3 Things: Robin Williams, Bowen Yang, and Cruise Performers

Happy 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:
This week's episode of You're the Expert features Dr. Helen Fisher from the Kinsey Institute talking about the biology and evolution of human love with comedians Bowen Yang, Michelle Buteau, and Matt Koff.  Link

NYC:
Saturday, September 8th at 7:30 p.m. at the Magnet Theater. I'm the monologuist for the always hilarious improv show, The Armando Diaz Experience.  Link

Sunday, September 16th at 7:00 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert is back for a new live taping with a mystery scientist and a panel of incredible comedians.  Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
Saturday, October 20th at 7:30 p.m. at National Geographic. I'm doing a live taping of You're the Expert with panelists Jo Firestone, Josh Sharp, and an incredible scientist who is named Dr. Jennifer Lopez (not a joke). It's going to be amazing.  Link

As always, you can find my schedule with all upcoming dates online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Dave Itzkoff writes for the New York Times about television and film. He's always got an insightful and thought-provoking take on pop culture. His latest book is a biography of Robin Williams. Itzkoff draws from that research to create a multi-media analysis of a small but perfect moment from one of Williams'  standup specials, "A Night at the Met." I love to read great writers talking about work that they love and it's fascinating to get to see Itzkoff break the bit down moment-by-moment. How Robin Williams Made a Joke Both Funny and Sad


FUNNY:
If you don't know Bowen Yang's comedy, you are missing out. He's an actor who's been on High Maintenance and Broad City, an all-around hilarious person, and co-host of the incredible Las Culturistas podcast. I especially love their signature segment "I Don't Think So Honey" where comedians get 60 seconds to tear apart something in the world that drives them crazy, whether it's slow talkers or patriarchy. Recently, Bowen started posting videos of himself lip syncing to iconic moments in movie or television history and they make me laugh so much. It's kind of shocking how good he is at them and also how nuts the source material is. Read this article in Vulture about them and watch them all. Bowen Yang's Twitter Lip-Sync Videos Are Next-Level Art


INTERESTING:
There are so many people working in entertainment who make a living but will never be famous. To some people, that's sad. These are all the bands who will never have a hit, all the comedians without a TV special, all the dancers who never make it to Broadway. But I think it's kind of inspiring and beautiful. Despite not being rich or famous, these are people who still dedicate themselves to entertaining audiences and putting themselves out there. It's much more vulnerable to get up in front of a crowd of seventeen than it is to get up on stage in front of thousands. Esquire takes a look at those brave, passionate souls in a very particular corner of the entertainment industry in this article. Inside the Delightfully Quirky, Absolutely Fabulous, and Utterly Exhausting World of Cruise Performers


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.

Happy September,
Chris

3 Things: Mattie Kahn, Joke Jealousy, and the Great Chinese Art Heist

Happy 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:
This week's episode of You're the Expert features Dr. Helen Fisher from the Kinsey Institute talking about the biology and evolution of human love with comedians Bowen Yang, Michelle Buteau, and Matt Koff.  Link

BURLINGTON, VERMONT:
TOMORROW Sunday, August 26th at 5:30 p.m. I'm teaching a workshop at the Vermont Comedy Club on writing for television. Link

NYC:
SOLD OUT Monday, August 26th at 7:30 p.m. at The Wild Project. A short play I wrote is making its debut as part of Cherry Picking, an annual festival of new work.  Link

Saturday, September 8th at 7:30 p.m. at the Magnet Theater. I'm the monologuist for the always hilarious improv show, The Armando Diaz Experience.  Link

Sunday, September 16th at 7:00 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert is back for a new live taping with a mystery scientist and a panel of incredible comedians.  Link

WASHINGTON, D.C.:
JUST ANNOUNCED: Saturday, October 20th at 7:30 p.m. at National Geographic. I'm doing a live taping of You're the Expert with panelists Jo Firestone, Josh Sharp, and an incredible scientist who is named Dr. Jennifer Lopez (not a joke). It's going to be amazing.  Link

