by Klaus Kinski

I am going to spare you my usual editorializing and get right to the meat of the situation here. Basically, there is an absolute shit-ton of comedy and benefit type shows coming to the Bell House. I hope you like brass tacks, because I'm going to get right down to them.

Hey, did you get tickets for PROFESSOR BLASTOFF LIVE with Hosts Tig Notaro, Kyle Dunnigan, David Huntsberger plus a special guest? It happens at the Bell House on Saturday November 17 (aka this Saturday!) and, man, it sure as hell sold out.

On Wednesday (11/21), the Bell House will play host to The Musical Extravaganza to Restore Red Hook! starring Rosanne Cash and featuring Alex Battles and the Whisky Spitter Rebellion and B61: A film by Michael Buscemi. Here's more:

The evening kicks off with a square dance, hosted by NYC Barn Dance. Roseanne Cash will headline the evening, and Jesse Lenat, John Pinamonti and the Brotherhood of the Whiskey Spitter Rebellion will play. Michael Buscemi will screen his new film on the bus that runs through Red Hook, called "B61."

This show will benefit Restore Red Hook. Restore Red Hook aims to raise funds to help the small businesses of Red Hook, Brooklyn reopen their doors as soon as possible after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

Tickets are on sale now.

On Sunday, November 25th at 8:00pm, as mentioned, the Bell House and Pretty Good Friends team up for a Hurricane Relief Benefit featuring A Very Funny 'F*ck You' To Sandy. The show will be hosted by Eugene Mirman and feature comedy from a powerhouse line up including Jon Glaser, Wyatt Cenac, Mike Birbiglia , Michael Che and more. I am vexed that this show isn't sold out, so get your tickets now!!

Wyatt Cenac at Prospect Park, August 2012 (more by Jessica Amaya)

And speaking of Wyatt Cenac, check him out a little less than a month later at the much smaller Union Hall when, on Friday December 21, he'll be part of the comedy roster at The Afterlife Comedy Show. The show is gang-hosted by Emily Heller, George Gordon, Erin Judge, and Josh Gondelman. The show is a measly eight bucks and besides Wyatt and the awesome hosts and hostess there will be more comedy to boot!

On Friday November 30 Nick Kroll, one of my all time favorite comedians, takes the stage for a headlining show at the Bell House. Sadly, this show sold out faster than a speeding bullet. I am still recovering from wounds sustained during a self-flagellation sesh I performed on myself upon realizing this had happened. But keep your eye on the Bell House twitter feed in case they release more tickets. Or, go hang outside the venue before the show because I promise you there will be many-a nimrod out there with extra tickets they'd sell for face.

Allow me to go ahead and continue to mention another great Wyatt Cenac related show, this one happening at the Bell House on Wednesday December 5th; for on Wednesday December 5th you can thrill to the THE TELL YOUR FRIENDS! THE CONCERT FILM! RELEASE SHOW/SANDY BENEFIT (caps totally necessary). Join host Liam McEneaney as he brings to the stage Wyatt Cenac, Aaron Freeman (formerly Gene Ween), Christian Finnegan, Victor Varnado, A Brief View of The Hudson, Rob Paravonian , and more! The guests WILL be quite special, your money is going to a good cause, and it's not sold out yet. Get yer tix now!

And don't forget about Wyatt's weekly show "Night Train" which happens at Littlefield.

On Thursday December 6 the Bell House will be the site of two live podcast recordings of How Did This Get Made? A Live Podcast With Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas and June Diane Raphael. The early show went on sale and promptly sold out, but they added a late show (Thank Cod!) and tix for that are currently still available. Kaboom!

Flash forward a week later to Thursday December 13 and the Bell House will play host to The Party Machine's 2nd Annual Holiday Benefit Blowout! The show is hosted by the EXTREMELY funny and wonderful Arden Myrin and Lisa Delarios and features and atomic line-up of comedians including Jon Glaser, Chris Gethard, Sheng Wang, Janeane Garofalo and Adira Amram and the Experience. Tickets are only $12 and it will sell out, so git along l'il doggie and buy some tix!

