3 Things: After Spring, The Great British Baking Show, and Jenna Cook by Chris Duffy

Hi friends,

Thanks for subscribing. Each week, I send out an email with something I think is great, something that made me laugh, and something interesting. If you feel like you haven't gotten these in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. Feel free to spread the word and share these with friends. Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.

 Live shows


NEW YORK:
Wednesday, May 4th at 7:00 p.m. It's the Sensible Show. Standup comedy at the Annoyance Theatre. This week, Josh Gondelman and I are hosting and we've got jokes from Mark Normand, Halle Kiefer, Josh Rabinowitz, and Chris Thayer. Link

Monday, May 16 at 10 p.m at The Stand. This is the final callbacks for the Montreal Just For Laugh's New Faces Showcase. It'll be NYC's best young standups all doing their best material. Tickets on sale soon.


Wednesday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m at Carolines. The hilarious Josh Gondelman is headlining Carolines and he asked me to do a set on the show too. It's my first time performing at this legendary venue and I'm really excited. Also Josh is the best/funniest. Link

BOSTON:
Wednesday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Davis Square Theatre. You're the Expert is back in Boston for a special taping featuring Eugene Mirman. This show will definitely sell out so get tickets soon if you want to come. Link



You can always find my most up-to-date show schedule online here.

 This week's list

 1 Thing I Think Is Great:


Jon Stewart is the executive producer of After Spring, a new documentary about a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan. I got tickets to a screening this past weekend and it's an amazing film. As you might expect, there's suffering and heartbreak, but the filmmakers also captured beautiful moments of joy and hope, especially in a group of young kids learning Taekwondo and a pizza maker who built a new shop from scratch in desert. More than anything, it was a powerful reminder that behind the headlines are real people, unfairly caught up in the biggest refugee crisis since WWII. After Spring is currently only screening at film festivals, but hopefully it'll find broader distribution soon. After Spring (h/t Mark Doss)
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:


I am obsessed with The Great British Baking Show. If you haven't seen it, it's kind of like ifAntiques Roadshow took place in a tent in England and instead of finding out how much their family heirlooms are worth, people found out if they're any good at making croissants. The stakes are incredibly low, the people are very ordinary, and really the only thing they do is bake. Yet, somehow, it's utterly charming and my favorite thing to watch. If you're having a bad day or feeling depressed about the state of the world, I guarantee you that queuing an episode of this up on Netflix will inject joy deep into your brain. If you're still not convinced, read this hilarious (and foul-mouthed) explanation of the show in GQ by Freddie Campion: The Great British Bake Off Explained

(Sidenote: This article reveals who wins Season 3 of the show, but that's not a season that's available in the US, so it didn't feel like much of a spoiler to me. But now you've been warned!)


 

1 Interesting Thing:


Jenna Cook is an American woman who was adopted from China when she was a baby. When Jenna was 20 years old, a junior at Yale, she returned to China with her adoptive mom, a white lady from Massachusetts, to search for the birth mother who had left her on a street corner in Wuhan. Jenna's story struck a deep emotional chord in China and went viral. Her search tapped into the many conflicting emotions around adoption, China's government policies, and the country's place in the world. It's an amazing story and one that I imagine will resonate with many of the people I know who have adopted members of their families. A "Lost" Daughter Speaks, And All of China Listens


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: Mary Oliver, Simon Rich, and Do Not Track by Chris Duffy

Hi friends,

Thanks for subscribing. Each week, I send out an email with something I think is great, something that made me laugh, and something interesting. If you feel like you haven't gotten these in a while, try checking to make sure this email is a trusted address so they aren't getting filtered to spam. Feel free to spread the word and share these with friends. Anyone can sign up for the mailing list online and/or check out the archive with all past emails here.

 Live shows


PHILADELPHIA:
Thursday, April 28 at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. I'm hosting two live You're the Expert tapings at the Philadelphia Science Festival with Aparna Nancherla, Hari Kondabolu, and Maeve Higgins! Link 


NEW YORK:
Wednesday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m.  Standup comedy at the Annoyance Theatre hosted by me, Josh Gondelman, Emma Willmann, and Evan Kaufman. Cheap tickets. Great comics. Early start time. It's the Sensible Show. Link

Monday, May 16 at 10 p.m at The Stand. This is the Montreal Just For Laugh's New Faces Showcase. Tickets aren't on sale for this show yet, but I just found out I have a final callback for this festival and I'd love for any/everyone to come. It'll be NYC's best young comedians all doing their best material. Tickets on sale soon.


MALIBU:
Saturday, April 30 all-day.  Online registration for the California AEOE conference is now closed, but I believe there are still spots available if you want to participate day of. I'm giving the keynote address. Link



You can always find my most up-to-date show schedule online here.

 This week's list

 1 Thing I Think Is Great:


I recommend Mary Oliver's work over and over again. I'm a huge fan of her poetry. She's able to capture such vivid emotions in so few words. This week, I've been particularly enjoying her poem Sometimes. Here's my favorite section:

"4.

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it."


You can read the whole poem here: Sometimes by Mary Oliver
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:


Simon Rich is one of the all-time great comedy minds. He's written for Saturday Night Liveand Pixar, he's the author of five books, and he's got his own show on FXX, Man Seeking Woman. Maybe my favorite comedy piece of all-time is this one, which ran in The New Yorker in 2007. Every time I sit down at a big family gathering, I think about it. It's hilarious and perfect. If you haven't read this before, do yourself a favor and read this now. If you have read it before, trust me, it's just as funny to re-read. A Conversation at the Grownup Table, as Imagined at the Kids' Table

 

1 Interesting Thing:


Do Not Track just won a Peabody award for "providing a wealth of provocative information." It's hard to explain exactly what Do Not Track is, but that's part of what makes it so compelling. It's a "personalized" documentary web series that examines data and information we give up about ourselves every time we go online. But what makes it so unique and hard to explain is that it's truly personalized. The documentary uses your actual data, based on a few facts you input, to tell you what's specifically happening with your data. It's fascinating and terrifying and amazingly well-done. Do Not Track


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

Have a great weekend,
Chris

Boltbus by Chris Duffy

My BoltBus driver made this announcement over the PA: "I'm hearing some babies laughing. Any parents on this bus, you need to silence your babies."

Just in case you were wondering what the official BoltBus policy on joy is.