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Too Much Comedy, Not Enough Funny

A Piffany About Comedy, Journalism, and Comedy Journalism

Before we get started, a quick reminder to all of my new subscribers that you can curate which emails from me you actually want in case you don’t want all of them (crazy idea, I know, but just want you to know your options!). I publish these weekly “From The Comic’s Comic” news updates; new episodes of my podcast, “Last Things First,” along with full transcripts for paid subscribers; and the occasional Piffany essay. Receive some of these on the regular, or receive them all, the choice is yours! I’m pro-choice. Which is as good a segue into this hybrid email as I can come up with at this moment, which finds me having a slight epiphany while digesting this week’s top story…

Humane Resources?

Nobody has asked me, and perhaps precisely because nobody asked me, I didn’t know about the NYTLetter that circulated and caused a commotion both inside The New York Times and outside of it among the media and their critics alike. For what it’s worth: Since the pandemic, I’ve only been able as a freelancer to promote one live comedy event per weekend (versus 4-5 shows weekly pre-pandemic) for the Friday Weekend Arts section, but I do my best to include transgender and non-binary comedians in the rotation, making sure as many funny people in the NYC comedy scene can get their chance to shine in the old Gray Lady. I cannot speak for the newspaper’s other sections/departments, but my higher-ups seem to get it.

But what’s most striking to me, watching the reactions play out, is how much it reminds me of the discussions about (canned-cell) culture I’ve been having with comedians and my fellow comedy critics alike in recent years.

Whether you attempt to clearly delineate journalism vs. activism, or claim some things you say as a comedian are sincere opinions while others are “just jokes,” there’s a common calculus at work. Every decision we make about what to devote our time and energies to is, in and of itself, an activist choice. Where do newspapers or media outlets send their reporters, and what coverage areas get overlooked? What does a comedian choose to say or not say given their limited time onstage? Even if you’re not in comedy or journalism, how you prioritize your time each day serves as an ongoing demonstration of what you actively support.

The hottest hack trend in comedy now: Trotting out tired prejudicial ideas, blaming audiences for not wanting to hear that anymore, and then pandering to the folks who still do. It’s easy to blame your haters. It’s tougher to see where you might be at fault or have room to improve. But comedians often want to have it both ways, especially those with podcasts. If audiences loved the material, then the comedian meant it. If they hated it, hey, they were just jokes! Why? So? Serious?

And then there’s This F—ing Guy.

Scott Adams, 65, launched Dilbert in 1989 and the comic strip appeared in more than 2,000 newspapers back when there were at least that many across America. He won the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1997, and saw a UPN animated sitcom version of the comic run for two seasons in 1999-2000. In recent years, Adams had become more outspoken both in his strip and on social media espousing more conservative views; his words on Wednesday cost him most of his remaining newspaper clients. How many might still carry Dilbert now? “By Monday, around zero,” is what Adams told The Washington Post, which was among the papers dropping him.

Adams wants to be put into context — so here’s the context. 

On Wednesday, Adams cited a Rasmussen poll that asked respondents whether “It’s okay to be White” and whether “Black people can be racist, too.” Adams lumped the 21 percent of Black Americans who weren’t sure whether they were OK with the White supremacist trolling slogan, along with the 26 percent who were definitely not OK with it, and said “If nearly half of all Blacks are not okay with White people … that’s a hate group,” then added: “I don’t want to have anything to do with them. And I would say, based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to White people is to get the hell away from Black people … because there is no fixing this.” He also said he has tried to be nice to Black people, only to still be called racist.

So for context, let’s replace “Black people” with women. Let’s say — HYPOTHETICALLY — that women reported having problems with men in the workplace because the fellas are too sexist and/or misogynist. Adams is the guy who’d say, well, I guess we can’t have women in the workplace, then! Can’t a guy compliment a broad in the office by telling her she’s hot, without her getting all hot and bothered by it? How are men supposed to behave with women around? He’s a regular Mike Pence, this guy.

If only these guys in comics, in comedy, in politics, in business, could just figure out how to behave around people who don’t look like them…

In Hot Water, Indeed!

On Saturday night, the NYC media went wild with the wordplay and puns when the NYPD put out notice they’re on the hunt for 30-year-old Marco Cofresi, who goes by Leo Cofresi when he does stand-up at shows around the city, as their main suspect in a January subway shooting. I don’t know that I’d go as far as CBS News did in saying Cofresi was “well-known,” since he was booked (to do stand-up) that night at LOL in Times Square, but he’s certainly much more well known now!

In Memoriam

A day after Belz died, the guy who booked Belz to MC at Catch A Rising Star in those early years — Rick Newman — died at his home at 81, from pancreatic cancer.

All of the original old guard of NYC comedy impresarios have left us now. Richie Tienken (The Comic Strip) died in March 2021, followed by Budd Friedman (The Improv) in November 2022, and now Newman (Catch). R.I.P.

We also now live in a world without Bob Kaminsky, the longtime executive producer of the Mark Twain Prize ceremony for PBS. Kaminsky’s credits also included producing/writing/directing multiple comedy specials for Just For Laughs Montreal, as well as Farm Aid and the Grammys.

Industry News and Notes

New tour alerts!

  • Nurse Blake’s “The Shock Advised Tour” hits 100 cities across North America from July to December. Tickets go on sale March 3.

  • Tickets went on sale Feb. 24 for dates to see Gina Yashere (co-creator, showrunner and co-star of on BOB ❤️ ABISHOLA CBS) this summer.

In other comedy news:

  • Just as I finished this up, ITV announced Stephen Fry will host their British version of Jeopardy!, with a 20-episode daytime order.

  • Last night’s big SAG Awards winners in TV comedy? Abbott Elementary for cast, Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) for actor, and Jean Smart (Hacks) for actress.

  • Warner Bros. Discovery filed a lawsuit Friday in New York Supreme Court against Paramount Global, claiming it broke their $500 million licensing deal for streaming rights to South Park by then making and distributing spin-off movies and specials exclusively for Paramount+.

  • CBS will air a primetime special for James Corden the same night as his late-night finale on April 27, with Tom Cruise already booked to appear on The Last Late Late Late Show on CBS and Parmaount+.

  • ABC is ending The Goldbergs this spring after 10 seasons, thereby ensuring the 1980s-tribute sitcom doesn’t officially extend past a decade.

  • Hulu called dibs on Girlshow, a dark comedy starring Meredith Hagner. TeaTime Pictures and Boat Rocker are backing it.

  • Hulu also announced the cast for How to Die Alone from Onyx Collective: Conrad Ricamora, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Jocko Sims, Natasha Rothwell, and recurring guest star Bashir Salahuddin.

  • Dave Chappelle won the 2023 Comedy Tour of the year award from Pollstar.

  • Damon Wayans Jr. and Andrew “King Bach” Bachelor are collaborating on a graphic novel called “Shogun Run.”

  • HBO Max has cancelled South Side after three seasons.

  • Ryan Reynolds will co-write, produce and star in a Boy Band movie for Paramount.

  • Ike Barinholtz and Dylan O’Brien’s political mockumentary, Maximum Truth, has sold distribution rights to Momentum Pictures. Kiernan Shipka and Mark Proksch also appear in the fake doc.

  • In case you missed it: The ABC News A Conversation with Martin Lawrence half-hour special premiered on Feb. 21 but should still be on Hulu.

  • Hulu also has acquired the eight-episode run of BBC comedy thriller, Am I Being Unreasonable? starring Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli. It premieres on Hulu on April 11.

  • Dan Soder’s last day as co-host of The Bonfire on SiriusXM is March 1. Robert Kelly will replace him and join Big Jay Oakerson is talking funny on satellite radio.

Last Week’s Specials

New on Netflix:

  • Sommore: Queen Chandelier (my review forthcoming in Decider)

  • Whindersson Nunes: Preaching to the Choir BRAZIL

New on Prime Video (Amazon Originals):

New on Showtime:

  • Lavell Crawford: Thee Lavell Crawford

New on Moment:

New on YouTube:

*** PLUS “new” releases Danny Cho: Liquor Store Baby (debut via MyComedyStore, but it’s from when he was 33) and Milo Edwards: Pindos (previously released on his own website for sale in 2022) that I don’t think I can properly include in the 2023 count.

THIS WEEK: 19 (Previous subtotal: 70) Running total for 2023: 89 stand-up specials!

BUT WAIT! THERE WERE MORE ALREADY?!?!

OK, so since both Jason Zinoman and Anthony Jeselnik took note of my running count of 2023 comedy specials, it has been nagging at me that I’ve probably somehow missed some stand-up productions, just by virtue of not knowing all of the platforms in the world outside of America’s main streaming options, but also because there’s no central database or filing system to register your work as a comedian with the proper authorities. We have no proper authorities. We have no HR Department. We have no union. I say we, but you get it.

A decade since Louis CK showed stand-ups how they could sell their work through their own websites and ecosystems. See Milo Edwards above, but also Sarah Millican earlier this month, who’s selling her new special, Bobby Dazzler, as of Feb. 10 (it won’t be available for U.S. audiences until April 14). But other Brits might be offering their stand-up via BBC iPlayer or BritBox or you tell me where, please! Canadian comedians have their own streamers in Crave and CBC Gem. What else am I missing, pray tell?

I discovered three new releases from earlier in February on Vimeo On Demand (all via Comedy Dynamics, it seems):

So those FOUR added to the running total means that so far, with two days left in the second month of 2023, we already have 93 (NINETY-THREE) new stand-up comedy specials this year. TURNS OUT THESE THREE WERE PREVIOUSLY ORIGINALLY RELEASED ON NEXTUP. Nevertheless: We have unofficially officially entered our TOO MUCH COMEDY era. I’m sorry, you’re welcome.

Updated running total for 2023: 90 stand-up specials!

Fun Things To Do In NYC

Piffany reader Felicia Madison wants you to know the West Side Comedy Club in Manhattan has a “Milk and Cookies Family Friendly Brunch” show this coming Sunday, March 5 — $5 admission for children, $15 for adults.

This past weekend’s show(s) I plugged in The New York Times: The Black Version, an all-star improv troupe which began performing at The Groundlings Theatre in Hollywood back in 2010, finally made their NYC debut over the weekend at Midnight Theatre. Founded by Jordan Black, who is currently working on ABC’s reboot of The Wonder Years, the group also features the talents of Phil LaMarr, Nyima Funk, Daniele Gaither, Gary Anthony Williams and Cedric Yarbrough.

I spoke with Gary Anthony Williams for my podcast back in March 2021!

Would you like to promote your comedy show or album or special or whatnot on this newsletter???

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Thanks for reading!

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