Send in the Clowns...Please!
I don’t go to a lot of comedy clubs anymore; that’s really a young man’s game. However, for a variety of reasons, I’ve attended three comedy events in the past couple of weeks, and the experiences haven’t been pretty—or funny, for that matter. Maybe there’s just a certain age over which the repeated adjectival use of the f-bomb isn’t quite as amusing as it used to be. It seems to have become filler; the comics’ version of “y'know” or “umm.” I wasn’t offended by the word as much as I was annoyed by this verbal tic that seemed to seemed to affect virtually every performer I saw.
There was a surprising (to me) lack of political humor, and, not surprisingly, whatever such efforts there were tended to be more or less from the liberal side of the spectrum After all, these were, for the most part, relatively young comics struggling to become successful and who wanted to be liked. But it was that lazy kind of political humor, where the audience reacted--not to well-crafted lines or amusing observations--but merely to references. It reminded me of the old joke about the guy thrown into prison who hears other inmates laughing hysterically when one of their own would merely shout out a number. It was explained to him they had been penned up together for so long, they had numbered the jokes, and the number alone was enough to get a big laugh. “How about that (verbal tic) Sara Palin?” Can you believe those (verbal tic) Republicans?”
The most shocking and depressing aspect of my visits to the world of stand-up comedy, however, was the virulently racist and misogynistic language routinely tossed out by these men and women. I don’t have much patience with political correctness, but these were remarks that should have offended anyone long before the PC business began booming. And yet, they tended to get the only real laughs of the evenings. They were comments I would never even consider writing here and I would be reluctant to quote privately, much less in public. The logic escaped me. Was it, “We’ll show the world just how tolerant we are by using the most degrading language possible to describe others?” I don’t know, but I do know it would end or severely damage a career if that stuff came from the “wrong” person’s lips.
Strangely, other than the insults aimed at blacks, Asians, gays and women, there were very few remarks that generated laughs. There was lot of shouting and screaming and clapping and nods of recognition, but not much real laughter. You know that euphoric feeling a good belly laugh can give you, and that kind of shared joy an audience talks about when filing out of a particularly entertaining performance? Well, there was none of that. It was as if everyone wanted to change the subject. Maybe I just picked some particularly bad performances, and these didn’t really represent what passes for comedy these days. I (verbal tic) hope so.
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May '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
Sajak has a fever. The cure? Brian Regan.
May '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
The Jon Stewart generation are channeling Lenny Bruce with Tourettes. Alas they're 40 years too late to be original. Together with SNL, The Colbert Report, etc we have (as you noted), reduced comedians to Tea Party and Sarah Palin jokes (well Bush has been gone for a while) and profanity.
Did anyone make jokes about Obama during their stand-up routines, our does he still get exempted? I won't ask about Biden, but how about Barney Frank ?
Nov '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
I went to the Comic Strip in NYC last night; it was my first trip to a comedy club for a couple years. Two things struck me. As Pat points out, much of the "humor" was based entirely on race. There were four comics and three of them talked about only race. The fourth talked about race for half his time. Is there really nothing else that people find funny anymore?
Oddly, there was no mention of Obama whatsoever. It was as if he didn't exist. During the Bush II and Clinton years, NY comedy clubs were full of jokes about the president. Maybe the liberals of NY are disheartened and just want to change the topic?
One mention of Sarah Palin. Cheers and boos from the audience were pretty evenly balanced, surprisingly. The "joke" was built around the premise that liberals saw her as a kind of sexy dominatrix type. Not an original take by any means, but it was refreshing not to hear any "Republicans are evil/dumb" humor on a night out in NY. I can't remember the last time that happened on a trip to a comedy club.
Jul '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
In 1977 I saw Bill Cosby on stage and my ribs ached for a weak owing to laugh related injuries. Since 1977 I have been to a half dozen live comedy events, ranging from time wasted to this guy should not be allowed out without a leash.
