Comedy Central Insider Blog

Whenever a new silly scientific study comes out, there's always some bozo who goes, "Wow, shouldn't those scientists be hard at work curing cancer?" I always want to be like, "You work at Costco, shouldn't you be hard at work curing the fact that you work at Costco?" Besides, without all the non-cancer scientists, we would have never found out that women process jokes differently from men because no one has talked about that ever.

Scientists have found that while women are slower than men at getting jokes, they enjoy them more when the penny does drop.

Research shows that women use their brain more than men to process quips and have less expectation that they will be funny.

Next time I tell a lady a joke and she doesn't like it, I'm going to tell her to wait an hour and then come back to me and then I will ask her to marry me and she will say yes, but then my parents won't approve because she is from the wrong side of the tracks and I will have to not marry her and her name will be my dying words and all my kids will be like, "Who was Martha Glokesly?" but I will take that information with me to my grave.

When a joke does hit the right note, however, they derive more pleasure from it…

The funnier the cartoon, the more the women's nucleus accumbens lit up. This was not the case for men, who seemed to expect the cartoons to be funny from the start.

Men are always like, "I want my Marmaduke to be funny even before I read the caption, motherfuckers!" And women are all like, "I have the time and patience to read the caption and be wowed by Brad Anderson's subtle wit." Science works!

Despite all this new research, scientists have still not discovered why women over 40 who work in cubicles love Cathy comics so much. AAACK!

[via The Awl]

From the Tosh.0 blog…

The 70's were a topsy turvy time. The Vietnam War was still marching its weary slog. The previous decade of drugs, sex and rock and roll was beginning to bear its spoiled fruit. And, in the funny papers, a neurotic Jew named Woody Allen was capturing confusing the hearts of Americans nation wide.

In 1975, a cartoonist Stuart Hample asked Woody Allen if he'd be interested in appearing in a newspaper comic strip…

Woody was intrigued enough to say: "Show me some sketches." I based my drawings on how he looked in his late 20s, when we'd first met. He OK'd the Woody cartoon character (he even had it animated for a sequence in Annie Hall) and said: "What about the jokes?" I brought jokes. He looked through them. "Maybe," he said, "I could help you with the jokes."

Whoa! I never knew there was a Woody Allen comic strip?! Hample apparently has a collection coming out called Dread and Superficiality: Woody Allen as a Comic Strip.

The comic strip in question, called Inside Woody Allen, ran from 1976 to 1984. The strip was basically exactly what you'd imagine it would be. Woody Allen visits therapists, gripes to his friends, performs some philosophical stand-up.

The folks at the syndicate became nervous. I started receiving notes of caution: go easy on God references so we don't offend Bible Belt readers; don't do gags with Woody in nightclubs – they compare unfavourably with his live performances; change the name of your character Death to Fate.

Can you imagine seeing cartoon Woody Allen in your newspaper every morning? I mean, I know most of you can't even imagine buying or reading a newspaper every morning anymore, but can you imagine seeing cartoon Woody Allen pop up on your web browser?

Also, Woody Allen's notes to the cartoonist sound exactly like Woody Allen, except for one phrase. See if you can spot it.

"We must not just use jokes that exploit my image – jokes should have genuine insights. Don't pander. Don't be afraid to be far out. Lead your audience; don't look to them to lead you.

"Don't be afraid to be FAR OUT!" Yeah, man! Groovy! Psychedelic! Wake those sheeple up from their Marmaduke dreams! This ain't your grandmother's Blondie strip, space cadet!

You really should just go ahead and read Stuart Hample's entire account of his comic strip collaboration with a comedy genius.

From Indecision…

Salon's Tom the Dancing Bug shines the harsh light of historicalishness on the oh-so-very-real Obama/Hitler connection…

Are you patriotic enough to learn the whole truth?

Regular viewers of The Colbert Report are well aware that Stephen Colbert is an avid fan of comic books. Of course, there's always the possibility that comic-book-loving Stephen only exists in an alternate universe known as Colbert Report 2 that split off from Colbert Report 1 and may or may not be destroyed in a future episode. And don't even get me started on Colbert Report 3, where Barry Allen is Stephen Colbert.

