Wesley Mead Dec 5, 2017
Looking for great stand-up on Netflix? We count down twenty-five highly recommended comedy specials on the streaming service...
In the face of ever-declining DVD sales, Netflix has quickly become the foremost place to discover new stand-up material. The streaming giant is on track to release over 50 exclusive specials in 2017 alone, signing big names (with big cheques) from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.
See related Peaky Blinders series 4: who is May Carleton? Peaky Blinders series 4 episode 3 review Peaky Blinders series 4 episode 2 review Peaky Blinders series 4 episode 1 review
There is a downside to this remarkable release schedule, though. With so many new specials out there, instantly accessible, it can sometimes feel like the smaller fish in the pond are getting short shrift. Amy Schumer, Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld have all been featured this year alone: with only so many column inches (and so much screen space) to occupy,...
Looking for great stand-up on Netflix? We count down twenty-five highly recommended comedy specials on the streaming service...
In the face of ever-declining DVD sales, Netflix has quickly become the foremost place to discover new stand-up material. The streaming giant is on track to release over 50 exclusive specials in 2017 alone, signing big names (with big cheques) from both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.
See related Peaky Blinders series 4: who is May Carleton? Peaky Blinders series 4 episode 3 review Peaky Blinders series 4 episode 2 review Peaky Blinders series 4 episode 1 review
There is a downside to this remarkable release schedule, though. With so many new specials out there, instantly accessible, it can sometimes feel like the smaller fish in the pond are getting short shrift. Amy Schumer, Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld have all been featured this year alone: with only so many column inches (and so much screen space) to occupy,...
- 11/13/2017
- Den of Geek
Red Arrow Entertainment Group, the content arm of German mass media company ProSiebenSat.1, has acquired a majority stake in independent distributor Gravitas Ventures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and all Gravitas employees will be retained. Gravitas is an indie stalwart, whose founder and CEO Nolan Gallagher has appeared on numerous lists ranking influencers in film and digital media. The company also includes executives Michael Murphy and Brendan Gallagher. Also Read: Sundance: 'Legion of Brothers' Acquired By Gravitas Ventures Notable releases include an earlier documentary about comedian Bill Hicks, a 2015 doc called “Peace Officer” which won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize.
- 11/8/2017
- by Matt Pressberg and Matt Donnelly
- The Wrap
The 40th anniversary rerelease of the director’s optimistic tale of aliens landing in America is a sweetly naive imagining of how warm the reception might be, at odds with what the genre now offers audiences
The late, great Bill Hicks had a fabulous anecdote that rather sums up the death of Apollo-era optimism. In 1989, in Fyffe, Alabama, thousands of townspeople and visitors from the surrounding area were reported to have headed out into the night to witness a strange, metallic, triangular-shaped object in the sky. Rather than greeting the first conclusive proof that we are not alone in the universe with wide-eyed awe, Hicks reports with barely concealed disbelief that a number of the townspeople brought guns to defend themselves.
Continue reading...
The late, great Bill Hicks had a fabulous anecdote that rather sums up the death of Apollo-era optimism. In 1989, in Fyffe, Alabama, thousands of townspeople and visitors from the surrounding area were reported to have headed out into the night to witness a strange, metallic, triangular-shaped object in the sky. Rather than greeting the first conclusive proof that we are not alone in the universe with wide-eyed awe, Hicks reports with barely concealed disbelief that a number of the townspeople brought guns to defend themselves.
Continue reading...
- 8/30/2017
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Maria Bamford Moore Theatre, Seattle, Wa September 16, 2016
The last decade and a half has seen an interesting shift in popular stand up comedy styles. While all styles of stand up offer at least some representatives every decade, even the unfortunate genres of prop and insult comedy, there are particularly popular styles and tones that can define a generation. All through the nineteen seventies almost up to the end of the last millennium, many of our legendary comics like Richard Pryor, George Carlin, & Bill Hicks were filled with righteous indignation, poignantly attacking society's ills in an aggressive, outward manner from their own personal perspectives. Many of today's popular comics continue to speak out against those same human and societal flaws, but the manner of attack has shifted: instead of pointing the finger of blame outward, they partially point it at themselves.
They have been labeled Alternative Comedians but are so popular...
The last decade and a half has seen an interesting shift in popular stand up comedy styles. While all styles of stand up offer at least some representatives every decade, even the unfortunate genres of prop and insult comedy, there are particularly popular styles and tones that can define a generation. All through the nineteen seventies almost up to the end of the last millennium, many of our legendary comics like Richard Pryor, George Carlin, & Bill Hicks were filled with righteous indignation, poignantly attacking society's ills in an aggressive, outward manner from their own personal perspectives. Many of today's popular comics continue to speak out against those same human and societal flaws, but the manner of attack has shifted: instead of pointing the finger of blame outward, they partially point it at themselves.
They have been labeled Alternative Comedians but are so popular...
- 10/10/2016
- by C. Jefferson Thom
- www.culturecatch.com
Andrew Blair Oct 6, 2016
What happens when one man returns to playing Dungeons & Dragons, for the first time in a decade or two?
I think it’s fair to say Dungeons And Dragons has a reputation, perpetuated by lazy comedians, of being a game for sad, lonely virgins with no social skills. In my experience, it’s played by groups of close friends, often as a pre-gaming session before going out. In the small sample of players that I know, and without wishing to be coarse, everyone is fine for that sort of thing, thanks for asking.
They are all guys though. I don’t know how typical that is, but I do know how stereotypical. I also know several D&D other halves who are planning a knitting circle, and to be honest I’m interested in joining that as well. I think with practice I could just about manage a dice bag.
What happens when one man returns to playing Dungeons & Dragons, for the first time in a decade or two?
I think it’s fair to say Dungeons And Dragons has a reputation, perpetuated by lazy comedians, of being a game for sad, lonely virgins with no social skills. In my experience, it’s played by groups of close friends, often as a pre-gaming session before going out. In the small sample of players that I know, and without wishing to be coarse, everyone is fine for that sort of thing, thanks for asking.
They are all guys though. I don’t know how typical that is, but I do know how stereotypical. I also know several D&D other halves who are planning a knitting circle, and to be honest I’m interested in joining that as well. I think with practice I could just about manage a dice bag.
- 10/5/2016
- Den of Geek
In 1989, Sam Kinison was riding high. As one of the most foul-mouthed funnymen to terrorize stages during the Golden Age of the Shock Comic, the hard-partying, beret-rocking dynamo was playing Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum and appearing on Married With Children and in Mötley Crüe's "Kickstart My Heart" video. (Rolling Stone also put him on the cover, dubbing him the "Beast of Comedy.") His gigs were part strip show, part heavy-metal concert, all primal-scream therapy. Rodney Dangerfield had championed him; Robin Williams and Howard Stern were fans. Three years later,...
