Three lucky SHECKYmagazine readers have won Ron White's new CD, "You Can't Fix Stupid!"

We would like to congratulate Tran Thien Nhan of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, Randy Masters of Richmond, VA, and Darcy Michael of Delta, British Columbia, Canada! Thanks for reading and thanks for entering!

FOS John Kensil alerted us to an article in the British newspaper, The Independent, " Why men don't fancy funny women," involving reasearch results.

Dr. Rod Martin led the project. The findings are published in the scientific journal Evolution and Human Behaviour this week.

"When forced to choose between humour production and humour appreciation in potential partners, women valued humour production, whereas men valued receptivity to their own humour," said Dr Martin.

That's going on the next business card-- "Humor Production."

...or did your neck throw up?

As comedians, and as comedians who run a website, we constantly seek to determine the importance to society of standup comedy and of humor.

And that's how we ended up reading a description (complete with sample chapters) of a book called "Wired For Speech":

Interfaces that talk and listen are populating computers, cars, call centers, and even home appliances and toys, but voice interfaces invariably frustrate rather than help. In "Wired for Speech," Clifford Nass and Scott Brave reveal how interactive voice technologies can readily and effectively tap into the automatic responses all speech -- whether from human or machine -- evokes.

And exactly how does this relate to humor?

Well, since humor is so important to society, the book pays some attention to the appropriateness or usefulness of humor (very and very!) in voice interfaces and pays some attention to exactly what kind of humor should be utilized.

We can't take complete credit for discovering this. The gang at MIT Press thought the book's humor/voice interface connection to be interesting enough to excerpt it on their weblog, MITPressblog. It was there that we found the following excerpt from "Wired For Speech," which quotes from Victor Raskin, Professor of English and Linguistics at Purdue University:

Humor has been underutilized in voice interface design. However, designers should not blithely include witticisms: jokes are powerful and must be used judiciously. Many types of humor have huge downsides. [...]

No joke will be universally loved. What happens when, despite rewriting and testing, jokes fall short? Research by John Morkes directly tested this by creating additional interfaces with known unsuccessful innocent jokes. Although people wrote more negative comments (called "flames") to the computer that provided bad jokes than to the computer that provided no jokes, no negative effects were observed on user's performance, effort, or perceptions of the interface. Hence, the risk of failure is not as large as the benefits of success.

How can ineffective jokes be avoided? If there was an easy answer to this question, everyone could be a successful comedian. Nevertheless, here are some useful guidelines from Victor Raskin:

* Give exactly as much information as is necessary for the joke.
* Say only what is compatible with the world of the joke.
* Say only what is relevant to the joke.
* Tell the joke efficiently.
* Avoid jokes that are highly dependent on timing, as many users may have divided attention.

Books of jokes can be effective. Many of them are organized by topic, enabling the designer to select a joke to fit gracefully into the interaction. It is also useful to remember that jokes that were considered overused in a given generation may seem startlingly original for a new generation.

Fascinating. We can't decide which nugget of wisdom we like more. "Many types of humor have huge downsides," might be the winner.

We can't help but see a bit of Kip Addotta's influence in the above bulleted list. (Reminds us of his "How to tell a joke" bit.)

Over the cybertransom comes a press release from Comedy Central about how...

...COMEDY CENTRAL is launching on iTunes today, with 56 half-hour episodes featuring the network's leading franchises – the Emmy Award-winning South Park, Drawn Together and COMEDY CENTRAL Stand-Up.

And lest any of you think that this is yet another example of Big TV exploiting the little guy for a few extra (billion) pennies, we've been assured by the folks at Comedy Central that "it follows the standard home video arrangement where talent participates." Gotta love that Suitspeak.

From an interview with Jim Gaffigan in the Iowa State Daily:

To be completely honest, when I did my album with Comedy Central, the guy said, "I just want you to know that cursing sells." I curse in everyday life, but when I'm on stage - sometimes if you say an F-bomb, it'll save a mediocre joke, so I'm constantly trying to get rid of it. But there has been no pressure to do that. I have checked out reviews of my last CD on Web sites and people literally say "not enough cursing." I think that's kind of hysterical. If we were all 13 sitting in a garage, we'd want to hear curse words. It's like, get the Dave Attell CD - who I think is a genius, by the way. There was no pressure, but I can't get in Dave's kind of shape so I'm not worried about that. There's, like, a comedy nerd audience that has always kind of got me and those are the people I want to still think I'm funny. I'm not looking to be on the cover of People magazine - but I'll probably be the most handsome guy in the world next year.

Make of this what you will.

Reuters is reporting that the majority of people in a study that had sex were "the least stressed and had blood pressure levels that returned to normal more quickly... when under acute stress, such as when giving a speech."

Forget pretending you are talking to one person or concentrating on a single point in the audience -- having sex is good way to calm nerves before giving a speech or presentation.

But Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley in Scotland, said it has to be full sexual intercourse to get the best results.

No blowjobs in the greenroom, in other words.

A Salt Lake City Trib article about Bob Goldthwait's movie. The Bobcat directed a film and it debuted at Sundance.

At a screening Tuesday at the Racquet Club, the film earned a mostly positive response and a fair amount of laughter, although a few audience members were heard giving the movie a verbal thumbs down as they left.

