Category Archives: Industry Buzz

Saturday Night Live’s First Asian-American Cast Member is from Denver!

It is hard to believe that SNL has never had an Asian-American cast member in their 45-season run. This season, Bowen Yang will be joining the legendary sketch show as on-camera talent. Yang, a Smokey Hill High School graduate, started the 2018 SNL season as a writer and finally got his chance to get in front of the lens.  In high school, Yang was voted “Most Likely to Be A Cast Member on Saturday Night Live”. The Las Culturistas host began comedy in Smoky Hill’s improv troupe, Spontaneous Combustion, and eventually moved to New York to attend college at New York University. Yang and Matt Rogers were at Comedy Works last month recording a Las Culturistas live podcast. We are so incredibly proud of Bowen for being the first Asian-American cast member. Denver will always be your home!

NBC’s Sunnyside TO BRIGHTEN Your Day

NBC is bringing a new comedy show to its Thursday night line-up this fall. This series stars some Comedy Works alumni – Moses Storm and Joel Kim Booster. The show is produced by the executives that brought you the widely popular shows, The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Sunnyside depicts the story of a former New York City councilman (Kal Penn) and a group of immigrants that need his help in pursuit of the elusive “American Dream”. Hilarity ensues and the audience is in for a fun, refreshing comedic treat! Sunnyside premieres September 26th!

Comedy Works is Team Coco!

Team Coco is taking over Comedy Works Downtown October 3-5th, 2019! Conan O’Brien is doing something that has never been done before. He is taking over 10 comedy clubs, across the country, all on the same weekend. Over 70 comics will perform – each in their respective cities – simultaneously across the US. Comedy Works Downtown was on the shortlist of clubs handpicked by the Ginja Ninja himself. What is unique about Denver is that we get two headlining comedians in one weekend, whereas most other clubs only have one. Don’t miss Chad Daniels (Thurs 10/3) and Pete Holmes (Friday 10/4 & Saturday 10/5) headlining Team Coco House at Comedy Works Downtown!

Meet The Newest Late-Night Host – Lilly Singh

There is a new face to join the late night television circuit: 31 year-old, Lilly Singh. Lilly is well-known for her YouTube channel that has almost 15 million subscribers. Not only is she an Internet sensation, she is breaking from the traditional stereotyped late-night host. Her new show, A Little Late with Lilly Singh, debuted on NBC September 16th after Late Night with Seth Meyers. In addition to the show, Singh still uploads new content to her YouTube page frequently. Some of her more popular videos focus on topics such as: going back to school, having a bad make-up day, and many more. Be sure to check out her show nightly! You are in for some laughs!

Click HERE to view the official webpage for A Little Late with Lilly Singh on NBC.

Click HERE to visit Lilly’s YouTube page.

LESLIE JONES LEAVES SNL

SNL veteran Leslie Jones is not returning for the upcoming 45th season this fall. Jones started out on the show in 2014 and quickly became a fan-favorite. With this exit, she is slated to host a reboot of the popular game show, Supermarket Sweep. Some popular character impersonations during Jones’ time at the show include parodies of The View (playing Whoopi Goldberg) and special appearances on the highly-popular Weekend Update. She is also in the process of a Netflix original comedy special to premiere in 2020 and the film, Coming to America 2, with Eddie Murphy.

Check out a list of her top sketches on SNL HERE!

Metallica opener, Denver Headliner

Joe Sib did not start doing stand-up the way your average comedian does. In the early ‘90s, Sib’s punk rock band Wax was signed to a major record deal. Just a few years later he started his own indie label, SideOneDummy Records, and launched the careers of many diverse bands. Eventually, Joe began touring a one-man show and started his stand-up career based on stories from his life.

After six years of stand-up, he began opening for comedian Jim Breuer and the two quickly became close. After a couple years together, Sib got a call from Breuer that would change his life. Breuer invited Sib to join him opening for legendary metal band Metallica. The two worked together to put on an opening show like no other. They used a combination of DJing, storytelling, and crowd-work to fire up 40,000 metal heads and sometimes performed for over two and a half hours. Sib once told the band that he had seen them on their Injustice for All tour and was extremely jealous of the people with floor seats. Metallica told Joe to make it up by pulling 10 people from the nosebleeds and giving them floor passes at the end of every show.

Fresh off of the tour with Jim Breuer and Metallica, Joe Sib is headlining Comedy Works November 3rd – 6th

Increasing Sketch Comedy Diversity

The sketch comedy landscape has been evolving the past few years to include a more diverse selection of programs. This is apparent with newer comedic offerings of Los Espookys (HBO), Sherman’s Showcase (IFC), and A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO). More mainstream networks are paying attention too with TBS’ The Last O.G. The increase in diversity helps bring in a wider audience, with more variety to appeal to the average viewer and a fresh take on what is considered funny. Check out a list of our picks below to add something new to your routine!

That 70’s show alums join Nate Bargatze for Abc pilot

Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp (That 70’s Show) are returning back to multi-camera comedy! Nate Bargatze has enlisted the help of Smith and Rupp to play lead roles opposite the comedian. The show, based on Nate’s life, follows him and his wife (Katie Aselton) transitioning from life in hectic Los Angeles to quiet Tennessee to raise his family. The Red and Kitty Foreman actors will play Bargatze’s dad and mom in the ABC pilot. This will be Bargatze’s first time as a leading man in a series and Smith and Rupp’s first time together since wrapping That 70’s Show. The pilot will be directed by University of Colorado Boulder alum Drew Goddard, who has written, directed, and produced many notable TV series and movies. Hopefully the pilot airs on ABC soon, but until then, don’t miss Nate Bargatze live in Denver September 7th, 2019 at the Paramount Theatre! Get tickets here.

2019 40 Most Powerful People In Comedy

The Hollywood Reporter recently polled comedy industry insiders to produce the second annual list of the 40 Most Powerful people in the comedy space for 2019. The list included both comedians and executives that have made a large contribution to the comedy scene this year. People named on this year’s list include Sacha Baron Cohen (Who Is America?), Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen Show), and John Mulaney (Stand-up Comedian). The criteria for the list included the ability to generate laughs, growing TV/film viewership, and providing live comedic events to billions of fans in arenas across the country.

Check out the full list HERE!

Bad boys are Actually Good – “Good boys” movie tops box office

The newest coming-of-age film, Good Boys, has topped the weekend box office charts, estimated to bring in over $20M . This hilarious comedy follows the story of three twelve year old boys as they get ready to attend their first “real” party. It was produced by comedic legend Seth Rogen and his partner, Evan Goldberg , and has received positive reviews from Rotten Tomatoes with an 80% approval rating. Despite being rated-R, the film has also been deemed the biggest original comedy opening of 2019 . It stars Wonder‘s Jacob Tremblay, Saturday Night Live‘s Will Forte, and Lil Rel Howery. Check out the official film trailer from Universal Pictures below!