Jim Gaffigan: The Punchline Mag audio interview

by Dylan P. Gadino

For years now, comedy giant Jim Gaffigan has been selling out theaters across the country, popping up in movies and on television and releasing stellar albums and DVDs. And now, he’s adding Broadway actor to his resume as he recently landed a co-starring role in That Championship Season, a revival of the 1973 Tony Award winning play.

But this weekend and next, you’ll be able to catch the famously pale comedian at the Nokia Theater in New York City; to be exact, Dec. 3, 4 (sold out already!), 17 and 18– two shows each night, except the one on the 17th. Get your tickets at JimGaffigan.com.

Just earlier today, I got to chat with Jim about his foray into Broadway, the idea of perception vs. reality as it relates to comedy, how he balances fatherhood with being one of the country’s biggest comedians and lots more. Check it out below. Best of all- no more reading. Enjoy!

Kelly Meyersfield: Aural Sex

by Jesse Raub

Going blue is a double-edged sword. A filthy word can take a joke into unexpected territory and pull huge laughs. But dirty for dirty’s sake gets tiring quickly. So while, we’d love to praise Kelly Meyersfield’s new musical comedy album Aural Sex as a start to finish laugh riot, it’s best to take it in chunks.

Her songs can falter. “Someone Else’s Schlong” is a bit too well-trodden given the ode to seeking other sources of stimulation just a few songs earlier on “I Love You But…” But Meyersfield can strike gold, too; “iRape” (listen below) competently delivers on the funny pretense of being raped through a webcam, and “You Are The One” handles delicately the obscene sexual requests one might run into while trying to lock down a meaningful relationship.

Her best work, though, comes from songs in which she reveals some earnestness. “Ballad Of A Senior Prom” follows a girl through the night where nothing too scandalous occurs except she gets too drunk and her boyfriend gets angry at her and the Asian guy who has a crush on her helps her clean up. The simplicity of the goofy situation without trying to push it into ridiculous territory makes for a touching comedy song.

“I Did It Because (The Virgin Song)” is a bit more explicit than “Ballad Of A Senior Prom,” but it owns the same type of empathy, as it explores a young girl’s reason for losing her virginity. And while these songs might not grab the most laughs, they definitely command the most attention.

And that’s the duality of Aural Sex. The easy laughs the earlier songs on the album exploit feel a bit hollow after a few listens, but the warmth of, let’s call it the Unfinished Eighteen Year Old Girl Trilogy (since there were only two songs), bookends the album nicely. And whether you’re looking for one or the other, you’ll probably find something you’re looking for.

To download the full album, just click the image below.

Comedy Matters with Patrice Oneal, Nick Cannon and more

by Jeffrey Gurian

Comic Strip Talent Branches Out

Ray Ellin hosts lots of shows at The Strip and that in itself is a great talent. Hosting a show is so difficult because you have to have a lot of material, and you have to be likable, and Ray excels at both.

I wasn’t surprised to see that he was tapped as the host of Radio Chick Leslie Gold’s live stage version of The Gong Show at B.B. Kings on West 42nd Street. Leslie parlayed a successful business career into an even more successful radio career, where she ruled the airwaves on 92.3 FM and then Sirius before moving to internet radio.

I thought the show was great, and got to hang out backstage with the hopefuls, including one of my own, the co-host of my show, “Uncle Nat’s Traveling Peep Show”, “Uncle Snappy, … the Man Of Many Hats.”

Snappy was performing that night under his original name JoJo Bananas. If you want to see Uncle Snappy in action go to the website http://www.unclenats.net He’s the guy holding one orange balloon. In his day job he delivers balloons, but only one at a time. He’s a balloon delivery man, which is a very rare field.

The other judges were the hilarious Dan Naturman, often found performing at The Strip as well as major venues around the country , and the always funny and charming Chuck Nice, who can often be found hanging at The Strip bar schmoozing with the other comics while waiting to go on and destroy the crowd.

Dan was wearing his ubiquitous rabbit ears, which he’s been showing up with a lot lately at different gigs, but refuses to explain why. I thought he just wore them for Halloween, but I heard he wears them all the time now.

Bill McCarty’s Hellgig

Bill McCarty’s been performing at The Strip almost since it opened in 1976. He was one of the first, and now with his partner/wife Patricia Randell has crafted his first play called Hellgig, based on his experiences on the road, staying in “comedy condos” which I believe started with Richie Tienken’s condo in Florida, when he had the club in Ft. Lauderdale.

Richie tells the story that many years ago, Eddie Murphy was lounging by the pool there when he got the call that he got SNL, and he liked hanging out at the pool so much that he didn’t want to leave to go back to NY.

This was a reading of Hellgig at the Abingdon Theatre, and it was a sold out event. I went with Bob Wachs, co-owner and co-founder of The Strip and co-manager of Eddie Murphy during the years when he was the biggest star in the world.

I have to say that it was a very true-to-life reflection of the comedy world and what comics have to go through on their often uncomfortable journey to success, playing gigs in questionable conditions, wherever they can manage to get booked.

And I was glad to see my old pal actor Ned Eisenberg, one of the founding members of The Naked Angels, playing the very scary role of Joey Rotunno all too well, as only he can do. Ned is in the cast photo in the back on the right.

