Make Em' Laugh

Just wanted to clue you loyal fans in on the new PBS documentary Make Em' Laugh, which starts tonight at 8pm EST. Their website describes it as "A six-hour comedy epic showcasing the most hilarious men, women, and moments in American entertainment and why they made us laugh." Sounds good to me.

The first two episodes air tonight with two more next Wednesday and the final two a week later. It's chock full of interviews of comedians, about comedians. No analysis from snooty professors or dusty historians, just memories and explanations from those who know humor best.

TONIGHT'S EPISODE: "Would Ya Hit a Guy with Glasses?: Nerds, Jerks, & Oddballs"

Hello, I Must Be Going

Well, now that the apartment anxiety of the last few months is over and I'm two weeks away from being a Park Slope-ian (or South Slope-ian, if you want to split hairs. And why would you want to split hairs, man?) I'm finally starting to feel a little jaunty, a little sanguine, about this summer. As such, I thought I'd share a classic, cheerful old song from Groucho Marx.

This clip, from the movie Animal Crackers (thanks, Dewey!), was the moment that finally hooked me into to the hilarious, bizarre world of the Marx Brothers:

I Drink Your Milkshake!

Well, this probably won't last long, but here is a pretty amusing sketch from last week's Saturday Night Live, hosted by Tina Fey. I can't tell if I'm just getting older and my standards are changing or what, but I feel like the current season of Saturday Night Live (along with the current season of The Simpsons, at that) is much stronger than it's been the last few years. The episode hosted by Brian Williams in the fall had a number of laugh out loud moments, more than I could remember from any episode since Will Ferrell left.

Anyway, check out Daniel Plainview, host of the Food Network program "I Drink Your Milkshake," drinking (you guessed it) people's milkshakes. Thanks to Megan, by the way, for the heads-up about this sketch:




UPDATE: Damn, already down. Check out the Brian Williams sketches from the SNL website, which are a more than suitable replacement.

NEW UPDATE: Back up, at least for now...

I'm White, and I'm Lame

I couldn't go without posting a link to a site that has been passed on to me by multiple friends already. If you haven't checked out Stuff White People Like yet, you really must do so. Not only is it a really funny depiction of what me and and so many of my (sadly, overwhelmingly white) friends like, it's almost clinical (and alarming) in the way it parodies basically every single one of my interests!

Anyway, a couple posts that struck particularly close to home were the ones on white people's top ten hip-hop songs, the Sunday New York Times, and New York.

If nothing else, you've got to give them credit for posting this heart-warming picture of Brian Posehn and Patton Oswalt...

Thoughts from a taping of the Colbert Report...

Last night, due to the gracious offer of my friend Megan, I got to see The Colbert Report in person!
For certain work-related reasons we were able to get ourselves in an VIPs for the event. Which meant that I got to get my picture taken on the set after the show (awesome), that we were able to avoid sitting in the holding pen with the other guests before the show starts (really quite awesome), and that we were seated front row center for the show (yes, also awesome)! It was an overall amazing experience as well as a chance to finally cross "go see a tv show" off my list of 432 Things Everyone Should Do if They Live in New York. Thanks again, Megan!



A couple thoughts:

• Unlike a lot of celebrities that uphold the cliché and do look smaller in real life, I actually thought that Stephen Colbert was bigger than I would have expected. Even though he seemed like a genuinely nice and friendly guy, he had a lot of presence and was actually kind of intimidating. Jon Stewart (who made a surprise guest appearance midway through the show) was also sort of intimidating. They both, however, had extremely nice suits on, so perhaps that was part of the intimidation? (note to self: get nicer suit)
• Being in the front row was fun, but a little nerve-racking. The extremely friendly staffer that was helping us out all evening told us that, because the crowd was low-energy that night, he was hoping Megan and I could make up for it by being extremely energetic in our clapping and laughter (and hooting, and booing, and hissing, etc.) Although I think we did a pretty good job of it, I remained slightly worried all show that I would fail to be loud enough (a problem, in every other walk of life, that I never have to worry about).
  
• You really feel the effect of the writer's strike when you see the show live. There were constant references to it by Colbert himself and others. We even got to see Colbert and Jon Stewart discuss what the heck they were going to talk about during "the toss" (where Stewart talks to Colbert at the end of The Daily Show about what's coming up next), something that is rarely done any more because it's apparently too much of a chore without writers. Even after the show was over, Colbert's last words to the audience was a half-joke that we should "come back when we have writers!" Still, Colbert natural comedic gifts, combined with the wired feeling that I had at just being a part of the show in some way, had me laughing at basically every word that came out of his mouth. A great time all in all, and definitely worth doing if you get the chance!
  

The Flight of the Conchords

If you haven't had the opportunity to check out the excellent HBO comedy "Flight Of the Conchords" yet, you're in luck: the first season is now available on dvd! This show, my unexpected comedy surprise of 2007, carries on the great HBO tradition of offbeat, unconventional, and intelligent comedies (Mr. Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Lucky Louie) that wouldn't work anywhere else on TV.
Flight of the Conchords, in short, follows Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie, "New Zealand's 4th most popular folk-parody duo" as they struggle to get gigs, make rent, and meet women in New York. Mixed throughout the episodes are songs that (by aping a variety of genres and music-video clichés) provide an absurd and unfailingly hilarious commentary to what is happening in the episode.

This clip is from "Girlfriends," my favorite episode of the first season. The video raises several questions, the most important being: is that the real Gérard Depardieu?




I can't recommend this show highly enough. Check it out if you get a chance, or, considering how cheap it is on Amazon, just go ahead and buy the dvd. Musical comedy hasn't been this good since...hmm...Troy McClure's "Dr. Zaius" song on The Simpsons?