January 2012
5 posts
Why you should donate to the Creek Kickstarter →
Nick Turner writes about what the Creek means to New York comedians:
I perform maybe a quarter of all of my NY stand up sets at The Creek. Way more than on any other stage, I have learned how to be a comedian at The Creek. No other full time comedy venue allows the freedom and the stage time together that this venue provides.
There’s are roughly 10 open mics a week on two stages. There is a...
Cagots, the Pointless Minority →
The Cagots were a persecuted minority in France and Spain from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution. They were considered unclean and cretinous, were barred from most professions, and could only receive Holy Communion on the end of a stick — all of this despite the fact that there was no discernible difference between them and the rest of the population.
Cagots were shunned and...
Adam helps Raphael prepare for a commercial... →
Gotta say that this was a lot of fun. I’m shocked that over the two hours we were spamming Twitter with this nonsense, I somehow managed to gain three followers.
“You oughta knowsky, brosky! Let’s chomp into a clump of chewy pastries pronto.” Classic Sorkin dialogue!
Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory →
The above This American Life piece on how Apple products are manufactured in Shenzhen, China, floored me, for the following reasons:
Mike Daisey, the storyteller to whom the bulk of the episode is dedicated, performs a piece of theatrical alchemy that’s absolutely amazing. He doesn’t justtell us about the bizarre, often awful working conditions under which our electronic devices are...
December 2011
3 posts
5 tags
Adam's Year End Movie List!
What a year it’s been for Hollywood! There were so many great films this year, and the only thing more fun than watching them is debating, arguing, and writing about which were the best. So without further ado, here’s my official list of my favorite films of 2011, in order:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Thanks everyone! See you at the movies in 2012!
November 2011
4 posts
October 2011
5 posts
Support a new home for independent comedy in the... →
If you’ve spent any time in New York comedy, you know Carol Hartsell and Kambri Crews. Carol (among many other things) produces the ECNY Awards and runs countless shows; Kambri was (among many other things) the force behind Ochi’s Lounge, the much-missed independent comedy space at Comix. And seriously, those “among other things” are like, two dozen things each;...
I yell about food
Some dick writes:
While I often like Mark Bittman, like a lot of the recent generation of food writers (and, all too often, environmental writers more broadly), he talks down to the poor. As someone who doesn’t work two jobs, who doesn’t have to search under the couch pillows for change to buy their kids meals, and who lives a life of leisure and high-quality food, it’s real easy for Bittman to...
Olde English Apple ad parodies →
Raphael just reminded me that the first videos Olde English ever made were parodies of Apple’s “Switch” ads. Here they are, preserved in Internet amber, complete with Ben’s original web design.
(While watching, please remember: We made these nearly ten years ago.)
There are two things I would like to say about...
The first is that when my sketch group Olde English formed at Bard College in 2002, we were able to create, edit, and distribute our videos only because of the digital video revolution that Steve and Apple had a major part in bringing about. We pulled all-nighters editing sketches in a computer lab full of Power Mac G4s. We captured our footage using FireWire cables, edited our sketches using...
September 2011
7 posts
WatchIn honor of Andy Rooney’s imminent retirement from 60 Minutes, here’s a clip of ninety year old Andy going to a grocery store and aimlessly complaining about fruit.
Thanks to Ben for first showing this to me years ago. As he wrote at the time: “Is there really a difference between brilliant alternative comedy and the early stages of dementia? Andy Rooney says no.”
“But when you’re in front of an audience and you make them laugh at a new...”
– George Carlin, Last Words
WatchHere’s a set I did a few months back at Crash Test at the UCB in Los Angeles. There are a few old-ass jokes in here, but plenty of new-ass ones as well! Crash Test was my favorite standup show when I first moved to New York way back in 2005 — it was beyond awesome to get to do the show myself.
At the VMAs
INT. VMA RED CARPET
[KREAYSHAWN, a sloppy, tatted up little punk, stands on the red carpet with NICKI MINAJ, who’s dressed like a Japanese nightmare.]
KREAYSHAWN: Hey y’all, I’m here on the VMA red carpet with Nicki Minaj. Yo, so ever since Lady Gaga wore that meat dress last year, the bar’s been like hella raised on people wearin’ crazy shit to the VMAs. Nicki, what the eff is this?
...
August 2011
2 posts
Are Sketch Classes Worthwhile?
Standup comic and blogger Matt Ruby e-mailed me to ask whether I thought the sketch classes I teach at UCB are worth taking. Here’s my response, in full; or you can read it posted on Matt’s site as well.
It all depends on what you want to get out of it. I’d say the benefits of taking a class are, in order:
Forcing you to write every week. You leave class having written six...
July 2011
1 post
Differences Between New York and LA
Not many people realize this, but there are a lot of differences between New York and Los Angeles. Some of them are very amusing! For instance:
New York and Los Angeles are located in two different places! For example, if you are in New York, you cannot be in Los Angeles at the same time. This is because they are different cities that are thousands of miles apart.
New York is in New York...
June 2011
3 posts
Last week I was a guest on Rob Stern’s...
Here’s something really cool I heard today:...
May 2011
2 posts
A conversation about comedy with David Cope
I...
April 2011
5 posts
Get it into your body →
I really like this short piece by Kevin Mullaney. He’s talking about improv, but I think it applies equally to standup, writing, or any other creative pursuit that can feel difficult, uncomfortable, and just plain wrong the first few times we try it:
I’m learning to play guitar. It is a tough, slow process. […] The first time I try a chord on the guitar, it may physically hurt....
"Like music."
Bill Carter, writing in The War for Late Night about the years during which Johnny Carson secretly wrote jokes for Letterman:
The separation from the show that had been his life and utter preoccupation for thirty years had proved jarring for Carson. Friends reported that it had taken at least six months after he stepped down before Johnny could have a normal day — one in which he...
WatchIf you’re a fan of unsparingly personal, truthful comedy, check out Mike Lawrence’s set on John Oliver’s New York Standup Show. Mike’s material is utterly direct and honest, and impressively turns his strange and uncomfortable personal history into something funny and accessible. I was at this taping; the energy of the audience as they first tense up, then relax into the...
WatchSome clips of my set at at the Women in Comedy Festival were featured on the front page of Rooftop Comedy last week — this one, “Raffi Has OCD”, is my favorite.
This bit is actually a more or less verbatim version of a conversation my best friend Ben and I had while incredibly high our freshman year of college, which means I “wrote” it over ten years ago. But...
March 2011
7 posts
Here’s an interview I did on Ink Panthers, a...
In other words, "Writers write."
An aspiring comedy writer who’s taking a “Writing for SNL” class and saw this thread on packets on Matt Ruby’s blog wrote me asking for tips on writing a Daily Show packet; she also asked if I had any general advice on writing comedy for television. I replied:
Here’s my advice: A lot of people get hung up on the idea of getting a job writing for the Daily Show,...
What’s Hack - Week of March 6th, 2011
The following memo amends the list of subjects determined to be hack. Whenever possible, please avoid making jokes that are about or otherwise incorporate the following:
Star Wars
Video games
Jerry Seinfeld impressions
The phrase “I love me some”
Venn diagrams
Being bored of Charlie Sheen jokes (Charlie Sheen jokes: Ok again.)
Liking the Simpsons
Tyler Perry movies (Note: White people...
Upcoming Awesome Shows!
This Saturday I’m showcasing for Montreal at the Creek and the Cave at 7:30 PM. My birthday was yesterday, but since I won’t be able to relax until after the show, I’m going to start celebrating as soon as I step off stage; come to the show — it’s free, features the funniest comics in New York, and everyone in the audience gets free beer(!) — or come afterwards...
February 2011
4 posts
WatchHere’s a set I did at Mike Lawrence’s awesome show “Live on Tape” at the Creek last month. If you saw my last tape you’ve already heard some of this material, but there’s a few new bits in there as well. Enjoy!
Lawrence Wright on the Church of Scientology →
You’ve probably heard plenty about Lawrence Wright’s fantastic article about Scientology in last week’s New Yorker; I’d like double that recommendation. I’ve been fascinated by Scientology for years now, not because “Holy shit, those people are crazy!”, but because of the organization’s sheer tenacity and ability to control people. Scientology is a...
“I was very lucky to see guys who were in their mid-30s who had done everything...”
– Patton Oswalt, interviewed on A Special Thing in 2005. That fried rice story has stuck with me for years.
Warn Your Grandparents
A few weeks ago, a man pretending to be me called my grandmother and, claiming that I was involved in a car accident in Canada. He then gave the phone to a “lawyer”, who asked her to wire money to help me. She’s fine, but she was conned out of a not-insignificant amount of money. She’s a sharp woman, and not easily fooled, but they pushed all the right buttons and preyed on...
December 2010
2 posts
