LAUGHSPIN

Zach Galifianakis and Ken Jeong promise all the stereotypes you expect in Hangover Part III (Video)

Sonia Weiser — Fri, 24 May 2013 22:09:20 +0000

To promote The Hangover Part III, Zach Galifianakis and Ken Jeong, sat down with KISSFMUK to dissect the meta nature of the franchise’s use of tropes, whether Zach will host the Oscars (no), how Ken’s short stature is fitting for someone with a fear of heights, and if they would have sex with a giraffe. And just in case anyone was wondering, the gents (as their British interviewers would say), say no there will definitely not be a 4th movie.

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New season of John Oliver’s New York Standup Show will feature W. Kamau Bell, Paul F. Tompkins, Reggie Watts, more!

Sonia Weiser — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:36:02 +0000

Dear, readers in the New York tri-state area: Cancel your evening plans from June 3rd to June 5th (Instant Netflix will still be there when you get home) because John Oliver will be taping the fourth season of Comedy Central’s John Oliver’s New York Standup Show at Webster Hall and you can be there as a witness. Tickets are available through The Black List NYC.

There will be three shows on Monday with Joe Mande, Jamie Lee, W. Kamau Bell, Phil Hanley, Brooke Van Poppelen, Gary Gulman, Ron Funches, Mark Forward and Dan Soder, three shows on Tuesday featuring Nick Turner, Colin Jost, Reggie Watts, James Adomian, Jessi Klein, Pete Holmes, Joe Zimmerman, Sara Schaefer, and Tom Lennon and finally two shows on Wednesday with Morgan Murphy, Seth Herzog, Rory Scovel, Ali Wong, Travon Free and Paul F. Tompkins. For those of you not in the area, go support your local comedy scene!

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Watch Jonah Ray and Gabe Liedman on Comedy Central’s ‘The Half Hour’ (Previews)

Sonia Weiser — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:34:05 +0000

Tonight, Jonah Ray, TV writer, co-host of the Nerdist Podcast and the Bing-over-Google man himself, will be on Comedy Central’s The Half Hour. Tune in at midnight and experience the RAYdiation. Here’s a sampling:

Comedy Central

The second Half Hour belongs to Gabe Liedman, a writer for Comedy Central’s Inside Amy Schumer, Kroll Show and Fuse’s Billy on the Street as well as a member of the cast of The Cooking Channel‘s sketch show, Fodder (which exists, apparently).

Comedy Central

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Will Forte announces ‘MacGruber’ sequel is happening– whether you like or not

Sonia Weiser — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:13:34 +0000

Will Forte of Saturday Night Live fame has announced he’ll be making a sequel to his 1980s action film spoof, MacGruber. Based on the serialized SNL sketch starring Forte and Bill Hader, the 2010 flick has a rating of 47 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and was met with less than loving reviews. (A perfect example: A.O Scott’s write-up in The New York Times which centers around the question, “‘Why does this exist?’”)

Somehow, Forte and his writing companions John Solomon, and Jorma Taccone (one-third of the Lonely Island who was left behind in “I’m On A Boat,” and the director of the film), were not deterred by their box office flop and like many film makers who bring us sequels to their poorly received originals, will be hard at work on their follow up, reports Rolling Stone. Forte is hoping to bring back Kristen Wiig and Ryan Phillippe in their roles as Vicki St. Elmo and Lt. Dixon Piper, but it has not been confirmed. To celebrate (?), let’s watch a MacGruber sketch from SNL.

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Comedian Doug Stanhope raising $50,000 for atheist victim of Oklahoma tornado (Video)

Dylan P. Gadino — Fri, 24 May 2013 03:00:30 +0000

UPDATE– May 24, 4:53 pm ET

After about 18 hours, Stanhope and co. have exceeded their goal of $50,000, raising $56,241. And the number keeps rising. There’s still 59 days left of the campaign.