Tony Rock Rocks The House

Tony Rock was at one time also managed by Richie Tienken, and when we interviewed Tony for the book on The Strip he was overwhelmed by emotion when thinking of how much Richie did for him, and how grateful he was to the club.

Tony is a great guy and a great talent, who stops by the club to perform whenever he’s in town. He was the featured performer when I co-produced Kevin Hart at Westbury last February.

This particular night, I saw him down at Gotham where he was one of the stars of Anthony Anderson’s mixtape show, that really fun, fantastic show that I try to cover as often as I can.

Anthony wasn’t in town the night I went, but 98.7 star Talent took over for him and did an outstanding job.

Tony had a great line about “white trash” saying that they’re the worst. If you’re white trash, that’s like admitting that “even being white didn’t work for you!”

Gotham Happenings

Nick Cannon Tour de Force

I didn’t know what to expect when I went to see Nick Cannon. I knew him as an actor/music performer/producer, host of America’s Got Talent, husband of Mariah Carey, and Chairman of TeenNick, but I hadn’t yet seen him perform comedy. I brought two women with me just in case the show turned out to be boring!

I was in for a pleasant surprise, cause he blew the doors off the room, (which is a very strange expression, and makes him sound more like a terrorist than a comedian!)

The reliably funny Ryan Reiss opened the show, followed by Hugh Moore who questioned that in this country the Eagle is considered to be the defender of truth. “The only way that could happen is if an eagle attacked you every time you tell a lie.”

Great visual, and he was very funny.

Kase Glenn came out as “Pastor Kase” to Rick Ross’s Blowin’ Money Fast, which is a song I can’t get out of my head. If you’re a hip-hop nut like I am, with OCD to boot, once I get a song like that in my head, I’m humming it for days. ( Maybe weeks!)

He did a difficult thing by staying in character through his whole set. Really hard to do. He said, “ If Jesus was Black it would make sense. That’s why it’s taking him so long to get back!” Kase was very funny with a unique delivery and funny physical humor as well.

Then quadruple threat Nick Cannon took the stage to great applause. What struck me even before his humor was how humble and self-effacing he was. He willingly admitted that on his wedding day, the thought occurred to him, “ I’m about to have sex with Mariah Carey. Wet dreams do come true!”

He said he was afraid to invite Kanye to his wedding, cause he couldn’t take the chance that right in the middle of his speech, Kanye might grab the mike and say,

“Hey Nick, I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish, … but Jay and Beyonce had the most incredible wedding of all time!”

He does great accents, impressions , and fantastic character work, ranging from Adam Sandler, and Dave Chappelle, to a masterful impression of Denzel Washington giving him advice on how not to lose his “mojo” with women even though he’s married.

As far as I’m concerned, (and no one really knows how far that is!) Nick Cannon is in a class of his own. Very few performers are that accomplished in so many areas, but he still has to answer to his wife. If he comes in late, Mariah may greet him with” Negro, where have you been?” And he says, “I was out trying to make you some money,” … to which she just laughs!

Tony Rock did a guest spot on that show too, and when we left, Tony jumped in my car, and came with me, Michelle and Jacquee to do a set at The Strip.

Vos Headlines The Strip

Rich Vos is a very funny guy. If you don’t believe me, ask him. I think he would agree. And if you don’t believe both of us, ask Bonnie McFarlane. She’s usually very objective!

I was glad to see a full house at Rich’s show at Gotham. I think a lot of his fans from Opie and Anthony showed up. Barry Weintraub MC’ed and he’s always good, followed by a favorite of mine, Marina Franklin, who if she doesn’t still use the name “ Sexy Fairy” , should start using it again. It fits her perfectly.

Sixth Annual Andy Kaufman Awards

This year was the first year that the Andy Kaufman Awards were held at Gotham, and it’s a big honor. It’s the 6th annual award show, and it honors a comic who they feel is as original and creative as Andy was, who believe it or not, is gone over 25 years already.

In past years, I would see George Shapiro, Andy’s manager, along with his pal Stanley Kaufman, Andy’s dad. Neither of them were able to attend this year, but Andy’s brother Michael was there as a judge. One of the other judges was Eddie Brill from the Letterman Show. The winner this year was Harrison Greenbaum and he won $2500. for his efforts.

Comedy Matters Quickies

T.V. producer/documentarian Gayle Kirschenbaum did a film about her nose that had a showing at the JCC in Manhattan. Sounds like a story for GNN, “ All The News That’s Fit To Dance To,” but it’s real. Called “My Nose” its the story of her mother’s quest to talk her into a nose job. Very entertaining, as is Gayle. And just for the record, she didn’t do it, and she looks great as she is.

Rockstar juggler/comedian Marcus Monroe did an outstanding show at the 47th Street Theatre, and if you have a chance to see him, go for it. The show was presented by Lucy Arnaz, and he’s been seen on Letterman, MTV’s TRL, and CBS’s Secret Talents of the Stars.

He’s unique, funny, and really one of a kind. He did a silly line, but it was the kind I like. He introduced the audience to his “step ladder.” According to him, he never met his “real ladder!” Plus he’s the only guy I ever saw who can juggle while doing long division in his head!

John Fugelsang, former host of America’s Funniest Home Videos, who replaced Bob Saget, did a show produced by comic Tom Ragu at the Metropolitan Room, which is the site of the old Gotham Comedy Club.

His co-star was the wonderful, and talented Vanessa Hollingshead, and it was a great show. So glad I made time to go. John is featured in the new little doc film made about me by Sean Mannion, which you can see on Vimeo if you go to http://www.Vimeo.com and put in my name. John is just so quick, and so sharp, his observations never cease to amaze me.

I drove out to Connecticut to see Judith Regan tape the pilot for her new TV show, and if anyone could explain why it’s necessary to have a silent “C” in the name of that state, I’d be very grateful. Silent letters are weird in the first place. What happens if you leave one out? Does that make the word too loud???

I was treated so well by her TV staff. They announced my name and took me to my seat. Unfortunately my seat was in the parking lot, outside the theatre, but that’s a whole other thing! Actually I sat right up front in the first row.

Judith is a powerhouse. Kind of like a white Oprah, or a white Martha Stewart! She’s been super-successful in many fields, and published many huge books including Howard Stern’s Private Parts and Miss America, but that doesn’t stop her from also being really, really nice. We went out to lunch and I got to see a very real, caring, down-to-earth side of her. And she’s a proud Mom!

Cringe Humor Roast for Jim Florentine

Cringe Humor roasted Jim Florentine in a comedy fundraiser at Comix for Greg Giraldo’s kids, and as you might expect it was sold out. Rich Vos was the Roast master, and did a great job. It’s really such a hard thing to do. Much harder than just hosting a regular show and having to introduce a long line-up of people. At a Roast every line has to be a killer.

Some of the Roasters on the dais were Jim Norton, Joe Matarese, Bonnie McFarlane, and Rev. Bob Levy who left the Stern show to do internet radio.

Geno Bisconte, who got three separate applause breaks for his material, said about Levy leaving Stern, “That was the greatest career move since Mel Gibson bought his girlfriend an answering machine.” That was one of the applause breaks!

I missed the first part of it. I heard that Jesse Joyce who used to write for Greg, did great. I was there on time, but as I was pulling into a parking space directly in front of the club, a taxi hit my car, and I had to stand outside the club waiting for the police to come.

Very frustrating to be right outside the club where you came to see a show and not be able to go in. Paul Italia from Cringe came out to commiserate with me.

When I went to the police station to get the report, the cops happened to be comedy fans, and I found myself hanging out with a bunch of fun cops on the steps of the precinct, trading jokes.

Laura Spaeth did a show called “Vice Broads” at Broadway Comedy, and I stopped by to enjoy her set, ( which I did!), and to see my old friend Bonnie Marsh kick comedic butt on stage. Bonnie and I go way back and it’s great to see her taking her acting skills and putting them to use doing comedy. And she’s also VERY sexy, which can make doing comedy more difficult, but she uses it to her advantage.

Pat Cooper Book Party at The Friars

I probably know Pat Cooper for more than 25 years. The man keeps getting younger and younger. He should be known as Pat “ Benjamin Button” Cooper.

Back in the 90’s, as a tremendous favor to me, he starred in a short film I made for Playboy TV called “Sexual Harassment” where he played a boss who harasses prospective employees until one of them decides to get even. She surreptitiously puts his tie in his fax machine, presses the start button and watches it ride up his tie. Then she presses the stop button and it crashes down on his foot! Director Frank Chindamo figured out how to make that happen.

Aside from being a star in his own right, Pat has worked with some of the biggest in the biz, including Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, George Burns, Bobby Darin, and Tony Bennett. He has a fascinating new book out called “How Dare You Say How Dare Me”, which he wrote with Rich Herschlag and Steve Garrin.

Pat is the original angry man, and the book is filled with stories of him telling the truth about a lot of people we thought we knew, and telling off a lot of people in the way we all wish we could do. Pat has always been fearless no matter what the cost to him personally or professionally. The man lives by principles.

He was feted at The Friars Club, where he admitted to being 80, and joked about being ready to die. I hope he was joking, cause there’s only one Pat Cooper and I’m proud to say he’s my friend.

Radio Gaga

Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE to do radio. I like radio more than TV. It’s freer, and you generally get more time to say the things you want to say. So I was really excited to have the opportunity to have appeared on three shows to talk about all kinds of different things.

I went on Michaela Radio on urbanlatinoradio.com, where the lovely Michaela Davies does a weekly show on Monday nights, along with her beautiful co-host Ashlee K., and they dedicated one show to Comedy and Healing, calling it “Laughter Is The Best Medicine.”

I was a guest along with James Bort of Slaphouse Radio, and comic Carlos Gonzales, among others. We got to talk about all sorts of things, including my being featured on the NPR DVD, “Walking Through The Storm” as an authority on comedy and healing, and also my technique for curing stuttering, which I used to cure myself and which I’m always grateful to be able to discuss. The important thing we established is that comedy can be used as a Healing force.

Then I had a treat by doing Valerie Smaldone’s new show on www.wor710.com called Valerie’s New York. Valerie is a five-time Billboard Magazine Award winner and has spent many years doing radio, which you can tell from her mellifluous voice. I could listen to her all day. I was supposed to do a 15 minute spot, but once we started talking, Valerie was kind enough to ask me to stay for the whole hour.

I got to talk about the new Men’s Room I recently opened, that has a separate section just for loitering. And I got to talk about my inventions, such as the flashlight that works during the day, so now people can see where they’re going during the day also, and the 24 hour stapler, which allows you to staple things no matter what time it is, even if your regular stapler stops working at midnight!

I also got to see Valerie in a funny off-Broadway show called “Girl Talk” in which she acted, sang and danced for the first time in a long time, and she did really well.

And then I did a repeat performance on Danny Lobell’s show Comical Radio, where Danny tried out some of his new material on ME, instead of it being the other way around. I think I shocked him when in answer to some questions I thought were too personal, I told him it was none of his business. The amazing thing was he agreed. He said no one had ever said that to him before!

It’s always fun to do Danny’s show. He gets major stars to come on, and he even has guys like me! He says he wants me to come back on soon to do some of my GNN news stories.

Patrice Oneal at Skirball

I’m guessing that NYU’s Skirball Center is named for someone who had to go through life with the name Skirball. Do you think there’s any chance that growing up any kids in his neighborhood called him “Screwball?” Probably not. Kids would never be that cruel!

Anyway, as part of the NY Comedy Festival Patrice Oneal taped a one hour special for Comedy Central at The Skirball Center. I was happy to be able to go, cause I love Patrice. We used to do his radio show together called “The Black Philip Show” on Sirius Radio, and he asked me to be his co-host along with the very funny Dante Nero.

Not only did Patrice and I have great chemistry together, but he said I was the only white man he ever met who knew all the words to the song “ Bitch Betta Have My Money”, which was done by AMG back in 1991. It was a favorite of mine and just happened to be his theme song.

Harris Stanton opened for Patrice and it was a packed house. Harris is funny every time I see him perform, and I saw him not too long ago down at CB’s Comedy Club.

Patrice did a masterful performance. He comes out so relaxed, and just kind of controls the room in such an easy way. Patrice is a modern day philosopher, and he did something which I really respect. He made the choice to tone down his act for Comedy Central. He still got out everything he needed to say. He just did it in a little kinder way, and he was hysterical.

Sometimes people get the mistaken idea that he’s a misogynist, which I don’t think could be further from the truth. He LOVES women. What he’s against is when they misuse their power, and act like they can get away with behaving poorly, or rudely, just because they’re beautiful.

I recently had an example of that when I invited someone to a show, and without telling me ahead of time, she decided to leave right afterwards to go meet some people. I guess she could tell by the look on my face that I wasn’t happy and when she asked if I was angry, I said, “ No, but I will NEVER see or speak to you again, because if you think that is acceptable behavior, then I have no room for you in my life.” And I left her standing there and walked away. I think Patrice would have been proud of me! I know I was!

Afterwards, when I went backstage to congratulate Patrice, I got to see his beautiful longtime girlfriend Vondecarlo Brown, who is living proof that Patrice loves women. She wouldn’t settle for anything less!

Adam Ferrara On The History Channel

There’s a very small group of comics who have managed to parlay their comedy careers into a regular acting career. Adam Ferrara is one of them. As a stand-up he’s in a class of his own, which is why he gets to be handled by Peter Rosegarten of The Conversation Company.

Denis Leary loves Adam and took him from playing Tommy Manetti on his show “The Job”, to playing Chief “Needles” Nelson, once again opposite Leary on his hit FX show Rescue Me.

Now he’s one of three hosts on a new show on The History Channel based on a hit show out of the U.K. called “Top Gear,” where they do crazy stunts with hot cars. In the premiere Adam drives a Lambo on a track at 180 mph. I guess when you’ve had to face drunken Saturday night crowds to do your stand-up nothing scares you anymore!

The show is Sunday nights at 10 P.M. I watched the premiere and it was awesome!

I met Adam years ago out in LA, through actor Scott Baio, when I wrote a movie with Scott called “Face to Face”, which was based on a story created by Adam. We’ve been friends ever since.

I’m so happy for Adam that he’s engaged to Allie Tyler. When he went to buy her a ring he didn’t know her ring size. They told him to look at the size of her hand. He said he looked and he was shocked. Her left hand looked so big, he was afraid he’d go broke buying her a ring that would be fitting for that size hand. He said she had a hand like a Fiddler Crab. I went to visit them backstage at Gotham when Adam headlined there to a sold-out room. The audience LOVED the Fiddler Crab line.

Adam and Allie make a great couple and he calls her his “I.T. expert”. She was explaining to me how to post my short films on Twitter, and why it was important for me to do so. She’s really sharp, and model-beautiful, and everything a partner should be. And she even showed me scenes from his new show on her I-pad. That’s loyalty!

Anyway, until next time, remember … COMEDY MATTERS!

Will Durst: Raging Moderate

by Jesse Raub

In the years since 2008, many of the funniest comedians have made remarks about how they’re so glad that Bush is out of office that they won’t care that they won’t be able to write new Bush material. Ten minutes into Will Durst’s new album, he laments the loss of Bush for five minutes straight. And he has good reason too— about half of his jokes are centered around events that took place between 1998 and 2007, including a long list of verbatim Bush quotes.

