Rooftop recently helped one of our fave podcasts, Pop My Culture, partner up with the awesome online magazine Chinashop. PMC was recently named #2 Comedy Podcast by Rolling Stone – you can catch up on it here.
Check out the funny new episode of “Culture Pops” made exclusively for Chinashop by Cole and Vanessa at the Roxy in LA.
Posted: June 20th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 16
San Francisco based comedian (and Rooftop Comedy’s “Joke Librarian”) Emily Heller and San Francisco’s funniest bike mechanic Marcello Fama host a weekly radio show called “Slumming It,” and it’s hilarious. The show features “Comedy, Music, Games, Freaks, and More” and can be heard live on FCCFreeRadio every Monday night from 8pm-10pmPST or via download.
This week’s episode features GREAT interviews with Karina Denike (formerly of the band “The Dance Hall Crashers”) and local San Francisco comedian Chris Thayer. Emily also discusses her recent trip to Israel and there’s a great “joke off” about a serial pantser near the end. You’re just going to have to listen.
Posted: May 18th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 28
By Carrie Andersen, Punchline Magazine
On his debut album, Wizard Hello, comedian Alex Koll immediately pulls the audience into his mystical world, presenting himself as a wizard (of course) and describing the ins-and-outs of “wizard comedy,” which apparently involves telling jokes to magical crystals. From there, Koll takes us on a tour of the most surreal nooks of his imagination, spinning yarns about what Prince’s ostensibly dream-driven “1999” should have described had he actually been dreaming as he wrote it (a fight with giant lobsters and chocolate shark hands, for starters), or what Sasquatch “heavy on the sass” might sound like (“Yeti or not, here I coooome!”).
Read the rest of the review at Punchline Magazine
Posted: May 12th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 38
First, let me start by saying I’m not going to make any “beaver = vagina” jokes. It isn’t that they are immature or not funny. It is because they have all already been used and now they are cliched and that sucks. Whatever. Thanks a lot, world.
“The Beaver” is an interesting film. For one, it is Jodie Foster’s first film she has directed in 16 years. Two, it stars Mel Gibson, who has been chastised and pretty much publicly shunned since audio recordings of his fights with his former girlfriend leaked to the public (if you haven’t somehow heard these, let me sum it up for you: Gibson has a bad temper and says mean things in loud voices.) And the screenplay is a blacklisted screenplay from a few years ago written by first-time film writer, Kyle Killen.
Also, it is just a weird story. Gibson plays Walter Black, a troubled and depressed husband who has nothing going for him. His family hates him, he is terrible at his job, and he just wants to die. He has no idea how he got to this place, and does not care. So, he is forced to move out of his home.
While throwing some of his items away, he comes across a beaver hand puppet in a dumpster. He picks it up, goes to a hotel, gets super drunk, wakes up the next morning with the beaver on his hand and it is talking to him in an amazingly funny cockney British accent. The Beaver (I will capitalize that now because it is a physical character. So there you go, grammer nazis. Fucked up your complaints about the lacks of beaver capitalization from before!) is telling Walter what to do, how to get better. And for some reason, Walter listens.
From here, Walter gets back in his family’s life in a big way (and rather quickly, too. It is kind of odd how this happens in about a 12 hour span.) His wife, played by Foster, is happy and his younger son loves The Beaver (damn you world! That would have been a good joke, there.) But his older son, Porter (Anton Yelchin) is not happy. He already hated his father and this makes him hate him more.
Porter has his own issues, though. He doesn’t want to be like his father, going as far as writing down each similarity and trying to avoid them. He is the smart kid at school, writing papers for people and getting money for it. One day, he is approached by the Valedictorian, Norah (Jennifer Lawrence), who needs him to write her Valedictorian speech (this is kind of a stretch here, but I guess if I can accept a man talking through a puppet, then I’ll accept this.) Porter likes the girl and wants to do a good job for her, but being like his father, messes it up along the way.
“The Beaver” is definitely a film you should see. It is funny and interesting, but ultimately, way more dramatic than I thought it would be. I remember reading about the screenplay years ago, reading that it was a dark comedy. This is more like a drama with some funny parts sprinkled in. Foster took the film a different direction for some reason. I like the results, but rarely does a film come along that I wish had two versions. This one, and the dark comedy version. If she had gone down the comedy path, I think this film would stick out amongst the summer pile of films way more than it does. As it is, the film isn’t being seen, and that is still sad.
