popular thinking

My main blogging happens at The Comic's Comic

2008-01-21T14:51:00.001-05:00

I had something to say today about journalism, and that didn't really seem funny or in any way related to comedy. Otherwise, I would've wrote about it on my main site, The Comic's Comic. That's where I've been since November, in case you were wondering why you hadn't seen anything new here in a while.

Of course, after launching into the media and its priorities, now I'll just feel even sillier when I post something this week about American Idol.

I have something in common with David Simon?

2008-01-21T14:33:00.000-05:00

David Simon, who worked for the Baltimore Sun from 1983-1995, and now is best known as the creator of HBO's groundbreaking series, The Wire, wrote a lengthy piece for Sunday's Washington Post wondering what happened to the newspaper business. It's a good read. Well, perhaps good is not quite the best way to describe the wholesale decline in values and standards in our modern media.

The fifth and final season of The Wire uses the Sun newsroom as a way to probe how the media has or hasn't done its civic duty in covering poverty and crime in our country. Some TV critics have griped that Simon doesn't get the newsroom right. They're missing the point. Plus, I think he gets it close enough. I'm sure police officers and others would have something to say about how the show has portrayed their inside worlds, too. The point, though, is how serious problems in our communities get marginalized or overlooked for trivial matters.

Just look around. Daily coverage devoted to the comings and goings of Britney Spears? Why, exactly? TV shows and "news" stations that justify the paparazzi by buying their photos and using their new-media video coverage as "news."

One of my former haunts sent two reporters to the Sundance film festival. Not to cover film, mind you. Just gossip.

Even the campaign coverage, in this 2008 presidential race, with so much on the line for the future of our country, the mainstream media has paid little attention to what the candidates believe or where they stand. Instead, it's just as it has been in every election cycle in modern history in America. Polls, polls, more polls. And pundits offering predictions or spinning the polls. Only now, the candidates themselves have become savvy enough to play into all of this, so we have even less reason or opportunity to know how they'd serve us as leaders.

In talking with another comedian, I mentioned, only half-jokingly, that we could be reliving the fall of the Roman Empire here. America's role as a world leader, could be in danger as we slip into an abyss. Of course, I'm oversimplifying. It'd take a lot more than a blog post to go into the particulars of our nation's priorities and its standing in the world.

But the media certainly isn't helping any.

Steve Martin on Charlie Rose

2007-12-31T01:32:00.001-05:00

The Waltham Tavern: A final farewell to an old neighbor

2007-09-15T22:26:00.000-04:00

It has been three months since I headed down from Boston to Brooklyn, but I couldn't help but glance at this story in today's Boston Globe -- the end of the end of the road for the building that formerly housed the Waltham Tavern. Or, as I knew it, my next-door neighbor. The dive bar still operated at full tilt when I moved into the South End in 2005, and I'd heard the warnings about the joint. Can't say they ever caused problems during my tenure, although the cops said otherwise. The bar shut down. The liquor license got sold. And what do you know, the new owner will turn the site into even more million-dollar condos. Just what the South End needs.

I'm over at Funny Business

2007-08-30T21:27:00.001-04:00

As you may have noticed, I'm not regularly blogging here since my big move to NYC. I may still pop in from time to time with personal non-work observations, but for regular weekday updates, head to my work blog.

It's called Funny Business. And you can find it here. Thanks.

How does Lindsay Lohan's career look?

2007-07-26T23:21:00.000-04:00

Right now? Lohan's future prospects? Not. So. Good.

I have a new comedy blog

2007-07-25T01:19:00.000-04:00

With great power comes great responsibility. Not just for Spider-Man anymore, it also applies to professional journalists who want to cover comedy. Here is my new work blog about the funny business. Read it. Bookmark it. Put it on your blogroll. Tell your friends to read it. Email me with comedy news and tips. And other things I haven't mentioned. Thank you.

This summer's new must-see TV

2007-07-25T01:15:00.000-04:00

After an original list of 25 shows to watch and chat about this summer, I got the official NYDN list down to 10 new TV shows this summer worth watching, recording and talking about -- for better or worse. Here they are.

I'll take things I don't like about Canadian money for a $2 coin

2007-07-25T01:05:00.000-04:00

1) It doesn't go as far as I remembered it. Instead of Canada cheap, it's Canada expensive! Boo.

2) If you fly back into the U.S. with $8.70 in Canadian money, the exchange center won't accept it, and the person behind the counter will tell you that no bank will take your silly Canadian coins. Wait. Did I say silly? I meant "loonie" "toonie," as their $1 and $2 coins are known up north. Yes. Their coins are loonie toonies. No wonder the U.S. won't accept them. Argh. So I'm stuck with these coins until I go back to Canada. What a sneaky little trick, Canadia! If I hadn't bought that soda at the airport, I would've had a perfectly good $10 colorful Canadian bill that could've been exchanged. Argh. See you soon, Canada. See you soon.

Was I supposed to phrase that in the form of a question?

Want to know how Harry Potter ends?

2007-07-19T10:42:00.000-04:00

Muggles!

Blogging in Brooklyn

2007-07-18T23:30:00.001-04:00

If everyone else already is blogging about my neighborhood, what's left for me to say?

A few things I like about ny new neighborhood

2007-07-12T23:37:00.000-04:00

So I've been living in Brooklyn for a month. Certainly, I miss some things about my brownstone apartment in Boston's South End, but not a lot, considering how welcoming the big city has been thus far. A lot going on, for sure. Not "the city that never sleeps" for nothing. And just think about some of the things going on outside my door...

Across the street, a joint that offers indoor bocce alongside a place that Dave Hill says serves the best fish-and-chips in the city.

A few blocks in one direction, they're getting ready to open Brooklyn's first Trader Joe's.

A few blocks in the other direction, a brilliant view of Manhattan from either the Promenade or the new free floating barge pool and beach (watch NBC Nightly News video covering the opening).

For a few days last week, the British Royal Navy was walking by my building to get drunk!

Plus, the mayor is temporarily hanging out, er, um, working, a few blocks away.

There are more reasons to love my new digs, but I'll get to those later.

Video of me performing stand-up comedy

2007-07-06T10:55:00.001-04:00

On second thought, I may not look at all like my Simpsons character. Or do I? If this video of me from April is any judge, not really. But that's not why I posted this. Rather, I finally got around to figuring out how to turn my Comedy Studio DVD from April into a YouTube video. And here it is. If you've never seen me tell the jokey jokes or say other words of relative amusement and amazement into a microphone whilst standing onstage in front of living, breathing, willing human audience members, then, well, this is your chance to make things right in the world. Plus, there are people in this little-known universe who may not have understood nor believed that I'd done it before, this comedy thing. So, without much further ado, five minutes with me (preceded by about 30 seconds with Rick Jenkins of the Comedy Studio saying nice things about me). Enjoy? No. Enjoy! :)

Make your own Simpsons character

2007-07-03T19:42:00.000-04:00

Is this how I look in the world of the Simpsons? Perhaps. The Simpsons movie site lets you create your own avatar, so try it on for size to see how you'd look (or think you can create a better me). In related news, the Sunday New York Times ran a story about how some video gamers spend way too much time on their avatars.

Hot-diggity-dog, it's almost the Fourth of July!

2007-07-02T19:20:00.000-04:00

What are the two things you most look forward to about the Fourth of July? That's right. Hot dogs and fireworks. And who has the inside scoop on both the Nathan's Famous eating contest (including a coworker who made it into the finale!) and New York City's fireworks display? That's right. I do. You're welcome.

My Daily News

2007-06-27T18:58:00.000-04:00

Hey there, readers of blogs. I haven't updated quite as often as of late, so I need to fix that. In the meantime, here are some clips of mine from recent editions of the New York Daily News.

Today: In the wake of Evan Almighty, I imagine some other folklore film ideas (the studios should credit me or pay me on the back end if any of these ideas hit the screen, wouldn't you agree?) such as the Tooth Fairy, Mr. Sandman, Venus, Aphrodite, Bigfoot and the Ten Commandments.

Saturday: A new federal sex survey! How does your sex life stack up?

June 15: My exclusive interview with radio jocks Opie and Anthony.

More to come, people. More to come. And if you're good at dot-connecting, you can figure out where I've moved and what I may be doing in my new locale. But more to come.

Another landmark June 22

2007-06-22T22:50:00.000-04:00

Success. A good Friday for me. No blasphemy intended. But it is June 22. And as I've said before, a good time for change. More to come.

A week without cable...or Internet?!

2007-06-07T13:15:00.000-04:00

In about two hours, Comcast will stop by my apartment to remove my cable TV and Internet hookups. I'm moving tomorrow. But Time Warner, my new home provider, won't be hooking me back into the matrix until next Thursday. So for the next seven days, I'll be running around with my laptop in search of free WiFi every so often. Or I'll just drop out for a week. Who knows. Wish me luck!

Bryan Callen enters Cook-CK debate, but why?

2007-06-07T10:48:00.000-04:00

Last week's episode of Live At Gotham featured some very funny comedians. I know because I was at the taping back in March. And yet. And yet, I saw that Comedy Central chose to air a bit by Bryan Callen about how he'd change his name to a couple of sounds -- sounds more than a bit familiar. Especially to fans of Dane Cook and Louis CK. I wrote about the issue last summer. Dead Frog also weighed in, and includes audio from Steve Martin showing the bit predated both Cook and CK.

So why would Callen, a TV and movie vet, even go near this bit? It's not on the Comedy Central site, but Callen has uploaded a previous version of his take on it...

Watch This Channel | Channels by Bryan Callen
View more Comedy channels | More VMIX videos | Embed this channel

The more the Red Sox change...

2007-06-07T09:39:00.000-04:00

Please, God, not another June Swoon. Through June 6, the Red Sox record this month is 1-5. Ugh. Ick. Egads! Yikes! Someone stop this madness.

Silver Surfer quarters?

2007-06-05T17:38:00.000-04:00

I wondered the same thing when I saw the new Fantastic Four movie promoting Silver Surfer on the sides of U.S. quarters...is this legit? No. Not legit. Curious why they thought they'd sneak this past the government. Then again...

On the move again

2007-06-01T12:01:00.000-04:00

Yes. I know. A week has passed, things happening -- Lindsay Lohan and A-Rod on the front pages! So you think you can dance? Other things -- and no posts from little ol' me. What's that about? I'm moving. Kind of distracts a blogger, even though the subject itself, moving, provokes all sorts of thoughts and emotions worth blogging about. Just cannot get to it today. Plus, a college reunion? Sort of. Developing. Please remain patient. More goodness to come. Thank you. That is all.

Keith Richards: Rock star, pirate, actor

2007-05-25T11:50:00.000-04:00

So how did Keith Richards do in his much-ballyhooed cameo as Johnny Depp's pirate daddy in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End? Read my story in today's New York Daily News and find out.

Micah Sherman and Big Papi on TV!

2007-05-24T18:29:00.000-04:00

The Globe misses the story about the new D'Angelo's TV ads with David Ortiz. That's not "a talking sandwich." That steak and cheese is Boston-based comedian Micah Sherman. No wonder Big Papi kept cracking up on camera. Funny stuff, Micah. Funny stuff.

UPDATED: Thanks to Adam, Mr. Universal Hub, for reminding me to include the video!

TV season finale roundup: Lost

2007-05-24T18:20:00.001-04:00

Wow. I could barely contain my excitement for hours after the two-hour third-season finale of Lost came to a close at 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. So, so good. Lindelof and Cuse promised fans they'd be rewarded with a so-called game-changing episode, and they delivered. I wanted to complain about a fake-bearded Jack driving around with a RAZR phone, but then, hold on a second! I wanted to make fun of the fact that it looked as though Ben marked a spot on the map for Rascall Flatts, but then, what's this? Hurley came through in the clutch...who said he was bad luck? Walt comes back, although we all know he's just Mr. Smoke Monster (or Jacob, if they're even different beings), and rallies Locke, who threatens to...well, anyhow. Flash-forward, shall we? Huzzah, we shall! Who do you think the funeral was for? My money is on Ben. But I'll have to wait until 2008 to find out, and I'm OK with that. Charlie also gets bit by the hero's bug. Patchy surprises again and again...what's with this guy?! Desmond comes oh so close to Penny...again. That shot of Jack with the South Pacific poster and all of the push pins? Priceless. Wow. Did I say wow? Wow. Take notes, 24 and Heroes.

TV season finale roundup: American Idol

2007-05-24T18:14:00.000-04:00

If your show goes long by nine minutes, and you devote 11 minutes to your so-called "Golden Idol" awards that only encourage more freaks to audition next year, then...wait. That may have been a rhetorical question. As everyone knows, Jordin Sparks officially won. Blake Lewis proved he'll be just fine. Bette Midler did not prove likewise. Gwen Stefani probably did not appear live from Boston, because otherwise, you'd think they'd mention that, although really, why was she on the program again so soon? Tony Bennett made up for lost time. Kelly Clarkson can growl. Taylor Hicks isn't selling any more records. Neither is Ruben. Although we remembered why we liked him the first time we saw him. Joe Perry sold out. Sanjaya couldn't even pick his best song for his big return to the big stage. Clive Davis reminded everyone that the real winners sell records. Did I mention the "Golden Idols" were not only a waste of time, but also further damaged whatever credibility American Idol has? At least it clears up Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. And gives us some time away from Ryan Seacrest. We need it.

American Idol 2007: The question is moot!

2007-05-23T12:12:00.000-04:00

Blake or Jordin? Jordin or Blake? Let your friends debate that obvious question before Wednesday night's American Idol reveals its finale results. You can counter with an even better question: Who really wins Idol? (Last night, Paula Abdul tried to convince Ryan Seacrest that they're all winners) In the long-run, the champ isn't always the one singing the last song under fireworks and confetti.
To wit...

Season 5
Who won? Taylor Hicks
Runner-up? Katharine McPhee
Who really won? Chris Daughtry. Heck...the show last night even went long by three minutes just to feature Daughtry and his band's live performance. Only Daughtry got the offer to front an existing rock band (Fuel). He also got his hit song ("Home") on every episode of this season's Idol. And after 25 weeks, his debut CD remains near the top of the Billboard charts. Anyone heard from Hicks recently? Anyone want to?

Season 4
Who won? Carrie Underwood
Runner-up? Bo Bice
Who really won? Underwood. "Some Hearts" has sold six million copies. Has an NFL quarterback boyfriend (Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys). Slew of awards. Simon Cowell said she'd outsell all the previous Idol winners. So far, she's on the right track.

Season 3
Who won? Fantasia Barrino
Runner-up? Diana DeGarmo
Who really won? Jennifer Hudson. Barrino and DeGarmo have both made it to Broadway, but Hudson was this winter's golden girl, winning the Oscar and Golden Globe for her applause-breaking turn in the movie, Dreamgirls. Hudson beat out Barrino for the role. Barrino did win the part of playing herself in a Lifetime TV movie, though.

Season 2
Who won? Ruben Studdard
Runner-up? Clay Aiken
Who really won? Um...TBD? Studdard and Aiken both had hit debuts after the show, but since then, Studdard's popularity has waned, and no amount of "Claymates" could stop Aiken from one controversy after another (and let's not get started on last year's surprise Idol duet with his auditioning doppleganger, Michael Sandecki).

Season 1
Who won? Kelly Clarkson
Runner-up? Justin Guarini
Who really won? Clarkson. Hard to believe it now, but back then, just as many people thought that either Guarini would win, or that ousted contestant Tamyra Gray should have won. No one is saying that now.

MySpace: Most misleading media stat of the moment

2007-05-22T18:02:00.000-04:00

Seems as though you're hearing/reading about at least one story a day in the media that references MySpace.com. Yet just about every story goes ahead and says how many members MySpace has...these days, the stat cited is 180 million. But, um, really? 180 million members? I wouldn't be surprised if at least 80 million of those so-called MySpace accounts are fakers, spammers or duplicate MySpace pages. It'd be nice, though probably unrealistic (and possibly Big Brotherish), to get an accurate count of how many MySpacers there really are.

The night Charo gave me the Cuchi-Cuchi

2007-05-19T20:11:00.000-04:00

Charo certainly got the attention of the media when she came to Boston this weekend to perform at Scullers Jazz Club (see coverage in the Herald, BostonNOW). She already had my attention 19 years ago. Spring break, 1988. My parents broke free from timeshare purgatory and traded up for a vacation to Kauai, Hawaii. A week in Princeville on the rainy north shore of the island, but still plenty of warm sunshine and time for golf, snorkeling, helicopter tours, and a cute girl from Oregon whose family seemed to be following our itinerary. Good times. Love, exciting and new. No wonder Puff the Magic Dragon lived in Hanalei. Toward the end, we trekked over to Charo's restaurant for dinner, and wouldn't you know it, Charo herself worked the room. When she got over to our table, she, yes indeedy, greeted me with her signature "cuchi-cuchi" as she grabbed my cheeks, and then posed for a picture. See how she draped her arm on my shoulder? My parents must have been so proud.

King Shrek? One Shrek to rule them all

2007-05-19T16:32:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time, fairy-tale men and fairy-tale women lived in their own little, magical mystery worlds. They remained far, far away in our imaginations even in 1990, when William Steig’s “Shrek!” made his debut as an ogre who wouldn’t belong until he found an even uglier ogre to marry.
And so it went, until DreamWorks came along and refashioned Shrek in 2001 as an even broader satire of the old fairy tales. By 2004’s Shrek 2, the big green guy had married royalty. And in this summer’s Shrek the Third, he has a chance to rule them all.

Who would bow to Shrek? Among the many peasants, these notable fantasy creations (and their former creators) inhabit the film's version of Far Far Away:
* Cinderella, Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, The Pied Piper, Prince Charming, Rapunzel, Rumplestiltskin, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Tom Thumb (The Brothers Grimm, Germany, 1785-1863 and 1786-1859)
* Puss in Boots, Sleeping Beauty (Charles Perrault’s Mother Goose Tales, France, 1628-1703) (Perrault also wrote versions of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood)
* The Gingerbread Man, Three Little Pigs and Big Bad Wolf (Joseph Jacobs, Australia/England, 1854-1916)
* The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling (Hans Christian Andersen, Denmark, 1805-1875)
* Capt. Hook, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell (J.M. Barrie, England, 1860-1937)
* King Arthur, Lancelot, Merlin, Robin Hood (English legends)
* The Three Bears (Robert Southey, England, 1774-1843)
* Three Blind Mice (Thomas Ravenscroft, England, early 17th century)
* Pinocchio (Carlo Collodi, Italy, 1826-1890)
* Cyclops (Homer, Greece, seventh century B.C.)
* The Wicked Witch and talking trees from Oz (L. Frank Baum, U.S., 1856-1919)
* The Headless Horseman (Washington Irving, U.S., 1783-1859)

Location, location, location

2007-05-19T15:55:00.001-04:00

I live on Boston's best street. Didn't need Boston magazine to tell me this, but thanks, anyhow. Tis true, though. Within a few paces of my doorstop, the best late-night dining and carousing options in the city (Franklin Cafe, Stella), a nice, well-stocked grocery store (Foodie's), the holiest of Catholic churches (for those of you who like seeing the Pope in person), other great restaurants where A-listers, social people and everyone else intersect (Pho Republique, Union, Oishii), popular dog parks, a new Boston Sports Clubs with swimming pool, the South End Little League, and that's not even mentioning the Boston Center for the Arts, the Boston Ballet and everything else along that section of Tremont Street (or Shawmut or Harrison, for that matter). The SOWA Art Walk is my neighbor, and joined in the summer (starting Sunday, weather permitting) by the South End Open Market. My other neighbor used to be the Waltham Tavern, and even that was fun while it lasted. And it's only a 10-minute walk to the theater district and the Boston Common movies (and my former employer). So yes, a great place to live.

Great timing for my landlord, who just put my humble abode back on the market.

Boston's original Norm

2007-05-19T13:39:00.000-04:00

I had a chance to chat earlier this week with 79-year-old Dorchester native Norm Crosby, aka the master of the malaprop. He's in town tonight performing at the Cutler Majestic Theatre.

Crosby told me: "When I started, I was doing it for fun. I was working in the advertising business. I was the ad manager for a big shoe company in Boston. I did it for fun. I got kicks out of it…I think every comedian starts out as being the funny guy in their family, in their office, in their school…I just did it as an avocation really until I got to a point where I had to make a choice. They were booking me on dates out of town...I decided to do the comedy figuring I could always go back and do the other stuff." Turns out he didn't have to go back.

Read the rest of my interview with Crosby in today's Boston Globe.

7 News Alliteration Alert

2007-05-18T14:34:00.000-04:00

Checking in with 7 News in Boston, infamous for its flagrant use of alliterative headline graphics. On last night's 11 p.m. broadcast, they opened with breaking news, followed by:

Weather Worries
Drenched by Downpours
Horror & Heartache
Fatal Fire
Avoidable Anguish?
Beer on the Bus?
Library Lewdness
Immigration Nation
Hank Reveals...Where to Watch Out
"Braking" & Entering
Caught on Camera
Plot Thickens
(weather)
(return to breaking news)
(sports: Let's Play Two, Rotating the Rotation)

So the May sweeps philosophy at WHDH-TV seems to suggest viewers need extra help at the top of the news with over-the-top headlines, but after the A Block, you can shift gears to plays on words, and then tone it down. Interestingly enough, once the 7 News writer completely broke from alliteration and wordplay -- "Plot Thickens" -- can you even guess what that story was about? JFK. Obviously. No wonder the suits insist on alliteration.

MTV suddenly worth watching again!

2007-05-18T11:56:00.000-04:00

At least for the next 24 hours, starting at noon today, as the guys from Human Giant take over the MTV and MTV2 airwaves. Yes, that's right.

From their announcement:

"Literally a week ago MTV came to us and asked us if we would be interested in doing a 24 hour event…in a week. We said, “Yes!”" and since then we have been working our asses off to figure out how exactly to fill the time. We have full access to the MTV vaults, we can play pretty much anything we want, with the exception of anything Nirvana related (Damn you, Courtney Love). So that means Old Remote Control, Singled Out, Beavis and Butthead, Sifle and Ollie and tons more. Plus we’ll be airing a Human Giant Marathon. Every episode from our entire 1st season and we have a ton of amazing guests like….

Will Arnett, Chris Anderson, Fred Armisen, Matt Besser, Andy Blitz, Michael Cera, Cracked Out, Curtis and John, Jon Daly, Zach Galifianakis, Brett Gelman, Jon Glaser, Bill Hader, Kane Brothers (Wrote the Theme to Illusionators and Spacelords), Nick Kroll, Adam McKay, Eugene Mirman, Morningwood, John Mullaney, The National, Bob Odenkirk, Rob Riggle, Andy Sandberg, Slovin and Allen, Michael Showalter, Jorma Taccone, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Ted Leo, Tegan and Sara, The Walkmen, Andrew WK…..and many more"

So check it out! MTV, finally safe for human viewing again, at least between now and noon Saturday. They opened up with a brief sketch followed by a live performance by Mastodon.

And hit up the Human Giant site online, because apparently, they need one milllllion hits to get renewed by the network.

Here's a video to keep you company while you're turning on your TV:

Job posting: BostonNOW copy editor

2007-05-17T13:35:00.000-04:00

What Dan Kennedy wants, Dan Kennedy gets: BostonNOW seeks a meticulous copy editor. Bonus points for BostonNOW correctly spelling all of the words in the job posting, including "meticulous." Although. Really. The job poster needs to know that copy editor is two words, three years may or may not need an apostrophe depending upon how you view such things, full-time should be hyphenated and that last sentence could've used a period. Not that I'm applying for the job.

More HDTV in Boston. Thanks Comcast!

2007-05-17T12:34:00.000-04:00

To what to my wandering eyes see before me this morning on my HDTV? That's right! New HD stations on the menu...

832 HGTVD
837 A&EHD
854 FOODD

In the lunch hour, the Food Network's high-definition really makes me hungry.

Thank you, Comcast!?

Not surprised: Idol ousts Melinda Doolittle

2007-05-17T10:01:00.000-04:00

Sure, Melinda Doolittle was the best singer week-in, week-out throughout this season's American Idol. You'd think she was a lock to win. But that in itself guaranteed she wouldn't win. So please, please don't be surprised by last night's results show -- which sent Blake Lewis and Jordin Sparks into the finale. Don't be shocked. Because this happens seemingly every other season.

Season 5: Chris Daughtry, fourth place (but best on the charts, and singer of this season's closing theme song)
Season 3: Jennifer Hudson, seventh place (but Oscar and Golden Globes winner, beating out that season's winner, Fantasia, for the award-winning role in Dreamgirls)
Season 1: Tamyra Gray, fourth place (no disrespect to Kelly Clarkson, who has gone on to have a great career, but at the time, everyone -- and I mean everyone -- thought Tamyra Gray was going to win, and so did FOX, which started plugging her in as a singing student on Boston Public, then brought her back on Season 3 to sing several times)

That said, expect to see Melinda, Blake and Jordin all release their own CDs by the time next year's Idol rolls around.

The Mittleos/Lost Time theory in action

2007-05-16T23:38:00.000-04:00

Are you having a laugh? You havin' a laugh? Yes indeedy. Especially after hearing new drop-in Lost cast member Naomi ask Charlie that question early in tonight's third-season penultimate episode. Because this provides almost irrefutable proof of the show's Mittleos/Lost Time theory.

Think about it. Naomi is dropping a very 2007 catchphrase from Ricky Gervais and Extras: "You havin' a laugh?"

OK. So what does this mean? Eggsactly. It means that while the Oceanic Airlines Flight 815 survivors are still living like it's 2004, the outside world has moved on to 2007. Heck, Naomi even said that Charlie's "death" allowed for a big dead rock-star mourning and a "Greatest Hits" CD in his memory, which couldn't have happened in the 90-plus days the Losties have experienced. Even in a most cynical world. And the "Others" have been compelled to learn about "lost time." So maybe, just maybe, Naomi is from 2007.

This makes sense for two other reasons.

#1. Some claim that Lost already is working on bringing Michael and Walt back into the picture next year for season four when it resumes in 2008. Thing is, Walt would've aged much more than the Losties. Problem? Not necessarily.

#2. We've already seen from last week's episode that "Other" Richard Alpert has barely aged since Ben was an adolescent. There must be some reason for this, right? Right???

The week that was (while I was away)

2007-05-14T05:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the blogging delay. While pop culture and the media continue to churn out post-worthy events and topics, I've been dealing with lots of personal and personnel issues in the past week. Hope to get back on track Tuesday. Thanks for your patience, dear readers. See you Tuesday...

Take the Spider-Man 3 quiz!

2007-05-04T06:04:00.000-04:00

After you've watched Spider-Man 3, come back and take a look at my special movie quiz in today's New York Daily News. What's that? You didn't know there'd be a quiz? OK. Think of it as a talking-points memo. A conversation starter. And if you haven't seen the movie yet, that's OK, too. Use my Daily News story as a superviewer's guide.

EXTRA! EXTRA! CREDIT: One other question I didn't include because it's a bit too inside-the-media (although if you've been on the subway recently, you've seen newspaper ads that might have some relevance here)...At one point in the film, newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson sits through a marketing pitch for a new Daily Bugle motto, and really, would any newspaper ever want to sell itself with: “It’s Hip. It’s Now. It’s Wow. And How!” And would you ever buy such a paper?

The interview: Nick Swardson

2007-05-03T00:13:00.000-04:00

I first met Nick Swardson earlier this year at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo. We were hanging out in the “Sierra Mist Lounge,” a popular free food-and-grub afterparty area in the hotel, and Swardson and I quickly got into a prolonged chat about comedy and the backlash within the stand-up community against its biggest stars of today (that’d be Dane Cook, Carlos Mencia, and Larry the Cable Guy, all provoking scorn and jealousy for different reasons). And then we got down to fun.

See. Here is a photo of him with a Sierra Mist girl at the foosball table.

Later that night, things got sloppy at the after-after-afterparty – the grand finale bash at the Goldberg mansion up high on the opposite mountain. People hunted and fought over cars to make the trek, and at one point, a woman yelled at Swardson: “I’m not f---ing driving him anywhere!” Owen Benjamin and others tried to defend Swardson, to no avail. Eventually, though, everyone made it to the mansion. And back again. And before we parted ways, Swardson said I needed to remember to talk to him before his tour showed up in Boston (May 5, Berklee Performance Center, $27.50 via Ticketmaster).

Fast-forward to this week.

Swardson already could laugh at himself about Aspen. He said his manager, Bernie Brillstein, worriedly chewed him out about his post-show partying. “The guy who managed Chris Farley and John Belushi is telling me I’m a train wreck!” Swardson said.

It’s not going to stop him from looking for a party in Boston on Cinco de Mayo.

Any chance of you doing anything worthy of being called a train wreck?
“Ah, possibly. But I really only drink. I don’t do any drugs anymore.”

Swardson, 30, won’t have to look far to find someone to party with – his friend and sometime collaborator, Jamie Kennedy, rescheduled his own comedy show at the Paradise to the same time as Swardson’s gig. Swardson appeared in many episodes of TV’s The Jamie Kennedy Experiment, and together, they co-wrote the 2003 film, Malibu’s Most Wanted. I jokingly informed him of this booking situation.

Really, though, doesn’t this just mean there are two Nick Swardson shows on Saturday, since you’ve written most of Jamie Kennedy’s funnier stand-up bits?
(laughing and catching his breath) “No f---ing way! Oh, that’s wild. Holy s---! I don’t even think he knows I’m there. If he did, he didn’t tell me. That’s really wild. What an idiot.”

“That’s funny. When I first moved to Hollywood …they said, ‘Yeah, we want you to be our next Jamie Kennedy.’ I said, ‘F--- that, I’m going to be better than Jamie Kennedy. I told him that and now we laugh about it. He’s always been one of my best friends.”

Swardson explained that Kennedy tried stand-up first at open mikes before getting his big break as an actor in the films, first Romeo + Juliet, then memorably in the Scream franchise. By the time their careers crossed paths, Swardson had the comedy credentials as a national headliner with a half-hour Comedy Central special, but Kennedy had the name draw. So when the pair traveled to the Tempe Improv a few years ago, Swardson found himself opening for Kennedy.

“When he did that club, he was already famous. I wasn’t a normal MC. I was just doing the Improv a favor. It was one of those situations where he could’ve been threatened by me, but he was really nice and cool to me.”

No one can question who the star of this comedy tour is, with MySpace as its sponsor. Swardson said he has put “a lot of original content, like videos” on the site. A lot of the photos and videos feature the comedian without his shirt.

So if you and Matthew McConaughey ended up at the same party, who’d go topless first?
“Wow. Tough question. I would say I would be topless first. But my being topless would probably bum more people out. Whereas his would start the party. Matthew took his shirt off. Hooray!”

Your tour alternates between theaters and clubs. Was that a conscious decision? Or logistics?
“I wanted to do theaters and my agent was like, I don’t know why, but he’s married to comedy clubs. The only clubs I’m doing are Chicago and New York. Whatever. I shouldn’t say anything. I prefer doing theaters just because it’s less draining for me, to do 1,500 people in one night than to perform to 400 people in a club several times in a weekend. Especially since I still go out and party after the shows.”

You began in improv, right? How’d you make the transition to stand-up?
“This is kind of funny, too. I did theater in high school but I joined an improv group. We did a ton of improv, long-from improv. I always looked down on stand-up. Thought it was kind of corny. Remember this was the mid-90s and the end of the boom. I thought stand-up was Seinfeld and Paul Reiser, guys talking about their wives. There was nothing really hip about it. There was a small alternative scene starting up with people like Janeane Garofalo and David Cross…But in 1996, when I graduated from high school, I wanted to take a year off…My improv group folded, though, so I was stuck without a format to perform. I was in Minneapolis. So I went down to an open mike and was going to perform with a bunch of my friends, but my buddies never showed up. So I just went up and performed.”

With two Comedy Centrals under his belt and writing credits on three films (Grandma’s Boy and The Benchwarmers are the others), Swardson’s fan base knows him just as well from his stand-up as they do from his memorable characters – most of them outrageous, like gay roller-skating prostitute Terry in Reno: 911 and the figure-skating stalker in Blades of Glory. He also created a show called Gay Robot.

Most reports say Gay Robot is going to get a second chance as a cartoon. True?
“Yeah, Gay Robot is still alive. Comedy Central had always wanted it animated. So I think this time will be more successful. But I really love that pilot. I really do.”

Have you ever caught any flack from the gay community over all of your flamboyantly funny characters?
“No. It’s usually the opposite. I don’t think you can be more outlandish than Terry in Reno: 911. That would be ridiculous. I was talking to a friend to think if it was the gayest character ever on TV. There’s no gray area to the character. We just did season five and the character has a girlfriend. It’s great. There’s some really funny s--- that we did.”

Anything special about your Boston show people should know about?
“This show I’m really really excited for. I grew up a big Celtics fan. I love the Red Sox. I’ve always had a blast there. The last time I did stand-up in Boston was like, seven years ago. I opened up for Anthony Clark on New Year’s Eve. It was freezing! All I remember is being black-out drunk, eating a sausage I had bought from a cart, watching three or four guys beat each other up. I can’t wait for the same situation to play itself out. Just warmer.”

NOTE: An abridged version of this interview appears in today's edition of BostonNOW.

Deja vu: Newspaper box edition

2007-05-02T23:57:00.000-04:00

If they can make it there (AM New York)...

They can make it anywhere (BostonNOW)!

On Sanjaya Malakar and Federal Way

2007-05-02T18:31:00.000-04:00

Media reports today about Sanjaya Malakar and his non-homecoming to Federal Way, Wash., prompted more than a couple of chuckles out of me (read the NY Post's take here, or a more local version out of the Tacoma News-Tribune here) because I worked in Federal Way for the Federal Way News from 1996-1998 (shut down by the Seattle Times Co. in 1998, and later revived by its original owners), covering City Hall, cops and the utility district, among other things. So I know the political players involved, as well as the quirky place this suburb holds (or doesn't) in the Seattle-Tacoma metro area. Somehow, this kind of minor melodrama makes perfect sense there.

By the way, Olympic speedskater and darling Dancing With The Stars hoofer Apollo Anton Ohno also spent his teen years in Federal Way.

Which Ch. 7 News am I watching?

2007-05-02T17:46:00.000-04:00

So I'm watching NBC's 7 News at 5 p.m. today and could not help but notice they devoted a significant amount of airtime to a robbery in south Florida. Why? Perhaps because the reporter said she was from 7 News and you saw the familiar logo on the 7 News microphone during the segment's interviews. But wait a second. You mean to tell me that a Boston TV station sent a reporter down to Florida for a bank robbery? No. You don't mean that. Because it's the top local story from FOX's 7 News in Miami. Same circle 7 logo because they're owned by the same company, Sunbeam Television. I suppose it makes sense to combine your company's news forces, even if one is an NBC affiliate and one is a FOX affiliate, to make it seem as though you're on top of the story. It certainly gave Boston's Ch. 7 an intangible advantage during the Anna Nicole post-mortem saga. But for a local robbery in Miami? It just gives the appearance of time-filler.

Then again, is this any worse than the longstanding practice among local TV news teams across the nation of slapping their own voiceovers on another station's enterprise report?

Actually, that's a worse offense in my book.

But still. The whole Boston-Miami dual Ch. 7 connection just seemed odder than usual to me today. I wonder, though, if Miami's Ch. 7 News has the same mandate to go with alliteration on every single news story.

Slip sliding away (Boston newspapers)

2007-05-01T23:43:00.000-04:00

Bittersweet news to report, as the first newspaper circulation stats since my unfortunate departure from the Boston Herald shows the paper continuing to lose readers. As my former colleague Jesse Noyes pointed out to me, the numbers aren't quite as bad if you compare them from the previous six-month period (as opposed to the same six months a year ago, the way the stats get reported). But still. Here are the numbers...

Herald average daily circulation
March 2005-Sept 2005: 230,000
Oct 2005-April 2006: 227,600
March 2006-Sept 2006: 203,000
Oct 2006-April 2007: 201,500

The Herald's Sunday average circulation is only 110,800. Ack.

By comparison, the Globe's daily/Sunday numbers over the same time frame...
414,000/652,000
397,300/604,100
386,000/587,000
382,500/562,300

Also not so pretty.

The Globe tried to make sense of it all today. So did Dan Kennedy.

The search for the next new Pussycat Doll

2007-04-26T20:17:00.000-04:00

They're already looking for another new Pussycat Doll? Apparently. Auditions begin May 9. Good luck.

By the way, thanks for everyone coming here looking to know why Sandra McCoy is not one of the Pussycat Dolls. I'm the top search item for that. Who knew?

Are best-selling authors on Craigslist?

2007-04-26T20:15:00.000-04:00

Good question. If you're a best-selling author, and can prove it with two major books, why would you be looking for your next project on Craigslist? Good luck.

New newspaper readership numbers

2007-04-25T18:26:00.000-04:00

The folks at Scarborough Research published their updated national findings on print and online news readership in most metro markets of the U.S. So what should we make of these numbers?

Depends upon what you're looking for, really. Here are the numbers for the Boston market, with a measured potential area population of 4,783,000.

Boston Globe
Weekly print readers (people who picked up the paper at least once in the survey week)
1,986,000
Print market penetration
42%
Weekly online readers (people who clicked on Boston.com once or more in the survey week)
790,000
Online market penetration
17%
Total readership (factoring in people who read both print and online)
2,269,000
Total penetration
47%

Boston Herald
Weekly print readers
1,181,000
Print market penetration
25%
Weekly online readers
200,000
Online market penetration
4%
Total readership
1,259,000
Total penetration
26%

Those numbers almost mirror the situation in similarly-sized Dallas/Fort Worth, with the Dallas Morning News the primary read and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the secondary read. Although Boston.com's online penetration is better than most other large-market news sites (though slightly less than WashingtonPost.com).

Read the numbers another way, though, and you could say that 37 percent of Boston's populace doesn't pick up either the Globe or the Herald (though likely more considering at least a few percent had read both papers during the week). What are they reading? The Metro? The new BostonNOW? A smaller community newspaper? No papers at all? It'd be good to see those numbers, too. Especially since Scarborough did include suburban paper stats for some of the other major metros. Argh.

I'll be curious to learn what Dan Kennedy makes of these stats, considering he has been arguing that media observers need to factor online readers in newspaper circulation analysis (by the way, the next circulation reports will come out early next week). And then we can fret some more about the present and future status of the American newspaper.

Spider-Man 3: First impressions

2007-04-25T17:54:00.000-04:00

So I just got back from a preview screening of Spider-Man 3 and, well, hmmm, how do I put this? Not ready to publish a full review yet (unlike the New York Post, which already ran its 3-of-4-stars critique yesterday!), especially since I have a story idea or two to pitch. But first impressions? Sure thing. The film didn't resonate as well emotionally or storywise as the second Spidey flick, and didn't have a memorable maxim like the first Spidey had ("With great power comes great responsibility."), although it sure trotted out more than a few cliches in trying. Did have some very funny scenes from supporting and bit players (particularly J.K. Simmons, Elizabeth Banks and Bruce Campbell, who appears in a hilariously awkward cameo). And you remember at times why you like this comic-book superhero franchise more than others. Be sure to come back for more Spidey 3 fun closer to the film's May 4 opening.

In the meantime, seven minutes of footage to whet your appetite...

Back-to-back-to-back-to-back!

2007-04-23T16:51:00.000-04:00

Sunday, April 22, 2007: Red Sox 7, Yankees 6
My seat: Field Box 43, Row G, Seat 7
(Nine rows behind home plate)

A blurry cameraphone view from my seat in the ninth inning.

These nice Korean students hung out with me in line for 3 1/2 hours on Sunday to get game-day tickets. They're in Boston studying English. They bought all of those T-shirts that afternoon. They took lots of pictures. And they brought me a hot dog! Thanks!

What a great day to watch the Red Sox sweep the Yankees out of Fenway Park, the first time they've done that since 1990. Almost perfect weather. And how about that back-to-back-to-back-to-back home run derby! A Red Sox first, and only the fifth time that's ever happened in Major League Baseball. Ever. So sweetly surreal. Finally, Dice-K got some run support, and he needed it last night since it was his roughest outing so far this young season. He didn't have great control. Left some pitches high and right, which certainly helps explain why he hit both Jeter and A-Rod. Almost all of the hits off Dice-K came off lefthanded batters. No worries, though, as Papelbon came in to take care of the ninth inning. How desperate was Joe Torre, though, to win last night's game, bringing Pettitte in for the sixth? Anyhow. Wow. What a game. I'm so glad I decided to try to get a ticket. And what a ticket I got, nine rows directly behind home plate. No scalping required. All I had to do was follow the Fenway day-of-game ticket sales rules. Learned this last year when I got tickets for Father's Day, although the rules seem to have slightly changed. Each game, the Red Sox release about a couple of hundred scattered tickets two hours before the first pitch. You need to get an official white slip from Red Sox workers while in line to verify you were in line. You're not supposed to start forming the line until five hours before the game, although when I arrived on Lansdowne Street at 3:30 p.m. (4 1/2 hours before), there already were a couple of hundred folks lined up along the sidewalk between Gate E and Gate C. Still, I figured it was worth a shot. And I had a magazine and my iPod to pass the time. About an hour into the wait, the group of Korean students who showed up right after me began talking me up, asking me to pose in pictures with them and calling me their friend. How nice of them. As I noted above, they even offered me a hot dog and some sips from their sodas. Anyhow. The ticket line began moving at 6 p.m., but we didn't make it to the window until just after 7 p.m. But we made it. The guy in the booth said he still had seats ranging from $27 to $110 available. He could read the stunned look on my face and added that he had a $105 ticket behind home plate. Sold! The Koreans ended up getting 11 tickets together at the top of the grandstand above first base. As for my seat, the season-ticketholders in my section said I got the seat the Red Sox holds for scouts. No scouts needed for Sox-Yanks in April! Behind me sat a guy from the commissioner's office (apparently there to monitor the umps or something) and the stadium's official radar gun guy. He had an extra seat for his computer, in which he'd input each pitch type and speed to go up on the big scoreboard. An ESPN radar guy sat four rows directly in front of me. It was a great seat. I only wished I had my actual digital camera, because my cameraphone could only produce that blurry image above. When I got home, I saw on the highlights that my seat barely made it into the ESPN's camera shot, although sometimes my fuzzy face got obscured by the score line at the top of the screen. Regardless, I'm so glad I decided to make a night of it at Fenway. It's comforting to know that even when it comes to Sox-Yanks, you still can make a game-day decision to go and be rewarded for it.

Identity vs. Deal or No Deal

2007-04-20T15:02:00.000-04:00

Between the two NBC game shows? No contest. If you had a chance to be on either Identity or Deal or No Deal, pick Identity. In only 10 episodes and 15 games, Identity already has produced three grand prize $500,000 winners. All you have to do is remember your stereotypes. And if that's too tricky, the mystery people will help you by dressing their parts so you really can judge their proverbial books by their covers. And if that's too tricky, then the game show gives you three helping hands, including one free mistaken guess. Last Friday, a guy from Norwood, Mass., became the third winner. Meanwhile, over on Deal or No Deal, there's no skill involved at all -- simply lucky suitcase pickings. And what do contestants have to show for it? Usually less than $100,000. Unless they pick a top-prized case. And even then, they still haven't taken home the million.

For $500,000, can you guess which one of these two women is the prison guard? Eggsactly.

Media ambulance chasing Virginia Tech survivors

2007-04-19T17:09:00.000-04:00

If you're a Virginia Tech student who survived this week's shootings and decide to blog about it, get ready for lots of media requests for interviews. See Exhibit A (Via Gawker). The requests run from bad to worse to obscene. Yes, journalists want to talk to survivors of any tragedy. I once had to talk to the parents of a small child who had died hours earlier, and I felt awkward and intrusive...but at the same time, you have to be sensitive to the grieving process. In some cases, allowing survivors and loved ones of victims to speak can be quite cathartic for them. I learned that, too, while working an obits beat at one paper. In other cases, survivors shouldn't be forced to talk more than they already have -- if they didn't included it in their blog post, they obviously aren't ready to share more. Some of the media covering the Virginia Tech shootings still need to learn some of these lessons.

Sanjaya out; Idol fix is in...again

2007-04-18T22:05:00.000-04:00

Yeah, I typed it. Nary 24 hours after Simon Cowell said we'd had our fun with Sanjaya Malakar, guess who got voted out in seventh place on American Idol tonight? Sanjaya. Coincidence? Methinks not. Especially since Sanjaya remained the darling anti-candidate of both Vote for the Worst and Howard Stern's radio fans. Of course, we never heard the vote results tonight. We never do. That's convenient, isn't it?

BostonNOW vs. Boston Metro, Day One

2007-04-17T23:48:00.000-04:00

So Tuesday, April 17, 2007, marked the first paper edition of BostonNOW, the city's latest free daily commuter paper, clearly taking on Boston's Metro, the city's first free daily commuter paper. Let's take a look at how the two papers stacked up today.

BostonNOW
Pages: 24
Cover: Local enterprise story on Logan flight delays
Locally written news stories: Greatest Party preview feature, note from the publisher, business feature on local guy's puzzle store, Logan flight delay story
Wire stories: Turnpike Authority kills Fast Lane contract, state briefs, gas price update, House fights Patrick on anti-smoking funds, More Patrick staff shuffling, Mitt flips view on Hillary's "village" concept, Globe wins Pulitzer, VT shootings, storm, national briefs, Russia wants to extradite tycoon from Britain, Sudan allows UN troops, Iran defies sanctions, world briefs
Special section: N/A
Listings: Free ice cream from Ben & Jerry's today, tells you Harry & the Potters are in town tonight
Op-Ed features: Blog briefs, Alan Dershowitz op-ed (from Christian Science Monitor?), note from editor asking for your blog opinions
Puzzles: Crossword and Sudoku
Horoscope: Paragraphs plus today's birthday
Entertainment section: Preview feature on MFA's "Art in Bloom," interesting newsworthy item on how DVRs and TiVo impact "Lost" more than any other primetime TV show, feature on "Surviving the Nian" at the BCA, review of "The New Brain" at Cambridge YMCA, DVD review of "Red Sox Baby," preview of Champions on Ice at TD Banknorth Garden, Five Questions with Jazz Boston's Jason Palmer
Novelette: Part I of serial fiction page (with note at bottom asking for your 1,500-word entries)
Movie times: Today's listings for Boston and the suburbs
Gossip page: Wire on British Royals, entertainment briefs, local piece questioning BCN Rumble finalists
Lifestyle page: N/A
Sports: Wire on Boston Marathon, brief from Ch. 5 sports guys "Open Mikes",
Back of the book: Outbound page, which includes editor's Top 10 things he likes best about Boston (asking readers to submit their Top 10s), "best" Web diversions, online shopping tips, and a skin-care tip.
Back page: Ad for TJ Maxx.

Boston Metro
Pages: 32
Cover: Localized wire story on Virginia Tech shootings.
Locally written news stories: *Storm, T Riders Union, MIT students react to VT shootings, interview with Webby Awards
Wire stories: Globe wins Pulitzer, more on VT shootings, Wall Street recap
Special section: Education Guide, 12 pages
Listings: If you like Phish, you'd have learned that Page McConnell was in town signing his solo CD debut today. Knew today was Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's (bad timing for ice cream, though).
Op-Ed features: Caption contest, person on street debate about why fewer young Mass. residents volunteer compared to other states.
Puzzles: Crossword and Sudoku.
Horoscope: One-liners, akin to fortune cookie statements.
Entertainment section: *Preview of Sundance Channel's "The Green," review of "Valhalla" at BCA, interview with Mike White of "Year of the Dog," celebrity column, brief preview of Smoosh concert, DVD reviews.
Lifestyle page: Spa tips, advice column, exercise tip.
Sports section: Parts of three pages, with Red Sox game story and sidebar, sports briefs, wire on Boston Marathon.
Back of the book: Medical research ads.
Back page: Ad for Citizens Bank.
*some Metro bylines may not be from Boston staff

Day One has to go to BostonNOW, but anything else would've been bad news, because the upstart had plenty of time to plan for its launch edition. Let's check back in a week or two, or perhaps a month, to see how the two free commuter papers fare when compared.

On the Web, BostonNOW clearly wins, but that's because the Metro doesn't even try to draw online readers. It's all about picking up the product for them. Which is all well and good, but BostonNOW also has a clear vision for being a new kind of paper, and wants to draw upon local bloggers, and so, well, it has to be viable online as well as in print. An ambitious -- some might say audacious -- proposition. But someone has to try it, right?

The T is up for a Webby? Really?

2007-04-17T23:37:00.000-04:00

I must be imagining this, because the T's Web site is up for an official Webby award as the best government site.

If only the MBTA could be as successful getting its trains to run on time. Or if it could tell me why I need to use paper Charlie tickets for my passes instead of my plastic Charlie card. Or if it could explain the Silver Line to me one more time.

Who is K-Fed's brunette lady friend?

2007-04-17T13:13:00.000-04:00

Can you ID this mystery brunette woman who spent the night with Kevin Federline on Friday, April 13, in Boston?

She came and left Boston's Gypsy Bar with Federline and his small entourage, which included muscle man Mike and dancing buddy Eddie Morales. But as you can see here, she definitely had Federline's ear on Friday night.

Maybe this photo from my friend Drea will help. Here you can see the brunette woman posing with Eddie Morales, backup dancer for Justin Timberlake's current concert tour and good friend to Federline. Do you recognize her?

And here is a photo from Drea showing Federline working the ropes at the bar, and the club's patrons do seem pleased to meet him, wouldn't it appear? Pictured in the center is Kali, her eyes locked on Federline, who told me she was celebrating her 21st birthday at the club. I got her into the VIP area, where she shared a birthday shot with Federline. Don't worry. He didn't get her pregnant! And the club managed to get their man into both the Liquor Store and Match that night, too (both clubs also owned by Kevin Troy), which hopefully makes up for the time Federline ditched his February appearance in Boston to attend Justin Timberlake's VIP pre-Grammy party instead! All's well that ends well, right?

Extra's interview with Amy Murphy

2007-04-13T21:52:00.000-04:00

The show Extra claimed the first interview today with Amy Murphy, Richard Jeni's girlfriend. Video and transcript here.

To all the Sanjaya haters

2007-04-11T17:41:00.000-04:00

So it's another results night tonight for the final 8 on American Idol, and everyone with a case of real and/or mock outrage about Sanjaya Malakar and his continued presence on the show needs to get a grip. No. Really. You act as if this has never happened before! You need to take a trip with me in the Not So Way Back Machine for some Idol reminiscing...

2006: Season 5
Remember Kevin Covais? He of the "Chicken Little" nickname? He made it to 11th on the show, despite having precious "little" vocal range -- actually, it was probably how precious he looked that kept him around that far, but really, why Simon, Paula and Randy let him advance as far as he did must make you wonder. But then again, Bucky Covington? Bucky couldn't sing anything outside of the country music genre. His official bio admitted he lacked any vocal training. He had a twin brother who got almost as much air time by the end. And that end was 8th place. Eighth. Just as long as Malakar so far.

2005: Season 4
This was the year that Vote for the Worst really got its groove going, trumpeting Scott Savol -- a guy who looked like he was more than one woman's baby daddy on his bad days (and had a criminal record for domestic abuse) -- and getting him through to May sweeps, where he finished in 5th place. When Savol advanced ahead of Constantine Maroulis, fans launched an online petition demanding a recount. Runner-up Bo Bice also had a criminal record. Earlier that season, Idol producers rebroadcast an entire show and held a new vote after botching the phone numbers for three of its then-11 finalists. Executive producer Ken Warwick told reporters (including me) in a conference call: "After four years of everything being perfect, you just take your eye off the ball for a second.'' Um, not quite perfect. Considering finalist Mario Vasquez mysteriously left the show (he has recently been accused of sexually harrassing a male Idol employee!) before that revote, we're not buying it. Plus Warwick glosses over and pretends past imperfections never happened. Which leads us to...

2004: Season 3
A power outage in contestant Jennifer Hudson's hometown of Chicago may have cost her last year's Idol. No revote occurred. Hudson gets the boot (later gets an Oscar!), while Elton John accused Idol's voting methods of being racist, and Fox confirmed it had a policy to combat so-called power-dialers from stuffing the ballot box. Nevertheless, 17-year-old Jasmine Trias lasts all the way to third place -- THIRD! -- thanks not to her sweetheart smile but (if you're to believe the story) most of Hawaii voting for her en masse. Hudson finished in seventh. Sixth place that year went to 16-year-old red-head John Stevens, who, much like Sanjaya, had a similar slight crooner singing voice. In fact, that's all Stevens really had. Crooning. Gentle crooning. So if Sanjaya beats out LaKisha this week or next, it'll be just like 2004 all over again. Don't say you weren't warned.

2003: Season 2
Before he was claiming an affair with Paula Abdul, finalist Corey Clark was busy getting disqualified in ninth place because he faced assault charges. Idol gave the other eight singers a pass to the next week, despite some questionable singing. Fellow finalist Trenyce also got a free pass then, even though her previous theft conviction never came up when she told Idol she couldn't think of a most embarrassing moment. She still finished fifth. Two other semifinalists that year got the boot. Frenchie Davis could have won if not for topless photos she posed for years beforehand, while semifinalist Jaered Andrews was knocked out for his involvement in a fatal fight. And then, of course, there was the famous finale in which host Ryan Seacrest jumbled up the still-unknown vote totals, prompting fans to whisper and form conspiracy theories about who really won: Ruben Studdard or Clay Aiken?

2002: Season 1
If you've caught any episodes of American Idol Rewind, the syndicated do-over of the original season, then you probably wonder how in the heck we got the finalists we got. And you saw that Tamyra Gray pulled off the "And I'm Telling You, I'm Not Going" cover trick long before Hudson or LaKisha or any of the other wannabes. And then you remember how you voiced a certain outrage when she went from frontrunner to fourth place in an instant. Kelly Clarkson has managed to have a great post-Idol career. But that original season also brought us the less-than-perfect, wholly forgettable movie, From Justin to Kelly.

Now you're all caught up. Try not to be too shocked tonight, no matter what happens.

So I could get hired for this?

2007-04-10T12:51:00.000-04:00

Even the Wall Street Journal suggests that blogging leads to employment. Maybe I should apply for a job there?! Yes. Maybe I shall.

New York Times, on heckling

2007-04-09T18:10:00.000-04:00

Jamie Kennedy's new documentary, Heckler, prompts the New York Times to explore the proliferation of heckling both in public and online. Ugh. Now I know why my Arizona friend enforced a strict no-heckling policy in his club, with bouncers showing up at your table to warn you first, then escort you out the door if you continued.

Mass. is home to funny moms

2007-04-09T17:01:00.000-04:00

Just look at the list of 13 comedians in this season's Funniest Mom in America contest from Nick at Nite, which debuts at 9 p.m. Tuesday. At least four of them come from Massachusetts...

Jan Davidson
Kim DeShields (advance local press here)
Janine Hayes
Andrea Henry (or on MySpace)

This season should also prove interesting because, unlike most other reality contests, this one includes at least two headlining comedians with long lists of credits to their names (Cathy Ladman and Carole Montgomery).

American Idol: The Top 8

2007-04-06T16:05:00.000-04:00

I've had to catch up on my Idol watching these past couple of weeks, but thanks to my DVR, it's all been there waiting for me (and not in a Richard Marx way, thank you very much, Mr. Phil Stacey). Anyhow. That's not the point. The point is, most people in the mainstream media are paying way too much attention to Sanjaya Malakar and wondering aloud if he'll ruin the show along with the folks from Vote for the Worst. EW even has a chat with VFTW's creator online. Hello?! Have you looked at the VFTW site ever before this season? They "won" last season by getting Taylor Hicks selected as last year's Idol, even though Chris Daughtry and even Katharine McPhee or Elliott Yamin deserved it more. And did the world end? Not quite. Did Idol's producers change the voting procedure? Not one bit. Although the vote results still and always have been kept a privately private secret...which is my No. 1 pet peeve (on a long list of peeves) about the show that I and everyone else continues to watch. That, and, well, we want to see who's going to win.

So who will become the next American Idol?

My thoughts...I've ranked them here, although any of these first four singers has what it takes.
1. Melinda Doolittle: Undeniably the best singer of the bunch. She knocks every song out of the proverbial park. If only she'd stop with the looks of shock at every compliment. This woman has backed up superstars and knows she should be one, too. Maybe someone told her that if she looked surprised at her success, it'd keep the votes coming.
2. Blake Lewis: Undeniably the most creative of the bunch. Overcame (or has made solid use of) his beat-boxing auditions to show he'll make any song sound current. Pretty much the best guy in the final 8. Could sneak past Doolittle if she fails to keep fans power-dialing for her.
3. Jordin Sparks: Undeniably the most energetic and happiest to be in the running, which makes sense since, at 17, she's also the youngest contestant left (along with Sanjaya). Unlike past teens, she hasn't shirked from the spotlight and actually seems to get better each week. If Doolittle weren't so good, Sparks would be the one getting all the kudos.
4. Chris Richardson: This guy acts like he is doing his homework. In the early weeks, he cribbed from the Yamin playbook. Now he's also showing he can do anything Lewis can do in turning old classics into new hip tunes. All of which means he could go much farther if he keeps this up.

Close, but no No. 1 single
5. LaKisha Jones: Very good in her zone, anything powerful and R&B. But you don't get the sense that she's got a lot of tricks up her sleeves, so to speak. One of these themed weeks is bound to trip her up before the finale. Think of her as this year's Mandisa.
6. Sanjaya Malakar: Yeah, I wrote it. Sanjaya will stick around for a couple of weeks, perhaps, but he ain't going to be around at the end, and if he is, well, you get what you vote for, right? The kid is 17 and acts it. He did have a good initial audition with a sweet singing voice. But he's lapping all of this attention up. The hair. The antics. Did you see him welcome Simon to his universe this week? Well, you couldn't hear him because Seacrest kept yapping over him. But the thing is, he's entertaining to watch, for better or worse. If only his sister had made the final 12! Then we'd really have a national conversation.

Ain't gonna happen
7 (tie). Haley Scarnato: She looked hot and sang well in her initial audition, then became forgettable, then tried to adopt the McPheever fan-base with revealing outfits and flirty-girl performances. It's kept her in the game this long. But not much longer.
7 (tie). Phil Stacey: Hits the big notes. Needs a stylist. Not much more to say, really. Which is why he's on his way out. Unless he outlasts Scarnato. Hence the tie.

Updated online newspaper circulation stats

2007-04-06T15:28:00.000-04:00

Nielsen/NetRatings released its roundup of Web visitor stats for February 2007, and its top 30 begins with some usual suspects: The New York Times had a big lead with 12.9 million unique visitors and more than 455 million page views in February, followed by USA Today, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal (even though the WSJ restricts most of its stories and data for paid online subscribers, which should provide evidence that if you have something people really want, they will pay for it online). Thanks to Editor and Publisher for getting the data, which follows similar findings by the Newspaper Association of America.

The top 10 in visitors for February 2007
NYTimes.com: 12,960,000
USATODAY.com: 9,050,000
washingtonpost.com: 8,030,000
LA Times: 4,546,000
Wall Street Journal Online: 3,436,000
The Houston Chronicle: 3,292,000
SFGate.com: 3,236,000
Boston.com: 3,197,000
Chicago Tribune: 2,973,000
New York Post: 2,684,000
(*11. Daily News Online Edition: 2,555,000 -- They redesigned the site in March)

The top 10 in page views
NYTimes.com: 455,527,000
USAToday.com: 169,517,000
Washingtonpost.com: 154,836,000
Houston Chronicle: 93,737,000
Boston.com/Boston Globe: 57,154,000
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 54,994,000
SFGate.com: 51,617,000
LA Times: 50,986,000
Chicago Tribune: 45,283,000
Wall Street Journal: 42,067,000

Dolls and Pats: Rolling VIP

2007-04-03T10:35:00.000-04:00

'Tis true. I went to Gypsy Bar on Friday night for the Pussycat Dolls VIP afterparty and didn't get a picture of me with any of the Dolls, not even Nicole (with whom I spoke all-too-briefly and much-too-late in the evening, but that's my fault for not stepping up). I did get this amusing shot of me with Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs (he's on the right!), who couldn't have been a nicer guy. He told me about how text messaging is taking over actual cell phone calls, how he relies on his Treo, and how he doesn't think he'd ever be seen rapping or singing like the Dolls anytime soon. He and I also got to talk to Melody (whom I didn't know was from Phoenix, because if I had, that would've opened up another avenue of discussion, but that's my fault, too). And I tried to get the scoop from Ashley about the new Doll. All she told me was that, 1) the new Doll wouldn't start getting broken in until after the show is over, and 2) that there is no boot camp. "The show is boot camp enough," she told me. What else? Oh, I put the rest in a blurb that ran in yesterday's Names column (third item) of the Boston Globe.

24: Spoiler Alert!!!

2007-04-03T10:04:00.000-04:00

Here is your 24 spoiler alert...It's spoiled! All spoiled. This show has finally lost it beyond repair. Where is the suspense? Where is the logic? Even a cougar and the return of Kim Bauer (see: Season 2) would help bring this show back from the depths of desperation. So the president comes out of a coma to turn back a coup from his vice president, only to launch the nuclear strike the VP wanted...to the UNNAMED COUNTRY that's fighting us? The big bad terrorist gets caught in a blue-collar bar? Don't worry, though, because previews show us his bad bad friends will launch an escape plan for him? Where have we seen that before? Where have we seen all of this before? And what about all of those people dying in California from nuclear fallout? I guess they're not important right now. The previews for next week also show Jack Bauer getting shot (though apparently in his bulletproof vest). Yawn, yawn, yawn. What about Jack's evil dad? And his wacko sister-in-law who's in love with him? And his nephew/son? And that soap opera back in CTU? And what about the former First Family? Seriously, this nonsense is out of hand. Yes, every season of 24 has its leaps of logic. But this one...seriously.

Why couldn't they have simply done the sensible thing and make this season all about getting Bauer out of that Chinese prison...but that would've taken some actual initiative.

Or perhaps it woudd've looked too much like that other silly suspense show on FOX that precedes it, Prison Break.

At least now I know I don't have to worry about what to watch at 9 p.m. Mondays anymore.

Photos: Shane Mauss does Conan

2007-04-02T21:15:00.000-04:00

5 p.m., March 21: Shane Mauss in his dressing room

12:30 a.m., March 22: Shane checks his e-mails as Dan Boulger, Rob O'Reilly and Maggie MacDonald get excited for the show

1:30 a.m., March 22: It's Shane and friends, watching Shane on TV

1:35 a.m., March 22: A toast, for he's a jolly good comedian

Red Sox: Play ball!

2007-04-02T10:48:00.000-04:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah...The Mets and Cardinals played for reals last night, but as far as us in Red Sox Nation are concerned, it's all real today, in Kansas City. The 2007 Boston Red Sox season begins at 4:10 p.m. Eastern with new leadoff hitter and shortstop Julio Lugo facing the first pitch. Curt Schilling gets the start. Good luck, boys!

The action is on NESN, ESPN, WRKO-AM (680). Check your local listings for other outlets.

Dan Kennedy should blog about this today

2007-04-02T10:42:00.000-04:00

Another report suggests that the youngsters are reading newspapers -- online, anyhow. The Newspaper Association of America says its data shows online paper sites have increased views and visitors by 13.7 percent in the 25-34 demo, and by 9.2 percent in the 18-24 bracket. Boston media critic Dan Kennedy often argues that combining the online and print readership shows the news ain't all bad for the newspaper companies. What do you say?

Updated/related: The Seattle Times continues speculation that its competition, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, will go online-only if their JOA breaks.

Connection between news and booze?

2007-04-02T10:37:00.000-04:00

Say it ain't so?! Well, this former Seattle journalist -- now UW professor -- says it is so: Journalism and alcohol (and other drugs) go hand in woozy hand. His study? Mostly anecdotal. Highly skewed. And I don't mean that kind of high. But, of course, there is some truth to it.

Story in this week's Boston Phoenix

2007-03-28T17:57:00.000-04:00

My travels with Boston comedian Shane Mauss found a journalistic home in this week's Boston Phoenix. Read it here. I'll have plenty of details, photos and more on this matter.

Richard Jeni's Laugh Factory memorial

2007-03-28T17:48:00.000-04:00

The Los Angeles Times covered Richard Jeni's memorial at the Laugh Factory last weekend. Read its report. I was friends with his girlfriend, TV reporter and meteorologist Amy Murphy (we worked together in Phoenix, and the first thing she said to me when she found out I was a comedian was how much she loved Richard Jeni -- she hadn't hooked up with him yet) and so my heart goes out to her and to Jeni's family.

Boston digs the "Faux Terror" do

2007-03-26T18:13:00.000-04:00

This guy helped out at the March 20 "Iced Iced Coffee" karaoke contest at Copley Square.

This guy sat a few rows in front of me at the March 15 Shins concert at the Orpheum.

Both of these guys look suspiciously like the Zebbler, aka the "fake Boston terrorist," aka Peter Berdovsky, one of two guys arrested in the wake of Boston's freakout over their Aqua Teen Hunger Force promotional signs. The first photo above clearly is a different guy, based on testimony provided by sources on the scene that said he drove down from Maine for the event. The second photo isn't clear at all, mostly because I took it via camera phone. But the point I'm about to make remains the same...why would you want to look like Peter Berdovsky at a time like this? Do you want to be confused for him, especially by Boston's police? Or, rather, were you inspired by him to go with the dreadlocks and goatee? Or is this simply the look to have if you're a radical performance artist? How many other Bostonians are sporting this look? Could you imagine that police lineup? Or maybe a boy band? Now that I think about it, round 'em up!

Vanilla Ice Iced Coffee

2007-03-21T10:17:00.000-04:00

My friends at Regan Comm (including Kevin Flight, seen at far right) got a nice PR hit yesterday for their client, Dunkin Donuts -- offering free iced coffees today -- by inviting Mr. Rob Van Winkle (aka Vanilla Ice) to Boston to judge a karaoke contest at the Copley plaza. Yes, it was what you were thinking. Contestants had to adapt the lyrics of "Ice Ice Baby" to "Ice Iced Coffee." At least Van Winkle seems to have come to terms with his infamy. See how he is smiling for the cell phone? Such is his surreal life.

Whitest Kids U Know on Fuse

2007-03-21T09:46:00.000-04:00

So the latest, possibly greatest sketch comedy show debuted last night on Fuse, showcasing NYC's Whitest Kids U Know. Mostly good stuff in the first two half-hours, which will repeat almost nightly throughout the week on the cable channel (check your local listings, in Boston it's on Comcast's 271). Here is one of their outlandish sketches that's already made the leap to TV. Prepare yourself for "Timmy Poops His Pants." NSFW, needless to say.

SNL goes back to stand-up

2007-03-19T23:46:00.000-04:00

For the second time this season -- third if you count guest host Dane Cook -- Saturday Night Live turned over the reins to an outsider to perform stand-up on the show. Well, Chris Rock had gotten his first big break as an SNL cast member back in the day, but that didn't make it any less surprising to see Rock opine on the 2008 presidential campaign for the SNL open on March 17, 2007.

Not too shabby, even with a slight flub in Rock's delivery. Here are the other examples in this season's SNL stand-up showcase. Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen) took over the show for about five minutes earlier in the season.

And here is a transcript of Dane Cook's monologue from the SNL season premiere in September.

The Times liked comedians last weekend

2007-03-19T14:01:00.000-04:00

Don't hate. The New York Times apparently decided this past weekend to write soft happy profiles of two popular comedians, Jim Gaffigan and Amy Poehler. Read them while the links remain valid! You won't learn as much as you'd like to, but you'll still enjoy knowing temporarily that the "paper of record" has decided to feature a couple of good comedians for all of the right reasons.

A very Gotham weekend

2007-03-16T18:18:00.000-04:00

If you happen to visit New York City anytime soon, let me put in a word for a stop at the Maritime Hotel in Chelsea. Or is it the Meatpacking District? The site says it's in Chelsea, two blocks north of the Meatpacking District. Anyhow. I've already gotten away from the point. Point is, if you have several hundred dollars per day to blow on lodging here, you're likely to have casual encounters with celebrities. And not just all of the stand-up comedians who stayed at the Maritime last week. In a period of less than 24 hours, I exchanged words with Michael Stipe (whom I now realize was hanging around for Monday's induction of R.E.M. into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!) and saw Tate Donovan hanging around in the lobby. I believe my exchange with Stipe went something like this:

5:50 p.m. Saturday, comedian Dan Boulger and I head down the steps and out of the Maritime. Just then, Stipe is heading inside. We almost collide. "Oh...hi!" I say. "Hello," he replies. Boulger stares oddly. And that was that. Stipe wore some sort of beret and was sporting a grayish brown beard.

And now for the rest of the weekend story.

Boulger invited me to hang out for Saturday night's tapings of Live at Gotham. During the day, all of the stand-up comics get to run-through rehearsal. They'll put anything on the teleprompter, even a word-for-word transcript of a comedian's routine. Odd to think you could get on TV and simply read your stand-up routine. Who does that? It's odd just to see a comic read off their notes during a major set. But I suppose Comedy Central might also offer this service just in case a comic gets a case of the TVs and freezes up. Plus, it turns out the teleprompter also can be used as an alternative to the light, sending messages such as "one minute left!" As for audience members, they're told no food, no bathroom breaks, the better to keep disruptions to a minimum. And the production hired a special audience coordinator to hand out specific seat assignments. Apparently, seating a comedy show can be looked at as a science. Put the best-looking best laughers front and center. Put industry people in the back corner. Audience members also got instructions on what not to wear (no logos, no whites). And then, as talent manager Max Burgos pointed out before the first taping began: "The smoke machine really does it, man." Suppose it adds an old-school comedy club feel, although it'd really be old-school if they let you smoke. The tapings also have an official warm-up comedian. Dan Ahdoot more than honorably worked this non-televised job, working the crowd (and adding another several minutes of material when the second show incurred technical difficulties) and helping establish pre-show shots of crowd applause and laughter.

The first show's lineup: Gerry Dee, Pete Dominick, Lisa DeLarios, Bryan Callen, with host Jim Breuer.

The second show's lineup: Michael Kosta, Julie Goldman, Dan Boulger, Eric Andre, John Hoogasian, Brian Scolaro, with host Jeffrey Ross.

Each comic got to work out about 10 minutes of material, knowing that Comedy Central might edit out a couple of minutes for the Web and other material for ad time. I'd think they might cut Callen's bit about wanting to change his own name to something along the lines of Meeeeowww Cah! (Um, didn't he see the whole online debate about Louis CK and Dane Cook?) Guess not. Also, Breuer had to come back onstage at the end of the first show for several attempts at pronounciating the Colbert Report. The second show had much more energy. Perhaps that had to do with the lineup. Goldman had so much more going on than when I'd seen her last year at a Laughing Liberally show at Jimmy Tingle's. Boulger, going up after her, looked nervous for the first time that I'd ever seen. Then came Andre, who blew the roof off the joint, took extra time out of his act to encourage the audience to make fart noises, just to see if Comedy Central would use it! Hoogasian, up next, tried to sound like Emo Philips but mostly sounded weird. And it seemed odd at the end when Scolaro went with a bit about cavemen having to determine what was edible (since in the previous show, Ramsey had a similar bit about the first guy to bite into a pineapple!). No matter. At least not for me to worry about. That's why they're on separate shows, right? Right. Anyhow, onto the after parties, first downstairs, and then out onto nearby streets and a place called Dusk which was small but had a good vibe, especially when a bunch of comedians and like-minded people took over the bar. Good times. Couldn't you tell from the photos I posted earlier? Of course you could.

Live at Gotham: Before and Afterparty

2007-03-15T18:26:00.000-04:00

Dan Boulger has his eye on Lisa DeLarios, but Lisa only has eyes for me!

How did Eric Andre's set go tonight? Just ask him. He's #1!

Sherry Sirof and Jeff Kreisler are ready for an after-after-party.

Try as he might, Rob O'Reilly cannot impress Eleni. Eric Andre points out the madness.

More pithy prose to come.

Sandra McCoy: Pussycat Doll in my book!

2007-03-15T17:12:00.000-04:00

So I finally caught up on my DVR'd episode of the debut of CW's Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll. Immediately recognized one of the 18 semifinalists as Sandra McCoy, who has a long list of credits in film (Cry Wolf), TV guest-starring roles, commercials (you most likely have seen her as the girl who gets as many free Heinekens as she wants), dancing (former Laker Girl!), magazine spreads (Maxim and Stuff) and music videos. So my first thought: Ringer. Obviously going to make it as the next Pussycat Doll. But not to be. She got sick. Still performed. But didn't make the cut. Why, though, doesn't she want to list it as a credit on her site? Nothing to be ashamed about, if you ask me. Here she is singing in her final audition:

Good News Bunting

2007-03-14T15:08:00.000-04:00

Very pleased to see my college writing friend, Sarah D. Bunting, cash in on this newfangled Internet craze. Bravo announced yesterday it had purchased Bunting's Television Without Pity site (read news about it here or here). They've already got it linked from the TV network's home page! And the TWoP has a statement about the big buy here.

Sarah and I go back to the olden times, back when the Internet was merely a secret government project, back when we would co-write and publish a definitive student guide to Princeton. I convinced Sarah to write for me as I published one semester of the Student Course Guide (Tangent: Having all of this online makes it so much easier to coordinate than back in those olden times! Oh well.). Sarah then convinced me to join her on the staff of the college's alt-paper, Nassau Weekly (co-founded by David Remnick, for you trivia buffs!), where I became a resident Page 2 humor columnist. That, of course, helped send me on my way into a fun-filled adventure into the world of real-world journalism. So, yes, blame/credit Sars for some of the pithy prose I've brought unto the world. I'm going to go with credit on this one.

Thoughts on Richard Jeni (and Mitch Hedberg)

2007-03-13T20:21:00.000-04:00

I was in New York City, celebrating with comedians and Comedy Central folk after a successful night of tapings for the second season of Live At Gotham, when the audience coordinator delivered the news to us. "Did you hear Richard Jeni died?" My first reply: "You've got to be kidding. That must be one of those Internet rumors going around." Nope. No rumor. Although it took until Sunday morning to find out anything that might confirm the tragic news, and that came via my friends at Shecky Magazine.

The official Richard Jeni site first went black, then emerged first with his dates (1957-2007), and later with a note from the family on Monday, and now a note from one of his good friends. It's good that Jeni's family and friends have come out quickly with an explanation -- well, not a complete one, but how can you for a suicide -- so all of his fans don't spread falsehoods about him.

Couldn't help but immediately think of Mitch Hedberg's sudden death two years ago this March.

These two great comics took different paths to self-destruction. Jeni, a gun; Hedberg, drugs. They both needed much more support and comfort than we gave them. It's just so sad.

I knew Hedberg a lot better than I knew Jeni. I had the good fortune to both perform with and interview Hedberg, so his death hit me harder. Though he had always been jovial and mostly sober when I saw him, the signs were so very clear that Hedberg was falling away from us, from his arrest in Texas to his dismal performance in Tempe, to his no-show in Phoenix. Instead of dwelling on that, today I went to this tribute site and watched a bunch of Mitch clips. Still so very funny. Watching the 1995 Comedy Central clip also gives you a glimpse into Mitch's early stage presence, when he had the material but a more traditional delivery. He hadn't yet become the Mitch we all grew to love.

As for Jeni, I didn't really know him at all. Remembered him from The Mask. Remembered him even more for his cinema comedy clips in the late 1990s. Saw him all over the place when I went to the Aspen fest in 2002. Saw him again onstage in Tempe a year or two later. Always quite solid and quick with the quips. I knew a girl who dated him. Now wondering if she was "the girlfriend" and feeling so sorry for her and what she's going through. Talked to some people who did cross paths with Jeni recently and they reported that all was not quite right, or that they had seen a different personality out of Jeni.

They both needed much more support and comfort and a positive kick in the arse than we gave them. It's just so sad. We need to keep an eye on our friends and loved ones, and make sure they know how much we love and care about them. I'm not saying anything new here. But it's still the kind of thing that we need to keep saying if we want to prevent another comic tragedy like this.

Post your thoughts on Jeni's MySpace page or Memorial Guestbook.

One on one with Rob Corddry

2007-03-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

I got the chance to talk to Rob Corddry last weekend at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen. Nice guy. As funny offstage as he is onstage.

Corddry stars in the new FOX sitcom, The Winner, alongside fellow Boston-bred comedian Lenny Clarke (who plays his father). Corddry cited another local for his sense of humor, his Weymouth North High School friend Raye LaPlante. “He was my best friend in high school. Raye LaPlante is probably one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life and I continue to steal from him,” Corddry told me. “We did our first play together, ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’ My first. His first and last. He played Conrad Birdie. I played Albert Peterson.” That was 1989. These days, LaPlante lives in Rockland and is a regional vice president for CIBER, while both Corddry and his younger brother, Nate, are both on primetime TV. He said he remains optimistic about his brother’s show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. “They’re getting pummeled, but I think they’re going to be back because The Black Donnellys did so poorly, ironically,” Corddry said. “They’ll probably be back and hopefully they’ll catch their stride next season.”

An edited version of this post appears in today's Boston Globe.

Rachael Ray: Dunkin Donuts spokeswoman?

2007-03-09T13:49:00.000-05:00

After a fun year of They Might Be Giants-penned ads joined and followed by John Goodman voiceovers, Dunkin Donuts has named Rachael Ray as its new spokeswoman. Read initial coverage here, here and here.

Did the company read Mike Miliard's socio-anthropological profile of Dunkins in last week's Phoenix, though, to make sure Ray fits in with the demo? Probably not.

Of course, if you're like me, you remain wistful for the so-called good ol' days of Dunkin ads...

Or this one from oh-so-recently...

Or this jingle-lingle-jam...

Sarah Silverman's "daughter" as smart as a fifth-grader

2007-03-09T13:24:00.000-05:00

Where have you seen this bright young face before? Laura Marano is one of the fifth-graders starring on the new FOX quiz show, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? Laura appeared last month as Sarah Silverman's "daughter" on Comedy Central's Sarah Silverman Program. She also has had the good fortune of playing a main character's daughter on Without A Trace. Not too shabby. For a fifth-grader.

Adding to the Lost fan theories

2007-03-07T14:58:00.000-05:00

Todd Hostager, who seems to have an unlimited amount of time to obsess over Lost, graciously added my two cents to his expanding list of HEMA theories about the ABC show. My point centers on the opening moments of the show's third season, in which the Others talk about Carrie. Hostager has added a Carrie page to explore it further. Suffice it to say, I'm sticking with the show, hoping that the answers start coming sooner rather than later.

My Colbert reports

2007-03-07T14:51:00.000-05:00

Managed to get two clips out of talking with Stephen Colbert in Aspen, one specifically about his desire for a second TV chance with Congressman Barney Frank for the Boston Globe (my first clip for them: the lead item in today's Names column) and a more general Behind the Colbert Report report for Entertainment Weekly's Popwatch blog.

Scenes from the Aspen Comedy Festival (VI)

2007-03-06T23:48:00.000-05:00

Even Nick Swardson is impressed by Sierra Mist promo gal Jamie's foosball skills.

Lisa de Larios and Shane Mauss are OK with plastic cups in Michael Goldberg's fancy mansion.

Something so funny happened that even the security guy wanted in the picture.

Michael Goldberg's mansion party takes a lot of you. Just ask these guys.

Scenes from the Aspen Comedy Festival (V)

2007-03-06T23:36:00.000-05:00

Jamie Kennedy poses with stand-up winners Kirk Fox and Shane Mauss.

Shane gets his first chance to hold his snow globe award.

Daniel Tosh thinks he should've won an award. I'm not sure he's wrong.

Award winning comedians Shane Mauss and Kirk Fox.

Scenes from the Aspen Comedy Festival (IV)

2007-03-06T23:28:00.000-05:00

Lisa de Larios knew her glasses would look funny. She's right.

Ben Kronberg displayed great pretzel-catching skills. Look closely.

Robbie Praw and Lisa de Larios have a Zoolander moment.

Shane Mauss gets the Super Deluxe treatment from Dan Pasternack.

Scenes from the Aspen Comedy Festival (III)

2007-03-06T23:18:00.000-05:00

Billy, ahem, William Baldwin doesn't want to explain the joke to Boulger again.

Seth Morris (UCB-LA) and Dan Boulger, happy happy joy joy.

The one picture I have of Shane in which he's not the drunkest guy in the picture.

Comedy Central's Anne Harris and her friend, whose name still escapes me.

Scenes from the Aspen Comedy Festival (II)

2007-03-06T23:13:00.000-05:00

My hat was a bigger hit at the festival than I was. Go figure.

Eric Andre likes to emphasize his points. Especially in the Sierra Mist Lounge.

As you can see, the Sierra Mist Lounge really stuck with that strict invite list.

Robbie Praw, Montreal's festival scout, gets some lovin' from Nick Swardson.

Scenes from the Aspen Comedy Festival (I)

2007-03-06T23:00:00.000-05:00

Hari Kondabolu and Chris Fleming are so so happy, and it's only Thursday.

The UCB after-party: Really the only place to be after 2 a.m., at least this week.

Erik Charles Nielsen and Dan Boulger. Crazy and crazier is more like it.

