Six Degrees: Vancouver Edition.

G’day Zoners, I hope you’ve all been enjoying the Winter Olympics. I for one have become obsessed with all things ice related – Speed Skating, Figure Skating, Curling and Ice Hockey. A great obsession to have smack bang in the middle of an Australian summer. I of course blame Stephen for my new found love of winter sports. For those of you able to tear yourselves away from all things ice and snow, Stephen’s friends have some exciting upcoming projects for you to check out.

Friends of the Show:

Neil DeGrasse Tyson

• The American Museum of Natural History has announced a year-long celebration commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space.

  As part of the celebrations Neil deGrasse Tyson will host and moderate the The Tenth AnnuAl Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate – “Moon, Mars and Beyond: Where next for the Manned Space Program?” on March 15.

Conan O’Brien

• Exciting news for all Coco fans, courtesy of The New York Times:
  

  Representatives of Mr. O’Brien, the former host of “The Tonight Show” on NBC, confirmed Friday that plans are in the works to book what is being called “a revue” starring Mr. O’Brien in theaters in major cities from California to New York, and perhaps parts further east and west–and maybe north.

  After exploring the degree of interest with some locations, Mr. O’Brien’s team has received “enormous interest from all over,” said one of his representatives, who asked not to be identified because the plans are not yet ready to announce. “We’ve heard from the U.K., Scandinavia, Australia, Toronto, everywhere; it’s been incredible.”

David Sedaris

• This American Life the hit show from Chicago Public Radio has launched the This American Life App available for iPhone and iPod Touch. The App includes new shows which are added automatically and archived shows dating back to 1995, which include contributions David Sedaris and John Hodgman.

Ryan Shimabukuro

• Thanks to Jennie for sending in this great article from Hawaii News Now on Ryan Shimabukuro, coach of 8 US Speed Skaters – including Shani Davis – competiting at this year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

  You can re-watch Ryan’s Skate Expectations appearances here and here.

‘The Colbert Report’ Staffers [and Beloved ex-Staffers]

Allison Silverman

• Allison will be a panel member – along with Susan Kim, Sarah Haskins and Hanna Roskin – at “That Not So Fresh Feeling: Marketing Embarrassing Products To Women”. The evening, organised by DoubleX will feature a discussion on the cultural history of female hygiene products.

Laura Krafft

• You can catch Laura at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Saturdays from 7.30pm performing Chicago-style improv alongside Kay Cannon, Scott Adsit, Christina Gausas and Tami Sagher.

  Tickets: $10.

Mark Malkoff

• “Mark Gets Carried Away” has been entered into The Universal Record Database as the World Record for “Furthest Distance To Be Carried By Other People”.

• Mark was recently a guest on “The Gayle King Show” on Oprah Radio. The topic of discussion “How Nice Are New Yorkers?”

• Mark recently talked to Jenna Wolfe co-anchor of the Sunday edition of “The Today Show” on MSNBC to discuss “Mark Gets Carried Away”.

  Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Now it’s time to check in with our good friends over at The Daily Show.

The Daily Show

• Congratulations to the folks over at The Daily Show for winning – in a tie with Saturday Night Live – the WGA award for Best Writing in a Comedy or Variety Program.

Jon Stewart

• The childhood memories of Jon Stewart and other contemporary comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld will be featured in Marlo Thomas’ “Growing Up Laughing” the memoir of her childhood and the “star entertainer friends” of her father, comedian Danny Thomas.

  The book is due to be released in 28 September, 2010.

• Jon has been named #1 on The Daily Beast’s list of “The Left’s Top 25 Journalists”.

Steve Carell

• Hitfix have posted a sneak peek of Steve’s new animated film “Descpicable Me”. In the film Steve provides the voice of “Gru” an evil super villian who plans to pull off the biggest heist in history of the world. He is going to steal the moon.

  The film is due to be released on July 9th, 2010.

Rob Kutner [former Daily Show and Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien writer]

• Friend of the blog Rob Kutner is hosting his yearly Purim show, which also means his yearly hysterical movie spoof. Definitely go check out his “Wolfman, DDS” video promoting the project. This year’s skewering of Purim and pop-culture is headlined by Lizz Winstead, (co-creator of The Daily Show and creator of Shoot the Messenger) and features a cast from Broadway, VH-1 and Comedy Central, plus all-new hilarity from the writers behind The Daily Show, The Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien and 30 Rock. Featuring a special appearance by 30 Rock’s Scott Adsit, a video presentation by Joel McHale and a surprise message from a star of The Tonight Show.

  The show is this coming Sat night, February 27th at 92Y Tribeca, at 8 and 10, and tickets are available at the 92Y box office. You don’t want to miss this excellent opportunity to see some of the elite of the New York comedy scene!

Wyatt Cenac

• Wyatt will be appearing at Comix Comedy Club, New York’s hottest new comedy club on March 5th – 6th at 8.30pm and 10.30pm.

Larry Wilmore

• Larry will be appearing at the Capitol Comedy Club in Austin Texas on Saturday, February 27th at 8pm.

Stewart Bailey

• NBC has announced that Stewart Bailey, former co-executive producer (1996 – 2006) of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart will be the new executive producer for Last Call with Carson Daly – new episodes return March 1.

  “We have a shared vision to further enhance our documentary style,” Daly said of the Bailey hire. “In our show, we’ll continue to talk to great guests, find interesting stories and, as always, discover new music.”

Rob Riggle

• Rob has a supporting role in the new movie Killers starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. You can view the trailer here: [Link]

• CBS have given the green light to “Team Spitz” an ensemble comedy about a pompous high school football coach played to be played by Rob Riggle.