Six Degrees: Gigs, name drops and a departure
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Man, it seems that the folks at The Daily Show and The Colbert Report (current and alumni) have all come back from hiatus hell bent on wearing me out!! I’m not complaining, I love that they all have so much going on, but keeping tabs on them all is quite the exercise. Soooo … away we go!
Rachel Axler (writer, The Daily Show)
- Congratulations to Rachel Axler and the rest of the Daily Show’s writing team for their Emmy nomination! They work hard for their show, and I hope they’re all celebrating the nom.
Sadly, a glance over the list of nominated writers reminds me, once again, that there’s a dearth of female writers on the shows in their category (Variety, Music or Comedy Program), and that number is dropping still further. According to Videogum, Rachel will be leaving The Daily Show soon, leaving TDS with … zero women writers. I know they’ll pick the best possible talent to try to fill Rachel’s shoes, but I must admit that I’m rather fervently hoping that their new hire is a woman. Still, it’s got to be exciting for Rachel to be heading for a spot on the writing staff of the spinoff from The Office, and we wish her well.
Laura Krafft and Peter Grosz (former and current writers, respectively, The Colbert Report)
- Speaking of former (female!) writers, New Yorkers can catch Laura Krafft performing this weekend with Peter Grosz and the hilarious David Rakoff at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in “Three-Piece!” this Saturday. The UCBT website describes the show as an “improvised monologue in three parts”; check out ticketing information here.
Rob and Nate Corddry (former correspondents, The Daily Show)
- Alumni are everywhere these days, including at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. According to Playbill, the brothers Corddry will team up for a reading of True West this Sunday, July 20th. Tickets are free, but Playbill recommends that you call ahead to reserve your spot: (413) 597-3400.
Rob Kutner, John Oliver, Wyatt Cenac, Rob Riggle, Rory Albanese, Adam Lowitt (writers, correspondents and producers, The Daily Show)
- For fun with some of the writers and correspondents who are still with The Daily Show, pop by the “Tell Your Friends” shows at the Lolita Bar. Rob Kutner will be appearing there on Monday, July 21st and both John Oliver and Wyatt Cenac will be on hand for the July 28th show. Further information can be found here.
- Rory Albanese (a.k.a. The Bugle’s “American”) hosts another installment of “An Evening with ‘The Daily Show’ & Friends” at Comix on July 21st. He’ll be joined by John Oliver, Rob Riggle, Wyatt Cenac, Adam Lowitt and more! Get further info on the show here.
- Here’s another one for Wyatt: a “Weezy and The Swish” podcast from earlier this month. I don’t know why, but his passive-agressive tone as regards the hosts (who talked too much, IMO) really cracked me up. Good stuff!
Samantha Bee (correspondent, The Daily Show)
- For further proof that The Daily Show is rewarding not only for those who leave but for those who stay, as well, check out Sam Bee’s quote in Canada’s National Post: “I’m going to be the old battle-axe. They may have to pry my cold dead hands off the microphone.” Nice to hear that she’s going to be sticking around!
As always, please check with the venues themselves to confirm the lineups, and feel free to add updates and corrections in the comments.
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12 Comments
July 17th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
OH! now that I actually have a bunch of free days in NYC…I can consider actually going to one of these things. THANK YOU!
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July 17th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
OK, am I the only one bothered by Rachel Axler being talked about as ‘the only woman’? Oh, woe is my entire gender because there will be no woman in the TDS writers room. WHO CARES???
I am all for gender equality (in fact, I will kick anyone’s butt if I m denied it), but come on guys, so she’s leaving, and that’s what that is, and I wish her well on what I hope will be a great show, but to keep mentioning that she’s the only woman on-staff, and “I must admit that I’m rather fervently hoping that their new hire is a woman” is insulting. If the next writer they hire is a woman, don’t we think there will be section of people who will say ‘well, they had to hire a woman to replace the last one’, completely ignoring the fact that they will only hire someone if they are good enough, and not dependent on which side of the chromosomal fence they sit on?
Sorry, but I felt the need to share that…
(Even reCAPTCHA is weighing-in – “in conception”…)
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July 17th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I mean no disrespect to Rachel when I mention her as the only woman (which she has been). Neither do I mean to disrespect the writer hired to replace her when I say that I know that it will be the best qualified candidate and that I hope that candidate is a woman. Both of those statements are true.
I’m not calling The Daily Show sexist and I certainly don’t believe its hiring practices are. There’s a noticeable gender imbalance on the writing staffs of the shows in the category I mentioned, but I don’t think it’s up to any given show to institute a quota system or something similar to address it. If you’re asking me not to notice or comment on what I see as an unfortunate disparity, though, I’m afraid I will be disappointing you.
I read an article recently on the twenty-year anniversary of the movie Coming to America, and it said something that interested me:
So you’ve got a movie that isn’t targeting a “black” audience, and it contains jokes its broad audience finds funny, but those jokes wouldn’t have been thought of but for the input of black writers. This illustrates how I feel about the advantages of an ethnically diverse and mixed gender writing staff.
Race and gender are rarely the central points of The Daily Show (and most other shows on the air nowadays). Despite its writers being predominantly white and male, its audience doesn’t need to be predominantly white or male to appreciate the humor. But there are jokes that might be equally funny to a broad audience that a predominantly white, male writing staff would overlook, and those are what we miss out on when the writing staffs become too homogeneous.
