Coming off the heels of Yahoo!’s women’s slate launch, which had nearly 10 million streams in its first month, and as the top destination online for comedy with 1 billion streams of its original programming to date, Yahoo! is adding to its line-up with the Yahoo! Comedy Channel. Kicking off the Yahoo! Comedy Channel is a live free online broadcast exclusively on Yahoo! for Bill Maher’s stand-up “CrazyStupidPolitics: Bill Maher Live from Silicon Valley,” on February 23, 2012 at the San Jose Performing Arts Center.

Following Maher, the Yahoo! Comedy Channel is will include a variety of exclusive short form videos, set to go live in spring 2012, with additional big names including Mike O’Brien (lead writer on Saturday Night Live) and Seth Morris (No Strings Attached, I Love You Man, Step Brothers), licensed video content from current sponsors, and Yahoo! original programming, such as Yahoo! Studios’ Odd News and be hosted on Yahoo! Screen, the company’s revamped premium video destination. Like the female slate, the Yahoo! Comedy Channel will provide marketers with a huge opportunity to align their brand with world class content via a “Share of Voiceˇ opportunity to buy ad spots across the entire slate of shows. Progressive Insurance has already signed on as a launch sponsor.

“Bill Maher’s special is a groundbreaking event, not only for Yahoo! and Bill but for the internet as the first ever, live, free broadcast online. We are focusing on fresh, original voices like Bill and our other original programs with the Yahoo! Comedy Channel to continue to provide our consumers and advertisers with the best premium content on the Web,ˇ said Erin McPherson, vice president & head of Video at Yahoo!. “The Yahoo! Comedy Channel continues to build our leadership position and show our commitment to premium video content.ˇ

“I'm excited to be doing something new in bringing a live stand up show to a web giant like Yahoo!,ˇ said Bill Maher. “It is my goal to make people say "Oh no he di'nt" in every medium on earth.ˇ

In addition to Maher, the Yahoo! Comedy Channel is a collaborative effort between Yahoo! and top-tier production partners including Funny or Die, Broadway Video, Electus, David Morgasen and Principato-Young and more. Some of the shows in the comedy slate will include:

• CrazyStupidPolitics: Bill Maher Live from Silicon Valley – On February 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. PT Bill Maher will host a live comedy show exclusively broadcasted online on Yahoo!. This will be Maher’s first live online broadcast ever. For the last nineteen years, Maher has set the boundaries of where funny, political talk can go on American television. First on “Politically Incorrectˇ on Comedy Central and ABC, and for the last nine years on HBO’s “Real Time,ˇ Maher’s combination of unflinching honesty and big laughs have garnered him twenty-seven Emmy nominations.
• Funny Or Die Presents "First Dates with Toby Harris" (Funny or Die) – starring Seth Morris, a series that takes us on a journey of ill-fated first dates with the lovable (sometimes deplorable) and always single Toby Harris. Set with Los Angeles as a back drop, each episode centers around a different woman and issue that will leave the audience bickering amongst themselves who was right and who was wrong, and how they would have handled it better! Love him or hate him, a date with Toby is a date you will always remember.
• 7 Minutes in Heaven (Broadway Video) - Host Mike O'Brien (Saturday Night Live) invites celebrities into his closet for an intimate conversation.
• Sketchy (Principato Young/Electus) - Sketchy is a weekly video series featuring stand alone, topical comedy shorts written, directed and starring the biggest names in comedy. Created by Electus and Principato-Young Entertainment, whose roster includes Ed Helms, Justin Long, Anthony Anderson, Rob Corddry, Rob Riggle, Rachel Harris, Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer and many many others.
• HACKERAZZI (David Morgasen) – From David Morgasen, the director known for classic viral videos like the “David Blaine Street Magicˇ spoofs and “Obama-McCain Dance-offˇ, as well as his work on “Jimmy Kimmel Liveˇ comes HACKERAZZI. This series is basically a wikileaks of celebrity video, including hidden-camera footage of 2012 presidential candidates. It’s the only place to see New Jersey Governor Chris Christie knocking over an 8 year-old boy at an airport Cinnabon and making off with his breakfast -- or Justin Bieber bitch-slapping a sound guy while taping an anti-bullying PSA -- or GOP hopeful Herman Cain’s never-before-seen audition to be “Harry Potter’sˇ Dumbledore. Using a combination of live action and state-of-the-art digital effects, HACKERAZZI attaches celebrity heads to actors, making them look very close to the real thing.