Sarah Silverman's "Jesus is Magic" out Tuesday

A reminder from your friendly neighborhood me.

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The State: International Signs

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American Movie Critics

Philip Lopate's "American Movie Critics: An Anthology from the Silents Until Now" is featured in the Times Book Review this week.

Link

Philip Lopate on TSOYA

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Podcast: Put-Ons

This week's Sound of Young America returns to familiar territory -- pranks and put-ons. We visit with a couple of old friends of the show who are geniuses of the field.

Our first guest is Matt Walsh. Matt's probably best known for being a founder of the Upright Citizens' Brigade. He was also a correspondent on The Daily Show, and has been seen in films like "Old School." His new series on Comedy Central, Dog Bites Man, is a hybrid of many genres. It follows a fictitious Spokane TV news team through real-life America. They interview real people while playing out a fictional storyline. They've gone to the Southern Republican convention and to a KKK picnic. The show was created by Dan Mazer, the co-creator of Da Ali G Show.

We also talk with Charlie Todd, the creator of a group called Improv Everywhere. Charlie's group stages massive street pranks in New York City, but they eschew pranks with victims. Instead, they focus on creating amazing experiences for ordinary people, and then dissapear -- without revealing their identity.

Also, we hear a street prank from Coyle & Sharpe, a remarkable pair of put-on artists who hosted a local AM radio show in San Francisco in the mid 1960s. Mal Sharpe was a comedian and radio man; James Coyle was a professional con artist. Together, they created some of the most amazing street pranks in history. We hear "Maniacs in a Living Hell" from their amazing CD "Coyle & Sharpe: Audio Visionaries." (Buy It)

Also: as part of our continuing partnership with Sketchfest NYC, we hear a brief sketch from Portland-based sketch group The Third Floor.

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Incidental Music by DJW
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Field Mob

Field Mob have a new record coming out, called "Light Poles and Pine Trees." Their single "Sick of Bein' Lonely" was a hit a couple years ago, but they've never managed to break through on the album tip.

It's too bad, because they're the second-best lyrical stylists in the South after Ludacris, and their lyrics are much stronger than his. They switch flows liberally and with facility, presenting an almost bewildering array of styles. Luda has signed them up to his imprint, and hopefully that'll lead to success for them, because they deserve it.

XXL Magazine gives "Light Poles and Pine Trees" an "XL"

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Alterna-Comedy Heads South

One of the big questions I get a lot is, "when will some of these folks I hear on The Sound of Young America come to (Florida, Montana, Louisiana, Minnesota, etc)?"

For those of you in the South, two great acts are headed your way: Todd Barry and Matt Besser.



Todd Barry is one of the funniest standups in America right now, with a biting wit and a hilariously dry delivery. He's been on The Sound several times: his comedy was part of the Joketacular episode, and the old streaming archives have a realaudio interview with Todd here.



Matt Besser most recently was on our air to talk about the Upright Citizens Brigade's "Asssscat Improv" special on Bravo (MP3 Link). I saw an early version of the one-man show he's touring with, "Woo Pig Sooie," in San Francisco last year and really enjoyed it. It's a thoughtful, funny, and ultimately surprisingly and powerfully personal look at faith and the seperation of church and state.

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Podcast: The College Years: Battle of the Dads

On this Sound of Young America: The College Years, it's an epic Battle of the Dads. We kick things off with an original song about dads, then call our respective dads and have them duke it out by revealing embarassing secrets about our childhoods. If you haven't listened to The College Years yet, now is the time to give it a shot. This one's an all-timer.

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Jurassic 5 are working with Dave Matthews Band.

Somehow, they just managed to blow right by the Black Eyed Peas on the road to self-parody.

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Andy Kaufman Sings on Letterman

Here's Andy Kaufman performing the Slim Whitman class "Rosemarie" on David Letterman.



Also, he is wearing a turban, a false moustache and a diaper.

The Sound of Young America: The American Dream (MP3)... We talk with Florian Keller, author of "Wrestling with the American Dream," about Andy Kaufman.

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Jonathan Goldstein's Wiretap

When we talked with Jonathan Goldstein, we discussed his CBC program Wiretap. What had been an MP3 blog of the show now has a podcast feed.

If you're an iTunes subscriber, go to the podcast directory, then go to the advanced menu, and choose "Subscribe to Podcast." Then paste in this URL: http://redjar.org/jared/blog/archives/category/radio/wiretap/feed/

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Tina Fey's "30 Rock"

I was a hopeful skeptic, now I'm a hopeful hopeful.

