Modified On December 2, 2009
We recalled reading that Jake Johannsen was taping a special in Kansas City several months ago. (See the Kansas City Star’s account of that taping here.) That was back in February, as it turns out.
We were sniffing around on the website of the Showtime network when we came across this listing. “Jake Johannsen: I Love You” is most likely the result of last winter’s efforts. It will premiere Jan. 1 at 9:30 PM. (It will rerun four more times over the following week on the various Showtime properties.)
The Star’s Aaron Barnhart says that standup is a peculiar business because as a comic, you can’t just do standup, he says, you are also compelled “to make movies, you have to make sitcom pilots, you have to be a spokesman for baseball.” So, in addition to being on Letterman 35 times, Johannsen had to top his critically acclaimed special “This’ll Take About an Hour,” which ran on HBO in 1992. This latest special was directed by comedian (and editor of “The Aristocrats” Emery Emery, who is quoted liberally in the Star piece– he’s a K.C. native.
We hung out with Johannsen (and watched a hysterical set!) when he performed in Helium back in June. If the material we saw this past summer is included in the new special (and the chances are pretty much 100 per cent), it will be a spectacular success.