Today is Chris Casey’s last day at Rooftop Comedy. Chris has been an indispensable member of the Rooftop family, a great friend to get happy hour drinks with, a voracious Warriors fan, a connoisseur of internet videos, and a beacon of hope in an unforgiving world.

We could think of no better way to send him off than to have his favorite basketball player, former Golden State Warrior (and current New York Knick) Ronny Turiaf, share some of his feelings on this momentous day.

Take it away, Ronny.

Hello Christopher. It is me, Ronny Turiaf. Your favorite basketball player. I understand that you are leaving Rooftop Comedy to pursue your education. I know the feeling because I also left my home of France to study at Gonzaga University. I know the value of an education and the value of basketball. I also know the value of a large French man with corn rows. (4 million dollars a year with a 4.3M player option for 2011-12.)

Sincerely,
Ronny Turiaf

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Ronny!

Posted: August 24th, 2010 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 1

Totally mondo news, dudes and dudettes. Jessi Campbell’s new album “Winner Winner” comes out Tuesday, September 7th, and like, you should totally get it. Zip open your fanny pack, bust out your Crystal Pepsi Platinum credit card, and be the envy of all your way cool friends. Watch Jessi’s homemade video tape below!

Pre-order “Winner Winner” at the Rooftop Comedy Shop.*

*Only Available on cassette tape. **

**Psyche!

Posted: August 24th, 2010 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 2

Mike Sacks is perhaps best known to hardcore comedy fans as the author of “And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations with Top Humor Writers About Their Craft.” If you haven’t read it, you’re sorely missing out. It’s the best collection of comedian interviews since Franklyn Ajaye’s “Comic Insights.” Check it out here.

In his latest book, Mike collaborates with writers from the Daily Show, Conan O’Brien, and The Onion to bring us “SEX: Our Bodies, Our Junk”, a radical and invaluable resource for improving your sexual communication—whether you have been in a committed relationship for years, or have just moments ago removed the shrink wrap from your new Japanese body pillow.

Here are just a few sensual revelations you’ll find within “Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk”:

- The precise location of the female G-spot (latitude and longitude)
- “Going on tour with Midnight Oil” and more outmoded masturbation slang
- Forced perspective and other techniques for visually enhancing the size of your member
- The Top Five pastry-related euphemisms for female genitalia
- How to score big at your next swingers’ party, with our crowd-pleasing ambrosia-salad recipe
- Listings of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” dry-cleaning services, for freshening up your vinyl fetishwear or adult-sized Tigger costume
- Your first threesome, and how the ancient Mayans predicted it wouldn’t go over so hot

Exhaustively researched and fully illustrated, Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk” is a must-read for you, your sexual partner(s), and anyone who wishes there was more to sex than thrashing around for a few seconds and begging for forgiveness. It is available for purchase Tuesday, August 24th, 2010.

Purchase “Sex: Our Bodies, Our Junk” on Amazon.

Posted: August 23rd, 2010 under News'n'stuff.
Comments: 16

This summer was kind of lame when you think about the movies that were released. Iron Man 2 was okay, kind of disappointing. Twilight:Eclipse made me want to go back in time and abort myself (but if I did go back in time to do that, just deciding on the idea would render me non-existent, right? Time travel conundrum!)

What else came out? I don’t really remember. And that makes me sad. Not counting August movies (because August is sort of when the summer movie season is over) May, June, and July didn’t deliver the awesome punch in the balls that it should have (by the way, August had three of the best/most fun films to see: The Other Guys, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and The Expendables.)

But there was a blip of awesomeness, and that was Inception.

Or as I like to call it: Christopher Nolan Fucks My Head. And I Loved It!

Inception is a miracle, and it is not hyperbole to say that. It was a big-budget action film with terrific set pieces. Zero gravity fights, trains going through cities, skiing and shooting, and Marion Cotillard’s sweet, supple, um, acting. It was summer movies 101: blow shit up, keep the action quick, make money.

But what makes it a miracle is the fact that it made people think. It was smart, brainy, and incredibly confusing. It proved that movie audiences aren’t entirely dumb people that set America back more and more each ticket they buy. (Sadly, Eclipse made more money than it. Oh well, you cannot underestimate the power of super horny young girls. Oh man, I feel gross just thinking that.)

But besides all of that, it was just nice to see a smart, well made film get the recognition it deserves. Nolan is a master director, keeping tabs on everything, from design, to camera movements, to the intricate acting to the tight pacing. Leonardo DiCaprio might be the best actor of our generation. He was smart to get away from the romantic comedies and set his sights on bigger and better pictures.

And of course, Joseph Gordon Levitt is becoming one of the best actors around. First 500 Days of Summer and now this. Who knew that little shit from Third Rock from the Sun would turn into my favorite actor?

But there is a part of me that hates Inception. And that part of me hates it only because it is confused. What part of the movie was a dream? Was it from the first act of inception on the plane? Was it the entire movie? The internet is loaded with theories and ideas (and porn!) to support either side.

For example, does Cobb’s (DiCaprio) totem work for him since it was his wife’s before? She used the top to prove whether or not she was in a dream. Cobb descirbes the totem as something that only the maker of it should know, something that is unique for them. If someone else knows what it does, it can be manipulated and it would not work.

