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New Atheism's Gender Problems

Can critical humorists help combat the sexism inherent to both religious and secular organizations?

Culture

'Punching Henry' and the Pains of Standup Comedy

Henry Phillips’ sequel to Punching the Clown revisits the difficulties of performing stand-up comedy (with his guitar,) but doesn't pose new questions about that experience.

Reviews

'A Million Ways to Die in the West' Places Seth MacFarlane's Ego Front and Center

Perhaps MacFarlane will learn from his experiences, but with any luck, he'll learn the biggest lesson of all: his talents are required behind the camera, not in front of it.

Film

Sarah Silverman: We Are Miracles

Sarah Silverman's second HBO special/comedy album gives us another healthy helping of rape, incest, oral sex, profanity and jokes about Jews. In other words, Sarah Silverman being herself.

Music

Tig Notaro: Good One

A nonstop laugh fest, Good One proves that Tig Notaro is one of the funniest comedians currently on the market.

Music

The Marriage Ref: NBC's Next 10 p.m. Revolution?

When NBC moved Jay Leno to ten, the network thought it was going to change the very face of TV. The goals in developing Jerry Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref were undoubtedly more modest. But Jerry may yet succeed where Jay failed.

Television

The Best Of Dr. Katz

There aren’t many DVDs that can offer such a variety of established comics doing what they do best.

Reviews

The Sarah Silverman Program: Season One

Silverman's show is smart and self-conscious, but I wonder if maybe -- when all the tics and clever bits are pushed away -- it's also without a humorous center.

Reviews

I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With

Instead of neuroses that are black-tinged and deep-seated, most of I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With's navel-gazing is genial to the point of being childlike.

Tricia Olszewski

Reviews

Lisa Lampanelli: Dirty Girl / The Sarah Silverman Program

We all make catty, hurtful remarks from time to time. Some are especially adept at devastating putdowns, and a select few have parlayed such skill into careers.

Michael Abernethy

Television

School for Scoundrels (2006)

Amanda is demoted from object of desire to prop, so wan and undirected that she'll fall for whoever happens to be winning the boys' contest at any given moment.

Film

Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson Uncensored!

About as funny as anything involving Andy Dick has ever been: this sums it up for this whole roast experience, really.

Roger Holland

Reviews

Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic (2005)

Sarah Silverman's character is a spoiled, suburban princess, which allows her to deliver offensive one-liners with an unnerving mixture of naïvete and self-assured ignorance.

Kevin Wong

Film

Rent (2005)

The song, 'Rent', names its own dilemma, how to make melodrama and artifice compelling when experience has turned so sensational and illusory?"

Cynthia Fuchs

Film

The School of Rock (2003)

'I'm always going 10 miles too far over the top, and sometimes I have a tendency to go crazy ham and cheese,' says Jack Black.

Cynthia Fuchs

Reviews

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Can critical humorists help combat the sexism inherent to both religious and secular organizations?

Henry Phillips’ sequel to Punching the Clown revisits the difficulties of performing stand-up comedy (with his guitar,) but doesn't pose new questions about that experience.

Perhaps MacFarlane will learn from his experiences, but with any luck, he'll learn the biggest lesson of all: his talents are required behind the camera, not in front of it.

Sarah Silverman's second HBO special/comedy album gives us another healthy helping of rape, incest, oral sex, profanity and jokes about Jews. In other words, Sarah Silverman being herself.

A nonstop laugh fest, Good One proves that Tig Notaro is one of the funniest comedians currently on the market.

When NBC moved Jay Leno to ten, the network thought it was going to change the very face of TV. The goals in developing Jerry Seinfeld's The Marriage Ref were undoubtedly more modest. But Jerry may yet succeed where Jay failed.

There aren’t many DVDs that can offer such a variety of established comics doing what they do best.

Silverman's show is smart and self-conscious, but I wonder if maybe -- when all the tics and clever bits are pushed away -- it's also without a humorous center.

Instead of neuroses that are black-tinged and deep-seated, most of I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With's navel-gazing is genial to the point of being childlike.

We all make catty, hurtful remarks from time to time. Some are especially adept at devastating putdowns, and a select few have parlayed such skill into careers.

Amanda is demoted from object of desire to prop, so wan and undirected that she'll fall for whoever happens to be winning the boys' contest at any given moment.

About as funny as anything involving Andy Dick has ever been: this sums it up for this whole roast experience, really.

Sarah Silverman's character is a spoiled, suburban princess, which allows her to deliver offensive one-liners with an unnerving mixture of naïvete and self-assured ignorance.

The song, 'Rent', names its own dilemma, how to make melodrama and artifice compelling when experience has turned so sensational and illusory?"

The sheer number of performances wears thin by film's end.

'I'm always going 10 miles too far over the top, and sometimes I have a tendency to go crazy ham and cheese,' says Jack Black.