Matt Besser Walks With Me

Fellow comedy reporters The Coming have posted an info-packed interview with Matt Besser, who has been keeping himself so busy that we can't stop posting features about him. Among the major revelations is that he'll be playing the guitarist in John C. Reilly's faux hit band in Jake Kasdan and Judd Apatow's biopic spoof Walk Hard, and that he's Kanye West's official improv coach for his upcoming untitled HBO mockumentary created by Larry Charles. Futhermore, he's writing a new film called Safety First for pal Amy Poehler.

Meanwhile, the Upright Citizens Brigade just finished a weekend of filming for a new Shout! Factory DVD release of ASSSSCAT 3000, which previously failed to catch on as a Bravo series. The four taped specials featured all four UCBers, as well as Horatio Sanz, Chad Carter, Sean Conroy, and Andrew Daly, plus improv-launching monologues from Will Arnett, Tom Lennon, Ed Helms, Paul F. Tompkins, and Jen Kirkman. Besser hopes the DVD will do well enough to kick off a sort of UCB/Shout! Factory imprint label where they can release even more footage from their various live output. He also announces that they're working on a new UCB website to feature daily videos and more.

All in all, a pretty good way to stick it to Comedy Central for canceling one of the best sketch comedy shows of all time, don't you think?

Slow News Day: Larry Charles and Bruce McCulloch Go to ABC, Norm Goes to Earl, Various Dumb Cavemen Go to Hollywood

ITEM: ABC, who is reportedly looking to beef up their weak comedy selection, has signed Larry Charles to a 2 and a half year development deal in which he will likely write, direct, and produce a series of original projects, if he can find enough time between shooting an anti-religion documentary with Bill Maher, working with Kanye West on an HBO reality series, and making the Motley Crue biopic.

ITEM: The aforementioned network is also developing Carpoolers, starring Fred Goss, Jerry O'Connell, and Jerry Minor as three guys who...can you guess it?...carpool to work together. Sounds pretty bland, but Kid in the Hall Bruce McCulloch wrote the script for the pilot, which will be directed by the Russo brothers, who helmed many of the best episodes of Arrested Development (+5 points) and the recent film You, Me, and Dupree (-10 points.)

ITEM: According to Norm News, Norm Macdonald will be reprising his deliciously awesome Burt Reynolds impression on an upcoming guest spot for My Name is Earl. Unfortunately, he's also announced that his Court Appointed Lawyer script he wrote for himself and Will Ferrell is dead in the water.

ITEM: Hit-and-miss oddball Adam Rifkin has posted a mess of clips from his new prehistoric comedy Homo Erectus, including the official trailer. Mosey over to his YouTube channel if you like to see guys getting conked in the head a lot, or you want to see David Carradine and Gary Busey continue to drive nails into the coffins of their careers.

ITEM: At the recent WonderCon, Sergio Aragonés revealed that writer Mark Evanier has completed a screenplay for a CGI movie version of Sergio's popular Groo the Wanderer comics, and the rights are currently being negotiated. Please take note that this is the second caveman story in this particular article alone, and the third this week if you count the new ABC show based on those Geico commercials, which we didn't even bother to report on. Either way, we have to reluctantly declare this Comedy Caveman Week at the Comedyblog. Please dress accordingly.

Larry Charles Takes on God, Tommy Lee

Rotten Tomatoes has a new interview with Borat director Larry Charles, where he talks about the film's Oscar chances and the lawsuit parade. More importantly, he talks about his upcoming projects, including the first announcement of a new Bill Maher documentary that he describes as a "non-fiction comedy about religion," which will feature interviews with people of all beliefs from all corners of the world.

He also spills some more details about The Dirt, based on the revealing autobiography of Motley Crue. Charles just handed in a draft of the script, and explains that the band is in no way involved, and all of their parts are yet to be cast. He doesn't confirm the rumors started by Crue frontman Vince Neil, that Christopher Walken and Val Kilmer will appear as Ozzy Osbourne and David Lee Roth, respectively.

You can read the full interview here.

In other Charles-related news, Curb Your Enthusiasm is expected to start its sixth season this fall, with Vivica A. Fox signed on to play a recurring character who moves in to Larry David's guest room. Charles serves as an executive producer and frequent director on Curb.