2008 is quickly coming to a close and we are sharing some Philadelphia comedians Top 5 lists.

Doogie Horner, stand-up comic, host of The Ministry of Secret Jokes

5. Steve Gerben’s Yo Mama meltdown at the Ministry of Secret Jokes. He called the crowd a bunch of douche bags after they booed him during the battle, then grabbed the Omniana championship belt and yelled “I’m the fucking champion!”

4. John Kensil’s opener for Philly’s Funniest: John walked on stage holding a puppet. When he got to the mic he looked down at the puppet, paused, and discarded it without comment.

3. The 24 hour standup marathon at the Walking Fish, especially Amir Golan’s set, where he and Steve Odabashian led the crowd in a sing along version of “Don’t Stop Believing”.

2. Meg and Rob’s video “The Fog of Love”.

1. Nolan Gilbride’s joke: “I hate how rappers act like they invented treating women like shit.”

Rob B., Meg & Rob

I chose primarily local events. I’m really amazing at what my peers do regularly.

1. Kent interviews Aaron at “Why Am I Not Famous?!?”
Just so sharp yet off-the-cuff. I embarrassed myself by snorting and not being able to control my laughter.

2. Bush or Batman: The Phenomenon
A necessary break-out for this year. The premise and execution is amazing.

3. Bedtime Stories: History.
First one I’ve seen in it’s entirety. Gregg was a great host, Pennslyvania historical class slide-show was amazing, 6th B’s Oregon Trail sketch was clever, and it was just a beautiful beer soaked night.

4. Roasting of Brendan Kennedy’s Friend at Ministry of Secret Jokes
“He had sex with Gwen once.” ‘Nuff said.

5. Kevin Allison’s Sketch Class
Notice – Philly comedy outranks anything else I saw. There’s a reason for that. Because there are some great shows happening with really talented folks. Something that really helped me focus as a performer and writer was taking Kevin Allison’s class in New York. He’s a really great listener and helpful sharpening your pieces. Plus, met some really great folks up there.

Alexis Simpson, The Rare Bird Show, Illegal Refill, Artistic Director of the Philly Improv Theater

5) Rowan & Hastings built a raft. Then they took it to the Schuykill. THEN they rapped about it. Lucky for you, they made a video about the whoooooole thing. )

4) Anton Shuford. My favorite Philadelphia stand-up. Saw him at the CvsA Comedy Show a couple of months ago, and damn if he didn’t make both unemployment and DUI arrests seem so adorable.

3) The Action Section’s Halloween Spectacular – Hands down the best sketch show I saw this year. Where did these guys come from? The show was well-written – not a single wasted line – and the acting was just terrific. Higlights include a terrific riff on famed scary poem The Raven and a bit on Michael McDonald singing the hits of John Williams. You might say to yourself “Didn’t Family Guy already cover the Michael Mcdonald comedy ground?” But then you will recall that Family Guy is a haphazard and lazy Frakenstein’s monster of hastily assembled fart jokes, and you will wish you had seen the show. Do yourself a favor and check out the Action Section’s videos – “7 of Clubs” and “M Night” are both pretty rad.

2) TIE, Wonkette & Comics Curmudgeon. Do you like politics? Do you like swearing? Do you like it when you put your mouse over a photo and an awesome caption pops up? Then Wonkette is the blog for you, my friends. Three or four hilarious writers post cynical, curse-laden updates 8-10 times a day. Higlights include cute nicknames for political celebrities and the annual War on Xmas gift guide. Say you want the benefit of giggling to yourself like an asshole while all your coworkers wonder if you ever do any damn work, but you don’t want to wade into the self-important world of Political Snarkiness. Well, my friend, the Comics Curmudgeon might be more up your alley. In short, Josh reads every single one of the daily newspaper comics – including Mary Worth! – so you don’t have to. Great writing and witty commenters abound in a politics-free atmosphere.

1) BassProv. The show’s premise is fairly simple: it’s a longform improv piece in which Donny Weaver and Earl Hinkle (played by improv legends Mark Sutton and Joe Bill) go fishin’, drink beer, and solve the world’s problems. The ingenious twist? Typical longform improv results in characters and relationships that disappear into the ether after about 25 minutes. In Bassprov, every single performance produces in-the-moment discoveries that are then weaved into the permanent reality of the character. Example: over the decade or so that BASSprov has existed, Earl has married and divorced no less than 4 times. See them once and you’ll laugh your face off – because Joe and Mark are fucking hysterical (and particularly skilled at backing each other into corners for comic effect). See them more than once to truly appreciate that they are doing more than just making ha-has.