I’m trying to think of a good joke it end this on, but all I keep coming up with are lame beaver jokes. I’m really upset by this.
Posted: May 11th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 44
Check out the hilarious roast videos in from our Ultimate 8 teams in the National College Comedy Competition. I think it’s fair to say everyone got their butts roasted. Vote now for your favorite teams through Monday, May 2nd at 12pm PST. The vote determines our Funniest 4 Teams who will get a shot at the NCCC Title and a chance to perform at TBS’ Just for Laughs Chicago.
Posted: April 28th, 2011 under National College Comedy Competition, NCCC tournament updates, Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 12
San Francisco! Come celebrate the release of Collin Moulton’s new album “Chicken Stupid” at the San Francisco Punchline this Wednesday April 27th at 8pm. The first 25 people in attendance will receive a free copy of “Chicken Stupid” and a belly full of laughs. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE. Use the promo code “Rooftop” and receive 2 for 1 admission to the show.
Posted: April 26th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 15
It took my probably 12 hours to fully decide what I thought about this movie. I left the theater thinking I loved it, but I wasn’t sure.
12 hours later, I knew I did.
Super is fucked up fun, with an emphasis on the fucked up (as visually displayed here by putting it in bold: fucked up.)
Rainn Wilson is Frank, a cook at a crappy restaurant who appears to never be happy. His wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) is a recovering addict who gets involved with drugs again. This leads to her leaving, or getting persuaded to leave, really, but Jacques, played with a lot of fun and evilness by Kevin Bacon (who, by the way, after the last movie I made, I am now five degrees away from, one less than the legal limit.)
Through an incredibly odd dream, which I won’t describe here so I don’t ruin the surprise, Frank decides to become a superhero and fight crime. He gets ideas for his hero from comics that he buys at a local shop where Libby (Ellen Page) works. She is a spunky girl, easily excited and in love with super heroes.
Dubbed “The Crimson Bolt,” Frank goes on a rage with his trust pipe wrench, defeating criminal after criminal. He yells, “Shut up, Crime!” as he hits people in the face, blood spilling everywhere. And of course, cops hate him because cops hate anything that fights crime. Seriously, I do not understand this superhero comic book/movie cliche. You would think cops would love someone making their jobs easier.
“Shit! There’s a robbery downtown! We gotta go!”
“Dave, put the exclamation points away. The superhero has this.”
“Sweet. I’m going to go poop.”
See? Superheros are helping you do nothing and still get paid. Awesome, yes?
The film is all dark humor. I mean, I cannot emphasize this enough how fucked up it is (maybe I can bold and italicize it? Fucked up?) Soon after her starts, Libby discovers his secret identity and joins forces as Boltie. Her outfit is more meant to produce boners than fear.
Director James Gunn seems to be comfortable in this world and it shows. The film moves quick and stays funny the entire time. Towards the end, however, is when things turn from dark comedy to just plan demented. It was these last 15 minutes that made me doubt my love for the film. It ends on such a weird, low note that it almost made me forget the fun I was having for the entre first part of the film.
However, it ended the best way it could. It couldn’t be a happy movie by any means. Too many bad things happen for this to be wrapped up in a neat little Hollywood-like package and shoved down our throats, unlike Kick-Ass, a film this will definitely be compared to. But unlike Kick-Ass, this film never makes “The Crimson Bolt” a real superhero. He’s a real guy who bleeds, gets shot, cries, and gives up, just like real people do.
And it’s fucked up. (I got it! Bold, italics, and capitalized! It is FUCKED UP.)
Posted: April 11th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 18
There were sixteen games on Thursday, and only sixteen different commercials that ran in constant rotation on the various networks. If you’ve found yourself inexplicably singing, “Napa Know-How! Napa Know-How!” this is the reason why. After a while, you don’t even think of the products, and instead ask yourself things like:
Speaking of overplaying, the Southeast region saw all 16 of its teams compete on Thursday. Out of those sixteen, only four will survive the weekend and advance to New Orleans. They also win a continental breakfast with Harry Connick, Junior, and a rowboat tour of the levees led by a shotgun-wielding Sean Penn. So there’s quite a bit at stake here.
