The Story That Won’t Die
March 28, 2007 · Print This Article
Well, Mencia-gate has reached a new level this week as more videos have surfaced accusing Carlos Mencia of stealing material. Brian reads an email from a Carlos supporter, gives his opinion of the accusations, and polls the audience as to whether this story bothers them or should it just go away.
Today’s topic of the week deals with comics who make fun of race. Is there room for this kind of material in comedy or does it only serve to polarize people?
Other topics include free food at commedy shows, a trip to the copyright office, comics who blame the audience, and comedy at the ballpark. We wrap up the show by spotlighting another movie star who’s stand up career was shrouded in controversy.
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com
Give the show a call: 206-600-4325
I just heard this story yesterday and thought it might be an interesting parallel. A guy called in to a radio show claiming he had proof the the band Led Zepplin had stolen a bunch of songs from small unknown bands. Lets assume it’s true for the moment. Does that change the fact that they’re a great band? No, they still got up on stage, played their instruments, sang, and rocked the crowd. But that doesn’t make they’re actions right.
I think you deserve credit for using the words “plug” and “cunt” in the same paragraph.
B-Mo,
Well here we go! It is starting already.
Another fallout from the Mencia-Rogan spat, is that comics will feel the need to preface their thoughts by saying, ‘ this is not my own bit’ , or ‘ I know this is not original’. You did it on today’s show talking about Starbucks. If you are telling your own version of a story, then it’s yours! I understand why you would say it’s not, but you did experience it.
Now, if you’re directly using someone’s material cause it fits in context, so be it, but I don’t think you should apologize in advance. Break the habit early. Set the example.
That’s a nice catch 7, I didn’t even notice that. I guess the subconscious took over.
I do take credit for the plug/cunt sentence. That was all me baby. What can I say, I’m a genius.
I don’t have a problem with someone using anothers material, as long as the right people get credited. The problem I have with the Mencia situation is that he is not admitting to doing others material.
Let’s face it, the guy that invented the basketball wasn’t the best basketball player ever. Just because you create a set of material, doesn’t mean you can deliver it the best. Comedy is mostly about the delivery, remember dices bit about the humpback. “I’ll be BACK….in an hour…..get it?….hour…back….get it?”
Brian congrats on the genious that is you!
By the way, this joint is getting classed up nicely, it is getting to where I feel guilty visiting the site without a coat and tie….nice job!
No shit Snappy! I paid cover!
Nice re-work B-Mo!
Brian in regares to minortys having to live with a racest joke feel that i somewhat fall in to this relm. I have no probem wiht people making jokes on me (since i sant and 4 foot 6 inches and am alomst 20) hell i enchourge there have been great jokes that i have been the butt of and then i also get the lame hacky shit. so if someone can think a of new joke about being short and that cracks me up i give them props and when you are the way i am it much more fun to make jokes about it than be that stuck up bitch that takes offence to every thing
Thanks for the clip of Robin Williams……the thing about him (aside from the fact that he is a joke thief) is that I can’t understand what the fuck he is saying half the time…..you kinda touched on it.
I do find him funnny on occaision and he is a great performer but his constant flailing around gets SO tired after a while. For example, he was on Real Time with Bill Maher last season I think and he was so annoying….just doing stupid impressions and voices that didn’t contribute and got really boring.
Like what happened to Steve Martin, ppl just laugh at anythign he says…..if he just got on stage and made stupid noises for an hour he’d still get loads of laughs.
Like the new site btw!
Belly skater,
There are advantages to being 4′ 6″ that I wish I had. You don’t have to bend over far to look up a womans skirt, and if you get caught you won’t get sucker punched as quickly as I would.
a 10″ penis looks larger against a leg that is a foot and a half long versus one against a leg that is three and a half feet long.
A girl isn’t as apprehensive when you mention fisting to her in the bedroom.
and finally, you could sneak into Chucky cheese, play lost and have the hot mom hug on you to comfort you.
We all have to play the hand we’re dealt, you just gotta find was to have fun with your hand. Hope you weren’t offended, I meant all of these in the light of your post above. Love your contributions brother.
Guys,
I guess it is no secret that I like the more twisted and sick comics, hell I feel like a long lost cousin to some of them. I want to share a couple of my favorites with all of you.
This is wrong, and I just laugh my ass off;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKGuh44_LBc
Let’s take a moment and honor a great show;
http://www.youtube.com/v/bMTLqU0OiY4
I miss it already, and KoJack the 97 percenter, *sigh*
snappy why do u think i like to get hugs.
i get a facefull everytime
oh and snappy you didnt offend me hell like i said i encoage people to come up with new short jokes for me .
my favorate pick up line for me when i meet a short girl. ” Hey I didn’t know they made you in my size.”
Ladies and Gentleman,
Louis C.K.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWhSfln1O4k
Bob Saget owns a woman in the audience with a cell phone….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4fg_U2Okt0
Some things are understandable in any language;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-1FsXJMX04
Brian, I totally disagree about the racist stuff. I am more referring to the media here than comedy.
For those of you who don’t know, I am from Irish Catholic ancestry (the only things visable from space are the Great Wall of China, the Pentgon, and my huge Irish head). I started watching this show on NBC called “The Black Donnellys”, which is about the Irish mob, they are pretty disorganized bunch, regardless, it’s an OK show.
Anyway, the show has been on for 5-6 episodes, and they have had 2 wakes in a bar in 5 episodes. Are you fucking kidding me? I don’t care how hard core Irish you are, no one gets waked in a bar. And during the first wake, of course a fight ensues, casket might have even tipped over, total stereotype. I wasn’t offended by it, but it was complete bullshit.
Then you take The Passion of the Christ. Jews were up in arms about this movie. Why? Every Easter, why is there not a demonstration outside of my church, because it’s the exact same story as the movie.
I don’t want to go around using the “N” word all day just because Eddie Murphy does. I just don’t think it’s fair that you can use stereotypes for some groups and not others.
I guess my point is if the Black Donnellys was about another group, and stereotypes like this were used, it would have been pulled that night.
To any teen wanting to get involved in stand up comedy:
I really do recommend it. I was the pale, chunky, short kid with glasses and braces reading the D&D manual in the back of the class all through jr. high. But, I really do think that because of stand-up comedy giving me the confidence to talk and be heard I have a voice. I have the confidence to talk in front of a group of people or in a college interview.
As a plus, I’m doing something I love. And it’s always nice to watch my parents say “yes, we let our 17 year old son go to bars and tell jokes to drunkards. Hell, we video tape it.”
Find an open mic at your school and get out there.
~Charles
I totally agree with Darcy. There is an imbalance with which races are “fair” game. The best comedians who talk or talked about race the best is Chris Rock and Richard Pryor.
I have a problem with everyone calling it the “N” word. The word “nigger” is what the fuss is over, and it has negative connotations if you use it in a derogatory manner. “nigga” is just slang for “nigger” and it is used to mock the original word. “Nigger” is no more offensive to Blacks than “Redneck” is to whites. Both words were used as negative connotations before the thirties, and were mutilated by ignorance.
The origin of both words will just show you how ignorance will grow like a wild fire. Redneck was what caucasian farmworkers were called who had to perform manual labor for a living. They were called this because of how sunburned their necks stayed for being bent over in the fields all day. Because of their financial predicament, they were forced to have their kids work with them in the fields, especially for the harvest. When school was not mandatory, a lot of families would keep the children in the fields, which only spawned on the lack of education. The culmination of all of this resulted in ignorant people being called “rednecks” rather than a farm worker.
Now for the bastardization of the word “nigger”, When the Africans were brought to North America and sold as slaves, most of them spoke only their native language. How do you say black in Africa? Well, even to this day it is negro. The chieftons presented the people as negros, then it didn’t take long for the white ignorance to kick in with the laziness of the southern dialect for the word to transform from “negro” to “nigger”, then many years after they were freed, (for the record, I don’t agree with any form of slavery, whether it be voluntary or involuntary. yes, there is a underground market for voluntary servitude.) the word was changed to “nigga” as a mockery of the slang “nigger”.
Honestly, words have meanings in context, and Dave Chappells “The Niggers” skit is a good example of how the word can have different meanings. Using the word in a hate filled context is no different than using “motherfucker” in a hate filled context, either way it is wrong in the context. Michael Richards used it in the wrong contest and he is paying as he should.
This brings up a declaration that gets under my craw, and that is the declaration “African-American”. Why can we not cal Americans just that, Americans. This came about by “the-man” who wants to still segregate, but he wasn’t allowed to call the skin color “black”, let’s face it, if you are an American, and that is what you declared constantly, how would they keep up where to discriminate more. Had you been born here, you are an American, and skin color should not even be brought up, period. Because, let me tell you, there is a “HUGE” difference between true “African Americans” and those whose ancestors were forced over. Where I live, there are a lot of foreign students due to the large medical university, (tons of Asians, Indians (dot not feather) and Africans) and the infusion they bring is very unique and fun at times. But I honestly wouldn’t want to be mistaken for an African who has obtained U.S. citizenship, but that’s just me….
I gotta say I really like the new logo Brian.
I have a question for all, how would you keep the material relevent to both teens and teachers, because at my school, there is a talent show, and I’m having problems coming up with material that both groups could relate to.
Do you have advice on how to play on two crowds at once, or…
First off, I think both Darcy and Snappy make fantastic points. The bottom line is, everyone is different. That’s why I always tell comics who want to delve into racism, go for, but don’t get angry if people don’t take it well. Some people are more sensitive to this subject. All of my black friends are fine being referred to as black (when the issue comes up, which isn’t often) but if one said, “I prefer the term African-American”, it’s not my place to say, “That’s stupid, I’m not calling you that”. I agree that labels do nothing to unite different races, but to pretend they don’t exist at this point in time is unrealistic as well. I love the opinions on this subject everyone, keep them coming.
Mike - First off let me congratulate you for what you’re about to do. If you can get up in front of your classmates and make them laugh, I promise you that a crowd full of strangers is nothing. It’s very important to know your audience, in this case, the one thing everyone has in common is your school. If you’re having trouble coming up with material, I’d start out with some observations about your school that everyone can relate to. Hope that helps. Good luck.
Hey all, I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted but I finally have a morning off to hang out and read the message boards.
I am going to have to (respectfully) disagree with Snappy. I think that the degree of offensiveness in a word is directly related to the imbalance of power in the relationship that it represents. And in that sense I don’t think there is a more offensive word in the English language than the N-bomb. Like it or not the word has close ties to slavery (like you say, the bastardization of the word Negro by the white people who brought slaves over) and there has never in the history of the country been such an institutionalized oppression of an entire race of people. That’s what makes the word so offensive, that it references the complete oppression of a people.
Sure, there have been any number of ethnic/religious/gender/sexual orientations that have been (and still are) discriminated against in this country, but none have been put in the same level of powerlessness that blacks were during slavery and that’s why the N-bomb hits so much harder. My ethnic background, like Darcy’s, is Irish Catholic but the terms Mick, Paddy or any other ethnic slur for Irish don’t have nearly the same impact because even when the Irish were being discriminated against in this country it was about not being able to get a job, or being denied good housing , not having the entire culture wiped out because another ethnic group owned them.
And while I understand what you mean about the term African American (and ironically Carlos Mencia has a pretty funny bit about the difference between a black person calling themselves African-American and him calling himself Mexican-American), I think it is really just a label that expresses someone’s cultural history, like me calling myself Irish Catholic even though I’ve never set foot in Ireland and when I try to affect an Irish accent it sounds worse than Brad Pitt’s in that terrorist movie with Harrison Ford.
Me personally, I’ll never use the N-word. I can remember one time in high school going to see Pulp Fiction with a friend who is black and afterwards we were talking about lines we thought were funny in the film and I quoted one of the 10,000 lines in that movie that uses the N-word and it was just a horribly awkward feeling, and not one that I ever really care to have again. He knew I didn’t mean to offend him but it still felt weird and I don’t really see any need to use the word in the future.
Darcy, I haven’t watched Black Donnellys but my guess is that Irish groups will have the same reaction that to the show that Italians did to the Sopranos, only probably more outraged because at least the Sopranos was actually a damn good show. But to me it just doesn’t ring true because for one it’s just a fictional portrayal, but also because historically Irish and Italians could speak up for themselves.
Anyway, I don’t mean to sound preachy and I certainly don’t mean any disrespect to Snappy or Darcy for their opinions, but those are my thoughts on the subject of racial humor. It’s just one of those tough subjects where, as we’ve seen on this board, well meaning people can simply have a difference of opinion.
Brian, I am still enjoying the show every week so keep up the good work man. Later.
I really thought that after hearing Ned rip off one of Brian’s all time favorite comics he would go on the war path. Ripping off Ari with a very predictable joke is one thing, but ripping off a comedic legend from one of the best selling comedy albums of all time is fucking retarded. Mencia is no different than any American Idol contestant. He is a karaoki comic. Fuck him!
PS I have been building a new studio in my house so we can take the show to the next level. Check out the all new Stand Up Orlando Comedy Podcast nest week at our new RSS URL feed://standuporlando.libsyn.com/rss
Looking forward to hearing the show Ryan. I have to admit, I was steaming. Watching Bill Cosby Himself with my dad for the first time was one of the most influential moments of my life in terms of comedy. I honestly could have done a one hour rant on it without breaking a sweat, but I was afraid people would be bored with the subject after talking about him for 3 straight weeks. Maybe I’ll call into your show and get the rest of it off my chest.
Brandon,
No offense taken, that is the great thing about debates. I like you, do not, nor will ever use the racial slur, I was just pointing out that the prior discussion of the imbalance in what races can be “teased” with the slurs.
On to a movie I saw this weekend on DVD with a “ton” of standup comics in it, School for Scoundrels. This is worth watching, in my opinion. It isn’t the funniest movie ever, but there are a few good lines in it.
Looking forward to the next show! I hear it is going to be “special”
I recently saw the video of the Bill Cosby football bit compared to the Carlos Mencia bit, and for me, this was the deciding factor. Up till now, it seemed like the things that people claimed he was “stealing” were very easy jokes to come up with, especially that “Who’s gonna build the wall?” bit. But this story is not something that I could see coming to two people without one having seen the other do it, and seeing as Bill Cosby probably did this before Carlos Mencia, (because, y’know, Bill Cosby was doing comedy before Carlos was… born) I’m gonna go ahead and assume that Carlos is the guilty party here.
Also, I think that stealing a joke from Bill Cosby of all people is probably the dumbest thing this guy could do. Bill Cosby is one of the idols of all stand-up comics. It’s my understanding that many comedians have built shrines to the man that they pray to before show. But honestly, the man is an idol, and to assume you’re not going to get caught stealing jokes from him is about the most arrogant, stupid thing you can do.
The other thing that really gets me about this is that by outright stealing this joke, is that he thinks he can do it better. So I know that Carlos isn’t gonna read this, but let me clarify something here. CARLOS, YOU ARE A FAD. BILL COSBY IS ONE OF THE ALL TIME GREATS. YOU CANNOT DO A KNOCK KNOCK JOKE BETTER THAN HIM, LET ALONE ONE OF HIS OWN JOKES!
Ok, I’m done. Thanks for the opportunity to vent, keep up the good work Brian.
Tyler is absolutely right, if you are going to steal jokes, at least steal from comedians that are relatively unknown.
I will say in Carlos defense, he may be suffering delusions of grandeur, and just think every comedian he has heard in the past, in fact, reside in his brain and therefore are creating material for him. Hence the name “Mind of Mencia” albeit a warped one.
I say fuck him, I have watched only one set of his, and have never watched a full episode of his crappy little show. As far as I am concerned he and Dane cook can have a three way with Satan himself, and fight over the drops of…. I’ll stop there before I get a little too foul.
I think Snappy is being a little too generous. Who’s to say that even Satan would want to spend a minute alone with the likes of Carlos Mencia and Dane Cook, especially in the absence of clothing.
sup guys, ive been reading the posts about the whole 3 way with satan, dane cook, and carlos mencia. now although i really dont care about mencia i think we should get off cooks back. now before any of you start throwing hate emails at me let me explain why i dont hate dane cook. now although he is not refined in any way he is very original. and befor any of you say it yes i know rogan has also made allegations that cook stole three bits from lois c.k. now the bits in question are called “itchy asshole, Guy on a bike, and nameing kids” while the dane cook bits are called “itchy asshole, struck by a vehicle, and my son optimus prime”. now like B-Mo said a couple of episodes ago this is not neccisarly plagarism. C.K even went on record to say that the whole situation was over blown and not really stealing. he did however say that he was an “egotistical cunt”. and what may you ask is my opinion on this. well i think lois C.K is absolutely right. i have done alot of research and watched the entire tourgasm series and my analysis was as follows. he is a bad loser, full of himself, a drama king anhas tendencys to be very mean spireted to other comics. hell if you watch tourgasm you can almost see robert kelly and gary gulman getting ass raped by him even though they are equally if possibly better comics than he is. but perhaps im getting off topic. also most of his material is very original even if thats becuase its so insane that even the son of sam on angel dust couldent think half this shit up. let me close by sayng this. is he a egomaniac-yes. is he meansoireted-yes. has he almost singlehandedly breathed new life in the intrest of stand up comedy- yes,yes, and yes. so lets give the fucker a break. and focus our energy on someone who really deserves it, lets say the cast of the view.
one more thing before i forget can we please stop all this bitching against material thiefs, theyre scum we get it. and instead of ranting about them we should be writing better bits than they stole. and i know how much it hurts to get your stuff stolen. let me elaborate. a couple of months ago ago i was working on some bits with a buddy of mine who was also a comic. flash forward three weeks later i was on stage at a teen hangout in my neiborhood going into a bit about “breaking up”. not a single luagh which was weird becuase a couple a days earlier i had done the same bit and it had killed. so i moved on and did some more and i got some good luaghs. untill i moved unto my finishing bit about “body fat” again no luaghs. and some of you might not know this but if your closing joke doesnt work it can completely ruin the night for both you and the audiance. after wards i went to talk with the manager at which time he accused me of stealing material. this royally pissed me off since i have never stolen anything in my life. he went on to say that another young comic had done those same two bits (word for word mind you) a week prior. so asked for the guys name. it was my freind, the same guy who was with me when i originally wrote the bits. the next day i confronted him and shamefully said he had stolen them. and do you know what idid…..I let it go. this just proves that im doin something right her if people are steling from me. also my freinds got a limited comedic arsenal while am a stand up, cofouder actor and writer for a sketch group, and i write a monthly humourous essay on my schools newspaper blog. thats a triple threat of funny. in conclusion ido believe that theives are scum but it takes to much energy and time away from what we all love. being funny. please post what you think about that little ephinany.
Smiley, the interesting thing about your post, is that you are asking people to just forget about material thieves, then you rant about someone who stole your stuff. I have had people lift from me as well, and it blows. Now I agree with you in that I didn’t go out on a one man crusade to bring the guy down, but i definitely let everyone I knew know about it. There is no police out there for a comic who plagiarizes. Authors or song writers can go to court and get paid, but we have to suck it up. The least we can do is bitch about it. Thanks for the post. I love hearing another comics perspective.
thanks brian, but dont misunderstand me. i dont think we should forget i think we should ignore. i wasnt about to pull a rogan and ruin the guys next set. yes he was a hackbut like you said we shouldnt ruin the audiances night becuase they could ways go to the movies instead of a comedy club. and then we go broke.
Great point Smiley. I totally agree.
I haven’t really chimed in yet, but I’ve been listening in and got my thoughts. I can’t really comment on Mencia stealing the jokes because, well, I haven’t heard enough of the jokes myself to judge. No, I’m not a Mencia fan because any guy who stands on stage and goes “DEE DEE DEE” or whatever the fuck that is doesn’t deserve my attention. But as far as Rogan is concerned, I know he’s been at the comedy game for a while, and I’ve heard some of his stuff, and I liked it. What I don’t like is the public caling out of Mencia. A veteran of the game like himself should know that shit like this happens. Now did he use one of Rogan’s lines? That would be one thing, but it sounds like Rogan himself is just trying to get a little publicity on the cheap here. Personally, I just can’t respect that myself. People make livings in EVERY business by stealing the ideas of others. IT’S THE AMERICAN WAY DAMMIT! I mean let’s face it, we wouldn’t have Windows it if weren’t for Bill Gates being the theiving bitch he was 20 years ago. I think a lot of the Mencia hate is derived from the shitloads of cash he’s making (after all Brian, what OTHER reason are you a Yankees fan for?)… (yes that was a cheap shot)… (
). Rogan just needs to get over it at this point, spend less time grossing people out with Fear Factor, and if he really wants to be respected as a big name comedian (which he is, but not at the Mencia/Cook levels), he should shut up and get back to hitting the pads of paper writing down his new jokes.
As for the previous Dane Cook hate, I have to say I’ve liked him, but my like for him is dwindling due to the lack of new stuff. Even when you see him now on TV, he’s rehashing a lot of the same old used material. My like for him stems from his live performances, where’s he’s just simply over the top, and I find that to be half the appeal. I was at the HBO special taping to see him live, and his old stuff was alright, but much preferred the two or three newer bits he did. And for his song that he does, it’s not funny, he DOES need to put that thing away. I say this because I wish people would stop comparing Dane Cook to Carlos Mencia. Sure they both have the fame and money rolling in, but I do think Cook has a little more credibility than Mencia.
Okay, now let me don my goggles and apron in preparation for the rotten tomatoes that will swiftly be launched my way in 3… 2… 1… *duck*
(I’m trying this again because IT WOULDN’T SUBMIT THE FIRST TIME.)
I haven’t really chimed in yet, but I’ve been listening in and got my thoughts. I can’t really comment on Mencia stealing the jokes because, well, I haven’t heard enough of the jokes myself to judge. No, I’m not a Mencia fan because any guy who stands on stage and goes “DEE DEE DEE” or whatever the fuck that is doesn’t deserve my attention. But as far as Rogan is concerned, I know he’s been at the comedy game for a while, and I’ve heard some of his stuff, and I liked it. What I don’t like is the public caling out of Mencia. A veteran of the game like himself should know that shit like this happens. Now did he use one of Rogan’s lines? That would be one thing, but it sounds like Rogan himself is just trying to get a little publicity on the cheap here. Personally, I just can’t respect that myself. People make livings in EVERY business by stealing the ideas of others. IT’S THE AMERICAN WAY DAMMIT! I mean let’s face it, we wouldn’t have Windows it if weren’t for Bill Gates being the theiving bitch he was 20 years ago. I think a lot of the Mencia hate is derived from the shitloads of cash he’s making (after all Brian, what OTHER reason are you a Yankees fan for?)… (yes that was a cheap shot)… (
). Rogan just needs to get over it at this point, spend less time grossing people out with Fear Factor, and if he really wants to be respected as a big name comedian (which he is, but not at the Mencia/Cook levels), he should shut up and get back to hitting the pads of paper writing down his new jokes.
As for the previous Dane Cook hate, I have to say I’ve liked him, but my like for him is dwindling due to the lack of new stuff. Even when you see him now on TV, he’s rehashing a lot of the same old used material. My like for him stems from his live performances, where’s he’s just simply over the top, and I find that to be half the appeal. I was at the HBO special taping to see him live, and his old stuff was alright, but much preferred the two or three newer bits he did. And for his song that he does, it’s not funny, he DOES need to put that thing away. I say this because I wish people would stop comparing Dane Cook to Carlos Mencia. Sure they both have the fame and money rolling in, but I do think Cook has a little more credibility than Mencia.
Okay, now let me don my goggles and apron in preparation for the rotten tomatoes that will swiftly be launched my way in 3… 2… 1… *duck*
Oh, and PS Brian…
The Robin Williams clip you played on your show was not from the Showtime special, it was from his 1986 release A Night At The Met. I only know this because I have it on my iPod and it’s one of my faves. Better in my opinion than his more recent special.
Well Brian is wrong about one thing. There is a police for people who plagiarize material. It’s called Joe Rogan.
I agree with Bryan with a big fucking Y, (although he spells his name wrong
),
The last Robin Williams special wasn’t as good as previous shows.
But, I would like to comment on this great dialog we have going on the material and Mencia and Cook sucking Satans cock! I have listened and watched both of them in the past, and if I had to choose one over the other, it would be Cook. Smiley had a great point that Cook has brought
sexystand-up back. I am left asking myself, though, why are the better comedians like Hedburg, Louis C.K., Bill Hicks, Stanhope, and even Brian Regan not any more famous than they are?I don’t know if the foul language is one thing in Stanhopes case, the obscure intellect of Hicks, or what (ignore the fact of death) keeps them from widespread popularity.
We all know Cook isn’t ashamed of whoring himself, and I think he has taken the stance of get the money while the getting is good.
On a totally different point, I have had an ingrown hair on my calf for about four days, and it has gotten so infected I had to go to the doctor today, and he put me on antibiotics. To give you an idea of how bad it looks, when I pulled up my pant leg he literally scooted back in his stool, winced, and said “yeah, it’s a good thing you came to see me, that is nasty.” The scary part is that part of my leg has gone numb, and I have to hobble. Third wierdest thing that has ever happened. Anywho
sorry, the strike was only supposed to be on the word sexy, apparantly I totally fucked up!
While I agree that Dane Cook has brought some attention to stand up comedy, I think most of it has been brought only to himself. I will present the example of a friend of mine, who is a huge Dane Cook fan. I recently said to him something along the lines of “Hey, if you like Dane Cook so much, you should listen to Brian Regan’s stand up, he’s even funnier.” The sad part of this was that his reaction was basically something like “What the fuck? There are other people that do what Dane Cook does? Does he know about it?”
hey guys, since were still on a cook/mencia tirade i thought id bring this up. in a new punchline magazine article larry the cable guy was interviewed. now it said that he is probably the third most popular comic out ther today just under cook and mencia. so i thought id let you guys go off on that for awhile.
Well, that isn’t a surprise, most popular comic, or whatever, changes from decade to decade. I remember when Roseanne was the bomb. Then her flame burned out. Do you remember when anyone said comedy, Bill Cosby was the first that came to mind? I remember when Elayne Boosler and Richard Jeni were the stuff as comedians go, in the late 80’s
Don’t get me wrong on the Cook/Mencia debate, they both have done a fabulous job marketing themselves and getting their name out. Hell, they are doing much better than I ever will. The only problem I have with both of them is not admitting some of the bits were created by someone else. Honestly, I think that is everyone elses problem with it also. Just say, I didn’t birth that pony, I just rode it better than the other cowboys.
The great thing, and probably the worst on the popularity coin is that the “popularity” is being measured by revenue earned, not quality material. Also, the majority of those they are popular with, aren’t “comic fanboys”, but the average citizen, which honestly is what matters when it comes down to making the big bucks.
Hell, look back at your High School days, some of you are in the midst of it know, but where are the popular kids now, and where are the smart kids. I would bet bananas to dollars that the smart kids have gone further on average. This meaning popularity measures the now and not the overall, long-term quality of a career.
Smiley, please don’t take this argument the wrong way, because I am not necessarily against either of the two of them, I just believe, fundamentally, that those who create should get their due credit, whether it be in compensation or acknowledgment. But as far as ignoring the whole issue, if someone rips off your entire routine and claims it is theirs, will you just ignore it? or will you address the issue, because what we are discussing is people who’s livelyhood is dependent upon jokes. Good jokes you make money, bad jokes, you get forgotten. Should you have worked a long time to perfect a joke that just started doing well on stage, then someone rips it off, I guarantee you that you wouldn’t ignore it. You would be a fool to ignore it, it would be career suicide to do nothing and ignore it. I can agree to ignoring “A” joke or two, but where will it stop when everyone is ignoring it.
I know that this contradicts my earlier rant, but I will say that I somewhat respect Carlos Mencia and Dane Cook. While they may not be the most original comedians in the bunch, those two are probably two of the most incredible self-promoters that comedy has ever seen.
While I can now see the mediocrity and reliance on shock value of Dane Cook’s act, he and Bryan Regan got me, like so many others, into stand up comedy. I don’t know how many people watched Tourgasm in its entirety (I blame a minor case of insomnia and the fact that you’ve gotta watch something while your midnight popcorn is cooking) but Dane Cook did something that I thought was very smart. When Jay Davis came up with the TLC Killer premise, which I thought could have become a really good bit, and Cook seemed to take a liking to the joke and took Davis under his wing. Although I did not for a moment believe his BS, I think it was very smart that Cook took the “grizzled veteran” kind of role, and it takes a very smart person to be thinking about self promotion even in everyday life.
Carlos Mencia on the other hand is someone who I respect for making it into the mainstream, but I still hate him. He has made his reputation simply by appealing to the lowest common denominator (i.e. the comedy central target audience). I think his “De-de-de” catchphrase is possibly the dumbest catchphrase of all time, and I come from San Diego, the city where the baseball announcer’s catchphrase is “You can hang a star on that one.” I mean, how the hell do you hang a star on a diving catch??? But seriously, the guy is an idiot. Smart, but really really stupid.
Also, new from the world of Probably A Bad Idea, musical comedy from Dane Cook!
http://profile.imeem.com/mFdfhH/music/1UuTvjoy/ill_never_be_you/
dont worry about it snappy. this what debates are all about and i truly appreciate your insight into this matter. i was just making a point and i dont really care about any three of them.