3 Things: Greta Thunberg, Ryan Hamilton, and Andrew Marantz by Chris Duffy

Happy Saturday!

Every week, I send out an email with my show dates and recommendations of things I think you might enjoy. Last night, my tour with Pop-Up Magazine kicked off with a sold-out show in San Francisco. Pop-Up is an event I admired for years as a fan and audience member so it's really exciting to get to finally be a part of it. This edition features everything from deeply moving stories about migration and prison to musical numbers to my jokes about becoming a meme. If you can make it to a show, I hope you will. It's something special. 

Upcoming Shows


Pop-Up Magazine's Escape Issue 
Oakland: Saturday, September 21st at the Paramount Theatre
San Diego: Monday, September 23rd at Observatory North Park
Los Angeles: Thursday, September 26th at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel
Vancouver: Saturday, September 28th at the Vogue Theatre
Washington, DC: Monday, October 7th at the Lincoln Theatre
New York: Thursday, October 10th at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall
Chicago: Saturday, October 12th at the Athenaeum Theatre
Tickets for all shows on sale here

This week’s list:

GREAT:
Yesterday in San Francisco, my friend Clio and I walked down Market Street and joined the Climate Strike. The streets were filled with chanting, music, and handmade signs. What was most impressive was that this huge global event was organized by and composed mostly of kids. We were marching alongside huge groups of teens and elementary school students, all demanding immediate action on climate change. It's inspiring to see them take matters into their own hands and kind of heartbreaking that they have to do it themselves. But as Greta Thunberg says so clearly, "Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people to give them hope. But I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day." We Need to Act Right Now on Climate Change 

(Note: I recognize the irony of going on a tour that requires plane travel and simultaneously demanding climate action. I've been buying carbon offsets, but if you have different and better ideas, I'm very open to hearing them!)


FUNNY:
Ryan Hamilton is a classic standup comedian. He's a master of the form, both in his writing and his crisp delivery. I love watching him tell jokes. His most recent set on The Tonight Show is a good introduction to his work. He covers important topics like falling down and what it's like to look young from far away. Ryan Hamilton


INTERESTING:
Andrew Marantz, a staff writer at The New Yorker, has a new book coming out called Antisocial. For several years, he's been "embedded in two worlds. The first is the world of social-media entrepreneurs, who, acting out of naïveté and reckless ambition, upended all traditional means of receiving and transmitting information. The second is the world of the people he calls 'the gate crashers'—the conspiracists, white supremacists, and nihilist trolls—who have become experts at using social media to advance their corrosive agenda." The book is fascinating and touches on everything from the beginnings of the printing press to the 2016 election. Marantz answers the question of "how the unthinkable becomes thinkable, and then how it becomes reality" but he also insists that it's far from unavoidable. Antisocial: Online Extremists,Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or spread the word. If someone forwarded you this email but you're not yet on the list, you can subscribe here.

Have a great day,
Chris

3 Things: Bowen Yang, Farrah Brook, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge by Chris Duffy

duffy3things.png

Happy Saturday!

Every week, I send out an email with my show dates and recommendations of things I think you might enjoy. This weekend, my parents are here visiting. That means I spent an hour yesterday googling celebrity real estate listings so my mom could go on a DIY Homes of the Stars tour. It also means we're potentially doing a shopping trip to REI and Costco, despite the fact that it's a three-day visit. But I love getting to see my parents so excited about fancy coffee shops and nice trees. It's good to be around people who have known me for literally my entire life. And I'll keep you updated on whether or not my mom becomes friends with Alicia Keys today.

Upcoming Shows

EVERYWHERE:
Both full seasons of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas are streaming online and on HBO Go. Link

You can listen to all the episodes of my podcast You're the Expert on any podcast app. Three comedians interview a scientist about her work and why it matters. Link

ON TOUR:
Pop-Up Magazine's Escape Issue starts next Friday. "A night of live storytelling, music, art, and performance devoted to escapes big and small, daring and mundane, physical and mental."

TOUR DATES
SOLD OUT San Francisco: Friday, September 20th at the Sydney Goldstein Theater
Oakland: Saturday, September 21st at the Paramount Theatre
San Diego: Monday, September 23rd at Observatory North Park
Los Angeles: Thursday, September 26th at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel
Vancouver: Saturday, September 28th at the Vogue Theatre
Washington, DC: Monday, October 7th at the Lincoln Theatre
New York: Thursday, October 10th at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall
Chicago: Saturday, October 12th at the Athenaeum Theatre

Tickets for all shows on sale here

This week’s list

GREAT:
Saturday Night Live just announced that writer Bowen Yang is going to be joining the cast for this upcoming season. That's amazing news for all of us. Bowen is brilliant and one of the nicest people in comedy. I can't wait to see what he does on the show. He's also got tons going on outside of SNL. He's going to be in the new Awkwafina TV show, Nora from Queens. If you haven't heard his podcast, Las Culturistas, you're missing out. And you've probably seen him on Shrill or Broad City. Bowen will be the first East Asian cast member in SNL's history. And the NYT wrote about how he's part of a wave of comics redefining Asian-American masculinity.


