Noah's Comedy Palace

It took me longer than it should have to catch up with the new edition of Steve Stoliar's 1996 memoir Raised Eyebrows: My Years Inside Groucho's House, published late last year. But I've finally done it. Besides feeling moved to equal portions of laughter and tears, I wonder what took me so long. I

Sunday was the fortieth anniversary of Groucho's 1972 Carnegie Hall concert, preserved on the bittersweet LP An Evening With Groucho. (Actually, the recording draws on two concerts, one at Iowa State University.) Dick Cavett, who introduced the great man at Carnegie Hall, has reflected on the annive

As I've written elsewhere, the Muppets were, in effect, the first comedians I ever loved. I just saw last year's The Muppets for the second time (on DVD), and was reminded of something Jason Segel repeatedly said during promotional appearances for that film: The Muppets were his "gateway drug for co

Woody Allen: A Documentary, which premiered last week on the PBS series American Masters, can now be seen in its entirety on the series' website. Directed by the capable Bob Weide (previously responsible for excellent documentaries about the Marx Brothers and W.C. Fields, as well as numerous episode

I have some truly terrible news for you. Please sit down and prepare yourself for sorrow. Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again, which features these two Modern Comic Heroes together in conversation before a live audience, and premieres on HBO on September 9, is only one hour long. I'm trying

After three comedy albums, four books, four Broadway shows, fifty films, and dozens of miscellaneous side projects like directing operas and touring the world as a jazz clarinetist, Woody Allen really seems to be on a roll. His 2011 film, Midnight in Paris, was a true return to top form, even at th

In 1961, Harpo Marx published his wonderful autobiography, Harpo Speaks, and made the talk show rounds promoting it. (Take a moment to consider the irony of Harpo appearing on a talk show.) One of the shows he appeared on was The Groucho Show (a later incarnation of You Bet Your Life), in a very bri

Did you know that Mel Brooks' first two film projects won Academy Awards? Of course, The Producers, his seminal 1968 debut as screenwriter and director, won a surprise Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Less well-known is The Critic, an animated short released five years earlier. It was directed by

Of all the wonderfully funny characters Larry David has created over the years, perhaps none has been as original or as fully-realized as the character of Larry David. This character is so doggedly irascible, and so incapable of showbiz niceties, that his talk show appearances, like his performance

As regular visitors to the Comedy Palace may recall, back in 2009 I got a little too excited in my anticipation of Whatever Works. As I breathlessly reported then, that film seemed destined to be Woody Allen's great rebirth -- not just a return to form, but a return to comedy form, in what remains h