GAY MARRIAGE NEWS

Marriage bill to be signed on Monday ... Legislator cites Jack in the Box commercial ... Rep: Walsh gives the best speech in the house ... UW Professor on WA referendum's legality ... Gay marriage isn't the finish line for trans people ... WA legislature passes marriage equality ... Rep. Shea: "My business will refuse to participate in a same-sex marriage" ... More coverage »

Slog

News & Arts

Comedy

Friday, February 10, 2012

Comedy The Onion Is on a Roll: "Iran Worried U.S. Might Be Building 8,500th Nuclear Weapon"

Posted by Charles Mudede on Fri, Feb 10, 2012 at 2:43 PM

There it is...

Iranian intelligence experts also warned of the very real, and very frightening, possibility of the U.S. providing weapons and resources to a rogue third-party state such as Israel.

Link | Comments (41)

FacebookShare

Monday, February 6, 2012

Comedy / Media Penn Jillette Thinks Lindy West Is a Cunty Cunt!

Posted by David Schmader on Mon, Feb 6, 2012 at 1:30 PM

Hey look! Lindy West reviews this year's batch of Superbowl commercials over at MSNBC!

Penn "& Teller" Jillette is not pleased:

I can't wait till an African-American writes something Penn Jillette doesn't like and he lets that nigger have it.

Link | Comments (151)

FacebookShare

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Comedy / TV Are Your Pants Too Dry?

Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 10:58 AM

Then I suggest reading this week's I Love Television by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey:

Though one might think my sole talent is monkey and poop jokes, I'll have you know I'm actually extremely talented in one other area: ACTING!! Before I became America's most unbeloved TV columnist, I was a practitioner of the THE-UH-TAH. (That's "theater" for those who don't speak "annoying.") What roles did I play? WELL! Ever heard of a little play called Hamlet? Me neither. Sounds dumb and boring. HOWEVER! I have auditioned for many of the great community THE-UH-TAHS and once came very close to scoring the role of Eva Perón in the Dubuque Little Theater production of Evita. Ahhh... I remember the audition like it was yesterday... (INSERT WAVY "DREAM" LINES HERE).

Follow the wavy dream lines here.

Link

FacebookShare

Monday, January 30, 2012

Comedy / 2012 Women for Santorum

Posted by Dan Savage on Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 2:14 PM

Link | Comments (16)

FacebookShare

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Comedy / Politics It Never Gets Old (or Funny)

Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Jan 19, 2012 at 11:29 AM

Right-wing attempts at comedy, how I love thee. From NewsBusted, "the Media Research Center's comedy show, with jokes about politics, Hollywood and liberal media bias."

The first three seconds! The laugh track! LOVE. (And the final joke is actually okay.)

Link | Comments (17)

FacebookShare

Monday, January 16, 2012

Comedy / TV / Film A Somewhat Kinder, Somewhat Gentler, Still Hilarious Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes

Posted by David Schmader on Mon, Jan 16, 2012 at 10:15 AM

Here's his opening monologue, the best bit of which involves the lack of men who have seen Jodie Foster's Beaver. "This doesn't mean it's not good!" says Gervais. Foster approves. Enjoy!

Link | Comments (5)

FacebookShare

Friday, January 13, 2012

Comedy / TV The Problem with Portlandia

Posted by David Schmader on Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 1:22 PM

Portlandia! It's the hit IFC comedy that I'm happy exists if only for inspiring The New Yorker to write this wonderful profile of Carrie Brownstein. But as the New York Times points out, Portlandia is a comedy that has a problem with funniness.

The problem isn't a complete lack of funniness—there are bits of Portlandia that are so funny they almost make me pee via recall, including but not limited to Carrie's line about "eco-chairs and eco-ways to sit," Carrie riding a bike and crowing "I made a homemade quesadilla!", and Carrie-as-the-feminist-bookstore-owner hitting on Heather Graham by bragging about her indigenous pantsuit.

But between these great bits are long stretches of the rest of Portlandia, which leave me wanting. So I put it to you.

Link | Comments (66)

FacebookShare

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Comedy / Celeb Courtney Stodden's New Funny or Die Video (Is Not Very Funny)

Posted by Megan Seling on Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 3:28 PM

Call me a prude (PRUDE!), but I don't think seeing Jason Alexander grope a fame-hungry 17-year-old girl is very funny. Especially with her 51-year-old husband sitting there. Especially after reading her Twitter feed.

The Donny Clay Show with Courtney Stodden from Jason Alexander

Link | Comments (27)

FacebookShare

Comedy / Teh Internets When the Dog Bites, When the Bee Stings, When I'm Feeling Sad

Posted by David Schmader on Wed, Jan 11, 2012 at 8:36 AM

I simply remember Larry King's favorite things and then I don't feel so bad.

(Previously and previouslier.)

Thanks to Slog tipper Clinton.

Link | Comments (1)

FacebookShare

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Comedy / Horrors / Film This Monday: A Night of Porny Goodness at Collide-O-Scope

Posted by David Schmader on Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 1:50 PM

Collide-O-Scope is the video collage extravaganza that appears regularly at both Re-bar and Central Cinema, and this Monday's Re-bar show looks wonderful. (Preview video SFW if dildos are okay (damn you, Edward Penishands!), audio NSFW.)

I once spent an inordinate amount of time in the 1990s patching together all the non-porn scenes of the porno movie Foreskin Gump. I am very grateful that Collide-O-Scope is now doing the work for me, because non-porn porn scenes are AMAZING.

(Also, the last second of the preview video is the best.)

Link | Comments (3)

FacebookShare

Friday, January 6, 2012

Comedy / City / Teh Internets "Seattle Is Objectively Superior to the Place You Grew Up"

Posted by David Schmader on Fri, Jan 6, 2012 at 12:13 PM

The blog Rotten in Denmark lays out several dozen reasons this is true, and it is hilarious.

Thank you, Metafilter.

Link | Comments (21)

FacebookShare

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Comedy / History / TV "Funny or Die Spring Lineup 1986"

Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 11:29 AM

"FOD is kicking off 2012 by bringing back your favorite shows from our 1986 spring lineup," crows comedy website Funny or Die, which quickly earns both halves of its name.

Funny!

Die.

See the whole 1986 spring lineup here.

Link | Comments (3)

FacebookShare

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Etiquette / Comedy / The Ladies / Teh Internets "Not to Sound Racist, but..."

Posted by Anna Minard on Wed, Jan 4, 2012 at 2:45 PM

I just finally found out about this meme that's been running around for the last month or so: "Shit Girls Say," which started as a surprisingly spot-on Twitter feed. It's really just a list of sentences that are often spoken by women. (Samples: "I hate the word 'moist'" and "Are we in a fight?" and "Lindsay, Matt's girlfriend, or Lindsay from yoga?") Simple, and somehow effective as shit at making me laugh. Then they made a series of YouTube videos, and then so did everyone and their sister/brother/grandma/dental hygienist. There was "Shit Black Girls Say," and a million dumb ones, and now—currently blowing up on the Facebook—the truly excellent "Shit White Girls Say... to Black Girls." For your viewing pleasure:

A lot of people find the original and/or its various incarnations not funny and/or offensive (the original was done by dudes, it uses the word "girls" instead of "women," etc.). But this one is pretty unimpeachably awesome.

Link | Comments (10)

FacebookShare

Friday, December 23, 2011

Comedy / Music / TV Tim Minchin's Woody Allen Jesus: Too Blasphemous for British TV

Posted by Jen Graves on Fri, Dec 23, 2011 at 2:35 PM

Tim Minchin was supposed to perform a new song he calls "Woody Allen Jesus" on Jonathan Ross's TV program tonight. Even though the producers and directors had read the lyrics, and even after the taping, a network exec cut the segment. Minchin blogged:

On Tuesday night last week, we taped the show. I met Tom [Cruise] (he’s nice and quite laid-back off camera, and not very short) and the divine Downton ladies (swoon) and the lovely Inbetweeners chaps (yay) and I did my song and everyone laughed and Tom said it was great and when it was done I ran off set onto the back of a waiting motorbike, got from South Bank to the Hammersmith Apollo in 13 minutes, walked into the building, straight on to stage to sing White Wine in the Sun with Professor Brian Cox. Rock n roll.

Subsequently, Suzi and her team edited the show and everybody was happy. ...

And then someone got nervous and sent the tape to ITV’s director of television, Peter Fincham.

And Peter Fincham demanded that I be cut from the show.

He did this because he’s scared of the ranty, shit-stirring, right-wing press, and of the small minority of Brits who believe they have a right to go through life protected from anything that challenges them in any way.

Yesterday I wrote a big rant about comedy and risk and conservatism; about the fact that my joke has no victim; about sacredness (oh God, not again!) and about the importance of laughing at dumb but pervasive ideas. But I trashed it because it’s boring and takes it all too seriously. It’s hardly the end of the world.

But I have to admit I’m really fucking disappointed. ...

Anywaaaaaaaaaay… the fun news is that I already had the footage of the song when they cut it. Yay. And so you can decide for yourself how offensive it is! Yippee.

Thanks for the tip, Gale!

Link | Comments (17)

FacebookShare

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Dudes / Comedy / Youth Pastor Watch / Homo / Conflict of Interest / Religion / Genius / LGBTQITSLFA Who's wearing white robes here . . . .?

Posted by Chicago Fan on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 3:33 PM

The Cardinal of the Most Holy Roman Catholic Church in Chicago compares the gay rights movement to the Ku Klux Klan. Because of an argument about routing the Gay Pride Parade. Out of touch, much?

Link | Comments (12)

FacebookShare

Comedy / Life "Can You Text 911?" and Other Unanswered Questions from 2011

Posted by Unpaid Intern on Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 12:16 PM

Posted by news intern Marley Zeno

The Explainer column at Slate, which answers questions submitted by readers, has posted the 30 best unanswered questions from the past year. Slate is running a poll to determine the "Question of the Year," which they will then answer in the column. Winners from previous years include "Why do boys like sticks?" and "Can a bar of soap get dirty, or is it self-cleaning because it's soap?"

Here are a few in the running for 2011*:

Why aren’t there any topless casinos in Las Vegas? There are plenty of casinos and plenty of strip clubs in Vegas but there aren’t any combinations of the two. It seems like someone would create a casino where the dealers were topless.

Why are smart people usually ugly? I get this isn't always the case, but there does seem to be a correlation. Attractiveness doesn't predict intelligence (not all ugly people are smart), but it seems like intelligence can be a good predictor for attractiveness (smart people are usually on the ugly side). Keep in mind, I have nothing against people who are really brilliant, I've just always wondered.

Vote for the question that most deserves an answer here.

*Slow news day, amirite?

Link | Comments (5)

FacebookShare

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Comedy / Sex / Teh Internets Pretty Good Sex Advice

Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Dec 21, 2011 at 8:55 AM

Each one of Jenna Marbles YouTube videos has been viewed at least three millions time already... and somehow I've never heard of her. But you have! The Internet is a race and you won! But I'm going to go ahead and post this video to Slog anyway because I think it's actually pretty good sex advice. And, yeah, that guy from Legends of Hidden Temple.

Link | Comments (45)

FacebookShare

Monday, December 19, 2011

Comedy / TV / Media / Religion Pat Robertson Regrets U.S. Christians Lack the Conviction of Islamic Jihadists

Posted by David Schmader on Mon, Dec 19, 2011 at 2:16 PM

This weekend, this skit appeared on Saturday Night Live:

On today's broadcast of The 700 Club, televangelist Pat Robertson issued his response:

“If this had been a Muslim country and they had done that, and had Muhammad doing that stuff, you would have found bombs being thrown off, and bodies on the street...We need more religious faith in our society, we’re losing our moral compass in our nation.”

Merry Christmas! (And thank you, RawStory.)

Link | Comments (13)

FacebookShare

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Comedy Name This Band: Special Retro-Future Edition!

