Don’t Make Me Come Back There!
March 21, 2007 · Print This Article
In a career as seemingly fun loving as stand up comedy, why have so many feuds started developing? To help answer that question Brian welcomes back Dyan Gadino of Punchline Magazine and together they’ll try to put an end to it before it escalates like Biggie and Tupac.
Listener topics include the college circuit, annoying comics, laughing at suicide, and is Jeff Foxworthy smarter than a 5th grader?
Finally, Brian enriches us with a paternal rant and we spotlight one comedy’s great stand ups who’s movie career has become iffy at best.
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com
Give the show a call: 206-600-4325
Great show, enjoyed the interview.
I think its okay for other comics to rip on other comics. Its like any other job or business, there is going to be competition, and sometimes that means you get called out. I liken it to the music business-you make up your own material-and if you are stealing or you suck, you will be called out at somepoint.
Since I’ve been in college for about 7 years I’ve seen alot of comedy acts. Most are horrible-most of us are their only because there was free food and drink. I think comedy clubs or nightclubs might work better for comedy, and I am surprised more places in northern california feature comics more often than they do.
As for Steve Martin and other comics falling on hard times. A lot of it has to do with doing bad movies. And I don’t think they can be blamed for doing bad movies. They need to put food on the table and pay bills like anyone else and if someone with a bad script is willing to pay you 6 figures for a couple of months of work, than you take it.
Rosanne in vegas sounds like a train running thru a school bus full of children.
Great show-look forward to next week..
Thanks for checking in NorCal, and I also wanted to thank Tony for classing up the website. Now if I can only class up the material we’ll really be on to something!
I went to one of those little schools (total enrollment was about 1600) in a little town (total population about 10,000) and the closest entertainment if wasn’t brought in by the college’s activity board was an hour away at Penn State. They had to keep the animals happy somehow on the weekend and it was generally always on Friday nights. So we got a lot of comics, some of whom were better than others (along with other entertainment like magicians and hypnotists), but none of which any of us had heard of. We also got Norm MacDonald one year (who I did see) and Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles as a duo (which I didn’t get a chance to see, but was interested.) I guess we were generally going because we were bored, because the free food stank.
Since you brought him up, here’s a Youtube clip that asks if maybe Carlos Mencia is also “borrowing” from Bill Cosby: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCixAktGPlg
And as for comedic actors falling down and making bad movies, yeah, it happens to comic actors more, but I’ve got two words for you: Tom Cruise. That dude hasn’t made much of anything that was any good since Top Gun…
‘Course, if I had some Stepford Wife Hollywood sex kitten waiting for me at home, I wouldn’t give a damn what you said about me…
not that i didn’t have enough time on the show but to further draw out differences between stealing jokes and simply touching on the same topics, here are two more examples of the latter, unless you’re part of the group that would define these comics as joke stealers. Both Megan Mooney (hilarious and so underrated) and Marla Schultz (Chelsea Handler’s current opener) both do jokes about bridesmaids dresses. the hook is that the bride always says the same thing: that you could wear these dresses again and again. the punch is that it’s BS. you can’t wear them again because they’re ugly and not at all preactical…. who stole from who? answer: no stealing. Lewis Black and NYC comic Pete Dominick (both great in their own right) do jokes about how GWB’s facial expressions do not match up with the words coming out of his mouth. Who’s the joke stealer? Answer: No one. it’s a fairly common and obvious observation to make. That two comics thought to joke about it is not that incredible.
Dylan,
You are so right about Megan Mooney, she is hilarious, and has great delivery. She has a bit about her father teasing her about her husband having a low sperm count that is awesome. This chick is gonna go somewhere and soon. The brides maids dress joke was not that great due to it being such a broad topic (no pun intended). Jokes like that tend to be more “seinfeld-esque”, you know you smile, but don’t actually laugh.
Anywho, I have got to get ready for LOST, we find out why Locke is a parapalegic and…. oh crap, I just outed myself as a Lost nerd. Um… ohhhh, yeah, I gotta go watch sportscenter, yeah, that’s it I have to see how many hoops my local hockey team scored. Yeaaa local sports team!!!
Hey everybody. New poster. First, I want to compliment Brian on a great show. It is really well done. And I third Megan Mooney’s hillarity. Just one thing. Steve Martin did not get forced out of stand up. He walked away. He was the original rock star comedian, selling out venues that were so large that he no longer felt he could be as effective a comedian working for such a large crowd.
This in no way explains Cheaper By The Dozen 2.
Love the podcast! It’s inspiring me to start up my own again… Ah, i’m such a lazy bastard…
Anyway, “Patenting” material is the wrong terminolgy. Patenting is for inventions, copyright is for creative work.
Another idea is typing up all of your material every few months and doing selfpublishing in book form. You can do one-off printings via websites like lulu.com for only a few bucks. Once a work has been published, you can send a copy to the US Copyright office and have it officially copywrited. You’ll have a much better legal case.
Lulu is really cool, and it means any comedian can be like a Paul Reiser or Jeff Foxworthy and publish their own books that are essentially their old routines in book form.
Thanks for checking in K Freeze and welcome to the boards. I hope you don’t think I implied he was forced out of comedy. It’s very much the opposite. He was too popular. He walked away because he felt people were just cheering for the guy from The Man With Two Brains, and not because they were on board with his stand up.
Thanks for the clarification NYR and I look forward to hearing your stuff. When I said “patent” I was refering to the many props my puppet uses.
You know, I understand that Roseannes name has been established, but you are right Brian, there are better comics out there to play the larger Vegas venues. I am pretty sure that the people booking the comedic talent are also the same ones booking the trade shows and other events. In other words, they don’t exactly have their finger on the pulse of comedy.
One of Roseannes many problems with her act is that she is trying too hard to stick with her original niche. I see this with a lot of comedians that have had long runs, they try to stick with what got them there. While that is sound advice for finances, the crowd doesn’t want to hear you tell the same stuff over and over. I would be amazed if she sells out a room, and if she does, there won’t be a person under 50 that willingly bought a ticket.
Dave Chappell would make a good Vegas comedian in my opinion. His style, and delivery would do well.
Oh, Brian, I have a good story for you and the other listeners, since you disdain Carrot Top so much. The local comedy club, The Stardome, has been around since 1983 and featured a lot of up and comers, as many clubs do. Over the years the club moved to a couple of locations, as it grew. On March 13, 1993 the nights featured act was Carrot Top, he was fresh off of a cable special, and making the rounds. Well, that night we had a bad snowstorm (for Birmingham), the drifts were about 4 to 5 feet, I forget how many inches fell. Anywho, the comedy club had a fire, and Carrot Top lost all of his props. I mean “all” of his stuff. Yes, even the gas nozzle with the hand on it. It was a while after that before he came back to Birmingham, not that I ever went to see him. I just thought you would like that little nugget.
jsaund22 thanks for posting that link. Not only did I watch that one there was another one where he rips off the whole Jesus was never married routine from Sam Kinison. I am hereby renaming Mencia: Ned Enorme Bolas.
I actually use to like Ned’s show but now the more I hear/see I just sit there and think: “OK, who wrote that bit originally”. One or two times is a fluke, but come on when your doing Cosby & Kinison’s bits I find it hard to believe that he’s never heard the material of two of the most iconic comics in the last 40 years.
Brian,
I have been trying like hell to send you this Doug Stanhope set, but apparantly the e-mail won’t let me send a file of this size. Sorry, I will try and break it into smaller pieces and send it bit by bit, unless you have an FTP I can transfer it to, or a peer to peer program.
So we were having a birthday dinner for my wife her brother and myself, at my in-laws house. My father in-law, who was 3 sheets into the wind, had half ass grilled a large beef tenderloin. You could still hear one end Moo, but he was bragging how the end that was still moving was the “best” part. I had gotten about a 5 ounce piece, not wanting to be rude, and he looks at me and says,”You need to get more meat, you are disappointing me.” to which I responded,”it won’t be the last time I disappoint you.” trying to get a laugh. He just looks up and says,”Hell, I know that, I was talking about you getting more goddamn meat.”
Damn the truth stings sometimes.
I’m familiar with the Stanhope suicide piece Snappy. I’ll see if I can post in on the board for ya.
snappy: check out http://www.yousendit.com it allows you to send huge files.
hey guys for april i think one of the featured standups should be chris titus. whatya think huh
I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!! i dropped my psp on the way to college which I listen to the show on through the RSS feed!!!! IM SOOO PISSED!!! but i came on here and it won’t let me download either!!!!!! sooooo yeah …… can’t comment on the show. as a matter of a fact i was listenin to this show when i dropped it!!! so ur to blame!!! im gonna get my lawyers to sue you for my emotional distress or something along those lines!!! Because i mean people sue each other for the most stupid things these days surely i can get away with that …. can’t I??? Yeah your a comedian! ur bound to be rich! well probably not but ohhh well! we’ll call it even if you buy me a PS3 or something. Id settle for another PSP!! now buy me1!!! NOW !!!!!
btw i was kidding just incase sumbody took it seriously!!!
Thanks, Dylan, I will try it.
as for Christopher Titus, he is funny, and his show was good, but once you have heard his set, that seems to be it. I don’t know if I would say he isn’t good, because I always laugh at his stuff, he has great timing and presentation, and he puts a ton of emotion in his delivery. He seems like the average Joe to me, and that is what is killing him, as far as staying in the public eye. In America, as an entertainer, you have to be extreme one way or the other. What I mean is you are either extremely redneck (Larry the Cable guy), extremely clean (Ray Romano), extremely filthy (diceman), extremely strange (CarrotTop), extremely odd (the Unknown Comic), extremely gay (Sandra Bernhard), extremely Jewish (Woody Allen), extremely controversial (Lenny Bruce), extremely obnoxious (Roseanne) and even Extremely funny (Richard Pryor). That not only says a lot about our culture, but unfortunately shapes the paths one must go to be noticed and to possibly succeed. Christopher wasn’t extreme enough in how he presented himself, except for having an extremely screwed up family, but hey, who doesn’t have that in one form or another.
Finally, JohnnyBe, You will have to go through me to sue Bmo! I won’t stand for this injustice! Article 2 section 25 of the California code of …. well this gets technical so I won’t bore you with the “jargon”. Just put a tether on the new PSP coming your way, and don’t break it. Who is ending this PSP you ask? is it Brian? is it Snappy?… neither, it is Karma, that’s right Karma. Go do good things for others such as mowing their grass, and money will land in your hands. LOL
Seriously, Johnnybe, that sucks dude, sorry to hear about that. Sadly the toys now days cost as much to repair as to re-purchase.
yeah suks had all my southpark episodes on in which id watch when i was on train or something!!! ohhhh well. i’ll have to pay for it from the money i getr from my job at tesco’s which is a english supermarket for all u American people out there!!! thanks for the comment on karma snappy i’ll have to go and help some people out asap. I finnaly saw a special on paramount comedy of Richard Prior and I get why everyone loved him!! normally i don’t laugh out loud to much but i found him VERY VERY funny! probably one of the best ive ever seen.
Also any of you guy seen some of the British stand up acts? and if so what do u think of them ?
What happens when comedians live in the fast lane… BMo, crashed any Ferraris lately?
IRWINDALE, Calif. - Eddie Griffin crashed a rare Ferrari Enzo worth $1.5 million into a concrete barrier while practicing at a racetrack, destroying the car but escaping uninjured.
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The 38-year-old actor-comedian was practicing Monday for a charity race to promote his upcoming film, “Redline,” when he drove too fast around a curve at the Irwindale Speedway. Video footage shows the red sports car screeching before it ricocheted off the barrier with heavy damage to its front.
“Undercover Brother’s good at karate and all the rest of that, but the Brother can’t drive,” said Griffin, referring to his 2002 movie, after the accident
well snappy il admit his appearance is that of the everyman but cmon, his topics are fuckin unbeliveble. not many comics could EVER joke about the stuff he talks about. even carlin and pryor would have trouble finding a luagh there. and im sure once his cd and dvd hit stores hell get his long due credit.
Smiley,
Don’t get me wrong, I like Chris Titus, and was disappointed when his sitcom was canceled, but his material is basically about a shitty childhood, alcoholic, womanizing father. Being single and having to please the girlfriend and getting out of lies, sure he does it well, but I hate to say, it isn’t original. He does do it well, owns it and makes it all his, but this subject is as generic as brides maid dresses, shitty drivers and rude people on the subway.
Another thing Christopher never did, or if he did it wasn’t pounded into everyone, was to create his tagline. What I mean is a phrase that one can say and you automatically know who it belongs to. Here are some examples, “I’m gonna beat you till the white meat shows”, “What’s that all about”, “Domestic Godess”, “Git R Done”, ‘You might be a redneck if…”, “Here’s your sign”, “Sing you Bastard” and several others. That needs to be established and repeated in your act at least 4 times, if not more for it to be memorable.
