Comedy Stray Notes November 15, 2020

• Everyone remembers their first set in New York City.  I certainly remember mine.  It was August 2013 and I had just moved to the City.  No job and I gave myself “three years to make it in New York.”  The only thing I really knew was that I HAD to go to the Creek and the Cave.  Weeks before I left for the City, I went to the Tempe Improv with my friend and former fellow Improv coworker Rico Lee to see two of my favorite comics, The Sklar Brothers.  Their opener was the very funny Nate Fridson who did a jaw dropping 30 before the twin brothers’ headlining set.  After the show, Nate generously chatted me up telling me that “if you’re moving to New York to pursue stand up, the Creek was the place to be.”  I left AZ, with two years and change of stand up experience, if I’m being generous, under my belt.

I sucked.

Three days in to my New York residency, I had to go onstage.  It had already been too long.  My good friend Clayton Porter took me out to Long Island City which seemed like a million miles away from my Upper East Side apartment at the time to this mythical Creek I had heard about weeks ago and forced myself to remember.

I thought I’d never be able to find the place again.  It felt like a million miles away from my apartment.  There were the biggest puddles I’ve ever seen in my life outside the Vernon-Jackson intersection next to the Creek.  I hopped over them and looked up.  I fell in love with the venue upon first sight.  The marquee read “Free comedy.”  It was classic, wry and had a DIY spirit.  I knew I moved to the right place.

River Clegg was hosting the Wednesday 11 PM “Bucket of Blood” mic (I think that’s what it was called) that fateful night and there were 40-50 comics there.  I felt like I had found “the scene.”  Grabbed a slip of paper, scribbled my name on it and tossed it into the bucket for the first time.  Bucket mics weren’t a thing I’d ever done before.  I had no idea what was in store.  Clayton and I took our seats.  He had my camera at the ready.  I’ve taped every set (except for maybe 5-10 ever out of thousands) and this one had to be documented.

Somehow, I got called first.  I didn’t know this was extremely rare at the time and had big game confidence coming off a fun, packed out farewell show in Tempe, AZ.  The first thing I did was make the classic rookie move of saying, “This is my first New York set” and proceeded to do the greatest hits from my going away set in Arizona.  One or two lines were met with a polite reception but it was mostly indifference.  What a wake up call (in hindsight, it’s especially painful because I was in that dream first group- the Creek would later raffle off “First group” tickets- that’s how coveted that first group was there).  These were jokes I loved.  Here they were old hat, dull, people had heard them before.  So, I stuck around that night and was blown away by the quality.  I wanted to learn.  I recall seeing Jay Welch, Evan Williams and Shak Standley have such inventive three-minute sets that I knew I was totally out of my league and had quite a bit to learn.

Actually, that’s what the Creek was.  The best place to learn.  I’ve often said comedy is like school.  The only way to get good is to have perfect attendance and pay attention.  The Creek made that possible.  When you were/are new to the New York comedy scene, you lived at The Creek.  You bomb, you bomb, you bomb, you riffed on the piano next to the stage, you saw the downstairs build a garage-like cage to make it so the back of the room not ruin an entire mic, you stay until 2 AM waiting to go up in group after group after group of not having heard your name called and your hot riffs on the last group become irrelevant, you start to get to know people and Daniel  and John Field take you to Petey’s Burgers a few blocks away and are so quick witted, you can’t keep up with their secret language of funny.  You watched comics that were a little ahead of you like Dan Perlman, Eli Sairs, JP McDade, David Spector, Usama Siddiquee, Rachel Lenihan, Andrew Casertano, Rachel McCartney, Jennie Sutton, Rufat Agayev and Justin Flanagan become the most potent comedic voices you’ve ever heard.  You saw Subhah Agarwal and Billy Prinsell go in first group after first group and wonder, “How can I do that?” (I don’t mean this as a slight- they earned those spots).  You looked at the photos in the kitchen and think, “Damn, I’d like to be up there but I’ve never even done a show.  I haven’t been in the third group even since that first mic.”

Your parents visit you for Christmas but leave day of, and you feel silly for moving across the country because you don’t even know if you’re good at comedy.  You’re really not.  You go to the Creek with your brother Ben Levy and try your best to fit in with comics who seem like seniors and you’re an eighth grade exchange student that doesn’t belong.

After a bit, people start to recognize you.  You’ve stuck it out.  That’s kind of New York for you.  The first six months is a test.  Do you have what it takes and give enough of a shit to go in the last group of every rigged bucket?  We want you to leave.  But you put in the hours and show that you care- the scene welcomes you.  The Creek is where this happened.  I’ve watched scores of comics (classes if you will) show face enough that they BECAME part of the scene.  Your Nate Borgmans, Talib Babbs, Brian Bahes, Dan Harumis, Bob Hansens, Blair Dawsons, Camden Pollios, James Pontillos, Ajani Thompsons, Brandon Sagers, Jon Moskowitzs, Jared Schwartzs, Joe Gormans, Myles Toes, Greg Cardazones, Rob Cardazones, Benel Germosens, Peter Wongs, Ronnie Flemings, Mark Kings, Barak Zivs, Matthew Benjamins, Anders Wykow Hansens, Brett Hikers, Koshin Egals, Harrison Tweed, Scott Nossens (what happened to that guy?), Alex Davenports and a billion others, lived at The Creek.  I found Joseph Roberts sleeping on the couch at every other mic from 2014-16.

Over the years, each day of the week, different mics belonged to different comics.  There were Patrick Hastie Thursdays, Adam Suzan Saturdays, Andrea Allan Sundays, Kattoo King Mondays, Shalewa Sharpe Fridays, Colin DiGarbo and Lizzy Cassidy Tuesdays, James Hamilton Fridays and a billion more that I feel like a jerk for not remembering off the top of my head.  Feel free to remind me if you’ve gotten this far.

After five years in New York, with little traction in the comedy world, you move to Long Island City to be close to the Creek and get more reps in.  The place is the lifeblood of New York comedy.  There was nothing better than just popping in for a late set at midnight.  It didn’t matter if it was the last group.  You wanted that stage time.  You wanted to try the new bit you wrote on the 7 in that perfect three-minute ride from Grand Central to the Creek.  It never worked.  You still had to say it in front of Ben Katzner and Sam Evans.  Just to see if it had legs.  Maybe a fragment meant something.  Great.  You had five new seconds of comedy.  That’s all you needed.

You take a Tootsie Roll edible at a backyard all-you-can eat Creek event that Andy Sandford gives you which is a big deal to a no-name comic like yourself while your cousins are in town.  It’s 2016 now and you’re trying a weird bit where you have an audience member roast you with jokes you wrote for them.  You’re so high it doesn’t matter what happens but somehow it’s one of the most fun sets of your life and you can hear Jordan Temple and Alex Ptak laughing on the tape who are two of your favorite comics.  You treasure that tape (and it’s linked in the comments).

You meet your wife.  She’s a brilliant filmmaker and is shooting an elaborate 20-minute short.  She needs to stage a concert sequence set in the 80s.  You tell your wife Anna E. Paone she has to do it at the Creek because they generously rent their space out for cheap to aspiring filmmakers.  The scene has a heart and authenticity to it that FEELS like the 80s in no small part to the talent of the writer/director but also the location.  You even finally befriend Lupe Rodriguez-Goodman after being too shy to say hello since he’s always around.  This upstairs location where Anna shot her scene was also home to some of the greatest and saddest comedy shows I’ve ever been to.

You do a handful of shows up there (I was booked to do Waters Jared March 24 show this year and still have the email left as unread in my inbox because I was so excited to do it) like Jackknife hosted by Patrick and Gideon Hambright, Ready To Crumble with Jack Comstock where Jack roasts you while wearing a unitard and an America’s Got Talent audition that never turns into anything.  You rub shoulders with the JFL booker thinking he’ll remember you.  You watch every JFL audition and see Sarah Kennedy destroy a packed room.  You go to Invasion of the Bawdy Snatchers and wish you had the courage or skill to write jokes in a comic’s voice and impersonate them.

You’re still afraid to talk to Rebecca A. Trent even though your wife has done it.  You know she’s run Kabin and The Creek and you don’t want to say the wrong thing.  When fellow Arizona comic Matt Anderson moves here a year or so after you and tells you “Rebecca is really chill” you tell him, “Dude, you are so much braver than me.”  One time, she walks in on your set because it’s leaking in the impossibly hot basement one day and you somehow make her laugh with a one-liner but then squander it with your next joke that you wrote that day.  You dwell on this for weeks because you’re an open micer and think every one-liner has meaning.

You secretly shoot the one and only episode of a web series you’d planned for a bit called “Micumentaries” mostly at The Creek featuring some of your favorite comics like Micah Walsh, Ryan Papazian, Matt Fishman, Igor Martinez, Andrew Harms and Hans Kim.  It’s about rigging the bucket and seems like it might be the start to something big.  It’s not because you never get around to shooting the second episode.  If you haven’t seen this little love letter to the Creek, it’s also in the comments.

You make innumerable friendships on the three-minute train rides from LIC to Manhattan.  It’s odd approaching other comics but this was the perfect ice breaker and I’m pretty sure the spot where I befriended Elsa Eli Waithe and Charlton Jon Villavelez.  This was the place where you gossipped about your favorite Creek regulars like your Alan Shains or your Sherry’s.  Your go to story about Sherry (the stripping comic who always went topless downstairs) you always told on the train was that she would play her set back at full volume right after performing.  Comics loved this story.  I loved this story.  The other favorite was about the time three models showed up for a random Friday night mic.  Every comic decided to do their A material.  12 comics in a row crushed (it might have been more).  This was not normal.  The 13th comic (not me) didn’t know there were models there.  He ate it by doing new stuff.  You don’t do new stuff in front of models.

Friends from festivals, Arizona and other parts of the country would visit New York and want to know where to go to see great comedy while they were visiting New York and The Creek was the only answer.  You get your friend Courtenay Gillean Cholovich onstage, you take your pal Danny Braff, you have your wife’s friend Amalia Schiff participate in a trivia show, you have your family come see you eat it on the main stage and then immediately be wowed at the skill that Nick Turner has when he headlines the show.

You call before you go.  The mic is never cancelled.  You tape every set and you see the backdrop change over the years.  It was green at one time and then became black and white and adorned with photos of the Legion of Skanks dudes.  You love the place.  Every new feng shui change, you love everything about that downstairs open mic room.  There are absolutely silent, absolutely soul crushing mics but you keep coming back.  You go to some of the most fun, raucous banger mics of your life.  The ones hosted by Davidson Boswell, Greg Warner and Pedro Salinas come to mind.

You don’t go enough even though you live close by.  You make excuses.  You think in your heart of hearts, the Creek will ALWAYS be there.

The pandemic hits.

The first time you go outside other than for groceries is in April for the Creek’s Thanksgiving with your wife.  It’s chilly but comics are there.  You see Maddy Smith, Andrew Schiavone, Robert Dean and things feel normal for the first time.  People are still clanging on pots and pans at 7 PM.  We’ll be out of this by July you think.

In June, you go to Rebecca’s socially distanced Michael Che and Friends Show and you think, “Holy shit.  Comedy might come back stronger than ever.”  You leave with your friend Jason Planitzer and feel great about the state of comedy.  David Piccolomini is running the sound and you’re proud to see the scene having made something so impressive happen.  It felt important.  They mention the Creek onstage and you beam.  You know the Creek.  You love the Creek.

They say the second wave is coming.  You hear Rebecca on Will Carey’s podcast telling you not to order from GrubHub because it takes away from small businesses and you vow to never do so again.  Places start to close and you say, “I won’t get sad over a business.  They’re corporations and don’t care about you.”

You receive a text on Wednesday of this week from your friend Dan Fitzpatrick asking if you’ve heard the news about The Creek.  You haven’t.  You’re at your work from home job.  You check your phone.  You read Rebecca’s heartbreaking status and your heart sinks like you’ve been dumped.  Your favorite thing is gone.  In Arizona, your favorite Mongolian BBQ YC’s closed and the spot for your birthday parties Laser Quest have shut down but it doesn’t affect you like this.   You feel like you want to cry but have a meeting with a coworker.  While making small talk with them, you mention you live in LIC.  They lived in LIC!  You ask if they ever went to The Creek.  Of course they did.  They’re just as heartbroken as you mostly for the dirt cheap PBRs they used to cop there.

You thought the Creek would last.  You thought it would never go away.  You think it would be the only thing that made it through the pandemic.  You knew the Creek would fight and push and scrap.  All the other clubs are in it for the money, for the prestige.  You know the Creek exists because there is such a twisted love for comics that the chips and water are always on the house and there’s pinball to help you through your antisocial tendencies (even though you love the spotlight in three-minute bursts).

You feel empty.  You don’t believe it.  You feel like your identity has been erased.  You walk past on a Saturday night with your wife and want to get a photo in front of the marquee that says “Free comedy.”  You’re wearing your mask and Rebecca is moving out with her staff.  You feel silly and walk away without even saying hello.  You don’t know what to say.  You feel stupid for taking a photo.  In fact, you never take the picture.

You feel sad.  You donate $25.00 to the Creek’s GoFundMe (Thousands of people have liked the Creek’s status about their closing but only 125 have donated.  Seriously.  Think about all they did for you.  Throw at least $10.00 in.  You never even paid $1.00 for a mic).  It doesn’t feel like enough.

It won’t be.  There will never be another Creek.  I love The Creek like a person.  It wasn’t just a building or a business.  It was the scene.  It was the community.  It was everything.  Michelle Wolf, Laurie Kilmartin, Dan St. Germain, Liza Treyger, Mike Lawrence and Mark Normand dropped in for mics.  They loved it as much as we did.  This was our comedy mecca.

You can’t wait for the oral history and documentary.  You know there will be pale imitations.  You know there will never, ever, ever be another Creek.

You love the Creek forever.  And you still remember your first New York set there.  Forever.

Thank you, Rebecca.

Creek GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ne-york-will-miss-the-creek-and-cave?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=m_pd+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_all

Roast set I did while on edibles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rKuqp4sPb4&t

Micumentaries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVUDdGigwu8&t

Comedy Stray Notes November 8, 2020

• It would be a little crazy to start this thing up this week of all weeks and just make it about...me.  This week was about all of us and the new future we chose together.  So, to honor others (this is me making it about us), I’ll share a few of my favorite Tweets about the election from comics and include their handles listicle style (Follow them.  They’re all fantastic!):

Joe, when you move in, open all the windows and wash the sheets- Will Purpura (@willpurpura)

I've become an old lady who sits around the house on a Friday night watching NBC and saying "I thought Biden was supposed to speak now"- Anna Paone (@annaphilomena)

The only time it’s appropriate to lose count is during a workout.- Igor Martinez (Iggysmalljokes)

Trying not to be smug about Trump losing but as a libtard snowflake it's the only thing I know how to be- Rebecca Kaplan (@rebeccatkaplan)

hi we are Four Seasons Total Landscaping and all we need is a one word suggestion to get started!- Ben Wasserman (@benwassertweet)

If Biden wins I will post Holes the award winning film starring Shia LaBeouf- Sarah Jane Dillon (@dillonsaur)

How is anybody supposed to respect Biden when he hasn’t played a single song by the Village People?- Dan Wickes (@dan_wickes)

I just realized I have to toss out my Trump jokes, and I've never been happier to retire material.- Genevieve Rice (@genevieverice)

The white people outside my apartment are clapping off beat in celebration- Randall Otis (@randallotistv)

Wow ok not to be a sap, but I forgot what it looks like when a President doesn’t make every speech entirely about himself- Ginny Hogan (@ginnyhogan_)

Yes, a little Twitter on Facebook.  Following the election this week reading clever, funny and insightful takes on the twists and turns we took as a country from a.) not knowing what states were won (remember Wednesday when we thought Florida was a big deal this time around?), to b.) waiting for the counters to count and the c.) collective anxiety we all felt until the official announcement on Saturday morning, was the best entertainment I’ve had in a year of nonstop Twitter scrolling.  If you have a Tweet of yours about this week I didn’t include- throw it in the comments.  The comments are Democracy in action- they belong to all of us.

• OK, I will make this about myself for just a moment now.  A month ago, I was asked by new friend Emma Jones if I would do her “After Hours Vibe” Zoom show in the future.  I instantly agreed and she gave me a few different dates I could do the show.  You better believe I chose the Saturday after the election way in advance.  I am a bit of a complacent writer and decided to force myself to come up with a bunch of election material.  None of it was super hard hitting but it was fun to take on Joe Biden texting us every day finally.  Here’s a quick sample of some jokes that have pretty much already reached their expiration date that I did: 

What a week. Already nostalgic for getting a text from Biden that said, “Hey, it’s Joe, I’m sorry to do this,” and I write back, “Then why don’t you stop?”

I CHIPPED IN $10 to Biden.  You’re welcome for my campaign financing.  I singlehandedly won Pennsylvania.  My favorite part of donating was getting a follow up email saying can you chip in $3 a week?  Some people say thank you, Joe.  Also, I know you’re just going to use that $3 to text me again.

End of my jokes (there were more but this feels like more than enough).

Moral of the story here is that Emma runs a very tight, supportive comics-first show and if you’re looking to get some time on Zoom this coming winter, I’d recommend getting in touch with her.  Follow her on Instagram @after.hours.vibe, reach out, be nice and send her a tape.

• My wife Anna Paone had a huge week herself.  For those that missed it, Anna did the second installment of her three-part reading of her screenplay for her feature film “Booklove” this past Wednesday.  If you’ve missed the first two installments and want to catch the grand finale, it’s this Wednesday at 8, a guaranteed good time and you can see how to properly write a third act (the hardest part of any screenplay).

Anna also took part in a pre-taped sketch show called Virtual Ringers this past Friday evening.  It was sort of the first of its kind; this wasn’t a live Zoom show.  The cast and crew rehearsed, had a “shoot” and then all the pieces were edited together.  It was a bit like the “At Home” episodes of SNL from back in May but I haven’t seen anyone else attempt this kind of thing.  In Anna’s sketch, she played a well-meaning news anchor who didn’t invite another anchor to her party and the bit gradually heightened as it was revealed she invited everyone else.  Zoom is still thriving, baby.

• My friend, the tireless comedy raconteur, Sarah Kennedy, has a new weekly newsletter that you should certainly make a staple of your Gmail inbox.  Called “Something to Celebrate,” Sarah shares uplifting things she’s found on the web (examples: Cameo potluck and Halloween cocktails) and EVERY SINGLE holiday that takes place during that week (November 6 celebrated Marooned without a Compass Day, National Nacho Day and Saxophone Day I learned) among other witty pieces worthy of celebration.  I love it and think you will too.  If this sounds like your thing, there’s a link in the comments that will lead you to a Google Form sign up.  You’re welcome.

 • Like millions of Americans (billions of people all over the world?), I consumed an unbelievable amount of television watching the results trickle in ever so slowly.  NBC was my choice and I believe I heard Savannah Guthrie mention that she was from Arizona more times than I have in the seven years I’ve been in New York.  So, I don’t have much for you this week in terms of what I saw and heard but I’ll give you as much as I can:

SNL with Dave Chappelle: The world watched with bated breath last night as we all clicked over to NBC at 11:27 only to find the Clemson vs. Notre Dame game.  The hell?  The show was postponed (I can’t remember the last time this actually happened; Anna told me it did during the 86 World Series) and I watched a wild double overtime game followed by a poorly socially distanced student section run onto the field to celebrate.  Would be hard for SNL to top something quite as absurd as this.  The local news raced through stories and finally, we got our beloved sketch show.  

It started strong; the very first joke about how a CNN anchor’s fingers had melted off from spending a week touching an electoral college map made for a great, surprising and visceral sight gag.  This was followed by your obligatory “clapter” where the crowd cheered wildly for Jim Carrey’s Biden (the more America sees Joe on TV, the less Carrey seems to be doing an impression) and Maya’s Kamala.  It was fine.  Baldwin as Trump mocking SNL’s choice to have Kate McKinnon as Hillary Clinton singing “Hallelujah” in 2016 was an excellent callback four years in the making.  If you haven’t seen it yet, I won’t spoil what Baldwin sings.  Hopefully, this is his final appearance as this “character.”  Then, we got what we all came for.  Chappelle. 

Cigarette in hand, Dave took the stage to deliver a 16-minute monologue (many speculated on Twitter that this was the longest in the show’s history), where he proceeded to give an at-times master class in setting the tone for the national discourse kind of set.  It wasn’t perfect and had the shaggy dog feel of his more recent specials (dare I call it “half baked”) but when Chappelle speaks the truth, he does it better than anyone else.  Once you get to the 13-minute mark, we get exactly what we came for when Dave introduces his “kindness conspiracy.”  The three minutes that follow are must see TV that is part advice on how to live one’s life, part powerful social critique and all tied up in a bow with a callback from ten minutes prior.  Mic drop.  

After this set, we went to commercial and came back to find Chappelle onstage to introduce the first sketch of the night in a rather somber tone.  Then, we cut to an exit interview for Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben.  Literally the best misdirect of the entire season.  I was excited at the prospect of a truly groundbreaking classic episode.  Then, the show went on autopilot.  The rest of the sketches were fun but harmless and didn’t have the Chappelle satirical edge we were all expecting.  As much as I love the show, I wish they stuck the landing and actually commented on this week for 90 minutes rather than retreating into the silly.

WTF with David Cross: Every Monday, I check wtfpod.com religiously to see who the two guests for the week are going to be.  I was incredibly giddy when I saw this week was going to be one of my all-time favorites in Mr. Tobias Funke himself (sorry, no “Arrested Development” or even “Mr. Show” stories to be heard here, folks).  One of the great appeals of WTF is when Maron talks to someone from his distant past and there’s a lingering resentment.  These men, now in their mid 50s, have mellowed quite a bit but the ribbing and grudges from years past are still simmering on the periphery.  You can feel them walking on eggshells talking about their years as struggling comics which makes for great podcasting.  Aside from that, there are some fantastic comedy nuggets embedded within.  My favorites were about David Cross becoming a Dad to which Maron replied, “Sounds like your kid replaced drinking” (definitely paraphrasing here) and David Cross referring to his age as 56.5 and saying, “Yeah, I’m almost 57 but I still call it 56.5” (another paraphrase but really made me laugh).  Loved that.  As things wrapped up, Maron admitted he doesn’t miss standup and dropped the bomb on Cross that his newfound introvertedness might be a result of him becoming more comfortable with himself.  From pettiness to truth.  Love seeing the evolution of a friendship.

Hood Internet 1979-1994 Mashups:  OK, this isn’t exactly comedy-related but I can't recommend the Hood Internet’s mashups enough.  I fanboy out for these guys big time.  You know when DJ Earworm puts out these year-end mixes with all the pop hits from the year and you’re like, “Yeah, that’s fine but I wish it was better?”  That’s what this is.  The Hood Internet, starting with 1979 and currently up to 1994, make 3.5-minute mixes with 60-plus songs all released in a certain year (each mix is titled by its year) that capture the vibe of that 365-day cycle perfectly.  To put it succinctly, it’s like if your 80s (or early 90s) playlist all lived within one song.  Yes, the link to a playlist of all of their tracks is below.

This is the first week in a long time where it feels like nothing insane is going to happen.  That means of course it will.  Can’t wait to see where we’re at in seven days.  Hopefully, I’ll have listened to some podcasts.

Oh!  Listen to Anna’s reading on Wednesday too.  Will be worth your time.

I’m getting the light now

Links to things:

01.) Anna Paone’s Booklove Week Three Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/278595060192695/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22mechanism%22%3A%22search_results%22%2C%22surface%22%3A%22search%22%7D]%7D

02.) Sarah Kennedy’s “Something To Celebrate” Mailing List: https://us5.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=501bc819f947dad468598909d&id=aee00586fd

03.) Hood Internet 1979-94 Mashups: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkBgmzocow4&list=PLqrkwSi3LHneR8zHLgCnuFLCE76Qwm2iE

Comedy Stray Notes November 1, 2020

• In mid-June, I was going really hard spearheading Comedy Therapy sessions with folks; most were with comedy friends I’d never met on Twitter via DM.  However, I did do an impromptu chat in person with my number one collaborator, my wife Anna Paone.  I asked her the question that I used back in June to open every session.  I said, “It’s 2030.  What’s the one creative endeavor you’re proudest of having accomplished in the 2020s?”  She said that she needed to make a feature film called “Booklove” that had been rattling around in her head for months a reality.  We discussed the logistics of production and she started to devote her nights to her screenplay writing draft after draft after draft.  Not to center myself, but I feel the tiniest bit responsible for lighting this fire within my wife.  Now, four months later and in October, the screenplay exists in a nearly complete format and is being performed live on Anna’s theater company Dragonfly’s weekly Zoom show to drum up interest in this future feature film.  Split into three parts (the first part was recorded last week and can be seen online), each roughly 40 minutes, “Booklove” tells the tale of Corrie Calabrese (Anna Paone), a former child star from a film for tweens who is now in her late 20s.  She stalks the book’s controversial JK Rowling-like author and meets up with her former co-star before they are magically thrust back into the world of the movie within the movie.  My biased favorite part of the screenplay is that Corrie’s character is in a relationship with a guy named Louis, who is wholly based on me.  The character sends texts that say, “Where you at” and introduces himself to celebrities by telling them they like their least well-known works.  I felt seen, as the kids say.  Comedy or artistic therapy has been incredibly rewarding for me but to actually become a part of the project that I discussed with my client (this all sort of violates the comedy therapist/patient confidentiality but I’ve gotten permission) is doubly rewarding.  If you want to see Part Two of Anna’s “Booklove” featuring me in the role of Louis who is me, the link is in the comments.  If you want to talk about your career or comedy with me, DM away.  Happy to chat about you and we’ll set up a time (there is a tiny fee now but you get an hour).

• Quick shout outs to those in the trenches doing cool comedy things:

- Gianmarco Soresi’s new Amazon Prime special “Shelf Life” is a really great snapshot of what live, outdoor comedy in NY has been like these past few months.  I’ve mostly stayed away and only read secondhand accounts of what things have been like and the first six or so minutes of the special put the spotlight of Gianmarco actually being on the ground floor.  We see cops ending sets before they’re over as well as footage from shows in Central Park and all over the City before the special settles into a more intimate outdoor dining venue where Gianmarco does an incredibly tight, timely, punchline heavy set.  There are many clever jokes about having been the comedian on the Titanic, being too close with your family, making fun of what a Zoom date actually is and what a show with a Zoom bomber is really like but the one that stuck with me the most was a throwaway line about getting the light that will stick with me for my entire life.  If you’re interested in seeing this thing, I put the link in the comments.  It’s well worth your time.

- One of the all-time greats Lucien Formichella (famously known as “LOOOOOSH”) made an incredible video back in February I just became aware of that everyone needs to see.  It’s a two-minute, award-winning performance art piece called “In Memoriam for the Cancelled” and is a hilarious send-up of the “In Memoriam” at the Oscars.  It’s artsy, ballsy and a bit that could run for years in NYC.  Check it in the comments.

- Every Friday, I look forward to RA Bartlett’s fantastic deep dives into all the films released 20 years ago (well, all the films released that week).  They’re a historical mini-peek into cinema’s past of what audience and industry expectations were for each film, their quality and what was their legacy.  This week, he covered “Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows,” “The Little Vampire” (genuinely had never even heard of this), “Lucky Numbers” and “Requiem For A Dream.”  Check out his page and indulge.  Well worth your time.

• It might seem like I watched an obscene amount of movies, TV and videos this week and you would be right.  Since there’s so much, I’ll do my best to keep this tight so you can move on with your life. 

“Save Yourselves!” (2020): One of the odd peculiarities of movies in 2020 is seeing stuff that was made pre-pandemic that gets something right about our present day.  This recent release is an eerie mirror of our present reality.  It’s a great, simple premise too.  A couple (John Reynolds and Sunita Mani owning the lost in their early 30s roles that most of us are living) decides to give up tech for one week and live out in a summer country home.  They struggle to communicate, interact with nature and notice an odd ottoman-like thing in the corner of their cozy cabin.  Without giving away too much, the odd ottoman-thing (that looks oddly like the COVID crown) has caused the demise of the world which this couple completely missed out on because they shut their phones off for the week and had no idea what was going on in the world.  Reminds me of the guy who was on the silent retreat in March and didn’t hear about quarantine until May or something.  Either way, this is a film full of nuance, callbacks, payoffs, big laughs and small moments.  Other than the copout ending, I loved everything about this flick and its gradual raising of the stakes.  The 93-minute runtime felt like nothing at all and I didn’t look at my phone once while watching.  A true rarity.  ONE OF THE BEST OF THE YEAR FOR ME (Streaming on Amazon Prime for $6.99).

“Yes, God, Yes” (2019): First of all, the wordplay in this title is fantastic.  A movie about a repressed Christian high schooler (Natalia Dyer from “Stranger Things”) going to a weekend retreat where sex is on everyone’s mind?  Honestly, maybe movie title of the year.  The actual movie itself is fine.  It’s brief at only 77 minutes but feels a bit longer as it’s padded out at the end by on-the-nose speeches about what Christianity really means and somewhat obvious third act turns of events.  The movie’s main pleasures come from its period specificity about early 2000s tech with chat rooms, AOL Instant Messenger and VHS tapes.  When I was living in the early aughts, I didn’t think there was any culture to the decade (most of the decade was made up re-living the 80s on VH1 it seemed) but I guess there really was.  Back to the movie.  It’s good.  Not amazing.  They don’t go for the easy, cheap jokes and one scene about a personality test where you circle traits about yourself and then immediately erase brought me right back to high school but these fully-realized moments felt few and far between.  The reviews for this are glowing but I’M NOT A BELIEVER (Streaming on Netflix).

“Trial of Chicago 7” (2020): Aaron Sorkin is one of the few writers whose work I will always see no matter what it is.  I might not love it but I always give him the benefit of the doubt.  Here, I did so happily.  I remember reading about this movie coming out way back in the early 2000s on movies.com’s list of “20 to look out for” that I religiously refreshed weekly.  This one languished in development hell forever and I can see why- it was made for streaming.  Don’t think this would have done huge box office but this is a bona fide streaming all star.  Here’s a quick history lesson to catch you up if you aren’t familiar with this trial: 1968 was a wild year of political unrest and at the center of it were the protests at the Chicago Democratic Convention led by countercultural icons Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin (Sacha Baron Cohen and Jeremy Strong, who replaced Seth Rogen), clean cut youth activists Tom Hayden and Rennie Davis (Eddie Redmayne and Alex Sharp), elder statesman David Dellinger (John Carroll Lynch) and two other guys who were barely in this thing.  They’re defended by the blustery William Kunstler (Mark Rylance) who gives a billion speeches about the law and what’s right.  Also, Bobby Seale (Yahya Abdul-Mateen) was tried with the group even though he was not part of the riots which leads to many of the film’s most lasting images that demonstrate how poorly he was treated while on trial.  The trial itself is a bit of a farce with the other defendants mocking the proceedings (dressing as a judge is such a brilliant bit), its incompetent judge (a stubborn Frank Langella, whose still got it) and the prosecuting attorney (a welcome return from Joseph Gordon-Levitt).  There are shenanigans with undercover cops, impeccably edited scenes (this felt like a masterclass in pacing, use of inserts and equal screen time for a sprawling cast) but toward the end, once again, felt a bit on the nose for something that had such an anarchist spirit in small doses.  I liked it but I WOULD HAVE LOVED IT WITH LITTLE TO NO EXPECTATIONS (Streaming on Netflix).

“An Evening with Tim Heidecker” (2020): Tim Heidecker gets to the bottom of the emptiness of straight white male mediocrity better than anyone alive (as a mediocre straight white male in comedy, it pains me to see echoes of myself in his work).  This anti-special (which was actually sort of already done in 2014; Dan Klein’s special linked below is VERY similar but mocking a different kind of mediocre comic) has every bad joke and/or pun you’ve ever written in your first year of comedy that you cringe at now; poor performance technique like starting bits over until you get them exactly right, not knowing how to take the mic out of the stand, half baked crowd work and a pointless wedding proposal.  The promise that he could riff on the name “Cookie” for an hour made me snort.  I also laughed stupid hard at the bit about getting something nice “like wine from 7/11.”  Toward the end, Heidecker makes an interesting point by revealing his character is a Trump supporter.  He continues to do empty material but now you stop rooting for him and kind of hate him.  The mediocrity is no longer charming, it’s a statement on the vapidity and lack of substance the Right has.  At the end, Tim comes out for an encore as himself that isn’t as fun as what preceded but is just as silly.  If you’ve done comedy in any capacity, I’d say to see this as a manual for what NOT to do.  Best comedy class I’ve ever taken. (Streaming on YouTube; link below).