As always, you can find my schedule with all upcoming dates online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Mattie Kahn does some fascinating reporting from a new prison unit designed to reduce recidivism in Connecticut. I've gotten very interested in the concept of restorative justice this year (after we did an episode of Problem Areas about it: watch here or read about it here). I've been reading as much as I can. Connecticut's program seems to be a better solution to prisons both morally and financially. So why are people still so opposed to it? Kahn dives into the thorny philosophical issues as well as the practical ones. Inside a Radical Experiment to Transform the Lives of Incarcerated Women


FUNNY:
There's this very pervasive myth that standup comedians are loners who bristle at human interaction and are intensely competitive with each other. I'm sure that's true for someone, but I've found it to be very much the exception rather than the rule. In my experience, comedians are very much a community who are inspired by each other's jokes and often can't stop talking about how perfect someone else's bit is. So I loved this article onVulture  where great comedians (including Mulaney and Patton Oswalt) were asked which joke they wished they could steal from another comic. The bits they picked are so funny (I especially died at Matt Knudsen's "Buffet" bit, which I hadn't heard before). Which Jokes Comedians Would Steal If They Could Get Away With It


INTERESTING:
Across the globe, priceless works of Chinese art are being stolen in daring break-ins out of a movie. The thieves cause a distraction in another part of the city, smash through a wall or window in the museum, steal what they're looking for in five minutes or less, and then disappear. Different cities across Europe, different museums, same M.O. The thefts are so professional and the thieves leave behind so much valuable art that's not Chinese that questions have arisen about whether this is an operation for profit or to repatriate art that was looted during colonial times. Revenge or profit or something else entirely? It's an amazing story and it's happening right now. The Great Chinese Art Heist


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: Jo Firestone, Farah Brook, and Dave Rangaviz

Happy 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:
I was a guest on the very funny and smart Negin Farsad's podcast Fake the Nation with Sarah Pappalardo (co-founder of Reductress). We talked all about this week's news and why 3D printed guns and Omarosa might not be great for our future. Link

The newest episode of You're the Expert features MIT's Dr. Roz Picard talking about how she helped invent wearable computers and the future of "emotional technology." Link

BURLINGTON, VERMONT:
Sunday, August 26th at 5:30 p.m. I'm teaching a workshop at the Vermont Comedy Club on writing for television and then telling some jokes on the show afterwards. Link

NYC:
SOLD OUT Monday, August 26th at 7:30 p.m. at The Wild Project. A short play I wrote is making its debut as part of Cherry Picking, an annual festival of new work.  Link

Sunday, September 16th at 7:00 p.m. at Caveat. You're the Expert is back for a new live taping with a mystery scientist and a panel of incredible comedians.  Link

As always, you can find my schedule with all upcoming dates online here.

This week's list

GREAT:
Jo Firestone makes me laugh in a way that no one else does. She is a treasure of a human being and a comedian unlike any other. She just released her debut album The Hits. You should listen. There is no other performer who is going to give you a track of jokes like "An Hour on Raisins" or feature transition music written/performed by Will Butler of The Arcade Fire ("like on This American Life!"). The album is out on iTunes or Spotify and probably many other places too!


FUNNY:
I know that Farah Brook is a very talented standup, but I mostly know her through her Twitter and Instagram. She manages to have such a clear voice online, which I really admire. Her posts are witty and clever and feel so different from what everyone else is doing. Vulture interviewed Farah about her writing process, where she comes up with jokes, and how she and The Rock ended up as Twitter friends. Farah Brook on Tweeting with Anxiety


INTERESTING:
Dave Rangaviz was a public defender in Maryland who noticed that the laws around theft were unfair and ripe for abuse. He wrote an op-ed and began a campaign that led to Maryland's law being reformed. Other states have taken note and are trying to fix their own issues too, but coming up against the lobbying might of giants like Walmart. The issue is so absurd that it seems like it can't possibly be real but it is. From the NYT:They're Falsely Accused of Shoplifting, but Retailers Demand They Pay. I know there's so much going on in the world right now, but this is one issue that could be easily solved with just a little bit more public attention and pressure.


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