Not to say that Bush quotes aren’t funny (and in Durst’s defense, we’re a bit late in reviewing this as it was released in March), but when there have been Bush quote calendars out for two years already, we’ve superseded the need for a comedian to recite them on stage. And while Durst introduces himself as a political comedian, he failed to tell the audience that he was going to just make base jokes about politicians, and fail to address actual politics. His jokes about conservatives come across with the same pithy dry wit expected of Keith Olbermann, and his jabs at liberals contain the same petty barbs that Rush Limbaugh has been storing up for years.

But there’s a flip side. Durst knows how to get a laugh. His delivery is solid, and even if some of the jokes are based on concepts we’ve heard before, he sometimes can work the angles and convince us we haven’t. And he does make astute points—though we have to wait until the end of the album for a lot of them.

I’m not talking about his distaste for PETA asking humans not to eat fish (“Fish eat fish!” is his cry) or about how he’s not sure assault weapons are legitimate hunting rifles (“You can cut butter with a chainsaw…”). Rather, it’s him mentioning that as a moderate, he had no representation amongst the TV pundits. He’s right. Punditry itself is pandering entertainment, not well-formed political discourse, and Durst taps into a rich vein when he mined this moderate pundit idea.

Instead of fleshing it out, however, he goes right back in for the easy laugh—presumably in an attempt to satisfy club patrons less willing to follow him through a dissection of political discourse in America. If you’re standing in a room of hyenas, sometimes it’s best to throw them steak instead of broccoli.

To snag yourself a copy of Will Durst’s Raging Moderate, just click the image below.

Aaron Karo: Video interview

by Punchline Magazine

Comedian Aaron Karo debuted his brand new Comedy Central hour-long special this past weekend. It’s called The Rest is History; and you should watch it. But before you do, you should prep yourself properly. The only way to do that? Check out our video interview with the man, care of Punchline Magazine’s Matthew Gill, who you can friend on Facebook.

Enjoy!

And you can now download a completely uncut and uncensored version of Karo’s album and special. Just click the image below!

And while you’re at it, check out this clip from Karo’s special:

Jokes.com
Aaron Karo – Turning 30
comedians.comedycentral.com

Stuckey & Murray Sing the Songs of Stuckey & Murray: Live at Ars Nova

by Jesse Raub

Ah, the comedy song. It’s almost a four-letter word. When it’s bad, it’s terrible, and when it’s good, it might just only be chuckle funny. Either way, it’s a gamble — if your premise is tired, or your punchline not punchy enough, you’ve committed to a full two to three minutes until you can move on. There’s no on-the-fly redirecting or playing to the crowd that a regular stand up can move into.

On Stuckey & Murray Sing the Songs of Stuckey & Murray, acoustic duo Stuckey and Murray (duh) launch into ten to twelve songs and bitlets that can be, at first, described as extremely adequate. Covering topics like accidental gay sex, hot ladies with butterfaces, lady-ness in general, and bad pickup lines set to a melody, it seems that the two shot for some mass appeal, and hit it on the bulls eye.

But while every song isn’t breaking new comedy ground, “Neighbwhore” is a strange combination of electric dance beats and Murray’s neighbors loud sex yelps that he recorded through his floor. And “Internet Feedback” is a great selection of actual YouTube comments strung together for maximized comedy. And standouts like “The Ballad of The Man Who Wears Looney Tunes Clothing,” which is exactly what it sounds like, and “TV Drama,” which lampoons the dramatic closing music of a TV Drama (listen below), show that these gents can bring the funny if they want to, and can stretch new concepts into full tracks if required.

Musically, S&M are rolling down the tracks laid by other well known acoustic duos — Hard and Phirm, Tenacious D, and Flight of the Concords come to mind — and their chops are equally as adequate. But while musically and comedically they might not have the most distinct voice, there’s nothing wrong with following a form. No one rags on Louis C.K. for having some similar tone to Lenny Bruce on some of his material.

While some of these songs don’t have extended replay value, most will get laughs the first time around, and with plenty of musical guests, the songs are musically complex enough to hold your attention — at least until the next track starts.

To snag yourself a copy of the whole album, just click the image below.

Bo Burnham: When Hamlet meets haikus

by Dylan P. Gadino

Just four years ago, Bo Burnham was a YouTube sensation—just another one of a dozen or so A-list viral video stars. With little more than a camcorder, a piano and a guitar, he made himself famous.

Ok, “little more” is completely unfair. He had a lot more. It’s clear now, that whether he self produced songs and videos in his suburban Massachusetts bedroom or whether cable giant Comedy Central is pushing his work, the 20-year-old has talent. A lot of it.

On his recently aired special Words Words Words – also out on DVD and CD – Burnham proves his comedic versatility; throughout, he weaves songs between straight stand-up comedy, beat poetry and yes, even haikus.

He rhymes, offends and is constantly attacking his own hubris—or is it faux hubris?

If you had any doubt left about Burnham’s artistic standing – gimmicky Internet hero or real-life comedian? – Words Words Words should have proven he’s clearly the latter. If you’ve seen the show and think otherwise, you are wrong. If you haven’t seen the show and consider yourself even a casual comedy fan, you should put it on your to-watch list.

We recently caught up with Burnham to chat about Words Words Words, where he sees his next hour going (it’s only getting bigger, folks) and why artists are self-important jerks. Check it out.

In your new hour, you kind of frame your performance and pepper bits throughout with this underlining disclaimer of sorts. And that disclaimer seems to be that you don’t want people to think that you are too proud of your success. Is that an accurate assessment or am I reading too much into the show?
The motivation for me isn’t that I’m trying to be liked. I do want people see that I’m self-aware. I’m not a dick. I’m not begging people to see that I’m not a douchebag, I actually tell them that I am a douchebag.

Right.
I see so many comics that get up there and do self-deprecating material where its like ‘my wife never sleeps with me and I can’t get girls.’ And I’m like, well, we’re comedians; the real self-deprecation material should be, ‘we’re horrible people because we take all this attention, all this money and we act like we are giving something. We act like our job is to give laughter to the world– but it’s really like a job of take, take, take.’ So for me, I just thought it would be funny to instead of saying I’m such a weird, awkward person, I’d say I’m a bad person—because I do comedy, and I’m in the entertainment business, which is horrible. I feel like at least if I say it, people will know what I’m feeling; if I articulate it, at least I feel better about it.

It sounds like you have a lot of guilt about your success.
Yeah, totally. It’s just this thing I felt this last year. But yeah, definitely I have a huge sense of that.

Why do you feel guilty?
I’m living such a wasteful life. Like, I thought it would be cool if all the words from my show were on the stage. So we spent money on that. But then there’s people out there who can’t eat. It’s just so horrible and wasteful. And [like I say in the song “Art is Dead”] I do think about wanting everyday to be about you and wanting attention all the time and wanting the focus to be on you— most people grow out of that. It’s a thing that kids do. And there are two sides. There’s a line in the song that says my drug is attention and I’m an addict but I get paid to indulge in my habit. And I do think that.

I’m not trying to be emo, like I’m so troubled. I’m kind of trying to make fun of the fact that, ‘oh I’m an artist.’ I hate the word ‘artist’ and I hate the word ‘art.’ And people think that performers are such artists and they’re struggling. No you’re not, you just want attention. You are just like the little kid at the birthday party that’s screaming for attention.

Jokes.com
Bo Burnham – Beauty in the World
comedians.comedycentral.com

It’s true. Comedians’ personalities off stage – if you had no idea they were comedians – you would probably just rank them as narcissistic and immature. But when that comedian has those attributes in the context of their profession, it’s just that they’re eccentric or interesting.
Right and just because comedians have talent on top of all those things doesn’t mean they’re any better you know. Just because they’re an obnoxious, arrogant person that happens to have talent and can articulate it well doesn’t make any of those feelings any better.

I wanted to ask you about your relationship with Shakespeare. The title of your DVD and album is extracted from Hamlet. But you it seems like you take the piss out of him during your performance– like you have this love hate relationship.
I actually worship him. Some people don’t understand and they think I hate him. I think he’s brilliant; I’ve always loved him. I do that sonnet [in Words Words Words] and then that beat poem I do after— that’s me kind of trying to embody the people that don’t understand Shakespeare, but not in a pretentious way. It’s just about people who think he stole from the Lion King. It do make fun of Shakespeare for being a little too Freudian, and just going too far with everything. But it is just about people who won’t understand him and think all he says is ‘doth’ and ‘thy’ and that it doesn’t make any sense.

And I just wanted to approach it like a 20-year-old dumb kid—like I’m confused by it; like I have a really good grip on it but I’m just missing the point. I just this it is kind of funny to be an arrogant little kid that thinks he knows everything and dismiss the greatest writer of all time.

And that part of Hamlet [where Hamlet tells Polonius he’s just reading ‘words, words, words’]; I love that line. In that one sentence he all forms of writing, explaining that that all we’re basically saying is words, words, words. Just drivel. And I think my show is sort of like drivel in the sense that it’s all over the place. I didn’t want to put too much meaning into it; there’s a big sense of nihilism in the show. I thought that ‘words, words, words’ was the best to describe it, because the whole show is a bit of a cluster fuck.

I thought kind of the opposite about your show. It’s way more cohesive and flows better than your standard new hour of comedy you’d see on Comedy Central or HBO.
I wanted that nihilism to be the cohesive aspect– like the fact that I nevers believe in anything at every single point is a through line. And I did want this to feel like show. At the end of the day I’m not trying to tackle any of these subjects.

But you do come off as pretty anti-religion throughout the special. That’s tackling a subject, no?
Yeah, but it’s more like an anti-belief in anything. Like there are five minutes where I talk about anti-belief in god and there are other moments where I dedicate myself to the anti-belief in the meaning of a joke. I take stances on things. But I’m always tearing things down, not building them up.

I met up with Paul Provenza – he contacted me a while ago – and he’s really nice to me. He was talking to me about how I should explore a different range of perspective. Because even though my material its all over the place, and I try not to set any rules or boundaries for what I do, I still limit myself on how I present it— like in this dark way which is very common now. Zach Galifianakis pioneered it in my mind. But now it seems like everyone is doing it to be like the angry comic.

