“That’s a retarded joke, I know,” Mitch Hedberg proclaims after he tells a joke wherein his vodka-soaked Hoover is so drunk it can’t vacuum in a straight line. The self-effacing Hedberg uses the phrase and slight variations thereof throughout the nearly 40 minutes of...
Even the most casual fan of stand-up comedy would agree that one of the main ingredients of a successful act is likability. Regardless of the comic’s tone, creativity, edginess or lack thereof, there’s got to be something that you like about that guy or woman onstage. So in...
A hero of American dysfunction, comedian Christopher Titus has given broken families and their broken dreams an artistic voice in a mass appeal way for nearly a decade. To those not completely familiar with his rather colorful upbringing, here’s the beginning: Titus was...
So, really, just who is the real Michael Ian Black? What sort of conversation might you expect to get were you to encounter him, one on one? Does he have a favorite color, and if so, is it green? (They say geniuses pick green). It’s hard to say, seeing as how Black is the kind...
Throughout the nearly 40 minutes of comedy on her new album, Put Your Keys in the Keybowl, comedian Lisa Landry creates a place where the concept of femininity doesn’t necessarily adhere to society’s stereotypes about what a female is. It’s a place where the woman -- or at...
OK, so you may not need to shower in Lysol after listening to Homeperm, but you may want to keep a spray bottle of boiled water nearby so you can at least sponge-bathe (with the rough side of the sponge or maybe even steel wool). After all, you may feel more than dirty, you may...
For comedians who have impressed the masses on television and in movies, it's easy for them to slip quietly away from their roots in stand-up comedy. For many, it turns out that the sweating and the toiling on smoky stages was just a means to an end. And for Dana Carvey the end...
By Jonathan Wexler While Lewis Black's second book, Me of Little Faith, is no doubt funny, the Comedy Central favorite and veteran comedian's collection of essays delve into highly philosophical territory, constantly exploring the author's spiritual evolution and ultimately...
Ever since Jethro Tull beat out Metallica for the best-heavy-metal performance Grammy in 1989, the Recording Academy's decisions have meant very little to people with half a clue about the record-making business. So it was no surprise that with a five-song EP, Flight of the...
