If the live edition of Set List tonight on the Nerdist Channel isn’t enough “stand-up without a net” for you, here’s another episode, with the comic being put through his paces being none other than Drew Carey. What happens when one of the sharpest minds in comedy gets peppered with topics he isn’t expecting and has to come up with jokes on the spot? Drew, the stage is yours.

Subscribe to the Nerdist Channel now and be spontaneous.

So, here we are, Set List Live for YouTube Comedy Week on the Nerdist Channel with Moshe Kasher, Jon Dore, Matt Kirshen, Kira Soltanovich, and Dan Van Kirk as Mark Wahlberg, hosted by Set List co-creator Paul Provenza. After that, there’ll be a music/comedy hour with a lineup (as scheduled) that’ll include Nick Thune, Dragon Boy Suede, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Karen Kilgariff, Nancy and Beth (Megan Mullally and Stephanie Hunt), and, if he can make it, Reggie Watts. Please to enjoy.

Subscribe to the Nerdist Channel now while we got ya here.

A former editor once gave me some good advice that comparing the vibe of a song to drug-induced sensations is often lazy figurative language. This has been really solid wisdom for pushing the boundaries of my diction when something sounds viscerally hazy, but at this specific juncture in time, I am managing the post-operative pangs of wisdom tooth extraction, and so the Percocet wave I am riding is sort of the motor for all activities I am currently engaged in. Namely: moaning, sippin’ yellow Gatorade, drooling yellow Gatorade on my shirt, and losing track of time.

This last item was the impetus behind my choice for this week’s TOTW. Boards of Canada’s last full-length, my personal fave, was 2005′s “The Campfire Headphase,” and in the first moments of their new single “Reach for the Dead,” you get the feeling that you may have heard the track on that last album. In a central way, the band’s legacy has always been about some sort of seasonal arc. The painstaking amount of precision to tweak but also replicate their sound has always been one of the key drawing points to their music, and every five-or-so years, they return with a bafflingly surreal iteration of something you thought they may have already done. Its a slow process, but it is also very sudden and severe. Do I sound like a high guy thinking right now? Yup.

DISCLAIMER: Don’t Do Drugs, Kids. Unless some first-world-operation renders you useless for a week and some nurse that smells like a Wendy’s parking lot writes you a script for pain meds. Then by all means, do those drugs.

Follow Me On The Twitter!! @MattGrosinger My avi is a pic of James Franco from Freaks And Geeks!

John DiMaggio is one of the most sought-after and hardest-working voice actors in the biz today. He grew to prominence as the voice of Bender Bending Rodriguez on the Matt Groening-created animated sci-fi comedy series Futurama, and has stayed in prominence with roles in things like Cartoon Network’s trippy and hilarious Adventure Time as Jake the Dog. For the past few years, he has been working on a passion project, a documentary film entitled I Know That Voice that features virtually every voice actor in the business today. DiMaggio is the film’s executive producer and acts as its narrator. Though the film is still being edited, culling hundreds of hours of footage, it is available for pre-order now through the film’s official website. Mr. DiMaggio was nice enough to talk to us about the film and about his work, Bender, Jake, and even the Joker.

NERDIST: You’ve been working on this film for such a long time; How did you get the idea for a film about voice actors and voice acting, and how did it finally get going?

JOHN DIMAGGIO: A couple of years ago, I guess it was about 2010, my buddy and I, Lawrence Shapiro, he’s the director of the film, we were in Amsterdam for a music festival, and people there knew me from all kinds of different cartoon stuff that I had done. Larry was like, “Wow, we should do a movie about people who do cartoon voices,” and I thought that was a really interesting idea. We could do that. And we started to really try and put something together, but we didn’t really have the means and the know-how to really organize it and get it done. That’s when, in about October of 2011, I brought in Tommy Reid, who’s the producer on the movie. He said, “I really want to do something with you,” because we’d worked together in the past, and I said, “What about this project?” And he said, “That sounds unbelievable. That sounds incredible. Let’s do it.” And we just started putting it together, and people started coming out of the woodwork to come and talk to us, and once we started talking to people, people started hearing about it. I mean, we’ve got 160 hours of unedited footage and we’ve broken it down to 90 minutes of some great stuff.

Basically, it’s everything you ever wanted to know about voice acting and the animation industry but were afraid to ask. It’s turned out really great. We couldn’t be happier. The film has already on our website garnered 1,100 pre-orders in two weeks, which is pretty good word of mouth. When we originally put a trailer out to garner attention, it went viral, to our surprise. It got close to 700,000 hits with nobody really pushing it. So, we’re very excited about it. We’ve been in post-production for awhile. You know, that takes a sweet minute [laughs]. As a first-time filmmaker, it’s been frustrating, but it’s coming together and coming together well. That’s the good thing; it’s just a matter of time. It should be wrapped up and released by the fall.

