Previewing The Green Room with Paul Provenza

The Green Room with Paul Provenza returns for its second season tonight at 11:00 on Showtime. For those that have never seen the show, Provenza (director and co-producer of The Aristocrats) conducts a roundtable discussion (sans actual table) with a bunch of stand up comedians with nothing off limits, this is Showtime.

Tonight Paul pulls out all the stops by bringing in Ray Romano, Garry Shandling, Judd Apatow, and Bo Burnham. Some stand out bits to look forward to, of all things, is the 1990 Grammy Awards which was one of Apatow’s first writing gigs with Shandling acting as host. Shandling would later repay Apatow by appearing in his movie Knocked Up leading to another funny story when Gary brought a monk to the set during the birth scene. We are also treated with a performance of Art Is Dead by Dead by Burnham.

Next week’s episode may not be as star studded as tonight as they may need some introduction and the most recognizable is also the least funny. In the Green Room will be Dana Gould (writer for The Simpsons), Greg Proops (Who’s Line Is it Anyway?), Franklyn Ajaye (the jazz comic), and Ka Griffin (the unfunny one). Even though they are lesser know, there is plenty to laugh at like Steven Hawkings visiting The Simpsons, Ajaye putting current comedy on blast (and learns who the president is), and someone actually makes fun of Joan Rivers face then all the other conic try to make Griffin feal as if her cosmetic surgeries have still left her looking normal even though she has not looked human in over a decade.

The Green Room is a great look into the minds as comedians as the talk shop and allow us to listen is. The show is a great mix of humor (and much funnier than most sitcoms these days) and education look into the profession of a stand p comic.

The Green Room with Paul Provenza airs Thursdays at 11:00 on Showtime. Check out a clip below.