Stand Up On The Big Screen
July 26, 2007 · Print This Article
Dustin Hoffman, Tom Hanks and Sally Field walk into a talent agency and say, “Have I got an act for you”! Today’s show is all bout stand up in cinema. From biographies to popcorn flicks to documentaries, is comedy mainstream enough to make a splash at the box office?
Listener topics include, audience rections to theme comedy nights, can you have too much of a good thing, and an A list comedy feud, if this was 1991.
Finally why superheros are fake and our final British comic spotlight of the month. Here’s a hint, dude looks like a lady.
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Well, since you’re taking requests for next month, I’d love to hear your opinion on James P. Connolly (sp?). I’d never heard of the guy until I got Sirius radio, but every time he comes on, the combination of the “radio announcer guy” voice and his really twisted sense of humor really makes me laugh.
But he may be too “Blue Collar” for you. I get the feeling that you’re not a fan of the Blue Collar guys. I’ve gotta say, though, I’ve never laughed harder than I did at the bit Bill Engvall did about riding with the Air Force Thunderbirds. Take a listen to that bit.
Brian, another EXCELLENT show.
Charles - good job, man
heh @ Five-dollar whores. *snort* You didn’t ask for my input, but meh - It was cool - Could use a bit of a build for extra oomph - maybe when you give the girl slang give the guy options… and build to Five-Dollar Whore. But loved it. Cowboys.
Brian, agreed on the LCS assessment. Last night one comic got - from my count of what they showed 3 laughs per minute - and made it to the house. I was just so disappointed… and Tom Arnold? WTF?
A couple years ago I auditioned for American Idol. There are 2 rounds before you see Randy/Paula/Simon - and at the first round - I thought I blew it out… the producer and production assistant at the table said “You are really an incredible singer, but a fat, white girl would never win this competition.” They thanked me and I left. I tell this story only to say that they’re obviously trying hard to make good TV… and not really trying to find the best comic. It’s just like American Idol - I met dozens of incredible singers who didn’t make the first cut - not because they weren’t capable of being the best singer - but because they just wouldn’t make good TV.
I think the whole LCS thing sucks. It’s not American Idol - Last Comic Standing is not geared at making someone a star. Most of the comics have already had measurable success - they are already stars, really. You can’t make someone a comic over the run of LCS - but with AI, you can work with them, clothe them, do their hair - and voila - you’ve made a star. With LCS, you still have to write material, you still have to learn to deliver it… I can’t imagine the utter failure brought on the winner if he/she only has 30 mins of material but managed to make good TV and make it into the hearts of the nation 3 minutes at a time.
Thanks for tackling the “How much is too much” issue. I totally use my fat jokes as a crutch - it’s easy to make fun of myself - I’ve had years of incoming material - but I can see how it’d get uncomfortable for an audience. I just get frustrated trying to push through and find anything unique.
Love Eddie Izzard. Thanks for playing him. He’s one of my favorite comics of all time - and he’s a hell of an actor, too, agreed.
So, here’s something I’m wondering now… how do you know if you’re any good?
I’m not sure if there’s a set way to know if you’re good, or how good you are. I’ve heard some guys say that people will tell you if you’re funny. However, I personally believe it is closer to the opposite- you’ll notice that the first couple of times you do an open mic, the older guys and veterans will tell you you’re funny… but after you start feeling more comfortable onstage, they sorta stop telling you you’re funny because now they consider you competition. So, by them ceasing to tell you that you’re funny, that makes you funny. Or something.
Another way to tell is when you start getting invited to do shows, MC spots, etc. If someone asks you if you can fill a 10-minute spot, that gives you a pretty good idea of whether or not you’re funny. Or if they ask you to come back.
It also helps to watch video of yourself. Even though people have a hard time being objective towards themselves, it really helps to look at a tape of yourself. Then start comparing a tape from every month you’ve done stand-up to see how you’ve improved, if you have any bad habits, what parts of jokes are unnecessary or dated, etc. In other words, I’m not sure. Comics are really insecure, and even when we “know” we’re funny, we never truly know.
I differentiate between “funny” and “good”. Anyone can be funny and get laughs, but to be a great comic involves so much more. The single greatest compliment I’ve ever received was from the sister on an ex girlfriend. She came out to see me MC a show fairly early in my career, and after the show she said, “I was expecting you to be funny, but you were actually good.” It sounded funny at the time, but it makes perfect sense to me now. We’ll definitely address this on an upcoming episode.
Hey Mr. Gizmo, this may be the answer to your faxing problem.
http://www.efax.com/en/efax/twa/page/homePage?CMP=OTC-us
Free 30 day trail.
Hey Jive Turkeys!
You want comedy, have kids.
I’m not joking, these little treasures can make or break your day with some of the stuff that comes outta their mouths!
Especially this mornings ‘dad you’ve got big boobies like mommys!’
What do you say to that? I was just getting over my meatloaf manboob period too!
I was just watching a guy from Iran called Omid Djalili, B’mo check him out, very funny middle eastern comedian, maybee you could do a muslem extreamist comedy special?
Keep it up.
Hey every one. first off thank you brian for putting my rendition of the aristocrats on the show. and again i apolagize to every one i disgusted, but your gonna have to deal with it. i let every bottled up dark disturbing thought ive ever had into that joke and im very proud of how it turned. im sure my feelings towards my joke are the same feelings that the elephant man’s parents felt. also thanks for putting Izzard on he is just fantastic. its pretty funny that you did the show in a disjointed way, the same way that izzard delivers his material. great show as always.
Probably the greatest music video since Thriller.
http://www.kanyewest.com/?content=video_cant_tell_alt
Mad props for getting my name right B-mo. Even in real life no one gets it right, so you pronouncing it right on the first try is amazing to me. I have such a hard time with my name that sometimes that I even say my name as if it is a question, waiting for people to say something dumb after i introduce myself. My favorite one is when I was introducing myself to a person at a party. The guy reaches out to shake my hand and says “Paul†and I reach out and say “Silviuâ€, to which he replies “No I’m Paul†as if I might have confused Paul with Fucking Silviu. Hopefully that made sense, I am nursing bronchitis and a fever right now, there is a good possibility that it did not.
Onto another topic
Speaking of Patton’s New CD/DVD I was there in Athens, GA where it was taped and I must say it was a pretty interesting show. I would pretty much agree with your idea that First CD are the Best CD’s idea, having loved Feeling Kinda Patton, this one left much to be desired. Yet the show was not a waste, I did get to see a man pissing on another man right in front of the stage. It is even supposed to be on the DVD supposedly (have not gotten it yet).
This story has been told and retold by me countless times, and now it has a new chapter with me taking Statistics with the “PISSERâ€. For the past few months of summer I’ve across the room from this degenerate of a human being and constantly want to call him out for the douche bag that he is. I sat there in class wanting so desperately to raise my hand when we were talking probabilities one day and just go off.
Professor
What do you think the odds are that someone in this class has urinated another human being, in front of videotaped audience?
Pretty damn low right?
You would think there was a better of chance of a lightning strike or some shit.
Well you would might, but you would be wrong.
:::and then I point the fucker out the whole class::
That would be balzy of me, but unfortunately I am only a cowardly Romanian who goes to UGA and cant fucking spell or use punctuation.
but I digress……………..
That was the greatest video EVER!
hahaha…I fucking love Zach Galifianakis. He’s brilliant. Kanye’s great too.
Hugs,
Sina.
Patch,
I second that, what a video, totally unexpected!
I thought this was a hillbilly take off, but it appears to be the genuine article, I love that song too!
Brian
When you gonna get that comedy cd of yours in the BTB store?
Infact when you gonna get a BTB store?
Thanks for the interest Badshot. I’m working on a new cd. I’m very proud of my first go around, but it’s already out dated. I’m a very different comic now than I was then. Thanks a lot 2 years of being screwed over by the business! ahem, soon, I guess would be the answer to your question.
Brian,
how could you forget Chris Rock in the remake of ‘Heaven Can Wait’ called ‘Down to Earth’ (http://imdb.com/title/tt0231775/) where he is a shitty comic who comes back as a old, rich, white guy and tries to get a hot young girl to fall in love with him and get a spot on amateur night at the apollo?
I wasted a whole 2 hours of my life on it! Hilarious(!) Anyone seen it?
Kinda get what you’re saying about stand up movies, it seems hard to translate to the movies, although if any of the feuds going on now end up in a gangsta-rap style shooting outside of Catch a Rising Star, that’ll be an awesome movie!
2) Anyone seen the news that Dave Chappelle has been hospitalized. Dunno if anyone has heard anymore……I know he’s had his problems but I hope he’s ok. http://www.punchlinemagazine.com/index.php/news/588/32.shtml
3) Brian, have you, or anyone else here seen any clips or own any cds of Larry David’s stand up. There’s a TINY bit on the pilot of CYE and they all talk about his stand up but I can’t find anything anywhere. CYE is fucking hilarious and everyone says that Larry was bascially the man behind Seinfeld…..i just thought it was unusual how little stand up he has out there. The last I knew, he didn’t really have a personal website!
I don’t think he did any televised stand up. He wasn’t that big as a comic, more of a writer. The only stand up I’ve ever seen him do was in the CYE pilot as you mentioned before.
This is a bit off topic, but I recently picked up Paul F. Tompkins’ album “Impersonal” (very funny) and was surprised to find that it was more of a collection of unconnected bits, (you know, where every track fades in and out and everything bit could be from a different evening) instead of the usual start to finish comedy set that appears on most albums. I’ve come across this sort of thing before, of course, but usually on older stuff (”Bill Cosby is a Very Funny Fellow… Right!” for example) and was wondering what everyone prefers as far as format when it comes to comedy albums.
Personally, I kinda like the single set because you get a greater sense of flow and continuity, not to mention getting to hear the comic’s transitions, but I can see benefits to the “best representative” bits collections as well.
I was going to suggest spotlighting Zach Galifianakis and then I saw the link Patch put up which was awesome(thanks for that). Zach is by far my favorite comedian. His one liners are brilliant and actually seeing him do crowd work live is incredible. I do one liners and I get worried about the day I’ll have to do 45 minutes(which is like five million one liners) and it is interesting to see how zach mixes it up with piano, crowd work, note pad bits, pretending to be his effeminate brother. He is truly an original. I don’t think anyone could do his bit and pull it off. Also “Comedians of Comedy” is one of my favorite movies that I definitely recommend. “When Standup Stood Out” is a good one to see how the Boston scene exploded, and a buddy of mine was telling me about a movie called “13 or Bust” where Steve Byrne does 13 sets in one night. Sounds interesting but hard to get ahold of a copy. Brian you are more than welcome on our stage here in Omaha!
Thanks Cody, I was mainly kidding, but don’t be surprised if I show up at your door one day.
I agree with you Dave, I prefer to hear a comic do a set from start to finish. I’m interested in how they build their set and if there are any lulls, but then again, I’m a freak. There’s definitely something to be said for a greatest hits compilation where every joke crushes. Thanks for the heads up on the new Tompkins cd. I’m a big fan of his and wasn’t aware he had anything out.
You can download 13 or Bust on iTunes for free. Just search the iTunes store for Steve Byrne’s podcast and it’s there. Download the whole thing and watch it. It’s pretty good.
Sina.
Yea I got that you were kidding, people rarely come to Omaha on purpose. ha. Thanks Sina, I watched it earlier today and thought it was pretty decent. Kinda cool seeing him run into various comedians in between clubs(Tony Woods is hilarious).
Yeah, the actual objective of the film didn’t really interest me in the least…but the side conversations with other comics were pretty cool and candid. I loved the chats with Bobby Kelly, Bill Burr and the rest. Good times.
Sina.
Thanks for the heads up on 13 or bust sina,
that was a pretty cool movie. I agree with Sina that it’s not really about a guy running around like an idiot but more the conversations and ideas that the guys have sitting around the table. It was also pretty cool to see how the comedy scene in NY works; about squeezing in those extra sets to get time. A lot of people in the audience must think that you have a 15 min set then get get paid a fortune and leave for your mansion.
Any one got any more good stuff like that from the net. preferably for free cause I’m skint (broke)?
Nick
Ok, just finished watching 13 or bust and completely agree with your assessments. I couldn’t help but smile when I read your post Nick. I mentioned that this show was born from people asking me about comedy at the bar after shows. there is such a misconception that because comics are in show business, we pull down Tom Cruise money. Especially in NY. I would occassionally make a few bucks in the city hosting shows, but most nights I worked for -$4 in subway fare. It was all about the experience.
I just finished confirming the interview for next so I figured I’d let you hard core fans in on it. we’ll be chatting with one of my favorite story tellers Ron Shock. If you’re familiar with his work and you have a question you’d like to ask him, post it here by Tuesday afternoon. Also just want to thank Sina for setting the interview up. You’re one of the good guys.
Ron’s a moder-day legend!!! So excited.
I’d LOVE to get some pointers on how to tell a story in a comedic way. There are so very few good storyteller comics - and not everyone can do it… but how about some pointers on how you take those funny happenings and make them bits?
So excited, Brian!
Ron Shock!!!
Nice one Brian,
he might be sick of answering the question but as you know ron was a VP of a fortune 500 company (and served jail time!) before he got into comedy so it would be awesome to learn why and how he made that switch…
Also, he was one of the original Outlaw comics who booked and arranged their own shows….it kinda ties in with the whole arranging your own room thing. It’ll be cool if he thinks that that is the future for comedy now.
Look forward to it,
Nickx
Shock seems more than happy to answer any of your Bill Hicks questions as well. I spoke with him and told him what a fan of Hicks I was and he said he’ll tell me all the stories I want to hear about that. So for all you Hicks fans out there, bring the questions. Shock spent his first road gig with Hicks and they did acid before going on stage and almost both got killed. It’s all chronicled in his cds and in the book I Killed.
As for another great free video…it’s not quite about comedy, but it’s about a great comedian. Check out Tom Rhodes’ There and Back Again Documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN7oNv5X3iE
It’s a 3 parter.
Sina.
BMo, Sina,
Nice job scheduling an interview with Ron Shock
I have a question if there is a chance to work it in.
Question: Back in the days of working at the Comics Annex in Houston, did Ron have a real feeling like that group might be viewed as important in the history of stand-up comics or did he feel like they were just a group trying to make a living and have fun.
I recall going to the Annex every few weeks because it was a good value and a good time. I still recall (vaguely) Ron Shock, Jimmy Pineapple, Steve Epstien, Riley Barber (BMo’s favorite bitter guy) and Bill Hicks. I remember Ron Shock especially because he seemed a bit older and more professional. Although those were great nights, I remember the atmosphere being so laid back and I had no idea how important that group and timeframe was until I started listening to Brian’s podcast recently.
Thanks.
Just wanted to chime in on the Aristocrats (I know, I’m a little late to the party). I’ve listened to the whole movie (they released the audio on CD) but haven’t actually watched the movie.
First off, I thought Smiley did a great job with it, as good as most professional versions I’ve heard. In the movie though, there was one version that actually made me laugh out loud which Brian touched on. I knew the basic premise of the joke, and knew that it’s not really a joke that’s played for laughs. The humor is generally more from the shock of seeing a guy who played Danny Tanner on Full House talk about horrificly gruesome acts. But in the middle of the movie I believe it was Sarah Silverman who did the flipped version of the joke, and for some reason after hearing the same basic thing over and over, hearing her talking about a family who comes out and has tea and then calls themselves the “ass-raping, cum-guzzling….” (I don’t remember the specifics) made me laugh out loud. I’m sure people before her had turned the joke around like that, but in the context of the movie I thought that her version was the only one that stood out as being really funny. However, if taken out of the context of the repition of the normal version over and over I doubt it would have been as funny, but I still wanted to mention that one as being my personal favorite.
I also like the Sout Park version of the joke for the same reason. Broke up the monotony and brought something different to the pary.
HOLY SHIT, RON SHOCK!!! As in one of the original outlaws of comedy, and one of the best still alive! wow. man i would love to hear how he got started and his stories about bill hicks and sam kinison. they are all some of my favorite comics. awesome.
Just wrapped the interview with Ron Shock and I promise you guys will not be disappointed. Easily one of the coolest guys I’ve ever talked to in comedy, and somehow has made it over 25 years without getting bitter. He dropped a masters course in stand up on me, and easily the greatest hell gig story ever. You’re in for a treat.