“Everything’s Fine” with Sarah Cooper (2020): I was so excited to see this.  Sarah Cooper set a new template for “making it” in comedy this year and I couldn’t wait to see what the fruits of her labor was.  This special was an interesting jumping off point for her quick rise to stardom.  Here, Sarah plays a news anchor in the middle of our current doompocalypse surrounded by big comedy names like Fred Armisen (her producer who can get a laugh with a simple facial expression), Maya Rudolph as her weather woman (no one has had a busier 2020), Jon Hamm (hawking pillows that cure COVID), Aubrey Plaza (doing her best QVC pitchwoman who is bombarded by QAnon conspiracy theorist calls), Ben Stiller (doing a bit mocking apologies people make once cancelled is one of the special’s most pointed takes), Helen Mirren (as Billy Bush from THAT tape), Tommy Davidson (in a pitch perfect creepy Mar A Lago sketch) and Marisa Tomei as Satan among others.  It’s edited quickly giving it a bit of an Adult Swim vibe and feels like what an episode of SNL would be like if Cooper hosted.  She shows off her Trump lip syncing yet again and brings to life the thing about Trump that all impersonators miss- he never finishes a sentence.  He always gets halfway through and abandons the thought, going to something more exciting.  This is a great temperature check of how we all felt late October/early November 2020 with the election on the horizon.  It's a comedy for a time capsule.  My only complaint?  I wish there were more Sarah Cooper (Streaming on Netflix).

“Sassy Justice” (2020): Maybe the only good part of this upcoming election is all the great satirists are coming out of the shadows to flex their comedy muscles.  Last week was Sacha Baron Cohen with “Borat;” this week it’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s “Sassy Justice.”  At only 15 minutes, this deepfake show is something you didn’t know you needed until you’ve seen it.  Hosted by the fictional Fred Sassy (who looks JUST like Trump) and with interstitials by Zuckerberg for a dialysis center, this short special exists to show just how fake news is spread and how easily we can be duped in 2020.  Plus, you get to hear “South Park” voices.  Make this appointment viewing (Streaming on YouTube; link is in the comments).

“2020: A 1917 Parody” (2020):  Every time an idea is so good, it’s infuriating I didn’t think of it.  A lot of my life is saying, “I should have thought of that!”  This is definitely one of those kinds of ideas.  Let’s talk about it.  Remember the movie “1917” that came out less than a year ago?  I barely do.  Anyhow, a group of filmmakers had the foresight to make a parody of the film’s sweeping one-shot, real-time narrative to cover the neverending onslaught of current events in America.  Filmed in LA, in what appears to be one shot (obviously it’s not but it’s fun to spot where they cut), they touch on pretty much everything that happened these past ten months.  Wish they had held off until the end of the year to get everything in but it didn’t bother me too much.  These guys already packed in a billion references to our present day (Streaming on YouTube; link in comments).

SNL with John Mulaney and The Strokes: I was a little too excited for this episode.  SNL, in its record fifth (!) consecutive week needed a jolt of energy and if anyone could supply it, it would be Mulaney.  His monologue, while very funny, had an apathy toward voting which felt a bit like a kick in the pants.  Not now, man.  Just wait a week.  You’re supposed to be the jolt of energy!  As for the sketches, there were no true classics.  The Biden cold open had brief moments of levity (the Hillary Clinton return was a nice surprise) and there were quite a few that were very fun (honorable mentions go to the “New York Tough” commercial highlighting how NY weirdos haven’t gone anywhere AND the sketch showing just how incredibly difficult it is to vote; the heighten with the voters walking on the freeway to their polling place got a genuine “Damn, that’s funny” from me) but most felt like what has become the standard formula for Mulaney where we get a deconstruction of a classic film (tonight was “The Birds” as well as a play on the headless horseman), a musical in a mundane New York spot (I love these but they are all starting to blend together) and an older man that gets memed and doesn’t know what to do with it.  Jost and Che blasted Trump hard as a last ditch effort- seemed like everyone wanted one last shot at the guy to hopefully be the one that knocks him over.  It’s a bit naive of me to think comedy has the power to sway voters’ minds but hopefully they converted a few ballots last night.  Overall, this was easily the best of the season but it’s been a low bar.  Plus, it was nice to see my favorite band The Strokes crush it on live TV (when I saw them live, they underwhelmed if I’m being real).  I air drummed the hell out of “Bad Decisions” and “The Adults Are Talking.”  Julian Casablancas hits high notes with a casual air like no one else that has ever existed.  Oh!  One final thing.  The show went 92 minutes.  I can’t remember a time that the show didn’t just get cut off at 1 AM.  So many times the goodbye credits just ended in the middle as they raced against time. Felt insane to be watching the show at 1:02 AM but I didn’t mind.

Got a tiny bit of comedy goings on this coming first week of Daylights Saving Time.  I’ll be playing Louis (myself) in part two of Anna’s reading of “Booklove” on Wednesday and doing an Instagram Live show on the after.hours.vibe channel on Saturday at 11 PM EST.  When not performing while simultaneously using WiFi, I’m open for a Comedy Therapy session if that sounds like something you’d be interested in and A Profile About You hasn’t gone anywhere if you want a piece written about you.

That’s all for me.  See you in seven days.  Big week lol

01.) Anna Paone’s Booklove Reading Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/374118200692424

02.) “Shelf Life” from Gianmarco Soresi: https://www.amazon.com/Shelf-Life-Gianmarco-Soresi/dp/B08M67JZD7/ref=sr_1_1?crid=BGJPFQDU9HWZ&dchild=1&keywords=gianmarco+soresi+shelf+life&qid=1604264367&sprefix=gianmarco+so%2Caps%2C131&sr=8-1

03.) Lucien Formichella’s Oscars 2020 “In Memoriam” for the Cancelled: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX-YhKdEOb0

04.) An Evening with Tim Heidecker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gnnFVRlucg&t

05.) Dan Klein’s “This Is Comedy” Special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhNaU5mjgAE&t

06.) Sassy Justice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WfZuNceFDM

07.) “2020: A 1917 Parody:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skgcruZichc

08.) after.hours.vibe Instagram Live show: https://www.instagram.com/after.hours.vibe/

09.) A Profile About You: medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou

Comedy Stray Notes October 25, 2020

• I feel like the thing that holds most of us back from really spreading our wings as comics is not having representation.  Everyone with a few years of telling jokes into a microphone or writing screenplays or acting or writing sketches or improvising has started to put the necessary hours in and the only thing missing from their comedy or career tool belt is an agent that a.) can get them high profile industry gigs suited to their talents or b.) a manager that is their cheerleader who reads their work, watches their tapes and discusses career development in great depth with them.  Unfortunately, I am no agent but I have realized that I can be a manager of sorts to people.  Earlier this summer, I informally engaged in what I call comedy therapy where I DM’d with folks for hours about their career and now I think I’m ready to take it to the next level and move to talking to people virtually for an hour for a small fee (not much I swear) about whatever they may want to discuss whether it be me reading their screenplays and having an ongoing conversation about your work, talking about jokes of yours in great depth, what you want your career to be or anything troubling you within comedy.  I’ve had a very limited amount of success in the comedy world but I do think about it nonstop and with compassion.  If you are interested in an hour long managerial session of sorts (it can be a one-time thing or ongoing or whatever you want it to be), hit me up and we discuss rates that both parties feel are appropriate (no insurance necessary).  Think of it as therapy for your comedy that’s super cheap.  Let me know and I’ll set up a time for you ASAP.  Seriously.  This ain’t no bit.

• For someone who regularly identifies as a comic, I haven’t done a lot of it live since the pandemic hit.  However, this week, I couldn’t help myself from indulging in my performative side and hitting the New York Times famous Tiny Cupboard for the first time to get onstage for Marcus Cardona’s meticulously produced comedy award show The Bombys.  Got to the show right on time (well, three minutes late), climbed the slippery, narrow stairs that take you to the roof and saw a number of faces I hadn’t seen in months.  I even reintroduced myself to people saying, “I’m Matt Levy.  You might remember me from comedy eight months ago.”  Once the awards show with presenters, special guests and music was underway, it was a delight to see the familiar rhythms of a comedy show in action.  What I missed most was the democratization of jokes; audiences laugh when something is good and when something is bad on a roof the bomb feels even more real than it does in an enclosed space.  I’ll be honest- I didn’t truly bomb but I was far from having a good set.  My gig for the night was to present the “Best Twitter Writer” award.  Here is the speech I wrote and a quick dissection of it:

Did you guys see?  The Bombys is not trending on Twitter. What is trending?   It’s a thirst trap of Tyler Perry (This line that I came up with while in the wings did pretty well with audible laughs and I felt like I was off to a great start)

There are a lot of comedians with great Twitters.  And none of them are here (If I recall, this was met with relative silence; I don’t know if it was the mic or reading bits off my phone but I felt the energy sap from my set.  I plowed on when I should have known the next bit wouldn’t work)

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s an absolute honor to be presenting the best Twitter account award.  I know what you’re all thinking right now.  “But I have the best Twitter writer.  How did they not pick me?”  Well, I can tell you.  I thought the same thing and then I read some of my Tweets like:

Mike Pence looks like robot with fly on hair

Help, I can’t stop having sex with the fly

And my pinned Tweet

This Tweet deserved more (All of the above was met more with confusion than laughter.  It’s a bit conceptual and not quite hard hitting enough; the irony of the lameness of Mike Pence fly jokes is probably already a bit stale but when walking onstage I thought people would be doubled over.  Nah.  More just confused with scattered laughter)

Let’s all go follow for follow.  Your nominees are... (The deadeyed influencer speak of “follow for follow” got a laugh and I felt somewhat vindicated.  I then read the nominees and dipped out as fast as I could).

Brought me right back and I remembered one of my old favorite adages which is, “After a bomb, no matter what the next set will feel better.”  Always made me feel better.

• Now for a bit of quick hit comedy news.  Here goes with a few things in my life from this week:

- Every single day at noon, I compete in the ComedyWire daily writing contest for a $25.00 Amazon gift card.  Two punchlines a day to guarantee I wrote something.  Haven’t won anything in forever; my punchlines might be too easy sometimes or a bit slapdash as they’re written during my lunch break.  Somehow, my easiest and most slapdash joke won this week.  The prompt was “Worst things to do on a Zoom call.”  I wrote, “Comedy.”  Boom.  Made $25 for that.  Comedy DOES pay.  Sometimes, literally just the word does.

-My mom Susan Levy (smartly not on Facebook) has been working at Native Health Phoenix for the past 15 years building out their social media and community presence all throughout Arizona and recently began incorporating comedy into the non-profit’s get out the vote message.  I’ve linked a fun video featuring Native comic Mark Yaffee reading a brilliant poem about why you should cast your ballot.  Give it a like (it’s in the comments and my Mom will be infinitely grateful).

- There is a brand spanking new profile live on the A Profile About You site about Houston-based pop culture commentator Alex Munguia.  This one was written by my pal Dave Stolz and features a complete picture of this generation’s next Dick Clark.  If you want a glimpse of the future of commentary, look no farther and check the link in the comments.

- My wife Anna Paone is a gifted impersonator (seriously, it’s scary how accurate her Gilbert Gottfried is) and this week, she appeared on Harmon Leon’s Joke-E-Oke show on the Twitch “Comedy History 101” channel portraying such diverse voices as Woody Allen (she owned the nebbishness), Bill Hicks (she got the aww shucks Southern cynicism down pat after watching just a short clip and then finally Don Rickles (nailing the faux-bitter bravado with ease).  It’s amazing to watch her transform her voice on command and this is a fun, quick watch in game show format.  Definitely check that link in the old comments.

• I spent a bunch of time parked on a comfortable yellow chair this week watching films and television.  Here’s a short series of notes I wrote while watching assembled into mini-reviews:

“Borat 2: Subsequent Moviefilm” (2020): The idea of a Borat sequel makes one groan.  How will they ever capture that magic in a bottle again?  We all KNOW Borat; the shock value of the first is impossible to replicate.  I’m happy to report that these fears are unfounded.  This moviefilm is a comedic masterpiece and easily the best satire of the year.  Let’s avoid spoilers and graze over the storyline: It’s 2020, Borat has embarrassed the nation of Kazakhstan and has been imprisoned for the past 14 years to make up for his transgressions.  The country’s premier releases him to make inroads with the heads of the American Republican party sending him back to the States with the country’s number one star, Johnny the Monkey.  Instead of Johnny, his daughter Tutar (Maria Bakalova delivers one of the all-time great comedic debut performances) meets him and he needs to re-calibrate his plan to get close to the heads of state.  So yeah, somewhat similar story (Borat was after meeting Pamela Anderson in the original) but it doesn’t recycle any of the bits and pays homage smartly (look out for what they do with Azamat).  The whole time you’re left wondering whether the people Borat runs into are actors in on the joke or have no idea who he is.  After awhile, the bits are so outrageous like the confusion over eating a baby and the fertility dance at the debutante ball you simply don’t care; you just go with it.  Cohen and Bakalova are such nimble comic forces, no matter what happens their innocence leads to gold.  My one gripe (ugh, sorry) is that Cohen and Bakalova don’t wear masks and attend anti-mask rallies.  Yes, very funny but I’ll be honest, a bit irresponsible.  Sue me for being sensitive! This is non-PC comedy at its best; laugh out loud funny and it actually has something to say exposing the misguided ignorance from the far right.  Also, stay until the end.  My favorite joke of the year takes place in a sweatshop in the last minute of the movie.  COME FOR THE RUDY AND PENCE STORYLINES, STAY FOR THE TOUCHING FATHER/DAUGHTER INDIE DRAMA AT ITS CORE (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

“The Boys” (2019-): I don’t know if it was the marketing blitz but it felt like I couldn’t stop hearing about this show online for months.  Like a sheep, I figured I wanted to see what all the hype was about.  Turns out this is another smartly written Amazon-produced satire (just like moviefilm from above) this time tackling those in power while dismantling our preconceived notions about the superhero genre.  In its sprawling two seasons, we see the ragtag group of “Boys” (led by Dennis Quaid’s son Jack who is a dead ringer for a young Rainn Wilson AKA Dwight Schrute) take on the heroic but secretly evil Avengers surrogate “The Seven.”  The Boys all have a vendetta against The Seven for various reasons that unfold throughout the two seasons that would be silly to spoil in such a short review so let’s just focus on what makes this show great.  While at first glance, this seems like a typical Amazon program with padded out runtimes a la “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” the show hits its stride a few episodes into Season One refusing to waste a moment and in the process ends up making the tongue in cheek “Deadpool” look tame by comparison with a near drowning by baptism, a drug called Compound V which is clearly a metaphor for steroids that give superheroes their powers, a chilling moral dilemma on a plane as it crashes and a Nazi infiltration story line in Season 2 (sorry for that spoiler) that couldn’t be timelier.  Plus, there are a billion ironic Billy Joel references.  Yes, the show steals the cast of “Breaking Bad” for Season Two (Giancarlo Esposito AND Jessica Hecht reunited took me out a tiny bit) but it didn’t bother me too much.  This is what I imagine the “Watchmen” movie aspired to be.  Now, I have to see the “Watchmen” show and compare notes.  YOU’RE OVER SUPERHEROES TOO?  GOOD.  THIS IS FOR YOU (Streaming on Amazon Prime). 

“Shithouse: (2020): Saw this film under somewhat odd circumstances.  About a month ago, Anna found a cool offer through a company called Fever to see films on the William Vale roof.  I invited our pal Sam Zelitch to see the movie “The Nest.”  It was a hefty price tag to see a film ($49/person but it came with a free meal) but I hadn’t been to the movies in forever.  Remember when MoviePass made movies free?  Seems like we’ve moved backwards- Sam pointed out that now we’re paying theater prices.  Anyway, the screening of “The Nest” was cancelled.  I emailed the company’s customer service to reschedule three times.  Never got a straight answer about whether or not I was confirmed for the new date.  Ended up going to the screening with Anna and Sam and our name was NOT on the list.  They were kind enough to let us in to see “Shithouse,” the movie I thought I had confirmed our party to see (this may have well been my fault).   The setup was cozy; there were heat lamps next to each table and the film played on what appeared to a jumbo inflatable screen.  OK, so now you have the context in which we saw this movie outdoors. Let’s talk about the movie.  The simplistic film follows a socially awkward college freshman (played by 23-year-old writer/director Cooper Raiff) who complains non stop about his awkwardness but somehow makes out with two girls in one night at a party and ends up forming an intense connection with the second one before she ignores him the next day.  That’s kind of the gist of it.  To be honest, the would-be couple didn’t even have that much chemistry.  Anna snarkily called it “modern male neorealism.”  Dead on.  This low key affair is very talk-y, navel gazing and I’ll admit, inspired in brief spurts.  I loved a scene where a stoner walked in on a shouting match telling the couple they were in his room.  Still, this  was very much the product of a 23-year-old first-time filmmaker.  It’s impressive the movie was made so cheaply (I feel like my ticket to see the movie cost more than it did to produce this thing) and won awards at South by Southwest and I’m guilty of some of the same screenwriting tics but my God, this movie could have used a little conflict to breathe some life into it.  So little happens that the conversations happening in the audience seemed more entertaining after a while.  OK, so the movie isn’t great.  The cherry on top to all this is when the credits rolled, someone working tech exited out of Quicktime to reveal the company DOWNLOADED THIS MOVIE FROM ITUNES.  I paid $50 to see something I could have downloaded for $3.00.  Yes, I knew this ahead of time but seeing it in front of me was a true blow.  KIND OF HATED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS MOVIE AND THIS EXPERIENCE BUT COMPLAINING ABOUT SOMETHING AFTERWARDS MADE ME FEEL ALIVE (Streaming on iTunes and maybe playing on rooftops for $50).

SNL with host Adele and musical guest H.E.R.: The show just did its fourth episode in a row for the first time...ever.  They’re doing two more to make sure they don’t miss out on any zeitgeist-y moments.  I felt the show’s fatigue while watching this episode.  It’s exhausting to cover EVERY Presidential debate (Baldwin’s Trump’s mild slurs aimed toward Maya Rudolph’s moderator were shocking that SNL dared to actually make Trump look as evil as he actually is but the rest of this thing was limp) and I felt tired just watching.  Adele was a formidable host but an odd choice.  Would have maybe made more sense four years ago.  I would have preferred, you know Sacha Baron Cohen or Barack Obama or someone relevant to what’s going on in the world.  I digress.  There were a few fun sketches (I feel like I’ve seen variations of the “2019 psychic” online before but it was well executed, Adele as Adele on “The Bachelor” was a smart way to let her belt out all of her greatest hits in quick succession while staying funny and the sketch with the hard of hearing grandma talking to her millennial grandchildren about what they’ve been up to felt like an instant classic) but there were major clunkers (sorry, I can’t get behind “Ass Angel Jeans” or the tone deaf “Africa Tourism” ad featuring Adele unable to keep it together) and a few oddities that I don’t know how to classify (I can’t even tell if I find the Pete Davidson “Chad” character funny anymore but I think I do and the funny but potentially harmful “Election Ad” about Biden voters who will miss Trump’s antics in office.  Save that bit for after the election).  Weekend Update was solid and I hate to be that parallel thought guy but they actually said a joke I Tweeted during the debate almost verbatim about Trump (“I am the least racist person in the room is what the most racist person in the room would say”) and for a second I felt like I was on par with them.  Then, Che tagged the joke with “We would settle for just ‘not SO racist’” and I realized I had a long way to go.  Props to the two of them; their jokes are consistently sharp and feature real edge.  Che’s outrage at college football teams diagnosed with COVID rescheduling their game rather than cancelling is well founded and one that I wish more people would get behind.  Next week is John Mulaney’s fourth hosting gig with The Strokes as the musical guest.  I am more than a lot excited.  SNL, you always keep me coming back for more.

• Important to note that this week, I will be in part one of three of my wife Anna Paone’s Zoom reading of her feature length screenplay “Booklove.”  If this sounds like something you’d like to see, the link is in the comments.  RSVP and you’ll be treated to the story of a struggling actress who is transported to the fantastical fictional world of a film she was in as a teen.  It’s funny, action packed and most importantly written extremely well.  Come hang Wednesday at 8 EST.  Link to see the show is the last comment below.  

Well, we’ve come to the end of this week’s installment of Stray Notes.  Hope you’re well and gotten your ballot in already.

That’s my time

01.) Native Health Phoenix comedy clip: https://www.facebook.com/nativehealthphoenix/videos/269062584439943

02.) Alex Munguia Profile: 

https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/pop-culture-aficionado-alex-munguia-becomes-the-story-d568bf7c04c8

03.) Anna as Woody, Hicks and Rickles on Joke-E-Oke: https://www.twitch.tv/comedyhistory101

04.) Anna Paone’s “Booklove” reading: https://www.facebook.com/events/3284590324972575/?acontext=%7B%22source%22%3A%2229%22%2C%22ref_notif_type%22%3A%22plan_user_invited%22%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&notif_id=1603670481440465&notif_t=plan_user_invited&ref=notif

Comedy Stray Notes October 18, 2020

• A 2020 Film Festival is obviously not going to be your typical red carpet affair.  Still, while you can never replicate the in-theater experience, with modern tech you can get pretty damn close to bringing the intimacy of a shared viewing with audience and fellow filmmakers.  Thanks to the ingenuity of founder Dominick Rancano’s All The Laughs Festivals (more laughs than Just For Laughs), I got to take part in one of these 2020 Fests and witness this type of communal screening firsthand.  Rancano’s fest, in its first year, was held this weekend and yesterday (October 17), he screened Anna Paone’s and my short sketch “At Home With A Guy From Anonymous” in a block with other comedy filmmakers and sketchepreneurs from all over the country.  While in the past we would have had to fly cross country to see our three-minute vid with an audience, thanks to this newfound type of festival, now we can see our movie and others in a chatroom that my parents, aunt and grandma can all watch with ease (my biggest fans!).  After the films in our section screened, Dominick moderated a panel of the filmmakers where I got mad pretentious (I said I was inspired by the Stephen King quote that “writing is like telepathy, a form of magic that allows two people to communicate without speaking” instead of being a human being who is inspired by their parents and wife) but I’ll take any forum that will allow me to get mad pretentious.  Special shout outs to fellow filmmakers Dylan Aames and Caryn Ruby for also participating in the panel and answering my Mom and Dad’s questions.  This wouldn’t have happened pre-2020 and was a nice momentary distraction.  Excited to see what All The Laughs 2021 looks like.  If this sounds like something you’re interested in, check the comments to see everything that screened this weekend.

• Quick props to a few NYC comics:

- Isabel Hagen put together a fantastic and funny four-episode webseries “IS A VIOLIST” about what playing the viola professionally is really like.  The first episode about a botched proposal is a perfect comedy of errors and later editions go deeper covering the competitiveness, sexism and bizarro gigs that come with playing a beautiful instrument.  I loved it and would love to see this on a larger platform ASAP.  If you want to see what it’s like to be a modern day violist, check that far, far away link.

- Dan Perlman and Kevin Iso’s excellent, interconnected multi-story web series “Flatbush Misdemeanors” was picked up by Showtime for a ten-episode series.  The series features a number of familiar NYC comedy faces and is subdued, naturalistic and absurd all at once.  Cannot wait to see what they do next.  For a quick taste (you can’t see episodes online at the moment), take a peek at their site in the comments.

• As it gets a little colder, I’ve given myself some slack for spending so much time inside watching movies.  Here’s just a few things I avoided the outside world by staying in and watching: 

“Hubie Halloween” (2020): “Uncut Gems,” this ain’t.  No, this is a film about a man child (Adam Sandler, who else?) that an entire town makes fun of...and then people start disappearing.  It is what you think it is- dumb fun.  Forget the story and let the aggressive, sophomoric jokes wash over you (my favorite was a sight gag where eggs thrown at Sandler all flew right into his trusty canteen). An added bonus is that this thing is cameo city featuring a murderer’s row of SNL alumni and Sandler collaborators (Kevin James, Dan Patrick, Shaq and Ray Liotta AKA the weirdest lineup of actors in film history) all taking bit parts but the MVP is easily the smiley Tim Meadows.  He’s a put-upon bald man with the world’s worst wig but somehow can’t stop grinning.  It should also be said that for all the screenplay’s repetitive faults, I was really taken aback by the somewhat twist ending.  I actually exclaimed, “That’s good screenwriting,” out loud.  PEAK SANDLER IS BACK (Streaming on Netflix).

“Jackie” (2012): This is the first movie I’ve seen in years that I didn’t go into with any preconceived notions.  As a trailer and review addict, it was nice to see something I’d never even heard of before (Anna discovered this one).  Since I doubt you know about this either, let’s talk about it.  Dutch twins (played by the real-life Van Houten sisters; the elder Carice is famously from “Game of Thrones”) travel to the United States to locate their surrogate birth mother.  Think “Mamma Mia” without the songs and set in New Mexico.  Upon arrival, they find their ailing mother, the eponymous “Jackie” (freaking Holly Hunter).  What follows is a true movie mashup; the sisters act as if they are in a cute, indie comedy dealing with workplace issues and mild insecurities while Jackie is in a gritty drama dealing with addiction and poverty.  They never outwardly point out their stark differences but it is a fresh take on a familiar genre.  Also, oddly enough, there was a very satisfying third act twist here too.  VERY HAPPY I WAS INTRODUCED TO THIS ONE (Streaming on GAIA which is part of Amazon Prime; Prime has a TON of seven-day streaming trials; make sure to cancel them right away or else you’ll be racking up fees for minor film libraries).

“Game 6” (2006): This movie was on Netflix for years and I started it in 2009 or so watching five minutes and thought I would get back to it.  Then, it disappeared and it was out of sight, out of mind.  In July, I read a comprehensive tell-all in The Ringer (linked below) about the trials and tribulations of bringing author Don Delillo’s only screenplay to the multiplexes.  Found out the only way to see this movie was DVD.  Made the effort to buy it that day.  It’s been sitting in my apartment ever since.  Finally, 11 years later, I have seen the glory that is this brief 83-minute retelling of one divorced Red Sox fan playwright’s (Michael Keaton) show’s opening that coincides with the famed Game Six of the 1986 World Series (THE Buckner game).  There’s a lot going on here for such a short runtime but it feels like the work of an auteur with flourishes like characters continually saying the phrase “This could be it” in different contexts and a woozy reinterpretation of how Game Six itself ended (Keaton smartly watches from the bar which somehow feels better than setting the game in the stadium; these are the fans that WISH they could be there).  If you’re still not sold, you get to see Catherine O’Hara playing it straight in a throwaway role and Robert Downey Jr. hamming it up as a rock star critic who goes to shows in disguise.  It should also be noted, Keaton watches the game with his cab driver and her grandson.  This is not an important detail but one that I can’t get out of my head.  IF YOU LIKE BASEBALL, THEATER OR 80S NEW YORK, THIS IS A NICE TRIBUTE TO ALL OF THE ABOVE (If you want to borrow the DVD, let’s figure it out).

SNL hosted by Issa Rae: I was quick to call this season’s third episode a return to form.  The first half was a lot of fun featuring dueling Town Halls (Carrey actually did a Biden impression this go-round), a purely silly go for broke French talk show and my favorite sketch of the season so far- Five Hour Empath.  If you haven’t seen it, link’s in the comments.  Too short for me to spoil here; might as well enjoy it yourself.  After a laissez faire Weekend Update where Che and Jost messed around like they were at an unruly bar show because they knew their jokes were going to get mixed reactions, the show took a bit of a nosedive.  “Your Voice Chicago” about being a single issue voter was sneaky, smart satire (the entire backhalf wasn’t bad) but both Kyle Mooney sketches (“Dancer” about dancing with Bieber and “Jack Flatts” featuring militant guys who really wanted to eat at a fake chain restaurant) left me confused and wanting more.  Doing shows five weeks in a row has to be exhausting.  There’s going to be some home runs and quiet strike outs- this week had a bit of both.

The Jeff Richards Show: This new podcast has a format I haven’t seen before.  Former SNL cast member and master impressionist Jeff Richards interviews his subjects in character (if this has been done a million times before, excuse my ignorance).  Anyhow, I couldn’t help but check out his Jesse Pinkman-hosted edition with guest new SNL’er Punkie Johnson (had no idea she was a waitress at The Comedy Store).  It starts hilariously as the concept of Jesse Pinkman hosting a pod is ripe for bits but slowly deteriorates over the course of this short 13-minutes as Richards stops committing to the bit so hard and asks standard questions like, “How did you get started in comedy?”  Still, I kinda loved it and want to hear more.  If this sounds like your cup of tea, I’ve done the legwork and linked below.

• This is a left field addition to the Stray Notes canon but I thought if you’ve gotten this far, you might be interested.  In 2010, Chuck Klosterman (predictably one of my favorite writers), put out a series of intense, open ended hypothetical questions.  It’s a fun party game that provokes conversation where you ask yourself, “What would I do if I walked into my place and Shaq was in the shower?” or “You get to stereotypical Heaven and are told there’s another place.  We can’t tell you what the other place is but 18% of people go.  You have 20 minutes to decide.  What do you do?”  This is kind of the stuff I love talking about.  So, if you’ve played every single card of Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity dozens of times, this might be a welcome change of pace.

• Finally, the biggest story in the New York comedy world this week was the untimely end for Dangerfield’s Comedy Club.  I don’t have much to add to the conversation since I only ever walked in once and never performed there but I did read many wonderful tributes and alternately scathing diatribes about the place.  If you’re in the camp that prefers wonderful tributes, I recommend browsing the pages of Harrison Greenbaum and Jason Chatfield.  Both were poignant, funny and a reminder that these clubs can have a personality on their own.

This week, you can find me at The Tiny Cupboard (for the first time) as a presenter at Marcus Cardona’s BOMBYS Awards.  Other than that, I’m trying to do sit ups more often.  Will report back when I have abs.

LET’S GO RAYS

01.) Dominick Rancano’s All The Laughs Festival:

https://www.bingewave.com/f/all-the-laughs-atl-comedy-awards

02.) Isabel Hagen’s “Is a Violist” web series: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcPMh3QZEjBgS3TmCPSTpJg

03.) Dan Perlman and Kevin Iso’s Flatbush Misdemeanors:

https://www.flatbushmisdemeanors.com/

04.) Ringer “Game 6” article: https://www.theringer.com/movies/2020/7/6/21300934/game-6-movie-don-delillo-1986-world-series

05.) Five Hour Empathy sketch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP0H0j4pCOg

06.) Jeff Richards podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/maybe-i-could-be-the-girl-robin/id1534672185?i=1000493725067

07.) HYPERtheticals by Chuck Klosterman: https://www.amazon.com/HYPERtheticals-50-Questions-Insane-Conversations/dp/0307587924/ref=sr_1_2?crid=ZY24WU8S9IAH&dchild=1&keywords=hypertheticals+50+questions+for+insane+conversations&qid=1603070598&sprefix=hypertheticals%2Caps%2C133&sr=8-2

Comedy Stray Notes October 11, 2020

• I am not an actor.  Never wanted to be.  I’ve acted in things but would never classify myself as such since every time I act in something, it’s really the slightest variation of just me.  However, just this week, I actually did research for a role for the first time in my life after Matt Vita, comedy’s number one creator of offbeat opportunities, generously suggested I take part in his pal Harmon Leon’s Joke-E-Oke show.  In said show, each comic is assigned an impersonation for the first of three rounds (if you advance).  I was given Andrew Dice Clay.  I’ve never been a huge fan of his.  All I really knew were the dirty nursery rhymes, but I wanted to really give it my all for once.  So, I queued up Dice’s 1990 special at Madison Square Garden and watched.  It’s a wild hour opening with a clip where a woman way out of his league will do anything to be with him, followed by racist, homophobic, misogynist, sexist bits all punctuated with an “OHHH!” at the end and closing with him getting the girl.  The reaction shots of audience members are hilarious.  They go crazy for nearly every punch and “OHH!”  I even heard a joke that I remember hearing way back when I started doing stand up in 2003 that I thought was original back then at The Comedy Spot in Phoenix (DM me if you want to know the joke- not suitable for print).  Whatever there is to be said about his audacious act, you can’t deny he had swagger.  Honestly, I couldn’t stop talking like him this Thursday.  It’s addictive.  When the show came along I brought the bravado as best I could as old Dice (I call him “Of Dice and Men”).  It was tough to stand out though because Matt Vita was also playing Dice and doing a much more committed version.   Somehow, I made it through the first round as old ADC and ended up impersonating Dave Chappelle in the second round.  Understandably, the judges (Todd Montesi playing a name-dropping D-Lister, Vita as Dice and Chris Griggs with the sharpest Norm Macdonald I’ve seen this side of Norm himself) dropped me.   Will Purpura took home the trophy doling out Don Rickles insults in the final.  Anyhow, the most important nugget of wisdom here is that this is a truly unique show that all comics/actors should stretch their muscles and try out and audience members should make it appointment viewing.  Harmon has created something really fun.  If you want to see this particular episode, check the link in the comments. 

• I’m not sure if I’ve ever met Nick Skardarasy (comedy does that) but somehow we are Facebook friends.  Since we became friends, I’ve noticed updates about a quarantine special he was shooting within his apartment complex called “Thin Walls” with folks that are technically within his quarantine pod as they are all his neighbors.  This week, I had a chance to catch it and it’s brilliantly executed.  In addition to a solid half hour of comedy (the joke about his girlfriend’s religion being “Disney” was an excellent observation) complete with callbacks, lively act outs and knowing nods to his neighbors/odd circumstances in which it’s filmed, the half hour is a fantastic portrait of a community.  Not only do we get Nick’s performance, we essentially get a mini-documentary featuring all the people in his life discussing their experiences in quarantine and relationship to the building.  I barely know my next door neighbor’s name (pretty sure it’s Trudy, has a big dog and subscribes to the Wall Street Journal) but I feel like I know Nick’s community now.  Nothing better than a slight variation on what a special can be and this is one of the best twists on the format I’ve seen in a minute.  To check it for yourself, the link can be found below.  

• In my off hours, I watch and listen to too many TV shows, movies and podcasts.  This is what I spent my time paying attention to this week instead of writing, directing or performing comedy:

 “Pen15” (2020): Along with “Eighth Grade,” this show is helping elevate the genre of middle school cringe to an art form.  In this sitcom’s recently released second season, Anna (Anna Konkle) and Maya (Maya Erskine), two 33-year-old women fully transform themselves into middle schoolers and act alongside 12 and 13-year-olds playing it completely straight.  They never wink at the camera and acknowledge how absurd it is that they’re playing tweens; they live the bold, emotional lives that those entering puberty face on a day-to-day basis.  This second season, comprised of seven episodes, is intentionally less funny than the first focusing more on slice of life storylines like the awkwardness of middle school pool parties, a girl bullying them into being their friends and buying her way into the “Best Friends” superlative, a school play that pits techies vs. actors (the scene with the glitter toss is one of the best I’ve seen in any TV show this year no question), a young boy discovering his sexuality and divorce.  That’s not to say there aren’t outwardly joke-y episodes like the one where the two leads join the wrestling squad to get closer to the boys or another where they summon the powers of a real estate agent’s business card to practice witchcraft.  It should also be noted that there are numerous AOL Instant Messenger sequences which bring back memories of lazy summer days.  On top of that, everyone says, “Sup.”  Even the pizza they eat at parties reminded me of sixth grade.  IF YOU WENT TO MIDDLE SCHOOL EVER, THIS IS THE NOSTALGIA TRIP YOU DIDN’T KNOW EXISTED (Streaming on Hulu).

“Mauvais Sang” (1986): I think “Holy Motors” is the best movie of the 2010s.  If you haven’t seen it, I have this theory that it’s the inverse “Truman Show” about the people we see in our lives on the street that never meet and how they’re all sort of giving a performance.  Let’s leave it at that.  Since I went to see that movie on back to back days in 2012, I’ve had the director Leos Carax’s canon on my list of things to see and this week, I sat down and saw his second film “Mauvais Sang” which Anna taught me translates into “Bad Blood.”  It’s a caper film where the heist isn’t what’s important (this band of criminals is actually after a vaccine); it’s all about the interpersonal relationships between those about to commit the crime.  The lead in the film, Denis Lavant, is the star of “Holy Motors” as well.  This performance isn’t quite as elastic (he plays nine parts in “HM!”) but is certainly odd and Chaplin-esque with magic tricks that reinvent what you can do with your frame.  He even dates future French starlets Juliette Binoche and Julie Delpy in the film.  It’s like the French “Dazed and Confused.”  Everyone’s in it.  The movie is famous for a scene where Lavant runs the streets to David Bowie’s “Modern Love” which Noah Baumbach aped for “Frances Ha” but man, Carax has so many more tricks up his sleeve.  There are bizarro, left field choices like having all the actors drive around shirtless which is so strange you can’t help but laugh, intimate close ups that make standard coverage look painterly and one of the coolest parachuting sequences that I’m still wondering how they shot.  This basically feels like the best film school movie of all time.  FOR FANS OF THE ABSURD OR FRENCH AUTEURS (Streaming on Amazon Prime through MUBI; it’s a foreign film channel you can cop a free seven-day-trial for and then cancel right away).

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961): The DVD for this movie has been sitting at our apartment for years but Anna and I never actually fired it up in the old DVD drive.  I honestly had no idea what it’s about.  Having seen it now, I believe it’s about a socialite escort called Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) who isn’t quite who she says she is and ends up with a male escort (also a published author somehow) who lives in her building.  The story is neither here nor there.  This is a mostly aimless movie with a multitude of subplots that makes me wonder if all the girls who have the Audrey Hepburn poster ever actually saw it.  If they have, that means they’ve seen the famously, wildly racist Mickey Rooney Japanese character.  Not only is his character offensive, it’s also extremely one-dimensional.  He only exists to tell Hepburn to keep it down or he’s calling the police.  I hate to be a snooze, but I don’t get the hype even if there are some fun sight gags like an overcrowded party, a jumping cat or a pot bursting with rice spraying all over the frame.  My favorite parts were learning about New York history from Anna- I didn’t know that JFK Airport used to be called Idlewild or what Automats were (cafeterias where meals came out of vending machines popularized in the 50s).  Also, I finally get why it’s called “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.”  All these years, I just thought the character was named Tiffany and there was a big breakfast.  There is not.  IT’S SOLID (IF PROBLEMATIC) BUT I DON’T GET WHY IT’S A CLASSIC (Streaming on Amazon Prime for $3.99).

SNL with Bill Burr: Today is actually SNL’s 45th birthday.  A lot has changed since the show’s inception.  At the beginning, it was a shaggy, anything goes variety show that bit the hand that fed.  Now, it’s an institution that has flashes of irreverence but mostly plays it safe.  This week was a small step up from last week but for an election year this hasn’t been an especially inspired season.  The cold open with Maya Rudolph as Kamala and Beck Bennett as Mike Pence felt especially tame and more of a rehash of the events that transpired than satire.  The bit with Jim Carrey as Biden turning into the fly on Pence’s hair made me facepalm.  Burr’s monologue was a major source of controversy this past weekend as it was a bit all over the place.  Some jokes were met with silence which is to be expected for a light audience.  I actually inadvertently took part in this pointless debate on Twitter tweeting out, “Bill Burr after a bit not working in his monologue and saying, “Plowing ahead” is the most open mic move I’ve ever seen on TV.”  Not a super well-written sentence but somehow strangers couldn’t help but defend to Burr’s defense (wondering if they’re Bill Burr-ner accounts).  I mean, now I know that it’s a bit Burr does on his podcast but saying, “Plowing ahead” after a joke gets crickets is typically an amateur move and one I’ve done many times myself.  Plowing ahead, there were a few fun sketches like the mob boss who isn’t familiar with PC culture or the sports anchor who didn’t know there was a police shooting and was making light of the news or the influencer who didn’t know that his anti-Trump rap would come across as tone deaf were the favorites; interestingly, they were all about tone deaf white dudes.  An easy target but perhaps an essential one right now.  Weekend Update was on point as well.  Che is sharper than ever.  Say what you will about the show but a joke like, ““President Trump claimed to have survived the coronavirus.  I’m not going to say I’m disappointed, but it’s kind of like when there’s a car crash and the only survivor is the drunk driver,” has real teeth.  Jack White rules too, of course (Streaming on Hulu).

Minddog TV’s Sam Tallent Podcast: Earlier this summer, I kept seeing comics recommend Sam Tallent’s “Running the Light.”  I bought it and have had it on my shelf for awhile.  Somehow, it popped in my head that I should start reading this week.  While I’m far from finished, I’ve been finding myself unable to put it down.  Wanting to learn more about Sam (I’ve never seen him live), I found a random podcast with him recorded in August talking about the book.  It’s a delightful chat with tales of the road like sharing a one-liner with multiple headliners just to keep comedy club staffs on their toes when they hear the same joke week after week, what it’s like staying at Doug Stanhope’s place (He’s a mellow guy), how Mitch Hedberg used to give multiple comics the same jokes so they would come to realize they were hacks when fighting about jokes they thought were their own and how opening a show at the Red Rocks is more of a chore than one would expect as much as it sounds like a treat.  This is a quick listen at just over an hour and a nice intro to the book.

This coming Saturday, Anna and I are going to be featured in the All The Laughs Film Festival with our quarantine short “At Home With a Guy From Anonymous.”  Yes, the link is just a scroll away.

Be well.  Vote early.  The New York ballots are strange.  Be baffled and amused by them way in advance and get them in ASAP.

See you in the near future

01.) Harmon Leon’s Joke-e-oke: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/764704564

02.) Nick Skardarasy’s Thin Walls: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfSFIrRLHfg

03.) My infamous Bill Burr Tweet: https://twitter.com/MattLevy51/status/1315137259381952513

04.) Matt Nappo’s Sam Tallent podcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoUp-qm0mn4&feature=emb_title

05.) All The Laughs Film Festival Link: https://www.bingewave.com/f/all-the-laughs-atl-comedy-awards/s/unfit-the-new-guy-virtual-theater

Comedy Stray Notes October 4, 2020

• Remember “Crashing” on HBO?  That  Pete Holmes show that depicted what starting in stand up was allegedly really like in New York City? If you were at least a little bit interested in comedy from 2017-19, you had an opinion on it.  I was in the camp that found the show endearing, if a bit flawed.  Anna and I joke about the show’s divisive legacy occasionally and we got a big laugh out of the idea of her telling me the plot of the show as a bedtime story.  So, we made it a reality and shot the thing.  I made an ill-advised choice to wear a kangaroo costume that a coworker gifted me a few years ago to show how childlike I am in the sketch; it comes off a bit weird but I like it.  You don’t need to have seen the show to get the bit here- we spell it all out for you and it’s only two minutes.  Would love to hear your thoughts on this one if you have two minutes to spare.  Link below.  

• Comedy can be great at a number of lengths.  An hour of comedy is typically a great marker that you’ve made it and found your voice as a comedian.  It sounds distinguished and substantial.  Also, a TikTok like the “Da Vinky” video (Google it if you don’t know what I’m talking about) can be just as satisfying a morsel of humor.  Still, the idea of a perfectly timed comedy show where 100 comics do a single minute is certainly an enticing idea.  Todd Montesi, the mastermind showrunner, put together the performers allowing them to do their 60 seconds and cutting them off as soon as their time was up to keep the thing running smoothly.  Hosted along with co-producer Harmon Leon, the production felt like a buffet of comic tastes where some chose to work on longer form chunks (if you consider a minute long), others did tried and true strong material and some just went weird staying silent for 40 of the 60 seconds.  I went the route of trying to jam in as many one-liners as I could (“Thank you, this is my longest set of the year”) and I blew through seven of them with varying degrees of success.  Just reminded me that comedy is meant to be slow and steady.  Even the guys in the Da Vinky video take their time to get to the unintentional punch.  If you’re at all interested in watching this madcap show and seeing a number of comics you’ll recognize, the link to the show is, yes, in the comments.

• Now for a slew of TV shows, movies, podcasts and a magazine recommendation before you’re on your merry way and you can leave this “See More” manifesto:

“Detroiters” (2017-18): I am going to make a controversial comedy statement that I’ve been too afraid to go public with for too long- I think “I Think You Should Leave” is just OK.  Some sketches are great but a lot of it feels stage-y and overly silly and didn’t do a lot for me (the Will Forte screaming baby on the airplane sketch is an undisputed classic though).  So, I went into this beloved sitcom with tempered expectations.  It completely swept me off my feet.  In the pilot, our heroes, ad men Tim (Tim Robinson) and Sam (Sam Richardson) spend the night together overlooking the city of Detroit after a particularly rough day on the job.  Turns out they’re waiting for the garbage men to drive by so they can shout genuine praise at them.  They’re fans.  The rest of the show is fun but this bit is absolute comedy perfection- joy and praise for the mundane without condescension felt perfect.  We could all use cheerleaders at our jobs.   

In its brief two seasons, we see the effects of gentrification on Detroit as a start up moves into the guy’s building in a bit that traded the show’s silliness in for actual commentary (they also point out Tim’s hypocrisy; he claims he’s from Detroit but he’s from the burbs) and a commentary on the sameness of commercials with integrity (“Stay Detroit Strong” seems to be all of their competitors’ slogans no matter the product in a particularly biting segment).  There are many goofy jokes strewn throughout as well, none quite as sublime as the secret life of the aging secretary Sheila.  She still gets around and vamps it up in the office in nearly every episode showing no shame for her age.  Almost as hysterical is the newsman Mort Crim (who is a real-life Detroit anchor and Anna told me the inspiration for “Anchorman”) who records a lengthy anti-ISIS rant for a furniture company commercial for the guys.  I ENDED UP LOVING THIS THING AND WISH IT WAS STILL ON THE AIR (Streaming on Comedy Central).

SNL with Chris Rock: Last night was the long awaited return for the show to the studio.   It did disappoint.  Yeah, I’ll say it.  The show has always been at its best when it’s been mean and lean but now at 20 cast members, it has more bodies than it has ever had...in a time when we should be social distancing.  To be fair, it is nice that Lorne is creating jobs when everyone seems to be getting laid off.  I stayed for the end credits and only saw one name I didn’t recognize on the writing staff: Celeste Yim.  I don’t believe there’s been any kind of formal announcement about her yet but I’m excited to learn more.  Anyhow, let’s dig in.  

Cold Open with Jim Carrey as Biden was less entertaining than the actual debate.  There was a truly unnecessary Harry Styles cameo and while Carrey did nail Biden’s folksy, easy to anger demeanor, it played a bit too slapstick like Carrey circa 1995.  Baldwin was tamer than the actual Trump and the whole thing struggled to compensate for the fact that the real news is that Trump is in the hospital.  Rock’s monologue that followed was full of platitudes found in change.org emails (Presidents shouldn’t have four year terms!  Agreed!) which are nice but felt a bit safe for our pre-eminent social satirist (I think he’s the best around).  The sketches themselves were mostly stinkers but I did love the Kyle Mooney-led “Future Ghost.”  Well-realized jokes about how short sighted we are regarding the future (when Kyle sees himself in 2020, he doesn’t care about the virus just how cool the graphics are in his Tony Hawk game) are scary in how accurately they capture our values as selfish beings.  Major shout out to Megan Thee Stallion too for her visually adventurous appearances and strong message complete with voiceovers from Malcolm X and Kentucky AG Daniel Cameron (the latter wasn’t in Cameron’s favor).  The whole show needed that level of urgency.  Here’s hoping Pete Davidson’s “King of Staten Island” co-star Bill Burr brings it next week (Streaming on Hulu and probably Peacock).

“Haunted Mansion” (2003): One of those movies I wanted to see in theaters 17 years ago and then somehow, it’s a Saturday night and I’m watching it on my couch.  The film is fairly complex and intense as far as Disney films go and only sporadically captures the fun scares of the ride itself.  We begin with a bit of wordless exposition seeing a murder was staged within said haunted mansion long ago. Flash forward to 2003, real estate mogul Eddie Murphy is invited to the spacious scare sanctuary with his picture perfect family and things start going sideways when they meet stoic butler Ramsley (a never better Terrence Stamp) which leads to scares and their true meaning for being at the mansion.  It’s KIND OF “The Shining” for kids but with ham fisted life lessons about being scared and force fed exposition.  The movie operates at its absolute best when it feels like we’re on the ride with ghosts appearing from all angles, disembodied barbershop quartets singing whatever they’ve just heard and a jumpy underwater sequence when skulls appear out of nowhere.  Plus, there’s a “Sixth Sense” “I see dead people” joke that probably felt groan-worthy in 2003 but enough time has passed in 2020, that it made me laugh.  I understand why this didn’t turn into a billion dollar franchise like the Mouse corporation most likely envisioned a la “Pirates of the Caribbean” (there’s no Jack Sparrow to latch onto here- the leads are real estate agents) but it’s directed somewhat deftly by Rob Minkoff, the director of the original, animated “Lion King” and he gets away with characters saying “Hell” and “Damn” in a Disney film.  Plus, you got Wallace Shawn being Wallace Shawn.  THIS IS A PERFECT INTRO TO JUMP SCARES FOR KIDS (Streaming on Disney +).  

*I never do this because it’s so irritating but I actually have a better idea for this movie.  Imagine if “Haunted Mansion” was about a family that went to Disneyland and all the rides became haunted versions of themselves.  Forget the trappings of an invented world- just throw tourists into Disneyland making it a haunted version of itself.  Seems so much more fun.  

Carry on.

“Knuckleball” (2012): Sorry, I love baseball documentaries.  This one, cross-cutting between the legend Tim Wakefield and at the time phenom RA Dickey doesn’t have a whole lot to say other than these guys found a way to baffle batters with an unconventional pitch.  Perhaps, something about the resilience of marching to the beat of your own drum?  There are well-edited sequences and amusing anecdotes shared with past knuckleballers Charlie Hough and Phil Niekro (they golf and drink wine together in perhaps the most staged hang sesh ever committed to celluloid) but this is a bit of a puff piece.  ONLY FOR BASEBALL FANS (Streaming on YouTube; link in comments).

WTF with Cecily Strong: Strong, who I covered on “Good One” last week is making the rounds on the podcast circuit for her Emmy nomination.  This pod, she’s a bit more open covering her depression and being arrested in high school.  Also, learned about her going to Cal Arts with Alison Brie and how she made a concerted effort to do more physical bits on SNL which she does execute with aplomb.  Still, listening to someone as a guest on a podcast twice in a two-week span is a bit tiresome as there is a bit of overlap.  

WTF with Barry Levinson: This is a greatest hits podcast that will be fun for anyone that likes behind the scenes stories of the pictures.  I didn’t know Levinson directed “The Natural.”  I didn’t know the stories behind “Diner.”  I didn’t know how Dustin Hoffman got into character on “Rain Man.”  It’s fun, breezy and full of stories you didn’t know you needed.   

• For the holidays last year, Anna bought me a subscription to the UK-based film rag Empire Magazine after I caught an issue by chance in a library.  If you’re a film nerd, I don’t know of more engaging, nerdy writing about cinema out there.  I anxiously await each new issue and tear through them.  Sure, this feels like an ad but if you’re looking for writing outside the internet and miss the days of magazines being sent to your mailbox, I can’t recommend this enough.  The only downside is that some of the reviews are a month or two behind US releases because it is UK based.  I think it adds to its charm.

We’re less than a month from the election now.  Every time I write one of these, I think to myself, I wonder what the world will be like in seven days?  Other than when lockdown hit, this week was the biggest change with the fate of the Presidency in jeopardy.  

Times are wild and can’t wait to see what this week brings.  

TTYL

01.) A Comedian Goes To Sleep: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSEVJohLMtE&list=PLoBsCsHJsKMrx6cuZ4Se8CQ_QBfOUcJ5U

02.) Todd Montesi Show: https://www.facebook.com/596857377/videos/10158697243662378/

03.) Knuckleball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjzqUx30mos

04.) WTF with Cecily Strong: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1161-cecily-strong

05.) WTF with Barry Levinson: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1160-barry-levinson

06.) Empire Magazine: https://www.empireonline.com/

Comedy Stray Notes September 27, 2020

• Yom Kippur is a day of atonement and when you’ve done any type of comedy, you always feel a tinge of guilt about most things you’ve just said onstage.  Whether it be crowd work with a stranger that gets too personal or a joke that doesn’t sit right, there’s always room to feel like you’ve really messed things up.  Never does one feel that sense of dread that you’ve done the wrong thing more than at a roast.  Feeling inspired by my past experiences as a roaster and the breakneck pace in which Anna Paone and Catherine Lamoreaux churn out short play after short play, I decided to write a ten-minute one-act called “Just Jokes” loosely based on a roast battle I had in 2016 against Erica Spera that I shouldn’t have won.  Yeah, I used our real jokes in it too (with Erica’s permission).  

This week, I had the good fortune of Dragonfly (Anna and Catherine’s theater company) putting on a production of said one-act starring Russell Dolan as a surrogate for me (it honestly felt like I was Larry David and he was Jason Alexander playing me), Samantha Mishinski as his fierce and more skilled opponent who breathed a sensitive life into this, Matt Maran doing the best damn Matt Maran one can do playing Matt Maran and Nick Endo and Justine House as the lead’s friends who help our hero craft his bits.  It went way better than it had any right to as each performer brought the necessary venom to their dialogue making it feel like we actually were in the room at Comedy Fight Club four years ago (the show is still going strong outdoors).  Hopefully, we can stage this thing or film it someday.

Final highlight from the reading was that my parents watched.  In fact, my Dad Andy Levy, one of Dragonfly’s biggest fans, asked all the questions in the Q and A at the end.  What a mensch.  If you want to see this for yourself, the link from Dragonfly’s page is in the comments.

• David Horning and Steve Mers are two of my favorite Cleveland comics who co-host the sublime “You Can’t Laugh At That” podcast with Gheramy Demery producing remotely.  The two bring on comics who have tackled taboo topics in their material and then go into great detail about how to make these uncomfortable premises into jokes audiences feel at ease with.  This past Monday, my episode about “surviving cancer” dropped.  To be completely clear, I am a survivor of testicular cancer and am totally fine.  My situation PALES in comparison to pretty much any other cancer patient.  Still, I did jokes about it for a few years and we got to the bottom of it on this episode.  In fact, David and Steve sort of taught me the secret of writing jokes about trauma.  It felt like therapy when we discovered it (you’ll have to listen to hear said secret).  Plus, we don’t JUST talk about my cancer.  I share my theory on why spur of the moment Tweets do better than ones that sit in your drafts for weeks, jokes batting .980 meaning you’ve done a joke 50 times and it doesn’t work once and now you hate it and “Tigging.”  What is “Tigging?”  Check out the link.  Yeah, it’s the day of atonement but I’m not going to apologize for telling you to check out that pod.    That’s what friends of the pod are for.

• So many friends did cool stuff this week.  Here’s some very short recommendations for your reading, listening and viewing pleasure (all the links are in the comments):

- My friend Charlton Jon wrote the ultimate “Truman Show” fan fiction with his short story “Unreal” about an extra on the set of the Truman Show (set within the world of the movie).  Medium clocks it as a six-minute read but it goes by even faster if you’re familiar with the film.  Charlton sprinkles details from the film into the piece like Truman’s best friend’s dark backstory that implies there’s so much more to this movie than we ever knew.  

- From 2013-15, I worked at Luke’s Lobster on the Upper East Side alongside a number of incredibly gifted artists.  I couldn’t believe that everyone had a talent outside of making lobster rolls and it’s been a treat watching everyone’s careers progress.  This week, I had the pleasure of seeing a Luke’s collaboration between old pals Sean Cahill and Thomas Wynn.  Sean is the longtime frontman for the group The Next Great American Novelist and has been steadily releasing catchy music online with amazing videos to boot.  However, his linking up with Thomas Wynn was easily my favorite.  Thomas’ single take dance music video for “Ice Moon” is hypnotic, beautifully choreographed and incredibly watchable while Sean’s most accomplished vocal performance as his voice registers at an almost tribal yell toward the end.  Can’t believe I made shrimp rolls with these dudes a few years back.

- Liz Glazer makes the best funny short, confessional video diaries.  They combine archival footage from her life, monologue from the present day and stand up clips to create a collage that would feel at home on NPR.  My absolute favorite of hers was her tribute of sorts to Joan Rivers that she released this week.  The first ⅔ are hysterical with expert match cuts to Liz belting pop songs while driving to a chilling, beautiful finale.  The best comedies undercut you with emotion and the final minute here is a wallop.  

- Hattie Hayes and Matt Storrs are one of the all-time great comedy couples.  Their performing styles complement each other beautifully; Matt is droll, erudite and hilarious while Hattie is freewheeling, fearless and hilarious.  This morning, I caught their short audio video (all subtitled) of Hattie talking to Matt in her sleep and I couldn’t stop laughing.  It’s a barely coherent conversation that only gets funnier as it moves along.  Goes to show- some people really can do comedy in their sleep. 

• Yup, watched so many movies and listened to so many pods these past seven days.  I’m going to try to keep this short out of respect for YOU.

“Drowning Mona” (2000): Consistently been at the top of the “I gotta see this thing” list.  Lived up to the hype.  I don’t think it’s a spoiler to tell you that the movie begins with a grisly scene where a car flies off a mountainside into a river with poor Bette Midler as the eponymous “Mona” meeting her demise and drowning.  The rest of the movie is figuring out just how we got there which felt like dramatic irony straight out of Shakespeare.  It’s a lot of fun with Danny DeVito as the chief of police and Casey Affleck, William Fichtner and Jamie Lee Curtis as prime suspects all bringing a humanity to the proceedings while also chewing the hell out of the scenery.   On top of that, there’s a totally surprise Will Ferrell AND Melissa McCarthy cameo halfway through that made my jaw drop.  Had no idea they were in this thing.  Ferrell’s generous, goofy style wasn’t quite right for the movie but I didn’t care; I’ll watch the guy read WiFi passwords (that’s the 2020 version of reading the phonebook).  Also, the movie reintroduced me to the song “Popcorn” by Hot Butter.  It’s one of those 70s oddities you’ve heard a billion times but can’t name.  YOU HAVE TO FIND OUT WHO DROWNED MONA, TOTALLY WORTH YOUR TIME (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

“Hooking Up” (2020): Anna and I are on a bit of a “Detroiters” kick (we’re almost done) so I was crazy excited to see Sam Richardson in a lead role in a feature.  Speaking of cancer before, the movie ALSO tackles it.  I am not the first.  To get you up to speed, Richardson’s character is a survivor of testicular cancer (relatable) who crosses paths with a raunchy sex and love addict (Brittany Snow from “Pitch Perfect;” you’ll definitely recognize her) who accidently ends up in his support group for survivors.  Then, we get super high concept.  She’s a columnist who was just fired from her beat and pitches one final story to win her gig back: she wants to revisit every places she’s ever hooked up, hence the title.  She chooses our cancer survivor who has only ever been in a monogamous relationship as her guinea pig.  It’s fun.  This movie won’t change the world but it’s one of the better low budget streaming comedies I’ve seen.  Yes, there are on the nose speeches about love and battling addictions and too familiar story beats like Sam’s character wanting to be an artist but not following his dreams but the two of them are so likeable together that you forgive them for all of it.  They banter like a couple who have completely simpatico senses of humor.  GOOD, LITTLE MOVIE IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING LOW KEY (Streaming on Hulu).

“Blush” (2019): The New York Times recommends off the beaten path streaming films every so often and I make sure to prioritize their recommendations like a dutiful subscriber.  Really glad I saw this one about an unfulfilled housewife played with a familiar malaise by Wendi McClendon-Covey (from “Reno 911” AND “Bridesmaids”) married to a sad sack you’d be shocked to see in a dramedy- Steve Little from “Eastbound and Down” (his surprising third act arc is genuinely heartwarming if a bit sad).  This slice of life, semi-episodic indie feels like an attempt at an Oscar film but never got the big release it deserved.  Still, it has a lot to say and doesn’t phone it in.  It all begins with her watching her recently widowed sister’s cat.  She befriends a very liberal family living next door and somehow ends up being made out with the Mom, Dad and Son.  If it all sounds shocking, it is.  They all use the same tactic to make out with her which is equal parts disturbing and very funny.  That’s not entirely what this is about though; ultimately, this is a movie about how being a people pleaser can lead to more damage in your personal life than happiness.  THE NEW YORK TIMES KNOWS WHAT THEY’RE TALKING ABOUT (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

“Legalize Everything” (2020): Eric Andre goes places you wouldn’t even want to go.  For the first half of this special, I considered turning it off.  The whole thing seemed graphic for the sake of being graphic but I love his show so much and I know there’s something going on behind all the drugs and sex jokes that I stayed tuned in.  I’m so glad I did.  About halfway through, Andre hits a groove and his jokes start humming.  From the COPS theme song bit (not worth spoiling; it made me laugh crazy hard and was a brilliant observation) to re-enacting a kid walking on his elderly parents having sex, it got more and more bonkers so much so that you had to appreciate the audacity.  He closed by chatting with an audience member’s Mom over FaceTime and she was even more willing to go wild than Andre had anticipated.  By the end, I kinda loved this.  IT’S ALL OVER THE PLACE AND DISJOINTED BUT FULL OF LIFE (Streaming on Netflix).

“Double Threat” with Rian Johnson and Karina Longworth: I’d never listened to Tom Scharpling and Julie Klausner’s pod before.  For the first half hour, it was super jokey with them making fun of haunted paper towel dispensers and Terry Gilliam’s laugh.  I thought they had Rian Johnson and wife Karina Longworth sitting there and just not letting them talk.  Nah, they weren’t there but I could have sworn they were.  When they came on, they let their presence be known with a story from Rian about how Elvis watched “Doctor Strangelove” five times in theaters back to back to Karina, the esteemed film critic becoming a newfound basketball fan.  There wasn’t a ton of substance but it was a solid jokey podcast and the end where Scharpling and Klausner act out going to see Tenet in theaters during COVID times was my favorite part.  Rare that a podcast finishes on a high note.

“Good One” with Cecily Strong: As always, I’m a sucker for the SNL podcasts.  This was fine.  I feel like there’s still a better, deeper Cecily Strong interview to be had but I’ll settle for hearing her share her process for developing characters (in the case of Drunk Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Talked To At A Party, she was a Colin Jost creation) and her solid Idris Elba impression that she never got a chance to do on the show.  There’s the requisite tale of how she got hired from Improv Olympic for the show and both the host and subject cried discussing some tragic events she had to go through earlier this year which I have to be honest is pretty rare for comedy podcasts.  Still, I know there’s more.  Either way, not bad for fans.

Not a lot for me this week in comedy.  There’s my one-year wedding anniversary with Anna tomorrow (we finally eat the wedding cake sitting in our freezer), Yom Kippur and the Presidential Debates.  I’m officially an adult.

G’mar chatima tova, friends.

01.) Just Jokes reading: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=690312111835041&extid=qKpc21RMRYAgwBbh

02.) David Horning’s podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cancer-ft-matt-levy/id1495600197?i=1000491980899

03.) “Unreal” by Charlton Villavelez: https://medium.com/@CharltonJonV/unreal-32094b316d4b

04.) “Ice Moon” by Sean Cahill and Thomas Wynn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buVNmPPjuzo

05.) “Ghost Errands” by Liz Glazer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwrb4wT3B3Y&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR31MKRXjKFXeFBiAwlk8YlgIiPE8VrCbCzeqJtsucDq6wRjFIDu_dyNnwE 

06.) Sleep Talking with Matt Storrs and Hattie Hayes: https://www.facebook.com/100000198100389/videos/4406313829385177/?extid=MkN4qtQxDQuTkYYj

07.) Double Threat with Rian Johnson and Karina Longworth: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/now-my-wife-kicks-with-rian-johnson-karina-longworth/id1503252863?i=1000491192350

08.) “Good One” with Cecily Strong: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cecily-strongs-jeanine-pirro/id1203393721?i=1000488463298

Comedy Stray Notes September 20, 2020

• Remember the beginning of quarantine when everyone was like, “Ugh, all the movies about quarantine are going to suck?”  As a sometimes contrarian, I was one of the few dissenters that couldn’t wait to see what art would emerge from this odd historical moment.  What we make now will be an artifact of what it was like to live through probably the oddest year of all of our lives.  This is the stuff our grandkids will be curious about.  That’s why I was especially excited to hear my good friend/stand up comic/filmmaker Belton Delaine-Facey was making a documentary about comedy during the pandemic.  Man, I’d love to see a doc about comedy during the Spanish Flu (Anna Paone once told me that the Marx Brothers did shows where audience members wore masks way back when but that’s all I know) but I’ll settle with Belton’s doc.  He’s interviewing a number of comics about how their performances have changed from those who perform outside to those who prefer to make sketches inside.   I was honored to be one such talking head and I can’t wait to see this on Netflix someday.  If you’re interested in being a part of this doc and sharing your story, reach out to Belton.  Future generations may download this to their memory chips someday and you don’t want to miss out.

• My little quarantine business continued chugging along these past seven days as A Profile About You hit its milestone 50th profile.  I said, “Whoo” to myself as I hit publish on my computer and kept it to myself until now.  Anyhow, this wouldn’t have happened without all the kind people who took a chance on an untested profile writer.  It’s amazing to me that this little project keeps going.  I have no idea how people keep finding it but folks from Indonesia and Australia hit me up for write-ups.  Yeah, it’s a little braggy but I’m jazzed about it.  Anyhow, back to this week’s pieces.  The first profile I completed was about good friend, hilarious comic and comedy entrepreneur Matt Hyams.  Here’s a quick excerpt:

For the most part, Matt said he had the classic comedian upbringing. He outlined it for me as 1.) abandoned by father, 2.) a loving but absentee mom who was working to provide for her sons and 3.) left alone to watch TV. Lots of TV.

Also, Matt has a call to action embedded within his story.  He’s looking for comedy writers for his site.  Read the piece, get to know a bit about him and then reach out.  You might have a new writing gig alongside him.

The second profile I wrote this week was about accomplished playwright, producer and podcaster Anthony J. Piccione.  We haven’t met but I instantly became a fan of Anthony’s.  A ‘Fanthony” if you will.  Excited for his plays, theater festivals and everything he has planned.  Here’s a quick tidbit from his piece that I’m especially fond of:

I asked Anthony if he had a favorite story and he coyly replied, “I do. The ones I write and produce.”

The links to read both of these profiles are found in the comments.  It’s kind of my thing.  I’ll be honest.  I invented links in comments.  You heard it here first.

• Yeah, I watched movies this week and listened to a podcast.  I feel compelled to let you know what they were because I genuinely enjoy writing little blurbs.  Here goes:  

“Dave Made A Maze” (2017): Every so often, a movie comes along that inspires me so wholly that I close my laptop after finishing and can’t stop thinking about how I want to make something just like it for days.  This is one of those movies.  The story is breathtakingly simple- a 30-year-old guy Dave (played by “aww shucks average dude” Nick Thune) made a maze out of cardboard in his apartment that looks fairly basic from the outside.  However, the inside is labyrinthine and he can’t figure out how to escape.  Is it a metaphor?  Probably.  I didn’t care.  It was too fun to notice.  Dave’s girlfriend, best friend and a camera crew enter to try and help him escape but the story is besides the point here.  This is a movie that has the DIY homemade aesthetic that you so rarely see in movies post-2010.  The maze they traipse through is made entirely of cardboard, string, colored paper; we see the characters morph into stop motion, animated versions of themselves; there’s a deceptively clever shot where the titular Dave and his girlfriend transform into different versions of themselves that made me wonder “How have I never thought of that” and above all else it feels like if Michel Gondry directed an episode of “Community.”  Sure, this thing is a bit heavy-handed in places but at just 80 minutes, it breezes by.  GET LOST IN THIS MAZE (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

“Heartbreakers” (2001): Yeah, I had a crush on Jennifer Love Hewitt as a kid, teen and adult.  As a result, I’d always wanted to rent this movie as a kid at Blockbuster but I thought my parents would know just why I wanted to see it (my Hewitt fandom) so I always put it on hold and rented something dopey like “Celtic Pride” with Dan Aykroyd instead.  Well, I’m an adult now and can watch whatever I damn well please.  So, over the past two months of doing dishes and laundry, I I watched this charming movie on my phone.  For context, it’s your classic rom-con (yeah, I just invented that) wrapped into a studio-friendly package.  Sigourney Weaver and Hewitt play conniving seductresses who marry wealthy men like Ray Liotta (leaning into his Jersey persona), Gene Hackman (wheezing through the old cigarette mogul role) and Jason Lee (the wholesome bartender that Hewitt can’t decide if she really has feelings for!).  The movie has a nice three-act structure but our leads really aren’t that sympathetic even as antiheroes.  A lot of the story is resolved easily, certain threads make the viewer suspend disbelief (why is Weaver SO awful to everyone?) AND they waste Zach Galifiankis and Sarah Silverman in dopey friend roles.  Painful to see two of the funniest people on the planet say stock lines like, “I liked her.  She was right for you” to Jason Lee about Hewitt.  Nora Dunn was hardly used at all in a thankless role too which was a shame.  There is a fun Kevin Nealon cameo though.  Despite it all, this movie has its charms and seeing Sigourney put on a Russian accent to swindle Hackman for half the movie is worth it.  Above all, YOU CAN’T GO WRONG WITH LOVE-HEWITT (Streaming on Netflix).

“Vivarium” (2020): Amazon has been pushing this one hard.  When you log in, it’s at the top of the Prime page with Jesse Eisenberg staring practically into your soul saying, “Watch this movie!”  I caved.  It’s an odd duck of a film.  Very British social satire that half connects and half confounds.  We start with Imogen Poots, Eisenberg’s wife, a schoolteacher teaching her kindergarten class about wind and then all of a sudden, she and Jesse E. are buying a home out in the burbs from an eager real estate agent.  We don’t know anything about them other than they’re married and she teaches.  Zero other backstory.  This thing morphs into an odd dystopian take on the sameness of life outside the bustling city where they have to raise a child that’s delivered to them in a box.  Said child they raise is this weird demon thing that ages rapidly and speaks with unsettling affectations.  It’s the stuff of nightmares.  I don’t know exactly what this movie is trying to say other than the suburbs are...bad but it is deep and emotional in places.  Surprisingly amazing reggae soundtrack that didn’t fit this at all but I did love it.  I would call this A GOOD HEAD SCRATCHER TO SEE WITH A TON OF PEOPLE AND ASK WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SEE (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

WTF with Martin Short: Yeah, Martin Short is undeniable.  If you like comedy, you like Martin Short.  I can’t imagine anyone disliking him.  Still, he’s one of those personalities I feel like I know so little about and rarely shows up on podcasts or anything where he speaks candidly so this was a treat (just learned he has a memoir; def gonna read that shizz).  Here, the interview begins with his clock sounding.  It goes off every hour, he said.  Love that quirkiness.  Stories about the infamous “Godspell” production he was a part of in the 70s (featuring Victor Garber, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Gilda Radner, Dave Thomas, and Paul Shaffer.  Seriously, WTF), how he wanted out of the infamous 84-85 season of SNL and how he lives near his SCTV friends like Catherine O’Hara to this day followed soon after.  Love the comedy history.  On top of that, some standout moments from the chat include 1.) this Lorne Michaels quote, “Canadians look like Russian spies trying to be American,” 2.) a story about Dan Aykroyd pretending to be Gilda Radner’s father at her birthday party, and 3.) Short’s joke that he’s “10% Jewish on my agent’s side.”  The only major letdown is they didn’t cover my all-time favorite Martin Short creation: Jiminy Glick.  We could all use more Jiminy.

• This week, I have something going on!  My one act micro-play “Just Jokes” about Comedy Fight Club is being featured as one of Dragonfly’s short plays put on by Catherine Lamoreaux and Anna Paone.  Yes, it features Matt Maran acting as Matt Maran.  Of course, there’s a link in the comments to where you can see it Tuesday night at 8:00 PM EST.  Got a feeling it’s gonna be pretty divisive.  See where you fall!

Signing off for the week, pals.  See you in the future

01.) Matt Hyams Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/matt-hyams-is-ego-baby-and-ego-baby-is-matt-hyams-d14ed47c5af7

02.) Anthony J. Piccione Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/anthony-j-piccione-will-not-stop-writing-8fe381db4f91

03.) Martin Short on WTF: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1156-martin-short

04.) Dragonfly’s Tuesday night plays: https://www.facebook.com/events/380830916263507

Comedy Stray Notes September 13, 2020

• The new Charlie Kaufman movie “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” is not exactly a “comedy comedy” it’s more of a “cerebral, introspective puzzle with a few comic setpieces” and Charlie Kaufman isn’t exactly “funny” he’s more of an “absurdist.”  Still, the writer/director has a singular voice and finds humor in places others even look.  That was certainly the case for his movie released last week (I’m thinking of the gag with the dog who can’t stop shaking himself dry every time he appears onscreen).  This week, he did the COVID equivalent of a press junket in the form of a Zoom Q and A for Netflix (the whole thing was subtitled live; technology is so amazing sometimes it’s terrifying).  It was free and I signed up on Eventbrite to see if I would get to have my questions I submitted anonymously answered (my questions were: Will you ever work with Spike Jonze again?  What’s your favorite project of yours that never got made?  Are you going to make your feature length musical with Jack Black and Steve Carell anytime soon?) and they didn’t choose any of mine.  

This is a quick hit list of what took place in the brief 51-minute interview (they cut it short by nine minutes out of nowhere): Kaufman was interviewed by Tony Gilroy, the “Michael Clayton” and “Bourne” director.  Gilroy shared that he bought Kaufman’s new novel “Antkind” at the bookstore and when he went in to purchase it, the cashier smirked, “Oh, the Kaufman?” meaning Charlie had become a one-name entity.  Later, Kaufman shared that he never got to see the movie with an audience other than friends or family because of the pandemic; he also noted that he found the book the movie is based upon on Amazon. his agent didn’t send it to him.  He wanted to get something small, genre-y financed.  He was drawn to the dreaminess of the book. Authors, Kaufman is scouring Amazon.  Good to know.  He did also say, “When I adapt, I have to make it mine or I can’t do it.”  So, if he does choose your book, the adaptation is going through the Charlie Kaufman grinder.  

Other interesting tidbits included that he was in his high school theater program’s production of “Play It Again Sam,” he had a small speaking part in “Oklahoma,” and a story about how the author, Iain Reid, has a sister married to the President of Iceland and he got to stay at their place while writing.  The whole thing was interrupted by Tony Gilroy who went on many tangents and kinda made the thing about himself.  In fact, when they switched from the moderating to an audience Q and A, Gilroy was barely paying attention, clearly looking at his phone (another moderator also put herself on camera by accident for a second and scrambled to turn herself off which was very funny).  In the Q and A section, Charlie said that for this movie he was trying to achieve the feeling of “thoughts coming and going inside your head” (that’s exactly how it felt), this film had no storyboards due to time constraints, he doesn’t read philosophy really, almost all of the snow in the film were visual effects shots and finally you could tell he hated some of the questions like who his influences are and why he rarely has female protagonists but answered them reluctantly and a bit defensively.  I hope someday his discomfort in this interview becomes for his next screenplay.

• This week, I turned in a single profile for my site on the prolific comic and vet James Mac. Mac has quite a life story (the dude joined the military at 17, made a home in countries all over the world and after all is said and done, does comedy.  Telling jokes really is the holy grail) and was incredibly easy to write about.  He literally has war stories ready to go.  My favorite passage from the piece about him is the following:

“At the crack of dawn, Mac ran into a ‘vampire deer’ (more formally known as the Chinese water deer) which is not your typical deer. The way James tells it, ‘Imagine turning a corner in minimal daylight and you see a deer staring at you with long fangs like a sabertooth tiger. It definitely will leave an impression.’

Still, not as bad as most midtown audiences.”

If you want to read the whole piece, it’s linked in the comments, my friend.

• At the outset of quarantine, I told myself I wouldn’t watch any TV, just FILMS like the world’s most annoying pretentious guy.  Well, that’s over.  I’ve gone down the TV rabbit hole treating myself to episodes after work like I earned it or something.  Here’s a quick snapshot of the two TV shows I am totally up to date on as well as two movies I saw this week.  After that, we’re out.  You’ll be free to go back to the scroll of pithier, funnier statuses.  But for now, here goes:

“Corporate” (2018-2020): This might be a top-five all-time favorite show for me now.  When it came out, it was easy to write this off as a takeoff on “The Office” or “Workaholics” by solely looking at the marketing materials but this half hour sitcom is neither of those.  “The Office” and “Workaholics” are more about office foibles and human decency while “Corporate” is one of the most cynical, calculating representations of what office life in the 2010s is really like.  I was hooked mid-pilot when a well-meaning character showed others where all the cake in the office was.  I literally used to do that hiding the good ice cream in the office in freezers.  

The show, created by its stars Matt Ingebretson and Jake Weisman, work at the fictional conglomerate Hampton Deville as junior executives in training in their early 30s.  It’s a dead end job and Jake accepts this fate (some of his greatest nihilist quotes are: “Once you’re past Saturday, the weekend is over.  Sunday is for remembering Monday,” “I keep my job so I can afford a one-bedroom rather than follow my dreams and live in a studio apartment” and “live life in vacation mode” while buying Combos at a gas station) while Matt still tries to make more of himself taking on additional tasks like creating a powerpoint when no one else volunteers because he’s “really good at Powerpoints” and taking a vacation forced upon him by coworkers who tell him he’s “going to LOVE it.”  The best jokes in this show didn’t feel just like jokes.  They felt like they shifted my whole point of view or said something I always wanted to say but didn’t know how to express.

That’s not to say the show isn’t uneven; there are a few clunkers in the second and third seasons (the first season is unimpeachable; seriously watch Season 1 Episode 5 about the “fun company retreat”) but 21 or 22 of the 26 episodes are masterpieces.  Standouts include the making fun of everyone talking about an episode of “must see TV” a la “Game of Thrones” in the office (their bonding with the security guard about the show is a wonderful touch), the “Remember Day” episode where the company monetizes 9/11 by turning it into a meaningless holiday, the coming into work on Labor Day episode and so many others.  Plus, you have Aparna at her best as the head of HR who is happy to share any all company secrets, Adam Lustick is the next great American character actor you don’t know and Lance Reddick of “Lost” and “The Wire” is perfect as the company’s CEO, Christian Deville (that’s right, Christian Devil).  Also, Andy Richter’s cameo in Season Two nearly made me cry laughing.  This is the most criminally underseen show on TV and the height of satire in 2020.  So worth your time if only for the line about bagels in the office, “We literally do whatever they want for scraps of bread.”  (Streaming on Comedy Central).

“Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (2017- ): The comedy that wins all the important comedy awards.  I saw the first season way back when it was released in 2017 and buzzy as hell.  It’s fun and certainly captured the fizzy excitement of what it’s like to begin a career as a performer.  Yes, the complaints lobbed at the show that no one kills all the time especially when you start (true) and that the material isn’t really that great (also true) are well-founded but it had a certain kind of charm that first season.  It was exciting to see Maisel discover her voice almost immediately (still looking for my voice, folks if anyone sees it).  The second and third seasons aren’t quite as exciting, but they are pleasant, middle of the road, comfort food television.  Season two takes place largely at the Catskills, full of peppy dance sequences, Jewish jokes (the best one of all is the Catholic shiksa that married into the family is more observant than the reform family she married into) and is centered around ol’ Midge Maisel pursuing a new relationship with Zachary Levi after her near-divorce.  It’s fine.  Her manager, Suzy, played with gruff detachment by Alex Borstein (you know, from “Mad TV” and “Family Guy”) follows her upstate to keep tabs on her and they begin touring.  There are fun episodes about art collecting, late night telethons similar to what Jerry Lewis did for years and the episode where Maisel’s father (Tony Shalhoub!) sees her perform comedy unbeknownst to her.  It’s all fine but not nearly as electric as Season One.

Season three digs deeper into Suzy’s past (She has a gambling addiction!  She doesn’t get along with Maisel anymore!  She manages Jane Lynch’s sell out character who is Maisel’s rival!) and Midge goes on tour with closeted Shy Baldwin (I guessed he was based on Sam Cooke but he may be totally fictional) while reigniting old romances and her ex starts a club in Chinatown.  There are midding cameos from big names like Jason Alexander and Wanda Sykes that left me cold (Sterling K. Brown was pretty damn good though).  A Lenny Bruce surrogate is a regular on the show and it feels like an odd, ill-fitting tribute to him.  He’s funny, sure, but it feels weirdly inauthentic writing him into this historical fiction.  My biggest issue with the show is one of my greatest failings as a writer; scenes often “tell” instead of “show.”  For example, instead of showing Jason Alexander’s character’s groundbreaking play, they just talk about how it’s groundbreaking.  Man, I can do that!  Write something groundbreaking and then get back to me.  Still, the show is a damn hour instead of 30 minutes which is a major achievement for a comedy.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the show.  I want to love it (Streaming on Amazon).  

“Super Dark Times” (2017): My Christmas happens three times a year. I’m talking film festival season.  Everyone hates January, sure, but I love it.  January to me means a ton of reviews of new films premiering at Sundance.  May is Cannes.  September is TIFF.  And way back in 2017, I recall reading positive advance praises for this 90s based comedy on a few choice sites (I frequent Vulture, AVClub, The Ringer, Slashfilm and sometimes Roger Ebert’s still functional site for movie news) and had this on my radar forever.  Then, I spotted it while mindlessly scrolling Netflix.  It sat on my queue forever.  I wanted to see it but Anna doesn’t like horror films.  So, I watched this in pieces if I woke up before her or stayed up later.  It’s a perfect film and shocking that it’s someone’s freaking directorial debut.  To catch you up to speed, the story is simple- high school pals in upstate NY pal around after school, play video games, share lived in naturalistic dialogue that I would argue is as strong as “Superbad” and things move at a nice comedic pace until a wild left turn takes place at the end of the first act.  That HARD left turn is toward the titular super dark times.  We’ll leave it vague here once again for surprise factor reasons.  Anyhow, this is a perfect update to Poe’s “The Telltale Heart” told through the lens of aimless teenagers that have never really had anything to worry about before.  I’m not going to spoil a thing.  I will say this movie did teach me an important lesson about screenwriting though (that will be obvious to everyone).  Not every conflict needs to be resolved right away.  Escalate.  No need to solve things right away (this is a byproduct of my tendency to be a people pleaser).  Let things get ugly.  That’s how you build tension and keep eyes glued on the screen.  FOR GREAT NOSTALGIA, LEGIT SCARES, NATURALISTIC DIALOGUE AND A FANTASTIC ELECTRONIC SCORE, YOU CAN’T DO BETTER THAN THIS (Streaming on Netflix).

“Mulan” (1998): As a kid, the fam saw pretty much every Disney movie in theaters and then purchased the VHS which sat on a shelf next to our TV.  I must have seen “Oliver and Company” 25 times.  However, I never saw “Mulan.”  This was blasphemy to my wife Anna Paone who insisted we watch.  Right off the bat, I was surprised how specific and intellectual the exposition of the story is; I had to have Anna explain exactly what the conflict with the Huns was.  Once the tale kicks into high gear with the classic Disney gender bending genre trope, it felt like a classic crowd pleaser.  I recognized quite a few songs (had no idea that Stevie Wonder and 98 Degrees collaborated on a track here) and enjoyed the kinetic fight scenes with what felt like a moving camera as it swooped down mountains on armies rushing in.  Loved that Disney continued its trend of casting a quick witted comic icon with Eddie Murphy like they had done with Gottfried and Robin Williams in the past but I will admit his Mushu character felt a bit more tacked on for laughs here than integral to the story like Iago and Genie in “Aladdin” or even Timon and Pumba in “Lion King” were.  Also, there’s a totally out of place rap at the end.  I WISH I SAW THIS AS A KID (Streaming on Disney +).

This week, I have a mostly free schedule.  I kinda love the writing every night schedule.  It’s a bit lonelier than the days of doing stand up all the time (I am with Anna but focused on trying to write as much as I can every day), every but also kind of exciting.  Feels good to finally get to projects that had been rattling around in my head for years.

Umm, my apologies for another grab at self promotion but you read this far, so let’s do.  If you want a little self promotion for yourself or a project of yours, I would love to write A Profile About You.  Seriously, hit me up.  

Don’t be shy. 

01.) James Mac Profile https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/james-mac-is-literally-a-comedy-veteran-a3bd4a8149c0

Comedy Stray Notes September 6, 2020

• In the early part of quarantine, you know, the post “Tiger King” but pre “Last Dance” era of quarantine, my Mom sent my wife Anna Paone and me a surprise gift.  It was a “100 Movies to See Before You Die” poster.  The thing is you couldn’t see all the little logos of each movie; you had to scratch them off.  I hung it up.  A month or two later, I became obsessed with scratching these small squares.  I would treat myself to a scratch when I needed a mental break from work or just a moment of boredom.  After awhile, I thought, “There’s a sketch here.”  I compiled a list of things I thought was funny about the poster and then just wrote the thing.  Pals Dave Stolz and Barak Ziv swooped in with punch ups and soon after Anna and I shot the short on a whim on a Sunday.  It was perhaps my fattest day of the year; this sketch does not portray me in a flattering light.  Hopefully, this serves as a great “before” photo for me someday.  Anyhow, this is easily one of the best pieces Anna and I have done (and it’s only 2:47 long!).  It feels uniquely personal because it’s actually something going on in my life and if you watch, you’ll understand how it puts us in literally vulnerable positions.  If this all sounds like I’m being intentionally vague, it’s because I am.  I don’t want to spoil the bit here which is actually the title of the thing.  Your curiosity piqued yet?  Good.  You’re going to have to travel all the way to the comments to find out what this bit is.  See you there.

• It’s been inspiring to see Anna Paone and Catherine Lamoreaux’s Dragonfly shows produced EVERY single Tuesday of quarantine.  They rehearse every Monday at 5 PM EST and put on the show the following day at 8 PM EST like clockwork.  You’d think they would run out of steam but it seems like they’re really just getting started; in fact, this week, they were nominated for "Best Production of an Original Play" by the NJACT Perry Awards.  On a smaller scale, this week’s production of three short plays over Zoom was my favorite they’ve done yet.  From the first one starring the versatile Abraham Ntonya (Arizona State’s Daniel Day-Lewis circa 2009-11) as a sad sack who can’t get anything going to be inspired by his sister to the second one-act starring my friend, the comic Josef Anolin as a 16-year-old(!) awkwardly chatting with a stranger who turns out to be an age appropriate 16-year-old girl.  This play hit me like a ton of bricks because of one exchange in particular.  The two leads attempt to encourage each other to follow their passion (art and video games) but both are too insecure to actually follow through on these dreams.  Amazingly, this was written by a 16-year-old(!) who captured something about humanity that I’d never really been able to externalize: it’s a lot easier to be the metaphorical cheerleader than the quarterback.  Still, thinking about this insight and wished I wrote this well when I was 16, let alone 32.  Finally, Catherine Lamoreaux, the artistic director herself, starred in the finale as a woman set up on a date who brought friends along to lighten the mood.  It was a funny palate cleanser to finish off the night.  Looking forward to seeing what the company brings us this next Tuesday.  

• Time really flew this week so I didn’t get much of a chance to binge watch a ton of stuff like I like to BUT I did catch a few movies and podcasts of note:

“I’m Thinking Of Ending Things” (2020): All of quarantine, I’d been looking forward to September 4.  Like every film nerd out there, I’m obsessed with Charlie Kaufman.  Every movie of his seems to explore a part of my untapped mind that I didn’t even know was full of rich, profound, comedic potential.  In his latest, the logline is deceptively simple.  A proudly boring know-it-all Jesse Plemons takes his spunky, apprehensive girlfriend Jessie Buckley to meet his parents (a jittery Toni Collette and an unbelievably inappropriate and exquisitely alive David Thewlis in the performance of the year) out in the country at their farmhouse.  Of course, nothing is “quite right.”  Why not?  What seems like an uncomfortable “meet the parents” scenario is much weirder, pricklier and darker than anything I’d ever expect.  Still, there are moments of comic sui generis like a reading of Pauline Kael’s review of “A Woman Under The Influence” accompanied by a Buckley impersonation, a throwaway jab at Robert Zemeckis, an extended homage to “Oklahoma” (I’ll be honest, I haven’t seen “Oklahoma;” Anna explained this to me) and a meditation on art needing “sad subjects” in them to portray sadness.  When it’s over, you’ll read think pieces and come away shocked at what the movie is really about.  He doesn’t spell anything out.  Pretty audacious to employ a twist that viewers won’t even understand on first viewing.  Not saying anything else; in fact, I’m leaving out my most choice observation on the movie out of respect for people that haven’t seen this thing yet.  IF YOU NEED A MOVIE TO SEE FIVE TIMES TO TRULY “GET IT” THIS IS THE BEST 2020 HAS TO OFFER (Streaming on Netflix).

“Inkheart” (2008): Anna’s been trying to get me to see this favorite of hers for a really long time.  I’ll admit I fell asleep the first time we watched when we started it at like 10:30; to be fair, I haven’t started a movie at 11 PM and finished it since like 2013.  So, the second time we started much earlier and it went down easy.  Sure, this is a somewhat confusing movie about a book binder played by Brendan Fraser (wish there was a “Harry Potter” homage like, “You’re a book binder, Mo,” yes, Fraser’s character is named Mo) who can make stories come to life by reading them aloud but it has its charms.  There’s a fairly compelling story in here about how you can tear your family apart with a mistake, in this case, the mistake is that Fraser inserted his wife into the titular “Inkheart” and she’s stuck in the literary curiosity called “Inkheart.”  When I say literary curiosity, I mean it.  That’s what is really holding this thing back from being a rollicking good time- the story within the story is a mystery to the uninitiated- it’s hard to care for a narrative we were barely introduced to at all.  If they had used a fairytale we all know and love, this would have been a much easier pill to swallow.  ANNA’S REMAKE IS GOING TO BE WAY BETTER (Streaming on HBOMax).

“The Outsiders” (1983): Like most fanatics, I have a list of movies I want to see that I’ve never quite gotten around to that pretty much everyone else saw as kids while I was watching “Power Ranger” reruns.  This list grows every day.  However, “The Outsiders” has been at the top forever.  This week, I vowed to give it a looksy to at long last learn the origins of “Stay gold, pony boy.”  Based on a children’s novel and recommended to Francis Ford Coppola by a librarian to make it into a film (the world’s most influential librarian), it’s a fun period tale about the poetic bad kids that get mixed up in accidental murders and epically-scaled fights between hundreds of teens toward the end.  What’s truly amazing about this movie is to see all the famous faces of the 90s as youngsters from Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Ralph Macchio (who honestly steals the show by demonstrating that these “toughs” are not invincible), Diane Lane, a slightly older Swayze, fricking C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez and...Tom Waits.  I didn’t love it but I did love every time Coppola decided to throw on Van Morrison’s “Gloria” just for the hell of it.  IT’S COOL AND WORTH THE CURIOSITY FACTOR BUT THIS ISN’T GOING TO BLOW YOUR MIND (Streaming on Amazon Prime for $3.99).

“Danny Roane: First Time Director” (2006): I’m sorry but I’m an Andy Dick fan (yes, he is very problematic though; can’t erase that).  I can’t help it; he’s one of those fearless comics that is more than willing to go way farther to humiliate himself than the rest of us pretenders.  I stumbled across this bizarro “bottom of the Best Buy DVD bin circa 2008” type movie while browsing the comedy section of Hulu one day.  I had no idea Dick directed and starred in a movie way back when.  Threw it on my queue.  Then, when I went back to watch it was gone.  Forced myself to rent it on Prime to see if it was worth it.  Well, this just about 80-minute feature (pretty much the bare minimum to qualify as a feature) was worth it.  I laughed quite a bit at Bob Odenkirk’s shady producer that financed Dick’s half idea for a film, Ben Stiller’s sensitive former co-star that refused to act with Dick’s Danny Roane in his movie (I will say they go for some shamefully easy racist jokes that would make them wince today) and the titular Danny Roane who really had no idea what he was doing making a serious film.  More than anything, this movie is a guide on how not to make a movie.  Still, it’s packed with great film jokes like, “We’ll fix that in post,” said to the editor who repeatedly tells him the footage is unfixable, a very funny song about the perils of addiction sung by Anthony Rapp from “Rent” that can’t be fixed and a hilarious button at the end where the horrible film is accepted into the National Society of Jewish Women’s Film Festival (although once they show the movie, it loses a bit of the joke).  Honestly, this short feature has more to say about the mishandling of post-production than the making of.  IT’S SORT OF A HIDDEN COMEDY GEM (Streaming on Amazon Prime for $3.99).

“You Made It Weird” with Heidi Gardner: A quick admission- I’ll only listen to a podcast if I like the guest or am curious about what they have to say.  I’m not loyal enough to any podcast to listen to every single episode.  Most weeks, I’ll click into the “You Made It Weird” page on Wednesday and say, “Pass.”  This week, I stopped what I was doing right away to hear more about my current favorite SNL cast member to learn more about her.  She and Pete Holmes had a fairly entertaining sub-two hour conversation about a “snack draft” (Gardner and her friends literally held a draft for snacks and it genuinely sounded like a great time), how children have to do complex emotional work keeping their parents happy (at least they felt that way) and how you still have bad days even if you get your wildest dreams (apparently, working at SNL isn’t a cakewalk).  The best part of the whole thing is when Gardner said she often told her Mom as a kid that “God’s last name isn’t dammit.”  Wholesomeness like that never fails to get me.  

One note about this podcast: Pete Holmes mentions that he’s “connecting” with Heidi so many times that it’s painful.  Good lesson here- don’t talk about how good the conversation is; the listener will know.

• Saw a trailer for “The Comeback Trail” on my lunch break at work this week.  Tweeted that it looked like Robert De Niro was doing an impression of Marc Maron.  Yeah, I’ll admit I tagged Maron to see if he would catch it.  Of course he did.  This trick has worked twice now!  Folks, if you want the attention of a celebrity you like, Tweet a sincere, unique compliment and tag them.  You just might get their ear.

• Classic quarantine week planned this week.  That translates to I’ve got pretty much nothing going on.  I don’t even mind.  See ya in a week with more nonsense.

Don’t forget!  Watch that sketch.  It’s literally right below this.  Promise it’s worth your time.

01.) “100 Movies To See Before You Poop”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gswI7tMPhcY&list=PLoBsCsHJsKMrx6cuZ4Se8CQ_QBfOUcJ5U

02.) Dragonfly’s production: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1165463943848817&extid=wqdKKL5c6HXdTNjJ

03.) “You Made It Weird” with Heidi Gardner: http://youmadeitweird.nerdistind.libsynpro.com/heidi-gardner

04.) Marc Maron Tweet: https://twitter.com/marcmaron/status/1301974851456958464

Comedy Stray Notes August 30, 2020

• I was nearing the end of this week and thinking, “Damn.  I might have the least amount of stuff to write about of all time this week.”  Yes, this was a legitimate fear I had on a Thursday.  My problems are small.  Luckily, a few things came up to exacerbate this minor issue.  The first was a complete and total surprise.  A stranger with TWO followers on Twitter (I believe I was their second) messaged me saying they had found my Tweet about unemployment (“Only took me two hours of being unemployed for my Dad to suggest coding classes again”) on Buzzfeed.  That made sense because it had been getting a few random favs here and there even though I wrote it in mid-March.  I annoyingly asked said stranger if they would send me a link.  They cheerily agreed to do so.  To my surprise, there I was in the middle of a great list of Tweets about unemployment by the OG Tim Unkenholz.  Put a little spring in my step to have been included in such a great compilation of comics’ Tweets.  Unbelievably, this happened a second time this week too.  My old friend Nick Adkins reached out and let me know that he spotted a Tweet of mine on The Chive in another listicle about “You know you’re getting old when Tweets.”  Mine was “I know I’m getting old because I just said, “Nice, Diane Keaton’s in this.’”  It’s interesting to me that these sites curate Tweets into fun lists and give folks a little boost; I got a few new followers out of both.  I love that they use their platform to credit comics for jokes; the internet ain’t so bad after all.  Even better, now we can all enjoy a little more Diane Keaton-based humor thanks to this.

