AUSTIN -- As you may have heard, Austin’s motto is “Keep Austin Weird,” referring to the fun eccentricities of its most colorful people and places. But the same could have been said for one of the oddest performances I can remember seeing in the past three years of...
Somewhere between the relative progressiveness (and hence, poor ratings) of NBC and the over-the-top pandering strategy CBS has employed to great commercial effect, there lies ABC. And that’s exactly where Rory Scovel has landed, as the network has inked a development deal...
One of the reasons I became obsessed with stand-up comedy was Comedy Central Presents, Comedy Central's long-running series of 30-minute stand-up specials, which shined a light on great up and coming comedians. I even made my own "mixtape" of sorts, where one VHS tape housed...
Friends of Washington D.C. comedian Joe Deeley recently received word that he had suffered a stroke that left him with paralysis in his left side, and hospitalized for the foreseeable future. Like many working comedians, Joe does not have health insurance, and is sure to incur...
The Comedy Central Presents half-hour special was a staple goal for many stand-up comedians. It helped bring now popular comedians, such as Dane Cook, Jim Gaffigan and Mitch Hedberg, into the mainstream. Comedy Central did not order a new season of Presents for 2012, but it will...
How to describe Rory Scovel: think Bert Kreischer meets Anthony Jeselnik. That is, picture a storyteller, philosopher, and absurdist, whom you can’t quite decide whether he's a nice guy or a huge asshole. Either way, he’s pretty damn funny. And if that description sounds...
When performing comedy in front of a live audience, it's strongly recommended that the stage be lit. If specifically performing stand-up, it's also recommended that indie rock music not be playing during the performance. Given how obvious those two observations are, going...
While Louis C.K. rounded out his tour of prime time and late night talk shows on Letterman a few nights ago, up and coming stand-up comedian Jarrod Harris made his foray into the late night world on Lopez Tonight. As part of the recent Southern Comedy Quartet Tour featuring Rory...
Conan has been in reruns for the past week and a half, but the show is still in the news for a potentially ripped sketch performed right before the show's hiatus. The AV Club reports that a sketch group from Cleveland, Last Call Cleveland, alleges Conan swiped the premise for...
