Stand-up DVD production to increase + Jeff Dunham for the holidays

by Brendan McLaughlin

Image Entertainment, a major production/distribution company, has just made a deal to increase their support and promotion of comedy.
They’re reaffirming their relationship with comedy producers Levity Productions, to distribute up to seven additional titles of their projects per year.
The deal includes the release of the upcoming Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special. Ventriloquist Dunham’s last two [...]

‘Reality Bites Back’ contestant, Kyle Cease answers some questions

by Dylan P. Gadino

We all know that reality TV shows are not real. They’re elaborate productions with scripts and story lines and cast with non-actors who are usually competing for a prize. When Comedy Central does reality TV however, it’s usually really not real. When I first heard of the new show, Reality Bites Back (hosted by Michael [...]

German comic shatters Chris Rock record

by Punchline Magazine

German comedian Mario Barth shattered Chris Rock’s comedy show attendance record he set in July: Rock played for 15,900 people in London.
On Saturday, however, Barth performed for 70,000 comedy fans at Berlin Olympic Stadium. The funny thing about Barth, is that he’s constantly panned by critics who say he’s a hack comic who just reheats [...]

German comic shatters Chris Rock record

by Dylan P. Gadino

German comedian Mario Barth shattered Chris Rock’s comedy show attendance record he set in July: Rock played for 15,900 people in London.
On Saturday, however, Barth performed for 70,000 comedy fans at Berlin Olympic Stadium. The funny thing about Barth, is that he’s constantly panned by critics who say he’s a hack comic who just reheats [...]

Stand-up comedy around the world: a glance at China’s and Africa’s scenes

by Dylan P. Gadino

I’m in China for a few weeks, visiting a few different cities. Checking in on the computer early one morning, I decided to dial up comedycentral.com. No luck. Little did I know, the Chinese government blocked Comedy Central’s site last month, deeming it unsuitable for their citizens.
Ok, so maybe everyone living in Beijing can’t watch [...]

‘Reality Bites Back’ contestant, Kyle Cease answers some questions

by Chase Roper

CollegeHumor producing live monthly stand-up shows

by Punchline Magazine

Monday stand-up video: Andy Ritchie

by Punchline Magazine

Michael Ian Black: My Custom Van

by Emma Kat Richardson

So, really, just who is the real Michael Ian Black? What sort of conversation might you expect to get were you to encounter him, one on one? Does he have a favorite color, and if so, is it green? (They say geniuses pick green). It’s hard to say, seeing as how Black is the kind of comedian who always manages to adapt a specifically calculated voice and remains strictly within the bounds of that character.

Nowhere is this more apparent then in My Custom Van, the first book-form literary effort of Black’s eclectic career in comedy. It’s difficult to describe a book – or any type of media, for that matter – that refuses to be bound by mere description, and Van is such that it fits into no prefab category but that of its own making. (Custom-made, if you will). The type of humor found in this collection falls right in with the random, irreverent kookiness that attaches itself readily to the comedic styling of Black and the fellow members of The State, his comedy alma mater.

Black’s book is equal parts parody and biting social satire. Even the wacky, indefinable one liners that characterize Black’s best known work – imagine the nonsensical ramblings of his State staple Captain Monterey Jack – are represented; this time, however, its played out on paper instead of a high school gym auditorium.

As with any collection of comedic essays, some of the stories work better than others. Some come close to falling flat, but still manage to succeed thanks in large part to Black’s innate sense of the surprise attack, taken in the form of the unexpected statement. (Picture lines of lush imagery followed by the blunt end of a sharp stick. Only poking at your ticklish spots, of course).

However, while humor that works onstage may often have trouble translating in print, the way in which Van really succeeds is that the essays seem to resonate as well when read silently as they would have out-loud and in character.

It’s not hard to imagine each of the book’s stories as skits that might have been used as State outtakes, and Black’s endless well of creativity is readily palpable. Perhaps it’s a good thing that his humor is defined by the art of the random, otherwise it would have been easy for this style of literature to run out of steam even before the foreword – written by Abraham Lincoln, naturally – had been completed.

But perhaps the most intriguing thing about Van is that Black’s stories are at once obviously trademarked and uniquely voiced. Sure, it’s fairly easy to spot his snarky personality among each of the book’s 49 essays, yet there’s a remarkably different voice brought out to speak for whatever the subject matter at hand happens to be.

