I never thought for a second that you were trying to. I'm not wamdue. I was just curious as to why you didn't appear to like him.
Fair enough. I can see how he may come across that way. I do still, however, recommend that you watch his "Live and Laughing" DVD. I don't think clips really do it justice.
Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist puts me in hysterical tears Brian Regan - Okay, he's funny and clever, but he's so spastic that he wears me out. Small doses are great. Jim Gaffigan - Hoooot Pockets!!! But yeah, Bill Cosby is the greatest. The best humor to my mind is universal and inoffensive. Cosby could talk about his 3-year-old and render you incapacitated due to lack of oxygen. As for Robin Williams, I find him hard to take. He seems to always be a character. Is there a real person behind the celebrity comedian? Loved him as Mork, though. I feel the same way about Jim Carrey (but he doesn't do standup, does he?). Both of them seem to be always performing, even in situations that don't require a performance.
0. Do you like standup? Yes. 1. Do you prefer clean or blue comedians? As long as it's funny, could care less. 2. Do you prefer Traditional vs Alternative Comedians? Again, as long as it's funny, doesn't bother me. A recent "comedy" special with Robin Williams and Whoopie Goldberg telling bad Bush bashign jokes, had me turning hte channel in disgust. I've had enough of the jokes, and these weren't funny. I don't need some comedians political views on Bush -- I want the funny. Whoopie failed to bring the funny. 3. What kind of comedy do you like? AGain, just has to be funny. Demetri Martin ... if it wasnt' for the late Mitch Hedberg, Martin would have nothing. Martin's style, timing, jokes, inflections ... all Hedberg. I was shocked at what a rip it was when I first saw Martin. Anyway, some of my favorite comedians. Mitch Hedberg: (couldn't find his Comedy Central special, where he was at his best) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUzQYiJpKkA The Amazing Johnathan: Long link name, shortened Robert Schimmel: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDaYVy8qUT0 Norm MacDonald: Norm on "Conan O'Brian", messing up "Melrose Place" girl's guest appearance Stand up Weekend Update (from SNL) Chris rock: (back when he used to be funny and wasn't so far into black-specific comedy with every other word a curse word): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06K82xsG6vE (not exactly his best, but a timely in-the-news satire rip) Ben Bailey: (I know, you've probably not heard of him unless you watch "Cash Cab", but he's very funny in stand up) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WT6tB6U_uc (sadly I could find no video on YouTube of him doing my favorite part of his jokes -- the applying for a job one)
Good call on Amazing Johnathon. Love his stuff. Ben Bailey is pretty funny, too. I don't really care about clean or dirty, as long as it's funny and not just for shock value. Some of my faves... Steven Wright Mitch Hedberg George Carlin Jeff Dunham Richard Jeni Rich Shydner Lewis Black Steve Martin
Thanks for this thread, I've been meaning to check out more stand-up comedy but I'm not really familiar with anyone performing in the past 10 years or so. You've given me some names to look up. My favorite of all time is Carlin- I think the man was truly a genius. He could say the most god-damned ridiculous things and you'd find yourself nodding your head in agreement. At his best, he really challenged you to examine your preconceptions.
COASTER!!!! Where you been?!?! And I don't know how I forgot Stephen Wright. Another source of oxygen depravation right there.
