As a longtime Bill Burr fan and someone that owned Jerry Seinfeld standup CDs back in the 90s when those were a real thing, I was pretty skeptical of this going in, but my god this guy nails it.
— Jake Does Celebrities (@JakeDoesCelebs) March 8, 2021
Stand up comedy has always been one of my favorite things to watch, not just because it’s a comedy show that makes you laugh, but because of the sheer level of talent it takes. It’s just downright impressive to watch anyone at the top of their field and comedy is no exception.
They say the No. 1 fear of the average person is public speaking. Now I’m not exactly a JFK level orator, but I’d say I’m more worried about my next flight crashing than I am about speaking in front a crowd. With that being said I can’t even fathom how good of a public speaker and storyteller you have to be to become a successful comic. I mean of course the jokes are important, but when you really drill down it’s not the jokes that make the difference. It’s the timing, the delivery, the ability to tell long, winding stories and then bring it back all while keeping a crowd engaged and entertained.
Jerry Seinfeld of course is a perfect example of that. I actually had tickets to see Seinfeld live for the first time in my life last year before ya know COVID shut down the entire goddamn world. His stand up act is considered squeaky clean by today’s standards and is a lot of observations on mundane parts of every day life. Except it’s not so much the content of the joke that kills, it’s the way he delivers the jokes with his timing and storytelling. That is some world class talent. I mean I can still recite his entire bit on sinks in airplane bathrooms or Halloween costumes as a kid.
Here’s to the world opening back up as soon it’s safe so we can all grab some drinks, sit down at a club, and just watch stand up comics go to work once again.
Bill Burr just effortlessly dunking on the nerds yet again. I guess this just speaks to living in one place for so long because to be honest I didn’t even notice his Boston accent in The Mandalorian. Burr has, what is in my experience, a pretty typical, understated yet distinct Boston accent despite living in LA for so many years.
Im sorry but Bill Burr’s accent in star wars implies some sort of space Boston
Burr is right though, Star Wars nerds are fine with C-3PO sounding like he’s been knighted or even the fact that in a galaxy far far away the dominant language is the same exact one as yours, but as soon as Billy Red Face starts dropping his R’s we got a problem. It’s not like he was committing the cardinal sin of unironically playing up his accent, which is something akin to treason in Boston.
All jokes aside, Bill Burr is a sneaky really good actor. He’s done bits in the past about how he used to only get the goofy friend role in rom coms because nobody was casting a leading man with bright red hair. He crushed it on Chappelle’s Show back in the day and had some funny roles over the years (i.e. The Heat), but when he showed up in a serious role as Kuby in Breaking Bad I think a lot of people, myself included, took a step back and said oh shit Billy can act.
Now he’s got a recurring guest spot on one of the biggest shows around and I say this without an ounce of sarcasm, I would watch an entire spin off series starring Mayfeld just dicking around the galaxy. Make it happen, Favreau.
It’s hard to believe last weekend was Bill Burr’s first time ever hosting Saturday Night Live considering the man has been an A-list comedian for years. He had Comedy Central specials back when those were a thing and obviously was a key guy off the bench on Chapelle’s Show back in the early 2000s.
So I was pretty jazzed to see old Billy Red Face take the stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. His monologue got the most attention because it did what Burr does best, it pissed off a ton of people, it made others uncomfortable, but it was all genuinely hilarious. But the best part of his episode had to be the Sam Adams commercial.
“Yea it’s kinda sweet and shit, but there’s nothing else to drink” had me howling. That and when Burr chugs the entire glass, then looks on in disgust only to say “I don’t like that.”
It’s nice to see SNL playing to the strengths of the actors and their backgrounds for a change rather than forcing everyone into quirky situations or another hamfisted political skit. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s just me being provincial, but SNL always seems to kill it with the Boston skits. I mean how can we forget Casey Affleck’s Dunkin Donuts commercial?
If you’re a fan of comedy even in the slightest then you know The Comedy Store is an institution; it is the mecca for standup comics. Walking in under those red lights and passing all the framed pictures in the hallway immortalizing dozens of Hall of Fame comedians that have performed there, it’s unlike any other club in the country.
The first time I visited LA a few years ago The Comedy Store was the No. 1 place I had to check out. Well that and In N’ Out.
But seriously this spot on Sunset Boulevard has been a launching pad for some of the funniest people to ever walk the planet. Name any famous comedian and it’s pretty much guaranteed they performed at The Comedy Store at some point. Just look at this murderer’s row of alumni:
This place is revered by comics to this day and is still frequented by huge names who do shows routinely just to work on material. Joe Rogan performs there pretty much every weekend and he just signed a $100 million contract with Spotify so it’s not like he needs the work.
I went to a show on a Saturday night that was stacked with huge names like Joe Rogan, Tom Green, Iliza Shlesinger, and Michael Rosenbaum. All that for a $20 ticket. So if you lived in the area you could go see some of the best comedians in the country every weekend for less than what I spend on a GrubHub order.
Now the first time I actually went to The Comedy Store was when I literally just stumbled in at like 1 AM on a weeknight. Whats great about this place is if theres not a big headline event, you can just walk in whenever, pay a small cover, and theres just comics working on material at all hours of the night. So we dropped in and just sat in the back with a couple of beers and laughed our asses off watching some guy I’d never even heard of. The talent there is just on another level.
So I am going to have to actually buy Showtime for the first time ever because this doc series is going to be must see TV.
David Letterman recalls his first appearance at the iconic Comedy Store in a new Showtime docuseries about the club. pic.twitter.com/rcHzmAc1dw
Robin Williams, in front of the Comedy Store which opened in April 1972 by comedians Sammy Shore (1927–2019), and Rudy De Luca.
The building was formerly the home of Ciro's, a popular Hollywood nightclub owned by William Wilkerson, where The Byrds were discovered in 1964. pic.twitter.com/MCOtZ0OApU
— RealJesusChrysler aka Captain Clorox (@ChryslerReal) September 24, 2020
I have quoted Theodore Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech since I saw it painted on our weight room wall at UM in 1995. It’s a constant reminder to ignore the noise, buckle my chinstrap, and battle through whatever comes my way.
Talk about conflicting emotions watching this teaser for Tom Brady’s upcoming documentary, Man in the Arena. This is the type of stuff that was better than porn in my household for the last 20 years: The Brady 6, The Great Brady Heist, Tom vs Time. I could go on and on, hell I wrote a full blog about exactly this: A List of the Top Tom Brady Documentaries, Cameos, and Skits to Watch While Self Quarantining. Watching this now though is bittersweet knowing Brady is no longer a Patriot. Hopefully the NFL is able to play games this season, but even if they are my favorite player of all time is down in Florida and it’s not in a retirement home.
A lot of New England fans hold a grudge against Brady for leaving and while I am upset he left, I can’t hold it against the guy after everything he’s done for this franchise. He became the greatest player of all time with what amounts to two Hall of Fame careers, won 6 Super Bowls, and turned the Patriots into the most successful dynasty in league history. So if after 20 years of working for a hard ass like Belichick he finally had enough and wanted to enjoy himself a bit more, as a person I get that.
I can’t believe he’s partnering with ESPN for this though. Especially after the success of Tom vs Time on Facebook. On the one hand, if I was Tom Brady and the media brand that tried to smear my reputation and destroy my career multiple times asked to partner with me on a documentary I would tell them to go piss up a rope. On the other hand, Brady is trying to get his 199 Productions studio running at full speed right out of the gate and ESPN is is the Worldwide Leader so it makes business sense. I’d rather tell ESPN to kick rocks than go into business with them if I’m Brady, but I guess this is why I wouldn’t be a very good politician.