- 1/15/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Denis Poroy/AP
There is a great bit by the late comedian Bill Hicks where he talks about how any star that does advertising no longer gets to call themselves an artist. His theory was that if you have the kind of money that comes with being a superstar, you really don’t need to be helping out rich people selling meaningless posessions. His language was a bit more savoury than we can use here, but if you’re interested it is definitely a bit worth checking out on YouTube because it is both hilarious and insightful.
In the west at least, it seems that a lot of celebrities take this heart. While they will all lend their visage to anyone that has money in places like Japan, a lot of the time they aren’t willing to put their face to a TV spot that is selling debt or...
There is a great bit by the late comedian Bill Hicks where he talks about how any star that does advertising no longer gets to call themselves an artist. His theory was that if you have the kind of money that comes with being a superstar, you really don’t need to be helping out rich people selling meaningless posessions. His language was a bit more savoury than we can use here, but if you’re interested it is definitely a bit worth checking out on YouTube because it is both hilarious and insightful.
In the west at least, it seems that a lot of celebrities take this heart. While they will all lend their visage to anyone that has money in places like Japan, a lot of the time they aren’t willing to put their face to a TV spot that is selling debt or...
- 1/3/2016
- by Bevan Morgan
- Obsessed with Film
The tragic downfall of artists, behind the scenes of a genocide and the war on drugs, celebrations of music and locales, a look into the political divide from multiple angles, the history of a legendary conversation on filmmaking — these were just a few of the places and stories this year’s documentary offerings brought us. With 2015 wrapping up, we’ve selected 25 features in the field that most impressed us, so check out our list below and let us know your favorites in the comments.
Amy (Asif Kapadia)
Asif Kapadia entered cinematic radars with his BAFTA-winning Senna, a terrific documentary on the life and tragic death of Formula 1 race car driver Ayrton Senna. The subject matter of his follow-up documentary doesn’t seem, at first, to be a million miles away. Amy, which screened out of competition in Cannes, follows the meteoric rise and tragic fall of the late singer Amy Winehouse.
Amy (Asif Kapadia)
Asif Kapadia entered cinematic radars with his BAFTA-winning Senna, a terrific documentary on the life and tragic death of Formula 1 race car driver Ayrton Senna. The subject matter of his follow-up documentary doesn’t seem, at first, to be a million miles away. Amy, which screened out of competition in Cannes, follows the meteoric rise and tragic fall of the late singer Amy Winehouse.
- 12/23/2015
- by TFS Staff
- The Film Stage
John Kreng is one of the most hard working actors/stuntman/fight and stunt corrdinators working in the industry today. Through his time working in the movie industry, John has worked with some of the very best which includes Jet Li, Yuen Wah, Tsui Hark, David Carradine, Steven Spielburg and many more outstanding talents.
John Kreng is also the author of the in depth book on screen fighting called Fight Choreography: The Art Of Non Verbal Dialogue, he was a cast member of The Jade Trader which went on to win the most outstanding cast performance award at the 10th Action on film, International film festival. John, also has years of Martial Arts experience behind him, dedicating his time learning many different styles and been taught by some of the very best masters from around the world (Which he will speak about in this interview).
John also worked on the...
John Kreng is also the author of the in depth book on screen fighting called Fight Choreography: The Art Of Non Verbal Dialogue, he was a cast member of The Jade Trader which went on to win the most outstanding cast performance award at the 10th Action on film, International film festival. John, also has years of Martial Arts experience behind him, dedicating his time learning many different styles and been taught by some of the very best masters from around the world (Which he will speak about in this interview).
John also worked on the...
- 12/3/2015
- by kingofkungfu
- AsianMoviePulse
The comedian also urges readers to go see “Boyhood” and “Into the Woods”
Louis Ck dropped new $5 stand-up special “Live at the Comedy Store” — his sixth (video below) — on Tuesday, and celebrated with a very lengthy, occasionally rambling email blast to fans.
Plugging his independent project, the comedian’s note discussed his history with the industry, lamented having to cancel the last of four Madison Square Garden concerts for underwhelming Winter Storm Juno and even pushed his followers to see “Boyhood” and “Into the Woods.”
Ck’s personal rep told TheWrap that there are no plans to reschedule the Msg date at the moment.
Louis Ck dropped new $5 stand-up special “Live at the Comedy Store” — his sixth (video below) — on Tuesday, and celebrated with a very lengthy, occasionally rambling email blast to fans.
Plugging his independent project, the comedian’s note discussed his history with the industry, lamented having to cancel the last of four Madison Square Garden concerts for underwhelming Winter Storm Juno and even pushed his followers to see “Boyhood” and “Into the Woods.”
Ck’s personal rep told TheWrap that there are no plans to reschedule the Msg date at the moment.
- 1/27/2015
- by Tony Maglio
- The Wrap
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Misanthropy: the general hatred, distrust or disdain for the human species or human nature. It is a rarely discussed viewpoint held by a small percentage of the population, and it is easy to see why. It is not what you would call “normal” to despise your own species, and thus not exactly the most socially acceptable. Very rarely will you find a truly vocal member of this mostly silent demographic. Unless presented in a comedic context, much like George Carlin and Bill Hicks did, people don’t want to hear how much you hate them.
Nevertheless, misanthropes are out there and it is an especially intense and intrusive viewpoint that presents its own problems. The fact is that you have to interact with people on a daily basis if you want to be a member of modern society. Seeing as how misanthropes don’t like people, this fact means...
Misanthropy: the general hatred, distrust or disdain for the human species or human nature. It is a rarely discussed viewpoint held by a small percentage of the population, and it is easy to see why. It is not what you would call “normal” to despise your own species, and thus not exactly the most socially acceptable. Very rarely will you find a truly vocal member of this mostly silent demographic. Unless presented in a comedic context, much like George Carlin and Bill Hicks did, people don’t want to hear how much you hate them.
Nevertheless, misanthropes are out there and it is an especially intense and intrusive viewpoint that presents its own problems. The fact is that you have to interact with people on a daily basis if you want to be a member of modern society. Seeing as how misanthropes don’t like people, this fact means...
- 10/4/2014
- by Brandon Jacobs
- Obsessed with Film
For nearly three decades, Montreal's Just for Laughs Festival has been the annual marquee event in the comedy world, as every comedian who has ever hit it big once paid their dues at the Quebec fest. Comic greats like Chris Rock, Bill Hicks and Mitch Hedburg all clutched the mic and delivered a stand up routine early in their careers at Jfl, and now, for the first time, those performances and hundreds more will available to the masses thanks to Just for Laughs' new YouTube channel, the Av Club reports.
- 9/18/2014
- Rollingstone.com
TriStar Pictures
Film promotion and movie marketing is a necessary evil in the competitive contemporary landscape – for the audience it’s something of a double edged sword, enticing us into the hype surrounding upcoming blockbusters yet at the same time often ending in disappointment, as the teasers and hints we get pre-release are not matched by the quality of the final product.