Brendan Kennedy, stand-up comic

5. Me falling off the stage upstairs at The Troc.

4. Fastball Pitcher Bob Gutierrez explaining to myself, Chip, and Don the ups and downs of being a fastball pitcher, and how bad it is when the batters know that you will only be throwing fastballs.

3. Chris Harrje’s hilarious personal tragedies, such as his collapsed lung (2007), broken wrist (early 2008) and most recently, finding blood on his cue tips after he cleans his ears.

2. Jon Goff’s halloween costume Powerpoint at the October edition of Die Actor Die!

1. A young man by the name of Josh who was of diminutive stature, at the Helium open mic, saying, “I know what you’re thinking, so let me get this out of the way.” Then proceeding to sing the lollipop guild song from The Wizard Of Oz, with awkward little kicks and arm swinging and everything. If anyone has video of this, I will pay you for it. His performance made my soul happy.

Mark Dames, improviser, PHIT ticket guy

5. Walking Fish Theatre’s 24 hour stand-up marathon – On Labor Day, as part of the Philly Fringe Festival, the Walking Fish Theatre, in my hometown of Fishtown USA, hosted their 1st annual (hopefully) day-long stand-up event. Co-hosted by Chip Chantry and Doogie Horner, it was an interesting mix of Philly’s best and brightest comedians performing for some of Fishtown’s finest. And by finest, I mean some burnt-out 42-year olds you swear were at least in their early 70’s.

I watched around 15-16 hours of the 24 hour fest. And my favorite moment happened around 9 AM, when a nice family of five strolled in. Mom, Dad and their three teenagers, who definitely were not from Fishtown, and walked into an ambush. The comedienne onstage, whose act consisted mainly of an explicit discourse on her sex life, asked Dad if he, like many men, had a nickname for his penis. She harangued both Father and Mother, in front of their own kids for at least five minutes. Next Labor Day, they’ll probably just go to a nice brunch instead. I, however, will be at the Walking Fish.

Plus, I got to tell stories onstage, about selling Porn, at 5:30 AM!

4. Matt Holmes: One-Man show. – During a week of benefit shows for Project H.O.M.E. hosted by Philly Improv Theater in March, Rare Bird Show’s Matt Holmes took on a cadre of Matt Holmes impersonators all by himself, in an improv battle to the death! Well not quite. First no one died, and secondly, he had some help, from the audience. Now, most improvisers get assistance from the audience in the form of verbal suggestions, but Mr. Holmes, brought up people in the audience, one of whom had never even seen an improv show to perform with him. The genius part was not Matt himself being hilarious, that’s a given, but he actually made the first-timers shine too.

3. On two consecutive Sunday mornings in October, while on my way to work at 10 AM, I saw the same gentleman, drop trou and take a shit on the corner of 20th and Market Sts. It was comforting to see that even older insane folks have their daily routines. I’ve been a little late to work every Sunday since.

2. Boston improv group CODE DUELLO came and did two shows at the Shubin Theater back in May. They do an improvised re-imaging of the famous duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, and what led up to it. Their second show was one of the two best improv sets I’ve ever seen. It involved Hamilton losing his fortune betting on cockfights, with one of the contestants being a man dressed as a chicken. Please come back to Philly soon.

1. Kent Haines’ show has been awesome since show number one, back in July. But the December 3rd edition was amazing. One of his guests was comedian Brendan Kennedy. Brendan who’s always hilarious with his angry and acerbic take on life, showed us his softer side that night. He read a painfully hilarious letter written to a girlfriend, pouring out his heart to a girl who had already moved on. It was one of the ballsiest performances I’ve seen by any comedian in Philly. He really put himself out there, and it paid off in spades, mostly for those of us lucky to be in the Shubin Theatre that night. I hope more people in Philly realize that the best comedy comes from your personal experiences, the more painful they are, the more the audience will connect on an emotional level, and the bigger the laughs. Brendan then, improbably topped himself, with having a staged reading of a scene from a colleague’s crime drama script. Fucking-A man! That was the hardest and longest I’ve laughed all year long.

