Stand-up Comedy

Judah Friedlander Talks About Life After 30 Rock and Being the World Champion: Interview Outtakes

In this week's print edition we interviewed Judah Friedlander: standup comedian, "World Champion", and one of the stars of NBC's recently-wrapped sitcom 30 Rock. Friedlander is an exceptionally engaging and approachable interviewee, and as such we were unable to fit our whole conversation into the p ... More >>

Nationally-Renowned Funnyman Tommy Johnagin Comes Home to St. Louis, Fresh Off of Appearances on Letterman and Conan

Most entertainers can point to a few unique moments in their careers where in a matter of minutes, things changed. These brief moments reshape an entire career, a life -- and if a few things click, an entire generation of fans. When tracking the career trajectory of comedian Tommy Johnagin, these un ... More >>

New Comedy Club 'No Name Comix' Opens on Cherokee Street

Cash a check. Buy coffee. Rent a TV. Eat tacos. Buy comic books and/or oriental rugs. Get your palm read. Then laugh at a comedy club. There's no place in St. Louis that offers all of that within three blocks, is there? The answer is yes. The sharp line of urban edge known as Cherokee Street has ju ... More >>

Comedians Are The New Rock Stars

Art and life co-habitate, informing, imitating, and enriching each other constantly. Each week in Better Living Through Music, RFT Music writer Ryan Wasoba explores this symbiotic relationship. No phrase encapsulates the worst elements of music quite like the phrase "rock star." My disdain is s ... More >>

Colorado Comedian Ben Roy's Rise and What St. Louis Can Learn From It

If you just his read his recent accolades without a name attached, you would probably assume comedian Ben Roy was someone you were already familiar with. At the very least you would assume he is someone who is shacked up in an apartment in LA or New York, making waves in those cities' respective en ... More >>

W. Kamau Bell Explains why Bill Hicks is his Comedy Icon

Despite his ever-expanding recognition as a socio-political voice in our society, one thing remains the same for W. Kamau Bell: His desire to be recognized as a great comedian. Kamau will be storming the stage at the the Firebird in St. Louis on December 11th for the next stop on his The Kamau Mau U ... More >>

Tommy Johnagin, Standup Comic from St. Louis Area, Lands Pilot Deal with NBC

Tommy Johnagin -- a standup comic who grew up across the river in Benton, Illinois -- has just landed a pilot deal with NBC. "I'm very excited about it," he just typed up in an e-mail to Daily RFT. We found out about it from the industry website Deadline, who wrote this morning that this is a pretty ... More >>

Larry the Cable Guy "Tater Chips" -- They Exist

On a recent trip to Schnucks (8800 Manchester Road; 314-961-5454), Gut Check glimpsed bags of potato tater chips emblazoned with the visage of comedian Larry the Cable Guy goading us with, "Boy that's good eatin'!" Only in America is correct, Larry. The sack of tater chips that first caught our eye ... More >>

Come see St. Louis comics battle in RFT's 2012 Standup Throwdown!

Standup Rob Durham to Comedy Newbies: "You're Not Andy Kaufman. Stop Trying to Be."

​Rob Durham teaches. Both by nature and he literally substitute teaches in the Clayton and Rockwood school districts. In addition, he's been trying to school newbie comics as of late on how not to humiliate themselves. (And yes, he's also trying to make fat coin by selling a book, "Don't Wear Shor ... More >>

Standup Andi Smith Gets Raw About Her Mom, Refinancing and Hot Female Comics

​While on stage, Andi Smith doesn't wrap her feelings in pretty bows, whether the evening's agenda involves Justin Bieber, at-risk children, or sweatpants. Nor does she mince words off-stage, as we found out last August when we did this Q&A  and crowned her Best Standup Comedian (Female) ... More >>

Standup Iliza Shlesinger: "Yes I Google Myself, and Anybody Who Says They Don't Is a Liar"

iliza.comIliza Shlesinger coming to the Funnybone this weekend!​Iliza Shlesinger's hotness is (1)  undeniable, and (2) irrelevant, because  her comic chops are real: In 2008, at the tender age of 24, she won NBC's Last Comic Standing, and hasn't looked back since. She'll be at the Funnyb ... More >>

Slay, Nixon Find Little Irony in Parroting "Larry the Cable Guy"

You might be a redneck if ... you quote Larry the Cable Guy.​So, this morning Governor Jay Nixon threw his weight behind the St. Louis China Hub, telling an audience in St. Louis that he'll call legislators to a special "Getting it Done" session this fall to pass legislation approving $360 million ... More >>

The Red Lion's Barry Strange: Featured Bartender of the Week

Welcome to Girl Walks into a Bar, a weekly Gut Check feature that spotlights local bars and bartenders. This week Chrissy Wilmes profiles Red Lion owner and bartender Barry Strange. Below is a Q&A with Strange, followed by the recipe for his Richard Pryor cocktail. Chrissy WilmesBarry Strange, owne ... More >>

