Top 5 How-To Comedy Books Of All Time
February 8, 2008 · Print This Article
Once again Brian has pissed off the Brits and Ricardo Lewis has been sent in to teach him a lesson. Refuting Brian’s claim that you can’t learn stand up from a book, Ricardo, a comedy librarian of sorts, stops by with 5 recommendations of books that can improve your act in a few short pages.
Other topics include siting your comedy sources, backhanded compliments and outright insults, a plea to the non-comics of BTB, sharing the raw seeds of your comic brilliance and porn o plenty. You got anything with leather?
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Sweet…
Now to see whether I agree with any of those recommendations. .. and like read the boks I guess.
Brian: I also stepped on stage for the first time ever on a February 9th. I knew we had more in common than just a penchant for cocaine and hookers!
Well, it looks like this week will commemorate more than just my stand up debut. My wife’s water broke just as I was sitting down to a free meal at a swanky steakhouse. More to come.
Wow! Congrats Brian! Best of luck with everything. Let’s see some pictures sooner rather than later….
Holy shit, lil B-mo’s on the way. congrats man, lets see that lil bundle of potentially hacky jokes. again, congratulations
Wow! Congrats Brian! Mazel Tov
And thanks for playing my clip this week, looks like I made it just in time before your “Podcast Paternity Leave”.
A few notes about the clip:
It was from a 7PM Friday night bringer show at the Comedy Cellar. The “headliner” never showed up, so they wound up putting me on last and introducing me as the headliner even though it was only my second time performing stand-up.
I’d appreciate feedback on the clip from anyone who feels like giving it. I’m not a good judge at all about these things. There are some days I look at it and think I killed, some days I think I was horrible. And my friends and family are biased, so I can’t trust them to be completely honest.
I haven’t been on the stage since, which is stupid considering I live in New York and there are dozens of ways to get stage time. It’s one of my New Years Resolutions, though!
Message for Sina:
To answer your question from a few shows ago - yes my name is taken from the real Ace man Adam Carolla, Although a brit I have been a fan for around 5 years having found Loveline while buying old Stern shows on ebay (before I discovered downloading!) and daily listening to the much improved since Douchebag left TACS.
Sorry I took so long to reply - I play over on the This Ain’t Iowa site and am sure Brian would not want me blocking up this place as well!
Congrats Brian. Looks like someone is going to be a new father. Good luck with that. I’m curious as what the name is going to be.
Holy cock, that’s totally crazy. I hope you finished your steak before leaving though, cause there’s a good chance she’ll be waddling around for hours trying to birth that thing.
And on another note, yeah, probably not checking out most of those books.
NYC has the post of the week as far as I’m concerned. “Hey good luck with that kid, what did you think about my porn renting bit”. Not knocking you, it’s such a classic stand up comic move and it actually gave me a great laugh.
Oh, it’s a boy!
Welcome to fatherhood (of a boy) — the best kind of fatherhood there is. (I had one myself 6 months ago. I hope that our kids can play with each other in the greenroom one day when we’re headlining a theater.)
Best joke to illustrate the kind of stand-up move NYC made:
A comic is walking down the street when the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen stops him. She says, “Oh my God! You’re that comedian! I saw you last night and I have to say, it was the funniest show I’ve ever seen. I know this is forward, but I’d love to take you back to my apartment and just screw the hell out of you.”
The comic looks at her a few moments, then says: “Were you at the first show or the second show?”
That should read: When we’re headlining a theater _together_. I picture our show to be something like the Blue Collar comedy tour except, you know, good.
Congrats, man. Just think, in about six or seven years, you’ll get to do that What My Daddy Does for a Living Day, and his teachers will finally learn why he’s such a troublemaker.
Re: Books
The only comedy books I’ve read are Dave Schwensen’s “How to be a Working Comic,” Franklin Ajaye’s “Comic Insights,” and after three years in comedy my mom did what I always expected she’d do - buy me a comedy book for xmas. Nothing says “you need improvement” like the gift of a how-to book. It’s “Comedy Writing Secrets” by Mel Helitzer.
Schwensen’s book is just the basics - the only really useful stuff is the examples of comedian resumes. The Helitzer book is at least 50% examples of well-known comedian’s jokes. The
Ajaye book is interviews with the likes of Jay Leno, Ellen DeGeneres, etc. - big names from the boom years. Most of the interviews are disappointingly short. And while it may be interesting to learn that Louie Anderson has never written a joke on a piece of paper, or that Bill Maher bombed, so he claims, for the first five years, there’s not a lot in the way of useful info. Jay Leno advises dressing nicely. Whatever. Tell that to Dan Whitney.
