“Comedy never travels…” “What about German Comedy?”

Mar 14, 2023 | Books, Business

BERLIN – March 13, 2023 – PRLog — We’ve all heard the saying, “comedy never travels”. If that’s true, we can only imagine what’s said about German comedy. Faraway, however, appears to be the exception – with the language of love and travel that seems to have breached all others. Under Vanessa Jopp’s direction, Faraway – a Netflix Original multilingual Rom-Com – is Netflix’s #2 film worldwide: A remarkable feat for a German-rooted comedy that shouldn’t really “travel”.

That said, there is a vibrant and unique comedic landscape in Germany which deserves to be celebrated. No joke. Last year saw Germany make an impactful entry into the 94th Academy Awards with the comedy, Ich bin dein Mensch (I’m Your Man). And then there was 2016’s Toni Erdmann being met with widespread critical acclaim for its wit and social commentary (which Jack Nicholson once circled to star in its remake).

For many, watching characters navigate places of paradise means living vicariously through them – experiencing escapism without departing the sofa. Maybe that’s it – after years in a pandemic, ongoing geopolitical and natural earthquakes — audiences just want to feel good. And escape. If you allow yourself to be whisked away to Croatia and forget about the world’s problems – could that work? “Without a shadow of a doubt, the reason that people tune into rom-coms more during periods of crisis and stress is because of the distraction that these genres offer,” Emma Kenny, a UK-based TV psychologist, says.

Eat, Pray, Love is the Rom-Com travel classic – chronicling Julia Roberts as Liz Gilbert as she embarks on a journey to find balance in her life following a difficult divorce. Robert’s more recent release, Ticket to Paradise, is also a romanticised ode to travel, grossing more than $172.1MM – making it the biggest Rom-Com to feature two over-50 leads since 2009’s It’s Complicated. Which begs the question whether an escapist experience as Faraway would have been better served in a cinema setting?

We’re now also in a world where older actresses are becoming unafraid of exploring their onscreen sexuality – exemplified by Emma Thompson in Good Luck to you, Leo Grande, and Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown (who took a stand to ensure her ‘visible belly’ during a sex scene was not edited out). Now we find Faraway’s Zeynap (Naomi Krauss) fearlessly embracing her age, which, in a very honest portrayal, might also serve as an ingredient in a sexy-secret-sauce to revitalise a well-trodden Rom-Com formula.

A wager fulfilled by Netflix dubbing Faraway for global audiences, Rom-Coms never fail to engage audiences – despite their language. And when combined with the romantic lure of travel, they become even more captivating. Love is, after all, a universal language, and there is just something spellbinding about a romance that unfolds in a destination faraway.

Who knows, maybe we’ll be seeing a remake with Roberts in the future.

HBO Original Comedy Series RAIN DOGS Debuts March 6

Jan 19, 2023 | Business

WEBWIRE –

  • The eight-episode HBO original comedy series RAIN DOGS, from BBC One and Sid Gentle Films Ltd, debuts MONDAY, MARCH 6 (10:00-10:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max.
  • Logline: From the brilliant new voice of Cash Carraway, RAIN DOGS is an unconventional love story between a working class single mum, her 10-year-old daughter, and a privileged gay man. The dark comedy stars Daisy May Cooper, Jack Farthing, Ronke Adekoluejo, Adrian Edmondson and Fleur Tashjian in her debut role, as a dysfunctional family on the fringes of society attempting to go straight in a crooked world.
  • Credits: RAIN DOGS is an HBO and BBC One co-production; written and created by Cash Carraway who also serves as executive producer; executive producers, Sally Woodward Gentle and Lee Morris, Jo McClellan for BBC One; co-producer, Henrietta Colvin for Sid Gentle Films Ltd; producer, Ciara McIlvenny; directors, Richard Laxton and Jennifer Perrott.

HBO Comedy Special YVONNE ORJI: A WHOLE ME. Debuts October 1

Sep 12, 2022 | Business

WEBWIRE –



The HBO Original stand-up special YVONNE ORJI: A WHOLE ME., written and performed by Emmy® nominee Yvonne Orji, debuts SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 at 10pm ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. In her second HBO stand-up special, Orji uses therapy as a thruline to discuss her evolving thoughts on friendship, dating, adulting, and why guys need better friends.


Bringing her signature style to Downtown Los Angeles, Emmy®-nominated actor Yvonne Orji (HBO’s “Insecure”) returns to HBO picking up where her first special, 2020’s “Momma, I Made It!” left off. A unique mash-up of stand-up comedy with scripted vignettes, YVONNE ORJI: A WHOLE ME. showcases Orji’s range and vulnerability, while also serving as a no-holds-barred therapy session for both the artist and the audience in a beautiful mix of heart, humor and healing.


YVONNE ORJI: A WHOLE ME. is written and performed by Yvonne Orji; directed by Malakai, with vignettes directed by Jerah Milligan; executive produced by Yvonne Orji, Michelle Caputo, Shannon Hartman and DC Wade; co-executive produced by Kerry Coddett and Chinedu Unaka.


VIDEO: Yvonne Orji: A Whole Me. | Official Trailer | HBO

Comedy Heals

Aug 23, 2022 | Books, Business

Aware Meditation Inc. will bring its inaugural Mental Health Awareness Event in collaboration with Rise Up Comedy, Hot Medusa Comedy at the Zephyr Theatre in Los Angeles on August 27th, 2022.

Mental Health Awareness Wellness is the foundation of the event. The fundraiser hosts mental health education, information about non medication proven stress reduction techniques & laughter via live comedy. Laughter has scientifically proven to swap cortisol in the bloodstream with, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins naturally. These reduce anxiety, feelings of dread and depression, decrease blood pressure, muscle tension and improve cardiovascular health, mood, cognitive function to name a few. No better format to release stress, learn about anxiety solutions while feeling uplifted knowing that the ticket price is going towards a non profit.

Rise Up Comedy, is a comedy-minority based collective (female, BIPoC, LGBT, Mental or Physical Disabilities) led innovative outreach project of Los Angeles-based Aware Meditation Inc. They produce shows with clean comedy that emphasizes positivity, uplifts the talent, audience, and hosting location. Performances are free of racism, sexism, prejudice, and abuse. The Los Angles show collaborates with Hot Medusa Comedy a female, BIPoC, & LGBT led entity. Comics include rising local stand-ups Suwon Weaver, Paula Jane Newman, Nikole Denise, Keith Graber, newcomers Truc Nguyen, Julie Stinson and Colorado based Lou So. It is hosted by the Zephyr theatre in Los Angeles.

“We are fusing awareness, healing & fundraising in one swoop” said the Aware Meditation Inc founder & chronic pain warrior Paula Jane Newman, who has shared her meditation instruction on ABC’s “Celebrity Wife Swap” and on other television programs and podcasts. A U.S. immigrant at 19, she paid her own way as a first gen college student at Carnegie Mellon University but overworked fulfilling the American Dream and within 5 years she sustained a repetitive stress injury in an office which forced her life to turn 180. “Everything fell apart, my health, my dreams, my romantic status & my capacity to make money. I just filmed the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie and couldn’t even dress myself. I sank into deep depression, was unable to sleep due to the pain, & my body developed a tolerance to the prescribed pain medication.” However, it was her examining the causes of her mental pain that led to her physical health shift. “My constant sense of doom and despair was centered in my mind not my body. I realized this tracked back further than when I sustained my injury and the only way to address the deep rooted trauma issues was to put down all suppressants/mood shifting substances that were masking my awareness of these root causes and do the inner work.” It was during this time she found meditation to cope with anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. She became a teacher of these practices to help others who were in similar financial situations as herself. “These services should be available to all, not just those who can afford it. Stress makes all conditions intensify. Release the stress and we have a deeper capacity to adapt and heal”.

Aware Meditation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, provides simple, self-sufficient stress reducing techniques aimed at eliminating stress and expanding cognitive capacities. Through its Global Outreach Initiative, Aware Meditation makes instruction available to lower-income and marginalized people at no cost.

The Mental Health Awareness, Comedy and Meditation Show will take place at 1:30 p.m. on August 27th at Zephyr Theatre 7456 Melrose Ave, in Los Angeles. For more information on the event, or to schedule an interview, contact Aware Meditation.

Tickets are on their website via Humantix https://www.awaremeditation.com