Dylan Gadino of punchlinemagazine.com returns to the show to discuss truth in comedy, the goings on at punchline, and new fatherhood. Man the Virgin Mary is hot!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Who’s This Character?
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Longest opening joke ever.
Ya know, it’s really easy to find out which comic Dylan is talking about…
I agree that a joke can be true/honest without being factual. (See every worthwhile work of fiction, poetry, or drama ever written for more examples of this).
As for the Cringe thing, I like some of the NY CringeHumor comics, especially Norton. But I hate that attitude, usually from fans who have never done comedy, that everything other than Cringe is hack or lame.
Norton’s “Trinkets I Own Made From Gorilla Hands,” by the way, is fantastic. If you want to work blue, you will learn a lot from this CD. Most of the cringe-est material is couched in a self-deprecating context. Once you buy into the idea that Norton is a sexual deviant/loser “scallop with tits,” you’ll buy everything else, including the mean-spirited Christopher Reeves jokes. And the order is perfect. He opens with something everyone can get on board with (wishing death on the French) and gradually progresses towards giving his mom head.
Masterful.
Dan… totally agree with you about Trinkets… also his album Yellow Discipline is excellent … those first two CDs, i think, are better than his later stuff.
Any albums coming out in the near future that people are excited about? I’m pumped for Gaffigan’s “King Baby” stand-up special on Comedy Central this March.
Stanhope will have a DVD out in ‘09. Saw him in Indy last March, about 7 months after “No Refunds,” and the fucker already had a new hour. Rough around the edges but still good. I imagine by the time he tapes, it will be hard shining jewel of wrong.
I’m lookin forward to both Gafigan and the new John Mulaney CD’s. should be some good fun.
also, i’m with dan about Cringe comedy fans. god knows I love a good cringe comic, but to say if you dont tell rape jokes is hacky is just stupid. theyre are just as many good clean standups as dirty ones. EX: Brian Regan, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Birbiglia
Stanhope is a machine – when you see him work it’s all this spouting and stream of consciousness. He was writing sick jokes about Palin’s kids something like three days after her being picked as candidate. I envy his output – it looks like he’s got to a point where he knows what makes people laugh, the formula of the joke and he’s in that perfect storm of being old enough to be bitter about a lot of things – that and he doesn’t give a shit.
On this CD thing when as a comic do you release a CD? And what’s the main impetus for the comic to make on? To make $$? To get yourself out there? To get your material down so you have a body of work for future generations? Or just as an excuse to write you number for the ladies? How do you get it together i.e. do you get together with management and get the word out that the funniest hour of comedy is going to happen on such-and-such a date? Or do you just turn up at a club with a recorder and press record yourself?
Incidentally, you haven’t plugged your own CD for a while B-mo. I hear you can get it free……
I love the buffet opening bit Brian. I wish you would do more of your own stuff on the show. After hearing mixed reviews about the Ricky Gervais’s special on HBO I finally got around to seeing it and was really surprised at how good it was a couple of the bits went on a little too long but overall it was very funny. Here is a youtube clip of Gervais doing a pretty funny bit on God and the bible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_EXqdJ4L7I
Thanks for the heads up on Robert Schimmel. I laughed my ass off at his clips on youtube and I had no idea he had battled with cancer.
The David Cross bit was great, one of my all time favorites. I recently watched heckler and Cross almost sounded as if he was finished with stand-up comedy, which would be dissapointing.
Nick: “Stanhope is a machine” a good friend of mine recently turned me onto Stanhope’s new stuff and I couldn’t stop laughing! He really does push it to the limit and cross alot of lines in the name of comedy.
Hey BMo
I was fascinated with the topic mentioned on BTB regarding bad mistakes to make offstage as a comedian .
I’d like to contribute how important it is as a relatively new comedian not to get too cocky hanging out with the other more experienced comedians backstage. It’s the greatest feeling in the world as a new act sharing a post-gig beer with much more experienced acts who seem to suddenly accept you as one of their peers . But it can be so easy to let this go to your head and make you act like a dick because you think you’re now suddenly part of the Houston Outlaws or something.