N: That must be gratifying to have that many pre-orders so far in advance.

JD: It’s really amazing! We really wanted to make sure that our core audience was aware of this. We want people who are interested in this genre to know that this is a go-to film. We want them to know that any question they have about voice acting, this is the movie they should watch. It’s really been something; the support has been phenomenal, and the movie’s not even out yet. Word of mouth is really something.

N: Since you did interview so many voice actors, how long did it take to shoot everything?

JD: It took a while. We shot for well over a year, year-and-a-half. We’ve been in post-production since the beginning of the year. About 15 months altogether, I’d say. About 15-16 months to get all those interviews. I’d be in the studio and I’d look at the people in the studio with me and say “Hey, you wanna be interviewed for this film?” And people were like, “Oh my God, yeah!” That was key for me. Being the executive producer of the film, that’s what I needed to do. I needed to get those strings pulled because I was the way into that; I was the connection to that part, and that’s what was really important. You know, it’s been a labor of love; I put up the coin to make this thing. So, I’m pretty excited, and the outpouring of support from my peers has been fantastic. There were people saying, “Man, I wish I’d done that.” Me being in the business really helped. So, that’s what I did, and Tommy put the hustle in and got it organized and Larry was the man in their shooting the thing.

N: So, is it safe to say that the movie leaves no voice acting stone unturned?

JD: For everybody who always has questions for me at conventions, it covers all the bases, and I think it’s something that everyone, you know, from 1 to 92 can get. I don’t think there’s really anybody that doesn’t like cartoons. And if they do, they’re very grumpy. [laughs] You know, so the movie’s really like a valentine to the industry, to the people who’ve really helped me become a successful actor. It’s really about them; these people who are the unsung heroes, if you will, of the entertainment industry. They fly under the radar and they deserve a little kudos and they deserve a round of applause. You know, I Know That Voice, that’s the whole thing.

N: Because so many of our readers are fans of yours, I’m going to ask a couple of questions about you specifically. One of my favorite roles you’ve done is the Joker in Batman: Under the Red Hood. With a character like that, who was really made famous by another actor, how did you go about making it your own?

JD: It was really just tapping into the script, tapping into the reality of it as opposed to the cartoon aspect of it. Really tapping into the mind of a sadistic, psychotic criminal. And also having Andrea Romano in your corner and everybody who was involved. Bruce Timm and all those guys really know what they’re doing. You know, Batman is sacred ground, so you really have to be in the right way to do it. And I really lucked out. I got the call from Andrea and went in and she was like, “You’re gonna play the Joker,” and I was like, “Uhhhhh, okay.” And it’s been great. I get great feedback on it, except from, you know, diehard Mark Hamill fans. [laughs] So, you can’t please them, but that’s all right. I don’t care about that. That’s fine, you know, they can say what they want. They wouldn’t say it to my face, though. [laughs] People talk a lot of shit on the internet and that’s fine, it’s just really funny. Other than that, it’s just a completely positive experience, a wonderful experience, and I’d love to play the Joker again. They have not approached me about playing the Joker again, but if they do, I will leap at the chance.

N: You’ve done so many great roles over the years; how gratifying is when ones like Bender or Jake from Adventure Time strike chords with people the way they do?

JD: Oh, it’s wonderful! It’s the reason you do what you do. I mean, Bender is a franchise character, and so is Jake. It’s just funny, I’m so fortunate to have those opportunities in my life to play these kinds of characters and to touch so many people, you know? Appropriately. [laughs] But, it’s really been fantastic. It blows my mind sometimes. A lot of the time, actually. You walk out on stage at a convention and people lose their minds. And it’s been great, I’ve been really fortunate. Futurama really opened up a lot of doors for me and those doors have continued to stay open. It’s been really wonderful. I love what I do.

N: And, finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ask about Futurama and Comedy Central’s decision not to pick it up. What’s your reaction to this, and do you think it’ll stay gone or do you think it’ll be back again via a grassroots campaign like last time?

JD:  You know, if it gets picked up, great. If it doesn’t, I’ve been doing Futurama since 1999 and sometimes the curtain closes and that’s the thing that you’ve gotta take. I certainly don’t want it to, but I think that this time around is unusual in that it seems like it’s the closest it’s been to really not being anymore. And I hope that’s not the case. I hope that something happens and we get to do it again, because there’s nothing wrong with it. You know, it’s a great show, the writing is still fantastic. Anybody complaining that “Oh, the writing is different,” we have the same writers since we started and anyone that’s new is of Simpsons pedigree. It’s ridiculous; they don’t know what they’re talking about. The show is phenomenal and it’s still got plenty of life in it, plenty of steam in it, plenty of energy in it, plenty of laughs in it. And we’ll see, you know. If somebody decides to do it, if Adult Swim says they want it back, then great. If not, it’ll still go down in my life as one of the greatest things to ever happen to me professionally, and so be it. Let it walk off into the wild blue yonder. Working with Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and all the writers and the actors has been one of my life’s biggest pleasures. I would love to see it keep going, but if it doesn’t, “fare thee well, yo.”

I Know That Voice can be pre-ordered now at IKnowThatVoice.com. And for even more voice actors, check out the second trailer for the film below.

Obviously, this level of control over the populace, coupled with corporate greed, leads to the creation of a surveillance state and, in turn, the rise of rebel groups known as “Errorists” determined to take down Memorize. Much like we’re glued to our cell phone screens today, this new technology has the unfortunate side effect of creating Leapers, memory-addicted humans who have absorbed and downloaded so many memories that their own Sensation Engine has degraded, mutating them into mindless subhumans living in the sewers of Neo-Paris. And unlike the mutants of Futurama, these memory Morlocks are anything but friendly. Sounds pretty grim, right? Don’t worry – it gets worse (or better depending on how you look at it). Remember Me places you in the formidable shoes of Nilin, a memory hunter under Memorize’s employ, specializing in stealing or altering memories. Well, that is, until Memorize decides to wipe her memory. Now, Nilin is on the run, and finds herself allied with the Errorists in a life-or-death battle against the malicious Memorize in a last ditch effort to recover her memories and save the world.

After getting some hands-on time with the game, I found myself quite impressed. Playing like a mixture of Assassin’s Creed-style parkour, Metal Gear Rising-esque kinetic action, and DmC‘s combo-oriented combat, Remember Me feels at once familiar and brand new. In no time, you’ll find yourself backflipping and roundhouse-kicking your way through throngs of memory-addled mutants in the sewers of Paris, which look prettier than any sewer system I’ve been in recently. The game commits hard to its gritty, Orwellian cyberpunk aesthetic and pulls it off rather well. Remember the feeling you had when you saw Los Angeles in Blade Runner for the first time? It’s a bit like that.

On a superficial level, the combat system consists of your standard X- and Y-based melee attacks and dodging, but the combo system is a horse of another color entirely. Revolving around a feature called the Combo Lab, the system lets you customize and create up to four different combo moves of varying length, which will have different effects and results depending on what types of moves you string together. Despite its “easy to learn” appearance, the Combo Lab packs a surprising amount of depth. Starting with three-movie combos and a handful of attacks, the player will gradually unlock more varieties and options as you gain experience points and defeat enemies. With four types of moves to choose from – power, regen, chain and cooldown – this system could prove intensely addictive for those of you out there obsessed with the minutiae of min/maxing.

Our play session took place near the game’s outset, so unfortunately we weren’t able to experiment with some of the Combo Lab’s more robust options, and the combat felt a little button mash-y at times. That being said, it was still a blast to play, as the fluid, responsive controls had me jumping around and laying the beatdown on lurking Leapers like a disgruntled Cirque du Soleil performer. Although I quite enjoyed my time playing the game, I found myself with some leftover questions, so I reached out to Dontnod’s creative director Jean-Maxime Moris to talk about the challenges inherent to launching a new IP, the original controversy surrounding the game’s protagonist, and crafting Remember Me‘s distinct visual aesthetic.

Nerdist: In a market glutted with sequels to existing franchises, what are some of the challenges in launching a new AAA title like Remember Me? 

Jean-Maxime Moris: Releasing a new IP brings with it both challenges and opportunities. Certainly launching towards the end of a hardware cycle means you will be vying for attention against established franchises, but the onus is then on the developer to deliver something fresh and interesting. With Remember Me, we have a number of things that we feel make our game stand out from the crowd – a very strong visual style; a unique setting; a combination of combat, exploration and memory gameplay mechanics; and a compelling narrative that explores themes we believe will resonate well with gamers. The other advantage we have launching now is that, as developers, we have had over seven years to come to grips with the hardware and can really realize their full potential, plus there are a lot of consoles out there, so more people to potentially purchase Remember Me.

N: What can you tell us about the world of Remember Me?

JMM: Remember Me takes place in our vision of 2084, and specifically the city of Neo-Paris. Neo-Paris isn’t your typical cyberpunk world with dejected, downtrodden citizens living in a monotone city, but that’s not to say all is well in the world. In Remember Me, all citizens have an implant known as the Sensen, which records all their memories and then allows them to be shared, sold or traded with others. At the head of this new memory society is Memorize, a corporation that holds all this data and, with it, great power. The majority of Neo-Paris‘ citizens don’t care about how their innermost thoughts and experiences are being exploited, as the “cool” benefits outweigh the perceived threat to individual freedom. However, there is a group known as the Errorists who are fighting back against Memorize, and players will get to take on the role of Nilin, a former elite memory hunter, as she attempts to take down Memorize and, in doing so, recapture her own memory.

N: The game has a very distinct cyberpunk-influenced look. Tell us about the design process and crafting the visual aesthetic of the world of Remember Me.

JMM: As previously mentioned, while Remember Me has cyberpunk elements, it is not completely typical of the genre. Our guiding principle in creating the look and feel of Remember Me was to ensure that Neo-Paris was firmly rooted in the here-and-now while at the same time delivering futuristic elements. Looking at the city itself, you will see familiar Parisian landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and typical Haussmanian architecture alongside all new elements to create our vision of Neo-Paris in 2084. This approach is also replicated with the game’s characters, so if you look at Nilin, you will see she wears a contemporary pair of jeans and a jacket but we combine this with futuristic gloves and boots.

We feel that this mix of the familiar alongside futuristic elements will help introduce players to the world of Remember Me and the story we are telling.

N: I understand that publishers originally balked at the game due to its female lead. Why was that the case and what’s changed?

JMM: Some publishers feel a male protagonist is more suited for an action adventure title. At Dontnod we believe that there are only two types of characters: good ones and bad ones. Gender is absolutely irrelevant. When we met with Capcom, it wasn’t an issue for them, so this open-mindedness was a relief.

N: The game features fairly robust customization options in terms of how you build and structure combos. What was the impetus behind putting so much control in the player’s hands?

JMM: We wanted to elevate the combat and make it one of the key elements of the gameplay experience, not just a simplistic button mashing system, so we spent a long time experimenting before we came up with the Combo Lab. The Combo Lab provides a second layer of depth to the game’s combat system, with the goal of encouraging players of all abilities to experiment with different combinations and find the best combo for each combat situation.

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Remember Me comes to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on June 4th. What do you think of Remember Me? Let us know in the comments below!

The NerdMelt Showroom at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles has an absolutely killer week planned for this last week of May. It’s hard to think of a better way to say goodbye to May and hello to June than with some amazing comedy. Shows like Star Dreck with guest Moshe Kasher, the special live taping of Double Jump for the Nerdist Channel, Picture This!, and more. Check it out and come laugh. You’ll be glad you did.

May 25th at 8pm it’s Set List: Stand-up Without A Net!

From the minds of Paul Provenza and Troy Conrad… Top comics are given a never-before-seen “set list” of strange and outrageous topics the second they walk onstage, and perform seamlessly as if its the act they normally do, while the audience follows their list on the projection screen. Complete comedy in the moment. May 25th’s show features the never-before-seen set lists of Jen Kirkman, Nate Bargatze, Jimmy Dore, Johnny Pemberton, Moshe Kasher, Ben Gleib, and special guests!

$8 in advance, $10 at the door.

May 26th at 8pm it’s Harmontown!

What is Harmontown? It’s awesome. It’s unique. It’s one of a kind. It’s something only Dan Harmon (creator of Community and the upcoming Rick and Morty) and Jeff B. Davis (Whose Line is it Anyway) can do. It’s a different show every time and it’s every week. Lucky us! Playing Dungeons and Dragons? It’s happened. Dan Harmon freestyle rapping? Yup, that too. Calling Chevy Chase from stage? Happened…more than once. A celebrity guest? Allison Brie, Donald Glover, and Gillian Jacobs among others have all stopped in. Getting super personal with an intimate audience? Always. It’s Harmontown. It’s awesome. It’s unique. Don’t miss a single week. 

$10.

May 27th at 8pm it’s Nerdist Open Mic!

Come watch a mix of Matt Mira, Kyle Clark, and/or John Ungaro host this comedy free-for-all. You’ll see brand new comics, comics you know and love trying out new material (Chris Hardwick and Kumail Nanjiani are frequent drop ins), and the magic that is live comedy.

FREE.

May 28th at 8pm it’s Star Dreck!