To me, comedy is like any other endeavor, whether it’s athletics, science, art, or music - people “have the gene” for something and know it early on. They may try the 100-meter dash for a while before realizing their real strength is hurdles, but they know they can run and don’t need books on how to do it.
And frankly, I think how-to books can do people a disservice by implying that almost anyone can learn almost anything and be successful at it. Just look at the number of screen-writing books there are - hundreds probably. DO YOU HAVE AN IDEA FOR A KICK ASS MOVIE? HAVE YOU SEEN A MOVIE? WELL THEN - BE A SCREEN WRITER!!!
Haahaah Guilty as Charged!
Hi Brian,
Congratulations! All the best to you and your wife!
Your life has now changed forever. Mostly for the better. Mostly.
Cheers,
- Don in Nova Scotia
Hey some more congrats on the baby boy B-Mo, now you have someone to pass down those old dirty barjokes to. oh by the way guys i was pictured on punchline magazine. im under their blog section for the comedy at the dge winners: its a book not a competition. its pretty cool. heres the link.
http://punchlinemagazine.com/blog/?p=603
Im the one with the inferno of red hair. see yah
Congrats on the boy. Is his name Baby B?
And I love how you make sure to let us know that your wife’s water is breaking. be prepared for a bunch of sleepless nights.
congrats brian
i recommend you become nocternal
lol
When done bmo!!!
But dude, your a man! I hope you asked for the food to be wrapped for take out?
Looks like Ricardo won’t be busy this week! Ricardo, you ever come to the north east? I’m from Sunderland.
Nick
Well done Brian, welcome to the joys of fatherhood, your life will never be the same, but hopefully in a good way.
Loved the show as usual, so good to here a British take on thing, more brits on the show i say……i sense an invasion coming on LOL
Oh and that book by Richard Belzer was one of my first books on Stand up i bought as recommended by the only Stand up comedy magazine I’ve ever seen back in the 90’s.
here is somthing to make those many sleepless nights more enjoyable
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9prN69j8vk
“Looks like Ricardo won’t be busy this week! Ricardo, you ever come to the north east? I’m from Sunderland.”
Is that an offer of a gig, Nick?
Thanks anyway, but I’m currently too busy MCing at the Giggle Shack in Albuquerque.
So I’m taking a week off to figure out how one functions without the 16 hours of sleep most comics are accustomed to getting. I’ll be back on the 20th, but of course I’ll be hanging around on the board. Thanks again all.
Sorry Ricardo not yet, would if I could! I think the coprophilla (sp?) joke would go well up here. We’re a bunch of pregnant, alcoholic bad-looking sickos.
Sunderland hasn’t got a comedy club but has a few nights. Newcastle has got a reasonable scene though; probably the same all over the UK except london.
Oh FUCK!!!!
Hey guys, I’m hoping to stat doing some stand up; I’m a very angry dude. But I’ve just checked my computer and I’ve lost my file of stand up. Luckily, I’ve got a print out and a old file I was able to recover but they’re both 2 months old so I’ve lost about 2pgs of recent jokes.
TESTAMENT TO SAVE AND WRITE DOWN YOUR JOKES!!!!
AAAGGGHHHH!!!!
have you tried a file recovery?
its not gone unless you’ve completely erased your hard drive.
yeah, I think I’ll do that…….although I may erase my precious porn in the meantime
I have yet to generate material on a computer. I have 3 old school composition books that hold every joke I’ve ever written and 3 pages of jokes I haven’t figured out how to make funny yet. For some reason I find it therapeutic to put pen to paper. Ever since I got a day job, staring at a computer screen has become synonymous with evil. Except this site of course (cough, cough, ahem).
Re:Nick
come on, porn? on your computer?
i cant believe you….
what do you think the internet is for? sitting on your ass talking to comidians?
Re:brian
i think your best bet is to go back to the stone age and kill the fucker who invented the wheel, that will show your computer whos boss (wow i have no idea why i typed that)
Congratulations Brian, on the kid, and on the podcats which has never been bigger and I’m glad to see it become a success. Also I do have one standup ? :
you said that in New York the clubs made you sometimes bring people into the club to perform. Didn’t you also say that you like to keep your personal life seperate. Did that ever end up badly and uncomfortable? Just wondering, because the idea of bring people from the part of my life to see me share my life with strangers scares me.
Fantastic question Ben. I’ll definitely tackle that on the next show.
Yeah, I think writing it all down is a good idea. I have lots of little note books I carry about but I have terrible handwriting so I type it up neat on the comp. Also, if I get an idea and I’m next to the comp I write it on.
I’m definitely going to get some good comp books and neatly hand write stuff on their. Even printing the stuff straight away would be cool.
