3 Things: Amy Poehler & Maya Rudolph, Vanity Plates, and Elizabeth Weil

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:
Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas returns to HBO this coming Friday for a season that's all about education in America. Check out the trailer here

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

CHICAGO:
TONIGHT Saturday, March 30 at the Harris Theater. I'm performing with Pop-Up Magazine + XQ. SOLD OUT

NYC:
Tuesday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at The Intrepid. I'm co-hosting a show called Attraction Lab, where with the help of a scientist I'll lead the audience in a series of interactive experiments underneath a space shuttle. Link

Saturday, April 20 at 9:30 p.m. at The Brick. I'm on Bit Tank, a parody show where comedians pitch jokes to comedy entrepreneurs for real money. Link

SEATTLE:
Thursday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Moore Theater. My final date of this tour with Pop-Up Magazine and XQ. This is your last chance to see the show. link

You can find ticket links for all upcoming shows online at my website here.

This week’s list

GREAT:
Every once in a while, I get bored with the regular format of this email and do a themed edition. So this week's list is all about driving, cars, and the open road. So let's start with a road trip I wish I could have tagged along on.  

Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph took a joyride through California for Vanity Fair and the resulting article is just perfect. "Female friendship is Poehler and Rudolph's brand. It's the reason they and their pal Tina Fey have become awards-show favorites, most recently opening the host-less Oscars. Watching them in action feels like hanging out with the world's sharpest, funniest girl gang." Funny or Bust: Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph


FUNNY:
Continuing the car theme is this incredible look at rejected vanity plates from the California DMV. The license plates themselves are funny, but reading the notes of the bureaucrats in charge of determining whether they're offensive or not is pure joy. From LA Magazine: The DMV reviewed thousands of license plates last year. These are our favorites.  (h/t Allissa Wickham)


INTERESTING:
Elizabeth Weil has a piece in California Sunday about a remarkable attempt to get adults who are decades out of school to finish their high school degrees. They staffed a bus with educators, held classes in the back, and did everything they could to make it possible for people who'd given up on education to give it another shot. The story of the Five Keys Mobile Self-Determination Project is definitely worth reading. What happens when you put a classroom on wheels and park it in the poorest neighborhoods of San Francisco?


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 wonderful weekend!
Chris

3 Things: Dave Attell, Aparna Nancherla, and Rick Steves

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:
Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas returns to HBO the week after next for ten episodes all about education in America. Check out the trailer here

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

My wife Mollie and her co-author Liz have a new article up for the NYT's Smarter Living column about the bright side of missed opportunities. Link

ON TOUR:
I'm wrapping up my national tour with Pop-Up Magazine + XQ with a few final dates.
-3/30 in Chicago at the Harris Theater link
-5/2 in Seattle at the Moore Theater link

You can find ticket links for all upcoming shows online at my website here.

This week’s list

GREAT:
Dave Attell is one of the rare standups who's almost universally respected by other comedians. He's able to tell filthy stories without losing the audience, but he's also overflowing with short, perfect one-liners. Two of my favorite Attell jokes are "Eggnog, who thought that one up? 'I want to get a little bit drunk, but I also want pancakes.'" and "They say the healthiest foods are chicken and fish. So I say combine them: Eat a penguin." Growing up, my idea of what a comedian's life was like came from watching Insomniac. He'd finish performing at a club and then spend the whole night exploring whatever city he happened to be in. Turns out, that is not in any way what my life as a comedian looks like (I love sleeping way too much to pull an all-nighter), but it's still a great show. This Jason Zinoman profile captures Attell's magic. Dave Attell is Our Greatest Club Comic (Says the Writer He Made Fun Of)


FUNNY:
Aparna Nancherla is another comic that everyone loves. She's so funny, creative, and kind. Plus, she works tirelessly to create new, unique material whether it's standup jokes, her roles on BoJack Horseman and Corporate, or her web series with Jo Firestone. I lovedher set on Colbert this week. And I also loved reading this interview where Aparna talks all about her favorite Japanese TV show, Kantaro, The Sweet-Toothed Salaryman, which I'd never heard of and now am obsessed with. If you're not already an official Fan-cherla, it's time to get onboard. 


INTERESTING:
Rick Steves has been making his television travel show for more than twenty years. In that time, he's "established himself as one of the legendary PBS superdorks — right there in the pantheon with Mr. Rogers, Bob Ross, and Big Bird. Like them, Steves is a gentle soul who wants to help you feel at home in the world. Like them, he seems miraculously untouched by the need to look cool, which of course makes him sneakily cool. To the aspiring traveler, Steves is as inspirational as Julia Child once was to the aspiring home chef." After all that time, Steves has gotten political. He's on a mission to save America. And he's also developed a fascinating new way to sign autographs (and apparently has never even seen a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge?). Rick Steves Wants to Set You Free


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: Pepperidge Farm, Emmy Blotnick, and Amy Schumer

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:
Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas returns to HBO on Friday, April 5th and Season 2 is a deep-dive into education in America. I've loved writing for the show and I'm so glad you'll get to see it soon. Check out the trailer here

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

ON TOUR:
I'm about two-thirds of the way through my tour with Pop-Up Magazine + XQ. I've loved being a part of the show. Don't miss it if you're in any of these cities!
-3/15 in Los Angeles at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre SOLD OUT
-3/30 in Chicago at the Harris Theater link
-5/2 in Seattle at Town Hall (tickets on sale soon)

You can find ticket links for all upcoming shows online at my website here.

This week’s list

GREAT:
For me, It's hard to beat a Milano cookie. They're delicious but also feel fancy, despite being sold in pretty much every grocery store I've ever walked into. I could happily spend an hour discussing the nuances of a party that calls for a dark chocolate Milano versus a mint Milano gathering. (And let's not even get into the sick perverts who're eating Coconut Milanos in their basement right now.) But I never knew the backstory behind everyone's favorite "Distinctive Cookies" and how the bakery was started by a pioneering female entrepreneur and feminist.  The Remarkable Life of Margaret Rudkin, Founder of Pepperidge Farm (h/t The Ann Friedman Weekly)


FUNNY:
Everything is Alive is a podcast where Ian Chillag, a former NPR producer for Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me and Fresh Air, interviews inanimate objects. It's a very funny concept and beautifully executed. Somehow it manages to be both genuinely funny and touching. (Here's a good overview of the show, with clips from Maeve Higgins as a lamppost and Louis Kornfield as a melancholy can of soda.) My favorite episode so far is with Emmy Blotnick. Emmy the Pregnancy Test


INTERESTING:
Amy Schumer is one of the most successful comedians of all time. So, perhaps inevitably, she provokes big reactions. Jason Zinoman looks at how her jokes have changed over the years and digs into why her comedy is so polarizing. Personally, I think Inside Amy Schumer is one of the greatest sketch comedy shows ever made. And while not every joke she's made has been perfect, it's hard to not see the connection between the level of hate directed her way and misogyny. (Related: I Don't Hate Women Candidates -- I Just Hated Hillary and Coincidentally, I'm Starting to Hate Elizabeth Warren) Anyway, read this profile. It's a remarkably open look at a comic at the height of her fame. Amy Schumer Doesn't Care What You Think (That Much)


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