Tip/Wag: Marvel Comics

More after the jump.

The Colbert Report airs Monday through Thursday at 11:30pm / 10:30c.

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From Indecision…

How do you say "Ugh!" in Massachusettsese?

Look! It's John Kennedy! Oooo! And there's Bobby Kennedy! And over there, isn't that Other Guy Kennedy? Wow! They've all come to get Teddy and bring him on one final sailing voyage, a sailing voyage into the sky…

So, what do you think? Did Jeff Danziger have this masterpiece of bittersweetousity sitting in the top drawer of his desk, just waiting for Kennedy to go? Every morning he'd check the news to see if today was they day. Or was he so blown away by the news of Kennedy's passing that he was moved to sit down and start drawing, unaware of what might flow forth from his cartooning pen, as happily surprised by the resulting piece of brilliant art as we all are?

Personally, I like to think that when Danziger awoke this morning, he found the cartoon sitting at the foot of his bed, a the faint whiff of fine Irish whiskey in the air.

If you live in New York, be sure to check out Kumail Nanjiani's headlining show at Comix. Kumail has been featured in Michael and Michael Have Issues and The Colbert Report. He is very fucking funny! I don't use expletives for everybody, so go see it! [Comix]

Mystery Team (which was a very good movie!) is coming out soon and Derrick Comedy produced a new internet short starring the characters from the film. I hope they solve the case of the when does the movie just come out already?! [/film]

Joan Rivers on comedians, "If you’re a comedian and people think, ‘Oh, she’s so nice,’ then what are you doing… Comedians are there to shake people up and make them face the truth." [Heeb]

Did you know crazy people exist on the internet and some of them make web comics that are also… wait for it… C-C-C-CRAAAZZZY?!  [Cracked]

I don't watch Lost, but even I can tell this video of Paul Scheer trolling around ABC studios for Lost tidbits is going to have all the Lost nerds LOLing in the aisles. [Paul Scheer]

Jon Daly and Nick Kroll star in NYC Prep: All Grown Up! Rich Dicks. [Nick Kroll]

David Wain talks about how a group of kids in their early 20's went on to create one of the best sketch comedy shows in the history of the universe in the world of all time! [AV Club]

I'm so excited for Patton Oswalt and Robert Siegel's upcoming film Big Fan. Here's an exclusive clip from the film. I don't know much about football, but I think this scene depicts "Tail Gatorade" parties. Is that what they are called? [UGO]

Paul Rust talks to The Sound of Young America. [Maximum Fun]

From Indecision…

I just stumbled upon the greatest collection of right wing, Evangelical Christian political cartoons ever. Oh my god! I feel like Sean Astin when he and Forrest Gump found One-Eyed Willy's copy of the Declaration of Independence in the Illuminati's big volcano at the center of the Vatican!

I have no idea what point this cartoon is trying to make, but I am one hundred percent certain that the cartoonist knew that he fuckin' nailed it!.

Read the rest of this entry »

From Indecision…

Apparently NASA's doing something other other with some kind of giant microscope they got floating around up there in outer space. Yawn.
Wake me up when they find extraterrestrial cultures we can invade unilaterally.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal explains how those boring missions even get funding to begin with…

There's more. Keep reading…

Christopher Guest on the term "mockumentary": "It’s easy for a journalist to use it, because it’s one word, but that’s not how I would describe my documentary movies. I would say, 'I’ve written it in a documentary style,' but that’s three extra words and they don’t like to do that." [AV Club]

Wyatt Cenac wrote a comic book for Marvel. [AST]

I'm excited about a Roger Rabbit sequel. Mostly because I hope that dance move comes back. [MTV Movie Blog]

Patton Oswalt's Big Fan got a distributor. [Variety]

Sebastian Maniscalco says, "The Internet is definitely a great vehicle for comedians to get themselves out there." [Punchline]

A golf pro tested the effectiveness of the Happy Gilmore swing. Next up, he's going to see if pretending to be a dimwitted cajun can help a football team win. [Kottke]

Paula Abdul joins Ron Paul among the famous marks in Bruno… whom I've made out with. [Page Six]

"You just challenge yourself," Bill Burr says. "What do I want to do that scares the shit out of me?" [the comic's comic]