Amy Poehler Gives Birth to Baby #2!

Muchos congratulations to SNL alum Amy Poehler and her husband Will Arnett who welcomed their second son Abel into the world this morning! 
I can't be the only one who wishes Archie was named Cain now, right?

IFC greenlights Fred Armisen series, "Portlandia"

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that IFC has greenlit a series for SNL's Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein and Jonathan Krisel (SNL digital short director). The series, Portlandia, will star Fred Armisen and his ThunderAnt partner Carrie Brownstein, and feature appearances from Parks & Recreation's Aubrey Plaza and Kyle McLachlan. Lorne Michaels will exec-produce the series under his banner Broadway Video while Alison Silverman, formerly of The Colbert Report, will serve as a writer.


The series is described as a show which ""lovingly illustrates the people and values of Portland, Ore.". Shooting will begin in Portland later this month with a debut scheduled for 2011. 

Article about SNL make-up artist Josh Turi

So, this is a neat article about one of SNL's make-up artists Josh Turi who is nominated for an Emmy for his work at the show.  I just think it's cool to look at all the different folks that help make SNL the weekly extravaganza it is. Read the article here. 

In the New York area? Why not head over to The Knitting Factory to attend the album release party for Hannibal Buress' smash comedy album "My Name Is Hannibal". 
Special guests include John Oliver, Reggie Watts, Kurt Metzger and more. More info can be found here. 

Jenny Slate attended the NYLON Guys Issue Launch Dinner Party hosted by Jason Schwartzman and here she is, pictured with Schwartzman. 


Schwartzman and Slate starred alongside one another in Schwartzman's HBO series Bored To Death when Slate played Schwartzman's love interest. She is due to reprise her role when Bored To Death returns for its second season this fall.

Newly-hired SNL writer Shelly Gossman talks about auditioning for SNL

This is a video from last year in which newly-hired Saturday Night Live writer Shelly Gossman discusses auditioning for SNL twice in one year. Enjoy!

John Lutz/Michael Patrick O'Brien interviews

Just alerting you guys to some great interviews from The Apiary with SNL writers Michael Patrick O'Brien and John Lutz. 
O'Brien discusses his one-man show Shatter which he performed at Montreal Just For Laughs, writing for SNL vs writing for Second City and his upcoming foray into stand-up.You can read it here. 
In the interview with John Lutz and his improv partner Pete Grosz, they discuss how they got into comedy, all things improv and how they secured positions as television writers. You can read that one here. 


Enjoy!

Kristen Wiig to voice character on The Simpsons

Yesterday, Fox announced the stars that would be lending their voices to The Simpsons for its upcoming 22nd season. Among the stars are the cast of Glee, Jon Hamm, Hugh Laurie, Ricky Gervais, Paul Rudd, Flight of the Conchords, Rachel Weisz, Mark Zuckerberg, Alyson Hannigan, Martha Stewart, Joe Mantegna, Cheech and Chong and SNL star Kristen Wiig. 
No word yet on the character she'll voice, but naturally I'll keep you posted. 

Shelly Gossman hired to write for SNL

Congratulations to Second City star Shelly Gossman who, according to TimeOut Chicago, has been hired as a writer for the upcoming season of SNL. 


As I posted earlier, an SNL contingent was scouting iO and Second City this past weekend and evidently they liked what they saw in Gossman because she was informed by Michael Patrick O'Brien that she had been tapped to join the writing team at SNL. 


Gossman has been performing in the Second City revue, "Spoiler Alert - Eveybody Dies" and will play her last show August 18 before heading to New York. 


Congratulations, Shelly!

SNL Contingent Scouts Chicago | ChicagoNow.com

Chicago Now is reporting that Lorne Michaels, Seth Meyers and writer/Chicago improv veteran Michael Patrick O'Brien visited iO and Second City in Chicago this past week to scout new talent. The article reports that this year, for the second consecutive year, there was no improvisation. Instead performers were asked to do a 5-minute piece demonstrating their characters - much like the auditions held in Studio 8H every year. A few performers have been called to New York for interviews, but beyond that, everyone's keeping mum! I, of course, will keep you clued in on any hirings and firings I read about!

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