Archive for Comedians In The News

Red Carpet Video of Comedy Central’s Comedy Awards 2012 Plus Winners

I was covering the red carpet of the 2nd annual Comedy Central Comedy Awards Show 2012, and it was a star-studded event, with comedy legends like Robin Williams and Don Rickles, plus acting legends like Robert DeNiro, who presented Don Rickles with the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence.

From Julie Klausner who hosted the red carpet to Colin Quinn, John Oliver, Kristen Schaal, Randall from The Honeybadger film that got 43 million hits, The Gregory Brothers, (including Sarah, the hottest of the Gregory Brothers), Jessica Williams, the new “hot cutie”,and youngest correspondent on The Daily Show, Jim O’Heir from Parks and Recreation, Hannibal Buress, and so many more, plus private scenes from the press room, it’s all here in the following video!

So check it out right here:

Louis CK was the evening’s big winner with 4 trophies, including the awards for Best Sketch/Alternative Series,Best Stand-Up Tour and Best Comedy Special of the Year. Robin Williams was presented with the Stand-Up Icon Award by Patton Oswalt, and Don Rickles received the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence from Robert DeNiro.

The complete list of winners is here:
Comedy Special Of The Year: Louis C.K., Louis C.K.: Live At The Beacon Theater
Stand-Up Tour: Louis C.K.
Sketch/Alternative Comedy Series: Louie
Comedy Directing, TV: Louie
Comedy Series: Parks and Recreation
Comedy Film: Bridesmaids
Animated Comedy Series: Archer
Late-Night Comedy Series: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Comedy Writing, TV: 30 Rock
Comedy Actor, TV: Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Comedy Actress, TV: Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Comedy Actress, Film: Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Comedy Director, Film: Paul Feig, Bridesmaids
Comedy Screenplay: Bridesmaids
Club Comic: Hannibal Buress
Viral Original: Songify This, “Winning- A Song By Charlie Sheen”
Stand-Up Icon: Robin Williams
The Johnny Carson Award For Comedic Excellence: Don Rickles

Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Featured, General Information, Hot Models, Nightlife Events, Red Carpet Events, Sketch Comedy, Variety Show

Leave a Comment (0) →

Jon Stewart’s Daily Show Wins Best Late Night Comedy Show For 2nd Year In A Row

Ed Helms presented the award for Best Late Night Comedy Show after telling people he drank a whole bottle of Tequila, mixed it with four tabs of acid, and just killed Robin Williams backstage with a sword because he thought he was a dragon.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Ed Helms at The Comedy Awards 2012!

The nominees were The Colbert Report, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, Late Show With David Letterman, and Real Time With Bill Maher.

When The Daily Show was announced as the winner, the whole crew hit the stage and Jon decided to let the correspondents speak. It was Samantha Bee, Jason Jones, John Oliver, and then Jon took the mic back! It didn’t turn out the way he expected! See what happened right here!

http://www.thecomedyawards.com/video/413618/preview—the-daily-show-wins-best-late-night-comedy-series?xrs=pr

Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Red Carpet Events, Sketch Comedy, Variety Show

Leave a Comment (0) →

Robin Williams Receives Stand-Up Icon Award at Comedy Awards 2012-Tonight at 9/8c

I hadn’t seen Robin Williams in so many years. We met back in the days when Columbus Cafe was a popular hangout. I was reminiscing recently with Danny Aiello about that place and he told me a story of a night when Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino, Bruce Willis, Sly Stallone, Mike Tyson and more were all there together!

It was that kind of place, and Robin used to come by as well!

Robin Williams accepting the Stand-Up Icon Award at the Comedy Awards 2012!

But I first met Robin the same way I met Billy Crystal, through Jack Rollins, the legendary manager who managed Billy, Robin, and Woody Allen in those days! We met up in Jack’s office cause Jack thought I was funny and wanted to help me.

Years later I wrote a joke that Robin used at the Friars Roast of Richard Pryor. The joke was “The first time I met Richard Pryor was in the steam room of The Friars Club, and he was standing naked in front of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and I thought he was Jabbar’s c**k! ( Huge laugh!)

“And then he said “Hello” to me and I thought to myself, I always knew Black guys had huge schlongs, but I never knew they could speak!” And the HUGE laugh got even HUGER!(If there even is such a word!)