FUNNY:
It's so important to make sure you struggle before you become successful. Otherwise, how will you stay relatable? That's what I learned from Farrah Brook this week. She's such a funny standup comedian and writer. She's also somehow turned an online joke about hoping Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has a good day into actually being friends with the guy. Or at least online friends. He tweeted about her McSweeney's piece too. Read it for yourself. Why I'm Holding Off On Success to Live a Life of Varied Experiences


INTERESTING:
I binge-watched both seasons of Fleabag this past week and I was blown away. It's a masterpiece. Funny, moving, completely original, and certainly the best guinea pig content I've seen on TV. So now I've watching everything I can with Phoebe Waller-Bridge. This interview with Seth Meyers was one of my favorites. Phoebe Waller-Bridge Loves Shocking the Fleabag Audience


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or spread the word. If someone forwarded you this email but you're not yet on the list, you can subscribe here.

Have a great day,
Chris

3 Things: Crosswords, Josh Gondelman, and Hong Kong by Chris Duffy

Happy Saturday!

Every week, I send out an email with my show dates and recommendations of things I think you might enjoy. I also try to include a little bit of a life update or at least some thoughts. But I don't have much to report this week. I've just been trying to put myself out there and meet new people here in LA. It's such a strange, awkward process to make new friends as an adult. I meet someone who seems interesting and all of a sudden, I'm thinking "Should I get his number? Is it weird to give her my email?" And when I finally get up the courage to do it, sometimes the other person is like "Oh thank god! I was trying to figure out if it would be weird to give my info to you!" That's how I know I've made a new friend. Two identical sets of neuroses colliding. 

Upcoming Shows

EVERYWHERE:
Both full seasons of Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas are streaming online and on HBO Go. Link

You can listen to all the episodes of my podcast You're the Expert on any podcast app. Three comedians interview a scientist about her work and why it matters. Link

ON TOUR:
Pop-Up Magazine's Escape Issue starts September 20th. "A night of live storytelling, music, art, and performance devoted to escapes big and small, daring and mundane, physical and mental." If you haven't bought tickets yet, you can get $5 off with the code "CONTRIBUTORGUEST"

TOUR DATES
SOLD OUT San Francisco: Friday, September 20th at the Sydney Goldstein Theater
Oakland: Saturday, September 21st at the Paramount Theatre
San Diego: Monday, September 23rd at Observatory North Park
Los Angeles: Thursday, September 26th at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel
Vancouver: Saturday, September 28th at the Vogue Theatre
Washington, DC: Monday, October 7th at the Lincoln Theatre
New York: Thursday, October 10th at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall
Chicago: Saturday, October 12th at the Athenaeum Theatre

Tickets for all shows on sale here

This week’s list

GREAT:
I'd never been into crosswords before this summer, but then my friend Gary introduced me to the NYT Daily Minis. Gary told me it's the first thing he does every morning. Taking a minute or two to solve a mini puzzle gets his brain working and productivity flowing. Typically my morning routine has been wake up, open Instagram, check email, check texts, re-open Instagram, re-check email, check my calendar, and then re-re-open Instagram once more for good measure. But Gary sold me, so I've switched over to the minis. My mornings have been much better.

On a related crossword note, this week I saw one of the funniest and most mind-blowing comedy performances of my life: Zach Sherwin's Crossword Show. It is indescribable, but if you get the chance to see it live, you absolutely have to go. It's monthly in LA but also tours the country and you can find out when it's coming to you on their website.


FUNNY:
Josh Gondelman is a master joke writer and has the Emmy awards and Peabodys to prove it. He's also a man who worries about being pranked, being stabbed, and being humiliated by footage of his high school musical. In other words, he's very relatable. I love Josh and I loved this piece: A Few of My Greatest Fears, In No Particular Order


INTERESTING:
I've been following the protests in Hong Kong, and while I feel very uninformed about the history and geopolitical context involved, I also admire the courage and dedication regular people are showing in standing up for themselves. I found this essay by Karen Cheung particularly moving, especially since she's clearly putting herself at risk by publishing it under her real name. The Mask I Wear on the Weekends


Thanks for reading! If you like these emails, please forward to a friend or spread the word. If someone forwarded you this email but you're not yet on the list, you cansubscribe here.

Stay safe out there,
Chris