3 Things: Jo Firestone, Subway Idiot, and Maeve Higgins 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:  


NEW YORK: LAST NYC SHOW OF 2015! 
Sunday, December 20 at 7 p.m. I'll be at Under St Marks for You Get A Spoon, my variety show and audience prize giveaway. I'll be bringing you jokes from Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight), songs from Camille Harris, and a reading by Adina Talve-Goodman (One Story magazine). Details and tickets here

SEATTLE:
For one-night only, I'll be performing at the Annex Theatre with some amazing guests. Bianca Giaever (This American Life) is going to screen some of her short films, I'll tell jokes, and Zubin Hensler and Willem de Koch (2/4 of The Westerlies) are going to play music. Wednesday, December 30 at 8 p.m. Details/tickets here

SAN FRANCISCO:
I'll be back at SF Sketchfest with You're the Expert again this year. We've got Kristin Schaal, James Adomian, and Eugene Mirman on the panel. The show is already almost sold out so get your tickets now! Saturday, January 23 at 1 p.m.Details/tickets here

I'll also be doing an extended standup set and inviting some special guests to perform with me at The Red Poppy Art House on Thursday, January 21 at 8 p.m.This is a small show in a beautiful venue and it should be a great time. Details/tickets here

LOS ANGELES:
We just announced a You're the Expert taping at the Nerdist Showroom on Monday, January 18 at 9 p.m. Details/tickets here

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

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


Jo Firestone is my favorite comedian to watch perform. She's unpredictable and hilarious and a lovely human being. She's gotten some well-deserved recognition this year including being named one of Comedy Central's "Comics to Watch." They just released a clip from her standup set that they recorded and I'm so excited because it's my favorite one of her jokes. Jo plays a game with the audience called "I Have Been There" where she describes an uncomfortable moment in her own life and if the audience relates to it, they shout out "I have been there!" It's amazing and unique and totally Jo. Enjoy! Jo Firestone - I Have Been There

 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

There are some jokes that are short and efficient in getting a laugh. You think they're going one way and they suddenly twist. Laughter ensues. Other jokes take their time, building on the same idea or premise until by sheer volume, you are forced to laugh. Arthur Meyer's Subway Idiot is decisively in the second camp. You know with absolute certainty what will happen next: he's going to just miss the subway. But the sheer amount of times and ways he found to film that same moment becomes unbelievably funny. Subway Idiot!!!!

 

1 Interesting Thing:


Maeve Higgins has a piece in the NYT's Sunday Review this week and it's great. She talks about losing her shoes, wanting to make the world a better place, and what it's like to compare notes with her sister (who works for Unicef in South Sudan). As always, Maeve is able to take the small moments and turn them into something bigger, funnier, and more meaningful than you might expect. Syria's Not Funny. So What's A Comic to Do?


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

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Norman Maclean, Existential Riddles, and Greg Hochmuth 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:  


NEW YORK:
Sunday, December 20 at 7 p.m. It's my last NYC show of the year. Come to You Get A Spoon! for jokes from me and Josh Gondelman (Last Week Tonight), a reading by Adina Talve-Goodman (One Story Magazine) and lots of audience prizes!Details/tickets here

SEATTLE: 
Wednesday, December 30 at 8 p.m. You Get A Spoon! makes its Seattle debut. I'll be telling jokes, we'll have music from Zubin Hensler and Willem de Koch (The Westerlies), and Bianca Giaever (This American Life) will screen some of her short films. It's going to be great. Get tickets here

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

Ok, on to this week's list!
 

1 Thing I Think Is Great:


I try my best to keep it positive, but every once in a while, a good, well-deserved burn is very satisfying. Norman Maclean, author of A River Runs Through It , was "rejected by publishers Alfred A. Knopf after initially being green-lit." After his book became wildly successful, those same publishers asked him if they could publish his second book. His response if one of the all-time great burns. It's just perfect. Letters of Note: The end of the world of books

(Side note: I strongly recommend the blog this comes from: Letters of Note. They're great).


 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Ethan Kuperberg's piece in the most recent issue of The New Yorker is brilliant. It's one of those pieces of comedy writing that makes me laugh and then makes me immediately intensely jealous of how good it is. I literally cut this out of the magazine so I could keep it.Existential Riddles
 

1 Interesting Thing:


I met Greg Hochmuth through mutual friends in NYC. He's one of the most interesting people I've gotten to talk to. Greg is a software engineer who helped start Instagram, but he's also an artist trying to get people to think about the way that tech influences our lives. His latest piece an amazing, thought-provoking artwork that could only exist digitally. In fact, you are only allowed to experience it for about 7 minutes at a time. I'd recommend reading this profile of Greg's work in The New York Times and then checking the site out for yourselfNetwork Effect


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

Have a great weekend,
Chris