Category: Stand-Up Comics (Page 2 of 11)

Remembering Robert Schimmel

September 4, 2010 /

You hate to see anyone die before their time, but somehow it’s a little extra painful to learn that Robert Schimmel died yesterday as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. It’s bad enough that he was only 60 years old, but when you consider that he had not only survived a heart attack in 1998 but battled through Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2000 (it eventually went into remission), he’d really earned the chance to enjoy a lot more of his life, too.

Not that everything was completely rosy for the guy: earlier this year, he’d been diagnosed with cirrhosis as a result of a Hepatitis C infection from a blood transfusion that he received while in the Air Force and was on the lookout for a new liver. Still, Robert Schimmel had plenty of life and laughs left in him, so you can’t help but wish he’d had more time at the mike.

Fortunately for us, though, there’s quite a bit of his material available for your viewing pleasure, so here are a few moments to help you remember Robert fondly.

NOTE: All the parts of this special are on YouTube, so be sure to watch the whole thing. It’ll be worth your while.

External Entertainment, External TV, Stand-Up Comics

A Chat with Rob Riggle

March 4, 2010 /

Given how long Rob Riggle has been doing stand-up, it’s actually kind of funny to think that there are lot of folks who don’t even know that he does stand-up. Then again, given that he’s been on “Saturday Night Live” and “The Daily Show,” as well as in “Talledega Nights” and “The Hangover,” it’s not like you can’t understand why some people only know him for his TV and movie work. On March 5th, however, Riggle will be taking the stage once more for an episode of “Comedy Central Presents,” where he’ll be giving viewers 22 solid minutes of stand-up. I had a chance to chat with him about the special, as well as his work on “SNL,” his two and a half year stint as John Oliver’s officemate, and some of his upcoming film projects.

Bullz-Eye: Hey, Rob!

Rob Riggle: Hey, Will! How are you doing?

BE: Pretty good. Well, welcome back to the stand-up scene on Comedy Central!

RR: I know! I’m excited! Very excited…and I haven’t even seen it yet!

BE: It’s very good. I caught it on the online screening room.

RR: Oh, well, thank you. I’m glad to hear that. I’ve literally only seen a couple of clips, so that’s good. You never know how those things go, because I think I did, like, 34 minutes, and they cut it down to 22, so you’re, like, “Uh, okay, I hope it’s good.” I’ll be very interested to see what they cut!

BE: I can only presume that the 10 minutes they cut were the slowest minutes. (Laughs) So how often do you even get to do stand-up? Because you’ve certainly got plenty of acting keeping you busy.

RR: Yeah, well, actually, I’ve been very lucky with the acting, but I try to get out as often as I can…which, in my humble opinion, is not often enough. But I book gigs whenever I can, and to answer your question directly…I dunno, I’d say probably two times a month. At least right now. There was a time where I was a lot more consistent. It just depends on the work schedule, y’know? If there’s a gap, I’ll get out there and pound it out three or four times a week, but it just depends on my work schedule, that’s all.

BE: So are you forever honing material, just in case you might have a free night for a gig?

RR: Yeah, that’s the constant work, I guess. I’m constantly waking up in the middle of the night and jotting down notes, and I have a stack of notes and thoughts and premises that I am dying to explore… (Laughs) …and I hope to have the time work them out, but I just haven’t been able to get to them yet. But one of these days I will, and hopefully I’ll be able to develop a new set. That’s what everybody’s got to do.

BE: So what was the case with this Comedy Central special? Was it planned out well in advance, or did you just get a last-second phone call saying, “Hey, Rob, come on back to the family”?

RR: No, y’know, I was just very fortunate that they came and saw me do stand-up at…I think it was right there in New York, at Comics Comedy Club. I was doing a weekend there and they came down, saw me, liked what they saw, and asked if I wanted to do it. And I was flattered. I was, like, “Yeah! Count me in!” So that’s how it all came about. And, y’know, I love Comedy Central. The people over there are awesome, and I have a good relationship with them, so…it’s all good.

BE: Well, in particular, the routine during the special that hit home for me was the bit about men’s rooms in stadiums.

