Talking to Strangers

Stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress talks Chris Rock and 30 Rock

Before Hannibal Buress started doing stand-up comedy at 19 in Chicago, he wanted to be the “black Howard Stern.” Since then he’s written for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock and has appeared on Louie, Conan and Jimmy Kimmel Live! In 2012, he released his first Comedy Central special “Animal Furnace,” and now he’s working on his new web series Talking to Strangers, in which he interviews musicians like The Root’s Questlove. Just don’t ask him when it premieres, because, well, he has no idea.  Continue reading 

Not the Nerd Table

The dapper literary humorist and comedian reflects on writing, the biology of laughter and high school

Mustachioed Renaissance man John Hodgman has accomplished pretty much everything a nerd-dandy could ever want: doling out advice for McSweeney’s, serving as humor editor for The New York Times Magazine, contributing to This American Life, appearing on The Daily Show, Battlestar Gallactica and Community, and writing a trilogy of deliciously fictional almanacs. Now, he takes on stand-up comedy, or his own esoteric, foppish version of it. Continue reading 

Robin Williams at the Hult Center

If the reach of your Robin Williams fandom extends no farther than Mrs. Doubtfire, then sorry to say it, but shame on you. While the old-school comic-turned-actor has made a lucrative career out of his (often family-friendly) portrayals on the silver screen, it should never be forgotten that his stand-up shows are iconic. Dancing from voice to absurd voice, bit to feverish bit, alcoholic yearning to reformed learning, Williams’ stand-up is near unmatched. Continue reading