Posted by Grant Brissey on Thu, Dec 15, 2011 at 3:08 PM

Please help this band here.

Link

FacebookShare

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Comedy / Tech Update: Louis C.K.'s Experiment

Posted by Anthony Hecht on Tue, Dec 13, 2011 at 9:09 PM

Since putting his "Live at The Beacon Theater" video up for sale for $5 on Saturday, free of DRM, region restrictions, or any other silly bullshit, Louis C.K. has sold over 110,000 copies. A little quick math reveals that this is well over half a million dollars.

In a statement on his site, Louis reveals that his costs for producing the video and creating the website, all paid out of his own pocket, were about $250,000. So he's made 100% profit in 4 days.

Take note, stupid corporations and politicians trying to pass laws that will add even more layers of regulation and bullshit in the name of anti-piracy: If you make good things, and sell them at a reasonable price, you can make a lot of money.

Put another way: you don't have to be a fucking asshole to be rich.

Want to make Louis C.K. even richer and hammer home the point? Buy his video. I've seen it, and it's funny.

Link | Comments (32)

FacebookShare

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Comedy Louis C.K. Live at The Beacon Theater for $5

Posted by Anthony Hecht on Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 2:45 PM

Starting today, Louis C.K. has made his recent hour-long set at The Beacon Theater available for download or streaming for $5. Go get it.

Get it because he's hilarious, sure, but also get it because he's doing something great here. He's putting his content up himself, for a very fair price, with no DRM or other bullshit, and hoping it works out. If it does, he'll do it again. If he does it again, more comedians and other artists will probably follow. Every time an artist does this kind of thing well*, it's a chink in the armor of the content companies who want everything buried under 10 layers of crappy rights-management software and overpriced because of it.

The show is already all over the torrent sites, of course, but if enough people pony up the $5 it won't matter.

I haven't seen it yet, still downloading, but I'm sure it's good. If it's bad, I'll write another post about how bad it is, but I won't regret spending the $5.

Get it.

Link | Comments (16)

FacebookShare

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Comedy What Do YOU Think About Slam Poetry?

Posted by Grant Brissey on Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 11:57 AM

Let 'em know here.

Link

FacebookShare

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Comedy Meet Your New Comedy Champion

Posted by David Schmader on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:19 AM

SeattleComedyCompetition.com
Mike Baldwin

Mike Baldwin has been crowned the winner of the 2011 Seattle International Comedy Competition. I saw him perform during semi-finals and he was really, really funny and now he is a champion. Yay, Mike Baldwin!

Coming in second: Rodney Sherwood, who I also saw perform in semi-finals and did not find funny at all. Yay, subjectivity!

Link | Comments (5)

FacebookShare

Monday, November 28, 2011

Death / Comedy Oh, My Sides

Posted by David Schmader on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 9:11 AM

Little Green Footballs brings us a compilation of hilarity from Glenn Beck's comedy program B.S. of A.

There are no words.

Link | Comments (23)

FacebookShare

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Comedy / Religion What Bible Students and Prisoners Have Common

Posted by Goldy on Sun, Nov 27, 2011 at 11:42 PM

I can't read the comment threads on my weekly Bible Study posts without being reminded of the following old joke:

A man is sent to prison for the first time. At night, the lights in the cell block are turned off, and his cellmate goes over to the bars and yells, "Number twelve!" The whole cell block breaks out laughing. A few minutes later, somebody else in the cell block yells, "Number four!" Again, the whole cell bloock breaks out laughing.

The new guy asks his cellmate what's going on. "Well," says the older prisoner, "we've all been in this here prison for so long, we all know the same jokes. So we just yell out the number instead of saying the whole joke."

So the new guy walks up to the bars and yells, "Number six!" There was dead silence in the cell block. He asks the older prisoner, "What's wrong? Why didn't I get any laughs?"

"Well," said the older man, "sometimes it's not the joke, but how you tell it."

