3 Things: Andrew Scott, Myq Kaplan, and Catherine O'Hara

Hey there,

It's Memorial Day weekend. Normally, the unofficial start of summer. This year, not as much. I don't know about you, but I've found the past week to be one of the harder ones. There's still so much uncertainty but also things are opening back up. I think most of us are left wondering exactly what's allowed or safe or smart to do. Nothing is simple and easy these days.

But at least toilet paper is back on the shelves. At least we have that. The bidet revolution has been held off for now. The new hard-to-get commodities, at least in my particular area of Los Angeles, are paper towels and fresh ginger. Who knew ginger would make the cut? Not me. And, of course, flour is still near mythical, the craved white powder of our times. Nothing says you're going to have a wild 2020 summer like a stash of the good stuff, King Arthur Bread Flour. (If you have a black market flour connect, please let me know.)

Upcoming Events

LIVESTREAMS:
- TODAY Saturday, May 23rd at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET
COME ON DOWN, YOU'RE ALREADY HERE! It's Saturday so it's time for my Zoom game show where audience members from around the globe and celebrity guests go head-to-head in remote competition. Link

AROUND THE INTERNET:
- CELEBRITY SUBSTITUTE: New episodes of this YouTube original series I helped produce are out now. This week, watch as Terry Crews teaches visual art and explains how to use perspective and foreshortening in your drawings. Link

This week’s list

GREAT:
Andrew Scott is the actor you probably know as "Hot Priest" from Fleabag. He's an unbelievable actor. Simon Stephens is the Tony-award winning playwright of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. In 2012, the two collaborated on a live theater piece called Sea Wall that's beautiful and heartbreaking. It's about loss and identity and faith and much more. A warning: don't watch this if you're trying not to cry. A filmed version of the show is free to stream until the end of the weekend (5/25): Sea Wall 


FUNNY:
Myq Kaplan (pronounced "Mike") is the master of wordplay. He's one of the most creative and original comedians working today. Ask any of your favorite standups what they think about Myq and you'll get a rave review. He's as kind and caring a person as he is smart and funny. His new album A.K.A. is out now. Here's an animated excerpt: The Longest Sidewalk in the World 


INTERESTING:
One of the shows that's been getting me through this time is Schitt's Creek. I'd heard great things about it for years but never jumped in. I'm so glad I waited because it lives up to the hype and now I can binge the whole series. Particularly wonderful is Catherine O'Hara, who plays the matriarch, Moira Rose. This profile of her in Vanity Fair is fantastic. Especially the fact that it's accompanied by a socially distanced drone photo shoot. Catherine O'Hara is just perfect. The Queen of Schitt's Creek


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Take care of each other,
Chris

3 Things: The Real Lord of the Flies, Willy Appelman, and Jia Yueting

Hello there!

It's Saturday again. This week flew by. I don't have much to report except for an update on the squirrel in my backyard. Some of you may remember him as the disrespectful rodent who would dig up every plant that I potted and just throw them aside. Not even eat them. Just unplant them to show that he could. With the help of some gravel on top of the soil, the squirrel and I came to a truce over the past couple weeks.

But then one night this week, we were sitting outside when we saw the squirrel just fully fall out of the tree and thunk onto the ground. I thought he was dead. But I went over and he immediately got up and scurried away back up the trunk in embarrassment. I honestly think he might have been drunk. He was definitely humiliated that we saw him fall. Anyway, just a reminder that nobody's at their best during quarantine.

Upcoming Events

LIVESTREAMS:
- TODAY Saturday, May 16th at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET
COME ON DOWN, YOU'RE ALREADY HERE! It's Saturday so it's time for my Zoom game show where audience members from around the globe and celebrity guests compete to win the grand prize of an autographed sheet of toilet paper. Link

AROUND THE INTERNET:
- CELEBRITY SUBSTITUTE: More episodes of the YouTube original series I helped produce are out now. Stars team up with high school teachers to make remote lessons. If you have a high schooler in your life (or you're just bored and want to brush up on your AP Bio), you can check out Ken Jeong explaining Cellular Respiration.

- NOTES OF ENCOURAGEMENT: SELAH is a great organization here in LA working on homelessness. They've teamed up with resisterhoodLA and "together, we're building 5000 hygiene kits for our unhoused neighbors and we need your help. One of the most important elements of our kits is the 'note of encouragement.' This is the perfect opportunity for volunteers of all ages." You can send them from anywhere in the country and basically you just write a small note letting the person receiving the kit know that they are cared about and important. It's an easy way to make a big impact on a person going through a hard time. More details here.

This week’s list

GREAT:
"For centuries western culture has been permeated by the idea that humans are selfish creatures. That cynical image of humanity has been proclaimed in films and novels, history books and scientific research. But in the last 20 years, something extraordinary has happened. Scientists from all over the world have switched to a more hopeful view of mankind." Rutger Bregman's new book examines that hopeful view and one of its most fascinating portions is about a real life version of Lord of the Flies. Six boys were shipwrecked on a deserted island for 15 months. But the results were very, very different from the book. It's a wild story. The Real Lord of the Flies


FUNNY:
Willy Appelman is so funny. I first met him when he was performing in a comedic dance competition in NYC and his performance in a skintight lycra suit brought down the house. Since then, he's been on Comedy Central, NBC, and even Sesame Street. His latest project is making comedy shorts for Fast Company and the most recent one just killed me: How to Recreate Your Commute at Home 


INTERESTING:
Jia Yueting is one of the most exciting and dynamic entrepreneurs in the world. He's the Chinese Elon Musk. Jia Yueting is a fraud and a con artist. He's the Chinese Elizabeth Holmes. Which is true? The Wire China dives into the unbelievable true story. "He defied Beijing. He owes creditors billions. His U.S. car company is a mess. Can his latest pitch keep him from ruin?" The Nine Lives of Jia Yueting 


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 weekend,
Chris

3 Things: Veena Rao, Shannon Reed, and Ken Jeong

Hey there,

Over the past couple weeks, I've noticed that "neighbors" are much more than just the people who I happen to live close to. You build a real sense of community through hardship. On my block, we've been helping each other out with grocery runs, dropping off baked goods, borrowing emergency paper products, and every night at 8 p.m., the whole street comes out to applaud and howl for healthcare and essential workers. There are some very interesting interpretations of drumming and aggressively played tambourines. After the cheer, everyone shouts goodnight to each other. And this week, one house announced they'd just become grandparents and everyone cheered for them.

Another high point in that community spirit came when an engaged couple a few blocks away decided to get married on their front lawn. Their friends and family watched over Zoom or from parked cars and the whole neighborhood celebrated with them. There was even a local news story about it.

I hope that wherever you, you're doing your best to reach out safely to the folks around you. We can't solve these problems on our own, but building solidarity and community is important and powerful too. Also, there's a high probability that one of your neighbors is baking something right now, and you can dramatically increase your odds of getting a slice.

Upcoming Events

LIVESTREAMS:
- TODAY Saturday, May 9nd at 2 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. ET
COME ON DOWN, YOU'RE ALREADY HERE! Another edition of my Zoom game show where audience members from around the globe compete to win the grand prize of an autographed sheet of toilet paper. Today's show features comedians Zack Bornstein (SNL, Comedy Central) and Caroline Martin (Netflix's Astronomy Club). Link

This week’s list

GREAT:
Mimi and Brownie became best friends when they served together as Army nurses during World War II. Now, these two 100-year-olds talk on the phone every single day. Filmmaker Veena Rao tells their story in this video for Pop-Up Magazine. It's heartwarming and hilarious and a good reminder that 100-year-old women curse too. Best Friends for 74 Years (I love all of Veena's short films, which are a particularly good way to escape into other worlds. For more, check out Rebuilding in Miniature or Mumbai Mornings)


FUNNY:
Shannon Reed is a writer and professor in Pittsburgh. She's the author of a new book, coming out in June, called Why Did I Get a B?: And Other Mysteries We’re Discussing in the Faculty Lounge. As you can probably tell by the title, she's carved out a niche serving up the best comedy writing about teaching. This piece for McSweeney's is one of the funniest and most popular they've ever published.  If People Talked to Other Professions The Way They Talk to Teachers


INTERESTING:
Speaking of teachers, I spent the last couple weeks helping produce this YouTube series where celebrities are paired up with high school instructors to help them make remote lessons. The goal was to, hopefully, create videos that students would get excited about watching but also stick to actual learning standards for high school courses. It was a strange experience to try and shoot a show fully remote, but I think the videos came out pretty well. More lessons to come from Janelle Monae, Terry Crews, Bill Nye, and more. First up, Ken Jeong explains the human digestive system. Celebrity Substitute


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.

Take care of yourselves and each other,
Chris