Steven Wright isn't sure he wants to pose for this picture with Shane Mauss.

Aspen, The Parties

2007-03-05T05:01:00.000-05:00

The Sierra Mist Lounge in the St. Regis provided a fun and comfortable environment to kick back after the shows each night during the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, although it seemed better on its slower nights (Wednesday and Saturday) than on Thursday and Friday, when it got so packed you could barely move. Met some nice comics (Nick Swardson) and even some nice lawyers (Jeff B. Cohen, aka lawyer to the comics, aka Chunk!). A ping pong table and foosball. Dan Boulger thought he had a brush with Cheryl Hines. Only problem was that the parties ended too early, as the lights came up at about 1:45 each morning. Which invariably led to the afterparties.

The UCB "house" was where it was at each night. Seth Morris and the rest of the guys couldn't have been nicer. The basement hopped. Anyone and everyone would show up (see my earlier post about William Baldwin's party reference during the awards ceremony). And our small band of comedians and merrymakers bonded throughout the week, making for a four-day party. Only problem was that we'd have to shepherd each other back up the icy mountain to the condo.

The so-called "mansion," on the other hand, ugh. Took a lot of effort to get there, by car and by foot. And once there, it really was too large and anonymous to have any fun there. As we remarked to each other afterward, we could've had much more fun at the UCB place. Or even at our place.

Boston comics take over Aspen

2007-03-05T04:45:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of Boston connections to the 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

Stand-up showcases
Eric Andre: Graduated from Berklee College of Music and started his stand-up career in Boston
Shane Mauss: Moved to Boston in 2004. Regularly performs in and around Boston.
Erik Charles Nielsen: Went to Boston University, started out in the Comedy Studio.
Chris Fleming: Still in college, from Western Mass., performs at the Comedy Studio.
Dan Mintz: Harvard grad, wrote and edited for the Lampoon, performed at the Comedy Studio.
Dan Boulger: Native. Performs regularly in and around Boston.
Hari Kondabolu: Though he lives in Seattle now, he graduated from Bowdoin and performed in Boston before moving out West.

Featured stand-ups
Marc Maron: Really started his comedy career in 1988 in Boston and Cambridge
Steven Wright: Emerson College grad broke open the Boston comedy scene in 1982, still shows up in Boston clubs unannounced from time to time

Special shows
The Winner panel: Starring Rob Corddry (Weymouth) and Lenny Clarke (Cambridge)
Entourage panel: Based on the experiences of Dorchester's Mark Wahlberg and co-creators Doug Ellin and Stephen Levinson
The Alloy Orchestra: Cambridge trio performs live movie scores

Aspen, Day Four* (Group B)

2007-03-05T04:34:00.000-05:00

Saturday in Aspen: The 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

Andy Borowitz hosted this standing-room only stand-up showcase. Erik Charles Nielsen went first, and seemed less intense than the first night I'd seen him, mixing up his material a bit. But the audience wasn't quite ready for him, and his decision to back into an unlit corner of the stage during his closer didn't help, either. Alexandra McHale has some funny nutritional advice, but I had to make a note in my notepad to alert Gary Gulman that someone else is coming for his cookie jokes! Na'im Lynn must really have a problem around the holidays, though he seems nice enough. TJ Miller has so many characters in his act, I feel like I'm watching an audition for SNL. To which Dan Boulger asked, "What's wrong with that?" John Ramsey has so many sharp, solid, clever jokes that he must be introduced to Myq Kaplan to see if they'll either become fast friends or mortal enemies. A poop joke as Russian history? Seriously? Seriously funny. Shane Mauss, fresh off his festival win, got to close the show and was funnier than I'd ever seen him. He threw in some old jokes and some rare jokes. And he had the audience at his bidding.

Aspen, Best of the Rest of the Fest

2007-03-05T03:22:00.000-05:00

Or a recap of other shows and stuff from Friday and Saturday at the 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

Stephen Colbert
Colbert received his Person of the Year award from CNN's Jeff Greenfield, as they sat in front of a giant poster/mock magazine cover of Colbert as the Person of the Year with the subtitle: "Not you. Me." A good dig at Time. Also fitting for the Colbert character. He said this was his third time at the festival, but "this is the first time I've looked out at the front row and not seen everybody asleep!" I barely got in, and barely made it to the post-show press opp (my bad on both counts). Very funny and friendly guy. For those of you playing the home game, the Colbert Report writers come up with most of the “Word”s on Fridays, because it can take a while to write the backstory and explanation for each word. Some insightful comments on Bill O’Reilly and Barney Frank. Video tributes from his friends and colleagues. More to come on this in other forums that pay me. But the show was so packed, Colbert made time to give props to people stuck in the lobby.

Fat City Lounge
The title of this year’s late-night show at Aspen, where anyone and everyone can drop in for a few minutes of stage time. Friday night’s hosts Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter joked about the show’s musical theme and riffed on the Irish (hey!?). Charlyne Yi, who played an NBC page on a recent episode of 30 Rock, stepped up first with her guitar and rocked out to a song called "God knows I finished my whiskey." Hmmm. Sketch group Olde English followed with a sketch about the Fernberger family whose condo the troupers were staying at in Aspen, showing off the family's framed photos, posters, paintings, living room chair, track lighting and drapes. Apparently, the HBO folks weren't so happy about the sketch ending with the troupers simulating sex with said items. Either way, what made me enjoy it was not knowing whether the guys really did take these items from the condo or not. TastiSkank brought the funny with songs about "I heart dirty boys," "Hydrocodone," "Please manscape the area," "Oops, I f--ked you again" and "You're the worst sex I've ever had." Showalter had to take off to his other scheduled show, so Ian Black introduced a special guest, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas (as played by UCB's Seth Morris) who read his open letter to Hollywood. Tim Minchin closed the show. In the first 30 seconds, I wasn't sure what to make of this Aussie as he air-drummed, air-guitared and lip-synched. But as soon as he sat down to the piano, everything changed. He can play. He can sing. And he can tell some wickedly perverse jokes. Anyone who can write a peace anthem for the Middle East is good in my book, even if I'm going to keep on eating pigs. So glad I decided to catch this show.

The Winner
After watching the pilot for this new FOX sitcom that debuted Sunday night (twas funny in an outrageous way, although upon watching it and the second episode Sunday, I've decided that it's entirely due to Rob Corddry and Lenny Clarke), Spike Feresten moderated a panel discussion with creator Ricky Blitt, star Corddry and Seth MacFarlane. "It's sort of a Wonder Years starting at 32," Blitt said. MacFarlane joked about drinking so early in the day: "I drink because I'm comfortable being the only white person in this town." Corddry downplayed all of the roles that are coming his way in movies. "Those nine films, they're all like don't-blink roles," he said.

Best of the Fest Awards ceremony
Hosted by Jamie Kennedy, with presentations also made by Judith Light and William Baldwin. Deciding to sit with Shane Mauss and a guy from SuperDeluxe front row center turned out to be a wise decision, especially when Mauss won an award as the best stand-up of the fest (along with Kirk Fox, who got off one of the funniest ad-libs by saying, "William Baldwin's complaining he didn't win an award? He already won an award. He's not Daniel."). For his part, Baldwin kept cracking jokes, perhaps to let us know that he, like older brother Alec, is ready and willing to do sitcom work! At one point, though, Baldwin stopped to look out into the crowd and saw the fro of Eric Andre. Paraphrasing here, Baldwin shouted to Andre: "You were on fire last night. Do you remember? You crashed the party, holding a sled over your head as you shouted, 'Let's rub boners!'" Um. Yeah. I was there. I remember. But most people in the audience were merely weirded out. Afterward, the guys from Super Deluxe took Mauss, myself and Ben Kronberg out to dinner at La Cantina. Fun, quick Mexican meal, and then Mauss and I raced back to the Belly Up for his final showcase.

My roommate wins best stand-up in Aspen!

2007-03-03T23:52:00.000-05:00

Yes, comedy fans. Shane Mauss, my condo roommate and comedy buddy for the week, won best stand-up honors tonight at the 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen (HBO).

We still have a lot of catching up to do, you readers and I, and we still have a lot of partying to do, Mauss and I and the other comics, so there will be a lot for me to bring to you on Sunday. In the meantime, here are the other award winners...

Best Stand-up – Kirk Fox & Shane Mauss
Breakout Award Male – John Oliver
Breakout Award Female – TastiSkank (Sarah Litzsinger and Kate Reinders)
Best Alternative – Tim Minchin
Best Sketch – Summer of Tears
Best One Person Show – Nilaja Sun for “No Child…”

Oh, also. My friends tell me this blog isn't accepting comments. So if you want to weigh in, good or bad, or just send me a scoop, try my email or my MySpace.

Aspen, Day Three* (Group D)

2007-03-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

Friday in Aspen: The 2007 U.S. Comedy Arts Festival

Stand Up D
Hosted by Hyla Matthews, who had a recurring bit pretending to go through all of the relationship steps with a guy in the front row. And now for your comedians.

Kyle Kinane. I met this guy the first night I got into Aspen and he wore a bizarre beret that he even said was not a beret. That’s the bizarre part. But when he grabbed the mic and said, “What’s happening, snowflakes and fingerprints?!” I knew to expect some comedy gold. And Kinane delivered, with a sharp self-deprecating style. He might have thought his volcano barbecue bit didn’t go so well, but he shouldn’t worry so much. Good job.

Hari Kondabolu came next, and (full disclosure: condo roommate) he impressed me with his social commentary on the diversity of white people, selling people to India, and immigration.

Then Dan Boulger came up. So rewarding to see him just slay an audience of complete strangers (and important industry types). The audience slowly rose to a boil, and as soon as Boulger’s Bush/Hitler joke landed, they were roaring til the end. Nicely played. Boulger told me the audience reacted similarly the previous time, and he wondered if he should move the Hitler bit up. I said no no. You’ve got it timed just right. Let ‘em warm up to you. By the way, I love Boulger, and I hate him, because he made me stay up way too late Thursday night (so if you were lacking for blog posts, now you know). And now for your next comedian.

Michelle Buteau. Heyhey! What? Hello! The Jamaican/Haitian lady says, “You know how I got so light? It’s called colonialism.” Heyyy!

Owen Benjamin. Opened with a joke about how silly it is that people couldn’t distinguish between Superman and Clark Kent. Followed that with a joke about how he’s tall, so people think he plays basketball. Um, yeah. He did rebound (ahem) with material about his gay and gayer parents. And a good diamond joke. And I found some funny videos of him. So that makes up for his opener.

Lavell Crawford delivered some spot-on jokes about Aspen. “Heated sidewalks?” he said. “I’m telling all the homeless people I know about this!” His closing bit about Subway dragged on a bit, though. Just saying.

Boston's comics killing in Aspen

2007-03-02T22:16:00.000-05:00

Some of you are hungry for this sort of information, so let me just tell it to you straight. Shane Mauss (in showcase group B) and Dan Boulger (in showcase group D) both have performed twice in Aspen, and they're already the talk of the town. Mauss got an early lead on the buzz because he had performed twice before Boulger's group had its festival debut. But they're both majorly slaying. Big time. All sorts of industry attention. The appropriate cliche here would be wicked good. Steven Wright's publicist told Mauss that no less than five people already had e-mailed him saying he had to check Mauss out. Boulger is having to tell people, sorry, but I already have representation.

I'll have a lot more to say about them later, but just wanted to let you know they're representing Boston very well so far.

My first Entertainment Weekly clip

2007-03-02T22:09:00.000-05:00

The trip to Aspen literally is paying off. My first blog post for Entertainment Weekly went live about an hour ago. My alternate subject header for it: Chloe & Rush? Keep dreaming. It's about Mary Lynn Rajskub, silly, whom you already know I saw perform last night.

Anyhow. Read my EW.com blog posting here.

More to come later.