Comedians

It's April Fools' Day, and Penn & Teller are everywhere. The comedy-magic duo looms from Las Vegas billboards touting a multiyear engagement at the Rio; they're grinning from a Hollywood Reporter cover marking their 30th year together; and the season premiere of their Showtime series airs this evening. And Penn Jillette, the taller, more vocal half of the equation, is taking it all in from the comfort of the Slammer.

Comedian George Carlin may not have been one for frothy, sentimental displays, but Southern California will be honoring his 75th birthday (which would have been May 12), nonetheless; his daughter, Kelly, is leading the charge. Kelly Carlin's one-woman show, "A Carlin Home Companion," has been selling out at the Santa Monica Playhouse for months, weaving together intimate family photos, video footage of George Carlin performing and personal stories in what's something of a tragicomedy, chronicling what it was like growing up, an only child, in the loving but dysfunctional Carlin home.

Los Angeles residents this month will have first dibs on five new commemorative Postal Service stamps with caricatures of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Jack Benny and Fanny Brice. The comedians stamps, designed by noted cartoonist Al Hirschfeld, will be issued during a special ceremony in Hollywood at Mann's Chinese Theater and sold at post offices citywide on Aug. 29, before being offered nationally the next day.

The Hollywood studio "courtroom" of "Judge Judy" Sheindlin may seem inviting enough, but Hugo Escobedo Jr. looked like someone discovering a moment too late that he was in the lion's den and the head lion was about to bite his head off. During a taping, Escobedo, 18, was trying to persuade Sheindlin that he was not responsible for an accident in Houston that caused considerable damage to a car driven by 19-year-old Angelique Trump, who had filed...

There would seem to be no greater match of performer and project than Martin Lawrence in Columbia Pictures' "Bad Boys." For much of last year, Lawrence was the bad boy of comedy, where almost everything he touched became immersed in a whirlpool of controversy. * Lawrence's concert film, "You So Crazy," was considered so raunchy by the Motion Picture Assn. of America that it was given an NC-17 rating despite an appeal by Lawrence. Many theaters refused to show the movie.

Until recently, Fahim Anwar had a pretty big secret. He carried it around for three years, from his colorless Long Beach office cubicle to the crowded Sunset Strip. He was, in fact, leading a double-life: Aerospace engineer by day. Comedian by night. "Having a dream like this is very fragile," Anwar reasoned. "It's very easy for people to write it off. It's better to keep that to yourself." Yet there was no sign of this mysterious duplicity Feb. 24 as the wiry 25-year-old bounded onstage for his first televised stand-up set on Comedy Central's "Russell Simmons Presents Standup Comedy at the El Rey Theatre."

Fifty of L.A.'s comedians will band together this week to kick off the new year the best way they know how: with a new politically biting, socially acerbic or self-eviscerating joke. "50 First Jokes," a popular New York show that's making its second annual appearance in Los Angeles, is Friday at the Downtown Independent theater. The show's concept is simple: Each comedian has 2 minutes to unleash his or her first joke of the new year. Only qualification: It must have been written after the ball dropped, in 2012 proper.

The pay's a joke, and it's not funny anymore -- New York comedians have had enough of working for what they describe as peanuts and are threatening to walk out if the city's top stand-up comedy clubs don't raise their wages. Comics Ted Alexandro and Russ Meneve have rounded up more than 300 funny men and women to form the New York Comedians Coalition, and they have sent a letter to the city's top comedy venues demanding a raise.

Comedians will take the stage for more than laughs Wednesday as the L.A. Housing Corp. and L.A. Cabaret hold a benefit for homeless families. The event, titled "A Career Benefit Performance," is being planned by ACTUAL SIZE!, a troupe of comedy sketch artists who perform regularly at the Encino nightspot. Other performers include the comedy group Lester McFwap and comedic songwriter Henry Phillips, organizers said. Proceeds from the event will be donated to the L.A. Housing Corp.

SO, these comedians walk into a comedy club, and a nasty dispute breaks out over who is stealing jokes. The audience laughs, but the comedians don't seem to find it funny at all. The scene was the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip earlier this year, and on stage were Carlos Mencia, host of Comedy Central's "Mind of Mencia," and stand-up comic and "Fear Factor" host Joe Rogan.

