3 Things: Sharon Van Etten, Desus & Mero, and Hans-Jurgen Topf

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:
You can listen on any podcast app to You're the Expert, my show where three comedians interview a scientist about her work and why it matters.  Link

NEW YORK CITY:
TONIGHT, February 23 at 9:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Comedy Collective. I'm improvising with some of NYC's funniest comedians in Carley Moseley's Monster Mash show. Link

Wednesday, February 27 at 7:30 p.m. at The Bell House. I'm opening for the great Aparna Nancherla. SOLD OUT

ON TOUR:
Shows are rapidly selling out for the high-school themed tour I'm doing with Pop-Up Magazine + XQ. I'll be telling a story onstage with a group of journalists, musicians, and more. Get your tickets now!
-2/28 in Memphis at the Crosstown Arts Theater SOLD OUT
-3/2 in Nashville at the War Memorial Auditorium
-3/7 in Denver at the Ogden Theatre SOLD OUT
-3/8 in Colorado Springs at the Shockley-Zalabak Theater
-3/15 in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre SOLD OUT
-3/30 in Chicago at the Harris Theater

 You can find ticket links for all those shows (and more, as they're announced) online at my website here.

This week’s list

GREAT:
Sharon Van Etten is a true renaissance woman. I really recommend her new album "Remind Me Tomorrow," especially the song "Seventeen" which has been on repeat in my house nonstop. In the years since she first became famous, she's had a child, acted in a hit Netflix series, scored feature films, and gone back to school to get a degree in psychology. Her goal is to be a full-time therapist by the time she's fifty. In the meantime, she just happens to be making incredible music and selling out world tours. The Many Lives of Sharon Van Etten


FUNNY:
Desus and Mero are two of the funniest human beings on the planet. They never have a dull moment, they constantly give other a hard time, and they manage to make every celebrity interview surprising and informal. More than anything, they are clearly having fun. It's so hard for television shows to capture that infectious, high-energy hilarity that you get from goofing around with your friends, but these two have done it over and over again. And they're doing it right now on Showtime with a budget (and writers like Josh Gondelman and Heben Nigatu, two of the best of the best). In their premiere episode, they roast Vladimir Putin, interview Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and parody The Green Book.Desus & Mero


INTERESTING:
If you're a rock band on a worldwide arena tour, you're going to need clean clothes. And that's where Hans-Jurgen Topf comes in. The premiere laundry specialist for rock tours, he's cleaned for everyone from U2 to Elton John to David Hasselhof. His biggest regret is once damaging a vest for Janet Jackson. This article is such a weird and fascinating look into a profession I had never imagined existing. He knows the Stars' Dirty Laundry. Because He Washes It


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If you're reading this for the first time (maybe someone forwarded you this email?), you can subscribe here.

Enjoy the weekend!
Chris

3 Things: Emma Carmichael, Tom Ellison, and Vicky Schaubert

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:
You can listen on any podcast app to You're the Expert, the show I host where three comedians interview a scientist about her work and why it matters.  Link

NEW YORK CITY:
Saturday, February 23 at  9:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Comedy Collective. I'm improvising with some of NYC's funniest comedians in Carley Moseley's Monster Mash show. A professional chef does a cooking demonstration and passes out samples to the audience and then we make up scenes based on their life. Link

ON TOUR:
I'm part of Pop-Up Magazine + XQ's spring tour, which is a high school themed edition. I'll be telling a story onstage with a group of journalists, musicians, and more. I'm the comic relief.
-2/28 in Memphis at the Crosstown Arts Theater
-3/2 in Nashville at the War Memorial Auditorium
-3/7 in Denver at the Ogden Theatre
-3/8 in Colorado Springs at the Shockley-Zalabak Theater
-3/15 in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre
-3/30 in Chicago at the Harris Theater

 You can get tickets for all those shows (and more, as they're announced) online at my website here.