Brian, I had no idea who Patton Oswalt was. Hell, until I saw Ratatouille, everytime I heard someone mention Patton Oswald, I thought they were talking about some morning radio DJs, Pat & Oswald.
After seeing Ratatouille (very good movie, btw), I decided to check IMDB to see who the voices were. Then it dawned on me. It’s not Pat & Oswald, it’s Patton Oswalt that people have been talking about. And he’s the guy from King of Queens (if you ask me that’s more of a “sell out” than Ratatouille). Anyway, bought his CD, “Feeling Kinda Patton.” All I can say is … I wish Itunes took returns. I may have chuckled once… but then I was probably thinking about something Jimmy Carr said.
Speaking of Jimmy Carr… at the same time I bought Patton’s CD, I bought Jimmy Carr’s CD “Stand Up”. And the only reason I’m not asking YOU to refund me the $10 I paid for Patton’s CD, is because Jimmy Carr is fucking hilarious and I would have paid $20 for his CD. So it’s a wash. We’re square.
Needs a treat after the day I’ve had.
I sure hope Thursday is better.
I’m all a Twitter, are you?
Brian (et al),
I just got home from a week on the road with an MP3-player full of BtB, so forgive me for being a couple of shows behind the current discussion, and for dumping a number of comments into one post.
1) Theme nights: Gotta say, I think it depends on how often you get out to see comedy shows. If I’m only getting out a few times a year, I want variety within any given night … therefore, a resounding ‘no’ on the theme nights. If I’m only seeing a few shows a year, I don’t want a significant proportion of them to be in any one ‘thematic topic area’. Imagine only seeing two shows in a year, both themed … your entire comedy-show-year could be summed up as 50% gay and 50% hispanic.
However, if you’re getting out a lot, you might be looking for less variety within a show, but more variety between shows … which would lend itself to theme nights. If you’re going in realizing that there will be overlap in the material, and that even material that is edgy and unique in any other format will sound hacky after the 3rd comic in a row presents it, then the theme night is OK.
2) English Comedy: A fan of most of it, but I realize that there are some stinkers who give the field a bad name. Had never heard of Jimmy Carr before he was presented on BtB, but checked out the DVD that the clip was taken from, and damn near drove into the ditch laughing.
However, this raises the question … what about comedy from other English-speaking countries? Why isn’t there an Aussie comedy movement? Or is there, and I just live under a rock?
3) A question for Brian (and anybody else on the forum): Is there a difference between the terms ‘comic’ and ‘comedian/comedienne’? I hear them used interchangably, but was wondering if the folks in the business felt there was a distinction.
Thanks for bearing with the long, rambling post!
Pray4Snow
Sorry you weren’t into Pat & Oslwad Joe. Wasn’t trying to hard sell his cd, I really do think he’s one of the best, most original comics around right now. But if he didn’t make you laugh, he didn’t make you laugh.
I have always thought that comic and comedian were synonymous….but I’m far from a linguist.
As for Australia…I’ve heard they have quite the scene out there. I’ve heard they are right on par with England in that they have a good market right now as well as less censorship and edgier comics. Although, my only experience with Aussie comics is from reading Stanhope’s blog from when he went there. So I could very well be wrong.
Take care,
Sina.
So before watching this week’s episode I made my wife watch last week’s to see the people they picked. After watching all 32 or however many comics they managed to cram in, they managed to pick three of the comics that she said there’d be no way in hell they’d make it. While I think Lavell Crawford is funny, there’s nothing terribly original about his comedy, and Matt Kirshen was a pleasant surprise but so far is a fairly one-trick-pony.
And while I wasn’t pleased with Ralph beating Gina this week, at least Dante went home.
If watching last week’s show could piss off my wife who doesn’t watch comedy very often, I can’t imagine the rage it must insprire in Brian.
Although it’s pretty obvious, I of course should have mentioned that I was talking about Last Comic Standing somewhere in my previous post… brilliant.
I don’t know if it was just his voice or what, but I didn’t find him original. he REALLY reminded me of David Cross.
I get the David Cross comparison. I consider them to be in the same comedy vein. But no need to explain why you didn’t like him. Tons of people are paying $250 to see Seinfeld at Caesars here in Vegas this weekend, I think he’s kind of boring.