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Funny.
Dec 14, 2022 21:30:01 GMT
Post by kds on Dec 14, 2022 21:30:01 GMT
Speaking of Farley, while going down a random rabbit hole of Christmas movie facts, I found out that Farley auditioned for the role of the guy playing Santa in Home Alone, but apparently seemed very nervous and failed the audition.
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Funny.
Feb 15, 2023 19:22:38 GMT
kds likes this
Post by Kapitan on Feb 15, 2023 19:22:38 GMT
Last night I watched the new special by Jim Jeffries, High n' Dry, found on Netflix.
MINIMAL SPOILER ALERTS (not of jokes, but of general contents)
This is the latest example of a standup of a certain age group (though he, at about my age, is at the young end of that spectrum) whose formerly super-successful brand of I-can't-believe-he-said-that humor could be seen as "canceled" nowadays. The past few years have seen several specials from apparent grumpy old men from Jerry Seinfeld on the older edge, right through Louis CK, Dave Chappelle, and Ricky Gervais, and now Jeffries.
And yes, he hit some of those same topics those guys hit: what you supposedly can or can't say; sex differences; gender identity; etc. But he did approach it in a slightly different way that I thought were more appealing than a lot of those others'. He didn't really come across as a grumpy old man complaining about how the kids are nowadays. Well, maybe he did ... but his grumpiness felt like the act that quite frankly it obviously is for most standups.
But beyond that, it seemed to me that his jokes (while quite offensive, probably, to some) could not be mistaken by a reasonable person as being mean-spirited. He used words you "can't" use, he told jokes on topics you "can't" cover, and he was not remotely apologetic. But he opened by saying something about how other comics have been in the press a lot ... and he wants to be in the press, too! And then he just told a bunch of stories and jokes. As is the case with most of the best comics, he was clearly the butt of many of his jokes, either quite personally and specifically, or just generally in his status as the dreaded aging straight white man.
It was pretty well done. I won't say it was a BRILLIANT standup special, but it was funny. Definitely not for kids or anyone easily offended, but neither "woke" nor "antiwoke," just jokes. To me, that's a nice way to deflate that whole thing in comedy. Just do more comedy, and let audiences figure out what they like or don't like, what's going too far or playing it too safe. It is a better way to do comedy than to piss and moan about how things ain't what they used to be.
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Funny.
Mar 3, 2023 22:01:49 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Mar 3, 2023 22:01:49 GMT
I thought maybe I'd shared this comedy special I'm rewatching, but upon inspection, it looks like I might not have. It's Joe List's early 2022 special This Year's Material.
I've seen him on a few podcasts and in Louis CK's most recent (2022) movie, 4th of July, and while I was a little slow warming up to him, now I'm fully on board. He's got a funny kind of neurotic nerd schtick, a little dirty but in a dopey way, very self deprecating. When I've seen him on a few podcasts, especially as part of a panel of guests, he's really good with interjections. (I love comedians on panel as guests, chiming in.)
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Funny.
Apr 3, 2023 13:38:32 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Apr 3, 2023 13:38:32 GMT
Last night I watched Louis CK's new special (available at his website), At the Dolby. No specific-joke spoilers below, but I will discuss it generally. You've been warned.
My reaction was ... meh. From roughly 2011 to 2017, I would have said Louis was my favorite standup. I really liked his specials in those years, I really liked his show Louie, and I loved his Horace & Pete. He had the various allegations against him, and frankly I didn't care all that much. They didn't exactly endear him to me, but neither did I think of them as deal-breaking. More like evidence that an obviously messed-up guy is messed-up. I felt like we already knew that. Point being, I've been a pretty big fan for more than 10 years.
So back to the special. He had really talked it up on some various podcast appearances lately. This special, recorded a few months ago, apparently shared material with his recent Madison Square Garden livestream show (which I did not see). And it was hyped as his last thing before taking at least a year hiatus.
While I didn't see that livestream, I kept thinking I'd heard many of these jokes before. And I'm not actually sure yet whether I have: had he done some of these jokes on those podcasts where he was promoting the special? Or did they just strike me as being so representative of Louis's style, of Louis's previous (numerous) specials, that they may as well have been rehashes?