Our Top 5 of 2008 lists continue…

TOP FIVE MOST IMPROVED COMICS OF THE YEAR, 2008 by Pat Barker

1) Kent Haines. Perhaps this wasn’t an improvement as much as it was Kent shining when given an opportunity, but there’s no way anyone else could head this list. I don’t know the exact time line of when Kent got here from Alabama, but he might not have even been in Philly one year ago. Now he’s one of my favorite local guys. Smart, funny material. It’s just a shame that the University of Alabama are choke artists and blew the National Championship. Can’t win ‘em all, Kent.

2) Aaron Hertzog. Aaron’s always been a good joke writer, but I feel like he’s turned a corner recently and gotten even better. His joke about the Hide-and-Go-Seek Killer is brilliantly crafted and anyone who quotes Dr. Dre in their act is good in my book. Check out his set on his MySpace from Doogie Horner’s Ministry of Secret Jokes show.

3) Conrad Roth. It’s tough for me to get into the one-liner stuff too much, because so many people do it horribly. Conrad is not one of those people. I did a show with him back in May, and there were definite bright spots, but it was still very hit-or-miss. Over the next six months, he wrote a bunch of great new stuff, ditched a bunch of mediocre old stuff, and now his act is solid. Conrad consistently impresses me by pulling off a style I never could.

4) Pat House. While this list is mostly relegated to relative newcomers, I feel like I have to make mention of the strides House has made recently. A lot of his newer jokes are really good and he’s been tweaking older jokes and making them better too. I did a show with him a few months ago and was very impressed. Pat and I have probably done over 100 shows together, and this was the best I’ve ever seen him.

5) Derek Gaines. Quite possibly the most underrated comedian in Philly. Every time I see him, he’s funnier than the time before and has developed some new killer bit. It’s impressive. He’d definitely be higher up on the list if I got to see him perform more. Derek will “make it” in comedy in some way, guaranteed. Ridiculously good stage presence, great material, and an overwhelming likeability. He’s even cut down on his use of ridiculous acronyms, and that is admirable.

For the record, picking five people for this was insanely difficult. There are lots of people who made strides over the course of ‘08, and recognizing them all in this limited of a forum is impossible. Special “shout out” to a whole bunch of others that make me laugh very consistently – the Doogies and Joe Docs and Brendan Kennedys and Chip Chantrys of the world. Overall, I feel like Philly has a very very good scene and I’m excited about 2009.

Our Top 5 of 2008 lists continue…

Aaron Hertzog’s Top 5 Sketches

5) The Sixth Borough at Die Actor Die Dirtiest Sketch
An excellently written and performed sketch by The Sixth Borough. Theuncomfortable factor was turned up high and the creepy strange awfulwrongness of the whole situation was played to perfection. Two words:gun fellatio!

4) The Ministry of Secret Jokes – Instructional Video Number 1: How toDress Mysteriously
The first instructional video from Doogie and gang let us know thatthe Ministry’s mysterious garb is far more useful than just disguisingone’s identity. Dressing well will get you places in life, anddressing poorly will get you labeled an asshole. The sketch absolutelykilled at the show and also made me feel a little less foolish everytime Doogie paraded me out in a god damned cloak.

3) Boy Meets Tractor at Helium’s College Comedy Competition
This is the first time I saw this group and the sketch they performedwas awesome. The premise of sentient toys who are forced to live outthe fantasies of their owner was great on its own but the performancewas on point with great choreography and synchronization.

2) Meg and Rob – Love Over the Phone
“The cure for the painful gentleman’s buildup.” What an eloquent wayto look at whacking off, and an incredibly creative origin story tothe beginning of the rise of an incredibly important man. (I don’twant to ruin the awesome reveal in the sketch for those who haven’tsee it, so watch it for yourself, and enjoy!)

1) Secret Pants at Bedtime Stories: Rich People
I saw this sketch at December’s edition of Bedtime Stories and itinstantly became my favorite sketch of the year. It did a great jobmixing sketch with live performance and also combining two of myfavorite things: ransom notes and infomercials. The production work onthe video was superb (which always seems to be the case with SecretPants.) God is always found in the details, and the attention todetail in the ransomercial (my own word) made it so truthful andrealistic.

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but 2008 is coming to a close. And to celebrate and look back, we asked a bunch of Philadelphia comedians what were there favorite/funniest/most awesome moments of the year. We’ll be posting their responses over the next few weeks.

Meg Favreau, Meg & Rob

1. Hulu. From allowing me to watch every new episode of 30 Rock andThe Office to sparking the love of Joss Whedon I should’ve had sincehigh school to providing the brilliant “Day Man” clip for me to viewover and over, Hulu has been instrumental in my entertainment andcomedy awareness in the last year.

