3 Things: Adam Ruins Everything, Josh Gondelman, and Criminal by Chris Duffy

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 UPDATES:  


I'm going to be out in California on a West Coast tour for the rest of October. I'm adding a lot of dates to the calendar online, but these are the highlights.

SAN FRANCISCO:
Friday, October 23, You're the Expert is at the Castro Theatre for the Bay Area Science Festival. Details/tickets here

Monday, October 26, Taste Test (free food samples and jokes about food) at The Hall SF

Tuesday, October 27, You Get A Spoon! (variety show and prize giveaway) at The Lost Church in the Mission. Featuring a reading from author Kevin Roose, magician Andrew Evans, and lots more surprises.

LOS ANGELES:
Monday, October 19, I'm telling some jokes at Upright Citizens Brigade on Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer's show, Crash Test. Details here

Sunday, November 1 You Get A Spoon is at the Lyric-Hyperion Theatre & Cafe. If you only come to one of my LA shows, I'd make it this one. Details and tickets here

SAN DIEGO:
I'm doing a private, unrecorded version of You're the Expert for a convention of scientists on Wednesday, October 28. This is closed to the general public, but if you're in the area and want to see the show, email me! I should be able to get at least some people in. 

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

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


Engagement rings, canned food drives, and purebred dogs. These are all topics that Adam Conover has featured on his web series and new TV show Adam Ruins Everything. Adam is very funny, but he's also obviously very smart. The fact that he's been able to build such a popular show attacking commonly held misconceptions with fact-based research is astonishing. The show literally cites its sources onscreen. What makes it all work is that the show is very, very funny. I love seeing the many ways comedians are raising the bar for intelligent discussions right now and I think Adam Ruins Everything is a great edition to the field. Anyone traveling for the long weekend should especially appreciate this one: Why the TSA Doesn't Stop Terrorist Attacks

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:


Josh Gondelman is a treasure. He's an Emmy-nominated writer for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, a hilarious standup comedian, and a genuinely kind human being. His first book just came out this week and it's great. It's called You Blew It! An Awkward Look at the Many Ways in Which You've Already Ruined Your Life I hate that there's a widespread idea that you have to be a mean-spirited drunk from a broken home to be successful in comedy. Josh is a living repudiation of that. Here's a very nice profile of him in The Observer that's also definitely worth a read. Nice Guys Finish First: Josh Gondelman
 

1 Interesting Thing:


Like just about everyone else with access to the Internet, I was a huge fan of Serial. While I'm waiting for the second season, I've been checking out some other crime-related podcasts and just listened to the latest episode of Criminal. It's fantastic. It tells the story of Patti Hammond Shaw, a transgender woman and complete badass, who just won a landmark case changing the way that police process and detain transgender individuals in Washington, D.C. The episode is thoughtful and incredibly well reported and I haven't heard the story anywhere else. It's also, unlike most true crime stories, not profoundly depressing in the end. Criminal Episode 28: P.D.I.D. (Thanks to Aparna Nancherla for sharing this with me)
 

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

Have a great weekend,
Chris

The Boston debut of You Get A Spoon! w/ Sarah Kay and Elna Baker by Chris Duffy

Thanks so much to everyone for completely packing the house at Johnny D's in Somerville on Thursday! We had a great time performing for you all. Photos and video coming soon. But in the meantime, here were the recommendations:

I told jokes and stories and recommended:

1) Sock Club - a monthly sock delivery that is one of the best gifts I've ever been given.

2) Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman and Chip Kidd

3) Tovolo Silicone Mixing Spoon (duh)

 

Elna Baker told stories and recommended:

1) Metal toothpaste roller clips - get every last bit out of your toothpaste!

2) Laffy Taffy (banana flavor)

3) The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante

 

Sarah Kay shared some new poems and recommended:

1) The soundtrack to Hamilton

2) Pocky (oh my goodness, we had SO much Pocky)

3) When My Brother Was An Aztec by Natalie Diaz

 

And the big winner of the night was audience member Sarah Kate! She got the spoon!

3 Things: Bo Burnham, Mobile Steam Unit, and Kids Dating by Chris Duffy

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 UPDATES:  


NYC: 
CANCELLED: Submerge!, the marine science festival in Hudson River Park has been called off today due to weather. Much as I'd love to stand outside during a hurricane next to a river for an event named "Submerge!", I think they made the right call.

Monday (10/5), Evan Barden and I try to teach you Japanese in  a special edition of Most Incredible 1-Hour Language School. A reporter from the NYT is coming to this show, so we'd love to have a packed house. Please come! Details here

Wednesday (10/7), You're the Expert is at The Bell House in Brooklyn for a New York Super Week edition featuring Jo Firestone, 30 Rock's Scott Adsit, and a surprise guest. Get tickets

SAN FRANCISCO:
Just added a bunch of Bay Area shows to the website! The biggest one is You're the Expert is at the Bay Area Science Festival on Friday, October 23 at the Castro Theatre. Details/tickets here

Other highlights include Taste Test (free food samples and jokes about food) at The Hall on Monday, October 26 and You Get A Spoon! (variety show and prize giveaway) at The Lost Church on Tuesday, October 27

LOS ANGELES:
I'm heading your way and just put up a bunch of shows on the website. Your best bet to see me do a full comedy set and also win prizes is at a one-night only LA-version of YOU GET A SPOON! on Sunday, November 1 at 8:30 p.m. at the Lyric-Hyperion Theatre & Cafe. Details and tickets here

SAN DIEGO:
I'm doing a private, unrecorded version of You're the Expert for a convention of scientists on Wednesday, October 28. This is closed to the general public, but if you're in the area and want to see the show, email me! I should be able to get at least some people in. 

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

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


Last night, I went to see Bo Burnham's new show Make Happy. If you don't know who Bo is, he's a 25-year-old comedian who became famous from YouTube videos he made in high school. I can't think of any phrase that more likely predicts someone will be an offensive idiot than "famous from YouTube videos he made in high school" but Bo is not. In fact, he's one of the most thoughtful and surprising comedians I've ever seen live. Make Happy was such an insane blend of high/low. At one point he literally made a fart joke and at another he made serious academic points about the blurring distinction between observer/observed. The show was a huge theatrical production, with songs, lights, and several particularly good jokes involving fog machines. It was hilarious and inspiring and definitely worth seeing. Make Happy is on tour now and he'll be performing in New York City all this week. In the meantime, you can see all of Bo's last special online for free. Bo Burnham: what.

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:


The band members of Mobile Steam Unit dream differently from other bands. Their goal isn't a record deal, playing in stadiums, or even becoming famous. They just want to record an answering machine message for their favorite Indian restaurant. This video chronicles their quest to write the perfect phone jingle and then get the very skeptical manager to accept it. The song they came up with is amazing and has been stuck in my head all week. Plus everything about this video, from the song to the guys to the way it's shot, makes me cackle with joy. Check it out. Mobile Steam Unit presents Kanan Indian Restaurant
 

1 Interesting Thing:


Do you remember what it was like to date in middle school? When I think back, I just remember that my "girlfriend" and I at the time very ardently held hands and it was an enormous deal. The only fluids we ever swapped were copious amounts of palm sweat (we never kissed), but I was certain that I now understood everything I'd ever seen in rom-coms and love songs spoke to me on a personal level. This video from The Atlantic where they interview tweens captures so much of what's hilarious and amazing about that stage of life. My favorite is the kid who says his favorite spot to take a date is CVS. Ask A Tween: What's Dating Like? (h/t Ciara Gay)
 

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

Have a great weekend,
Chris