About His New One-Man Show, 'Tough Crowd', and Being the King of Twitter

by | May 17th, 2013

There have been many chapters in Colin Quinn's career since he first appeared on MTV's Remote Control in 1987. The former SNL castmember went on to host the short-lived but brilliant Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn on Comedy Central; more recently, his unique Twitter persona caught the eye of the New York Times. Following on the success of his Broadway one-man show Colin Quinn: Long Story Short, his "history of the world in 75 minutes," Colin Quinn's new show, Unconstitutional, aims to tackle "226 years of American Constitutional calamities." I caught up with after a preview performance of his show to talk about constitutional conventions, comedy nerds, and how sincerity infuriates people.

What was it about the Constitution that made you want to do a show?

Well, it's because it annoys me [that] all this time, everyone's always talking about how brilliant the Constitution was, and I didn't get what was brilliant about it. How can I be so stupid that I don't get the Constitution? So I said I'm going to write a show about it. I wanted to do another show anyway, but I wasn't going to make it, like, "Oh I did world history, now I'm doing American history." Of course, that's what I did, but I wasn't planning that. I was planning to not do that, so people wouldn't go, “Look at this idiot, what a loser. Now he's gonna do a American history.” But that's what I am, and that's what I did.

I think that’s fair. It’s like a high school curriculum — you do world history for a year and American history for a year.

There you go. What's next?

Well I went to an all-girls school, so we did, like, world literature, American literature, and women's literature.

Ah. That would be good, right? That would be wild. Because, among the subjects that I've never had a grip on — no guy understands women. Or some guys do, but very few. So that really would be good. A whole show on women. But then, can you imagine if it really became popular and suddenly all the horrible bachelorette parties came to the show? I'd kill myself. The worst standup people, crowd-wise, are usually bachelorette parties, strippers and the men who love them, when they come to shows, and bachelor parties. Bachelor and bachelorette parties are the worst. Either one, because you can't have that many people at a club together. They know each other, they want to talk to each other and get drunk. It's unnatural. They shouldn’t be in comedy clubs. Look, here we are talking about standup, instead of the Constitution. READ MORE

Web Videos
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Olde English Looks Back at 'O'Doul's' and 'The Applicant'

by | May 15th, 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 couple videos of their favorite videos that played with format. 

Joel: One I really like that, uh, is the O'Doul's rap because my sister-in-law is pregnant and she's been drinking O'Doul's and she hates it. [Laughs] But what can she do? And I showed her the O'Doul's rap and she loved it. It made her day. She showed it to all her pregnant friends, and they all got such a kick out of it.

Raphael: I think one thing we really glommed on to really early is playing with formats. Starting with that and going from there. So for example, the O'Doul's sketch is a music video and we tried to make the music video really well. And  focus on the music video aspect as much as the comedy of it. READ MORE

Interviews
0

Talking to Sean O'Connor About 'The Half Hour', Sketch Comedy, and Remaking 'Monster Squad'

by | May 14th, 2013

For the past 15 years, Comedy Central’s half hour specials have showcased the future stars of standup. Looking back, the early years of Comedy Central Presents included memorable sets from the likes of Mitch Hedberg, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Dane Cook and dozens more. Re-branded The Half Hour in 2012, the series continues to feature the best up-and-coming comics in the country.

For many comedians, it’s that history that makes doing a half hour special so significant. While a half hour may once have been a comic’s first major exposure, comedians now have many ways to build an audience. Almost everyone who taped a special this year does non-standup comedy as well, branching out into the worlds of podcasting, sketch and improv, web series, acting, and more. In this new series, I sat down with each of this year’s 16 Half Hour comedians to talk about their specials, their careers, and their generation of comedians. Each interview will also feature an exclusive clip from the special. All the interviews can be found here.

LA-based Sean O'Connor is no stranger to TV, having appeared twice on Conan and written for programs like The Ben Show. I caught up with him over the phone to talk about comedy milestones and ruining his favorite childhood movies.

So, how did the taping go?

I think my taping went really great. I was really excited about it. It was like the first time I've ever been excited for something leading up to it and then afterwards I liked it as much as the excitement.

What was so cool about The Half Hour this year is that, like, 14 of the people are my friends for the past 7 years. That was really cool to all do this together. It felt very much like graduation. Like, “Oh, all of my friends. Cool.” Which is kind of a bummer cause then there wasn't one that I could make feel bad about them not getting it.

Any crazy stories from the night? 

