SF Sketchfest: The San Francisco Comedy Festival runs January 15 - 31, and marks the first time in 12 years all eleven members of The State (Kevin Allison, Michael Ian Black, Robert Ben Garant, Todd Holoubek, Michael Patrick Jann, Kerri Kenney-Silver, Thomas Lennon, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, Michael Showalter and David Wain) will be performing onstage together. [Read More]

CBS loves Rob Riggle. For a third consecutive development season, the network has made finding a starring vehicle for the former Daily Show correspondent a priority. CBS is in negotiations for a half-hour comedy project from Saturday Night veteran Robert Smigel to which Riggle is attached to star. The untitled comedy centers on a gregarious guy (Riggle) who winds up as a real estate agent working for the nerd he made fun of in high school. [Read More]

Sometimes I find it hard to believe a person like Robert Smigel actually exists. He’s made a good living pouring salt in the wounds of popular culture, and he’s done it in ways that are simultaneously hilarious and innovative. There is no other person on earth who can get away with screaming “Asshole!” in Simon Cowell’s face multiple times on national television just because a dog puppet is hovering between them. [Read More]

in 1990, there was an attempt to make an actual theatrical release called "The Saturday Night Live Movie," an anthology comedy film a la "Kentucky Fried Movie" that was aimed at satirizing the experience of going to the movies, written by an all-star cast of writers who have been associated with the show over the years. [Read More]

Just For Laughs Chicago also unveiled a big ol' slate of additional shows for next month's festival, as well as adding shows for Aziz Ansari, putting John Mulaney and Kyle Kinane on the "ALT" show that already boasted Patton Oswalt, Maria Bamford and Chris Hardwick, and put Jim Belushi along with the planned Second City class of 1979 reunion show. [Read More]

With NBC insisting that Conan O'Brien must bid adieu to all characters he showcased and helped create during his talk show tenure at NBC, msnbc recaps highlights from Triumph the Insult Comic Dog's incredible career. [Read More]

Smigel not only was the first head writer for Late Night with Conan O'Brien. he and Stamatopoulos talk a little bit about that -- Dino was Smigel's first hire -- as well as their humble beginnings in comedy. Also, how they came up with the word "crunk" before it became popular for something else. I [Read More]

Robert Smigel began his comedy career in Chicago, and during the 1988 writers strike, Smigel returned to the Windy City and, with fellow SNL striking writers Conan O'Brien and Bob Odenkirk, wrote and produced a revue called Happy Happy Good Show. One of Smigel's sketches portrayed Chicago's super sports fans, which later famously became a recurring sketch on SNL called Bill Swerski's Super Fans, and people across America began emphasizing "Da Bears" and "Da Bulls." [Read More]

Robert Smigel is riding around Bonnaroo, looking for targets. To the 49-year-old comedian behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, the hordes at this Tennessee music festival and the 100-plus bands performing here are ripe for parody. Smigel has come to Bonnaroo to perform as his most famous character, Triumph, the dog puppet with a Borscht Belt schtick that has won over countless fans since first appearing on Conan O'Brien's "Late Night." Smigel performed four sets as Triumph at Bonnaroo, which ann... [Read More]

In spite of its early demise, the show managed to develop a cult following, and it kick-started an ensemble's worth of careers, thanks to a cast and writing staff that included Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., and Charlie Kaufman. The Dana Carvey Show has finally re-emerged in the form of a DVD box set, which includes plenty of deleted scenes, and even an unaired eighth episode. The A.V. Club recently chatted with Carvey and Smigel about Carvey's decision to jump out of the limelight, ... [Read More]