Sarah Jessica Parker and Ellen Barkin at the launch party for Laura Mercier's "The New Beauty Secrets: Your Ultimate Guide to a Flawless Face." (photo: Theo Wagner/WireImage.com)

Putting the Relief Back in Comedy

This Saturday, the quadruple-crown winner of entertainment (with an Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy) reunites with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams for the first Comic Relief concert in 8 years, this time to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The concert, airing simultaneously on HBO and TBS at 9 ET, will be live from Caesar's Palace in Vegas, in conjunction with the week's Comedy Festival. "I don't think any comics really have done a benefit on a large scale for Katrina victims," says Whoopi Goldberg, explaining that the more than 20 comics enlisted are won over by the fact that 100% of the money raised goes directly to the people.

In an interview with Newsweek, Goldberg also talked about her new etiquette book for children 'Whoopi's Big Book of Manners,' which urges no nose picking in public, among other helpful hints. And as for why she was interested in a role on 'Star Trek,' she wanted to show that there was going to be black people in the future. (photo: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage.com)

[HBO.com]

[Newsweek via MSNBC]

Weed Whacker

Don't expect to see Bill Maher dropping any clams when he's in Vegas for this weekend's comedy carnival. "You are always going to lose; it's just a matter of time," he tells the University of Nevada's Rebel Yell. "It's sort of slow torture for me."

He did, however, endorse the state's recent push to legalize marijuana, but he has a strategic suggestion for the movement: "They need a Karl Rove...I spoke at their convention once, and I saw why the marijuana movement has made so little progress in the last 35 years. They are all a bunch of stoners. When you want to affect change in Washington, you have to be good at getting up early and going to meetings and planning breakfasts and lobbying...stoners don't do that." (photo: John Shearer/WireImage.com)

[Rebel Yell]

They'll Be Here All Week Folks...

They're not just comics, they're "kingmakers" (Jon Stewart), supermodels (Rebecca Romijn), movie stars (Dane Cook, Robin, Whoopi, Billie, Chris Rock), rabble rousers (Roseanne, Lewis Black, Bill Maher), video sensations (Santa seducer Sarah Silverman, see below), TV icons (Ray Romano, George Lopez, the boys from 'Entourage' and 'Desperate Housewives'), and bomb-sniffers (Triump the Insulter, also below). They've all descended on Vegas for the week, and there's no telling what kind of punches they won't pull. (photo: Jesse Grant/WireImage.com)

A few highlights from and about the stars:

Sarah Silverman Ties Up Santa

The Rush Limbaugh of the Dems?

The D-Lister in the Baghdad Mess Tent

The Rudest Rottweiler in the K-9 unit

Catalina Sandino Moreno and Wilmer Valderrama at press day for 'Fast Food Nation' in Miami Beach. (photo: Rodrigo Varela/WireImage.com)

It's Not Easy Being Green

The blogosphere has been busy chronicling Adrian Grenier's house renovation project in Brooklyn, in part because it's become a model for green living. In addition to using recycled denim for insulation, the 'Entourage' star recently installed solar energy panels on his roof. This tweaked a local concerned about the look of his roofline, prompting a post from an "AG": "Sorry if you don't like the look of my renovation, but energy independence is too important to me to worry about whether this meets your aesthetic approval." A few bloggers hailed him for fighting back. "Props to Aquaman," wrote Ecorazzi, a "green gossip" site.

Readers of the blogs can pick up a few tips from the bulletin boards following his progress, like that NY state will rebate 40-70% of the cost of solar electricity for your home. (photo: Jean Baptiste Lacroix/WireImage.com)

[Power Naturally]

[Ecorazzi]

Local Kid Makes Good

'The Wire' 's Tristan Wilds recently sat down for a Q & A session with a group of grade school students from his Staten Island neighborhood. And the 17-year-old high school senior offered some sage advice about making it as an actor. "Persistence is the key ... and stay in school. Education is the backdrop to everything you do."

He also revealed how 10 years ago he learned to overcome the anxiety of performance when he starred as Ursula in a school production of 'The Little Mermaid.' "I had to dress up as girl and I was really nervous. But you learn to use that nervous energy to get you through it."

