Here’s Something New, A Comic Being Negative
June 19, 2008 · Print This Article
Alright, enough of this peace and love bull shit, it’s time for Brian to get bitter. At the request of the BTB audience, B-Mo releases his 10 worst comics of all time list. Might be a few surprises on there…but probably not. Other topics include the art of the segue, clubs building false hope only to shatter dreams, and why LCS went from being maddening to just plain boring. Who want to see the r-angatangs?
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Hey haven’t listened to the show yet, just want to ask for advice from some of you comedy fans Stateside. I am taking a vacation to the United States in September/October, taking in most of the big cities in the North, as well as some of Canada (although I might skip Boston as I have been there many times before and the Sox wont be playing when I’m around). My question is, what are the best comedy clubs to check out in each city.
My preference is for a smaller comedy club one that is mostly patronised by real comedy fans and where you can talk to the acts after the show. I want to see good comedians whether they are famous or not. The cities I will visit for definite are New York, Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu.
Incidently I will also be visiting New Zealand so if the Kiwi population on the site want to throw out a few suggestions that would also be appreciated. I’ll be hitting most of the big cities, Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
Before you accuse me of boasting I am sitting in work struggling to stay awake so I need something to keep me going!
It’s also just been announced, Chris Rock is to perform in Ireland for the first time a couple of days before I leave. This has to be a sign!
Brian C,
In San Francisco, check out the calendar section of sfstandup.com or shoot me an email (mefrance[at]gmail.com).
B-Mo,
I think I’m a total dork, because when you said you were pro-segue I kept thinking of GOB from Arrested Development. I actually started panting a little, then I realized you meant the joke bridge, not the gyroscope-equipped electric scooter.
I totally agree with you, though. I find Demetri Martin totally exhausting after three or four jokes, and suspect he has a fear of intimacy. One-liners are for Wright and Hedberg.
Anyone else get suspicious of comics who don’t give you any kind of story about themselves? I don’t care if it’s true, I just want a little narrative.
I just started to tear up at your Arrested Development reference Margaret. Another great show destroyed before it’s time. (And well done with the correct spelling of Gob).
I agree with you about comics who don’t give anything about themselves. It’s fun for a while, but it lacks substance after a while unless it’s truly brilliant.
Brian - In NY it’s a no brainer. The Cellar is the stand alone best club in the city. It is a small room and it’s the favorite of every major comic so there are always heavy hitters. Vegas is another story. Pretty bad stand up scene here. You may get lucky and have a big name headlining one of the casinos. If not, the Improv at Harrah’s pulls in decent talent but is way overpriced. The Comedy Stop at the Tropicana is probably the best deal in Vegas. $10 cover and decent nationally touring comics. Good luck!
I would’ve put Margaret Cho higher up on my list. She’s definitely in my Top 5 God-Awful “Comics.”
my list:
5) Larry The Cable Guy: no explanation needed
4) Andrew “dice” Clay; talk about sad figures, this guy’s rght up there with gallagher. He really thinks he can still draw and should be selling out giants stadium, as he said in his reality show. It’s really sad and pathetic to see a dude in his 50s wearing a bedazzled leather jacket and leather gloves everywhere. I hope for his ake he can pass away so we’ll give him a sweet retospective on one of those cable news channels.
3)Kevin Meaney: when ricky gevais as on opie and anthony l;ast year, he brought up how some comics are doing the same material today as 20 years ago, and collectively everyone on the mic let out a loud “Kevin Meaney”. The people who program XM radio’s comedy channel l;ove him and so ive heard way more bits about a loud catholic mother than id want for 3 lifetimes. He’s irrelevant ad loud and pointless so i had to make room for him.
2)Jon Reep: just because i needed one of barry katz’s clients on the list and after winning last comic standing he told punchline magazine that makes him ‘the funniest comic in america’. Man he’s been so brainwashed by that show its depressing.
1) Ned Holness: thats right carlos mencia. when that youtube clip with joe rogan hit last year this board and podcast all took roang’s side, and dylan gaino said that everyone was agreeing with rogan so you’d think that there’d be some justice in the world but there’s not. Mencia was able to ban rogan from the comedsy store, make him look like an asshole, get his shw renewed, and get a comedy central special, and that’s not even covering how horrific he is on stage. The yelling, and the theivery, and that dumb catch phrase, and his 10 minutes bits about how hes too shocking for som to handle, just make him terrible.
Now this makes me seem like an asshole who only wants to be negative, so soon ill make a list of 5 underrated geniuses list
Segues are for assholes.
And speaking of assholes…
you know, ireally never got that bill engvall “heres your sign”. ive heard the joke plenty of times and i still dont get what it means.
only one comedy club in hawaii. its called sharkey’s. i havent checked it out yet, but hope to at some point during the summer. its located at a hotel in waikiki. laugh factory should be coming eventually, but idk if its gonna be open by the time you come.
oh and i thought the hardcore special was one of the most annoying things in my life. well the first time through. now, i am kind of ambivalent. that bit was awesome though.
Thanks for all the advice guys, deffo going to check out the Comedy Cellar in NYC, I’ve been meaning to for a while. That website for San Francisco was handy Margaret, made me notice how small the comedy world is, one of the first names I spotted on the list I have performed with in Dublin, Scott Capurro. I’m thinking that San Fran may be a good place to try an open mike while I’m over. I’ve done open mikes on vacation before in Boston and NY, it’s always fun to do my set without all the local references that build up from doing all my comedy in one town.
Speaking of segues, I always find them incrdibly handy to remember what bit is coming up next. The segue becomes part of the first gag, which reminds me which gag is coming up next.
Oh yeah and Chris Rock sold out in 5 mins. Didn’t get a ticket but I’m not sure that he was worth €50 (US$70) anyway. $70 will get me a lot more comedy once I’m in the US.
Brian C, also check out Comix, It’s one of the newer clubs in the city, as well as the new Gotham Comedy club.
I remember they made a huge deal about the Laugh Factory opening up near the Port Authority a few years ago, but they must’ve pulled the naming rights recently because now it’s got some generic name. I wonder what happened there…
Brian C
The Bay Area is a great place to try stuff out. Let me know when you’ll be here, and I’ll give you some tips on venturing out or even meet you at one of our bitter-comic-filled workout rooms.
And now, one Margaret stands up(sort of) for another:
Margaret Cho is the first comic I ever saw live. She means a lot to women and gays (I’m both!) of a certain age and class, because she really demolishes the stage, really conquers it, in a way that a lot of women (and men) can’t manage. I don’t think straight guys, even you, with your baby weight, Brian, can appreciate what her exploration of her eating disorder meant to straight girls, who all either have one themselves or are close to someone who does.
Her material has suffered a lot from the fact that she’s always in front of a supportive audience, but watch how silent and still she is before her punchlines. I find her confidence inspiring, even now that I have little interest in what she has to say and am sick and tired of her fronting like she’s a muffdiver when she eats about as much pussy as ANT in federal prison.
The best Margarets in comedy are Marga Gomez and Margaret Smith, both of whom are criminally underrated.
Your Margaret on the spot,
Margaret
the laugh factory closed down for good here’s the story:
http://cringehumor.net/patrick.html
I can respect your point of view Margaret and she became successful so I’m sure her act speaks to many people…just not me.
I think it’s a problem (like with Margaret Cho) when you only appeal to a certain group of people. Good comedy is suppose to appeal to everybody. Chris Rock talks about black things but everybody loves him. Margaret Cho had a break by saying “I’m gay! Asian! and a woman!” so the gay’s, the women and the asians feel the need to support her even though she’s a hack!
That’s pretty much always the case with hack. The crowd they appeal becomes more important than the actual jokes (Dane Cook: college kids, Larry the cable guy: redneck, Carlos Mencia: mexicans and racist people who don’t know they are racist… the list goes on and on)
Why should good comedy appeal to everybody, GW?
When you take it out of context I see how this sentence can be a little bit confusing. I don’t mean only mainstream comedy is funny, I mean all the greats didn’t need to speak to a target crowd.
Good comedians don’t need to focus on a certain group of people to get laughs. Richard Pryor was sometime talking about the blackest shit ever, it was still funny to everybody… because he was speaking to everybody
Check out comedians targeting a certain crowd, they always sucks. Andrew Dice Clay, 70% of the black comedians, Russell Peter. If you only focus on how you’re different than everybody, hacky jokes normally follows.
I hate when a comedian hit the jackpot by picking an unexploited crowd. Larry the cable guy, Dat Phan, Ant.
All the hacks are generally telling garbage, hacky, ethnic, stereotypical bullshit jokes.
I totally agree about Bill Engvall, never thought he was funny. After watching the recent Dana Carvey special, I would say put him in there too.
We’re gonna talk about the Carvey special on Thursday with Mike, but I can already say I disagree. It was by no means a triumph of stand up, but there were a few spots that had me laughing to the point of tears. Unlike the Sagat special where I was crying for a completely different reason.
B-Mo, I’m actually going to disagree with your #1 choice of Ralphie May — hear me out now.
As a comic myself, a big factor for me in rating comedians is how does the comic treat other people. Is he an arrogant prick that you would never want to talk to in your life, or is he really chill, laid back and approachable?
Personally, I dont like Ralphie May’s material. But I have to respect him because he is one of the nicest comics I have ever met and opened a lot of doors for me.
When I started doing standup about 3 years ago, one of my first big gigs was featuring for Ralphie May.
After the show, I asked him what he thought of my set and he gave me some really good feedback. Not only did he do that, he asked if I’d like to go on the road with him for a 3 week stint of gigs.
Ralphie spent over a decade doing shit gigs before he got his big break. Anyone who works with him knows he always tries to help people out cuz he knows what its like to be an up and comer.
Anytime he’s in my neck of the woods or I’m in his, he always hooks me up with an opening spot for him.
Maybe he does it cuz he’s lonely, hell if I know. Regardless of the fact, I can’t complain
GEORGE CARLIN DIED!!!
