Jim Gaffigan's inside/outside voice and Jesus talk

In "Jim Gaffigan is more subversive than you think," Mike Blejer makes an interesting point.

Gaffigan is a subversive voice, for the reason others consider him so middle of the road: He’s able to talk to everybody, and that puts him in a position to affect more societal change than the trio of “on edge” comedians mentioned above.

Comics “on the edge” tend to have edge or fringe followings. Stanhope is fantastic, but he’s a niche performer. Cross may be offensively poignant, but he’s preaching to the choir. Same goes for Garofalo; as much as she is able to rally the left, she’s not changing any Republican minds.

Now, take Gaffigan: he’s less vitriolic than the aforementioned comics, but he’s certainly found a way to criticize people to their faces—and because of his wide appeal, he’s been able to accomplish this on a larger scale.

In the comments there, Gaffigan's inside voice is brought up by someone named Roped:

what you’re missing here is Gaffigan’s strange voice that talks back to his jokes from the perspective of a confused (possibly female) audience member. This tic makes him more subversive than any of the other comics you’ve mentioned because he is able to play with our responses by responding to this voice. Through this he goes beyond simply stating what he thinks in the way you’ve mentioned. Like, he’s not just going “I HATE OBESITY AND CRITICIZE IT” but he can display both sides of the conversation. It is wizardry.

Good point that. I've heard Gaffigan refer to it as his "inside voice." But to me, it always seemed more of an "outside voice" — him acting out the thoughts of a conservative, easily offended, female audience member.

And that's the beauty of it. It shows he's completely aware of how he's being perceived, which lets him get away with saying on-the-edge stuff. It's like a bumper that minimizes any damage. Plus, it also shows the silliness of those thin-skinned soccer mom types.

And one more thing worth mentioning on the topic: Sometimes Gaffigan is just outright subversive. Take this chunk he does on religion where he tackles the virgin birth, pearly gates, people who talk a lot about Jesus, the burning bush, etc.



I don't think the Jesus stuff is why he's so popular. To keep up his mainstream appeal, this kinda thing needs to be sandwiched between bits on bowling and Hot Pockets. But sometimes it takes some sugar (or bacon) to make a pill go down.

Drunk tweeting

Drunk dialing's never been a problem for me. Drunk tweeting on the other hand...

"I find self-indulgence on stage kind of horrifying"

Glasser’s Cameron Mesirow on why she likes to give listeners something to watch too: “I suppose the drive to do something more than just stand there and sing comes from being a bored spectator. I find self-indulgence on stage kind of horrifying."

A good attitude for any performer I think. Put on the kind of act that you'd want to watch. If you don't want to watch someone read jokes out of a notebook, then why would you ever inflict that on others?

Windex bottle as life metaphor

The problem with happiness is it only comes in limited editions.

Friday Hot Soup with DeRosa and Logan

The lineup for Friday (4/22) night's show:

Joe DeRosa
Jared Logan
Jim Tews
Brendan Fitzgibbons
Rob O'Reilly
Andy Haynes

I am hosting.

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

Let's get physical

I'm pretty bad at being phsyical onstage. Most of the time I just stand there. Some hand motions occasionally. Maybe I'll add in some more physicality to a bit after doing it for a while. But that's about it. While I don't think I'll ever be a Jim Carrey type (or really want to be), I do think it's an area where I've got plenty of room to improve. You get more mileage when you engage people's visual sense too.

It doesn't need to be an over the top, hump-the-stool thing either. Take a look at this Ted Alexandro clip.



I think of Ted as being very laid back/zen onstage and not a physical comedian at all. Yet here you can see all kinds of subtle movements that accentuate his jokes — fixing his hair and looking at his nails in the woman president joke, acting out crunches during the Buddha/Jesus joke, looking like a pigeon during the gym bit, etc. Subtle stuff yet really adds to the mix. It's a good example of how a comic can add physicality to an act without it seeming forced.

"No Room for Gerold" and "Creature Comforts"

Talking animals = yawn most of the time. But Marcus and I were talking about a couple of fun animated talking animal shorts that are great. Mostly because they're so human. He turned me on to this one...



...and I mentioned how it reminded me of this old Nick Park animation:



Love 'em both.

Friday (4/15) lineup at Hot Soup

Friday (4/15) lineup:
Barry Rothbart
Michael Che
Jermaine Fowler
Todd Womack
Matt Ruby
Special guest!?

Mark is hosting.

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

Other upcoming shows
Monday, April 18 - 8:00pm - Recess @ King's Cross
Thursday, April 21 - 8:30pm - Far Fetched @ Tantra Lounge
Friday, April 22 - 8:00pm - Hot Soup @ O'Hanlon's
Monday, April 25 - 8:00pm - Usurper! @ Colador Cafe
Tuesday, April 26 - 9:00pm - Eastville Comedy Club

Norm's blunt, childlike view of the world

Steven Wright once described his act as "a view of the world through the eyes of a child, but described in the words of an adult."

I thought of this while watching Norm Macdonald's new (terrific) standup special on Comedy Central. Norm constantly seems to be looking at the world through the eyes of a little kid and pointing out how silly it all is. But what takes it to another level in this special is the topics he's discussing: mortality, heart attacks, addiction, murder, graves, etc. His innocent-seeming approach combined with the heavy topics makes it something else to watch.

He's been hitting the press circuit lately and it's interesting to learn more about his approach. At Weekend Update, he said he was “doing a specific experiment, where I was trying to strip all cleverness from the joke and try and make it as blunt as possible. I always told everybody the perfect joke would be where the setup and punch line were identical.” Here's an example of that from his new Sports Show.

Not the best joke. But it's funny in its own way that the joke is him just saying the truth. Reminds me of one of my fave bits I've ever seen him do. It was back in the 90s during an interview and he was talking about Joe Camel:



So great. Next time Norm was on the show, Dennis Miller brought it up again and called Norm "a profane child."

Norm also talked about this blunt approach in an Onion interview.

AVC: How important is it to you to be original?

NM: Kind of all-important. I’m not original, but I strive toward it as much as possible. I tried really hard on Weekend Update to do something that I considered original, which was, I tried to cut all cleverness out of the joke. I’ve always been very averse to innuendo, especially sexual. I find it cowardly or something. Like on Will & Grace, my mother will laugh at it, then I’m like, “You know what that joke’s about, right? Like, that one guy fucked that guy in the ass.” And then she’s aghast, and I’m like, “That’s what he just said when he talked about the tunnel! So why didn’t he just say it?” It always maddens me that people can laugh at sexual innuendo, then you say what it really means, and they’re like “Ah! I can’t hear that!” So on Update, the only real original thing was trying to take away the cleverness of the punchline and make it as blunt as possible. And then I tried to make the punchline as close to the setup as I could. And I thought that was the perfect thing. If I could make the setup and the punchline identical to each other, I would create a different kind of joke.

And lastly, Bill Simmons just interviewed Norm on his podcast too. Interesting discussion in there of how Wright, Hedberg, and Rodney are three guys he thinks of as having the ideal sync between performance style and writing.

Skipjack attack

The other week, I did an hourlong set at a community college in Maryland. It was at 11am. In a cafeteria. For a, er, light crowd: 10 people in front paying attention, six more in the back playing Magic the Gathering, and another dozen people — off to the side in a different room — ignoring me and eating their lunch. I thought that was strange enough. But then, about 15 minutes in, the mascot of the school entered. In full regalia. And sat in the front row. This is him:



Yes, he is a parrot that is a pirate. Not a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder. A parrot that is ALSO a pirate. Eye patch and all. Quite a hybrid of ideas.

I asked the audience what the name of the school mascot is. They said a skipjack. I just looked that up. A skipjack is neither a parrot nor a pirate. It is a tuna.

(Look, I'm just telling you the facts. Don't ask me to make sense of any of this. Maybe it is a tuna that is dressed up like a parrot that is dressed up like a pirate? Hmm.)

I tried talking to him (e.g. "What animal does a parrot pirate have on HIS shoulder?") but he had a giant mask on and couldn't speak. He just did this weird slow-nod thing because I think that's all you can do when you're in a giant mascot head.

I then talked about how, in a way, all birds are really pirates when you think about it. They live pretty similar lifestyles, ya know?

It was really fucking strange. He sat in the front row for a half-hour – laughing? I have no idea – and then got up and walked out. As he slowly exited through the back of the room, I said goodbye and he waved back at me. It felt like the fade out of some sort of Donnie Darko/Hunter S. Thompson/Pirates of the Caribbean fever dream.

Sometimes comedy is a pretty decent replacement for psychedelics.

Dave Chappelle on Letterman in '95

Dave Chappelle on Letterman in '95...



...and a Conan panel in '02.

The challenges women face in comedy compared to other dude-heavy professions

Whitney Cummings on WTF talked about why there aren't more female comics...

Comedy is a very specific thing. It's a very aggressive, very masculine form. There's not a ton of straight female comedians that have been super successful because it's sorta like, "Hey, I'm the funniest one in the room! Everyone shut up and listen to me for an hour while I fucking tell you!" It's aggressive.

...and the "women aren't as funny as men" thing:

My theory: It's not that women aren't funny, it's that women get seen before they're ready. It takes a couple of years to get fucking good and to figure out what your point of view is. And I feel like the best managers of women just slow their women down. So [Cummings' manager] Barry [Katz], for the first three years I was doing comedy, he wouldn't let me showcase for anything. He wouldn't let me do anything. He said, "Just get good. When you kill 10 times in a row, I'll get you showcases."

Interesting take. Usually I hear women complaining about not getting opportunities because of their gender. But here's Cummings saying that gals get seen too quickly, which sounds like the opposite idea. (And can lead to negative comments from male comics when a gal does get something.)

Comedy ain't the only profession facing these issues. Gains, and Drawbacks, for Female Professors:

When the Massachusetts Institute of Technology acknowledged 12 years ago that it had discriminated against female professors in “subtle but pervasive” ways, it became a national model for addressing gender inequity...Now, an evaluation of those efforts shows substantial progress — and unintended consequences. Among other concerns, many female professors say that M.I.T.’s aggressive push to hire more women has created the sense that they are given an unfair advantage. Those who once bemoaned M.I.T.’s lag in recruiting women now worry about what one called “too much effort to recruit women.”

Back to comedy. According to a couple of writers who are ladies, part of the issue is that women focus on different things when it's time to make funny happen. Conan's Sole Female Writer Laurie Kilmartin Talks Monologue Jokes, Women In Late Night:

"Coming from stand-up, I think female comics get on stage for a very different reason than male comics do. This is a huge generalization, but I think guys get on stage to get laid, and women get on stage to get heard," Kilmartin explains. "For female comics, it's such a personal thing. I hardly know any female stand-ups who talk about generic stuff: It's always really what happened to you. It is sort of a big switch to go from that to writing for someone else. And I think that that stops a lot of female comics from making that jump over."

And Behind the Scenes at Community with Writer Megan Ganz:

It's incredible that the room is so balanced. There are four women, including myself, that work in the writers pool, which is only eight or nine people, maybe ten people tops, that you would call writers on our staff. And four of them are women. Those are insane numbers. But it works really well for sitcoms; I don't know if it would have worked as well at a place like The Onion. Because The Onion is more straight joke writing, where Community is more about telling stories and character dynamics and what do we want to say about these characters and how are they going to grow and evolve. And, not to generalize, but I can tell you this specifically about the Community writers room, it's really nice having women around to talk about that stuff. Because they're interested in being true, for instance, to Annie's feelings about Jeff and how she reacts as a girl who is nineteen years old and very headstrong, but hasn't had a lot of experience yet. So I feel like women really come in handy in that respect.

Back to other professions. And specifically, the idea that being the only woman in the room is a bitch. Designers, Women, and Hostility in Open Source:

After working in technology for 17 years now, I can assure you: constantly being the only woman in the room stinks. Since I usually am, one of my career goals is to surround myself with capable women technologists as well as men. It's not easy, but it's important—and not just because I'm lonely, but because I make stuff, and creations reflect their makers. The tech industry is by and large a boys' club, and that's a shame, because homogenous teams turn out one-dimensional products. Diverse teams are better-equipped to make things that shine because they serve a wide range of people.

At Lifehacker I learned something important about creating a productive online community: leaders set the tone by example. It's simple, really. When someone you don't know shows up on the mailing list or in IRC, you break out the welcome wagon, let them know you're happy they're here, show them around the place, help them with their question or problem, and let them know how they can give back to the community. Once you and your community leaders do that a few times, something magical happens: the newbie who you welcomed just a few weeks ago starts welcoming new folks, and the virtuous cycle continues.

