Writing In A Vacuum
September 27, 2007 · Print This Article
If you think performing stand up must be difficult, imagine a medium where you don’t have the luxury of using your voice, face and body to sell your material. That’s what only a handful of humor writers have accomplished, and today we give them their due.
Other topics include the merciful end of Last Comic Standing, reviews of the new specials by D.L. Hughley and Jeff Dunham, making a career of warming up crowds, and why you should always keep your pants on while shopping for strollers. You’re embarrassing the family!
Email: brianmcomedy@gmail.com and give us a call on 206-203-4692
Joel, my heart goes out to you!
I have a weekly conversation with my mother which normally her listing all of her friends’ children and how successful they are and how they have company cars and are getting married……
It’s so great being a disappointment! Keep on rocking pal!
I don’t know if you’ve featured any of these comics yet, but for an all-request month, here are my requests:
Mike Birbiglia - my favorite “up and coming” guy right now. I just recently picked up his brand new “Secret Public Journal” CD, and am delighted by both the material and his gentle, confused persona.
Woody Allen - I recently listened to “Woody Allen on Comedy” from laugh.com, and was re-impressed with how different-yet-successful his stand up was, compared to other greats of that era.
Rob Paravonian - Mostly does college gigs, and might best be known for his “Pachabel’s Rant” on YouTube, if you’ve seen that. He has an occasional (monthly-ish) video podcast called “Life as a Comic” that is pretty entertaining.
So there are my picks. One titan, one rising star, and one (as far as I know) little-known-talent.
If were requesting i guess i’ll throw some names out.
Dana Gould-Just found out about him he was one of the funniest things ive heard. and he wrote some of my favorite simpsons episode. awesome.
Eugene Mirman - He’s doing some really Cool alternative stuff that i really dig. i nice breath of absurdity.
Aziz Ansari - reasonably new but he’s going to be huge one day i know it. Saw him live once and he was fantastic.
There you go
Too soon?
We’ve touched on this before but how soon is too soon? Can ANYTHING be funny? You guys might not know but a little british girl was kidnapped on holiday in portugal last may and still hasn’t been found. Also, a little boy in liverpool was shot last month……
and a comic went on stage in liverpool and made a joke about it…..and got booed off
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7012983.stm
I feel its a sign of a weak comic if they can only solely go for shock value, but hey, anything can be funny. Also, is it the crowd and what mood they’re in?
Hey mac,
good call on Rob Paravonian. I’ve greatly enjoyed his vidcasts….and I don’t even have a video ipod……
Don’t worry though b-mo, you’re my numero uno!
Nick
Brian, I want to throw in a comedy writer for your consideration. Jean Shepherd, the man behind “A Christmas Story” was a very funny writer. I found him in Car and Driver where in the 60’s (?) and 70″s he wrote a column that was only loosely related to cars but always funny. I used to cut his columns and stories out of the mags and keep them in a notebook. Wish I still had it. He was also a groundbreaking radio personality in NY in the 50’s.
For October request, you put on a comic who, as I recall, used a partner on stage who held up props or otherwise assisted. The comic used “absurd” comedy. Forgot his name but would like more of him.
Try http://www.keyflux.com/shep/ for more info.
Could anyone post a link to the forum that Brian keeps talking about in the podcast? I couldn’t find a link to it on the front page (possibly because I’m stupid.)
Thanks!
Never mind…I think when he’s saying “messageboard” he’s meaning the comments section on the blog.
Or I’m still stupid.
I think you’re talking about a Demitri Martin bit I played. We can definitely get a little more of him on the show.
the 2% that don’t masterbate have no arms or they are Amish.
LCS i thought i was going to die of old age before they told the winner.
my wife, mom, dad, and sisters have never seen my act. i would be so uncomfortable.
Your mom has seen my act.
I’m not a pro, that’s the best I can do.
How dare you! That woman is a saint!
Hey Brian, just wanted to stop by and start contributing on here, I’ve been listening for a while after someone posted your link on Chortle, a UK industry website. I’ve done stand-up in Britain for a little over a year now (but I’m from Canada originally)… Love the podcasts, they’ve been really compulsive listening!
Don’t know if you’ve featured her or anyone knows of her, but Jen Kirkman is one of my favourite comedians, and she released her first CD this year. It has a wonderful storytelling style, run-at-the-mouth kind of thing going on, and her take on material is very unique and personal to her. I love any comedian who can take a story about a friend dying and spin it into an irrational fantasy about said friend coming back as a zombie to avenge you not calling her back.
Hi I also got the link from chortle and living in England. Some good podcasts man really enjoying them. Russell Howard is an English comic who you should check out and Frankie Boyle is hilarious Scotsman. Not a fan of LCS but had to go for my country men and women untill they were knocked out.
Hey Brody. Welcome.