This week’s list

GREAT:
Valentine's Day means that you were probably bombarded with stories and ads about relationships this week. But I bet you didn't hear enough about the real, harsh reality of love: that sometimes your friend Sarah comes up to you at lunch and tells you that Henry doesn't want to date anymore and then the next day, you find out that Henry and Sarah are dating! Betrayal. Passion. A secret diary. Do not miss the hilarious Emma Carmichael reading from her teen diary. (The article is good, but the video at the top is the must-watch here.) Huge News! Henry Asked Me Out 


FUNNY:
I know nothing about Tom Ellison other than he is a writer living in D.C. and he has clearly spent time in an airport recently. But his "short imagined monologue" for McSweeney'smade me laugh so much and I thought about it all week whenever I saw one of these backpacks.  Monologue: I Am a Stryker-X Assault Backpack, and This Airport Lounge is an Insult


INTERESTING:
For people with limited mobility, the Internet can be a lifeline. I'm not much of a gamer myself, but I found Vicky Schaubert's BBC story deeply touching. It's about a couple in Norway who discovered, at their son's funeral, that he had lived a much more vibrant and emotional life online than they'd ever imagined. "Robert and Trude mourned what they thought had been a lonely and isolated life for their disabled son. But when Mats died, they discovered that people all over Europe lit candles in his memory." The Starlight Guild


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If you're reading this for the first time (maybe someone forwarded you this email?), you can subscribe here.

Have a great day,
Chris

3 Things: Liz and Mollie, Bill Hader, and Dan Mallory

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:
You can listen to You're the Expert, my podcast where three comedians interview a scientist about her work and why it matters.  Link

NEW YORK CITY:
Saturday, February 23 at  9:30 p.m. at Brooklyn Comedy Collective. It's that time again! I'll be improvising with some of NYC's funniest comedians in Carley Moseley's delightful Monster Mash show. A professional chef does a cooking demonstration and passes out samples to the audience and then we improvise a show based on their life. Link

ON TOUR:
I'm joining Pop-Up Magazine + XQ for their spring tour, which is a high school themed edition. I'll be telling a story onstage with a group of journalists, musicians, and more. I'm the comic relief.
-2/28 in Memphis at the Crosstown Arts Theater
-3/2 in Nashville at the War Memorial Auditorium
-3/7 in Denver at the Ogden Theatre
-3/8 in Colorado Springs at the Shockley-Zalabak Theater
-3/15 in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre
-3/30 in Chicago at the Harris Theater

 You can get tickets for all those shows (and more, as they're announced) online at my website here.

This week’s list

GREAT:
No Hard Feelings is a fascinating and hilarious look at the role emotions play in our professional lives, whether we want to acknowledge them or not. It features personal anecdotes, interviews with top executives and academics, and clever cartoons. I laughed out loud at some parts of the book and found others immediately useful for my working life. It's officially on bookstore shelves around the world now and I can't recommend it enough (and that's not just because it's written by my wife Mollie and her friend Liz). Also, they've got a truly hilarious Instagram account that's blowing up and going viral! No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power of Embracing Emotions at Work


FUNNY:
Bill Hader visited Conan's new show and showed off his deeply disturbing and hilarious impression of Lorne Michaels. I really like the new Conan, not least of all because it creates more informal space for Conan and his guests to just hang out. Instead of the typical, somewhat forced talk show banter, it feels like watching what Conan and Bill Hader might actually talk about if they were alone. And hearing Conan just totally lose it laughing at the impression makes the whole thing so much funnier. I love it. Bill Hader's Killer Impression


INTERESTING:
I've never read the thriller The Woman in the Window or heard of the author A.J. Finn before this week, but apparently I've been living under a rock. The book has sold millions of copies, earned a multi-million dollar advance, and was turned into a major motion picture starring Amy Adams. But it turns out that the real plot twists are in the life of the man behind the pseudonym A.J. Finn. The New Yorker published an incredible investigation into his career that includes everything from lying about having brain cancer to faking a British accent to manipulating his way into a top publishing job and then almost never showing up for work. All before publishing one of the most successful novels of the past decade. It's an unbelievable story. A Suspense Novelist's Trail of Deceptions


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or come say hi at a live show. If you're reading this for the first time (maybe someone forwarded you this email?), you can subscribe here.

Have a great weekend,
Chris