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The Best of Standup Comedy?

strummer

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Marc Wilmore died from covid. Always thought he was funny. Great on In Living Color.

Prolific Simpsons writer.

RIP
 

King Kamala

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Horrible fact of the matter from almost a decade in comedy is that comedy attracts a lot of little Trumps and their sycophants
 

Baby Shoes

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Horrible fact of the matter from almost a decade in comedy is that comedy attracts a lot of little Trumps and their sycophants
You probably know better than anyone @King Kamala but anyone I know that had an interest in being a comic in real life was often pretty problematic in one way or another. That’s why whenever people asked me if I ever considered doing stand up, I almost took it offensively at times...

I think it is something about the kind of attention that comes from standup, which is what draws certain people to it. The command for power in solo performance. On top of looking back at some of the popular 90s and 2000s acts, it was focused on shock humor and hate speech for jokes. And sadly, as we saw with stuff from a Dave Chappelle or a Sarah Silverman, they’d make jokes about race or religion or gender or whatever that then got taken out of context and there were people laughing at the wrong aspects of the jokes.
 

King Kamala

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I know plenty of emotionally sensitive and emphatic comics. But also they're extremely self conscious and easy to push into groupthink. It's almost like being a cop. Very hard to speak out and go against one of your own. It's why TJ Miller and Louis CK still find acceptance in comedy world even when they've been shunned from the entertainment world at large. And hell, Jeremy Piven became a stand up after he got #MeToo'd out of TV & Movies.

Good thread from a former comic who incurred the wrath of the LoS crew
 

treble

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I listened to a lot of Opie & Anthony about 12-13 years ago. Looking back, I can see some of the beginnings of what Cumia is now. I laughed it off as jokes then, but I'm sure if I went back and listened it would be pretty obvious it was how he really felt. He was always someone who used "free speech" to hide behind being a bigoted asshole, but he really seemed to lose it when Obama was first elected.

I did get a chuckle out of the mole saying they were an Opie fan who was trying to protect his legacy from Anthony's racism, though.
 

Epic Springs

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One of my best friends from when I was a teenager into my late 20s was a giant O&A fan. He was the type of person who had no social awareness. He would often make inappropriate and insensitive comments towards people and situations and would always make scenes out in public just to get lulz. He always thought he was the smartest person in the room and actively tried to bring down those around him. He would show us O&A clips which we also laughed off as jokes back then but it's pretty clear that's where he crafted his personality from. Someone who hides behind "free speech" and enjoys bringing people down to his level just to get a reaction. We eventually smartened up and dropped him years ago. He's active on Twitter (he follows me while I don't follow him) and judging from the few tweets I've seen of his, not much has changed. Sad.
 

King Kamala

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148597498_10224890784484056_3572263513754080187_n.jpg
 

Brocklock

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I thought about going into comedy around a decade ago (And there's an embarrassing thread I started on here from that time to prove it), but even back then I could feel the ickyness festering throughout the scene. In hindsight I'm so glad I didn't try since my irl personality is completely wrong for stand up comedy as my mental problems have really flared up since and I don't know what I would've done if I would've seen some of the more racist, sexist, and homophobic behind the scenes stuff. I'm definitely too "emotional and sensitive" to make it in the comedy scene and after seeing some of the League Of Skanks garbage, I am so happy and proud of that.
 
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King Kamala

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I would like to say the LoS (and LoS like) subcorner of comedy is very, very small and is almost completely avoidable once you get past the open mic level. But it is extremely hard to get past that level so I understand most left wing (let alone women or BIPOC) people's trepidation towards dipping their toe in.
 

