Comedy | ShowbizMonkeys.com

Interview: Matt Walsh of Spike TV's Players and the Upright Citizen's Brigade

Posted by Paul Little | Tuesday, June 29, 2010 @ 6:44pm

Matt Walsh has been a staple of the comedy scene for over a decade, appearing in countless television shows and movies such as The Daily Show, Dog Bites Man, Old School, Role Models, and The Hangover. And like many of today's top comedy names, he didn't get his start in stand-up, but rather in improv.

But Matt Walsh isn't just any improv comedian. In the early 90s, he joined fellow improvisers Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, and Matt Besser in the Chicago comedy troupe The Upright Citizens Brigade, and the foursome later relocated to New York City, landing on Comedy Central with an eponymous sketch show. Around the same time, they opened up their own theatre in New York, and after establishing it as the premiere venue for improv and sketch instruction and performance in New York, opened up a second theatre in Los Angeles in 2005.

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Late night talk show guests: May 31-June 6

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, May 31, 2010 @ 9:58pm

It's mostly repeats this week in late night land. Tonight, for instance, is all repeats south of the border, as it's Memorial Day (the only non-repeat is CBC's The Hour with George Stroumboloupoulos). But The Daily Show and The Colbert Report are back from a little more than 2 week hiatuses on Tuesday (and oh how we've missed them), while Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson have new episodes later on in the week.

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Late night talk show guests: May 17-23

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, May 17, 2010 @ 10:52pm

Hello, friends! So how was your weekend? Good times? Up here in Winnipeg, the weather was gorgeous all weekend, so Saturday I did some car-aoke and Sunday was spent out at the park for some football and BBQ. Even though the calendar doesn't say so yet, it's so great that summer's here!

But with the summer comes the end of the broadcast television season. Some shows are ending for the season, and some are ending for good. And if you're as big a fan of Lost as I am, then you're well aware that this is the last week of that epic show EVER. After 6 seasons, there are only 3.5 hours (minus commercials) of Lost left, with Part 1 of the finale airing tomorrow night and Part 2 airing on Sunday night to close out the series. Because of this monumental television event, most of this week's must-watch list is Lost-related. We'll be back to our regularly-scheduled list of comedians and great character actors and actresses next week.

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Late night talk show guests: May 10-16

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, May 10, 2010 @ 10:24pm

So did any of you watch the 60 Minutes with Conan O'Brien last Sunday? There wasn't anything particularly revelatory in the interview, though it was nice to see that he could still find the levity in the situation and realize that while the whole Tonight Show/NBC push-out sucked for him, it wasn't the end of the world. (It would've been nice for him to mention how it definitely affected his moderately-paid staff, though it's very possible he did and it was cut from the interview.)

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See the hilarious Tig Notaro (and friends) live at Largo in L.A. on April 30th!

Posted by Paul Little | Tuesday, April 27, 2010 @ 2:42am

If you're like me (and I know some of you are), you love to seek out comedy wherever you can. It's the main reason why I watch so much late night television -- it's a great place to see great comedy every night. And while you'll (usually) get great comedy from the shows' hosts and their writers, we're really lucky when a stand-up comedian performs. One performer who's made the rounds on many late night shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, is one of the best deadpan comics out there, Tig Notaro.

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Late night talk show guests: April 26-May 2

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, April 26, 2010 @ 10:12pm

This week is mostly repeat-free, so a big "hooray!" from me for that. There was nothing very interesting over the last week in late night television (besides phenomenal stand-up and Saturday Night Live writer John Mulaney doing a piece on SNL's Weekend Update last Saturday!!!), so tonight's post is just about who not to miss this week.

With every show at least partially new this week, there are definitely more than just 5 guests to check out, but I'll give you my Top 5 and then you can figure out the rest on your own.

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Late night talk show guests: April 19-25

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, April 19, 2010 @ 11:04pm

Unfortunately, I don't have time this week to do a write-up for what not to miss this week, or of anything else, for that matter. I'm putting on a big event tomorrow night, and it's taken up most of my time the last little while (with tonight/tomorrow being the busiest of all -- have you ever made over 100 milkshakes before?!).

However, I don't want to leave you all hanging (and by that, I mean going to another site that isn't ours to get your late night listings, so I still have the complete list of guests for you to check out below. I'll be back with my Top 5, and other ramblings, next week!

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Late night talk show guests: April 12-18 (and Conan is coming to TBS!)

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, April 12, 2010 @ 2:41pm

So the news just hit this morning, on the day he and his crew begin their 2-month "Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television" tour: Conan O'Brien will have a late night show on TBS beginning in November. George Lopez' show Lopez Tonight, which began last fall and surprisingly picked up big ratings in the younger demos, will move to midnight to allow Conan's new show to air at 11pm ET. And before people start comparing it to the NBC/Leno/Conan timeslot dispute, not only is Lopez Tonight not even close to the same thing as a late night institution like The Tonight Show, but Lopez was actually the one to get Conan to seriously consider going to TBS, calling Conan last week to give him the extra push to come to TBS.

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Derek Seguin, Steve Patterson, Hot Thespian Action, and other highlights from the 2010 Winnipeg Comedy Festival

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, April 12, 2010 @ 6:08am

Last April, I was gearing up for the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. As a giant comedy nerd, any chance to see some of my favourites perform without me having to leave my hometown is a great thing. I received a Media Pass in order to cover the fest for ShowbizMonkeys.com, and was elated to find out one of my all-time favourite stand-ups, Mark Maron, was one of the comedians coming to town. On the Wednesday night to start the festival, I attended the Winnipeg Show, a collection of comics with local ties, and it was great. I thought nothing of the little cough I had that night. By the middle of the night, though, the cough had turned to a full-on flu of some kind, and I ended up spending the rest of the weekend lying in bed, wishing my face would stop emitting such strange-coloured fluids.

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Late night talk show guests: March 29-April 4

Posted by Paul Little | Monday, March 29, 2010 @ 4:01am

Sorry folks! I was quite sick last Sunday, and with several shows airing repeats, I took that as an opportunity to get more sleep on Sunday and Monday (thus not posting these updates). I realize that it's probably not the best excuse, but it is mine none-the-less. However, I'm feeling better (as you would have been able to tell if you saw that I posted my Survivor recap), and so here is this week's list of guests!

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