• Ron Howard’s putting on an open call screenplay competition for four different genres this summer through fall.  I’m happy to say I received my first rejection this week for my script “C World” that was written and conceived with Chris Crespo.  The competition was looking for “action/adventure” films and our script was more of a “satirical Biblical allegory about corporate greed at a fictional amusement park culminating in a Civil War” but I still submitted because why not?  To enter the competition is free which is nice but they really weed people out by making applicants write nine (!) pages worth of questions about their project to even submit.  I had to write a frickin’ paragraph on my antagonist’s arc.  That’s a lot to ask.  Still, thanks to this program I have completely revised and updated two feature-length screenplays of mine that I thought I would never touch again.  At the outset of the pandemic I didn’t plan on doing any revisions, just wanting to create new stuff, and now I’ve done overhauls on two 90-page stories.  Thanks, Ron Howard.  You’re making me work for free but I’m glad I am.

• While not revising a screenplay of my own this week, I cleared my mind and took in the following: 

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland (2011): I loved everything about Patton Oswalt’s book “Silver Screen Fiend” and I couldn’t wait to devour this slight hardcover collection of essays and oddities.  It didn’t hit in quite the same way as the last one.  The book drips with cynicism about...everything.  Many stories are about the vapidity of people from his hometown/advertising/people from LA rather than a probing curiosity about what makes people tick.  Still, there’s no need to write this quick read off completely.  A passage about a Hell gig in Canada when Patton was new to headlining was a genuine page turner (if not, also incredibly pessimistic and a bit victim blame-y).   One short chapter written as a graphic novel is basically “What We Do In The Shadows” lite before the film or show existed (it’s two vampires bickering about who gets to gnaw on a human’s neck), another brief one is extremely pretentious punch up notes for what sounds like the dumbest screenplay of all time.  Brilliant.  I loved his ode to Dungeons and Dragons as well.  In fact, he penned an extraordinary poem about his character that’s worth the price of admission (got it for like $2.00 on Amazon).  Paging through, you also get a separate entry about the different kind of hack 80s headliners that is less funny than it is mean-spirited and of course the title chapter about zombies, spaceships and wastelands, breaking down what kind of nerd you are based on which genre you fancied the most.  Felt like lesser Chuck Klosterman (snobbiest thing I’ve ever written right there).  Also, there’s a few slurs written in here that would not fly by 2020 standards at all.  So, yes.  It’s all over the place.  That’s what collections are.  I’d say this is for die-hard Patton fans and not a great entry into his oeuvre.  Finally, one last note!  Most of the chapters conclude with a short review of everything Patton browsed while writing said chapter like “the trivia section of the IMDb page of ‘The Breakfast Club.’”  The voyeuristic nature of these asides gave the book a fresh air and an insight into the human mind- we might be writing but rarely are we actually thinking about what we write; more often than not, the mind wanders.  

“Undone” (2019): Rafael Bob-Waksberg, the brain behind “Bojack Horseman” was given free rein to create a show on Amazon and this one is a doozy.  Employing rotoscope animation like “Waking Life” and far less comedy than “Bojack,” this eight-episode series is about free-spirited/depressed schoolteacher Alma’s life post-car crash.  She magically survives and begins communicating with her dead father (played with gravelly Bojack-ness by Bob Odenkirk) in moments where she slips out of consciousness and can see through time and space.  The overarching A-story here is that she needs to find out who murdered her father (which is actually almost the exact same story as “Upload” Amazon’s other new “comedy”).  This leads to many disorienting, non-linear but grounded scenes that make a little sense and then upon reinspection later in the episode are explained.  The B-story with Alma’s sister getting married and her sabotaging it by planting her in a game where they have to kiss teemed with comic tension.  The C-story with her boyfriend is just as tense and fantastical.  Essentially, it’s a messier “Groundhog Day” but one where every frame looks like a gorgeous painting and you have less of an idea of where it’s going.  IF YOU LIKED THE HEAVINESS OF BOJACK AND A DASH OF METAPHYSICAL SCI-FI, THIS IS THE SHORT SERIES FOR YOU (Available on Amazon Prime).

“Come To Daddy” (2020): There was an article in The AV Club (yeah, I’m a daily reader) recommending this new release that didn’t make a ton of noise upon theatrical distribution.  I wrote it off as dull horror.  That is not the case at all (thanks, AV Club for showing me the way here).  This is a wild story, that if not for “Parasite” existing, people would be calling visionary.  Here, we take a much simpler route to the action than in “Parasite.”  Off the top, the audience follows a bowl-cut sporting Elijah Wood to a remote beach home in the middle of nowhere.  His estranged father allegedly wrote him a letter to come see him.  Upon meeting, their differences are clear.  Wood is a materialistic, spoiled Millennial who lies about being friends with Elton John (this scene early in the movie is a standout and you guessed it, TEEMS WITH COMIC TENSION- my new go to phrase).  What follows in this film is not the weird, father-son dynamic being wrung for more laughs.  It’s much more sinister and unexpected.  This is the rare movie that keeps zagging when you expect it to zig.  Halfway in, I had no idea where we were going to end up which is the best feeling you can have as a viewer.   IT’S DARK, DIRTY, GOES TOO FAR AND WORTH YOUR TIME (Available on Amazon Prime).

“Down and Out In Beverly Hills” (1986): I am guilty of judging movies by their posters.  Judging a book by its cover is unfair but for a movie it’s justified, I think.  This soulful movie had the absolute wackiest marketing materials so it seemed like a silly romp.  Don’t get me wrong, this movie kind of is and reads as very preachy in 2020.  Still, impressive for 1986.  This flick tells the story of a homeless con man played by Nick Nolte who ingratiates himself in a well to do family made up of Richard Dreyfuss (basically playing a more laid back version of his character in “What About Bob” which is eerily similar), Bette Middler and their children.  Nolte lies through his teeth making up stories to endear himself to these well-meaning, out of touch suckers.  He gets them all to realize all of their dreams- to be more laid back for Dreyfuss and for literally everyone else in the family to be sexullay liberated.  Honestly, most of it works.  There’s quite a bit of commentary about how most of the hippies from the 60s became vagrants and others sold out.  I hadn’t ever seen a movie ever fully address this before.  Plus, Little Richard has a wild cameo as a neighbor which is one of the most out of left field surprise stunt casting roles I’ve ever seen.  I had to do a double take the first time he appeared onscreen.  Also of note is the soundtrack.  The movie trades in fairly dramatic scenes that are scored by the cheesiest 80s synth music which makes them unintentionally hysterical.  DON’T JUDGE A MOVIE BY ITS POSTER; IT MIGHT BE NOT HALF BAD (Available on Amazon Prime). 

“An Evening With Beverly Luff Lin” (2018): Everything about this movie looked cloyingly kitschy.  Indie for indie’s sake.  A distant relative of the “Napoleon Dynamite” aesthetic, if you will.  This movie is certainly all of those things and inhabits all of their worst characteristics.  Most notably, they have Craig Robinson as the lead (he plays Beverly) and he grunts his way through the whole performance.  Seriously.  His character mainly just grunts.  It’s supposed to be funny but falls so flat.  I digress though.  This is a bizarre little love square (not triangle) between Aubrey Plaza doing her Aubrey Plaza thing, her husband played by Emile Hirsch who fires her from her job (honestly, a painful scene), Jemaine Clement (a bumbling hitman type whom she kidnaps) and the aforementioned Robinson.  Most of it takes place in an 80s hotel manned by obese employees and inhabited by obese guests.  In fact, that’s a recurring motif in the film.  There’s even a surprising sex scene between two heavy people who are not conventionally attractive not played for laughs.  It felt extremely progressive.  However, that feeling doesn’t last because svelte characters call every overweight person who appears onscreen “fat.”  It’s disappointing.  I won’t lie- there is a great movie hiding in here.  Matt Berry is very funny as Robinson’s platonic life mate and when Robinson and Plaza have quiet moments here you realize bizarre improvised scenes don’t have the comedic power that two comedic titans have just chatting.  So, much fun stuff.  This is a waste of a fantastic cast.  Even the big finale where we see Beverly Luff Lin perform is more anti-comedy than anything truly funny.  One final note!  David Gordon Green, the “George Washington” and “Pineapple Express” director executive produced this movie.  His influence is certainly felt.  I read a long time ago that he wanted to make a movie where all of the extras didn’t have eyebrows for no reason other than to see if audiences noticed.  That’s what this entire thing felt like.  IF THIS WASN’T SO AFRAID OF BEING AUTHENTIC, THIS WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER (Streaming on Netflix).

“Fun Size” (2012): Other than Eugene and Daniel Levy, the most successful Levy in comedy might be Jane Levy.  So, I’ve kept up with her career just in case we meet up at a family reunion of some kind and I can say, “Yeah, I saw ‘Fun Size.’  You were great in that.”  Irrational, yes.  Still, COULD happen.  Anyhow, this is a fun, little movie released by Nickelodeon studios that is a bit more mature than you might expect.  Our lead along with her best friend Jane Levy have the unfortunate task of having to shlep said lead’s little brother (who refuses to talk) around on Halloween night through Cleveland since the Mom played by Chelsea Handler is dating a much younger man and going to a house party with him.  This leads to the movie’s best sequence where Handler needs a moment to herself and walks in on the host parent’s bedroom where they’re reading.  Rather than making it uncomfortable, they bond over tea.  Perfect execution.  Later, Handler has an exceptionally emotional scene where she grieves the loss of her husband with her kids.  Wasn’t expecting such heaviness executed in a way that didn’t feel forced for a kid’s movie.  Also, there’s a nerd teenager wearing an Alexander Hamilton costume which is three years ahead of its time.  This movie may have been the inspiration (I know I’ll be corrected for this). And there’s a pre-“Silicon Valley” Thomas Middleditch from an era where he would show up in any movie that fell into the comedy genre.  He plays a serviceable Thomas Middleditch-type here using the kid to get back with a vengeful ex.  Then there’s Kerry Kenney-Silver and Ana Gasteyer as the love interest’s Moms.  Lots of talent.  Perfect teen comedy if you think you’ve seen them all.  YOU DID GOOD, JANE LEVY.  YOU DID GOOD (Available on Amazon Prime for $3.99).

• Also, of note, I saw Anna Paone rock it in Catherine Lamoreaux’s stirring adaptation of “Tennessee Women For The Vote” in Plainfield, NJ.  Really cool of them to put on a brilliantly staged outdoor reading.  Theater ain’t dead.  It’s just evolving.  

New Charlie Kaufman movie on Netflix this week, folks.  Can’t lie.  I’m stupid excited.

Keep it chill in the chat

01.) Buzzfeed List: https://www.buzzfeed.com/timunken/of-the-most-relatable-tweets-about-being-unemploye-2luzfazr9?bfseed=sodisco&distro_platform=facebook&fbclid=IwAR27DGrMKXHt9_yQe2d45iw_ZFv0m6aEzkqGhyMsP8-Y7Q6Y7mzIyzeELZA

02.) The Chive List: https://thechive.com/2020/08/27/sorry-but-youre-officially-old-if-you-can-relate-to-these-30-photos-2/

03.) Ron Howard’s competition: https://www.imagine-impact.com/

Comedy Stray Notes August 23, 2020

• My wife Anna E. Paone is an auteur; she leaves an indelible print on any of her works that make it unmistakably hers.  Steeped in her influences ranging from YA novels to fast-talking 40s screwball comedies to modern video games mixed with a hint of well-meaning wholesomeness, I can suss out an Anna project easily.  This past Tuesday, I watched as she flexed her writer/director muscles in the debut of her new theatrical Zoom adaptation of the video game “Harvest Moon.”  The story of a young country lad, Jack (gently brought to life by Nick Endo) and his journey into Flower Bud Village is filled with light tongue in cheek touches like distilling characters via humorous single line introductions.  The best of all was the Karen character played with an edge by Laura Paone who opened with, “We’re not here for your pleasure, Jack.  I want to be a dancer and leave this boring town.”  Jack replied, “She’s intoxicating.”  This reading of the original game’s text for a 2020 adult audience both honors and skewers the game all at once.  As a result, each character is a commentary on an archetype; David Rey Martinez as the omniscient, impossibly cheery Mayor and Jordan Scott Huggins as the slurring, surly drunk were two standouts for me as they maximized the comic potential of their lines making these characters pop out of the Zoom and to life.  If this sounds interesting to you, you can watch the intoxicating 30-minute reading at the link below.

• Three new profiles that I love were put up on A Profile About You this week.  It’s amazing that this project endures and exhilarating each time a new profile goes up.  In fact, I’ve been so busy at my temp gig and there’s been so many profiles that I’ve outsourced a few of the profiles to my friend Dave Stolz.  He wrote two that couldn’t be more different.  The first is all about prolific podcaster Joey Dardano; I had no idea about his pod “Help From A Hypocrite” which is a genius concept.  He’ll give advice but also tell you that he might not be the person to dispense wisdom.  Literally everyone should have that disclaimer.  Stolz’s second profile is an-character detailing of The Devil (in this case written in character as Nick Fofonoff) that plays with the format of what a profile can be about a fictional character.  I found myself laughing out loud at this one quite a bit.  My favorite line was, “Although he possesses a unique understanding for the craft, Satan believes what separates him from his comedic contemporaries is his, brand recognition.’”  This is a perfect marriage of a fascinating subject and a writer willing to go there with him.  Finally, I penned a piece on the emerging Kaili Turner who is about to break out (seriously; I’m predicting a huge 2021 for her).  Writing about her comedy was a joy but I loved rehashing the story of her son learning to snowboard.  It was a surprisingly heartfelt and funny detour in her tale that only made me understand her comedy more.  All three of these disparate portraits of young up-and-coming comedic forces can be found in the comments.

• Just a few nerdy observations on TV, specials and movies I saw this week and then I swear you can get back to your regularly scheduled scroll.  

“Upload” (2020): This 10-episode first season was released in early May and at the time, I thought, I would never get around to watching this series.  There was so much to see!  So much to do during the pandemic!  Anyway, I binged this whole thing this week like a snack.  Executive produced by Greg Daniels (Simpsons, King of the Hill, The Office, one of comedy’s Midas Touch guys), the show is about a near future where you don’t have to ever really die; your consciousness can live on through a virtual retirement home (if you have the money for it).  It’s like if “The Good Place” was more a social commentary than a philosophical one.  More than anything it reminded me of the world building in “Downsizing.”  Either way, the possibilities are endless with this universe but the A-storyline they chose is about a wealthy developer who MAY (yeah, he probably was) murdered in a self-driving car accident.  He’s put in this virtual world by a doting, materialistic girlfriend and he falls for the kind hearted customer service representative who's by his side every step of the way (they’re called angels).  The love triangle and storyline is semi-gripping but I’m here for the potential clues to what the future will be like.  It’s almost my favorite kind of joke writing formula- “What will the future bring?  This is what I think.”  Here’s a few I picked up on that were funny: an “Oprah/Kamala 2024” campaign poster (mind you, this was released in May); the people that can’t afford the virtual world are sent to live in the 2 GB world that has a lot less definition; funerals are essentially after parties and show random memories from your iPhone (also, your friends bail after ten minutes); you only have certain access to tastes in this after world (they eat to maintain a sense of normalcy or else they go insane) and when umami is added to their taste profile it’s like an upgrade; since they live in a virtual existence they’re paying for beyond the grave, pop up ads are everywhere AND finally when you can no longer afford the virtual world, you are given back to your family as a hard drive.  Won’t spoil how that last bit is paid off.  The sad thing is I kind of doubt this show will get a second season (it has that feel of trying to imitate the best of prestige TV as much as I liked it) BUT IT’S A WORTHY WAY TO SPEND FIVE HOURS (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

Ilana Glazer’s “The Planet Is Burning” special: I remember when this was released and got quite a bit of hate online.  Yes, Glazer panders to her audience (if I had a rabid fanbase, I would do the same thing, sue me) but she is a fantastic, lively performer.  Her material is a bit surface level here sounding more like complaints at brunch about the politicians in power and the differences between men and women but there was a brief interlude about how she differs from her character on the show that I found revealing and inspired.  She said when she has weed delivered, she sits in the closet scrolling Instagram while her husband takes care of the transaction for her.  IF HER NEXT SPECIAL IS MORE ABOUT THIS SIDE OF HER, IT’LL BE A CLASSIC (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

“Spirited Away” (2001): Every single “Best Of” list has this animated Miyazaki original on it and it bugs me every time I see it on a list because it’s a reminder I haven’t sat down to watch it yet.  This week, I remedied that.  I liked it.  Moments I loved.  But this was not the all-out visionary classic I was expecting based on the love it gets everywhere.  Yeah, the “Wizard of Oz” or “Alice In Wonderland-esque” hero’s journey is charming and there are certainly striking visuals.  It just didn’t move me.  Maybe I’m just old and boring now.  Anyhow, I did absolutely love the background details Miyazaki threw in the mix.  Completely absurd, overweight creatures that just exist.  He doesn’t draw attention to them; they’re extras.  Your eye may stray from the main action and imagine a world in which one of these beautifully rendered monsters is the hero.  That attention to detail is something you only get in animation and I applaud Miyazaki for putting in the extra work (even if I’m cranky about the whole thing; it might have something to do with my heightened expectations).  Also credit for the unbelievably powerful shot revealing that Chihiro’s (the hero) parents had morphed into pigs upon eating found free food.  It’s one of those images burned into my mind long after the rest of the movie has faded from view.  I’M GLAD I SAW IT AND SHOULD HAVE TEMPERED MY EXPECTATIONS (Streaming on HBO Max).

“Robin Hood: Men In Tights” (1993): One of the many weird gaps in my moviewatching history.  It’s been on streaming for as long as streaming has existed but I always skip past it for some reason.  Well, I woke up early this Saturday and said, “Why not?”  Clicked play and found your standard-fare Mel Brooks.  Self-referential gags (I counted three; one where he name checks himself, one literally stealing a joke of his from “Young Frankenstein” and a third referencing “Blazing Saddles” PLUS he cameos as a Rabbi who specializes in circumcision), visual bits (a king played by a miscast Richard Lewis using a beeper to close the gate of his castle was my favorite), puns (none worth mentioning) and parody (an extended Don Corleone bit with Dom DeLuise was a bizarre, unnecessary detour).  I’m torn about this movie.  I’d never seen the Robin Hood it was based on but it felt an awful lot like the superior “The Princess Bride” down to Cary Elwes in the lead.  It’s fascinating to see a young Dave Chappelle in action and a few sped-up old-timey jokes like a blind man accidentally battling a wooden pole then sawing it down and an archery contest where the arrow miraculously goes under the crowd unwittingly leading them to doing the wave made me laugh really hard and I’d put them with the best of his work.  Other misogynistic and racist bits made me cringe.  Also, Patrick Stewart and Isaac Hayes deserved way more than glorified walk on roles.  OVERALL, IT’S A MIXED BAG WITH MORE GOOD THAN BAD  (Streaming on Hulu).

Got quick socially distant hangs in this week with Matt Fishman and his fiancee Morgan Miller and then one the next day with Ben Miller (not related to the best of my knowledge).  Made life feel normal again.  I want more of this.  If you’re in the Queens/Astoria area, Anna Paone and I are down to just hang.  

From afar.  

01.) Anna E. Paone’s “Harvest Moon” reading: https://www.facebook.com/DragonflyMulticulturalArts/videos/638941153422421

02.) Joey Dardano Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/joey-dardano-used-to-be-so-smart-what-happened-to-him-f8b7cc3b0a79

03.) Devil Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/my-date-with-the-devil-c97d934522ab

04.) Kaili Turner Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/kaili-y-turner-is-making-comedy-for-2020-bf02357df636

Comedy Stray Notes August 16, 2020

• Comedy festivals are an incredible amount of work.  As a participant in a few, I watched producers work tirelessly promoting shows they weren’t performing in, procuring merch bags for participants (in Detroit, they gave me Faygo which was an excellent touch) and managing personalities large and small.  Not only is it tireless, it seems thankless as well.  You have to respect the selflessness of those in comedy who pour through audition tapes, book shows and ensure they all go smoothly.  Even more impressive is that folks would expend the effort to put on a virtual festival for comics.  I’ve started seeing ads for a few online but this week, I actually did my first one, The Burbank Comedy Festival, put on by Flappers, an LA club I’ve never been to.  I was told they serve excellent pizza at the club should I ever go.  Anyhow, here’s a quick recounting of the two shows I did that were honestly pretty representative of the comedy festival experience: the first one, on Wednesday, was sparsely attended (just being real here, folks).  I believe there were five audience members (one was my Dad Andy Levy) and one comic didn’t show.  Since the comics were only doing tight five minute sets, the show legitimately only went 35 minutes.  It was over in a snap.  Still, it was done rather professionally.  All the comics showed up early to test sound, we all had consistent virtual backgrounds, there was a prerecorded video to open the show which made it feel like we were in a club and a showrunner in addition to a host.  They actually really put the time in.  The second show was a bit different.  Since the festival is on the West Coast, some of the shows are really late for East Coasters.  In fact, this one started at 12:30 AM for me.  Somehow, this was the biggest stand up crowd I’d seen on Zoom though.  20 or so people.  Since my Dad was watching a second time, I wanted to do new material I hadn’t tested (yes, I treated a fest set kind of like a mic) and I’ll admit it, I had a fairly weak set.  It ended on a fun note when I revealed that Anna was sitting behind me the whole time and she entered the frame.   As for it being a weak set, I told myself, “This is just a quiet crowd.”  Nah.  They were rowdy, ready to laugh and just waiting for better material.  I found this out when New York-based comic Onika McLean tore up the room doing an impression of people that crowd the Zoom frame and those that sit really far away.  Then, headliner Don Friesen peppered physical gags into his joke-heavy, assured set like popping in and out of frame.  Zoom comedy is evolving as a medium and it’s exciting to see its growth; it’s almost like what I imagine seeing “talkies” was like in the late 20s/early 30s.  We don’t just have to sit and talk to our cameras; it’s time to play with the mise en scene and reinvent what a set can be with all the tools a camera and our homes give us.

• The profile business is still chugging along.  This week, I published a piece on one of my favorite working comics, Erik Terrell.  On this one, I’d say come for Erik’s comedy war stories but stay for the excellent tale of how he met his wife.  I won’t spoil it.  Check the link in the comments to read all about this rising star.

• I watched an embarrassing amount of TV, stand up specials and movies this week.  Here they are in rapid fire succession:

“The Comedians” (2015): I remember somewhat abhorrent reviews for this show when it was released a few years back.  Man, reviews are toxic.  You see one or two one or two-star reviews and you immediately think that something has no value.  I’m glad I got around to seeing this show that feels like an artifact of what being “woke” meant in 2015.  Let’s start at the beginning though.  The mockumentary is about a fictional FX show within the show starring Billy Crystal and Josh Gad as co-stars on “The Billy and Josh Show.”  The season runs the gamut of stories about diversity hires, staff writers transitioning (to be fair, this was handled pretty poorly), entertaining what they think is a Make A Wish kid,  a dual arrest, hiring humorless directors and a finale where they are excited to be premiering after “Louie.”  Still, the stories are not what makes this show special.  I loved it for two main reasons: 1.) the relationship between Crystal and Gad is genuinely fascinating highlighting their generational differences (weed is much stronger now and is touched upon often) and their blossoming, awkward friendship.  They’re both incredible actors and this show is a wonderful showcase for their talents.  2.) the sketches from the show within the show.  Sure, most of them were silly but Crystal and Gad sold the Hell out of them.  I especially liked the one about the pitcher and catcher who are in a relationship but continue to talk through their gloves at the mound.  THIS SHOW IS ABOUT AS INSIDE BASEBALL AS YOU CAN GET, AND THAT’S WHY I LOVED IT  (Streaming on Hulu).

“What We Do In The Shadows” (2019): Comedy nerds Sam Zelitch, Carole Harris and Hans Harris had been recommending this half hour series to Anna and me forever.  I liked the movie alright when I saw it two or three years ago but it didn’t leave a huge impression on me.  Eventually, we caved and completely fell in love with this sitcom. Like the above, it’s a mockumentary that originally aired on FX, but it’s really unlike any mockumentary that’s come before it (other than the film it’s based on).  Four vampires, Lazslo, Nadja, Nandor and Colin Robinson live in a home that comes to life only at night in Staten Island aided by their familiar Guillermo who acts as their glorified intern.  The show trades in high concept bits such as an energy vampire (Colin Robinson masterfully played by Mark Proksch- seriously one of the most underrated character actors ever) who drains the life out of people with mundane conversation; hypnosis going too far and completely erasing one’s memory (the Super Bowl episode in Season Two is a perfect 22 minutes of comedy) and feasting on virgins that they seek out.  On top of all that, this show tells an amazingly compelling and moving story that has a narrative arc not entirely dissimilar to “Breaking Bad.”  Anna and I were sad when we finished the second season.  The two of us anxiously await a third season.  EVEN IF YOU HATE FANTASY OR HORROR, YOU WILL LIKE THIS.  THAT’S HOW GREAT IT IS (Streaming on Hulu).

Hannibal Buress’ “Miami Nights” special (2020): Hannibal’s new free hour starts with him doing well at an open mic in grainy footage that appears to be 20 years old or so.  It showcases what all already know: He’s been a natural from the very start.  That assuredness bleeds into the hour (which does have ads throughout; as he explains, he’s gotta make a buck) which had some daring technical achievements sprinkled in to give it a new flavor.  Said effects were put into motion by a wall with graphics behind him that acted almost like his hype man tagging his jokes.  For example, early in the hour, Hannibal fakes his death with a heart monitor beeping behind him.  This gives the bit a visual element that makes this feel more like an event and less like a casual hour that Hannibal just taped one night.  I appreciate the showmanship.  Other standout moments include Burress trying out auto-tune, a news report detailing his arrest that he rewinds a few times for emphasis and a finale detailing his arrest in Miami (hence the title).  I laughed loud and often.  Also, I watched the credits closely.  If you’re interested, Hannibal shares his NBA 2K gamer tag toward the end in fine print.  HANNIBAL IS FIVE YEARS AHEAD OF EVERYONE ELSE WITH SPECIALS; CHECK THIS OUT TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE (Streaming on YouTube; link in the comments).

Maria Bamford’s “Weakness is the Brand” special (2020): Bamford, no stranger to innovative specials, plays it relatively safe here other than the occasional fourth-wall breaking aside to the camera addressing the viewer at home.  Still, just because it’s not formally adventurous doesn’t mean that this isn’t an absolutely brilliant hour.  Maria goes hard tackling non-profits that refuse to pay her to perform (gotta say, I’m on her side), Netflix treating the extras on her set poorly and what it’s like to be a celebrity on a celebrity chef show (she worked alongside La Toya Jackson; her impression is hysterical even if you’ve never heard La Toya’s voice).  Maria concluded the set by bringing her husband onstage to sing “The Saturation Song” with her about how to mellow out when in the middle of a huge fight.  Not only was this hour funny, it was one that made me feel like I understood my own self and values better.  BAMFORD IS OPERATING ON A DIFFERENT PLANE (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

“An American Pickle” (2020): Simon Rich, this film’s screenwriter, is one of the greatest living American humorists.  Take for instance, his seminal, over too soon show “Man Seeking Woman.”  In it, he practically invents a new kind of comedy, one where a date with a troll is actually with a literal troll.  Or when you hear your ex is dating someone horrible and it’s a 100-year-old Hitler played by Bill Hader.  Or the one where a military team treats sending a text after receiving a phone number like a national emergency.  This extreme literalism made for some of my all-time favorite gags and I couldn’t believe my luck when I heard he was adapting one of my favorite short stories of his, “Sell Out” AND it would be starring Seth Rogen playing two versions of himself.  Well, as I’ve learned time and again, the things I get most excited for in life, often disappoint me the most.  If you go into this film with modest expectations, you may be pleasantly surprised because it really is an ingenious fish out of water premise.  Basically, Rogen plays Herschel, an immigrant from the made up Schlupsk in the early 20th century.  The sequences here are beautifully shot and have a Pixar-like poignancy.  Once in New York, while working at a pickle factory, he falls in a vat and is sealed shut for nearly 100 years.  When he emerges in 2020, he meets his only living descendant, also played by Rogen, an app developer.  Things start promisingly as they begin to lean on each other but when the movie takes a turn toward something that almost reads like a parody of Trump’s rise, it loses its way.  I’ll admit I was most disappointed because the moments that fell most flat felt like my own writing.  Still, this went by incredibly quickly for a 90-minute film; I was shocked when it was over.  I WISH THERE WAS A SLIGHTLY BETTER VERSION OF THIS FILM (Streaming on HBO Max).

“Hollow Man” (2000): I had no interest in this as a 12-year-old when it was released; it looked scary and kind of dumb.  Having seen it as a 32-year-old, I can confirm it is a little scary and kind of dumb.  Imagine a world where a scientist sex offendor (played coldly by Kevin Bacon) could be...invisble.  That’s pretty much the crux of this movie.  Sure, the effects were really cool but overall this felt incredibly tone deaf and does not hold up in any way.  Not even Josh Brolin or Elisabeth Shue were that good (although I guess it is interesting that the movie’s three leads were all 80s teen stars).  I CANNOT IN GOOD CONSCIENCE RECOMMEND THIS FILM (Streaming on Amazon Prime). 

“Scoop” (2006): Yes, I am the guy that has seen nearly every single thing Woody Allen has done.  I’m sorry.  I can’t help it.  This was one of my few gaps in his oeuvre, so I made it appointment viewing this week.  It’s a pleasant caper about a recently-deceased journalist who gets a scoop beyond the grave.  He delivers it to a young, impressionable student played by Scarlett Johanssen and she teams up with the Wood man (playing a crowd pleasing magician) to stop...Hugh Jackman.  Never thought I’d see two Marvel stars in a movie with a guy who has made the least action films of all time but here we are.  It’s midding late Woody; nothing spectacular but not a horrible movie either.  You have to make quite a few logical leaps to buy into the premise but IT’S A PERFECTLY FINE FORGETTABLE MOVIE (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

“The Beguiled” (2017): I’m almost certain I’ve seen this movie before.  Eh, still wanted to see it again.  This one really got slept on when it came out and deserves all the promotion it can get.  It’s a perfect, mostly one-location period, ensemble chamber piece about a stable of women living together during the Civil War (including Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning).  A Union Soldier (Colin Farrell) stumbles into their lives and attempts to con them into staying longer than he should by wooing all of these ladies of varying ages in different ways.  It’s a slick story well told by Sofia Coppola that morphs from something slimy into a triumphant tale of female empowerment.  FULL OF TWISTS, THIS ONE GOES DOWN SMOOTH  (Streaming on Cinemax via Amazon Prime).

Arkansas (2020): It’s always really exciting for me as a viewer when actors step behind the camera to direct AND act.  This movie, the feature film directorial debut of Clark Duke is an impressive Tarantino rip-off that shows tons of potential.  Featuring a cast of “Oh, yeah!  I forgot about that person!” B-listers, the movie clicks with fast-paced dialogue, a fun story about drug runners who all serve a secretive kingpin (you’ll have to see this movie to find out who it is), a nonlinear narrative split up by chapters (this is where it jumped from a Tarantino homage to ripoff for me) and a few smart, visual bits.  Also, the love interest is played by Josh Brolin’s daughter.  To be fair, she’s a lot better than Brolin in “Hollow Man.”  Even Clark Duke’s brother makes an appearance and is solid in this picture.  I liked he cast his brother; pretty righteous of him.  IF YOU’RE FIENDING FOR SOME NEW TARANTINO, THIS MIGHT BE THE FIX TO GET YOU THROUGH (Streaming on Amazon Prime). 