But my god get the tissues ready because this documentary is going to break me. I feel like my Perfect 10 girlfriend left me and I’ve just been avoiding those emotions for months pretending nothing happened. I advise everyone to take Bill Burr’s sage advice on how to handle a breakup and deal with the little things:
Washington Post – The NFL is forming a partnership with music mogul Jay-Z in a deal that allows him to help manage entertainment ventures tied to league events and is closely connected to the league’s community activism efforts.
The partnership will make Jay-Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, and his Roc Nation agency a co-producer of the Super Bowl halftime show. It does not contain a provision for him to be the halftime performer, he and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said.
“He was very quick to say that he does not want this to be about him performing, that it was broader than that,” Goodell said in an interview. “It quickly went beyond that. Do I hope he’ll perform in the Super Bowl sometime in the next several years? Yes. But I think we’ll all know if that time comes. He’ll know in particular.”
Roc Nation will choose entertainers who will perform in televised NFL promotional spots throughout the season. Carter said he believes Roc Nation will have freedom under the partnership to produce the kind of entertainment that it wants.
The Super Bowl halftime show has been a snoozefest since Janet Jackson threw her titties into Justin Timberlake’s hand all those years ago.
Ever since then the NFL basically overcorrected and trotted out some of the most boring halftime shows ever. In the years post titty-gate we got Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and The Who, which are all good, wholesome bands, just not anyone I want to see headlining the biggest entertainment night of the year. At least in recent years they’ve started to bring back artists that are under 50 years old again.
Last year though was definitely some old white producer trying to appease everyone with Travis Scott, Big Boi, and Maroon 5 while still somehow pleasing no one.
So this morning I hear the news that the NFL has gone back to the big guns (and probably dumped an 18-wheeler full of cash on his front lawn) and partnered up with Jay-Z for this year’s halftime show. While it makes it pretty clear he won’t be performing any time soon, getting S Dot Carter to produce the league’s halftime show and its musical entertainment as a whole is a HUGE win for the NFL. Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint 1/2/3, The Black Album, Kingdom Come, hell even the American Gangster soundtrack still BANGS to this day. Thats not even counting all the collabs he’s done over the years like Collision Course and Watch the Throne, which are all-time albums. Now obviously I left out most of his more recent work…but those albums aren’t without their mega hits. I actually went to the Jay-Z/Timberlake show at Fenway a few years back and the Holy Grail beat drops just as hard today. To be perfectly honest I never heard a ton of 4:44 because I’m not a schill and I’m not paying for Tidal just to get Jay’s album, but The Story of OJ is without a doubt a jam. Long story short, I have high hopes for Jay-Z and Roc Nation leading the entertainment wing for the NFL moving forward.
Although it does sound like HOVA has been paying close attention to the Ginger Hammer’s actions in recent years (i.e. Supreme Court cases for equipment violations, but wife beaters and child abusers getting off scot free) and doesn’t expect completely smooth sailing.
“I anticipate that there will be a lot of — with any big organization, in this building right here we have internal problems. Anything that’s new is going to go through its growing pains. We put what we want to do on the table. The NFL agreed to it. So we’re going to proceed with that as if we have a partnership.”
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt though that he wants to make some real changes by getting inside the NFL, rather than just criticize it on twitter, but at the end of the day Hov isn’t a businessman, he’s a business, man.
If the #RedSox were ever going to get into the giant headed mascots racing thing, who should their 3 former players be? @45PedroMartinez for sure. Or should they be some other non-baseball figures? Like the cast of Cheers, etc?#WBZpic.twitter.com/xgNmI0r0Yl
GREAT question here, Joe. Now lets not just leave this to former Red Sox players though; thats too narrow. While I get what Joe is saying about Cheers, I am throwing that idea in the trash, respectfully of course. So any former Sox player or famous Bostonian is up for grabs in this poll. Here are some of the top Boston guys that I think would be A+ giant headed mascots
Trot Nixon
I cannot picture anything funnier than one of those abominations running around Fenway with the dirtiest gigantic hat ever made.
Kevin Youkilis
Youk would probably be the most easily recognizable giant headed mascot in the game with a 3 foot tall goatee.
