Results tagged “comedy”

The original anarchic comedy hero for teenagers and college students, Soupy Sales, died Thursday in a hospice in New York City after suffering from multiple health problems. He was 83. Soupy, one of the only known men to have splattered a pie in Fank Sinatra's face and take more than 20,000 cream-fille tins to his own, won over TV audiences young and old, but mostly young, in the 1950s and '60s.

Patton Oswalt has built himself up as one of the most well-respected stand-ups in his twenty-plus year career. He is a definitive "comic's comic," always refining and plugging away at his stand-up act—his most recent special being played on Comedy Central. Today marks the opening of his first star turn as the lead role in the darkly comic Big Fan, written and directed by the same screenwriter who wrote The Wrestler. Oswalt carries the film through it's brooding, modernist character study of a Staten Island Giant fanatic who lives with his mother and spends his work days perfecting his night speeches made as a caller to a local sports talk radio show. The film will be a strange experience for Giant fans as the tale it tells inadvertently ended up mirroring the team's Plaxico Burress situation last season in a bizarre number of ways.

The story of the stand-up comedian being sued for defamation by her Jewish mother-in-law continues to be gobbled up by media outlets across the nation. Both comic Sunda Croonquist and her lawyer husband Mark Zafrin say they were blindsided by Rose Zafrin's suit. The husband whose firm will represent Croonquist told the Post his reaction to the suit was, "What — are you trying to us? My wife's from Paterson!" The black comedienne, whose observational jokes about differences in ethnic customs suddenly became too much for her mother-in-law, says she keeps a kosher house and converted to Judaism (for her marriage, not her career). When asked about the lawsuit by Entertainment Tonight, she said, "I felt sick to my stomach I was sickened. ... I thought maybe a phone call would suffice." She also mentioned to the TV show that she had shows here at Stand-Up NY and Comix this weekend. If this ends up in Judge Judy or Cristina's Court, we think we know who the special guest star will be to mend the parted sea between the two. Croonquist recently revealed that she was inspired her to grab a mic for the first time after being encouraged at a party...by none other than Jackie Mason.

In a case that seems suspiciously like a win-win for everybody involved, a Midwood grandmother is suing her stand-up comedian daughter-in-law for "defaming her with racist lies" in her comedy routines. Sunda Croonquist of Paterson does pretty standard comedy club material about her husband Mark Zafrin's family, sharing her experiences as a black woman marrying into a Jewish family, joking that "Jews don't know how to whisper" and having "two kids in two years makes her suicidal, having two kids in one year would make her Orthodox." After years of allegedly enjoying the material, now Ruth Zafrin has apparently taken offense to the barbs she finds "malicious" and "based on hatred towards her." Two other in-laws have signed on as co-plaintiffs and to give the whole affair the ultimate whiff of a hack sitcom pilot, the comedian Croonquist is being represented by her lawyer husband, taking on his mother. Croonquist claims that her in-law and family jokes are not mean-spirited (she also "converted to Judaism" and "keeps a kosher house"), but rather, "natural laugh-getters." In case this all isn't enough free publicity for everyone involved, watch Croonquist's act and decide for yourself after the jump.

As mentioned in our newsletter, the NY Comedy Festival is coming to Carnegie Hall for four days this November, and bringing with it the likes of Andy Samberg, Mike Birbiglia, Tracy Morgan, Bill Maher and, er, Dane Cook. Tickets are on sale already, and Ricky Gervais explains in the following video that the best way to get to Carnegie Hall is... with a map. Sensible! He also explained how he'll be getting there—"It's just down the road from my apartment. I can walk to work. (I won’t walk obviously. I'll take a limo. But I could walk if I had to)."

Is Vanity Fair running out of cover concepts? The magazine is giving their sultry Tom Ford/Keira Knightley/Scarlett Johansson cover a comedy makeover, replacing Ford with Paul Rudd, and the ladies with Jonah Hill and ex-Freaks and Geeks Seth Rogen and Jason Segel. (Rogen will also be gracing the cover of Playboy in the near future.) Check out video of the shoot, and more photos from inside the issue (which includes Amy Poehler, but not Tina Fey—who is #1 on this list). The mag declares their subjects are "Comedy’s New Legends," but who are they missing?

