Recent Posts in comedy
March 3, 2010
Eugene Mirman & friends played the Bell House (and with Chatroulette) (pics)
photos by Ryan Muir
"Chatroulette @ Union Hall, Brklyn. I laughed, I cringed, I screamed. I witnessed THE pinnacle moment of Eugene Mirman's career. Amazing!" - kotter
Kristen Schaal as a smoking whoopie cushion...
Heeb Mag:What do you love most about living in New York? And your neighborhood in particular?Eugene Mirman and Friends performed comedy (and went on Chatroulette) at the Bell House on Saturday, February 27th as part of the Friends of Celebrate Brooklyn membership campaign. The 'Friends' included Kumail Nanjiani, Michael Showalter, Marc Maron and Kristen Schaal.
Eugene Mirman: One thing I love most about living New York is that you can walk out of your apartment at any time of day, go into almost any type of restaurant, point at someone and fuck them in the bathroom with no questions asked. It's so cool how up for anything New Yorkers are.
Eugene pulled up Chatroulette again Tuesday night at Union Hall which is where his next Tearing the Veil of Maya show (with friends, again) is scheduled for this Sunday, March 7th.
More pictures from the Bell House are below...
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Posted by brooklynvegan at 8:30 AM | Comments (6)
March 1, 2010
Scissor Sisters, Dave Hill, Lupe Fiasco & other tickets
'It's amazing what these sick f#%ks will do right out in the open' - Dave Hill
Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the two Scissor Sisters shows coming to Bowery Ballroom.
Lupe Fiasco is playing Irving Plaza on April 10th. Tickets are on sale.
Tickets are on sale for the show Gogol Bordello are playing at Irving Plaza on March 9th.
Tickets are on sale for the Dead Meadow & Imaad Wasif show at Bowery Ballroom.
Dave Hill brings his "Big in Japan" show back to the UCB Theatre in NYC tonight (3/1) and March 11th.
After Dave Hill's show you can stick around UCB for Whiplash. Tonight's guests include Hannibal Buress (SNL), Kumail Nanjiani, Sheng Wang & guest host Sean Patton.
For more shows happening tonight, check out "What's Going on Monday".
Posted by brooklynvegan at 11:58 AM | Comments (13)
February 16, 2010
Ted Leo touring w/ Screaming Females, @ Bell House tonight
DOWNLOAD: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have to Die (MP3)
Ted Leo @ Bell House Haiti Benefit in January (more by Jonny Leather)
Screaming Females are currently on tour with JEFF the Brotherhood - that trip kicked off in NYC and will be back for a show at Brooklyn's Death By Audio on February 23rd. Come March, Screaming Females will be joining Ted Leo & The Pharmacists (who played Bowery Ballroom with JEFF in December) for shows across the US. Those includes his previously mentioned April 9th show at Irving Plaza. Tickets are still on sale.
Ted's new album, The Brutalist Bricks, is due March 9th on Matador. His shows in support of that start in early March (some of which are opened by Title Tracks). A track from the album is above; full tour dates are below. Before then, he'll be appearing (for "songs and a chat") at "Get Off Your Knees" a comedy show hosted by Sara Schaefer and Kim Armstrong at the Bell House front lounge on Tuesday, February 16th (tonight). Other guests include Leo Allen and Jamie Kilstein. Ted Leo appeared at the venue last month for its Haiti benefit. His songs from that night and all tour dates are below...
Continue reading "Ted Leo touring w/ Screaming Females, @ Bell House tonight"
Posted by brooklynvegan at 1:39 AM | Comments (3)
February 11, 2010
Crisis of Conformity played SNL (video & lyrics)
by Klaus Kinski
As we pointed out, Them Crooked Vultures were the musical guest on SNL last Saturday (two nights before they played Roseland Ballroom as part of a short tour). What we haven't mentioned is the skit that Vultures drummer Dave Grohl also participated in during the course of the Superbowl-eve show. I'm talking about the Fred Armisen-penned ode to hardcore set at a wedding with Bill Hader and Ashton Kutcher rounding out a four piece Fred Armisen-as-dad-of-the-bride band that proceeded to destroy everything in sight.
What people may not have noticed at the time was how elaborate an homage to 80s hardcore the skit was. Not only did the sketch hilariously caricature and encapsulate the anti-authoritarian, anti-meathead-letterman mentality the bands of that era railed against, but the wedding party's name "Cadena - Norton" is, presumably, a shout out to Black Flag's Dez Cadena and Husker Du's Greg Norton. The band was named Crisis of Conformity (Earth Crisis, Corrosion of Conformity). They broke up in 1983 (just like Minor Threat). Its members are also a serious tip of the hat to that 80s era scene. The skit's line-up featured Steve (Steve Hansgen of Minor Threat), Greg (Greg Ginn of Black Flag) (or maybe Greg Norton) (or was it Greg Hetson of the Circle Jerks), Lyle (Lyle Preslar of Minor Threat, Samhain), and Ian (Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat, Fugazi, Egg Hunt). Such a dense homage in such a short set could only have spawned from the mind of Fred Armisen (whose own credits also include Trenchmouth). However, theatrically, the skit wasn't without it's minor faults. As Tom Scharpling succinctly pointed out in a recent tweet, "Remember when hardcore guitarists acted like they were in Warrant? Aston Koocher does." Check out the video with the full lyrics below...
