On Monday night, a sold-out crowd at the 92nd Street Y paid $50 a pop to watch Steve Martin talk with NY Times columnist Deborah Solomon about his new novel, which concerns an "ambitious young art dealer" in NYC. Anyone willing to pay $50 to watch Martin chitchat probably knows that he's an avid art collector, but the Times reports that when the conversation lingered too long on boring old art, a "Y representative" handed Solomon a note asking her to cut the artsy fartsy crap and talk about Martin's movie career. For fifty bucks, couldn't he at least do some of that "wild and crazy guys" stuff from SNL? Dance, monkey! But now everybody's offended, and Solomon dropped the "ph"-bomb! more ›

In his publicity blitz to promote The Pink Panther 2, the Pink Panther has been spotted around town. And he definitely ran the gamut of photo ops: Early in the day, he helped out at a Burger King (there's a Pink Panther tie-in planned)...and then he rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange! more ›

The blog Eat Me Daily posted a video clip yesterday from the opening of Thursday's 30 Rock where Gavin Volure, the eccentric billionaire played by Steve Martin asks what the good cupcake spots are in New York. Tina Fey's food crazy Upper West Sider Liz Lemon quickly fires back, "77th and Amsterdam, 68th and Columbus, 125th and President Clinton Boulevard." The blog noted that the uptown Magnolia Bakery is actually at 69th and Columbus, but they weren't aware of anywhere at 77th and Amsterdam. Could she have been talking about Crumbs on 75th and Amsterdam? And while we know that there's no President Clinton Boulevard (yet), could Lemon have meant Make My Cake on Adam Clayton Powell Blvd? Not to be all cupcake conspiracy theorist, but maybe Fey was trying to maintain her cupcake credibility without blowing up all her favorite spots. Why else would she not have mentioned Soutine? more ›

Saturday Night Live is back! Wasting no time digging into primary season, the opening skit was a debate between Hillary and Barack, immediately answering the big question posed this week: who will be our Fauxbama? The answer: Fred Armisen! The Huffington Post raises the controversial points of this decision, given the previously-noted lack of minority players on the show (Armisen is not black - he's Venezuelan and Japanese - but has played Prince on SNL) and the whole "Is Obama black enough?" debate. As for the sketch itself, it was about the media's infatuation with Obama - and it even included Obama Girl! more ›

READING: Steve Martin proved he could write with Shopgirl, and now he's come out with a much more intriguing tale called, Born Standing Up. This is his memoir, which traces his life from an employee at Disneyland to an employee of Lorne Michaels and beyond -- tonight he'll regale you with some of these stories. 6:30pm // The Times Center [242 W 41st St] // Free PARTY: Before you warm up by a Thanksgiving meal,... more ›

. Gothamist spoke with Gary Rudoren, one of the authors of Comedy by the Numbers , to see if there were any hesitations about revealing what it takes to be as funny as the greats, which led to a philosophical inquiry on the nature of evil as well as Gary's plans to raise a pair of ultra-hilarious twins. more ›

Frank Santopadre and Jim Pharo are Comedywise, a service that provides humorous speeches for CEO's, jokes for award shows, copy for advertisements, and things of that nature. So what exactly is it like to work in an office where your job is to write jokes? How do you even get the word out about such an endeavor? What's the dress code? more ›

7:06PM First thoughts: Gael Garcia Bernal is so cute. Ryan Seacrest is an idiot, as are Joan and Melissa Rivers. But we want to know what Jennifer Lopez is wearing! (It turns out to be Marchesa.) more ›

Gallery-goers may have shown up at Julie Saul Gallery for last Thursday’s opening reception of Brian Ulrich’s Copia—stunning photographs that show how mass production permeates the everyday life of pop princesses and counterculture teens alike—but it was Roz Chast’s Theories of Everything series that sideswiped the show. Originally scheduled to close last month, the exhibit has been extended to February 10. And with good reason. more ›

You may recognize Jon Glaser from his appearances on Conan, Wonder Showzen, or Cheap Seats. You may have even heard his track on the Invite Them Up CD compilation, where he reads a series of letters written by his recently deceased father to the band ZZ Top. By the track's end, one thing is certain: Jon Glaser is a comedic genius. more ›

It's like Canada, but without the metric system. more ›

JC: ALL RIGHT! I just took extra Vitamin C - I'm waiting for some food delivery. more ›

Remakes and sequels and genre formula, oh my! February is a great month for releasing exactly what the studios think the people will pay to see and this week's release schedule is a textbook example of this development by marketing focus group strategy. Oh well, doesn't mean Gothamist is ready to give up on moviegoing quite yet. Here's a few suggestions to guide your weekend viewing. more ›

Jason Schwartzman, Actor, Shopgirl more ›

Over at Beatrice, Emily Gordon is blogging about this past weekend's New Yorker Festival. She puts Jonathan Franzen and Zadie Smith into the high school popularity paradigm, hears Steve Martin play banjo with Earl Scruggs and gets to revel in a Tom Cruise as dog impression. Gothamist didn't get to make it to this year's festival (we were a little slow to pull the intellectual cognoscentic trigger), but we will try to right that by getting the insane collection of 4,109 New Yorker issues on eight DVDs. more ›

It’s that time of the year again – that special time you brave New York’s notoriously humid and sticky summer to battle for one more blanket inch on a crowded park lawn. This year’s free outdoor movie festivals – RiverFlicks, Riverside Park Movies Under the Stars, Brooklyn Music & Movies Series, and HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival–offer a wide range of musicals and old favorites, from The Sound of Music to The Big Lebowski (see below for June/July schedule). Also be sure to check out the Rooftop Films series, showcasing short, low-budget and underground films every Friday at Automotive High School in Williamsburg and every Saturday at Old American Can Factory in Brooklyn at 9:00 PM; $8. more ›

Today kicks off the New Yorker Festival and if you haven't snagged your tickets for some of the events yet, here's our list of last minute events we think are more than worthwhile...that still have seats left! more ›