IFC’s Comedy Bang! Bang! is, on some level, a talk show hosted by comedy veterans Scott Aukerman and Reggie Watts and loosely tied to Aukerman’s hit podcast of the same name. But it seems to occupy a terrifying reality that only bears a loose resemblance to our own: on any given episode, a lovable talking bird might get eviscerated, Scott might accidentally send himself to hell, or an attempt to show a movie clip might devolve into a disorienting feedback […]
Chickens, Psychopaths, and Surfing: A Chat with Kurt Braunohler
There’s something profoundly dystopian about Bunk, the not-exactly-game-show that’s finishing up its first season on IFC. On it, stand-up comics and sketch performers are forced into improv-based challenges that include insulting puppies or drawing new appendages to the crotch of Michelangelo’s David. And all the while, the barefoot host — played with terrifying confidence by New York-based comic Kurt Braunohler — will do things like force his intern to sift through glass shards or threaten to murder his viewers. […]
Television for writers
Posted by Jason Diamond Over at Jewcy (which I edit. I figured I should mention that), Jesse Fox makes the point that 4% of Community’s 3.84 million viewers are comedy writers, and has the piecharts to back up his claims.
Tonight: Our Bodies, Our Junk Fights Sam Lipsyte to the Death (in Our Heads)
Our Bodies, Our Junk, is pretty much the funniest book off the year. Authored by The Association for the Betterment of Sex, aka a group of comedy writers with an incredibly sick comedy writing pedigree (Google the names of Mike Sacks, Scott Jacobson, Todd Levin, Ted Travelstead, and Jason Roeder. See what comes up). Those guys will be up on stage tonight at Bob Powers, Jason Reich, and Scott Jacobson’s always fun (and funny) Steamboat series at Greenlight Bookstore. I […]