Who doesn't like Felicia Day?

"Felicia Day"by -seek- used under CC permission

Excuse my tardiness, but I didn't notice Felicia Day until I saw Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which I first watched last year--some time after its initial hype [1]. I guess I've been hearing about The Guild for awhile, too, but since the plot involves a World of Warcraft-style MMORPG, I haven't checked it out [2]. No offense to WoW-ers, but I haven't played and know little to nothing about it. But then, it is just a fantasy world populated with magic-wielding creatures battling evil, right?

Anyhow, it looks like the show takes place in reality, where some folks who've met in this virtual world decide to meet in person. So, my fear of watching dwarves battle orcs outside of the context of destroying the one ring is calmed.

I've also avoided The Guild because it's a web series [3]. So, when I would hear about the show, I'd think, "eh, it's a bunch of short shows, probably not that good. What's IMDb say?" assuming that IMDb would back me up, reinforce my decision not to add it to our library collection. And what does IMDb say? As of this moment, 2,043 people have rated the show an average of 8.8 of 10 stars. That does not reinforce my no-buy decision at all.

The last barrier to my ordering of The Guild for the library is that it is available to watch for free online. In the end, I didn't think that was a good enough argument. Fans who watch the series online will be interested in all the extras on these DVDs [4]. People who have no experience with the series may discover it in our library collection.

We'll see how it goes. If people like checking out Seasons 1 & 2 of The Guild here, we'll likely get the rest of them [5]. If not, we'll likely stop after this first set, like we did with Strongbad_email.exe [6].

How's that for transparency in government?

Connecting...
1. If you haven't seen Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, I highly recommend it. Request it from the library, or learn more about it at IMDb.

2. "MMORPG what?!" you're thinking? If so, MMORPG stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing game, which is a game in which players assume the role of an imaginary character (dark elf wizard, for example, of private detective even, perhaps in a different, non-high fantasy game), develop that character's skills and personality, in an online environment with a bunch of other people doing the same thing. Wikipedia probably puts it better.

3. You can watch The Guild online on the official website.

4. The DVD Talk review goes into specifics on The Guild Seasons 1&2 DVD extras.

5. Request The Guild: Seasons 1 & 2 from the library

6. Strongbad Email was a weekly web cartoon on the Homestar Runner website. You can request our DVD if you like.

Recently acquired comedies

Here's a general disclaimer for you, but first, a story. I work in multiple areas here at the library, including in public on the first floor, in public on the second floor, and in private in an undisclosed location (where I can't say exactly what it is I do, but I am not denying that I personally select and catalog films for President and First Family Obama's viewing pleasure--this is beside the point, and I wish the paparazzi would stop hassling me about it).

So, I work in public and in private here at the library. In my office, I do work that I cannot do at the desk--mostly tasks that I'd rather not have interrupted. Writing a blog post is not one of those tasks, and I'm happy to blog while helping the public. However, when I blog about movies, let's say, I don't have any speakers to hear what all is said in the trailers I embed in the post--I watch them silently for graphic stuff to warn you about, but I can't hear what they are saying. So, except for the wonderful foreign films with their subtitles, I cannot tell whether the characters are speaking an entire string of obscenities from beginning to end on these things.

The general disclaimer then is that you may hear something you don't like, I don't know, and I'm sorry I cannot warn you. Hear what you will at your own risk.

Four Lions [1]
Four would-be terrorists in London fail at terrorism and possibly life in general. This comedy has quite a bit of critical acclaim, including a Sundance Grand Jury nomination and a BAFTA award for Oustanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, who in this case is Christopher Morris, better known to me as Denholm Reynholm from the first season of The IT Crowd. [2]

Disclaimer: As an animal lover, I don't like seeing harm done to animals, but the rook that explodes in the trailer is cartoony in that one moment there's a bird and the next feathers flying around like that one lingerie ad with the underwear clad models having a pillow fight...at least, I don't think I made that up, but I'm not about to look it up on youtube while at work.


