3 Things: Stephen Colbert, Trump in History, and Lawrence Wright

Hi friends,

If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. If you feel like you haven't gotten these emails in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. For live shows, I've got a bunch featured below and a complete list on my website. Feel free to spread the word about these emails! Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.

SHOW UPDATE:  

I'm in Denver for a friend's wedding, so no shows this weekend. Instead, I've spent my time updating my LinkedIn profile.

Next week, I'm at the Brooklyn Comedy Festival performing on Jo Firestone's dating game extravaganza Friends of Single People on Wednesday, August 26. Come out for laughs and maybe find love along the way! Details here

Lots more show dates in Boston, DC, Virginia, and New York up on the website now.

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

Stephen Colbert is amazing. This is not a bold stance to take. The man is widely beloved. But I don't know that I'd fully appreciated how thoughtful and vulnerable he can be. Joel Lovell interviewed him for GQ and it's one of the best celebrities profiles I've ever read. Comedy, mortality, fame, family... they talk about it all. Colbert also breaks down his creative process and how he's able to maintain focus while doing so many things at once. Read it and be inspired. The Late, Great Stephen Colbert

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

As Trump continues to dominate the airwaves, comedians have rejoiced. He provides no shortage of material. The take that I thought was the smartest and that made me laugh the hardest is this one, by John Flowers in McSweeney's. "The ancestry of Donald Trump stretches back to the Ancient World. Listen, as several of Trump's forebears recount some of the most famous moments in history." The concept is hilarious and the execution is even better. On the death of Julius Caesar: "So this is, maybe, a week after the Ides of March. I'm in Rome. I got a new coliseum there. Great coliseum. I build a lot of them. Make a lot of money. Very successful." Donald Trump, Through the Ages
 

1 Interesting Thing:

Lawrence Wright is without a doubt one of the finest living journalists today. His topics run the gamut from Scientology to Al Qaeda, but they share the same meticulous attention to detail and gripping narrative. I couldn't put down his latest piece in the New Yorker, a profile of five American families whose children were kidnapped by terrorists. Idealistic young people, a wealthy benefactor trying to save their lives, clandestine meetings with the President: it's almost hard to believe the story is real. But it is and it's an illuminating look into what it really means when we say the United States does not negotiate with terrorists.The Families Who Negotiated With ISIS


Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris

You Get A Spoon! with Maris Kreizman, Colin Dempsey, and Jo Firestone

What a great show tonight! We had a packed house at Under St Marks for the August edition of You Get A Spoon! a monthly variety show and audience prize giveaway. (You can see more details and buy tickets for future shows online here)

Maris Kreizman read a personal essay and we talked about her blog and upcoming book, Slaughterhouse 90210 (in bookstores October 6th). Maris recommended:

1) After Claude by Iris Owens
2) The Amazing MagicFiber - microfiber cleaning cloths
3) a Kong (dog toy)

Maris Kreizman

Colin Dempsey played some songs on his guitar and recommended:

1) Barry's Tea - so good he'd be willing to fight over it.
2) Alan Partridge - A British TV Comedy Show
3) Guilty (album) by Barbara Streisand & Barry Gibb - (side note: FANTASTIC cover art) 

Colin Dempsey

Jo Firestone told a spectacular and hilarious story about the horrors of seeing herself eat falafel. But first, she recommended:

1) Ice Breakers Ice Cubes Gum: Pepper Mint Flavor

2) One Story, a magazine that delivers one great story in the mail every three weeks

3) Gaff tape, which Jo considers to be the finest and most versatile of tapes. 

Jo Firestone

Of course, we ended, as we always do, with my passionate endorsement of the Tovolo Silicone Mixing Spoon in Candy Apple color. This month, the winner of the spoon was Greta, who was such an audience favorite that the entire room started chanting "Greta! Greta! Greta!" after she won. Thanks to everybody who came out! 

The next YOU GET A SPOON! is on Sunday, September 20 at 7 p.m. at Under St Marks (94 St Marks Pl in Manhattan).

Information and tickets: http://www.horsetrade.info/event/3bf6735e6870605b54cdeac298006105

3 Things: New Zealand, Thomas Sanders, TAL

Hi friends,

If you're new to these emails, welcome! Every Saturday, I send out a short email with three great things. I've also got some of my upcoming shows featured below. If you know anyone who you think would enjoy this, feel free to spread the word! They can sign up and/or see the archive of past emails here.

SHOW UPDATE:  

NYC: Tomorrow (8/16), join me for my monthly variety show / prize giveaway You Get A Spoon! featuring Jo Firestone, music from Irish singer/songwriter Colin Dempsey, and a reading by Maris Kreizman. Details/tickets here. Down the road, I've got two big You're the Expert shows at The Bell House. Details here

DC: Only 9 tickets left for Taste Test Comedy on Wednesday, September 16. Small bites, big laughs. Details and tickets here.

BOSTON: You're the Expert is back on September 27. Get tickets here. On October 1, I'll be at Johnny D's doing a version of You Get A Spoon! with spoken word poet Sarah Kay and storyteller Elna Baker. Tickets are already going fast, so get yours here.

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

The citizens of New Zealand are voting on a new flag, which is a wonderful example of democracy in action. That being said, opening up flag designs to the public resulted in some pretty insane but spectacular suggestions. I know it's officially out of the running, but let me just publicly declare that if New Zealand chooses "Laser Kiwi" as its new flag, I will immediately move there and renounce my American citizenship. New Zealand Announces Longlist of Flag Designs

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

At the risk of sounding like an old man, I don't understand Vine. The social network built on looping six-second videos is supposedly producing "the next wave of comedy superstars," but I think it's dumb. Then, every once in a while, I see someone who's using the constraints of the medium to make something genuinely unique and funny. I love Thomas Sanders' series of vines "Narrating People's Lives", especially the way normal people react to his narrations. At the same time, I think Paul Scheer's parody of "Vine superstars" is funnier than just about anything actually on Vine. The Meltdown: Paul Scheer
 

1 Interesting Thing:

This American Life ran a two-part episode on education that is one of the most important and devastating works of journalism I've heard. I've had so many conversations over the years with friends who are thoughtful, intelligent, passionate educators working day-in and day-out to close the achievement gap. But I think nothing gets at the fundamental issues and painful challenges quite like this. "Right now, all sorts of people are trying to rethink and reinvent education, to get poor minority kids performing as well as white kids. But there's one thing nobody tries anymore, despite lots of evidence that it works: desegregation." The Problem We All Live With


Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online atwww.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris