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The Comedy News For 07/31/10

Comedy Fan Corner [+]

The Saturday Stand-Up Spotlite: Week 5: Bernadette Batts

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Posted July 31, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Stand-Up Spotlite for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Dane Cook Slated To Star In Horror Flick Detention

Dane Cook, who is hated by comics and beloved by young audiences, has a record of poor choices when it comes to making films. Employee of the Month and Good Luck Chuck will never be discussed in film class. That said, I really liked his latest special ISOlated Incident, which was ironically so personal comics still hated him and it alienated his core fans. Despite all this, Cook hasn’t forgotten who his base market is: teenage fans. That’s probably why Cook is slated to star in the upcoming horror film Detention. The film will be a horror-comedy that takes place in a high school. It follows a group of teenage seniors who struggle to get through their final days of class, exams, book reports and term papers. Meanwhile, they must also contend with a slasher-film killer come to life. So far there are no details for what character Cook will play. The film will also feature Josh Hutcherson, who made headlines by nearly landing the lead in Sony's Spiderman reboot. Hutcherson will also executive-producing the film. Joseph Kahn is slated to take the director’s chair.

Posted July 30, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Comedy Films for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Reviews Of The Young Frankenstein Musical Are In

Unless you’re a comic with an interest in film making you probably don’t realize this is one film I broke down backwards and forwards in an attempt to answer what makes a good horror film parody. So when Mel Brooks announced he was turning the film into a musical, I was slightly intrigued. You see, the best scene in the film was when Gene Wilder and the Creature played by a young Peter Boyle sang Me and My Shadow. It’s a great scene. But it was almost taken out of the film because it came off as so over-the-top. So adding more music to the mix could be a really good, or a really bad idea. Apparently, Brooks thought more musical interludes were a great idea and the musical version of the film was born. Now that the musical is playing at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, so it seems only fair to look at the reviews. An article in the Broadway World.COM by actor Michael L. Quintos, is kind to the musical. However, Quintos is also clear that the musical, while entertaining, doesn’t quite have the comic punch of the original film.

Quinton starts that review praising Brooks for his biting one-liners, double entendres and wordplay. Quintos calls the musical a faithful translation of the horror movie parody. "Many of the iconic," he says, "often obsessively-quoted scenes from the film are reverently recreated for the stage, generally retaining most of its original funny results." However, he adds, while the show itself has plenty of delightfully giddy moments it somehow just stops short of becoming the universally beloved Brook's film. I‘m taking that to mean the musical passed, but with a few reservations. That may have been partially because there were problems with the sound system on opening night. Quintos calls Joanna Glushak, who takes the role of Frau Blücher, originally played by Cloris Leachman, scene stealing. But that doesn't surprise me at all. The Frau Blücher character was built to steal scenes. Tickets run from $25 to $85 and are available now. The production will run through August 8th, 2010. Visit the theatre's website for more details.

Posted July 29, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Comedy Theatre for All | No Comments | Bookmark

The 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comic Trends

• Richard Pryor: New Rank 2 +
• George Carlin: New Rank 3 -
• Billy Crystal: New Rank 32 +
• George Burns: New Rank 33 -
• Richard Lewis: New Rank 36 +
• Ray Romano: New Rank 37 -
• Norm MacDonald: New Rank 86 +

Comedian Corner [+]

Thirty Rock Episode Will Air Live In October

Comics may not understand why this is big news, so I'm including some historical background here. Back during the era of the Honeymooners and I Love Lucy, it wasn’t uncommon for a sitcom to air live. Sometimes that same sitcom even aired on the first take, mostly due to the price of film. These days live airings of anything are much less common, thanks to censorship and the politically correctness and simple mistakes like Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at a half-time Super Bowl show. I know, what about SNL? If you read the rehearsal schedule for Saturday Night Live, it may be live, but Lorne Michaels isn’t leaving a whole lot to chance. Despite it's rarity, on Friday, and NBC panel announced that the hit show would be airing its first live episode of Tina Fey’s hit series 30 Rock on October 14th, 2010. Unlike normal live shows, which only air live when they air on the East Coast in New York, people on the West Coast will also be treated to a live airing when the cast will perform the episode again three hours later. Sorry Okalahoma, all you get is a one-hour delay. Other sitcoms that have experimented with live airings have included ABC's Drew Carey Show, which used the live format to run contests during the some of its episodes.

But more interesting is why NBC is pulling this move.

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Posted July 31, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Comedy TV for All | No Comments | Bookmark

An Edmonton Reporter Says Amateurs Aren't Really Comics

First off, I have no idea who Risa Tonita of Sherwood Park is. I do know she’s ignorant. In an article for the Edmonton Journal, she replays a bad experience supporting new local comedians. During that show, each new comic did five minutes. Then she says how glad she was they were limited to five minutes because nobody was telling jokes, simply commenting on inappropriate stereotypes. Risa, good comics don’t tell jokes. They talk about themselves. Usually when they talk about inappropriate stereotypes it’s to break them down. The only person who would be uncomfortable if I was talking about homosexuality or racism is the racist or somebody dumb enough to think God commands them to bash queers. Risa continues by concluding that every single comedian, who in fact were all men good thing you‘re not prone to stereotypes like the rest of us, joked about women and sexual issues related to them. You’re right sexual material is overdone. However it’s overdone because it’s relatable. Anyone who’s been in a relationship has been in the awkward position of admitting to each other where that attraction might lead knows.

Some comics do it well, some don’t.

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Posted July 30, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Editorial for All | No Comments | Bookmark

So Have You Ever Played To A Park Bench?

Comedy can show up in the oddest places: the laundry matt, a city bus. And now, in it's an ongoing event in a New York city park. The idea, which started with laundry mats, was to find a captive audience and give them something to do. That‘s probably how the first comedy show at a state prison was born and the first comedian-related stabbing. Laughter in the Park is a series of free comedy shows created by Susette Simon that continues through August 22nd, 2010 in eight different New York‘s city parks. These shows, unlike traditional night club shows are taking place during the day, weather permitting. The result of telling park goes to turn off their cell phones and stop digging through trash cans for recyclables is usually met with mixed results. Some audience members appreciate the free show, others have made obscene gestures at the comics for interrupting their daily flow. At the end of the show, a basket is passed around the audience for donations. Despite this income, none of the performers get paid. This has caused bigger name comics to reject being a part of the event. However, a few big name comics, like MSNBC’s Christian Finnegan, will be featured in an upcoming show. All proceeds are currently going to paying for the sound system and the necessary permits. The event is also partially funded by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Posted July 29, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Stand-Up Shows for All | No Comments | Bookmark

Upcoming Stand-Up Comedy Seminars

• Greg Dean: Los Angeles, CA on 08/09/2010 7pm / FREE / Visit The Class Website
• Kurtis Mathews: San Francisco, CA on 08/11/2010 6pm / FREE / Visit The Class Website

Recent Articles For Comedians [+]

New Ranking: How To Be A Low Key Emcee

How To Be A Low Key Emcee A common myth among comics is that low energy comics can't emcee. This myth is false. I'm almost as low key as Steven Wright on stage. Yet, I developed a technique to keep the show at Novel Cafe, that I emceed for over a year, relatively energy high despite my persona. Here is a list of some things I did. Before The Show Act like a professional. Check in with all the comics. Get their introductions. If they don't have one, don't be cute and don't make things up. This simple step will avoid introducing people who aren't there and allow the comics who are to get the type of respectful introduction they deserve. Tell people when they'll be on. Remind comics what the rules are: i.e. clean vs. dirty. Finally, tell the comics their time slots. And tell them where to look for the light. When Opening The Show #1: Choo... [Read Entire Article]

Posted January 0, 2006 by Shayne Michael under emcee, mc

Recent Biographies [+]

Harry Anderson was born on October 14th, 1952 in Newport, Rhode Island. His parents hailed from Manistee, Michigan. Much in Anderson's childhood was unusual. Both of his parents were gamblers. His father was also a salesman who was rarely around. Therefore, Anderson spent his younger years in Chicago with his mother, brother, sister and their half-sister. At one point, his mother became one of the first female card dealers in Las Vegas during the 1950's. By the time he was seventeen, Anderson had lived in a dozen states, moving from city to city between his mother's various jobs. Desperate to put food on the table, Anderson’s mother reportedly worked as a prostitute, a fact which Anderson publicly acknowledged in a 1989 Playboy interview when he stated, "She was a hustler, yeah; she did a lot of things. We moved around a lot, and she had a lot of men friends." Yet Anderson also reject... [Read Entire Bio]

Posted 07/31/10 by Shayne Michael under comic actor

New DVD Releases, Rankings & Reviews [+]

Other Recent DVDs/ Films Ranked or Reviewed

                    

Site Changes/ New Features [+]

Minor Upgrade To Comedian Calendars

Registered members who have added a biography to this site can use the open mic database or the comedy club database to add shows to their personal calendars. I just tweeked the system to allow any registered member to tweet those shows from their own personal page. I also fixed the system that adds the shows to calendars so that it can distinguish between shows that are AM or PM. I realize most shows are PM, but without that fix, the system was assuming those shows were all in the morning. That will cause problems when I try to give these events a built in ability to promote themselves. I’m working on a similar share button for Facebook and MySpace but that’s a little more complicated. The HTML code to share information on both MySpace and Facebook is more geared towards links rather than status. So to make that work, I really need to generate a separate page for each event. I’m working on that now.

Posted July 29, 2010 by Shayne Michael under Calendars for All | No Comments | Bookmark

• See Shayne Michael @ the The Spot Cafe in Culver City, CA on TONIGHT/ 07/31/2010 2:00PM
• See Shayne Michael @ the The Seafood Shack in Artesia, CA on Thursday/ 08/12/2010 8:00PM
• See Shayne Michael @ the The Wharehouse in Marina Del Rey, CA on Monday/ 08/16/2010 9:00PM
• Today is Pat Cooper's birthday
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