3 Things: Gary Richardson, Nicole Byer, and Alex Jung

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:
Just two weeks until the premiere of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas on HBO! Friday, April 13th at 11:30 p.m.

 Link

On the most recent episode of You're the Expert, Jo Firestone, Charlie Hankin, and Shalewa Sharpe learn about the evolution of teeth. Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Saturday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at National Geographic. I'll be back with NatGeo Live for another You're the Expert taping with Negin Farsad, Jo Firestone, and 30 Rock's Scott Adsit. Link

NEW YORK:
Sunday, April 15 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert is back for a live taping. Link

Saturday, April 2i at 4 p.m. at Caveat. I'm hosting You Get A Spoon with a performance by Dylan Marron (Conversations with People Who Hate Me), magic by Nate Dendy, and music from Friends Who Folk. Link

BOSTON, MA:
Saturday, April 21 at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Science Festival.  I'm doing two live You're the Expert shows, both open to the public (and free for MIT community thanks to generous funding from the DeFlorez Fund for Humor) Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Gary Richardson is the real deal. He's a writer for Saturday Night Live, a naturally gifted actor, and one of my favorite people. Gary is the kind of guy who you can discuss books and life and big questions with, and then two minutes later be laughing until you cry about the dumbest bits. At one show we did together, I watched Gary antagonize a room of high school freshmen to the point that they were screaming at him, and then win them back over so thoroughly with his jokes that the kids all took selfies with him after the show. I'm very excited that Gary's popping out from behind the scenes more so the world can see how insanely talented he is.

Check out this short film Gary released this week: Places, Thank You Places.  

And another short that shows off Gary as an actor: Phone Story


FUNNY:
Nicole Byer is another one of those naturally hilarious people. She's been a star of the improv world for years because every time she gets on stage, she brings so much energy and genius, and now she's taking over television. Nicole's Netflix series Nailed It just got picked up for a second season of baking disasters and she's been making the talk show rounds. I think she's the only guest I've ever seen leave Conan speechless. Watch her absolutely hilarious (and totally NSFW) two part interview: Nicole Byer on Conan part 1and part 2


INTERESTING:
Alex Jung's essay about moving to Korea is a beautifully written meditation on identity, belonging, and how we figure out what we need in life. "When I moved to Seoul after growing up in America, I was a foreigner who looked native. I ended up staying for three years — but eventually I had to go home." Alex Jung's I Thought Going To Korea Would Help Me Find Home


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If someone forwarded you this email and you want to sign up, you cansubscribe here.

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Emma Gonzalez, Marcia Belsky, and the Children's March

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 this week's episode of You're the Expert, Jo Firestone, Charlie Hankin, and Shalewa Sharpe learn about the evolution of teeth. Link

NEW YORK:
TODAY Saturday, March 24 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. I'm hosting You Get A Spoon with performances by Celisse Henderson (who sang backup for Kesha at the Grammys), comedy from Ashley Brooke Roberts, and a reading by Emma Carmichael (former editor-in-chief of Jezebel). All proceeds are going to be donated to Everytown For Gun Safety Link

Sunday, April 15 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert is back for a live taping. Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Saturday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at National Geographic. I'll be back with NatGeo Live for another You're the Expert taping with Negin Farsad, Jo Firestone, and 30 Rock's Scott Adsit. Link

BOSTON, MA:
Saturday, April 21 at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Science Festival. It's been way too long since I performed in Boston and I'm doing two live You're the Expert shows, both open to the public (but free for MIT community thanks to generous funding from the DeFlorez Fund for Humor) Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Go the the March for Our Lives today. It's not too late. There's almost certainly one happening somewhere in your city or town today. This is our chance to make a difference on an issue that's felt so impossible for so long. The Parkland survivors and activists are high schoolers, but they're speaking with more clarity and vision than any of the rest of us. If you haven't read it yet, Emma Gonzalez's op-ed in Teen Vogue is incredible. I wouldn't have expected Teen Vogue would be the publication giving me the most hope for America, but 2018's been a weird year. Emma Gonzalez on Why This Generation Needs Gun Control


FUNNY:
Marcia Belsky is an outstanding example of how you can fight tooth and nail for justice and still be hilarious. She's a delightful, hilarious, goofy standup, who tackles sexism and misogyny head-on. Whether she's writing and performing a sold-out musical version ofThe Handmaid's Tale, writing for The New York Times, or just telling jokes at a comedy club, Marcia always challenges the audience to think critically while also making them laugh. As soon as a savvy TV exec catches on, Marcia is going to have a huge hit show of her own. Listen to her fantastic, funny, and thoughtful conversation with an anti-feminist on the podcast Conversations With People Who Hate Me (also on iTunes/Spotify/etc) and read her great interview in Splitsider: Marcia Belsky on "Headless Women of Hollywood" and Calling Out Sexism Online


INTERESTING:
Since we're talking about the power of activism, let's not forget that children have been a major part of protest movements before. There's no better day than today to brush up on Birmingham, Alabama and the history of the Children's March. Fifty Years After the Birmingham Children's Crusade (or, if you're in a PBS documentary kind of mood,Birmingham and the Children's March)


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If someone forwarded you this email and you want to sign up, you cansubscribe here.

Keep fighting the good fight,
Chris

3 Things: Maeve Higgins, Emmy Blotnick, and Donald Glover

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 the latest episode of You're the Expert, Todd Barry, Sasheer Zamata, and Courtney Gilmour talk to the world's leading expert on raccoon intelligence. Link

NEW YORK:
Sunday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert returns with Jo Firestone, Zhubin Parang, Shalewa Sharpe and a mind-blowing marine biologist. Link

Saturday, March 24 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. I'm hosting You Get A Spoon with performances by Celisse Henderson (who sang backup for Kesha at the Grammys), comedy from Ashley Brooke Roberts, and a reading by Emma Carmichael (former editor-in-chief of Jezebel).Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Saturday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at National Geographic. I'll be back with NatGeo Live for another You're the Expert taping with Negin Farsad, Jo Firestone, and more. Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the holiday, let me start this week's edition by recommending the work of my personal favorite Irish person, Maeve Higgins. She's a comedian, an author, a podcaster, and a frequent critic of my fashion choices. Amy Schumer called Maeve "the true Irish voice of our American generation" while others have called her "a person who clearly doesn't know anything about stylish men's pants." Sartorial differences aside, Maeve is great. I'm very excited for her next book, but in the meantime I'm enjoying her shorter written pieces and weekly live standup show in Brooklyn. Maeve is a tireless advocate for immigrants and eloquently reminds the world that the story of the Irish in America is really about refugees. At a time when the U.S. feels increasingly hard-hearted to suffering outside our borders, it's a very important reminder. Here's a beautiful example: Two Irish Girls Who Made It to New York


FUNNY:
Emmy Blotnick kills me. She is constantly writing the weirdest, funniest jokes and bursting with excitement at the chance to get to share them. Emmy is the head writer for Comedy Central's underrated gem The President Show and made her network television debut this week on Colbert. Her bit about reading Amazon reviews is just... *chef kiss*  Emmy Blotnick Spotted A Mistake in Fifth Harmony's 'Sledgehammer'


INTERESTING:
Donald Glover is so good in so many different creative fields, it's hard to even comprehend. His FX show Atlanta is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. His albums as Childish Gambino are some of my all-time favorite music. And his sketch comedy was incredible too. In this wide-ranging (and wild) profile in The New Yorker, he talks about his process, his life, and how he discovered a glitch in the matrix. Donald Glover Can't Save You 

(But if you're just looking for something short and sweet, it doesn't get better than Donald Glover meeting the girl scout in Atlanta who went viral using his music to sell cookies. )



Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If someone forwarded you this email and you want to sign up, you cansubscribe here.

Have a great day,
Chris