Posts in category ‘Uncategorized’
Link of the day - Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior
At age 10, Steve Martin got a job selling guidebooks at the newly opened Disneyland. In the decade that followed, he worked in Disney’s magic shop, print shop, and theater, and developed his own magic/comedy act. By age 20, studying poetry and philosophy on the side, he was performing a dozen times a week, most often at the Disney rival, Knott’s Berry Farm. Obsession is a substitute for talent, he has said, and Steve Martin’s focus and daring–his sheer tenacity–are truly stunning. He writes about making the very tough decision to sacrifice everything not original in his act, and about lucking into a job writing for The Smothers Brothers Show. He writes about mentors, girlfriends, his complex relationship with his parents and sister, and about some of his great peers in comedy–Dan Ackroyd, Lorne Michaels, Carl Reiner, Johnny Carson. He writes about fear, anxiety and loneliness. And he writes about how he figured out what worked on stage. This book is a memoir, but it is also an illuminating guidebook to stand-up from one of our two or three greatest comedians. Though Martin is reticent about his personal life, he is also stunningly deft, and manages to give readers a feeling of intimacy and candor. Illustrated throughout with black and white photographs collected by Martin, this book is instantly compelling visually and a spectacularly good read.
Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life
Comedy at the Edge: How Stand-up in the 1970s Changed America
I Killed: True Stories of the Road from America’s Top Comics
Link of the day - Who Is Shawn Casey? Is He For Real?
American viewers may know him best as the British correspondent on “The Daily Show,” but John Oliver is also an accomplished stand-up comic. In his first Comedy Central special Oliver tackles the topics that perplex him about the United States. He takes well-aimed shots at the American political process and the invasion of Iraq (including how the Brits would have done it differently), and argues for reparations from the Revolutionary War.
Bill Hicks - It’s Just A Ride
Link of the day - Free $500 Sears Gift Card
Dylan Moran (born November 3, 1971) is a BAFTA and Perrier Award-winning Irish comedian, actor and writer. He is most famous for his stand up comedy, the television sitcom Black Books which he co-wrote and starred in, and his work with Simon Pegg in Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run. Moran is a regular performer at national and international comedy festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival.
Bill Hicks - It’s Just A Ride