Latest news with #FunnyorDie
Extra.ie
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Meet Jill and Lill: The Comedy Duo rewriting the rules of Irish screens
If you haven't yet met Jill and Lill, odds are the internet already has. The brilliantly chaotic teenage duo, perfectly portrayed by Irish comedy talents Claire Gleeson and Karen Kelly, have been racking up thousands of laughs (and views) since first stumbling onto our screens. Their misadventures are equal parts absurd and oddly relatable, the kind of 'how did we get here?' comedy that sneaks up on you and refuses to let go. If you haven't yet met Jill and Lill, odds are the internet already has. What started as a scrappy web series with a knack for going viral has grown into a bona fide festival darling. Jill and Lill has scooped up awards across the country, from Best Irish Web Series and Best Editing at the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival to Best Picture and acting gongs at the Firehouse Film Contest. Not to mention a feature on LA comedy giant Funny or Die — not bad for two Irish gals and their knack for mischief. Now, Gleeson and Kelly are stepping into living rooms across the country, and we couldn't be more excited. The brilliantly chaotic teenage duo, perfectly portrayed by Irish comedy talents Claire Gleeson and Karen Kelly, have been racking up thousands of laughs (and views) since first stumbling onto our screens. Their latest short, Jill and Lill Do Knick Knacks — a delightfully dark caper that begins with a harmless prank and ends in, well, manslaughter — is making its television debut tonight on RTÉ2's Short Screen slot. Mischief has never looked so polished. caught up with Claire and Karen, quickly dubbed the 'Female Young Offenders' for their razor-sharp banter and lovable delinquent energy, to chat about what it means to make comedy in Ireland right now. Between laughs, the duo spoke about carving out their own lane in a scene that's still finding its feet, and the small but mighty crew that has helped Jill and Lill punch far above its weight. From long nights in the edit suite to friends doubling as extras, it's a testament to the dedicated team behind the chaos that the series has resonated so widely. 'When we initially filmed the first sketch we had no intention of making any more,' Karen divulged. 'As we began to film more and more sketches myself and Claire filled out all the missing pieces for these girls. There was an ongoing conversation about their back stories, relationships to their parents, favourite colours, dress sense and of course their signature hair styles.' Claire and Karen are quick to credit writer, director and editor Keith Jordan, who not only shaped the world of Jill and Lill but also gave them free rein to push the characters into their most outrageous and funniest territory. Their misadventures are equal parts absurd and oddly relatable, the kind of 'how did we get here?' comedy that sneaks up on you and refuses to let go. 'Keith knows how to write to our strengths, and similarly we have a short hand on set and know how Keith will edit the shots together, we understand the rhythm of the lines Keith writes. It is very much a collaborative project,' Karen added. Jill and Lill feel refreshingly real; messy, mischievous, and gloriously unpolished and a welcome departure from the stereotypes of young women that so often dominate Irish screens. 'I think Jill and Lill reminds us of the terrifying and disastrous nature of our own teenage-hood,' Claire laughed. 'Back before mobiles filled every bored moment and the mind was 'a playground open all hours' as Jill says. It's the kind of viewing that highlights the core moments of adolescence that are interchangeable throughout different generations.' 'I love being a part of projects that challenge the status quo and Jill and Lill couldn't be more different to anything else on the Irish market at the moment. Keith's writing jumps off the page moving like a runaway freight train and always has me laughing out loud from the first read. We have been playing these characters for a while now and what we have come to learn is there is a definite audience for it. Comedy is so desperately needed in today's world,' she continued. 'Jill and Lill is an absolutely wild ride and is truly unpredictable. Amongst the wonderful nuanced drama Ireland boasts, it offers something completely unique in the comedy market.' What began as a grassroots operation with a ragtag crew is now holding its own on Irish television, and the girls couldn't be happier. Karen explained: 'We have a great group of people involved that are really passionate about filmmaking but to be honest, the best thing about filming these sketches is that we all get to hang out as friends. 'Collaboration is the cornerstone of how we work and everyone's voice on the team is valued. Keith is always open to us trying things in character which is such a joy for an actor,' Claire mused, following on from Karen's point. You can catch 'JILL AND LILL DO KICK KNACKS' on RTÉ2 at 11.45pm as part of their Short Screen Programme.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
These Are The Funniest (And Most Absurd) Internet Reactions To Pete Hegseth Adding A Journalist To A Secret War Plans Group Chat
Earlier today, the Atlantic published a story about Fox & Friends Weekend co-host turned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that would be a huge, huge, huge scandal if it were any other administration, but with this one, we just call it a Monday. In the story, the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, revealed that he had been added to a Signal group chat by Hegseth called "Houthi PC Small Group." The group chat included 18 other Trump administration officials who discussed a secret war attack against the Houthi in Yemen. This a significant security breach, so much so that Goldberg thought it wasn't real. As the Guardian points out, Signal is not authorized by the US government to share sensitive information. So the fact that they are using it raises a lot of other issues. Needless to say, people are shocked, but they are probably also not too surprised that something like this would happen. So, I rounded up some of the funniest Twitter (X) reactions to this spectacular train wreck of a security breach: Editor's Note: We dive into X so you don't have to scrub your eyeballs afterward. Here's the good stuff we found floating in the chaos. 1. Twitter: @AmosFromWV 2. Twitter: @ItsMattsLaw 3. Twitter: @offbeatorbit 4. Twitter: @jameslineky 5. Twitter: @acnewsitics 6. Twitter: @rahkothari 7. Twitter: @dylanmatt 8. Twitter: @gldivittorio 9. Funny or Die / Via Twitter: @KarinaVinnikova 10. Twitter: @PeterTwinklage 11. Twitter: @LittleMammith 12. Twitter: @lionel_trolling 13. Twitter: @theemmamont 14. HBO / Via Twitter: @lizchar 15. Twitter: @joeygllghr 16. Twitter: @DaniellaMicaela 17. Twitter: @kenklippenstein 18. The Atlanic / Via Twitter: @PhillyD 19. E! / Via Twitter: @dieworkwear 20. Twitter: @Betches_Sup So there you have it, folks. When he isn't busy deleting the word "gay" from the Defense Department, Hegseth is blowing up the group chat! As always, sound off below because, truly, this feels straight out of Veep.
New York Times
27-02-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
What to Do in New York City in March
Comedy 'Drunk Black History' Derek Waters had an epiphany: Alcohol can make history more interesting and funnier. So in 2007 he created 'Drunk History' by plying his friends with liquor, recording them as they channeled their inner Jon Meachams and having comedians re-enact the resulting stories. The series gained traction through Funny or Die's website and YouTube channel, eventually moving to Comedy Central, where it remained until 2019. As 'Drunk History' was wrapping up, Brandon Collins started putting his own spin on the concept, hosting live events in New York that focused on the storytellers and their boozy recollections of overlooked moments in Black history. Since then he has grown 'Drunk Black History' into a podcast as well as a touring show, with upcoming gigs in Austin, Boston and Detroit. But before Black History Month comes to a close, Collins will present a round of inebriated tales of African American greatness at Littlefield in Brooklyn, with the sports commentator Bomani Jones and the comedians Sarah Cooper, Charles McBee and Onika McLean. Tickets are $25 in advance and $30 on the day of the show on the club's website. SEAN L. McCARTHY Music Diana Ross When Diana Ross presented Kendrick Lamar with the Grammy for song of the year earlier this month, the rapper's triumph was tempered by reverence: He bowed to his elder and started his acceptance speech by declaring himself star-struck. He's not alone. Undeniable star power has kept Ross, now 80, in the spotlight for over six decades. In the 1960s, she was the buoyant lead voice of the Supremes, anchoring Motown classics like 'You Can't Hurry Love' and 'Stop! In the Name of Love.' She recorded silky soul tunes and reintroduced herself as a movie star in the '70s, then carried the torch of disco into the '80s with her Chic-produced triumph 'Diana.' More than a dozen albums later, Ross continues to tour regularly. In 2015, she played the inaugural show for the rechristening of Kings Theater, and this weekend she returns there to celebrate the 10th anniversary. Tickets start at around $100 on the theater's website. OLIVIA HORN Zwilich's Double Quartet What's better than one string quartet? Why two, of course. Such enhanced string power fosters new relationships among the instruments and players, which will be on display at this concert by the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on Sunday. It starts contentiously with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Double Quartet, which she wrote for the Chamber Music Society soon after she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for music. The work pairs two string quartets, which at first battle each other and then join forces, all in Zwilich's spiny, vigorously dissonant style. As for the other pieces on the bill, Louis Spohr's Double Quartet No. 1 in D minor picks a clear leader — the first violin of the first quartet — and offers a sprightly charm; Max Bruch's posthumously published String Octet in B-flat major swaps a cello for a double bass; and in Olli Mustonen's Nonet II, the double bass remains in the conversation, one full of singing melodies and luscious, loamy harmonies. Tickets start at $35 on the society's website. GABRIELLE FERRARI Kids Crankies Take New York! Crankies may sound like an affliction that strikes children when they're underfed, overstimulated or just plain bored. But crankies are actually an art form, and this weekend they should make young people smile. Popular during the 19th century, these handmade narrative tools consist of a box containing two spools and an illustrated scroll. A storyteller or singer winds a crank that unfurls the scroll, providing pictures for a tale or ballad. Hosted by Emily Schubert, the festival Crankies Take New York! will include performances at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday that are geared more toward adolescents and grown-ups, and a Sunday master class just for adults. Saturday afternoon, however, is a kid-oriented extravaganza. At 1 p.m. that day, young artists can participate in a make-your-own-crankie workshop, using cardboard and drawing materials. At 2 p.m., they can enjoy the 'Witchy & Weird Crankie Show for Families,' in which Josh Kohn, Nasaria Suckoo and Randy Chollette will relate a Caymanian ghost story; the Boxcutter Collective will join Charming Disaster for a tale about a haunted lighthouse; and the Lantern Sisters will perform a spooky fiction about cats. The children's workshop is $5 with a ticket stub from any performance; it is free for adults accompanying young participants as well as members and their children. Show tickets start at $8. LAUREL GRAEBER Film Tales From The New Yorker The New Yorker is celebrating its centennial this year, and this Film Forum series