OSS 117: Lost in Rio [3]
OSS 117 is a spoof of spy movies in general and James Bond in particular. This is actually the second OSS 117 film (we also recently acquired OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies), and this one sends the French agent Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath to 1967 Brazil to find a fugitive Nazi. [4]



Who's the Caboose? [5]
For 90's comedy enthusiasts, this ensemble mockumentary follows a comedienne shopping her idea for a TV show pilot to studios. The cast is a who's who of 90's comedians, many remembered and doing well today, including Sarah Silverman, Sam Seder, Mark Maron, Laura Kightlinger, Kathy Griffin, Andy Dick, David Cross, Mark Cohen, Todd Barry, and others I've missed in my skim over the IMDb full cast listing.



Recently acquired links
1. Place a request on Four Lions, or learn more about it on IMDb

2. Don't remember Denholm Reynholm? Don't know about the hilarious British series The IT Crowd? Now that you know about IT, don't you want to request IT from the library?

3. Place a request on OSS 117: Lost in Rio, or learn more about it on IMDb

4. Place a request on OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, or learn more about it on IMDb

5. Place a request on Who's the Caboose?, or learn more about it on IMDb

Everything Explained

Doogie Horner's Everything Explained through Flowcharts is the sort of informational humor that appeals to me [1].  I'd recommend it to others who have enjoyed John Hodgman's The Areas of My Expertise and More Information than You Require [2].  If you haven't read those Hodgman books, I'm sure you know him from elsewhere, like his occasional segment on The Daily Show or his fantastic newish podcast, Judge John Hodgman [3]. He's the sort of pushy comedian who insinuates himself in a review of a book by a different comedian. Enough about him.

Doogie Horner is also a comedian, whose stand-up reached the country when he was on America's Got Talent [4].  He's published articles and jokes, and is a top notch graphic designer--in addition to his charts and diagrams in Everything Explained, he did the cover for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I didn't even like that book, but the cover got me to pick it up and give it a try.  Way to go, Doogie!

Everything Explained provides all sorts of information in flowcharts, as well as other charts, like the one comparing characteristics of film action heroes and film horror villains.  The flowcharts compare afterlives of different religions, end of the world scenarios, extraterrestrial reproductive encounters, and more. 

Each chart is humorously introduced with a couple pages of text, occasionally outdoing the proceeding charts in laugh generation.  I encourage fans of humor writing to give this book more that the brief, initial perusal you'd be inclined to give it.  It's worth a cover to cover read.

Figure A: Links
1. Check out Everything Explained through Flowcharts from the library

2. If Everything Explained isn't available, why not check out those John Hodgman books I mentioned?
   The Areas of My Expertise
   More Information than You Require

3. If you've never experienced John Hodgman, you're missing out

4. Doogie Horner's webiste includes links to his writing and stand-up videos.
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Sleepwalk With Me

I want to start this post by saying "Hi!" to the author, Mike Birbiglia, who will get a Google alert of this posting bearing his name.  Mr. Birbiglia, to save your time, I'm telling folks that they would likely enjoy your book.  Feel free to skip to your next Google alert.

Mike Birbiglia's Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories reads is a fast, fun read.  If you've seen his stand up special or guest spots on Letterman and such, or heard him on The Moth Podcast, This American Life, or the Bob and Tom show, you can easily impose his rhythm and pattern of speaking on the text and have a fuller experience.

On the other hand, if you've had this previous exposure to Birbiglia, you'll also have a diminished experience when you reach a passage you've heard him deliver elsewhere, but there was much material in this book that was new to me.  And honestly, I don't mind a retelling of the time he was sleepwalking in La Quinta Inn while having a dream about a missile heading directly for him.  If you haven't heard that story, you really need to grab this book.

I have no hesitations about recommending this book or Birbiglia as a comedian to anyone.  His experience is relate-able, by which I mean not so outlandish that my father would not accuse me of being "a strange one" were I to give him this book.  The stories do not prominently feature sex, alcohol, drug use, and offensive language is used sparingly, if at all (I don't recall any offensive language, actually). 

Why all this stands out to me is that I'm used to funny people relying on the adjective/adverb versions of four-letter words to hilariously accentuate their stories of drunken escapades.  It's refreshing to be cracked up by someone's relatively normal experiences lacking those common sorts of crutches.  I think he'd crack you up, too, if you give him the chance. 


Field of Links:
Request Mike Birbiglia's Sleepwalk with Me
Request one of his CDs, like My Secret Public Journal Live or Two Drink Mike
Check out his website or his YouTube videos or the This American Life shows he was on or...maybe just Google him
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September Staff Picks DVDs

I know I'm late with these this month, but I think I missed noting the August picks entirely.  They were really good picks, too.  I'm sorry you missed them, assuming you didn't visit the analog staff picks DVD board, which is located by our DVD collection, right next to the two computer catalogs in that area.  Wow, and I mean wow, August, what picks.

September's not bad, either.  I got one last recommendation from John Dunkelberger, my retiring supervisor.   There will be a party, in case you hadn't heard already.  Anyhow, his final pick is the Oscar-winning Czech comedy, Closely Watched Trains, which we recently acquired from the Criterion Collection.  Actually, maybe we'll get some emeritus picks from him after he's retired, too.  He'll have plenty of time for DVD viewing.

Check out Closely Watched Trains   -   IMDb page for Closely Watched Trains

Pat, IT Guru, recommends The African Queen, starring Bogart and Bacall.  Fight you for it? 

Check out The African Queen   -   IMDb page for The African Queen

Elaine recommends Son of Man, a re-imagining of the life of Jesus set in contemporary South Africa.  Ebert notes that this film shows the contemporary world's reaction to Jesus would be to consider him a "dangerous political leader."  It sounds fascinating.

Check out Son of Man   -   IMDb page for Son of Man

Mary WT picks The September Issue to highlight from the educational DVD collection on the second floor.  It's a documentary about the Vogue editor's preparation of the 2007 issue on Fall fashion.  This is one of those films you would have made a mental note to check out and perhaps forgot about, so cheers to Mary for reminding us.

Check out The September Issue   -   IMDb page for The September Issue

Carol  recommends Jellyfish, and Israeli film by Etgar Keret and Shira Geffen.  If you missed the screening and discussion of the film hosted by the Cohen Center on campus, featuring Keret and Geffen, well, at least you can check out the film here.

Check out Jellyfish   -   IMDb page for Jellyfish

I've blogged my pick before, so I won't write much about it.  Train Man, the Japanese romantic comedy about a nerd's fortuitous encounter with a girl on a train and what becomes of them.

Check out Train Man   -   IMDb page for Train Man

Check out the trailer at YouTube

In this picks posts, I also like to note the new release from Film Movement.  This month, they've sent us Bomber, a comedy from the UK about an older couple finally taking that trip to Germany that they've been planning with the unplanned addition of their adult son coming along.

Check out Bomber   -   IMDb page for Bomber

The IT Crowd

I recently discovered (as in for myself to watch, not like discovering new lands for Spain) The IT Crowd [1].  I call it the "It" Crowd, while I've heard it mentioned in interviews as the I T Crowd.  Whatever you call it, it makes me laugh.

It's a British sitcom from Channel 4 that focuses on the IT department of Renholm Industries.  The series begins by introducing Jen as the new supervisor of the department, to the surprise of Irishman Roy and genius/geek Moss who have never had a boss.  Despite being set in an IT department, very few jokes feature computers, computing, etc.  There's a good bit of physical humor, plenty more dealing with dating and relationships, and so on.

The Moss character was written to be funny by merely existing. His manner and speech frequently reminds me of Jermaine from Flight of the Conchords [2], but while he's clueless and tends to take things too literally, he doesn't share Jermaine's quality of being lost in the world.  I would post a clip here featuring Moss dealing with a fire in the shared office area, but embedding has been disabled, so I recommend you check it out on YouTube [3].

