What the below photo illustrates – other than a dire need to upgrade my cellphone – is that Toronto has officially been hit with a Just For Laughs marketing blitz. Banners like these line the busiest downtown thoroughfares, bright green posters adorn the bus shelters, and it seems there’s no excuse for anyone not to realize that in just 3 weeks, Toronto will host the 3rd annual offshoot of the Montreal fest.
…Read more of Calendar Cleanup: Just For Laughs & Del Close Marathon
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Contrary to popular belief, I do have friends. And one of those friends, writer / improvisor / fellow Torontonian and comedy-savvy woman (yes, there’s more than one of us) Catherine McCormick, recently travelled to the breezy mountains of California for MaxFunCon, an event that scores so many cool points that it makes my treks to Just For Laughs and Del Close Marathon look like Jonas Brothers concerts.
Without further ado, I hand things over to my first-ever guest blogger to tell us what we missed out on. I’ll just be over in the corner seething with jealousy.
…Read more of How I Spent My Summer Vacation: MaxFunCon 2009
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For improv nerds, it’s a lot like Christmas. Santa came! And he brought us a complete schedule of the 11th Annual Del Close Marathon, August 14-16 in New York City!! Open it open it open it!!!
http://delclosemarathon.com/dcm11/schedule
Yes, folks, it’s as strong as the 10th anniversary. Was there ever any doubt?
The straight 72 hours of improv comedy will again take place at the festival’s home base, the UCB Theatre, as well as the Hudson Guild Theatre, Urban Stages, and the Kate Murphy Amphitheatre at FIT.
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Devoted Just For Laughs attendees are accustomed to having a nearly full schedule on their laps by the third week of May, and by now have put their Excel skills to the test and figured out a way to see absolutely everyone they want to see within their precious few days in Montreal.
But nay, Just For Laughs Chicago – that hussie of a new young festival – has taken some of the focus away from our longtime companion, who has now become a second priority. But Montreal will not be jilted like this! Nuh-uh, girlfriend. She may be in her late 20s, but she ain’t dead, and to prove it, she’s gone and had a makeover. A pretty extreme one. (Wow, hon, that’s a… big change… that’s very very blonde… I didn’t think a doctor would be willing to inject that much collagen into a bottom lip… and are those D-cups?)
…Read more of It’s mid-June; do you know where your JFL programming is?
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The Colbert Report is in the midst of taping shows in Iraq – yes, the Iraq – which will air this Monday through Thursday of this week. (Spoiler alert: he got a buzz cut.)
Since the days of Bob Hope, it’s always a huge undertaking for American entertainers to travel – with the help of the USO (http://www.uso.org/whatwedo/entertainment/) – to a war zone. Physically and emotionally, it puts them through more than most of them have ever experienced. While we’re unlikely to get much out-of-character discussion of his experiences out of Colbert, I want to direct you to the words and images of comedians who’ve recently come before him.
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I’ve done the rounds of the New York talk show audience circuit. Martha Stewart, Letterman, Conan, etc. And, as my readers know, The Daily Show.
But the best? The show I can’t get enough of live? The Colbert Report, hands down.
The show is always a joy to attend. I use the word “joy” in the strongest sense. If you’ve never experienced Stephen running around the studio like a lunatic, screwing up his lines (almost always happens once per show!), and especially answering audience questions, you’re missing out. Here’s what we learned a few weeks ago:
