comedy

Phoebe Robinson Doesn’t Want You To Touch Her Hair, Okay?

"I can't believe I'm doing this in my life," says Phoebe Robinson on the phone from her New York apartment. In the thick of a media blitz for her new collection of essays, You Can't Touch My Hair, the multi-talented Robinson is indeed enjoying success that would make any comedy newbie (or grizzled veteran) envious.

Fat, Drunk, and Stupid: “National Lampoon” Gets the Netflix Treatment.

Doug Kenney is not as famous as Bill Murray or Chevy Chase or John Belushi, but he should be. As the visionary behind the National Lampoon magazine and radio show and the creator of Animal House and Caddyshack, Kenney helped launch their careers, as well as those of many others, laying the groundwork for modern comedy along the way. Director David Wain’s new film, A Futile and Stupid Gesture, looks to give Kenney his proper place in the comedy pantheon, as a legend whose legacy still looms large.

Warm-up comics: The funniest people never seen on TV.

Mark Sweet estimates that he’s done 4,000 episodes of television. He’s generated big laughs on The Big Bang Theory, Mom, Everybody Loves Raymond, and many, many other hit shows, but he’s never once appeared on-camera.

An Interview with Hannibal Buress. “Once I get abs, everything else will just work out.”

According to the biography on his own website, Hannibal Buress is a “mildly popular comedian.” It’s the perfect understated encapsulation of Buress, who has built a career on deadpan, canny observations, frequently about himself. On Walmart.com, you can purchase a laminated printout of a quote by Buress that reads: “Comedy is basically self-deprecation,” and he once showed up for a Late Night with Seth Meyers appearance wearing a jumpsuit with his own face on it. Then there was the time he told Chicago magazine that he had skipped kindergarten because he was reading at a high level, and then after a moment said: “That’s a weird and cocky thing to say.”

Don't hate on Aparna Nancherla's hustle.

She's just a comedian, a TV writer, a podcaster, and totally hilarious. Aparna Nancherla is really busy. Her debut comedy album, Just Putting It Out There, comes out on July 8; it's one of the first albums on Tig Notaro's record imprint, Bentzen Ball Records.