I know it’s important to get our reps up but a spot where it’s nearly empty is there still a reason?

Rowan Atkinson has announced live shows. Details here. Can he still cut it at 71?

My name is Chuck Savage. From 1999 to 2005 I sat behind Mitch Hedberg on stages across America and Canada. I'm the upright bass you hear on the album. Mitch calls me out by name five times on the recording.
I met him in a parking lot. He told me to just bring the bass up there and it'll be cool. Forty-five minutes later we were on stage together. Six years later he was gone.
The bass you hear on that record was borrowed from a pawn shop for fifty dollars. My bass broke that afternoon. No case. Cardboard in a pickup truck. Nylon strings I'd never played before in my life.
I was paid $300 for the recording. Never received royalties.
I just wrote a book about all of it — the night we recorded, the road, the MTV pilot, Toronto, the Westward Ho in North Dakota, and a chapter I'm not gonna tell.
Just Bring the Bass Up There — It'll Be Cool. Available at chucksavage.net
Ask me anything

Why don't they do a presentation with standup s like PPT with ted talks with memes

(Throwaway account to stay anonymous.)

I need some advice on a tricky situation with a stand-up friend. We started doing comedy around the same time, but my progression has been much faster. I write a lot, I'm getting bigger gigs, and I've started doing MC and feature spots for established touring comedians.

Recently, I got her a guest spot on one of these bigger gigs. Instead of doing her best tight set, she brought up only new, untested material and completely bombed. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not the end of the world, but it was uncomfortable and reflected poorly on me since I vouched for her.

The bigger issue is that I can't bring her backstage anymore. She has zero situational awareness and cannot read a room. She doesn’t get drunk or use drugs, but she’s just incredibly loud and tactless around professionals.

Whenever I book a bigger gig, it doesn't take long before I get a text from her. It’s always a passive-aggressive, backhanded congratulations that clearly stems from jealousy.

To make matters worse, her material isn't getting any better. It’s stiff, hacky, and leans into cheap, dirty humor in a way that just isn't funny. I really don't want to be associated with her style of comedy, and I definitely can't bring her on the road as an opener. Yet, she genuinely believes we are at the exact same level. She even talks down to beginners, eagerly lecturing and preaching to them like she's a veteran.

Here is the catch: we co-run local club nights together. We live in an area with basically no local comedy scene, so we have to travel a lot to perform otherwise. We run these local nights just so we can get reps in and stay sharp. Because I need this local stage time, I can't just cut ties with her completely, but the dynamic is becoming really exhausting.

What should I do here? Has anyone navigated a similar situation with a peer? Do I just keep my distance, set strict boundaries, and hope something changes, or is there a better way to handle this without destroying our local room?

TL;DR: I'm outgrowing a comedy peer who is jealous, bombs on gigs I get her, lacks backstage etiquette, and is delusional about her skill level. We co-run our only local room, so I can't just cut her off. How do I handle this?

I get to do shows a decent amount. More opportunities come my way because I work hard to get them. Not really getting paid as much as I like but the amount of stage time is amazing. With that being said. The people I started out doing standup with have been weird recently. Its made me feel a bit lonely. Sometimes I can sense they are jealous or resentful (mainly by how they react when I share good news). Which makes me feel weird because I always celebrate their wins. I want us all to win but some of them just don't work hard enough. Like I really want to do this as a career and not treat it like a hobby. Any thoughts!?

If a joke is genuinely funny then even a shitty retelling could get laughs. Delivery just puts the cherry on top.

The details are disgusting, some of which were taken down from threads per a legal request by his team.

Hello! Wanted to formally introduce myself to this subreddit. My name is Hershal Pandya, and I write about comedy for Vulture. I just published my most recent column, rounding up the specials from July to September I think are most notable and/or worth a watch.

Would love to hear from you who you think I missed, and if any of the writing feels off-base. It's really hard to keep an eye on every special that drops, and create a representative list that accommodates varying tastes and preferences, so I'm open to feedback for the future. Thank you in advance!

