"Following last year's 10th anniversary, which crushed previous attendance records and set a new mark for the speed with which tickets sold out, the Sasquatch! Music Festival unveils its 2012 lineup which once again features 4 days of music. The festival, hailed as "a model of well-paced programming...in a four-day schedule as efficient and natural feeling as an expertly built algorithm" by NPR Music while Wired notes, "leave the landscape out of it and Sasquatch! has a lineup to kill for," runs May 25-28 (Memorial Day Weekend) at The Gorge, the internationally acclaimed concert venue carved in the basalt cliffs high above the Columbia River Gorge in Quincy, WA."

The Sasquatch! Music Festival takes place, as usual, at the Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington over Memorial Day weekend (May 25-28). And this year's lineup is:

Continue reading "Sasquatch! 2012 lineup announced (Bon Iver, Jack White, Beck, Tenacious D, Shins, Portlandia, Spiritualized & more) "

Tune in at 11am today (1/31) to catch Stella buds Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black streaming in Michael Birbiglia's Macys window (which he is still in through Tuesday).

In related comedy news, Michael Showalter is kicking off his "Mr. Funny Pants" tour on February 24th at Barnes & Noble in Union Square with special musical guest Neko Case. He swings back through town mid-tour to hit the Bell House in Brooklyn on 2/27. Tickets are still on sale for that special edition of "Pretty Good Friends" with Eugene Mirman, Reggie Watts, Kumail Nanjiani and special guests ("Please note this show will be mixed seated and standing. For best seat selection please arrive early and use the TicketFast print-at-home ticketing option. ").

Michael and Michael, as many know, used to be on a very funny show called The State along with red head Kevin Allison who is still doing his thing as well. Catch his show called "RISK! STORYSLAM" tonight (1/31) at the Pit at 6pm for FREE. If you miss it, there's always next Monday and the Monday after that and...

Also on Mondays (but much later): Whiplash at UCB. Jon Friedman, Myq Kaplan, Mike DeStefano and Adira Amram will all be there tonight.

Also coming up at the Bell House in Brooklyn: two chances to see "WTF With Marc Maron". Early and late March 10th shows are on sale.

Also coming up at the Bell House:

MON 1/31: 7:30pm doors / FREE

WONDER TWINS & RUSSCOMM PRESENT
THE 2011 BROOKLYN BEARDFEST & STACHE BASH:
NECKBEARD TELECASTER
LOS ENCANTADOS
JON MIZRACHI
BEARD-LESQUE
By members of Storybook Burlesque, featuring:
Magdalena Fox, Victoria Privates, and Jenny C'est Quoi with mustacio'd stage kitten Rosey la Rouge

Finally - a festival for bearded and mustached people and the people who love them! Come celebrate all things beard with us on Monday January 31st as we prepare to enter "Facial Hair February" with beardy bands, mustached DJs, vendors, contests, food and more.

DJ Russ and DJ Choyce Hacks will also be supplying the tunes at the Brooklyn beard event.

Speaking of tunes, piano-playing comedian Bo Burnham isn't even old enough to drink but he is big enough to headline Best Buy Theater in Times Square on February 4th. Tickets are still on sale. Maybe you caught Bo's special on Comedy Central. If not, it airs again on February 4th and February 11th.

Speaking of Comedy Central, Nick Kroll's special that was taped at Music Hall of Williamsburg aired on Saturday. I don't know when it will air again, but I only caught about 10 minutes and wish I saw the rest - in part because it's fun to see the barely recognizable Brooklyn venue on TV. Meanwhile you can watch two clips below.

Kurt Braunohler and Kristen's next edition of Hot Tub @ Littlefield in Brooklyn (the only remaining Hot Tub on Littlefield's schedule for now) happens tonight (1/31). Their guests include Dan St. Germain, Matt Higgins, Dr. Uke and Daughters, "+ more!"

