Hard Truths with Louis C.K.
Some jokes are only meant for Mondays, when our desire for awful things to happen to decent people is at its peak. Ever seen an old person slip n’ fall on a Monday? Funny as the first three Police Academy movies. On a Saturday? Sad as the last three. This joke be one of them muhahahahaha eeeeeeevil jams. Prepare to laugh hard and then feel bad about it tomorrow.
Louie CK has been wrong before, but this time ain’t one of ‘em. Or at the very least he’s Monday right, which I believe will hold up in a court of law. Check out his stand-up concert film when it stops being friends with only uppity Sundance and starts partying with normal folks like us.
My name is Ben and I am re-posting my way to Hell.
This “The Donald” Trumps That “The Donald”
If you live in New York, near New York, or have the power of teleportation, I recommend you attend this show at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre. Donald was out here in Los Angeles and I was lucky enough to catch one of his sets. This is going to be a special performance. Stand-up comedy is best when it’s personal without being corny. The set I saw nailed that like it was a slutty prom date…who needed help hanging a picture. Whoa, that was an accidental double entendre. Kudos, me!
I recommend you reserve tickets ASAP as UCB shows sell out faster than me if ANY one offers me ANY amount of ANY thing to do ANYTHING. That sentence is a truthful mouth-full. So is that one.
Also, in these hard economic times, the show is only five bucks! That price is impossible to beat. You’re thinking to yourself, “What about four bucks, three bucks, two bucks, and one buck?” Nope. Anything less than five bucks and folks start question why it’s so cheap. A five dollar hand-job? Great bargain! A four dollar hand-job? Ewww, gross! What’s wrong with that hand?! A four dollar Donald Glover show? Ewww, gross! What’s wrong with that Donald Glover?! At five bucks the show is just a great bargain. It will be worth all 500 pennies, I promise.
For the record, Donald is one of the comedians I predicted to take off this year. I recommended his stand-up, his comedy team (Derrick Comedy), and their film (Mystery Team). So far he is making me look quite savvy in my sooth. After that NCAA Tournament it feels good to get a prediction right.
My name is Ben and I spread the word bloggy-style.
Never Doubt Me
I told you this was The Year of Aziz! If you haven’t seen him do stand-up recently (or ever) then you probably don’t know who Cousin Harris is. You poor, lost soul. Let me take you in and nourish you with warm funny:
That’s just the tip of the Harris iceburg. The Cousin Harris material was easily my favorite of 2008. But this post isn’t actually about Harris. No, Harris has an older brother named Darwish, and Darwish has engaged one of rap’s largest luminaries in a battle of words. Aziz documents it on his blog. This is must-read:
DARWISH VS. KANYE
What happens when one of hip hop’s greatest and some silly little Indian kid from Georgia go head to head in an email/IM battle?
My little cousin Darwish, brother of Harris (whom someone of you may know from my standup) is quickly catching up to Harris in terms of ridiculousness. Last week, he finally discovered Kanye West’s music and went nuts. He started a firing off a ton of IMs:
Dar: Aziz
Dar: Kanye West is ridiculous
Dar: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD AMAZING???
Dar: IT REALLY IS AMAZING
Aziz: Yeah, he’s great right?
Dar: when he goes around bragging
Dar: now I know why
Dar: wow
Dar: JUST WOW
10 minutes later…
Dar: aziz I think this is like the 10th time ive listened to amazing in a row
Dar: i was just like browsing and I found it it
Dar: and boom! my head was just auto bobbing
Aziz: go download Flashing Lights, that’s probably my favorite Kanye song
Dar: who’s someone else good?
Aziz: You ever listened to any Wu Tang?
Dar: no but i’ve heard of him
Dar: he raps a lot about karate right?
Kanye knows of Harris and Darwish through my standup so I emailed him Darwish’s IMs.
Kanye responded:
woooow! new fans yeeeessss!!!! more people that don’t hate me
BUT 10 minutes later I received this from Darwish…
To read more click on this link.
Just a taste. It’s his post, if you want to read more you have to do it at his site. I am many things, sir, but one of them is NOT a blog jacker. Black jogger, yes. Blog jacker, no. I can see how you got confused.
And don’t forget, Aziz co-stars in the new NBC comedy Parks and Recreation starting next Thursday at 8:30. I will remind you again next week, because that’s what I do. I’m like your comedy administrative assistant. You have a comedy video conference call with Amy Poehler and Aziz Ansari booked for next Thursday at 8:30pm in the NBC room. Do try to be prompt.
My name is Ben and this Ansari fella owes my blog an advertising thank you.
And the Poop or Chocolate Funny Faces of ’09 Rising Star of Tomorrow Comedy Future Man of the Year Is…
…Aziz Ansari. 
He is currently on a stand-up tour I implored you to see. He has a CD and comedy special due out later this year. He is killing it as a guest star on Scrubs. He has a part in the new Judd Apatow movie “Funny People”. He is one of the stars of the new NBC series debuting this Spring from the creators of The Office. His viral videos are some of the most “contracted” on the internet. Things are going good for this guy.
And now he’s been named the Poop or Chocolate Funny Faces of ’09 Rising Star of Tomorrow Comedy Future Man of the Year.
Here are a couple stand-up videos:
The Apatow movie “Funny People” is about stand-up comedy and Aziz plays a comic named Randy. Here is a clip featuring both personas.
Most of you are already familiar with his sketch group Human Giant. Here is my favorite video by them:
He also runs a frequently-updated blog here: http://azizisbored.tumblr.com/; Conducted a very funny interview here: http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/archives/2009/01/interview_comed.php#more; And hosts his group’s videos here: http://thehumangiant.com/
This is truly going to be his year. Hopefully he shares it with me. And you. All of us. This is truly going to be our year. Thanks, Aziz. We made it.
WTF?!?!
So John Mulaney’s stand-up video from the first of yesterday’s posts has been “disabled by request.” I don’t know what that means exactly, but I am choosing to take it personally.
John Mulaney: You started the year on Ben Axelrad’s “Funny Faces of ’09″ list. A list that provides both prestige and a not at all misleading title. Now you’ve moved to my shit list. Speaking of shit list, check this out:
Thank you, Aziz Ansari. John Mulaney, that joke is for you.
2009 will be the year we, as a blog family, bring John Mulaney to his knees.
2010 will be the year we, as a blog family, say “Hey, weren’t we supposed to bring John Mulaney to his knees last year? Whoops.”
I can’t count on you people (or me people) for anything.
But seriously, my yos, if John Mulaney doesn’t want inclusion on my list then I’ll replace him. Meet Noah Garfinkel. He is funny. And grateful. I’m sure he doesn’t even care that he’s a Funny Face alternate. http://www.myspace.com/noahgarf
Try and go about your day like this Mulaney debacle never happened. Every time you think about him, he wins.
I don’t want him to win. I want to win. Maybe stop thinking altogether. Just to be safe.
My name is Ben and my blog is very sensitive.
My Name is Ben
