Who’s Ready For Some Gentrified Comedy?
July 19, 2007 · Print This Article
Today’s show begins with an exclusive interview, live (sort of) from the Montreal Just For Laughs Comedy Festival. Dylan Gadino of punchlinemagazine.com joins Brian for a discussion of the festival as well as a story about the worst comedy club audience ever.
The big topic of the day concerns theme comedy nights? Do they dilute the talent, or give a voice to unrepresented minorities in the comedy world? I’m partial to all Eskimo comedy night!
Also tune in to hear how Brian almost started an electrical fire at 3:00 am, listener thoughts on Patton Oswald, the Comedy Bible, and stand up across the pond, the perfect recepie for fish soup, and another British comic takes the stage. If you don’t know him by now…
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
So last night’s LCS is a perfect example of why I don’t like the show. Can they honestly say that those were the 5 funniest comics last night? Of course not. And no disrespect to Dante who was “voted in by the audience”, but that Wizard of Oz bit has been done to death. Frank Caliendo does the same bit with Robin Williams playing all the roles, and I’ve seen yet another comic do it on Premium Blend with DeNiro as Dorothy. Oh and by the way, Christopher Llyod as Reverend Jim from Taxi is no longer a relevent impression.
Again, I don’t want to spread a bunch of hate here, but I felt there were some really talented comics is that group who were obviously never even in consideration.
I agree, Doug Benson I felt was deserving just because I’ve seen his comedy central presents and thought he was pretty funny. They totally ignored the comedians with smart material. The guy impersonating his grandpa seemed very amateurish. I couldn’t imagine getting that opportunity and doing that joke(if it can even be called a joke). On a better note I just started my own room here in Omaha and last night was the first night. It could not have gone any better. Thanks for focusing on starting your own show the past few weeks. Very good info!
I’m glad we were able to help Cody. Just remember your old buddy Brian if I pass through Omaha.
Ironically, I was thinking the same thing about Ralph Harris (guy doing gramdpa impression). That guy has been in comedy over 20 years and is fairly successful. You cannot convince me that a deal wasn’t made well before the season started putting him in the house.
Regarding theme comedy nights…I’ve only really seen them in LA. I’m sure they exist all over but I think they are derived from the success of Queens of Comedy, Axis of Evil, Blue Collar tours etc.
it reminds me of the Aristocrats night we did here. It just turned into a bunch of people walking out going “why is everyone telling the same joke?”
You’re just going to get a lot of hacky topics that will be done to death. I don’t mind seeing a middle eastern guy do some middle eastern jokes and then move on…or a fat guy do some fat jokes then move on…but when you have a theme night, there’s almost and expectation to do all the middle eastern material and that’s going to get old comic after comic.
In the same breath, I can understand marketing specific comedy types together (ie: you wouldn’t want Doug Stanhope and Brian Regan on the same bill because neither audience would like the show). I just don’t believe much in segregating comedy. Funny is funny. I’m not opposed to giving the show a rating so people know what they’re getting into like a PG-R scale.
I personally think the greatest comedy comes from the individual and their soul. What they think and how they believe. Their individual traits. If the only way you know how to identify yourself is by your most noticable trait then you have no depth and I won’t want to watch you. If a comedy club booked 20 black guys to do a show and they all did personal material that anyone can relate to, then that’d be great. I just think when you bill a show like that, you’re almost putting pressure on them to come forward with all the black jokes.
Does that make any sense? I agree with the marketing of the whole thing, I can see how it will draw crowds…just like 2 for 1’s draw crowds and bringing in a hypnotist…but will people keep coming around after a year? It seems all comedy clubs’ marketing teams have Memento-style memories. They are only thinking 10 seconds into the future. We need to give people a reason to come back and get interested in comedy and by categorizing it and segregating we might just make people think that comedy is dying.
We need 2 categories. Funny…Not funny.
My 2 cents.
Sina.
The View? Oh great, I get to be fat, big-mouthed Rosie, don’t I? Fuck!
Thanks for acknowledging my comments, that makes a great show, and I like to hear my name (moreso during sex, but yeah, I digress).