I just saw the blurb from the news feed. Heart failure at 71. We all should have such a life, but it is always sad when one as influential as his ends.
Russ
damn. may he R.I.P.
Carlin’s death comes as a shock to me, although in reality it shouldn’t. For all the drugs he took, the man shouldn’t have made it through the 80s. It is fitting that he leaves us on an incredibly positive note with the success of his latest special. From what I understand, on a person-to-person level he was an incredibly nice man, very sincere and grounded (or as grounded as he could be, considering he sold out theaters for the last 35-plus years of his life). He is one of the 3 most important and 2 most prolific comedians of all-time. And in my book, he is the best to ever live.
Yes George may he rest in peace! A true legend and I don;t band that around lightly.
He will always live on; ‘How come that the people who are against abortion, you wouldn’t wanna fuck in the first place.’
May he rest in peace, it was great that he got to go on performing right to the end, and is still as well regarded as he ever was.
Shit…
there are at least a further six other words I could use to express how I feel about his death right now.
Carlin was my favorite comedian for the longest time, I can only imagine the conversation with St. Peter at the gates…
RIP
RIP George
Its a sad day.
I’m happy i was lucky enough to see a legend perform live.
I aslo read that he was to receive the Mark Twain prize this year. It sucks he won’t be around to recive it. I wonder how he would have handled something that although is named after a true orignal and outsider is a bit of an establisment thing. After all it is awarded by the Kennedy Center.
This is brutal. In my opinion the last true legend of comedy passed away. I would say something corny like, “he’s in heaven making God laugh”, but we know he thought all of that was bull shit. R.I.P.
June 22, 2008
We Lost Carlin….to Joe Pesci! Rock on in the Free World Georgy Boy…Rock On! –maniac
George: Holy shit, you do exist.
St. Peter: Yep.
George: So…
St. Peter: Yep.
George: I should, uh… I should just get going.
St. Peter: Yep. It’s too bad, ya know; we had a lot of places for your stuff up here.
George: Fuckin’ Christ, how long have you been holding on to that one?
St. Peter: About 20 years. Thomas Aquinas told me to say it. Toodles.
And I’d probably disagree that Carlin is the last true legend of comedy. Cosby’s still alive.
so is dick gregory, but admittedly, he is like “previous generation” to cosby, and has certainly not done “comedic” things for many, many decades.
see ya carlin — hope you’e causing shit wherever you’ve ended up.
Carlin’s passing away is a tragedy.
Especially as he was bang on form with his last HBO show too .
There can barely be a stand-up comedian currently performing on the planet right now that doesn’t own a huge debt to the influence of a true pioneer like Carlin, whether they realise it or not.
RIP George.
.
man i heard about carlins passing on the way to work(im a cashier) and i was so bummed the rest of the day that i probablly gave peopkle money. carlins passing signals the complete demise of my personal big three(Pryor, Dangerfield, Carlin). It will be one of my great dissappointments that i will never see him live, let alone talk to him. but i intend to honer him by listening to my substantial carlin album collection. and laughing my ass off every minute of it. i think thats the best way to honor a comic of georges calibar.
Brian, I’m cheating on your podcast again, but I hope you understand the circumstances. Terry Gross re-ran a really great Carlin interview from 2004 yesterday where he discusses his place in the universe in a way that made his death a little easier to take. You can find it here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91802870
I kept checking Comedy Central last night for some kind of 30 second memorial commercial or something but I saw nothing. Come to think of it I can only recall seeing Carlin on Tough Crowd.
To me Bruce, Pryor and Carlin are the fathers of modern Comedy. Few have contributed more. Cosby is high on my list but for me those guys are the ones who raised the bar.
I’m thinking of throwing a frisbee onto my roof in tribute.
Jon stewart ran a nice little piece on carlin at the end of the daily show.
We’re going to run a Carlin Memorial on the 3rd. I wanted to put it together for this week, but I didn’t want to rush it.
Inside the Actor’s Studio ran an old interview of Carlin. He was just a brilliant guy. damn…
I’m so glad I got to finally see Carlin live last year… it’s something I’d wanted to do for years, and I finally grabbed the chance. He was great, he killed, and I was really happy to see him rebounding from his last several years before that of mediocre stand up with a really solid set (which eventually became his last HBO special).
Bottom comics… no disrespect since you like the guy, B-Mo, I mean he seems like a nice guy and all, but the second you started playing Jim Breuer I remembered “Oh yeah, he comes in at about my #3″. He just does a style of comedy that completely rubs me the wrong way… an overly energetic doofus who doesn’t have a punchline that doesn’t involve a bad stereotype accent or some noise that sounds like the Tazmanian Devil getting an enema. I know the whole “party in the stomach” bit is his signature, but fuckin’ A… terrible.
The rest of my list is boring, the usual assortment of Larry the Cable Guys and Carlos Mencias and Dane Cooks. Although I do have to also throw Cathy Ladman’s name up there… Not. Funny. As an example, I googled her name to make sure I had the spelling right, and saw that her latest show is entitled “Does this show make me look fat?” (Pausing for crickets to chirp.) Truly a Cathy comic strip come to life….