Matthew Love

Robin Williams (Photo: Henry Holt)

I can’t praise Dave Itzkoff enough for his incredibly well-made biography of Robin Williams. I respect Williams much more than I ever loved his comedy,and even I was completely taken by this vision of Williams’ lifeas much man as legend.

Vulture asked me to round up a few of the things I learned from the book, and here they are…!

10 Things We Learned from the New Robin Williams Biography

John Mulaney and Kenan Thompson in “Lobster Diner” (Photo: Will Heath/NBC)

It was really nice tohave John Mulaney back at SNL, not just as a writer but as a presence in nearly every sketch. I recapped the episode for Vulture and, before his hosting gig, I put together a brief collection of some of his best sketches.

John Mulaney’s 10 Best SNL Sketches
SNL Recap: John Mulaney

And here are my last few recaps. I’ve been remiss:

SNL Recap: Chadwick Boseman
SNL Recap: Bill Hader
SNL Recap: Sterling K. Brown

Photograph: Mathieu Bitton/Netflix

If you love comedy, you’re heard a flood of opinions about Dave Chappelle’s difficult and occasionally rewarding new hours on Netflix. My colleagues from Vulture did a good job of mulling them over:

Dave Chappelle Is Mostly Disappointing in His New Netflix Specials
How Seriously Does Dave Chappelle Want to be Taken?

I got an assignment to look at the positives. The specials, thorny as they are, resisted the listicle treatment but there are, of course, good jokes in here…

Dave Chappelle’s New Netflix Specials: The Best Jokes

Bridget Everett (Photograph: Tawni Bannister / Time Out)

It’s hard to remain closed off and unimpressed with Bridget Everett is running the room. I oncehelped book a variety show for French cultural organization Villa Gillet, and the night of the show, the crowd (which included more than a few quiet French folks) felt staid. They were stunned when Everett barreled into their midst singing “Titties.” Their gasps, their squeals of delight, felt even more hard-earned and delicious than the raucous cheers of those regulars at Joe’s Pub.

I’ve loved her for years, so I was glad to get to write something up for Time Out’s New Yorkers of the Year. This is a longer version of our interview:

New Yorker of the Year 2017: Bridget Everett

Oh, yeah, I also made somesilly predictions for the New Year:

Totally Accurate Predictions for NYC 2018

Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman (Photo: Francois Duhamel/Netflix)

I’ve been terrible about updating lately, but while compiling a bunch of comedy docs for Vulture, I’m reminded of how much I got out of the Netflix “Jim & Andy” doc. The director really makes an interesting argument that Carrey fell in with Kaufman and never reallyreturned to the Carrey persona he created in the early days of his career…

10 Revelations from the Jim Carrey-Andy Kaufman doc “Jim & Andy…”

Vanessa Bayer, Leslie Jones, Kate McKinnon, Alec Baldwin (Photo: NBC)

The good folks at Vulture asked me to pick a few sketches to illustrate why each of the four Emmy-nominatedSNL players have a shot at winning. My thoughts:

Which of These SNL Cast Members Will Win an Emmy?

Geoffrey Aung and Lanna Walsh at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau (Photo: Krista Schlueter)

This summer my pal Krista Schlueter and I went to the City Clerk’s offices for a day to get the feeling of Manhattan’s Marriage Bureau. A really fun and memorable day… and yeah, a rare building in which New Yorkers are all smiles.

What Its Really Like to Get Married at the New York City Clerk’s Office

Natasha Leggero & Moshe Kasher (Photo: Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Comedy Central)

Married comics Natasha Leggero and Moshe Kasher provided Vulturewith some useful advice for anyone traveling with another persona spouse, in particular.

How to Travel with Your Partner from Two Married Comedians

Fun fact: Ourconversation was recorded very early in the morning while I folded upin a rental car parked outside of a motelmy lady was still sleeping in our room. Clearly, I could have been giving my own tips.

Jordan Klepper (Photo: Gavin Bond/Comedy Central)

Had a chat with (now-former) The Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper for Rolling Stone.We talked abouthis new special Jordan Klepper Solves Guns and Trump’s America, naturally, but there are also bits about solving climate change via Snapchat and a grandpa’s bourbon preferences.

Jordan Klepper on Guns…

For Rolling Stone, I talked aboutthe golden era of first-timeTonight Show comics findinga national audience. Ah, when there was but one kingmaker… when there was a kingmaker at all.

Best Comedic Debuts on The Tonight Show