nytimes = wicked formal

This is what I've been trying to explain to my sociology professor and thesis advisor... Or I guess not specifically this, but something along these lines. The hardest thing about sociology is that just when you think you've devised a topic and are ready to start a year's worth of research on it, someone writes a trend piece on it which requires a far shorter period of research, less statistics, only 2-3 examples, but then again, such is social science...

The above is also an article from the NY Times, which always amuses me when they talk about the downtown comedy scene or the creators of College Humor and refer to everyone as Mr. ___. Which I guess is normal, but feels so formal (ooh rhymes). I'm glad that these groups are getting the recognition they deserve. Does our generation value comedy more than earlier ones when they were in their twenties? I guess the best evidence of this would be if these shows (human giant, whitest kids..., etc.) last longer or gain a more mainstream audience than their equivalent ten years ago (The Ben Stiller Show, dana carvey show, mr. show, etc.).

I used to hate swim time...

Adult Swim seems to be about experimentation. Which is why some of their shows are kind of hit-or-miss. While I've never been a huge fan of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, I have a few friends who live and breathe that random shit.

On May 13, their new line-up of shows premiered including "Fat Guy Stuck In Internet," based on the Channel 102 show Gemberling. And it includes an awesome line-up of UCB regulars including Curtis Gwinn, Jon Daly, Jackie Clarke, that guy from the Swarm, and, obvi, John Gemberling.

The first show I ever saw at UCB Theatre has stayed my favorite through the hundreds of shows I've seen since then. It was called Commedia dell High School and it was Gwinn, Gemberling, Jason Mantzoukas, Jessica St. Clair, and Tara Copeland improvising an '80s teen movie. It's kind of weird to me that I idolized these people, writing a fan e-mail to Mantzoukas and St. Clair after they gave out a hotmail address at one of the shows, waiting around outside the theater hoping to spot them... the first time I saw Gwinn and Gemberling at the training center conference room I almost peed my pants. It's weird b/c they were probably still just struggling actors at the time, working other jobs and without some kind of fanbase. And now five years later, I reguarly see almost all of them on TV. So now Gwinn & Gemberling have their own pilot and I'm super-psyched although due to my lack of cable in the dorm room, I have yet to watch the full thing. But considering Cartoon Network usually gives things more of a chance than other networks (cough cough comedy central), here's hoping it sticks around for a while. You can check out the pilot for all five of their new shows here.

when comedy meets music

In February, Filter published an interview that The Office's John Krasinski did with The Shins... and I got around to reading it now. I definitely see the correlation between them with their hipster indie sensibilities in the mainstream, and their dorky funny cuteness. And who but filter would have thought to put that together. Well, maybe lots of people, but who would have actually had the connections to get them both at a Los Angeles hotel to chat about school plays and firewater...

But what I really like about this article is the introduction, which explains the many ways in which the alternative comedy world and the indie music world intersect. Honestly, I just finished writing my final paper for Media on the alternative comedy world, so I really don't want to write that phrase again, but the paper also happened to be a thesis proposal, so it looks like I will. If you ever want to read 80-100 pages on alternative comedy, ask me about it next May.