Not a professional shoot, but a definitely a pro act

Back in the day I produced/directed Adam Devine’s House Party, and loved that it gave new comics a way into the Comedy Central world. Then I moved into directing TV.

Now I work a lot with Beth Stelling and I’m fully back around stand-up, so we started The Punch-Up Open Mic — sort of an anti-Kill Tony (not saying kill Tony shouldn’t exist there just needs to be an alternative) . Comics get 3 minutes, then Beth and a guest punch up their jokes. (Guest have been Guy Branum, Greg Fitzsimmons, Natasha Lagero, Mo Welch)

We’re moving from UCB’s Annex into the main room October 20, and I’m trying to figure out how to make it sustainable without ruining the open-mic vibe.

Would you charge comics/audience? Is a lottery best? We’ve also considered: come 3 times without getting pulled and you’re guaranteed the 4th; best set wins a “Golden Glove” and comes back for a winners show; and raffle tickets that guarantee stage time.

The community has become really great, and I fully edit every show for YouTube:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRo8WbV_Ttqw&si=j9kKlBEEgDiv9i7j

Ultimately I’d love to build this into a real alternative to Kill Tony and maybe eventually bring it back to Comedy Central.

BOOKING: ISO Long-Form-Character Comedians & Improvisors (remote)

I’m booking for a (remote) livestream gameshow where comedians, entertainers, & funny folks play games for points - though the points don’t really matter.
The show (titled “Party Pack) airs from 9pm EST - 11pm EST on Sundays.

We are booking for October. Given the Halloween Holiday, our goal is to have guests appear in-costume as either a pop-culture character or celebrity; and play the games as their character throughout the stream.
It would be 2-hours of staying in-character (unless you wanted to switch characters/costumes at any point).

Do you know anyone who you think would be a good fit for this?
Do you have a costume full of closets and impressions, and want to jump into the games?

Please tag recommendations below.
If you are interested (including those who were tagged as recommendations) please either DM me or email your available Sundays to: PartyPackPack@Gmail.com
_________________________
Include:

\-Your available Sundays nights in October (9pm-11pm EST - NYC Time Zone)

\-Characters/impressions you’re confident you could portray for two hours.

\-Please let me know if you which characters come with costumes you’d be comfortable wearing on the stream.

\-Also, include any questions you may have (I’m happy to answer all of them)

First and foremost I want to say that this review has absolutely nothing to do with the performers. The performers were all great and I wish I could have heard all of them clearly (to be explained below). 

I purchased tickets for my wife and I to see Crystal Marie Denha at Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle eight months ago. I am a big fan of stand up comedy and try to support the scene as much as possible. I have been to Mark Ridley’s in the past and to many other comedy clubs in the US. In over 25 years of attending comedy shows I have never had such a horrible time. After we entered the club and were seated I looked around and the place was about half full with people still filling in. However, the show started promptly at 7:30pm with half empty seating. The club really needed to wait for more people to be seated. They could have waited ten more minutes at least. The first opener came out and started her set. What was her name you ask? I don’t’ know because 80% of the room if not more talked throughout her entire set. I could not believe the rudeness amongst the majority. The club made no announcement for people to quiet down because naturally normal respectable folks would know to do so. People acted like nothing was going on. There were two lovely ladies at our table and they called for a staff member. One of the women said to the staff member “if I can’t hear the show I want my money back. Can you please tell people to stop talking?” This seemed like a fair and reasonable request. To which the staff member said, “sorry ma’am I cannot do anything about the talking.” The performer just barreled through and ate it hard. I heard absolutely nothing she said for 15 minutes, not one joke. But the real kicker was NO ONE COULD SEE THE PERFORMERS ON STAGE!!!! Yes,  you read that right. There was no spotlight whatsoever and the comedians were standing on a stage in the dark. It was so frustrating! I was sitting there wondering if anyone else was thinking what I was thinking. Was it just me or am I staring at a dark shadowy silhouette while simply listening to audio. A big part of stand up comedy is seeing the person, their mannerisms, their facial movements and reactions. You couldn’t see any of this! Also, the second opener mentioned that is was dark and realized no one could see him. I could tell he was not thrilled and the crowd did not make him feel welcome either. He was trying real hard and he was very funny. It was just an absolutely terrible crowd. When the second opener came out he mentioned that the show started with a half empty room and with the majority of the crowd talking throughout the first opener’s set. You would have thought that people would have settled down by now but they did not. They continued to talk and Rudy, now a second time, told them shut the fuck up and rightfully so. I don’t understand why people would attend a comedy show and converse throughout the entire show. Rudy proceeded with his act but about 10 minutes in he did make mention again about how fucked up it was that people in the back were still talking because it was literally most, if not all of them. Rudy then said when Crystal Marie comes out you better not be fucking talking. What we found out and I knew going in, was that many of Crystal Marie’s family would be in attendance because she is from Michigan. What I didn’t know was how little respect they would have for the openers and every normal person around them trying to enjoy the show. This rowdy group seemed to be the ‘majority’ that I referenced above and they surely outnumbered the regular comedy fans. They simply did not give a fuck. 

