I've always been a very big fan of stand-up comedy. When I was about 9 or 10, on the rare occasion that I stayed home from school, I would sit around and watch a show on Comedy Central called Short Attention Span Theater which, among others, featured a young Jon Stewart. Anyway, when I first heard the concept for Judd Apatow's Funny People I was very excited. The movie has caught a little bit of flack with critics and viewers. I liked it and recommend it.

New York Times columnist Ross Douthat has an interesting take on the conservative values offered in Apatow's film. While I never personally associated these values with his films, it is an interesting article nonetheless and worth checking out ... if for no other reason that the fact that Ross agrees with me about this being Apatow's best film. (On the subject of films, I literally just checked my email and my roommate asked if I wanted to see GI Joe tonight. Eww. I think I just threw up a little.)

OK, so what does this have to do with careers. Well, while searching through YouTube for some old stand-up from my youth I came across a promotional video of Apatow from the Funny People Tour. In this video (embedded below) we find out his far-reaching interest in comedy and how, as a 15 year-old, Apatow arranged and recorded interviews with some of the greatest comedians of the time - Harold Ramis, Paul Reiser and Gary Shandling to name a few. Apatow started a Radio Show (in high school!) and was able to track down these comedians and have them appear on the show. With ingenuity and motivation like this it's no surprise Apatow has been such a success

The video is a great insight into the art of comedy and offers a good starting point for any potential comedians or comedic actors. I only wish he would make these tapes more available so that we could here the complete interviews and advice from these comics. Oh well, I guess we'll have to have them on ThinkTalk. The vid is below, but here's some advice from Gary Shandling on the art of writing a joke:

I think the most important thing a comic can do is is write from his insides. And as cliched as that sounds you have to write, I think, from personal experience or your own observations, which is how I write.

Really not a funny guy? Check out The Links for advice for other careers ...

Scene and Not Heard Found Another Facebook Job Victim: You have to click through to see the screen grab. Suffice it to say it's not wise to call your boss a "pervvy wanker" in a status update when your boss when you've added him as a friend. Hilarity did not ensue.

The Wall Street Journal Reports : "The average household income of a snorkeler last year was $92,373, highest among 93 sports tracked, according an online survey of more than 41,000 people by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, a trade group of sports retailers and marketers." I don't know what this means or what implications it has or why it's interesting ... but I just wanted to put it out there.

Mashable Adds Science To the Job Hunt: "Intelligent Job Hunt [by UpMo] is akin your own professional agent, but their job search engine claims to combine sophisticated algorithms with scientific analysis. They then combine that with the information you’ve provided to present you with the targeted opportunities that are right for your desired career path. It’s an intelligent job search that doesn’t totally suck the life out of you and your professional quest." Sounds sophistimicated.