3 Things: Rory Scovel, Oh Hello, and Golan Ben-Oni

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can see the archive and sign up to get these emails here.

 Upcoming shows

EVERYWHERE:
Three comedians try to guess what a leading scientist does all day and then find out why their research is important and exciting on You're the Expert.  Link

On The Payoff, Antonia Cereijido and I try to learn about money from a team of financial experts.  Link

NYC:
Wednesday, June 28th at 8 p.m. at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. I'm telling a story at the Nights of Our Lives show. Link

Thursday, July 27th at 8 p.m. at The Wild Project. My variety show and Oprah-style audience giveaway, You Get A Spoon, is back with jokes from me, a reading by best-selling author AJ Jacobs, The Good Liars, and more surprise guests.  Link

SAN FRANCISCO:
Wednesday, July 19 at 8:30 p.m. at The Lost Church. Only 20 tickets left.  You Get A Spoon comes to one of the most beautiful venues in the Bay Area. Jokes and stories, a reading by Joe Wadlington, and music from Lily Stern. Plus a chance to win the world's greatest spoon!  Link

My full calendar with all upcoming shows is online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

Rory Scovel is one of the most creative comedians performing today. I've seen him live more than a dozen times and every show is different and exciting. Once, I saw him do a set using the piano, despite the fact that he doesn't know how to play it at all. Another time, he performed in character as a German man. Or watch his performance at The Apollo on Conan where he told jokes almost entirely from the audience. I haven't gotten a chance to watch his new Netflix special, but I'm very excited to see it. In the meantime, watch Rory and his friend Jon Dore perform two separate standup acts at the same time. Jon Dore & Rory Scovel
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

John Mulaney and Nick Kroll's Oh Hello on Broadway is the hardest I've ever laughed at a show. The writing is brilliant and the two of them are so funny individually, but the real joy is watching them crack each other up onstage. The whole stage show is out on Netflix now, but you can also watch the best parts, their unscripted interviews with celebrities, on YouTube. My favorites are Stephen Colbert, Alan Alda, and a random 12-year-old from the audience.


1 Interesting Thing:

The story behind the biggest cyberattack yet discovered is both terrifying and fascinating. There's a secret global threat, stolen government secrets, billions of dollars at stake, and one man who's trying to warn the world. Could it be the first action movie starring a Hasidic Jew? Maybe! The New York Times reports on Golan Ben-Oni's quest to protect the world's computers. A Cyberattack the World Isn't Ready For


Have a great day,
Chris

3 Things: Birdmen, Mike Drucker, and Chocolate Milk

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can see the archive and sign up to get these emails here.

 Upcoming shows

EVERYWHERE:
Three comedians try to guess what a leading scientist does all day and then find out why their research is important and exciting on You're the Expert.  Link

On The Payoff, Antonia Cereijido and I try to learn about money from a team of financial experts.  Link

NYC:
Tuesday, June 20th at 7:30 p.m. in Brighton Beach. As part of a series of pop-up walking tours, I'm going to be taking a group around Brighton Beach in search of my favorite funny signs in NYC. Free to attend and at the end, we'll all get dinner together at the beautifully named "Cafe at Your Mother-In-Law."  Link

Thursday, July 27th at 8 p.m. at The Wild Project. You Get A Spoon is back with a reading by best-selling author AJ Jacobs, a presentation by viral pranksters The Good Liars, and more surprise guests.  Link

SAN FRANCISCO:
Wednesday, July 19 at 8:30 p.m. at The Lost Church. Join me for a one-night only Bay Area edition of my variety show You Get A Spoon. Jokes from me, a reading by Joe Wadlington, and music from Lily Stern. Plus a chance to win the world's greatest spoon!  Link

My full calendar with all upcoming shows is online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

The New York Times Magazine had an amazing graphic issue a few weeks ago and I only just had the time to sit down and go through it all. I loved seeing how the Metro section stories were transformed into comics. The results were beautiful but also highlighted the visual moments and emotions that words can't always capture. If you haven't seen the issue, it's all online: New York Stories. My personal favorite story was the one about guys illegally smuggling finches into NYC so they can compete in underground competitive singing matches. It's wild. The Birdmen of Queens
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Mike Drucker is a very accomplished comedy writer. Whether you know it or not, you've almost certainly seen his jokes. He was the head writer for Bill Nye's new show, he wrote for Fallon for years, and he's great on Twitter. I love his most recent piece for McSweeney's: Hi, I'll Be Your Waiter Interrupting a Really Hard Conversation


1 Interesting Thing:

When I was teaching at an elementary school, I remember the day my students discovered that lettuce was a plant. "You're telling me salad comes out of the dirt? That's disgusting!" At the time, I was surprised. But it turns out my kids were not alone. According to a recent study, more than 16 million Americans think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. That's so funny and also so disturbing. The Washington Post has a great breakdown of why we don't know what our food is and how that makes a difference in what we eat. Wonkblog: The surprising number of Americans who think chocolate milk comes from brown cows.


Have a great day,
Chris

3 Things: John Mulaney, Mo Amer, and Caveh Zahedi

Hi friends,

It's Saturday! Every week, I send out an email with my upcoming shows, one thing I think is great, one thing that made me laugh, and one thing I found interesting. Feel free to spread the word and share these emails with friends. If you're checking this out for the first time, you can see the archive and sign up to get these emails here.

 Upcoming shows

EVERYWHERE:
Three comedians try to guess what a leading scientist does all day and then find out why their research is important and exciting on You're the Expert.  Link

On The Payoff, Antonia Cereijido and I try to learn about money from a team of financial experts.  Link

NYC:
Tuesday, June 20th  As part of a series of pop-up walking tours, I'm going to be taking a group around Brighton Beach in search of my favorite funny signs in NYC. Free to attend and at the end, we'll all get dinner together at the beautifully named "Cafe at Your Mother-In-Law."  Link

SAN FRANCISCO:
Wednesday, July 19 at 8:30 p.m. at The Lost Church. Tickets are on sale for the Bay Area edition of You Get A Spoon. Jokes from me, a reading by Joe Wadlington, and music from Lily Stern.  Link

My full calendar with all upcoming shows is online here.

 This week's list

1 Thing I Think Is Great:

John Mulaney is my favorite comedian to watch perform. If you're not already familiar, do yourself a favor and watch his specials New In Town and The Comeback Kid. They're classics. Mulaney has been making some of the most cutting and hilarious jokes about Trump since long before he ever thought about running for political office, but this week on Colbert, he came up with the perfect metaphor for politics today. Trump is a Horse Loose in a Hospital
 

1 Thing That Made Me Laugh:

Since we're on the topic of hilarious people and jokes about Trump, watch this standup set from Mo Amer. He's a Muslim-American refugee and one of the funniest human beings on the planet. On a flight to a gig recently, he was upgraded to first class and seated next to Eric Trump. He made the most of that opportunity, to say the least. Mo Amer


1 Interesting Thing:

I've been spending a lot of my time and energy over the past year pitching television shows. It's a strange and fascinating process. Independent filmmaker Caveh Zahedi succeeded in getting his own television show on the air and it's one of the weirdest and funniest things I've seen. It's a show about him trying to persuade "a Brooklyn Cable Network to give him money to make a meta-series TV show in which each episode will be about the making of the previous episode." I guarantee you that you've never seen anything like this before. (NSFW, but worth it) The Show About The Show h/t Bianca

Have a great day,
Chris