We’ve been busy over here in the Rooftop Comedy offices. This year, we’re branching out into the summer blockbuster realm and we’re excited to present two full-length trailers for Swim for Loveand I Will Never Close My Eyes. As soon as we read the scripts for both of these films, we knew we had two mega-franchises on our hands. First, Swim For Love: it’s like The Notebook, only with less Ryan Gosling (200% more sharks though). Go ahead and lose yourself in this epic tale of Olympic pageantry, honor, love, and acoustic guitar:
Balancing the sweeping, inspiring romance of Swim For Love is I Will Never Close My Eyes. Building off the mega-success of films like Paranormal Activity and knowing that people are pretty much powerless against a cute baby, this got the green light right away. Don’t let the adorableness of the leading baby fool you, though. This is a twisted tale that will surely place the film in the pantheon of great possessed-child cinema:
Release dates are still being finalized. For now, let us know what you think and share around!
For new parents, the idea of personal time tends to go out the window once kids come into the picture. Meals become more like uphill battles than enjoyable family moments. Romance can also get lost in the shuffle pretty easily as our latest episode of Today in the Parkexplores. Watch it after the jump. Be sure to catch up on every episode of our original series that we’re producing for MSN.
Comedian Nick Griffin is somewhat of a machine. He’s really in his element when he’s on the road, headlining everywhere from Mason City, Illinois to San Francisco and back again. Along the way, he’s managed to wrack up an astounding 16 late night television appearances, bringing his salty, cynical, and hilarious material to the national stage. The idea of downtime is somewhat lost on Nick, so he fills his days writing TV pilots and working on his horror movie screenplay. On April 3, Nick will release his second album with Rooftop, Shot in the Face, building off the success of his previous title, Bring Out the Monkey. We recently chatted with Nick about his work ethic, love of horror films, and being called “less happy” than Marc Maron–by Marc Maron.
Nick Griffin: I did it in 2004. It was in Columbus, Ohio. I wasn’t even planning on recording, but I think another guy on the bill said he was recording and he said, “You know, if you want to, you can just record after me”. It ended up being a really great show and I really was happy with it and I didn’t have a CD at the time. I was one of those geniuses that didn’t think selling CDs after shows was cool, so I waited until CDs had pretty much gone out of fashion before I started. Anyway, the show went really well and I had all this new material I really wanted to get out, but I really hadn’t spoken to any record labels. So the reason I wanted to re-release was I recorded it myself and I sold it after shows. So people haven’t had access to it unless they were at one of my shows. So I thought it was a good idea because I was really happy with the way Rooftop did my first one and how they worked with me.
NG: I think there’s a lot of parallels going on. I think being a comic or an entertainer or whatever you want to call it, it’s always hard to keep relationships together, so there’s a lot of that in there. I think I did this CD probably two years after my divorce, so there’s a lot of that in there that was kind of the material that really helped me elevate my game. It’s sad that getting divorced had to happen, but the divorce material is what got me on my first Letterman spot. They just really liked how I framed it in my act and so there’s a lot of relationship material. I think it’s a little bit angrier than Bring Out the Monkey. I don’t know if I’m just more medicated now than I was, but it’s definitely a little angrier.
[Nick Griffin's most recent Letterman spot, from February 2012]
RT: Some 16 late night appearances later, that first Letterman spot did you a lot of good.
NG: Yeah, like I said, I did that first Letterman spot and it went really well. I actually got a little development deal with Letterman’s company right after I did my first Letterman spot and then I just started getting a lot more people interested. I was probably 17 or 18 years into the business before I got my first TV spot. I had a lot of stuff saved up and that’s still the most fun for me. I love clubs, but when you’re in the middle of Boise, Idaho on a Thursday, you’re wondering why you’re doing this. When you get to go on Conan or Letterman, it really makes it worthwhile.
RT: Any pre-show rituals before you go on stage?
NG: I always check my notebook and write out two or three of the newest jokes and make sure to remind myself to get through them on stage. You can get lazy on the road and not work on your act as much and I’m just trying to prevent myself from doing that even as I continue to go on after all these years. Just reminding myself to do the new material is one thing I do.
RT: You’re also somewhat of a horror movie enthusiast.
NG: I am. I unfortunately haven’t sold any [screenplays], but I’ve written four or five movies. I had an older brother, who’s only three years older than me and when we were kids, there was a late night show on Fridays that they called Friday Fright Night and they had a host and they would introduce these movies. We’d watch them all the time and it just got into my DNA. With all this time on the road, I’m just trying to figure out what the hell to do and I just thought, you know, as a goof, let’s try to write a horror movie and I did and it was just fun to do it. I haven’t sold it or anything, but I continue to write them and someday hopefully something will happen.
RT: Do you have similar writing practices for comedy and horror? Or are they completely different monsters?
NG: It’s kind of a completely different monster. I mean, I can’t start a screenplay until I have a beginning and an ending and that’s what I’m always looking for. It’s rare that I come up with just a little scene or something. I do come up with horror ideas, just walking around.
RT: Marc Maron once called you possibly the only comic that’s less happy than he is. That’s quite an honor?