RR: (Laughs) Oh, how true is it, my friend?

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Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, External TV, Interviews, Movie Comedies, Movies, Saturday Night Live, Stand-Up Comics, TV, TV Comedies

Greg Giraldo: Midlife Vices

November 3, 2009 /

After dutifully earning his bones as one of the more reliable roasters at Comedy Central’s annual events (to Larry the Cable Guy: “Why are you so popular?”), Greg Giraldo finally gets his first one-hour special, and he makes it count. His take-no-prisoners approach is intact here, and in fact he saves a lot of his best bits for third rails like children (they’re fat, sickly and autistic). He does come a tad too close to a bit that popped up in Bill Burr’s act a year or so ago (the ‘I’m not a racist, but…’ routine), but he makes up for it by hammering a “sleepy Rasta” who nodded off in the third row, and by saluting a “gaggle of squawking twats” who refused to let 9/11 ruin their friend’s bachelorette party. The bonus features include the unaired pilot episode of “Adult Content,” a Comedy Central show about, well, porn. It’s a pretty decent show, though it makes sense that they would have had trouble following it up. With any luck, “Midlife Vices” will allow Giraldo to carve out a name for himself as something other than “that roast guy,” because the material here is most worthy.

Click to buy “Greg Giraldo: Midlife Vices”

Humor, Stand-Up Comics, TV, TV Comedies, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

Sam Kinison: Wild Child

October 14, 2009 /

It’s unfortunate that the curators of Sam Kinison’s catalog have limited access to his best material. This two-disc set features four performances by Kinison, though three of them were filmed in 1991, when he was selling out 5,000-seat theaters but his routine was in creative freefall. (To make matters worse, two of those routines look and sound like bootleg recordings.) The 1987 show “Breaking All the Rules” is easily the best of the bunch, with a still-hungry Kinison prowling the stage like a panther. Kinison’s playful bitterness, however, turns to pure ugliness on 1991’s “Family Entertainment Hour.” Kinison’s clearly playing to his audience’s fears here (gays), and even the bits that are supposedly for the women pander to the men at the same time. The gay bashing gets worse in the other two performances, “Outlaws of Comedy” and “Live in Las Vegas” (the bootleg shows), and even his audience appears to have had enough of it. He even had a band for two of the shows. (They were terrible.) If you want to speed-watch the set, pop in “Brother Sam,” a 2002 Playboy Channel tribute that features interviews with Kinison’s brother Bill as well as Rodney Dangerfield.

The real jewel in this set is the dress rehearsal footage, shot sometime around the “Breaking All the Rules” era. They use similar material, but Kinison seems looser here, more playful. Lastly, we must discuss the packaging, a needlessly oversized jewel case containing the two DVDs in paper sleeves. It screams of ‘the plant was having a clearance sale,’ which speaks to the overall lack of quality in the set. This is currently selling for $10 at Amazon. That sounds fair to us.

Click to buy “Sam Kinison: Wild Child”

Celebrities, Humor, Stand-Up Comics, TV, TV Comedies, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

Important Things with Demetri Martin: Season One

September 7, 2009 /

Observational humorist Demetri Martin is one of the most promising talents on the circuit today, but like most stand-up comedians who are given their own TV series, “Important Things with Demetri Martin” is but a shell of his real potential. Produced by “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, “Important Things” blends Martin’s unique stand-up routine with the more generic stylings of sketch comedy, and the end result is about as hit and miss as you’d expect. While the stand-up portions are solid thanks to the variety of his delivery (from deadpan one-liners to silly songs like “You vs. Me”), the sketches aren’t quite as good. In fact, with the exception of just about every sketch featuring Jon Benjamin (including a great bit where two guys fight over a parking spot and another involving an Olympic sport called the Passive Aggressive 800m), most of them are downright dull. Nevertheless, fans of the comic will still enjoy hearing some of his new material, and for those that feel cheated by the short season, Paramount has included a nice collection of bonus features like deleted sketches, a look at an early concept for the show, and audio commentaries by Demetri and friends.

Click to buy “Important Things with Demetri Martin: Season One”

External TV, Stand-Up Comics, TV, TV Comedies, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

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