Colbert Commencement Speech at Northwestern

Another terrific commencement speech made by one of our beloved late night comedians. Stephen Colbert is a Northwestern alumni (class of 86), and not only spoke of funny things, but used his experience with improv as a point about life.

Broadway Moment: 'Company'

Stephen Sondheim's classic 1970 hit Company is one of the most thrilling Broadway shows I've never seen live. It only exists to me as a YouTube clip, Great Performances revival on DVD or "Original Broadway Cast Recording" - with the forever wonderful Elaine Stritch as Joanne, and Dean Jones as Bobby, the man with the Peter Pan complex who realizes through the love of his married friends, that being singular isn't really "Being Alive".

If you watched the Tony Awards last Sunday, you probably enjoyed a performance of one of Company's show stoppers, "Side by Side"sung by television's and Broadway's best: Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks, Martha Plimpton, Patti LuPone, Craig Bierko and Neil Patrick Harris (perhaps my favorite person right now) as the aforementioned Bobby. Company was revived and performed at the New York Philharmonic earlier this year. It was filmed for limited theatrical release, and will be shown at various theaters with selected dates starting tomorrow - June 15, 16, 19 and 21st.

I cannot get enough of this incredible score. Here's a clip:



Source: New York Philharmonic - 'Company'

Colbert Sings Friday..(Here on Monday)....

This happened!

Colbert-Fallon: BFFSM

Donate to Donor's Choice. All proceeds go to helping students in need. Go to: http://www.donorschoose.org/fallon-colbert-project and give so $26,000 is raised and Stephen can sing Rebecca Black's dumb, yet important "Friday" song.

Colbert Gives Mika Brezezkinski a Pep Talk

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Colbert: Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger

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The Dana Carvey Show

Back in the mid-1990's, when Dana Carvey left SNL, he embarked on his own prime time television sketch show for ABC-TV. It co-starred pre-Daily Show Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert both fresh from the stages at Second City and co-written by Rob Smigel (Late Night with Conan), Louis C.K. (Lucky Louie) and Robert Carlock (30 Rock). It was a laugh riot, edgy, frenetic, snarky series that only lasted seven episodes due to controversy and digs toward sponsors. However, it lives on in the mythical annals of "Brilliant But Canceled" as a classic cult series killed off before it could take off.

The Dana Carvey Show has been available on YouTube in snippets for a while now, and many a fan such as myself have been getting a nice taste of the comedy that ruffled network executives feathers, such as a bit where President Clinton breast fed puppies and kittens; however, enjoying Carvey's show in its entirety will become easier with a DVD to be released on Tuesday, and episodes streaming on Hulu.com.

The New York Times published an article today, and inspired me to bring this fantastic show to light on this blog. Here's the full article for a more professionally written piece by a writer who isn't too lazy on a Sunday to flesh out this story. Dave Itzkoff writes, "Comedy Ahead of its Time: If That Time Ever Comes.

Click here to see the The Dana Carvey Show on Hulu.

From the Minisode Network, here's an abbreviated episode:

Political Satire in a National of Few Laughs

Bill Maher has been one of my favorite television comedic pundits since his days at Comedy Central. When his show "Politically Incorrect" made its way into the mainstream on ABC TV, he found himself fighting off the foes of liberal minded chatter. Unfortunately, Maher's time with ABC was cut short after September 11th, when he said something about Americans being terrorists, and well, the network didn't take kindly to that remark, so off he went. Thankfully HBO gave Maher another chance with "Real Time" and a platform to speak freely, passion and all.

It's not my intent to write too much about political humor despite the fact my favorite shows are "The Daily Show", "The Colbert Report", and to some extent "Saturday Night Live". The realities of this week's stock market plunge while the nation plows through a heated presidential campaign, rendering hatred from one party to another, has made me cling to the comedy of Jon Stewart and Bill Maher. It's no wonder their ratings have soared in recent months. It's not just because people want their news with a smile. It's due to laughter being the only way to ease the fear and anger that has been stirred by accusations, lies and ignorance. Stewart points out the insanity by showing its absurity through jokes and irony. Colbert pokes fun at the right wing by becoming a characterization of them. Bill Maher creates monologues and bits such as "Exit Strategy" and "New Rules" not just to speak of liberal views, but to peel away layers of bullshit and throw the truth in the face of those who won't listen.



As Stewart, Colbert and Maher continue to make America think intelligently about the ways of politics and the downcast news of the economy, there is always the sense that despite the turbulence, we will prevail. Thank God we have comedy. If it weren't for the laughs, I think I'd ride that hobo train to hell.

SNL Highlights from the past few politically charged weeks: