Results tagged “comedycentral”

Nick Swardson, for those of you not familiar, is funnier than you. That’s pretty much all you need to know to enjoy his latest Comedy Central Special, Seriously, Who Farted?, as LAist was invited to do. Believe me when I say, if you have an even vague notion of who Swardson is before watching this special, you will be quite familiar with him once the hour is over. And if you are completely blanking on one of the best young funny men of this decade, don’t worry, he’s more than happy filling in those blanks for you.

Daniel Tosh, who told us he'd prefer the title of "The Most Famous Man in Show Business Who Doesn't Have to Work" over "The Hardest Working Man in Show Business," took some time out from his busy schedule to talk to LAist about his similarity to Jesus, rubber-band ball statistics, his pitch for Michael Richards, the Internet's impact on comedy and telling Kobe Bryant jokes in front of Jerry Buss.

"South Park" returns for a new season tonight and if you've got Xbox, they're launching a "South Park" game today as well. Season 13 will feature a hidden alien in each episode and if you find them all, you can enter to be a "South Park Citizen" and have your animated countenance to appear in a Season 14 episode.

This week is a stand up bonanza, with great shows all over town and even down in Irvine. There's also too much good improv to mention, with Boomtown doing stuff Tuesday and Thursday at TNT and Crashbar, respectively. Ladies & Gentlemen are at Let's Do This! on Friday at UCB. It's practically raining jokes out there folks, so grab your chuckle buckets.

You know Jim Breuer, if not by name then at least by his perpetually stoned-looking mug or his outlandish Saturday Night Live characters, most notably Goat Boy. This is the Jim Breuer you recognize, from Half-Baked and Chappelle’s Show and even Clerks. But a lot of people don’t know that Breuer also has a long love affair with stand up, dating back many years and several TV specials. And those specials, while rarely game-changing, have been good, sometimes great; the AC/DC hokey pokey bit is pretty magical. Unfortunately, Breuer’s new special Let’s Clear the Air lacks all of the magic and most of the funny that you could previously expect from the man you thought you knew.

Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter, the comedy tandem we were first introduced to in the early 90s as members of "The State," a highly influential comedy troupe that has given us some of the funniest and most successful people in comedy writing, acting and directing, are back with their new series, "Michael and Michael Have Issues," which premiers tonight on Comedy Central at 10:30.

For every person that says they don't care for Dane Cook there has to be 100 that do - he sells out enormous arenas in every town he goes to. This is what makes tonight's premiere (Comedy Central @ 10pm) of "ISolated INcident" that much more interesting as the LA-based Cook decided to tape it in front of a couple hundred people at Hollywood's Laugh Factory instead of some massive venue. The style is also defined by the fact that the performance was captured with a single camera, using only one unedited take.

Hello, web readers. If you’ve managed to find this small bit of writing out there in the vast internet, then there’s a good chance you’ve also heard of YouTube. That is, unless you’re my grandmother, whom I send links to and she opens without questioning where she is being taken to, and couldn’t get to google if you spotted her the ‘-oogle.com’. And since you’re familiar with YouTube, you undoubtedly know the phrase ‘YouTube sensation’, as a label to anyone who has managed to make a name for themselves through their posted videos. From Lisa Nova to LonelyGirl15, BaratsAndBereta to Chocolate Rain, there’s no shortage of people who’ve managed to turn video views into financial viability. Welcome to the club, Bo Burnham.

Comedian Jo Koy has become an absolute staple in the mainstream stand up comedy circuit over the past five years. Fans really seem to appreciate Jo’s honesty and enthusiasm on stage; he’s like Dane Cook after you give him a horse tranquilizer and a joke book to calm him down. After touring with Carlos Mencia (for better or worse) on his Punisher Tour, Koy even got listed in Daily Variety as a top 10 comic to watch. He'll be at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach at the end of the month, and now he’s got a Comedy Central DVD to back it all up.

If you live in Los Angeles and you like to see cheap comedy, more than likely you’re spending your time and money in the ‘alternative comedy’ scene, for better or worse. Now, I’ll be the first to promote the benefits of lesser known comedians in more intimate venues, but every once in a while it’s nice to take a step back towards more mainstream comedy, just to retest the waters and see if you really still find the same things funny. Enter Adam Ferrara. As a stand up comic, Ferrara has been around for years, honing his craft on stage in front of larger and larger audiences and, as of late, working on the the FX show Rescue Me. On June 12th, Ferrara will be taking a slice of airtime on Comedy Central to show his new stand up special, Funny As Hell.

The AP has an interesting story today on local newscasters trimming their staff despite reports stating that local news is becoming a ratings leader compared to national news broadcasts. Having technology that allows only 1 or 2 people to go to a location shoot should mean more coverage, because that's what people want, not the same amount of coverage with less people.

The TV Junkie Plan: "Better Off Ted", "Lost" (maybe), "MythBusters" (if not "Lost"), "South Park", "Reno 911!", Letterman, Fallon.

The TV Junkie Plan: "Parks and Recreation", "The Office", "30 Rock", "Fine Cut: KCET's Festival of Student Film", "The Daily Show", Leno, Ferguson

The TV Junkie Plan: "Better Off Ted", "Lost", "South Park", "Reno 911!", Leno, Fallon

Jon Hamm aka Don Draper aka Dr. Drew Baird is available for a date ......for charity. Paul Rudd, Kevin Smith, Nathan Fillion, Patrick Duffy, David Schwimmer, Julianna Margulies and others are also available for dates so take your checkbook to the Adrienne Shelley Foundation website who is auctioning off these wonderful people on eBay.

