Stand up comedy

[drnkirishone]

Seemed like we had a fair amount of discussion about Stand up comedy. Seems like a good thing to have a separate topic for. Everyone can use a good laugh now a days.

Craig Ferguson has a few specials between Netflix and Hulu

iliza shlesinger is funny

jim jefferies is pretty good if you like crude and rude

[JJFIVEOH]

If you're a subscriber of Spotify, there is a TON of stand up on there. Many people don't know that. 

[ubkev]

I have always been big into Stand Up comedy. Basically, if there's a special on, I'm going to watch it. If I like it, I'll find more stuff from that person. I'm very much into angry comics who rant about ridiculous things. But I was also way into the def jam scene of black comics.

Eddie Izzard is a tremendously odd bird! He's very hit and miss, but when he hits, it's awesome. British comedy is truly a gem. And The Dice man will always hold a special place in my book,as the raunchiest mother who ever lived.

[qwksndmonster]

Hannibal Buress and Demetri Martin are my favorites.

[JJFIVEOH]

I have always been big into Stand Up comedy. Basically, if there's a special on, I'm going to watch it. If I like it, I'll find more stuff from that person. I'm very much into angry comics who rant about ridiculous things. But I was also way into the def jam scene of black comics.

Eddie Izzard is a tremendously odd bird! He's very hit and miss, but when he hits, it's awesome. British comedy is truly a gem. And The Dice man will always hold a special place in my book,as the raunchiest mother ###### who ever lived.

You'd love Doug Stanhope.

 

I watched Dice's stand up from a couple of years ago (in Chicago?) It was his first gig in years and you could tell off the bat he was a little nervous. But after about 10 minutes the old Dice started kicking in like it was natural, like he never missed a beat.

 

To me, it's all about the delivery and the approach. Some comedians try way too hard, and some make it into an act. I don't want an act, I want the real person. In most cases it's very obvious who is a natural, and who isn't. It's one reason I like Madigan. She makes it look so laid back and she doesn't have to have a shtick. Ron White, Stanhope, Robin Williams...... All the same way. It was all natural, no act.

 

I went to see Lisa Lampenelli and her act is hilarious! Once. After that it's boring and repetitive. She's an act, she's not a comedian.

Edited December 9, 2016 by JJFIVEOH

[ubkev]

I do love Doug Stanhope. I'm not sure If it's his comedy or how much of a train wreck of a human being he is. He's pretty great.

 

Oh and Bill Hicks! That guy was awesome!

[drnkirishone]

i did go to see ralphie may a few years back. he was so damned high...... still funny but his pauses always went 5 seconds longer and made it creep into awkward. it kind of made it better

[sabills]

Man, I used to watch a TON of stand-up. Pretty much every Friday night Comedy Central played standup for about 8 hours straight, and hanging out with friends we'd put that on and not change the channel. We might be doing other stuff at the same time, but there was always standup on in the background. I haven't been as into it the last 10 years or so, but I do still love it. I've gotta get to Helium some more. Netflix makes it so easy to watch standup, but I have to, like, think about it, and choose one.

 

The last stand up I sat down and watched was John Mulaney. He's the guy who wrote all the Stefon stuff on SNL. If you like story-based stand up give him a shot. 

Edited December 9, 2016 by sabills

[SwampD]

I've been digging Sebastian Maniscalco lately.

[Stoner]

I've been digging Sebastian Maniscalco lately.

That's comedy gold. You can tell he's a craftsman.

 

Is Jim Gaffigan the Hot Pocket dude any good? I've seen a few bits of his. Maybe a one-trick pony?

 

Who's our resident standup comedian here?

 

The following guy's obscure, but he had a viral video ("Gotta get the milk and bread") and a lot of people found his comedy. Vic DiBitetto.

 

[Drunkard]

I'm a huge stand up comedy fan as well. From the classics like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Bill Hicks to the stuff coming out today. My current favorites are Dave Attell, Louis CK, Bill Burr, Patton Oswalt, Bill Maher, and Jim Norton although I like a ton of other ones as well (Doug Stanhope, Jim Gaffigan, Kathleen Madigan, Louis Black, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford, Joe Rogan, Sarah Silverman, Eugene Merman and Greg Giraldo despite him being 10 toes up or cremated or whatever).

That's comedy gold. You can tell he's a craftsman.

