photos by David Andrako

Jon Glaser as Bobby Tisdale

After kicking off on Thursday, the Eugene Mirman Festival (which ends tonight/Sunday) continued on Friday with two shows, "A Night Of Very Likeable Comedians" at Union Hall and "Invite Them Up" at The Bell House. The Union Hall show featured standup from Tom Allen, Tom Shillue, Kurt Braunohler, Seth Herzog, John Mulaney and Jane Borden. Kurt and John also headed over to The Bell House to perform alongside Eugene Mirman, Slovin and Allen, Janeane Garofalo and Jon Glaser, who filled in as/for Invite Them Up host Bobby Tisdale. A set of pictures from the show at The Bell House continues below...

Continue reading "Eugene Mirman Fest 2011 --- Day 2 @ The Bell House in pics (Jon Glaser as Bobby Tisdale, Janeane Garofalo, more)"

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

Secret Wars @ All Points West 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

So we've got the Del Close Marathon happening this weekend (8/14-8/16) and we've got the New York Comedy Festival happening in November. And now it is with unbridled enthusiasm that I can achieve a comedy-festival-posting-hat-trick by announcing the EUGENE MIRMAN COMEDY FESTIVAL which is set to take over Brooklyn venues Union Hall and the Bell House from September 17 - September 20. OK, so we briefly mentioned the festival before, but with line-ups, showtimes, as well as venue and ticket info just released, it's time to spread the word.

Curated by the great Eugene Mirman, this year's festival has a gasp worthy line-up that is truly beyond belief and will feature stand-up, panels, videos, special guests, 'theme' shows, the occasional free drink, after-parties, and much more. The highlight of the festival for me are two Daniel Kitson headlining gigs at Union Hall. Daniel is a British Stand-up comedian who I've only had the opportunity to see once, but that one experience was epic. More monologuist than stand-up comedian, he is one of the smartest, funniest, most energetic and eloquent performers I have ever seen. We are blessed to have two chances to see him headline such an intimate room. Besides that, the festival boasts appearances by Reggie Watts, Todd Barry, John Hodgman, Bobby Tisdale, AD Miles, Kristen Schaal, Michael Showalter, Marc Maron, John Mulaney, Jon Benjamin, and many many more. And, of course, Eugene.

The schedule so far is below. According to the folks in charge, even more excitement will be announced in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!! Tickets for all shows go on sale Sunday August 16 Saturday, August 15 at noon via Ticketweb (Bell House, Union Hall).

Full lineup and more below...

Continue reading "Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival 2009 lineup (Daniel Kitson & more), an 826NYC benefit (tickets), a new Sub Pop album"

photos by Tim Griffin

"It takes a Village" (Slovin and Allen)

One more Christmas Eve entertainment option: Chanukomedy @ 92YTribeca. Todd Levin, Amy Schumer, Rachel Feinstein, Joe Mande and Leo Allen will all be there to entertain jou (get it? you + jew = ... that's why I'm not on the bill..).

It will be the second night in a row Leo Allen is part of a funny Hanukkah event. Last night (12/23), he and his partner Slovin were the comedian openers at the Yo La Tengo show at Maxwell's. They came on after Marc Ribot and John Zorn did their thing. To quote Tim, "Slovin and Allen discussed news of the day, gave synopses of two Hillary and two Obama books and were pretty funny."

You can catch Leo Allen every Monday night at the UCB Theatre in NYC. He hosts the show called Whiplash. More Hanukkah pictures below...

Continue reading "Chanukomedy tonight, Whiplash every Monday, Slovin & Allen pics from the Yo La Tengo show last night"