3 Things: Obehi Janice, Jim Jefferies, and Preet Bharara

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. 

Upcoming Shows

EVERYWHERE:
On the latest episode of You're the Expert, Charlie Hankin, Roy Wood, Jr. and Michelle Buteau learn about the mysteries of fat at the Maine Science Festival. Link

NEW YORK:
TOMORROW! Sunday, February 18 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert tapes live with Todd Barry, Negin Farsad, Michelle Buteau and one incredible scientist. Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Saturday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at National Geographic. I'll be back with NatGeo Live for another You're the Expert taping. Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Obehi Janice is going to be a famous person. She's an actor, singer, comedian, and playwright. Just this week, Obehi was selected to be a part of of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group. Obehi has been on theYou're the Expert panel several times and she's always so much fun on stage (like in this episode about Whale Blowholes), but she also wrote a great solo show called Fufu & Oreos about growing up Nigerian in Massachusetts. She talked about some of that same material with Ken Reid on his podcast, TV Guidance Counselor, and it's very fun to listen to. Check her work out now before everyone knows. Obehi Janice


FUNNY:
Jim Jefferies and I don't see eye-to-eye on every issue, but his standup bit about gun control is one of the most brilliant pieces of comedy ever performed. Infuriatingly, it's as relevant and topical today as it was four years ago when he released his special. In the wake of yet another mass shooting, please donate to Everytown for Gun Safety, register your friends and neighbors to vote, and then watch this. Jim Jefferies: Gun Control


INTERESTING:
In a transformation that's as 2018 as they come, Preet Bharara went from one of the top prosecutors in the United States to a podcast celebrity after Donald Trump fired him. Everything about that sentence is baffling. But it turns out that Preet has an incredible voice, an ability to get political figures to open up, and gets to the heart of current events in a unique way. Stay Tuned is definitely worth a listen. In particular, this recent episode with Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. Does the Nunes Memo Matter? (h/t Jason Burch) 

Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If someone forwarded you this email and you want to sign up, you cansubscribe here.

Have a great day,
Chris

3 Things: Aparna Nancherla, Good Cop Great Cop, and Ora DeKornfeld

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. 

Upcoming Shows

EVERYWHERE:
On this week's episode of You're the Expert, Charlie Hankin, Roy Wood, Jr. and Michelle Buteau learn about the mysteries of fat at the Maine Science Festival. Link

NEW YORK:
TODAY Saturday, February 10 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. This month on You Get A Spoon, comedy from Anthony DeVito, a performance by Obehi Janice, improvised music from Rebecca Vigil, and prizes. Link

Sunday, February 18 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert tapes live with Todd Barry, Negin Farsad, Michelle Buteau and one incredible scientist. Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Saturday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at National Geographic. I'll be back with NatGeo Live for another You're the Expert taping. Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Aparna Nancherla is as wise as she is hilarious. You might know her from her comedy special, from her genius Twitter feed, from Master of None, or from her recurring role on the new Comedy Central show Corporate. She was interviewed by Quartz as part of their series on "insights from the world's most-qualified women" and all of her advice is fantastic. How comedian Aparna Nancherla got her big break while being shy, anxious, and sad


FUNNY:
Good Cop Great Cop make some of the best comedy sketches out there. Matt and Charlie put so much thought and effort into the filmmaking that every one of their bits is hilarious ("Roommate" is an all-time favorite) but also a fully contained cinematic world (like "Apples"). They just released a new video this week, which I love so much. Watch and enjoy: Genius


INTERESTING:
Ora DeKornfeld is a filmmaker at The New York Times. She's constantly managing to find ways to tell important stories with a sense of humor and surprising visuals. I loved her explainer of why NYC suffers so many subway delays (and I challenge you to find any other NYT piece that gets as big a laugh out of screaming commuters and a rat). If you're deep into the Olympic spirit, watch her incredible piece about the swimmer Vivian Stancil. Or just pick any of her videos at random. They're all great. Ora DeKornfeld

Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If someone forwarded you this email and you want to sign up, you cansubscribe here.

Have a great day,
Chris

3 Things: Nayyirah Waheed, 2 Dope Queens, Raphael Bob-Waksberg

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. 

Upcoming Shows

EVERYWHERE:
On the latest episode of You're the Expert, Michael Showalter, Roy Wood, Jr. and Sarah Kay talk to Rutgers snake expert Sara Ruane about discovering new species. Link

NEW YORK:
Monday, February 5 at 8 p.m. at Littlefield. I'll be telling jokes at Butterboy, one of the very best standup shows in NYC, hosted by Jo Firestone, Maeve Higgins, and Aparna Nancherla. Link

Saturday, February 10 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. This month on You Get A Spoon, a performance by Obehi Janice, improvised music from Rebecca Vigil, and prizes. Link

Sunday, February 18 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert tapes live with three hilarious comedians and one incredible scientist. Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Saturday, April 14 at 7 p.m. at National Geographic. I'll be back with NatGeo Live for another You're the Expert taping. Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Nayyirah Waheed is a poet with an enormous audience. She's the unofficial poet laureate of Instagram, where she has hundreds of thousands of followers. Social media and thought-provoking poetry do not seem like a natural mix, but Waheed is able to use the medium to capture your attention and send you elsewhere. Take a few minutes and let her into your brain. Nayyirah Waheed 

(Was the phrase "let her into your brain" weird? I'm pretty sure it was, but I'm leaving it anyway.) 

FUNNY:
Phoebe Robinson and Jessica Williams are two of the most naturally hilarious human beings on the planet. Their podcast "2 Dope Queens" was a runaway hit and today you can watch the first of their four hour-long specials on HBO. To promote the shows, they've been doing a press tour and I can't imagine what could be a purer delight than watching the two of them explain cocoa butter, the movie Waiting to Exhale, and the newest slang to Stephen Colbert. The 2 Dope Queens Introduce Stephen "Zaddy" and "Hot Peen" 

INTERESTING:
One of my all-time favorite TV shows is BoJack Horseman. It manages to be funny and thoughtful and beautiful, while also being a show about an anthropomorphic horse who's a washed-up sitcom actor. One of the main characters, Diane Nguyen, is voiced by Alison Brie. Diane is Vietnamese. Alison is not. The show's creator, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, gave a long and interesting interview where he talks about why that is. The resulting article is a rare example of an artist owning his blind spots and answering for them honestly and self-reflectively. Pilot Viruet is a fantastic writer and handles this conversation beautifully. The Creator of 'BoJack Horseman' Doesn't Want to Ignore Animation's Diversity Problem Anymore

Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If someone forwarded you this email and you want to sign up, you cansubscribe here.

Have a great weekend,
Chris