The Sh*t Show, Chicago’s monthly stand-up comedy show (video)

On the last Friday of every month in Chicago, comedians Ever Mainard and Rasa Gierstikas co-host a free comedy showcase at The Shambles called The Shit Show. What is The Shit Show you ask? Well rather than us trying to have someone explain it to us, we decided to head on out there and check it out for ourselves. We also got some face time with the shows organizers to get a bit of insight. Chicago locals should get themselves out to The Shambles while the rest of us now have an event to check out the next time we find ourselves out in the Windy City.

Recess with The Laugh Button: Nick Turner

Welcome to Recess with The Laugh Button. What is that you say? Well it’s an interview series we taped live from Recess Arcade Bar in the heart of Austin, TX. Why there? Well because when we weren’t in the middle of recording interviews with comedians, it allowed us to challenge them at a bunch of different old school arcade games, that’s why! Our host and local Austin comedian Ramin Nazer talked to many funny people that day including Eugene Mirman, Big Jay Oakerson, Nate Bargatze, and Adam Cayton-Holland. For the next few weeks we’ll bring you the interviews from these segments.

So enjoy with the first interview with the one and only Nick Turner.

We catch up with Myq Kaplan as he prepares to tape his new hour stand-up special

Tonight, comedian and friend of TLB, Myq Kaplan will tape next hour long stand-up special. It’s a major moment for any comedian as it represents a milestone in their career, allowing them to document material they’ve spent many hours writing, testing, performing and honing. Consider it a documentation of an time period in a comedian’s life. We caught up with Kaplan yesterday to get some details about the new special and find out where and when we’ll get the chance to check it out. Read More

Bobcat Goldthwait in his own words (audio)

Bobcat Goldthwait is a man best known for his portrayal of Zed in the Police Academy movies and lighting his chair on fire when he was a guest on The Tonight Show in 1994; which is quite unfortunate due to all the other things he’s been up to.

Since 1991, Goldthwait has been directing and writing independent films and television shows; most notably Jimmy Kimmel Live! and World’s Greatest Dad starring his close friend Robin Williams.

But Goldthwait’s first love is stand up comedy and we had the opportunity to speak with him in between sets at Gotham Comedy Club in New York. He spoke with us about directing the new Marc Maron series on IFC aptly titled Maron, his upcoming film about Bigfoot and so much more. Read More

Nick Offerman and his noble pursuits (interview)

Nick Offerman is already off to a busy year. When he’s not portraying the mustachioed meat eating Ron Swanson on NBC’s Parks and Recreation he’s touring the country with his American Ham comedy show, or he’s working on or promoting a film like the recently released independent comedy Somebody Up There Likes Me, or he’s legitimately making things out of wood, or he’s hanging out with his wife, famed stage and screen actress Megan Mullally.

And when he’s not doing one or a mixture of all those things, he finds times to talk with idiots like us. And on that note, check out our interview below. Special thanks to Mr. Offerman for taking the time to speak with us. We follow the rules of Ron Swanson’s pyramid of greatness in great detail so it was an honor.

I wanted to tell you that Somebody Up There Likes Me looks fantastic.

Thank you. I’m really proud of it and I’m so excited to be releasing a little indie movie, the like of which I’ve shot a great many. But we have this wonderful new arena of “video on demand” and I’m really excited to see how a film can play when usually, if anything, you get a little art house release in theaters, but now the whole world can see it at the same time so I’m excited to see if we can do some business. Read More

Weekend Flashback: Dan Soder, Joe List, and “Robert Kelly” record a podcast at Just For Laughs

JFL - Soder, List, Kelly It’s that time of the weekend where a good old flashback laugh is in order.

From our last visit to the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal, we met up with comedians Dan Soder and Joe List who were in town for showcases at the festival.

We were all enjoying an afternoon beverage on the outdoor patio when a common face came floating by, “Robert Kelly,” in cardboard cutout form. He helped host an impromptu podcast recording right there on the patio and things got funny quick.

Robert didn’t have much to say while Soder and List, regulars of Kelly’s “You Know What Dude” podcast, filled in the gaps of the show, even tossing in a well-executed impression of show’s other regular, comedian Kelly Fastuca to keep the show going. Read More

Stephen Tobolowsky in his own words (audio)

We recently had the opportunity of sitting down with the man, the myth, the legend – actor Stephen Tobolowsky. He’s a terrific character actor for years, appearing in countless TV shows like Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Community, Glee, and The Mindy Project. He also has an incredible body of movie work including Spaceballs, Wild Hogs, and is probably best known as Ned Ryerson in the Bill Murray classic Groundhog Day. He’s also starred in many serious roles and been in so many films and TV shows that there’s a documentary about the situation titled, Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party.

Tobolowsky is also an accomplished author who was in NY for a signing for his book The Dangerous Animals Club then would introduce a 20th anniversary screening of Groundhog Day screening at 92YTribeca.

We sat down with Tobolowsky to talk a bit about his vast career and he regaled us with stories of life from everything from working with Robert Redford on the movie Sneakers to how he got the last laugh on NBC president Warren Littlefield after the sitcom Mr. Rhodes was canceled. Read More

Checking in with “Nikki and Sara LIVE’s” Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer

Nikki and Sara A few years back, New York based stand-up comedians Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer stepped out into the world of podcasting together, co-hosting their own podcast called “You Had to Be There.” They quickly generated a strong friendship with one another as well as a great co-host dynamic on the show that earned them quite a following. Schaefer, the former two-time Emmy winning blogger for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Glaser, a former contestant on Last Comic Standing, took this dynamic to MTV last year with an idea for a talk show, which the network swiftly picked up. They premiered their show Nikki and Sara LIVE, a mix of monologue-style jokes, sketches, interviews, and man-on-the-street segments, on January 29th. I caught up with Nikki and Sara recently to talk about this new chapter in their careers. Read More