Sounds like business as usual for a decent movie that tackles an uncomfortable subject with humor. A lot like the response to any Farelly Bros. movie. The journos are calling it this year's "The Aristocrats."

The last two paragraphs of an E! Online story written on the occasion of the release of a syndicated version of season one of American Idol, starring erstwhile AI host Brian Dunkleman:

Dunkelman was dropped after the first season. According to IMDb.com, he most recently appeared in Comedy Hell, a $130,000 independent film.

An attempt to reach Dunkelman for comment on American Idol Rewind ended Friday when his last known talent agency of record said he was no longer a client.

Do we detect a bit of snarkiness here? An attempt to bury Mr. Dunkleman? Perhaps. It was a popular pasttime to make snide comments about Dunkleman back a few years ago. We were mystified by it at the time. We thought he acquitted himself quite well on season one of AI. But there's that little matter of his being a comedian. The H-wood media has a problem with the funny people.

It is all the more possible that E! is taking potshots at Seacrest's old partner when you consider that Mr. Seacrest recently signed a multi-million dollar deal with E! and, upon signing that contract made his first order of business the dismissal by that cable outlet of one Kathy Griffin. Griffin, you'll recall, has made great hay publicly mocking Seacrest at every opportunity. The message is clear: Don't piss Ryan Seacrest off.

We hasten to point out that the "$130,000 independent film" they speak so dismissively about was produced/written/directed by Scott Larose. Since when is appearing in an independent film an indication of one's decline (or an indication of one's lack of seriousness)? We'll tell you: When you're a comic and when the film is produced by a comedian. Like we say, it's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

Hop onto the Comedy Central website to vote for the "World's Best Comic." That's right, we said the WORLD'S BEST COMIC!

They have a list of 25 comics to choose from. (WHERE'S the CHICKS? they asked, simultaneously displaying a sensitivity to females, while using a somewhat derogatory term for the weaker sex. Oops... we did it again.)

It is impossible to predict who'll win this slapfight! You got your Dane Cook, with his army of Myspacers. You got your Ron White, with his notoriety via movies, BCTV and live shows. And then, there's Mitch. Some folks might counter that the equation is thrown off by kids. They text message, they run in packs, etc. Discount the kids. This contest, you might note, is sponsored by H & R Block's Tax Cut, the favorite software of tax paying citizens, the vast majority of whom are way past puberty and waaay over text messaging. It oughta be interesting.

We had a blast performing at our "non-traditional comedy venue" last Saturday night, the Higher Ground in Burlington, VT. Great crowds for both the early and late show. The staff was personable and professional. The management was top-flight. And the comedians (us) were treated like rock stars... or at least like folks stars-- veggie plate, nachos, soda pop and spring water! The only thing missing was a bowl of M & M's with the brown ones picked out. (Which is in our next contract rider, we assure you!)

Why go on about such seemingly insignificant things? Because it points up just how blasé the mainstream comedy clubs are about the talent they have in on a regular basis. The Higher Ground people do comedy once a month. They've invited such acts as Kevin Meaney and Todd Barry to amuse the citizens of Northern Vermont and the surrounding area, so they're serious about comedy. When they're not booking comics, their bread and butter is nationally touring folk, rock, reggae and other musical acts. Perhaps that's why they treat comics a notch or two better than the vast majority of comedy clubs do. To their minds, there's no difference between a nationally touring comedian and a nationally touring musical act with major label support.

How many times have you heard a comic say, "Dude, I wanna get out of the clubs." What's that all about? (The default explanation is, "the crowds." But it's not the crowds at all. The crowds are pretty much uniformly good if the product offered is "Professional Standup Comedy.") The real reason is most likely the treatment received by the acts, from the moment they walk through the door until the moment they head for the aiport. It's the attitude of the owners and managers of the venue with regard to "the talent." We should be sick and tired of "nice treatment." Instead, sadly, it stands out.

The Higher Ground package was exemplary-- A three- or four-page Word doc listing media contacts within a 50-mile radius, electronic ticketing, four-star website with details (and links to online ticketing), in-house promotion, top-flight sound and light. And, of course, broccoli, Diet Coke and spring water in a room with comfortable seating, high above the showroom. In the new era, we don't think it's a stretch to say that every comedy club in America could be/should be doing exactly this.

ON THE WAY TO HIGHER GROUND...



Just inside the Vermont border, we encountered the above establishment and laughed for another half-mile or so down the road. Not because it's so intrinsically funny, but because it reminded us of our fantasy restaurant that we plan on opening when we hit the lottery: H. J. Wooleysocks ("The Tasty, Toasty Brew and Burgery!"). Isn't that exqisitely horrible? We thought so. We would open it not to vend fine food and drink to an appreciative population, but as a parody of all those wretched restos with the cutesy names and the fake ambience that hearkens back to... to what, exactly? We're not sure. But they have lengthy, made-up names and the use capitals far too much and somebody has a handlebar mustache. And they concoct precious words like "Foodrinkery" and "HotDoggery!"

