RIP: George Carlin 1937-2008

“Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, died at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains…” - Reuters

Comedy Link Round Up / Future Show Notes

Funny Videos

Dave Hill: Jedi Master - Dave Hill

Events

10th Annual Del Close Marathon August 8-10 2008

Los Angeles Improv Comedy Festival

Paul Sills, a founder of Second City, dies at 80

Soce Featured on the Apiary

Amy Poehler Takes Viral Marketing Very Seriously

Kristen Schaal Kills Australia, Wins Top Prize at Melbourne Comedy Festival

GTA4 Makes With The Funny

Gamers debated which comedians should be in the game

Ricky Gervais performance at GTA IV’s Split Sides

Katt Williams performs in GTA 4

Lazlow talks about writing the game’s comedy

GTA’s talk radio station WKTT

The New UCB Theater Harold Team Line-Ups For 2008

Thanks to Ben at the Improvoker blog for pointing out of this piece of information in his blog post “The UCB Theatre Announces New Harold Teams”

“The biggest news is the reshuffling of 1985 and the remaining members of fwänd into two separate groups - The Law Firm and Amazon Tusk. I think it also bears pointing out that UCB has granted one of our biggest requests of a mostly female group Sensual Ha, which from outward appearances looks pretty incredible. Sensual Ha also features Pat Baer, the longtime tech and dude in charge for keeping things running at the Theater. Returning faces of Eddie Dunn, Nate Lang, Brian Berrebbi, and the incomparable Jeff Hiller are a welcome addition back. Bastian and Decoster are the only two teams unaffected by the reshuffling.” - Ben Whitehouse, The Improvoker

Check below for the lineup…

Comic-Con happened…

Special thanks to improv group Start Trekkin (Myspace) for being such awesome willing volunteers.

Yeah I know, big surprise huh? It was “super” and I had a blast, I went for a lot of reasons, but what cemented it of course was the appearance of Jonathan Coulton

I also decided to do this photo project for school where I would try and recreate as many possible classic moments with people in costume for me to photograph, it was quite a sucess, as you can see from above.

But besides comics there was some appearances by some people in comedy and podcasting including MC Chris and Scott Adsit of 30 Rock who was interviewed by the guys from the Comic Book Club

Plug-A-Podcast: Improvisors and their Podcasts

Well it’s obvious but Chris Camp and I are big fans of improv and comedy in general, Chris improvises with his groups Fiefdom and Dayjob, and I take classes when I have the chance. I’m also a big fan of podcasts if that isn’t obvious also, this is why I’m going to take the time to plug and link to two great podcasts for this first segment on Plug-A-Podcast:

Tracy Morgan gets “Real” with Cornell

I’m going to once again preface this post with my fanboy love of course for the show 30 Rock and that Brian Fellows on Saturday Night Live was hysterically funny to the younger me. Thats why I jumped to attention when one of the photo assignments for my school paper the Binghamton Pipe Dream was to photograph Tracy Morgan during his live performance at Cornell University, to say I was just excited would be the understatement of the week. I would get to kill a couple birds with one road trip, I would be able to see some stand up comedy, get some photography in for the Pipe Dream, and have something to talk about and review on the blog and the podcast.

Kids in the Hall on Tour

The Kids in the Hall, one of my favorite all time sketch groups, are making a stop in New York City this weekend for their 2008 reunion tour! This is AWESOME news. The tickets are a bit pricey but I plan on attending Friday nights show.

In tribute to this event I will post a YouTube clip of one of my favorite sketches of theirs. “I’m crushing your head!” Tour Dates after the jump.

DVD Recommendation: Undeclared

I was hanging out at a friends house last night, she put on a DVD of a show that I hadn’t thought of in years.  The college based comedy sitcom, Undeclared, ran for one season in 2001 (this just happened to be my freshman year of college).  I remember catching bits and pieces of it here and there.  Last night, I laughed my ass off watching the first three episodes. 

The show was created by Judd Apatow (Freaks and Geeks) and sports an all-star cast ranging from Seth Rogan (Knocked Up / Superbad) to Amy Poehler, Charlie Hunnam and Timm Sharp.  Not to mention cameo appearances from Will Ferrell and Ben Stiller.  I feel as if the characters in this show are so much more relateable than previous college spoofs and it’s definitely part of the charm. They capture the insecurity of first getting to school, meeting your roommates, the girl that’s always on the phone with her boyfriend from home. It’s fantastic.

Anyway, after the jump you can check out a pretty great clip!

The Upright Citizens Brigade to serve up annual dose of mass rejection

Anthony King, the artistic director of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, announced today that the UCB will be holding their annual open-call Harold Team auditions for any student that has completed up through Level 401 in their training program. 

As the theater continues to grow so does it’s popularity.  Every year auditioning has become much more competitive as upwards towards 300+ people will be trying out (don’t hold me to that… I’m guessing). 

Will I be trying out?  Yes, I plan on it.  But if there’s one thing I’ve noticed in my time studying and performing improv for the past 2+ yrs in New York City it’s that the depth of talent is vast.  I could name upwards towards 50 people a lone that all very much deserve to make a theaters house team.  Improvisers here in New York are very determined and work very hard.  Alas, only 8 spots are available on a team.  It’s possible that 2 or 3 more will be placed on existing teams but that’s never a given.  I’d crap my pants just to get called back. 

Remember to initiate hard!  “Yes and” the hell out of your scene partner.  Keep a good attitude and do not go into it with a desperate feeling.  All easier said than done of course.  To everyone in the New York City community, I wish you good luck!  

Specific details a click away…

The Man is a Mensch

I’m going to be completely honest when I confess my utmost fanboy/man-crush on Jon Stewart, I love the man and I love what he does, the Daily Show, his standup, etc. The man is a Mensch and he can honestly do no wrong, take for example when his wife was arrested, he didn’t make a big deal of it like having a hissy fit in the police station, or suing the police force, he did what any normal person was and picked up his wife at the station and only commented that “the cops were very nice and professional.”  So imagine my lack of surprise when it turns out that Jon Stewart has been ‘Quietly Visiting’ Ailing Iraq Soldiers, and he’s been doing it since 2004.  This only came out because Stewart was the center of USO-Metro awards dinner, where he received an award from Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

(Via)