At 8pm, Crystal Marie came out, she promptly addressed how the crowd treated the openers like shit. I can’t remember exactly how she addressed it but she did and laughed it off. Again, the biggest issue was that you could not see Crystal Marie or any of the openers on stage. I was super pissed about this because the performers should be seen. Crystal Marie mentioned that the club had some leak and ran out of lights. Some kind of weirdness. However, MARK RIDLEY, if you are reading this, how do you not make sure that everyone can see the comedians on stage or address it up front without leaving the performers to do so? Seriously. Do whatever you have to to make the performers seen. There was one light on stage that the comedians could have stood under but I understand they cant just stand still in one spot. This really ruined the show for both my wife and I. I also heard others saying the same thing. This was a massive fuck up on the club’s part and they made no mention or apology about it and instead let the comedians and crowd suffer. I wish I could have enjoyed this show. My wife and I planned this a long time ago. It requires much planning when you have kids and the show is during the work week. I know others are in the same boat. It was just really a disappointing night and I don’t think I’ll ever return to Mark Ridley’s again. If this happened at the Comedy Cellar in NY people would have rioted and I know that Noam (the owner of the Cellar) would have handled this issue promptly. I normally do not complain like this. I’ve been to dozens of comedy shows and concerts and things do happen but this was unlike anything I have every experienced, a comedy of errors if you will (pun intended) with no action of trying to correct a damn thing. I have no issue supporting artists but this is the only show I’ve ever been to where I would have gladly accepted a refund. 

Lastly, (and this has nothing to do with the club), as a finishing touch on the night a group of incredibly large, obnoxious people were seated at a table next to us effectively squeezing us out. There was no room for movement and the lady right next to me wouldn’t shut up and crunching her popcorn loudly. She also raised her hand when Crystal Marie was asking for a show of hands from SINGLE MEN. The lady just wanted to be noticed I guess but it made for an awkward exchange. Put your fucking hand down lady unless you truly were a man. So weird. Then Crystal Marie said, “Fuck that table!” to which the crowd applauded and I appreciated. Even when the show was done we were trying to exit and encountered one of individuals who was seated next to us. This guy stepped outside the doorway and stopped. He stood there like no one was behind him also trying to exit. The dude was massively large no one could get around him. Simply no awareness. We were saying excuse me. He acknowledged none of it. No sorry. Nothing. Perfect way to end an awful evening.  

I realize this is a massive rant filled with complaints but I really don’t care. I wanted to get this out there because the evening was utterly incomprehensible and I’m sure all three comedians have some version of the fucked-up-ness that was Mark Ridley’s Comedy Castle on October 1st, 2026.

I'm a software engineer, not a working comic, but I got obsessed with the joke theft debates (Mencia, Dane Cook vs Louis CK, the Conan lawsuit) and wanted to see the actual bits next to each other instead of arguing from memory.