It would essentially be a giant piece of performance art... with disability insurance premiums. And to make it all the more incongrouous, we'd open it on a beach... and have a roaring fireplace. See if anyone else recognizes the absurdity of it all. (And there'd be comedy. And lots of broccoli, and maybe some of those snap peas. And grapes.)

"I have come to the conclusion that the making of laws is like the making of sausages--the less you know about the process the more you respect the result."--Quote from Otto von Bismarck

Add to Herr Bismarck's observation the making of television.

A story in Saturday's Wall Street Journal contains a lengthy description of the tribulations of Louis C.K. as he goes about the creation of a new sitcom under the auspices of HBO.

That same week, HBO executives watched an afternoon run-through of episode nine. In the episode, Mr. C.K. happens into a confessional in a Roman Catholic church where he describes to a priest a long, profanity-laced dream involving sexual relations with a demon in hell.

The HBO executives expressed skepticism. They huddled with the writers in a bungalow on the studio lot and questioned whether the scene rang true. "You want to keep him very real," Tracy Katsky, a consulting producer on the show, said after the meeting. "But there were a couple of moments in the confessional that, while they're funny, you don't believe he would say them."

When it came time to make revisions, Mr. C.K. declined to omit the scene. HBO didn't press the issue and as it happens, it was the most popular scene with studio audiences. "This is his show and to some extent it's HBO's, but it's really Louie and he's going to do what he's going to do," Ms. Katsky said later."

Do you detect perhaps a bit of disgust in Ms. Katsky's statement? I'm guessing she's a peach to work with.

The overall theme of WSJ staffer Joe Hagan's story is that HBO is intent on "reviving the sitcom" (Here we go again!) and that Louis C.K. is just the man for the job. Then we read that chairman and CEO of HBO Chris Albrecht, "liked Mr. C.K.'s sense of mission and also his willingness to compromise." Red flag city, or what?!

Fascinating story. (And, it might not be up there long... we got it via an emailed link from a reader who subscribes, so hustle!)

The Philadelphia Inquirer's Marc Narducci wrote in a story in yesterday's Inky that Jon Stewart received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's honorary all-American award yesterday at the Convention Center. Turns out Stewart played soccer in high school and college, compiling 10 goals and 12 assists while playing for William & Mary.

A record crowd of 1,600 showed up for the annual luncheon. During his speech, Stewart alternated between leaving the audience doubling over from laughter and professing passion for the sport.

"Back in my day, I played so long ago we were allowed to use our hands," Stewart said.

We were alerted to the piece by sharp-eyed reader Jim Skene, male sibling of the Female Half of the Staff and college soccer standout in his own right.

FOS and journo Guy MacPherson, writing for canada.com, says Norm MacDonald is back on the live stage:

"I've kind of rededicated myself to standup. That's what I'm best at and that's what I like the most."

His live act can include some salty language and dark topics, which can be troubling to an unprepared audience member.

The occasion for the article was MacDonald's appearance at the River Rock Casino in British Columbia Saturday night.

If you can get around the photograph (which is the size of a throw rug), there's an interesting article in Pulp, the student paper at Syracuse (Get it? Pulp!? Syracuse? Big Orange?) about an open mike on campus.

The comedy hour was organized by Josh Simpson, a senior television, radio and film major. He put together six shows last semester and six more are scheduled for this semester.

Simpson, who was also the show's master of ceremonies, came up with the idea when he was doing stand-up in Los Angelos during the summer and received suggestions from comedians Zach Galifianakis and Demetri Martin.

Mr. Simpson didn't wait around for someone else to start an open mike. Very Shecky of him to do so.

A correction from our Syracuse maven, Tommy James: As a proud alumnus of the school, I feel it is my obligation to tell you that the newspaper at Syracuse University is not called "Pulp" but rather the "Daily Orange." "Pulp" is simply a section that holds a collection of articles that don't fit into one category or another. (International, Local, Sports, Opinion)

...as the Big Four shrivel to nothing on the world market, this item appears in The Detroit News:

Fake newscasts have become something of a moonlighting job for Chrysler's PR chief and ex-standup comic Jason Vines. After killing with Saturday Night Live style news at the Society of Automotive Engineers meeting at the Greenbrier in West Virginia and at the Stakeout fundraiser in Detroit last year, Vines was asked to close the Automotive News World Congress Wednesday on a similarly light note. With fresh material from the Detroit auto show, Vines skewered everybody from GM product honcho Bob Lutz to Gov. Jennifer Granholm.

A crowd favorite was this "news" about China-based Geely, which showed a car at the Detroit show for the first time this year: "The Chinese automaker Geely created a stir at the Detroit Motor Show, but everyone agrees that the name must change since it is eerily close to the horrible J. Lo/Ben Affleck disaster 'Gigli' (also pronounced GEE-LEE). Geely Chairman Li Shufu said the company is already looking at other names for the car and has narrowed the list to four. They are: Ishtar, Rocky V, Waterworld and Ernest Goes to Camp."

Pretty funny stuff. Grim humor if you're in the car-making biz! Perhaps Mr. Vines can bracheate into the live standup biz just as the car manufacturing biz here goes under!

Or, let's kick his publicist's ass.

Or whoever's ass is responsible for trying to propagate the meme that Howie's first reaction when offered the chance to be host of a game show was to wonder whether it would be death for his career.