Cosby.-Himself. It is to die. As funny now as then. Newhart.-Shrieking hysterics describes my reaction the first time I heard The Button-down Mind. Pryor. -Daring and foul but he made you think while you laughed. Andy Griffith. If you've never seen his stand-up, he was so funny I would cry from laughter. Ron White owes him a lot. Burns and Allen. -Created the myth of the Dumb Blonde all by themselves. In their heyday they could tear an audience apart. Eddie Izzard.-Dressed To Kill is one of the smartest, funniest, most quotable shows I've ever seen. "Do you have a flag?" Robin Williams.-While he's done memorable routines, he appeared on the first Young Comedian's Special and didn't just steal the show-he sealed a life-long career of success for himself. 15 minutes that I can watch over and over. Stephen Wright.- If you've seen him you know what the appeal is. If you haven't, take an IQ test first. Anyone under 125 need not bother-you just won't get it. David Brenner.-He did a show years ago when cable was young about his childhood in Philly. 30 years later I can recite joke after joke. It was that good. The Amazing Jonathan. This guy has one of the strangest worldviews without overreaching into Tom Green/Carrot Top unfunniness. Sam Kinison-His approach was brash but he could take the smallest thing and turn it into the biggest laugh. After that, Carlin, Rickles, Hackett and (early) Chris Rock. Murphy, I guess. Never understood what you were s'posed to laugh at with Jeni, Martin, Cook, Black, Lewis et al. Interesting, but not very funny. (In Martin's case-out right stupid. He's a much better actor.) ed.-Special mention-Carlos Mencia is rarely funny on his show, but I saw him do 30 minutes on the Comedy Grind one night and literally fell off the couch. It was his take on cannibalism by ethnicity and the LA Riots that did me in.
In order of preference: Richard Pryor Eddie Murphy Billy Connolly Alan Carr Chris Rock Omid Djalili (saw him perform live a few years ago)
I don't know about that, he just showed up at the comedy club in Tulsa unannounced and it was all new material, after he was done I thought they would have to call an ambulance for me my side hurt so much from laughing. Bill Cosby's himself is a classic, and his old stuff is pretty funny too (buck/buck, chicken heart, tonsils,go carts). Carlin was very funny too, but he started to get on his soap box too much near the end. But i guess, i like john pinette, all the blue collar guys, Jeff Dunham, several others. I find most comedians have material i like, but usually i don't like all of it. Dane Cook is one of the guys, i like a lot of his material, but i find a lot of it unfunny.
I saw Craig Ferguson perform live a year ago and he was really good. He was a lot of fun, gave a lot of time and he was very warm and friendly with the crowd.
My favorite comedians are John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, which obviously weren't/aren't stand-up comedians. Belushi was an amazing physical comedian (talk about a guy who put his whole body into it--his Joe Cocker impersonation, Bluto Blutarsky and Samurai Futaba being great examples--and it was always a joy to see him doing backflips) and Aykroyd gives the most amazingly long-winded speeches (he has Asperger's Syndrome) and loves absurdist stuff (like sticking fish in blenders, Coneheads, etc... He was the straight man of '70s SNL with that amazing voice). Of course, they peaked with Animal House, The Blues Brothers and Ghostbusters. Too bad John didn't live long enough to play Venkman and a shame that Dan didn't get to play D-Day because of SNL commitments. Both characters were conceived with them in mind. As for stand-up... Probably going to have to give this one to Robin Williams for the sheer number of crazy voices he can do. I love his funny voices. I'm more familiar with his Mork, Popeye, Genie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Flubber, Good Morning, Vietnam and various other movie/television work, though. I have heard some him do a lot of funny voice comedy in various interviews and clips, though. Popeye is my favorite voice of his. It's brilliant. And well, points to Desi and Lucy for their contributions to situation comedy. Desi's angry Spanish rants (usually the oft repeated "¡Mira que tiene cosa la mujer esta!"), mangling the English language (especially with Lucy repeating what he says--"physiachiatrist", "dunt", "lougical splanation", etc...), the insane laugh, the bulging eyes and the straight man to Lucy's zany antics never fails to work for me. And of course, Lucy has the iconic airhead housewife persona that she created. The show is quite a bit funnier if you understand Desi's Spanish, though. For as crazy as the antics Lucy did were on the show(s), Desi was the backbone (and was truly the mastermind behind the scenes creatively and with production). Having him there to give reactions to her actions was the main thing her later shows were missing (sadly). A lot of