2. “Why Am I Not Famous?!” Every month, it’s a smart, hilarious, andwell-put-together show.

3. Improv ultra-tie: Dr. Fantastic’s show where the kid came from awaffle house / Harold house team night at the Improv Olympic inChicago where the entire team created one mythical beast and walkedaround stage as it / Cohones doing the road trip format / Rare BirdShow, hey

4. Pat Kelly’s costume in the Sixth Borough’s “sex rays” sketch. Incase you haven’t seen it, it features a long, shiny blue-and-silverrobe, and more importantly, a necklace pendant with a giant picture ofPat’s face in what appears to be heat-sensitive coloring. When I firstsaw the costume, I didn’t just laugh, I held my hands out, palms up,as a gesture of thanks to the universe. Really: does anybody have apicture of this?

5. The last Die Actor Die. Am I being brash, including a show thathappened earlier this week? Maybe. But it was a funny, bittersweet,and wonderful end to a fantastic monthly show. Plus I gave what I feltwas one of my best (and most fun) performances in the last couple ofmonths.

Chip Chantry, stand-up comic

5. AARON HERTZOG AT THE MINISTRY OF SECRET JOKES
I can’t remember what month it was, exactly, but I remember I was there to play one of Doogie’s gruelingly hilarious games. The show had been going OK so far. The crowd was hit or miss, and it was hot in there. After an intermission, Aaron went up and blew the roof off the place. He came out of nowhere and made the crowd his bitch. Aaron is a tiny man with big talent.

4. WALKING FISH LABOR DAY 24-HOUR COMEDY MARATHON
This was a terrible, terrible idea. The concept looks great on paper, but is a logistical nightmare. That was my attitude going into hosting the first 11 hours of this epic trainwreck. And it turned out to be one of the best shows I have ever been a part of. The scene showed up to support, from Secret Pants for the first four hours, to Andy Nolan, Ed McGonigal, Danny Ozark, and Kent Haines in the early morning. Watching the sunrise in Kennsington never felt so good.

3. DIE ACTOR DIE
With 2008, so ends DIE ACTOR DIE. Without this show, the scene in Philly would be extremely different. The city owes Don Montrey a great deal. Before DAD, standup and sketch did not interact. Because it was believed that all sketch artists were “fags”, and all standup comedians were “assholes”. And what we learned, in fact, was that Don Montrey is a little bit of both.

2. FAT KID FALLS OFF BIKE
This youtube clip has been around more than a year, but it is still a touchstone for me. No matter what I do, or how I perform, I will never, EVER be as funny as this clip. I don’t know if anything ever will be.

1. FASTBALL PITCHER BOB GUTIERREZ
Brian Craig, of Secret Pants shame, has a special friend named Fastball Pitcher Bob Gutierrez. Bob graced Bedtime Stories (another highlight show of 2008, thanks to Gregg Gethard) with his presence one night. I did not even seen him perform, because I was in the basement. However, I had the pleasure of speaking with him downstairs for about 30 minutes before the show. Brendan Kennedy and I sat there and cried for the entire time. It wasn’t even a performance- it was just a few guys backstage before a show. But it was the funniest thing I saw all year (sorry, fat kid on a bike).

Bryce Remsburg, Secret Pants

1. 30 Rock, Season 3 – An already excellent show is rapidly approaching perfection. The character development and one-line pop culture minutia have made it pass The Office. in my heart. It also made me not hate Jennifer Aniston for 30 minutes.

2. Rob B’s flagrant use of the word pussy – He was once clocked at 10 infractions in as many minutes. Never gets old. At least not yet.

3. Self-appointed nicknames – I purposely call one of my clients at work when I know it will go to voicemail so I can hear him refer to himself as the “big dog”.

4. Pat Kelly’s Quiz Show – His reactions and timing are priceless. I think about stuff he said off the cuff and laugh every single time.

5. Kent Haines’ “Why am I Not Famous?!?” – How this slice of brilliance isn’t sold out every month defies logic. Drop what you’re doing and go to it every month. Forever.

Honorable Mention: Frank Caliendo – He talks in funny voices.