According to the Staten Island Advance, with Wilds' image splashing a massive 42nd Street billboard ad for 'The Wire,' many of the kids wanted to know more about the upside of his new found fame. Did he have a nice car? "Not yet." What famous people did he know? "A few." And did he have a girlfriend?

[Staten Island Advance]

Fantasy Date

Chris Noth: Fine at 50

Leslie Gray Streeter, TV and pop culture writer for the Palm Beach Post, blogs about what it would be like to date Chris Noth, who turned 50 this week. "Like most women, I have a mental age limit for potential dates....45 was the current limit, until Chris Noth went and turned 50 today." Musing about his history playing leading men on TV, what won this viewer over for good was when his Mr. Big threw himself at the mercy of Carrie's friends on 'Sex' before jetting to Paris to win her back. "Chris Noth sold this brilliantly, as brilliantly as he sold Big's confliction over the things he'd done to Carrie," she writes. "Only an actor with skills could make this guy likeable, and not make you scream 'Run, girl' to the television. Plus: "Noth's just gotten better with age, both as an actor and as a looker." (photo: Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com)

[Palm Beach Post]

Head Case

Niobe is alive and well...and living in New York. Familiar to most on this side of the Atlantic as the tortured wife of 'Rome' 's Vorenus, actress Indira Varma made her U.S. network TV debut last night in the new CBS drama '3 Lbs,' playing an unconventional (and often barefoot) neurologist who tends to challenge the chief neurosurgeon (Stanley Tucci). The actress even gets her own McSteamy, a fellow doc played by Mark Feuerstein.

Varma tells the AP that she had some misgivings when she first heard about the show, until she realized the '3 lbs' of the title referred to the weight of the brain. "I thought, that isn't obvious, and it has a bit of intelligence and wit...I was immediately fascinated by the show." The Indian-born actress has been busy lately - she can also be seen in 'Torchwood,' a 'Doctor Who' spin-off on the BBC, and will appear in an adaptation of Larry McMurtry's 'Comanche Moon.' (photo: Alan Davidson/WireImage.com)

[AP via AZ Central]

[Blogcritics Magazine]

Big Deal

'Big Love' 's "narc" to direct Lohan

She may be a trouble-making tattletale on 'Big Love' but actress Jodie Markell (who plays Bill Henrickson's Home Plus employee Wendy Hunt) is about to start bossing some big folks around. Markell is making her feature film directing debut with 'The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond,' a Tennessee Williams-penned screenplay, discovered after his death. Lindsay Lohan will play a society woman from 1920s Memphis who has a romance with a plantation worker. Other big names signed on for the film include Ellen Burstyn, David Strathairn and Ann-Margret. Markell's prior credits include acting in Jim Jarmusch's 'Mystery Train' and 'Sweet Land,' out now. (photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com)

[Comingsoon.net]

Broadway Bound

McShane set to star in 'The Homecoming'

After a 40-year absence, Ian McShane returns to Broadway in the upcoming revival of Harold Pinter's 'The Homecoming.' Though American audiences know him best for his portrayal of the cutthroat proprietor of the Gem Saloon, Al Swearengen, the 'Deadwood' star is no stranger to the stage.

The Golden Globe winner's early London stage successes include being in the original cast of Joe Orton's 'Loot' and starring with Judi Dench and Ian McKellen in 'The Promise.' With that production transferring to New York with McKellen and Eileen Atkins, McShane made his Broadway debut in 1967. (photo: Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com)

[Playbill.com]

Robin Williams, Elijah Wood, Brittany Murphy and Anthony LaPaglia at the 'Happy Feet' premiere in Hollywood. (photo: Lester Cohen/WireImage.com)

Wife Swapping

'Sex' pals at premiere

It was a 'Sex and the City' reunion of sorts. Sarah Jessica Parker got into the holiday spirit when she joined Kristin Davis and her husband, Matthew Broderick, to celebrate the Los Angeles premiere of their new film, 'Deck the Halls.' In the pic, Davis plays wife to Broderick, who duels with his car salesman neighbor (played by Danny DeVito) via over-the-top Christmas displays (think: visible from space). They're definitely not in Manhattan anymore. (photo: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage.com)

[Hello Magazine]

London's Calling

West Goes East

Englishman Dominic West, who has played opposite a few of Hollywood's loveliest leading ladies — Julianne Moore ('The Forgotten'), Julia Roberts ('Mona Lisa Smile'), and Renée Zellweger ('Chicago') — was asked by The Independent of London whether folks in the US thought he was from the States?

