Ugh, the snow and wind continue to swirl here in my neck of the woods (darn you, unnamed grocery store, for continually canceling my deliveries!), and I’m having weird flashbacks to my childhood in the Upper Midwest. In an attempt to keep my mind in the present, how about some updates on some of our friends at The Daily Show and Colbert Report?
Our friends over at PBS have released another teaser ad for Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Pluto Files, which will feature any number of our favorite people (like Stephen Colbert!) when it airs. Here’s a fun snippet with Brian Williams and some guy with a little cable show, Jon Stewart.
Mr. Stewart is keeping himself busy, performing stand-up gig in Vegas over the Super Bowl weekend. The Las Vegas Review Journal featured a pretty cool article on Jon to coincide with the gig, and it’s definitely worth a read. The story he told about bombing while opening for Sheena Easton (“[S]he poked her head in my dressing room and said (he mimics her Scottish accent), ‘Don’t worry, Jon. Tomorrow is another day.’”) … ouch!
Click past the jump for more!
Glenn Eichler continues to multitask. Sometime in the midst of his writing for The Colbert Report, he found time to answer a few questions with Macmillian. If you’ve ever wondered how a Writers Guild, Emmy and Peabody award winning writer plans on surviving the zombie apocalypse and what media he might want if he were shipwrecked on a desert island, you won’t want to miss this article.
Old Daily Show stalwart Demetri Martin continues to amuse with the return of his series, Important Things with Demetri Martin. In an interview posted over at HuffPo last week, Demetri spoke with Dan Abramson about working for Conan O’Brien and the NBC Late Night folly (“Bummer“), the script he wrote for Will (which will co-star Paul Rudd and Zach Galifianakis), and much, much more. I particularly liked his analysis of his comedic tone; he’s so right, his brand of humor is especially great for intimate venues. If you ever get a chance to see him live, you definitely should, because his offbeat humor comes across even better in person than it does via the television.
Another familiar face from The Daily Show may soon be popping up on CBS, where Rob Riggle‘s Team Spitz has just been greenlit for a pilot. Punchline reports that Rob will play a high school football coach, and we agree that the role sounds like a great fit for his physical comedy skills. Good luck, Rob!
Back to the world of current correspondents, the San Francisco Chronicle announced today that Today’s Special will open the 28th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival next month. Why do we care? Because Aasif Mandvi is the star, and the movie is based on the Obie award-winning play Mr. Mandvi wrote. It has been well-reviewed at a number of festivals, so here’s wishing Aasif the best for repeating that success at this one.
Finally, we mentioned that Daily Show correspondent Wyatt Cenac had a gig coming up in Milwaukee, but locals in NYC can catch Wyatt at one of my favorite venues, Comix. Wyatt will be headlining shows on Friday and Saturday, March 5th and 6th, and I have no doubt that they’ll be worth seeing. Have a look if you can catch him!
(Hat tips to DB, shamskygirl and Katt for a number of these links!)
We just got a mess of snow here as well, but I do live in Michigan and we’ve had a pretty mild winter as it is, so I’m just trying to stay warm, ha. :)
Love that promo of Jon and Brian Williams! Seriously cannot wait for that to air. And thanks for posting that Demetri Martin interview! I have seen him live, and you’re definitely right about his brand of comedy being perfect for a more intimate setting. I highly recommend that anyone who has the chance to see him live to GO – you will not be disappointed. He’s absolutely fantastic and hilarious. :]
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I really hope the Aasif movie does well in SF and gets a wide release or at least a DVD release. I’m a fan & he was very funny last night on TDS.
I know I’m new blogging here & I don’t want to upset anyone, but, am I really the only person here who thinks of Brain Williams as a preening schmo?
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I’m sure that someone, somewhere out there agrees with you about Brian Williams. And I’m sure you won’t upset anyone – we still welcome you even if you think he’s a “preening schmo” (that insult, by the way, did make me laugh). :]
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Well, I’m glad I could give you a laugh. :)
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Hey there, Mr.Arkadin, thanks for stopping by and chiming in!
We all have our favorites here on the site, so you’re certainly welcome to your opinion. I tend to think Brian is a victim of his own deadpan delivery; he’s actually quite funny (IMO), but because he never “winks” at the audience to let them in on the joke, I can see why some people might be put off.
Regardless, thanks for dropping by and joining the discussion!
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Hi Ms. I, Thanks for the welcome.
I don’t think of Williams’ humor as deadpan, so much as him just trying to hard to be funny. And there’s just something about him that gives me the creeps. He reminds me of Leno actually.
Anyway, thanks for being so friendly & good luck getting through the snow! :)
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Lovely article on Jon Stewart. I would love to see him do live stand-up, and hear some of his “neurotic” musing on sex and death. (Maybe it will come out on DVD, that would be great).
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Oh, DVD – great idea!
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MsI, I’m glad to hear you are ok down in DC- we have had a mini-snowmageddon here in New York, but nothing like yours or even the snow in Philly. Still, I hope Jon and Stephen have a little fun with the subject. Actually though, it was coming down quite hard when I went to work in the early afternoon (I did take photos-always love to do that). But I think it’s ending soon. I had to work but they gave us a free dinner:)
Yes Pluto Files does look great. I wonder if parents will be able to get their kids to watch it and get into the subject?
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Not to worry — I think Brian Williams is a preening schmo, too, and have other friends who agree!
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*Waves hand* That’s great to hear! Thank you!:)
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I love Demetri’s quote, “Dorks like me are alive and well.” Why yes, yes we are.
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