Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Tags: Beth Norton , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Tags: Beth Norton , Image , Web Only
Monday, October 24, 2016
Tags: Annie Russell , jokes , humor , standup , Image , Web Only
Thursday, October 20, 2016
In the thoughtful, shambling style that has become his signature, Birbiglia explores themes of jealousy and ambition. Perhaps most potently, he also ponders the inevitable moment when aging artists are forced to confront Peter Pan syndrome and reconcile creative passions with the desire for conventional stability.
Birbiglia stars in the film alongside the likes of Keegan-Michael Key ("Key & Peele") and Gillian Jacobs ("Community"). Among the film's other notable comedic talents is Vermont's Steve Waltien, who plays the supporting (OK, minor) character Hugh Finn. Waltien is a Shelburne native and an alum of the iconic Chicago improv theater Second City. He's presently a writer on Jon Stewart's forthcoming animated HBO series. (Full disclosure: He is also one of this writer's oldest and dearest friends.)
On Sunday, October 23, Birbiglia brings his new show, "Thank God for Jokes," to the Flynn MainStage in Burlington. Ahead of that performance, we checked in via email to ask him about comedy, his new movie and his mastery of English muffin pizzas.
Tags: Mike Birbiglia , Steve Waltien , improv , standup , Video , Image , Web Only
Monday, October 17, 2016
About that joke
Says Bowen: "If I had a nickel for every time I have turned a popular phrase or idiom into a joke, I would guess that I would have 50 to 60 nickels."Tags: Richard Bowen , jokes , humor , standup , Image , Web Only
Thursday, October 13, 2016
That's right. Breuer, the veteran comic and actor — you might know him as Goat Boy from "Saturday Night Live" or the stoner Brian from Half Baked — has a band. And good one at that. Jim Breuer and the Loud & Rowdy recently released their debut album, Songs From the Garage, on heralded heavy metal label Metal Blade Records. That Breuer is now label mates with the likes of GWAR and Cattle Decapitation should give you some idea of just how legit his new venture is. The record itself will fill in the rest.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Friedlander has been performing standup since 1989 and is known for roles in films such as Zoolander and Wet Hot American Summer and the TV comedies "30 Rock" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." He developed his World Champ schtick as a pointed satire of narcissism and braggadocio in modern culture. But over the years, Friedlander has shifted his critiques of American and global exceptionalism and begun to use his excellence at everything for good. He's become not merely the champion of the world, but a champion for it, a gruff voice of reason and righteousness in increasingly uncertain times.
Friedlander performs a two-night, four-show run this Friday and Saturday, July 29 and 30, at the Vermont Comedy Club in Burlington . Seven Days spoke with the Champ by phone to play a quick round of Seven Questions.
Tags: Judah Friedlander , standup comedy , Vermont Comedy Club , Image , Video , Web Only
Saturday, April 9, 2016
I know Paul’s Boutique backwards and forwards, and for years have marveled at and puzzled over its array of funky, witty samples. The album’s producers, the fabled Dust Brothers, plucked basslines from the Eagles, single guitar notes from Mountain and scads of musical and verbal ephemera from decades of American music, television and film. The album remains a remarkable achievement. But, as enjoyable as it is, Paul’s Boutique is also incredibly densely layered, its musical fragments and obscure name-checks fairly begging the listener to unpack them.
Tags: what i'm watching , vine , joke , jokes , joke life , duane roelands , comedy , Image , Video , Web Only
Thursday, October 22, 2015
Bernie Sanders Plays The Bongos To Ben Harper's ‘Burn One Down’Bernie breaks it down with "Burn One Down."
Posted by The Huffington Post on Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Obviously, the title of Harper's earnest stoner ballad makes the song rife for a Sanders parody. And that proves doubly true given the weed legislation segment of the debate, which HuffPo video editors Oliver Noble and Ben Craw handle masterfully. But the real brilliance of HuffPo's video is that it tweaks a key Sanders trait that most parodies have thus far overlooked: his emphatically percussive gesticulation. Brilliant.
Click here to watch the video on HuffPo.
Tags: Senator , Bernie Sanders , Huffington Post , Ben Harper , Presidential Campaign , Image , Recommended Reading , Web Only
Thursday, July 23, 2015
OK, so maybe my punchline needs a little work. But starting the third week of November I could brush up on my joke construction at the Vermont Comedy Club. No joke. Co-owners, comedy moguls and sickeningly cute married couple Natalie Miller and Nathan Hartswick — seen above in a photo taken by a guy named Dan Bowles, which is kinda freakin' me out — announced earlier this week that they have finally broken ground on their long-awaited comedy club.
The venue, which will take up residence in the old Armory building on Main Street in Burlington — formerly home Sh-Na-Na's and Hunt's and also occupied by the Hilton Garden Inn — will open in November with the 2015 Vermont's Funniest Comedian competition. Appropriate for the soon-to-be epicenter of local comedy. (Obviously, based on the previous joke, I will not be competing.)
In a press release announcing the groundbreaking, Miller and Hartswick and developer Erik Hoekstra said a bunch of stuff you'd expect to see in a glowing press release. ("We're totes pumped, you guys." "This will be great for the children." "I just wanna thank God and give 110%." "Feel the Bern." And so on.)
OK, I made up those quotes, because I hate reading press releases. But the point is this: After well more than a year of planning and speculation, VCC is going to open. For real. And that's great news. (Also cool news: The team behind hot BTV eatery Butch + Babe's is designing the VCC menu.)
Stay tuned for updates — and better jokes — as events warrant.
Tags: Natalie Miller , Nathan Hartswick , Vermont Comedy Club , Butch + Babe's , Image , Web Only