#1 Pittsburgh 74, UNC-Asheville 51
A 16-seed has never beaten a 1-seed, and it didn’t happen here, either. Pitt displayed domiannce on rebounding, defense, and in the incredible whiteness of their band:
#2 Florida 79, #15 UC Santa Barbara 51
This was no ordinary 2-15 battle; it was a showdown between two of the most acclaimed party schools in the nation. And on St. Patrick’s Day, no less! Florida played a excellent game from the start, while the Gauchos played like they’d done a bunch of Irish Car Bombs in the locker room. Having visited Isla Vista, I wouldn’t be that surprised if they had. Florida had ten more rebounds, protected the ball better, and even made more free throws. Meanwhile, their 5-for-19 performance on threes showed that the Gauchos feel victim to something that’s befallen many UCSB students over the years: too many ill-advised shots.
Jimmer Fredette scored 32 points, the the BYU Cougars held of a feisty Wofford team by eight. Wofford remained defiant in the loss. Wofford guard Jamar Diggs said, “We’re going to go back home, watch the game tape, have a couple beers, and then have sex with our girlfriends. Or anyone we want. We’ll probably drink a bunch of coffee afterwards, too. So long, suckers.”
#4 Wisconsin 72, #13 Belmont 58
Wisconsin scored 33 points in their previous game, and looked to be on their way to a similar outcome by scoring eight points in the first ten minutes. Thankfully, they started making a few shots afterward, but by then, America had turned to one of the other three games that featured actual offense. Perhaps this is an intentional strategy by Wisconsin, who don’t want to play exciting basketball lest they induce heart attacks in their cheese-eating, stroh’s-swilling fans.
This game also introduced the world to reserve forward Mike Bruesewitz, who looks like what would happen if Chase Budinger and Robin Lopez had a child, and that child was later turned into a vampire:
#5 Kansas State 73, #12 Utah State 68
While the high seed normally wears white in these battles, Kansas State took the court in grey-and-purple jerseys that looked like camouflage on TV. Perhaps their strategy was to literally hide behind screens and surprise ball handlers who thought they had a clear path to the basket. Or they thought the game was going to be played in a tropical rain forest. Utah State kept it close, but ultimately failed to be all they could be, as did my bracket, in which I incorrectly picked Utah State to pull an upset for the second consecutive year. You’re dead to me, Aggies!
#11 Gonzaga 86, #6 St. John’s 71
Adam Morrison was so proud of his old team pulling the upset, he burst into tears. He also cried because nine months ago, he was playing for the world champion Lakers, and now he’s working as a janitor at an arena in Denver.
It felt a little bit like the movie 300: the Spartans were hopeless underdogs, yet battled back to a close defeat, and Kalin Lucas tried to kick UCLA’s Malcolm Lee into a pit of death early in the second half. While Coach Tom Izzo and Michigan State had earned a first-round “W” for the last five years, their comeback fell short this year, and it was an “L” to the Izzo.
#8 Butler 60, #9 Old Dominion 58
Somehow, Old Dominion was favored in this game, even though Butler scrapped their way to the national title game last year. This one was tied up until the final second, when Matt Howard tipped in a rebound to win at the buzzer. Howard, who abandoned last year’s enormous t-shirt, looks like an Andy Samberg character and wears a knee brace, along with a crazy Iverson-style sleeve over most of his right arm. He’s a wristband and a small beer gut away from being a YMCA regular. Butler plays Pitt next round, and Pitt can’t be happy about that, if only for the inevitable, “The Butler Did It” headlines that would follow an upset loss.
Posted: March 19th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff, Sports.
Comments: 18
By Sean Keane
The NCAA Tournament officially kicked off Tuesday. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s like the NBA, but there’s 400% more white players and the referees occasionally call traveling. It’s known as The Big Dance, March Madness, and The Cause Of A 65% Drop In Workplace Productivity Every Spring. It’s a magical time of year where America is united in obsessing over their impossibly-wrong brackets, and
re-learning how to spell “Krzyzewski,” because typing “Coach K can suck my dick” on Twitter isn’t nearly as classy as typing the whole thing out.
Tuesday and Wednesday featured the four games, formerly known as “play-in” games. The tournament field is made up of a mixture of 31 automatic bids, awarded to conference champions, no matter how small and shitty, and 37 “at-large” bids, which go to the best teams, regardless of where they play. It’s
not unlike the US Congress; it’s a bicameral tournament. The automatic qualifiers are like Senators: even though Alabama State was a pretty crappy 17-17 on the year, they won the Southwestern Athletic Conference, so they get to play in the tournament to represent their conference. Alabama is a pretty crappy state, but they still get two Senators, after all. The at-large bids are like Congressmen, except that their representation is not determined by population, but by TV appearances, wealthiness of the school’s boosters, and the coach’s shoe deals. However, like Congressmen, many of these teams are getting illegal bribes.