Greg Maughan, founder of the Philly Improv Theater

5. Barack Obama Rumors.
Seriously, did anyone get these emails? Some of them were so poposterous that all I could do was double over laughing until my sides hurt. My mom has some distant relation, a 90 year old former WWII pilot who somehow got his hands on an email account and he sent these out regularly (still is). All of them are insane, but some of the best were the repeated assertions that he was not born in the United States, the secret plan he had to step aside and make Hillary Clinton President, and someone’s confusion of Obama with Denzel Washington’s character in The Manchurian Candidate. Then there was the “Secret Muslim” stuff. Who on earth are the people getting scared by this stuff? I mean, what has a muslim ever done to you or… oh, right.

4. The Hopper Brothers.
Brandon Libby and Mike Connor’s clueless, yet inappropriate, home-school folk duo were a brilliant idea on their own, but when they convinced me to sign away my life for 9 months to produce a musical comedy for the Philly Fringe I totally foolishly accepted. The result was personally crazy making, financially similar to the stock market crash, and humouously devastating. I hope to see the Hoppers around town a lot in 2009, and maybe back on stage hitting the road in future as well.

3. Bush or Batman.
Secret Pants hilarious game that combines several of my favorite activities: trivia games, making fun of the Bush Administration, and Batman. It is awesome. Did I mention something like a QUARTER OF A MILLION people agree with me? Philly’s first big YouTube viral video is deserving of the praise it got. Secret Pants can sometimes be too dark or too inappropriate, and they still need to find a way to write better roles for women, but when they put their minds it and write really smart stuff that hits – this is what happens.

2.Philly Improv Theater.
I have no shame. Honestly though, look at how diverse the stage has become, and the quality of the shows, acts, etc. that have been promoted during 2008. It’s mind boggling. Someone who hit The Shubin stage this year is going to be famous and everyone will be able to say “I knew them when…” That’s change you can believe in for the alternate comedy scene in Philly.

1. Tina Fey.
Between a movie, another round of Emmy’s for 30 Rock (my vote for the funniest show on TV), a reported $6 million book deal, a Vanity Fair cover, and an impression of Sarah Palin that got SNL it’s best ratings in 14 years… it’s fair to say she is the comedian of the year. Now if only she’d visit her hometown and hop on stage!

(I’m stuck in an airport in Detroit for four hours)

5. Chris Rock – Kill the Messenger — This one should at least be commended for the neat experiment of cutting between three different shows in three different cities pretty seamlessly. However, it did get pretty distracting and I would really have preferred to just watch one show all the way through. The material is solid, though, and I’d call it better than Never Scared.

4. George Carlin – It’s Bad For Ya — “I’d like to begin by saying, ‘Fuck Lance Armstrong.’” Not Carlin’s best of his later years (that belongs to You Are All Diseased). But looking at it from after his death, this functions as the final words of an angry old fuck. The closing bit, “You Have No Rights” is both hilarious and a punch in the gut.

3. Bill Burr – Why Do I Do This? — I love Bill Burr. I love this special. Delving into dark material, even for him, his stuff on thinking about running people over in his car and his basically advocating eugenics is so brutal and funny. I might be reading too much into everything, but the fact that he talks frankly about things beneath the surface that are disturbing or violent is so refreshing.

2. Brian Regan – The Epitome of Hyperbole — Everybody knows Brian Regan. He’s hilarious. This special is no exception.

1. Louis CK – Chewed Up — George Carlin is dead. Louis CK is the best stand-up comedian alive. He is absolutely without fear and will take any subject and gut it completely. And yet, his delivery is so appealing and he is so charismatic and naturally likable that he can launch right into bits about the word faggot or cunt or ni**er without receiving so much as a gasp. The fact that Louis CK is so good, it’s beyond the point of angering that it’s gone right into awe. Beyond laughter, he is a joy to watch.

Luke Giordano is a part of the improv group DREXEL FOOTBALL TEAM and host of the monthly stand-up show “Stand-up at the Bully Pulpit”

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but 2008 is coming to a close. And to celebrate and look back, we asked a bunch of Philadelphia comedians what were there favorite/funniest/most awesome moments of the year. We’ll be posting their responses over the next few weeks.

Matt Holmes, Rare Bird Show

1. Sarah Palin and Tina Fey’s portrayal of her
I’m sure a lot of people will cite this, but it really was a great run of top-notch comedy. Big kudos for one of the sketches being word-for-word replay of the real ridiculousness.