 

Is Jim Gaffigan the Hot Pocket dude any good? I've seen a few bits of his. Maybe a one-trick pony?

 

Who's our resident standup comedian here?

 

The following guy's obscure, but he had a viral video ("Gotta get the milk and bread") and a lot of people found his comedy. Vic DiBitetto.

 

 

Jim Gaffigan is great. Kind of a clean act but it's usually very funny. He has 3 or 4 specials on Netflix and a new show on TV land that's been going on for a couple seasons. Mostly food jokes and his main schtick is raising his voice and talking like a condescending woman from the audience. Good stuff for sure.

[Lanny]

Couple of comics i've been into recently are John Mulaney and Bert Kreischer. Kreischer has a new special on Showtime. 

[MattPie]

[sabills]

Couple of comics i've been into recently are John Mulaney and Bert Kreischer. Kreischer has a new special on Showtime. 

Burt Kreischer: The Machine. Wait until you have 15 minutes, sit down, and watch this thing. Its amazing:

 

[pastajoe]

I grew up during the Johnny Carson show era, so many of my favorites are from that era; Rodney Dangerfield, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers, Buddy Hackett, and Don Rickles.

 

Some of the more contemporary, living and dead are: Mitch Hedberg, Greg Giraldo, Louis CK, George Lopez, Louis Black, the Roastmaster General Jeffrey Ross, and even Jackie Martling.  And if you remember the old Carvel commericals, listen to Patton Oswalt's routine about Tom Carvel.

[darksabre]

Burt Kreischer: The Machine. Wait until you have 15 minutes, sit down, and watch this thing. Its amazing:

 

Josie sent this to me a few weeks back and it's AMAZING. What a character. 

[Stoner]

What's interesting about this board is how recommendations tend to be spot on across several subject areas. It's like we tend to share some common genetic material. The Knox lineage maybe. Except for politics. Not sure what's going on there.

[darksabre]

I mentioned Chris Titus and his TV show from the early 2000's in the other thread. Turns out a lot of episodes are on YouTube. Here's a great one:

Bear in mind that a lot of the stuff he talks about is directly related to his real life. He's very, very candid about the traumas he's suffered and the things that built his personality. There's nothing contrived or superficial about Chris Titus' humor, which I really appreciate. 

If you want to read a man's life story that can only end in either tragedy or being a comedian, read Chris' on wikipedia:

 

 

Titus was born in Castro Valley, California, to Ken and Juanita C. (née Holmes) Titus. His parents divorced when he was a young child, and he was raised largely by his father, Ken, who had several relationships during his upbringing that provide comedic material for his routines. His mother suffered from manic-depression, schizophrenia as well as alcoholism and is also source material for his dialogues. She spent time in and out of mental hospitals. At the age of four, he was taken away from his father and given to his grandparents on his mother's side. His father planned to kidnap him back and inadvertently told a man about his plans who turned out to be a local district attorney. Rather than have him arrested, the attorney gave him legal tactics he could use to get his son back which he used and eventually regained custody of Christopher. When Christopher was 12, he ran away from his father to live with his mother, during which he lived in her garage, but he shortly moved back with his father.[2]

 

According to Titus in Norman Rockwell is Bleeding, Juanita was acquitted of murder in 1986 after killing her second husband who beat her when he came home to find that she wasn't done cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Eight years later, Juanita committed suicide after marrying another abusive man and being sent to court-ordered therapy for hurling a Duraflame log through the window of a Missouri sheriff's office. This resulted in Titus having a nervous breakdown on his flight a week after her funeral. His father, Ken Titus, died in 2001 of cardiac arrest. Chris Titus dedicated his entire Norman Rockwell is Bleeding special and an episode of his show Titus ("The Pendulum," where Christopher is in a coma following a racecar crash and Ken [played by Stacy Keach] narrated the episode, "Christopher's Neutral Space") to his late father.[citation needed] Titus would claim that although his father "never missed a beer in his life, or a joint, or a party, or a chance to get laid," he also "never missed a day of work, or a house payment, or a car payment. I never went hungry although he did a couple times so I wouldn't".

 

Christopher Titus had problems with alcohol and drugs during adolescence until one day, while intoxicated, he fell into a bonfire at a beach party. In the morning, his friends took him to the hospital, where the doctor told him he would have died if he had inhaled the deadly hot smoke inside of the bonfire. He has called this moment his "epiphany" and began to turn his life around and get into comedy.[3]

Edited December 9, 2016 by d4rksabre

[rakish]

snip

 

Who's our resident standup comedian here?

