On the Emmy red carpet last night, the World's Best Person, Tina Fey, revealed that the much-anticipated and buzzed live episode of 30 Rock this season will star Jon Hamm (presumably reprising his role as the hilariously inept and hook-handed Drew) and some other possibly very famous star. In addition, Paul Giamatti is going to show up as a grouchy editor from Staten Island, which certainly promises to involve sullenness and stuttering of hilarious proportions!

The Emmys last night provided some lows and highs. I know a lot of people find award shows dull, but I personally tend to enjoy them. I think Jimmy Fallon did a very decent job hosting (especially in the opening Glee spoof song and dance number, which included Jorge Garcia, Jane Lynch, Tina Fey, and Jon Hamm <3) and Ricky Gervais' presenting ("Face it, we're all Bucky Gunts here.") really made up for all the people phoning it in. 

After eight seasons (really? I guess I really haven't been watching SNL much throughout the oughts), Will Forte is departing Saturday Night Live, citing the immortal excuse that he wants to pursue other projects. He was never my favorite cast member, but he certainly wasn't my least favorite, which I guess is something. Leaving SNL for Hollywood is a time-honored tradition for the show's cast members. Sometimes it pays off spectacularly (see: Eddie Murphy, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Tina Fey, Steve Martin, Bill Murray), but oftentimes it does not (see: Almost every other ex-SNL castmember).

People give Michael Ian Black a lot of crap. Sure, he's usually known for supplying snark on I Love the '__s shows and his style isn't for everyone, but he really has a solid history of good comedy. His best work includes The State, Stella (which popularized the "comedy suit"), Wet Hot American Summer, his excellent book of essays, My Custom Van, and looking a little like Bruce McCulloch from Kids in the Hall. In addition to that, he was one of the first comedians to hop on the Twitter train and has a consistently funny, intelligent blog.

I just started screaming at the guy. Screaming. I don't even know what I was screaming, although the gist was, "How dare you compare Hitler to this president or any president? How dare you equate what he did with Obama is doing? Do you have any idea how insulting that is? Do you know anything about history? Do you have any idea what Hitler did? He killed six million of my people, which is six million more than Obama has killed. You're a fucking idiot. You're a fucking moron. You're the fucking problem with this country. You and your reflexive retardation. You're a fucking this-and-that..." and then I just basically started yelling "fuck" a lot at the guy. Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Then he stood up and left.

It felt really, really great.

But now I feel bad. I feel bad because, in retrospect, that guy didn't deserve that. Yes he said something incredibly stupid, but my response was just as stupid. I could have made my point a million different ways without screaming into a microphone in a room filled with drunk people. I wasn't clever, I wasn't thoughtful, I said nothing that would move the conversation forward. I just yelled because Nazis push my Jew button (my Jew button is located right below my tail).

I get why he feels bad about it. I'm sure I would feel the same. But nevertheless it's nice to see people on the liberal (or just not insane) part of the spectrum show that they have the same passion as the kind of people who make Hitler analogies. So often comedians are the only ones with the balls to stand up to such absurd ignorance because everyone else who may want to denounce it is either raised to value civil, intelligent debate or too worried about alienating some of their fan/voter base.

Elegant Readings With Michael Ian Black: TACO PARTY - watch more funny videos

Yes, this blog has been pretty quiet for the past week or so, but that's because nothing new has happened in the comedy world, as well as nothing funny at all! It's true! You don't believe me? Well, this is a blog about comedy, so I must know what I'm talking about.

Too many comedies are normal movies (three act plot, antagonist, protagonist, struggle, and conclusion) but with a "zany twist." As in, "this is a movie about weddings, but where there'd normally be a groom in this movie there's an ape (laughter)!" It's the Hilarity Ensues model of plotting. Date Night: a boring couple is mistaken for spies, and hilarity ensues. Couples Retreat: four bad marriages hit the beach, and hilarity ensues. These films draw on a basic subversion of expectations for their humor; the rest is just filigree around the edges.

This is not to say that a straightforward approach to comedy is a bad thing, but it is an easy thing and, in my mind, a tired thing. They've come to feel more like long knock-knock jokes, where the ending is inevitable, even if it is somewhat pleasurable.

The release of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Universal Studios this week is a pleasant reminder of how much fun a movie can be when it dares to be bold. It is fast-paced, bizarrely dreamlike (the maven of this blog said "more dream-like than Inception"), and occasionally presents a point of view that is rather poignant. It is also extremely funny, and you should go and see it immediately.

I'm not one to put much stock in the opinion of the American people, but I think that everyone with half a brain can agree that Felipe Esparza winning Last Comic Standing this season was an outrage. He was consistently the least interesting, witty, and altogether funny comic in the final ten. Every week I was surprised he wasn't kicked off. I should have been clued in when Jonathan Thymius, deliverer of the most inexplicably and exquisitely funny one-liners was eliminated last week. Even so, I held out hope that maybe Myq Kaplan or Tommy Johnagin would take the win.