2. The last 2 Rare Bird Show appearances in the Philly Fringe
Yes, I’ll put myself on my own list. Those shows were balls-out hilarious; an Arby’s server named Trigé referencing gum-related urban legends, idiot vintners in a family squabble, me spitting in Nathan’s face, anger-boners. If you missed them, you missed out!

3. The Action Section’s Halloween Spectacular
This was a great Philly debut for a great new sketch comedy group.

4. Little Britain HBO
If you haven’t caught some of the new Little Britain sketches, fresh from right here in the U.S. of A., you are missing out.

5. Hand Vagina on CollegeHumor
While technically from last year, I didn’t see it until recently, and isn’t that how viral videos work nowadays? Funny; watch it.

Pat House, stand-up comic

5. Getting introduced to the great sketch comedy that’s growing in Philly.

4. All of the comedians that took the time and effort to regularly put on their own shows this year: The Ministry of Secret Jokes, The Comic Vs. Audience Show, Center City Comedy, The Urban Saloon, Stand-Up at the Bully Pulpit…

3. Watching Joe DeRosa tape his Comedy Central Presents…

2. My own personal melee that involved three beer bottles, the world “cunt” and my first punch to the face.

1. Watching just about every single comedian work hard and constantly improve.

Gregg Gethard, stand-up, host of Bedtime Stories

1. Kent Haines interviewing Aaron Hertzog at an edition of “Why Am I Not Famous?” The awkward factor matched that of The UK Office. I know Kent and Aaron are good friends but watching this live was so drastically uncomfortable. This show was when the Fringe Fest was going on. There were a handful of older Fringe Fest fans in the audience. God only knows what they thought was going on.

2. Jamie Moyer’s ridiculous speech when the Phils won the NL East. “We’ve grown as teammates. We’ve grown as men. We’ve grown as fathers.”

3. The incredible overnight Paul Jolowitz WIP show where he refused to talk about sports. The topic, instead, was “Who do you find most fascinating outside the world of sports?” Jolly then went on to talk about how “no one would get his answer.” The first three callers said Andy Reid before having long pauses when told they had to say someone outside of sports. The fourth caller took a stab at Jolly’s fascination. He said “Warren Buffet.” He was right. Jolly’s show was ruined within the first 10 minutes.

4. Steve Gerben’s fantastic meltdown during a Yo Momma battle at The Ministry of Secret Jokes. Gerben came off like the best wrestling bad guy since Jerry Lawler made a dramatic appearance at the ECW Arena where he repeatedly hit Tommy Dreamer in the scrotum with a bamboo stick.

5. Any and all appearances of Dave Hill in Philadelphia. Dave Hill may be the funniest person in the country right now. We’re really lucky to be able to see him do his stuff at The Shubin Theater.

Matt Nelson, improviser, executive producer of Philadelphia Improv Festival

5. ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT MOVIE BUZZSo many people want this to happen that there’s buzz any time you go looking for it. But the movie got a swift kick last month as both Ron Howard & Mitch Hurwitz inked deals with Imagine/Fox Searchlight for treatments. Fingers still crossed (they’re getting tired).

4. GOV SARAH PALINThere are so many things about the VP hopeful that it’s hard to list them all. Notable moments include her jaw-dropping interview series with Katie Couric that fueled SNL’s cold opens like crazy. Another topper was a Canadian duo prank calling Gov Sarah Palin posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy. They kept it up from quite awhile, even referencing Hustler’s Palin-themed porno, with the Gov none the wiser (audio | transcript).

3. SNLThe show kicked down the door of viewers this season with their political cold opens, but then has managed to keep up with itself, putting out some really great digital shorts (and memorable skits like Surprise Party (or just about anything else that Kristen Wiig touches). Also the addition of UCBer Bobby Moynihan was great news and I couldn’t think of a nicer, more deserving person for SNL to pick up.

2. NERVE & IFC’S LIST OF THE50 GREATEST COMEDY SKETCHES OF ALL TIME I can’t even begin to tell you the time I spent going through this list. Most of the sketches listed had embedded video right there, so it was really deadly to my productivity in April. The obvious ones are here like Python, SNL, KITH, etc. But they dug deep to pull out some great stuff from French & Saunders, Your Show of Shows, The State, Mr. Show, Carol Burnett and one of my personal favorites, Catherine Tate.

1. TINA FEYThere’s little doubt that Tina is the comedy queen of 2008, between her numerous Emmy wins, an excellent season of 30 Rock and of course her exacting impression of Gov. Sarah Palin on SNL. If only she could take Baby Mama back.