3 Things: Ali Wong, Unfortunate Logos, and Cobalt

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can sign up to get these emails here.

 Live shows

NEW YORK:
Saturday, October 8 at 7:30 p.m. at The Magnet Theater. I'm the featured storyteller at The Armando Diaz experience. It's always hilarious. Link

Tuesday, October 11 at 7 p.m. at Carolines. I'm on Comedy Central's Comics to Watch showcase. Come watch me!  Link

BOSTON:
Sunday, October 16 at 7:00 p.m. at The Rockwell. You're the Expert returns to Boston with Maeve Higgins, Ken Reid, a mystery scientist and a special guest. Link

Wednesday, November 2 at 7:00 p.m. at The Museum of Science.  A special You're the Expert taping and party. Link

You can also find my full up-to-date show schedule online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

Ali Wong has been telling jokes for a long time, but she shot to stardom recently after she recorded a comedy special, Baby Cobra, while nine months pregnant. If you think telling filthy jokes to a roomful of drunk strangers is hard, try doing it the day before you give birth. 

There aren't many great magazine profiles of standup comics. It's tough to convey the process and how comics shape their material. But Ariel Levy is an outstanding writer and she really captures what makes Ali special. Ali Wong's Radical Rauch
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Going from the intentionally filthy to the unintentionally so... 

You're a corporate CEO and you're rebranding. You need a new logo. Everything is going great until you hold a big press conference and the Internet goes wild. Turns out your new logo looks a lot like a weiner.

Fear no more. Josh Mishell created a design agency dedicated to identifying logos that look like private parts. It's truly hilarious and genius and it's called GenitalsOrNot.com. I dare you to scroll through their logo Hall of Fame without laughing.


1 Interesting Thing:

If you're reading this on a smartphone, you're holding about 5-10 grams of cobalt. If you're on a laptop, you've got about an ounce. Lithium-ion batteries, and our modern devices, wouldn't exist without cobalt, but if you're like me, you know pretty much nothing about it or where it comes from.

The Washington Post's Todd Frankel spent months researching cobalt and the story he found is breathtaking. This is investigative journalism of the highest caliber and it's paired with unforgettable videos and photos. You have to read this story. The Cobalt Pipeline
(h/t Sandra Allen)

Ok, thanks for reading this! Feel free to find more details on shows and my full schedule online at www.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Jessi Klein, the IgNobel Prizes, and Maris Kreizman

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can sign up to get these emails here.

 Live shows

NEW YORK:
Wednesday, October 5 at 7 p.m. at The Annoyance Theater. I'm hosting The Sensible Show and we've got standup from Emily Heller, Marcia Belsky, Daniel Simonsen, and Chelsea Hood. Link

Tuesday, October 11 at 7 p.m. at Carolines. I'm on Comedy Central's Comics to Watch showcase. Come watch me!  Link

BOSTON:
Wednesday, November 2 at 7:00 p.m. at The Museum of Science.  A special You're the Expert taping and party. Link

You can also find my full up-to-date show schedule online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

Jessi Klein is the Emmy-award winning head writer of Inside Amy Schumer. She's one of the best standups and comedic minds around. I just finished her new book You'll Grow Out of It, which is heartfelt and funny all in the same breath. I would not have expected to laugh out loud at essays about Bar Method workouts and epidurals, but I guess this is my life now. I'm still hoping to never personal experience either.  You'll Grow Out of It by Jessi Klein (h/t Mollie)
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

The IgNobel Prizes are a work of genius. Scientists from across the globe are flown in to an awards ceremony where they are recognized for how truly bizarre their research interests are. It's a celebration of "research that makes people laugh and then think."

This year's winners include an Egyptian scientist who studied "the effects of wearing polyester, cotton, or wool trousers on the sex life of rats," a team of economists who assessed "the perceived personalities of rocks, from a sales and marketing perspective," and two Japanese doctors who studied "whether things look different when you bend over and view them between your legs."

You can see all the winners from this year (and the past) on the IgNobel website:Improbable Research


1 Interesting Thing:

"Life is made up of so many compromises, and there are so many happinesses we must forsake because of health, money, timing or bad luck. Don't we owe it to ourselves to find comfort where we can?"

Maris Kreizman' essay about Splenda for The New York Times is just great. As a diabetic, Maris' diet is limited in many ways, but the little pink packets she carries around in her purse allow her some sweetness. I love when you read a piece and then see the world differently. Thanks to Maris, Splenda just became a little bit more magical. The Sweet Relief of Splenda in My Purse

Ok, thanks for reading this! Feel free to find more details on shows and my full schedule online at www.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Donald Glover, Ana Fabrega, and Lizzie Feidelson

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can sign up to get these emails here.

 Live shows

NEW YORK:
Saturday, September 24 from 11:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hudson River Park. Today, I'm emceeing SUBMERGE! a free outdoor marine science festival. I'll be on a stage down by the river interviewing a whale scientist, the head of NOAA, and telling some jokes.  Link

Tuesday, October 11 at 7 p.m. at Carolines. I'm on Comedy Central's Comics to Watch showcase. Come watch me!  Link

BOSTON:
Wednesday, November 2 at 7:00 p.m. at The Museum of Science.  This is a special You're the Expert taping plus an afterparty with drinks, desserts, and standup. Very few tickets left for this one. Link

You can also find my full up-to-date show schedule online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

Donald Glover's Atlanta is one of the best TV shows I've seen. It manages to tell stories that couldn't be further from my life with characters that feel totally relatable. The episodes feel both realistic and strangely surreal. I don't think there's anything else quite like it on television. Donald Glover is a genius. Atlanta

(This is a very interesting article about how shows like Atlanta get made and why so many of them are on FX right now: How FX became TV's best, most reliable network)
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Fred Armisen and Ana Fabrega are heading to the Met. But their plans for a museum day get derailed when they can't find each other outside. That's pretty much the entire premise of this sketch. 

Ana is one of the most interesting comedians I know. I've seen her perform standup as a lonely Inuit and an Instagram celebrity. I love watching her short films, and she creates new live shows faster than I can keep track. Ana's someone with a very clear voice and perspective. So is Fred Armisen, so it's a joy to watch them together. Fred Armisen and Ana Fabrega in Meet Me at the Met


1 Interesting Thing:

"My favorite client lived in the West Village. His office was covered in Broadway Playbills, tacked to the wall and strung across the mantle like holiday greeting cards. When I dusted his bookshelves, I found that his books weren't real: they came away in discrete sections, hollow volumes fused together at the spine."

Lizzie Feidelson's essay in n+1 about her days as a high-end maid is fascinating. I would read a whole book just about the different lives Lizzie has seen inside New York City apartments. The Clean

Ok, thanks for reading this! Feel free to find more details on shows and my full schedule online at www.chrisduffycomedy.com/calendar/

Have a great weekend,
Chris