At the Comedy Awards, Robin was given the Stand-Up Icon Award by comedian/actor Patton Oswalt, who called Robin an “explosion” and “a machine-gun”, which are both appropriate descriptions of Robin’s delivery.

He hits the stage like an explosion, and shoots lines out like a machine gun. I’ve seen some early rare footage of him at The Comic Strip from back in the late 70’s and early 80’s and he was the same back then!

Here’s the clip of him receiving the award and him saying he’s ” one of the luckiest f**ks in the business!”

Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Red Carpet Events, Sketch Comedy, Variety Show

Leave a Comment (0) →

Amy Poehler’s Parks and Recreation Wins For Best Comedy Series-Tonight at 9 on Comedy Central

I remember back around 1996, when UCB first came to New York, seeing them perform at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in the West Bank Cafe, on West 42nd Street, and it was Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.

I understand the original group also included Ali Farahnakian, who went off on his own and opened The PIT, where my photo was hanging on the wall of the Men’s Room! One summer day, a guy who turned out to be Ali asked if he could take my photo, cause he thought I had “an interesting look!”

I didn’t think any more about it until one night I was at The PIT in the Men’s Room, standing there taking care of business, when all of a sudden I glanced to my right and saw myself smiling back at me! Right at eye level! It was shocking to say the least, … but funny!

It was the photo he had taken of me, in a line of other photos of people who he thought looked interesting, but mine was right in line with where I was standing, and it just struck me so funny.

The PIT has since moved to West 24th Street, and when I was there I forgot to check the Men’s Room to see if I was still up! (LOL)

Anyway, even in the earliest days, Amy Poehler stood out as a performer. Maybe it was because she was the only girl with three guys, and she was blonde, but I think it was something more than that. I think even in those earliest of days her talent stuck out. I think she may have even had a chipped front tooth in those days, (figures I’d notice that! LOL), but she went on to become one of the most successful women in TV, and that’s incredible. It makes the early memory that much more exciting!

Plus she married Will Arnett and looks fantastic now. Success tends to agree with people!

Anyway, her show, Parks and Recreation, was up for Best Comedy Series at the Comedy Central Comedy Awards 2012, airing tonight. Rob Riggle was the presenter, and it was up against 30 Rock, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Happy Endings, and Modern Family, … all heavy hitters, … and it won!

This little video clip is of the cast’s acceptance speech. Later in the week I’ll be posting more video of them in the press room, but it was Amy Poehler, creator Mike Schur, Adam Scott, Retta, and Jim O’Heir!

(L-R) Mike Schur, Amy Poehler, Retta, Adam Scott, Jim O’Heir accepting their award at Comedy Awards 2012!

Check it out right here and make sure to tune in tonight at 9 P.M. on Comedy Central to watch the show!

Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Important News, New TV Show, Nightlife Events, Red Carpet Events

Leave a Comment (0) →

Red Carpet of 2nd Annual Comedy Awards Packed With Stars

I knew the 2nd Annual Comedy Awards from Comedy Central would be exciting, from the experience I had last year at the first annual awards, but it surpassed my expectations.

The beautifully designed Comedy Awards 2012 red carpet!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV ready to do battle on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

Exec Produced by legendary producer Don Mischer, directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller, and with a 32 member Board of Directors that included Brad Grey, Adam McKay, James Dixon, Jon Stewart, Sandy Wernick, Steve Levine, and Rory Rosegarten, you had to know it would be a star-studded event.

The red carpet was staged before the event, at The Hammerstein Ballroom on 34th and 8th, and thanks to Aileen Budow, Eve Kenny and their team it worked spectacularly smoothly.

Everyone went out of their way to be helpful, and steer the talent towards the waiting microphones except some of the talent didn’t make it all the way down the line!

The lovely and talented Julie Klausner, who was the host of the red carpet for the Comedy Awards 2012!

Multi-faceted actress/author/podcaster/comedywriter-performer Julie Klausner was the host of the red carpet, and she was superb! She just lights up in front of the camera! Her first book, “I Don’t Care About Your Band”, was released in February 2010 by Gotham/Penguin Books, and by July 2010, it was announced that Will Ferrell and Adam McKay’s Production Company, Gary Sanchez Productions, optioned the book for HBO.

Actress Lizzy Caplan who I met at a Gen Art Festival a couple of years back is attached to star and co-produce.

In October 2011, The Hollywood Reporter reported that NBC had picked up a pilot about a woman’s father that dates her high-school nemesis. It was based on Sue Margolis’s novel, Apocolipstick, and Julie is supposed to write and executive produce the series. I hope she has a part in it for ME!!! (LOL)

Julie Klausner interviewing Maya Rudolph on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

She’s also written for Best Week Ever and The Awl. And she came over to say “Hi” and did such a fun interview with me! When we were done the camera crew suggested we talk about our hair, so we did another little thing together. I will be posting that soon as well! ( Really, … I will! LOL)

Even event photographer Larry Fink came over just to take a photo of my hair! I was wondering why he was shooting so close to me, and then he told me he had taken a shot of my hair!

Julie’s podcast, “How Was Your Week” was featured on Rolling Stone’s 10 Best Comedy Podcasts of the Moment, so maybe I could be on that too! (LOL)

I got to talk to several of the presenters and nominees for the awards, several of whom won, and even Doug Herzog the Pres. of MTV Networks.

A very trim-looking Doug Herzog making his opening remarks at the Comedy Awards, 2012!

I also unexpectedly ran into my old friend Noel Casler who was the Talent Logistics Coordinator for the event, sometimes known as the “talent wrangler” whose job it is to make sure all the creative elements are in place and that the talent like Robert DeNiro, Chevy Chase, and Jon Stewart all get where they need to be, and get everything they need to have.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with “talent wrangler” Noel Casler at the Comedy Awards 2012!

I started the interviews with my buddy Colin Quinn,and we agreed that if he lost, we’d drown our sorrows across the street in Dunkin’ Donuts, but we didn’t wind up going, cause neither of us wanted to gain the weight. Nobody really loses at these things anyway, because it’s an honor just to be nominated, and Colin knows that everyone loves him, and his Jerry Seinfeld directed show “Long Story Short”. Colin is one of the few comics to actually star on Broadway, not once but twice!

I also got to speak to John Oliver, and Kristen Schaal who were representing The Daily Show, and I kidded John by asking him why Jon Stewart was leaving The Daily Show! He got a big kick out of that! (LOL)

(L-R) John Oliver, Kristen Schaal, and Jeffrey Gurian sharing a laugh on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

I also spoke with Reggie Watts who was so comfortable wearing whatever he was wearing on his head that he didn’t even respond when I asked him what it was. He answered about something else as if he didn’t notice he was wearing an elegant looking “Kafiyeh” of some kind draped across his head!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Reggie Watts and his elaborate headscarf on the red carpet of the Comedy Awards 2012!

Then Hannibal Buress stopped by to chat and he wound up winning for Best Club Comic, being up against heavy hitters like Ted Alexandro, Pete Holmes, Anthony Jeselnik, John Mulaney, Kumail Nanjiani, Chelsea Peretti who I just ran into in LA when I was out there appearing in sketches for Nick Kroll’s new show, Amy Schumer, Moshe Kasher, and Rory Scovel.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Chelsea Peretti in LA at The Comedy Store!

Randall “The “Honeybadger Guy”, as he’s known, was there, and to be honest, I hadn’t hear about his film before I met him. That didn’t stop him from hugging me like we were old friends, and he’s really genuine and very sweet. He hugs everyone he meets and he means it. I liked that about him. He seemed very sincere as you’ll see when I edit the video I keep claiming to have! (LOL)

His video about the Honeybadger has over 43 million hits so far, and when you watch it, you might be tempted to think to yourself, ” I could do that.” The difference is that he DID do it! He said he knew he was onto something when he got 1 million hits the first week it was up.

I also spoke to The Gregory Brothers who won for their viral original “Songify This,”Winning-A Song By Charlie Sheen”!

Louis CK won so many awards, that by the 4th one, he was embarrassed to get up and accept them. He even won for Best Sketch Series which he said his show wasn’t! (LOL) Louis happens to be very humble despite all of his well-deserved success!

Louis CK accepting one of his four awards at the Comedy Awards 2012!

A lot of the cast of the Judd Apatow produced hit “Bridesmaids” was there including Maya Rudolph, Kristen Wiig, who unfortunately did not do the red carpet, (or at least the piece I was on! LOL), Wendi McLendon-Covey, and director Paul Feig, and they won for Best Comedy Film!

Best Animated Series went to Archer and a lot of that cast was there including Chris Parnell, and the funny and gorgeous Aisha Tyler who I met at The Friars Club event honoring Brett Ratner. We were supposed to do a video interview but for whatever reason it didn’t happen. At least I got to see her in the Press Room!

Best Comedy Writing went to 30 Rock, and Best Comedy Series went to Parks and Recreation, which was represented by creator Mike Schur, Amy Poehler, Jim O’Heir, Retta, and a few others I wasn’t able to identify!

The cast of Parks and Rec with Amy Poehler second from the left!

This is a little Comedy Central clip of them accepting their award!

The Daily Show, which won for Best Late-Night Comedy Series, was well represented and besides John Oliver and Kristen Schaal, I got to speak to Jessica Williams the newest and youngest correspondent who’s still in college and is really so energetic and soooo cute! She was really excited to be there!

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show onstage during his appearance at the Comedy Awards 2012!

Robin Williams came by briefly and shook hands with me. He was presented with the Stand-Up Icon Award, and seemed genuinely grateful to be in the room with all the young talent. He specifically said he was a big fan of Patton Oswalt and would love to work with him.

I was surrounded by friends on the red carpet. On one side of me was Clayton Fletcher and Ben Rosenfeld working as a team, and on the other side was radio guru, and Exec. Producer Jake Ray from Emmis Communications who works with Hot 97, 98.7 Kiss, and Loud Digital Network among others!

And after the red carpet we went to the Press Room where we had food and drinks and got to watch the show on a huge screen TV. Then when the winners were announced a lot of them made their way down to the Press Room for further questions. That was a great new innovation, but unfortunately while we were interviewing the winners, they had to turn down the volume on the TV, so we were missing the show. With all of our technology there’s still no way to do both! (LOL)

One of the highlights for me was running into Ed Helms as we were leaving. Ed is such a great guy and a big talent. I had recently seen him in LA while on the Nick Kroll set, since he was shooting sketches with Nick as well, so we had a chance to talk, and when he saw me this night he asked his companion to take a shot of us. (Not “AT” us, “OF” us! LOL) Then that gave me the opportunity to whip out my own camera and ask her to take a shot of us too!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with renowned actor Ed Helms of Hangover fame!

All I’ll tell you about the show is that Chris Rock was the first presenter for Best Comedy Special of the Year, and when he read the names of the nominees, he prefaced it by saying that three were funny, one used to be funny, and one was NEVER funny and then said that he wasn’t kidding! The nominees were Louis CK, Norm MacDonald, Patton Oswalt, Colin Quinn, and Daniel Tosh, and then Chris noted they were all White and said, ” I guess Kevin Hart didn’t do anything this year, huh?”

First presenter Chris Rock giving the award for Best Comedy Special of the Year!

The show’s climax was the presentation by Robert DeNiro, of the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence, which went to Don Rickles, and they showed a fantastic compilation of his TV and film appearances with Johnny Carson, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin among others.

The legendary Don Rickles was presented with the Johnny Carson Award for Comedic Excellence!

When the video is edited I’ll write more. Just be ready to watch it on May 6th, at 9 P.M. on Comedy Central and you’ll see all these fabulously talented people for yourself!

Posted in: Animated Show, Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Featured, General Information, Hot Models, New TV Show, Podcasts, Red Carpet Events, Sketch Comedy, Variety Show

Leave a Comment (0) →

Cipha Sounds and Tony Roberts Birthday Show at Carolines

Cipha Sounds is one of the busiest guys in comedy. He produces about a show a minute these days. At least it seems that way. Every time I check my e-mail there’s another Cipha Sounds show and they’re all good!

As soon as he ends one show he starts another, and for a guy who gets up at 3 A.M. every morning to do his radio thing on Hot 97, that’s not easy!

Cipha Sounds, Ruperto Vanderpool,( the Dominican Tupac !), and Esau McGraw spinning webs backstage at Carolines!

But I knew I had to catch his birthday show. I recently shot a cool video with Ciph at the Comedy Juice show at Gotham, where he finally explained to me what “Don’t Get Gassed” means cause that’s the name of his show. It’s the “Don’t Get Gassed Comedy Series.”

It’s an old school hip-hop expression for don’t get carried away with yourself. He was once interviewing Russell Simmons and DJ Funkmaster Flex yelled out in the background during the interview, “Hey Cipha, don’t get gassed. DON’T GET GASSED!”

And Cipha liked the expression so much, he used it for the name of his show. In the interview he told me about the birthday show, so I knew I had to show up and support!

It was a great line-up of talent, and I got to meet a couple of new guys I had only heard about, but had never seen before, Trixx, Esau McGraw, and Tony Roberts.

Cipha opened the show, and he does a round up of all the races in attendance. He salutes each one in their own dialect, and he does a very good “White” voice, which he explains by saying, ” I speak job interview!”

Then he goes around the crowd asking interesting questions. To one couple who he asked if they were married, and who said “yes”, he said, ” Black married or legally married?” That’s hysterical! He was like, ” How many years are you Black married for?”

He asked another guy, ” What part of Queens are you from, … Riker’s Island? (For those of you from out of town, Riker’s Island is a prison! LOL)

Then Trixx came out, and he’s from Toronto. Funny dude! He had this advice for White people: “Stop inviting Black people to go camping. We don’t wanna go!” And it’s true, you never see Black people camping.

You also don’t see them white water rafting, or bungee jumping, and other stupid dangerous things like that! Only bored White people do those dangerous things.

Andrew Schulz, the token White comic, with Tony Roberts backstage at Carolines! At least he’s wearing a backwards baseball cap!

Thanks to comedic affirmative action, they had a white comic on the show too, and it was Andrew Schulz. He was a big hit, and talked about his three female roommates, and how much hair he finds around the apartment. “It’s like living with three cats”, he says!

He went on to say, ” I don’t know how men go bald. It’s women that are losing all the hair.” He went into the bathroom and pulled what looked like a wolf out of the drain! (LOL)

On Mexicans: Mexicans are hard working people. Just to prove it to you, are there any Mexican’s here tonight? You see, they’re all working!”

People say that Mexicans steal our jobs. If you were going to steal a job, wouldn’t you steal a good job? What do they do, walk into a kitchen with a gun and say “Give me those dishes! This dishwashing job is mine!”

Then I got to see Esau McGraw. I knew I was going to like Esau even before I saw him from what Cipha told me in the video I shot with him the week before. Esau also had a great singing voice and he brought the audience to it’s knees with laughter. He had them gasping for breath, he was that strong!

He told of his uncle, who I think lives in Florida and lost 315 pounds, but now has all that extra skin. He has so much extra skin, when he goes swimming he glides around the pool like a stingray! (LOL) Great visual!

He also just found out that his step-Dad is his real Dad, and he was like, ” All those Sundays I sat on the porch waiting for you to come visit me, and you were here all the time?”

Esau is a Biblical name after the story of Esau and Jacob. I think their father was blind, and Esau was very hairy, and tried to steal his brother’s birthright. In other words, he tried to trick his father into giving him some land that was meant for his brother, but when his father felt his arm and felt how hairy it was he realized he was being tricked! So Esau McGraw is such a cool name. It’s almost like a Biblical cartoon name!

Ruperto Vanderpool, who is always a killer performer, and is so talented, came out as a surprise and did a character piece as “Dominican Tupac”. That man can dance, and has abs of steel! The audience loved it and they had no rehearsal at all. He and Cipha put it together right before the show, and I was backstage with them and saw the whole thing. They just put it together on the spot!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with his son Tony Roberts backstage at Carolines! Can you see the resemblance???

Tony Roberts from Detroit was the closer. After we met and kicked it a bit we found out we were both friends with Frank Holder from Humor Mill Magazine, who hopefully will be posting this article! (LOL)

Tony came out singing this really funny song, which I think he wrote called “You Need Your Ass Beat”, and most songs that people write are lame, but this one wasn’t. It was actually funny the way he did it, and I think it’s on his new DVD, “Bitch Where You Been!” I’m not even sure if he was kidding or not with that, but I guess I can always check it out on Google!

He is so high energy, it’s not common to see someone work a stage like that. He almost makes Chris Rock look lethargic! (LOL)

I laughed my ass off when he mentioned a comedy porn he was working on called ” Not So Fast, Her Tooth Is Loose!” That is hysterical!

But the best part was after the show in the dressing room. A video guy from Hot 97 came in to ask Tony to do a “drop”, (a promo for the station), and right in the middle of it, he pulled me into the frame, and said I was his Dad, and that he was so happy to see me! I can’t wait to get a copy of it and show all you guys!

Needless to say, I had a great time, and I hope to see these guys again soon! (So if it’s needless to say, why did I say it??? LOL)

As a matter of fact, we all had so much fun that we all hung out after the show right outside the club, and talked comedy till my meter ran out and I had to run, cause in NY a ticket is $130. bucks! And that’s really CRAZY!

For more on Cipha Sounds see the previous Comedy Matters post – http://wp.me/p1pHIm-X5

Posted in: Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Red Carpet Events

Leave a Comment (0) →

National Lampoon Posts GNN Story – Infant Genius Admitted To College

Gurian News Network, (GNN) is committed to bringing you the most unusual stories from around the globe that are missed by mainstream media. They are truly your source for “All The News That’s Fit To Dance To!”, and these stories are posted in National Lampoon, the largest and best known comedy brand on the planet.

Writer/reporter Jeffrey Gurian from GNN brings you “All The News That’s Fit To Dance To”, in this case ” Infant Genius Admitted to College!

In this story, a 10 month old infant named Wiley Marshall from Australia was born with the ability to speak fluent English, and in the delivery room thanked both his parents and the medical team for bringing him into the world, although he did chastise the doctor a little bit for slapping him on the back so hard.

Read all about it right here:

http://nationallampoon.com/articles/infant-genius-admitted-to-college

Other stories you may like are:

Man Removes Own Appendix Using Beer as Anesthetic :

http://nationallampoon.com/articles/man-removes-own-appendix-using-beer-as-anesthetic

Three Thousand Pound Man Sued By Landlord:

http://nationallampoon.com/articles/three-thousand-pound-man-sued-by-landlord

Cover of “Three Thousand Pound Man Sued By Landlord” a GNN story from Jeffrey Gurian in National Lampoon!

Congressmen Arrested For Towel Dancing:

http://nationallampoon.com/politics/congressmen-caught-towel-dancing

The “Articles” page of National Lampoon showing the Infant story and the Towel Dancing story!

Posted in: Breaking News, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, National Lampoon, Strange News, Unusual News, Weird News

Leave a Comment (0) →

Soho International Film Festival Video with Kevin Jonas, Danny Aiello, Mike Starr

The third annual Soho International Film Festival at the Sunshine Cinema Theatre on Houston Street, was amazing and had lots of star power.

Some of the celebs that showed up were Academy Award winner Octavia Spencer, multiple award winner Danny Aiello who was honored with a retrospective of many of his 90 films, Kevin Jonas of The Jonas Brothers who I kept calling “Nick”, as you’ll see in the video, Armand Assante, Eric Roberts, and Mike Starr who also starred in John Gallagher’s film “The Deli,” which celebrated it’s 15th anniversary since it’s release in 1997.

Danny Aiello with Exec. Director of Soho Film Festival Sibyl Santiago!

My old pal Danny Aiello, who looks fantastic, graced me with a 20 minute interview. I also got to interview Exec. Director Sibyl Santiago, about her background and how she’s helped the festival grow in the two years since she’s been there.

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with multiple award-winning actor Danny Aiello on the red carpet of the Soho International Film Festival!

I kept accidentally calling Kevin Jonas “Nick”, which is his brother, because I’m in the process of producing another comedy fundraiser to fight Diabetes, and for the last month I’ve been focussing on trying to get in touch with Nick Jonas seeking his support, to ask him to be involved in some fashion, so I have Nick Jonas on my brain!

Kevin was there to support the film “Forgetting The Girl” which was produced by his wife Danielle’s brother. Kevin thought it was funny that I kept calling him “Nick”, as you’ll see in the video!

Kevin Jonas and his wife Danielle at the Soho International Film Festival!

