Git R Done!!!
May 23, 2007 · Print This Article
Today’s show is all about hooks. No, not the ones used to drab Brian off stage on any given night, but those catch phrases and one liners that sell t-shirts and bumper stickers. Yes they get you noticed and they may make you rich, but at what cost?
Plus, the improvisers have spoken. After a week of improv bashing, some defenders of the art have stepped forward to plead their case. Be sure to listen to them compare Brian to Hitler.
Finally, a “but I was just trying to fit in” rant of the week from Brian’s childhood, and our final funny female for the month of May.
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com
I definately agree with John about the difference between long form and short form. Even long form improvisers have a mild hatred for short form, “who’s line” kind of improv.
I also concur with him about going to Harold Night at Upright Citizens Brigade when you’re in town. Especially if Creep is performing, they’re one of my all-time favorite teams. And seriously, $5 for almost three hours of comedy with no drink minium and cheap cold beer? Who can say no to that?
Oh and there’s a very good Don Rickles Article in Playboy this month. It’s sad that I really do read it for the articles.
OK, what is a Harold? Normally I’d google it, but I figure that would just give me a list of people named Harold.
Including the comics spotlighted this month, I have never heard a female comic I like. Not sure why, I just don’t find any of the bits I’ve heard funny.
I have a question regarding the part of the show were you talked about David Spade being a dick. I’ve been doing comedy for about three months and I noticed there are alot of dick comedians, there alot of cool one’s there are probley more cool comedians than dicks but I’ve noticed most of the ass hole comedians are the older one’s is that a sign of comedy changing you and making you bitter? Because I don’t want to be one of those comedians that dosen’t talk to anybody and dosen’t interact with other comics like there better than you. Also does being famous change a person like David Spade into being a complete dick head.
I’d venture to say that David Spade without Chris Farley is just a snotty prick. In fact the only thing that stands out in my mind that he did on SNL was his little thing on the Weekend Update where he’d basically do what he does now on Comedy Central but in a shorter period of time: Rip on celebrities. Guess maybe that’s his hook, too bad it’s something any person on the street would come up with. Having no recollection of Spade standing out I’d say as long as he’s got somebody to play off of he’s decent enough but just doesn’t shine on his own.
That’s just my opinion and probably also a cue for the rest of you to tell me something he did that was funny without Chris Farley, to which I’ll either reply: “Oh Yeah, I forgot about that” or “No… not funny to me”.
Great question Bob. I’ll go into the increasing bitterness of comics because you’re absolutely right, way to many dick comics out there.
BMO and Behind the Bricks Listeners,
I wonder over here every great one-in-while from my proper territory at ‘Not Iowa’ even though I am just a very causual comedy follower.
Anyway, I came across the following story in the Houston Press, my local free weekly entertainment publication that every city of size seems to have. It is a fairly serious and deep look at the state of comedy in this city. I thought some in this group might be interested in reading it so I posted the link below.
Below is an exert:
Mark Babbit, former manager of the Laff Stop, says, “There were so many stand-up shows on TV that, my theory is, it depressed the market for live comedy.” The rise of comedy specials on HBO, BET and especially the introduction of Comedy Central encouraged more people to try their hand at stand-up — not always successfully. Pressed to fill time slots, the networks, Babbit says, “were just throwing people up there thinking that it was good for comedy, and it wasn’t.”
http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-05-24/news/funny-business/
I have noticed a less visable comedy club activity in the past couple of years. On the other hand, I have notice that one of the local music venues that seats 1500 or so has been booking a lot more comedy acts: Patton Oswald, Garafalo, Lisa Lamp., Larry the Cable Guy, Gaffigan, etc. Hell even that big guy Ralphie May. All within the past few months. Not sure what it means, I just thought it was interesting.
Why do I get the feeling I’ll be hearing about Riley Barber after seeing Brian’s response to Bob.
How bout for your spot lighted comics next week you have international comics that have made it big in america theres a few out there ain’t there??? must be!
Sorry I didn’t post on the last show, but a friend of mine, Carmen Vallone (SUO #4) puts together a show called a Joke Off. It’s sort of an Improv/Stand-Up hybrid. In these shows, comics are given a topic and a time limit in which to write a stand-up bit. It’s a competition that the audience votes on. Best comic wins a prize, usually stage time and a little cash.
Ryan Valeriano
Host of Stand Up Orlando
Good suggestion jonnybe, I’ll put that in the hat for one of our upcoming theme months. In the mean time, anything goes for June, so if you have someone in particular you’d like to hear from, drop me a line.
BMO and Behind the Bricks Listeners,
Apologies if this is a duplicate. I tried to post it once and received a odd message. so I am trying again.
I wonder over here every great one-in-while from my proper territory at ‘Not Iowa’ even though I am just a very casual comedy follower.
Anyway, I came across the following story in the Houston Press, my local free weekly entertainment publication that every city of size seems to have. It is a fairly serious and deep look at the state of comedy in this city. I thought some in this group might be interested in reading it so I posted the link below.
Below is an exert:
Mark Babbit, former manager of the Laff Stop, says, “There were so many stand-up shows on TV that, my theory is, it depressed the market for live comedy.” The rise of comedy specials on HBO, BET and especially the introduction of Comedy Central encouraged more people to try their hand at stand-up — not always successfully. Pressed to fill time slots, the networks, Babbit says, “were just throwing people up there thinking that it was good for comedy, and it wasn’t.”
http://www.houstonpress.com/2007-05-24/news/funny-business/
I have noticed a less visible comedy club activity in the past couple of years. On the other hand, I have notice that one of the local music venues that seats 1500 or so has been booking a lot more comedy acts: Patton Oswald, Garafalo, Lisa Lamp., Larry the Cable Guy, Gaffigan, etc. Hell even that big guy Ralphie May. All within the past few months. Not sure what it means, I just thought it was interesting.
I wasn’t there, but I wouldn’t take Spade as being a dick from the story you told. At that point, he had already been on SNL and had some pretty big movies. It would be the equivalent of the big man on campus shunning a freshman. Imagine how many times a day someone comes up to him.
He did give you some tips about what worked for him, he didn’t have to do that. Did the standup he was doing end up being “Take the Hit”? I think that was done in AZ about the time you are talking about. Did I find that special particualrly funny… not really. He had some cool stuff about Wham! and how he didn’t really know what gay was when he was younger.
BMo, it’s Stu, a.k.a. kotk17, from the All-In crew. Just located this podcast and This Ain’t Iowa a few days ago, and I’ve been catching up on the most recent episodes of each to get myself familiar. I see that a number of our old friends from MSR have migrated to these boards. Just wanted to say you’re doing a great job, glad to see that you’re sticking with the formula you perfected when you still did the All-In Podcast. I may not know a whole hell of a lot about comedy, or some of these technical terms (i.e. long form and short form?), but I do know what I like and what I find funny. If someone makes me laugh, that’s all I care about.
Just out of curiosity, do you still visit the All-In boards? Unfortunately, ever since you left JLev to continue the show, the community has basically died. It has little spurts, but there tends to be on average, a post per week. Again, I’m glad to see some old friends hanging around here now.
K Freeze:
Harold is a long form improv format (I’m reluctant to use the term “game”), similar to what Brian was discussing on the show. An audience member gives out a suggestion, the team spends a few minutes on stage exploring the suggestion (each team has its own strange way of doing that), then they have several scenes based on those explorations, usually three or four in rotating order, eventually characters from the scenes will find their way into other scenes. It was named “Harold” because that’s what one of Del Close’s students called it.
When done right, it’s reeeeaaally funny. When done poorly, it’s excruciating. But that’s true of most improv. It’s considered an advanced format, most long-form improv students just starting out will do what’s called an Armando (named after Armando Diaz).
It essentially starts with a single audience suggestion, then one of the improvisors tells a true story, then the “back line” will improvise three or four shorter scenes very loosely based on the monologue, after which someone else will tell a true story, loosely based on some random aspect of the scenes, then three or four more scenes, and so on for a predetermined time, usually 30 - 45 minutes.
Darcy wants to Blow David Spade.
I agree with Darcy’s point of view on the Spade subject. Had he truly wanted to be a dick he would never have spoken. There is the possibility that he was stand-offish at first thinking you were going to make fun of him….
just a thought..
