Beginnings

Beginnzers! This episode was totes fun, hun! Last Tuesday, we were joined live at UCB East with some of our favorite comedians (and people! all nice and friendly!) including Thu Tran, creator of IFC's Food Party ; James Adomian, stand-up and C omedy Bang! Bang! favorite; Nikki Glaser, stand-up and co-host of the great podcast You Had to Be There and my new favorite band Swearin'. This is a super-f...

On today's episode, we talk to Katie Hartman and Leah Rudick AKA Skinny Bitch Jesus Meeting. As one of the best sketch groups in New York City, Katie and Leah have garnered many accolades since their formation, and have performed all around the country at everything from the Los Angeles Comedy Festival to the Ladies Are Funny Festival and internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where The...

On today's show we talk to Gregg Gillis AKA Girl Talk. Gregg is a musician based in Pittsburgh, PA, and in 2000, he began recording as Girl Talk, a mash-up project that's as much pop culture criticism as it is a dance party. After picking up momentum in 2006, Gregg's been selling out festivals all over the world, was on Time Magazine and Rolling Stone's top music lists and has even had a day named...

On today's show, we talk to Ethan Berlin about IFC's Bunk , the surreal gameshow he co-created with Eric Bryant. Hosted by Kurt Brauhohler (who was just named one of Variety 's comics to watch), playing a smarmy, high-status goof, Bunk takes the format of a typical gameshow and punches it in the spine, challengeing contestants like Thomas Lennon and Eugene Mirman to absurd games that yield nonsens...

On today's episode, we talk to Ian Roberts. As one of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, Ian has been a strong comedic force for over two decades. Beyond the sketch show and the three theatres that bear the UCB name, Ian has been a part of many fantastic films and shows. He co-wrote and starred in the film Martin and Orloff , he was featured in the final season of Reno 911! , an...

On today's episode we talk to Ethan Berlin. Ethan is a writer and performer based in New York City. Starting on the show C rank Yankers in the early 2000s, he's since written for Sasha Baron Cohen on Da Ali G Show , Lopez Tonight and Billy on the Street among many other shows. Currently he is the co-creator and executive producer of the absurd game show Bunk on the Independent Film Channel. A few...

Wowzers! On Tuesday, July 10th we hosted another patented ™ Beginnings: Live at UCB East, and what a doozy it was! We had Dapwell, hypeman for the hip hop group Das Racist as well as Das Racist labelmate Lakutis. Nick Vatterott, a stand-up who's been on Conan and Jimmy Fallon (as well as his own Comedy Central Half Hour ) joined us as well, but that's not all! Ali Wong - from Chelsea Lately , The...

Live at the Del Close Marathon, which took place over the last weekend here in New York City, we had the pleasure of talking to one of our comedic idols: Matt Walsh! One of the founding members of the Upright Citizens Brigade, Matt has been in a ton of films from Old School to The Hangover, he's helmed a number of series on Comedy Central and FX, and he's currently one of the leads in Armando Iann...

On today’s episode we talk to Jon Daly. Jon is an improviser and actor based in Los Angeles, who got his start on the influential improv team Mother at UCBNY in the early 2000s. Since then he’s acted on TV in Human Giant and Happy Endings and on film in Mystery Team and the forthcoming The Secret Life of Walter Mitty . He performs regularly at UCBLA and also appears on Comedy Bang! Bang! as many d...

On today’s episode we talk to Fran Kranz. Fran is an actor based in New York and LA, and his credits include films like Jake Kasdan’s The TV Set and television shows like Welcome to the Captain with Jeffrey Tambor. In the last few years, he’s been involved in a number of Joss Whedon projects, playing Topher Brink on Dollhouse and starring in the critically-acclaimed smash The Cabin in the Woods as...

Hey, Beginzers! (Like a yinzer, but you listen to Beginnings!) We sat down with some of our favorite people on Tuesday the 12th at UCB East for a frank and somber discussion of the merits of the Spanish bank bailout. J/K! We totes just joked around and talked about our earliest creative memories. We were joined by Kurt Braunohler, the host of IFC’s fantastic new show Bunk and Dan McCoy, a writer o...

On today's episode of Field Guide , we talk about creativity and relationships with husband and wife performers Christian Finnegan and Kambri Crewes. Christian is a stand-up and actor who's been on Best Week Ever and has his own Comedy Central Presents . He also wrote for Colin Quinn's Tough Crowd and can be currently seen on the TBS sitcom Are We There Yet? Kambri is a writer, storyteller and pro...

