Happy Saturday!
Before we get into this week's list, happy emailversary!
I've been sending out this email every week for five years now. I only missed one week in that time (for my wedding, so I think it was a pretty good excuse). Sending out this weekly newsletter has been a nice island of stability for me in a career where everything is fluid and unpredictable. When the news is so consistently depressing, I've also really enjoyed the practice of making myself notice and write down positive things each week that I can share on Saturdays. I hope you've enjoyed reading it too. I did not expect so many strangers to want to subscribe and I appreciate you giving me a little bit of your time and your brains each weekend.
By the way, if you're new to the email this week and have no idea what I'm talking about, welcome! 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.
Also, in response to last week's themed edition, someone suggested doing an "Ask Chris" edition where I'd answer reader questions. I'm totally open to that, so if you have questions you're curious about or would want me to answer, reply to this email with them and I'll compile them into a Saturday email in the near future.
Upcoming Shows
EVERYWHERE:
Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas is back on HBO! Fridays at 11 pm. The first of 10 episodes on education in America is streaming now. Watch the full episode on YouTube if you don't get HBO.
You can listen on any podcast app to You're the Expert, where three comedians interview a scientist about her work and why it matters. Link
NYC:
Tuesday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at The Intrepid. I'm co-hosting a show called Attraction Lab, where with the help of a scientist I'll lead the audience in a series of interactive experiments underneath a space shuttle. Link
Saturday, April 20 at 9:30 p.m. at The Brick. I'm on Bit Tank, a parody show where comedians pitch jokes to comedy entrepreneurs for real money. Link
SEATTLE:
Thursday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Moore Theater. My final date of this tour with Pop-Up Magazine and XQ. This is your last chance to see the show. link
You can find ticket links for all upcoming shows online at my website here.
This week’s list
GREAT:
Getting to write for a comedian as thoughtful and interesting as Wyatt Cenac has been a real gift. And I'm especially glad that this season is about education, which is a topic near and dear to my heart. You can read an interesting interview with Wyatt here or watch the show for free here. (I promise I'll stop plugging it so much next week, but it's our premiere week, so I think a little self-promotion is acceptable, right?)
FUNNY:
Gary Richardson has such a crystal clear comedic voice. It's no surprise he was hired to write for Saturday Night Live or to star in an episode of High Maintenance. He's also one of my very favorite people I've met in comedy, because he's so thoughtful and intelligent and yet incredibly down-to-Earth. I'm a huge fan and I bet you will be too. Watch his short film, Places, Thank You Places and read his Shouts and Murmurs in this week's New Yorker: It's A Flat Earth
INTERESTING:
Undoubtedly America's best named newspaper, The Cleveland Plain Dealer, went through yet another round of layoffs. Amazingly, the reporter who wrote the story about the cuts for the paper had already been laid off. This interview is a look behind the scenes at the rise and fall of local journalism in America and the very concerning ongoing collapse of its business model. The Reporter Who Wrote About Layoffs at the Cleveland Plain Dealer After He Was Laid Off
Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If you're reading this for the first time (maybe someone forwarded you this email?), you can subscribe here.
Have a great day!
Chris