Latest Daily Beast Ranking "Proves" KC is Funnier than StL

image viaHey Daily Beast,don't you know the Arch is really just a big smile turned upside-down?​In honor of April Fool's Day, our friends at the Daily Beast (who, as you may recall, previously declared St. Louisans ugly and dumb) have decided to rank the 30 funniest cities in America. Apparent ... More >>

Special Offer: Pay to Watch Doug Stanhope Get Liquored Up & Miserable

Image viaDoug Stanhope - adored in Britain, ignored in America. ​Doug Stanhope is a sick man: a sufferer of umbilical hernia, a surly boozer, recidivist smoker, champion of recreational drugs, former Libertarian candidate for President, rambling social satirist and stand-up veteran who's crawling ... More >>

Paul F. Tompkins To Play the Firebird, Transform Comedy Industry

Seth OlenickPaul F. Tompkins will bust your gut on Saturday! Lit'rally. ​Did we lurve Paul F. Tompkins the most on Mr. Show, Tenacious D, VH1's Best Week Ever or his stand-up? No matter. You can catch his act at the Firebird on Saturday night thanks to a new business model: if 300 people on Facebo ... More >>

Gay Comic Jason Stuart Can Play a Straight Guy, Too.

Stand-up comic Jason Stuart. See a YouTube clip of his act below.​The world of stand-up comedy in 2010, is by many accounts, more welcoming to out-of-the-closet gay comics than it was when Jason Stuart came to St. Louis in the '90s. But even in those pioneering days of out comics, Stuart praises t ... More >>

Foxy Shazam

8 p.m. Tuesday, April 27. Off Broadway, 3509 Lemp Avenue.

Interview: Mo'Nique Brings Her Not-So-Precious Stand-Up Act to the Fox Theatre This Friday

The Screen Actors Guild, Golden Globe and Academy Award-winning actress may have recently been accused of not playing nice with the press, but when it comes to promoting her Spread the Love stand-up comedy tour, she's all heart. (With a side of hot air.) How difficult is it for you to change mind f ... More >>

Six Questions: Stand-Up Comic Ralphie May on Imo's Pizza, Budweiser and Fatherhood

Ralphie May thought life on the road was tough enough. Now his two-year-old daughter, April June, and eight-month-old son, August, are teaching the Last Comic Standing vet just how grueling -- and rewarding -- the journey can be. May comes to St. Louis with a show at 8 p.m. Friday, February 26 at t ... More >>

2009 Performing Arts MasterMinds: The Improv Trick

Chuck Berry's Nephew Trey Is the Laughingstock of the Family

http://www.myspace.com/treyberrycomedyAnd he's proud of it.The younger Berry will perform on Monday night at Blueberry Hill, headlining a night of stand-up comedy on the same stage at the Duck Room where his legendary uncle performs monthly. Berry says he's been working the comedy circuit off a ... More >>

Two Guys and A Swan, Exploding

Kirkwood's King of Comedy: Greg Warren's standup career takes him all over the USA, but St. Louis remains his home

Interview: Lisa Lampanelli Comes Clean

Lisa Lamenelli will likely insult entire races, generations, genders and religions on February 20.Equal-opportunity offender Lisa Lampanelli may be best known for destroying the dais on the Roasts of Chevy Chase, Denis Leary, Pamela Anderson, Flava Flav, Jeff Foxworthy, William Shatner and more. Or ... More >>

This Jam Isn't Edible

But it's still good!

Doing the Missouri Oswaltz with Patton Oswalt

He played Spence Olchin on King of Queens and voiced the lead varmint in Pixar's Ratatouille, but Patton Oswalt is above all as organic a performer as they come. The founder of the Comedians of Comedy collective -- which, comprising Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford and Zach Galifianakis, eight-handedly p ... More >>

Chippewa Chapel Returns September 4 at the Stable

George Carlin, R.I.P.

Our Top DVD Picks

Scheduled for release this week.

Cook, Line and Sinker

Our top DVD picks for the week of February 8.

A closer look at the Kramer Konundrum

Biblical Contortions

Adam & Steve's original sin puts the brakes on a blooming romance

The Guy Ain't Right in the Head

But his wallet's just fine, thanks

"I hope your tits shrivel up and fall off."

Week of January 19, 2006

Girl Walks into a Comedy Club...

Julie Seabaugh profiles local laugh-riot Brie Johnson

Boomerang Bill

Engvall rides again

Tough Lover

Corey Holcomb breaks it down

Hamburger Helper

This is no time for laughter

AIDS Walk: A Big Deal

Take steps in the right direction with the AIDS Foundation of St. Louis

Letters

Week of November 19, 2003

General Cho: Not Chicken

The fabulous Margaret Cho brings her one-woman wit-fest to the American Theater

Best Comedy Show

St. Louis University Art Museum

Back to School

Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks grow up, more or less, and move to a dorm

Spoon-fed

Veteran comic actor John Witherspoon brings his wild wardrobe to the Funny Bone

Joe Henry

Fuse (Mammoth)

Twin Stars

As if local commercials weren't already (unintentionally) funny, a pair of twin comics have made them their stock-in-trade

What Planet Are You From?

Directed by Mike Nichols