So if ya wanna transfer that idea to comedy, it'd seemingly be important for lady comics to welcome newbie females into the fold. And by newbie, I mean new at comedy, not new at being female. (How best to welcome tranny comedians into standup will have to be dealt with in another post.)

And that reminds me of a time I was in Chicago and realized there is an all-female comedy class at Lincoln Lodge. Never heard of anything like that in NYC. Though a step in that direction seems to be Glennis McMurray's new GLOC site.

I admit it—I’ve been bitten by the bug of envy. I’ve looked at another lady and silently raged over her accomplishments. I’ve dogged, catted and birded my way through her wardrobe, hair, mannerisms and material. Somehow I thought doing so would make me feel better, but I always ended up feeling worse in the end. Not to get all after school special on your asses, but what really felt great was starting this blog to recognize the awesome in each and every one of us...

So look to the successes of the ladies around you and let it fuel your own. Because if we can’t bond over a shared comedic sensibility, can we at least get along because we’re all women fighting the good fight together? I think so.

What's the conclusion to all this? Dunno. But yeah, let's all get along. U-N-I-T-etc.

We're All Friends Here tonight (4/6) with Gordon, Broussard, and Greenbaum

Facebook invite:

Woooooeeee! We're back and we've got a fun one this week. After finally coping with last months show we eventually got up enough strength to do another one of these puppies. And boy do we have some fun stuff on these jews!

Here we go:

George Gordon (Non Jew)
Zach Broussard (Handsome but not gay)
Harrison Greenbaum (Handsome)

Eternal questions will be answered and truths will be told!!! This is gonna be a doozy!! See you then. 10pm at Creek after Monsters!

WED 4/6: WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE
10pm - Free
The Creek and the Cave
10-93 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City

Foursquare, raw umber, Janis, Bambi, etc.

Some things I posted recently at twitter.com/mattruby:

Being mayor of a bar on Foursquare is a great way to tell the world you are a functional alcoholic.

It's strange that poor people have all the pickup trucks since rich people are the ones with all the stuff.

When I want to sound like I know about art, I throw around terms like raw umber and burnt sienna. "Mona Lisa? Has some great raw umber."

Why musicians get laid more than comics: Having a song written about you is way better than having a joke written about you.

No, iPhone autocorrect. That text was NOT asking her if she likes giving blow guns. But I must admit, that is a good question too.

Mercedes ads using Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz" are missing the point. Like Rumsfeld using Dylan's "Masters of War" to promote his book.

Staying friends after you break up just proves that you were having bad sex while going out.

Ice makes alcohol tolerable. Alcohol makes life tolerable.

I've never seen Bambi. My parents didn't want me to develop a soft side.

The Black Eyed Peas are the official soundtrack for fake enthusiasm.

What time does a Chinese guy go to the dentist? Whenever he makes the appointment, you racist prick.

Jeff Ross on roasting, Giraldo, and Shaq

A great (audio) interview with Jeff Ross:

Bill Simmons is joined by Roastmaster General Jeff Ross to discuss the Donald Trump roast, classic and untelevised roasts, Greg Giraldo's death and more.

Really interesting stuff, esp if you care about roasts at all. Cool to hear what a good sport Shaq was about this roast (below).



Ross met him that afternoon and asked if he'd be a good sport. Shaq said, "Nobody ever told me to hold back on the basketball court, I don't want you to hold back on the dais." Now that's the attitude ya wanna see from a roastee.

Here's a good Ross quote about "crossing the line": "There is no line. There's funny and not funny." After that, he compared the Michael Richards incident to the Flava Flav roast:

As soon as you do the same [racial] subjects in the hands of professional comics, it was a slam dunk home run. Hilarious show...These things can bring people together. As much as they can separate people like Michael Richards did, the same subjects, the same words can make people better friends. And that's what being a professional comedian is for.

Here's the whole thing.

Sandpaper Suit Podcast Episode 2 - The Hip Touch

Drunk comedians talk about when to touch the hips, what girls want, and how to flirt. Featuring Tom Sibley, Kara Klenk, Jared Logan, Laura Prangley, Selena Coppock, and Jason Burke.

Some choice quotes: "If you touch a girl on the hips, I think that's an instant sign you're going to fuck later." "If a guy touches my hip the first time I meet him, I'm not talking to him again." "I don't know what this is for, but I give good head." Who said what? Listen up...



iTunes listen/subscribe/comment
RSS Feed subscribe

Big thanks to radio/tech/sound guru Marcus Parks for his magic fingers. He can touch my hips anytime.