Continue reading "Crisis of Conformity played SNL (video & lyrics) "
Posted by brooklynvegan at 9:30 AM | Comments (30)
February 2, 2010
Aziz Ansari at Comix & The Apple Store, Sarah Silverman, Hannibal Buress & other upcoming comedy shows
Leo Allen benefiting Haiti @ MHOW on 1/23 (by Kyle Dean Reinford)
Aziz Ansari added an extra two shows to his previously-announced run of CD Release shows at Comix. The new total is eight shows over four days (2/3-2/6) and they all appear to be sold out. "Friends scheduled to appear throughout the weekend:" Todd Barry, Moshe Kasher, John Mulaney, Max Silvestri, Joe Mande, Kristen Schaal, Hannibal Buress, Leo Allen, Kumail Nanjiani, and Anthony Jeselnik. A fine set of openers indeed.
Don't have a ticket, but still want to see Aziz during his now-rare trip back to NYC? You can also catch him tonight (2/2) for free at the Apple Store in SOHO. Sarah Silverman will appear in the same venue one night later.
Speaking of Max Silvestri, don't forget to catch his Big Teriffic show every Wednesday night at The Cameo (free!).
Speaking of Kristen Schaal, you can catch her tonight (2/2) as part of Sara Schaefer & Kim Armstrong's new free weekly Tuesday night comedy show in the front lounge of The Bell House (which is also hosting a "TOTALLY SOLD OUT" Lost premiere party this evening as well).
Speaking of Kristen Schaal performing comedy at The Bell House, tickets are on sale for a February 27th show described as "Friends of Celebrate Brooklyn present Winter Warm-Up featuring Comedy with Eugene Mirman & Pretty Good Friends, Special guests include Kristin Schaal & Michael Showalter".
Speaking of Hannibal Buress, he hosts a comedy show every Sunday night at Knitting Factory (free!).
Todd Barry, John Mulaney and Hannibal Buress all return to Comix on the same (February 18th) night (code TBAF saves $5).
Leo Allen hosts Whiplash every Monday night at UCB
A few shows other shows coming up at UCB and other surprises below...
Posted by brooklynvegan at 1:38 AM | Comments (8)
January 28, 2010
Jimmy Fallon, Pat Kiernan, Ted Leo, Walkmen, the Wrens & others played a Haiti benefit @ the Bell House - pics & video
photos by Jonny Leather
'@Joslynm congrats on your pop culture trivia expertise!' - Pat Kiernan
Pat Kiernan
Jimmy Fallon
"Without being too cheesy, I have to say there was a really beautiful spirit at last night's concert. The venue was sold out and aside from the silent auction, Bell House raised $35,000.00 for Save the Children and Partners in Health. I missed the first hour or so because I had to stop by my place, but got there in time to see Jimmy Fallon do a Neil Young impression. Then Freelance Whales played. You all should check them out. They're getting crazy attention right now and they are based out of Queens. Now that's special! Anyway, it was good times all around. Cat Power and Pavement records and CDs were given away for trivia knowledge, Ted Leo who also has shows in town, was adorable and even though Cold War Kids pulled out of the show, the Walkmen did an amazing job closing the show." [Petunia Eats]The long show ran from 7pm-2am with, as pointed out, the Walkmen closing out the night. Actress Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) and her band The Leisure Class were a surprise guest that Ryan Muir said were "blowing me away. Now they are covering St Vincent. 'Marry Me'". (St. Vincent herself played covers at the Haiti benefit that happened at Music Hall on Saturday). NY1's Pat Kiernan (possibly who I wanted to see the most on the bill) hosted trivia. Eugene Mirman introduced him as the guy you see every morning on TV if you don't have Fios.
All artists, including Here We Go Magic, played short sets. If you want to see more of them (HWGM), they play as a headliner at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday.
More pictures and some videos (by Tim Duffy of Pop Tarts Suck Toasted) from the Bell House (in alphabetical order), below...
Posted by brooklynvegan at 1:21 PM | Comments (34)
January 25, 2010
Britt Daniel, Justin Vernon, St Vincent, Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo & others raised money for Haiti @ MHOW - pics & video
photos by Paul Birman
"Thanks to everyone who came to the BV Haiti benefit last night. You made it really special." - St. Vincent
"St. Vincent and Justin Vernon performing together was easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen/heard." - Steph Lo
Wyatt Cenac was funny. Then came Britt Daniel (of Spoon) with White Rabbits frontman Stephen Patterson. They had such a good time on stage together, you can tell they were buds. Janeane Garofalo came next - she has the smartest humor and is a strong rooted New Yorker. Made a ton of jokes about the L train and hipsters which the crowd took very warmly to. Gosh she's tiny. St Vincent went on and sounded like the lovely thing she is. Someone yelled while she was setting up 'show us your bush'????', In which she replied, 'that is the strangest thing someone has ever said to me...on or off stage'. Adorable. Following her was Zach Galifianakis who everyone was undeniably waiting for. It really looked like he just rolled out of bed, picked up some papers from a table and walked on stage totally winging his whole act...hilarious. Alas came Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver). His voice sounded just as amazing it does on record. The room was at its most quiet during "Flume". Unreal. He was the last act but did say something about a special guest - I heard it was Megafaun/My Brightest Diamond (had to leave early), which I imagine rounded out the benefit nicely. Really awesome that these guys all came together"...Thanks for that partial recap S&S. You should have gotten there earlier and stayed later though!
[Stadiums & Shrines]
The night opened with a great debut set by singer-songwriter John Shade (previously Dave Godowsky) who brought out Justin Vernon on drums for two songs. Before and after John, and between every set of the night, came comedy by our two able hosts: Bobby Tisdale and Leo Allen. St Vincent's set included a National and a Nico cover. Justin covered John Prine. Britt Daniel did three songs, which was one less than he played at Sound Fix a few hours earlier.
And yep, the special guest after/during Justin's set was in fact Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) who (after headlining Bowery Ballroom one night earlier) played two jaw dropping numbers - one with Colin Stetson on his most-insane giant saxophone, and a cover of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore".
But it didn't end there. A supergroup called Songer Singwriter featuring Annie, Justin, drummer, and Brad from Megafaun came back to close the night off right with a set of four more covers. Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", Tom Petty's "Face in the Crowd" (with Brad on lead), Dolly Parton's "Jolene", and Annie Lennox's "Why". Each of those final covers was better than the next. To quote one of my tweets, "To quote my friend, 'Sounds like sonic youth playing a dolly parton song. Sick!' and now Annie Lennox Why! Full room Bon Iver singalong".
We ran almost non-stop for 3.5 hours straight (8-11:30), and raised over $20,000. I'm still waiting for an exact number. More pictures (one of two sets we have) and some videos from the show, below....
Posted by brooklynvegan at 11:36 AM | Comments (55)
January 22, 2010
Ricky Gervais playing shows in NYC & LA
Ricky Gervais is performing two shows at NYC's Theater at Madison Square Garden (May 12-13) before heading west to play two shows at Nokia Theatre LA (May 15-16). Tickets go on sale at 10am.
And for your grown up little sister: New Kids on the Block are playing Radio City. Tickets go on presale at 10am.
Posted by brooklynvegan at 9:44 AM | Comments (6)
January 15, 2010
Patton Oswalt & Ricky Gervais appeared on Conan O'Brien who reportedly is really leaving NBC
Patton Oswalt & Conan O'Brien
"The late-night nightmare is almost over. Conan O'Brien is leaving NBC and receiving a payout--and he'll be free to appear on another network before his contract expires, Kim Masters reports.Patton Oswalt, Aziz Ansari, and Ricky Gervais all recently appeared on Conan. Videos below...The NBC-Leno-Conan war is close to ending, according to a knowledgeable source. According to the outlines of a settlement, Conan O'Brien will leave NBC and the network will make an as-yet unspecified payment. The comedian will be free to appear elsewhere on television well before his contract expires, despite earlier threats from NBC that it would prevent him from working anywhere else.
There is still opportunity for the negotiation to fall apart, but clearly, at this point it is in NBC's interest to put an end to this dismal episode." [The Daily Beast] (via Gawker)
Posted by brooklynvegan at 2:11 AM | Comments (24)
January 12, 2010
Vampire Weekend & Aziz Ansari played Conan O'Brien who has issued a statement turning down NBC's 12:05 offer
"In the grand scheme of things, figuring out whether to stay in a job that pays north of $15 million a year or fighting for some sort of buyout that would also be in the millions -- if not multimillions -- is something of a luxury problem. But those are basically the options facing NBC's Conan O'Brien, who is being told "The Tonight Show" is going to move from 11:35 p.m. to 12:05 a.m. to make room for Jay Leno's return to late night." [LA Times]Conan has rejected the offer to move to 12:05. His statement along with videos of Vampire Weekend and Aziz Ansari on the show (both from the past few days), below...
Posted by brooklynvegan at 4:28 PM | Comments (70)