Puh-leeze!

He's offered the chance to host a game show on prime time television, on a major American television network. And some douchebag wants us to believe that Howie thinks it might lead to "the death of his career."

Well, if that's the case, Howie, let someone else handle that possible deadly situation. I'm sure there are a lot of folks out there who would handle the crossroads you stand at right now and see not death, but life... or, in some cases, revival.

Cincinnatti Enquirer story sent to us by reader Michael Lively says that Blair Shannon was shot and killed in a burlglary in his hotel room in St. Thomas.

Blair Shannon's brother, Lester of Cincinnati, said the family's main concern now is Blair's daughter, Chelsey, 14.

"She has a large family to surround her, and we will make sure she's taken care of,quot; he said. "But she's been through so much in her life."

Shannon's wife, Amy, died of leukemia in 1998.

The Male Half of the Staff worked with Shannon a few years ago at the Comedy Stop at the Trop in Atlantic City and found him to be a likeable fellow and an appealing comedian. He will be missed.

John Birmingham, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald ("It'll be all right on the night") confirms a pet theory of ours-- It was not television, but political correctness that killed comedy in the 1990's, or at least seriously wounded it.

Read the whole thing for a provocative analysis of the current state of humor and for mentions of P.J. O'Rourke, Mark Steyn, Matt Parker and Trey Stone. And, of course, Sarah Silverman:

By establishing an exclusion zone around a whole category of topics that are ripe for exploitation by comics because of the very tensions they create, the left abandons the field to the enemy and often confuses itself over just who are its friends and who are its foes. Silverman, for instance, is often cited as an example of toxic conservatism, and yet her skewering of identity politics is as dangerous to reactionaries as to anyone. [...]

The stand-out feature of Parker and Stone's work, indeed of all successful comics, whatever their medium or subject matter, is confidence. Confidence that their joke is inherently funny, even if millions of people refuse to agree. And confidence of course is a defining characteristic of the right in its resurgent form. [...]

The left, on the other hand, has indulged for so long now in the guilty pleasures of relativism, protected by a value system that says discussion of certain topics is off limits, that any sense of confidence they might have had at one time has now entirely disappeared. And with it their sense of humour.

Except for that crack about "so many stand-ups are bipolar," an interesting dissection of humor.

When it comes to humor, Katherine MacKinnon is just as dangerous as Ralph Reed.

From NBC:

Casting for Last Comic Standing 4 has already begun, with talent scouts traveling to major cities nationwide to see performances from thousands of aspiring and professional comedians. In addition, other interested comedians will be able to submit sample tapes to NBC.com, where online voters will later vote and select one comedian that will be able to join the other comedians selected via the nationwide search.

Did they say casting? Hmmm... This is troubling. The use of the word "casting" is troubling.

Anyway, we haven't found any solid information out there as to where this "nationwide" search will touch down. This NBC.com/internet vote thingie is just window dressing. Somebody at the network has convinced someone higher up that interactivity and synergy are "where it's at!" So they throw him a bone-- one contestant. Or... it could be a back door for Dane Cook! He's got half a million "friends" on myspace which he can mobilize at the drop of a Send button.

(We hear you asking: Why would Dane Cook, who has hosted SNL, who can fill arenas, why would Dane Cook wanna subject himself to Last Comic Standing? To which we reply: Who is so huge that he wouldn't want regualar, weekly exposure on NBC? It's television, people. The most powerful mass-medium ever devised. And it's season IV. Don't be surprised if you see comics even larger than Cook vying for a position in that house. This is the Ed Sullivan Show of its day.) Only better. If you stay on long enough, it's like having your own show. Ask anyone who was on Season II or Season III. The influence of the show grows with each edition.

Meanwhile, Barry Katz does a bit of eenie, meenie, miney, mo and Voila! Season IV is hatched! (We prefer using the Roman numerals. It's more dramatic.)

A mass email from the organizer of the Hawaii Comedy Festival, originally scheduled for May 18-21 of this year, says that they're "postponing" the whole affair until October.

All comics still interested and available for the new October dates should contact (Fest Organizer Ozell Daniel) via email. In the event slots become available for the Late Show audition, priority consideration will be given to comics originally invited to participate in the Carnival Comedy Challenge.

Ouch! Now the boys at the new and improved Las Vegas Festival have somewhat of a dilemma, since they were planning on having the finals of their "Hawaii Funny Fest Competition" in May, in Honolulu. The prelims for the HFFC are Wednesday, Jan. 25 in Sin City. Stay tuned.

We have a myspace. We just uploaded it, so we only have one friend-- Tommy James. (And, so far, he hasn't the decency to reciprocate and make us his friend... if that is indeed what one does with a myspace.) We're not quite sure why we have a myspace. It's what all the kids are doing these days.

The publishers of SHECKYmagazine.com will be performing this Saturday night (Jan. 21) at Higher Ground in So. Burlington, VT. There will be an early show at 7:30 PM and a late show at 9:30 PM. Sharing the bill with us will be Mike Robideau, winner of a recent Higher Ground Comedy Battle!