It won't be long before you see more of Kurt though. He's starting a new talk show at the Pit called "Night of the Living." "This monthly show will feature special house band Adira Amram and the Experience, and bits and sketches from New York City's finest comedians. Come see the beginning of something very cool. And very stupid. Because that's how we like it." Its first episode happens live on February 4th with special guests Eugene Mirman, Jon Glaser, and a secret musical guest. Tickets are on sale.

Daniel Kitson played his final show at St. Ann's Warehouse last night.

Neil Hamburger is touring in February and March. Tickets are on sale for a March 17th Brooklyn show at Knitting Factory with "The Kenny 'K-Strass' Strasser Yo-Yo Extravaganza" and "Major Entertainer Mike H." All tour dates are below....

Continue reading "Michaels in Birbigs' window, Neil Hamburger tour, Beardfest, Bo Burnham, Marc Maron, Nick Kroll, Kurt Braunohler & more"

Todd Barry @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Want to laugh Tuesday night? Head over to Lolita Bar at Broome and Allen for another edition of "Tell Your Friends!". This week's special guests include HANNIBAL BURESS (who performs a free show every Sunday at Knitting Factory) (and who recently opened for Aziz Ansari at Beacon Theater), LIAM McENEANEY, ANDY DE LA TOUR, and a "MYSTERY GUEST" who "is doing a big big show later in the week, and can't be advertised for this. He appears all over television and films, though, and this may be your last chance to see him in a basement before he's too famous for our show. - A MUST SEE!" Hmm.

Speaking of a big big show later in the week, Nick Kroll's two tapings at Music Hall of Williamsburg take place this Thursday, 11/18.

Nick also did a show at UCB tonight/Monday right before Whiplash (with special guest Mike Birbiglia). How was that? Whiplash takes place every Monday.

MGMT's Andrew VanWyngarden will be a guest at the live broadcast of WFMU's comedy/variety show "Seven Second Delay" at UCB Theatre on Wednesday (11/17). $5.00 tickets are still on sale, though note that he won't be performing. They'll be interviewing him, but they promise they have a couple of surprises planned. Other guests appearing on the same show: former New York Times Ombudsman Dan Okrent, and author / gambling expert / former bookie Beth Raymer.

That WFMU thing is early - like 6pm. Stick around after for an edition of Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkel's Totally J/K with special guests Hari Kondabalu (Comedy Central Presents), Greg Johnson (Sirius/XM Radio) "& more!" Then stay even longer, cause Joe Mande is also part of the show right after that too. Anthony Atamanuik, John Flynn & Ed Gavagan also perform in "The Nights of Our Lives"

Much like Pee Wee Herman, Colin Quinn has a new show on Broadway (which is directed by Jerry Seinfeld) (the Colin show) (Jerry didn't direct the Pee Wee show). We are giving away tickets to see Pee Wee. The Apiary has a pair up for grabs to see Colin.

What about Eugene Mirman you ask? Well, in addition to stuff we've mentioned in the past and his somewhat regularly scheduled Sunday night shows at Union Hall, you can catch him along with John Roderick (as Santa Claus), A.C. Newman, John Hodgman, Gary Shteyngart, and Ollabelle on December 17th at City Winery for the next edition of John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders. Tickets are on sale.

You will also find Eugene Mirman at the Bell House on December 12th for "Pretty Good Friends (formerly Tearing the Veil of Maya) End of the Year Holiday Blowout" with Kristen Schaal, Jon Glaser and "more to be announced." Tickets are on sale.

Speaking of Kristen Schaal, was she at Littlefield last night/tonight/Monday night for "Hot Tub with Kurt"? It's unclear from the listings whether Kurt Braunohler is doing "Hot Tub" without her every Monday night through 11/29. Upcoming listed guests include Wyatt Cenac, Laura Krafft, Dan Friel, Jon Friedman, Liam McEneaney, and Chris Rozzi.

Patton Oswalt has four shows coming up at Caroline's - two on January 7th and two on January 8th. Tickets are on sale.

Last but not least, after postponing the original date, honorary Juggalo Gallagher will appear at Gramercy Theatre on April 8th. Tickets are on sale.