Here is a key to the above phrases in case anyone is curious; 1. Berney Mac, Seinfeld, Roseanne, Larry the Cable Guy, Foxworthy, Engvall, Rodney Carrington.
Pleas, anyone who agrees or disagrees, let’s discuss this, I find this a very interesting topic. Why are some comedians more memorable than others. Sort of the psychology behind repeating phrases for them to be memorable.
Rodney Carrington does this in his act, if Anyone knows what this is, knows what I mean, “I like my women like I like my chicken, with a little bit of fat on the ends…” He repeats this about four times in his act accompanied by guitar.
I see what you’re saying Snappy, and a lot of comics agree that you need a “hook” or a memorable bit that people always associate with you. I happen to disagree, and here’s why. While it gets you noticed, it often has the adverse effect later in your career. Once someone has heard something so many times they get sick of it. Also, those kind of hooks tend to stick with you for life. If you ever decide to take you’re act in another direction, you’re fucked. For example, one of my favorite comics is John Pinnette. He’s a great writer, but his signature bit is about getting yelled at at a Chinese buffet. Now he can never take that bit out of his act.
Another example is Roseanne. She became popular as the “domestic goddess”, but once she found fame and fortune, she couldn’t pull it off anymore and she lost her fan base.
Great topic guys. Keep them coming.
I swear, if I see any more commericals for “The Whitest Kids U Know” something very bad is going to happen. That doesn’t even look funny.
Brian,
You are absolutely right, “You no eat no more” was friggin hilarious the first two or three times I heard it, but it gets old. The hook does box you in, and I wasn’t trying to say it was a must for comedy, but it seems a must to become a rich comic. I can only think of a handful of comics who became rich without a hook. By rich, I mean earning ten million or more, in a career.
You are also right about the hook being played out, none of the comics with hooks can pull it off later in their career. Robin Williams last special was a bomb, he just seemed to try to do his “coked up and yammer” just a little too much, Carlin while his stuff is sometimes insightful and admittedly he seems to try to keep most things original, you tend to run out of “why do you park on a driveway” bits. I don’t think they lost their fan base as much as they didn’t create enough new material to keep their existing fans coming back for more. A good example is Rodney Carrington, I have seen him 3 or 4 times, and each time he had the same act, pretty much. Yes, he was entertaining and funny, but I won’t pay to see him anymore because I know what he is going to serve up. On the other hand Steven Wright, though his hook is broad, he has so many new bits for his style each time he makes the rounds, I would pay to see him once a year, knowing He will have original material.
I guess what I am saying is, it seems as if you choose to sell you entertainment soul for money, and get a hook, or you be a hardworking, creative, original comic and make an honest living.
Hell, it’s like that in the world of magic. You can perfect a few tricks and whore out the performances, or actually work on creating new illusions and not have the time to perfect and perform them.
To me that’s what it boils down to is how you spend your time, performing or creating. With a hook you can perform more often for more money at first, and you spend absolutely no time creating, or you can be constantly creating and performing and not make as much.
The hook milks the cash cow dry early in the career, but if you are lucky, and not on coke, that cow can pay of well, even when you are played out. Just look at Roseanne, she isn’t hurting for money, though I wish she were. That would be some sweet justice to see her have to move into a trailer in Mississippi. That’s just a cruel comment, sorry
Sorry for the long posts guys, I swear I’m not trying to be a post whore
Snappy,
I guess you do have a point about his material but you are also right about owning it, maybe better than anyone. but you gotta admit his situations are a bit unique from other comics. one comic has a drunk father but titus has an emotionally abusive five times divorced drunk of a father. one comic has a crazy mother titus has a manic depressive schizophrenic mother who killed a guy and later killed herself. one comic talks about trying to please his girlfreind and titus tells us how he and his girlfreind both cheated on each other at the same time, had a week long screaming match, break up then decide to get hitched. one comic talks about how hard it is to quit drinking and Titus tells us how easy it is to quit drinking……BY FALLING INTO A BONFIRE!!! but i digress.
oh i also totally think your idea about the tagline is dead on but just like to say you probably forgot the greatest one ever, Rodney Dangerfields “I get no respect”. but despite your dead on point i dont think im going to go out of my way and try to put a tag into my act…..at least for now.