Recently engaged Fred Armisen's impression of Governor Paterson seems to to have really touched a nerve in the zeitgeist. Today the Times was going after the slapstick portrayal saying it was put on by "comedy writers with frat-boy sensibilities " and was a "level of humor might fairly be described as sophomoric were that not an insult to sophomores." Despite this week's sendup focusing on satirizing the governor's penchant for one-liners, the Times echoes some of the same criticisms lobbed SNL's way in December when the sketch was dubbed so offensive by many that even the governor went out of his way to criticize the show's treatment of the disabled. But Armisen has nothing on BBC host Jeremy Clarkson who many across the pond want fired for calling British Prime Minister Gordon Brown "a one-eyed idiot." (He's blind in one eye.) Meanwhile a Newsday blog puts forth a conspiracy theory that a show as big as SNL going after a local figure as Paterson could be revenge for Lorne Michael's friend, Caroline Kennedy.

We interviewed Paul F. Tompkins a couple of years ago while he was just stopping by town to tape a stand-up special. Since then, a lot has changed. He now lives in New York, is the sole host of VH1's Best Week Ever and he's just gotten engaged. Next Tuesday he'll be participating in a BWE-themed show at 92YTribeca. Recently we talked to him about the lack of respect his show sometimes gets, what it takes to make the leap into more vulnerable material as a stand-up and how his career priorities changed upon falling in love.

We've been big fans of Aziz Ansari since he first hit the comedy scene all those years ago, and it seems like since then he's been speedily checking things off his To-Do list. He launched off the stand-up stage to get his own MTV series (Human Giant), is now in an anxiously awaited spin-off of The Office (he clears up the plotline below), and he's been busy filming movies with the likes of Seth Rogan and Paul Rudd. Not too shabby. This weekend he returns to New York, after moving out to Los Angeles—catch his Glow in the Dark Tour (not to be confused with Kanye's) at Comix this Friday or Saturday (buy tickets).

Janeane Garofalo was one of the definitive comedians of the '90s. Her mix of deadpan sarcasm with heartfelt (and often angry) earnestness would set the bar for what has become an ever growing "alternative" comedy scene throughout this decade. She still is very much a part of that scene, performing around town regularly at places like UCB and Union Hall with local staples such as Eugene Mirman and Todd Barry. Tomorrow she'll be co-hosting a stand-up show with Best Week Ever's Paul F. Tompkins at the new 92YTribeca in a showcase that features an all-star lineup that includes both David Cross and Kristen Schaal amongst others.

Max Silvestri can teach you how to use the internet, how to maximize your man style and, according to our research, about four other things. Each Thursday you can find him at Sound Fix for his Big Terrific comedy show (returning January 8th)—but he's also writing Top Chef recaps, hosting award shows, making videos for Details, entertaining Radiohead, and allegedly sitting in the basement of MoMA. He recently told us all about most of this.

SNL Head Writer and Weekend Update anchor Seth Meyers told the LGBT-related magazine The Advocate that he "stands behind everything that happened" on last Saturday's show that has many critics crying foul over its reliance of gay jokes in almost every sketch of the night. Meyers takes the "I have plenty of black friends" defense by pointing out that there are gay writers on the show and that SNL is "on the right side of the issue." He also compared the abundance of gay-related sketches to come out of a week involving a lot of Prop 8-related discussion to this week's show where "we are having the same issue this week with Thanksgiving." The blog Defamer has been the harshest in its criticisms of the episode calling it "a gay minstrel show" and equating a sketch with two closeted mechanics to "a Yes on 8 ad." Meyers said that he generally avoids the blogosphere but that, "People on our 'side' take it far more personally when they feel offended because they feel like it is a betrayal."

Williams has performed at the theater before at the ASSSSCAT 3000 show alongside more high-profile regulars like Poehler and other stars of SNL and 30 Rock who improvise every Sunday. But when he showed up last night at the theater, members of Bangs really had to improvise when they learned just before going on that he wished to join them on stage. The audience ate up what sounds like the sort of wildcard performance you'd expect from Williams and word from the team is that the star was nothing but friendly and gracious to them.

