Comedy and Humor

[Dickie Dunn]

We watched both Taylor Tomlinson specials on Netflix over the weekend and she was surprisingly (because I had never heard of her) pretty great.

[tifosi77]

What was his stand up like these days? Surprised he does it...

Up until it was shuttered by COVID, Leno had a standing Sunday night gig at a place in Redondo Beach called Comedy And Magic Club. Every week he'd do a full set of mostly new material; back in the Tonight Show days he'd use it to woodshed for the week. Guy apparently still lives (income-wise) off of stand up, and has never really touched his TV money.

[mikey]

Well, doesn't he have two point 50 zillion dollars in cars...? That's not standup money...

[meow]

Most stand ups have airplane hangers full of cars

[tifosi77]

Most stand ups aren't Jay Leno. Pre-COVID he was doing 200+ nights of stand up a year that drew him 8 figures, peppered with the odd $300,000 corporate gig.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

the level 2 improv class ended last week and we had our graduation yesterday. which was to do set at the company’s regular weekly improv show at the local comedy club


nerve wrecking as hell but super fun. One of the games was party quirks and I was the host of the party. One of the other players was pretending to be Anna Delvey, of whom I’ve never heard of before. It was a major struggle trying to guess that in front of an audience of 30 or so

[tifosi77]

Only hope there is to devolve to a charades exercise and try to guess the name phonetically, which sort of defeats the purpose of the game.

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

yeah. people said it was still funny but they might have been lying to make me feel better lol

the whole show is on YouTube. I’ve been too afraid to watch it because of how much I cringe at watching videos of myself

[blackjack68]

Post the link here. We’ll tell you.

[tifosi77]

I haven't seen the video yet, but I've already given it a thumbs down.

[meecrofilm]

Most stand ups aren't Jay Leno. Pre-COVID he was doing 200+ nights of stand up a year that drew him 8 figures, peppered with the odd $300,000 corporate gig.

A few years ago I was out getting pizza somewhere in Columbus after doing an improv show and Jay Leno walked in and got food and didn't tip any of the staff. That's all I got.

[meecrofilm]

the level 2 improv class ended last week and we had our graduation yesterday. which was to do set at the company’s regular weekly improv show at the local comedy club


nerve wrecking as hell but super fun. One of the games was party quirks and I was the host of the party. One of the other players was pretending to be Anna Delvey, of whom I’ve never heard of before. It was a major struggle trying to guess that in front of an audience of 30 or so

Only hope there is to devolve to a charades exercise and try to guess the name phonetically, which sort of defeats the purpose of the game.

Oof yeah, I've been involved with many guessing games where the best move was for the host to come up and allow one more guess and then go to the "It was actually _____" with the audience filling in the blank move. Once it becomes overtly about the guessing and you're not playing the scene anymore it can become awkward. But if the audience was still enjoying it then it's fine -- it all depends if the guesser is still having fun or if they're starting to sweat it.

Can confirm watching yourself on screen is the worst. But super helpful. You'll notice your posture probably sucks, haha

[DigitalGypsy66]

For the past couple of years, I've listened to a WWII podcast based in the UK featuring author James Holland and comedian Al Murray. Both very bright, articulate guys, obviously. I knew a little about Holland, but next to nothing about Murray. Evidently, he is very well known in the UK for standup and his character the Pub Landlord:

At first glance, it was funny, but then the longer I watched I realized he is basically roasting the audience, in character, on the fly. That's incredibly tough to do. He's basically playing a Brit version of Archie Bunker, albeit slightly modernized. Good stuff. And the podcast is great fwiw.

[NTP66]

We all know who the king of that was.

[shafnutz05]

This channel has been absolutely on fire lately. It's like Dave woke up one day and suddenly realized he likes YouTube. Happy 75th (!) Dave. I love that she's been with him pretty much since the start of Late Night (even before that, I think).

[NTP66]

Ricky Gervais will have another comedy special on Netflix soon.

[NTP66]

Norm Macdonald Shot Secret Final Netflix Stand-Up Special Before Passing

The acclaimed Saturday Night Live actor-comedian known for his deadpan delivery was diagnosed with cancer in 2012 but kept his illness private. He was working on new material for a Netflix special when he had to go into the hospital in the summer of 2020.

“His test results were not good, so during the heart of COVID-19 pandemic and literally the night before going in for a procedure, he wanted to get this on tape just in case — as he put it — things went south,” Lori Jo Hoekstra, Macdonald’s longtime producing partner, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “It was his intention to have a special to share if something happened.”

The result was a stand-up special shot in Macdonald’s living room. The actor filmed the entire hour in a single take. “He looks great and the material’s fantastic,” Hoekstra says.

As it turned out, Macdonald made it through the medical procedure just fine and the footage was literally tossed in a closet. But Macdonald became very ill a year later, before his special could be properly filmed before an audience. “He ended up getting sicker last August and September, and he remembered he had shot this and asked me to find it so he could watch it,” Hoekstra says. “He ended up watching it before he passed away.” Macdonald even suggested a characteristically self-deprecating title for the hour: Nothing Special.

Netflix will release the surprise program — Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special‚ on May 30.

[dodint]

Oh boy.

[LeopardLetang]

Awesome

[eddy]

Ricky Gervais will have another comedy special on Netflix soon.

[tifosi77]

Was excellent. Will watch again and again.

[meow]

I don’t know if I’m ready for the Norm stand up. I took me several years to be able to watch a Robin Williams movie. Not sure I’m there yet with Norm.

[dodint]

Spotted that yesterday and was going to ask if you had seen it yet. Good to know.

I was bummed that George died so 'early.' But I wonder if the world has actually gotten so shitty and cynical that his tone wouldn't be effective anymore. Kind of in the way that Chappelle's stuff doesn't really hit like it used to.

[DigitalGypsy66]

Yeah, I started the Carlin doc last night. Excellent, obviously. Almost Ken Burns level of detail.

[Nuge]

I enjoyed it too. Very interesting to see his progression as a comedian. Apatow is 2/2 with this and his Gary Shandling doc.