Nomar Garciaparra
Once the sports book opens at the Wynn in Everett (lets go Mayor Walsh) I would HAMMER the moneyline on Nomah winning this race 5 nights a week.
Pedro Martinez
He would have a slight disadvantage though because a giant headed Pedro mascot would need to be taped to a poll as part of the costume.
Luis Tiant
El Tiante with a cigar the size of a pool noodle would be a dark horse candidate in every race.
Bill Burr
The angriest giant headed mascot you’ll ever see. Would never win shit because he is a comedian, not a track star, but Old Billy Red Balls would be a fan favorite for sure.
Ben Affleck/Matt Damon
They can’t have one without the other. Would be required they run the race as a three legged man.
Doug Flutie
The man is a damn legend. Forget the hail mary TD, the guy completed a drop kick in a live NFL game. My family literally has a framed picture of that shit in the basement. True story.
Who ya got? Tweet your best answers to me @The300sBoston so I can debate you on mascots instead of being productive in the cube.
As much as college football and pumpkin spice lattes, the Saturday Night Live season premiere is a sure sign that summer is over and fall has arrived. SNL’s 44th season will kick off less than a month from now on September 29. No hosts or musical guests for the upcoming season have been announced yet but since they asked, here are the three guys I’d most like to see host SNL.
Bill Burr A comedian’s comedian and a regular on the late night talk show circuit, Burr would kill on SNL. Burr did some work on Chappelle’s Show back in the day and would bring an edge to Saturday night that SNL hasn’t had in quite a while.
Bob Odenkirk Well before he took on the role of Saul Goodman, Odenkirk wrote for SNL back in the late 80s and early 90s. While he didn’t find the success at SNL that other writers did, he did find sketch comedy success on HBO in the mid-90s with Tobia Funke David Cross on Mr. Show. Currently on one of the best shows on television, Odenkirk going back to 30 Rock to host SNL would be a great story of comedic redemption.
John Krasinski He interned on Late Night with Conan O’Brien in the same building back in 2000 and was a key player on The Office, one of the most important shows on NBC for nearly a decade. It’s hard to believe that this guy has never been invited to host in Studio 8H. With Jack Ryan dropping on Amazon Prime today, now seems like the perfect time for Krasinski to head back to 30 Rock.
And special mention goes to Christopher Walken, who tops my returning hosts list. Walken was a mainstay during my prime SNL viewing years, hosting seven times in the 90s and 2000s. It’s hard to believe he hasn’t appeared on SNL in more than a decade. Definitely need to see him walken through the doors at 8H this fall.
Forbes – On Monday, in the midst of what will likely be its largest holiday season in history, Amazon.com AMZN +2.43% unveiled a video for Amazon Go, a supposedly new store that will allow customers to walk in, pick up items and leave without having to pay in a traditional check-out line.
Amazon, did we just become best friends? Yup. With apps for ordering food from my couch, calling a taxi from the barstool and streaming full on movies from my phone, Amazon was falling behind a bit. That is until they decided to take on the goddamn bane of my existence: the grocery store. The grocery store is where men go to die.
Sure, free 2 days shipping is cool, I guess. But uhh, thats not really gonna get the juices flowing. A grocery store free of useless employees and horrifically long lines just so I can CHECK MYSELF OUT? Sign me the fuck up.
Legit nothing worse than the Sophie’s Choice of do I A.) Wait in line for 10 minutes so the teenager can ring me up and slowly pack up half my stuff or B.) Go do the grocery store employees’ job for them in self checkout? I almost always choose option A because as Will Hunting once said, because fuck him thats why.
I’m gonna get my money’s worth. Any discussions of the misery that is a grocery store has to include the Bill Burr bit that is A+ material. “Here I was, I thought I was a comedian. Apparently I also work at a grocery store.”
Come on Amazon don’t screw this up. I need this. You need this. But more importantly the world needs this.
The 300s 