1. Check out The IT  Crowd: Series 1 (or Series 2 or 3) from the library
IMDb page for The IT Crowd


2. Check out Flight of the Conchords: Season 1 (or Season 2) from the library
IMDb page for Flight of the Conchords

3. The fire clip--it helps to know that the emergency number was changed earlier in the episode to something long and convoluted.

A Town Called Panic

I must be a sucker for animation.  Awhile back I made note of Mary and Max, a claymation film that looked cool and had an interesting story.  Now, I'm noting A Town Called Panic (original French title, Panique au Village), another stop-motion animated film.  It also looks cool, maybe has a story, but plenty of ridiculous slapstick humor.

Three Possibly Funny, Definitely Stupid Movies

When I was in high school, I enjoyed exposing my folks to movies they couldn't stop themselves from laughing at, and they definitely wanted to.  These weren't anything secret or special--I have vague memories of Jim Carrey, Mike Meyers, and other over the top goofballs--but these weren't films they would have chosen to watch themselves.

I was successful if, after the film ended, my step-father told me while laughing, "Brian, that was the stupidest movie I ever seen."  He was right, but I got him to laugh.

I haven't watched any of the following movies, so I can't vouch for their funniness, that being subjective and all.  I do plan on watching at least two of them, however, and I feel confident enough not knowing much about them to label them as stupid.  Watch at your own risk, but I hope for you and me both that these are stupid and funny.

Hot Tub Time Machine
Four guys go back to the '80s via the titular hot tub.  


Mystery Team
Once successful child detectives, the titular team is now ten years older and trying to solve a murder.


Slammin' Salmon
The titular Salmon is a former boxer turned restaurant owner who will give $10,000 to the waiter who earns the most in one night, and a beating to the one who earns the least.


Thanks for watching and giving me the opportunity to use the word "titular" three times in one post.  It's not that big an accomplishment, really--it's only 7-points in Scrabble.

Monty Python--ROFL!

Monty Python's Flying Circus--the amazingly funny and influential TV comedy sketch series--debuted on TV the UK in 1969, and soon crossed the pond to the colonies. And wondrous movies followed. Hard to believe it's been 40 years since the start of all the farcical insanity . The laughs are just as fresh today as they were when created.

If you're a Monty Python fan, want to be, or just are interested in finding out about the men behind the comedy troupe, you'll be thrilled to discover the new,original multipart documentary--Monty Python, Almost the Truth, The Lawyer's Cut.

The documentary, shown in entirety recently on the IFC cable Channel, does present snippets from performances, but the real highlight is the focus on the performers. The episodes feature interviews with the surviving members of Python, and honors the 40th anniversary of their debut.



If you like to laugh, if you want to go behind the scenes and discover the real craziness behind the Monty Python phenomenon, look into this series. Place a hold and ensure your turn to laugh and consider. It's--Almost the Truth.

Audiobooks: Stand-up Comedy & Comedians

Maybe a year ago, while handling some Eddie Izzard CD donations, I realized our audiobook collection lacked much stand-up comedy.

No one had been asking for comedy ... but then again, people are always surprised to learn that we welcome requests.

When the first titles I ordered hit the shelf, they quickly became the most popular nonfiction audiobooks ... and still are.

Herewith, our current list:

Woody Allen / Standup Comic, 1978

Todd Barry / From Heaven, 2008

John Bean / The Real Leroy Mercer, 2008

Mike Birbiglia

Two Drink Mike, 2006
My Secret Public Journal Live, 2007

Lewis Black

Rules of Enragement, 2003
Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues, 2005
The Carnegie Hall Performance, 2006
Anticipation, 2008

Bill Burr

Emotionally Unavailable, 2007
Why Do I Do This?, 2008

Blue Collar Comedy Tour (Bill Engvall, Jeff Foxworthy, et al.)

