The New Shayne-Michael.COMedy

The Comedy News For 06/30/09

Comedian Corner         How Glen Beck Got Compared To Steve Martin - 06/15/09

With comics like Adam Sandler vowing never again to grace the stand-up stage, it would only make sense that other comics would return to it after things like MadTV came to an end. The latest in that Rumor Mill, is that after his appearances on Dancing with the Stars and [the smash comedy] Dance Flick, David Allen Grier would be on that line-up to return to the sage. For Grier it begins his weekend as part of Chicago's Just for Laughs comedy festival, Grier hosted the stand-up comedy special Comedy You Can Believe In with David Alan Grier. That said: I did catch the opening episode last night. And, if this is comedy we can believe in, it's no wonder nobody believes in comedy anymore. Aries Spears was okay, the other comics leading up to him were an embarrasment.

Producer Charlie Siskel has landed two high-profile cable comedy-series. Siskel has been signed as executive producer/showrunner on Comedy Central's Important Things With Demetri Martin and has signed as an executive producer on Showtime's upcoming series starring British comedian Marc Wootton. Important Things, mixes stand-up comedy, sketches, animation and studio bits, Siskel will executive produce alongside Demetri Martin and Jon Stewart replacing Beth McCarthy-Miller, who ran the show during its first season. 2.8 million viewers tuned in for the premier of Important Things, making it Comedy Central's most-watched debut since the Chappelle Show in 2003. At Showtime, Siskel will executive produce alongside Wootton on the comedian's untitled series.

Goodbye to Ed McMahon [A side-kick defined], Michael Jackson [We kidded you with love], and Farrah Fawcett [Charlie was one lucky guy.].

Comedy Fan Corner         The News Has No Clothes

The News Has No Clothes featuring comedian Lewis Black and former White House press secretary Dana Perino, might be the next late-night television show to evolve from a stage comedy. Veteran comedy producers and masterminds of the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado are returning to the mountain resort as part of this week's Aspen Ideas Festival to try out their idea. If the stage show works, its producers hope to pitch the concept as The View meets Politically Incorrect meets That Was the Week That Was from the BBC. The first trial Thursday will feature co-hosts Perino, Black, D.L. Hughley, public radio host Kurt Andersen and Daily Show correspondent Larry Wilmore. Among the issues to be debated are the role of the news media, the economy, President Obama's performance and the culture wars.

Read Lewis Black's Full Biography.

Bill Cosby will give a solo stand-up comedy performance - his only scheduled New York appearance - on Saturday, October 17th, 2009, at 7:00 and 9:30 p.m. at Avery Fisher Hall. Cosby was the recipient of a Kennedy Center Honor in 1998, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2002, and, in October 2009, he will become the 12th Annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The previous winner was George Carlin. Cosby is known for his award-winning sitcom, numerous books, animated series and a near lifetime of stand-up comedy routines.

Read Bill Cosby's Full Biography.

Membership Corner         You Can Now Email Fans & Peers

The 1st Annual Shayne-Michael.COMedy Contest

Last week was too busy for me to add anything new into the mix. This week that will change. I hope to create the mailing list system for the people who run the open mic pages. I hope to create similar pages for comedy clubs that were created for open mics. But for those I'll be allowing you to create your own weekly calendar, an online menu and a way of taking online reservations. I will also be spicing up the pages for comedians and hopefully catching up on my own personal blog. While some competing sites may have had more news stories last week, that will be the last week they ever do. And yes, them are fighting words. Also, I'll be announcing an internet based stand-up comedy contest this weekend through this site. This contest will only be for registered members.

Comics already have email through Facebook and MySpace, so what can this site add. As you build peers, you can now target your email to your peers or your fans. Not only that, the system will actually tell you how many peers or fans have read the mail. And did I mention you can make fan requests of other registered members as easily as you make peer requests now? My goal it to create a message center that allows you to create customized mailing lists, that also allows you to target your messages to your audience by state [Why email fans in Florida about a show in you're doing New York?] and that allows you to schedule press releases for a specific time without having to press the send button at that specific time.

Comedy News              Birthdays, Deaths, DVD Releases & My DVD Reviews

Austin-Tatious is May’s fourth Comedy Central special, after the somewhat disappointing Prime Cut and Girth of a Nation. The special was taped in front of a sold-out crowd in Austin's historic Paramount Theatre. According to May, it was taped there because of how much he loves Texas. A good portion of his material is not only politically incorrect, but is built on the premise that our need to be politically incorrect, racially sensitive as we try so hard to avoid all stereotypes at all cost. And it’s not until he passes a largely forgettable bit about the Denver Airport, which might have been hilarious had I ever been there, and to this racially divisive material that May becomes the compelling comic he was in his debut special, Just Correct.

- Read The Complete Review

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