Matthew Love

Julio Torres (Photo: Mindy Tucker)

Rolling Stone asked me to pick 10 young comics to keep an eye on. I really like this crop but, as always, I wish I had more spots to give out…

10 Comedians You Need to Know

Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Amy Poehler

Had a great time mullingSNL’s big season (and history) with Jesse and several other Vulture writers. Here’s a smattering of those stories I wrote or contributed to…

The 7 Paths to Post-SNL Success
The Rapid Rise of Mikey Day
What Was SNL’s Best Era?
Every SNL Impression from Season 42, Catalogued

Duane Johnson on Beck Bennett (Rosalind O’Connor/NBC)

As theSNL season wrapped, I finished my year of recaps for Vulture. Here are the last of the year:

May 20: Duane Johnson for President
May 13: Sean Spicer’s Big Trip to NYC
May 6: Chris Pine Gets Goofy

Cedric the Entertainer & Charlie Murphy (David Buchan/Variety/Rex, HectorMata/AFP/Getty)

Back in April, I got to ask Cedric the Entertainer questions about his friend and tour mate Charlie Murphy, just after Murphy passed. A hard moment, to be sure, but I can’t imagine abetter way to celebrate Murphy, his outlook and his comedy.

Cedric the Entertainer on Charlie Murphy

I catalogued a horde of Trump jokes for New Yorka couple of months ago, a fascinating experience. If anything, it’s just a reminder of how fast things move and how disturbing they are…

A First Draft of History, Told in 117 Days of Trump Jokes

Pete Holmes and Artie Lange in Crashing (Mary Cybulski/HBO)

Pete Holmes and Judd Apatow’s new HBO series premieres this week, and I got the chance to write about it for Rolling Stone. It’s about divorce and the open mic comedy world, but quietly a spiritual quest. Not unlike Holmes’ experiences in the pitch room, all of the longwinded references I made to Joseph Campbell and the Hero’s Journey were (rightfully) deemed excessive.

Inside Crashing: How Pete Holmes Survived Comedy and Live to Tell About It

Richard Pryor from Richard Pryor: Live in Concert

The internet has to be loud and definitive, but every time I make a list like this, I can only think about the compromises we made in the process of putting it together. With this one, I feel like there are about 25 ironclad names and another 25 that might be occupied by 50, even 75 names about whom it’s worth having conversations. (And that sentiment doesn’t make a great headline to click on.)

50 Best Stand-Ups

Anyway, it’s always fun to think about stand-up past and future; I feel like I’ll have to convince my editor to find space to do another addendum for the 25 foundational comedians who opened the door for all of the voice-driven stand-ups on our list.

Illustration: David Perezcassar

Jesse David Fox rounded up a bunch of us to think and write a second part tothe 100 Jokes of Modern Comedy we did last year around this time. We broadened it a bit this time, talking satire and art and even more film. It was fun to ponder, and the whole thing makes my brain make connections it wouldn’t otherwise.

100 More Jokes of Modern Comedy

As a part of it, I talked with Mike Myers about the Wayne’s World “NOT” joke in particular. Apparently, there’s a mathematical formula for the joke. (True.)

Mike Myers on How the “Not” Joke Went from Wayne’s World to Donald Trump

Leslie Jones & Tom Hanks (Photo: NBC/ Rosalind O’Connor)

I think if I told my 14-year-old self, “In the future, you’ll be paid to watch SNL and talk about it,” his brain would have exploded and I wouldn’t be here with you now. Here are the first severalback-to-back SNL episodes, wrapped in tidy bows, for Vulture.

Oct 22: Tom Hanks
Oct 15: Emily Blunt
Oct 8: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Oct 1: Margot Robbie

Rash Dash’s “Two Man Show.” (Photo by the Other Richard)

A few thoughts and notes from my first Edinburgh Fringe. In a word, overwhelming. Easily could have spent the entire month (and all my money) there… but incredibly glad to have the week. And runningaround with the cast of Ghost Quartet and Eliza Bent was delightful.

Finding Magic, Skirting Angst at the Edinburgh Fringe