The Movie: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, 2003
One for the Road, 2006

Louis C.K. / Chewed Up, 2008

John Caparulo / Meet Cap, 2009

George Carlin

What Am I Doing in New Jersey?, 1988
Parental Advisory--Explicit Lyrics, 1990
You Are All Diseased, 1999
Braindroppings, 2000
Complaints and Grievances, 2001
It's Bad for Ya, 2008

Margaret Cho / Assassin, 2005

Dane Cook / Isolated Incident, 2009

Bill Cosby

To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With, 1968
Cosby and the Kids, 1986

David Cross

Shut Up You Fucking Baby, 2002
It's Not Funny, 2004

Bill Engvall / 15° Off Cool, 2007

Jeff Foxworthy / Have Your Loved Ones Spayed or Neutered, 2004

Jim Gaffigan

Doing My Time, 2004
Beyond the Pale, 2006
King Baby, 2009

Mitch Hedberg

Strategic Grill Locations, 1999
Mitch All Together, 2003
Do You Believe in Gosh?, 2008

Bill Hicks / Rant in E-minor, 1997

Eddie Izzard

Glorious, 1997
Dress to Kill, 1998

Sam Kinison / Have You Seen Me Lately?, 1988

Larry the Cable Guy / The Right to Bare Arms, 2005

Martin Lawrence / Funk It!, 1995

Cheech Marin & Tommy Chong / Cheech & Chong's Greatest Hit, 1981

Demetri Martin / These Are Jokes, 2006

John Mulaney / The Top Part, 2009

Dan Naturman / Get Off My Property, 2009

Patton Oswalt, et al. / Comedy Death Ray, 2007

Brian Posehn / Live In: Nerd Rage, 2006

Richard Pryor / The Anthology, 1968-1992, 2001

Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks / The Complete 2000 Year Old Man, 1973

Don Rickles / Hello Dummy!, 1995

Chris Rock / Cheese and Crackers: The Greatest Bits, 2007

Adam Sandler

What the Hell Happened to Me?, 1996
What's Your Name?, 1997

Sarah Silverman / Jesus Is Magic, 2006

Ron White / You Can't Fix Stupid, 2005

Katt Williams / It's Pimpin' Pimpin', 2009

Steven Wright / I Have a Pony, 1985

- - -
Want to hear more comedy?

Visit MyMediaMall.net for other quality titles.

Just use the search term Comedy, find "Sort by," then click most popular.

Man Up: Katt Williams

Two items on steady under-the-radar circulation:

the CD and DVD editions of comedian Katt Williams' It's Pimpin' Pimpin'.

One reviewer at Amazon.com writes:

"I live in a building in South Florida with a lot of old people. We laughed so hard and loud ... that one of my neighbors told the security guard to come tell us to be quiet."

Williams also appears in the films Norbit, First Sunday, and The Perfect Holiday.

Top 20 Nonfiction Audiobooks

A funny thing happened this past fall.

I placed an order for stand-up comedy albums ... and they've been going out the door like crazy!

Below you'll find a list of our most popular nonfiction audiobooks added in the last six to eight months.

The majority--to my continuing surprise--are the work of comics frequently seen on Comedy Central and elsewhere.

1. Anticipation / Lewis Black


2. These Are Jokes / Demetri Martin


3. From Heaven / Todd Barry


4. Doing My Time / Jim Gaffigan


5. Rules of Enragement / Lewis Black


6. Comedy Death Ray (feat. David Cross, Patton Oswald, and many others)


7. Do You Believe in Gosh? / Mitch Hedberg


8. Luther Burbank Perf. Arts Center Blues / Lewis Black


9. Called Out of Darkness / Anne Rice


10. Jesus Is Magic / Sarah Silverman


11. Assassin / Margaret Cho


12. The Five Secrets You Must Discover Before You Die / John B. Izzo


13. Wake up: A Life of the Buddha / Jack Kerouac


14. Live in: Nerd Rage / Brian Posehn


15. Emotionally Unavailable (Expanded ed.) / Bill Burr


16. Why Do I Do This? / Bill Burr


17. The Last Lecture / Randy Pausch


18. American Religious History, Part 1 / Patrick Allitt


19. The Apostle Paul / Luke Timothy Johnson


20. America (The Audiobook) / Jon Stewart

Be sure to check out (the late) Mitch Hedberg's other albums, and get ready for the arrival of Jim Gaffigan's newest, King Baby.