3 Things: Maeve Higgins, Emmy Blotnick, and Donald Glover

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, Todd Barry, Sasheer Zamata, and Courtney Gilmour talk to the world's leading expert on raccoon intelligence. Link

NEW YORK:
Sunday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert returns with Jo Firestone, Zhubin Parang, Shalewa Sharpe and a mind-blowing marine biologist. Link

Saturday, March 24 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. I'm hosting You Get A Spoon with performances by Celisse Henderson (who sang backup for Kesha at the Grammys), comedy from Ashley Brooke Roberts, and a reading by Emma Carmichael (former editor-in-chief of Jezebel).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 with Negin Farsad, Jo Firestone, and more. Link

My full schedule with all upcoming dates is online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Happy St. Patrick's Day! In honor of the holiday, let me start this week's edition by recommending the work of my personal favorite Irish person, Maeve Higgins. She's a comedian, an author, a podcaster, and a frequent critic of my fashion choices. Amy Schumer called Maeve "the true Irish voice of our American generation" while others have called her "a person who clearly doesn't know anything about stylish men's pants." Sartorial differences aside, Maeve is great. I'm very excited for her next book, but in the meantime I'm enjoying her shorter written pieces and weekly live standup show in Brooklyn. Maeve is a tireless advocate for immigrants and eloquently reminds the world that the story of the Irish in America is really about refugees. At a time when the U.S. feels increasingly hard-hearted to suffering outside our borders, it's a very important reminder. Here's a beautiful example: Two Irish Girls Who Made It to New York


FUNNY:
Emmy Blotnick kills me. She is constantly writing the weirdest, funniest jokes and bursting with excitement at the chance to get to share them. Emmy is the head writer for Comedy Central's underrated gem The President Show and made her network television debut this week on Colbert. Her bit about reading Amazon reviews is just... *chef kiss*  Emmy Blotnick Spotted A Mistake in Fifth Harmony's 'Sledgehammer'


INTERESTING:
Donald Glover is so good in so many different creative fields, it's hard to even comprehend. His FX show Atlanta is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. His albums as Childish Gambino are some of my all-time favorite music. And his sketch comedy was incredible too. In this wide-ranging (and wild) profile in The New Yorker, he talks about his process, his life, and how he discovered a glitch in the matrix. Donald Glover Can't Save You 

(But if you're just looking for something short and sweet, it doesn't get better than Donald Glover meeting the girl scout in Atlanta who went viral using his music to sell cookies. )



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 (Food Edition): David Chang, Jacqueline Novak, and Jessica Valenti

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:
For the past five months, I've been writing for Wyatt Cenac and John Oliver's new HBO show. We've finally got an air date and a trailer. I'm proud to be a part of this team and I can't wait for you to see it! Here's the trailer: Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas

On this week's episode of You're the Expert, Todd Barry, Sasheer Zamata, and Courtney Gilmour talk to the world's leading expert on raccoon intelligence. We recorded this one at the Just For Laughs festival and it's one of my all-time favorites! Link

NEW YORK:
Sunday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert returns with Jo Firestone, Zhubin Parang, and a guest scientist. Link

Saturday, March 24 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. I'm hosting my variety show and Oprah-style prize giveaway with performances by Celisse Henderson (who sang backup for Kesha at the Grammys), comedy from Ashley Brooke Roberts, and a reading by Emma Carmichael (former editor-in-chief of Jezebel). 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:
Today's three things are all food-related. And what better food to start with than pizza? It's delicious, cheap, and widely available. Perfection in triangular form.

In the first episode of David Chang's new Netflix documentary series, Ugly Delicious, he flies all around the world to figure out what a "real" pizza is. Helen Rosner, in the New Yorker, said "the Momofuku chef's lavishly produced show isn't about what food is, it's about what it means, and about the choices people make that change its meaning." Read her excellent review and then watch the show: David Chang Combats Culinary Purity in His New Netflix Series, "Ugly Delicious"


FUNNY:
While I liked Ugly Delicious, I definitely thought it was weird how few women David Chang interviewed. It's a real blindspot for the show. I kept wishing that they would bring Jacqueline Novak along for one of the segments. She's a hilarious standup and writer, whose bit about the correct amount of slices is, to me, perfect. Here's a little taste of it, but if you want the whole thing, you'll need to watch her half hour special, which you should also do. Jacqueline Novak on the Late Late Show


INTERESTING:
One of my favorite parts of hosting You're the Expert is getting to find out the weird, very human quirks of brilliant scientists. I love hearing that someone can win the Nobel Prize and be completely stumped by the dishwasher. I leave seeing them a little bit fuller, as more complete human beings. That's exactly what Jessica Valenti is going for in her new series "Eating Out Loud." It's a look "at the way that food fuels and defines the people who are changing politics and culture." You can read Valenti's introduction here or just jump straight into one of my favorite episodes, a conversation about "performative eating" with Lindy West.


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.

Enjoy the weekend!
Chris

3 Things: Carrie Brownstein, Jack Whitehall, and Jerry & Marge

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, Josh Sharp, Chuck Bryant, and Shalewa Sharpe discover the secrets behind "green chemistry" from Emory University's Dr. Cora MacBeth. Link

NEW YORK:
Sunday, March 18 at 7 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert returns with Jo Firestone, Zhubin Parang, and a guest scientist. Link

Saturday, March 24 at 4 p.m. at Caveat. I'm hosting my variety show and Oprah-style prize giveaway with performances by Celisse Henderson (who sang backup for Kesha at the Grammys), comedy from Ashley Brooke Roberts, and a reading by Emma Carmichael (former editor-in-chief of Jezebel). 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:
Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen's Portlandia is one of the most consistently funny and original sketch comedy shows ever made. I think that because she's mainly known as a famous musician, Carrie's skills as a comedian often get overlooked. But she makes every scene funnier, both when she has the punchlines herself and when she serves as a foil for her scene partner. This is Portlandia's final season and you can see Carrie in top form in this sketch with Kumail Nanjiani: Disaster Hut


FUNNY:
Jack Whitehall is one of Britain's most popular standup comics. He's quick, confident, and smart (or at least I think he's all of those things because of his accent). I only saw his comedy for the first time this week when a friend passed along his set on Fallon from 2016. It's really great, full of energy and fun, and he seems genuinely thrilled to be there talking about The Lion King. Jack Whitehall


INTERESTING:
Jerry and Marge Selbee are a retired couple living in Michigan who discovered a flaw in the lottery and used it to win more than $7 million dollars. A bored puzzle genius noticed some strange looking odds and became very rich. But along the way, he went head-to-head with a team of MIT statisticians, police officers, and state lawmakers. The most amazing part: everything Jerry and Marge did was totally legal. Jason Fagone captured their incredible story. Jerry and Marge Go Large


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.

Enjoy the weekend!
Chris