Upcoming shows: DC area, Hot Soup, and WAFH

Hot Soup
Friday's (4/1) lineup:

Nate Bargatze
Alex Koll
Josh DiDinato
Erik Bergstrom
Emily Heller
David Cope
Matt Ruby (hosting)

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

More upcoming shows
Wed 3/30 - 8pm - Ha Ha @ Ri Ra (Arlington, VA)
Thu 3/31 - 11am - Chesapeake College (students only)
Wed 4/06 - 10pm - We're All Friends Here @ The Creek (LIC)
Mon 4/11 - 7:30pm - Case of the Mondays @ Manchester Pub (NYC)

Chunking keeps you in fifth gear

New topic. Joke. Stop. New topic. Joke. Stop. New topic...

Each time you go to a new topic, it's like going from fifth gear back to first. It's why tagging existing bits helps so much. Or finding a new angle on the same topic. The momentum from each previous joke adds to the next one.

Gaffigan is a master at it. In fact, he discussed that aspect of his approach in this Nerdist interview a while back. The reason he sticks to one topic (e.g. bacon, hot pockets, hotels, etc.) is because he feels like changing topics is a huge mental chore for the audience.

It's an interesting way to think about it. Every time you start in on a new topic, you're asking the audience to press reset and lock in on a new target. That requires effort. And it makes your job that much harder.

For me, having chunks helps with set flow too. Remembering a bunch of one liners or quick jokes is annoying to my brain. I'd much rather have three topics that have a bunch of jokes embedded in 'em. Then it feels more natural and effortless as opposed to a series of stop-start jokes.

It can be tough to take this approach in NYC though. Here, it feels like you constantly need to be generating new material. But in my experience, tagging bits and expanding them is a slow process that comes over time — and from repetition. Heck, I've been doing one joke for almost a year and I just came up with a new tag for it a couple of weeks ago. When you're constantly turning over new material, you don't give bits that kind of chance to grow over time.

One more round of Giraldo clips

Over at the Comedy Central site, there's a collection of clips featuring The Best of Greg Giraldo. Some other stuff that's not up there below...

Nick Swardson raved about this Giraldo roast set in the "in memoriam" special CC aired:



And a couple other fun ones I hadn't seen before...

Jokes.com
Uncensored - Giraldo Tribute - We're at War
comedians.comedycentral.com
Greg Giraldo Stand-Up Greg Giraldo Jokes Hasselhoff Roast Videos

Jokes.com
Greg Giraldo - DVD Exclusive - Marsupial Sex
comedians.comedycentral.com
Greg Giraldo Stand-Up Greg Giraldo Jokes Hasselhoff Roast Videos

And here's a clip from his final performance.

Comedy, shelf life, and pop culture references

Over at Salon, a writer — looking at The Simpsons, Glee, and Community — asks if comedy based on pop culture references is destined to go sour quickly.

To varying degrees, all these shows have given me joy, and no, I don't think self-aware comedy is an inherently less worthy form than any other. But there's a downside: a lack of durability. Some of the most buzz-worthy TV comedies of the last 25 years have proved as sturdy as tissue paper. Even the great ones from the '90s ("The Simpsons" and "Seinfeld") are starting to seem as era-specific as high-top fades and Koosh balls. "I Love Lucy," "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Cheers" and other pre-'90s sitcoms didn't start to seem dated or irrelevant for decades, probably because they kept the pop culture references to a bare minimum; the more recent hit comedies are starting to exude that expired fish stench while they're still on the air. Can a show still call itself a comedy if you have to explain why it's funny?

After lots of rebuttals, there was a followup piece: Should comedy worry about its shelf life?

Comedy writers needn't feel obligated to make every joke and every episode a monument to the eternal verities; sometimes the audience is just looking to unwind after a long day, and a Britney Spears impression or a Charlie Sheen joke is all they want or need, and that's fine. And pop culture references are not an inherently bad thing, of course, and I said that in the piece. And yes, it's true, all entertainment -- all art -- dates eventually. We don't look at a Rembrandt painting or listen to a Miles Davis record and assume they were made last week.