Then on Wednesday December 19th catch TODD BARRY 25TH ANNIVERSARY IN COMEDY SHOW featuring Janeane Garofalo, Ted Alexandro, Jim Gaffigan and more! Thanks to that skank hurricane Sandy, Todd's first attempt at a 25th anniversary show was left in ruins so this is your make up date people. No excuses. This show WILL SELL OUT, so get your tickets right this very second. This show is a benefit for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Two days later on Friday December 21, toddle on over to the Bell House for John Hodgman: That Is All. December 21, 2012 is the last day of the Mayan long count calendar and many buffoons and dipshits are prophesizing that this day marks certain doom for mankind. Along with musician Cynthia Hopkins and other special guests, Hodgman will count down to midnight, when his predictions will be proved TRUE! Or else FALSE! Tickets are on sale, but not for long! I prophesize a sell out!

DOWNLOAD: Tyler The Creator - "French" (Toro Y Moi Remix) (MP3)

Left Brain at Santos (more by Brook Bobbins)

As mentioned yesterday, "MellowHype (Hodgy Beats & Left Brain) just announced that they will be re-releasing their most recent record, 'BlackenedWhite,' with two bonus tracks. No details on a label or signing yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before we hear more." As announced today:

MellowHype (OFWGKTA) sign to Fat Possum for a hard release of BlackenedWhite. It was originally featured on Odd Future's website back on Halloween and has since been remixed and remastered with bonus content for a physical release on CD and Vinyl this summer.

Meanwhile, download Blackenedwhite for free.

In related news, Toro Y Moi recently dropped a remix for Tyler The Creator's "French" from the Bastard LP (download it above/stream it below) and Funny or Die posted a video of the crew getting signed that features Paul Scheer and many others. Check out the video alongside the song stream below.

Continue reading "MellowHype signs to Fat Possum, Toro y Moi remixes Tyler the Creator, Paul Scheer signs Odd Future"

by David Andrako

LOST fan Bobby Moynihan @ the UCB Theatre in NYC

"On MAY 22nd at 10PM in NYC and LA the UCB THEATER will time travel to the mysterious island from LOST and transform in a fully operational Dharma Station. This one night only event. Will never be seen again. Your favorite stars from LOST (live and via videotape) will perform alongside your favorite comedians on stage in a night of LOST themed Comedy." [Paul Scheer]

Even before comedian Paul Scheer posted that message to his website (hours before the penultimate episode of LOST aired), fans quickly booked the free reservations for both the NYC and LA shows. Many others showed up to wait in the standby line in hopes of getting into Saturday night's show.

The NYC show was hosted by the three-man improv group, Sidecar (Matt Fisher, Alden Ford & Justin Tyler) and featured comedians Samm Levine, Owen Burke, Anthony Atamanuik, Jon Glaser, Seth Herzog, Bobby Moynihan, Kumail Nanjiani, John Gemberling, Gil Ozeri, Jeff Rubins and Pat Cassels. Though no actual LOST cast members were there, the two hour event started with a pre-recorded video message from LOST executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse (both recently spotted watching Lost at Knitting Factory) welcoming the crowd to UCB and thanking everyone for supporting the show. Other highlights of the evening included Samm Levine playing a clip of his appearance on LOST as a Mr. Cluck's Chicken Shack cashier, John Gemberling and Gil Ozeri in "Crazy Sayid and Crazy Claire's Crazy Island Giveway" and the final sketch of the evening, Bobby Moynihan's video slide-show documenting his extensive collection of LOST memorabilia and various references to LOST that he worked into several episodes of Saturday Night Live.

More pictures from the night below...

