A delightful moment of "Frère Jacques" performed by composer Luke Thering and comedian Ricky Gervais. More of Luke and Ricky below:

Read the rest

Today I learned (on Conan O'Brien's podcast) that comedian John Mulaney has made a children's musical comedy special for Netflix. What?! Terrific!

The show's official description states he and his "kid pals" "tackle existential topics for all ages with catchy songs, comedy sketches and special guests in a nostalgic variety special."

On Conan's podcast, he further describes it, "We have a lot of songs about anxieties and fear. There's huge, kind of, Broadway-scale numbers. There's small cameos from beloved people. There's show-stopping cameos from people. And there's lots of little interviews along the way... I cannot explain it well, and I never could pitch it well. And I sometimes couldn't discuss with my collaborators exactly what I was picturing but it is now done... I am more happy with it then I have been with anything I've ever done."

*That* is saying a lot coming from Mr. Mulaney. Count me in!

John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch will premiere Christmas Eve.

Here's its trailer:

Read the rest

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele reveal the "deplorable conditions at Vincent Clortho Public School for Wizards."

Read the rest

Consequence of Sound was the first to report that Pete Davidson has begun handing out NDAs to all audience members at his recent comedy gigs. Imagine buying a ticket, then showing up at a performance, where they give you a paper full of dense legalese threatening a $1 million dollar fine if you share anything about it anywhere in your life. This isn't just limited to videos on your phone; you're prohibited from even talking about the jokes you heard.

And if you refuse to sign? Here's a refund, there's the door. (Although hey, at least they're nice enough to offer you a refund.)

It's a ridiculous idea, one that reeks of the same entitled financial bullying that have kept people like Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump, and Harvey Weinstein in power, doing what they do. It's a tough guy act, saying "Respect my authority, or pay the consequences." In those other situations, however, someone might feel pressured into going along with the NDA to save their job or reputation; in Davidson's case, the only thing you lose is the privilege of seeing a live comedy show, I guess.

On one hand, I know that if I did sign the paperwork, I probably wouldn't be able to enjoy the show, knowing that I was there under duress, and that any comment about it that came attached to that little blue checkmark on my Twitter account might completely ruin my life.

On the other hand, the NDA's not going to work anyway. Read the rest

Brilliant fun from Kevin Tenglin and Erik Kissack featuring Nick Offernan as a narrator with entirely too much influence over proceedings and Shawn Parsons as a hapless gunslinger. A 16:9 version is on YouTube.

Filmmaker Eric Kissack tells the story of a lone gunslinger who walks into a saloon and begins to hear a voice -- the all-knowing narrator.

In a small town in the Old West, a weary man enters the room. Suddenly, an omniscient voice begins to narrate the scene, revealing who the gunslinger is and what he's about to do.

But the characters in the film can hear the voice, too.

The narrator quickly divulges the deepest, darkest secrets of the people in the saloon. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear that the narrator wants nothing more than to see a "ballet of death."

Featuring the mellifluous voice of comedian Nick Offerman.

Evidently Port Townsend, Washington has a real sense of humor. Read the rest

Children of the 80's will remember the disturbing puppets from satirical puppet show Spitting Image and the video for Genesis' Land of Confusion.  Co-creator Roger Law has confirmed that a pilot has been filmed, with hopes of a new series focusing on major celebrities like Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg.

Jeff Westbrook, a writer on The Simpsons and Futurama, is serving as show-runner, and caricaturist Adrian Teal is working on the puppets.  You can get a glimpse of the Trump puppet in action in this clip:

On #FrontRowLate tonight, @wmarybeard speaks exclusively to Roger Law, as he films a pilot in the UK for the new Spitting Image series coming to American TV. pic.twitter.com/JFuX5dHCEU

— BBC Arts (@bbcarts) September 27, 2019

(Images via Avalon and The Guardian.) Read the rest

I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in years, but I might start again just because I like Chloe Fineman's impersonation of Elizabeth Holmes so much. Read the rest

The Mr. Creosote sketch from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life went viral this weekend after director Quentin Tarantino was alleged to have said it's the only scene in film he was ever disturbed by. Watching it, it struck me that I'd never actually seen the whole thing, and that you might not have, either.

I read somewhere, perhaps Michael Palin's autobiography, that under the hot studio lights and the long, technical takes, the food matter on the set began to reek and one of the extras vomited for real. Read the rest

Every day, for reasons best understood by herself, Megan Amram ("it's this weird, sexual, anti-comedy comedy that's 'in' right now") posts "Today was the day Donald Trump finally became president" to her Twitter feed. Read the rest

From the look of things, The Art of Self-Defense looks to be full of toxic masculinity and Iron John bullshit--to hilarious effect. Jesse Eisenberg is at his best in movies where he plays the straight man: deadpan, confused and terrified.It looks like that's all going on here.

I haven't been interested enough in a film to bother seeing it in the theater, for a while now. This flick might just break my watch-it-at-home streak. Read the rest

Ben writes, "First featured on Boing Boing in 2010, the fan-supported TV series JourneyQuest has continued for nine years(!) and is now Kickstarting a fourth season. It's an open world with a copyleft license, proving that encouraging sharing, remixing, allowing commercial derivatives, and not treating fans like criminals can still lead to success." Read the rest

The wonderful comedienne, Tig Notaro, doesn't watch a lot of TV or films and doesn't really keep up with popular culture. As a result, she doesn't recognize celebrities. She's turned this liability(?) into a fun show, called Under A Rock with Tig Notaro. Well-known celebs come on and she (aided by her announcer, Amazon's Alexa) questions them in an attempt to guess who they are and what they are famous for. I've gotten a big kick out of the first three episodes.

Read the rest

I was already a Terry Pratchett fan and a Neil Gaiman fan in 1990, when their comedic novel Good Omens showed up in the bookstore I worked at, and I dibsed it, took it home over the weekend, read it in huge gulps, and wrote an enthusiastic review on a 3x5 card that I tacked to the bookshelf next to it on the new release rack at the front of the store; I hand-sold hundreds of copies, and have read it dozens of times since. Read the rest

Last night, I went to see Public Domain: The Musical at the Actor's Company Theater in West Hollywood. I had no idea what to expect, but I was prepared for the worst (I've been to shows at fringe festivals where I would have walked out in the first five minutes, except I was the only person in the audience), and I was totally wrong. I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard. Read the rest

Ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, authorities in Vietnam have kicked out Kim impersonator Howard X. Howard is on his way back to Hong Kong, reports the Beeb.

Howard X says officials have since told him his visa is "invalid", but says he has received no further explanation.

"Satire is a powerful weapon against any dictatorship. They are scared of a couple of guys that look like the real thing," Howard X, who was wearing a black suit and thick black glasses in the style of Kim Jong-un, told reporters.

Jason from the Comedy on Vinyl podcast writes, "I've spent the last eight years interviewing people from Rachel Bloom to Harry Shearer about their favorite vinyl comedy albums on my podcast, 'Comedy on Vinyl.' A few weeks ago, inspired by the brilliant podcast 'Mystery Show,' I decided to do something new, as I attempted to uncover the true identity and life story of long-lost comedian Dick Davy. A character comic, a white guy who won over The Apollo, and a civil rights activist who later settled into obscurity, Dick Davy's story temporarily took over my life and renewed my faith in comedy as a potential agent for change." (MP3) Read the rest