I think it was Violent Violet Menace who posted this and got me hooked to standup comedy on YouTube. Hilarious Now - years and hundreds of videos later - I feel like I've heard it all... so I turn to the JCC. What's some good standup?
Well, Richard Pryor was a true genius. I prefer early George Carlin, before he grew older and embittered. Garry Shandling was great, and I also liked Jerry Seinfeld, Steven Wright and Joel Hodgson. I grew up listening to Bill Cosby; I particularly remember my Dad, who coached track, particularly liked his routines on the High Jump and the Mile Relay. And, being somewhat old-fashioned, I still say Henny Youngman was the funniest stand-up comic of all. Yes, his jokes were old when the Earth was created, but he always got a laugh. But, my favorite stand-up comic, who's records I listened to over and over and over...
Darth Punk introduced me to this man and he is indeed brilliant. I particularly liked his Shilbottle bit. He's really a master at playing with repetition and expectation. There doesn't seem to be a lot of this show on YouTube though. Kenneth Morgan, your video doesn't work.
Unfortunately the BBC desided that giving a genuinely proessive leftwing viewpoint national attention was no longer in there best interests. I'm guessing mocking media coverage of Corbyn is not a good TV career move.
Forget all that pretentious I'm smarter and wittier than everyone else and these are my thoughts. This guy reigns supreme. This is just pure comedy.
I'm not trying to be one of those TJCCINAGAIUTB oldbies, but I remember the good old days when this post would invariably have been the Kevin Hart ostrich bit.
That is undoubtedly the best piece of comedy overall. But if you are looking for the niche of "comedy as social criticism" this clip scores a bit higher.
I was recently listening to a podcast interview where two British comedians were talking about the differences between the way comedy has evolved in the UK and US. According to the older of the two comedians, sociologically, after WW2 there was a wave of funding in the arts, with things like 150-200 seater venues, and art centres being built up and down the UK. In the 80’s Thatcher cut arts funding, which indirectly gave birth to what’s known as Alternative Comedy. Alternative Comedy came from the left, and had a very Punk ethos, but aside from its ideology the real boost it got from the funding cuts was that a lot of these venues needed filling, and were now home to these fledgling acts, and they were able to explore themes, and experiment with random ideas, with generous time slots. A luxury that American comics coming up on the US circuits never had. A noob comic in America usually had an opening slot of five to seven minutes, and had to come flying out of the gate with rapid fire jokes if they were to stand any chance of progressing to become a club headliner, and perform for 40 minutes or an hour. That mentality to some degree still prevails today, and it’s also permeated the expectations of audiences on either side of the pond.
What’s the deal with dildos? What does a dil do? The only thing I‘be ever seen dill do is pickle a cucumber.
