Bill Burr

Comedy Central today officially announced their slate of shows that will enter development. And in unsurprising fashion some of the country’s most talked about comedians have scored themselves deals to start creating content for the cable network.

Bill Burr and Kevin Hart, a pair who have just had arguably the best year of their careers, have been tapped to develop a 30 minute scripted series being described as an updated Odd Couple; the as of now untitled show is being produced by Bruce McCulloch, of Kids in the Hall Fame.

On the heels of the release of his sophomore album, Fart and Wiener Jokes — #1 on iTunes comedy charts — Brian Posehn has been tapped to start work on Steel Panther, a semi-scripted series based around the LA-based parody 80s metal band.

Fastly rising comedian Nick Kroll and Jon Daly will develop a series based on their Funny Or Die film Rich Dicks. (Check out the video below).

Comedian Bert Kreischer, whose profile has risen the past few years due to his appearances on Comedy Central’s reality show spoof Reality Strikes Back and his own hour special and DVD Comfortably Dumb, will develop a show wherein he co-hosts a comedic relationship advice show called Live Sex Show. British television personality Layla Kayleigh (G4’s Attack of the Show) will serve as his partner.

Other comedians working with the network are Whitney Cummings, Reggie Watts, JB Smoove (already reported), Patrice Oneal (already reported) and Jim Jefferies. For the complete rundown, check out this post from those fine folks over at the Comedy Central Insider.

The Axe Twisted Humor Tour has been going from city to city the past few weeks, and made a stop at Comix in New York this past Sunday.

After Nick Kroll, Donald Glover, Chelsea Peretti and Whitney Cummings rocked a packed house, Punchline Magazine caught up with Kroll – who along with being one of the nicest guys in the ‘biz, is headlining for the first time. Check out the interview below to hear what Nick has to say about the possibility of groupies on tour, what to expect from season two of The League, and advice for those looking to succeed in the comedy world.

How did you feel about the show tonight, performing back in your home state?
It was really fun. It’s fun to come back to New York. You come up through open mics and slowly make your way through. You get intimidated by clubs and you come back now and its just fun – there’s no fear. The crowd was really good. It’s a really good show. There’s no crossover between Whitney, Chelsea and Donald.

How has the tour been so far?
It’s been great. We’ve been playing big colleges which is fun. I’ve never headlined before so this is a new experience for me. I do around 40-45 minutes. (At this point, fellow comedian Dave Hill interrupted our interview so the two could make dinner plans).

Any Groupies?
No. I’ve never really been on the road. I have a girlfriend (sorry, Internet ladies). I get up early. I feel like what I assume the rolling stones would say if they were not famous, medium talented, and had been doing comedy for seven years. “We just go home and go to sleep after shows cause we travel the next day.” It’s been nice. I will say there are people who are starting to know things that I’ve done and are beginning to shout things out.

There’s no heckling, its all positive. It’s weird cause I know they’re trying to be positive here but they’re breaking the rhythm of everything I’m trying to say on stage right now. But it’s always positive. It’s always people who are psyched about stuff. (Clearly not phased, during his set Kroll managed to eat two chicken wings from the front row, and have a one-on-one chat with a wanna-be entertainment lawyer).

What’s going on with season two of The League on FX?
We’re working on a bunch of stuff. It’s gonna be so funny man. The second season’s gonna be really good. I think it’s only gonna get better. People are catching up on Hulu. I think it’s gonna be really fun.

Certainly working with other stand-up comics on the show must help make it funnier?
Yeah, the whole show is improvised. I think it all begets one another. If you want to be a stand-up take an improv class. If you want to be an improviser, do stand up. It all helps one another. The improv helps your stage presence and your ability to collaborate. Your stand-up helps you write, formulate and structure jokes, as well as edit.

When you say a show is improvised, what it means is you’ll try something and then you’ll tighten it on the next take and tighten it on the next take, until you’ve got it. I think it’s the more you have proficiency in different aspects of comedy. If you’re a writer take an acting class. If you’re an actor, write. It all begets one another.

Check out more Kroll at his official site, nickkroll.com And you can catch Kroll and the rest of the Axe Twisted Humor Tour gang live as they round out the tour at the following venues:

4/27 @ Chicago Park West

4/28 @ Indiana University

4/29 @ Ohio State University

Ahh, the multiple-act stand-up comedy tour. The concept and execution is happening more and more these days. And we fucking love it! It’s just another affirmation that the comedy community is as strong as ever. The latest tour to pop up? The Twisted Humor Tour, sponsored by Axe and Funny Or Die. Featuring four quickly rising stars of stand-up — Nick Kroll, Whitney Cummings, Chelsea Peretti and Donald Glover — their journey continues Saturday in Santa Barbara, CA and through April 29 at Ohio State University. (Full tour dates here).

Atom.com just posted this great video (below) wherein Kroll and Glover chat about how the Internet has affected their careers as comedy writers and performers. It might be too “inside baseball” for casual comedy fans. So if that’s the case for you, we’ve dropped another stellar video after the jump, wherein Cummings, Kroll and Peretti offer some great texting translation services.

