422:
Comedians of Christmas Comedy Special
Originally aired 12.17.2010
The holidays are stressful so we booked a seasonal pick-me-up: an hour of comedy. Including comedians Wyatt Cenac, Mike Birbiglia, Julian McCullough, Jenny Slate, Gabe Liedman and Edith Zimmerman. Musical guests: Dave Hill and Doug Gillard.
Ira Glass plays Christmas jokes told by third graders, collected by producer Jonathan Menjivar. It turns out there really aren't many holiday jokes (although see our blog post for more), but kids are happy to invent them. (5 1/2 minutes)
Wyatt Cenac tells this story about spreading Christmas cheer in Texas. Wyatt is a correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
(13 minutes)
Two very, very short stories by Edith Zimmerman. Edith is the editor of TheHairpin.com.
(2 1/2 minutes)
Despite our nation's attempts to make Christmas all about toys and shopping,
it is still a religious holiday. Mike Birbiglia tells this story about Catholicism and his mother. Mike is author of the memoir Sleepwalk With Me. (8 1/2 minutes)
Comedy duo Gabe Liedman and Jenny Slate disagree about the awesomeness of
Hanukkah... and about the nature of their relationship. Gabe contributes to
videogum.com. Jenny appears in the HBO series Bored to Death. Together they
host a comedy show in Brooklyn, NY called Big Terrific.
(6 minutes)
Act Five. The Fight Before Christmas.
Stand-up comedian Julian McCullough tells this story about heading to someone else's home for the holidays. You can watch Julian's Comedy Central Presents special at his website, julianmccullough.com. (16 minutes)Act Six. The Best Christmas Song Ever, By Dave Hill.
We end our program with an original song by comedian Dave Hill. Dave is backed up on guitar by Doug Gillard of the bands Guided by Voices and Nada Surf. You can download the song by right-clicking (or on a Mac, ctrl-clicking) here. (4 minutes)Some photos from the live show, shot by Alden Ford:
