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Some good things going on:

This sketch was the brainchild of Rob and the fantastic Jeff Sutter:

We all have fantasies. As humans, the desire for things we can't have is embedded in our core. It's what drives us to populate the internet with sexy Kirk and Picard fan fiction. But sometimes, there are some fantasy mash-ups that are so amazing, so explosive that our brains can't even comprehend them.

And sometimes, we discover that those fantasies are real.

Introducing Thunder Ant.

This sketch comedy group is comprised of FRED ARMISEN, the awesome comedian who is currently on Saturday Night Live, and CARRIE BROWNSTEIN, formerly of seminal (yes, I said seminal) lady rock band Sleater-Kinney. One of my favorite comedians is making sketch comedy with a member of one of my favorite bands. Holy shit. And it's good! Oh, it's so good. For example, this quote:

"I can firewalk just across my lawn or my living room, and I firewalk in my bathroom sometimes, just when I get out of the shower..."

My brain is having so many explosions of joy right now.

Last week, I spent a few days home from work with what I called "Sampler Sickness." The sickness gave me a new, independent symptom to try out each day – sore throat the first day, hacking cough the second, and so forth. The last symptom the Sickness gave me was an almost-constant popping in my ears. Since a coworker recently lost part of her hearing to a freak sickness-type-thing, this made me nervous. So I did what all nervous sick people do: turn to WebMD.

After a simple search only turned up articles about ear aches, I went to WebMD's online symptom checker, the thing where you click on the part of your body that is hurting/bleeding/removed. This is the list that came up:

You will notice that popping, a common ear affliction, is not on the list, but TASTING WORDS WHEN THEY ARE HEARD is. Now, synesthesia, the condition that causes people to taste words when they are heard (among other things) totally exists. Some types of it (although NOT the taste/hearing one) are relatively common. But, um, you know what else exists, and, oh, apparently happens ALL THE TIME after colds? GETTING FLUID STUCK IN YOUR EARS.

Can you sue WebMD for malpractice?

Also, I'm told the fluid will drain on its own. For now: pop pop, pop pop pop.

new website screenshot

I made a new website for Meg and Rob Sketch Comedy. It has slightly more information than the old website. Check it out: the new megandrob.net.

My sir tipped me off to this great open letter to Larry the Cable Guy from comic powerhouse David Cross. After Larry devoted a chapter in his new book to talking shit on David Cross and the "P.C. left," Cross bought the book, read it, and came back fighting. It's a great argument. Cross admits he was wrong on certain points, and effectively tears Larry a new one on others. For example, from David's entry:

Okay, here's what I said in the RS interview: "He's good at what he does. It's a lot of anti-gay, racist humor - - which people like in America - all couched in 'I'm telling it like it is.' He's in the right place at the right time for that gee-shucks, proud-to-be-a-redneck, I'm-just-a-straight-shooter-multimillionaire-in-cutoff-flannel, selling-ring tones-act. That's where we are as a nation now. We're in a state of vague American values and anti-intellectual pride."

You took umbrage at my calling a lot of your act anti-gay and racist and said that "...according to Cross and the politically correct police, any white comedians who mention the word 'black' or say something humorous but faintly negative about any race are racists."

Well, first of all, your act is racist. Maybe not all the time, but it certainly can be. Here, let me quote you back, word for word, some of your "faintly negative" humor and I'll let people judge for themselves.

Re: Abu Ghraib Torture -

"Let me ask some of these commie rag head carpet flying wicker basket on the head balancing scumbags something!"

Read the whole entry here.

I've been reading a few comedy and pop culture blogs lately, and while people are quick to condemn Cavemen (with what sounds like good reason) and give the obligatory (and well-deserved) hat-tip to The Office, there's an eerie silence when it comes to Carpoolers. "People!" I want to yell. "People! This is Bruce McCulloch! This is one of the men…may I say, quite possibly the best man? Who changed our comedic lives on The Kids in the Hall!" But nobody who I read regularly is making a peep. So I will.

And I'm disappointed.

It pains me to say that. It's like sticking a little knife into my comedy heart. Bruce McCulloch is one of my top three favorite comedians. But I've watched two episodes of Carpoolers so far, and while I can see bits of Bruce shining out, the plotlines have been stale. For example (spoiler alert), in the second episode, one of the characters is caught sneaking into a motel room instead of going to his office. Why Bruce, why? Are you going to be daring? Are you going to figure out how to really turn the whole "I'm-having-an-affair" piece on its head in an exciting new way? Nope. The guy is sneaking to the hotel room to have alone time. A plot necessity? Yes. Funny? Not really. It's a twist, but a pretty predictable one.

I don't mean to bash the whole show. When Bruce shines through, he really does. There are some absolutely brilliant bits of comedy, and I "LOLed" more than once. But I was really hoping that the man I loved so much for his brilliant sketch ability could easily parlay that ability into an equally brilliant plot-driven show.

The second episode was better than the first, so I'm hoping that maybe Carpoolers will continue chugging forward until it's full-speed at the end of the season. And I do suggest watching. I mean, come on people. It's Bruce.

Man oh man. This video from Picnicface was up on the Comedy Central Insider earlier, and I laughed so hard that I decided it's worth reposting EVERYWHERE THE INTERNET EXISTS. Or at least on this blog.

Tags: comedy video

Recently I've taken quite a liking to jokes that are just lies about totally harmless stuff. This doesn't make much sense to me since I personally hate being lied to, whether it's harmless or not, but I suppose The Comedy does what it wants to do.

Anyway, one of my favorites of these jokes to tell people that Enya is six feet tall. I love this because a) it's very possible and b) people act really surprised when they hear it. Like: "OMG! Are you serious? All this time I've been listening to Enya's music when I've been in those stores at the mall that sell tiny fountains, and I've NEVER known that 'Sail Away' was written and performed by a six-foot-tall woman? Holy shit! Modern science! Explosions!"

Well, I always assumed Enya's height would be one of those things that I never would actually know the answer to, like how people still think it's okay to start wars or why Mind of Mencia got renewed. However, the fine people at Enya.com apparently thought that Enya's height was one of those facts that The People Deserve to Know. And so, in the interest of truth about Irish New Age musicians, I share with you now, good people: Enya is five feet, two inches tall.

Go forth and spread the gospel.

Tags: enya music comedy

It's a bit silly, but I do get a little offended when TV shows and movies feel like they always have to pair nerdy guys with buxom "normal" women in order for a nerd show to be enticing to anyone*. Ken Levine, who has written for a plethora of TV shows, has a pretty funny entry on his blog about the hypothetical conversation between TV execs and writers that spawned this season's nerd shows. For example:

WRITER
You want a nerd who's also a superhero?

NETWORK EXEC
Ooooh, I like that. But he can't have powers that conflict with any of our other superpowers.

WRITER
So that leaves what, he can open a checking account without standing in line?

NETWORK EXEC
What if he's super-smart? You can’t do that with a cheerleader. Super-super-super smart. Like he knows everything that's in every computer in the world. Yeah. There's this program and it gets incorporated into his brain. No wonder the smoking hot chick finds him a catch.

WRITER
There's a smoking hot chick in this one too?

Read the whole entry here.

*The only show that's done a good job with this recently is the IT Crowd in Britain. Jen is amazing.

Here's one the monologues from our last show: