3 Things: Will Guzzardi, Bachelor Parties, and Colbert-Biden

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:  

NYC: Next Saturday (9/19) at 4:30 p.m, You're the Expert is at The Bell House with Jo Firestone and 30 Rock's Scott Adsit. Details/tickets here Then, on Sunday (9/20), You Get A Spoon! is back at Under St Marks with a reading by Alexandra Schwartz (The New Yorker), music from Nora Fox and Ethan Philbrick, and so many audience prizes. Get tickets here!

San Francisco: The Bay Area Science Festival just announced our You're the Expert taping on Friday, October 23 at the Castro Theatre! At 1400 seats, this will be our biggest show ever. I'd love to have you there. Details/tickets here

DC: Wednesday's Taste Test Comedy is officially sold out, but I'll be back onThursday, October 8. Mark your calendars!

Harrisonburg, VA: This Thursday (9/17), I'm hosting a FREE You're the Expert show at the Court Square Theater. Come see me, Maeve Higgins, Anna Drezen, Nick Vatterott, and a professor from James Madison University. Details on the free show here. 

Boston: Sunday 9/27 You're the Expert in Boston featuring Jo Firestone, Josh Sharp, and more. Later that same night, stand up and free snacks at Taste Test Comedy.Details here!

You can see my full schedule for September up on the website now.

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

Will Guzzardi is a young, rising political star in Illinois. He's smart, honest, and unafraid to say what's right. Predictably, that has made many career politicians very angry at him. Will ran for state representative as a complete unknown against one of the most powerful political families in Chicago. The fact that he actually won shocked just about everyone, Will included. Maybe it's because Will is one of my best friends from college, but even the trailer from a new documentary that's being made about him brought tears to my eyes. I could not be prouder to say that I know him. Politics can be incredibly dispiriting, but Will gives me faith and reminds me that ultimately, caring about and holding our local representatives accountable can make a bigger impact than any one presidential race. The 39th: One Community Against Chicago's Political Machine

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

"Tired of the same old bachelor-party experience, with strippers, binge drinking, and blackjack? Want something unique for your best friend? Are you rich? Then surprise him with a specialized Bachelor Party Package from Boutique Bachelor!" Ben Bernstein's humor piece in the New Yorker is so funny and clever and wonderful. I didn't think that I would ever want a bachelor party, but after reading this, I'm convinced. I'm leaning towards "The Neurotic" but "The Public Defender" also sounds pretty good. Boutique Bachelor Parties

 

1 Interesting Thing:

Stephen Colbert took over the Late Show this week and what was quickly the most striking and interesting change that he brought to late night was his willingness to be serious. It's hard to think of any other comedian who could have had this frank emotional conversation with Vice President Biden. I found it surprising, enlightening, and very moving, which are not words I thought I'd use about a late night talk show in 2015. If you haven't already seen it, watch it for yourself, because it's pretty remarkable. Vice President Joe Biden Interview


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

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Neil Gaiman, Brooklyn Bar Menus, and Jeff Smith

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:  

This Monday in NYC, come join Evan Barden and me at Most Incredible 1-Hour Language School. This month's language is Modern Greek! You'll learn how to heckle a comedian, sing a song, and tell a joke over the course of a hilarious hour of games and sketches. Reserve your spot here!

Two upcoming shows are about to sell out:
-9/16 Taste Test Comedy in DC with me, Kevin Seefried, Maeve Higgins, and Joe Zimmerman. 
-10/1 Comedy, stories, and poetry in Boston with me, Sarah Kay, and Elna Baker

Just announced:
-9/27 You're the Expert in Boston featuring Jo Firestone, Josh Sharp, and more

You can see my full schedule for September up on the website now.

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

Neil Gaiman's speech at Philadelphia's University of the Arts is a constant source of inspiration for me. When I'm talking to friends about art, when I'm thinking through decisions about my career, when I'm feeling stuck, I find myself coming back to this speech. Regardless of whether you think of yourself as "an artist" or not, Neil has managed to take so much of the confusion and frustration out of figuring out your path and clarified what matters. I can't recommend this highly enough. And if the speech wasn't enough on its own, graphic designer Chip Kidd just released a stunning hardcover version of the text with his own illustrations. Make Good Art

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

This is so simple, but makes me laugh every time. It's the Brooklyn Bar Menu Generator. "Have you recently purchased a bar in Brooklyn, but are completely bereft of original ideas? Firstly, congratulations on joining the thriving Brooklyn bar scene! Secondly, relax! You can use this handy tool to generate a name and menu for your fine establishment --- absolutely no imagination necessary." Go ahead, give it a spin! Brooklyn Bar Menus (h/t Nick Greene)

 

1 Interesting Thing:

Jeff Smith is a former Missouri State Senator who was jailed for corruption. He just wrote a memoir about his year in prison. While I've got some reservations about him personally (he seems to really think illegal campaigning is not a big deal and some of his observations seem pretty out of touch), I'm fascinated by his experience. From stealing peppers from the kitchen in his socks to learning where he's allowed to sit at meals, it's definitely worth a read. The Senator Be Embezzling


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

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: George Saunders, Jim Jefferies, and Les Blank

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:  

There's a new episode of You're the Expert out now. On our latest episode, we talk to Boston's official city archaeologist, Joe Bagley, all about his passion for discovering ancient bathrooms and the secrets they hold. Featuring the hilarious Myq Kaplan, Steve Almond, and Bethany Van Delft. Listen online here!

A short play I wrote is debuting on Monday in NYC as part of a new works festival called Cherry Picking. Tickets are sold out but if you didn't snag one, you can put your name on the waitlist here.

On Labor Day, Evan Barden and I are teaming back up for the next edition of the Most Incredible 1-Hour Language School. This month's language is Modern Greek! Come learn how to heckle a comedian, sing a song, and tell a joke over the course of a hilarious hour of games and sketches. Reserve your spot here!

Tickets for the next You're the Expert taping in NYC are going fast! Many of the other shows at the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival have already sold out and we just announced that our panel includes Jo Firestone and 30 Rock's Scott Adsit so don't miss out! Get tickets 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:

George Saunders is more than just a writer and a MacArthur genius. He's also a genuinely good person. That's made abundantly clear in this lovely speech he gave at Syracuse University on the importance of kindness. This really resonated with me this week. It's so easy to get caught up in the daily struggles of work and stress and the future. But Saunders cuts right through all of that. "It's a little facile, maybe, and certainly hard to implement, but I'd say, as a goal in life, you could do worse than: Try to be kinder." Life Advice from George Saunders

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Comedy can be a wonderful escape from the seemingly endless onslaught of tragic, heartbreaking news. There's nothing wrong with taking a break for a few minutes to bring some laughter and joy into your life. But the most inspiring comedians are able to confront the darkest topics head on and make them hilarious while also illuminating them. That's exactly what Jim Jefferies does in this standup tour de force from his special taped in Boston. It's so thoughtful, hilarious, and spot on, that it actually stops me from being cynical about the possibility of breaking the cycle of violence. Jim Jefferies: Gun Control

 

1 Interesting Thing:

I love the films of Les Blank for how idiosyncratic and positive they are. Blank made movies about things that he personally loved. Who else makes a documentary about the deliciousness of garlic or how beautiful women with a gap in their front teeth are? His films are all infused with a palpable sense of joy and excitement. They almost all have a scene where a crowd eats some tasty food and they always have great music. When I read a nonfiction piece by John McPhee or watch a documentary by Les Blank, I'm struck by how broad their interests are and how vividly they're able to make a story out of the smallest topics.

Here's a taste of a film Blank made about a tea importer named David Lee Hoffman, who is obsessed with finding the world's best tea. "During his youth he spent four years with Tibetan monks in Nepal, which included a friendship with the Dalai Lama, and was introduced to some of the finest of teas. Unable to find anything but insipid tea bags in the U.S., Hoffman began traveling to China, the homeland of tea. There, he struggles against language barriers and Byzantine business codes to convince the Chinese that the farmers make better tea than the factories and their craft should be honored and preserved." All in This Tea


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

Have a great weekend,
Chris