Notes:

* I love Rachel Dratch. I think she's really wonderful and hilarious and should be the funny best friend in every girl movie from here on out, and maybe even the lead in a quirky one.
* Tina Fey is a bit wooden, can she pull of being the lead of this series?
* Really all Tracy Morgan has to do to make me laugh is make one of those funny baby faces.
* Does anyone know if Mike White is a regular castmember or if that's just a walk-on?
* Regarding the Tina Fey question: my friend Matt points out that Jerry Seinfeld was a bit wooden, too. Point taken.
* Does the fact that both of them got picked up mean that the Aaron Sorkin series and this one can be friends now?

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Garrison Keillor's Mansion

Our man GK is making that fa sho' dough. Seven bedrooms? Daaaamn.

"The house is so grand that Mr. Keillor and his wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, a violinist in the Minnesota Opera orchestra, feared their friends might consider them pretentious for buying it. Ultimately, the beauty and spaciousness of the house, which was built in 1914 by the French architect Emmanuel Masqueray, persuaded them."

Link

(Sidenote: what is it with people in public radio and ACTUALLY DRIVING VOLVOS? That's like the junior senator from Mississippi showing up for a hearing in denim overalls.)

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PRX hates The Sound of Young America

PRX is the Public Radio Exchange, a sort of online content depot for public radio producers. Independent producers upload their content -- programs, news reports, features -- to the site, and stations visit to license pieces to fill holes in their programs or schedules.

Part of the system is a sort of peer-review mechanism. PRX has an "Editorial Board," and at least one of them reviews nearly every piece uploaded to the site. Additionally, any PRX member (anyone can sign up for free) can write a review of any piece.

It's a great system... two of The Sound's affiliates found out about the show through PRX, and lots of people in public radio get to hear the show that otherwise might not.

Unfortunately, PRX HATES THE SOUND OF YOUNG AMERICA.

A sample review (from an editorial board member who works for Radio Netherlands):

The guests, Jonathan Goldstein and Jonathan Katz are typically public radio. But stylistically our host is all slick baritone Clear Channel morning zoo. Without being intentionally offensive, how old is the program host? He sounds like someone older trying to be young. He looks young in the picture.

Or this one (from an editorial board member from Atlantic Public Media), which included a rating of one out of five:

It's just a little jarring to have jokes come out of nowhere and not a natural part of the conversation. The humor has that disruptive effect from the back of the classroom....

So, uhm, if you get the chance, head over there, sign up (it's free), and write a thoughtful review of a show.

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Zach Galifianakis & Fiona Apple "Up in Them Guts"

Sasquatch from Aspecialthing.com claims that this will make more sense once the new Comedy Central series "Dog Bites Man" starts airing June 7th. In the meantime, just "suck it off 2006 style."

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Monty Python urges you to subscribe!

Courtesy of WTTW television, who were apparently jealous of our exclusive Python footage. Unearthed from their vaults.



Breaking news! David Morgan, author of "Monty Python Speaks," corrects the record:
"Thanks for linking to the Python video, but this posting didn't have anything to do with WTTW or their jealousy, nor was it unearthed from their vaults. This was taken from a collection of U-Matic tapes preserved by a Python associate which I thought would be fun to share."

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Lifton & Coulton, together forever.

David Lifton, a regular in the comments of this very blog, points us to his interesting interview with Jonathan Coulton, the very funny singer-songwriter whose music has been heard several times on TSOYA.

Link

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Ricky Gervais Meets Larry David

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Will Franken in Gelf

Interesting piece on Will Franken, who you may remember from last week's show, in the excellent Gelf Magazine.

A half-hour into it and he's taken over his audience members' minds. He has them singing, praising Jesus, and laughing at child murder. Characters and scenes, public service announcements and daytime television show segments rise up and fall away. Franken changes roles as fast as putting on a hat, and the effect is so narcotic that you can see why the SF Bay Guardian named him the Best Alternative to Psychedelic Drugs. The fuel of "Good Luck With It" is the disgust of an intellectual raised in a religious small town, combined with the dismay of a religious, small-towner living in a metropolitan Babylon. It's more acting than stand-up, and no race, minority, nor pet cause is safe. It belongs in some London theater and it's way too good for cable TV.

Actually, looking at the date, I'm wondering if the author came to a show that I performed in. Anyway, interesting piece.

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Zach Galifianakis on The Best Show

The delightful bearded comedian Zach Galifianakis will be on this week's episode of The Best Show on WFMU, our favorite radio show. It runs from 8-11 PM Eastern time tonight, and you can either listen to WFMU's stream live or wait to catch the archived version when it goes up.

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Teaching for the Future

I was more than happy earlier this week to speak with TSOYA listener / podcaster Dave LaMorte about a topic which I know very little about -- podcasts in education. You can hear my interview on his "Teaching for the Future" podcast here.