It's our first time in Burlington since just before the Comedy Zone folded up its tent at the Radisson. From what we recall, Burlington breeds good comedy fans!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it:

BURBANK - January 18, 2006 - The Emmy-nominated series "Last Comic Standing" will return to NBC this summer in search of the funniest comedian in America, it was announced today by Craig Plestis, Senior Vice President, Alternative Programming and Development. In its first two seasons, the show garnered critical and popular acclaim as it traveled the country looking for the best stand-up comedians, and rewarded them with an exclusive talent deal with the network.

From an NBC press release.

SHECKYmagazine editor Brian McKim flanked by John DiCrosta (l) and Paul Bond in the Borgata Comedy Club green room Sunday evening. (Photo credit: Ray Garvey)

In the roundup of Borgata coming attractions, we left out Russell Peters (Jan. 28), Dennis Miller (March 10) and Brian Regan (April 1, one show sold out, second show added at the Events Center). Pretty dense comedy lineup at the Borgata. The Diceman sold out Saturday night. (Nice gig, this Borgata-- most weeks, a big name comes in on Saturday and the three comics working during the week get a rare Saturday night off.)

An item in Eye on Vegas:

It would appear that the long rumored implosion of the Tropicana Hotel & Casino is actually nearing realization. Rumors have the Aztar Corporation, owners of the aging property, working with Marnell Corrao Associates to design the potential new property and identifying the costs of such a project. The design firm has helped build several Vegas properties including Wynn Las Vegas and the Rio, which they owned before selling it to Harrah's Entertainment. Although we have heard no official word, several breadcrumbs left on the trail include a visit to the Tropicana website, which is no longer accepting reservations past April 13th, 2006, and a SEC filing last week that amended severance agreements with senior management.

Just last October, we reported that the word on the street was that the folks at the Trop were told to relax and that the property was safe for three years. Hmmm... Looks like Vegas will be down to two full-time clubs in short order. Then, there's this:

Furthermore, it was announced that the Klondike Hotel & Casino's strip location would be shutting its doors after forty-five years of operations. The Klondike is probably best known for its dank interior, $.99 breakfast and $.10 roulette tables. It would seem as though the increasing frequency of these closures would somewhat officially signal the end of the 'old Las Vegas'. Other 'old Vegas' casinos to close their doors in the past several months include the Bourbon Street, the Key Largo and the Westward Ho.

The 'Dike is dead! Long live the 'Dike! First the 'Ho, now THIS?! We resorted to staying at the 'Dike once or twice (but hadn't had the pleasure since '02 or so), lured by the coupon: $29 per night, (not per person!) including two drinks, two dinners, two breakfasts! The incoming jets buzzed the parking lot and the Mandalay Bay was nearly always visible, mocking us. If we find our Klondike photo essay, we'll run a pic or two when it's finally razed.

Us Weekly reports that mean old Ryan Seacrest flexed his ever-growing muscles and bumped Kathy Griffin out of her regular red carpet snark dispensing gig.

Hot Stuff has learned that Ryan Seacrest, 31, got comic Kathy Griffin, 44, axed from her hosting gig on E! says a source, "Kathy has been awful to him" in her standup act, so when Seacrest finalized a new deal with the network (worth $21 million over three years) he made sure Griffin got the boot.

Who can blame him? Griffin can't be surprised. Very few, if any, of the people whom Griffin savages in her act are ever in a position to affect her in any significant way. But, oh, if they ever end up in one, look out. (We can't figure out the hostility toward Seacrest in the first place. He's good at what he does. Some folks counter that by saying that, off camera, he's an a**hole. Well, duh, who in Hollywood isn't? Or, if they aren't, who isn't rumored to be so?)

We're watching the Globes tonight, waiting for the editors of US Weekly to send us the link to photos of the worst dressed Globe attendees so we can trash them for a special Fashion Police.

And what is with Isaac Mizrahi? He was asking every woman on the carpet if they were wearing underwear! And, he cheekily (and gently) grabbed Scarlett Johansen's left breast on camera. He's either the gayest (and therefore the least threatening) man in Hollywood... or the smartest heterosexual man in Hollywood.

Sarah Boothroyd, writing in The Ottawa Citizen ("Ottawa's humour and politics rarely stand up together"), on the current state of political humor in Canada:

While the number of comics in the capital may be tied to the city's political character, their humour is not often tied to politics.

"Political comedy is not all that popular any more and hasn't been for some time," says Howard Wagman, who opened Yuk Yuk's in Centretown 21 years ago. "Political humour is a bit one-dimensional. It's just government bashing. It's 'enter name here.'"

Fear not, Howard. Mr. Harper is about to change all that.

An article in the Savannah (GA) Morning News (free reg. req.) contains an account of a recent staging of the VH-1 show Best Week Ever live, in a theater. Sponsored by Savannah College of Art and Design, to a sold-out house, the show featured comedians Aziz Ansari, Danielle Schneider, Mike Britt and Pete Holmes. Our favorite quote?

Fellow student Adam Mendell added, "I was amused. It's not the funniest I've ever seen, but it's not far off."

Reporter Amy Morris used this quote to end the article. Ya gotta love them art students. (Don't take a stick from Mr. Mendell... you don't know where it's been.)

The show was divided into two parts. In the first, each comedian did about 10 minutes of standup. Though most of the dialogue can't be printed in a family newspaper...

The presentation was augmented by video clips and, we're guessing, the tepid, celeb-bashing comments you've come to expect from the 20 or 30 similar shows that have popped up in the last three years or so.

After reading the above, we have a suggestion for the programmers at Comedy Central: How about Premium Blend Live! Stay with us! Four comedians come out and do 25-30 minutes of standup. Dynamite, or what?

Olympia, the young lady who cheerfully checked us in at the front desk of the Borgata apologetically warned us that there might be construction noise, audible from our room from 8 AM to 3 PM. Sure enough, there are a pair of pile drivers, that collaborate on a bizarre percussion riff every so often, visible just outside our 14th floor window. The Borgata has a lot of money jingling in its pocket and they've decided to expand their convention space. After that's done, the word on the street is that they'll build a second tower to match the first. And the other word on the street is that MGM will break ground on a mega resort next door to this one.

While we were on the treadmill yesterday, the crawl at the bottom of CNN stated that annual A.C. casino revenue for '06 was up double digits over last year. Things have never been better here in "America's Playground." Nor has there ever been more comedy.

Don Gavin, John Knight and Joe Bronzi are at the Comedy Stop at the Trop (at least accordig to their website). Jackie Kashian and Eric Tartaglione are at the Catch A Rising Star at the Resorts Hotel-Casino. (This we know for sure, owing to a visit to the Borgata green room last night by Tartaglione himself.) And The Male Half of the Staff is sharing the bill with John DiCrosta and Paul Bond at the Borgata. Andrew Dice Clay will be here Saturday night and it's already sold out. That same night, Bill Cosby will be at the House of Blues at the Showboat.

Over the next few weeks, Mario Cantone is coming to the Borgata, as is Bill Maher. Rich Jeni will be a the Trump Marina. And we're pretty sure we saw a billboard on the way into town heralding the arrival of Comedy You Can't Refuse," which, according to their press release, "sprinkles some music in with a heaping helping of comedy, is headlined by Michael Imperioli, who plays Christopher Moltisanti, Steve R. Schirripa (Bobby "Baccala" Baccalieri), Vince Curatola (Johnny "Sack" Sacramoni) and John Ventimiglia (Artie Bucco)."

A CNN-IBN reporter, a vegetarian, is tasked with reporting on the best biryani in NYC, so she brings along the meat-eating and "well-known US comedian" Dan Nainan.

Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood, around Lexington Avenue and 28th street, now has so many Indian restaurants, it’s called Curry Hill. And that’s where CNN-IBN correspondent Indira Kannan headed.

Nainan is described as "part Indian, part American, part Japanese-– a bit like, well, biryani itself." Nice gig if you can get it. (CNN-IBN, according to their site, offers "robust and high quality news from every corner of India and relevant global news from CNN.")

Billing it as "the first academic collection of its kind," Emerson College is introducing the American Comedy Archives. The Boston Herald article says many funny people have graduated from Emerson.

Spearheaded by 1950 Emerson grad and Quincy native Bill Dana, who became famous in the 1950s and ’60s as "chief astronaut, Jose Jimenez," the project has filmed interviews with dozens of writers, producers and performers who made us laugh in the 20th century.

Philadelphia lost the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland. Now this. What's left for Philly?

...is bombing in Cleveland, or London, or Mumbai.

It is but a small paragraph in a hefty article ("Manufacturing Laughter" by Dennis D. Muhumuza) in The Daily Monitor, the newspaper of the Ugandan capital of Kampala:

"Comedians are born," says Kaganda. "As comedians, we bring out the crazy aspects of life in a funny way but sometimes you stand in front of the crowds with your very solid joke and for a minute or two nobody is responding," says Kemizinga. "You feel like you've committed a big crime."

Comedy in Uganda is influenced by Seinfeld, Rock and Murphy. Read the whole thing.

Discovered this among the AP obits:

CHICAGO (AP)-- Allan Johnson, whose career started as a copy clerk and ended as one of only a handful of blacks writing criticism for a major newspaper, has died. He was 46.

Johnson died Friday of complications from a brain hemorrhage at University of Chicago Hospitals, a family spokesman said. He collapsed after attending an event with his wife and had been hospitalized for nearly three weeks.

"He was witty in the most gloriously droll way. And no matter how chaotic the newsroom, he was a rock-solid presence," said Chicago Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski.

Johnson began working at the Tribune in 1979 as a copy clerk. His byline first appeared in the Tribune's financial section in 1987. The next year, he began the "Just for Laughs" column in the Friday section, focusing on the then-booming local comedy scene.

In the following years he would review and interview some of the nation's leading comics, later adding television reviews and features to his duties.

"Al was just good people. He was honest, he was fair and he knew what was funny," said Bernie Mac, whose career Johnson charted from Chicago comedy clubs to television and movies.

We occasionally corresponded with Mr. Johnson over the past five years or so and were quoted in some of his most recent comedy-related articles for the Trib. His sense of humor came through in his emails and his phone calls. It was plain that he loved standup. We had a standing appointment to meet at the next Chicago Comedy Fest to discuss the legitimacy of the phrase "different than" (as opposed to "different from"); sadly that fest never materialized. Though we chided him on occasion in the pages of this magazine, it was understood that he was one of only a handful of major paper writers who understood and appreciated the art and the craft of standup comedy.

We have a WINNER!

Stephen C. Knowles, of Beacon, NY

He's the lucky winner of Harland Williams's "Har-Larious," a full-length CD and DVD from Daniel Tosh, "True Stories, Made Up." and a 3-CD/1-DVD bundle that is "Invite Them Up," a collection of the best of the weekly East Village live show that features the music, characters, short films and "odd bits and pieces" from Bobby Tisdale, Eugene Mirman, Holly Schlesinger and their extended Invite Them Up family.

Thanks to all of you who entered! Check back here for more snappy giveaways from SHECKYmagazine.com !

According to the Daily News, comedian Paul Mercurio has produced (along with The Ben Stiller Show and Mad TV veteran Jim Jones) a pilot called Sports Central.

...The half-hour show, now being eyed by several networks for a 2006 lineup spot, skewers the sports world, leaving no mascot unharmed.

It does to ESPN and other sports-obsessed news desks what Stephen Colbert does to Bill O'Reilly-style punditry on The Colbert Report and David Spade does with "ET"-esque infotainment on The Showbiz Show.

We hope the name gets changed before it finds a home, but, now that sports and politics are taken, could there be more fertile comedy ground than sports? (There is-- Springer-style shows-- but, for some reason, Timothy Stack's wicked satire of that genre, Night Stand, wasn't as huge a success as it should have been.)

This year's Comdex (weren't they just saying a year or two ago that Comdex was no more?) brings us this account of the latest developments in the brave new world of electronics. Under the cumbersome headline, "Amp'd Mobile Announces Industry's Most Comprehensive Mobile Entertainment Content Offering," comes word of yet another revenue stream for the nets and the cable outlets:

Amp'd is taking a "DVD extra" approach to much of the entertainment content it provides to members, rather than simple show synopsis clips offered by other providers. Each program has its own "channel" where only Amp'd members will see bloopers, cast interviews, uncensored and extended footage, and other behind the scenes shots plus select previews of new shows. Games, wallpapers, ringtones, voicetones and screensavers related to each show property round out brand channels. Beginning later this quarter, Amp'd members will also be able to view full episodes of television shows and "side load" them to Amp'd handsets from PCs. Once side-loaded, Amp'd customers will be able to then pull the DVD Extra footage related to each full episode, as well as content from current episodes, over-the-air to each program's brand channel in the Amp'd Live proprietary user interface.

Is it time to examine the contract they push in front of you the next time you do that Tonight Show? Or is this just another over-hyped, yet underdeveloped, way for the biggies to make a nickel or two with re-runs?

Just a few weeks ago, we were getting dire warnings in our inbox telling us not to sign any pieces of paper from unscrupulous wireless service providers who offered us pennies (or less!) in exchange for "exposure." We were of the opinion that decisions like that one were best left to each individual comic. (And that anyone dumb enough to use "the Ex-Word"-- exposure-- was probably a piker with little more than that other "Ex-Word"-- exploitation-- on his mind.)

This newest development, however, involves some heavyweight outlets. And it's much harder to tell NBC Universal to go piss up a thin rope if there's a line or two in the contract about "a completely fresh user interface designed specifically for the third-generation technology," especially when they're offering Exposure that really lives up to the title.

We figure this will all be hashed out in sterile courtrooms, with fluorescent lights buzzing overhead, by Armani-clad AFTRA lawyers a coupla years hence-- if the fresh user interface designed specifically for the third-generation technology actually catches on with the public. And the result will be a somewhat fatter check for that Tonight appearance.

Hollywood Reporter, Reuters, Latimes.com are all reporting that New Jersey's own Jon Stewart will host the Academy Awards ceremony on March 5. Let's all start writing those Munich, Brokeback Mountain, Syriana jokes right now and see how many make it into the final broadcast. (The Female Half of the Staff is convinced that nothing will top The Soup's "Brokeback Kong" sketch.)

We like Stewart. And this year there'll be none of the huffing and puffing and faux hand-wringing that preceded Chris Rock's installment as host. It's yet another attempt by the Academy to lure younger male viewers to the broadcast. They tried, and failed, last year. This, too, will fail miserably. We predict that next year's ceremony will be hosted by Girls Gone Wild. Of course, they will be called Girls Gone Oscar Wild(e)! (Note to Gil Cates: Feel free to use this joke in the course of the show. Also note that you will then be obligated to send us one of them there Oscar Gift Baskets for our efforts.)

Will Stewart escape the criticism that has been heaped upon any other No-Movie guy who has hosted? If you're just a TV person, like Carson and Letterman, you had no right to host the Oscars! Our prediction: Minimal squawking.

Four comics, BT, Louis Johnson, Vince Morris and Billy D. Washington, have been packaged into The Sellout Comedy Tour, and are currently touring comedy clubs in the U.S.

According to their Myspace page:

SELLOUT is the only interactive comedy show with a segment that allows the audience to "Ask a Black man anything you've wanted to know but were afraid to ask." Join us as we celebrate our differences one joke at a time. Our motto? Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.

Interesting. We've met all but Mr. Washington and, from what we've seen, if anybody can handle dopey questions from white folks in Denver, Vegas and Columbus, it's these guys. Hop onto their space... uh, their myspace... to anticipate their arrival at your local comedy club. Or to book them.

Check out "WILL, WILLIE, WHY?", an item on the blog Radio Equalizer, for an early review of KQKE 960 AM's morning radio show starring former SF mayer Willie Brown and comedian Will Durst.

According to an anonymous source, Larry The Cable Guy, aka Dan Whitney, is expecting a child in August. Can "Git 'er Done!" diapers be far behind? The mind reels.

Hop on over and read the interview with Patton Oswalt on website/chat board/portal Aspecialthing.com, in which Oswalt displays his special talent for remembering details from incidents that occurred in his formative (comedy) years. (Especially interesting for those of us familiar with the setting of some of his stories.)

The graf that caught our eye was the one about the New Media:

The other thing that's really exciting now is the Internet. I don't think things would've been as bad, even on the East Coast, even in D.C., if the Internet had been around. Because now, with sites like aspecialthing, and blowupthemoon, and Shecky Magazine, and Cringe Humor, even though a lot of them are at odds philosophically, it is a subjective, critical look at this art form. And it's treated as an art form. It reminds me of the early, stapled-together punk zines, or Cream (sic) Magazine, where you had people that were really passionate about what they loved and what they hated. You don't need to agree with everything.

We're thrilled to be compared to Creem.We stumbled across the interview (and the reference to us) after following a thread off their chatboard. Someone posted that "Shecky are a bunch of big meanie heads" after reading what we posted about the debut of Comedy Central's Comedians of Comedy. In our defense, our posting about Mr.Oswalt and his show was reasoned, somewhat positive and hardly enough to earn us the title of "meanyhead." Unless it's a (misspelled) attempt to portray us as fans of Kevin Meaney, in which case, we plead guilty.

The Female Half of the Staff is currently reading "No Applause-Just Throw Money," a history of vaudeville by Trav S.D. and is finding it fascinating. ("Much deeper than just a book about vaudeville with funny anecdotes," says she.)

One particularly interesting mention, discovered by scanning the index, was that of vaudevillian Frank Fay (the "Great Faysie") whom the author describes as the "unjustly forgotten innovator" of modern standup comedy.

Anthropologically speaking, Fay is the "Lucy" of stand-up; all stand-up bloodlines lead back to him. For a botanical analogy, he is the trunk from which two main branches of comedy would grow. On the one hand, he originated the stand-up comedy style we associate with Hope, Benny, Carson, Leno, and Letterman, the extremely polished "American institution" style, an unspoken confidence that says "an army of people made me possible." This type of comedian specializes in telling America the jokes that will be repeated around the water cooler at work the next day. On the other hand, with his flip irreverence, Fay is also the father of the more burlesquey style that was to be identified with Ted Healy, Milton Berle, Ken Murray, and such aggressive late-twentieth century comedians as Don Rickles, Alan King, and Jackie Mason. Of all of these, Fay's foremost successor was Lester Townes ("Bob") Hope.

(Note: The Lucy referred to above is the pre-human ancestor discovered by anthropologists, not Lucille Ball.) Our recollections of Fay are fuzzy. We'd heard the name here and there over the years, but were unaware of his "seminality." (Warning: We made that word up!)

Though the book devotes scant attention (so far) to comedy, the observations about vaudeville explain a whole lot about today's entertainment industry and are eminently applicable to some developments in modern standup. You know us-- we're all about context.

One thing that bugs us-- on the dustjacket, is the following (emphasis ours):

Trav S.D. peels back the curtain on the vibrant subculture that persists across the United States today-- a vast grassroots network of fire-eaters, human blockheads, burlesque performers, and bad comics intent on taking vaudeville into its second century.

Judging from the author's insightful and sensitive treatment of the phenomenon of vaudeville (and its practicioners), it is extremely likely that the publisher is the one who inserted the offending phrase. (Once again: Is it paranoia if they really are out to get you? We think not. In this case, the publisher has not only unfairly maligned comedians, but it has also managed to disrespect the author, as we're fairly certain he wouldn't characterize any comedians (or any other performers) as "bad."

Once again, our settings got whacky and our archives for November and December were all goofed up. They were repaired this morning, however, so surfing backward in time is no longer a problem. We apologize for any inconvenience and the Head HTMElf (The Male Half of the Staff) will steel himself, swim into "Blogger Settings" some time in the next 48 hours and fix it permanently. Thanks! (And welcome to 2006!)

Actor Richard DeAngelis died Dec. 28. He played Col. Raymond Foerster on the HBO series The Wire.

De Angelis also appeared in plays, TV commercials, radio spots and print advertisements in an acting career that spanned four decades. He performed standup comedy for many years under the name Ricky Roach.

Read the TVSquad.com obit (and see his pic).

We have a DogShowUSA.com contest WINNER! We'll be sending a DogShowUSA prize package to Brad Gibson of Salt Lake City, UT! He'll receive spate of prizes including a DogShowUSA dog bowl, leash, T-shirt, hat and a copy of The Best of Triumph!

Congratulations, Brad, and thanks to all of our readers who entered!