Picture Of The Day: Bill Bailey

Jan 28, 2019 | Comedians

If you’re a comedian who speaks English, it might seem easy to break through in other countries who share the language. There are some who do, but the truth is, Americans who can fill theaters here can’t always do the same in Australia and the UK....

Best Thing I’ve Heard Today

Jan 9, 2019 | Comedians

I have written before about Elayne Boosler, one of my all-time favorite comedians and a real trailblazer — the first female standup to do contemporary, observational humor that was not as self-deprecating as that of her predecessors (e.g. Joan Rivers, Totie...

Best Thing I’ve Read Today

Jan 2, 2019 | Comedians

Two comedians — Vicky Kuperman and Rosa Escandon — have written different takes on the leaked audio of Louis CK’s recent comedy club set, in which he joked about the Parkland shooting students and non-binary youth. Their pieces are not about his...

Will Durst’s Top 10 Stories Of 2018

Dec 13, 2018 | Comedians, Politics

My friend, comedian Will Durst, looks back at the year that was… Sit the kids down. Let the dogs out. Prop the grandparents up. The nation’s patience has been richly rewarded, because the eagerly awaited list of the Top Ten Comedic News Stories of 2018 has been...

Comedy Club Dogs

Dec 11, 2018 | Comedians

I haven’t been to a comedy club in years. The standups I want to see (e.g. John Mulaney, Kathleen Madigan, Brian Regan, Paula Poundstone) have all graduated to playing bigger venues that don’t have a two-drink minimum. But on a recent road trip, I had an evening free...

Picture Of The Day: Nina Conti

Nov 9, 2018 | Comedians, Picture of the Day

This is a clip of ventriloquist Nina Conti, who strapped a Vent-Mask to the face of an audience member she pulled onstage. The Vent-Mask was invented by Joel Hodgson, the guy behind “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” who did it in his act in a Minneapolis...