Two BTB’s in a row? Do I get overtime for this?
Topics on the day include promoting cancer, comedy in a sex shop, why a booking agent is the only person worth your money, why people are dumber in big crowds and performing in venues when deer heads on the wall out number audience members. No one’s gonna bring you up or nothin’.
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Great set MNR!
200 odd countries in the world, 199 of them use DAY MONTH YEAR for dates, and one country uses MONTH DAY YEAR. Who needs to conform now?
Actually been kind of funny these last few weeks when bartenders have been looking at my idea and wonder when the 2nd of the 17th month is. I just tell them that in Ireland we have 26 months, I was born on the 2nd of Brianuary.
Stoopid predictive text on this iPhone, I meant to say ID not idea. Grrr
Incidently, just watched the new Kath and Kim sitcom. Not up to the standard of the Aussie original. Anyone else see it?
Yeah I saw it. And Life On Mars. Neither is as good as the original, but they both might be able to pull it together. At least I have hopes of it happening.
could’nt get past kath and kim, did catch life on mars. not as good as the original but i like it, hell it has harvey keitel so im sold
I love American Scream too – very well written. I think I’ve said it before but HIGHLY recommend Agent of Evolution which is a more interview/story telling bio of Hicks compiled by his best friend Kevin Booth. What I like about it is that its REAL – in this I mean, it’s a great picture of Hicks as just a normal guy. It’s irritating and I believe degrading to the guy that so many people think of Hicks as this comedy god. He was a normal guy who did have bad sets and did do shitty things. AOE has some stories were people are critical of some stuff he did and of each other. I find it, and American Screa, good reads to see him as a person rather than this mythic figure. esp how he died before I was even aware of him.
Hey guys I’m a new contributor to the site but an avid listener to the podcast and I’d like to say a few words. First let me say that I think this site is unique in that contributors to the forum don’t seem to hate noobs and I think thats cool. If its not too self indulgent I’d like to let you guys know a little about me so you can understand my point of view and, hopefully, my take on stand up. I’m English (not British!), 24 years old and a non-comic listener. The scene is very different here. I understand there are other British contributors so forgive me if I’m repeating things that have already been discussed. It seems to me that stand up as an art form in and of itself (and as far as I’m concerned it IS an art form!) is regarded with more respect in the States. Over here we have very few ‘Specials’ and comedians are often more well known for appearances on panel gameshows such as ‘Have I Got News For You’ and ‘Mock the Week’. While this is a positive in that it gives stand ups exposure I worry that the majority of TV viewers will not bother to seek out the stand ups they like beyond these apperances, and will never go to live shows. I guess my point/question (yes, finally) would be two part (and I know you’re loving that) a) are ther similar shows like those mentioned in the US? and b) are these shows beneficial to comedians and stand upvas a whole, or do they make TV audiences lazy? Thanks for taking time to read what has been an audaciously long first post and before I go I’d like to recommend some British comics for YouTubing (is that a word?): Frankie Boyle (mentioned on the last podcast), Stewart Lee, Mark Thomas and Rhod Gilbert. Thanks guys!
American Scream was awesome. If you read it, be warned, by the end, you’ll want to punch Carrot Top in the face. I did, anyway.
The New Jersey Comedy Festival just went through my college, Rowan University. I didn’t win, but after the show, I was assured that I came in fourth (the first three moved on). However, I can’t say anything bad about it. Everyone from the NJCF was nice and the three people that ended up winning, I thought deserved to win.
That being said, I thought I did really well. I tried out a new joke, and it went over really well. Still a little bit of fine tuning, but it’s on the way.
Hey Harris, I’m 24 and English too!
I think you’ve got it just about right about Britian; honestly, bar a few differences it seems that on both sides of the pond its treated the same way with the same foibles….
Good selecton of comics there; Stewart Lee and Mark Thomas are class. A friend of mine lost to Rhod Gilbert in a comedy competition and now works in my former employers….poor lad!
Does anybody on here frequent or contribute to aspecialthing.com?
Hey if you guys liked my set, would you mind registering and submitting a positive comment/vote on this website
http://www.lastteencomic.com/videos/view_video.php?viewkey=db62ec96e702f07f6425&page=2&viewtype=basic&category=mr
It’s this teen comic competition, and I think it’d be pretty cool if a listener won something with the help of Behind the Bricks.
Beyond trying to beg for votes, in terms of tv shows like that in the states. I think Best Week Ever, and VH1 specials talking about fashion missteps and stuff like that are America’s equivalent.
Last Teen Standing…..sounds dirty!
sounds American.
I gotta go with dirty, I’m pretty sure I saw a porno with that exact same title
I’d say that it sounds dirty and American. But who’s ever heard of American pornography? That’s just crazy talk.
Yeah I’ll vote for you Mike, but god help you if I find someone on there that’s a funnier teen than you.
Oh and also, John Cleese is amused by Sarah Palin.
http://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/770bk/john_cleese_on_sarah_palin
Actually; because it’s politics time again, do you know what I hate? How every election (it’s my countries government swap and jamboree at the mo’ too,) people see a comic on tv doing a political bit and suddenly everyone is screaming ‘Entertainers should just entertain, don’t tell us what to think.’ Which is just feaces.