So, when Cobb takes it as his own, does it still retain the correct properties that he described? Wouldn’t it not work for him, therefore, proving the entire movie is a dream?

Or am I full of shit?

That’s what I love most about the film: every explaination can work both ways.

Another example: Cobb doesn’t have his wedding ring on in the scenes where he is suppose to be awake (or we perceive him as awake.) But when they dream, it is on. In the final shot of the film, he isn’t wearing it.

Yet, the final shot of the film is too perfect to be reality. The kids look the same, act the same, and are wearing the same clothes as when Cobb talks about the last time he saw his kids. It has to be a dream. But he’s not wearing his ring.

So it has to be real.

Or, it could be that, since he let his wife go, he no longer needs to have the ring on. So it is a dream.

WHAT THE FUCK IS IT I DON’T KNOW! LAY OFF ME!

I’m sorry. My brain hurt for a second.

Inception will be talked about for decades to come. It should be studied in film classes so up-and-coming filmmakers can see how you can make a smart action film and not have to pander to mindless explosion nuts or virginal girls. Thank you, Mr. Nolan, for giving me hope in American film making.

And also Cotillard’s wonderful, inviting, pants-hardening acting. I’m kidding. I mean breasts.

Posted: August 20th, 2010 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 4

2009 National College Comedy Competition MVP Andy Erikson sparks up another big hit in her new video series “How Do You Do? With Andy Erikson.” In this episode, Andy and fellow comedian Trevor Anderson shed light on a difficult task: scoring some ganj. Check it out.

Posted: August 18th, 2010 under Video.
Comments: 3

As you can tell by the title, this week’s episode of ROFL pretty much covers it all.

You can download or subscribe to ROFL for absolutely free of charge on iTunes.

Posted: August 17th, 2010 under Podcasts, ROFL.
Comments: 4

Happy Monday, devoted blog readers and spam bots!

Three Questions.

1. Did you know that our favorite Jackie Kashian joke has been animated? Check it out!

2. Did you know that our favorite Jackie Kashian joke has a dance remix? Check it out!

3. Did you know that Jackie Kashian is performing at the SF Punchline August 25-28th? Check out more info on www.jackiekashian.com

This message was paid for by the Rooftop Comedy Jackie Kashian Fan Club.

Posted: August 16th, 2010 under Video.
Comments: 17

Alex Koll received a really great shout out in this week’s SF Weekly. Read the glowing review below and make sure to check out Alex’s live album recording at the San Francisco Punchline next Tuesday, August 17th at 8pm.

By Paul M. Davis, SF Weekly

If there was a lifetime achievement award for exemplary Internet bullshittery, Alex Koll would be in the running. Since there isn’t, Koll will have to be content with his two-time wins at the San Francisco Regional Air Guitar Championship, which he won as his alter ego, Awesome. He retired the moniker after winning in 2009, though judging from a cryptic online video in which Awesome was reborn from the smoke of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, the phantom shredder may rise again. Being crowned the Eddie Van Halen of air guitar isn’t Koll’s only unique skill: He also creates absurdist videos for the Revision3 network’s ROFL video podcast. But it’s Koll’s standup which is most deserving of Internet acronyms denoting laughter.

Read the rest of the article

Buy tickets to the show

Posted: August 11th, 2010 under Press Releases, Reviews, rooftop comedy productions, Shows.
Comments: 14

by John Delery, Punchline Magazine

Not that Robert Buscemi deceives the IRS when he writes “comedian” on the occupation line of his tax return; it’s just that his overriding job is engineer of his nonstop train of thought.

On Palpable, his new release from Rooftop Comedy Productions, the paradoxical Buscemi takes the audience at the Lincoln Lodge in Chicago and listeners everywhere else on an often impressive express ride through his equally corny and ingenious, grandiose and ingenuous, clownish and refined comic mind.

“If anybody here hasn’t seen me before,” he announces early in his set, “just hang in there. I liken seeing me for the first time to…um… Remember the first time you ate sushi? Remember how strange and oddly sexual that was? Or the first time you wore a thong? You develop a craving is what I’m saying.”

Read the rest of the review and listen to a free track

Purchase Palpable on Amazon

Posted: August 10th, 2010 under Punchline Magazine, Reviews.
Comments: 13

What do you get when you combine one of the most important comedians working today and one of the best electric guitar players of all time? You get “The Field Negro Guide to Arts and Culture Podcast,” the outspoken brainchild of comedian W. Kamau Bell and legendary Living Colour Guitarist Vernon Reid. Less a traditional podcast and more like a conversation that you overhear in a coffee shop and can’t pull away from, Kamau and Vernon cover everything from Swedish vampire movies to Gary Coleman. It’s two black men who have been accused of being outside of the (black) box so long that they have built homes there. In the most current episode (#2), Vernon and Kamau share their thoughts on Inception and some rare previously unreleased songs and jokes.

Get on board. It’s gonna be interesting.

Download the Field Negro Guide to Arts and Culture on iTunes

Posted: August 6th, 2010 under Movie Reviews, Podcasts.
Comments: 21