But as much as it might be nice to do away with marketing altogether – and all the crass deceptions and little white lies which go with it – marketing is here to stay, and we can’t really blame them when they deliver an ingenious campaign which ultimately amounts to polishing a turd. Many movies live and die by their marketing campaign, often to the point where the merits of the film itself – for instance the glaring question we should all ask: is it any good? – get lost in...
Film promotion and movie marketing is a necessary evil in the competitive contemporary landscape – for the audience it’s something of a double edged sword, enticing us into the hype surrounding upcoming blockbusters yet at the same time often ending in disappointment, as the teasers and hints we get pre-release are not matched by the quality of the final product.
But as much as it might be nice to do away with marketing altogether – and all the crass deceptions and little white lies which go with it – marketing is here to stay, and we can’t really blame them when they deliver an ingenious campaign which ultimately amounts to polishing a turd. Many movies live and die by their marketing campaign, often to the point where the merits of the film itself – for instance the glaring question we should all ask: is it any good? – get lost in...
- 5/15/2014
- by Andrew Dilks
- Obsessed with Film
Bill Hicks died twenty years ago today, February 26, 1994. Most comic book fans know him from his appearance in Preacher #31, by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon:
Here’s the man at work, in a segment that David Letterman removed from his show:
This was his final statement:
February 7, 1994 –
I was born William Melvin Hicks on December 16, 1961 in Valdosta, Georgia. Ugh. Melvin Hicks from Georgia. Yee Har! I already had gotten off to life on the wrong foot. I was always “awake,” I guess you’d say. Some part of me clamoring for new insights and new ways to make the world a better place.
All of this came out years down the line, in my multitude of creative interests that are the tools I now bring to the Party. Writing, acting, music, comedy. A deep love of literature and books. Thank God for all the artists who’ve helped me.
Here’s the man at work, in a segment that David Letterman removed from his show:
This was his final statement:
February 7, 1994 –
I was born William Melvin Hicks on December 16, 1961 in Valdosta, Georgia. Ugh. Melvin Hicks from Georgia. Yee Har! I already had gotten off to life on the wrong foot. I was always “awake,” I guess you’d say. Some part of me clamoring for new insights and new ways to make the world a better place.
All of this came out years down the line, in my multitude of creative interests that are the tools I now bring to the Party. Writing, acting, music, comedy. A deep love of literature and books. Thank God for all the artists who’ve helped me.
- 2/26/2014
- by Glenn Hauman
- Comicmix.com
When it comes to biopics about stand-up comedians, there are only a few that would actually make any sense, and Richard Pryor stands to be the most sensible option. (Though Bill Hicks is right behind him, trying to not catch on fire.) But just because it makes sense doesn.t mean it.s an easy task. The long-gestating Pryor pic gained ground some months back once Forest Whitaker attached himself as a producer, and now The Weinstein Company may have found just the high profile director they want in Lee Daniels, who is currently in talks to take over what will assumedly be titled Lee Daniels. The Richard Pryor. The Weinsteins were behind Lee Daniels. The Butler, fighting for it during that awkward legal suit over the film.s title. Allowing the heavy hand of Daniels to handle the tumultuous events in Pryor.s life is seemingly controversial in and...
- 1/10/2014
- cinemablend.com
Bill Cosby is one of the comedy greats. His name is mentioned along with the likes of Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Hicks, and the rest, and deservedly so. The man has forgotten more about comedy than you or I will likely ever know. His latest stand-up special, Bill Cosby…Far From Finished, also happens to be his first in 30 years and one thing is clear: he’s still got it, for the most part. It might not be as uproarious, sharp, on-point as he used to be, but then again, it’s a very different comedy special than what he did in the past, at least in tone. Maybe it has something to do with how he remains sitting the entire time (a decision that itself works as the special’s opening joke) instead of moving about here and there, or maybe it’s the change in pace of...
- 1/1/2014
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
Artistic integrity is a funny thing. It can take a lifetime to build, but less than 30 seconds to destroy. The late, great Bill Hicks once said the following when talking about the dangers of celebrities endorsing all manner of products:
“Here’s the deal folks. You do a commercial and you’re off the artistic roll call forever and that goes for everyone. End of story. You’re another corporate f*cking shill, you’re another whore at the capitalist gang-bang. And if you do a commercial, there’s a price on your head… everything you say, every word out of your mouth, is suspect…”
As we’re all sitting at home burning our energy bills to stay warm this winter in the grip of a financial recession that just won’t go away, no one would begrudge an older actor who has fallen on hard times trying to make...
“Here’s the deal folks. You do a commercial and you’re off the artistic roll call forever and that goes for everyone. End of story. You’re another corporate f*cking shill, you’re another whore at the capitalist gang-bang. And if you do a commercial, there’s a price on your head… everything you say, every word out of your mouth, is suspect…”
As we’re all sitting at home burning our energy bills to stay warm this winter in the grip of a financial recession that just won’t go away, no one would begrudge an older actor who has fallen on hard times trying to make...
- 11/6/2013
- by Kristopher Powell
- Obsessed with Film
The assassination of JFK and the conspiracy theories that followed have proved irresistible to writers and artists, from Oliver Stone to Stephen King
• Mark Lawson on the 10 best books inspired by JFK
The grassy knoll. The book depository. Any further description of the location is superfluous. We know where we are, and when. Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963: the scene of the assassination of President John F Kennedy. History assumes mythic proportions when its very familiarity requires no further explanation or scene-setting; when it provides instead a well-signposted point of departure for artistic creativity. The matter of Dallas has been as resonant in the fiction and film of the past half century as the story of the Trojan war was in the literature of classical antiquity. Only Hitler and the Nazis rival its influence on the modern imagination.
Yet the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination will not be marked by consensus.
• Mark Lawson on the 10 best books inspired by JFK
The grassy knoll. The book depository. Any further description of the location is superfluous. We know where we are, and when. Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas on 22 November 1963: the scene of the assassination of President John F Kennedy. History assumes mythic proportions when its very familiarity requires no further explanation or scene-setting; when it provides instead a well-signposted point of departure for artistic creativity. The matter of Dallas has been as resonant in the fiction and film of the past half century as the story of the Trojan war was in the literature of classical antiquity. Only Hitler and the Nazis rival its influence on the modern imagination.
Yet the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination will not be marked by consensus.
- 11/2/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Conan. Fallon. Ferguson. Hall. Kimmel. Leno. Letterman. Do we really need another voice in late night? Pete Holmes says yes, which is convenient, since starting tonight he'll have his own show following Conan on TBS. Those familiar with Holmes through his You Made It Weird podcast know that his penchant for the over share could provide a much-needed kick in the pants to the variety format. But is America ready for that? Rolling Stone provided Holmes with a "safe place" to chat about the late-night wars, his plans to lure...