It would be cool if I could do a show with similar material and the style range is is all my perspective but maybe sometimes I’m happy. Because nihilism doesn’t always have to be angry and snarky; it can also be like Bugs Bunny. Bugs Bunny is the perfect nihilist and he’s completely goofy and silly. I want to try and explore the lighter side of it rather than dark and snarky. Because I think it can be tiring— like, ‘alright, dude, get over yourself.’

Jokes.com
Bo Burnham – DVD Exclusive – Oh, Bo
comedians.comedycentral.com

I don’t see you as snarky at all. But maybe its because I’m not as level headed as the rest of America.
I can see myself becoming too much like that and I don’t want to become the angry anti-comic. I just think it’s been done a million times. Like Steve Martin was an anti-comic but such a goofy happy anti-comedy and there’s not much of that these days. All these post modern hipsters — its always dark and snarky — I just don’t want to fall into that, where it just becomes endlessly sarcastic.

You got your start and your big break with Comedy Central from you uploading your songs your songs to YouTube. How difficult has it been to be accepted as a real comic, and not just a kid on YouTube? Seeing as you have the support of someone like Provenza, it sounds like the transition is going well.
I was always really worried about that. But, I always thought I don’t care to capitalize on this thing. I’ve always been a huge student of stand-up comedy. I decided I’m going to do my new hour in a way that I could progress as good a stand-up and not worrying about how I could capitalize on kids liking my dirty songs on YouTube. I was just hoping like if I do this special right, even if other comedians don’t like it, they’ll know that I’m really making the effort to become a better comic. And I’m really aware that I skipped the grind of the stand-up world.

And now, I cant be too confident just because I have a little bit of success. I can’t think that I’m a comic that only had one year to find his voice. I still have to treat myself like a kid that has no idea what he’s doing.

And I think Paul saw that and liked that; I’m hoping other people see it too. Because other comics which is understandable but at least in this hour that people see that I take comedy seriously and stand-up seriously

It sounds like this new hour is not just something for your fans, but also something for the industry and your fellow comedians to look at and realize that you’re not a joke.
I try to never try do stuff for fans or really or the industry. I try to just do things for myself. And I definitely never write things for my fans because I feel the most important thing to do is to write for yourself. The people who liked me— that’s why they liked me in the beginning, because I just did what I wanted to do and what I thought was funny without worrying about other people.

So I think the best service I could do for them is to continue to do that. And I could lose some fans of the earlier stuff but I’m just worried about making myself feel good about what I am doing. And I think a lot about that now. If people want to write me off, I don’t really care. And if I lose some fans because of it, that’s too bad. I’ll never do the old stuff when I don’t feel like doing it. I want to make every hour distinctly different and keep experimenting. I feel like that’s much more rampant in music than in comedy. I’d like do an experimental album a concept albums. Comedians don’t tend to do that as much, but I want to try. Its just fun for me. It may not end up working but, then, whatever.

The straight stand-up you do on Words Words Words is pretty solid—a lot of strong one-liners and quick in-and-out- jokes. Would you ever just do an hour of stand-up?
I like doing regular stand-up and I feel comfortable doing it. I want to develop my voice within that. But I don’t think I would want to ever do a straight stand-up show. I thought at one point that’s what I was going to do— I’d work hard so that I can eventually put down the guitar and put down the piano and pick up stand-up. I was really thinking that stand-up is the good version of musical comedy— that real stand-up comics don’t need the music. But I’m still interested in digging deeper into the music.
My ideal show I’d want to do wouldn’t be a straight stand-up show or a straight music show— it would kind of be this crazy cue-to-cue show where music melts into stand-up which melts into stories, which melts into poems.

Which is basically what you’ve done with the new hour.
Yeah, but I feel like the next show could be even more technically calculated so it becomes very rapid cue to cue; that’s what I’m going to try and work on next. But I think going for a straight stand-up show for me would be putting limits on it. And I don’t have a huge interest in that. Doing 20 minutes of stand-up in an hour show is enough for me right now. And I don’t think I’m good enough at stand-up right now to do that anyway.

I did theater for a long time and I sort of miss that. I think doing a show where there are actual cues would be cool. I’m just trying to embrace the fact that stand-up has absolutely no rules and I want to see how far can we push this. And I might fuck up. But I think I can push this thing a little further before I try to just do just stand-up. That’s a good fucked-up answer for you.

No, I think it makes sense. You’re embracing what you know and what you’re naturally drawn to, which seems to be music and theater.
Yeah, I do think I naturally write jokes lyrically whether its in poems or song. I think I better lyrically and I think the [newer shows] will have a bit of a cadence to it. And it will always be more of a rhythmic show.

You’re 20 years old now. You’ve achieved success so quickly. Do you ever get nervous that you won’t be able to maintain that?
Well, I experienced such a low, moderate, tiny level of fame and I am so satisfied with that. So I have no need or want to be big and famous. I didn’t grow up rich but we were never poor so I’ve never grown up looking to make loads of money or anything. I’m not worried about how the momentum; it probably can’t be kept up. I’m just worried about making cool material and being happy doing what I’m doing. I’m having fun with this. And I really do think it happened too quick and it probably is going to fizzle out and that’s all good with me. I don’t have control over whether people are going to like me; I only have control over my act. So I’m going to just worry about that and if stuff happens, it happens. I’d be cool being a writer or something.