NG: Yeah I’ve done WTF a couple times and I moved to New York when I was 22 or 23 and he was there. I just have a horrible walk-around face. My daily walk-around face does not look particularly happy and it’s often misconstrued as being depressed or whatever. I get as depressed as the next person, but I don’t think Marc Maron knows me well enough to make that statement, but we’ve spent some time together and chatted about getting divorced and struggling and all that. I did a live WTF in Brooklyn and that’s where that came from.
RT: Do you like doing podcasts?
NG: I’d like to do more. I haven’t done a ton of them. I spend so much time on the road. I get asked, but I don’t end up doing them just because I’m always on the road when they’re doing them, but I love doing them. I think they’re a blast and they’re cool and it’s a great way to get your material out there.
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Shot in the Face will be available on April 3. You can pre-order the album and get 15% OFF at the Rooftop Comedy Shop with the discount code: ShotInTheFace. Shot in the Face will also be on iTunes, Amazon, Pandora, Grooveshark, and wherever you can find good comedy.
Moshe Kasher stopped by Conan last night to chat with Mr. O’brien himself and do some stand-up as well. Moshe has a new memoir out and it’s getting a ton of acclaim. Kasher in the Rye details Moshe’s bouts with teenage drug addiction, crime, and his ultra-Orthodox Jewish father. Moshe, a frequent Chelsea Lately contributor and comedy festival regular, is a long-time friend of Rooftop. In 2009, Moshe released Everyone You Know is Going to Die with Rooftop Comedy Productions, and the album garnered him the “Comic of the Year” title from iTunes.
First up, Moshe got some couch time with Conan and Andy Richter to offer some lessons on ultra-fringe, ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Brooklyn. The key take-away? If you think you’ve reached the outer-realms of society, you haven’t gone far enough.
Moshe also performed some stand-up for the audience. He covered what it’s like to be a child of two deaf parents and a few pointers on getting the “deaf discount” at the movie theater.
Spring is most definitely upon us and with the warmer weather comes a chance to re-evaluate your social life a bit. The bountiful sunshine and ample daylight provide a great opportunity to put yourself out there in the dating pool. But that pool can be awkwardly cold. What to say? Where to go? What should I wear? With that in mind, enjoy this new video featuring the very funny Mo Welch. Learn from Mo’s mistakes with these pro-dating tips and you’ll be deleting that OK Cupid profile in no time.
Long-time Simpsons writer Dana Gouldstopped by the Conan stage last night for a terrific stand-up set. Dana is a master showman, completely at ease on stage with glimpses into a impassioned, wonderfully cynical persona lurking underneath. Dana, who you may also know from his days as a writer/star of The Ben Stiller Show and guest star on MadTV and Seinfeld, offers a fresh perspective on everything from plastic surgery to his “hero” Stephen Hawking to dating a Goth girl. Watch Dana’s full set after the jump and be sure to catch all of his clips on Rooftop. You can follow Dana @DanaJGould.
Did you know tomorrow is Alien Abduction Day? It truly is, but perhaps you forgot to mark your calendar. Don’t worry, there’s still time to get all the essentials together. Even if Walgreens is completely out of Alien Abduction Day cards, you can still pull something off. San Francisco-based comedian Kellen Erskineis here with some pro tips to get you in the Alien-Abduction-Day-know-how. Watch his animation after the jump and have a great holiday!
Spread the holiday cheer! Share this video with your friends with this link.
Even in today’s world, where the Battleship board game franchise is the hottest ticket to get optioned into a multi-million dollar blockbuster, one would think that Bingo would be off the table for big business. In that case, one would be wrong. Tune in to the latest Crashing the Market, featuring our esteemed host Mariah Castle, and you’ll learn why Bingo–ahem, full contact Bingo–could be the next big thing. That’s just the tip of the iceberg in this week’s episode, which you can find after the jump and on the MSN Money page. Mariah brings you up to speed on the new Steve Jobs plush toy, the business connections being made at AA meetings, and more.
Rooftop’s celebration of St. Patrick’s Day continues with this new video featuring Mark Normand and Matt Ruby. In the newest installment of their Think Tank comedy series, Mark and Matt break down the holiday of all things Irish, green, and Guinness-related. You just might learn something. For example, did you know that leaving a bar without saying goodbye to anyone is an “Irish Goodbye”? Watch their video after the jump and be sure to watch until the end when things get nice and awkward.
Stay tuned for more videos from Mark and Matt. You can follow both of them on Twitter (@MattRuby and @MarkNorm).
In the newest episode of Rooftop’s original series Crashing the Market, we take a look at an astronomical bar tab, the iced tea/beer hybrid you didn’t know you needed, and exotic robot dancers–obviously. Goings-on in the business world tend to veer toward the absurd, so sit back (pop a bottle of pizza-flavored beer) and enjoy as host Mariah Castle brings you up to speed on the headlines. Watch the full episode after the jump and stay tuned for more Crashing the Market. And remember, the next time you wake up and realize you never closed your bar tab the night before, just hope you didn’t spring for that $100K+ bottle of champagne.