Re: Segmentation of Comedy… errr… Theme Nights - I hate them. Hate hate. ESPECIALLY women’s comedy nights. Good god, who the hell… just - UGH! Recently, I “heard” about a group here in Chicago that does women’s comedy shows at coffeehouses. Now, I’m totally cynical and bitter, but I just can’t, for the life of me, think of what this would do for me other than more “stage” time. I’m not saying that I can’t do my material at a coffeehouse - but I have to BUST MY ASS at clubs for my 7-10 minutes - and I just can’t imagine trying to do that for an estrogen-laden group of caffeinated soccer moms and lesbians.
Some of the best shows I’ve seen (and I love to go to shows, so I guess I’m not that jaded) have included a good variety. Though to an extreme, an owner of a few clubs in the midwest purposely doesn’t book shows with two comics that are “similar” - so, if a woman is the headliner, a woman won’t be booked to open - if a “black” comic (not saying that negatively, at all) is headlining, a black comic won’t open. But yeah, some of the best shows have been really mixed - not only with the gender or race, but with styles and energy levels. Variety is the spice of life.
So now, to get my guts up to call in.
Ari - you did good (I hope I spelled that right)!
Hey Brian, another topic idea or maybe a question from a newbie (yesterday was my 1 year anniversary of my first time on stage doing comedy)… how much of a thing is too much? I’m a BIG girl - and so a lot of my comedy is about my weight/size. I’ve been very lucky to have comics cross my path that have given me GREAT advice - one of the more recent guys I met suggested I not do so much comedy about my weight. But there are comics who are very successful doing that (Ralphie May, for example)…. so how much is too much.
In closing - Sina, glad you are still here
Yer cute. And Brian, I am sooo totally whiter than you.
I’m about 3 Bricks podcasts behind, but thought this group would be interested in this link to the Jon Lovitz interview regarding Andy Dick on the Strip. Apologies if its been posted already.
http://www.podshow.com/showguide/?key_id=thestrip&feed_type=pdn_show
Well…I guess at least I’ve got that going for me.
I personally don’t like it when a comic has a hook (to reference David Spade’s comment to Brian). It is more memorable when someone is “the fat comic”, “the black comic”, “the latino comic” etc. But is that how you identify yourself? Honestly? Is that all the depth to who you are?
I think it’s always good to acknowledge the ‘elephant in the room’ and then move on. If you have a giant black eye, open with the black eye material and move on. if you don’t acknowledge something obvious, no one will listen to you until you do…they will just sit there and wonder why you have a black eye but haven’t talked about it. But if you talk about it ad-nauseaum then it gets annoying. You don’t want people to feel bad for you. You want people to know you have a sense of humor then they want to get to know “YOU.”
At least that’s what I think.
Sina.
I agree with Sina 100% on your question Amelia. I think if there is something overtly obvious about you that you feel everyone will notice, it’s important to mention that at the top to ease the audiences tensions, make them realize you know it’s there and it’s ok. But, especially with weight, there will reach a point where the self deprecation becomes uncomfortable.
Yeah, I see what you mean. But some comics get away with it - you know, the nearly 80% about weight.
I do hope to be thin one day (may have gastric bypass next year, in fact), and I don’t want to lose all my material. I’ve written about 50/50 fat stuff versus other material… I guess I need to start seeing my fat jokes as a crutch.
Thanks for the input, Brian and Sina. this is such a great site and I love love love the feedback.
For as much shit as I give Ralphie May, he is actually a great example of how to deal with weight well on stage. It’s not a focal point, but he makes sure to drop in at least 3-4 fat references per set, and everytime he does the crowd goes nuts. He doesn’t overdo it and it works.
Hi Brian,
Just catching up on the show and Ive noticed the british comedy stuff you’ve been mentioning.
On the whole I agree with Nick the other Brit on here, where I live in the South East/Kent borders, we have a place called ‘up the creek’ in Greenwich ‘the centre of time’!
Its heaving all weekend, they tend to have a couple of up and coming talents on, followed by a headliner, normally someone who’s done some tv comedy.
Ive yet to see a bad comedian/en there, but hey what do I know? I’d laugh at dog licking his own balls!
Keep up the good work
p.s. Brian I told you that Jimmy Carr was the nuts!
