Comedy
David Cross Gets Back to Basics in Brooklyn
Listen via Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Stitcher | Radio Public Assembly is a docuseries from the Consequence Podcast Network that looks at what brings us together. Because most of our moments in 2020 have either been canceled, postponed, or all-out deconstructed, we’re humbled and beyond elated to spend the rest of the year following icon and multi-hyphenate of funny, David Cross. Recorded in 2019, the second season of Assembly finds host Robert Milazzo following Cross around as he shapes his new stand-up act through a set of intimate gigs in Brooklyn, New York. There will be friends, family, and colleagues. In Part 1, “Nothing to See Here”, Cross gets back to basics to put together his next feat of stand-up comedy. However, when his basics meet h...
Stand-Up Comedy Is Bringing a Much-Needed Edge to SNL
One of the stranger modern-day quirks of Saturday Night Live is how the show still draws some of its talent from the stand-up scene. This wasn’t necessarily the case for most of the aughts, but in the last few years, the late-night program has reverted to its ’90s strategy of throwing stand-up comedians in with all of the veteran improvisers and writers-turned-performers. Despite this tradition and its variety-show bona fides, Saturday Night Live isn’t especially built for stand-up. Instead, performers who want to flex those muscles traditionally have to head to Weekend Update, where Pete Davidson and Leslie Jones have found a stage in recent years. This season, though, a whopping four of the six hosts so far have been stand-up comedians, and their performances are subtly toying with the s...
Dave Chappelle: “You Have No Problem Wearing Them at the Klan Rally, Wear Them to Walmart Too”
Nearly four years to the day of his first time hosting Saturday Night Live, Dave Chappelle returned to Studio 8H to once again headline the sketch comedy show’s post-election episode. As to be expected, the comedian’s opening monologue proved to be the highlight of the evening. Chappelle began his monologue by noting how the events of the day had him reminiscing about his great-grandfather — a former slave who taught himself how to read and who then committed himself to a life of education, civil rights, and religion. “It was a pretty amazing story my great-grandfather had, and I thought about him all day because I wish I could see him now,” Chappelle remarked. “And I wish he could see me. Because I wonder what he would say.” In particular, Chappelle predicted how his great-grandfathe...
What’s Streaming on Netflix in November 2020
Netflix is bringing the royalty in November 2020. The highly anticipated fourth season of The Crown premieres mid-month to much hype. Oscar winner Olivia Colman returns as Queen Elizabeth, only this time she’ll duke it out with Gillian Anderson’s portrayal of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. That’s not all! America’s own queen Dolly Parton is bringing her holiday special Christmas on the Square to the streaming giant on November 22nd. So, expect to spend Thanksgiving down in Tennessee for a little country get-together. Elsewhere, there’s the hilarious new sketch comedy series Aunty Donna’s Big Ol’ House of Fun, Shawn Mendes’ world tour documentary, Ron Howard’s star-studded Hillbilly Elegy, and, yes, Kurt Russell’s return in The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two. Editors’ Picks In term...
What’s Streaming on Amazon Prime in November 2020
Amazon Prime Video has unveiled its additions for November. The big event of the month is Steve McQueen’s Small Axe anthology film series, which consists of five films that will drop every week beginning November 15th. Already we’ve seen three of the five: Mangrove, Lovers Rock, and Red, White, and Blue. Outside of that, there’s not much but a handful of classics being dropped into the Bezos bunch. 28 Days Later is a nice go-to during the pandemic, Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile are a great Douglas double feature, and, hey, Silverado. Those in need of a healthy holiday binge watch can find solace in Community and Scrubs. Though, if you really wanna be on brand for the holidays, you can cue up Martin Scorsese’s The Last Waltz, which actually was filmed on Thanksgiving. Editors...
How John Mulaney Became SNL’s Go-To Host
John Mulaney was a writer on Saturday Night Live for four seasons. It was a respectable, successful stint, but hardly era-defining. Plenty of SNL scribes have dug in for longer, more influential, runs behind the scenes, and unlike, say, Adam McKay, Tina Fey, or Colin Jost, Mulaney never served as head writer. He was the rare writer who made a handful of on-camera showcase appearances, but his Weekend Update commentaries didn’t garner much attention at the time. Among fans, he was better-known for co-creating Update mainstay character Stefon with beloved cast member Bill Hader. So how is it, exactly, that Mulaney, who makes his living primarily as a stand-up comic, has become not just a go-to SNL host but a reliable highlight for four seasons running? Mulaney’s hosting of this week’s Hallow...
