Comedy

version

Well-known member
A 'serious' thread that doesn't consist of me pretending that luka and yyaldrin are fans of incredibly offensive comedians might be a better avenue for this.

comedians are mostly a bunch of misogynistic racists and it's better to stay away from them.

an entire generation of kids has been turned into fascists by nihilistic shit humor from programs like south park or comedians like louis c.k.

But not only that, take someone like Dylan Moran. Take the self presentation, untucked shirt, jeans, brown shoes, just an ordinary bloke, a representative of normal people like you. Someone you might meet in the pub enjoying a normal lager and the comedy itself is lowest common denominator pub banter. Fat people, they're just lazy aren't they

The tyranny of the 'average bloke'. The tyranny of 'common sense'

it's just that the easiest way to make a crowd laugh is to mock other people. so naturally most comedians engage in that kind of stuff, it's the quickest way to success. i'm not saying there are no good comedians though. but i don't think it's easy for them to get big platforms. i prefer anyway to laugh about situations around me.
 

version

Well-known member
The comment about the average bloke and common sense interests me as I instinctively think that they have to be that way for people to engage with and relate to them but then you look at someone like Emo Philips or Mitch Hedberg and they don't fit into that template at all. They're probably the kind of people the average bloke comedian would be pointing and laughing at yet plenty of people loved them.
 

version

Well-known member
The Rogan thing of "we're comics though, when you're a comic you know certain things" someone said in another thread is definitely something that irritates me. Seinfeld says the same thing, elevates it to the level of some esoteric practice that you're only privy to if you're part of the club despite his whole act being that he's just an average guy struggling with coffee machines, slippers and airline food.
 

version

Well-known member
The blurring of the right wing 'free speech' stuff with stand up is grim too; a way for people to dress pretty unpleasant politics up as something righteous. I remember seeing a clip of "Count Dankula" doing a show before he joined UKIP and it was just dire, some angry bloke saying angry things with people doing really forced, over the top laughter because it was more about proving a point and sticking it to people than making anyone laugh.
 

version

Well-known member
I remember thinking some of it was funny at the time but I was around twelve when it was on and wasn't really mature enough to pick up on the problems with it.
 

version

Well-known member
I think the reason comedy can lend itself to nastiness is because it's about failure. Every joke seems to be based on some sort of misunderstanding or subversion or failure on the part of the person telling it, the person listening to it or the person involved in it.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Comedy has always had a cruel, misanthropic element. Whether it's Swift, Flaubert, Voltaire or Shakespeare. Nabokov thought Don Quixote was a very cruel book - and his own books are cruel - Lolita, for example, a very funny book in its own way.

I suppose the sense of self righteousness comedians feel is cousin to the role of the Fool in Shakespeare and elsewhere. The Fool has license to say things the nobles can't say, the price of which is they're never taken seriously. Which also helps explain the endless desperation you find in comedians to be taken seriously. They have to plead their case as serious artists because people instinctively mark down jokes as a lower form of art, a clever trick at best.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Will Self had an article in the observer or guardian the other day about trump and Bojo being "comedy" leaders. That's where I can see what Luka means about lowest common denominator standups.
 

version

Well-known member
One thing I can't stand is when you get a comedian who does that thing of telling a joke then launching into some breathless and self-consciously nonchalant point about society. They always say it really quickly as though they're kind of embarrassed whilst clearly under the impression that they've just said something very profound. There's always the sip of the drink afterward too.
 

luka

Well-known member
As you get older like me and luka you realise life ain't funny there's nothing to smile about its just a fast train to the grave
 

luka

Well-known member
Danny and Leo had started a when you're old like Luka skit so I was just playing along
 
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