Case in point, a Frederick, MD, bar, a mix of agricultural and knowledge workers with a small town ambiance, singles and young couples, and the act was inner city drugs and gangsta played for laughs. After getting polite neglect from the crowd on that approach for several minutes, he started ragging on the audience. These were the jokes, their job was to laugh. The room chose the table talk response.
A local comedy improv place does a Who's Line Is It Anyway shtick, and every time the cast was stuck for something funny, the punt was to STDs and the loose blonde character. Which is pretty much up there with foreign films focusing on patriarchal philandering for date entertainment.
Good experience: John Hiatt took his break on stage at the Birchmere and joked and told stories while he bandaged his blisters. A great storyteller. If you haven't heard his "Wintertime Blues"....
May '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
I think the state of comedy is dreadful, but, alas, there's no way--ever--to objectively prove that. The last film I saw that was funny? Can't remember. The last laugh-out-loud tv show? Can't remember. In fact, the only things in memory extremely funny were segments of certain podcasts, including Ricochet's, Ace of Spades Headquarters posts, and maybe a few radio shows. Maybe I'm old and jaded. Maybe commedians aren't that clever any more. HÉLAS....
Nov '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
The irony, of course, is that Obama is a comedy gold mine — and off limits to all liberal comics.
Nov '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
I love stand-up comedy. I love apple pie, too. Unfortunately you can't seem to get either in quality these days. But there is an interesting trend I've noticed. You can talk about race, if you first bad mouth conservatives. See you have to first establish yourself as an intellectual. You do that simply by identifying with the left. And then you can move on to the racist and sexist jokes.
I agree with Sisyphus: Cosby set the bar. There's not a joke in there you can't repeat in polite company. Such as: "I've been hit in the...you better not touch certain areas of the body while on the football field!"
Jul '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
I think it represents the state of comedy today.
Two things I've read in the past came to mind when I read your thoughts Pat;
An article in which the author lamented that audiences are resorting to what he called "Clapter" rather than Laughter at commedian's jokes. Because while everyone in the audience agreed with the comedian, they really found no humor in the line.
Another article regarding the modern crop of our Creative Corps. It postulated that earlier creative types were brought up on the likes of Hemmingway and Twain, the modern types were brought up on Giligan's Island and The Brady Bunch et. al.
Sep '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
I think times are changing and many comedians are following an outdated mold. Comedy is the art of speaking truth without giving offense. If the joke doesn't have some central truth, it isn't funny. If the joke has truth but offends a casual audience (as opposed to hypersensitive politically correct types) it doesn't get a laugh.
Much of what passes for comedy today is merely public ridicule. Where else can you go to hear a well-crafted thrashing of a public figure the audience agrees to hate?
Comedy needs taboo subjects and in today's culture they are race and racial epithets, and any politically incorrect rant that come from a person who has permission to speak on the subject.
A comedian has to be likable and therefore is always diplomatic. A good comedy routine is full of disclaimers both overt and hidden. Your audience must hold generally the same perspective, which is why political humor is very difficult unless you have attracted your audience based on your politics like Jon Stewart, and Dennis Miller.
Obama is a difficult subject for comedy. I'm trying to analyze that, but I only have a few words left. Anyone?
Nov '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
You could have saved yourself some money by tuning in Comedy Central any late night and watching the stand-ups. I watched over a period of several months and can't recall a single act that didn't bear most of the traits Pat mentions. It's funny that one of the first great comics who came to mind for us early posters was Bill Cosby. I still laugh at his bits, and just so you know there is some hope, my son (part of the only father-son team on Ricochet) was obsessed with Cosby's stand-up routines as a teenager.
Edited on Dec 5, 2010 at 11:41amSep '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
Yes, and this along the same lines as my thinking. The clapter itself isn't really supposed to be funny but to make the comedian likable, nonthreatening and sympathetic, so the comedian can get into the taboo areas comfortably.
Sep '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
I recently saw Dennis Miller on HBO doing standup. It was very good, it was topical with a lot of good jokes. Comedy is an underused device by conservatives.
The funniest movie I've seen in years is Team America. I also think South Park is best at exposing the liberal sacred cows.
Jul '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
Franco, Obama is the easiest subject for comedy, far more ripe than a W or a Reagan. (Clinton's Lewinsky put him in a class all his own.) He is so brittle and so full of himself that a President Clouseau ambiance hangs over every press event.
The problem is, as with WikiLeaks, there are too many tragedies just pouring out of the regime's tone deafness. Has anyone done an article yet on what two years of Obamanomics has done to the black economy? The black unemployment rate? The black crime rate?
Jul '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
Ken Owsley: ...
I agree with Sisyphus: Cosby set the bar. There's not a joke in there you can't repeat in polite company. Such as: "I've been hit in the...you better not touch certain areas of the body while on the football field!" · Dec 5 at 9:21am
Excellent example!!! Cosby makes the lines funnier with exaggerated avoidance of the profane, and those brilliant voice effects with microphone. He owned me at 5 when I learned the story of Noah from one of his albums.
Edited on Dec 5, 2010 at 11:08amAug '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
Sisyphus:
Excellent example!!! Cosby makes the lines funnier with exaggerated avoidance of the profane, and those brilliant voice effects with microphone.
That reminds me of the difference between what I was told about old movies growing up, and the reality.
People told me that old movies couldn't be provocative because they were always censoring themselves. But then I actually watched some. They are plenty provocative, plenty racy -- I was surprised. And they were clever and funny, too, because of the self-imposed boundaries.
Without boundaries, there is nothing to push against, nothing to play with. And then salaciousness becomes merely gross and not funny, or even arousing.
Jul '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
Sisyphus:
Obama is the easiest subject for comedy, far more ripe than a W or a Reagan. (Clinton's Lewinsky put him in a class all his own.) He is so brittle and so full of himself that a President Clouseau ambiance hangs over every press event.
I'll get this started by Stealing from Mort Sahl.
Obama is the kind of guy, who if he saw you drowning 30 feet from shore, he'd throw you a life ring on 20 feet of rope.
Then Robert Gibbs would stand in front of the gathered press and let everyone know, "The President has met you MORE than Halfway."
.
Jul '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
So, Pat, now you would deny me the right to shout "Poop!" in a crowded theater?
Oct '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
OK, here's how old I am. In December 1969, I recall hearing one of Bob Hope's writers (I have forgotten his name) decrying the death of the belly laugh gag in favour of ironic, snide, and snarky humour. (This was in the living room of Jerry Livingston's house in Beverly Hills, if you'll excuse my dropping a name.)
We have lost a lot, and there are large areas of potentially side-splitting material where comics fear to tread due to disapprobation by the nice police or having their heads severed by the barbarians.
Still, there's some genuinely funny stuff being done, of which South Park is an often uncouth examplar.
I didn't really understand the whole "F-bomb" thing until I read Tom Wolfe's I Am Charlotte Simmons, in which he has a lengthy disquisition on the "F patois", and how many parts of speech and meanings that word can assume among the functionally illiterate university population.
I used to be a great offender with "you know". Maybe abusers of the F-bomb will learn to limit its use with a buzzer that alerts them. There's an app for that!
Jul '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
Excellent choice.
Maybe He should take two and call Us in the morning: Steven Wright.
Edited on Dec 5, 2010 at 4:13pmMay '10
Re: Send in the Clowns...Please!
I thought of Cosby as well. Has he completely disappeared? Comedy seems like something that could be done in some form or another well into one's old age. Someone give that man another TV show!
There are a number of young comedians who are good at considerate humor, but most of them lapse into crude and mean jokes at least some of the time. Demetri Martin is an example.
Chris Rock had the best stand-up routine I ever heard about race. There's lots of swearing and crude humor, but he cuts through the PC nonsense to get people thinking deeply, like Carlin and others used to do.