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Sean "Comic's Comic" McCarthy tips us off again with the news that The Comedy Store is uploading footage from its rich larder of stand-up videos. Below is a bit from the early 80s where Richard Pryor gives a shout-out to Henny Youngman, introduces Robin Williams fresh from Mork & Mindy and shares a blunt summary of discovering he's a middle-aged man:
All that's missing from this is Bill Hicks teaching Patton Oswalt how to fish cigarettes out of the corner vending machine.
After a devastating loss in 2006's ShredDown (might've been the Peter Frampton factor), The Decemberists are returning to The Colbert Report on April 27. Will Chris Funk duel another of Stephen's stand-ins on axe, or will Colbert square off against Colin Meloy in a recitation of dirges and sea chanteys? Actually, they'll just be performing, which, for the sake of their egos, is probably wise.
In case you missed it, here's Funk's ShredDown contribution.
The U.S. Postal Service (demi-government bureaucracy, not the band) showed off designs for The Simpsons stamps today, the closest we'll ever get to see the animated family on legal tender.
Dig the more organic-looking designs courtesy of creator Matt Groening, especially the "having a heart attack" Homer and "I'm going to shoot you" Maggie.
In other news, 44 cents? Holy flurking schnit! Trying to soften the blow of the First Class rate hike, are we? Damn you, USPS. Damn you all to hell.
Larry Charles is not one to shy away from depicting flesh-on-flesh action, whether it's swarthy and obese or topped off with ass-less chaps. For his next trick, the director will helm Winter's Discontent about a widower who moves into a senior home with his sidekick in search of carnal satisfaction.
Think of it as Space Cowboys meets every road trip comedy in the past fifteen years. This would be a perfect Don Ameche/Jack Lemmon picture, but I'd settle for the cast of The Bucket List, as well as that 74 year old porn star in the eventual Japanese remake.
Good news for Zack Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms: The Hangover doesn't even come out until June 5, but has generated enough focus group heat that Warner Bros. commissioned a sequel. Were producers this confident about an X-Men sequel before the original premiered?
Will the next film introduce the three friends to the hair of the dog? Doesn't matter; that's the screenwriters' problem. This is no Snakes on a Plane.
Today started off like any other day at the offices of Comedy Central Insider. We sat down at our desks, wrote sentences referencing "the offices of Comedy Central Insider," realized we didn't have offices, or even a single office and resigned ourselves to another office-less day and a lunch of disappointing sandwiches. But all that changed when we found this:
Last May, there was a special "Sandwich Day" episode on 30 Rock. In a climactic scene, Liz Lemon, Tina Fey's character, rushes to the airport to catch her then-crush Floyd, but gets stalled at the security gate—her sandwich's dipping sauce exceeded the three ounce limit. "I can have it all," she says, choking it down before racing after Floyd. Almost a year later, and Caroline of Devil and Egg still wants to know the juicy sandwich's origins.
"If you troll around the interweb, you'll read a lot of people theorizing that it's Defonte's in Red Hook, Brooklyn, which now has a location on Third Avenue in Manhattan. But in a happy and one might say, karmic, coincidence, I happen to have a very good friend who's husband works on the set of 30 Rock."
That friend's husband's arms were twisted, and Eureka! Turns out it's from Fiore's Deli in Hoboken, New Jersey.
I'm usually skeptical of pop culture musical adaptations (wretched Off-Broadway productions of Karate Kid and The Last Starfighter will do that to you). The upcoming Spider-Man and Bruce Lee shows are already raising my hackles, U2 and David Henry Hwang's involvements be damned.
The only bit of hope I have left for the Groundhog Day musical in the works, apart from someone other than Andie McDowell in the female lead, is that Stephen Sondheim has expressed interest on writing the music/lyrics in the past. That bit of news comes from screenwriter/director Harold Ramis himself.
Now if only they could recruit Bill Murray to reprise his role, even if he pulls a Rex Harrison and talk-sings his way through it, I'll be lining up in Times Square with the rest of the tourists.
Sacha Baron Cohen's latest movie just earned some street cred from the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board. Apparently there's too much nekkid man-flesh and simulated sodomy for the MPAA's taste, hanging the dreaded (at least for box office sales) NC-17 rating on an early cut of the film.
According to The Wrap, "Cohen is currently appealing the decision while simultaneously struggling with cutting the film to suit the ratings board."
Of course, this could all be part of his master plan, alerting fans that there's a dirtier version of the film available for DVD but guaranteeing enough controversy to bring in audiences for the R-rated theatrical release. Well played, Mr. Cohen. Well played.
Caroline's comedy club, mere blocks away from the ESPN Zone in Times Square is hosting the stand-up equivalent to college basketball's annual gambling ritual with March Comedy Madness. Thankfully, there's no Dick Vitale, though there are 64 competitors scrambling for the right to headline at the club through an entire weekend.
Comics get one minute to win over the crowd in the first round, two minutes for the round of 32, four minutes for the Sweet Sixteen, seven for the Final Four and ten for the championship. It's like condensing years of angst and rejection into a few weeks' worth of stage time.
The New York Times highlights a few of the entrants and their jokes. Brooklynite and finalist Rob O'Reilly outlines his attack philosophy:
“My strategy during the shorter sets is to try and come off as very likable, very clean, and to try and get the crowd on my side . . . As a comedian, you want to reach the later rounds so that you have more time to mess with the audience, and more time to be funny.”
The U.S. Postal Service (demi-government bureaucracy, not the band) 
Larry Charles is not one to shy away from depicting flesh-on-flesh action, whether it's swarthy and obese or topped off with ass-less chaps. For his next trick, the director will helm Winter's Discontent about a widower who 
I'm usually skeptical of pop culture musical adaptations (wretched Off-Broadway productions of Karate Kid and The Last Starfighter will do that to you). The upcoming 
Sacha Baron Cohen's latest movie just earned some street cred from the Motion Picture Association of America's ratings board. Apparently there's too much nekkid man-flesh and simulated sodomy for the MPAA's taste, hanging the dreaded (at least for box office sales) NC-17 rating on an early cut of the film.
Caroline's