“Harry and the Hendersons” (1987): Growing up, this VHS box with an ape-looking thing on the cover taunted me when I debated what to check out on my weekly Blockbuster trip.  I wondered, “Will I ever rent this?  Is that an ape?  Is John Lithgow the ape in this?”  The answers to these questions are “I streamed it, that’s not an ape, that’s Bigfoot and Lithgow is the man defending Bigfoot’s right to exist.”  I’d call this movie a charming, less emotional “ET” with a dash of “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” paranoia thrown in for good measure.  Simply put, it felt like a cash grab capitalizing on the “We must incorporate this creature into a society that doesn’t understand him” story.  Lithgow and his family really do commit to loving this Bigfoot though.  It’s honestly weird because he’s kind of a pain.  THIS MAY BE THE LEAST ESSENTIAL MOVIE OF ALL TIME BUT WOULD BE GOOD VIEWING IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO ROAST (Streaming on Cinemax via Amazon Prime).  

Got one little thing coming up this week.  I’ll be making my Dragonfly acting debut on Tuesday night in Anna Paone’s humorous recreation of “Harvest Moon.”  I’ll be playing her suitor.  It’s my dream role.

01.) Erik Terrell Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/erik-terrell-is-a-modern-day-comedy-renaissance-man-10caaad29e16

02.) Hannibal’s “Miami Nights” special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVc4-05Agf0

Comedy Stray Notes August 9, 2020

• I might regret this but I made a sketch about the world famous hacker organization Anonymous.  Already picturing my Dad telling me to take it offline.  Well, for the time being, it is alive and well on YouTube with approximately 15 views.  The video is titled “At Home With A Guy From Anonymous” and stars yours truly as “Guy from Anonymous,”my wife Anna as his girlfriend who just wants to know the man behind that mask and Joey Melton as “guy in elevator who isn’t phased by people wearing Anonymous masks.”   This thing is an homage to a lot of things- a.) Anonymous, b.) Beck and Kyle SNL sketches, c.) “Marriage Story” d.) the wildly underrated “Delocated” e.) the works of Tony Zaret (I’ll admit I stole a lot of his editing tricks here- the guy has impeccable style) and f.) the tone of “What We Do In The Shadows.”  Then, right after I finished editing this bad boy, I watched an episode of “Corporate” that felt a lot like it.  I’m a comedy thief.  Still, I’m very happy with this- it’s 3:14 long and moves along at a really nice clip.  

Also, this is the first time I’ve ever really timed how much time I spent working on a sketch.  I’ll break it down.  IDEATION: About an hour of brainstorming joke ideas I wanted in there with Anna.   ACTUAL WRITING: First draft took about 30 minutes.  When you have all the jokes/structure laid out, it’s kind of easy to just get it all out there.  PUNCH-UPS: Another hour.  My friend Dave Stolz and I texted ideas back and forth for a good chunk of time one day and I did a really helpful rewrite session with Barak Ziv and Shenuque Tissera.  SHOOTING: Two hours.  Did a ton of pickups for the montage sequence.  EDITING: Three hours or so.  Learned how to pitch shift (much easier than expected).  SUBTITLING: Two hours!  Much more time consuming when you have a ton of dialogue and you want to stylize the subtitles so they don’t give away jokes too fast.  TOTAL: About 9.5 hours for a 3-minute sketch.  Kind of like a whole work day.  Not bad.  Would be cool if this was my job.  Anyway, the link is in the comments, of course.  Feel free to let me know if this was a worthy use of my 9.5 quarantine hours.

• I’ve always loved the concept of a spec script show where the screenwriters had never seen an episode of the show they’re writing for.  It’s a perfect canvas to paint comedy on.  Still, I’d never attended or participated in one.  One could say, I could write a Spec Script for a Spec Script show *rimshot*.  Well, that all ended yesterday when I took part in Chris Khatami’s brainchild, reading the part of entitled rich kid Adam Brody in Sarah Kennedy’s poignant coming of age/social satire episode of “The O.C.” (alongside my old “Free Fries” show co-host Veronica Garza who I haven’t seen in a minute) and a shadowy government agent in Jamie Carbone’s sly “Prison Break” spoof that dumbed the show down perfectly exploiting the absurdity of its premise.  The cast was hilarious and Shane Hosea’s perfect, sarcastic line readings of Sarah’s already funny stage directions had me rolling nailing her tone and adding even more to the proceedings.  The link is in the comments and was such a fun time.

• Got a SECOND show in last night hosted by Genevieve Rice and co-produced by O.G. comedy friend Michael Palladino.  Amazingly, Anna and her entire family watched this show.  Too kind- they already knew my bits but they put up with it anyway.  This show, The Birdcage Live, was a zippy showcase of comics I’d seen before and admire (Kwasi Mensah and Robert Buscemi have chops) alongside some comics I am a new fan of like Chad Opitz and Maryjay Berger.  As for me, my set was energetic but not necessarily perfect.  Got a little preachy about “standing up during Zoom shows” which is the worst kind of energy to project but I still did.  In the middle of my performance, as I was doing a joke about scales, I realized, “Damn, I should be a prop comic,” and ran to the bathroom and grabbed a scale for my bit.  Not sure if it added anything but Zoom shows definitely encourage props.  I couldn’t help myself.  This is a slippery slope for me to go down on.  Anyway, if you want to see me run out on my set and return with a scale, the link is a long scroll away.

• A little late to the game here but I finally saw the very funny Ethan SP’s Comedy Cellar set.  The footage taken from this show was one of the final live events in March before New York went full quarantine and his set ultimately sets the tone for what was to come for all of us in quarantine.  Ethan’s comedy is about people trying to be better versions of themselves (which is honestly a very funny concept to explore) which is what we’ve all been doing these past five months.  In this eleven-minute set, he tells relatable stories of folks crying and self actualizing in odd situations like oral sex (yeah, I tried to keep it PG-13 here) and a homeless guy realizing life is not so bad.  I’d say this clip is a perfect distillation of his voice and well worth a watch (you know where to find the link.  It’s in the comments).

• The only outdoor show I’d been to before this week was the extravagant Rebecca Trent produced Michael Che pop-up show a month or two back in Long Island City.  Just hadn’t gotten around to make it out to any others.  However, the most interesting thing I’ve noticed while observing from afar online is just how damn good the lineups for these shows are.  It’s just headliner after headliner.  So, this past Monday, I made it out to my second show of Rebecca’s, at the same location as the last one.  The lineup was out of control but due to scheduling constraints (I gots to get 10,000 steps and make dinner after work- no exceptions), I was late.  Luckily, Anna who came with, and we were still in for a treat.  The show felt like a legit show similar to the days of yesteryear.  Spaced out seats, booming speakers.  Very cool to see the outdoor form has already evolved and been improved upon.  We’re all learning to adapt and this show really has.  Anyway, to the comedy.  We came in right before Jessica Kirson headlined the thing.  I’ve been a fan forever but never had the chance to see her live.  She’s electric.  From lightning quick crowd work to well crafted act outs about the elderly to bits about wanting to do literally anything other than reading her daughter a bedtime story all hit the comedy sweet spot for me.  There’s another show tomorrow with an eclectic lineup of headliners and if you’re interested, there’s info in the comments.

• Here’s a fairly lengthy listing of books, podcasts and movies I completed this week:

“Best.  Movie. Year.  Ever. How 1999 Blew Up The Movies” by Brian Raftery: As a movie nerd, this was one of the most engrossing reads I’ve ever encountered.  Seriously, I spent many nights up until 3 AM not wanting to go to sleep, telling myself I would call it a night after “just one more chapter.”  To quickly summarize, Raftery waxes rhapsodic about 1999 as a year and all the great films were released that year (he argues quite well that it is the greatest movie year ever.  I think he’s right).  There are stories about Brad Pitt and David Fincher on a beach in Mexico ringing in Y2K (this story was so insane it shook me), the rise and fall of Harry Knowles from Ain’t It Cool News (remember that?!), the bizarre existence of the cast of “The Blair Witch Project” who were listed as “deceased” on IMDB so the movie appeared more realistic losing them acting gigs in the process, behind the scenes of “Boys Don’t Cry,” the origin of “Being John Malkovich” and “Magnolia,” plus everything you ever wanted to know about what it was like on the film set for Stanley Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” (there was something like 400 days of filming.  Makes me laugh just thinking about it).  If you’re a fan of movies or are just a pop culture junkie, this book is the perfect 300 page read.  I felt lost when it was over and started my next read.  It just wasn’t the same.  Raftery’s splashy, witty prose is hard to match.  This is a major recommendation.  Link to buy it on Amazon (sorry for promoting Amazon) is in the comments.

“Good One” podcast with Roy Wood, Jr. and Maria Bamford: Got a bit of a nostalgic kick for early April (nostalgic isn’t right; more like “Oh, yeah, that’s what it was like”) listening to this pod recorded at the beginning of quarantine on the state of comedy.  To kick things off, Jesse David Fox has an abbreviated interview with Roy Wood, Jr. who talks about things sort of returning to a sense of normalcy in June.  In a way, he was right.  That was around the time of the advent of outdoor shows.  More interestingly, he predicts an upcoming comedy boom (I hope!) and also what it was like doing comedy on 09/12/2001 (yeah, he did that).  He said, “Back then, people were asking ‘Should I laugh?’  Now, they’re asking, ‘Should I leave the house?’”  I genuinely forgot we were all afraid to even leave our apartments back then.  He eloquently added that, “Comedy is a conversation- I use words, the audience use sounds.” That’s what he misses.  Never heard it put so beautifully.  The Maria Bamford back half of the episode has her talking about what she was doing pre-quarantine, performing for strangers over coffee (literally just one one one for feedback) which is kind of brilliant.  Now, in quarantine, she finds herself eating Easter candy for breakfast (THAT reminded me of April) and how she’s doing Zoom therapy sessions with people (I guess my free comedy therapy thing was not the most original idea in the world after hearing that).  Anyhow, this episode felt like a real time capsule of when we didn’t know what the future held.  We still don’t.  Link below.

“Good One” podcast with Nikki Glaser, Jenny Yang, Nore Davis, Laurie Kilmartin and Jim Gaffigan: This second “comedy in quarantine” follow-up episode has much more quick hit interviews of comics’ varying experiences in lockdown.  Still, it’s more hopeful than the previous installment as this reality has become more normalized.  In this one, Fox speaks with  Nikki Glaser first.  She discusses how, at the beginning of quarantine, she was trying to keep up with others and realized she was addicted to stand up.  Very relatable.  Once you are removed from the scene and are away from the nonstop grinding, you realize you don’t need it as much.  Still, she talks about going to headline at a club in Salt Lake City because others were doing the same and feared being cancelled for potentially getting audience members sick since her mere existence was responsible for them being there for the show.  It was a quick and stirring chat.  Next up, Fox spoke to Jenny Yang who has been doing cosplay stand up shows on Animal Crossing.  I’ve never played but am intrigued.  Honestly, sounds really cool and kind of what it’s like to be at a show except with animated visuals.  Nore Davis was next and talks about being initially apprehensive about doing Zoom shows but now loves them.  I’m with that.  In fact, he put out a quarantine special.  I wouldn’t go that far but it’s cool to see this become a trend and that comics are writing new material at a quick clip.  Conversely, Laurie Kilmartin, the next guest, said all Zoom shows feel the same (OK, that’s fair, there is a sameness to them) but optimistically pointed out that moving to do your set in other parts of the apartment makes it feel like she’s performing in different clubs.  Brilliant.  Finally, Fox talks to Gaffigan (who was his first ever guest).   He discusses the absurdity of doing drive in shows quipping, “They speak to the question- how desperate are you to perform?”  Got a laugh when he said (paraphrasing here), “The first show was bad.  Couldn’t hear any laughs.  Thank God, the people with Range Rovers had their roofs off.”  More power to him for doing new forms of comedy.  Yes, the link is in the comments for this episode as well.

“Project X” (2012): I can’t believe this movie exists.  We all remember the viral marketing campaign and insane stunt parties that followed, right?  It didn’t seem like this was real.  Well, it is.  I’m ashamed to admit that I liked it quite a bit too.  As much as this “punches down,” (and some of it feels genuinely illegal) the leads are charismatic, the setpieces are fantastical and some of the dialogue is sharp in that “Superbad” way that we all stole from 2007-2015.  The story is typical- shy, well meaning kid (Thomas Mann) has the house to himself for his 18th birthday while his parents are out of town.  His brash friend (Oliver Cooper, apparently he went to ASU for a year according to Wikipedia) inspires him to throw an EPIC (remember epic?) get-together.  There are drugs, pyrotechnics, flying dogs and other things that shouldn’t be typed.  I’ll sadly admit I got big laughs out of the young security guards the gang hired that take their jobs very seriously.  The ending is a major let down with loose ends tied together way too easily and one of the dumbest epilogues I’ve ever seen during the credits.  Still, this whole thing is A PERVERSE GUILTY PLEASURE THAT I’LL ADMIT I ENJOYED (Streaming on Cinemax- I’ll admit it; I paid $9.99 for a one-month subscription like a sucker).

“It Started As A Joke” (2020): I’ll always be angry with myself that I never got around to going to the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival.  That’s the type of thing I moved to New York to experience but just never made it out.  Luckily, this artifact exists and I’m so glad it does.  This is a super quick 76-minute documentary featuring alt-comedy legend after legend interspersed with highlights from the Fest that made me feel like I’d been there and also simultaneously nostalgic for great shows.  Midway through the doc, it shifts gears and becomes a bit more melancholy as Mirman and his wife detail her cancer and how they process it.  I was not expecting this film to get so heavy but here we are.  The film shows the progression of Mirman doing material about his wife’s ailment which honestly felt a little strange; he should have been home with her rather than talking about her onstage but I digress.  Anyhow, the film climaxes with a fantastic scene at the final iteration of the Festival and Eugene is onstage talking about his wife’s diagnosis while she watches.  This inspires the following comic Bobcat Goldthwait to do a beautiful tribute to his best friend Robin Williams impersonating him perfectly.  Finally, Jon Glaser (who you may remember from “Delocated”), on the grief material train, tells a beautiful story about his father who he sat with while he was sick.  Glaser ended up crying onstage.  It was extremely moving.  At the end, Mirman’s wife gets a chance to shine too which is a nice touch.  The movie ends up being a love letter to her.  IF YOU LIKE COMEDY DOCS, YOU CAN’T DO MUCH BETTER THAN THIS (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

Stay Tuned (1992): Read about this flick on one of my favorite sites, Slashfilm.  It’s a cool idea for a story where a TV-obsessed man (John Ritter) and his neglected wife (Pam Dawber) are sucked into a television through their cable satellite (I think?) traipsing from channel to channel trying to survive an evil Jeffrey Jones character (the whole time I was thinking, man, Phil Hartman would have been so much better in this role) who wants to kill them for some reason.  The movie has its odd, dated tics too.  It begins with a voiceover from the nerdy son explaining the plot and then he has a reduced role- you can feel the studio saying, “Folks, we need some exposition here!  Let the kid tell everyone what’s going on!”  Then, he compares his Dad to Cosby.  Always good for an LOL.  There are  “Wayne’s World,”  “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Northern Exposure” parodies that are far from relevant (wonder if they even worked in 1992) propped up next to an outdated Salt N Pepa cameo.  I’ll admit I was excited for a brief Don Pardo voice only appearance and an extended Eugene Levy role that he did the most with, that one could.  I love the “going into a bunch of genres of movies” genre (it’s a genre unto itself!) but somehow I just got soft “Truman Show” vibes from this.  THIS MOVIE WALKED SO TRUMAN SHOW COULD RUN (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

Three Stooges (2012): I don’t think there’s a more hit and miss directorial duo in cinematic history than The Farrelly Brothers.  They’ve made sublime comedies like “Kingpin” and “There’s Something About Mary” and they also made this “Three Stooges” reboot(?).  Yes, the committed performances from Will Sasso, Sean Hayes and Chris Diamantopoulos are impressive but this thing falls flat (also, the low-profile names attached to star did not inspire confidence in the movie- the Farrellys should be getting A-listers).  I don’t understand the extended cameos from Sofia Vergara, Larry David, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Hudson and Kate Upton (OK, I get why she did it).  They must have owed a favor?  In any event, this was clearly a passion project, I get that.  I know the Farrellys love their slapstick and this was most likely an attempt to capture the magic of “Dumb and Dumber,” for which I commend them.  It just doesn’t work.  You know, it’s not good when the biggest laughs come from the “Jersey Shore” cast (but man, they act horribly).  Finally, just want to say that using the haunting music of Beirut for the climax is a crime against cinema.  DAMN, I FEEL LIKE ROGER EBERT WITH HOW ANGRY THIS MOVIE MADE ME EVEN THOUGH I COULDN’T MAKE SOMETHING BETTER (Streaming on Cinemax).

The Sugarland Express (1974): In college, I literally took a class on Steven Spielberg (thank you, Joe Fortunato- the course was also about George Lucas), but still there are a few movies of his I’ve never seen.   This curiosity always intrigued me.  This was the movie he made RIGHT before “Jaws” and you can see all his chops on display.  The only things missing are an iconic score and the spectacle of a shark.  “The Sugarland Express” is a ripped from the headlines true story about a young woman (Goldie Hawn) breaking her baby daddy out of jail and taking a policeman hostage along for the ride.  Kinda feels like a less funny “Raising Arizona.”  The expertly shot action sequences and car chases are in full effect right next to a strong lead performance from a young Goldie Hawn (she has a very funny scene where she really has to pee while they’re on the lam).  IT’S NOT “JAWS” BUT YOU CAN SEE HOW IT GOT HIM TO THE NEXT LEVEL (Streaming on Cinemax).

“Altman” (2014): One of the greatest directors of all-time was in desperate need of documentary treatment.  This brief doc (under 80 minutes) is full of talking heads where collaborators share anecdotes and talk about what makes a movie “Altmanesque;”  this is spliced with clips of Altman’s films and tales about what was going on his life when he made them.  There are no real surprises here (other than an opening shot on a beach illustrating an Altman quote that looks more like an amateurish home movie than film) but THIS IS COMFORT FOOD FOR A CINEPHILE.  BASICALLY, IT’S LIKE IF A DIRECTOR GOT A GREATEST HITS ALBUM (Streaming on Amazon Prime).

• Not comedy or film or pop culture for one second!  My Mom’s place of business, Native Health, was featured in the Arizona Republic this week (check the link in the comments).  They’re doing some really innovative things like providing boxes of food to those in need in the community along with virtual classes for young students.  As mentioned before, it’s exciting to see folks adapt to our present situation and truly make an impact.  I’m really proud of my Mom for this.

• I have a surprisingly action packed comedy week for the first time in ages.  I’ll be taking part in Flappers’ Burbank Comedy Festival (yes, my first virtual comedy festival) this coming Wednesday at 8 PM EST and Friday at 12:30 PM EST.  Expect a recap about this in seven days.  It’s coming whether you like it or not.

Finally, one last thing.

Wear a mask.

That’s it.

01.) At Home With A Guy From Anonymous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWvJqL62Ys4&t

02.) Spec Script: https://www.twitch.tv/specscript

03.) Genevieve Rice and Michael Palladino’s The Birdcage Live show: https://www.facebook.com/genevieve.rice/posts/10109291061115937

04.) Ethan SP at the Cellar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOI2N5G2HKE

05.) Rebecca Trent’s Culture Lab show: https://www.facebook.com/ratrent/posts/10158422828325928

06.) “Best. Movie. Year. Ever. How 1999 Blew Up The Movies” by Brian Raftery: https://www.amazon.com/Best-Movie-Year-Ever-Screen/dp/1501175394/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2QNVW8TFNQIKR&dchild=1&keywords=brian+raftery&qid=1596985032&s=books&sprefix=brian+rafte%2Caps%2C132&sr=1-1

07.) Good One Early Quarantine Edition: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/comedy-under-quarantine-with-roy-wood-jr-and-maria-bamford/id1203393721?i=1000470734915

08.) Good One Present Quarantine Edition: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/comedy-under-quarantine-five-months-in/id1203393721?i=1000487056312

09.) Native Health Article about my Mom: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2020/08/06/coronavirus-arizona-covid-19-forced-phoenix-urban-indian-centers-change/5459610002/

10.) Flappers Wednesday 8 PM EST Show: http://flc.cc/I4WS5JF

11.) Flappers Friday 12:30 PM EST Show: http://flc.cc/TOBPBH2

Comedy Stray Notes August 2, 2020

• What’s keeping most of us sane these days are things that we get excited about whatever that may be for you.  Baking, knitting, crossfit, crossword puzzles, writing jokes, screenwriting, whatever scratches the creative itch, I support you.  For me, yeah, I’m writing and consuming way too many movies and books (see the latter part of these notes for evidence) but what gets me most excited is making mashups.  This new 30-minute epic I crafted (yeah, I said “crafted”) this week entitled “I’m In The Club Hollerin’ Somewhere Over The Rainbow” is different from my previous editions in that it has quite a bit of comedic influence woven through.  Yeah, there are songs that wouldn’t tonally match that I would describe as humorous (we got such odd pairings as “Wannabe” by Spice Girls and “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf syncing up TOO well) but I also have actual comedy drops in this one ranging from Beavis and Butthead to Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer to Bernie Mac to “You Might Be A Redneck” to the “1, 2, 10!” guy from “Home Alone.”  Honestly, it’s very fun to jam and hear classic (classic is up to your interpretation here) jokes at the same time.  Yes, this thing is 30 minutes but pop it in now from the link below and listen to it while you read the rest of this.  You just might hear “Baby Shark” in a whole new way.

• I haven’t done old material since March 11.  On the few Zoom shows I’ve done, I restructured Tweets to be said aloud basically which were met with understandably mixed reactions.  However, it’s been so long, I wanted to dust off the old bits I used to love so much.  Thanks to Rebecca Kaplan’s very fun virtual hour-long showcase, I got to get some of the rust off of what I used to love to do on stage (I legitimately had butterflies in my stomach when Rebecca sent me a private Zoom message that read “You’re next”).  It went pretty well, I put my face right up in my webcam, shadowboxed and riffed on the previous comic.  It felt like a return to normal.  The secret?  Standing up.  By sitting at my desk for the first few shows, I lost the physicality.  It really is called stand up for a reason- being on your toes, brings a new energy to a performance.  Also, Rebecca’s audience was spectacular- her Dad fact checked my jokes and after everyone’s set, people had kind words in the chat for all the performers.  I don’t know how live shows are really going but virtual comedy is slowly becoming more sophisticated and I thank Kaplan for the opportunity to let me see that.  Now go flood her DMs asking for a spot.  JK.  Don’t do that.  

• Completed just one profile this week and it’s all about my new friend Bizzy Coy.  She and I met over Twitter and I immediately became taken with her warm writing style.  It was a shock when she reached out to me to write a profile since she’s an accomplished writer in her own right.  As a result, my piece is very self aware and addresses that I’m writing about a superior talent.  In fact, it’s titled, “Bizzy Coy Is A Better Writer Than I Am.”  Highly recommend reading it as it charts Bizzy’s path toward becoming a successful freelance writer.  If that’s something that you’d be interested in, there’s a link in the comments just for you.

• I might have used a second non-family Amazon account to score a second free trial week of Cinemax.  Worth it.  Here are select highlights/brief reviews/sloppily written recounts of what I checked out these past seven days:

“A Thousand Words” (2012): Feel free to think I’m crazy for this (Anna Paone did) but I thought this was a LOT better than “Dolemite Is My Name” as cheesy, ridiculous as this movie is.  For the uninitiated, the high concept story is Eddie Murphy’s book publisher (why do characters always work boring, high powered jobs) character greenlights a book by a sage who teaches him a lesson by only giving him 1000 words before he GASP! DIES!  High stakes indeed.  There are pointless side characters (Kerry Washington plays Eddie’s wife and in one scene where she wants to spice up the marriage, a friend says something about lingerie and tequila never hurting to save a marriage which was the only time she was in the movie), a mixed tone (the whole time I was like, “OK, that’s from the original draft, that’s an Eddie ad lib, that’s a fourth draft to make the story more serious by drawing out Eddie’s Mom’s dementia, that ball joke is a punch up from a comic) and things that make no sense (why does Eddie continue going to work?  Why does he buy a banana split on a boardwalk to eat at one point while walking and this is never commented upon?).  Still, he gives a peak, charismatic performance that reminds you why he’s so damn good to begin with.  NOT ONE OF HIS BEST, BUT YOU MIGHT END UP LOVING IT (Streaming on Netflix). 

“Time Bandits” (1981): Terry Gilliam has always been a “favorite” of mine even though I find some of his stuff really inaccessible.  For some reason, I was always intimidated by this supposed kids film.  This week, I actually plunked down to watch it and it’s pretty fun!  The movie is your classic time travel hero’s journey starring an 11-year-old British kid and a pack of thieving but heroic dwarves.  The ragtag team traipses through history to the Napoleonic era (ironically, Napoleon is far more height-obsessed than the dwarves), to Greece I think and then we meet Robin Hood too.  It’s episodic and basically a less fun “Princess Bride” or if Monty Python didn’t care about being funny (apparently, the dwarves were based on each Python’s personality).  I read the Wiki after and realized I missed quite a bit but I had fun watching.  THERE MIGHT BE NO BILL AND TED’S WITHOUT THIS, GIVE IT A SHOT (Streaming on Cinemax- free seven-day trial on Prime, folks).

“The Dead Don’t Die” (2019): OK, gonna list off the cast of Jim Jarmusch’s zombie film and your jaw is going to drop: Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Iggy Pop, Chloe Sevigny, Tilda Swinton, Tom Waits, Selena Gomez, Carol Kane, Steve Buscemi, Danny Glover, The RZA, Rosie Perez and a few other familiar faces.  It’s like a better version of a Wes Anderson cast.  You’re probably wondering why you didn’t really hear much noise about this fairly recent release.  Well, it’s not Jarmusch’s best (I vote for “Coffee and Cigarettes”) but it is fun with winning performances from all of the above and fun meta jokes throughout.  Still, there is on the nose social commentary about MAGA, global warming and how WE are all zombies with our phones.  Ya know, even Gen X icons like Jarmusch become boomer humorists.  Gotta give credit to Tilda Swinton for killing it and also to Jim Jarmusch for one very funny, running meta bit where everyone is a Sturgill Simpson fan and is aware of a lesser track of his.  Never got old for me.  THIS IS ONE OF THOSE SUBPAR MOVIES THAT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY JUST SEE FOR THE CAST (Streaming on Cinemax).

“Night Shift” (1982): I’d always heard this was the movie that MADE Michael Keaton.  I get it.  He is electric in this flick.  For starters, it’s about a morgue working stiff played by Henry Winkler (yes, the Fonz) who is relocated to, yup, the frickin’ night shift.  He’s paired with wild card Keaton who basically invented Norm MacDonald’s comedic persona with this movie doing “Notes to Self” throughout and the two of them start running a brothel out of the morgue with star woman of the night...Shelley Long.  Yup, wholesome Diane.  You also get to see a young Clint Howard (Ron Howard’s little brother that’s in all of his movies) and Richard Belzer.  It’s honestly very fun throughout (Keaton really does give a star making performance), surprisingly woke in sections (some is incredibly not woke too to be fair) and with all the ad libs feels like the precursor to the Judd Apatow/Adam McKay school of improvised dialogue comedies.  THIS IS A REALLY UNDERRATED, FORGOTTEN CLASSIC (Streaming on Cinemax).

“Reality Bites” (1994): You know those movies you’ve seen parts of but you’d be lying to yourself if you said you’d “seen the movie?”  That’s what this is for me.  I know it’s THE Gen X movie but I’d never seen it all the way through and grasped what it was really about, man.  Glad I finally did.  You get to see a young Janeane Garofalo at the height of her comedic powers, Winona Ryder bratting it up, Ethan Hawke doing the brooding, tortured artist bit, Stiller playing a corporate stiff and Steve Zahn hamming it up as Garofalo’s closeted friend.  There’s also Andy Dick and David Spade cameos.  The movie has a lot to say about a.) generational differences as exemplified in a great scene at a post-graduation dinner with Ryder’s divorced parents and b.) differences between “creatives” and “suits” when Stiller’s exec type botches Ryder’s “visionary documentary” (I preferred Stiller’s version so I must be a sell out).  Anyhow, the movie is really fun for its first ⅔ and the last part turns into a love triangle thing where there really is no right choice for Ryder between Hawke and Stiller.  IT’S A GREAT 90S TIME CAPSULE (Streaming on Cinemax).

“Hollywood Ending” (2002): This, I had seen before.  In fact, I own it for some reason.  I think it’s because I couldn’t find this movie online 15 years ago so I bought it at Best Buy when people still did stuff like that.  Anyway, I popped it into the DVD player this week to watch with Anna and we laughed at the threadbare “let’s make a movie” plot where Woody fumbles through psychosomatic blindness to make a movie while blind and a cinematographer who doesn’t speak English he can’t communicate with.  However, after further inspection, I wondered: Is this movie about Woody’s own blindness toward his actions with the Farrow family and subsequent Soon-Yi marriage?  Kinda doubt it because it ends with the opposite of self awareness as he makes out with a way out of his league Tea Leoni.  Woody’s films are interesting comedically- his movies are SO HIM.  It feels like there are no rewrites, no studio notes from anyone else, everyone is playing a version of him because that’s how he writes roles.  Essentially, his movies are open mic sets.  They don’t have “show polish,” they have a more “let’s see what sticks, this seems fun” vibe to them.  WHAT I’M SAYING IS THIS AND MOST OF WOODY’S LATER WORKS COULD USE A COLLABORATOR AND A BIT OF LOVE AND CARE RATHER THAN FEELING LIKE A TOSSED OFF IDEA HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT THAT MUCH (I own the DVD.  No idea how you’ll find this one unless I just give you the DVD).

I listened to one podcast this week.  I’ll keep this short:

WTF with Seth Rogen: I’ll listen to Rogen talk anywhere.  He’s a live wire, wild card of an interview and is always down to be funny or insightful. Well, this was quite a convo and ended up going semi-viral controversially later in the week.  The conversation starts in a friendly manner doing a live version of the Hanukkah Song where they debate who is and isn’t Jewish and they learn Gene Hackman is NOT a member of the tribe.  There’s talk of family backgrounds and Maron acknowledges it’s hard to talk to Rogen a second time (he interviewed him in 2014) and not cover his comedy origin story for a promotional interview.  It’s these second episodes where you get real and the well has run dry on the typical podcast narrative where things go off the rails. In this case, Rogen and Maron admit they’re both a little anti-Israel.  They spell out their cases but you can’t just say that when you have all that media attention and power without it getting misinterpreted by the press.  So, Rogen will be apologizing for this casual conversation forever.  He does discuss the effectiveness of Jewish death rituals having you drink and eat while you grieve and praises the social aspect of the religion I share with him but his one slip up (I agree, not the most responsible thing to say) is all anyone will glean from this conversation.  He knows it too, saying something to the effect of, “I know I’m going to get in trouble for this.”  That’s why I always listen to podcasts he’s on- dude always keeps it entertaining.

Not a lot on the docket for this sleepy, surprisingly overcast August week for me.  On Saturday, I’m doing Chris Khatami’s Spec Script show at 4 PM EST.  The conceit of the show is someone writes a spec script for a show they’ve never seen.  This installment is an episode of “The O.C.” written by Sarah Kennedy.  I have never seen the show but I expect chill summer vibes.