But hopefully there's something about the work that transcends the time in which it was created, otherwise it's ephemeral, disposable. I probably singled out "The Simpsons" because it's considered a pantheon series, a great and presumably lasting work. And during the first half of its run, it did have certain timeless qualities. The pop culture references were dense and sometimes deep, but there also frequent references to mythology, ancient history, biblical scripture, opera, Broadway musicals, painting and literature: Shakespeare, Vincent van Gogh, Gilbert and Sullivan, Edgar Allan Poe, Mark Twain, you name it. And the best episodes weren't just a bunch of riffs strung together. There was a coherent, often scathingly funny vision of American life at the core of the series, as well as an intuitive, honest portrait of family and community and human nature; the gags were just wonderful embroidery. But in the last decade, the embroidery has taken over "The Simpsons" -- and just about every other TV comedy of any profile that came after it.

My .02: Almost all comedy sours quickly, even "substantial" comedy. Would Mort Sahl going through the paper and riffing off the news surprise anyone today? Does anyone find Lenny Bruce edgy now? Even Bill Hicks seems dated and he wasn't that long ago. How often does anyone put on a comedy album from the 80s today and crack up?

Sometimes the only comedy that feels truly timeless is absurdist stuff like Steve Martin's 70s output or Steven Wright's one-liners. Maybe Cosby's family material or Chris Rock's bit on relationships also falls under the timeless umbrella. Certain "human condition" topics never go away. But otherwise, it seems like all comedy is a balloon that is slowly leaking relevance. If shelf life is what you care about, comedy is a poor bet.

That said, I do think pop culture references are a pretty lame way to get laughs. In fact, I've written before that I think jokes about pop culture are for passive and sluggish comics (and audiences). Also I've said my least favorite thing to hear onstage is "I've been watching a lot of TV lately and..."

Do jokes like these and you are regurgitating, not originating. It's like when someone tries to have a conversation about the weather. It feels like a pandering, desperate attempt to find something in common to talk about instead of opening up about what one genuinely cares about. ("What if pop culture is what I genuinely care about?" Well then that's kinda sad.)

That doesn't mean I think there's no place for pop culture references in an act. I certainly have jokes that sprinkle 'em in. But I guess I feel the same way about them as I do puns: If the whole reason for the joke is to make a pun or pop culture reference, that's lame. But if it's a tool that you use along the way as a metaphor or fun wordplay while making another point, that's a whole different animal.

For example, Greg Giraldo drops in lines about Barbra Streisand, Justin Timberlake, and Ben Affleck in this chunk. But the point of the whole thing (i.e. all religions are insane) is much bigger than just slamming celebs. That's the difference between being Kathy Griffin and being Giraldo.

Jokes.com
Greg Giraldo - All Religions are Insane
comedians.comedycentral.com
Greg Giraldo Stand-Up Greg Giraldo Jokes Hasselhoff Roast Videos

Of course, anything is possible if done artfully. For example, it's tough to find fault with Greg Proops' operatic takedown of Jessica "Six Flags over stupid" Simpson:

Bushmills Brothers

Jonathan Morvay spotted NYC comics: "Look who I found in Tel Aviv, Israel."

Catching up with We're All Friends Here on Breakthru Radio

Listen online to We're All Friends Here on Breakthru Radio with Michael Che, Zach Sims, and Erin Judge.

00:00 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby Intro
01:17 Michael Che
17:24 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
18:19 Zach Sims
38:24 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
39:32 Erin Judge
73:24 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
73:44 Finish

And here's the latest episode with Nick Maritato, Phoebe Robinson, and Morgan Venticinque.

00:00 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby Intro
01:10 Nick Maritato
26:43 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
28:01 Phoebe Robinson
62:07 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
63:39 Morgan Venticinque
82:55 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
83:32 Finish

Previous episodes. Subscribe via iTunes or RSS feed. (Note: It will show up in your iTunes under the title "Breakthru Radio.")

Punching the Clown

Just watched Punching the Clown over the weekend. Great film. I liked the way the radio station interviews worked as a framing device, how Henry Phillips' performance footage is mixed in to the story (a bit like Louie), and the smart/funny writing throughout.

There's a scene at the end, where he's walking on a beach and explaining why he keeps performing, that really nails the rabbit hole that is performing comedy. Check it out.

Loose change

Woman hides heroin, money, loose change in herself [via SL]:

After searching her for weapons, Officer Baumann found three bags of heroin in Ms. Mackaliunas' jacket...

Ms. Mackaliunas asked to speak with Sergeant Michael Mayer and told him she had hidden more heroin in her vagina.

A search of Ms. Mackaliunas by a doctor at Community Medical Center turned up 54 bags of heroin, 31 empty bags used to package heroin, 8.5 prescription pills and $51.22.

My first reaction: Loose change! I can't believe she was carrying 22 cents in her vagina.

My second reaction: Wait a minute. Why is she carrying cash at all in her vagina? It's legal to carry cash.

My third reaction: Maybe she was just showing off. 'Cuz this almost sounds like an infomercial for this woman's steamer trunk-sized vagina. "54 bags of heroin...but wait, that's not all!"

Also, I love that she had three bags of heroin left over and she was like, "Well, might as well just put these in my jacket."

Howard Stern interview: "The secret to my show is honesty"

Howard's on the interview circuit again these days but here's him with O'Reilly a few years ago. "The secret to my show is honesty," he says.

Upcoming shows: Hot Soup, Piano's, Beauty Bar, etc.

Hot Soup
Friday's (3/18) Hot Soup lineup:
Joe Machi
Kevin Barnett
Adam Pateman
Adrienne Iapalucci
Matt Ruby
Cope is hosting.

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

More upcoming shows
Thu 3/17 - 8pm - Mish Mosh @ Birch Coffee
Sun 3/20 - 7pm - It Is It @ Piano's
Sun 3/20 - 9pm - Beauty Bar Comedy Show
Mon 3/21 - 8pm - Recess @ King's Cross
Tue 3/22 - 8pm - See You Next Tuesday @ Simply Fondue
Wed 3/23 - 9pm - Everyday Dirt @ Royal Oak

#156

iTunes has the new podcast at #156 on the Comedy chart:



Watch out, Maron. Subscribe via iTunes.

The FIRST Sandpaper Suit Podcast with guest Patrice O'Neal

I'm tired of podcasts that are just comics sitting down with other comics to talk about comedy. So I'm taking a different approach with my new Sandpaper Suit podcast. I'm going to talk about guys and girls and, y'know, just solve that whole thing.

I will talk with comedians and regular people too. And both genders will have their say. And I will tape in different locations. I'll put out a new one about every two weeks. You will want more than that. I will refuse to give it to you. Boundaries!

Btw, I've been prepping for all this relationship talk by watching The Bachelor. So I want you to know that I'm "here for the right reasons." Also, when I have a feeling, I will "own it."

So here we go. It's the new Sandpaper Suit podcast. The first guest is one of my favorite comedians, Patrice O'Neal. We go there.

Patrice O'Neal discusses cheating, monogamy, commitment, threeways, his relationship with his mom, gender roles, harems, the pros and cons of pimping, how to keep relationships fresh, and more. He says, "When people listen to this shit, I'm going to be an asshole to most people. But I'm not saying anything that's wrong. The truth hurts."

You can also listen or subscribe to the podcast at iTunes:
iTunes: Sandpaper Suit with Matt Ruby Podcast

Or you can subscribe to the podcast's RSS Feed. If ya like what you hear, leave a nice comment at iTunes so the rest of the world knows to check it out too. Also, thanks to radio/tech/sound guru Marcus Parks for helping put it together. And stay tuned for the next episode. It will be "the most dramatic" podcast yet.

The second smile

I really dug this interview with Anthony Jeselnik at Splitsider. It's got some smart questions about his onstage persona and evolution.

In the interview, he talks about the joke...

My girlfriend loves to eat chocolate. She's always eating chocolate, and she likes to joke she's got a chocolate addiction... So, I put her in a car and I drove her downtown, and I pointed out a crack addict, and I said, 'Do you see that, honey? Why can't you be that skinny?'

...that first turned him on to "the second smile":

One night I was at an open mic and I did this joke for the first time, one about my girlfriend being addicted to chocolate. And there’s such a mean twist to it. And the audience reaction was like “ohhhhhh!” It was more than a laugh. It was what [the original head writer for Saturday Night Live] Michael O’Donoghue talks about as the "second smile." Where the audience is laughing but then you cut their throats at the same time. It’s so sharp that they don’t know what the fuck to do. I thought, “That’s it. It’s got to have this mean twist to it.” And then my persona formed around that. I started thinking, “Who do I have to be to pull this off?”...

