Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: comedian

comedian stories: 58 news summaries

1 - 20 of 58 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

Switch to grid view »

 Chris Rock Wants to Be 
 Your Black Friend 

Comedian lands film that could—or could not—be an insightful look at race relations

Oct 7, 09 11:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Now’s your chance to make Chris Rock your black friend: the comedian will star in Will You Be My Black Friend? The film's based on the GQ article of the same name, chronicling author Devin Friedman’s attempt to diversify his circle of white buddies. More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • film • Oprah Winfrey • celebrity • Chris Rock • comedian • Harpo Films

 Cleese 
 Hits Stage 
 to Fund 
 $20M Divorce 

Monty Python comedian John Cleese, still bitter, will stage one-man show

Oct 2, 09 8:19 AM CDT
(Newser) - Hit with a $20 million divorce settlement, John Cleese is taking to the stage for the first time in four years to raise some cash—and have a little fun airing his outrage at the payout to his third wife. A Ludicrous Evening with John Cleese… or How to ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • celebrity • comedian • celebrity divorces • John Cleese • Monty Python

(Newser) - It jiggles. It droops. It covers naughty parts. Let's face it, fat is funny, especially when a guy knows how to work it. Super Tremendous lists the funniest fat men:
  • Jason Alexander: His George Costanza character on Seinfeld revealed the tragic life of "a short, stocky, slow-witted bald
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Saturday Night Live • The Office • Seinfeld • Ricky Gervais • comedian • John Belushi • Chris Farley • Jason Alexander • John Candy • George Costanza

 Brit Stand-Up Runs
43 Marathons in 52 Days

Eddie Izzard 'beyond exhaustion' after 1,100 mile charity challenge

Sep 15, 09 7:09 AM CDT
(Newser) - Eddie Izzard had never run more than 5 miles in his life before this summer but he'll be aiming for the finish line in his 43rd marathon today, the Guardian reports. The stand-up comedian, 47 years old and better known for wearing high heels and make-up than for running, took... More »

MORE ABOUT:
marathon • running • Britain • comedian • transvestite • Eddie Izzard

 Franken Gets 
 Funny Again 



Senator has crowd chuckling at Iowa fundraiser

Sep 14, 09 8:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - As a latecomer to the Senate this year, Al Franken’s been playing it straight—but he loosened up enough to venture a few jokes at an Iowa fundraiser yesterday, CNN reports. Discussing Sen. Tom Harkin’s new post as head of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iowa • politics • Senate • comedy • humor • fundraiser • Al Franken • Tom Harkin • comedian • senator

(Newser) - Comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres will be the fourth judge on the next season of American Idol, the Wrap reports. The deal, announced by Fox tonight, fills the star spot vacated by Paula Abdul, who quit the show this summer in a salary dispute. More »

MORE ABOUT:
American Idol • salary • Fox • daytime talk show • Ellen DeGeneres • comedian • Paula Abdul

 Comic's 
 Mother-in-Law 
 Sues Over Jokes 

Sunda Croonquist's mother-in-law seeks damages for Jew jokes

Aug 25, 09 4:44 PM CDT
(Newser) - The situation faced by comedian Sunda Croonquist sounds like it’s from one of her routines: mother-in-law sues comedian after being the butt of one too many jokes. But Croonquist’s mother-in-law is serious—she says her daughter-in-law makes her sound like a racist. She’s seeking unspecified damages and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
free speech • comedy • lawsuit • frivolous lawsuits • comedian • punitive damages • mother-in-law • in-laws

 Pauly Shore 
 Heads to Reality TV 

His topic: African adoptions

Aug 25, 09 11:03 AM CDT
(Newser) - Just when you thought reality TV couldn’t get any worse, Pauly Shore gets his own show. Adopted will follow the comedian’s efforts to adopt an African child, reports the New York Post, citing Variety. This can’t possibly end well. More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • reality TV • celebrity • foreign adoptions • comedian • Pauly Shore

(Newser) - Holy Monty Python. John Cleese has a whopping $20 million check to write in a California divorce settlement, and he's not happy about it. “What I find so unfair is that if we both died today, her children would get much more than mine," grumbled the 70-year-old star.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
divorce • Britain • comedian • divorce settlement • celebrity divorces • John Cleese • Fiona Shackleton

(Newser) - After months of promoting Jay Leno's move to 10pm, NBC may shake up its prime-time schedule again, moving its late local news to 10 and Leno to 10:30, the network's onetime programming head speculates. Garth Ancier, now chief of BBC America, shared his speculation with critics at the summer... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • television • NBC • CBS • programming • Jay Leno • late night talk show • late night host • Conan O'Brien • David Letterman • Tonight Show • comedian • television personality • Late Show • The Jay Leno Show

OPINION

 Leno Website 
 Previews 
 'Terrible 
 Jokes' 

