Trivia Club

TRIVIA CLUB COMEDY 100 : Announcement and CALL FOR BALLOTS

Welcome to the inaugural Trivia Club Comedy 100, a crowd-sourced, community-voted list that looks to rank funny people from the last calendar year on their merits as performers in the world of comedy.

Comedy is subjective, different things are funny to different people. I want to see where the similarities and differences lie and where it all might intersect. And I don’t think I’m the only one!

This past year in the pages of GQ, the magazine put out their annual comedy issue, highlighting the 15 funniest people. Now as a fan of lists and a champion for the undervaluing of comedy as an art form (looking at you, Academy Awards) I was looking forward to what Gentlemen's Quarterly had to offer! As it turns out... not as much as I hoped. Sure, Louis CK got that deserved #1 spot (I will not be the only person who thinks this, natch, but I'm excited to see who DISAGREES) and Amy Schumer got her appropriate praise for one hell of a year... but a lot of my gripes have to do with even calling it a ranked list. If you're going to involve the cast of Silicon Valley, and use up five spots, have the gall to rank ‘em at least, editors of GQ!

All that said, GQ is still one of the good guys, they're putting comedy on a national pedestal, giving it the kind of ink that a cultural cornerstone deserves! With GQ's Comedy Issue as inspiration, and with the comedy intelligentsia I've come to know in Toronto being the fire lit under my butt (heh, butt), let's work together to make a list that hyper-aware, over-specific, pop culture savants such as myself will spend hours picking apart in minutia! Oh and of course, thank you to TH over at TWB on influencing the structure of the TCC 100 (read his blog, he’s on pare with Shoemaker and Stroud)!

Participation in this list will be open to anyone who wants to join in on the fun. How does one participate in generating the final list? Thanks for asking:

The TCC 100 is based solely on comedic PERFORMANCE. There are a lot of hilarious writers, directors, and producers, but this list looks to celebrate the performance aspect of comedy. Performers include those in improv, sketch, stand-up, stage, song, film, television, and podcasts. Yes, all comedic performances across all audio and video formats, live or recorded. So yes, this includes Vine and other social media video but does NOT include twitter and other social media writing. They can also be local AND international, since the concept of the TCC 100 is in its infancy, DIVERSITY in ballots is a WELCOME sight. Though one more time, try your best to keep your ballot filled with comedy performers.
Since this is the first run for the TCC 100, what’s in consideration for any given comedian’s output can be a bit more bendable then it will be on future editions of the TCC 100. Suffice to say we’ll be looking at the funny from the start of October 1^st, 2013 to the end of October 31^th, 2014.
Ballots shall have a minimum of 25 comedians named in order and a maximum of 100 comedians named in order. Ballots between those two numbers inclusive will be accepted with no questions, as long as they are ranked in order. Ballots with 24 or fewer and unordered ballots will be thrown out. Ballots with 101 or more will be pared down to 100.
If you want to list a comedic duo, troop, cast, you must list the individual members and NOT the collective. So, if you want to include Broad City, then list Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer as separate entities. Not “Broad City” as one entry. All entries for a collective of comedians will be ignored on said ballot (or at the very least, you will be e-mailed for clarification).
No eligibility requirements for submission of a ballot are in place. As long as the submitter likes and has watched comedy in 2013/2014, they're allowed to submit. The final list will be disseminated via slow release on the Trivia Club blog, through the facebook page, and potentially on our podcast network, with blurbs written by ballot submitters. If you are interested in writing for the release, please let me know with your ballot. Your blurbs should be at least one paragraph explaining why you voted for that particular comedian.

So yes, send those ballots to russelharder AT gmail DOT com or facebook message either Russel or Trivia Club!

The DEADLINE for BALLOTS is NOVEMBER 1^st, 2014!

Remember if there are no right or wrong answers, comedy more then any other art is a form of personal taste. Or so they say, even though I know what’s funny is what’s REALLY funny!

Submit your ballots, share the TCC 100 with your comedy world, let’s make some controversial choices people!

Russel Harder hosts Trivia Club in Toronto at Cardinal Rule (5 Roncesvalles Ave) every WEDNESDAY, at Hitch (1216 Queen St East) every SECOND and FOURTH MONDAY of the month, Handlebar (159 Augusta Ave) on the FIRST TUESDAY of every month, and Lou Dawg's (76 Gerrard St E) on every other TUESDAY!

No comments

, by Russel Harder

Andy Samberg

Saturday Night Live Fantasy League: Season 39 Retrospective x SEASON 40 INVITATION

Remember how a FANTASY LEAGUE for SNL was a thing?!

It's still a thing! Trivia Club will be bringing that wonderful mash-up of comedy, sports, and maths back for another season of the sketch comedy institution on it's unprecedented 40th year. And in connection with promoting an OPEN INVITATION to all those who would like to take part in Season 40 of the Saturday Night Live Fantasy League, after seeing how much fun we all had last year, let's celebrate the winner of the inaugural season of play, the first name on the Phil Hartman Trophy... Matthew Smith, GM of The Ignorant Sluts!

Matthew Smith (with the Phil Hartman Trophy), pictured with Trivia Club's (bow-tied) host Russel Harder

Yes, as it has been noted in prior SNL Fantasy League posts, The Ignorant Sluts had a strong season anchored by Cecily Strong and team MVP Kate McKinnon. Though it was the season finale from SNL alum Andy Samberg that won the season, for a team that has already lost one of the names written on the trophy to the featured cast chopping block (though Milhiser DOES have an awesome Bruce Willis story). I won't get into details for the planned adaptations to Season 40, but suffice to say everything up to and including the finale has given us all ideas on what to add to and how to change Fantasy League SNL to make it all the more exciting!

OH and also, back to the Phil Hartman Trophy...

Almost as unfortunate as the choice of team name, was being contractually obligated to
award a trophy I lost on the LAST EPISODE (I'm totally a good loser, you guys)

As you can see, we were able to celebrate the event in person at Toronto's Cardinale Rule restaurant, the original home of Trivia Club... and the manager of The Ignorant Sluts was even able to take home not only that gorgeous Phil Hartman Trophy but ALSO, in the tradition of Trivia Club, a Golden VHS tape! A League of Their Own Golden VHS tape! But seriously, lookit that Phil Hartman Trophy!

Enjoy the Season 39 Retrospective podcast from our Deep Thoughts podcast hosted by Rob Moden, featuring a wonderful collection of league members, if you haven't already! This seems like the best time to officially promote it.

And yes there is also an OPEN INVITATION to all those looking to compete in the SNL Fantasy League! Not only will the original league members compete in the planned Repertory League but we'll also have at least one Featured League for all your new shining happy faces! So let us know you want to play, and let us know your team name!

The Repertory League Draft will be held some time in late August or early September, and it is planned to be taped for the enjoyment of the listening public, while the Featured League Draft is still TBD but will no doubt adapt to those interesting in becoming involved in the league. More information will be added on the blog, our twitter and/or our facebook page within the next month. We look forward to having you around for our second season of SNL Fantasy League, just as much as we're personally looking forward to the fortieth season of Saturday Night Live!

For a refresher on the general rules, format, and run down of Saturday Night Live Fantasy League simply click the highlighted text. Though these things are set to be adapted and tweaked, they won't become unrecognizable. Any other question can be taken up with our lawyer...