Again, I’m not advocating a quota system, and I’m confident that The Daily Show will hire the person who best fits its needs. But you can bet that I’m hoping that person happens to be a woman.
Put another way, I care. :)
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July 18th, 2008 at 10:25 am
I see your point, especially with the Coming To America stuff. Murphy and Hall were able to give a black perspective on it because they are black. However, you give the argument weight the other way by saying “Race and gender are rarely the central points of The Daily Show”. That tells me that it doesn’t matter what race or gender someone is, if they are good enough, they’re in.
It just annoys the heck out of me. I’m a ‘woman-in-a-man’s-world’ by being a night club manager, and I hate it when I’m singled out just for being woman. There are things I can’t do that some of the other managers do because I’m short, and I’m not quite as strong as some of them, but that’s because they go to the gym and I can’t be bothered. But that’s it. I’m as good at my job as they are (if not better in some cases). However, they all know (as do the doorstaff) that I don’t need protection in the event of a fight *just* because I’m a woman… They have my back because I’m a manager, not because I’m female.
Because of the nature of our business, we have managers leave and get replaced. I never think to myself ‘Oh, I hope the next manager is a woman’, I only think ‘Damn, I hope the next manager isn’t a tool’ If you are good at what you do, it shouldn’t matter what your gender is.
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July 18th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Believe me, I hear what you’re saying, and I’m sure that the show is only going to be staffed by people who deserve the job. But my point with the Coming to America example was that it benefitted from having black writers even though it was not a “black film” in terms of its plot or target audience. The Daily Show presents a broad array of subject matters and appeals to a broad audience, irrespective of gender and ethnicity, so I feel that it could benefit similarly from a diverse writing staff (even if it’s not proportionally representative).
As I noted before, I have every confidence that they will pick/have picked the best writer for the gig; I just hope it also happens to be a woman.
July 18th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
She’s leaving to write for The Office spinoff? Yay! More cross-over b/n TDS and The Office.
I’ve heard this series mentioned a few times but I have not idea what it’s about… the spin-off, that is
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July 18th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
We’re losing another writer? Man, they seem to be departing more frequently these days. Best of luck to Rachel in her new endeavors. I haven’t heard much about the spin-off yet — anyone heard anything?
I can see where both TracyUK and Ms. I are coming from in this debate. Much like Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall brought a different perspective and voice to Coming to America (love that movie, BTW), so would a female writer or two on TDS. That’s not to say it should be a requirement for their new hire, but I agree that it would be nice to see another female writer fill her place.
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July 18th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
I haven’t heard anything about the storyline for the spinoff, but it sounds like it’s going to have some crazy talent. Amy Poehler is signed onto the show, too.
Speaking of The Office and crossover with The Daily Show, if you’re any kind of an Ed Helms fan at all, you’ve got to check this out: Ed’s interview with Conan O’Brien. It’s Act 4 of the July 11th episode, and it is SO worth watching. I thought his Brokaw impression was spot on, but it was his Elton John that had me howling with laughter. I’ll probably add it to the next Six Degrees post I do, but you folks who read the comments should have a look at it now (if you didn’t already see it during the original broadcast).
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July 18th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Sweet! Thanks for the tip — I totally missed that interview. I love it when Ed sings, especially in harmony with others. He and Stephen should have a sing-off maybe. Hehehe…
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July 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
hey…I know it’s a few days later, but I’m kind of interested in going to ““An Evening with ‘The Daily Show’ & Friends” at Comix on July 21st.”
granted, there is a high chance that tickets and stuff are gone…but I wanted to at least try…
here is what I am wondering. I love TDS, and I loved the thing John Oliver did on CC recently, but I would be bringing my mother long (even though I am 18) and I do not want her to be annoyed if things get quite “edgy.” since this is billed as having people from TDS I was hoping that the content/level of humor would be similar, but I am wondering if anyone has any experience with this before we try to pay.
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July 18th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
I think it depends on how she feels about language. John (and Rob, I understand) tends to cuss like a sailor when he’s live, but I don’t find it offensive at all. That’s probably partly because my language when I’m not on a “family friendly” site is also pretty … colorful, but I think it’s more because John is, himself, so charming that it’s hard to be offended. But if the words themselves are offensive to her, you should take that into account.
Because it’s on a Monday, I’d be very surprised if they sold out. Comix is a great little venue, so if you choose to go, I really feel that any seat there would be a good one. You’d want to check with them on the attendance policy since you’re under 21; if I recall correctly, the cost of admission is *actually* the ticket price plus one or two menu items. The menu includes plenty of non-alcoholic options (appetizers, desserts, etc.), but you should look into that.
As for what the show is like, I highly recommend it. Kina and I went to one last December and wrote about it at length here. This is obviously from some time ago and so the jokes are likely to be different but, even if they weren’t, it’s absolutely worth it to go and hear everything from the mouths of the actual performers.
Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great time!
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July 18th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
oh, thanks SO much! we decided to get the tickets before, and your reply seems to indicate that we made the right choice.
signing up for the tickets, all it said was that I had to be 18 or older, and provide ID proving this, so I think I should get in OK. and we did note the menu items requirement.
swearing isn’t an issue, thank goodness. I read your description of the last time, and all of those jokes seem cool (and funny!). as long as it wasn’t going to be lurid tales or that type of thing. :)
I think it’s going to be really fun! (and then TCR two days later– what a week!)
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