Continue reading "the LOST finale was celebrated @ UCB w/ Bobby Moynihan, Jon Glaser, Samm Levine, Sidecar & other comedians (pics) "

by Klaus Kinski

If the NY Comedy Festival is at one end of the comedy festival spectrum, then the Del Close Improv Marathon resides at the absolute opposite end. I am really excited to report that the 11th Annual Del Close Improv Marathon is, like, just around the corner. Dude. Taking place from August 14th - August 16th, the 56-hour NON-STOP improv marathon will take over 4 stages in NYC and will bring to us the absolute best improv from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington DC, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Phoenix, Austin, Philadelphia, Finland, Hawaii, Baltimore, Ontario, St. Louis, Toronto, and more. FINLAND?! AND MORE!?!? This marathon is important to me because New York is so absolutely saturated with improv troupes. So much so that the scene is really hit-or-miss for me. So hit-or-miss that I rarely venture out to see improv comedy (the only thing that makes me sadder than bad improv is the end of Blade Runner). But with the Del Close Marathon, there are no misses. It is the best of the best, from start to finish.

Del Close was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few. After Del's passing in 1999, the UCB started the Del Close Marathon to celebrate their mentor and keep alive his name and teachings for future generations.

Highlights of this years festival include 30 Rock-prov (featuring Donald Glover, John Lutz, Tami Sagher, and more), Horatio Sanz and the Kings of Improv (featuring Horatio Sanz of Saturday Night Live) and reunions of classic UCB Theatre groups The Swarm and Respecto Montalban (featuring Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer of Human Giant, Rob Riggle, and more). The Marathon will conclude with a special performance of ASSSSCAT at F.I.T.'s Haft Auditorium, featuring members of the Upright Citizens Brigade (Matt Besser, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh).

Shows will be taking place at the UCB Theater, Hudson Guild Theater, Urban Stages, and the FIT Kate Murphy Ampitheatre. The FIT Haft Auditorium will play host to that single ASSSCAT mega show. The schedule is insane, but with the help of the glorious time table set-up by the organizers, creating your own itinerary should be a cinch. $25 weekend passes are available at the UCB Theater as well as the other participating venues. The F.I.T. shows are $12 and are likely to sell right out, so buy your F.I.T. tickets ASAP.

2009 iO West Del Close Awards Nominations, and other videos below...

Continue reading "2009 Del Close Improv Marathon this weekend (lineup, tix) "

Human Giant (Rob, Aziz & Paul) @ Bumbershoot 2008 (more by Chris Graham)

Human Giant's Aziz Ansari is going on tour. Human Giant's Paul Scheer appears in the Army Navy video below...

Continue reading "Army Navy - 'My Thin Sides' (w/ Paul Scheer) (video)"

photos by Chris Graham

Human Giant vs Jesse Thorn

Don't shoot video clips of bands on your phone to post on YouTube. They are always shaky and sound like crap. No one cares that you saw Beck from 300 yards away. It won't make you cool and you might piss Beck off.

Leave the devil sticks, hula hoops, and glow balls at home. It's too crowded for dumb displays of your "individualism." And why give people a reason to make fun of you as they walk by? You know they do that, right? Because we do. All of us.
[from Human Giant's guide to Bumbershoot]

There was comedy all three days of the Bumbershoot in Seattle this past weekend. Some more Sunday (day two) pics below...

Continue reading "The Sound of Young America Live! & other comedy live @ Bumbershoot - pics (Human Giant, Rhett Miller included)"

by Klaus Kinski

The 10th Annual Del Close Marathon is just a few weeks away, and like last year, the schedule is a tad overwhelming. Featuring over 150 shows from improv groups from all over North America, this milestone anniversary edition of the Marathon takes place non-stop from Friday afternoon August 8 to after midnight on Sunday August 10.

Del Close was the driving force behind improvisational comedy in Chicago for over 30 years influencing Bill Murray, Tina Fey, Mike Myers, John Belushi, Chris Farley and the Upright Citizens Brigade to name a few. After Del's passing in 1999, the UCB started the Del Close Marathon to celebrate their mentor and keep alive his name and teachings for future generations.

Shows will be taking place at the UCB Theater, Hudson Guild Theater, Urban Stages, FIT Kate Murphy Ampitheatre, and the FIT Haft Auditorium. The Marathon website has each theater's schedule individually mapped out, so creating your own itinerary should be a breeze.

Weekend passes are a measly $25 and are only sold at the door. Shows taking place at the FIT Kate Murphy Ampitheatre, however, are $10 each and can be purchased directly from the UCB Theater website. The FIT shows feature appearances by Horatio Sanz, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, Rob Riggle people from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Amy Poehler and many many many other popular comedians. Buy tickets for those soon, as I expect them to sell out rather quickly.

Human Giant @ UCB LA, Feb 24, 2008 (Eric Appel)

Hello, this is Ticketmaster Customer Service with an important alert for your upcoming event. Human Giant, scheduled at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Thursday, March 13, 2008, with doors opening at 8PM, has been cancelled.

Your Ticketmaster order number xxxx will automatically be credited the ticket price and convenience charges, and should post to your account within 7 to 10 business days. Please note, the $2.00 per order processing fee and any Ticketfast or UPS delivery charges are non-refundable.

If you got one of those messages, it's because Paul Scheer landed a role in The Year One, a new moving starring Michael Cera, Jack Black, Hank Azaria (the voice of Chief Wiggum, Moe, Comic Boook Guy, Apu, etc.), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin), and David Cross. They need him to film on the same dates the live Human Giant dates were scheduled for. What this means exactly for each date is listed below...

Continue reading "Human Giant cancelled some shows, Paul Scheer lands a role"

Human Giant have announced a comedy tour today to promote Human Giant Season One on DVD (out March 4), and Human Giant Season Two on MTV (premieres March 11) . The tour includes the Telluride comedy festival, some shows in LA, SXSW, and the March 13th show @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn - already on sale. They're also playing tonight and next Monday at UCB in NYC (like they did every Monday in January). All tour dates below.....

Continue reading "Human Giant - 2008 Tour Dates, UCB shows, Brooklyn, SXSW"

Human Giant is back at the UCB Theatre every Monday in January. Reserve some tickets now. You'll be entertained by the likes of Rob Huebel (who told us his favorite albums of 2007), Paul Scheer (who also told us what he listened to in 2007), Aziz Ansari (who never sent in his 'Best of 2007'), and probably a bunch of other very special guests.

Season 2 of Human Giant (the 27th reason Rolling Stone loved television in '07) premieres March 4th on MTV. Season one comes out on DVD the same day. It features.....

Commentary by: Patton Oswalt, Rob Riggle, Bill Hader, Mary Lynn Rajskub
Dolby Digital 2.0
8 episodes from the 2007 season
Best of the 24 Hour Marathon
Deleted Scenes, Extended Sketches, Behind the Scenes footage, Movie Awards promos

Check out a recent Human Giant interview on My Old Kentucky Blog.

the fourth in a series where we asked comedians to tell us what was good this year....

Paul Scheer is an American actor. He currently can be seen on MTV's newest comedy show, "Human Giant" which he created and stars in along with Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel, and Jason Woliner. He is a regular on VH1’s Best Week Ever and his films include School for Scoundrels with Billy Bob Thornton, the upcoming Sean William Scott comedy Trainwreck, Watching the Detectives with Cillian Murphy, The Onion Movie, and the 2004 SXSW Audience Award Winner Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story. He recently appeared with Jeff Goldblum in the Frank Darabont-directed NBC drama Raines. -Wikipedia

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1.) National, "Boxer"
This album really snuck up on me. At first I was like, "Ah..whatever", then I was like, "Holy Shit, these guys are geniuses!"


2.) Kanye West "Graduation"
I probably listened to Kanye more thn the National but I just wanted to put him as my number 2 to piss him off, he's funny when he's angry.

3.) Radiohead, "In Rainbows"
Undisputed Awesomness!

4.) The Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible"
It's downright unamerican not to mention this Canadian band as one of your favorite albums of the year. I love their beards.

5.) Black Lips, "Good Bad Not Evil"
Great album. I saw them live this year, I was disappointed when they didn't literally burn Bowery Ballroom to the ground. I thought they were showmen.

continued below.....

Continue reading "Best of 2007 by Paul Scheer"