Fan Fare

So, you think you’re funny? Try this contest

Everybody thinks they’re a comedian — or so goes one of the oldest sayings in showbiz. If you are one of those people in the United States — sitting on the couch after a big Thanksgiving Day dinner wondering what to do with yourself in 2010 — and a career in comedy comes to mind, think about this.

The Improv at Harrah’s Las Vegas, which is affiliated with Los Angeles’ Improv comedy club, has begun a contest to find the “next funniest person” in the US. The contest is being held in conjunction with the release of the movie “Funny People” on DVD and Blu-Ray. To win, you must video yourself for at least one minute performing your best jokes, upload the video to the “Funny People” section of comedy website ijoke, and wait for a panel of pros to pick you — with any luck.  Budd Friedman, who founded The Improv and has helped the careers of Jay Leno, Sarah Silverman, Adam Sandler and others, is one of the people sponsoring the contest, which runs two weeks from Nov. 24 to Dec. 8.

The panel of judges will pick 5 videos that will be posted on ijoke no later than Dec. 14, and people can then vote. From there, three finalists will be chosen and flown to Las Vegas to perform at The Improv at Harrah’s. One winner will be chosen from the group of three and win a grand prize of a six-night gig at the club in 2010 — not too shabby, as Sandler might say.

So, if you are reading this in the States and the turkey has settled in and you’re wondering what’s next. Look in the mirror at that newly rounded stomach of yours and smile. Then, take out your video camera and make the rest of us laugh. For more info, click here.

“Funny People” finds darkness, “G-Force” light at box offices

“Funny People,” the new Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”, “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”) starring Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, failed to perform as strongly at U.S. box offices this past weekend as Apatow’s and Sandler’s most recent movies.

In the Monday morning analysis that always follows weekend box office watching, it would seem that the message about the dark nature of “Funny People” got out — it tells of a standup comedian who learns he is terminally ill – and as audiences have repeatedly shown this past year during the recession, they decided they wanted lighter fare – real laughs, not those that come mixed with tears. “Funny People” took in just $22.7 million, according to final data issued Monday, compared to pre-weekend forecasts that ranged from the low $20 millions to $30 million. You can read our box office story here.

Along that thinking, escapist fantasy “Harry Potter” landed No. 2 with $17.7 million in its third weekend and animated comedy “G-Force,” was close behind at $17.1 million. In only 10 days, “G-Force” has grossed $66.5 million — a nice sum for a movie about a squad of guinea pigs looking to stop an evil billionaire planning world domination. Now that’s funny.

We were out on Hollywood Boulevard again this past weekend to ask people what they thought of the weekend’s new movies. Below is the video in which one fan gives a nod to one of this summer’s indie breakouts, “The Hurt Locker” which is set in Iraq, and that just shows there is an audience for adult-oriented movies with dark themes — just not a mass movie megaplex market.

(video by Marc Price)

Heigl vs. Apatow at box offices, amid snipes

If their comments on Thursday to radio host Howard Stern are any indication, it looks like writer/director/producer Judd Apatow  and his protege Seth Rogen  are still sore over a comment Katherine Heigl  made about their 2007 movie “Knocked Up .” Heigl has said the movie, which she starred-in opposite Rogen, was a “little sexist” because it made women look like “shrews” and men seem “lovable.”

The comment has generated controversy ever since she made it in 2007, with some praising Heigl for taking a feminist stand, and others accusing her of being ungrateful.

On Friday, Apatow’s film “Funny People ,” which stars Adam Sandler and Rogen, opens at theaters and will compete with Heigl’s star vehicle “The Ugly Truth,” which was No. 3 at the U.S. and Canada box offices last weekend with a $27.6 million debut.

On Howard Stern’s show on SIRIUS XM Radio, Apatow and Rogen took some jibes at Heigl and “The Ugly Truth,” which is about a career woman (Heigl) who relies on a boorish man (Gerard Butler) for dating advice, as the two become more than just friends.

“That (movie) sounds like it really puts women on a pedestal in a beautiful way,” Rogen said sarcastically on Stern’s show.

Apatow quipped, ”I hear there’s a scene where she’s wearing … underwear … with a vibrator in it, so I’d have to see if that was uplifting for women.”

How will “Funny People” fare against “The Ugly Truth”? For Apatow, it’s a much more serious movie than his box office hits of recent years, which include “Knocked Up,” “Superbad” and “The 40 Year-Old Virgin.” It’s about a comedian (Sandler) who is diagnosed with a deadly disease and must come to grips with his own mortality. Media reports have suggested Apatow is taking a risk with the film, and it has received mixed reviews, scoring a 65 percent rating on the critic aggregating website Rottentomatoes.com as of Thursday afternoon.

Oops! Studio publishes filmmaker Judd Apatow’s home address

Psst! Want to know where Judd Apatow hangs his hat when he’s not on the lot churning out pictures like “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Knocked Up”? Universal Pictures accidentally included his home address in widely distributed press materials produced for his latest movie, “Funny People,” which opens on July 31.

His wife, “Funny People” co-star Leslie Mann, was outraged when told of the snafu at a press gathering for the film on Sunday, saying: “That’s really not cool at all.” Apatow started to answer a reporter’s question on the subject, but was interrupted by a studio publicist.

For some reason, one of the pages in the press kit is a printout of an email reproducing an invoice for limousine service from Apatow’s home in the tony Los Angeles oceanfront suburb of Pacific Palisades to the nearby Santa Monica hotel where the ”Funny People” press event took place. Cost of the 12.4-mile roundtrip? $1,375.79. A taxi would have cost about $19 each way, excluding tips.

A studio publicist ripped out the offending page when it was shown to her, even though dozens of press kits had already been handed out.

The movie’s stars, including Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen, were also at the press gathering, although it was not known if they  also enjoyed high-end rides or whether they maybe car-pooled.

For enquiring minds, Apatow is enjoying his well-deserved success. He, Mann and their two daughters live in a five-bedroom, six-bathroom house valued at $4 million by zillow.com.