Hope you’re liking the mashup.  The part with the Seinfeld theme, Mariah Carey, Coolio and the 1988 World Series Kirk Gibson home run call about 14 min in makes the hair on my leg stand up

01.) I’m In The Club Hollerin’ Somewhere Over The Rainbow: https://vimeo.com/443236188

02.) Bizzy Coy Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/bizzy-coy-is-a-better-writer-than-i-am-15712630ba46

03.) WTF with Seth Rogen: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1143-seth-rogen

Comedy Stray Notes July 26, 2020

• At this point in my life, I identify as a comedy nerd more than a comedian.  I haven’t really made anyone other than my wife Anna Paone laugh in the past month.  And even then, I don’t hit comedic home runs all the time.  Luckily, I can itch the comedy nerd scratch almost daily- there are so many things to still consume.  Occasionally, there are even opportunities.  In fact, back in early May, my friend Jeremy Schaftel reached out and asked me if I wanted to be a part of a rehearsal for a Triumph the Insult Comic Dog Hollywood Squares Quarantine Edition.  I immediately said yes- Robert Smigel and Triumph are two of my all-time favorite things in comedy history and there was no way I was going to miss this.  The two of us sat in on the Zoom game show and watched Triumph process celebrity insults in real time.  To clarify, essentially, Smigel and his team of writers crafted put downs and joke answers (“funny answers” is the whole conceit of Hollywood Squares which I had to watch a few episodes of to familiarize myself with how it works) for celebrities James Carville, Kenan Thompson, Susie Essman, Anthony Scaramucci, Ken Jeong, Joey Fatone, Tom Arnold, Julie Bowen and Jason Alexander.  This was a real-life crash course into what being in a legitimate writer’s room was like and I got front row seats as a contestant on the show playing a “nurse that had COVID.”  It was unbelievable to watch incredibly high-quality jokes being pitched at rapid speed.  Most of them at Joey Fatone’s expense too.  

Well, this week I actually got to see the fruits of my labor (if you can call sitting in a Zoom for two hours labor) with the actual celebrities and it was laugh out loud funny.  Smigel and Triumph haven’t lost a step.  I won’t spoil too much but two quick favorites from the show were the joke that Ken Jeong is here because “he can’t turn anything down” and a prank Cameo that they had Tom Arnold record.  The link to the 31-minute video is in the comments and is absolutely worth your time.  

• One of my greatest obsessions is unproduced screenplays/teleplays/scripts.  There are so many dream projects that just never got made- in fact, you probably reading this have one or two sitting on your desktop as a PDF staring back at you as a glaring reminder of the ultimate to-do in your life.  Been there.  Got an idea for you though!  Stage a Zoom reading.  Seriously.  Actors will a.) read your work and become champions of your story and b.) you’ll be able to determine what works and what doesn’t for when you actually make the thing.  Alternatively, I’m fascinated by Hollywood players writing a feature-length screenplay and then it sits in development Hell for years and sometimes just never gets made.  Happens all the time.  Luckily, some of these screenplays are being staged as Zoom readings (just like I suggested above!).  In fact, last night, I paid $12.50 (funds go straight to charity) to see a reading of “The Towering Disaster,” a parody of 70s disaster films written by David Cross.  They assembled an insane star-studded ensemble cast made up of Michael Cera, Don Cheadle, David Cross, John Ennis, Will Forte, Regina Hall, David Koechner, Jack McBrayer, Michael McKean, Bob Odenkirk, Sarah Silverman, Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig and Henry Winkler.  I know.  That’s my second list of famous people.  As fun as all these folks are, there’s a reason this script was unproduced.  I constantly found myself losing interest in the story even though I would laugh at jokes here and there.  Definitely enjoyed Michael Cera’s performance the most.  The guy still has insane comedic acting chops.  When the pandemic is over, we need the Michael Cera leading man comedies train to take off again.  Also, of note, about 40 minutes into this thing, David Koechner’s Zoom went out.  Just goes to show you that no matter how high you fly in the industry, Zoom still doesn’t work for everyone.

This week, I did a deep dive on the works of my peers who have actually completed feature-length films and then asked them about their experiences.  It was a truly educational process.  The first of two movies I watched was:

“We’ve Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew” (2016): I have been temping at a startup for the past two months and one day while going through Slack, I uncovered a defunct #movies channel.  In said channel, one of the company’s lead content writers promoted this feature-length film she produced and her husband wrote and directed.  I told her I would watch.  Very happy I did.  This movie checks all the boxes off of what young filmmakers are told to do: have a small cast/crew, a single, unique location and a smart, stylish screenplay.  Said story is about two post-apocalyptic travelers who come across a mysterious, timeless hotel that’s reminiscent of “The Shining” where they discover a mute, slim man who seems to have a past there.  That man?  Doug Jones, the mute, fish man from “The Shape of Water.”  An insane coup for an indie film to get such a legend. It’s really a great, small movie you can stream on Amazon but my coworker told me it simply couldn’t get distribution which makes it difficult for the filmmakers to profit from their hard work.  It’s a great film and a greater lesson that you can do everything right, get a name and still not turn a profit.  Great learning experience and great movie (Streaming on Amazon Prime- support this movie!).

The second movie was:

“This is Our Home” (2019): Had no idea my friend Jeff Ayars starred in and produced a feature film (featuring Omer Rosen too).  We had talked about the project before but I am a bad friend and had no idea it was completed and available.  This week, I made it a priority to actually see it.  “This Is Our Home” is a more traditional horror film than the above about a serious couple going to a childhood home where their relationship unravels in creepy, unexpected ways.  It’s by no means your typical indie horror film though; it’s not interested in only scares.  Relationships and backstories are fleshed out giving it the feel of an indie dramedy or a slice of life 70s film except one where everything goes impossibly wrong for the leads.  They even pulled off the near impossible Jordan Peele standard of making something that’s equal parts artsy and mainstream all at once.  Plus, they also did everything right here.  They made a genre film (read: horror) with a small cast and few locations which is what we really all should be doing if we want to make movies that have actual potential to sell to investors.  On top of that, this film goes to show that you can make a feature wisely/inexpensively and use it as a calling card to make your next dream picture.  In the meantime, you can check this out by (Streaming on Amazon Prime- support this movie as well!).

Here are a flicks made by folks I don’t know that I caught over the past seven days:

“Enchanted” (2007): This is one of Anna’s all-time favorites.  I’d never seen it or knew that it was a comedy.  Just thought it was a Disney movie.  Nope.  It’s a great fish out of water concept where animated Disney trope characters end up in modern New York City with no knowledge of the real world (Anna realized it’s quite a bit like “Elf” midway through).  Still, there are amusing setpieces with the eternally optimistic Amy Adams lead crying when she goes to Patrick Dempsey’s divorce lawyer’s office and hears that two characters are going to split up.  Still, I couldn’t stay awake for the whole thing.  That’s on me.  The last 20 minutes, I found myself struggling to keep my eyes open.  When I did finally wake up, the dance scene finale was totally ludicrous.  I mean to be fair, this is a film about an animated character coming to life so I shouldn’t have let it bother me.  So, I’ll say it’s a PERFECT HARMLESS MOVIE (Streaming for $3.99 on Amazon Prime; it was mysteriously not on Disney +).

“Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” (2004): In high school, I remember going on opening day to this movie with a friend of mine and falling asleep about 15 minutes in (for a cinephile, I fall asleep in a LOT of movies).  Needless to say, I was excited for the rewatch.  My review is: it’s another perfect harmless movie.  You get Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow bantering in front of painterly CGI art deco, a largely irrelevant plot about them thwarting an evil genius played posthumously by Sir Laurence Olivier and homages to literally all of the director’s favorite things ranging from “Star Wars” inspired shots to actual footage from “The Wizard of Oz” (this scene is perfection).  It’s one of those kitchen sink films where the director put everything they ever wanted to see all in one place.  Anna said she once read, “Treat every movie you direct like your first movie not your only movie” which is what this director did.  Ironically, it ended up being director Kerry Conran’s only film.  It’s a bummer because this was such a refreshing, weird, original vision (even if it was heavily influenced by films of the past I’d never seen anything quite like it even if I predicted some of the lines before the actors said them which happened multiple times). “Sky Captain” ended up influencing late 2000s movies like “Sin City,” “The Spirit” and other movies that look stripped out of comic books.  THEREFORE, IF YOU LIKE CLASSIC CINEMA, THIS IS A NICE SPIN ON THE CLASSICS (Streaming on Cinemax- free for seven days on Amazon Prime).

“Life Stinks” (1991): Oh, man.  Ol’ Mel Brooks has about as perfect a track record as anyone when it comes to comedy but he also has this strange, preachy movie about the homeless under his belt too.  In “Life Stinks,” we get your classic studio comedy hero’s journey here where Mel is a high powered exec who wants to take over a poor neighborhood as does another high powered exec played by Jeffrey Tambor.  Tambor bets Brooks that he can’t make it 30 days as a homeless man in this neighborhood and before you know it, Mel is on the streets.  Tasteless jokes abound.  It’s all a little tone deaf too.  I expect better from my dude.  Still, I got unintentional belly laughs from this 90-minute mess like when Tambor’s character feels a pang of guilt for his shameful actions for just a second and then immediately gives them up.  Clearly this was an undercooked third or fourth draft rewrite that either not got cleaned up or a subplot was cut.  Made me laugh damn hard.  Also, a fight scene in a construction yard at the end was genuinely cinematic.  I’ll say the film had its minor charms but PUT THIS LAST IF YOU’RE A MEL COMPLETIST (Streaming on Cinemax).

“Midnight Run” (1988): You know how there’s some movies you’ve been meaning to see forever but just never got around to it?  That’s what this movie is for me.  I’ve had it on countless lists of movies I want to see but it took a pandemic for me to get around to sitting around and seeing it.  Here’s the long and short of it if this is still on your movie watchlist: the story is a more serious-minded, action-packed “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” where you swap Robert DeNiro for Steve Martin and Charles Grodin for John Candy (Grodin is fantastic in this).  The twosome is traveling cross country to bring white collar criminal Grodin to a bail bondsman and hijinks ensue amid a silly, synth score that plays over fairly serious action scenes.  The Danny Elfman (!) score had to have come from a studio note to make this fairly intense flciks feel more like a comedy.  In any event, it’s a genuinely funny (in places) almost buddy road movie except for they hate each other’s guts before they come around and realize, “Hey, we’re not so different after all.”  There are a few impressive storytelling techniques hidden in this movie like a run in with the cops at the end of the first act that’s usually reserved for a film’s climax and a moving scene between DeNiro and his estranged daughter that is powerfully played completely straight.  His character is an awful guy who doesn’t deserve a redemption story but in 1988, he gets one.  Speaking of 1988, this movie was released one week after I was born.  I hope I’ve aged better.  IT’S GOOD BUT A LESSER PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES FOR ME (Streaming on Cinemax).

“You Made It Weird” with Billy Eichner: This was a totally engrossing podcast episode also riddled with tech issues.  I learned about Eichner’s pediatrician calling him obese (maybe technically accurate but tough for a kid to hear) and how “Difficult People” was mostly Julie Klausner’s invention.  Really refreshing to hear someone in the industry not take credit for an idea.  Another standout moment was Eichner waxing poetic on people saying they would “never raise their kids in New York.”  He said, “Space in other parts of the country is what creates isolation and close mindedness.”  Truth.  I also related to a teenage Eichner’s bizarre obsession with movies’ box office amounts and reading entertainment magazines.  The conversation shifted at the end to being about comedy gatekeepers which really is a larger conversation that needs to happen and finally a joke from an episode of “Difficult People” where Eichner’s character complained that modern comedies are basically half-hour dramas which Holmes recognized was a shot at “Crashing.”  Appreciate the self-awareness.  Finally, they teased a Judd Apatow-produced Billy Eichner movie.  I’m psyched.

WTF with George Lopez: Quick listen here.  Lopez talks about starting comedy in the 70s and he and Maron did my favorite comedy podcast thing: they talk about guys that didn’t make it admiringly teaching listeners a little bit more about forgotten comedy history. This episode, they discussed Angel Salazar (had never heard of him) who brought so many props onstage that he was often cleaning up his stuff while Eddie Murphy made his way to the stage.  George also discussed how the network president at TBS screwed him over when Conan took his time slot (this appears to have all been a Jay Leno issue) and his wife giving him a kidney before they divorced.  It was a great story.  The whole conversation was easy and made a work day go much faster while listening.

As for old me, I’ve got another slow week ahead.  I believe I’m doing Rebecca Kaplan’s Zoom show on Tuesday (I’m not an outdoor shows guy) and I literally think that’s it.  I’m all about that slow home life.

Damn, can’t believe quarantine has been going on for four-plus months.  Only 30 more years until we have a working vaccine

01.) Triumph Quarantine Special: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqk4yay1uqk

02.) “You Made It Weird” with Billy Eichner: http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/a/1/5/a152bf4f53b057a3/Billy_Eichner.mp3?c_id=78926270&cs_id=78926270&destination_id=81568&expiration=1595809086&hwt=0f768c51faa8d0354732ebca1634bcd8

03.) WTF with George Lopez: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1136-george-lopez

Comedy Stray Notes July 19, 2020

• Got my birthday wish last week and staged a Zoom reading of the 89-page play I wrote based on the bizarro curiosity that is the 1980-81 season of Saturday Night Live.  There were zero rehearsals because it was a lot to ask of all the actors who were already giving up their free time to stage said birthday reading.  Still, everyone showed up and performed the Hell out of somewhat half baked second draft material.  Since everyone killed it so hard, here’s a quick shout outs to the actors who brought these words to life: Lauren Vino who played the headstrong Jean Doumanian with steely reserve and grace, Michael Margetis who made the unlikeable (how I wrote him) Dick Ebersol charming, Lawrence Paone who brought old school showbiz smarm to the Fred Silverman role, Anna Paone played eight (!) roles ranging from Denny Dillon, Charlene Tilton, Robin Duke, Gail Matthius, Catherine O'Hara, Ann Risley, a nameless female audience member and Laurie Metcalfe bringing something different to each of them which was an insane undertaking she made look easy, Jeff Ayars impersonated Don Pardo effortlessly, Steve Girard put his own spin on the already iconic voices of Gilbert Gottfried, Lorne Michaels and Chevy Chase, Gianmarco Soresi did more than justice playing the couldn’t be more different Charles Rocket, Mr. Bill and Tim Kazurinsky, Dave Columbo also used his rubbery voice to slip into the personas of Jim Carrey, Elliott Gould, Del Close, Al Franken and Tony Rosato, Neko White embodied Eddie Murphy better than anyone I could ever imagine doing it and Joey Saunders brought goofy warmth to Joe Piscopo and fiery venom to Michael O’Donoghue.  Also, major thanks to Usama Siddiquee for reading stage directions making lines like, “Jean sits down with her goopy drink” seem funny somehow.  Finally, thanks to my family, professors and friends that tuned in.  This thing went almost two hours and people were logged in the whole time.  I was high off the excitement of this highly nerdy and personal performance all week and it’s thanks to you all.  If any of this this sounds interesting to you at all, happy to send the script or a recording of the Zoom your way.  Just hit me up in da DMs.

• When I first signed up for Facebook back in 2007, it was mostly used to meet people in my college dorm.  As the platform morphed over the years into the premiere online social gathering/major corporation rather than just for small circles of peers, I picked up friends that I didn’t actually know but admired from afar.  To me, the highest profile friending was of original SNL writer, “It’s Garry Shandling Show” co-creator and “700 Sundays” writer Alan Zweibel (among many other notable achievements with a pen).  I’ve admired Alan’s writing from afar on Facebook casually liking statuses but he recently had a high profile book release and thought to myself, “Man, I’d like to know more about this guy.”  Well, thanks to the launch of his very funny and informative memoir “Laugh Lines” I now do.  I had recently heard Alan on WTF talking about the book but it was even better hearing him talk about said book on Gilbert Gottfried’s podcast which inspired me to read it right after I finished listening.  Said podcast started with jokes about how the movie “North” led to the demise of Roger Ebert (Google “Roger Ebert North” if you don’t know this story) and how the two reconciled (not gonna spoil this great bit) and led to amazing anecdotes about Lorne Michaels hiring him at SNL back in 1975 (like I said, no bit spoiling here), Bill Murray heckling him at a gig when he was just starting stand up, Garry Shandling and Rodney Dangerfield waking him up in the middle of the night with bit ideas and how he concocted the classic sketch “Lord and Lady Douchebag” which I ripped off in a sketch myself a few years back.  This all made for a great primer to the book which fleshed all these stories out fully.  Either way, the best part of the podcast and the book to me (they’re excellent companion pieces) was learning about all the forgotten comics of yesteryear.  Alan does a great service pointing out and crediting Catskills comics, NYC club comics, old TV writers who may not be household names but whose jokes we know.  The book is a breezy, well written 250-page read but more than anything it’s a love letter to comedy and a template for how to have fun hacking away at the joke slinging trade for half a century.  Definitely did not expect these exciting life lessons to be a byproduct of creating a Facebook account way back in 2007.   But here we are.  Buy his book and listen to the pod.  Well worth your time.

• One of the all-around funniest stand ups in New York City is easily Ranaan Hershberg.  He brings an infectious joy to each of his performances that makes watching him feel like a necessity.  While quarantining, he’s been very inventive with the content he’s produced but my two favorite things he’s done are a.) a video of him in an Arizona desert performing to cactus which made me laugh out loud.  It’s a great variation on the “performing to no one” video trope and a nice heightening of how distant we can be from others now.  My other favorite thing Raanan did was his b.) incredibly well-written flash fiction about an insecure comic who is racing toward the end of the world while his Tweet is going wildly viral.  It’s hysterical and a nice commentary on how braindead social media makes us toward our reality.  Honestly, it’s Simon Rich-level funny which is as high a compliment I can pay a writer.  The links to both are in the comments and are both top notch.

• I totally missed my friend Harrison Greenbaum’s edition of his “Who Books That” podcast he did with comedy hero Larry Willmore back in May.  Couldn’t believe that my pal was talking to one of my all-time favorites and I excitedly watched/listened this week learning that Willmore was an avid magician growing up (had no idea; magic is Harrison’s thing) and stories about Tommy Davidson on “In Living Color” that were then bolstered by the fact that Harrison showed clips and images from the stories which made it instantly better than your average podcast.  He did what podcasts have failed to do for so long by showing instead of telling.  Felt like I was seeing “Oz” in color for the first time with this nifty podcasting trick.  Still, Harrison had an easy rapport with Larry and they shared the nugget of wisdom, “It’s better to get famous before bitter” (I may be misquoting).  A lot of folks stake value in fame rather than the fun of creating stuff and this quote epitomizes that; no need to ever get bitter.  Finally, if you’re on the fence about checking this out, you certainly should for the high profile cameo mid-episode from Neil Degrasse Tyson.  I was shell-shocked.  That’s a big get!  Check out this episode; this is what all podcasts will look like in five years.

• Here are brief, pretentious reviews of movies, TV series and podcasts I caught this week from folks I am not friendly with on a personal level:

“Beavis and Butthead do America” (1996): I’m embarrassed to say how much I laughed at this incredibly dumb and brilliant farce.  It really holds up.  Mike Judge’s story is exceedingly simple- Beavis and Butthead’s TV is stolen which leads them on a cross country trip from Vegas to DC trying to track down said TV and “score.”   I was nearly crying laughing at Beavis and Butthead accidentally charming an elderly woman on a tour bus and Beavis’ impish Cornholio routine.  The movie goes a bit too far in places for it’s trim 81-minute runtime but it’s TOO DAMN FUNNY TO MISS (Streaming on Cinemax- free seven-day trial with Amazon Prime).

“It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World” (1963): This shows up on every single “Greatest comedies of all time” lists and I had to see what the fuss was about.  For starters, it’s nearly three hours but honestly never felt long.  The movie is basically the prototype for the early 2000s “Rat Race” and the TV show “The Amazing Race.”  A killer cast of comedy legends (Jonathan Winters and Milton Berle to name just two of dozens) encounter a grisly car crash that leaves an elderly man dead.  His dying words are about a treasure he buried and the chase that ensues to find his fortune.  The rest of the movie is just a tentpole to hang hijinks upon that are fun but ratchet up 1000% in what looked like a really dangerous, practical stunt where eleven actors or so are suspended on a ladder high above onlookers.  Everyone ends up getting injured in cartoonish ways that leads to a finale where the entire cast, bandaged up laugh in unison.  While watching, I wondered if this movie invented the cliche where the entire cast laughs at something dumb to end movies or show that has been mocked for years.  I think it might be.  NOT ESSENTIAL BUT IT’S NOT BAD (Streaming for free on YouTube with ads).

“Manchurian Candidate” (1962): Did my semi-regular movie viewing with Anna and our friend Justine this week checking out this classic we’d all heard about but had never actually seen.  The first hour or so is a disorienting affair, so much so that I pulled off the rare feat of not looking at my phone once so I could make sense of it.  I’ll do my best to synopsize.  I believe the movie is about a man who has been hypnotized so deeply and manipulated by his mother that he’s led to assassinate.  This is another classic story that I know because it was brilliantly spoofed by my all-time favorite show “Stella” and once they hit the familiar beats of our hero being groomed to assassinate, I got where it was going.  Still, this movie is notable for a number of reasons.  We get to see a passable dramatic acting turn from Frank Sinatra and the rampant imagery of Abraham Lincoln who was famously assassinated.  Just a year later, JFK met the same fate.  Sinatra felt so guilty he bought the rights to the film to not further its influence (Anna told me this).  Also, there’s a crazy makeout scene where the lead (Laurence Harvey) makes out with his Mom who is played by...Angela Lansbury.  THIS ONE WAS WILD, RACIST IN PARTS AND FASCINATING (Streaming for free if you get the seven-day Cinemax trial).

“RiP: A Remix Manifesto” (2008): Longtime friend L. Ritchie recommended this little-seen open source documentary saying, “It’s about Girl Talk.”  I love the hell out of Girl Talk and was excited to see this movie to learn more about his process and concert footage.  The movie provided that all right but this is also a major political statement about copyright laws in the United States and how bizarre and convoluted they are (Girl Talk samples music to create his own spin on songs which makes him a vital central point to the story).  My favorite point the doc made was about Walt Disney blatantly being “inspired by” works of fiction like “Cinderella,” “Pinocchio” and “Steamboat Bill” only to turn around and create copyright laws.  Walt is evil.  I did wonder while watching though: would Girl Talk be angry if we sampled his samples?  Wonder how deep the rabbit hole goes with pride over one’s work even if it’s originally from the work of others.  ANY MOVIE THAT MAKES ME ASK THIS MANY QUESTIONS IS WORTH YOUR TIME (Streaming for free on YouTube).

“Sunset Strip” (2000): I lied when I said I didn’t know anyone involved with these films I’m reviewing.  I actually caught my film professor Adam Collis’ feature film for the first time this week since it’s streaming.  It was a real treat to see this; he pulled off the quintessential ensemble slice of life movie about 70s rock and roll with a sprawling cast of characters.  Plus, the movie features a young Judy Greer, Adam Goldberg, Jared Leto, Simon Baker, Mary Lynn Raskjub and a ton of other folks you’ll look up on IMDB and go, “I knew I knew them!”  It’s fun, well-directed and made me proud to say I learned how to make movies from the guy that made this.  IF YOU LIKE MUSIC FLICKS, YOU’LL LOVE THIS ONE (Streaming on Hulu).

“Supersize Me 2” (2019): Morgan Spurlock was cancelled for sexual misconduct.  In fact, I believe he called himself out and cancelled himself.  Still, he released this movie last year and I’ll admit I was a really big fan of the first “Supersize Me” so I was curious to see what direction he would take this story.  The second time around he points his aim not at McDonalds but at big chicken who lie to Americans and tell us poultry is much healthier than it actually is.  This is an eye opening story of the lives of baby chickens who are incredibly cute being pumped full of hormones and given very limited “free range” access.  Spurlock employs man on the street interviews showing just how little we all know about what organic and local really mean.  It all culminates in a genius skewering of fast food restaurants with a franchise he started called “Holy Chicken” that calls out all the corrupt things that these fast food places do to us on a daily basis.  He even gave credit to a farmer who fought Tyson Chicken and seeing said farmer get his moment in the sun made me tear up.  No joke.  LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM, THIS MOVIE WAS EYE OPENING (Streaming on YouTube).

- I do not re-watch movies.  It’s my only real rule.  I love to see new stuff more than anything.  Still, it was my birthday week and I revisited my two all-time favorites “The Goonies” and “Man on the Moon.”  Hadn’t seen either of them in years.  “Goonies” more than holds up even if some of it feels corny; it still just brings me right back to childhood.  “Man on the Moon” is great for its bombasity but rewatching as a 32-year-old dude (not that I’m that mature) I recognize just how emotionally stunted Andy was.  Wish I had caught that as a kid.  Dude was insane in maybe an unhealthy way.

“The Other Two” (2019): Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider prematurely left their SNL head writing gig to run this show at Comedy Central.  I was angry they left since they were so great but after having seen how incredible this show is, my anger has subsided.  This sitcom is one of the best I’ve ever seen (wasn’t surprised that Joel Kim Booster wrote for it).  Anyway, basically, the show is this- two aimless late 20s siblings (played by Drew Tarver and Helene Yorke) have a younger brother who blows up into a Justin Bieber-level popstar overnight.  Imagine a sophisticated and wittier “Entourage” with Molly Shannon playing their Mom.  There are so many great reasons to watch this show and I’ll list them in rapid fire succession: the emotional reveal of how their Dad dies pays off incredibly well in an emotionally satisfying and darkly funny way, a music video director teleconferences in to direct the younger sibling’s (his name is Chase Dreams) music video while eating nachos showing just how trivial a director can be, they all live together in Justin Theroux’s bizarro empty house, the episode that takes place at a school dance with kids is one of the funniest sitcom episodes of any show I’ve ever seen (featuring my favorite joke of the series too.  The dance is “Old Hollywood” themed and Old Hollywood by their definition includes “Anchorman” and “Knocked Up”), Chase’s manager Streeter ( Ken Marino) is so nuts that you can’t believe there would ever be anyone quite like him but then he’s injected with pathos at the end before you end hating him again, Tarver’s restaurant boss gets really into gay culture in a funny recurring bit, Richard Kind plays Tarver’s manager who takes gig economy jobs like driving a cab and delivering food while taking calls from clients, excellent character moments like Yorke showing her talent as a dancer and Tarver being incredibly vain after just a taste at fame.  At just ten episodes, you’ll be depressed when this is over but so elated you saw it.  MAKE THIS THE NEXT SHOW YOU BINGE (Streaming on Comedy Central).

A Crisis in Six Scenes” (2016): Anna and I joked that Woody Allen will probably be cancelled six more times before he dies (his career is a crisis in six scenes, baby!).  True.  Still, I was curious about this Amazon short-form series he released a few years back.  It got vile reviews.  I went in wanting to dislike it but this six-part series featuring Woody and Elaine May as his spouse won me over.  They take in radicalized home invader Miley Cyrus who turns them onto the revolution.  What would have seen ham fisted and preachy years ago now seems prescient as we turn on our government and systemic racism.  We are becoming radicalized again which is a good thing and makes the jokes about the enlightenment of the elderly in this show funnier.  Sure, some of this is a slog but it pays off nicely in the final episode that wraps everything together neatly in a bow putting a button on every setup we didn’t even realize were setups.  Best of all was the ending with Woody and Michael Rappaport pulling him over that bookends the first scene of the show.  WOODY, I HATE TO ADMIT IT BUT YOU DID IT AGAIN (Streaming on Amazon).

• Colin Jost was doing the rounds this week promoting his new book and I took in two of his press appearances.  First was a Zoom chat with Michael Che.  It was pretty damn funny that they were promoting his book and Che outright admitted he hadn’t read it.  The thing kicked off with a promoter reading their cringeworthy bios that praised them and watching them read aloud was a treat while the two winced hearing what PR folks had written about them.  The show got underway and Che proceeded to treat Jost with the same playful disrespect they have on Weekend Update referring to his fiancee as Scarlett “Jimhenson.”  The conversation moved to how Carmelo Anthony gets unfairly criticized and that’s why they don’t read criticism of themselves because Carmelo is great (paraphrasing big time) but it was more fun when we got to the best joke about how Jost is in the White Tang Clan with Pete Davidson and Impractical Jokers (Wu Tang is also from Staten Island like all of these comics) and how he has “Heel face” which makes sense because his book is called “A Punchable Face.”  Jost was also on WTF promoting this week and he talked about quarantining in Montauk (trying very hard to downplay his privilege) and how he didn’t talk until he was four.  Maron challenged him into saying he does not look or sound like he’s from Staten Island which is fair.  Jost deflected nicely joking that he actually pronounces “Staten” correctly.  Maron expressed resentment over Jost going to Harvard and he deflected again instead highlighting how he went to a lower income high school doing speech and debate and highlighting his Mom’s Catholicism.  The conversation moved toward the less personal and they talked about how Lorne instills confidence in performers and Kenan’s longevity on the show.  He also pointed out that “Weekend Update” is the “restart” of the show.  Never thought about it like that.  It really is the second cold open.  It should also be said there was a very moving section where Jost talks about his Mom helping out on 9/11 and how his family knew Pete Davidson’s family for years through this.  Quite a connection.

- Listened to the short, viral podcast Ben Stiller was on called “The Last Laugh” this week where he talked about being very careful making “Tropic Thunder” with the NAACP and Robert Downey Jr’s character but didn’t do damage control on how offensive Simple Jack was.  Hilarious character for sure but definitely offensive.  Good reminder to be wise thinking a few years into the future about how your writing will age.  He then went into why the podcast went viral: he refuses to edit Donald Trump out of “Zoolander” citing that no one else (Trump made a ton of cameos in the past) has done it.  Fair, but be the one that makes the change, dawg!  He then shared that he engages people on Twitter (if you’re a fan, hit him up) and it ended.  This was really short.  Only 19 minutes.  There’s another one he was on but I didn’t listen.

WTF with Jim Carrey: Carrey is in some of my all-time favorite movies (“Truman Show,” “Man on the Moon,” “Eternal Sunshine” to name just a few) but I never knew much about him other than the broad strokes about his story and how he paints now.  This podcast showed a different side that makes me like him even more now.  At the beginning, he generously offers advice on how to deal with PTSD (not what I expected from a comedy pod!) and then details cleaning toilets as a kid.  He’s basically the dude you talk to at a party with a totally different worldview that opens your third eye, man.  He goes into talking about his persona and new showbiz satire book.  This led to sporadic spot-on impressions of Dennis DeYoung from Styx and Paul Lynde and this piece of sage advice, “If you’re interested in what you’re doing, that’s what makes you interesting.”  Carrey said he stole the quote from Meisner but it still resonated in a big way.  Finally, he shared a story about meeting Richard Pryor and smoking with him in a parking lot.  Pryor said, “I’m not sure those last 40 years was me.”  Even Richard Pryor had comedy doubts.  Damn.

• For those that are cynical about the future of the comedy industry, definitely read Vulture’s piece on the direction that Comedy Central (linked in comments of course) is going.  They’re going to create more digital content AND make a ton of feature-length films.  I have no idea if this is sustainable but we should all jump aboard if we can.  

• Finally, I wrote a profile that I kept under wraps for a while.  A friend (who shall remain nameless at their request) and I collaborated on a piece about the fictional Svetlana Kenobi.  Still, it was incredibly fun to write with the freedom of not having to play by any rules.  It’s a short-ish read (like four minutes) and it’s fun to imagine a world in which this Kenobi character exists.

Don’t have much of anything going on this week.  Mostly just trying to get those 10,000 steps in.  Y’all getting 10,000 steps a day?  It’s a nice way to live.

Hope you’re well, fam 

01.) “Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast” with Alan Zweibel: https://www.gilbertpodcast.com/alan-zweifel/

02.) Raanan desert video: https://www.facebook.com/raanan.hershberg/videos/10101212881483044

03.) Raanan’s Medium story: https://medium.com/@raananhershberg/a-million-likes-6f0db2ea830a

04.) Harrison Greenbaum’s “Who Books That” with Larry Willmore: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpe0u3fcfbc

05.) It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhxxGDcWWoc

06.) RiP: A Remix Manifesto: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quO_Dzm4rnk

07.) Supersize Me 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSyicDf9UvI&t

08.) WTF with Colin Jost: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1139-colin-jost

09.) The Last Laugh with Ben Stiller: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ben-stiller-on-the-new-abnormal/id1456474041?i=1000482636729

10.) WTF with Jim Carrey: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1140-jim-carrey

11.) The Remaking of Comedy Central: https://www.vulture.com/article/comedy-central-reinvention-chris-mccarthy-profile.html

12.) Svetlana Kenobi profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/holy-shit-svetlana-kenobi-might-be-banksy-90158af8df59

Comedy Stray Notes July 12, 2020

• Well, it’s my birthday.  Honestly, there’s no other way I’d celebrate than firing up my Discover Weekly on Spotify (complete with ads because I’m not going to buy Premium) and writing Comedy Stray Notes.  On we go.