Nick — on a topic unrelated to comedy, I just saw you’re from Sunderland — are you a football fan? I’m a huge Roy Keane fan (my wife is too, but for reasons unrelated to soccer — she just thinks he’s the hottest man on the planet) and have been following him at Sunderland with a lot of interest. After the win against Wigan , I see you’re up fairly high on the table. What’s the feeling there? Are you happy with Keane? Do you think you’ll stay up? As an American who is a huge EPL fan, I always love befriending English people and then pestering them with football related questions.
To bring this tangentially back to comedy — it’s been a dream of mine to schedule shows in England for the sole purpose of scratching my soccer itch. I’ve never seen a regular league game. I’ve been bugging my agent to get me to England not so much for the comedy, but for the soccer. Have any of you guys used comedy as a cover for something else you’d like to do?
(Sorry, my fellow Americans, for bringing the conversation to soccer.)
Not cool, man. Not cool. How could you sully a day as precious as Pro Bowl Day with talks of soccer?
Congrats, B-Mo!
“Have any of you guys used comedy as a cover for something else you’d like to do?”
Does the cover of hoping a cute girl that you’ve recently met outside of the comedy world might have sex with you if on the 1st date you invite them to hook up at the end of a gig of yours, where hopefully they can catch your set and see you storm the place,finding you too damn attractive enough to resist shagging later on?
Joel: I would be with you if we were talking about any NFL day _other_ than the Pro Bowl. I think even the most dedicated NFL fans would agree that the Pro Bowl is the _worst_ game in the universe
Ricardo: That totally counts, I’d say. Unfortunately, I’ve been with my wife longer than I’ve been doing stand-up. She’s long since stopped being impressed with anything I do on the stage. But, I’ve always been interested in the single comic’s lifestyle… how often does that work? Do women find comdy interesting and what’s the shag to strikeout ratio of bringing a bird to your show? (Use of English terminology done less out of anglophilia than alliteration.)
“Do women find comdy interesting and what’s the shag to strikeout ratio of bringing a bird to your show? (Use of English terminology done less out of anglophilia than alliteration.)”
LOL. Your familiarity with Brit slang and your knowledge of Uk soccer teams and players is most impressive, Mr Black. Hats off to you, Sir!
Reagrding inviting a potenial girlfriend to see you perform, the 2 times I’ve tried it have been less than succesful. I still went home with them, but the resulting gigs were jinxed by trying to impress the one member of the audience you’re hoping to wake up with the following morning, and forgetting on engaging the rest of the people in room ,and delivering a semi-standard set in the process.
I think the loneliness of the single comedian would make an excellent future BTB topic. You’d think being a reasonably pleasant looking guy with a GSOH ,loads of confidence and being comfortable expressing your emotions (always the main ticked boxes in any woman’s survey on their ideal partner), as well as performing this all to rooms containing a reasonable number of drunk and attractive single women would result in lots of NSA fun and after -show action.
Does it fuck!. The comedian Rich Hall brilliantly described the lowly status and lack of physical attraction in being a stand-up delivering a killer set to a packed room to that of being some guy at a funfair who’s the only person all night on the shooting range to hit the bullseye and win a teddybear. Anyone stood around and watching you at the time is impressed and applauds when you consistently hit the bullseye and get awarded the big giant teddy bear, but by the end of the night, you’re just some schmuck leaving on your own clutching a giant teddy bear!
Wow. looks like not the profession to get into if getting laid is a goal.
On another note. did anyone catch the comedy central special: first times? it was basically people talking about the first time they went on stage. I thought it was pretty cool.
I saw that Comedy Central special. It was well done. I taped it for my class.
Brian,
Congrats on the baby. When do we get a pic and get its name?
I hope the misses came through everything OK.
Hi folks,
Just watching the Grammys and checked the
Grammys website. Brian was right on the money. The Flight of The Conchords won for best comedy album.
(This is why I don’t gamble. I would’ve put my next pay on George Lopez. He was just on the show and got in a couple of nice jokes in his 30 second appearance.)
Cheers,
Don in Nova Scotia
As a general rule, women HATE dating comedians, and wives HATE having their husbands do comedy. They HATE having to come to the shows and hear you tell the same jokes. They really HATE having to sit through a bunch of other open-mikers who either offend them or pick on them.
Short story - as an exception:
On the first date with my eventual wife, I decided to chuck all the regular nonsense and see if I could make her laugh. I succeeded to the point she had mascara running down her cheeks and had to go to the bathroom for fear of incontinence.
A week later, I took her to the Irvine Improv for one of our first “real” dates. I wanted her to see someone really good (Brian Regan) and see if she laughed. I figured if she liked standup, and had a good experience with someone really good (and CLEAN - thank you, BR) then she might be worth dating some more.
She laughed her ass off. She even snorted - a little. It was really cute.
So, then I revealed that I was engaged in some of the same endeavor, albeit at a (much) lower level. She thought it was cool. Hmmmmm.
So, right there, I figured she wasn’t like all the others. We eventually got married. Even now, she doesn’t say shit about my going off to do a show after work. She doesn’t usually go, but thinks it’s cool that I keep at it. Really cool. Also, really rare.
Most of the comics I know do NOT involve their spouses, and a few have actually LOST their spouses over the comedy thing. If you ever want to see the true definition of “suffering in silence,” look at the face of a comic’s wife or GF who is attending their 9 zillionth show.
Like I said, my wife almost never goes to my shows - she has shit to do, actually, that’s more important that sitting in a dark room and quaffing overpriced “two item minimum” drinks - but she’s totally supportive otherwise.
IMHO, Do NOT get into this game to get laid. A 5 minute set on how broke you are or how much weed you smoke or how crappy you car is, no matter how funny, will not cause major moistness.
If the girl likes comedy anyway, you might have a shot. The ability to make a woman laugh is a great differentiator. If you are SO funny that woman can’t keep their pants on, you’re destined for greatness. If you’re normal, you’ll need to take her to some other stuff once in a while if you want her to stick around.
Russ
Re:Ricardo
dude you got desperate writen all over you
in the words of garfield “if you wait long enough, everything comes to you”
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is beating the hell out of someone funny?
Russ is right on a few points, mainly you shouldn’t get into comedy for the chicks because there’s nothing worse than a comedy groupie (trust me). Most women like the idea of dating a comic, but not the reality (ie being gone for weeks at a time and having to endure all of the shitty jokes that don’t make it into the act). Where I think Russ’ theory falls short is that it can work out for you in the short term. The very nature of stand up works in the comics favor. It’s dark, lots of alcohol, and because you are the center of attention, there is a certain star quality associated with you no matter how new to the game you are. After all, they paid to see you. So if you have low standards and questionable morals you can do ok. My working theory is that comedy increases your stock, but can’t work miracles. It adds 2 basis points to your overall score. If you’re a 7 you’ll be elevated to a 9 by having a killer set, but if you’re a 2, the set of your life will still only bring you up to a 4-5, which is still unfuckable. And yes these figures will be published in a research journal before I die.
Hey Jay Black,
Sorry man but due to a silly decision I made when I was 5 years old and due to my dad’s team I support local rivals Newcastle United with (now) kevin keegan managing them again……….and I’m afriad they are appalling. They were doing much better than Sunderland until the players reminded themselves they were money grabbing assholes and started to play shit. We may go down!
On sunderland, yes I think they will stay up, possibly higher than Newcastle. Roy Keane is a good disciplinarian; he’s got their home form on fire and that will save them. So on the whole, i think the fans see that keane is a great manager.
On how hot he is……….I think he just scares you into loving him!
The season at the top of the league looks interesting too…Arsenal are flying!!
Hey B-mo, know you’re busy with the bundle and all but was thinking maybe a good section to have on the site would be a thread or a section where the comics on here could upload their videos or clips for veiwing and watching.
If they post them on these threads they can easily get lost.
I think the last six weeks or so show we have many talented up and comers!
What do other people think?
” you shouldn’t get into comedy for the chicks because there’s nothing worse than a comedy groupie (trust me). ”
LOL. I have met a few of these ladies (or GagHags as they’re someimes known) on the London circuit. What’s weird is how many of these girls who only date comedians also have a go at stand-up themselves at some point.
The other partial barriers to getting loose broads (god I love the word “broad”) at comedy shows is that most clubs are not places where people hang out afterwards so you can work your magic in person. And as Brian’s already pointed out, hanging around the exit after the show can make you like an insecure, attention-starved douche.
On a few occasions I’ve had a waitress hand me a note with name/# from a woman in the audience. To a one, they have been very large and very drunk. No offense to the plus-sized ladies - they’re just not my type. Drunk I have no problem with. Once, I was approached by a woman who was so dedicated to finding herself a man that she had printed business cards:
HI, I’m [NAME]
Divorced Mother of Two
Love Fishing!
The obvious question is, how did a woman who loves fishing lose the first guy?
“I feel like we buried the poor bastard.” That made me laugh out loud in public and get a lot of unwanted attention.
Thanks for playing my call in joke and congrats on the young’n!
“The obvious question is, how did a woman who loves fishing lose the first guy?”