There used to be only 30 conferences and 34 at-large bids, preserving the elegance of the 64-team (2 to the sixth power) bracket. But when the Mountain West Conference emerged, the selection committee decided to keep 34 at-large bids, and force two of the crappiest teams to play off for a chance to get demolished by a #1 seed. This game invariably featured at least one team from a historically-black college, making the play-in game the equivalent of a Jim Crow-era poll tax. This year, a new TV deal with TNT and TBS means that there are 68 teams in the field, and four play-in games. Perhaps to answer these allegations of racism, TBS has agreed to show no less than 400 commercials for Tyler Perry’s “Meet The Browns” over the course of the weekend.
Tuesday, #16 seed UNC-Asheville defeated Arkansas-Little Rock in an overtime thriller. Any time you’ve got colleges with the [State] – [City within that state] naming convention, you know you’re not dealing with title contenders. They might as well officially add, “No, not that one” to the middle.
“I go to Arkansas.”
“Oh, in Fayetteville.”
“No, not that one. Arkansas-Little Rock.”
“I’m so sorry.”
UNC-Asheville’s presence in March Madness seems designed solely to confuse viewer or gamblers who don’t realize they’re not regular North Carolina (or should I say, UNC-Chapel Hill?) In the other game, #12 seed Clemson defeated #12 Alabama-Birmingham (no, not that one), and as a reward, had to fly to Florida and play their next game 36 hours later. Because these teams weren’t getting screwed enough otherwise.
Wednesday saw another epic clash of #16 seeds, with Texas – no, not that one – San Antonio prevailing over Alabama State. As their reward, they play the tournament’s overall top seed, Ohio State. These #16 seed battles are kind of like making cows compete in a mooing contest for the right to go into the slaughterhouse first. In the other game, Virginia Commonwealth defeated USC, who make just one basket in the game’s final nine minutes. Combined with Arkansas-Little Rock’s defeat, that’s two losses for Trojans in the opening round. Coaches blamed lack of preparation, their folly in pissing off the goddess Athena, and the wooden horse full of groupies that was wheeled into the arena an hour before tip-off. Since most brackets didn’t make you pick a winner of the play-in games, no one in America really cared.
Thursday morning, the Madness starts for real. Prepare for your long lunches and mysterious sudden illnesses and remember, there’s still one Hansbrough brother left to hate.
For more sports related laughs, read Sportscentr, Sean’s tumblr about all things sports. Except for tumbling.
Posted: March 17th, 2011 under News'n'stuff, Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 4
Online voting has begun for the National College Competition’s Select 16 Elimination Round!
Each match–up voting lasts 2 days: starting at 10am on day one and ending at 6pm local time on day two.
Based on majority votes, the Select 16 winning Comedy Teams advance to the Ultimate 8 Selection Round.
We kick off the Select 16 with a couple of classic west coast rivalries.
The Evergreen State Geoducks duke it out against The Portland State Vikings in a battle for the Pacific Northwest.
The San Francisco State Golden Gators face off against the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs.
Here’s this year’s voting calendar:
Thursday March 10th – Friday March 11th
PSU vs. Evergreen
UCSC vs. SFSU
Thursday March 17th – Friday March 18
Northwestern vs. Columbia
Stanford vs. Cal
Monday March 28th – Tuesday March 29th
Temple vs. Penn
Wednesday March 30th – Thursday March 31st
Emory vs. Georgia Tech
St. Cloud vs. UMN
Monday April 4th – Tuesday April 5th
UNC vs. Duke
Wednesday April 6th – Thursday April 7th
LMU vs. Chapman
NYU vs. MMC
Thursday April 7th – Friday April 8th
FSU vs. UF
Emerson vs. BC
Friday April 8th- Saturday April 9th
Tufts vs. MIT
Sunday April 10th – Monday April 11th
UMD vs. UVA
Sunday April 10th – Monday April 11th
MSU vs. Western Michigan
Miami University vs. OSU
Visit www.tbs.com/college and cast your vote today!
Posted: March 10th, 2011 under Ruminations, theorizations and stuff.
Comments: 8