And I should mention that if you have a podcast or a blog and you'd like to interview me, I'm happy to do it.

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And speaking of soul...

It's pretty tough to top the Hardest Working Man in Showbusiness, seen here performing "Please, Please."

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Otis Redding Tears it DOWN

There are a couple of live Otis Redding records with amazing versions of "Try A Little Tenderness," but it's amazing to see him rip it on film.

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Demetri Martin's Short Film

The charming and brilliant Brian M. Palmer is hosting Demetri Martin's short film 12:21 over on his blog. It's very much worth the download. Funny and sweet. Brian also did a great interview with Martin. So did I.

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Lost Chappelle's Show Episodes on DVD 7/25

Just got the press release from Comedy Central:


IT'S FINALLY COMING…
"CHAPPELLE'S SHOW: THE LOST EPISODES UNCENSORED" DVD
HITTING STORES ON TUESDAY, JULY 25
--------
Bonus Features Include Unaired Sketches, Never-Before-Seen Performances By John Legend And
Dead Prez, "The Fabulous Making Of Chappelle's Show" Documentary, Blooper Reel And More
--------
Audio Commentary By Charlie Murphy, Donnell Rawlings
And Series Co-Creator And Executive Producer Neal Brennan
--------

NEW YORK, May 30, 2006 -- This summer "Chappelle's Show" fans will finally be able to get their hands on the highly anticipated lost episodes. Released via COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment, "Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes Uncensored" DVD arrives in stores nationwide on Tuesday, July 25 and will also be available at http://shop.comedycentral.com.
"Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes Uncensored" DVD is a one-disc set featuring all three lost episodes and over an hour's worth of bonus material from the third season. The release contains the following bonus material: extra unaired sketches, never-before-seen performances by John Legend and Dead Prez; "The Fabulous Making of Chappelle's Show" documentary; audio commentary by series collaborators and cast members Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings and series co-creator/executive producer Neal Brennan; blooper reel and deleted scenes.
"Chappelle's Show Season 1" DVD is the top-selling TV on DVD release with over 3.5 million units sold. "Chappelle's Show Season 2" DVD is the third highest-selling TV on DVD release of all time with 2.5 million units sold.*

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Kasper Hauser at Stanford Tuesday

Kasper Hauser, the best sketch comedy group in the country, will be performing at Stanford University tommorow (Tuesday) evening.

The details:
Kasper Hauser, live at Stanford University's Pigott Theater
Memorial Auditorium, 551 Serra Mall
Stanford, CA
8 p.m.
$5, tickets at the door
Directions at
http://www.stanford.edu/dept/drama/maps.html#memaud

I'll be there, and so should you. If you live in the Bay Area or the South Bay, go. If you don't find someone who does and tell them to go. And if you do go, say hi to me.

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Bilal is a real singer...

For the most part, the folks who came along during the Neo-Soul boom (as opposed to before) were lame. D'Angelo? Great. Musiq? Lame. Erykah? Great. India Arie? F'ing awful.

There are only a couple of exceptions, the biggest of which was/is Bilal. People have compared B's voice to Prince, which I think is fair, but Bilal is a real singer in a way that Prince never was. Prince's singing compliments his everything else quite well -- but as much as I love him, his singing has never been interesting enough to be great.

Bilal, in contrast, is nothing but interesting. As ?uestlove points out in this great blog post, he's the rare jazz-based singer who is willing to lay his heart on the line like a gospel singer. Sometimes his choices are wrong, sometimes his odd tonal choices (and they are choices) are tough to hear, but he lays it out every time. The result is often amazing.

On his first LP, First Born Second, he worked with a range of R&B and soul's best producers, from Raphael Saadiq ("Soul Sista") to Dr. Dre (the awesome "Sally" and "Fast Lane"). The rawness of his vocals complimented both of those producers perfectly.

His next record has been promised for quite some time, but it still hasn't come. I can't wait. ?uest's myspace page currently has an amazing jam from the Roots' Radio City Music Hall dates a couple weeks ago... a couple of great Bilal songs including one of the best smooth ones, "Sometimes."

Here's the wildest track from his original demo, now about five years old:
Hand Me Down (on the album it was called "Second Child")

Here are a couple tracks from his upcoming record:
High and Dry (yes, it's a Radiohead cover)
Something to Hold On To

*edited to add*

Bilal F. Dr. Dre & Jadakiss - Fast Lane

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Does anyone speak Swedish?

Sound of Young America listener Martin Degrell has a very popular Swedish blog, and he interviewed me for it. Both sides of the conversation, remarkably, are in Swedish.

Link

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