3 Things: WHCD, Bess Kalb, and Serena Solomon
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
BOSTON:
Wednesday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m. at the Davis Square Theatre. You're the Expert is live in Boston with Eugene Mirman, Ken Reid, and Obehi Janice. Link
NEW YORK:
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's going to be a great show. Link
WASHINGTON, DC:
Friday, May 20 at 7 p.m on The National Mall. I've been working with NatGeo on developing a new show called "Trending" all about the information and misinformation that flies around the Internet. We're doing the show live and it'll have music, interviews with NG Explorers, and lots of jokes. Plus, it's free! Link
You can always find my most up-to-date show schedule online here.
This week's list
1 Thing I Think Is Great:
If you haven't seen Barack Obama's speech at the White House Correspondents Dinner yet, you are missing out. It's really, really funny. Even if you're not a fan of him as a president, you pretty much can't deny that he's great at telling jokes. His half-hour is funnier than many professional stand-ups I've seen. My favorite part is when he tells Bernie why it hurts that he's been distancing himself from him. President Obama Speaks at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner
1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:
Bess Kalb is a writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live and a true master of comedy. She's come up with many of Kimmel's most popular and funniest sketches. The things she cranks out in her spare time are equally hilarious. Up until this week, I would have said that my favorite piece by Bess was the amazing "Cold Opens for Critically Acclaimed Television Shows" but The New Yorker published a new piece from her that might be even better. At the very least, it hits home for anyone with a Jewish mother from New York. Obituaries My Mother Wrote for Me While I Was Living in San Francisco in My Twenties
1 Interesting Thing:
When Serena Solomon first got to the United States, she was shocked by Pillsbury dough. As an Australian, she'd never seen "bread in a can." She looks back at that memory and interviews a bunch of other immigrants to the US about what most surprised them when they got here. Immigrants Explain What Shocked Them About American Culture (h/t Maeve Higgins)
Ok, thanks for reading! More details on shows and my full schedule online at www.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/
Have a great weekend,
Chris
Hecklers
When I tell people I'm a comedian, one of the first questions is always "Have you been heckled?" Of course. Every comic gets heckled sometimes. I've been lucky in that my hecklers have always either led to a funny exchange or been quickly kicked out. I knew my luck would run out at some point. Yesterday, I was performing outside for a conference in Malibu when a wild parrot flew directly behind the stage and started shrieking at full volume. I finally stopped talking and turned around. The parrot waited until every audience member was staring right at it and then shrieked one last time and triumphantly flew away right past my face. I'm not sure if anyone filmed it or not, but I assume it's only a matter of time before there's a viral video online of "Parrot Heckler Destroys Comedian".
3 Things: After Spring, The Great British Baking Show, and Jenna Cook
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