Chappelle’s Show Coming to Netflix
Netflix has acquired the streaming rights to Dave Chappelle’s brilliant early aughts sketch comedy series Chappelle’s Show. The show’s full three-season, 28-episode run will be available on the streaming platform beginning November 1st. Chappelle’s Show famously aired for three seasons between 2003 and 2006 on Comedy Central, and is widely considered to be one of the best comedies of its time. However, mid-way through the show’s third season, Chappelle abruptly walked away. He later stated that he was “burned out” from the intensive shooting schedule, and also felt the show’s popularity took away from his standup career (he could only take hearing an audience member yell “I’m Rick James, bitch!” so many times.) He then embarked on a prolonged hiatus, during which he only gav...
Chappelle’s Show, Nathan For You, Reno 911!, and Key & Peele Coming to HBO Max
Several of Comedy Central’s premiere titles — including Chappelle’s Show, Nathan For You, Reno 911!, and Key & Peele — are coming to HBO Max starting November 1st. These series will be streaming on WarnerMedia’s premium streaming services as part of an ongoing licensing deal forged with Comedy Central’s parent company ViacomCBS. The deal also gives HBO Max access to the entire South Park library as well as Inside Amy Schumer. It’s worth noting that all of these titles will be non-exclusive to HBO Max, which explains why Chappelle’s Show is also coming to Netflix starting November 1st. These titles are also available on ViacomCBS’s own streaming platform, CBS All Access, which will be rebranded as Paramount+ in 2021. According to The Hollywood Reporter, at some point ViacomCBS inte...
Eva Longoria joins as co-lead on digital detox comedy ‘Unplugging’
Eva Longoria has joined previously announced Matt Walsh on the in-production digital detox comedy Unplugging, which is currently in production in Oklahoma. Lea Thompson, Keith David, Nicole Byer and Al Madrigal have also come aboard editor Debra Neil-Fisher’s (Ted, The Hangover movies) feature directorial debut. Radiant Films International handles international sales heading into AFM 2020 Online. Walsh co-wrote the script with Brad Morris about a couple (Walsh and Longoria) who head to a remote town for a digital detox where they rekindle their love after a series of escapades. Filming is underway using in Tulsa, Oklahoma, using Covid-safe protocols. Production had originally been planned for Los Angeles and the production shifted amid the pandemic. The production has commandeered entire f...
Mel Brooks Revisits The Twelve Chairs for Its 50th Anniversary: “It’s One of My Top Favorites”
Comedy and music go hand in hand. Always. Mel Brooks knows how essential this is. He used to be a drummer, after all. Back in his teenage years, he was a student of the great drummer Buddy Rich. There’s a fundamental rhythm to comedy that oftentimes gets overlooked. If the timing of the musicality is off, then the comedy falls flat. That’s why, in so many of Brooks’ films, you will see elements of music. Whether the characters themselves are breaking out into song, or he has composed a title song, or the dialogue itself is particularly snappy and hits you over the head before you even realize what the hell just happened, it’s all in the same family. You cannot have good comedy without some form of music being present. That’s why Mel Brooks is, in some ways, as much a musician as he is a co...
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm Lampoons an America Almost Too Ugly for Laughs: Review
The Pitch: Sacha Baron Cohen’s trojan horse/folk hero Borat Sagdiyev returns to America. Is nice. After disgracing his native Kazakhstan as the result of his successful 2006 motion picture, the once-famous journalist is asked to curry favor with President McDonald Trump’s good friend, United States Vice President Mike Pence (“Michael Pennis”) in the form of a gift: an animal. Borat must give Johnny the Monkey, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Culture and No. 1 porn star, to Pence. But there’s a snag. Inside Johnny’s crate is a stowaway named Tutar (Maria Bakalova), Borat’s 15-year-old daughter. Borat decides to offer his daughter to Pennis instead, a notorious “pussy hound” who can’t even be in the same room as women. When the plan fails — and we can explain why in a moment — Borat and Tutar, with...
Borat Puts Jimmy Kimmel and His “Rear Hole” Through the Ringer: Watch
Famed Kazakh journalist Borat Sagdiyev presents his latest moviefilm this Friday, October 23rd. In anticipation, Borat appeared alongside his daughter, Sandra Jessica Parker Sagdiyev, on Monday night’s edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live. However, before Borat could proceed with the interview, he first needed to ensure that the “coward” virus had not already infected Kimmel’s studio. After smashing the virus with a large cooking plan, Borat then turned his focus to Kimmel himself. “I do not feel comfortable starting this interview until I have done basic questionnaire to make sure you are safe.” Questions included: “In the last week, have you been in the presence for more than 15 minutes of any Jews?”, “As member of Hollywood elite, have you recently drunk any unpasteurized children’s blood?”, Wh...
