From Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World

If you need more proof of how underrated Albert Brooks has consistently been... A joke about improvising a joke contained within another joke!

Mameshiba

Mameshiba is a series of videos in which small creatures with cute faces (called mameshiba) -- posing as nuts, peas, beans, and other food items -- butt into everyday situations and disturb the humans involved with a random fact about the world (such as "A hippo's sweat is pink"), not to mention their unexpected presence. Equal parts unsettling and funny, it must surely be Japanese.

Here's the first one: (YouTube)


You can get the rest here.

(Thanks Renée.)

Peep Show - S06E01

And another series of Peep Show has finally begun. Peep Show is one of only two or three comedy shows, I think, that simply have gotten successively better with each episode (Larry Sanders is another example). The writing is as sharp as ever, and series 6 kicks off with appearances by Super Hans and Johnson as well as jokes about the recession and Hitler, so what more could you ask for?

Watch it on zShare via anonym.to.

Enjoy!

From McSweeney's: "A Realistic Assessment of How Many 12-Year-Olds I Could Beat Up Before They Overtook Me"

By Matt Schweiger via McSweeney's. Click through to read.

Abbott and Costello - Who's on First?

How have I not posted this yet? This version of the routine was filmed to be part of the movie The Naughty Nineties. The small amount of laughter you hear is actually the camera crew being unable to contain themselves.

Who's on First?: (YouTube)

The Onion Bought by Chinese

This has been ongoing, but worth checking out. For about a week now, The Onion has been pretending to have been bought by a Chinese company called the "Yu Wan Mei Amalgamated Salvage Fisheries and Polymer Injection Corp," simultaneously and brilliantly lampooning the downfall of newspapers and Chinese political and corporate culture. Click here to go.

The great thing is really how far they went with it. The jobs in American Voices have become things like "Laborer" (although of course the pictures of the folks haven't changed), the (numerous) stories incorporate subtle notes about how coagulated fish parts and fishing are great, and even the store has had products like "Gel" and "Miscellaneous Flavor Paste" added to it.

Have enjoy!

Update: (2009.07.27) The content has been archived here, as The Onion has reverted back to normal.

Mike Birbiglia Standup

A little Mike Birbiglia standup I've been meaning to post for awhile. You might recall I posted him on the Michael Showalter Showalter back in December. Birbiglia is basically a good, very laid-back storyteller whose stories are peppered with witty jokes -- nothing too gimmicky or trying too hard to be edgy, although he has your occasional priest joke, etc. He's not going to make you belly laugh, but he also won't make you keep checking your watch, hopefully. I'd put him down as one of my favorite current working comedians.

Updates should get more frequent from here on out. Sorry about the lull. Enjoy.

At The Improv in L.A., Part 1 of 2: (YouTube)


At The Improv in L.A., Part 2 of 2: (YouTube)


Conan appearance: (YouTube)
The crowd is kind of lame in this clip, but it gets better as it goes. Stay for the end part.


Hip-Hop Nowadays / Clubbing on E: (YouTube)


Mike Birbiglia also has a fantastic story from his one-man show Sleepwalk with Me which you can hear as part of the This American Life episode located here.

Slings & Arrows

Just start here. P.S. I am also going through and fixing standup album links that are dead. Please let me know if you see any.

Oliver's Dream (S01E01): (YouTube)

Green Wing - S01E01 - Caroline's First Day

Entire first season of Green Wing is now available on Hulu. (Sorry out-of-U.S.'ers.) I've almost finished watching it, and I have to say, it's pretty funny (some outstanding jokes, some a little worn out) and very strange. I like that they don't get involved in any patient stories (it takes place in a hospital; think Scrubs except good and without the sappy crap), the slow pacing of actual development, and the rapid-fire sketch show feel. On the downside, the sound design is too repetitive, it's a little cruel without much redemption (as opposed to Larry Sanders, where cruelty is at least warranted by supreme self-absorption), and I am currently hoping romantic plot lines don't get wrapped up in a cliche fashion (although it looks like it's headed that way). Anyway, the pilot is good and at the bare minimum worth watching, thus enjoy. And keep your eye out in the series for some familiar Peep Show faces. (Again, sorry out-of-U.S.'ers for the Hulu-age.)

Caroline's First Day: (Hulu)

CRAIG Postings

Funny or Die's blog has collected together a series of "CRAIG" postings which have appeared on electric and lamp posts around what looks to be perhaps Windsor, Australia. They're quite good. (Thanks Daniela.)

Click here to view them all.

A sample: