Emily H. and I have discovered that we have something in common. Besides curly hair. And our respective lady bits.

We’re obsessed with pie.

Sweet pie, savory pie, vegetarian pie, breakfast pies, dessert pies. Pies filled with scrambled eggs and pies brimming with plump cherries. Pies with one crust, pies with top crust, flaky crust, dense crust, crumbly crust.

I could go on, using every delicious adjective in the dictionary.

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November 20th, 2009
Categories: Overheard at the Rooftop Offices, Pie Diaries

“If you just do a google image search for ‘grandma’ it’s fucking amazing dude!” -Chris C.

November 18th, 2009
Categories: Overheard at the Rooftop Offices

By Comedian Sean Keane

San Francisco 10, Chicago 6

Matt Millen, the worst executive in NFL history, was the perfect announcer for this shit sandwich game. For a close contest, it was remarkably lacking in drama, or competence. Here’s a sequence from the end of the game: Clinging to a four-point lead with four minutes to go, the 49ers had to convert a 3^rd-and-3. QB Alex Smith was flushed from the pocket, and forced a wobbly shovel pass to Michael Robinson, who fell down. Luckily, no Chicago defender was nearby, so he was able to roll forward for the first down. Then Robinson went out of bounds, stopping the clock unnecessarily. The 49ers inched the ball forward to the Chicago 34, and then punted deep into the end zone, for a touchback and a gain of 14 yards of field position. The Bears’ subsequent drive featured five penalties and an interception in the end zone. After the game, Time Warner decided not to add the NFL Network to its cable packages, ever.

Alex Smith won his first game since September of 2007, when Hillary Clinton was the presidential front-runner. “The Brave One” had just knocked off “3:10 to Yuma” as box-office champ.  America’s top song was “Crank That (Soulja Boy),” Lehman Brothers was still a year away from bankruptcy, and one day earlier, Michael Crabtree racked up 244 yards and three touchdowns in just his third collegiate game. Smith is due for another victory in late December of 2011, which will be his last before the Mayan apocalypse brings about the end of the NFL and the rest of life as we know it.

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November 18th, 2009
Categories: Sports

Rooftop joyously celebrates the DVD release of our favorite bumbling-private-investigator show since, well, ever. We have a chub for Andy Barker, P.I. because we have a MAJOR chub for the show’s star, Andy Richter, who plays an accountant who is mistaken for a detective for hire and decides to just go with it.

Richter himself often just goes with it; maybe a product of his training as an improviser. He’s an actor, a writer, a Jeopardy champion, (cue Trebek!) and, perhaps most recognizably, the yin to Conan O’Brien’s Tonight Show yang (a reprisal, of course, of that same O’Brien/Richter dynamic that audiences first went coconuts for when Richter played sidekick on Late Night with Conan O’Brien).

We were lucky enough to snag an interview with Richter during some Tonight Show downtime, and got him to dish on the show, the biz, and the Trebek. Plus, he used the word “fuddy-duddy” with no irony whatsoever, and gave us a recipe for the Rooftop Comedy Holiday Fatluck, which further cemented him in his position of Rooftop-decreed awesomeness. Read more »

November 18th, 2009
Categories: Interview

Can you hear that?

That’s the sound of 22 hearts, straining against arterial plaque and fatty tissue to beat and squeeze and pump sugar-polluted blood through 22 bloated bodies.

The first annual Rooftop Comedy Fatluck is upon us.

Inspired by the ensuing Thanksgiving gorge-fest and by our hefty heroes at ThisIsWhyYou’reFat.com, our “fatluck” should knock the entirety of the Rooftop staff on our bulbous asses by mid-afternoon on Tuesday.

And the organizers are prepared for that, since we all had to sign a waiver:

So far, the menu includes Chris G’s Bacon-Wrapped Chili Cheese Hot Dog Frito Boat, Annie’s Apple Fritter Pork Buns of Not Steel, SFA’s Buffalo chicken macaroni and cheese with blue cheese crumbles, ranch dip in a fried bread bowl side, and Alex’s Tots Au Gratin.

We’d, of course, love your menu suggestions. Our favorite reader recipe will be made by one of the Rooftop staff, for us all to try. And JUDGE! The winning recipe gets a super-sweet Rooftop prize pack, including a T-shirt. If you can fit your fat turkey gut into it, post tryptophan-atisicm.

November 17th, 2009
Categories: Overheard at the Rooftop Offices

Musician/Comedian/Tony nominee/whiskey drinker Stephen Lynch takes a break from his international “3 Balloons” tour (in support of his album of the same name) to answer our probing-yet-well-lubricated questions. When it was all over, we held each other and wept.

[Want to see Stephen live? Who can blame you? Click here for upcoming tour dates in the U.S. and the U.K.]

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November 16th, 2009
Categories: Ruminations, theorizations and stuff

Some of the finest and funniest in the biz share their memories of the one and only:

Carlin’s posthumously-released memoir, Last Words, is out this week. Click here to purchase.

Want to win a copy of Last Words? Enter to win the Ultimate George Carlin Prize Pack Sweepstakes. You do NOT have to say it five times fast as part of the entry process.

November 11th, 2009
Categories: Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy

By Comedian Sean Keane

It was an unusually high-quality week for NFL football in Week 9. The Redskins were the most depressing this week, though the Raiders, Bills, Rams, and Browns had a bye, making them look even worse. Now that these teams are back, we’re again subjected to Brady Quinn versus Derek Anderson, the lowest-quality quarterback controversy since Joey Harrington battled with Jeff Garcia, and Coach Tom Cable’s inevitable journey toward anger management counseling, alcohol rehab, and a one-on-one meeting with Dr. Drew. The Colts and Saints stayed undefeated, the Ravens are looking like the best team to miss the playoffs, and Thursday Night Football could not have a less inspiring game to kick off its season. To the games!
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November 10th, 2009
Categories: Sports

Listen to W. Kamau Bell and Kevin Avery’s triumphant return to the world of podcast as they review “Michael Jackson: This Is It”,  “Paranormal Activity”, and list the 5 best rapper’s of all time. Spoiler Alert: Bubba Sparks  is #5.

Do yourself a favor, and subscribe to Siskel and Negro on iTunes here!.

November 10th, 2009
Categories: Reviews

You know his dirtiest words, but what about his last?

Legendary comedian George Carlin’s (posthumous) memoir, Last Words comes out this week, and Rooftop has partnered with publisher Simon & Schuster to bring you some exclusive, in-depth content. Today? A juicy excerpt from the raw and wrenching manuscript. All week? Audio and video clips featuring Carlin’s closest friends and family, reading from the book and extolling the foul-mouthed virtues of the First Amendment’s best friend.

From the publisher:

As one of America’s preeminent comedic voices, George Carlin saw it all throughout his extraordinary fifty-year career and made fun of most of it. Last Words is the story of the man behind some of the most seminal comedy of the last half century, blending his signature acer-bic humor with never-before-told stories from his own life.

In 1993 George Carlin asked his friend and bestselling author Tony Hendra to help him write his autobiography. For almost fifteen years, in scores of conversations, many of them recorded, the two discussed Carlin’s life, times, and evolution as a major artist. When Carlin died at age seventy-one in June 2008 with the book still unpublished, Hendra set out to assemble it as his friend would have wanted. Last Words is the result, the rollicking, wrenching story of Carlin’s life from birth — literally — to his final years, as well as a parting gift of laughter to the world of comedy he helped create.

In celebration of the man who dared to utter those seven unutterables (and, perhaps more significantly, dared to so brashly assert his right to free speech that the Supreme Court was compelled to step in and quash all the fun), we urge you to spend the day wielding the word “motherfucker” like a hand-crafted sword of justice, striking down any enemies or censors who dare to cross your path.

George and Patrick Carlin (Courtesy of Kelly Carlin-McCall)

Need a little motivation? Download an excerpt from the book: Excerpt – Last Words

Not enough for you, greedy goblin? Click here and enter to win a super primo prize pack that includes Print edition and audio edition of Last Words; Classic Gold, the deluxe 2-CD set including Carlin’s first 3 albums (Am & Fm, Class Clown, and Occupation: Foole); and a collection of Carlin’s top selling DVDs.

November 9th, 2009
Categories: Cool stuff from Rooftop Comedy