As a child of Hollywood, Harry Shearer portrayed the original Eddie Haskell on Leave It To Beaver, appeared in Abbott & Costello Go To Mars, and after a stint at Harvard, eventually wound up on Saturday Night Live, where you can spot him in that legendary synchronized swimming sketch with Martin Short. Many know him as the bassist in Spinal Tap; others recognize his voice from The Simpsons, where he portrays characters such as Montgomery Burns, Ned Flanders, Kent Brockman and Otto. Since the '60s, Shearer has also hosted a popular music/comedy program called Le Show on Santa Monica's NPR-affiliated radio station.

They've turned the trees brown, they've swallowed kayakers, they've sparked a "meh" heard round the world. Now Olafur Eliasson's four waterfall installations on the East River have something else to add to their legacy: another pair of white dudes have been inspired to rap.

Fashion Week usually doesn't bring out many hecklers, but Monday afternoon one gentleman turned the back entrance of the Bryant Park tents into his own personal comedy runway. His style is sort of Will Ferrell-worship meets "Andy" from The Office, but at least he brought some humor to what can sometimes be a rigid crowd. [via NYC the Blog]

Yes, it's been a day of 9/11-related posts. But here's a final--and decidedly more irreverent-- one: Folks like Todd Barry ask if one must sacrifice their comfort "just because a terrorist mastermind happens to have a similar fashion sense?" Below, a disturbing look at what happens when one ends up at "the intersection of style and Al Qaeda."

Troubled comedy hotspot Rififi (also known as Cinema Classics) will close tonight due to “an impasse with the landlord,” who is now “asking for substantially more money,” according to Matt Ruby's blog Sandpaper Suit. One "disillusioned ex-employee" tells Gothamist that “employees received text messages yesterday announcing tonight (Wednesday) as the last night open. One day’s notice, and there was a crazy insinuation that if more money had been made over the weekend the venue could have been open for another month, which seems to contradict the claim the landlord is the reason for the closure. Who knows at this point? Tonight is, as far as I know, the last night. It's being treated as such by the comedians and employees.”

Do you enjoy ingeniously crafted rock tunes, with brilliant lyrics and arrangements for accordion, keyboard, ukulele, guitar, bass and drums? Do you like pirates? How about puppets? Rum based drink specials? Laughing until your sides hurt? If you answered yes to even one of these questions, you’re ready to set forth on the dread ship Jollyship the Whiz-Bang, the rollicking “pirate puppet rock odyssey” that’s currently docked at Ars Nova.

Forget the debate over whether Clinton should drop out; there’s a more divisive argument going on at Newsweek, where two critics are locking horns over whether “Seinfeld” (the TV series, not the car-crashing Bee Movie star) is still funny after all these years.

Drawing on his roots in the fecund 1970s East Village avant-garde film scene, critic J. Hoberman has spent his three decades at the Village Voice introducing readers to the more adventurous cinematic worlds awaiting beyond the realm of Hollywood. He is the author of nine books, most recently The Dream Life: Movies, Media, and the Mythology of the Sixties, which was described by Slate as "an extraordinary publishing event." To commemorate his thirty years at the Voice, BAMcinématek has invited Hoberman to select films that have sparked some of his most stimulating reviews and articles, as well as a few personal favorites.

Next Wednesday a cornucopia of comedians (Dave Attell, Louis C.K., Artie Lange and more) will gather at Town Hall for the The Gerry Red Wilson Foundation Comedy Benefit. Greg Fitzsimmons is one of the comedians responsible for putting together the show, which will raise awareness about meningitis (a disease that struck three people in his life, one of which was Gerry Red Wilson). You can buy tickets here.

More than just a funny comedian, Elon James White (myspace) is becoming a notable force for his efforts to introduce new audiences to the sometimes overlooked diversity of talent within the world of black comedians. In other words, there’s more to black comedy than you might think by watching Def Comedy Jam. By creating The Black Comedy Project with comedian Baron Vaughn, White has helped cultivate an expanding community of artists who might be classified as Black-Alt comedians, for lack of a better term. At the end of the month, White will gather some of most innovative performers in New York for the first ever Black Comedy Experiment festival, which runs from February 28th to March 1st. The three day marathon (it’s a leap year) features an intriguing lineup of stand up, sketch comedy and solo shows, all gathered under one roof at the The Tank (Collective: Unconscious) in Tribeca. Tickets.