• Every year on my birthday, my dream is to make something creative happen.  It rarely happens because creativity and celebration rarely exchange hands; to make something creative happen takes effort and work and logistics and organization which are all the enemy of fun.  Last year, I wanted to shoot a sketch about a family mourning the loss of an iPhone.  Couldn’t find a location and I still haven’t shot it.  With everyone quarantining this year, I figured I would pounce and since we’re all parked at our desktops, I would make something big happen.  That “something big” is a 90-page play I wrote about the 1980-81 season of Saturday Night Live.  For those not in the know, it was a trainwreck of a season but a fascinating story.   It’s one of those rare footnotes in comedy history that I feel only true nerds really know about.  I want to end that and get it on people’s radar.  If you’re interested in attending, the show is tonight (July 12) at 6 PM EST.  Should be about two hours.  If you can’t make it, it will be recorded.  Just jump in the DMs.  No pressure at all- this is a reading of a rough draft but if this is something that interests you, I’d be happy to give you the Zoom link information.

- Also, I wanted to thank a few folks for giving me extensive notes on the play.  First of all, my wife Anna E. Paone.  She read this baby and was instrumental in helping me figure out the tone.  Next, my pals Barak Ziv, Jason Planitzer and Charlton Jon read early drafts when this thing was only 15 pages and asked important questions about the story and had me clarify details to make it more reader-friendly.  Danny Rathbun and I exchanged drafts of work we had recently completed and Danny’s micro notes for joke punch ups were instrumental in helping me clean up logic gaps and historical inaccuracies.  Darin Patterson, one of the biggest SNL fans I know, aided me in understanding what a fellow superfan would want to see in a play like this- I want this thing to feel like you’re opening a bag of Halloween candy and it’s all Reeses (or whatever your favorite type of candy is).   Matt Starr, helped me come up with a structure for this thing and gave it a framework to exist in.  I would have no idea how to have written this thing without his guidance (hire him if you have an idea but no idea how to make it feasible) and finally, Julie Mitchell who made me actually want to rewrite this thing (I rarely do second drafts of anything out of pure laziness) and make the characters feel less like stories I had read and more like people that exist.  Long way to go but I am grateful to all these folks for their notes.

• As we all know, Kanye is “running for President.”  I love the guy but now might not be the right time to influence the most important election of our lifetime.  I digress; no need to get into politics.  What’s notable Kanye running for President is he had a bizarre “interview” with Forbes.  I wasn’t aware of said interview until my friend and comedian Matt Storrs sent me a screenshot that said Kanye is running not as a Republican or Democrat but with the “Birthday Party.”  Then, he said, “If elected, ‘It’s Everybody’s Birthday.’”  Not sure if you’re aware but Jesse Swatling-Holcomb and I ran a show called “It’s Everybody’s Birthday” from 2016-2018 where the theme was that it was everyone in the audience’s birthday.  Some people have advised I sue.  Should I derail Kanye’s campaign?  Anyone know how to make this happen?  Love his music but let’s dismantle his political aspirations so he doesn’t get our sitting President a second term.

• Published a single profile this week about my friend from ASU and NYC Danny Vega.  If you’re unaware, Danny runs the very lively and engrossing Facebook group “Am I The Asshole” where folks debate who is the asshole in questionable anecdotes.  I framed this profile just like an “Am I The Asshole” debating whether or not Vega was an asshole.  You’ll have to find out what my conclusion was by clicking that little link in the comments.  

• Wanted to shout out Natan Badalov and his crew for putting together an amazing animated short called “Park West” about a young, non-believing Jewish kid in Hebrew school.  Not only was it incredibly relatable and punchy but it was also a step toward what I think the future of our entertainment is going to be.  In a time where we all have limited resources to produce content, animation is the future.  Natan is one step ahead of all of us.

Thank you for indulging me.  Figured if I get one day to get creative license to write as much as I want it would be my birthday.  I’ll keep the rest of this nice and tight, so you can get on with your life.  Let’s start with the movies I saw this week:

“Palm Springs” (2020): It’s so hard to not spoil this movie, so all I’ll say is it’s a riff on the Bill Murray classic “Groundhog Day.”  Yes, I know it’s a genre unto itself (in fact, even I made a sketch based on the trope that I released earlier this year starring David Rey Martinez) but this movie flips the whole premise on its head in a way that’s more fun and emotional than any of its predecessors like “Happy Death Day,” “Edge of Tomorrow,” “Russian Doll,” and that one with Jake Gyllenhaal that I’m too lazy to look up.  To tease it, it stars a never better Andy Samberg alongside Cristian Milioti and JK Simmons at a wedding that they’re guests at.  We’ll just leave it there.  DEFINITELY WATCH THIS; IT’S AN EARLY CONTENDER FOR MY FAVORITE MOVIE OF THE 2020S (Streaming on Hulu).

“Cinema Paradiso (1990): This is on everyone’s all-time must watch movie lists and I’d started it many times over the years but never got farther than five minutes in.  On Monday, the film’s composer, the legendary Ennio Morricone passed away at 91, and I was inspired to pay my respects by finally getting around to this movie.  I’m so glad I did.  This is a perfect love letter to cinema about a fatherless child who lives at the movie theater in the projection booth watching every movie from high up away from the audience.  The movie accurately captures what loving movies feels like, with the camera gazing on the euphoric expressions on audience member’s faces as they watch the pictures flicker on the big screen before them.  There are a few hilarious sight gags (a lot of illicit stuff secretly goes on in the theater- I’ll leave it at that) but more than anything, there’s an unbelievably beautiful moment halfway through when the projectionist Alfredo reverses the projector to a wall and the audience watches outside the theater.  This leads to tragic consequences but for a minute, everything was perfect.  IF YOU’RE A MOVIE FAN, TREAT YOURSELF TO THIS FEAST OF A FLICK (Streaming on HBOGo)

Now a quick rundown of a few podcasts I listened to while temping:

Laurie Kilmartin talking to Conan: Earlier this week, Patrick Hastie shared this video and I immediately checked it out after having read Kilmartin’s stream of conscious jokes on Twitter about the process of her mother dying from COVID.  This is only ten minutes and a sobering, tender and at times funny chat between Laurie and her boss Conan.  If you’re a fan of either of them, they’re both operating at the top of their abilities here and you can find the link below.

“You Made It Weird” with Lara Beitz: A few years ago, Sarah Kennedy asked me to help run the Devil’s Cup Comedy Festival in Manhattan and in doing so, I met a ton of comics from all over the country who have since gone onto huge things.  One of those comics was Lara Beitz, who I really only chatted to in passing but have since seen on David Spade’s Comedy Central show and hearing about as Pete Holmes’ go-to opener on the road so I was extra excited to see she was the guest on the podcast this week.  It didn’t disappoint.  They had a nice rapport that was more friendly and gossipy than one based on agents and managers having set up a conversation.  The two of them share inside jokes, discuss their relationships and then halfway through, they really struck a nerve talking about weight loss management.  Pete and Lara had some novel thoughts about how to manage weight but one particular statement stood out to a person who finds themselves overeating constantly.  Pete said, “Your highest moments don’t need to be balanced by overeating to bring you back to an equilibrium where you feel shame” (OK, I’m paraphrasing).  Now, that I know I’m not alone on this, I want to share it with everyone that’s ever experienced it.  Nice work on this podcast guys.

“Good One” with Aidy Bryant: Went to middle school with Aidy Bryant in AZ (she was the seventh grade president at Madison Meadows when I was the fifth grade president actually) and I try to keep up with everything she does.  On this podcast released this week, she’s talking about her unusual sketch from this past season of SNL called “Overnight Salad.”  It’s a fairly casual, low-key conversation about how the sketch originated as a joke on the set of “Shrill” and made it to air almost a year later when they were running out of ideas during a mid-March show.  The episode kicked into high gear when they started talking about the SNL At Home episodes.  Aidy likened the sketches to making a short film and had her husband Conner O’Malley shoot footage for her. She detailed working from home parameters saying that the costume designer mailed wigs and some were even delivered by writers walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to meet cast members in the street.  Aidy gets emotional at the end talking about her time on the show and how these episodes were special because she hadn’t seen an episode of SNL live on tv in a decade since she’s been on the show so long.  Great listen for any fan of hers.

“You Made It Weird” with Adam Sandler: Sandler always seems like a huge podcast guest.  Some celebrities just have an air of being above this kind of DIY thing even as humble as he is.  Either way, this fast pod starts with Sandler talking about how his friends that he casts in his movies have more fun on set than he does since he’s in charge (very relatable).  Then, he shared a little bit of wisdom that I’ll never forget.  He said that he and Judd Apatow always call back to the best joke in their script at the end of the movie.  Think about “You can do it!” in “Waterboy” and how that was so satisfying.  That was a formula they established while making “Billy Madison.”  Stealing it.  The podcast continued and Pete and Adam pointed out that the audience wants you to do well when you perform so you should always just have fun which I believe in, then Sandler told an anecdote about how the Safdies always give a backstory to their  actors which is another good inside filmmaking nugget, they talked quite a bit about Sandler’s “Murder Mystery” movie too which I admit I fell asleep in and then one moment of humanity happened toward the end that really surprised me.  Pete Holmes texted his gardener to not get loud because it’s irritating.  Neither of them realized just how privileged this action was.  Sure, I come from privilege but this felt painful to hear.  

Charlie Kaufman New York Times profile: One of the all-time great screenwriters is releasing a 720-page book this week called “Antkind” and on the promotional leg of the release, he did a time-hopping, all over the place profile with the Times that was originally finished mid-May but with all the changes in the world had to go through several iterations.  Yes, this is a profile on Kaufman but it’s also a nice record of how time moves and how we process things in quarantine.  Also, Kaufman shares one essential piece of writing advice.  He says, “Don’t write about being angry, write angry” (paraphrasing again).  If you write in the moment, it will shine through.  Another tip I’m stealing.  If you look for it, you can really find wisdom from established creators in PR pieces.

• Since today is my birthday, my family made me very funny hand drawn, homemade birthday posters as they do every year.  This year, they were better than ever.  Major thanks to my wife Anna, my Mom (wisely not on Facebook), my Dad Andy Levy, my brothers Ben Levy and Sam Levy and my sister in Law Tiffany Wood and Sam’s girlfriend Stephanie Ramos.  There are a lot of Kurt Vonnegut quotes hanging up which is a great thing.  Also, many of the posters are "Wheel of Fortune" fill in the blank style posters that I know I'm going to spend all year trying to figure them out.

• Lots of virtual stuff going on for me this week.  Tonight is the SNL play (6 PM EST), I’m watching Colin Jost and Michael Che in conversation tomorrow (look it up on EventBrite if this is your kind of thing) and on Tuesday, I’m watching Catherine Lamoreaux’s autobiographical pilot called “Community Theater.”  

Thank you for reading.  It’s now officially everybody’s birthday.  That's right.  I'm taking it back, Yeezy

01.) Kanye West’s Presidential Campaign Forbes article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/randalllane/2020/07/08/kanye-west-says-hes-done-with-trump-opens-up-about-white-house-bid-damaging-biden-and-everything-in-between/#12feccd047aa

02.) Danny Vega Profile: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/is-danny-vega-30m-the-asshole-7b8d994b2e63

03.) Natan Badalov’s Park West: https://www.facebook.com/natanbadalov/posts/10158218552011251

04.) Laurie Kilmartin on Team Coco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhS4EXLOTI8

05.) “You Made It Weird” with Lara Beitz: http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/0/b/a/0bae0dae478fd89c/Lara_Beitz.mp3?c_id=77737094&cs_id=77737094&destination_id=81568&expiration=1594585136&hwt=1d4683bfee57ec15700dcca4ff92b8cc

06.) “Good One” with Aidy Bryant: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aidy-bryants-overnight-salad/id1203393721?i=1000483139592

07) “You Made It Weird” with Adam Sandler: http://hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/b/5/9/b59eb13ff5fabe7a/Adam_Sandler.mp3?c_id=77154182&cs_id=77154182&destination_id=81568&expiration=1594579623&hwt=33746ed9720d0e645b4a972237adf159

08.) Charlie Kaufman New York Times Profile: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/magazine/charlie-kaufman.html

Comedy Stray Notes July 5, 2020

• Whenever taking on a creative project, artists of all kinds do this odd thing when talking about what they’re passionate about: they pretend like it’s nothing.  In an effort to stay humble, I find many toss off their life’s greatest achievements as “some little project I’m working on” when pressed about “what they’ve been up to.”  It’s nice but I’ll admit I love when folks get cocky about what they’ve done or are doing.  It’s the best when a creator loves whatever it is they’re making so much that they forgo humility at the risk of boring others or sounding self indulgent.  Tarantino and Scorsese come to kind and their earnest enthusiasm for their work is infectious.  I kind of did that this week as a guest on Steve Cohen’s PromoteU podcast.  Cohen’s pod is different in that it’s all about how comedians promote themselves rather than how they generate bits or got started in comedy so it’s a breath of fresh air; we’re talking about a whole different part of comedy which is “How do you market yourself?”  It’s the rare series you’ll want to go back and listen to every episode of and learn others tricks to get ahead.  In any event, in my episode I talk about my business AProfileAboutYou, the evolution of Comedy Stray Notes (damn, meta), Liz Miele’s business cards she gives out at shows, how every show of mine that I ever produced had a gimmick because I was afraid no one would come if I didn’t have something special for audience members AND we still didn’t even get to how I used to DM 500 people (maybe even you, dear friend) to promote my gimmick show “It’s Everybody’s Birthday” back in the day.  To be clear, this episode is me being completely braggadocious and when it was over I felt good that I didn’t hold back and stay humble.  Pride may be a sin but sometimes pride in what you do feels so good.  Link below if you’d like to indulge me being me for 56 minutes.

• I haven’t shot a sketch in almost two months since I got a temp gig.  The day before I was hired, Anna Paone and I did shoot a bizarre little short thing without much of a plot about how Southwest picked its hold music.  I’ve always wondered, “How do they choose the completely average song that they do that customers have to listen to on loop for hours?”  This answers that question.  Anyway, I finally finished the thing this week and it’s all over the place for two and a half minutes.  Tons of music drops, jarring jump cuts and a really out of left field button at the end.  I don’t know exactly what to make of this thing or if it’s funny to anyone but me but I do thoroughly enjoy it every time I watch if only because Anna is completely committed to playing a professional character and halfway through I do a Stitch from “Lilo and Stitch” impression for no reason at all that is never commented upon.  That’s my kind of thing.

• Only completed one profile this week but it was a doozy.  I had the honor of covering the first season of my friend Robb Coles’ podcast “Thoroughly Modern History.”  Coles’ podcast is all about life during the Gulf War Era, how he processed it as a youngster and how he processes it now after researching that time period extensively.  It’s a nice time capsule and if you want to learn more about Saddam Hussein but in a funny and entertaining way, check out the linked profile that will lead you to the podcast.

• Went hard watching movies, TV and podcasts this week as I do.  Here’s a semi-zippy rundown (OK, it’s actually very long) of what I put in my ears and eyes the past seven days:

“Hamilton” (Filmed in 2016; released in 2020): I was one of the billions of people that got to see this Broadway smash for the first time this week and it exceeded expectations of whatever I thought it would be from having heard the cast recordings so many times.  The exciting choreography (the execution of the rewind sequence alone was worth the price of admission live I imagine) and the fact that it felt like if Kanye’s song “Monster” became a 2.5 hour play with all the different rap styles from Daveed Diggs’ speed to Lin Manuel’s spoken word approach to Okieriete Onaodowan’s brash, playful demeanor culminated together for the best history lesson of all time.  On top of that, the visionary multicultural color blind casting led to something unlike I’ve ever seen effectively recontextualizing history that will be imitated for the rest of our lives.  My only gripe was with the audience at these shows- I have no idea why they laughed when they laughed.  I feel that way at every play I go to.  For someone who writes about comedy a lot, I am often confused by what makes folks laugh.  THIS IS A MUST SEE AND I CAN’T WAIT FOR WHEN THEY REALLY ADAPT IT TO THE BIG SCREEN (Streaming on Disney + obviously).

“Mr Roosevelt” (2017):  SNL has this habit of casting female impression impresarios and then not really letting them flourish if they don’t quite break out in the way that Kristen Wiig did.  Just a few examples off the top of my head include Michaela Watkins (did a killer Hoda Kotb), Noel Wells (great Bjork), Melissa Villasenor (honestly everyone but I’m partial to her Christina Aguilera) and Chloe Fineman (her Timothee Chalamet is better than Timothee Chalamet).  It’s interesting watching their careers progress outside of SNL which is the platform designed for them to flaunt their characters.  Noel Wells, especially.  She may be the lowest profile on this list and was given the least exposure on the show which seemed unfair when she was cut a few years back.  It’s nice to know that she’s still working in some capacity though, writing, directing and starring in a feature-length film.   Unfortunately, this movie doesn’t fully work as a comedy.  It starts great with her showing off her wide range of impressions at a failed audition in what feels like an “Annie Hall” homage which is exciting and fun that is completely dropped after the sequence.  Soon after, the plot kicks in and we find out her cat is sick in her hometown of Austin.  Said cat, aptly named Mr. Roosevelt, still belongs to her ex-boyfriend (comic Nick Thune who has decent moments toward the end when he plays in a band but is ultimately pretty bland which may be by design since he’s supposed to be neutered by the new girlfriend character) who is living with his aforementioned new girlfriend played by Britt Lower (very funny and ironically catty here; you might recognize her as the sister in “Man Seeking Woman” too).  She has to travel back and deal with the repercussions on a relationship with many loose ends, being the third wheel and finding herself.  By the end, it’s a treatise on anxiety and mental illness in a surprising and upsetting third act turn.  Still, this movie that started out as a promising comedy turned into a semi-depressing, navel gazing (Anna’s words!) dramedy.  Also, Doug Benson is in this for like a minute playing Wells’ jerk boss.  Majorly wasted opportunity.  IF COMING OF AGE DRAMEDIES FOR EMOTIONALLY STUNTED ADULTS IS YOUR THING, GO FOR IT (Streaming on Netflix).

Orgazmo (1997): I’m a sucker for Trey Parker and Matt Stone projects and somehow I had missed this one.  Watched it early Saturday morning and couldn’t stop laughing at how damn funny this low-budget send up of the porn industry was (kind of feels like the spiritual sequel to “Boogie Nights” which somehow came out in the same year).  The story is of a Mormon missionary (Parker; they love mocking the Mormons!) in LA who is preaching the word of the Latter Day Saints and ends up at a porn producer’s mansion.  In a hilarious turn of events, he beats up security guards in a test of his martial arts abilities and it’s determined that he would make the perfect star of the fake pornographic film within a film “Orgazmo.”  He’s torn because of his wholesome beliefs (which, amazingly, are never really looked down upon) and the potential thousands of dollars he could make (he’s oblivious to how much he’s worth in the industry).  Still, the movie is brilliant in its own way with its superhero movie within a superhero movie structure (the porn director is actually a villain!), an abundance of visual jokes (every time any female nudity is hinted at a dude’s butt fills the frame and a film crew going to fight for the director because they’ll do anything he asks), the intentionally awful porn soundtrack, and the character Choda Boy (masterfully played by Dian Bachar) who you might remember as “Squeaks” from “Baseketball.”  He might be the most underrated character actor from the 90s.  Speaking of, this movie brought me right back to the 90s and the early sensibility of the “South Park” guys and Eminem.  A bit toxic and now bordering on offensive but their hearts were always in the right place skewering people in positions of power.  IF YOU LIKE “SOUTH PARK” THIS IS ESSENTIAL (Streaming on Netflix).

“School Daze” (1988): I’m turning into a bit of a Spike Lee completist; it’s nice that so many of his movies I always wanted to see are streaming. This one was a classic, ambitious second feature where Spike tries to do so much (all of which is admittedly way ahead of its time) and ends up forgetting to throw a story into his film.  There’s a lot going on here about a fictional all-Black university with Spike trying to join the toxic fraternity run by a pre-Gus Fring Giancarlo Esposito.  On the other side, Spike's cousin is played by Laurence Fishburne, a militant leader of a political group on campus.  Along the way there are extended musical numbers that come out of nowhere, insanely stylized cinematography, an uncharacteristic Samuel L. Jackson cameo and not a single white person.  As much as I could have used a simpler hero’s journey to guide me through the two hours, this one doesn’t need it; Spike needed to make this so he could bring us “Do The Right Thing” just one year later (by the way, Bill Nunn AKA Radio Raheem has a small, throwaway role in this).  A LESSER ENTRY IN THE CANON BUT NOT INESSENTIAL (Streaming on Netflix).

Side note: Anna and I watched this with friend Justine House, who gave excellent commentary throughout the movie.

VHYes (2019): Half-watched this movie that was written and directed by Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins’ son, Jack Henry Robbins.  It’s got one of those concepts we’ve all dreamed up but never made- what if there was a movie about someone changing the channels and we watched all the different shows they flipped through?  Robbins followed through with mixed results.  Part fake infomercial, part found footage horror movie, all-shlocky late 80s/early 90s nostalgia fest, this thing never fully congealed for me as a cohesive feature but I did admire the attempt to do something different.  Especially impressive was Robbins pulling in a number of favors from well-known B-list stars like his parents, most of the cast of “Reno 911,” Charlyne Yi and John Gemberling to name just a few.  Basically, this is a good movie and a great cautionary tale for aspiring writer/directors to see what they would do given the resources that our parents were successful movie stars and we were given carte blanche and a real budget to write and direct the movies we want.  NOT FOR ME BUT GOOD FOR MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS WITH HIPSTERS (Streaming on Hulu). 

Lady Dynamite (2017-2018): Man, what a two-season run for Maria Bamford’s little show that could.  The pilot started with a meta commentary on sitcoms for stand ups (in it, Patton Oswalt tells Maria she shouldn’t do stand up because all the other shows do it; he’s right.  She still does and bombs).  The show got more gloriously weird along the way in Season One with her talking dog, hypercritical mother (played to perfection by Mary Kay Place), insecure and clueless agent (Fred Melamed is one of the best comedic actors ever and gives this role more depth than one could ever expect in a sitcom) and brash friends Bridget Everett and Lennon Parham.  At one point in Season One, I found myself having to get off the treadmill (I told you I’ve been watching this forever; haven’t been to a gym since March) because I was laughing too hard and couldn’t run anymore.  Season Two is where the show really found its stride though when it started employing every episode with an A storyline taking place in the present about her relationship with her new husband, a Past B storyline where we go to her years as a teenager in Duluth Minnesota and Future C storyline where she sold out and acts in a fictional sci-fi show directed by Ana Gasteyer, who plays one of three characters named Karen Grisham.  There’s clearly a lot going on.  Some truly amazing jokes come out of the season as well.  My two favorites were 1.) a genuine, harsh critique of Season One’s faults in the middle of an episode; it blew me away.  I’d never seen a show point out its flaws in such a direct way.  My respect for the show quadrupled after that.  The second was 2.) A character who came out of nowhere that attended Exposition U.  Just a perfect meta joke that played nicely and hit my comedy sweet spot.  On top of all that, at the end Bamford employed hundreds of Filipino actors in the series finale, had an episode with dozens of working Native American actors AND gave all of her real life friends lines.  Loved that.  This show is very much itself; the only real predecessor for it is “Arrested Development” and it makes sense because Mitch Hurwitz was one of the show runners here.  Still, I get why it was cancelled as it got more critical of Netflix in Season Two and increasingly odder with its editing rhythms but IF YOU’RE A COMEDY FAN, THIS IS A TREAT (Streaming on Netflix).

Finally, here’s a few standout podcasts from this week as well:

Boom/Bust: The Rise of HQ Trivia: As an avid HQ player along with Anna and Adam Suzan, I was very excited for this eight (!) part series.  Each episode is compact, never coming in at more than 40 minutes and it was nice to look forward to them on a weekly basis for two months.  The show is pleasant and informative with tidbits like Scott Rogowsky planning on staging an on air strike and details about planned Last Comic Standing-style spinoff of the show had it continued.  As things went on, it got a bit darker as we learn about the “who cares” attitude toward the end and the harrowing insider details behind one of the co-founder’s suicide.  However, in the final episode, things get really juicy.  A debate emerges about whether or not this podcast is journalism or entertainment when all of the interview subjects debate getting paid by The Ringer.  There’s a confrontational sequence with Rogowsky where the host asked him about going behind her back asking her boss Bill Simmons for more information about getting paid.  The whole show was worth it for that last segment; it’s up there with the most awkward exchanges I’ve ever heard.  Both of them are in the wrong and they both sort of know it.

“You Made It Weird” with Topher Grace: Fun, long episode that moved briskly.  Somehow the host and guest riffed on “Saved by the Bell” extensively which led to a great recurring bit where they did the “Extra Extra” sound effect from Mario Lopez’s “Extra.”  Other interesting nuggets from this edition include Topher Grace talking about his role in “BlackkKlansman” as David Duke which has to be extra uncomfortable now and how Topher Grace was discovered in a play and got famous out of nowhere.  As nice as that sounds, he talks about just how strange it was for him as a teen.  Would recommend this one for any fan of the podcast or Topher Grace and I am both of those things.

WTF with Carl Reiner: As we all know, Carl Reiner passed this week at the ripe, old age of 98.  He’s already sorely missed.  Luckily, we have so many artifacts of his career to sift through and discover.  This week, I dove into this podcast episode. Here are the highlights from this 75-minute interview that aren’t in every tribute of his storied career: Carl profusely praises his son Rob’s directorial career pointing out how great “Princess Bride is and still insults Rob’s famously bad movie “North,” he talks about performing for the troops in WWII, then tells the famous story of Albert Brooks being the funniest person he’s ever met and he knew this when Brooks was 16 (you read that right, Albert not Mel Brooks).  Also, it was very funny how the phone rang multiple times throughout the episode and Reiner picked up every time.  Another great curiosity was Reiner having famous manager George Shapiro tag along for the episode.  Shapiro fell asleep.  Loved that.  Finally, the best part of all was about how Carl was a Marx Brothers and Buster Keaton fan back when they were actually making movies.  The guy has been around the block.  RIP Carl.

“Good One” with Horatio Sanz: On this podcast, the host interviews the subject about a joke or comedic performance they’re proud of.  This one highlights a strange sketch I barely remember with Sanz being a pharmacist who called out people’s ailments; in 2020 speak, it comes across more as insensitive than funny.  Still, this 60-minute low-key chat had some revelatory moments like Sanz talking about why SNL employs recurring characters (it’s because people don’t watch the show all the time and they figure it might be an audience member’s first time seeing said character) and the cast fighting for scraps and doing anything they can to get airtime.  Sanz also admitted that his SNL “Best Of” DVD is basically already just Jimmy Fallon’s “Best Of” since they worked together so often which is a generous confession.  He also reflected about his time on the show where he often “broke” in sketches.  He said his laughter was a reflection of how he wanted to emphasize the live aspect of the show.  I respect that.  He wanted to go one step further conceptually and literally break sets during scenes to give audiences a closer look at the live element of the show.  Finally, the show closed out with a perfect Truman Capote impression that he did in his audition for the show.  Overall, this is hit or miss but Sanz is so much fun that it’s a good one to take on.

“The Joe Rogan Experience” with Jon Stewart: Have never actually listened to a full episode of Rogan’s podcast before even though I’d tried but never finished the Andrew Yang one.  I’ll listen to Jon Stewart talk about anything so this was the one where I finally gave it a full shot.  Gotta say, not super impressed.  Rogan is...dull.  For the first half, we’re just listening to him and Stewart, two very rich folks discussing wealth inequality in the country which felt very false.  Things picked up when Stewart talked about 9/11 responders being treated poorly and how it messed up their lives which he brought to Congress in the past.  However, the episode got great when Rogan refused to let Stewart be right about overweight people ruining their lives by being overweight.  It was intense and nice to see both of them stick to their guns rather than back down.  Finally, a real debate where the gloves come off.  Also, for the record, as an overweight person, I think they’re both right- Stewart is in the camp that folks can eat whatever they want and Rogan believes that we all really should get in shape.  Neither is wrong.

“Good One” with the “Oh, Hello” guys: Mulaney and Kroll show up completely in character for this and do not disappoint with erudite tangents about  their Princess Diana podcast and Bernie Goetz.  In fact, they’re so funny here, that host Jesse David Fox barely says anything at all.  Out of everything I listened to this week, this went down easiest- I was genuinely sad when the hour was over.  I’m excited to listen to their actual podcast soon.

WTF with Alan Zweibel: This podcast opened my week as I sat down for work on Monday and things got off to a very somber start.  Pre-interview, Marc Maron legitimately sounds unwell like he didn’t want to go on.  It was a tough pill to swallow and I imagine his life is very difficult at the moment but luckily he rebounded toward the end as he went into classic ad copy.  As for the interview itself, Zweibel was effortlessly charming as always.  The guy has so many amazing stories and has been there for everything in the past 45 years of comedy (he’s one of the original SNL writers and is still cranking out gold) but it was most interesting listening to him talk about what John Belushi was like at the end of his life and his relationship with Garry Shandling where they would talk on the phone for hours and Zweibel’s wife would have to break it up.  Very excited to read Alan’s book which is sitting on my bookshelf at the moment and is next on my list to read.

“Good One” with Paul Scheer: Always loved Paul Scheer and it’s fascinating to hear this interview from 2017 where he praises Aziz.  That’s the thing about all these cancelled celebrities; artifacts of their collaborators talking about them in a positive light exist all over the web in many different formats.  Despite that oddity in the interview, Scheer tells great stories and dispenses valuable comedy wisdom.  The most valuable lesson I learned here was differentiating between homage and parody.  Scheer contends that imbuing your work with emotion and stakes leads to evergreen, meaningful comedy rather than just jokes that don’t age well.  He also dunked on the Wayans Brothers in the episode saying he wasn’t a fan of their work.  Wish this was a real comedy feud that existed.  Also, he looked down upon “Not Another Teen Movie” which is legitimately fantastic but I’ll let it slide.  Finally, if you’re a Criss Angel fan, there’s a few very funny behind the scenes stories of him from Scheer who hung out with him quite a bit in the early 2000s (the joke covered in this episode is a Criss Angel homage- NOT a parody).  

No plans for me for the week.  Honestly, just the way I like it.

Links:

01.) PromoteU with Steve Cohen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEyWe40O76c

02.) The Origin of Southwest’s Hold Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LD-DmmnIjo&list=PLoBsCsHJsKMrx6cuZ4Se8CQ_QBfOUcJ5U

03.) Robb Coles AProfileAboutYou: https://medium.com/@aprofileaboutyou/thoroughly-modern-history-with-robb-coles-isnt-just-a-podcast-it-s-a-time-machine-4da9c7a4b4d0

04.) The Ringer’s HQ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/65F5z1u5FCLX9ddueCHJRb?t=0

05.) “You Made It Weird” with Topher Grace: http://youmadeitweird.nerdistind.libsynpro.com/topher-grace

06.) WTF with Carl Reiner: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/carl-reiner-from-2013

07.) “Good One” with Horatio Sanz: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/horatio-sanzs-dons-apothecary-sketch/id1203393721?i=1000384200615

08.) Joe Rogan Experience with Jon Stewart: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXOUCRLW2UI

09.) “Good One” with the “Oh, Hello” Crew: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/oh-hello/id1203393721?i=1000475797690

10.) WTF with Alan Zweibel: http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-1135-alan-zweibel

11.) “Good One” with Paul Scheer: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/paul-scheer-and-human-giants-illusionators/id1203393721?i=1000382540100