I enjoyed seeing Aziz Ansari at the Punchline in SF this January (yes, this review is way late).

The Punchline is a much better venue in which to enjoy comedy than Cobbs - the seating is more comfortable, the food is better (though the service is slow), and you don't feel like you are packed into a room like sardines.

Ansari was pretty funny, though his act was uneven and didn't flow as well as it could have. This was, I think, due to the fact that our show was being recorded since he was putting together a CD and (as he explained) at each show they were recording different bits so that they had a wide choice for the CD. I think my perception of the "unevenness" was also due to my personal preference - he tried out some comedy for an upcoming Judd Apatow file, Funny People, in which he would be playing a (somewhat misogynistic) comedian called Rodney (to his credit, he did include a warning first).

I didn't find most of the "Rodney" humor funny as it consisted mainly of "Rodney" talking about receiving blow jobs at various locations and a DJ uttering quips about the location, except that I did find the DJ quips for the location of the White House and Toys 'R Us hilarious. I have to say that this bit will be forever linked with the Obama campaign slogan for me.

I enjoyed the second half of the show (where part of his act included discussing how he messes with his 17 year old cousin on Facebook) and found it funnier than the first half.

After the show, we bought some of his t-shirts (and got them signed), and in the brief, 5 minute interaction we had with him and watching him interact with other fans, he came across as a genuinely nice person. A word to the wise - the Punchline does not have an ATM machine and we couldn't use a credit card to purchase his items. So anyone who wants to purchase stuff from the comedian afterwards should be warned to go to the ATMs downstairs first (and spare yourself the trouble of having to send a party member for cash).

Even when he is uneven, Ansari is still funny, and one day I hope to see him in a group performance with the other members of Human Giant.

Remember the Sarah Haskin's show "Target Women," which I posted about around Christmas time?

Sarah has been a subversive feminist comedic take on ads targeted at women (for a while) and is very funny, and, at least in the blogosphere, has a following.

So, why does Jimmy Fallon's "Target Demographic" routine seem to be an imitation of Sarah's "Target Women" current_tv show?

The presentation, the name, the subject (women) - everything seems so eerily familiar?

Are the writers for the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show seem to be so out of ideas the first week in that they have to imitate Sarah Haskins (and imitate her badly)?

Here's Jimmy's "oh so original" late night comedy segment:

and here's Sarah's take on skin care ads:

Here's the question - if you have a 3.9 GPA and are a member of the National Honor Society, should you be required to take a test to prove your proficiency in English.

If your parents are Laotian immigrants, apparently you do.

Meet Lori Phanachone. Because of her racial, immigrant, and ethnic origins, Storm Lake High School (in Iowa) has determined that she needs to prove her ability to speak English despite the fact that she is an honors student.

Why? Because she indicated that at home, she and her parents do not speak English.

Lori Phanachone is protesting this action. She finds the requirement that she do so is motivated by prejudice on behalf of the school system.

All her accomplishments do not matter to Iowa school officials, only her ethnicity and immigrant status.

Because of her refusal to conform, they are threatening her very future (threatening the scholarships she has been offered by colleges).

Just another example of racism and prejudice rearing its ugly head in America .