My understanding of how Comedians work, is that what we’re literally doing is critiquing the world, so of course we are going to at the least share what we think, or else we’d stand up on stage and just make fish noises.
Well just got back from my second stand up gig and again I think I did pretty good. Listened to the recording in the car on the way home (I’m so narcissistic). I got some good chuckles and my confidence is not a problem but I know I need to tighten my jokes and material up a bit. I tend to ramble. I did try some new stuff but kept pretty much the same vain than last time. It’s weird being up there, not knowing where to turn, feeling like shite when a joke you thought would do good doesn’t get a laugh…..and trying to explain to a British audience who Sarah Palin is.
To address your point I kinda feel the same way, comedy would be so shittty if everyone was only doing relationship, dogs and cats and airplane jokes. A good comic can make you think differently about a point and even educate you…..and as I’ve said before….politicians are funny on their own…..
The compere helps run the place too and he admitted himself he didn’t really get them going but again I’m not going to throw blame around….I’m going to work on myself, although I do get the impression that Tuesdays are a bit of a weird, depressing day to do comedy.
The blokes who run the gig said I did well and one guy said just stick with the political stuff since he loves it. I do too, I must think of more funny stuff about when I used to work for the Lib Dems.
But again, really enjoyed it, know what I’m doing well and what I need to improve. Glad I’m doing it.
I’ve made the comment here before that I have trouble with political humor because I’m conservative (very very conservative) and it is rare to find something funny that also is in line with my values politically. Well, I;ve given this dilemma a great deal of thought, why can’t there be conservative humor, and this is what I’ve come up with:
Liberals’ value are directly tied to their emotions. It feels great to take money from the wealthy and redistribute it to the needy, just like Robin Hood. By God, Blacks have been beaten down by white society for centuries, it is only right and fair to give them a leg up with college admissions and jobs. If two gay partners love and care for each other, who are we to stand in their way and deny them marriage? I promise you, I’m about the most conservative-minded person you are likely to come in contact with, and at a visceral level I cannot deny the tug on my emotions that these issues bring.
But each of these issues also bring unintended consequences, which I won’t get into here, and conservatives are standards-minded. If abortion is permitted, what does that say about our valuing of life? If we redefine marriage to mean any two people who love each other, can it be a brother and sister? Why not three people? Do we (sorry for being American-specific) really want to deny American exceptionalism and make decisions on foreign affairs based on UN mandates?
So to make an analogy that I believe works, conservatives are like school principals. They are the ones who are most likely to tell you it’s bad to shoot spitballs, tell you that you won’t graduate because your attendance sucked, etc., and that’s the guy we all want to get even with. He;s easy to peg as a hypocrite, since he strays from the standards he sets.
Liberals are the cool teachers that let you do whatever in class. You know, the teacher that gave you a B even though your report was a day late, and you said it was late because you were caring for your sick mom. “Hey, buddy, great effort.” Nobody wants to make fun of that teacher, they are kind and mean well.
So in the end, for convoluted reasons along the lines above, I find it tough to be funny about most liberal philosophy because it is well-intentioned and to explain its faults means applying logic and explaining unintended consequences and it just becomes too tedious, probably just like this post.
I respect what you say Leonardo (although vehemently disagree with your point of view). I think you do yourself a disservice with your examples. None of what you said really gave a reason for not being able to find humor with a conservative point of view. All conservatives are the nerdy, stickler teacher that no one likes? Seems unlikely. Norm MacDonald, who I would like to marry in an alternative California ceremony, is pro life, a stance that I am completely on the opposite side of. He used to do a bit where he said, “I would be pro choice, if the choice wasn’t killing babies”. I laughed in spite of myself. Any point of view can be made funny, even the logical, serious conservative side that keeps us all alive.
Best. Laugh. Ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNKHLVddG_Q
Moving on from Brian I think you’re doing yourself a disservice too Leonardo. I wish there was more ‘conservative’ comics out there; do you not think it would help your cause? Also, It’s making it funny, as Brian said, that Norm joke is funny even though I myself am pro-choice, or at least, pro-government staying the fuck away from my body. I suppose I’m a libertarian more than a liberal.
I think most conservatives are well intentioned too Leonardo, as is the philosophy. I just think its misguided.
It’s not about being preachy, getting up there and saying ‘All these effing immigrants….or ‘These fucking baby-killers’…..or ‘These godless liberals.’ It’s finding the humour in it!
I hate liberal/leftist comics who get all preachy too. Come on, hippies with no standards fuck things up just as much as as the worst right winger…….that’s funny!
I cant decide if I would love it, or hate it if an audience member had that type of laugh.
That would be an awesome laugh to have in the audience, I’d think!
Had to laugh at B-Mo cutting his toe just before a walk for Breast Cancer.
( At least you could have used one of their Pink ribbons as an improvised toe-bandage, I guess.)
BTW – was I the only BTB listener a little freaked out by the normally unflappable B-Mo’s spooked reaction during the headphone malfunction between 7:26 and 8:20? Those brief silent pauses were damn unsettling and WEIRD, dude…like something out of a Harold Pinter play !
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Hatefilled Ricardo, always referencing Pinter, never referencing Dylan Thomas. For shame. Your great grandmothers stew in their urns.
Or Beckett….that guy was freaky