Read the rest of this entry »

Shannon Elizabeth, everyone’s favorite sexy foreign exchange student from American Pie, hosts six raunchy and hilarious half hour episodes of Live Nude Comedy, the Showtime series which combines stand-up comedy and burlesque (sorry: no real nudity).

Elizabeth begins each show with a sketch, followed by alternating performances by two of today’s up and coming comedians and then you get your fill of two sexy dancers. Some notables on the show include Andy Dick and Whitney Cummings, who also serves as producer of the series.

The series originally aired in July, and some critics (men) complained that the title Live “Nude” Comedy was false advertising, due to the lack of well… nudity. The DVD version of the series will be available June 1.

In August of last year, we reported that documentary film maker Michael Moore and veteran comedian Jeff Garlin were planning on bringing a comedy festival to Michigan, his home state.

We now know that The Traverse City Comedy Arts Festival, set to run Feb. 19 – 21 will feature performances by Roseanne Barr — like-minded politically to Moore — Mike Birbiglia and fast-rising comedian Whitney Cummings. Garlin, the Curb Your Enthusiasm star, will, of course, perform as well.

Sketch team Teenager of the Year and improvers TJ and Dave are also scheduled to appear.

This Sunday at 10 pm EST, Comedy Central is it’s stand-up comedy special Comedy Central’s Hot List, featuring killer sets from nine of today’s hottest young comedians. In the meantime, you can preview clips from each comedian on Comedy Central’s Hot List website. The special features Anthony Jeselnik, Aziz Ansari, Jon Lajoie, Nick Kroll, T.J. Miller, Whitney Cummings, Donald Glover, Kumail Nanjiani and Matt Braunger.

Here are some choice clips:

It’s Friday, folks, which means it’s time for us to let you in on who will be guesting on Marc Maron’s podcast WTF next week.

As a sponsor of the show and dedicated fans of the WTF cause, we’re proud to do it. So here it is. Janeane Garofalo makes her second appearance on WTF and the huge live WTF show recorded at the UCB theater in Los Angeles goes down with Maria Bamford, Doug Benson, Whitney Cummings, Jim Earl, Chris Hardwick and the mighty Eddie Pepitone.

Go to iTunes and subscribe to the cast and visit the official site wtfpod.com for all of your WTF needs. And get this shit: there’s some cool t-shirts for sale as well as mugs and other odds and ends. Go buy stuff!

There’s about to be a lot more stand-up on cable TV, and it isn’t relegated to HBO or Comedy Central. Starting Nov. 19 , TBS will air The Very Funny Show, a series consisting of stand-up sets featuring headlining comics from around the country.

The show will be hosted by Tim Meadows, and feature interviews with the comedians that appear. Guests will include John Mulaney, Pete Correale, Nick Thune, Al Madrigal, and many others.

The sets were taped at the Just For Laughs Chicago Comedy Festival earlier this year. The complete list of comedians and air times are below.

* Thursday, Nov. 19, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Henry Cho and Nick Thune
* Thursday, Nov. 19, at 12:30 am (ET) Danny Bhoy and Whitney Cummings
* Thursday, Nov. 26, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) John Roy and Louis Ramey
* Thursday, Dec. 3, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Rocky LaPorte and Andrew Kennedy
* Thursday, Dec. 10, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Jeff Dye and Wendy Liebman
* Thursday, Dec. 17, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) John Caparulo and Kyle Kinane
* Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Mike Palascak and Patti Vasquez
* Thursday, Dec. 31, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Sebastian and Tommy Johnagin
* Thursday, Jan. 7, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) John Mulaney and Pete Correale
* Thursday, Jan. 14, at 12 a.m. (ET/PT) Al Madrigal and Billy Gardell

According to the folks over at Comedy Central, Joan Rivers is “in for a rippin.’” Boy, is she ever.

With roasters like Brad Garrett, Carl Reiner, Gilbert Gottfried, Greg Giraldo, Jeffrey Ross, Lily Tomlin, Mario Cantone, Richard Belzer, Robin Quivers and Whitney Cummings, looks like comedy’s original diva will be needing more than a few tissues. (If her tear ducts are still capable of forming water, that is).

Festivities for Comedy Central’s Roast of Joan Rivers will premiere on Sunday, Aug. 9 at 10 pm EST.

Whitney Cummings

As we reported on June 2, Shannon Elizabeth will be hosting a Showtime special called Live Nude Comedy, a combination stand-up and burlesque show.

Comedians featured are: Ian Edwards, Steve Byrne, Sam Tripoli, K.T. Tatara, Harris Wittles, Mike Young, Tig Notaro, Chris D’Elia, Mike Faverman, Michael Kosta, Andy Dick and Whitney Cummings, who is also the producer of the show.

“I know so many amazing comics who can’t showcase their real voice because TV shows play it safe,” Cummings told Punchline Magazine. “There’s so much censorship and Standards & Practices is a nightmare. But nothing was off limits on this show and it gave comics a chance to show off their edgier material and really let loose on taboo topics.”

Here’s the second tease for the show. Enjoy.

Go here to watch the first, even longer, tease for Live Nude Comedy.