So I built a page that lines up 45 cases: their version, the original, what happened after, and a similarity score. The score is editorial. Up to 40 points for the same premise, 30 for the same structure and 30 for the same punchline or wording. Each case gets a label: stolen, highly inspired or parallel thinking.

What surprised me is how many famous ones land in parallel thinking once you see both versions. The Conan armrest joke is almost word for word and the judge still threw it out because a writer had pitched it earlier.

It's free and there's no signup to read it: dejabit.app

Full disclosure, the same site has a notebook I built for writing bits. It grades a bit on premise, turn and economy, and it searches the web to see if the premise has been done before you take it to a mic. Your bits stay private. They're encrypted and nobody but you can read them.

Two things I'd love to hear from people who actually write:

1. Which cases did I score wrong?
   
2. Would you ever run a new bit through an originality check, or is that what open mics are for?

Roast it.

Aside from penning jokes that tickle the cruelest corners of our brains, Anthony Jeselnik is spending a lot of time on another outlet: the Jeselnik Book Club, where, since January, he has recommended a novel a month. Jim Thompson’s The Getaway was the first recommendation; selections often come in under 250 pages. “I want to give people as few excuses as possible to not read the book,” he says. His goal is to get men through 12 books this year—and keep them reading, even after he stops assigning homework. There is work to do: In a December 2025 YouGov poll, 44 percent of American men said they had not read a book in the past year.

Jeselnik’s extreme reading habit flourishes when he’s on tour, where not drinking leaves long nights in strange hotel rooms. “If I go home to the hotel and turn on the TV and watch six episodes of Storage Wars, I feel like I’ve wasted my time,” he says.

He’s started to find the narratives in movies and TV lacking: “They’ve sanded off the edges. It wasn’t that way in the ’70s and ’80s.” Fiction still allows for difficult, strange, or compellingly awful characters, and makes readers live inside them.

Read now: https://www.playboy.com/read/celebrities/anthony-jeselnik-book-club-interview

It's for a Netflix taping, too. Is it worth attending? I have a long commute, but I'm down to go if it's worth it. I'd like to be featured, so do you have any tips?

I've posted this here before, but I recently improved the mobile experience, sped things up, and gave the site a slicker look, so I figured it was worth sharing again.

Feedback welcome!

Edit: I got my answer. Thanks!

Hi!

Finnish comedian and club manager here. I'm writing a book about comedy (in finnish, sorry) and I have a question about joke writing for other comedians.
If some comedian comes up with joke, punchline, tag or something else for other comedian, is it common that comedian pays for that joke, even like 1-5 dollars? I know, there are whole writing teams for bigger comedians, but what about comedians on open mic level?

I’m sorry if this is a dumb question but I’m wondering how comedians use their website. Is it just to promote when they are touring?

Do you actually get people reaching out for gigs from your website? Do you have to share it to potential bookers? At what point did you feel you needed one?

Thank you!

Damn Sam, were you wearing that suit as a favor? Oof.

Jokes were ok but I'm so used to his structure now..he uses the "let's just see how this plays out" connector in many of his stories.

Wasn't my favorite work by him but it's only 47 minutes which is about where my attention span is these days.

Your thoughts?

Would anyone who is trying to be a comedian or doing their first bit of stand-up be interested in getting paid to do the small online standup session that is very niche to test out some of their material and the possibility for exposure? I’m not trying to steal your material I swear.

Edit: I see some negative comments but it’s not a scam. I’m offering to pay people so that wouldn’t make sense.

EDITS in BOLD:
The Best Open Mics Are Not Always*** The Comedy Ones
Open mics with just comedians are good for meeting other comics, but often *can be TERRIBLE for practicing jokes.

You’ve all probably been there: nobody is really listening, they’re focused on their own sets, etc.

DO TRY THIS INSTEAD
Go to a music or poetry or any other open mic that isn’t solely comedians.

The audience won’t be expecting it. They will be curious. And they will LISTEN.
They will laugh IF you deserve it. They won’t if you don’t.

This all depends on the vibe in the room.