3 Things: Lena Waithe, Joe Lycett, and E. Tammy Kim / by Chris Duffy

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. 

Upcoming Shows

EVERYWHERE:
On every episode of You're the Expert, three comedians try to figure out what a scientist does all day and why their research is so important. Link

NEW YORK:
Sunday, January 21 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. Jo Firestone (Comedy Central, Fallon), Gary Richardson (SNL), and I interview a leading scientist about her work on a live taping ofYou're the Expert. Link

Saturday, January 27 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. My variety show and low budget Oprah prize giveaway is back with comedy, a reading by Sandra Allen, and music from Celisse Henderson. Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Lena Waithe played Aziz Ansari's best friend on Master of None. She won an Emmy for writing the show's best episode, "Thanksgiving," which was inspired by her own experience of coming out to her mother. Her latest project, The Chi, is about life on the South Side of Chicago and she came on Desus & Mero to talk about it. She is fascinating and hilarious and I am a huge fan of her work, despite the fact that she has deeply offensive views about what is and is not pizza. Lena Waithe.

(Or if you prefer an extended cut of the interview that's on YouTube instead of FB, click here)

FUNNY:
Working in an office, it's important to find ways to entertain yourself. Joe Lycett is a British comedian who put his co-working space to great use. Listen to him tell the story of a missing cat named Samantha Peterson, a very earnest office administrator, and his battle involving a private investigator. Joe Lycett live at the Apollo. I cued the video up to the story for you. 

(h/t Seicha Turnbull)


INTERESTING:
I'm lucky enough at my current job to be writing with not just comedians, but also investigative journalists. E. Tammy Kim is a researcher on our show and I'm convinced she knows everything. It's been fascinating to see her uncover surprising details about stories that I thought I already knew, like the creation of Scripto, the software we use write our TV show. Rob Dubbin, a former writer for The Colbert Report and tech wiz, got frustrated with the program they were using to script and programmed his own. The company co-founded by Rob and Stephen Colbert, is now the software of choice on late night variety shows. Tammy covers Rob's unlikely journey from award-winning comedy writer to tech mogul for The New Yorker. How Scripto, the App That Stephen Colbert Helped Build, Became a Fixture of Late-Night Comedy News


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, feel free to forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If someone sent this newsletter your way and you want to join, you can subscribe here

Have a great day,
Chris