On today’s show, we talk to Seth Reiss. Seth is a writer and performer based in Chicago, and is currently head writer at The Onion . He also contributes to McSweeney’s and previously wrote for the Sklar Brothers show Cheap Seats . Last week on Beginnings proper, we talked to Seth about his background in theater, and this week on Beginnings: Field Guide , we talk to him about his most favorite Onio...

On today's show, we talk to Seth Reiss. Seth is a writer and performer based in Chicago, and is currently head writer at The Onion . He also contributes to McSweeney's and previously wrote for the Sklar Brothers show Cheap Seats . As well, Seth is 1/4 of the sketch group Pangaea 3000, which can be found performing all over the country. In April, Seth came over the the Brooklyn Wrestling Team apart...

Matt Ruby is a stand-up based in New York whose blog Sandpaper Suit is one of the best resources for discussing the ins and outs of actually writing and performing comedy. Matt also co-hosts Hot Soup, a monthly stand-up show at UCB East and tours around the U.S. performing at clubs and festivals like SXSW and Bridgetown. Two weeks ago, we discussed his early creative experiences on Beginnings prop...

Holy Habitat for Humanities! This past Tuesday at UCB East we taped our 50th full episode of Beginnings, and hachi machi - our guests were so nice and funny that waves of good humor spread over the audience like a cool breeze coming from a desert oasis constructed entirely out of Ocean City, Maryland Fudge Factory brand fudge. Jon Glaser (writer on Conan, creator and star of Adult Swim's Delocated...

Matt Ruby is a stand-up based in New York whose blog Sandpaper Suit is one of the best resources for discussing the ins and outs of actually writing and performing comedy. Matt also co-hosts a monthly show at the Upright Citizens Brigade's East Village Theatre and tours around the U.S. performing at clubs and festivals like SXSW and Bridgetown. A few weeks ago, Matt stopped by the Brooklyn Wrestli...

On today's episode, we talk to Dan Klein and Arthur Meyer, the creators of the delightful and odd webseries The Jerry Seinfeld Program and part of the sketch group Pangaea 3000. As well, Dan is a writer for The Onion and previously wrote for Sportsdome , and Arthur is a contributor to The Onion , half of the sketch group Two Fun Men and a writer on Jimmy Fallon . Back in February, Dan and Arthur c...

Hello, Beginningsers! On today's episode we talk to Andy Zaltzman, a writer and stand-up based in the UK. Along with the Daily Show 's John Oliver, he co-writes and co-hosts the podcast The Bugle , a satirical news program. Since 1999, he's performed a new hour of stand-up almost every year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and he's written and performed in a number of BBC Radio programs including...

Holy crumbs, friends! On April 10th, we sat down with some amazng people for our third live episode at UCB East! I hope you're ready to have fun because we have Kevin Allison from The State and the Risk! podcast explaining how his creativity changed after coming out. We also have Daily Show writer Hallie Haglund discussing her steamy re-write of Little Woman. Plus the lovely and wonderful Savoir A...

On this episode, we talk to stand-up comedian and writer Dan St. Germain. With the force of personality of a  literary heavyweight, Dan has made a name for himself appearing on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon and MTV, and writing for Fuse and The Onion , among many others. He's been a "New Face" at the 2011 Montreal Just For Laughs Festival, has been nominated for multiple ECNY awards, and this year...

On this episode of Beginnings Field Guide (Beginnings' sister show, where we have creators walk us through a particular thing they've created), we talk again to Devin Clark, the creator, director and executive producer of Ugly Americans, and if you're not watching that show, you're a stupid ass-beast. Get it? Anyway, on this episode, Devin talks to us about a painting of his called Fire-Breathing...

Devin Clark is the creator, executive producer and director of the fantastic Comedy Central show Ugly Americans, which began its life as an animated webseries called 5ON, which Clark created for CC's Motherload. Clark is responsible for the look and tone of the show, and he began his art career at Syracuse University, where he was a video art major and also created a thrice-weekly comic strip for...

Beginnings Live at UCB East’s second show! On this episode we are joined by the wonderful and funny writers/performers Julie Klausner and Elliott Kalan. Klausner has written for Best Week Ever , is the author of I Don’t Care About Your Band , is host of the podcast How Was Your Week and is the writer and executive producer of a forthcoming NBC series based on the novel Apocolipstick . Kalan is an...

Jodi Lennon is a writer, performer and director based in New York City. Lennon got her start in Chicago performing at Second City, IO, and the Annoyance Theater, and studying under people like Del Close and Dave Pasquesi. In 1995, she co-created and co-starred in the Comedy Central sketch show Exit 57 with Amy Sedaris, Mitch Rouse, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Dinello. Recently, Lennon has produced a...