Comedians you just don't get

[Pseudonym2]

You noticed that too? I thought it was just me. For every reverse racist comedian, you can find a dozen more racist ones. This is coming from someone who had to sit through I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry on a plane.

All kidding aside, trying to ironically reclaim racist stereotypes never works because it lets the racists frame the debate.

If you can't make fun of something because of what racists think, they've already framed and closed the debate.

You should attack what racists think but from a different angle. Preferably one that doesn't involve a different stage persona that is an ironic caricature. A good example would be the Dave Chapelle sketch were he presents a white 50's household named the N*ggas. They would do things like go to a restaurant and Dave Chapelle would say things like "That's the best seat a N*gga ever got here."

A bad example is when Carlos Mancia jokes that the US Army should recruit more black people they are good a drive bys.

 

[hellthins]

For all the people on this thread who say, 'I don't like Dane Cook,' I concur. I also think he deals with hecklers without class- he just says to them, 'Oh, you're fucking ruining the experience for everyone and you're not being funny- security, security!'

....The best comedians tell off hecklers with razor-sharp wit (see Mitch Hedberg).

I can understand where your coming from,but I remember a situation where he dealed with it comicly. Though it wasn't a heckler it was some guy who ran on stage.

I don't think any of them can match how Bill Hicks dealt with the heckler saying "free bird", or his response to people claiming he stole from Denis Leary.

 

[mkb07a]

I really, really don't like Larry the Cable Guy; never have, never will.

I don't get Andy Kaufman either... I just... I dunno. Maybe I'm missing part of my brain that gives me the insight to appreciate his comedy.

Carlos Mencia was okay years ago, but his stuff is crass now and offensive. I stopped watching his show after the first season.

The one I don't get as to why people enjoy him is Jeff Dunham (I'm third-ing what's already been said, I know). Maybe it's because I think ventriloquists are stupid. Maybe it's because puppets weird me out a little. Maybe it's those glassy eyes, I don't know. I just don't understand how he's gotten so big.

Comedian I love though? Demetri Martin. Ahh... His songs make me giggle, and the fact that his jokes take a second to get because they're so subtle sometimes. I need his album.

EDIT: In the time I was reading an article then posting this, my actual post fell about ten spots on this thread, and onto another page. Damn, guys.

 

[tijuanatim]

For all the people on this thread who say, 'I don't like Dane Cook,' I concur. I also think he deals with hecklers without class- he just says to them, 'Oh, you're fucking ruining the experience for everyone and you're not being funny- security, security!'

....The best comedians tell off hecklers with razor-sharp wit (see Mitch Hedberg).

May I suggest you find some of Jimmy Pardo's stand up? I havent seen anyone deal with hecklers the way he can. I still say he is the king of crowd work.

 

[Pseudonym2]

You should attack what racists think but from a different angle. Preferably one that doesn't involve a different stage persona that is an ironic caricature.

Why not? Are caricatures and irony now exclusively the property of the persecuted white hegemon?

No, but the comedians are still making a bad connotation.

Basically it's a bad idea to do this http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28491

 

[Marbas]

You should attack what racists think but from a different angle. Preferably one that doesn't involve a different stage persona that is an ironic caricature.

Why not? Are caricatures and irony now exclusively the property of the persecuted white hegemon?

No, but the comedians are still making a bad connotation.

Basically it's a bad idea to do this http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28491

I'm pretty sure that isn't actually what they're doing. Given the you know...irony.

 

[Pseudonym2]

You should attack what racists think but from a different angle. Preferably one that doesn't involve a different stage persona that is an ironic caricature.

Why not? Are caricatures and irony now exclusively the property of the persecuted white hegemon?

No, but the comedians are still making a bad connotation.

Basically it's a bad idea to do this http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28491

I'm pretty sure that isn't actually what they're doing. Given the you know...irony.

You should attack what racists think but from a different angle. Preferably one that doesn't involve a different stage persona that is an ironic caricature.

Why not? Are caricatures and irony now exclusively the property of the persecuted white hegemon?

No, but the comedians are still making a bad connotation.

Basically it's a bad idea to do this http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28491

I'm pretty sure that isn't actually what they're doing. Given the you know...irony.

I was reffering to this paragraph spacifiacally.

"After centuries of oppression as an 'invisible' segment of society, gays, emboldened by the 1969 Stonewall uprising, took to the streets in the early '70s with an 'in-your-face' attitude. Confronting the worst prejudices of a world that didn't accept them, they fought back against these prejudices with exaggeration and parody, reclaiming their enemies' worst stereotypes about them and turning them into symbols of gay pride," Thorne said. "Thirty years later, gays have won far greater acceptance in the world at large, but they keep doing this stuff anyway."

All the commercials for Chocolate News (which admittedly I haven't seen yet) make him look like idiot.

Compare this with Dykes to Watch out For, which humorously battles prejudice without relying this strategy. It also helps that strip is actually really funny.