"Most people think I'm American," replies the Sheffield-native who joins the cast of playwright Tom Stoppard's West End sensation 'Rock'n'Roll.' "Actually, the Queen's Park constabulary are quite big fans of 'The Wire.' They thought I was American, too." (photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com)

[The Independent]

Not-So-Second City

Jeff Garlin defends his hometown

The Bears vs. Giants rivalry is about more than just football. According to Craig Ellenport of NFL.com, "It's a clash between two of the biggest and best cities in the world." Apparently the moniker "Second City" was a compliment at first — the name Chicago got when it surpassed Philly as the 2nd most populated U.S. city. But an AJ Liebling article in The New Yorker in the 50s, critical of everything Chicago, turned it into a second-class putdown.

The debate is detailed on NFL.com, but Jeff Garlin plays peacemaker: "There is no rivalry," he insists. "Here's the problem: When Madonna visits the city of Chicago, every paper will say where she's eating lunch. In New York, I don't think they care where anyone's having lunch. Until people stop caring where people are having lunch, Chicago will always be the Second City. It isn't New York City, but it's the closest thing we have to it in the United States." (photo: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com)

[NFL.com]

George Clooney, Paul Newman, Bruce Willis and Billy Crystal celebrate Tony Bennett's 80th birthday to benefit Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Camps. (photo: Michael Caulfield/WireImage.com)

Pop Tart

Collette launches singing career

The mother of Little Miss Sunshine made her own nervous stage debut this week. Toni Collette, who stars in the upcoming HBO film 'Tsunami,' launched her first pop album at a club in Australia. "I have never seen this place so packed; I am sh**ting myself,'' the jittery actress said before making her singing debut with her band, which includes her drummer husband, Dave Galafassi. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Collette wowed the fans, which included her parents, with her "strong, lovely voice." The Daily Telegraph commended her "gutsy" and "carefully controlled" vocals and as well as the "gentle warmth, melancholy and hope of their album, 'Beautiful Awkward Pictures.' " (photo: Jamie McCarthy/WireImage.com)

[Sydney Morning Herald]

[Daily Telegraph]

[HBO.com]

Fair Weather Friend

Laurie David's tips for a healthier planet

Talking about the weather has taken on new meaning, thanks in large part to Laurie David, Larry David's real-life wife, producer of 'An Inconvenient Truth' and author of 'Stop Global Warming: The Solution Is You!' "Americans now see the connection between Hurricane Katrina, our recent heat waves, and the everyday weather. People are finally getting that this is really happening," she told Planetsave.com. David advocates small changes that can make a difference, from driving a hybrid to taking your own garment bag to the dry cleaner's so you don't need extra plastic or hangers.

As for her husband, he supports her cause in many ways, including financially: "[Larry] drives a hybrid himself, and he drove one on 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' to help promote it. And he keeps me laughing, too. That's important when you're doing serious work." (photo: WireImage.com)

[Planetsave.com]

No Comment

David Simon's just telling it like he sees it

Like many of 'The Wire' 's Baltimore-centric characters — who think going on the lam means moving from the west-side to the east-side of town — David Simon's working life has revolved around life in Charm city. Simon, once a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun, says of his Peabody award-winning series: "We're just trying to reflect Baltimore, a city that's 65 percent black. We're not trying to make a statement."

"We have 50-60 continuing roles for African Americans — can you name 50 or 60 from the rest of the network lineups? You can't," Simon tells Campus Progress. And he adds, "There is an awful lot of African American talent that is underutilized by the American entertainment industry." (photo: Jim Spellman/WireImage.com)

[Campus Progress]