Oddly, it got me thinking about legacy bands' new material. I sat there hearing him tell apparently new, but somewhat predictable jokes about his typical, uncomfortable topics (abortion, being fat, diarrhea, kids), and just thinking "...yeah. That's a pretty funny Louis-style joke." And when you're saying "that's pretty funny" without actually laughing, that's not a great sign. It's like hearing "Getcha Back" and thinking it sounds like a Beach Boys song. On one hand, you want it to sound like that. On the other, you want something different.
That was this special for me. It got me thinking that his previous pace of a special a year really was just too much. One you've heard a guy do that much material for that long, all from his unique voice, eventually you're just not surprised anymore. Even new material sounds familiar. I'm sure if I rewatch it I'll find jokes I really appreciate. But it wasn't a special that hit me as hilarious. It didn't have me laughing hard. I hope his time off really refreshes him and he comes back with something great in a couple years.
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Post by Kapitan on Apr 8, 2023 15:37:22 GMT
This morning I've been listening to some old Rodney Dangerfield comedy albums and sets. He is (along with Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, and a few others) truly one of the kings of the joke. Not funny stories, not complex narratives that flip on you, not confessional comedic monologues, just jokes. One after the other. Wife jokes, kids jokes, doctor jokes, career/money jokes, and of course himself in the center of all of them, the butt of so many that you can't really think they're mean-spirited towards women, or kids, or whoever else is implicated.
They're almost like what we'd now call "dad jokes" because they're often so corny, but they're on that edge of being dirty to the point that I don't think that description fits. A few that cracked me up this morning.
"My wife and I, we only fight about two things: money and sex. I keep telling her, she charges too much."
"My wife and I, we agreed we'd only smoke after sex. I haven't had a cigarette since 1976, but what worries me is that my wife is up to three packs a day."
"My wife, she can't cook, are you kidding me? She told me to take out the trash, I said 'you cooked it, you do it.'"
"Show business is tough, boy, you take work where you can get it. I started out in ventriloquism ... but I had to quit when I got too big for the guy's lap."
"I caught my wife in bed with the milkman the other day, she begged me not to tell the butcher."
"On our wedding day, my wife told me I was one in a million. Come to find out, she wasn't that far off."
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Funny.
Apr 22, 2023 14:31:21 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 22, 2023 14:31:21 GMT
Dean Martin can't stop laughing at Peter Sellers:
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Funny.
Apr 22, 2023 14:57:00 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Apr 22, 2023 14:57:00 GMT
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Funny.
Apr 22, 2023 15:00:30 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Apr 22, 2023 15:00:30 GMT
I just watched that one last night!
He truly might have been the best--at least in terms of being a purely jokes (as opposed to observational, storyteller, or other niche) comic.
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Funny.
Apr 27, 2023 19:11:31 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Apr 27, 2023 19:11:31 GMT
Last night I watched John Mulaney's new standup special, Baby J (Netflix). Mulaney is a former writer for SNL, relatively prolific standup with several specials out, and an occasional actor, including my favorite of his work, voicing Andrew Glourberman on the Netflix animated coming-of-age series Big Mouth. Some thoughts on Baby J are below.
Minor Potential Spoilers Below: Proceed At Your Own Risk.
OK, this is the biggest spoiler, though anyone who saw the teaser or has heard of this would know it already: the material in the special is based on Mulraney's relatively recent drug relapse and pandemic-era rehab. So in that respect, it is like some of Richard Pryor's classic material, and I'm sure many other comics through the years (substance abuse being a pretty common theme among comics). And some of this special was very, very funny.
My biggest gripe is this: it's too polished to feel at all vulnerable. Pryor was a master craftsman, too, but when he talked about these issues, it felt like he was literally just talking about it off the cuff. He wasn't, of course: that's the craft! But that's the glory of a great standup. Mulraney always comes across as a highly polished showbiz performer, and this special is no different. That polish, that voice of his, those mannerisms, just don't translate to vulnerability and audience empathy. (The name-dropping doesn't exactly help. In fact, for me, it made him unlikable.) It feels like what it is, which is a show. So to me, it's more like a funny one-man show than it is a standup special.