Continue reading "Andrew VanWyngarden, secret guests, John Roderick as Santa, Dan Friel, AC Newman & other upcoming comedy shows"

Mike Birbiglia & Michael Showalter @ Mirman Fest (more by David Andrako)

Mike Birbiglia, you know, the guy from the subway ads that has a book out, celebrates, well, that book, at Caroline's on Tuesday, November 2nd. Tickets are on sale.

Amazingly there are also still tickets left for Birbigs' November 22nd "My Girlfriend's Boyfriend" show at UCB. That's a Monday which is convenient because then you can stick around for Whiplash.

One week earlier, Nick Kroll does the pre-Whiplash show for only $5.00 which is cheaper than the shows he'll be practicing for.

The New York Comedy Festival presents "Louie: A Conversation with Louis C.K.", at the Paley Center this Wednesday, November 3rd. Tickets are on sale.

Louis plays Carnegie Hall one day later which is almost three months before Aziz Ansari plays Carnegie Hall with Eugene Mirman, but only two days before Aziz plays Beacon Theatre.

Who knows who will show up to play later that night, and the night after that, at UCB for two special non-Monday editions of Whiplash, aka "The Best of Whiplash."

Also Wednesday: "The world premiere of Dave Hill's Rock Shop with special guests PAT KIERNAN of NY1, MICHAEL SHOWALTER, and DOUG GILLARD (Guided By Voices/Nada Surf)!" I mean, I don't think you need to know more than that to immediately want to buy a ticket, but just in case:

Dave Hill's Rock Shop is a new comedy "talk" show which will hopefully happen the first Wednesday of each month at Park Slope's newest buzzworthy club, The Rock Shop. The show will run approximately an hour and will feature comedian/guitarist and Ohio native, Dave Hill hosting the shit out it. Dave Hill's Rock Shop will feature interviews with a famous or semi-famous or not so famous person, a famous or semi-famous or not so famous comedian, plus the focus of the show: Dave challenges a famous or semi-famous rock musician to a guitar duel (possibly to the death). The show is being produced by Caroline Creaghead (Tearing The Veil Of Maya / Eugene Mirman's Comedy Festival / The Rope Swing) and Jack McFadden (The Bell House / The Rock Shop booking guru) and is sure to have South Brooklyn peeps peeing in their seats (don't worry, we clean them, sorta).'

Our debut show will be on Wednesday, November 3 at 7:30pm and features Pat Kiernan of NY1, comedian Michael Showalter, and guitar hero Doug Gillard of Nada Surf & Guided By Voices. The show will cost $7 and you'll feel pretty good about getting your 7 dollars worth. There will be no refunds.

Unlike one of the the non-Doug Gillard Guided By Voices shows coming up, The Rock Shop is offering no refunds.

One of Dave Hill's bands, the one with Moby in it, plays Mercury Lounge on December 4th. 21+. No refunds.

PREVIOUSLY: Tim & Eric add a show, Eugene Mirman & Hannibal Buress every Sunday & other comedy stuff too

Mike Birbiglia was on Jimmy Kimmel last week. Video of his segment below...

Continue reading "Louis CK, Mike Birbiglia, Dave Hill, Pat Kiernan & other tickets "

by Klaus Kinski

Nick Kroll

When Rififi shuttered it's doors back in 2008, the part of my brain that required comedy in order for me to live also shuttered itself, though not completely. I did, and still do, continue to see comedy, but for some reason when the Rififi option was off the table, my zeal plummeted to a dangerous low and I psychologically couldn't overcome it. Melodramatic, huh? Yeah. Rififi exposed me to bazillions of comedians who to this day I still regard as favorites, but one favorite who I haven't seen much of since Rififi's closure is Nick Kroll.

Nick is part of a gaggle of comedians, including Jon Daly, Brett Gelman, and John Gemberling, who kill me not so much for their stand-up prowess (though, they don't lack in that department) but more for the insanely funny characters they come up with and perform as on stage and in videos.

