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This YouTube Star Earns $1M a Year

Ray William Johnson's one-man show has 1.5 billion views

(Newser) - Sure, it's full of keyboard cats and double rainbows, but these days, YouTube is also a serious moneymaking machine. YouTube star Ray William Johnson is showcasing the medium's potential: With more than a billion total views, he's making about $1 million a year through his clips, insiders... More »

'Joke' Rape Film Sparks UConn Uproar

Video scrubbed from UCTV following protests

(Newser) - What is it with New England universities? Just days after news broke that a sex assault accusation may have scuttled a Yale quarterback's chance at a Rhodes Scholarship comes word of a "joke" rape video aired on the University of Connecticut's student broadcast network. The "comedy... More »

Late Show Fires Staffer Amid Sexism Controversy

Eddie Brill: Women comics aren't 'authentic'

(Newser) - The Late Show's comedy booker has been fired following an uproar over his comments regarding women in comedy, the New York Observer reports. Last week, a New York Times profile quoted Eddie Brill as saying that "there are a lot less female comics who are authentic. I see... More »

SNL Comes Up Lame This Primary

This field should be a gift from the comedy gods: Kera Bolonik

(Newser) - There was a time when Saturday Night Live could have had great fun with Mitt Romney's proclamation that he "liked to fire people." Instead we got this week's bland cold open (see video) in which Romney tried to (ha ha) fire his breakfast. "It's... More »

Who Are Ricky's Targets Tonight?

British comedian promises same 'tone' as last year

(Newser) - Ricky Gervais, who will you skewer tonight? The third-time Golden Globes host won't say but does promise that "the tone is going to be the same" as last year, when he insulted everyone from Charlie Sheen to Angelina Jolie, the Huffington Pos t reports. "Let's get... More »

Arlen Specter Does Stand-Up

Yes, really

(Newser) - Arlen Specter has a new gig, and to hear him tell it, it’s a logical progression from his old one. “I’ve been in comedy now for 30 years,” he told the audience at the Helium Comedy Club in Philadelphia. “It’s sit-down comedy.” Yes,... More »

Stalled Career, Ageism Drove Ex-SNL Writer to Suicide

Wayne's World writer Joe Bodolai found dead in Hollywood hotel room

(Newser) - Joe Bodolai's long career in show business came to a sad end in a Hollywood hotel room. The 63-year-old comedy writer and TV producer was found dead the day after Christmas, having apparently committed suicide by drinking a mixture of antifreeze and Gatorade. Bodolai, who wrote for Saturday Night ... More »

TV Comedy Is 'Back'? Ha!

Modern comedies badly rehash old ideas: Times critic

(Newser) - If this is the comeback season for the sitcom, at least one critic wants to go wayyyy back: to Seinfeld, Mary Tyler Moore, and Leave It to Beaver. "Certainly no series introduced this fall is breaking new ground," writes Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times . He concludes... More »

Mike Tyson Plays Herman Cain in Parody Ad

As part of 'Live Funny or Die' a campaign series

(Newser) - Is Mike Tyson actually turning into a comedian? First there was his roast appearance and now this: He’s been cast as Herman Cain in Funny or Die’s new election season parody series “ Live Funny or Die. " The series launched last week with a video featuring most... More »

Jack and Jill 'Stupefyingly Unfunny'

Movie may be Sandler's worst ever, prompts call for his retirement

(Newser) - Adam Sandler’s latest comedy, in which he plays his own twin sister, is mind-numbingly bad, reviewers say—so poor, in fact, that it languished at a remarkable 0% on Rotten Tomatoes , which calls it “impossible to recommend on any level whatsoever," for most of the morning:
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... More »

Comedies Are Good for Your Heart

But war movies aren't

(Newser) - To give your heart a boost, turn on The Hangover—but make sure you avoid Halloween. Movies that make you chuckle are good for your vascular function, while stressful war and horror movies hurt your system, a study finds. Researchers showed bits of funny movies one day and the opening... More »

Seinfeld Puts His Comedy Online... Slowly

Comedian concerned with 'portion control'

(Newser) - Jerry Seinfeld wants to give his stand up to the world—eventually. He’s gathered up more than 1,000 clips of his comedy for the new JerrySeinfeld.com site he’s launching Friday, but he only intends to release three of them a day. “I don’t want... More »

It’s OK to Laugh at Osama

You don't have to respect the dead if the dead is a mass murderer

(Newser) - It is, in many quarters, still too soon to joke about the 9/11 attacks, but America hasn’t wasted a minute making jokes about Osama bin Laden’s well-earned demise, notes Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon . “You know Barack and Michelle are having some crazy ‘we killed bin... More »

Maher: The Onion Stole My ‘Afterbirther’ Joke

The only problem: they made the joke first

(Newser) - Now that President Obama has turned the birther movement into an even bigger punchline than it already was, it’s no wonder that a cackling Internet has been bandying about an Onion article headlined, “Afterbirthers Demand to See Obama’s Placenta.” Pretty funny, right? Well, Bill Maher wasn’... More »

Is Jon Stewart the New Edward R. Murrow?

Role in 9/11 health bill points to journalism's greats

(Newser) - By taking up a cause—the 9/11 health bill—and getting quick results, Jon Stewart is following in the footsteps of news greats and "advocacy journalists" Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, professor of television Robert Thompson tells the New York Times . Murrow helped shift public opinion on the... More »

With 9/11 Bill, Jon Stewart Steps Off the Sidelines

Christopher Beam: Now the question is, will he stay there?

(Newser) - Jon Stewart has always maintained he's a comedian, not a politician or an activist. But his stalwart advocacy of the 9/11 first responders bill—he may have single-handedly saved it—looks different. Stewart labeled the non-passage of the bill “an outrageous abdication of our responsibility” to the 9/11 responders.... More »

Five Years Later, 'Truthiness' Endures

Colbert's favorite word is hotter than ever

(Newser) - It was five years ago today, and Stephen Colbert needed a word that could personify the "blowhard" persona he was about to launch on the Colbert Report. He was looking for something "sublimely idiotic," something "silly" with which to mock American pundits, writes Ben Zimmer in... More »

Comedian Greg Giraldo Dead at Age 44

Prescription drug OD suspected

(Newser) - Comic Greg Giraldo died today of an apparent prescription drug overdose. Best known for his work on several Comedy Central roasts and NBC's Last Comic Standing, the 44-year-old died in a New Jersey hospital days after being hospitalized. "The tragic news of Greg's passing hits us very, very hard.... More »

Brazil Comedians: Ban on Mocking Pols a Joke

Broadcasters are set to protest

(Newser) - The Brazilian equivalents of Jon Stewart plan to gather in Rio de Janiero this weekend to protest a law that prevents them from making fun of politicians. The law—a relic from Brazil's days of authoritarian rule—outlaws ridiculing candidates for 3 months before an election, the Telegraph reports. Broadcasters... More »

Hollywood Is Wasting Paul Rudd

'The silly is slowly being leeched out of him'

(Newser) - Paul Rudd is Hollywood’s next big thing —but not in the way he should be, writes Elbert Ventura in a Slate piece arguing that Tinseltown is squandering the actor’s comedic talents. “Rudd's rise is well-deserved,” considering his body of work “is one of the... More »

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