people don't know this, but the Ricky/Lucy personae were the exact opposite of the real Desi/Lucy. Desi was the laid-back, fun-loving, doting father and Lucy was the strict, career-minded authoritarian (apparently, a bit verbally/physically abusive). Desi, Jr. and Lucie tended towards their father. Unfortunately, both were smokers, drinkers and had affairs; though, Desi was a serial womanizer, as was his father, and it was what ultimately ended their relationship. At the end of their lives they both stated that they were the loves of each other's lives, though. In the pool footage with their grandson, you'd never know they were divorced and remarried, because they blatantly don't act like it. It's the same zany/straight-man duo dynamic with Belushi and Aykroyd that works so well. Belushi did all the insane things, but it was twice as funny with Aykroyd as the straight-man backbone. The wild man (though he had a very sweet, empathetic side which made him endearing) and the monotone factoid-spouter. Epic duo. John definitely wished he had gotten a chance at dramatic acting. That was his dream. I'll always remember John Belushi's "Live fast, die young and live a good-looking corpse" SNL sketch where it shows him as an old man dancing on the graves of all his fellow SNL comedians. Ironic because he was the first victim of the SNL curse. That is a sketch that has only become so poignant as it is after the fact. But yeah, I'm not really into stand-up. I do like Robin Williams and Bill Cosby, though. The Richard Pryor-style offensive shock stuff is so awful to me. Yuck. I had a friend who loved Eddie Izzard and The Blue Collar Comedy Tour. I watched quite a bit of both on her DVDs. Not my thing, but it was occasionally quite funny. Speaking of Desi and Lucy, Desi's '76 appearance on SNL (with Desi, Jr. in tow to impersonate him with Gilda Radner as Lucy and to help with the conga drums) was pretty great. His recitation of Jabberwocky (or rather "Habberwocky"... "Galumphed?" "This is English?") and storming off with a rant about the English language is epic. I still wish they could get Dan Aykroyd back (with his pompous monotone) to do that promised Canterbury Tales sequel with Charo. LOL. The other highlight of that episode is the '70s SNL cast doing a conga line through the audience with old Desi not having missed a beat decades later. Though at only 59, he was sadly looking like he was in his 70s. Apparently, the SNL people were scared for him because of how much energy he was putting in with how he looked, but there he was banging away on his drum with his hair flying and undoing his tie. The smoking really destroyed his health (Lucy had the same fate). And of course, there was Desi sticking cigars in John Belushi's ears and nostrils (think Bluto with the pencils in his nose). The episode also played with how Desi could never get any roles because of his thick accent, despite the fact that he was the head of Desilu (though he sold it to Lucy because of overwork and alcoholism--you can see him age dramatically between 1951 and 1960... Though, Lucy was never into the production side of Desilu--that was all Desi) with a whole slew of shows back in the day (which would include Star Trek). But yeah, I'm still working my way through the SNL DVDs. I have the first two seasons. I end up largely watching John, Dan and Laraine (easily the most consistent). John was easily the most talented and his comedy relied entirely on his physical presence. Gilda has her moments of good and bad based on material. Dan got to write his own material (and a lot of John's) and it showed with the quality that he gave himself and his best friend. Jane got a lot of horrible material (granted, she was originally saddled with Chevy). Chevy is an unbearable, arrogant, egotistical ass. I like Bill Murray and he ended up being the third in the boys club with John and Dan. Garret might as well not have been there. The Blues Brothers is my favorite thing to come out of SNL. John and Dan are genuinely one of my favorite musical acts. They were great! And hey, they had some pretty big legends behind them like Donald "Duck" Dunn and Steve "the Colonel" Cropper. Cropper wrote Dock Of The Bay, for crying out loud!
Oh god the original not ready for prime time players where hilarious. I recently watched some clips. Dont forget to "save the liver"
Superlative post, NileQT87! Agree with a lot of what you said. Ghostbusters would have been a different movie, but at least we got Bill Murray - not too shabby there. I'll never forget Belushi & Akroyd's final movie together, a small experiment, not particularly well-received - but I loved it and saw it repeatedly - called Neighbors, in which Dan played the wild card and Belushi, the buttoned down straight man. "Admit it! You psychically willed my wife to spontaneously combust!" "Alright I did it!" Dan Akroyd is a national treasure in at least two countries. Some excellent insights in your post. Very interesting reading!