I don't watch to many comedians on TV anymore. It's funny (if I can even use that term) because it was TV that introduced me to stand up comedy in the first place. I was inspired by Robin Williams on Mork & Mindy, Steve Martin on Saturday Night Live and every comedian who ever appeared on the Mike Douglas or Dinah Shore Show (Johnny Carson was past my bedtime). Today I see way to many comedians go for cheap laughs or punch lines that I can see coming from a mile away. I hear the set-up and I either blurt the punch line out loud (with 90% accuracy) or I'll visualize a landing crew guiding the joke into the terminal of comedic brilliance only to see it crash and burn on the tarmac of the lowest common denominator. When I started doing stand-up and went for a cheap or easy laugh, there was always one of the old timers who would pull me aside and say, "What the hell were you doing on stage? That's beneath you. You are better than that".
My favorite comedians to watch are the ones who do topical or political humor. Some of my favorite political comedians on TV currently include Bill Maher, Jon Stewart and Lewis Black. I was listening recently to a 1968 interview with Johnny Carson on comedy. He spoke of comedians who did political humor and warned that there is a fine line between doing topical comedy and a being a social commentator. That’s when you stop being funny. At the time Mr. Carson was referring to Mort Sahl who's comedy shifted after the assassination of J.F.K. I brought the subject up to a group of friends and other names came up in the conversation like Lenny Bruce, Dick Gregory, Tommy Smothers and Janeane Garofalo. The most talked about comedian was one of my favorite comedians for years, Dennis Miller.
Whether it was his "Weekend Update" on SNL, His short lived The Dennis Miller Show, and especially Dennis Miller Live on HBO. He took ranting to an art form, and his Emmys were well deserved. In my humble opinion the secret to his success was his pragmatism. He told everybody they were full of crap. With Dennis no one was safe not even the people he liked. To me proof that he was on the right track was when I would hear conservatives say that he was too liberal and liberals say that he was too conservative. Another thing I liked about Dennis is that he valued free speech and enjoyed engaging in a dialogue even with people who disagreed with him. All successful comedians have a point of view and most comedy is based in truth (or what is believed to be true). Now I don't mean to get off on a Rant here, but what happened to you Dennis? When he started his short lived CNBC show he decided not to do any jokes at the expense of the president and chose to present a Republican point of view. He like the comedians of the 1960s were changed by the events of their times. Some comedians loose their comedic edge while others like George Carlin achieve brilliance.
Article comments
1 - Mk
If Bill Maher was ever funny (and I don't recall it), he crossed the humor/commentary line long ago.
2 - Eric Olsen
very interesting Tony, made me think. Iagree Miller became less funny and much more sanctimonious when he let his politics dictate his humor. YOu can support Bush and still know he's one of the greatest sources of humor on earth
3 - gonzo marx
some good Stuff here Tony...
/golfclap
far too often folks can cinfuse a comic with a comedian
a comic tells Jokes, the best comedians stick their fingers in the raw, festering wounds of our own behaviors, persopnally, as humans , culturally or societally and tickle our Funny Bones while doing so
comics: Henny Youngman, Rodney Dangerfield, Don Rickles
comedians: Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Richard Pryor
just as some examples of what i mean
a comedian serves a very important purpose in our western Culture, and the position almost requires he be subversive to Authority...part of his Job is to always point out that "the Emperor is naked" in a way that not only reminds us said Leader has feet of clay like the rest of us, but also to show that no one is perfect
slap them around once in a while , and you help keep the veyr dangerous "cult of personality" from popping up and making a living "deity" out of them
note, totalitarian and police states are notorious for their lack of Humor
all part of our Nation's Free Speech...how much more devastating is it to have a good comedian ripping on a political figure than any number of "serious" pundits extol the problems with dry and deadpan delivery?
it also helps to catch the cultures Attention, and drag it, kicking and screaming, into noticing problems that they would just as soon forget...
example for those old enough: which was more devastating to Nixon...the trusted Cronkite talking over a dry story, or the schizophrenic lambasting of Thompson? the public might not be able to choose...but the folks that wrote the Political columns of the day NEVER missed one of HST's screeds in Rolling Stone...
ah..far to serious...
..:::tosses half a joint into a bottle of Glenlivet and hurls it to smash against a wall:::..
in Memory of...
Bill Hicks
Sam Kinnison
Hunter S. Thompson
Lenny Bruce
and the American Original ...Will Rogers
nuff said?
Excelsior!
4 - Natalie Davis
Indeed, hail to those listed by Mr. Marx above, especially Bill Hicks, now and always my comedic hero.
5 - Bob A. Booey
Dennis Miller has always been a pretentious ass. I was not at all surprised when he became George Bush GOP cheerleader #1 and gave ponderous, sanctimonious interviews about how 9/11 and his ridiculous Hollywood kids with Hollywood names changed his life and how he might run for office someday as a Republican. I pray for the day Dennis does run for office because he'll get annihilated in a debate against someone who really studies the issues and actually knows something rather than tossing off superficial references. Plus, Dennis isn't funny with the one-liners anymore, so he wouldn't even get a laugh. "Listen here, Senator, that tax proposal's more Byzantine than a Hieronymous Wolf history of the fall of Constantinople, cha cha, alright?"
Robin Williams is not funny. He reeks of desperation, ADD and addiction masquerading as wit and energy.
Jon Stewart's very funny and smart, but he's much better doing the fake anchor thing than he was as a stand-up trying to talk about relationships and society.
George Carlin's not funny. If people weren't still on a collective contact high from the 1960s, they'd realize he had nothing funny or provocative to say about life or politics. He was a self-styled fake rebel who owes a lot to Lenny Bruce, who was not funny but was brilliant and profoundly self-destructive in his principles.