So you know, whatever. Its just all this has happened so quickly and its all so crazy. I’m not even close to being super successful and I’m already very content with this. If it fizzles down from here, its all good. If it fizzles down and I don’t become successful because I tried something different and it fucked up or I tried a weird thing and it didn’t go well, I’d be very happy with that. That’ll be fine. I’ll never regret anything if that’s the way it happens.

You have a good head on your shoulders, Bo.
Yeah well you know, I have my publicist right next to me with cue cards.

It’s important to be fed thoughts through your publicist.
Yeah.

Where are you living these days? Are you still in Massachusetts, are you living in New York, you in LA? I know you spent some time in LA.
I lived in LA for like three months. And then I moved back to Boston where I live in my parent’s house for the summer. I’m living there for now. I’m in New York for a week but I live there. I’m going to go on tour for a month and a half. But I think I’m going to move to New York next year or something. But it’s at a time where I’m going on tour and I would be paying rent at a place where I wouldn’t even be staying. So, right now it made sense to move back with my parents.

Jokes.com
Bo Burnham – Men and Women Song
comedians.comedycentral.com

Yeah, that makes sense. Your family must be be proud of you, right?
Yeah, they’re awesome. I mean I told everybody that anything I have achieved I have achieved in light of nothing— like I have overcome nothing. I’ve had people patting me on the back since day one telling me I was doing a good job. And that’s another thing with the ‘artist’ thing. Some artists say comes from pain; art does not come from pain. Just to say that is so retarded. Everything comes from pain; like you could say that about anything! Everyone has experienced pain.

But artists just like to talk about themselves so it becomes this whole big thing. Like art comes from pain for some people but to say it’s across the board is ridiculous.

Right.
I have been very painless.

That’s refreshing to hear.
Yeah, we’re are all babies.

Bo Burnham is on tour now; check out his tour schedule here. To pick up the DVD and/or CD version of Words Words Words, just click the images below. We highly suggest you get both.

Video interview: Greg Fitzsimmons

by Punchline Magazine

Comedian Greg Fitzsimmons has been banging up comedy stages for the last 20 years. You could say that he — metaphorically — has degree in comedy. However, what you may now know is that he literally has a degree in English– and now he’s using it. On Nov. 9, the veteran funnyman’s first book Dear Mrs. Fitzsimmons: Tales of Redemption from an Irish Mailbox hits store shelves– both physical and virtual.

In the memoir-esque tome, Fitzsimmons tells his story of being raised in a highly dysfunctional Irish-American family, but he uses a huge collection of disciplinary letters he and his family kept throughout the years as a launching pad for his unique brand of storytelling. Punchline Magazine’s Matthew Gill — friend him on Facebook — recently caught up with Greg at his home in California to chat about birthing a book, his career evolution and much more. Check it out below!

Greg Fitzsimmons – Punchline Magazine from Punchline Magazine on Vimeo.

We highly recommend you snag yourself a copy of Greg’s book. Just click the image below! And to check out more about Greg, including when you can hear him on Sirius XM as well as live in a town near you, check out fitzdog.com.

The Benson Interruption

by Emma Kat Richardson

Premieres Friday at midnight on Comedy Central.

Doug Benson’s brand-spankin’ (emphasis on the “spankin’”) Comedy Central vehicle, The Benson Interruption, is a curious concept – one of the most unusual concoctions to result in a fine 20-plus minutes of television entertainment since the backwards episode of Seinfeld. Not that there’s anything terribly groundbreaking or innovative about the show’s linear construction, but it does manage to take two casual concepts – namely, stand-up comedy and the traditional talk show – and mold them together in a manner both clever and entirely befitting the talents who grace the stage.

Stylistically, there isn’t much complexity to The Benson Interruption. Each episode finds the venerable (and perpetually stoned) Benson in a lofty position of power, as he hosts a handful of fellow comedy all-stars onstage (Nick Swardson, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Thomas Lennon, Mary Lynn Rajskub Eugene Mirman, anyone?) while providing running commentary on each comic’s short set. Hence, the interruption part of the title.

On paper, it seems deceptively like a structure ripe with obnoxious possibilities; but in reality, the format serves Benson and his guests well, allowing each to riff off the other in an appetizing hodgepodge of comedic conversation. And after all, it’s been well-tested; comedy nerds may know that Benson’s been hitting each coast with live versions of the show for years. It’s trading barbs without one-upmanship; ad-libbing and routine reworking, but never spotlight grabbing. It borrows the idea of a talk show, orients the focus around stand-up and storytelling, and turns the notion of both on its collective head in a very hilarious way.

Jokes.com
Doug Benson – Interrupting Nick Swardson Pt. 1

In all, it’s winning and arrestingly funny, frank look at the camaraderie exhibited between those who share in the brotherhood (and sisterhood!) of the mic. Don’t know what you’re smoking these days, Benson, but keep those pieces filled.