Listen up, comedy nerds. Mark Sept. 14 on your calendars. That’s when the album from The State, titled Comedy For Gracious Living, that you never knew existed – or did you? — is set for release.

“It was a freeing experience because no one was watching over us, there were no ‘adults’ around,” original member Kevin Allison told USA Today. “We’d swim and drink and gamble all day and record the silly ideas we’d had that day up into the wee hours that night like kids making tapes in the basement. If you listen, you can hear the ice clinking in the rum drinks we had in hand at all times.”

The album, to be released by Rhino Records, was recorded in the Bahamas in January of 1996 and features the talents of Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain, as well as Kerri Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon and Ken Marino.

You can pre-order the album and listen to samples here. Do it!

In case you haven’t heard already, Michael Ian Black is a stallion. And if you sneak up behind him, chances are you’ll be kicked. Hard. In the teeth. And balls.

Case in point: Black’s Saturday night tirade on a stand-up stage in Columbus, Ohio. After the subject of Obama was brought up, an irate audience member (frustrated with the inability to pinpoint the president’s real nation of birth as a European one, no doubt) hollered out “Heil Hitler!” Naturally, Black, being both of the Jewish and sane persuasions, took umbrage to this assessment, and laid into said audience member with the following:

How dare you compare Hitler to this president or any president? How dare you equate what he did with Obama is doing? Do you have any idea how insulting that is? Do you know anything about history? Do you have any idea what Hitler did? He killed six million of my people, which is six million more than Obama has killed. You’re a fucking idiot. You’re a fucking moron. You’re the fucking problem with this country. You and your reflexive retardation.

At this point, the barely-concealed Tea Bagger walked out in disgust. (A friend of mine told me she wished she’d been there to give Black a standing O. I would’ve liked to give him a different kind of O, but we shan’t touch upon that.)

Later, Black pleaded mea culpa on his Tumblr, posting something to the extent of “fighting fire with fire is stupid, mmmkay?”

But now I feel bad. I feel bad because, in retrospect, that guy didn’t deserve that. Yes he said something incredibly stupid, but my response was just as stupid. I could have made my point a million different ways without screaming into a microphone in a room filled with drunk people. I wasn’t clever, I wasn’t thoughtful, I said nothing that would move the conversation forward. I just yelled because Nazis push my Jew button (my Jew button is located right below my tail).

I, for one, don’t feel that he has anything at all to apologize for. Having spent enough time around Tea Baggers and the half-wits who love them (but don’t ask why), it’s taken every fiber of my being to keep from developing a stupidity twitch. Perhaps fighting fire with fire is the most apt way to get singed, but for a cult of individuals who equate one of the world’s most moderate, centrists G20 leaders with one of the world’s most diabolical, blood-thirsty monsters, stupidity is probably the only language in which these people are fluent.

Those of you who follow Michael Ian Black on Twitter may have noticed recently that some of his Tweets seem to be less funny and more like… advertisements. That’s because they are. The longtime comedian has embraced the advertising dollar.

And, when you have more than 1.5 million followers as Black does, it doesn’t take long before people notice and, in many cases, take offense. Which is why Black took to his widely-read personal blog to post “In Defense of Twittertising.”

I must admit, while normally I’d jump on the “selling out” offensive when something like this happens, Michael makes solid points throughout his defense. He’s honest and plain. He says he accepted ad offers because he “likes money” and that he spends a lot of his free time tweeting funny little one liners for our enjoyment; so if he can get paid for doing so, why shouldn’t he?

There will always be a group who become upset with their favorite actor/musician/writer/racecar driver/whatever when that person accepts money instead of remaining “pure.” I get that. I was probably like that too when I was sixteen. But the real world has a way of intruding on people’s ideals, and my mortgage doesn’t care that much about my indie cred.

It makes sense. And it’s not like the advertising is out of control; most times, it’s simply a one sentence tweet that tells you to buy something (the only one I’ve noticed told me to go see Grown Ups. Which looked like this:

There’s no sound, no interactive videos, no pop ups– they’re barely noticeable.

While I think I’ll be able to sit through a few “twittertisments” to keep Michael Ian Black tweeting, you can check out the full defense here and decide for yourself. Let us know what you think!

Hey, remember last summer when Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter did a series of video e-cards for hilarious e-card provider someecards.com? Regardless, here they are. Ok, so now that we’ve convinced you that we weren’t making that up, the fact that Eugene Mirman has now signed on to do a series of e-cards will feel so right (and relevant) to you. Well, it’s true!

Below is the comedian’s first effort for the site. Really, it’s little different than any other viral video Mirman would make on his own. Maybe that’s why we like it. We’re down for any excuse to get more Mirman online. Enjoy!

The other night as I was walking through the Union Square area of Manhattan, something caught my attention; it was a poster advertising a theater production based on Michael Ian Black’s 2008 collection of essays My Custom Van. Read our review of the book here.

I was surprised first that I hadn’t heard of this thing yet, and second, that in the day of online social media, a small poster on the side of a building is how I learned about it. What, is this 1993?