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Comedian and vocal atheist Doug Stanhope is spearheading an effort to raise money for one of the thousands of families affected by the recent tornado in Oklahoma that left at least 24 people – including nine children – dead. His intentions became public when he tweeted out a video link wherein CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was interviewing a woman Rebecca Vitsmun in Moore, OK, as she was holding her infant son. Stanhope included the text, “Wish someone would start a fund solely for the chick who told Blitzer she was an atheist.” In the video below, Blitzer asks Vitsmun if she thanks “the Lord” for her good fortune in making it through the natural disaster alive. The woman politely explains she’s an atheist but that she doesn’t fault anyone for thanking God.

Although Stanhope has since deleted the tweet, obviously his plans to raise money were set into motion. Under the title “Atheists Unite,” a fundraising page on Indiegogo has been launched and in the first hour, the cause has already raised nearly $3,000 of its $50,000 goal to start rebuilding Vitsmun’s life with her family. There are 60 days left in the campaign.

The list of “perks” you receive when you donate are filled with what exactly you’d expect from Stanhope. For $10, you get a prayer: “I will say a prayer on my knees for everyone who donates ten bucks. It will be twice as valuable as a real prayer or your money back,” he says. The other prizes include a Bible (if you want to steal one), a phone call from God, “full access to God’s plan book” and more. Check out the official campaign site here.

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Just For Laughs announces Eddie Izzard, Seth Meyers, Joan Rivers, Sarah Silverman among Montreal fest performers

Laughspin Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 22:05:21 +0000

Just For Laughs in Montreal has announced the bulk of this year’s lineup of comedians set to perform in July, boasting gala shows hosted by the likes of Eddie Izzard, Seth Meyers, Joan Rivers, Craig Ferguson and Sarah Silverman. The Keynote speaker this year will be Colin Quinn; he follows Patton Oswalt and Marc Maron who gave the address in 2012 and 2011, respectively. The festival, the longest running comedy festival in the world, will run from July 10 through July 28. The conference portion of the festival, including the annual State of the Industry Address by Andy Kindler, the Keynote speaker and a series of industry panels ranging from television, film, stand-up and Web, will run from July 25 to July 27.

Other performers for this year’s festival include Maria Bamford, Amy Schumer, Kristen Schaal, Colin Quinn, Bobby Moynihan, Taran Killam, Bo Burnham, Hannibal Buress, Colin Mochrie, Chris D’Elia, Nick Kroll, Tig Notaro, Marc Maron, Rory Scovel, Steve Patterson, John Lutz, Sam Simmons, Judah Friedlander, Marc Maron, Brad Sherwood, Danny Bhoy, Pete Holmes, Jessica Kirson, Gary Gulman, Elon Gold, Kumail Nanjiani, Todd Barry, Brian Posehn, Kyle Kinane, Trevor Noah, Todd Glass, Brody Stevens, Bert Kreischer, Harland Williams, Godfrey, Bobby Slayton, Jimmy Carr, Jermaine Fowler, Brent Weinbach, Ron Funches, Beth Stelling, Carmen Lynch, Kurt Metzger, Lee Camp, Nate Bargatze, Arj Barker, Barry Rothbart, Sean Cullen, Louis Katz, Joe DeRosa, Jake Johanssen, Rich Hall, Greg Fitzsimmons, Scott Adsit, Jon Reep, Johnny Pemberton, Ryan Belleville, Ryan Stout, Dan Saint Germain, Brent Morin, Jon Steinberg, Dov Davidoff and more.

There will be live podcast recordings of the following shows: The Todd Barry Podcast, Professor Blastoff, Mike Ward Is Full Of Shit, Fitzdog Radio, You Know What Dude with Robert Kelly, Ronna & Beverly, You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes and WTF with Marc Maron.

For the complete lineup, check out hahaha.com.

Be sure to subscribe to the weekly Laughspin Podcast on iTunes or on SoundCloud for all the latest comedy news, audio clips and more! Listen to the most recent episode below!