 

[BGinsanity]

Jerry Seinfeld fails..... enough said

 

[Marbas]

Well, given the blacks certainly do still have reasons to be, at the very least, angry. I don't think the cases are identical. The social implications of dark skin are actually still quite real. They aren't nearly as extreme, but they exist and are subtle and insidious.

 

[dcheppy]

I like comedians that actually tell jokes. Even better are comedians that tell jokes with a highly developed stage persona. The best at this were the late great Mitch Hedberg, Rodney Dangerfield, and Bernie Mac. (all dead, sad) also just because a comedian subscribes to this style also doesn't make him good.(Jeff Foxworthy)

What I don't 'Get' is commentary or observations that are shouted to make it funny so the audience forgets that there aren't any actual jokes in the act.(Dane Cook, Lewis Black,Larry the Cable Guy and others; i'm looking at you)

 

[Not Good]

Seriously, Bush jokes have been (in general) lame for a good four to six years

Just to interject, I would like to say that Jon Stewart and your avatar's namesake are still fresh every night with Bush jokes. I'm just saying. Well I guess that's what the in-general is.

That being said, I can't say that I don't enjoy Sarah Silverman, but to paraphrase my friend said "She's not afraid to go there," Which I can admire, being one of those people myself. However there are a bunch of jokes on her stand-up shows and on her show that either fly over my head or are repungnant.

 

[Logan Westbrook]

And back to our regularly scheduled programming:

Black people are massive racists and they're evil and they're taking all our jobs with all of their affirmative actions and women are out to get us oh god the world is SO HARSH how come black people get to call each other the n word and i can't without getting sued for liek $303904 billion dollars by the evil lawyers and i can't even hold the door for a woman without being savagely attacked by her and being sued for liek $30239232056879 quadrillion pesos by the evil lawyers!

This is pretty much a perfect summary of what the entire forum (or at least the most prolific posters anyway) actually believes.

gg guys
gg

You raise an interesting point Eggo. Now please stop trying to derail this thread with it.

 

[Dommyboy]

I just don't think Jerry Seinfeld is funny. What the hell is his appeal?

Same for me. I also don't find Seinfeld that funny either.

 

[Dr Spaceman]

Seriously, Bush jokes have been (in general) lame for a good four to six years

Just to interject, I would like to say that Jon Stewart and your avatar's namesake are still fresh every night with Bush jokes. I'm just saying. Well I guess that's what the in-general is.

That being said, I can't say that I don't enjoy Sarah Silverman, but to paraphrase my friend said "She's not afraid to go there," Which I can admire, being one of those people myself. However there are a bunch of jokes on her stand-up shows and on her show that either fly over my head or are repungnant.

No, I definitely agree that Colbert and Stewart come on every night with fresh jokes about the Bush administration. I guess what I meant was that it's very easy to get lazy with Bush jokes, and people like Frank Caliendo take a "shortcut" to comedy. I suppose what it all comes down to is that good comedians are able to take even played out topics and make them funny. Whereas "less good" comedians won't be able to do the same. But yeah, that's why I claimed "in general."

 

[The_Deleted]

Bill Hicks.
Why that guy is so revered for saying stuff (and then just saying it again, but louder) that anyone with a modicum of intelligence can suss out or why adults still think he's offensive to anyone but middle america or shocking to anyone but teenagers is a mystery to me.

Lets be honest shocking Bible Belt America is like shooting fish in a barrell.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

I've never found Family Guy funny. The writing is just so bland, and the jokes make me want to gag. American Dad, on the other hand, is a laugh riot. The episodes seem to keep getting better.

As for individual comedians, I really don't find Seinfeld funny at all.

 

[thiosk]

Margret Cho.

She does imitations of her asian mother. Kinda sorta funny, i mean my soon-to-be-mother-in-law is korean, but thats her "thing" and it doesn't last one or two gags.

heres asian mom making noises when she sees an electric light
heres asian mom making noises when she thinks her daughter is a lesbian
heres asian mom making noises when oh who the hell cares now she just sounds like a vietnamese hooker caricature.

Then come the pseudopolitical tirades and you think you are listening to someone giving a commencement address... for four hours. Margaret cho sucks.

I also don't get janine garrafalo, not that shes done anything of note in the past six years.
"yay im fugly and I don't respect president bush." Join the club, missy, you don't stand out because of it.

 

[666thHeretic]

Honestly? I didn't care for the majority of the George Carlin I saw. I haven't seen the 7 Words bit yet, but the rest of it was more political ranting than comedy.

 

[Kikosemmek]

Gilbert Godfrey, may God strike me down now...

He's never been funny to me.
I mean we get it, you have a weird voice now just get off the stage.

It's not his voice. The guy tells funny jokes. Agreed though that he's extremely old-fashioned, as all he does is tell separate jokes. However, I like it because I love his jokes.

---

Bill Maher is a nimrod who I cast along with Bill O'Reilly as people with waaay too much fucking ego. He's also not that funny.

Dane Cook _was_ funny to me. The appeal kind of wore off over time as I saw him sell his soul to Hollywood and diminish his act to just exclaiming about daily activities.