1. Comedy Writer…P.J. O’Rourke. Very funny cat
2. I request Doug Stanhope because he gets a lot of raves here and I don’t know any of his stuff…
3. Or maybe Rob Cantrell. I thought he was the funniest of the Season 1 LCS group.
I agree with Leonardo about a request for stanhope, I bought his latest dvd…amazing. I can’t stop watching it. Not at all the type of comedy I usually prefer, but great none the less
Dan - agree about LCS - I was surprised Matt Kirshen and Gina Yashere got so far in the comp, both are fantastic, but sometimes when I’d listen to Matt K I’d think, “hmmm… I don’t know how well this is going to translate for an American audience…”
Comedy writers - I was really interested in this subject cause I think that one comedy writer in particular, Jon Ronson, has really affected my stand-up since I’ve started reading him. He doesn’t do stand up at all, but his writing reinforces the importance of bringing in your own unique perspective on topics.
Another great show, but i didn’t enjoy the featured comic Moms Mabely so much. I must admit having real difficulty understanding what she was saying - to my limey ears she sounded like Jar Jar Blinks on Mogadon!
Sorry - just realised that the above comment was meant for the Be Your Own Pimp show - my MP3 player is playing everything I download back to front at the moment…
Good show again Brian. About comedy writers. I think Woody Allen (who I saw mentioned above as a request) has done some of the funniest essay writing. Check out some of his books. I recomend his essay The Whore of Mensa very highly, which is in his book Without Feathers .
I do agree with you about Sedaris. He’s brillaint.
Another writer who I just love is John Hodgeman. He’s probably not for everyone, but his style and sense of humor just slays me all the time.
hey anybody else catch that new comedians of comedy special this past saturday, it was on at one and it was really funny. 11 great comics, well i didnt like all of them but comedys subjective so whatever. but it was weird it appears they cut out david cross’s set alltoghethor which was weird. but all in all a great show. my favorites were Patton oswalt, dana gould, brian poeshn, and eugene mirman.
Yes Jason, these are what I am referring to. I find “message board” to be easier than “blog style comment thread”. So in the interest of semantics…
Welcome to the blog style comment thread Jason! Happy to have you on board.
My wife and I just caught Damon Wayans at the Pittsburgh Improv Friday night. My face hurt by the end of the night. What’s more, local guy Bill Scott (http://whitebillscott.com/) featured, and he was hilarious. If any of you get a chance to catch his act, I highly recommend it.
I’m still watching the comedians of comedy. I have to reevaluate my opinion of Patton Oswalt. My only exposure was the Comedy Central Presents, which I thought was a disappointment.
But it looks very promising. Oh the powers of Tivo.
Ok. Finished the show. I don’t know if anyone is really interested in my thoughts, but thats okay.
First, I like Patton Oswalt minus the tie and suit. Basically he was good for the show. I didn’t actually particularly like any other comics really. Maria’s voice gets annoying, and she already did her set for her Comedy Central Presents special. Everyone else, was rather lame I thought. I think part of the reason, is that most of the comics were absurdists, and most of it was a little too out there. They made me laugh, but none really made me think at all.
Oh, but I did enjoy the entire Sarah Silverman banter. It was really dirty, probably because it hits a little too close to home for me, but it was funny regardless.
hmm, interesting mike. i will agree that the majority of them are absurdists but i myself didnt find it at all boring. but whatever i have an opinion and you have an opinion which is cool. but i guess i might as well come out and sa im not a fan of silverman. but whatever.
By the way, just want to give a shout out to the British invasion who have started hanging out this week. Love the different perspective, and if you’re into the show please spread the word. I’m happy to adjust the content to fit the new fan base. What’s the deal with the Irish?
Smiley, don’t take it like I’m a fan of Sarah silverman or something. I actually thought the song part was atrocious. I just thought that Sarah calling out the guy in the crowd schtick (even though he was planted) made me laugh.
Need some help understanding something. I’m sitting here watching Larry the Cable Guy: Morning Constitution, because a) my TiVo grabbed it, and b) I decided to finally give the guy s shot. You see, I have a bias against stand up comediams who are “characters”, like Pee Wee Herman.
So the first line once Larry grand the Mike is–without any setup–”All right, all right, getter done.” And the crowd went wild. Huh? Put me down as anti-hook, too, I guess.
I’m ten minutes in, now, and he just said the first funny, non-hack line of the night.
Am I humor impared? I don’t think so. So what am I missing?
By the way, Brian, I just bought some Mitch Hedberg and Dave Attell on line. Thanks for the recommendations given pver the past year of podcasts. Mitch, especially, was a bittersweet discovery, given his current body temperature.
“Larry grand the Mike”? Fucking iPhone autocorrect…
Try, “Larry grabbed the mike”.
Here’s some insider info for you Mac…Lynn Shawcroft (Mitch’s wife) is putting out a never before heard Mitch CD in January on Comedy Central Records. She is splitting her time between LA and NY right now compiling all the footage she has recorded while traveling the road with him for years. It should be pretty amazing.
Until then, go to her myspace page (or Mitch’s website) and buy the new calendar made from her favorite of the fan art she’s received.
http://www.myspace.com/LynnShawcroft
http://www.MitchHedberg.net
Hugs,
Sina.
Thanks, Sina! VERY cool news.
Jeremy Clarkson a journolist and presenter of Top Gear has some very funny books. The thing is he’s like marmite you either love him or hate him.