Is there a difference? Is the difference a real distinction of any importance? That would be for each viewer to decide. For me, it was slightly off-putting. But overall I would still recommend it for some laughs, albeit on adult themes.
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Funny.
May 25, 2023 0:01:21 GMT
Post by Kapitan on May 25, 2023 0:01:21 GMT
After I'd mentioned that I'd watched Brian Regan, a famous(ly clean) standup beloved by Jerry Seinfeld, Norm Macdonald, etc., a friend of mine was asking whether I had any other recommendations of clean comics. He knew of Jim Gaffigan, but wanted some others that he could watch with his family.
I had to think about it, and realized I really didn't. So I have been on an on-and-off clean-comic hunt for a few weeks. I figured I may as well share a few I liked, in case anyone else is curious. While my taste in comics runs the gamut, I do have to admit there is something really impressive about those who can be funny to people of all ages without being dirty.
- Nate Bargatze - Henry Cho - Anjelah Johnson-Reyes - Leanne Morgan - Mike Vecchione - Greg Warren
What I found interesting was that they--both those above and another half-dozen or so I thought were among the best--were overwhelmingly southern. Nashville, in particular, seems to be a clean-comic utopia. Maybe it's the mix of its newish hipster status plus old-fashioned southern Christian values? No idea. But a lot of them seem to be based there.
Something else that fascinated me was, a lot of these (again, both those listed and others I checked out) were not just clean, but simultaneously both cranky and happy. What I mean is, they reminded me of old-school comics: Rodney Dangerfield and such. The routines are complaining about men, about women, about relationships, about "people these days," and so on ... but they don't seem depressed. They seem happy. They're funny. And they aren't preachy. It isn't, "you know what's wrong with the world? This 25% of Americans, who by the way, are [X, Y, Z list of complaints]." It's just jokes, not quite nice, but not nasty. Just funny. I've had a great time digging into these comics (and some others).
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Funny.
Jul 1, 2023 16:16:04 GMT
Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jul 1, 2023 16:16:04 GMT
The great Frank Caliendo:
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Funny.
Jul 30, 2023 1:05:19 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Jul 30, 2023 1:05:19 GMT
I just finished Jim Gaffigan's new standup special, Dark Pale, found on Amazon Prime.
Non-specific spoilers alert.
Gaffigan is known mostly for clean comedy, an understanding of which made this special a little odd. There was still maybe 20 minutes or so of marriage-and-kids humor, but a lot more cynicism and some flat-out dark stuff. And gross stuff. I laughed a number of times, and it was still recognizably Gaffigan. He's not a new person. But it felt like he fiddled with a few dials, adjusted the settings a little bit. Honestly I'm not sure whether it suited him as well as his previous specials. Or, more accurately, whether it suited me as well.
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Funny.
Aug 5, 2023 9:11:32 GMT
Post by jk on Aug 5, 2023 9:11:32 GMT
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Funny.
Aug 14, 2023 13:12:05 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Aug 14, 2023 13:12:05 GMT
Today is the 78th birthday of one of the funniest people of the past 50 years, one of the first real "rock star" comics: Steve Martin.
His career began with him writing for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (along with Rob Reiner, Bob "Super Dave Osborne" Einstein, Don Novello, Nell Scovell, and others), and he became a stadium-filling standup comic before transitioning to a movie star, before transitioning to writer and bluegrass musician.
And in the spirit of our ongoing novelty song thread, Martin had a Top 20 Billboard hit with "King Tut" in 1978.
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Funny.
Aug 19, 2023 15:22:22 GMT
Post by Kapitan on Aug 19, 2023 15:22:22 GMT
A few months ago I posted last year's special from a favorite comic of mine, Joe List. Well as luck would have it, he released a new special to YouTube yesterday. I watched it this morning and really liked it. If you are in the mood for standup, give it a shot.
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