 

snip

 

I did open mic in the 90's but I'm not... what's the word? ... good.

 

The local open mic is for musicians, which isn't worth doing, but this thread has made me find that Richmond, only an hour away, has a real open mic community.  So I'm thinking about doing it again. It sucks a lot of time out of my day, it's worse than having a job.

[sabills]

I did open mic in the 90's but I'm not... what's the word? ... good.

 

The local open mic is for musicians, which isn't worth doing, but this thread has made me find that Richmond, only an hour away, has a real open mic community.  So I'm thinking about doing it again. It sucks a lot of time out of my day, it's worse than having a job.

I've always admired stand-up comics. I don't think there's really anything like it when it comes to being exposed to an audience. You get up there, you're funny or your not. Or you are and they still don't laugh. Takes more guts than I probably have.

 

That being said, I'd like to try it someday. I'm not really sure I'd actually be funny, but, you know, whatever.

[Iron Crotch]

I'm a huge stand up comedy fan as well. From the classics like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Bill Hicks to the stuff coming out today. My current favorites are Dave Attell, Louis CK, Bill Burr, Patton Oswalt, Bill Maher, and Jim Norton although I like a ton of other ones as well (Doug Stanhope, Jim Gaffigan, Kathleen Madigan, Louis Black, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford, Joe Rogan, Sarah Silverman, Eugene Merman and Greg Giraldo despite him being 10 toes up or cremated or whatever).

 

Jim Gaffigan is great. Kind of a clean act but it's usually very funny. He has 3 or 4 specials on Netflix and a new show on TV land that's been going on for a couple seasons. Mostly food jokes and his main schtick is raising his voice and talking like a condescending woman from the audience. Good stuff for sure.

 

I've seen most of those you mentioned live at one time or another.  Probably the best live comedy I've seen of late is TJ Miller (he is all over TV and movies these days). The way he works the room in his comedy act is genius.

[rakish]

I've always admired stand-up comics. I don't think there's really anything like it when it comes to being exposed to an audience. You get up there, you're funny or your not. Or you are and they still don't laugh. Takes more guts than I probably have.

 

That being said, I'd like to try it someday. I'm not really sure I'd actually be funny, but, you know, whatever.

 

There's nothing I would recommend more.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Who's our resident standup comedian here?

This guy ...

 

http://forums.sabrespace.com/user/96-gregkash/

[josie]

I've always admired stand-up comics. I don't think there's really anything like it when it comes to being exposed to an audience. You get up there, you're funny or your not. Or you are and they still don't laugh. Takes more guts than I probably have.

 

That being said, I'd like to try it someday. I'm not really sure I'd actually be funny, but, you know, whatever.

I'd watch you.

 

I have a really complicated relationship with stand up. I generally avoid live stand up like it's the plague. 

 

I've seen a couple decent sets, but more often than not, it turns into "audience participation" and I get roasted. I hate it. Getting blasted multiple times as "gotta suck to be the ugly third wheel when you work with her" at a work outing in front of my boss/everyone (I was sitting with my friends, a couple, and guy was just on and on about my attractive coworker) by a sweaty schlub on cocaine was kind of the last straw. Haven't gone out for it since. I'm apparently really great for "you must have a great personality, eh?" kinda jokes. Has happened a few different times. I must have a target on my head. Like, I get it, I'm a 5 on your scale, f*** off. I don't take well to teasing. 

 

Screw that kind of humor. It's not even smart. In a similar vein- I can't stand that Jeselnik guy. It's not that I am offended by him- it's that he's Scorch the Earth predictable. Mention a topic, I know exactly what horrible/shocking thing he has for the punch line. Not creative, gets boring fast. 

 

Izzard, Craig Ferguson, some classic Robin Williams, some Hedburg once in a while, a little Nick Offerman, George Carlin, old school Eddie Murphy- some good stuff. 

 

Trying to find a female comedian I like. I hate that I don't have one. Always similar material about being fat, high school reunions, lady bits. I agree with the post upthread about Lampanelli being a great one time act.

Does Kristen Schall count? Her and Kurt Braunohler are great together. 

[JJFIVEOH]

Check out Kathleen Madigan.