• The mayor of Houston, Texas declared August 30th "Bun B. Day" in honor of the famous rapper (and TSOYA alum) who hails from Houston and has been a strong proponent of activism in the community. If you live in Houston, you should consider attending the "Religion & Hip Hop Culture" course that Bernard "Bun B." Freeman will be teaching at Rice University on September 13th. He just recently announced that it will be open to the public (for a fee). You can find the course description here and enrollment information on the Rice University website.
• David Cross will be a guest star on Modern Family this fall. The show starts up again on September 21st.
• The September 15th issue of Rolling Stone contains a special section on "Comedy's New Wave" and it names Aziz Ansari as the "Funniest Man Under 30". It also includes interviews with Donald Glover and John Mulaney.
• Marc Maron will screen his previously unaired television pilot about WTF at this month's New York Television Festival. The screening will be at the SVA Theater on Sept. 20th and you can find ticket info here.
• Wild Flag's debut self-titled album (featuring alum Carrie Brownstein) is currently available for streaming at NPR Music.
• HBO will air a special on September 9th featuring Dick Cavett and Mel Brooks in conversation before a live audience. It's titled "Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again". Back in the day, Brooks was a frequent guest on Cavett's talk show. Here is one of my favorite clips from the show featuring a visit from Brooks not long after he released "The Producers."

• The Hold Steady will be in Atlanta, GA at the Variety Playhouse on August 30th; at the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro, NC on August 31st; at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC on Sept. 1st; and at the Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, VA on Sept. 2nd.
• Mavis Staples will appear at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival on Sept. 3rd and Das Racist will also appear at the festival on Sept. 4th.
• There will be a great lineup of comedians at Bumbershoot from Sept. 3rd to Sept. 5th, including Doug Benson (who will be recording an episode of "Doug Loves Movies"), Kyle Kinane, Scott Aukerman (who will be recording "Comedy Bang! Bang!"), Paul F. Tompkins and Eugene Mirman.
• Benson will also be appearing earlier in the week on August 29th at Hyena's in Ft. Worth, TX and on Sept. 1st at Helium in Philadelphia, PA.
• The Rock the Bells festival (which includes performances by Mobb Deep, Childish Gambino and Blu & Exile) will be coming to Governor's Island in New York on Sept. 3rd.
• Dr. Dog will perform on August 29th at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in Providence, RI; on Sept. 1st at the Chance Theater in Poughkeepsie, NY; and on Sept. 3rd at the WHYY Connections Festival on Penns Landing in Philadelphia, PA.
• Tig Notaro, as usual, is keeping very busy. On August 31st, she will be at the Opolis in Norman, OK; on Sept. 1st she'll be at Press Bar in Kansas City, MO; and on Sept. 3rd at Firebirds in St. Louis, MO.
• Jonathan Coulton will be performing Sept. 2nd with Paul and Storm at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, GA. Looks like this will be his last show before launching his extensive fall tour with They Might Be Giants.
• Greg Proops will be recording his Smartest Man in the World podcast at the Out of Bounds Comedy Festival in Austin on September 4th.

Jane Espenson (writer and producer for Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Caprica, and Game of Thrones, amongst others) is developing a new web series called Husbands. It’s a classic newlywed comedy about two men who are dating and, while on a trip to Vegas, wake up to find themselves married. The first episode is expected on September 13th.

Donald Glover is preparing a one-hour special for Comedy Central called "Weirdo." The special will air on Sunday, November 20th and it will be his first full hour for television.

Ben Folds will be releasing a new anthology on October 11th called "The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective".

Jimmy Pardo was recently interviewed in SF Weekly. He talked about his early relationship with Bob Odenkirk as well as his favorite advice for young comics. Characteristically, that advice is very straightforward: "[w]henever people ask me for advice on comedy and how to get started in stand-up, there's no way to get started but to do it. Write down your ideas, things you think are funny. And then do it." Pardo will be joining Dave Anthony and Greg Behrendt this week on their podcast "Walking the Room".

Just in case you missed Louis C.K.'s most recent appearance on Conan last week, here's the clip. It includes great new material about murder and one highly unusual idea for a children's Halloween costume.