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We gave our staff the awesome responsibility of choosing the best comedy albums of 2015. They listened to hours and hours of material, and we're now prepared to showcase some of the best comedy released in the past year.
Like what you hear? Click through to find their albums!
Kyle Kinane - I Liked His Old Stuff Better
Emily Heller - Good for Her
Ron Funches - The Funches of Us
Sara Schaefer - Chrysalis
Hampton Yount - Bearable
Drennon Davis & Karen Kilgariff - I Don’t Care, I Like It
Mike O'Brien - Tasty Radio
Eddie Pepitone - In Ruins
Sheng Wang - Cornucopias Are Actually Horrible Containers
Guy Branum - Effable
Aziz Ansari - Buried Alive
Eugene Mirman - I’m Sorry (You’re Welcome)
Eliza Skinner - Recorded Live at MaxFunCon 2014 - Angry Little Goats Podcast
Matt Braunger - Big Dumb Animal
Wayne Federman - Chronicles of Federman
Beth Stelling - Simply the Beth
Loren Bouchard is the creator of the animated tv comedy Bob's Burgers, a series about a family and the restaurant they own and live above, currently in its fourth season on Fox. In addition to being the co-executive producer and showrunner, Loren also composed the show's opening theme. I interviewed Loren in his office, where his desk is surrounded by musical instruments. In this episode, he talks about which ones went into the theme, and the emotions he wanted to evoke with each of them. Plus a few thoughts from cast members Jon Benjamin and Eugene Mirman.
footnotes and links:
Here's the original Bob's Burgers Pilot, with Loren's first version of the theme song.
Bob's Burgers website and Facebook page
Seasons 1–3 on Netflix
New to Bullseye? Subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or with your favorite podcatcher to make sure you automatically get the newest episode every week.
And if you're looking for a particular segment to listen to or share, check us out on Soundcloud.
It was a great year for comedy. Everyone from seasoned stand-ups to musical comedy groups came out with hilarious new material. We listened to all of it and picked the absolute best for you to enjoy. Get ready for the Best Comedy of 2013 Special, as picked by our staff at Bullseye.
You’ll hear selections from the following, almost all of which are available for purchase (with the exception of the sets from the Atlantic Ocean Comedy and Music Festival).
Kathleen Madigan - Madigan Again
Pete Holmes - Nice Try, the Devil
Moshe Kasher - Live in Oakland
Bill Cosby - Far From Finished
Maria Bamford - Ask Me About My New God!
Mike Birbiglia - My Girlfriend's Boyfriend
Eugene Mirman - An Evening of Comedy in a Fake, Underground Laboratory
Todd Glass - Todd Glass Talks About Stuff
Craig Ferguson - I'm Here to Help
The Lonely Island - The Wack Album
Dana Gould - I Know It’s Wrong
Josie Long - from the Atlantic Ocean Comedy and Music Festival
Jasper Redd - from the Atlantic Ocean Comedy and Music Festival
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Mark Frauenfelder of BoingBoing and the Gweek podcast joins us again this week to talk about some of his current favorite things. Mark suggests a turn at the multiplayer iPhone game Spaceteam, which is all about yelling techno-gibberish at friends. In the mood for something a little more quiet? Mark also recommends The Magazine, a minimalist, ad-free digital publication "for geeks and curious people."
Embed or share this week's recommendations from BoingBoing's Mark Frauenfelder
Simon Rich got his first book deal in 2007. Since then, he’s published five books, received a nomination for the Thurber Prize for American Humor, contributed regular essays to the New Yorker, and worked on Saturday Night Live as a staff writer (which he recently left for a top-secret writing job at Pixar). How old is he? 29. Basically, Simon Rich has his act together.
The characters he writes about? Not so much. His latest book, The Last Girlfriend on Earth, is a collection of vignettes about lost characters coming to terms with love. And these aren’t your typical stories of romance and heartbreak; in true Simon Rich fashion, his stories make the mundane profound and vice-versa. (No one else can write a story about God’s girlfriend and follow it up with a touching monologue from a prophylactic’s POV.)
Simon sits down with Jesse to discuss the autobiographical elements of his stories, the appeal of writing from a child’s point of view, and how love is a lot like heroin.
Simon Rich’s new book of essays, The Last Girlfriend on Earth, is available in bookstores everywhere.
Digging through old stuff from your childhood can be a lot of different things – insightful, hilarious, wistful, nostalgic. But in comedian Eugene Mirman’s case, it was just embarrassing. In this clip from his latest special, Eugene describes a childhood relic, found in his parents’ basement.
Eugene Mirman’s new special, An Evening of Comedy in a Fake Underground Laboratory, is now available as a combination CD/DVD.
Embed or share Eugene Mirman Discovers a Notebook From His Past
Conventional wisdom amongst standup comics dictates that a crowd has to be on your side before you can make them laugh. It’s good general advice, but it’s not advice that Bill Burr follows – and he’s all the better for it.
Bill Burr’s comedy is, in a word, aggressive. It’s not just that he looks and sounds tough, qualities that have landed him voice acting work in Grand Theft Auto IV and guest appearances on Breaking Bad. Aggression and confrontation are at the core of Bill’s act; he’s not afraid to curse out unruly audience members or start a set with a joke that, in a lesser comic’s hands, might totally alienate a crowd. But his comedy isn’t all tough-guy machismo. He’s just as likely to direct a rant at himself as he is others, a quality that makes his work all the more hilarious and human.
Bill spoke with Jesse a few years ago to talk about Bill’s style of comedy, challenging himself and audiences in his act, and every performer’s most dreaded nightmare: having to follow a dog or child onstage.
His latest special, You People Are All The Same (which was the subject of a recent Outshot), is streaming on Netflix.
This interview originally aired in October 2010.
Embed or share "Bill Burr On Control and Comedy"
On this week’s Outshot, Jesse tears the house down with a timeless live album. It’s Solomon Burke’s "Soul Alive."
Embed or Share Jesse's Outshot on Solomon Burke’s "Soul Alive"
Here is a quick list of cities and venues where you can catch some face time with your favorite MaxFun performers during the coming week. Click on the name of the venue for ticket info.
From time to time, of course, there are shows which are likely to be so popular that I wouldn't recommend waiting until the week of the performance to buy tickets. I'll list one or two of those separately each week. Buy now:
Comedian and podcaster Doug Benson is releasing his third album for Comedy Central, called "Potty Mouth", on August 30th. Usually, I favor digital downloads for my music and comedy, but I've pre-ordered the CD of this performance because it will ship with a bonus DVD that includes all six episodes of "The Benson Interruption". The "Interruption", for those who missed it when it aired, featured Doug sitting in a chair onstage and making digs or observations while another comedian performs. The resulting banter and one-upmanship kept the show lively and fun. Below is a clip featuring one of the show's recurring bits, "Tweet Off", with Michael Ian Black.
And here is Eugene Mirman discussing an awkward search for food while on the road in Pennsylvania.
Jokes.com | ||||
Eugene Mirman - Grub and Babes | ||||
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While you are waiting for your CD to arrive, you should check out Doug's cinephile podcast, Doug Loves Movies.
The College Years is a look deep into the vaults of The Sound of Young America. Take a journey with us every week as we post a new program or two from our salad days.
Today's theme: Free Form
To begin the show, Jesse speaks with Tom Scharpling. Known for his writing on shows such as Tom Goes to the Mayor and Monk. Tom talks about his radio programme, The Best Show on WFMU. Why don't you become Tom's friend?
Next up on this episode, Eugene Mirman! Listen as Eugene shares memories of childhood alienation and loneliness. Meanwhile, Jesse talks about Gallagher. If you're feeling lonely and don't want to listen to another Gallagher album, pick up some of Eugene's hilarious work.