shows that the magazine has influenced movies for nearly that long. All the titles are, in one way or another, connected to its pages. In 'Adaptation' (screening on Friday and Saturday), derived by the screenwriter Charlie Kaufman from Susan Orlean's book 'The Orchid Thief,' which originated as an article in the magazine, the joke is that New Yorker stories aren't obviously the stuff of exciting cinema. For 'Shadow of a Doubt' (on Saturday and Tuesday), Alfred Hitchcock hired Thornton Wilder, fresh off 'Our Town,' to write the screenplay. But later, as he told François Truffaut, the longtime New Yorker contributor Sally Benson was brought in to 'inject some comedy highlights that would counterpoint the drama.' And shortly before it was published in English, Milan Kundera's novel 'The Unbearable Lightness of Being' was excerpted in the magazine. The screen version, which stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Lena Olin and Juliette Binoche, plays on Saturday and Monday. BEN KENIGSBERG Theater 'English' The winner of the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for drama, Sanaz Toossi's quiet comedy is set in an Iranian classroom, where a group of adults is learning English from a teacher who once lived abroad, and dreaming of inhabiting different lives. Knud Adams, who staged the exquisite Off Broadway production in 2022, directs the original cast. Read the review. 'Gypsy' Grabbing the baton first handed off by Ethel Merman, Audra McDonald plays the formidable Momma Rose in the fifth Broadway revival of Arthur Laurents, Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's exalted 1959 musical about a vaudeville stage mother and her daughters: June, the favorite child, and Louise, who becomes the burlesque stripper Gypsy Rose Lee. Directed by George C. Wolfe, with choreography by Camille A. Brown, the cast includes Danny Burstein, Joy Woods, Jordan Tyson and Lesli Margherita. Read the review. 'Hell's Kitchen' Alicia Keys's own coming-of-age is the inspiration for this jukebox musical, which won two Tonys. Studded with Keys's songs, including 'Girl on Fire,' 'Fallin'' and 'Empire State of Mind,' it's the story of a 17-year-old girl (Maleah Joi Moon, last year's winner for best actress) in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, growing into an artist. Directed by Michael Greif, the show has a book by Kristoffer Diaz and choreography by Camille A. Brown. Read the review. 'Maybe Happy Ending' Robot neighbors in Seoul, nearing obsolescence, tumble into odd-couple friendship in this wistfully romantic charmer of a musical comedy by Will Aronson and Hue Park, starring Darren Criss and Helen J Shen. Michael Arden ('Parade') directs. Read the review. Art 'Harmony & Dissonance: Orphism in Paris, 1910-1930' Sprawling, mood-lifting and masterpiece-studded, this exhibition confers a thrilling sharpness on a movement that has long been a blur. This first in-depth look at Orphism brings together about 80 works by 26 artists that mostly date to the enchanted years preceding World War I, an upbeat time when inventions ranging from incandescent lightbulbs to the first cars and airplanes were leading artists to rethink their mission. You may think that Picasso and Braque had already answered the question adequately through their Cubist canvases. But no, not to the Orphists, who sought to infuse the dun-hued planes of cubism with rapturous color. Read the review. 'Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy' This reconstruction of a fair held in Hamburg, Germany, in the summer of 1987 — complete with carnival rides decorated by artists such as Kenny Scharf and Jean-Michel Basquiat, which are unfortunately cordoned off — reserves its greatest pleasures for visitors with more art-historical tastes. Crammed with informative wall texts, this event — or is it an exhibition? — documents, but barely recreates, a long-lost cultural experiment that 'blurred the lines between art and play.' Thirty-seven years later, at the Shed, those lines stay largely well defined. Most everything stays ensconced on the 'art' side. The whole thing feels weirdly peaceful, hardly the midway I expected. Read the review. 'Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon' Africa is unmistakably among the few direct references to global culture in this show, which covers Lemon's work from roughly the past two decades. But it's his encounters with American culture that really seem to grip him, as is evident in a recent and continuing series of large ink-and-paint drawings. There's also a quick picker-upper in his body-and-mind-blaster of a performance video called 'Rant (redux).' In it, eight stellar dancers leap, dive, writhe and vogue to a high-decibel score by the artist Kevin Beasley, while Lemon himself, the work's choreographer, shout-reads words by Angela Davis and other liberationist thinkers. Read the review.