- 10/28/2013
- Rollingstone.com
Pete Holmes believes the key to comedy, for him anyway, lies in being real. He’s fond of a quote from fellow comic, the late Bill Hicks, who said, “If you can be yourself on stage nobody else can be you and you have the law of supply and demand covered.” So you won’t hear the 34-year-old comic telling fake stories about crazy cab rides or made-up relatives during his monologues on The Pete Holmes Show, which premieres Oct. 28 on TBS right after Conan. No, the affable funnyman prefers to be himself, and he brought that honesty when he answered […]
The post 7 Questions With … Pete Holmes of TBS’ “The Pete Holmes Show” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
The post 7 Questions With … Pete Holmes of TBS’ “The Pete Holmes Show” appeared first on Channel Guide Magazine.
- 10/17/2013
- by Stacey Harrison
- ChannelGuideMag
I was lucky enough to see Sam Kinison work several times. It's one thing to see someone's comedy special on TV or to listen to an album by them, and I certainly absorbed his work in whatever way it was available, but seeing a comic live, especially over several different nights with a wide variety of audiences is essential if you really want to understand who they are as an artist. I'm not surprised by talk of a Kinison biopic. It seems inevitable at some point, just like the Bill Hicks movie I'm sure we'll also get from someone at some...
- 8/5/2013
- by Drew McWeeny
- Hitfix
Prolific Tweeter Russell Crowe is in talks to do double duty as both the star and first-time director of "The Water Diviner," reports Deadline.
The period drama tells the story of a dad on the hunt for his sons, two soldiers who've disappeared after fighting for the Allied forces in Gallipoli during Wwi. Like Crowe, his character is Australian, so filming will take place down under and in Turkey, where the battle of Gallipoli was fought.
Crowe's been looking for a directorial gig for a while, and even confirmed last year that he was attached to direct a biopic about the late Bill Hicks. He was also "seriously considering" starring in and directing "77," as well as "The Long Green Shore" and a feature about a surf gang called the Bra Boys. (Crowe narrated a documentary about the gang, and his wife reportedly wasn't too thrilled about him becoming more involved.
The period drama tells the story of a dad on the hunt for his sons, two soldiers who've disappeared after fighting for the Allied forces in Gallipoli during Wwi. Like Crowe, his character is Australian, so filming will take place down under and in Turkey, where the battle of Gallipoli was fought.
Crowe's been looking for a directorial gig for a while, and even confirmed last year that he was attached to direct a biopic about the late Bill Hicks. He was also "seriously considering" starring in and directing "77," as well as "The Long Green Shore" and a feature about a surf gang called the Bra Boys. (Crowe narrated a documentary about the gang, and his wife reportedly wasn't too thrilled about him becoming more involved.
- 6/19/2013
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Right now you can see Russell Crowe in action as Jor-El, father of the last son of Krypton in Man of Steel, but soon enough the Australian actor will take post behind the camera. Deadline has word that Crowe is currently in talks to make his directorial debut with The Water Diviner, a period drama scripted by Australian television writing duo Andrew Knight and Andrew Anastasios. The story follows an Australian patriarch who journeys to Turkey in order to find his two sons who went missing aft the battle of Gallipoli in 1919. However, Crowe will not stay behind the camera as he is also looking to star in the drama. Read on! Crowe has been trying to direct for years now, but never finalized a project. Some of those projects include a biopic on comedian Bill Hicks and a crime thriller called 77 that would follow the unsolved murder of an Lapd officer,...
- 6/18/2013
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Sam Bain lifts the lid on 'painful' decision to turn down HBO series, Three Men in a Boat stars enter choppy waters – and Britain's smelliest-looking celebrity
This week's comedy news
Laughing Stock this week brings you news, not of something that's happened in the world of comedy, but something that didn't. According to an interview with Peep Show creator Sam Bain on the Stateside podcast A Bit of a Chat, Bain and his writing partner Jesse Armstrong "were about a week away from flying to La to co-create Flight of the Conchords, and then Peep Show got recommissioned and we couldn't go".
Bain and Armstrong had agreed to make the HBO series with Conchords stars Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement – "[although] we didn't know it was gonna be as good as it was," Bain told interviewer Ken Plume. (It turned out – with the Conchords' eventual co-writer James Bobin – to be very good indeed.
This week's comedy news
Laughing Stock this week brings you news, not of something that's happened in the world of comedy, but something that didn't. According to an interview with Peep Show creator Sam Bain on the Stateside podcast A Bit of a Chat, Bain and his writing partner Jesse Armstrong "were about a week away from flying to La to co-create Flight of the Conchords, and then Peep Show got recommissioned and we couldn't go".
Bain and Armstrong had agreed to make the HBO series with Conchords stars Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement – "[although] we didn't know it was gonna be as good as it was," Bain told interviewer Ken Plume. (It turned out – with the Conchords' eventual co-writer James Bobin – to be very good indeed.
- 5/22/2013
- by Brian Logan
- The Guardian - Film News
Deaths threats to comedian prompt calls for nationalists to raise the tone. Plus, Fringe gets new venue and Trump takes revenge
This week's comedy news
And this week – a comedian influences the future survival of the British state. Standup Susan Calman has been drawn into a row surrounding the conduct of the campaign for Scottish independence, after she was attacked online after joking on Radio 4's News Quiz about the nationalist cause.
"After the show was broadcast," Calman wrote on her blog, "I was accused of betraying my country, of being racist towards my own people and of being a cunt." Fellow comics including Rory Bremner leaped to Calman's defence, as the Scotsman newspaper picked up on and ran with Calman's reference to "name-calling, swearing and death threats". To cap it all, the shadow foreign secretary and Unionist tub-thumper Douglas Alexander hijacked the row to berate the independence camp for lowering the debate's tone.
This week's comedy news
And this week – a comedian influences the future survival of the British state. Standup Susan Calman has been drawn into a row surrounding the conduct of the campaign for Scottish independence, after she was attacked online after joking on Radio 4's News Quiz about the nationalist cause.
"After the show was broadcast," Calman wrote on her blog, "I was accused of betraying my country, of being racist towards my own people and of being a cunt." Fellow comics including Rory Bremner leaped to Calman's defence, as the Scotsman newspaper picked up on and ran with Calman's reference to "name-calling, swearing and death threats". To cap it all, the shadow foreign secretary and Unionist tub-thumper Douglas Alexander hijacked the row to berate the independence camp for lowering the debate's tone.
- 5/7/2013
- by Brian Logan
- The Guardian - Film News
A comic's job is to use humor to elevate, like wrapping delicious bacon around the medicine, a joke can make people laugh and think, and the education process begins. Great comics do this. Ask critics and fans of the late Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Sam Kinison. Now female comic, Joan Rivers, whose recent Holocaust joke has caused a shitstorm in the media, is under fire to retract her commentary. On the Feb 28 edition of Hln.s Showbiz Tonight Joan Rivers let host A.J. Hammer know that she won't apologize for Holocaust joke she made on Monday.s E!.s .Fashion Police.. Joan was talking about Heidi Klum.s revealing Oscar dress when she joked: .The last time a German looked this...
- 3/1/2013
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
"People in the United Kingdom and outside the United States share my bemusement with the United States that America doesn't share with itself." – Bill Hicks
Greetings from the apocalypse, and welcome to an extra-long, extra-fun Presidents Day weekend that does not involve Bill Clinton. (Actually, it does, but I can't resist a good penis joke.) Enjoy the festivities, and if George W. Bush asks why he didn't get an invite to the BBQ just tell him it must have gotten lost in the mail. If he still won't shut up about it just tell him to go paint another picture of his bathroom.
Friday, February 15
O John McClane, where art thou? Having watched all four prior flicks in the "Die Hard" canon this week, I am saddened to hear that this might be a bad weekend for "A Good Day to Die Hard." The Rotten Tomatoes scoreboard has this puppy...
Greetings from the apocalypse, and welcome to an extra-long, extra-fun Presidents Day weekend that does not involve Bill Clinton. (Actually, it does, but I can't resist a good penis joke.) Enjoy the festivities, and if George W. Bush asks why he didn't get an invite to the BBQ just tell him it must have gotten lost in the mail. If he still won't shut up about it just tell him to go paint another picture of his bathroom.
Friday, February 15
O John McClane, where art thou? Having watched all four prior flicks in the "Die Hard" canon this week, I am saddened to hear that this might be a bad weekend for "A Good Day to Die Hard." The Rotten Tomatoes scoreboard has this puppy...
- 2/15/2013
- by Max Evry
- NextMovie
Feature Louisa Mellor Jan 22, 2013
Louis Ck’s eclectic, funny, honest series Louie finally starts in the UK tonight. Here’s why it’s worth your time…
In 2010, stand-up and comedy writer Louis Ck told FX head John Landgraf that he didn’t want to be Charlie Sheen. This was in the pre-tiger blood days, when Sheen was the face of mainstream Us TV comedy and drawing $1.8million per episode of CBS’ Two and a Half Men. At that time, Ck was being wooed by the major networks and having $400 grand personal pay cheques waved under his nose to come up with a sitcom pilot.
The deal Ck reached with FX was for half that amount, a sum that wasn’t just to cover his fee, but the costs of the entire production: cast, crew, sets, helicopter stunts… the whole shebang. Ck’s proviso? He be given the money and left...
Louis Ck’s eclectic, funny, honest series Louie finally starts in the UK tonight. Here’s why it’s worth your time…
In 2010, stand-up and comedy writer Louis Ck told FX head John Landgraf that he didn’t want to be Charlie Sheen. This was in the pre-tiger blood days, when Sheen was the face of mainstream Us TV comedy and drawing $1.8million per episode of CBS’ Two and a Half Men. At that time, Ck was being wooed by the major networks and having $400 grand personal pay cheques waved under his nose to come up with a sitcom pilot.
The deal Ck reached with FX was for half that amount, a sum that wasn’t just to cover his fee, but the costs of the entire production: cast, crew, sets, helicopter stunts… the whole shebang. Ck’s proviso? He be given the money and left...
- 1/22/2013
- by louisamellor
- Den of Geek
On December 14, 2012, a young man named Adam Lanza broke into a primary school and fatally shot 26 people in the small village of Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Twenty of them were children, aged 6 or 7. On that day, no matter where I went or what I did, I couldn’t stop thinking about the tragedy of that event, the inhumanity of it. Evidently, I wasn’t the only one.
Ann Coulter, the incendiary pundit and bellicose mouthpiece for America’s most radical right wing, said this on her Twitter account, just hours after the tragedy in Connecticut: “Only one policy has ever been shown to deter mass murder: concealed-carry laws”.
Amongst many things, what she said got me thinking about gun violence in Canada. Earlier this year in Toronto, where I live, a gunman shot and killed two men at the Eaton Centre shopping mall, injuring five innocent bystander in the process. In...
Ann Coulter, the incendiary pundit and bellicose mouthpiece for America’s most radical right wing, said this on her Twitter account, just hours after the tragedy in Connecticut: “Only one policy has ever been shown to deter mass murder: concealed-carry laws”.
Amongst many things, what she said got me thinking about gun violence in Canada. Earlier this year in Toronto, where I live, a gunman shot and killed two men at the Eaton Centre shopping mall, injuring five innocent bystander in the process. In...
- 12/28/2012
- by Justin Li
- SoundOnSight
The Screen Producers Association of Australia has confirmed documentary maker Matt Harlock and multi-screen expert Steve Peters of Emmy Award winning Fourth Wall Studios will address the Spaa Conference on how they’re focusing on the future’s new ways of broadcast, creation of audiences and distribution models through the “Beyond Rear Vision Thinking” plenary session.
Spaa Conference takes place at Melbourne’s Docklands from 12-15 November.
The announcement:
The Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) has confirmed two further international guest speakers for their annual Conference running 12 to 15 November at Central Pier Docklands in Melbourne: British filmmaker of award-winning documentary, American: The Bill Hicks Story, Matt Harlock, and founding partner of No Mimes Media, Steve Peters of the Emmy Award-winning Fourth Wall Studios.
UK based Harlock together with his partner, Paul Thomas, produced the feature length documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story, which was a huge commercial success. The...
Spaa Conference takes place at Melbourne’s Docklands from 12-15 November.
The announcement:
The Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) has confirmed two further international guest speakers for their annual Conference running 12 to 15 November at Central Pier Docklands in Melbourne: British filmmaker of award-winning documentary, American: The Bill Hicks Story, Matt Harlock, and founding partner of No Mimes Media, Steve Peters of the Emmy Award-winning Fourth Wall Studios.
UK based Harlock together with his partner, Paul Thomas, produced the feature length documentary American: The Bill Hicks Story, which was a huge commercial success. The...
- 11/5/2012
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Fifteen years of hard work and evolution have created an apparently effortless honesty that is fluent and heartfelt. Louis Ck is the voice of resignation
Title: Shameless
Date: 2007
The set up: Standup comedy looks like the slacker's art. No training, no props and, occasionally, no preparation seem to be required to go up on stage and make audiences laugh. And no one better embodies slacker comedy than Louis Ck, the irritable overweight Mexican-Bostonian middle-aged divorcee who appears to have scarcely changed his black T-shirt since the 1990s.
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view clip
In truth, of course, Ck (whose real name is Louis Szekely) has worked immensely hard to bring his casually heartfelt style of observation to the world. After starting out in the 1980s, he quickly settled into a rut on the circuit and in the talkshows, which he stayed in for 15 years. Finally, on the advice of George Carlin,...
Title: Shameless
Date: 2007
The set up: Standup comedy looks like the slacker's art. No training, no props and, occasionally, no preparation seem to be required to go up on stage and make audiences laugh. And no one better embodies slacker comedy than Louis Ck, the irritable overweight Mexican-Bostonian middle-aged divorcee who appears to have scarcely changed his black T-shirt since the 1990s.
Reading this on mobile? Click here to view clip
In truth, of course, Ck (whose real name is Louis Szekely) has worked immensely hard to bring his casually heartfelt style of observation to the world. After starting out in the 1980s, he quickly settled into a rut on the circuit and in the talkshows, which he stayed in for 15 years. Finally, on the advice of George Carlin,...