Comedian Christina Walkinshaw endures sexual harassment onstage, club won’t book her again

Dylan P. Gadino — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:13:55 +0000

Toronto-based comedian Christina Walkinshaw landed what seemed like a decent gig last September– $500 for four feature spots at Yuk Yuk’s at Casino Niagara in Ontario. Upon arriving at the club, however, she became suspicious of the venue’s odd heckler policy, which read, in part:

…the use of profanity, name calling or abrasive comebacks towards hecklers should be strongly avoided. If you feel hecklers are not being handled in a proper manner during your show, please voice this to the management.

During her first show Thursday night, Walkinshaw writes in an essay posted on XOJane.com today, a table of guys began shouting, “Show us your tits! Show us your tits!” which eventually gave way to “Show us your bush! Show us your bush!” Not cool. Even less cool? The club did nothing about it. Instead of walking off the stage, Walkinshaw somehow finished her set.

As someone who despises confrontation, Walkinshaw explains, she struggled with the idea of saying something to the manager— another woman, by the way. In the end, Walkinshaw told her, “Hey. The next time a bunch of guys are shouting ‘Show us your tits! Show us your bush!’ you might want to tell them to shut up.”

“I thought you liked it,” was the manager’s response, according to Walkinshaw. And then an apology came and Walkinshaw accepted.

Despite the incident Walkinshaw remained on Casino Niagara’s booking list – no hard feelings! – but then was informed that she would not be booked again due, to the above fiasco (hard feelings, after all). A spokesperson from the casino emailed a statement to the Globe and Mail, saying, ”Based on post-show comments from our staff (following the September, 2012 show), we decided not to re-book Ms. Walkinshaw at this time. Ms. Walkinshaw’s recount of the evening was outlined using social media. We’ve reviewed all of the details of the evening and stand by our decision not to re-book her.”

It’s beyond obvious the situation should’ve stopped no more than five seconds after the first heckle. Unfortunately, this is yet another reminder that there are still people in the live entertainment industry who think comedians – unlike those who perform in theater or in movies or television or play in a band – are simply clowns and should be treated any way the audience deems appropriate.

You can read Walkinshaw’s full account here.

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Jerry Lewis still dislikes female comedians, likely still thinks of them as baby-making machines

Dylan P. Gadino — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:29:58 +0000

Remember that time in 1998 when Jerry Lewis told a crowd of 1,000 at the Aspen comedy festival about his disdain for female comedians and couldn’t even bring himself to admit Lucille Ball was funny? Well, it seems the 87-year-old is committed to the cause. Today at a press conference at the Cannes International Film Festival, the iconic performer was asked if he had changed his position on female comedians, especially in light of the popularity of performers like Melissa McCarthy and Sarah Silverman.

When asked who his favorite female comedians were, Lewis explained he liked Cary Grant and Burt Reynolds and then said, “I don’t have any [female favorites]” according to the Associated Press, adding, “I can’t see women doing that. It bothers me. I cannot sit and watch a lady diminish her qualities to the lowest common denominator. I just can’t do that.”

Is there some sort of absurd, backhanded compliment in there? Is Lewis saying that women are superior to men and therefore it pains him to see the fairer species mixed up in the dirty sport of comedy? At the Aspen festival, he defended his opinion, saying, “A woman doing comedy doesn’t offend me but sets me back a bit. I, as a viewer, have trouble with it. I think of her as a producing machine that brings babies in the world.”

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You should watch Tommy Johnagin’s set from Late Show with David Letterman (Video)

Laughspin Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:52:33 +0000

Last night on Late Show with David Letterman, Tommy Johnagin slung some pristinely written, deftly executed jokes about his new life as a father and his mother’s inability to grasp the concept of iTunes. Check it out below!

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Watch Jon Stewart’s uncensored 13-minute interview with Bill O’Reilly on The Daily Show (Video)

Laughspin Staff — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:26:31 +0000

Fox News favorite Bill O’Reilly stopped by The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night to plug his newest book, Keep it Pithy. What ended up happening, as per usual when these two meet, was lots of bickering– and lots of sexual tension. Check it out.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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