No. It was bizarre, because I think I am the most nervous person. Everyone else looked like they were in the zone when you would go in the green room. They were like, “Yeah, I'm about to tape. I'm not nervous.” But I was panicking and pacing and sweating, and then when I went out there, it all just worked. READ MORE

Reviews
0

Christopher Guest Brings His Version of the Mockumentary to TV with 'Family Tree'

by | May 13th, 2013

Mockmentary-style television has become the preferred method for edgy, self-aware sitcoms, and now the original mockumentarian is giving TV a try. Family Tree, a BBC/HBO co-production from Christopher Guest, creator of classics like This Is Spinal Tap and Best in Show, follows Chris O’Dowd as Tom Chadwick, a sweet but aimless 30-year-old who has been laid off from his job and dumped by his girlfriend.

When his great-aunt bequeaths him a trunk full of family knick-knacks, Tom becomes obsessed with tracing his lineage, with the help of a convenient antique-store-owning pal (Jim Piddock, who co-created the series with Guest), and despite the bumbling of his dim-witted best friend Pete (Tom Bennett). The cast is filled out by Michael McKean as Tom’s dad, ventriloquist Nina Conti as his sister Bea, and Guest repertory players like Ed Begley Jr. and Eugene Levy.

Given his history, it’s no surprise that Guest knows how to get the most of the pseudo-reality style. Several minutes of the first episode are devoted to a few glaring oddities, like why O’Dowd’s character is Irish while his dad, sister, and childhood best friend are all English, and why Bea is never without Conti’s puppet sidekick Monkey (hint: it involves a masturbating bird). There is some of Guest’s trademark uncomfortable humor, much of it from Pete and Monkey, but it’s much more grounded than his films, with noticeably softer edges. While it’s never directly acknowledged, the format mimics the celebrity genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are?, a massive hit in the UK that never caught on in the US. READ MORE

TV
28

Why NBC Will Regret Not Picking Up 'Mulaney'

by | May 13th, 2013

Late Friday afternoon, NBC announced that it has declined to pick up John Mulaney's sitcom, Mulaney. It was a surprising move, given that the highly anticipated and already buzzy show had Lorne Michaels as a producer and an incredible cast. Having seen a version of the script, and based on Brad's on-the-scene reporting, I can say that it was a good pilot and that the series had enormous potential. It's a shame that it won't be on NBC's schedule this fall. But in the long run, what NBC will really regret is not just picking up the show Mulaney, but adding John Mulaney to its primetime ranks.

There are no surefire bets in comedy or television, but I stand by this as a truism: Lorne Michaels picks winners. Regardless of the near-constant din about the quality of Saturday Night Live's writing that has lingered for decades, it's impossible to dispute his eye for talent. The list of major stars who got their first exposure from Michaels is thoroughly impressive, with everyone from Bill Murray to Kristen Wiig owing huge debts of success to their SNL breaks. The most amazing rags-to-riches (or awkward-to-megastar) story will always be Conan O'Brien — not many people saw what Michaels did in the early of years of Late Night with Conan O'Brien (as the ratings proved). Now it's impossible to imagine the modern day comedy scene without Conan's influence. And remember the reaction when Jimmy Fallon was announced as his late night successor? That guy? Who wants to watch him giggle for an hour every night? And yet, it was the now-68-year-old Michaels who saw Fallon's potential to build a light-hearted late night show that appeals to the young audience rapidly deserting the format. READ MORE

Interviews
1

Talking to Dan St. Germain About 'The Half Hour', Writing vs. Standup, and His New Comedy Central Deal

by | May 13th, 2013

For the past 15 years, Comedy Central’s half hour specials have showcased the future stars of standup. Looking back, the early years of Comedy Central Presents included memorable sets from the likes of Mitch Hedberg, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Dane Cook and dozens more. Re-branded The Half Hour in 2012, the series continues to feature the best up-and-coming comics in the country.

For many comedians, it’s that history that makes doing a half hour special so significant. While a half hour may once have been a comic’s first major exposure, comedians now have many ways to build an audience. Almost everyone who taped a special this year does non-standup comedy as well, branching out into the worlds of podcasting, sketch and improv, web series, acting, and more. In this new series, I sat down with each of this year’s 16 Half Hour comedians to talk about their specials, their careers, and their generation of comedians. Each interview will also feature an exclusive clip from the special. All the interviews can be found here.

New York-based standup Dan St. Germain can currently be found on VH1's Best Week Ever and co-hosting the podcast My Dumb Friends. Despite giving up drinking a year ago, he didn't mind that we ended up meeting in a Williamsburg bar, where we talked about the pressure of headlining and lying on your bio.

So, how did your taping go?

It was great. Super fun. Easy, you know? Next day you're playing for four people in a basement. Kind of humbling. Anything's easier than that.

Any big stories from the taping?

Um, I sweat incredibly. I sweat so much that they had to put the "Use towel" thing on the teleprompter, but I don't really use a teleprompter because I had the order memorized pretty well. Then I look over at the teleprompter and there's this big flashing, “Use towel!” Like a fucking circus animal. But it was great, man. Super fun. READ MORE

Web Videos
0

Olde English Looks Back at 'Boxcar'

by | May 10th, 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 an early video, which they made for their live show at Bard College.

Joel: I'm gonna throw another old one out. One of my favorites is a sketch called Boxcar. And the reason I love it is because I think it showcases some really great performances. We wrote a script and everything but it was sort of open-form, so there was a lot of like improv-ing in front of the camera.

Raphael: There was also, I think, originally a 15-minute edit of it.

Joel: Oh yeah, it's huge.

Raphael: It got slimmed down to seven minutes, but in the old days, we didn't know how long a sketch was supposed to be. It was like, we're gonna take as long as we need to tell this story. READ MORE

Reviews
0

'Dad Is Fat' Review: How Jim Gaffigan Lives Completely Unlike Your Average Comedian

by | May 7th, 2013

In comedy circles, Jim Gaffigan has almost a living-legend aura around him. His broad appeal and ability to do the same clean material in every type of room is widely admired. "If you're a comedian, you should be able to perform in front of any kind of crowd, and the goal is to be someone like Jim Gaffigan who can do Eugene [Mirman]'s show and he can do my show, but then he can also perform at Carnegie Hall or whatever, the Pepsi Thunderdome in Janesville, Wisconsin, and do as well in front of every kind of crowd," Liam McEneaney told me last year. Even more amazing to many is his home life—a devoted churchgoer and father of five, he and his family live in a two-bedroom walkup in New York City's East Village. Those things make him an anomaly in the comedy world, and so it's not surprising that they serve as the inspiration for his new book, Dad is Fat.

Undoubtedly best known for his food material ("Jim Gaffigan wrote a book? Isn't the Hot Pockets guy?" is the very first sentence of the book's forward), Dad Is Fat instead draws from the reliable comedic well that is parenthood. It's an area that Gaffigan's standup has explored more in recent years, with some of the book's material taken nearly verbatim from his most recent special, Mr. Universe. The book is a collection of more than 60 short essays, on subjects ranging from pregnancy from a husband's perspective to taking your kids to McDonald's. (The book, like all of Gaffigan's standup, was co-written with his wife Jeannie, who comes across as a woman both saints and superheroes would look at with wonder.) READ MORE

Interviews
0

Talking to Joe DeRosa About 'The Half Hour', Web Comedy, and the Best Fans

by | May 7th, 2013

For the past 15 years, Comedy Central’s half hour specials have showcased the future stars of standup. Looking back, the early years of Comedy Central Presents included memorable sets from the likes of Mitch Hedberg, Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford, Dane Cook and dozens more. Re-branded The Half Hour in 2012, the series continues to feature the best up-and-coming comics in the country.

For many comedians, it’s that history that makes doing a half hour special so significant. While a half hour may once have been a comic’s first major exposure, comedians now have many ways to build an audience. Almost everyone who taped a special this year does non-standup comedy as well, branching out into the worlds of podcasting, sketch and improv, web series, acting, and more. In this new series, I sat down with each of this year’s 16 Half Hour comedians to talk about their specials, their careers, and their generation of comedians. Each interview will also feature an exclusive clip from the special. All the interviews can be found here.

A regular on Opie & Anthony, Joe DeRosa's half hour special is his second, having recorded a Comedy Central Presents in 2009. Days before he was set off on a month-long tour of the south, where he recorded his new album, I met up with him in his Gramercy apartment to discuss multiple specials, O&A fans, and being in the new wave of comedy.

How did the taping go?

It went very well. It was a special night for me. Getting to go back and do a second one was really flattering. I felt honored to get to go and do another one.

You’re the only one this year who also did a Presents. Why did you decide to do another one?

The opportunity was there to do a second one, so I felt like, why not? It was a really good chance for me to get new material on the television. It’s been a little bit of time since I've had anything on television, and it was an opportunity for me to get material onto television pretty close to the state that it would be in a club environment. That was important for me too. For some comedians, it’s hard to find TV outlets where you can kind of let loose and really be yourself, and you don't have to worry about scrubbing and cleaning everything up. And aside from some bleeps in this special, I felt like it was pretty close to what you'd hear in a club. And then also with recording a new album and everything, I felt like, the first time I did one of these was four years ago or something, and it coincided with the release of my first album. So it felt like things kind of came full circle to where they were with the first time I did this and my first album. READ MORE

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