- 9/19/2012
- by Leo Benedictus
- The Guardian - Film News
Comedian Frankie Boyle's gloves-off style leaves many people disgusted – but is he simply being honest about what many of us think?
Title: Frankie Boyle - Live
Date: 2008
The setup: Frankie Boyle takes comedy about as low as it can go. His baiting of taboos is not the problem – jokes about rape, cancer, paedophilia and so forth are now as commonplace as the ones about Irishmen and mothers-in-law used to be. The problem, rather, is that Boyle gets personal.
This show, his first live DVD, includes jokes about Lewis Hamilton's brother having cerebral palsy, the children's television presenter Mark Speight killing himself, and the schoolgirl Shannon Matthews being kidnapped and imprisoned. "The ugly ones always turn up alive," is his remark on that. You may be appalled, or you might laugh. Both emotions are visible in the crowd, and you can some people's faces wrestling with them too. What's...
Title: Frankie Boyle - Live
Date: 2008
The setup: Frankie Boyle takes comedy about as low as it can go. His baiting of taboos is not the problem – jokes about rape, cancer, paedophilia and so forth are now as commonplace as the ones about Irishmen and mothers-in-law used to be. The problem, rather, is that Boyle gets personal.
This show, his first live DVD, includes jokes about Lewis Hamilton's brother having cerebral palsy, the children's television presenter Mark Speight killing himself, and the schoolgirl Shannon Matthews being kidnapped and imprisoned. "The ugly ones always turn up alive," is his remark on that. You may be appalled, or you might laugh. Both emotions are visible in the crowd, and you can some people's faces wrestling with them too. What's...
- 8/23/2012
- by Leo Benedictus
- The Guardian - Film News
What does it take to build an ark big enough to hold two of every animal? A sharp mind, a sturdy set of hands… and, apparently, a rugged coat made of leather and burlap.
Paramount has just released the first photo of Russell Crowe as the titular character in Noah, Darren Aronofsky’s adaptation of the Old Testament’s soggiest story. (Missed it by that much, Jonah.) The Oscar winner and his worried squint seem like a natural fit for a tale of Biblical proportions — though his getup seems more appropriate for temperate Sherwood Forest than scorching Mesopotamia. Click through...
Paramount has just released the first photo of Russell Crowe as the titular character in Noah, Darren Aronofsky’s adaptation of the Old Testament’s soggiest story. (Missed it by that much, Jonah.) The Oscar winner and his worried squint seem like a natural fit for a tale of Biblical proportions — though his getup seems more appropriate for temperate Sherwood Forest than scorching Mesopotamia. Click through...
- 8/10/2012
- by Hillary Busis
- EW - Inside Movies
The 'spirit of the fringe' is pitted against capitalism as awards director dismisses standup's complaints about commercialisation of Edinburgh comedy
Best of this week's news
Halfway through week one of the fringe, and the big story is – well, pretty much the same as last week's big story. Stewart Lee's broadside against the commercialisation of Edinburgh comedy (see below) set the agenda for the opening days of festival 2012, with Edinburgh comedy award director Nica Burns responding to it in her annual pep talk at the weekend. Burns dismissed Lee's grumble as part of "a bit of competition to create controversy", and set against his claims the argument that free shows are now as important to the fringe as ticketed events. Free events now number more than 800 in the fringe programme, compared with 177 free shows in 2006.
Elsewhere in Edinburgh, the promoter who last week had her charity comedy gig pulled at...
Best of this week's news
Halfway through week one of the fringe, and the big story is – well, pretty much the same as last week's big story. Stewart Lee's broadside against the commercialisation of Edinburgh comedy (see below) set the agenda for the opening days of festival 2012, with Edinburgh comedy award director Nica Burns responding to it in her annual pep talk at the weekend. Burns dismissed Lee's grumble as part of "a bit of competition to create controversy", and set against his claims the argument that free shows are now as important to the fringe as ticketed events. Free events now number more than 800 in the fringe programme, compared with 177 free shows in 2006.
Elsewhere in Edinburgh, the promoter who last week had her charity comedy gig pulled at...
- 8/9/2012
- by Brian Logan
- The Guardian - Film News
Mark Staufer's ebook/app project will blend video, audio, images and text on iPhone, iPad, Android and other devices
Screenwriter Mark Staufer has hit his $75k target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter for a project called The Numinous Place, which will be released as an ebook and app for iPhone, iPad, Android and e-reader devices, as well as computers.
With a few hours still to go, the project reached its funding goal through just 158 backers, although they included actor Russell Crowe, who pledged $25k. Staufer and Crowe both grew up in New Zealand, and have been working together on a biopic of comedian Bill Hicks.
Staufer is the creator of the project, and will be working with British digital agency Brandwidth to publish it. Their ambitions are high, judging by their Kickstarter pitch:
"The Numinous Place has the visual impact of a Hollywood blockbuster, and the pace, depth and intrigue...
Screenwriter Mark Staufer has hit his $75k target on crowdfunding site Kickstarter for a project called The Numinous Place, which will be released as an ebook and app for iPhone, iPad, Android and e-reader devices, as well as computers.
With a few hours still to go, the project reached its funding goal through just 158 backers, although they included actor Russell Crowe, who pledged $25k. Staufer and Crowe both grew up in New Zealand, and have been working together on a biopic of comedian Bill Hicks.
Staufer is the creator of the project, and will be working with British digital agency Brandwidth to publish it. Their ambitions are high, judging by their Kickstarter pitch:
"The Numinous Place has the visual impact of a Hollywood blockbuster, and the pace, depth and intrigue...
- 8/9/2012
- by Stuart Dredge
- The Guardian - Film News
…their eyes are so close together, the left eye is in the right socket and the right eye is in the left socket… - Bill Hicks
That is the usual image that the mind conjures when you try to picture your average Republican party supporter, that and someone who is extremely rich and out of step with the struggles of daily life. Who else would vote for a party where its vast majority of members believe that creationism should be taught in schools, universal health care is a bad thing and that gays shouldn’t be allowed to marry.
They also seem to be obsessed with other peoples sex lives. During the recent race to see who would be the the Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum who was hoping to picked came out with statements like to show us he was still stuck in the 1950′s;
”One of the things I will talk about,...
That is the usual image that the mind conjures when you try to picture your average Republican party supporter, that and someone who is extremely rich and out of step with the struggles of daily life. Who else would vote for a party where its vast majority of members believe that creationism should be taught in schools, universal health care is a bad thing and that gays shouldn’t be allowed to marry.
They also seem to be obsessed with other peoples sex lives. During the recent race to see who would be the the Republican presidential candidate, Rick Santorum who was hoping to picked came out with statements like to show us he was still stuck in the 1950′s;
”One of the things I will talk about,...
- 8/7/2012
- by Amarpal Biring
- Obsessed with Film
A new transmedia project called 'The Numinous Place' is trying to raise money on Kickstarter. It already has one famous backer: the actor Russell Crowe, who has apparently invested $25,000 in the project.
It's the brainchild of Mark Staufer, an old friend of Crowe's and the screenwriter of the forthcoming movie directed by Crowe about comedian Bill Hicks, "Love, Laughter, Truth."
Originally from New Zealand, Staufer now lives in Los Angeles, and describes this project, which he's been working on for four years, as "a new way of storytelling."
"We'll be using video, audio, fake security camera footage, fake newspapers - all of this will have more of a visceral impact than words on a page. If you're presenting evidence that looks and smells and feels real, then the readers are going to believe it."
The narrative is a "cosmic detective story," and it will center around a multi-platform ebook app...
It's the brainchild of Mark Staufer, an old friend of Crowe's and the screenwriter of the forthcoming movie directed by Crowe about comedian Bill Hicks, "Love, Laughter, Truth."
Originally from New Zealand, Staufer now lives in Los Angeles, and describes this project, which he's been working on for four years, as "a new way of storytelling."
"We'll be using video, audio, fake security camera footage, fake newspapers - all of this will have more of a visceral impact than words on a page. If you're presenting evidence that looks and smells and feels real, then the readers are going to believe it."
The narrative is a "cosmic detective story," and it will center around a multi-platform ebook app...
- 8/7/2012
- by Andrew Losowsky
- Huffington Post
Ron Howard's quest to birth his bold vision for Stephen King's career-spanning series The Dark Tower — Howard wants three films with two television seasons filling the gaps — is starting to feel as long as the eight books themselves. Last we'd seen, Warner Bros. was considering picking it up after Universal said "thanks but no." Now Warner has received a new script from Akiva Goldsman (A Time to Kill, I Am Legend) for the first part, and the studio should decide within two weeks whether to move forward. Potentially decisive: the recruiting of Russell Crowe, who worked with Goldsman and Howard on A Beautiful Mind and would replace newly departed Javier Bardem as gunslinger Roland Deschain."If Crowe stepped up as the gunslinger, it would certainly help the project," Deadline writes, although it's fair to wonder how Crowe would manage the massive undertaking, considering his starring role in Darren Aronofsky...
- 8/3/2012
- by Zach Dionne
- Vulture
Stanhope claims he's come to roast our pieties on a spit, and delights in his own nasty truths – but there are ideas behind the offensiveness
Title: Deadbeat Hero
Date: 2004
The set-up: What is standup comedy for? Doug Stanhope has prowled around that question for over 20 years. Certainly he's funny, sometimes, but he also brings a mission to the stage – maybe to promote his politics (individualist anarchism, roughly), or maybe just to make himself feel better. If it's the latter, it clearly doesn't work.
Despite his boyish manner, he has the reputation of a transgressive preacher-man, come to roast our pieties on spits. He drinks, he smokes, he belches on stage – he has even taken ecstasy on stage – and he delights in introducing audiences to truths so nasty they must either have their minds expanded, or walk away. "When I go on stage, it's like I'm leading you into battle," he...
Title: Deadbeat Hero
Date: 2004
The set-up: What is standup comedy for? Doug Stanhope has prowled around that question for over 20 years. Certainly he's funny, sometimes, but he also brings a mission to the stage – maybe to promote his politics (individualist anarchism, roughly), or maybe just to make himself feel better. If it's the latter, it clearly doesn't work.
Despite his boyish manner, he has the reputation of a transgressive preacher-man, come to roast our pieties on spits. He drinks, he smokes, he belches on stage – he has even taken ecstasy on stage – and he delights in introducing audiences to truths so nasty they must either have their minds expanded, or walk away. "When I go on stage, it's like I'm leading you into battle," he...
- 8/2/2012
- by Leo Benedictus
- The Guardian - Film News
All the way back in 2008 there was talks that Oscar-winner Russell Crowe would star in a biopic about legendary comedian Bill Hicks. In the years since we haven't heard anything else about the project, but apparently now Crowe has decided to step out from in front of the camera and has instead chosen to stand behind it. Australia's Daily Telegraph has learned that Crowe is set to make his feature directorial debut with a biopic about Hicks. Crowe isn't completely without experience as a director, as he previously directed two concert films that centered on his band 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts (the docs were titled 60 Odd Hours in Italy and Texas). Most recently, however, he signed on to helm a segment of Sydney Unplugged, which is a Paris, Je Taime-type movie where filmmakers create short films that express their love of a particular city. Hicks, who died at the age...
- 7/25/2012
- cinemablend.com
Russell Crowe has been talking about making a Bill Hicks movie for almost five years. In fact, the chatter has gone on long enough that the 48-year-old Crowe may have aged himself out of the starring role as the politically provocative comic, who died of pancreatic cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. Crowe seems to acknowledge that fact, according to a report in the Sydney Telegraph, but he’s still intent on bringing Hicks’ life to the screen — as the film’s director. Writer Mark Staufer told the Telegraph his script is slated to go in to production “early next year,...
- 7/24/2012
- by Jeff Labrecque
- EW.com - PopWatch
1.) Producer Frank Marshall revealed the progress for a fifth Indiana Jones movie in a recent interview. "As far as I know he's not writing a fifth Indy," he said, which contradicts previous quotes from both Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford. "I think he's thinking about ideas but he's certainly not writing one," he continued. It sounds like they'd like to do one but he's waiting to come up with a good story before he commits to writing a screenplay, which makes sense because Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was chock-full of good ideas. He was much more positive when asked about Jurassic Park IV, however. "It's got new life. I can tell you that it's moving forward." He also debunked the rumor that the film would center on government-developed weaponized dinosaurs. [Crave] 2.) J.J. Abrams has begun developing a sci-fi pic called Collider with Edgar Wright attached to direct and co-write with...
- 7/24/2012
- by Kevin Blumeyer
- Rope of Silicon
Despite apparent rumors to the contrary dating back to 2008, Oscar-winning Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind actor (and not-so-acclaimed musician, Olympic telephone thrower and courageous tugboat captain) Russell Crowe will be directing but not starring in the planned biopic of Bill Hicks, the massively influential stand-up comic and social critic who passed away in 1994 at 32.
| Related… Casting News: Hopkins To Get Biblical With Russell Crowe |
"Bill Hicks' life is tragically short, but spectacularly interesting," said Crowe's and attached screenwriter Mark Staufer, speaking with The Guardian. "The screenplay has gone through a number of drafts and we’ll go into production early next year. It is a huge role for someone, made all the more special, or downright scary, by the fact that the director's an Oscar-winning actor like Russell."
Production is purportedly scheduled to kick off next year. No word on why Crowe has passed on the lead role—I mean,...
| Related… Casting News: Hopkins To Get Biblical With Russell Crowe |
"Bill Hicks' life is tragically short, but spectacularly interesting," said Crowe's and attached screenwriter Mark Staufer, speaking with The Guardian. "The screenplay has gone through a number of drafts and we’ll go into production early next year. It is a huge role for someone, made all the more special, or downright scary, by the fact that the director's an Oscar-winning actor like Russell."