AA484

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One of my best friends from when I was a teenager into my late 20s was a giant O&A fan. He was the type of person who had no social awareness. He would often make inappropriate and insensitive comments towards people and situations and would always make scenes out in public just to get lulz. He always thought he was the smartest person in the room and actively tried to bring down those around him. He would show us O&A clips which we also laughed off as jokes back then but it's pretty clear that's where he crafted his personality from. Someone who hides behind "free speech" and enjoys bringing people down to his level just to get a reaction. We eventually smartened up and dropped him years ago. He's active on Twitter (he follows me while I don't follow him) and judging from the few tweets I've seen of his, not much has changed. Sad.
I think a lot of people are like that in high school and maybe early college. Whether they grow out of it or let it shape their personality is another matter altogether. Hell, some of us on this board were inappropriate and insensitive 12-15 years ago and while we still aren't a bunch of softies we also grew up and matured.
 

King Kamala

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I've read TSM threads from a few years ago during quarantine that were highly problematic! The one where KOAB talks about dating a transgender woman stood out like a sore thumb. Everyone made fun of me for calling people out for being transphobic. #WokeKamala

But I also don't think people should have their lives ruined over something they said in the past (even if it's recent past) out of ignorance if they recognize they didn't know what they didn't know and show contrition & willingness to learn from their mistakes. I'm not #CancelCultureKamala.
 

King Kamala

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That being said, I literally can't think of a stand up comic in the United States that has lost dates over something they said EXCEPT for Kathy Griffin, who I highly doubt those LoS chuds were up in arms over defending.

Someone might point out Shane Gillis but he just lost his SNL gig. He's still working plenty on the road. (Which is another thing...it's disturbing how much indoor stand up comedy is STILL going on during the pandemic!)
 

Epic Springs

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I think a lot of people are like that in high school and maybe early college. Whether they grow out of it or let it shape their personality is another matter altogether. Hell, some of us on this board were inappropriate and insensitive 12-15 years ago and while we still aren't a bunch of softies we also grew up and matured.

Yeah - the problem is, he didn't grow up. I'll admit to being entertained by him in my teens and even early 20s but after all my friends changed for the better, he was the only one who stayed the same and none of us had any time for that.

Also, I DEFINATLEY had some problematic posts on the old board. Probably the one I'm most ashamed of is agreeing that racial profiling works. Jingus agreed with me.
 

King Kamala

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Update: The owner of Stand Up NY (which Seth Simons criticized for hosting a bunch of indoor comedy shows under the guise of "weddings", which are allowed by New York State) and the Compound Media chuds are putting on a comedy festival in Seth Simons' hometown in Idaho.
 

Valeyard

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Brenan Schaub is finally coming back and I have a genuine morbid curiosity of how a shitty joke of a person falls apart in front of a 25% capacity crowd.
 

Valeyard

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Is it a sign of the times or a state of the comic landscape that Tik Tok people are getting booked as headliners?
 

King Kamala

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Just want to say how disconcerting it is that Zoom comedy is still happening with IRL comedy restarting in most cities and I'm afraid it's here to stay in some small capacity.
 

King Kamala

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The producer of JFK New Faces showcase, one of the ultimate tastemakers in standup comedy, for the better part of the last two decades has resigned after being outed as a racist and possible sex creep.

You have to sickly admire that his apology was attached to a picture of himself in his aforementioned stupid looking hat.

I guess it is for the best that COVID canceled my JFL New Faces audition last year so I didn’t have to impress this jag off.
 

Valeyard

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You could do ten minutes on just personal chefs, though.
 

cobainwasmurdered

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most of the most popular standup comedians i can think of are worth billions or at least hundreds of millions anyway so fuck it.

If she isn't funny then boo her. If she's funny then I don't care. We all need something to laugh at and at least she'd be doing something wrothwhile.
 

Smartly Pretty

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She's not taking spots away from anybody who's lacking for stage time. A sold out weekend of Jeannie Buss being a hack helps Nashville Comedy Bar (or wherever, who cares) maintain an unprofitable open mic so new comics can do time and get better. It's fine.
 

King Kamala

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He's one of the last of generation of comics that kind of bridged the old timey Borscht Belt/vaudeville style with modern standup. Bob Newhart and IIRC Mort Sahl are still kicking though.

Also by almost all accounts, a tremendous piece of shit and kind of a racist. It turns out, he kind of was like Krusty's Dad IRL!
 
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