Link | Comments (7)

FacebookShare

Friday, November 25, 2011

Comedy Good Comedians, One Terrible Poem, and the Seattle International Comedy Competition

Posted by Cienna Madrid on Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 11:49 AM

This year's Seattle International Comedy Competition (SICC) has been a well-documented success, and after a month of shows, SICC is finally gearing up to crown a winner this weekend. You still have two opportunities to see the five finalists perform—at 8:00 pm Saturday night at the Admiral Theater in Bremerton, and at the final show (glory be!) at 8:00 pm Sunday night at the Comedy Underground.

They're all funny, accomplished comedians. In an attempt to convey that without spoiling the best parts of their routines (and also because I'm kind of a cunt) I sent them the first lines of poem on Thanksgiving Day and ordered them to finish it. Here's the poem:

Ruth and Johnny Side by Side
Went Out for an Auto Ride
They Hit a Bump
Ruth Hit a Tree
And John....

Their responses after the jump.

Link | Comments (2)

FacebookShare

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Comedy Liam Neeson Meets with Ricky Gervais Because He's Trying to Get Into Comedy

Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Wed, Nov 23, 2011 at 9:51 AM

That's the premise for this clip from Ricky Gervais's new project Life's Too Short.

After the jump is a clip of the making of the above clip.

Link | Comments (8)

FacebookShare

Monday, November 21, 2011

Comedy Day-After-Tomorrow Comedy Watch: What a Croc at the Crocodile

Posted by David Schmader on Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 2:07 PM

This Wednesday, November 23, brings the launch of new comedy night in Seattle: The Crocodile's What a Croc, which debuts with a show that will look like this:

Hosted by PAUL MERRILL with lots of SUPER AWESOME GUESTS, including MIKE DRUCKER (Writer for SNL and The Onion) and the return of SOLOMON GEORGIO!!

Also of note:

(Future shows will be every TUESDAY at The Crocodile, but this week only will be on WEDNESDAY at 8pm to take advantage of the holiday weekend).

It's free, the people involved are funny, and there are a million worse places you could get liquored up on the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving...

Link | Comments (2)

FacebookShare

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Comedy I Second Cienna's Appreciation of Last Night's Comedy Competition

Posted by David Schmader on Wed, Nov 16, 2011 at 10:29 AM

willweldon.com
Will Weldon, funny as shit

Seriously, last night I laughed for nearly 90 minutes straight. Most amazingly, it was at a comedy club, a place I'm not usually inspired to laugh for so long and so hard.

But last night's semi-finals of the 32nd annual Seattle International Comedy Competition at the Comedy Underground was seriously one of the most consistently funny things I've ever seen in a comedy club. Of the nine comedians, seven were really, really good—smart, inventive, polished but relaxed, and so funny I all but forgot the two who made me want to hoot at their lameness.

Among the best of the good ones: Kansas City's Mike Baldwin (who had the night's high score), Houston's Sam Demaris, Seattle's Xung Lam, Austin's Eric Krug, and LA's Patrick Keane and Rick Kunkler.

But my personal fave of the night (which was literally a total sausage fest, with not one broad on the boards) was Will Weldon, a young L.A.-by-way-of-Canada comedian who got the night's second-highest score and told the first pro-transgender joke I've ever heard.

Actually, it was more of an anti-people-who-are-dicks-about-trans-folks joke, and in lieu of a transcript (I was drinking), here's a description, which will rob the joke of its comedy but will represent it accurately. Weldon started the bit by bringing up the lame-ass Hollywood-and-TV comedy trope in which a big douchey straight guy makes out with some super-hot chick, after which it is revealed that the super-hot chick is MTF trans, with the revelation immediately followed by footage of the douchey guy puking into a toilet over a laugh track.

Will Weldon calls bullshit: "You're throwing up because the girl you kissed used to be a guy? She used to be a guy. Past-tense." Weldon then pointed out that everyone in the world used to be a baby, and that kissing a person who used to be another gender doesn't make you any more gay than kissing someone who used to be a baby makes you a pedophile.

I did a lousy job relating this, but the whole joke made me want to buy him a yacht.

The Seattle International Comedy Competition continues, building to the night of finals on Sunday November 27.

Link | Comments (9)