words & photos by David Andrako

"It looks like America might have fallen in love with a Pakistani!" Eugene Mirman after Kumail Nanjiani's well received set at The Bell House.

The third day of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival (Saturday) saw four shows performed at three different venues around Park Slope and Gowanus along with performances from over 20 comedians, a song by John Wesley Harding and a heavy dose of Bourne Trilogy references.

The early show, "Mike Birbiglia Interviews A Bunch Of Sort Of Authors and Sarah Vowell", was hosted by the aforementioned Birbiglia and saw him interviewing Michael Showalter, Eugene Mirman, Patrick Borelli and Sarah Vowell about their most recent books. Birbiglia based the order of the interviews on his anxiety about the interviews from highest to lowest. Sarah Vowell went first and Eugene Mirman closed. Sarah, the most accomplished author on the panel, admitted being jealous of Chuck Klosterman "because he would get mentioned on The O.C." She also spoke of her next project, a historical book on the American annexation of Hawaii.

Michael Showalter's book "Mr. Funny Pants" will be released early next year and was described as "a book about how to write a book." He and Birbiglia read a chapter from the book that recapped a fictional interview with Charlie Rose. Patrick Borelli gave a surprisingly heartfelt slideshow of headshots from his book, "Holy Headshots." Birgibilia reminded Borelli about their short-lived two man improv team "Michael O' Patrick" from earlier in their careers. Eugene Mirman joined Birbiglia to chat about his book "Will to Whatevs: A Guide to Modern Life" that was released in February of 2009. The two also recounted the origin of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival that was hatched during a night of heavy drinking and may or may not have been the result of a dare that Eugene accepted. The early show ended with all of the authors having a Q&A with the audience.

The two middle shows of the evening ran simultaneously at Union Hall and The Rock Shop. Eugene headed over to Union Hall to host "Eugene's World Class Masters of Comedy" which featured sets from Daniel Kitson (who also performed the night before), Ron Lynch, Marc Maron and Todd Barry. Being that I'd seen or would be seeing all of the comedians at Union Hall (except Todd Barry) at other shows during the festival I opted to head over to The Rock Shop for "A Night of Gay or Foreign Comedy." The show was hosted by Gabe Liedman and featured Maeve Higgins (who also performed the night before), Glenn Wool, Brent Sulivan, Kumail Nanjiani and Mehran Khaghani. Standouts of the show were Higgins, Boston based comic Mehran Khagani and Brent Sullivan (I agree with Eugene's description in the Festival guide that one of his jokes is a Top 5 joke of 2010).

The final show of the evening was held back at The Bell House and was billed as (deep breath) "Why Do I Know Everything about Everyone At The French Dinner? An Evening of Espionage Themed Comedy Celebrating Our Love of the Bourne Trilogy and All Things Spy." Eugene opened the show by explaining that his love for the Bourne Trilogy began when he watched the first film and showed a short film that he created in tribute to the trilogy. Kumail Nanjiani, fresh off a quick set at The Rock Shop, was the first comic of the evening and admitted that his set was "based on someone who watched the Bourne Trilogy yesterday". His set, which ended with a story about being subjected to racist taunts in Los Angeles, was rewarded by the loudest applause of the festival (so far).

Jon Glaser returned to the stage, not as Dr. Attitude (his character from Thursday night's show) but as The Man In The Green Mask - a CIA spy sent to educate the audience on what it takes to be a spy. He was unwilling to answer most questions during a brief Q&A but did admit to melting a gun into the shape of a banana. Friend of Eugene, John Wesley Harding (who also plays the fest Sunday night), performed a song written especially for the evening, "A Ballad Of The Bourne Trilogy". Sarah Vowell made several appearances between acts to read Bourne-themed poetry that was penned by Eugene.

Leo Allen and Eric Slovin (Allen and Slovin) performed in complete homemade, glue filled costumes as Spy vs. Spy and spent most of their set lamenting having booked a comedy show on Yom Kippur and talking about their day spent at Temple Beth Chuckles. Marc Maron, after performing at Union Hall, closed the show with a thoroughly researched set that featured his thoughts on spys, espionage, proper mic stands and the existence (or not) of his FBI file.

More pictures from the whole day, below...

Continue reading "Mike Birbiglia did interviews, Spy vs Spy & more on Day 3 of the 2010 Eugene Mirman Comedy Fetival (review & pics) "

by Klaus Kinski

As I get older, I just I don't have the wherewithal to see as much comedy as I should. It's really depressing. There are so many goddamned GREAT comedy shows happening in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and even Queens that rather than pick one to go to, my brain shuts down and says "Just go home and watch Wheeler Dealers on the ole DVR, KK." It was easier to decide when Rififi was around. So thank Cod there's a yearly comedy festival in Brooklyntown that brings my ever flabbening body out of hibernation and reacquaints me with a sliver of the current roster of the greatest living comedians. That festival is the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival, and this year it takes place from September 16th - September 19th and will impregnate The Bell House, The Rock Shop, and Union Hall (or as I like to call them, the most annoying venues to go if you don't have kids or play bocce) with its comedy seedlings.