Maybe she dumped him after realising how unimpressive his tackle was ?
Yeah, I don’t think we’re ready for loose boards yet…but it is good to see new features such as the store happening…good to see the site grow as someone whos been listening pretty much from the start.
Nick:
Sorry to hear about the unfortunate choice in club support! I really thought with the addition of Big Sam this year things were looking up for you guys (and for the first few matches it looked good).
Arsenal is just fun to watch this year. I’m fairly neutral in my love of the sport, so it’s easy for me to just watch whatever Fox Soccer Channel gives me and enjoy it. (The only team I hate is Chelsea — which of course was the match FSC chose to give us this Sunday. I would have loved the Man City/Man U match, but noooooo… I had to watch Chelsea and Liverpool bat the ball between them for 90 minutes. Ugh).
Brian: I think you’re about dead on with the addition of 2 points. The sad part is that I loved comedy so much growing up, I just assumed that everyone else felt the same way I did and that the point increase was somewhere in the 8-9 range.
I’ve always been dating/married during my comedy tenure, so I’ve never had the opportunity to test any theory on this. I will say, however, that my wife gets: “Oh, you’re married to a stand-up comic!? That must be sooooooo much fun, you must laugh all the time!” From women that she meets. So Brian is probably correct in his assertion that women like the IDEA of a stand-up comic.
(By the way, my wife always responds with: “No, actually, I spend most of my time telling my husband that his stuff is really good and that those TV executives don’t know anything. Then I try to stop him from crying.” A lot of people don’t realize that the world of a stand-up is probably just as dark as the clubs we perform in :))
I worked with a guy this weekend who had a pretty good move for picking up girls. He’s a warm-up guy for a very popular morning television show in New York. He talks to the girls at every single taping and finds out where they live. If he has a gig there, he comps them into the show. For some of the burgs he plays — like where we were this weekend — being the warm-up guy for a TV show is good enough to be a celebrity. He had his pick of about four girls the night we worked together. None of them would win any kind of beauty pageant, but all of them were Babe-worthy (and when I say “Babe-Worthy”, I don’t mean Babe as in hot, I mean Babe as in the movie. As in the line: “That’ll do, pig, that’ll do.”)
“that’ll do pig, that’ll do” ha!
never loved movies more
lol
Brian,
I think the “2 basis points” theory needs some charts, graphs, and powerpoint to properly explain it.
I have found it a plus to be funny/witty/clever one-on-one, riffing off what she says. Never got any action after getting off stage, though. Maybe because even after a good set I was only a 3…
Hey guys, Dan aitckinson, very funny comic from the uK, was flown over for the auditions for LCS in Miami with a bunch of other UK comics.
Here is his blog from chortle and just goes to show how fucked up the whole LCS thing is and how removed it is from the actual stand up process.
http://blogs.chortle.co.uk/dan_atkinson/2008/02/09/miami_last_comic_standing
Thanks for the link Nick. I always find it fascinating to hear from comics who have to make their stuff work in another country. The only thing I disagree with was his knocking of Amercian breakfast. As someone who has endured a “proper English breakfast”, or coronary on a plate, you appreciate coffee and a danish. What’s up with beans?
well, you might as well know guys, I started a blog. yep i am know part of the un informed masses. Its basically a diary of my open mics and self reflection. I just got done with the first one which was basically some back story on myself and other stuff. I even gave a shout out to BTB. so there you go, i added a link to my name so check it out if you want.
And as far as comedy groupies go i cant say ive experianced any of that but i have noticed that if i have a good set people will talk to me afterwards. but it varys.
Hi Brian. Am a rookie comic and have been catching up with your show over the past few weeks and am now totally addicted!
Thought this weeks show fascinating.
A comedian buddy of mine bought the Steve Roye Killer StandUp book - he thought it the biggest pile of crap he’d ever read, but was too shy to ask for his money back!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rrp3wVgoFk&feature=related
I found that link and I think it’s perfect for this board. I know brian loves Howard Stern and Norm Macdonald, and this is him 2 days after being fired from SNL. It works really well, and inadvertantyl gives Artie Lange his first appearance on the show. Pretty awesome.
Man that was a good clip. actually brings back memory’s for me since i think i heard that live when stern was still free. My dad was a huge stern fan and always listened to it when he was droping my sister and i off to school. eventually i began to like and even brought a small portable radio with me to school and my freinds and i would go into a bathroom and listen to as much of it as we could before our teachers started looking for us. I actually think i heard that interview and thats what introduced me to norm and artie, who are now two of my favorite comics, and a few months later i snuck into a screening of Dirty Work(there movie) and luaghed my ass off. good times.