Production is purportedly scheduled to kick off next year. No word on why Crowe has passed on the lead role—I mean,...
- 7/24/2012
- by Brett Warner
- Filmology
Gervais collaborator gets his own TV pilot, Pegg's Comic-Con costume fetish causes offence, and Russell Brand wants to be a vicar ... so it seems
Best of the week's news
Stephen Merchant is working on his own TV project – his first outside of his partnership with Ricky Gervais. The lanky star is to write and appear in a pilot entitled Hello Ladies, based on his 2011 standup tour of the same name. The pilot – like the standup show – will focus on Merchant's supposed cackhandedness with the opposite sex, and will shoot later this year, according to Deadline. Merchant (who will also executive produce) has written the episode with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, both former writers on the Us version of The Office. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky also worked on the comedy films Year One and Bad Teacher.
Lovers of comedy, look away now: Russell Crowe is to direct a biopic of Bill Hicks.
Best of the week's news
Stephen Merchant is working on his own TV project – his first outside of his partnership with Ricky Gervais. The lanky star is to write and appear in a pilot entitled Hello Ladies, based on his 2011 standup tour of the same name. The pilot – like the standup show – will focus on Merchant's supposed cackhandedness with the opposite sex, and will shoot later this year, according to Deadline. Merchant (who will also executive produce) has written the episode with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, both former writers on the Us version of The Office. Eisenberg and Stupnitsky also worked on the comedy films Year One and Bad Teacher.
Lovers of comedy, look away now: Russell Crowe is to direct a biopic of Bill Hicks.
- 7/24/2012
- by Brian Logan
- The Guardian - Film News
Role of cult comedian, who died aged 32, open for casting
Russell Crowe has confirmed that he will direct a biopic of Bill Hicks, according to Sydney's Telegraph. Crowe was originally thought to be playing the comedian, but Mark Staufer, the actor's schoolmate and writer on the film, has suggested the part is now open for casting.
"It is a huge role for someone, made all the more special, or downright scary, by the fact the director is an Oscar-winning actor like Russell," Staufer said. Casting will have to be finalised before production starts early next year.
Crowe is currently playing Noah in Darren Aronofsky's big-budget telling of the story of the ark, which is filming in Iceland. He's also set to appear as Dracula in Eli Roth's Bram Stoker adaptation, throw kung fu shapes in the RZA's The Man with the Iron Fists and go for a...
Russell Crowe has confirmed that he will direct a biopic of Bill Hicks, according to Sydney's Telegraph. Crowe was originally thought to be playing the comedian, but Mark Staufer, the actor's schoolmate and writer on the film, has suggested the part is now open for casting.
"It is a huge role for someone, made all the more special, or downright scary, by the fact the director is an Oscar-winning actor like Russell," Staufer said. Casting will have to be finalised before production starts early next year.
Crowe is currently playing Noah in Darren Aronofsky's big-budget telling of the story of the ark, which is filming in Iceland. He's also set to appear as Dracula in Eli Roth's Bram Stoker adaptation, throw kung fu shapes in the RZA's The Man with the Iron Fists and go for a...
- 7/24/2012
- by Henry Barnes
- The Guardian - Film News
There’s a moment in ‘Nob and Nobility’ from Blackadder the Third in which Blackadder walks into the pantry and angrily kicks the cat. When questioned why, Blackadder remarks that “It is the way of the world, Baldrick – the abused always kick downwards. I am annoyed and so I kick the cat, the cat pounces on the mouse, and finally the mouse bites you on the behind… you are last in God’s great chain, Baldrick, unless there’s an earwig around here you’d like to victimise.”
It’s a good joke from a very good comedy series of which I am a big fan – what sensible person isn’t? But it also reflects a worrying trend which has been creeping slowly into comedy since the 1980s and is now a source of great annoyance and vexation. Put simply: why are so many modern comedies so mean-spirited? Why do...
It’s a good joke from a very good comedy series of which I am a big fan – what sensible person isn’t? But it also reflects a worrying trend which has been creeping slowly into comedy since the 1980s and is now a source of great annoyance and vexation. Put simply: why are so many modern comedies so mean-spirited? Why do...
- 7/24/2012
- by Daniel Mumby
- Obsessed with Film
London, July 24: Actor Russell Crowe is set to don the director's hat for a feature film. He will direct a biopic on late comedy legend Bill Hicks.
The 48-year-old was originally in talks to play the lead role in the project, but will now step behind the camera for the film, written by his former schoolmate Mark Staufer, reports starpulse.com.
"Bill Hicks' life is tragically short, but spectacularly interesting. The screenplay has gone through a number.
The 48-year-old was originally in talks to play the lead role in the project, but will now step behind the camera for the film, written by his former schoolmate Mark Staufer, reports starpulse.com.
"Bill Hicks' life is tragically short, but spectacularly interesting. The screenplay has gone through a number.
- 7/24/2012
- by Lohit Reddy
- RealBollywood.com
Russell Crowe is reportedly planning to make his directorial debut on an upcoming Bill Hicks biopic. Rumors emerged in 2008 that Crowe was attached to play the late comedian in a film, though the project never moved foward at the time. Indiewire now reports that the project has been revitalized, with Crowe now attached to work behind the camera. Comedian Hicks rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s with his brand of cynical (more)...
- 7/24/2012
- by By Zeba Blay
- Digital Spy
Russell Crowe is set to make his directorial debut on a presently untitled biopic about iconic comedian Bill Hicks says The Smh.
Mark Staufer is penning the script about the stand-up comic who began his career at 16, toured the U.S. and U.K. with his edgy and dark brand of humour for much of the 80's. He died at just 32 from pancreatic cancer.
Staufer says production aims to kick off early next year with casting for the role of Hicks to begin shortly. Crowe is presently shooting Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" in Iceland.
Mark Staufer is penning the script about the stand-up comic who began his career at 16, toured the U.S. and U.K. with his edgy and dark brand of humour for much of the 80's. He died at just 32 from pancreatic cancer.
Staufer says production aims to kick off early next year with casting for the role of Hicks to begin shortly. Crowe is presently shooting Darren Aronofsky's "Noah" in Iceland.
- 7/24/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Though his acting career is seemingly still going along swimmingly (he’s got roles in The Man With the Iron Fists, Les Misérables, Man of Steel, and Noah coming up), Australian (by way of New Zealand) superstar Russell Crowe has decided that the time has finally come for him to dip his toe into the world of directing. Which makes sense, the guy has his own band, did you really think it was going to be long before he started making his own movies? So, what’s the project that’s gotten Crowe’s attention and inspired him to make his debut in the director’s chair? A script about the life of legendary standup comedian Bill Hicks. An exploration of the comedian’s fast-burn life and career already came to the big screen in the form of a 2009 documentary called American: The Bill Hicks Story, but Crowe’s interest in Hicks stems from a treatment he...
- 7/24/2012
- by Nathan Adams
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
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