Pete Holmes and Artie Lange are both respected and beloved stand-up comedians who appear on the HBO show Crashing. Created by Holmes and co-produced and often directed by Judd Apatow, Crashing is a semi-autobiographical sitcom about an aspiring comedian named Pete, who is so obsessed with making it as a stand-up, he neglects his put upon wife who cheats on him, leaving him homeless, pitiful, and at the mercy of more established comedians like T.J. Miller, Sarah Silverman, and Artie Lange. The cast and crew are currently shooting the second season of Crashing and the first season is now available on Blu-ray and DVD for your home viewing pleasure. I recently had the chance to travel to Brooklyn, New York for an event to promote Crashing while also benefitting REALgirl, a program that aims to “help end gender inequality by fostering the ability of girls to discover their truest selves and develop the skills, knowledge, confidence and courage they need to consistently make informed life-choices from a place of self-knowledge, self-love and strength.” So yes, there was a night of stand-up at the Bell House in Brooklyn featuring amazing sets by Pete Holmes, Artie Lange, Dov Davidoff, and Beth Stelling. Earlier that day, I caught up with Pete and Artie for a chat about Crashing. They were on a press junket so I was told I’d only have nine minutes with them. But I think because I flew down from Canada and also because we had a nice rapport, Pete bought me a bit more time. It probably helped that Pete and Artie seemed to like my long, salt and pepper hair. At least Artie liked it; Pete found it sucpicious. You’ll see. I’m a big fan of Pete and Artie’s work, both alone and together, so this was fun. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts.
Weaves is a fantastic, noisy, and infectious rock band based in Toronto, Ontario. In 2016, Buzz Records released Weaves’ self-titled debut album and it went on to be regarded as one of the finest records to ever come out of Toronto and was recently shortlisted for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize. The other day I drove down to the Greater Good bar in Toronto to meet with singer and songwriter Jasmyn Burke, guitarist Morgan Waters, and drummer Spencer Cole to discuss their band and delve into their self-titled record with track-by-track commentary. You’ll hear snippets of each song as we go along. We also got into breaking news, as the band just announced that their follow-up record, Wide Open, will be out October 6, and so we talked about what the new album is like and also the first single, “#53,” which you can hear in its entirety on this show. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts.
Related Playlist: Tick | Birds & Bees | Candy | Shithole | Eagle | Two Oceans | Human | Coo Coo | Sentence | One More | Stress
Anne T. Donahue is an esteemed journalist, columnist, and comedy writer based in Cambridge, Ontario. A bona fide social media superstar, Donahue covers music, television, fashion, film, feminism, and other topics, which she frames from her own compelling and witty perspective. She has worked for MTV and contributed pieces to the Guardian, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, and the Globe and Mail and you might have seen her on E! Celebrity Style Story or heard her on the CBC Radio show, q. Anne first appeared on this show in 2013 and was recently featured on a Long Night episode discussing social media and fame. She’s currently writing a book for ECW Press called Nobody Cares so, since we’re both Cambridge people, she and I met at the 50s Grill & Deli recently and had a deeply personal conversation that reveals a lot about her, a lot about me, and a lot about what she thinks of me and you and all of us. Sponsored by Pizza Trokadero, the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad’s Donuts.