My favorite radio personality is Adam Carolla. You can listen to his show by download if you don’t live in a market that he plays in. His rants crack me up.
http://www.AdamCarolla.com
He interviewed Norm a few days ago if I remember right. I think him and Stern are friends too.
Sina.
hey ben,
are you, by any chance, a sports guy fan? i know that he just linked to that norm clip in one of his columns and was wondering if that’s where you found that link. not sure how funny he would be on the stage, but i certainly put the sports guy in the top five funniest people on the _page_. i laugh my ass off at every single one of his columns.
(www.espn.com for the sports guy, if you’re interested, by the way).
and even though nobody is clamoring for it, my own top five funniest _writers_, in no particular order:
– bill simmons, the sports guy.
– chuck klosterman.
– kurt vonnegut (r.i.p.)
– douglas adams (r.i.p.)
– nathan rabin (head writer, the av club: http://www.avclub.com)
I know man; nothing better than a full english!
Hey B-mo, last time i was in the US you guys were spraying melted cheese on everything but your diet cokes!
Mmmmmm, Cheesy Cokes
Well Nick, you inspired me to make hard copys of every joke i ever wrote on my computer, just finished printing them and its fairly good pile. i should of done that a while ago, its amazing my labtop has lasted this long considering how much porn i watch.
Good Good, I’m hoping I can just remember most of them as I can go out my day!
The more you know, kids!
On the subject of bad food, I hear a lot of American comics mention how awful the meals are at the chain Dennys . Having never even seen or eaten in one, are they really that bad?
yes
LOL. I recall one U.S. comic saying something like
“The food is so bad in Dennys, the photos of the meals on the menu all have flies in the picture”.
[laugh]
hey brian
whats the newest members name?
(talkin about the kid)
i have a question
should the fans be somewhat blamed for a comedians hacky material?
i hate to say it but in the begining
hacky=funy
Man, they opened a couple of Dennys in New Zealand, both in places where there are large concentrations of Pacific Island communities. I’d never heard of racial profiling in restaurant chains before this, but apparently those Samoans love them some cheap American sized meals.
I don’t know how bad Denny’s really is. I went there once, and we got slow service, but we still got served. (But then again, I’m not black, so maybe others have a different experience)
Audiences are partially to blame for hacky comics. The reason hacks exist is because they want the laughs without having to risk anything. There is a certain comfort in hearing something familiar, and if you don’t believe me, just look at the movies that are put out each year. Rehashed plots or sequels that are pretty much the original in a different city. But in the end the comic has to stand up with some integrity. With the exception of the comedically enlightened (i.e. BTB listeners) most people don’t take in hours and hours of stand up and may not know something is ripped off.
Everyone,
Next Monday night, the History Channel will be showing “The History of the Joke,” a special hosted by Lewis Black, and includes interviews about how comedians come up with a good joke. He interviews Carlin, Robert Klein, Robin Williams, and Shelley Berman, among others.
I just wanted to give everyone a heads up. The show airs at 9 p.m. EST, and repeats at 1 a.m. EST Tuesday morning.
I figured for most of you, the History Channel is too educational for you to ordinarily peruse its listings, so I had better mention it here if you wanted to know about it, right Brian?
Goddammit! I wish I had regular access to the History Channel - not just for their awesome WW2 documentaries that I love so much, but for the History Of The Joke doc too. I could listen to genuine comedy pioneers like Carlin and Klein talk about their craft all day.
(Though hearing how someone like Robin Williams “comes up” with new material for his stand-up act is probably a different and possibly illegal process entirely…)
There’s a History Channel?
Jay, I’m a giant Bill Simmons fan and that is where i found that link. He’s getting alittle formulaic and annoying lately, but that guy is right up my alley.
Plus Klosterman’s a complete genius.
-I heard Ron Shock on XM last week, and he said “as a comic friend of mine used to say….punchline” like 6 times. Stealing?
Nobody ever “goes” to Denny’s. People “end up” at Denny’s, when EVERYTHING else is closed.
I just read Born Standing Up. Loved it. I cried during multiple sections of it. Part of it reminded me of my childhood and part of it made me reflect on choices I’ve made in my life..as well as things I pursue in my life.
I think this is going to be one of those life changing books I’ve heard so much about from my “reader” friends.
I recommend it to all who haven’t already read it.
Next book on my list:
Gasping for Airtime by Jay Mohr.
I hav also read Born Standing up and although I didnt Cry(I’m emotionally dead inside), i found it very informative and steve marins insights into stand up as an art form and how he went about creating his own unique style are enlightening to say the least. I also really understand why he left, the crowds were so big he couldent control the crowd and some of his jokes sufffered. A great read. And like sina my next book is : Comedy At The Edge
What a coincidence, I have also recently completed Born Standing Up and really enjoying it. I have since ordered all of Steve Martin’s comedy albums from Amazon and am looking forward to listening to them.