Jeffrey Gurian of Comedy Matters TV with Kevin Jonas, who I kept insisting on calling “Nick”!

Check it all out here:

For more on the festival with lots of photos check out the previous post at http://wp.me/p1pHIm-VJ

Posted in: Breaking News, Celeb Photos, Charity Events, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Comedy Videos, Nightlife Events, Press Junkets, Red Carpet Events

Leave a Comment (0) →

Irie Fashion Rave Scores Big Thanks To Marie Driven PR and Team Execution

Thanks to Marie Driven PR, and her Team Execution, I’ve been to some very exciting events from hip outlets like The Source, and Hot 97, but this one last night at LQ on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, was really exceptional!

If you’ve ever been to Jamaica you know that wherever you go, people greet you with the word ” Irie”, which is a word in Patois that describes a state of feeling great!

Covergirl, super-model Carla Campbell hosting Irie Fashion Rave at LQ!

So this event was the Irie Fashion Rave featuring lots of gorgeous Jamaican models wearing designs of several hot designers like Carlos Williams of Original Stush, John Paul Pierre, Hope Wade Designs, RepJA Clothing, which is a blend of Caribbean and American, Riddim Driven, (which I assume translates to mean Rythym Driven in regular English! LOL), and a line called MeeNeSsHouz, which I will need help with pronouncing, never mind understanding what it means! I’ll ask Marie to translate for me! (LOL)

I love the way Jamaican people speak! Sometimes you can almost figure out what they are saying! (LOL)

This was a really super fashion event. Most fashion shows are over in 10 minutes. This one went on for hours. It was hosted by Sports illustrated swimsuit Cover Model Carla Campbell, and an hysterically funny lady with shockingly red hair, who came in all the way from Jamaica, Miss Kitty,known as “The Fluffy Diva!”

Miss Kitty, the “Fluffy Diva” in all her “fluffiness” on the mic at LQ for Irie Fashion Rave!

I think she may use the term “Fluffy” the way comic Gabriel Iglesias uses it, to describe a “big” person! Miss Kitty was not only proud of her “belly” she flaunted it by wearing a tight white dress that accentuated her curves. She openly stated that “beauty doesn’t stop at Size 2!” A remark that got huge applause from the audience!

Now there’s a woman who owns her power! She even did kind of a “booty-shake” dance-off with Carla Campbell who has a smoking hot body, and even Carla couldn’t compete with Miss Kitty’s moves! Probably cause she was laughing so hard! (LOL)

There’s something really nice about a person who “owns” who they are. People come in all shapes and sizes and it’s nice to see people not only comfortable with who they are, but proud of it!

The Jamaican community seems to embrace the differences between people, and I like that!

The place was PACKED with press, from Getty, Wire Image, Vibe, The Source, Splash, AP Images and more, and was also packed with a really upscale, good-looking crowd, which I can also attribute to the hard work of Marie Driven!

The event drew a very upscale, good-looking crowd! No metal detectors were necessary! (LOL)

I myself spent a lot of time on the red carpet getting photographed, and ran into my old buddy Steve Mack as well as my pal nightlife guru El-Malik who was there “stylin” as usual, as well as shooting the event!

El-Malik’s hand on the camera shooting two gorgeous Jamaican dancers!

Also in attendance was Guest Model Oraine Barrett, and awards were given honoring record producer Robert Livingston, and female radio personality Pat McKay, who was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award.

The screen honoring Pat McKay!

They also presented what they referred to as “Reggae Soldier” Awards to former Rapper Music Executive and Actor Heavy D and music producer Joel Chin, and the hosting duties for that part of the show were shared by Jabba from Hot 97!

Honoree Pat McKay and Jabba from Hot 97 at LQ for Irie Fashion Rave!

I think everyone’s favorite part was the bikini fashion show, … or maybe I should just speak for myself! (LOL) No matter where you come from, it seems that both men and women appreciate beautiful women in hardly any clothing! (LOL)

Hot lingerie and bikinis, a great mix!

Gangs of women in bikinis roamed the runway! (LOL) But no one even thought to call the police!

Bikinis not only look good from the front, they look good from the back too!

And as you can see by the photos, everyone had a blast! Can’t wait till the next event!