As with previous years, the 2010 Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival brings together a supremely jaw-dropping group of comedians and performers. What can one expect? Oh, I don't know. Maybe (definitely) Emo Philips, Daniel Kitson, Jon Glaser, Max Silvestri, David Cross, Jon Benjamin, Kristen Schaal, Kurt Braunohler, Yo La Tengo, John Wesley Harding, Sarah Vowell, John Mulaney, and so many more I'm liable to puke with glee should I continue. What am I most looking forward to? Thanks for asking! I'd have to say it's a toss up between the bill Yo La Tengo falls on and a rare Tinkle performance (without Todd Barry, sadly)(although, Todd is opening for Superchunk at MHOW on September 19th, so that's something) (sold out though) (probably because Todd is on the bill).

The festival line-up will be tweaked, added onto, emboldened, modified, and made better as we make our way to the opening date, but have a gander at what's already planned below. In the immortal words of the person who put the roster together for me, "This is what's happening; but not everything that's happening". Ticket info to follow, but many shows will be on sale in advance. Also, please see a message from enfant terrible David Cross below...

Continue reading "the 2010 Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival is coming"

by Klaus Kinski (of Klaus Kinski's Comedy Canon)

Two films I've been dying to see quickly made their way in and out of our fair city this past June. Being an idiot that cannot seem to prioritize anything, I missed them both. The films I speak of are Big Fan starring Patton Oswalt and Visioneers starring Zach Galifianakis. You may recall from previous articles that Zach and Patton are among my favorite comedians of all time; thus the eagerness to see these films and the anguish at missing them. Big Fan is the directorial debut of Robert Siegel, the man wrote The Wrestler, a film that featured comedian Todd Barry (another favorite). In Big Fan, Patton plays the role of Paul.

Paul is a 35-year-old toll booth operator from Staten Island who lives and dies by his New York Giants. When he has a chance encounter with Giants linebacker Quantrell Bishop, however, things go horribly wrong and a brutal beating at the hands of his idol tests Paul's allegiance to the team. Comedian Patton Oswalt delivers a heartbreaking, layered performance in this pitch-black comedy that reveals the disturbing side of obsessive fandom.

Thankfully, word is out that Big Fan will begin showing in theaters in New York and Philadelphia August 28th, Los Angeles, D.C, Dallas and Houston theatres September 11th and then expanding! In the meantime, visit the official website for trailers and whatnot. And definitely check out Patton's diaries from when Big Fan played at Sundance back in January. Trailer below.

Having seen the trailer last year, I feel like Visioneers has been on my radar for a really long time. It definitely looks to be a somber, Orwellian, supremely dark comedy. The film, directed by Jared Drake, stars Galifianakis as George Washington Winsterhammerman.

George lives a comfortable yet completely uneventful life, and when he starts having dreams in which he's the first President of the United States, his doctor informs him that they could be signs of impending explosion. Later, as the dreams become more frequent and his co-workers continue to detonate, George is prompted to reevaluate his mundane existence.

It looks like that June 3 screening at the 92Y Tribeca may have been my only opportunity to see it theatrically; it comes out on DVD July 21st (using Zach's role in The Hangover to reach a broader audience) and there only seems to be independently organized screening parties scattered across the US. Trailer below.

Zach did a split 7" with Ted Leo a while back, available only via Chunklet.com and only available if you purchased another item from the Chunklet store. Now you no longer need to buy a second item in order to purchase the record. This extremely limited edition 7" is only $5 and is available on four different types of wax. Get 'em while they're hot!.

In Other News........

Continue reading "comedy news: Patton Oswalt, David Cross, Zach Galifianakis, Ricky Gervais, M Showalter, ATP & more (by Klaus Kinski)"

words by Jon Roren, photos by Marianne Ways

Todd Barry and Ira Kaplan (Yo La Tengo) @ Rififi, Feb 26, 2008

Eugene Mirman

The penultimate Invite Them Up at Rififi Tuesday night (Feb 26, 2008) was perhaps as close to perfection as downtown comedy gets. It was also about as crowded as it gets. There were so many people that they had to open up the back room, put up a projection screen and seat people in there. This of course inspired some visual humor with Eugene Mirman standing in between rooms, watching himself in the back room while waving his arm in front of the camera in the main room a la "Spaceballs."

Continue reading "Invite Them Up, night 2 of 3 final shows (pics & recap) "

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"