In case you didn't hear about it yet, but internist Dr. Kutner on FOX's "House" committed suicide in Monday's episode. This was hastily written into the script as the real-life Kal Penn is leaving acting for a while to go work for the Obama administration in the Office of Public Liaison. This also means no more Harold & Kumar movies for a while, so we're all sacrificing here - but seriously, congrats Kal and godspeed.

The Official Recession has enveloped us for sixteen official months. It’s still no reason we can’t enjoy life. This is LA -- we have a ton of inexpensive options! A Recession Obsession is truly fantastic, regardless of whether times are good or you're unemployed. We last obsessed over the sweet baked goods at the panderia, and El Salvador’s pupusas. Today, we obsess over...

Tonight's season finale of "Damages" promises to be a nail-biter - we know where we'll be at 10pm. As it approaches, we wonder how there could possibly a third season after this, but that's the result of great writing. Unfortunately it's conflicting with the season premiere of "Reno 911!" but we take solace in the fact that it airs again later, because we're cheap that way.

The Internet is abuzz today with promotion of HBO's "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" to air this Sunday. Some writer's are pointing out that the show doesn't address any of the problems going on in Africa these days (AIDS, war, famine, rape, pillaging of natural resource) - instead it depicts a laid-back and idyllic place with only quaint soap opera-esque concerns.

Late night news: TBS is building a late night show around comedian/actor George Lopez (whom we have loved as Mayor Hernandez on "Reno 911"). The hour-long show will air at 11pm, Monday through Fridays but we're not so sure that it's a good move to go head to head with local news. We'll see what happens when the show launches. TBS has dabbled in late night comedy, with the Frank Caliendo vehicle, "Frank TV", which has not been renewed, and the admirable "10 Items or Less", headed by John Lehr, which is up for renewal now.

The big news for TV and for LA is that President Barack Obama will be a guest tonight on "The Tonight Show" - we know what we'll be watching at 11:35pm (sorry Colbert).

Ad spending in the US dropped by 2.6% in 2008, with only cable increasing ad revenue for the year. TV and cable still retained a leadership position as the preferred media, taking more than 60% of all ad dollars.

Today in the web TV world, Josh Schwartz's (Gossip Girl, The O.C., Chuck) music-themed web series, "Rockville CA" premieres on TheWB.com. The show features both indie favorites and up-and-coming bands such as Eagles of Death Metal, The Broken West, and Bishop Allen. “Rockville CA” is set in a fictional Los Angeles rock club and was shot on location at The Echo, which is an actual, real rock club, that you might have heard of if you have a heartbeat.

Tonight NBC is going to attempt to out-Gordon Ramsay FOX with Chef Marco Pierre White's new show, "Chopping Block". Our guess is that White will not have as foul a mouth as Ramsay but will have all his other TV-worthy qualities: intimidation, rage, and viciousness. May the most evil bastard chef win.

Sunday @ 10pm features the return of AMC's incredible series, "Breaking Bad", with Bryan Cranston (pictured, right) as Walt White, the terminally-ill high school science teacher-turned meth cooker. We've been eagerly waiting for this show to resume and AMC has done a great job whetting our appetite with their sneak webisodes and other promos. Since the other stuff we like to watch on Sunday's @ 10pm are available on-demand, this is one of our prime picks of the weekend.

Critics are being rather forgiving of Jimmy Fallon's (only slightly shaky IMHO) "Late Night" debut: they brought out DeNiro who is always a tough interview and Fallon kind of made it work, and Timberlake kind of saved the first show - not sure why they had Van Morrison on, are they trying to reclaim the age 55-and-up demographic?

Who watched the new "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" last night? How did you like it? It's on our Tivo and we will watch it later but let us know.. We'll update you with the Nielsen numbers later this week - should be interesting.

UCB is blowing it UP this week, with Billy the Mime, new Harold improv teams, and some lovely lady stand ups to close out the weekend. Also, the LA Comedy Shorts Film Festival starts on Thursday and runs the weekend, so head downtown for 30 mins. or less of laughing. And in keeping with my journalistic integrity, my sketch group The Seven Year Plan will be rocking a free show (+ bevvies?!) on Saturday night in Santa Monica at the Westside Eclectic. Now all you internet snoops can’t hound me for not having full disclosure. Blow me up if you want to rep your own shit shamelessly, too.

It looks like Andy Richter will be returning to the side of Conan O'Brien when he fires up his version of "The Tonight Show" starting on June 1st. Richter will be the announcer for the show and will appear in comedy sketches but it's not clear if he will be a fixture on the guest couch a la Ed McMahon. Now that the Academy Awards are over with and Conan has shut down production, late night TV is a wasteland this week other than Jimmy Kimmel.

The Largo at Coronet is holding it down this weekend with great comedy, Seth & Ed is back at UCB, Bill Maher is around town, and Steve Agee is 40. Fuck the Oscars and all your water-cooler banter, this week in comedy is what you should be talking about around the office. If not, email me here to tell me about a show you'd like to rep, or give me your office address so I can come up there and kick some teeth in, comedy style. Which is pretty much the same as a regular teeth-kicking, except with clown shoes and more knock knock jokes.