In wry, tightly spun pieces like, “One Day, I’m Going to Open a Scented Candle Shoppe,” Black demonstrates a knack for not only delivering his peculiar brand of jarring humor, but also for incorporating imaginative rhetoric and disarming sensory detail. Still others, like “Why I’ve Decided to Go Blonde,” are sharp commentaries on society— this one perhaps, a thinly veiled allusion to the struggle with transgendered identity.

Just For Laughs: Montreal’s comedy fest in its 26th year

by Dylan P. Gadino

Just For Laughs in Montreal is where every comedian aspires to perform and where every comedy fan enjoys the fruit of those comics’ labor.

Last week began the English-speaking portion of Just For Laughs in Montreal, the largest and longest running comedy festival in the world. The 26th year of the fest continues throughout this week with performances by the likes of Tom Papa, Patrice O’Neal Greg Giraldo, Nick DiPaolo, Joan Rivers, Robert Hawkins, Jimmy Fallon, JB Smoove, Dana Gould, Lynne Koplitz and many more. We recently chatted with Bruce Hills, COO of Just For Laughs about this year’s festival and the future of comedy.

What’s the biggest challenge in trying to outdo the festival programming every year?
To stay fresh and relevant. There is always the pressure to outdo ourselves. Even though we hold ourselves to the highest standards, we have to be constantly aware of new trends. This is something that is crucial in our industry and engrained in our company.

If there were a theme for what’s new or different about this year’s festival, what would it be?
There really isn’t one theme. We’re really just trying to continually renew this event that is now 26 years old.

What is it about Montreal that makes the city so obviously conducive to such a giant, successful comedy festival?
Montrealers are great comedy fans. They also respond equally well to the UK and international comics as they do to US comics. This spirit is probably helped by the bilingual fabric of the society. But, on a more general level, Montreal is a city that loves to party and loves to laugh.

What are you usually doing, let’s say, on a Friday night during the fest? Are you checking out three shows in a row or are you stuck in an office somewhere putting out fires?
I need to cover as much turf as possible on every night. So I’m running from show to show. The biggest challenge is the last Friday night of the Festival which can become overwhelming. Luckily, our event is more centrally located than ever before. So now I can get to eight venues in a three-block radius.

Do you ever get to the point where watching live comedy makes you physically ill? You’re programming all year. You’ve got to get burned out on comedy.

Not really, since I scout very little these days. The programming team does most of the heavy lifting. That being said, I still make my way down to Edinburgh where I see dozens of shows every August.

I know this is a totally unfair question, but if you had to pick three comics to listen to for the rest of your life (and no other comics) who would they be?
Mitch Hedberg, Bill Hicks, and George Carlin.

When booking up and coming stand-up comics for Montreal, what are you looking for?
This is handled by our programming team and not me. I’m not as involved in the day-to-day programming as I used to be. Robbie Praw, talent producer, and his gang have a better answer for you.
Robbie: Fresh and original voices. We’re looking for comedians that do not necessarily have to put on an act to be interesting and exciting–– but possess a strong dynamic natural energy.

Is there any form of comedy that JFL will not book or are funny magicians and the like all in the running?
Funny is funny. We’ve always had a soft spot for crazy variety acts so we will book funny magicians, as long as they are on fire. Festival goers should remember Chris Lynan, the guy who ran around the stage naked with a Roman Candle locked in his buttocks dancing to “There’s No Business Like Show Business.”

We’re always looking to add new forms of comedy to our event. We’ve recently added specific platforms to showcase musical and sketch acts (rather than just booking musical and sketch acts throughout the standard Festival shows) because there are some forms of comedy that need their own spaces. This year we added the show Hoodwinked, which is a show comprised of ex-con men who perform their pick-pocketing and thievery interactively with audience members in a comedic way. Danny Hoch is performing his new one-man theatre show Taking Over which is going to blow people away.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen the start of many new comedy festivals. Do more comedy festivals help or hinder what you guys do?
We launched a Just For Laughs Toronto Festival last year and are teaming up with TBS to produce A Very Funny Festival in Chicago in 2009. I think the more well-run comedy festivals in the world, the better, as long as they help to develop and maintain comedy fans.

Do you ever feel conflicted about any of the comics that perform at JFL? There’s got to be some acts that you know should be booked at JFL but that you personally don’t care for.
Yes, at times I am conflicted. We have to service a wide range of fans. There have been times when we’ve booked someone whom I’m not a particular fan of––but if there is an audience who wants to see that act, why should I get in the way?

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