Whoah. posted on 2010-01-31 09:42:18 I don't care what it says, that is most definitely not me.
Though his posture is outstanding.
Thanks, Google Alerts!
NBC Late Night Situation, Explained Better Than I Did... posted on 2010-01-26 12:26:19 I wrote a little about the big ol' NBC Tonight Show blundering last week. But someone wrote about it better, and with links. Like real journalism, even!
Sean McCarthy runs a great site at The Comic's Comicthat is mostly about stand up comedy, but covers most everything in the comedy world, and he really nails why Leno is not only someone who failed at his job and got someone else fired, but why he has been knowingly disingenuous about the whole process. It's a good read.
Hey Jay, how are you? What's that in your hand OW MY BACK!!! posted on 2010-01-17 01:28:59 I'm a huge late night TV junkie. The most constant job I have had since August of 2004 is writing monologue jokes for David Letterman. I've also been lucky enough to write top tens for him, and to appear on the show a few times as an actor in sketches. (One, where I played an intern who is dragged away from his mom by security (under the multimedia tab, if you're wondering), caused my mom to call me and say "I loved seeing you on the show last night! (slightly long pause) Though, I was jealous of that fake mom, getting all those hugs...")
Besides working for the Late show for the last 5 years, I have been a massive fan of the show since it moved to CBS when I was in fifth grade. Also in fifth grade, I started watching the new guy on NBC, Conan O'Brien. David Letterman is easily the biggest influence I've had in my career, both in terms of inspiration and in the more tangible sense of giving me a job - but Conan would be number two. Those two guys have shaped my view of what I want to do with my life, and what kind of show I want to work for.
Most people who know me are aware of this, and so in the past week many people have asked me for my take on the whole NBC late night situation. My take is neither original nor surprising.
So, Jay Leno, right? How about it? I've never found him funny, but that's just an opinion - enough people found him funny (at least since Hugh Grant talked about boning a prostitute on his show in '95) to make him number one, ratings-wise, in late night, for well over a decade. He absolutely has a right to be pissed off about basically getting fired while doing exactly what the network wanted him to do - bring in ratings, regardless of how stale his 15 minute monologue is, or how many Letterman pieces from the 80's he pretends are his ("Headlines" was "Small Town News" on Letterman first. Just a fact, that's all.) So sure. He can be mad. But there's never been a more shameless or disingenuous performer on television. You want proof? Here.
What a class act he was! Could you believe that kind of modesty?! Could you believe what kind of grace he possessed? No? You can't? Well guess what? You win! He never had an ounce of it, nor did he ever have an ounce of sincerity in him to go along with any one second of that act! And he's proving it now, just like he has before!
It's one thing to be angry about being done wrong; Jay has every right there. But he's selling himself the same now as he did in 1992 when he snuck in and got the Tonight Show in the first place: "Look, I don't have any power here...I'm just doing what I'm told. I know it seems like I'm a backstabbing, sneaky, two timer, but really it's Helen Kushnick/Jeff Zucker/insert-scapegoat-here."
What's amazing is how Jay is so sleazy, so clearly in the wrong, that he's made every single other late night talk show host better in the past week. Ferguson's better. Fallon's better. Letterman (I'm clearly biased) has been on fire. Conan's show has been amazing this past week - just youtube/hulu any of it. And Kimmel showed an amazing amount of balls ON LENO'S SHOW (!) in saying what most everyone in the comedy community has been thinking. For your enjoyment:
Jay Leno: so awful he makes everyone better!
Best Quiz Host Ever is... posted on 2010-01-05 15:46:33 Becca Peterson. If you live in Austin, Texas, you should definitely go say hi to her at her weekly quiz show. Actually, if you live in the state of Texas anywhere, it's worth the drive (how big a state could it be, anyway?). No exaggeration - one of the world's coolest people, and the only girl who ever caused me to steal all of a bar's menus in retaliation for her being kicked out. (She took a fry off of someone's plate...they totally deserved it.)
Here is an interview someone did with her recently. Go hang with her! She's hilarious and will tell you stories that will give you nightmares. Honestly.
Chicago! posted on 2009-12-29 13:01:51 I just got back from a couple weeks in my hometown of Chicago (or Chicago-ish), where I got to do a bunch of fun shows. Thanks to one of the best shows around, Chicago Underground Comedy, for having me by once again. And also, thanks to The Accountants of Homeland Security, a crazy and fun sketch group for having me by one of their shows as well.
Also, if you like stand up comedy, or comedy in general (which, if you're reading this, you probably do...unless you just like me personally, which I find a little harder to believe), my friend/hilarious person Cameron Esposito writes a good one for Chicagonow.com. She was also kind enough to include me in an entry while I was in town, which you can see here.
Fun times in Chicago. Always like getting a chance to go home and see people out there. And if you like stand up, and live there, seriously, go see Cameron.