Brian Posehn has become one of the most unmistakable comedians and character actors going. His large, nerdy presence belies a bitter wit that's made him a stalwart favorite of the alt-comedy set, and he'll display that biting observational talent in a small show at the Improv. The Improv, 8261 Melrose Ave., L.A. 8 and 10 p.m. Sat. $20. improv.com.

In a move that's both a long-held dream come true and an acquisition with potential for art-world debate, the J. Paul Getty Museum announced Thursday that it has bought "The Italian Comedians," a little-known 18th century painting. Depending on which expert you ask, it is either a rare large canvas by one of France's greatest artists, Jean-Antoine Watteau, or the work of somebody else. Scott Schaefer, the Getty's senior curator of paintings, said that before deciding about a month ago to buy the oil painting from a London art dealer, museum leaders sought opinions from "almost all major Watteau scholars in the world," each of whom had seen the painting in person.

When Brett Ratner ignominiously resigned from producing this year's Academy Awards, there was some schadenfreude from the masses. When Eddie Murphy followed him out that exit door, however, there was disappointment — and panic. But then, behold, Billy Crystal stepped in to host the Feb. 26 ceremonies. And there was rejoicing throughout the land. What is it about Billy Crystal and the Oscars? This will be his ninth time hosting — only one other person has hosted it more than Crystal, and Bob Hope is sadly no longer with us. That makes Crystal the reigning champ of making us laugh, snark and stay awake come Oscar night.

MOVIES For the inaugural Wayne Federman International Film Festival, the eponymous actor and funnyman has enlisted fellow comedians to select, introduce and discuss movies that have inspired them. Participants and their picks include Margaret Cho, "Darling"; Paul F. Tompkins, "Topsy-Turvy"; and Kevin Pollak, "The In-Laws. " The Cinefamily, 611 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A. 7:30 p.m. and 10:45 p.m. Thu. 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. Fri. 7:30 p.m. and 10: 30 p.m. Sat. $10-$12 per screening. (323)

COMEDY The Black Version Let's set the stage: An audience member shouts out the title of a popular film and a cast of black comedians then improvs its version, so come IMDB ready. The crew's many funny credits include "MADtv," "Reno 911!," "Punk'd" and "The Pee-wee Herman Show. " Groundlings Theatre, 7307 Melrose Ave., L.A. 8 p.m. $15. (323) 934-4747. http://www.groundlings.com. The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret Writer, actor and comedian David Cross will present and discuss his TV series about a bumbling American office drone who bluffs his way into a senior position at his company's London office.

Fifty of L.A.'s comedians will band together this week to kick off the new year the best way they know how: with a new politically biting, socially acerbic or self-eviscerating joke. "50 First Jokes," a popular New York show that's making its second annual appearance in Los Angeles, is Friday at the Downtown Independent theater. The show's concept is simple: Each comedian has 2 minutes to unleash his or her first joke of the new year. Only qualification: It must have been written after the ball dropped, in 2012 proper.

Al Franken announced that he will run for the Senate in 2008, making it clear that the comedian and author of "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot" wants to be taken seriously as a political figure. Franken, 55, said he would seek the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican incumbent Norm Coleman. Franken, who grew up in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Louis Park, first gained national exposure as a writer and performer on "Saturday Night Live."

Even in death, Monty Python's Graham Chapman was in "for something completely different." The actor-comedian, who died in October of cancer, was the recipient of a belated memorial service/media event/cocktail party at the St. James' Club Tuesday night that was, in the words of one British guest, "neither here nor there--I can't quite say what it was."

Arizona's Joe Re "Arpaio critics speak out," Dec. 23 I am angered by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the racist behavior of his deputies in Arizona. For officers to humiliate detained persons by dressing them in pink underwear and serving them discolored meat is immoral. Even worse is the deputy who allegedly ran over another man with his patrol car. This is not unlike the behavior of the men who dragged a black man to death behind their truck in Texas a few years ago. Worse is the fact that GOP presidential candidates sought Arpaio's endorsement.

Earlier this month, in a plush aisle seat, Jerry Lewis watched much of his professional life flash before his eyes. Clutching a water bottle, the 85-year-old entertainer's eyes were riveted on the huge screen of Paramount Studio's main theater as a younger version of himself mugged, mimed, spun, wreaked havoc and generally made a fool of himself. Lewis was attending the premiere of Encore's "Jerry Lewis: Method to the Madness," a feature-length tribute to the funnyman and filmmaker that debuts Saturday on the premium cable channel.