Nick's characters include Bobby Bottleservice (1/2 of the Ed Hardy Boyz), a Rich Dick, and Fabrice Fabrice, among others. I cannot remember the last time I saw Nick live, so I was chuffed to see that he is doing two Comedy Central tapings at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on November 18th, early and late. These tapings will amount to a future 1 Hour Nick Kroll comedy special called Thank You Very Cool. I don't know what to expect, but I am hoping it will feature both stand-up and sketch material. Get your tickets! For serious.

In other, closer-to-now-shows-news, did you get your tickets to see Kristen Schaal, Kurt Braunohler, and Reggie Watts at NYU's Skirball Center this evening (10/21)? It carries with it a $25 price tag, but if you've got it spend it! You have to support your local favorites when they hit the larger stages people. Be loyal, not a dicknose. Oh, and you also might be able to get in to this one with your CMJ badge.

OK. Fine. I totally get it. You were a good pup and bought your tickets to tonight's comedy-free BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase happening at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. That was a smart move, and I now see why you didn't buy your tickets to see Ms. Schaal, Mr. Braunohler, and Mr. Watts at Skirball tonight.

So, since you missed the show at Skirball tonight, you should be happy to know that you can still see Reggie Watts for FREE at the BrooklynVegan and Converse FREE Saturday Party that's happening at Public Assembly from 12:00pm - 6:00pm.

Once you've had your fill of beer and other free goodies Saturday, you and your buddies are going to hop in a cab and head over to Union Hall for the Heart of Darkness: A Night of Forgiveness and Salvation CMJ show that features Greg Barris, Reggie Watts (again!), Kurt Braunohler, Dave Hill (who's band Diamondsnake has a show coming up at Mercury Lounge), and Kristen Schaal. There will also be music by The You Are Forgiven Choir featuring Ariel East, Mother of Three and New Beard. Tickets are only $10 and are, inexplicably, STILL AVAILABLE.

So tonight, Tivo Night of Too Many Stars and rock your socks off with BV at the Music Hall. And then on Saturday, see a ton of comedy and music, drink for free, and go to bed happy for a mere $10.

flyers and videos below...

Continue reading "comedy at CMJ, a Nick Kroll taping and MORE!"

Lollapalooza tickets go on sale at 10am CST, or to be more specific ("Three-Day passes for Lollapalooza 2010 go on-sale March 30, at 10am CST. A limited number of Advance-priced three-day passes will be available for $190. When this allotment sells out, Regular-priced three-day passes will be available for $215. Prices are inclusive of all service fees. VIP Lolla Lounge passes will also be on-sale [too]"

in semi-related news, "We are excited to announce that Sasquatch! Music Festival has officially sold out! The sellout occurred in record time, selling the highest number of tickets since the festival's inception. Additionally, the day schedule has been finalized with the addition of comedian Aziz Ansari, They Might Be Giants, and more. See below for [the full lineup which also now includes Bobcat Goldthwait]."

Continue reading "Lollapalooza on sale, Sasquatch sells out & adds more acts"

Comedian and musician Dave Hill was summoned to Bonnaroo this past weekend to be part of both the comedy and music going-ons at the four-day Tennessee festival. I asked if he'd mind sharing his experiences (and pictures) with BrooklynVegan.com. He agreed. I regretted it. He sent it anyway, so here it is (starting with some MP3's by his rock band Valley Lodge), but warning: this post is not for the squeamish (NSFTS)...

DOWNLOAD: Valley Lodge - All of My Lovin (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Valley Lodge - Hangin On (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Valley Lodge - The Door (MP3)

Dave Hill tests face-melting licks out on some chairs

I've just returned from four magical days and nights at Bonnaroo, where my rock band Valley Lodge was the house band for Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's "Bonnapoo 2009" shows, which featured all sorts of awesomeness from Robert Smigel aka Triumph as well as sets from the great Todd Barry, Amy Schumer, and Kumail Nanjiani.

"Smigel performed four sets as Triumph at Bonnaroo, which annually hosts a comedy tent along with its smorgasbord of music acts, spread out over five main stages on a farm in rural Tennessee.