Anyway, let me get this out of the way. Michael Ian Black is not actually in the production, though he has given the theater company Project: Theater his blessing. “It’s really cool to have the support of someone who knows what it’s like to work his way up from a do-it-yourself program like The State to the ultra-megastardom that Michael now enjoys,” Joe Jung, artistic director tells Punchline Magazine, adding that the show is comprised of 15 of the essays found in Black’s book, acted out by eight performers. “We sent an invite to him to be our guest of honor. It would be great if he came, but he may be too busy delivering baby calves, feeding starving dolphins or hanging out with his numerous celebrity friends at Planet Hollywood to make it, which is understandable.”

But I wanted to know more about this production titled Michael Ian Black’s My Custom Van, which runs April 1 – 24 (get your tickets here!) at the intimate 60-seat Drilling Company Theatre in New York. And Joe was happy to oblige. After the jump, read about how the show came to be.

Read the rest of this entry »

This will come as a huge bummer for all you die hard fans of awkward-laugh-masters Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black. After much speculation, Showalter announced the Michael and Michael Have Issues‘ cancellation on his Twitter.

“To all who were fans of Michael & Michael Have Issues I can confirm that one week ago Comedy Central canceled the show.Thanks for watching!”

The Larry Sanders-esque series focused on heightened versions of the two Michaels bickering behind the scenes of their fictional sketch show. It’s a shame because the show started funny and had potential to become even funnier. But alas, like the duo’s previous Comedy Central series, Stella, MMHI failed to hook an audience beyond its legion of die hard fans. But then again, it only got one measly season.

Here’s a clip from the good old days:

While some members of Team Coco are undoubtedly going to be out for the blood of Black, comedian/professional pitchman Michael Ian Black does raise some pretty decent (and certainly thought-provoking) questions with his blog post on the whole late night debacle. Taking a politically charged stance, Black posits that the cultural intrigue surrounding Conan and NBC’s public squabbles may have more to do with a general dissatisfaction and outrage surrounding looming lay-off rates and corporate muckracking by recession robber barons:

I think the deeper reason people are so inflamed by this petty war is that Conan in his own way has come to represent the aggrieved, the injured, the wrongly terminated. I think there is a sense in this country that giant corporations are ruining everything, even late night talk shows. Something so insignificant takes on greater importance because I think on some level, “The Tonight Show” actually has become a very flawed stand-in for all the jobs lost to corporate greed, arrogance, and stupidity. We see Conan as a victim because we feel as though, like us, he wasn’t given a fair shot. If a guy like that, a guy who has everything, can be downsized and demoted, what hope do the rest of us have?

In a move that might have the unintended consequences of infuriating the millions of Team Coco pledge-ees, Black then goes on to chastise the masses gathered to rally on Conan’s behalf. (Not entirely wrongly, in this author’s humble opinion.)

Sure it’s a shame it didn’t work out for Conan, the most creative talk show host since David Letterman, and I think it’s great he took a principled stand against NBC, but is this really the stuff of rallies? Is this really where we want to spend our political capital? If you have the energy to protest Conan O’Brien’s departure in Burbank, shouldn’t you maybe think about spending some time chanting outside General Motors or Goldman Sachs? Or Congress? This is the cause you want to get involved with? Instead of holding up placards with the Masturbating Bear on them, maybe donate a pint of blood. It’ll be a lot more helpful to somebody.

I must admit – until I read Black’s post, considering this a political issue hadn’t crossed my mind. But as my roommate said, rhetoric like this may serve to shed light upon the real reasons why so many feel so up-in-arms about Conan’s mistreatment at the cold, corporate digits of NBC. Granted, much of the public outcry can be directly attributed to Conan’s unshakeable and unwaveringly committed fan-base, but I think Black touches on a very relevant – if unexplored – cause; that being a general, ongoing seething resentment for what Fortune 500 demons have done to this country, our jobs, our families, and our livelihood.

What do you think about Black’s opinion? Leave your comments below – we’re eager to hear from you regarding the biggest entertainment uproar of 2010.

Warning: I will be making fun of people from 2-3 EST. Expect LOTS of tweets from me and one cumming smurfs joke. – Michael Ian Black, via Twitter.

The warning came through yesterday from MIB that he would be making fun of his Twitter followers as a way to raise money for The Sunrise Group a charity that provides living and work environments in which people with disabilities can thrive.

Twitter followers will get a 140 personalized character quip from MIB roasting them in front of his vast 1.5+ million followers in exchange for a $5 donation. The roasting deadline has since past but  you are still encouraged to make a donation here.

It’s beginning to look a lot like… The holidays (Punchline Magazine is non-denominational)! To lighten things up for the shopping season, the fun loving folks at ebay has launched a cool new ad campaign featuring comedian spokesmen. Jim Gaffigan, Kevin Hart and the duo of Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black have lent their services to the Web’s hottest auction resource. The ads are funny! Here’s a taste:

For more content, including web-only vids and outtakes, check out eBay’s youtube page.

The Brits have done it again! The wildly popular island nation that offered up fabulous originals for fabulous Yank rip-offs like The Office, The Weakest Link, and Coupling (okay, maybe not Coupling) have now given us Have I Got News For You, a quiz show chock-full of political antics and hilarious hijinks.

Premiering on NBC and hosted by Sam Seder of Air America fame, the show will feature team captains Michael Ian Black and Greg Giraldo squaring off with celeb compatriots on topical questions and current events fare. A preliminary taping of the show will be held Friday, November 20 at 7:15 PM in Manhattan. Get free tickets here.