The most embarrassing thing I ever did backstage as a rookie comic was try out some new material on the headliner – an American comic called Dave Fulton. I’d just come offstage from the Comedy Store in London as the open spot after a storming 10 minutes. Fulton was still waiting to go on. He asked me how my gig went, and I told how him I wished I’d told a new gag i’d written, and began delivering the gag when Fulton stopped me in my tracks with a shocked look and exclaimed
” WAIT – You’re not actually going to TELL me this , are you ? ”
I immediately shut up out of embarrassment , and thought “What a jerk”, but later realised he was right to stop me. Me as a relative newcomer trying out new material on a headliner yet to go on would be as misplaced as the bassist in a 3rd on the bill support band to some supergroup trying to give a demo tape of his solo acoustic tracks to the headlining band’s vocalist just as he was making his way onstage, in the hope he’s somehow going to be interested.
( a bit of an extreme similie, but i hope you get my point.)
So would you agree demoing new material on acts higher up the comedy food chain is a big no-no for new comedians?
Interesting story from Richard Herring about doing two gigs in a night for a TV show: one with added swearing and one with none
http://www.richardherring.com/warmingup/warmingup.php?id=2236
Ricardo,
I’ve tried out material on headliners, and they’ve been really polite about it. Of course, the second you know someone is being polite, it means you done wrong, so I look back on those moments with shame.
On the topic of “truth” in comedy, does anyone else’s eyes just reflexively roll back when that word is used in a comedy context? I’ve told jokes that came from my life that died painfully because I wasn’t real with them. I think the performance aspect, not writing, carries the day in unrealistic jokes. Doug Stanhope could live in a charming subdivision with loving wife, kids, and a Precious Moments collection, but on stage he buys what he says. “Authenticity” is really about knowing who you are onstage, whether that has anything to do with the real you or not.
Ricardo, I don’t see what the problem is. I guess it is in how you present your material, if you are looking for advice or are interested in the comics opinion. If you are just trying to show how funny you think you are, well that probably wouldn’t go over.
Okay, maybe if he’s a pro he doesn’t want to hear every new bit other comics have come up with. But he also doesn’t have to be a jerk about it, and see if your stuff is all about. I’m not one to have or appreciate the “I’m better than you, get away from me you little insignificant people” attitude.
My favorite comics are the ones where it’s difficult to tell if it’s an act or not, but the truth is their ‘act’ is really just themselves on stage. It’s always fun to find people who are completely unique… it’s disappointing to find out that a unique stand up act is all made up.
I have a question to/about stand ups. Has anyone started doing stand up with no prior stage experience? Would this change the type of act a person has, and their approach to stand up?
The issue with Ricardo isn’t the fact that he pitched his bit to the headliner. If you’re handing around the bar or the condo after the show, talking shop, it’s perfectly natural to exchange bits in progress. What Ricardo is really focusing on is the timing. A guy is in the wings waiting to go up, going through whatever mental prep he goes through, and our boy starts explaining the hilarious differences between men and women.
” What Ricardo is really focusing on is the timing. A guy is in the wings waiting to go up, going through whatever mental prep he goes through, and our boy starts explaining the hilarious differences between men and women. ”
Well yes and no, Brian. I was actually asking the headliner what’s the deal with those guys at airport security asking me if I’d packed my own luggage?
Did you guys hear Eddie Murphy signed up to be the Riddler in the next Batman movie?
when i read that sentance token Scot i spit coffee all over my kyeboard. thanks, but I doubt they would do it, unless Christopher Nolan lost his freaking mind
Chris Nolan: “Guess how we’re gonna top Heath Ledger’s performance? Fatsuits.”
Studio Head: BRILLIANT! Also lets get Gene Simmons to play Cat-Woman, he has a taste for leather. He’e be perfect!
One more Stanhope story – He does turn out material quickly. I saw him about a year ago shortly after he had a huge special on TV. The place was packed and people kept yelling out bits they wanted him to do. He kept turning to the crowd and saying “Why would you want to hear jokes you’ve already heard?” and kept doing fresh material.
One other thing about the Stanhope show is the fans were NUTS. It made it kind of hard to catch all the jokes. That being said, I enjoyed it much more than seeing Dane Cook where the three girls behind us finished every punchline before Dane did…