Posted in: Breaking News, Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Events, Fashion Events, Hot Models, Nightlife Events, Press Junkets, Red Carpet Events

Leave a Comment (0) →

Letterman Auditions at Broadway Comedy

I went to check out the Letterman auditions at Broadway Comedy Club, and was very impressed by the level of the show. First of all the club is literally around the corner from the theatre where the Letterman Show is shot, so whoever gets picked can go right over, (although that’s not how it works! LOL)

Myq Kaplan hosting the Letterman auditions at Broadway Comedy Club!

Every person on the show could easily be seen on Letterman. Myq Kaplan was hosting and he’s always great!

When I came in, Kurt Braunholer was already on stage doing his thing. I hadn’t seen Kurt since we shared a shuttle from the airport in Montreal to our hotel at last year’s Just For Laughs Festival! if Kurt wasn’t such a nice guy, his name could be kind of scary! (LOL) Kurt Braunholer sounds like he could be one of the “elite guards” on the other side in World War 2! (LOL)

Kurt Braunholer on stage at Broadway Comedy Club!

Kurt does a lot of work with Kristen Schaal, another favorite of mine! They are very close friends!

Kurt Braunholer and Jeffrey Gurian from Comedy Matters TV in Montreal at the Just For Laughs Festival!

As Kurt was finishing his set, I suddenly felt hungry so I went over to who I thought was a waitress and asked her for a menu, to which she replied, “JEFFREY!!!” And it was only then that I realized that the waitress was actually comic Liz Miele who was waiting to go on next. She was all dressed in black and was standing near where the servers stand, and in the dark I thought she was a waitress. We both thought it was funny, and she said I was the third person who asked her for food!

Liz says she often runs for exercise and while she’s running she fantasizes. On her last run she won four Grammys!

Liz Miele, not a waitress, even a little bit, …but all dressed in black, onstage at Broadway Comedy Club!

Lenny Marcus was on next and he never fails to kill! Lenny is just so funny in his calm, laid back manner. He tells the audience he knows that he looks like he’s there to fix someone’s printer.

Commenting on the use of the word “dude”, Lenny’s like “I’m no genius, but nothing intelligent has ever come after the word “Dude.” No one ever said, “Dude,scalpel!”

Comic/printer repairman Lenny Marcus onstage at Broadway Comedy Club!

I like when Lenny talks about how hot his apartment is. One day his girlfriend came in complaining of how she couldn’t take the heat anymore, and that it was just too much for her. It was then that Lenny realized he didn’t have a girlfriend. It was so hot he was hallucinating!

I hadn’t seen Adrienne Iapalucci for a while, maybe since she auditioned for Montreal, or was it Last Comic Standing? I’ll have to ask Wayne Rada about that! Adrienne said she ran into an old friend she hadn’t seen in many years who told her she now had 3 kids and asked Adrienne what SHE had been up to. Adrienne shared that she’d gone through a whole tube of Chapstick!

Adrienne Iapalucci entertaining the crowd at Broadway Comedy Club!

Carmen Lynch is another favorite of mine. She’s 6 feet tall and complained that she moved in with two people who are 5’1″ and she can’t hear anything they’re saying!

A tall, young, and very much alive Carmen Lynch onstage at Broadway Comedy Club!

She also said she doesn’t expect to live too long cause you never see tall old ladies! That’s very funny! ( And hopefully not true! LOL)

Then I re-united with my old buddy Mike Sommerville who I really hadn’t crossed paths with in a while. He claims his grandmother is a bad drinker. She drank a whole bottle of gin and told him he looked familiar.

Mike Sommerville making people laugh at Broadway Comedy Club!

His best friend just got married and things just aren’t the same. Now his sheets match his curtains. In Mike’s place, his sheets ARE his curtains! That made me laugh out loud!

He waits as long as he can to do the laundry. Based on what’s in his closet now, he can either go swimming, or graduate from high school! How can you not love sitting in a comedy show with lines like that?

All in all, another great night at Broadway Comedy Club!

Posted in: Celeb Photos, Comedians In The News, Comedy Clubs, Comedy Events, Comedy Matters, Nightlife Events, Sketch Comedy, Variety Show

Leave a Comment (0) →
Page 15 of 30 «...101314151617...»
Follow by Email
YouTube
YouTube
Instagram