I hear you Darcy. What bothered me was that I wasn’t try to be his best friend, I was just his opening act trying to introduced myself, and he looked at me like he was one of the frat guys in a bad 80’s movie and I was the nerd.
Glad you found the show Stu. Unfortunately I do not frequent the All In boards anymore. Due to some of my viewpoints I am no longer welcome there. I love that you’re getting into btb even though you’re not a big comedy fan. If there’s anything I can do to bring you up to speed just let me know.
I think you misunderstood me BMo, I’m a big comedy fan. I just don’t know what some of these technical terms are. That sucks to hear you’re not welcome at MSR anymore, although due to lack of activity, you’re not missing much. Although, every once in a while there’s a new member that shows up and tries to ask, get this, actual questions concerning poker. Weird, huh? And I can’t really set them straight, because JLev talks more poker in one episode of the show than you talked about in ten… One of the reasons I stopped listening to All-In…
My question about Spade would be why bother sitting at the bar if you don’t want to interact with anyone. I have no idea how these clubs are set up, but I would imagine that there would be somewhere he could hang out without people approaching him if that’s what he wants. Brian, is that true? And I think bob wins the prize for surliest post in BtB history in only 6 words. Congrats man.
Stu, welcome to the boards (I used to be Wahoo over at MSR before I developed a complex about being a grown man who refers to himself as “wahoo”).
ltns Stu!
I know what you mean about the whole MSR stuff. I bailed from there as well.
The best thing about Behind the Bricks is that Brian is not limited to the 29 minutes that MSR gave him… And remember, Brian would usually cut the show a little short, not wanting to start a topic with only a few minutes remaining. In reality, the old poker podcast was usually about 24 minutes, 4 of which were pertaining to poker, so we really only got 20 mins of teh funny.
Now we get often get 90 mins of nothing but comedy goodness.
Oh, and one question for Brian. Since when do crickets make the sound “Cricket cricket”??
Classic.
I happen to be able to do any impression with startling accuracy m5m.
On the David Spade thing…it sounds to me like the difference between his behavior before the show and after was that he hadn’t seen you perform yet. More of an attitude like: “If you stink up the room before my set, expect me to be an asshole afterwards. If you’re good, we can talk afterwards.”
You were obviously good during your set (or at least showed a certain potential), because he took the time to give you a valid and highly useful marketing tip.
Sure, the hook can be a major trap. But it seems to me that remaining unknown (or hard to remember) can be an even bigger trap. At least with the first trap you can put food on the table.
The key, it seems, is that your hook should be something that is sufficiently flexible and close enough to the center of what your comedy is really all about. It should also be made to be as disposable as possible. Obviously, Dave Chappelle upchucked when fans started yelling “I’m Rick James, Bitch!” because (1) his career was well past the point where he would need a hook (2) he had obviously made the decision early in his career that he wanted to be hook-free, and (3) the phrase itself was extremely limiting and completely off-base from what his stand-up was really about.
But as a career-starter, I believe it can be a valuable (albeit hazardous) tool for helping your audience find you. And it seems to me that finding your audience is half the battle. Once they have found you, then you can look for ways to get them past the hook. You might relegate the hook to something you toss out one time in the act so you got it out of the way (Excu-u-u-u-u-se me!) Or you might explicitly declare its death (as Robin Williams had to do with the “Mork” stuff).
But as long as you treat it for what it is — a marketing tool — and don’t mistake it for (or treat it as) the core of the act, it can be useful in the early phases of your career.
Larry the Cable guy, of course, is indeed trapped. Maybe he’s okay with that. But then, he’s built an entire character, not just a hook. And he’s found an audience for himself that will turn on him like the Dixie Chicks if he attempts to shift gears.
But the bigger question, really, is the question of differentiation, not hooks per se. I think any comic has to ask himself or herself: “What sets me apart? What makes me different? What do I offer that can’t be found somewhere else?”
Hey Brian, Im not sure if anyone has post anything on “The Next Best Thing.” But i wanted to find out what you thought about this show of people doing Impressions.
I think I gave some bad information on the last episode (several pieces of bad info more than likely). The next episode will be out this Thursday June 7th. It’s a must for all the aspiring comics out there, as Ryan #1 from Stand Up Orlando will be on to talk about open mic. We’ll talk about dos and don’ts, plus what to do if there’s no open mic in your area.