Staffers are dour, jokes are just plain bad

Jul 23, 09 12:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - The days of thejaylenoshow.com being a funny site—back when it was owned by a stubborn realtor refusing “to budge in the face of increasingly desperate corporate pressure” from NBC—are over. Sadly, the URL now belongs to The Jay Leno Show, writes Seth Abramovitch for Movieline. Though... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • NBC • NBC Universal • comedy • celebrity • Jay Leno • primetime TV • comedian • The Jay Leno Show

(Newser) - If ex-Justice Department hand John Yoo thought he could fade into obscurity after writing infamous memos justifying the government’s use of torture and warrantless wiretapping, he was wrong. An Australian comedian crashed his class at Chapman University School of Law in California last week, dressed up like a detainee... More »

MORE ABOUT:
California • torture • prank • John Yoo • comedian • torture memo • Chaser%u2019s War on Everything • warantless wiretap

 Posthumous 
 Carlin 
 Memoir 
 Coming 

Simon and Schuster will publish comedian's Last Words

Jul 14, 09 3:57 PM CDT
(Newser) - We haven't heard the last from George Carlin. A posthumous memoir of the late comedian's life will be published by Simon and Schuster’s Free Press in November, reports Entertainment Weekly. Entitled Last Words, the book is Carlin’s take on his 50-year career. Carlin, who died last June at... More »

MORE ABOUT:
memoir • book • comedian • George Carlin • publishing industry

OPINION

 Franken Plays It So 
 Straight It's Funny 

But doggone it, people like him

Jul 7, 09 9:25 AM CDT
(Newser) - Al Franken the comedian is finally becoming Al Franken the senator, and his Senate colleagues were quick to demonstrate yesterday that, doggone it, they like him, writes Dana Milbank in the Washington Post. The only humor at a welcoming press conference was (apparently) unintentional, as Majority Leader Harry Reid intoned,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Saturday Night Live • Senate • comedy • Al Franken • comedian • senator • Dana Milbank

OPINION

Don't Expect Laughs From Sen. Franken

During campaign
he was wonky and
even a bit boring

Jul 1, 09 5:34 AM CDT
(Newser) - Liberals may be hoping for biting wit and conservatives for embarrassing shtick, but according to Bob Benenson of CQPolitics, Al Franken is likely to disappoint both when he finally arrives in the Senate. Throughout his campaign Franken displayed an impressive mastery of Minnesota issues and made clear his candidacy was... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Congress • Senate • Norm Coleman • Minnesota • Al Franken • comedian

 Stern Sidekick 
 Hijacks New HBO Show 

Comedian attacks host, other celebrities

Jun 16, 09 11:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - Comedian Artie Lange appeared on the premiere of HBO's Joe Buck Live last night, and it sounds as if the host wishes he hadn't. Buck told USA Today he couldn't wait for Lange to finish his obscene, homophobic routine. "I thought that spending time on a treadmill felt long,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • television • cable TV • Dallas Cowboys • HBO • Tony Romo • Howard Stern • Jessica Simpson • comedian • Artie Lange • Chris Farley • Joe Buck • Joe Buck Live

OPINION

 Ferrell's Career 
 Looks Lost Indeed 


Jun 8, 09 3:54 PM CDT
(Newser) - Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost is so far a box office bomb, and that’s no accident, Chris Nashawaty writes in Entertainment Weekly. It’s “just the latest proof that Ferrell’s shtick—the clueless, self-deprecating blowhard man-child—is growing stale.” Step Brothers, Semi Pro, The ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
entertainment • film • comedian • Will Ferrell

 Sykes, Wife Have Twins 


May 13, 09 9:45 PM CDT
(AP) - Wanda Sykes is the talk of Washington after her gig at the White House correspondents dinner, but it turns out she's also a mom of newborn twins. Sykes' wife, Alex, gave birth to daughter Olivia Lou and son Lucas Claude on April 27. "All are happy and healthy and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
twins • comedian • Wanda Sykes • actress • Jay-ZTV

 Scientists  
 Name Beetle 
 After Colbert 

Researchers honor comedian on his birthday

May 8, 09 10:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Scientists who bestowed names of Bush administration officials on a trio of bugs have named a new Venezuelan beetle after Stephen Colbert, the Washington Times reports. "Last year, Stephen shamelessly asked the science community to name something cooler than a spider to honor him," said one of the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • science • bug • late night talk show • Stephen Colbert • The Colbert Report • name • comedian • beetle

Just Not Funny:
Obama Is Comedy Poison 

Why Bill Maher gets boos when he tries to razz the prez

May 4, 09 12:39 PM CDT
(Newser) - Comedians have a big beef with President Obama: he's a humor-killer, writes the LA Times. It's not just that this president lacks a defining target for humor (funny accent, balance problem, wandering eye), but also that the American public may just not be in the mood to make fun of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
comedy • stereotypes • Jay Leno • Tonight Show • comedian • President Obama

1 - 20 of 58 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>


from our news partners