Thompson's overrated as a writer and bugs me as a somewhat untalented counterculture hack like Carlin, but I realize lots of smart people disagree with me about him.
Don't know much about Bill Hicks, but he's the comedian's comedian and everyone comic gives him credit, so he must have been good. Kinnison gets a lot of the same respect, although I never found him funny in movies.
And Richard Pryor is the best of all time. Chris Rock is the second best of all time. You all should appreciate a master at work whenever he does stand up. He's as good as anyone in a long time (since Pryor) and way better than Eddie Murphy ever was. Eddie was good on SNL and he can act decently in kids' movies, but he was a mediocre stand-up even at his peak in the early 1980s.
Seinfeld's a good stand-up, but not great. Meeting Larry David and doing that sitcom was the best thing ever for him because he wouldn't have been a superstar on his stand-up alone.
I never saw her stand-up back in the day, but most comedians seem to think Roseanne was the only hugely talented female stand-up ever before she went into TV.
That is all.
6 - gonzo marx
interesting take Bob A.
reminds me of a lil Story...
taking the bus out to Denali Park, two busses passing on the side of a mountain, pullin gtheir mirrors in cuz there was NO extra room...hurtling along at 60 or so, the Native driver tried to take our minds off imminent disaster while drinking coffee and chain smoking...
"you know that a crow has 12 feathers along the outer edge of his wing...
and the Raven has 13...
other than that, the birds are just about biologically the same..
so , when it comes down to it, the difference between a Crow and a Raven
is just a matter of a pinion"
punny, huh?
Excelsior!
7 - Natalie Davis
Ooh, punishment!
8 - Jewels
I LOVE Eddie Izzard, especially when he's wearing a dress, and eye shadow. Yesseree, funny, and hot, is he. Love Penn and Teller too, information and entertainment, double shot. Chris Rock, rocks!
9 - Gipper
I, for 1 think Dennis Miller is brilliant and brave. Who else out there is taking on the liberal elitists? All these "brilliant" comedians mentioned have never had the courage to take on the Kennedys, the Clintons (in any serious fashions) or the Gores.
Dennis is the only true cutting edge comedian out there. The rest are afraid to alienate their celebrity friends. You go, Dennis.
10 - billy
dennis miller should have his citizenship revoked. his blind parroting of bush's lies regarding the invasion of iraq, under the guise of comedy, were dubious and offensive. im glad they yanked his show. he could be funny at times, but when he started mimicing republican talking points i new his career would not last long in the world of those with cable tv.
11 - Shark
They nuked Dennis Miller's "show" on CNBC because there were hints that some night -- in a moment of extreme shame and self-loathing -- live on national TV -- he would pull out a 9mm Glock, stick it in his mouth, and spray his tiny brains all over the set.
Too bad.
Woulda made one of those great "TV Blooper" moments, eh?
12 - Natalie Davis
"I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore, cha cha!"
Social responsibility is important. If you can mix it with comedy, great. But comedy is all about the funny.
Speaking of social responsibility in stand-up, have you heard the one about this guy who goes to a talent agent and tells all about his new act?
13 - Dyeib
My favorite joke....
I was in NYC and bought a hooker. We were having a party and she says to me, she says "Dyeib, I have and idea, Let's take my pantyhose, knot it every 6 inches. I will stick it up your ass and right before you climax, I will pull it slowly out, you will experience the BEST climax of your life".
So I say okay.
Four hours later in the emergency room, the Doctor is fishing around for the panty hose with hemostats... He finally gets it and pulls it out of my ass... I came like a motherfucker!!!
Git it!
TINY WOOD SHAVINGS USED AS PACKING MATERIAL!
14 - Bob A. Booey
All the overly self-serious, outraged types like Natalie, Senator Al Barger, John Bambenek and Dave Nalle should be compelled to tell a joke here. Any kind of joke: corny, dirty, offensive, whatever.
That is all.
15 - Duane
I'm not at all outraged, but here's a joke for ya.
-------------------------
Three male labrador retrievers are at the vet sitting in the waiting room.
Black lab leans over to the red lab and says,"What are you in for?"
Red lab says, "Well, I'm a chewer. I chew up shoes, clothes, furniture you name it. The other day I chewed up a stack of papers on my master's desk, so my master brought me here to get my balls cut off. Supposed to calm me down. What about you?"
Black lab says, "I'm a digger. I dig in the trash, dig through drawers, dig in the dirty laundry, and I dig in the dirt every chance I get. I dug up my master's favorite flower bed the other day. So, I'm gonna get my balls cut off to calm me down."
Black lab leans over to the white lab and asks, "What are you here for, pal?"
White lab says, "I'm a humper. I hump the cat. I hump the neighbors, I hump the furniture. I hump everything. The other day my master was in the bathroom taking a shower. She left the door open, so I go in. She's bends down to rinse her face over the sink so I jumped on her from behind, wrapped my front legs around her, and humped the holy living shit outta her."
Red lab asks,"So you have to get your balls cut off, too?"
White lab says, "Nah, I'm in for a nail trim."
16 - Shark
Three Texas surgeons were playing golf together and discussing surgeries they had performed. One of them said, "I'm the best surgeon in Texas. A concert pianist lost 7 fingers in an accident. I reattached them, and 8 months later he perfomed a private concert for the Queen of England."
One of the others said, "That's nothing. A young man lost both arms and legs in an accident. I reattached them, and 2 years later he won a gold medal in field events at the olympics."
The third surgeon said, "You guys are amateurs. Several years ago, a cowboy -- who was high on cocaine and alcohol -- rode a horse head-on into a train traveling 80 miles an hour. All I had left to work with was a cowboy hat and a horse's ass. Now, he's President of the United States."