In a further coincidence, I have also ordered Comedy at The Edge from Amazon. Hopefully should be waiting for me when I get home from work today.
Incidently, Brian have you ever done a countdown of your top 10 comedy albums? Took a quick look through the titles of all the shows and didn’t see one that stuck out as obviously containing such a countdown, but maybe you sneaked one in there somewhere without my noticing. If not then it is something I’d definitely like to hear in the future.
Please don’t come back to me and say that it is contained in the show called “Brian Counts Down the Top 10 Comedy Albums of All Time”
Quote Russ Binder:”Nobody ever “goes” to Denny’s. People “end up” at Denny’s, when EVERYTHING else is closed.”
I can well believe it - but i’m just amazed the Dennys franchise never made it to the UK. God knows we have every other major US fast food retail outlet with branches everywhere here, all the way from Burger King to Starbucks .
I had a look at the Denny’s website in the name of research, and saw that one of their main breakfast dishes were ” buttermilk pancakes”. Now as a Brit, that alien-sounding combination of 2 different foodstuffs sounds both repulsive and strangely mouth-watering at the same time…
Most Brits ain’t that picky about their food - so I’m suprised Dennys never even attempted setting up camp in the UK - their low-rent restaurant franchise would kill amongst the low-income demographic over here!
I’m definitely recording “History of the Joke.”
Hey Brian. i definitely did a top 10 album count down although I couldn’t tell you exactly where to find it. I can tell you that we are adding my top 10 albums (along with albums by Mike’s top 10) to the BTB store next week.
Thanks by the way to all who have ordered from the store. This past week was a little dicey, but we’re hoping to have lots of great options for you to choose from in the very near future.
Gasping for Airtime is awesome, Sina. It sums up what pretty much everyone, including the success, have sadi about how miserable the show is, Jay admits to how much dirty business he’s done, and Barry Katz is mentioned freuently, or as i call him, comedy’s murderer. Please read it, it’s very enjoyable.
Yeah, I hear there’s some mud slinging in it but I can’t wait to read it. I need to learn as much as I can about this business before making the move to LA.
At least that’s what I keep telling myself. In all honesty I really just enjoy reading about people’s journeys.
Sina.
Re: Ricardo and buttermilk pancakes.
In the day jorb industry (I.e, being a kitchen bitch) I used to partake in, buttermilk pancakes were the absolute standard of good honest, non crepe pancakes. And this is NZ, not the U.S., If you want to indulge in a good honest pancake, chances are one of the good Breakfast places in a ‘town center near you’ will give you a real good plate of pancakes with bacon, maple syrup and banana. Why? I dunno, I guess some food is so retro junky that it will never die.
wish i had time to read books
sure would be nice
Yeah John, life must be hectic between high school and message board posting.
In all fairness, there’s actually nothing wrong with Denny’s, other than it is just a big pile of “so what?” The food is just OK and not expensive, and they’re always open, so when it is past closing time, you’re down to your last few beer soaked dollars that the strippers didn’t get, and need a place to hang out while the buzz wears off, Denny’s is good for a coffee and some cheap food.
I was in Australia (which, to Americans, is pretty much the same as the UK) and a lot of US franchises didn’t fare well there. Like bagel places; didn’t catch on. They have “Hungry Jack” which is like Burger King (same logo, those clever Aussies) but I was told that for the most part Aussies really have a hate for American stuff. They think it is just more of the American corporate steamroller looking to dilute and squash the native businesses. They view Yanks as being arrogant, haughty, and supercilious, always pointing out how American stuff is so much better. And with Denny’s, it’d be a cinch to show that it isn’t always so. I was really surprised to see that Wal-Mart hadn’t just run the place over.
People just don’t “get it.” They’re not hard-wired to look for it. Same reason Mexican food has and English food hasn’t swept the nation here. Can you see late night cucumber and mayonnaise sandwiches at the drivethrough, Yorkshire Pudding Cups, Supersized Gruel bowls with cheese, french-fried mushy peas, and the not-to-be-found Bangers-and-Mash-Slam or the Toad-in-the-Hole-Emoly Meal (with chutney and gentleman’s relish) catching on?
If the Beatles had been more into promoting Anglo-Indian food than mind-bending drugs and ridiculous Indian religious fakirs, Kedgeree might now be offered at Denny’s…
But, no…..
Russ
Hi folks,
Talking about books on stand-up: As you know, Steve Martin’s “Born Standing Up” may just be the best book ever written on stand-up.
I can say without fear of contradiction, though, the least satisfying book is the new book by Don Rickles. Don’t bother buying this!
Brian had mentioned it wasn’t that great, so I borrowed it from the library. I think it took me longer to read it than it took Rickles to write
it. Could’ve been and should’ve been a fantastic read. As it was it was like reading a Reader’s Digest article.
Gasping For Airtime, though, is worthwhile.
Cheers.
- Don in Nova Scotia
“If the Beatles had been more into promoting Anglo-Indian food than mind-bending drugs and ridiculous Indian religious fakirs, Kedgeree might now be offered at Denny’s…”
LOL. Interesting idea. Maybe John Lennon should’ve sang “Kedgeree Fields Forever” instead…?
Ok wait for it…
wait for it…
almost there…
here it comes…
yes, 100th comment is mine. whooo, whoooo, yeah, yeeeaaah. ah, that was both satisfying and pointless. fantastic.
Conratulations Patrick! And your prize as 100th poster on this thread is an all-expenses paid night out with Brian at a Nevada whorehouse of your own choice…
That would have been true Rick, but alas Pat’s inability to count leaving him celebrating at post 101 leaves the offer null and void. Better luck getting the 1,000th post.
PS - If you attempt to actually get to 1,000 posts on this thread I will kill you. Really.
I’ll take you up on that.
I’m biting my nails waiting for the “Born Standing Up” review show this Thursday. I personally sing praise after praise to the book, it is brilliant. My two cents.
I read through the book in one sitting. which is rare for me for two reasons, one i’m reading a book not for school, and two i’m reading a book. I thought the book was def. well written and very interesting. i just wish I was born twenty years earlier, so I could have seen steve martin when he was really just a standup comedian. because my only exposure now is movies like cheaper by the dozen, which doesn’t showcase his skill or talent.
ahhh, motherfucker i guess i addes one to many. well, i did technically get the 100th and just didnt acknowlledge it untill the 101st. ah well, but i will never try for a 1,000 post, im to lazy for that shit.
Watching the History of the Joke on the History Channel right now. It’s pretty good.
If you’re near a TV turn it on.
Sina.
i watching that too…just saw Gallagher smash a bunch of stuff.
Back to books…I picked up the Rickles book at the library as well and was underwhelmed as everybody else was. Haven’t had a chance to read Steve Martins new book but i really want too.
Jimmy Carr (who i think is great) put out a book last year called Only Joking which I actually bought. Its kind of a discussion of theories of comedy. It was really interesting and I recommend it.
I second the mentions of klosterman, simmons, rabin and carolla (I listen to his podcast everyday) Can’t stream at work or I’d listen to him live. Web security at work blows
Kudos my friend. Any friend of Adam’s is a friend of mine.
Read Steve Martin’s book ASAP. My only advice.
Sina.
yeah i saw the history of the joke last night. it was really good. tons of great comedians explaining their craft, i learned alot. i loved the fact that Penn and teller started telling the aristocrats, anybody whos been listening to this knows how much i enjoy that joke. i hope they realease that on dvd, i would definitly buy it.
Man, I was hoping that History of the Joke would be torrented, because there is a year-to two year gap between when something is shown on the American History channel and my countries one. sadly there is no luck . A tragedy in comedy, who’d a thunk it?
There are some guys in the myspace comedy group that will have it up for torrent by the end of the week (I’d imagine).
groups.myspace.com/roflmao
so B-mo, ah, can we expect a new behind the bricks tomorrow or do we go another week. i mean you have a good reason, youve got a kid and you have to get used to that, so you know just askin.
Are you kidding me? I’m going nuts waiting for tonight to start taping. you guys did such an amazing job posting the past 2 weeks I may have to postpone the Steve Martin review a week to get to all of the topics. We’ll definitely have a show for you tomorrow.
sweet
Chur Sina. Chur.
Chur Sina? Is that like Churnoble?
*Zing!
Is this book worthwhile?
http://www.leeasher.com/store/books/handle_hecklers.html
i dont know about the book, but if you want to see how to handle a heckler go see one of dave attels late shows. a hecklers bound to pop up and attel will destroy him. quite an ipressive sight to see. the mans simply one of the best.
Anyone actually own the green book he suggested? I have it n i havent got around to doing the two spot separation things and i was wondering if its really worth doing.
Nice one, Russ. I’ve never heard of that Heckler book before. Mind you, the guy writing it is a stage magician rather than a comedian, so I’ve no idea how well the info would work in a rowdy comedy club - the $33 price tag is maybe a little prohibitive too.