That’s not a fair comparison Badshot, because a dog licking it’s own balls is hilarious every time. It sounds like you have the perfect attitude for a comedy fan. Another damaging effect of stand up on tv is fans going out to see live comedy with unrealistic expectations, assuming they will see someone the calibur of Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle. If you go in with the mind set of having a good time, you will rarely be disappointed.
wow i go away for a bit and i dont reconize too many name on the board oh well.
a question though i was wondering what you guys thought of show with laugh tracks. are show better with or with out them or dose it depend on the show.
Good question Belly. I remember back in the day when every sitcom had a laugh track, but now they’re so outdated that when you do hear one they sound so phony. I much prefer shows without them. I think I can figure out when to laugh on my own.
On a side note, I’ve had a theory recently that Comedy Central has been throwing in some canned laughs on some of their specials. Has anyone else noticed this? For some reason, something just doesn’t look right.
you also have to rember back in the day alot of those where ” taped before a live studio audience”. you don’t hear that phrase to much anymore i wonder if a lot of the shows that have people laughing if it just not taped and put on after the fact. thus making it sounded canned. whats really bad is when the laughing is louder than the people talking on the show i rembemer for awhile on FRIENDS that the people laughing was louder that the people talking god i hated those shows.
Hey Brian, been trying to catch up with shows recently. I guess you don’t hear the laughter track too often anymore these days. Its weird watching older shows that had them. I think almost every sitcom I watched growing up was taped in front of an audience, and I guess that doesnt happen these days. I guess primetime gameshows and american idol have audiences. My guess is that it will be something that will come back in the future and will catch on again.
Hope everyone is doing well, and be sure to tell your friends about the show because if you like it someone you know will to.
Stay cool if you are out here in CA
Just my .02 on the posts earlier about joking about yourself/weight. I know nothing about stand up and how its done/written, but as a person that might be in the crowd I think it would be funny if you slipped in a few jokes about yourself. I can’t remember who it was but I saw an overweight comedian make fun of overweight people, saying he hates fat people, and I was rolling. Anyway good luck, and you all should call into the show with something it would be cool to hear everyones stuff.
Always good to see you NorCal. Thanks for the input. This has started to become a comic hang out, which is cool, but it’s great hearing from people who just love to laugh as well.
Thought you all might be interested in this article from the LA times about joke stealing.
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-et-joketheft24jul24,0,513905.story?coll=la-tot-topstories&track=ntothtml
Good news for all fans of MTV’s The State. According to their website ( http://www.the-state.com ) the full series will be made available on DVD sometime this fall.
LCS just isn’t getting it. It’s so tough to watch. I always forget it’s even on.
Jimmy Carr is pretty funny. I saw one of his sets somewhere and he used a good bit of his jokes on Distraction.
I think the worst shows that used canned laughter were the ones that took place outside or in some improbable location but the laughs sounded like they were in a studio. Ridiculous.
Just watched LCS and just… *sigh*
Tonight - more than last week, I completely disagreed with 3 of the 5 that made it through tonight.
*sigh*
And the fat guy (who did mostly fat jokes from what I heard from a friend who was at the filming) was audience favorite. Hmmmmm.
I just spoke with Sean Rouse (I don’t know if he was in this episode or not) but he had some funny stories. He said that Tom Arnold was one of his judges and Tom was (allegedly…*cough*) coked up as can be and started heckling him while he was on stage. I need to see the episode but my guess is that they cut that part out.
Nonetheless, the whole contest is a fucking ridiculous sham.
Hope you all had a good Wednesday. I’m too trashed to walk.
Hugs,
Sina.
Just listened to this, good episode, id say the best part was when I called in, oh man I am awesome.
No surprises really on how Helium had a crazy crowd. You’re talking about the city where we throw beer bottles at our beloved sports figures. This town can be brutal. I’m glad to say I live in the suburbs.
Though when I do make the trip to center city I’ll definitely leave a comment on my experiences at the club.
Not sure if I ever commented on my visit to Harrah’s comedy club in Vegas but man the whole entire crowd consisted of like 20 people none of which spoke up at all so they didn’t become the Comedian’s target. Funny show, people laughed at jokes, but man when the comic asked a question it was pretty quiet in the room.