"My live act is a huge undertaking because Triumph kind of thrives on the immediate, discussing what everybody's thinking about," said Smigel while whisking past festival-goers in a golf cart, puppet on hand." [AP]

The excitement started on Wednesday night when I got on a plane to Nashville with my close personal friend Janeane Garofalo, Pete Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, and the rest of my rock band Valley Lodge. If you've ever wanted to be on a completely hilarious plane, you could do a lot worse than to have been on this plane. As you can probably imagine, all of us were running back and forth between our seats spraying each other with seltzer bottles and throwing pies in each others' faces. At one point, Pete Holmes came over to my seat to shake my hand and it turned out he had one of those joy buzzers on his finger. Man, was my face red. I got him back though by spraying him in the face with a prank flower I was wearing at the time. We both just laughed and laughed after this happened. He couldn't stay mad at me.

Once we got to Nashville, some unmarked vehicles took us all to Murfreesboro, the popular Tennessee town where we all stayed at the Doubletree Hotel, which is really classy. Because I snore and also like to get up to all sorts of hardcore banging in hotels, I had my own room. When I dropped off my bags, I looked around the room and got all excited about all the snoring and hardcore banging I would be doing in my room over the next few days and nights.

continued below...

Continue reading "What It's like to be a VIP at Bonnaroo 2009 by Dave Hill"

Amadou & Mariam @ All Points West 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

The contest to guess the lineup of this year's All Point West festival continues. I honestly don't even know the lineup yet - I'll be receiving it right before I post it at 7am Monday morning.

Will Coldplay be on the lineup? A lot of people seem convinced based on the band's current tour schedule (which you can see in its entirety below). If they are playing the fest, well, that will be weird.

UPDATE: yes, Coldplay are in fact playing the festival

Amadou and Mariam played All Points West last year, are touring the US with Coldplay in July, and have some headlining dates scheduled in June (including a show at Webster Hall on June 8th). The Mali duo was also just added to this year's Bonnaroo lineup.

Also recently added to Bonnaroo (music and comedy): Public Enemy, Ani Difranco, the Itals and Wailing Souls, Murs, Shadows Fall, High on Fire, Janelle Monáe, Pretty Lights, Tony Rice, Passion Pit, Hockey, White Rabbits, Jimmy Fallon, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Rory Albanese, Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter, Aziz Ansari, Kristen Schaal, Arj Barker, Todd Barry, Nick Thune, Wayne Federman, Nick Kroll, Kurt Braunholer, Amy Schumer, Kumail Nanjiani and Pete Holmes. Full Bonnaroo (June 11 - 14 in Manchester, Tennessee) lineup below...

Continue reading "Coldplay, All Points West, Amadou & Mariam & Bonnaroo"

People like Fred Armisen, Carrie from Sleater-Kinney (and NPR) (man, she was rough on Tallest Man on Earth), Joe Mande and Nick Kroll will be watching comedy shorts (with piano accompaniment) tonight...

Continue reading "ThunderAnt, Max Silvestri, others & film @ MoMA Tuesday"

Continue reading "Nick Kroll & John Mulaney - Comix shows & a taping"

by Klaus Kinski

You Should Probably Go To Rififi Tonight (Feb 8)......

Why? Because every Friday night (this month at least) Rififi (332 east 11th, b/t 1st and 2nd) plays host to The Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Show. If I wasn't so lazy/busy, I would have finished my Top Ten Best Things In Comedy In 2007 list for BV; a list that would have had the ECNY Award Winning Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy Show at the #1 slot. Every single week the line-ups their myspace bulletins boast are so packed with top-shelf talent that I often think Greg and Larry are the biggest liars in the business. But then I show up to the show and, sure enough, they deliver what they promised for a mere $5. Here's what makes tonight's show so great.....

Continue reading "Greg Johnson, Rififi, Larry Murphy, The Whitest Kids You Know, Human Giant, Nick Kroll, Chelsea Peretti, Patrick Borelli, Joe Mande"

Andrew WK @ ECNY Awards @ Comix, NYC - Jan 28, 2008 (Keith Huang)

And the winners are....

Continue reading "Emerging Comics of New York (ECNY) - 2007 Winners"

Max Silvestri @ Rififi, NYC - Oct 29, 2007 (CRED)

In addition to all the special comedy shows always going on, don't forget that there are plenty of shows that happen weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly in NYC that are always reliable, rarely over $5, and usually feature some of the biggest comedians in the business. Why, just the other day Invite Them Up featured Jim Gaffigan, Demetri Martin, Nick Kroll, Andy Blitz, and Max Silvestri. Nuts, right!? Here are some other recurring shows I highly recommend.

• Totally J/K with Joe and Noah: Every other Monday at Rififi with Joe Mande and Noah Garfinkle
• At Night with Gabe and Jenny: Mondays at Rififi
• Sweet: Tuesday at The Slipper Room with Seth Herzog
• Invite Them Up: Wednesdays at Rififi with Eugene Mirman and Bobby Tisdale
• Greg Johnson & Larry Murphy: Fridays at Rififi with Greg Johnson and Larry Murphy
• It is It: Monthly at Pianos with Adam Lowitt (The Daily Show)
• Tearing the Veil of Maya: Sundays at Union Hall with Eugene Mirman and Michael Showalter

What else? -Klaus

What's the best comedy show you saw recently?

The next few days offer no shortage of comedy in NYC. Highlights of the week include:

Live at Joe's Pub 6/22/07, ROFL! hosted by Slovin & Allen and Reggie Watts, presented by The Onion and Paper Thin Walls. What is ROFL?

• ROFL is the very best of the internet, lovingly hand-picked by eight of America’s most-respected blogger types for maximum freshness and optimum awesomeness.
• ROFL is high art, low humor, YouTube video, Myspace weirdness, flash animation, web memes, conceptual puzzles, original film and non-sequiturs galore.
• ROFL is a gong show for the new millennium.
• ROFL is twelve bucks to get out of the house and meet people who are even more web-obsessed than you are!

The list of participants is magnificent and features Josh Fruhlinger of Comics Curmudgeon and Wonkette, Cintra Wilson of Salon and Dregublog, Michelle Collins of You Can't Make It Up and VH1's Best Week Ever, Andrew Baron, co-creator and producer of Rocketboom, Tony Carnevale of Channel 102, Marisa Olson, artist / editor / curator of Rhizome.org and, Nasty Nets, Stu VanAirsdale of The Reeler, Charles Broskoski of Supercentral. For more information and ticketing, GO HERE NOW

More below....

Continue reading "Klaus Kinski's Comedy Canon (06/20/07)"

DOWNLOAD: Patton Oswalt - Dukes of Hazard (MP3) (info)

Tickets are on sale for The Dave Hill Explosion w/ John Hodgman & Jonathan Coulton @ UCB, Crash Test with Aziz Ansari @ UCB, and a special Tinkle show at Southpaw with David Cross, Todd Barry, and Jon Benjamin. Slovin and Allen and Reggie Watts are hosting ROFL at Joe's Pub. Patton Oswalt is playing a free show at Sound Fix.

Jon Benjamin paid a guy to serenade Eug and Bobby for the Invite Them Up anniversary. Oliver and Schaal look on from the back room. (April 25, 2007)

More recently, Demetri Martin, Aziz, David Cross & Nick Kroll were at Bonnaroo, and Flight of the Conchords played Gramercy Theatre.

I am also beyond giddy to report that HBO Video will be releasing Louis CK's live 1 hour special Shameless on June 26th, 2007. That's a Tuesday people. Shameless is CK's third HBO special, and further reinforces my opinion that he is easily one of the best comedians out there. He takes nauseatingly banal topics such as family life, childhood, and sex and riffs about them in such an unexpectedly blunt and graphic manner that you can't help but be drawn in. To celebrate this release, we are giving away TWO copies of Shameless to two lucky winners. Send an e-mail to BVCONTESTS@HOTMAIL.COM and tell us what comedian you think should really release a DVD ASAP. Two winners will be picked at random and notified.

More comedy (including a Louis CK DVD clip) belooooooow....

Continue reading "Klaus Kinski's Comedy Canon (06/19/07)"