Kumail Nanjiani and Matt Mira are huge Trekkies, but even they have to admit that some of them just don’t hold up. Join them as they introduce you to some of the worst Star Trek episodes in existence, and then proceed to rip them to shreds. With the help of Moshe Kasher, will they boldly go where no fan has gone before?

$8 in advance, $10 at the door.

May 29th at 8:30pm it’s The Meltdown Show with Jonah and Kumail!

Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani helm the good ship Meltdown every single Wednesday, to host the show that’s been named one of the best live shows in LA by LA Weekly, Splitsider, and more. At The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, you’ll see some of the biggest comics, up and coming acts just before they get famous, and as always, surprise drop-ins that will knock your socks off. Featuring Moshe Kasher, Prescott Tolk, Neal Brennan, Dave Thomason, Rory Scovel, Hannibal Buress & more!

$8.

May 30th at 8pm it’s Double Jump – Special LIVE Nerdist Channel Taping!

Double Jump, the late night talk show for gamers and the people that don’t play them, is coming to the Nerdist Channel! Join us May 30th for a special LIVE taping of Double Jump!

Co-hosts Christian Spicer (Weekend Confirmed, IMPRO(vs)TANDUP, SketchMelt) and Jeff Cannata (Totally Rad Show, Weekend Confirmed, Always On) welcome some of the coolest people working in and around video games and the pop culture world they influence. Comedy. Video games. Surprise guests. Awesome. May 30th’s scheduled guests include the all-star line up of: Ted Price (President and CEO of Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, Fuse)); Randy Pitchford (co-founder, CEO, and president of Gearbox Software (Borderlands, Brothers in Arms)); Adam Sessler (X-Play, Attack of the Show, Revision3); and more!

$8 in advance, $10 at the door.

May 31st at 8pm it’s Picture This!

Picture This! is a new show from Sam Varela, Brandie Posey, and Grif Kimmins: two girls & an animator who want to push the boundaries of what a comedy show can be.

Picture This! is a live comedy show with stand-ups performing while they are drawn live by some of the best animators, cartoonists, and other artists in Hollywood, CA. The comedians don’t know what the animators are drawing and the animators don’t know how the comedians will react. It may be weird. It may different. But it will be a unique comedy experience every time! After performing for a year in LA, New York, Toronto and Australia, Picture This! is now at the Nerdist Showroom — so, come see the show that everyone will be talking about!

May’s comedians include: Andy Kindler, Todd Glass, Chris Garcia, Katie Crown, Rye Silverman, Lauren Ashley Bishop, and more.

FREE.

Thank you all so much for your continued support of the showroom. Follow us on Twitter and track us on our blog for more info about any of these shows!

Buy The Todd Glass Show t-shirts!

Like The Todd Glass Show on Facebook, follow @ToddGlass on Twitter, and buy his album “Thin Pig”!

Summer quickly approaches, and while some get their “beach-bods” in order, the truly devoted are more worried about the upcoming con season, namely, what to wear? Prepare to be inspired by this week’s Cosplay Friday!

Like always, I’ve scoured the net for the best, sexiest, silliest and generally “Oh, Snap!” cosplay the nerdy world has to offer. ‘Cause beaches are overrated.

I don’t know what’s more frightening in this deviantART pic; Damian’s face or the fact that the Joker apparently wants to eat it.

Savvyxoxo manages to do the unthinkable (and unthinkably awesome): A Harry Potter cosplay that evokes Doctor Who. #Swoon

I was going to make a very clever “rubber-man” joke about Mostflogged‘s Luffy cosplay, but I’m too busy staring. Gomu-Gomu-Be my girlfriend! (There it is.)

This Left 4 Dead cosplayer shows that you can kick zombie ass and still look like Ash Ketchum.

Our second Robin cosplay of the day; and while I appreciate the Lolita look, all I can see is Damian’s angry face photoshopped on top of this. Probably because I just photoshopped it on top of this.

We know this is a Durarara!! cosplay, but Daft Punk has never looked as good.

Oh look, it’s a nice dog family reunion and OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT HORRIBLE MONSTER ON THE LEFT?! (Also… I wore that Kigurumi better. Just sayin’)

9 year old Chlo Chlo proves that a Marcy cosplay isn’t only for EVERY SINGLE woman at a convention.

Meanwhile, TakutoTsunashi proves that someone saw Rise of the Guardians.

This Black Rock Shooter cosplayer just got back from a convention and boy, are her arms tired! Thanks, gang. I’ll be here all week.

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Dig our choices? Got a cool cosplay you want to show off with the world? Kindly leave a quemment, email me or hit me up on the twitter machine. 

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