I think anyone can do it. I think it’s just about the surprise and the revelation. It can be personal or it could be a story. Anything that’s going to suck someone in and then cut their legs out. I don’t think it necessarily has to do with one-liners or non-personal jokes.

The groan/laugh combo is always an interesting one. I forget the bit, but there's one Todd Barry album (From Heaven?) where he tells a joke that receives a mixed reaction from the crowd. He then voices the audience's thought process: "You heard me laughing, didn't you?...You heard me groaning, didn't you?" Sometimes they want it both ways.

Show this weekend including special SUNDAY We're All Friends Here

Tonight and tomorrow (3/11-3/12) I'm at Red Bar Comedy Club in Chicago. Tickets available here. Also tonight (3/11), there's a fun Hot Soup at O'Hanlons. And Sunday there's a special edition of We're All Friends Here at 10pm at The Creek.

SUN (3/13): WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE
10pm - Free
The Creek and the Cave
10-93 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City

Lineup:
Phoebe Robinson
Morgan Venticinque
Nick Maritato

Twitter followers

Breakdown of my Twitter followers, via Sprout Social.

Gays and lesbians in comedy

A (gay male) research psychologist examines the over-representation of lesbians in comedy for Scientific American.

Researchers who study homosexuality have discovered that the brains of many lesbians were over-exposed to male hormones during prenatal development, influencing not only their adult sexual orientation, but also masculinizing other behavioral and cognitive traits in which there exist innate sex differences. This is not true of all lesbians, but it is especially true for those who exhibit male-typed profiles. So it is not implausible that some lesbians’ courtship strategies would largely mimic opposite-sex-typed patterns, including a differentiated capacity for humor production that attracts female attention. This would not be a conscious strategy, it must be emphasized, and indeed this is what many critics of evolutionary psychology repeatedly fail to realize. So, for heaven’s sake, don’t mistake this as me saying that lesbian comics go on stage just to score chicks. Gene replication is simply a mechanistic means to an end; if it works, it works. Many evolutionary psychologists, including Miller, believe that our minds are often just epiphenomenal interpreters.

Ah, academics. I wish I could go onstage and start ideas with "it is not implausible that..."

Anyway, interesting theory about why lesbians want to be comics. I think a big part of the story is audiences too and how they respond differently to straight/gay female comics. It takes two to tango and the audience (i.e. society) is half the equation in standup.

This guy also mentions he can only come up with the name of a single gay male stand-up (Ant). But rumor is there are at least several big-name gay male comics out there who just choose to keep it under wraps for Spacey-like reasons.

And he also fails to mention there's a new crop of gay male comics coming up. Guys who talk about being gay but don't rely on the usual stereotypes about homosexuality to get laughs (e.g. Brent Sullivan, Gabe Liedman, etc.). There's a great feature article waiting to happen about that. Get on it New York Magazine.

Anyway, I found the orig story via Mandy Bardsley, who posted this about it on Facebook:

Wow. What scientists (who aren't also historians) say about (homo)sexuality in general is the dumbest shit I've ever read. If only this guy knew that he was repeating some ancient garbage from the turn of the century, like before we found out that women and men both have estrogen and testosterone. I gave the author a list of reading materials.

Ok, so women and men both have estrogen and testosterone. Why does that prove this guy's an idiot? I'm all for a good sexuality-related fight so feel free to post links to any of these relevant reading materials in the comments.

Kevin Meaney, Todd Glass, and "rake bits" in standup

Matteson asked, "Curious if you can think of any stand up bits that could be considered a "rake bit". There must be some. Would take some real balls to power through the middle sections without laughs."

On his WTF (at 34:00 into the podcast), Todd Glass called funny-then not funny-then funny again bits "Kevin Meaney funny." Here's why:



Glass then talks about how David Cross bet him $2,000 when they were on tour together. The bet? That Glass couldn't drag out his Sham-Wow bit, where he lists various uses for a rag, for two and a half minutes. When Glass did it, he says it went great.

They lost me and then they came back...There's a point where they're all thinking, "Yeah, we get the joke. We get it. It's up and down. And you're gonna keep doing it. And we're gonna laugh more. And we're not. We've been through our cycle."

And then if you do it, they go, "Alright." You break them down.

Some other rake bit suggestions in the comments of that post here last week.

Upcoming shows: Kabin tonight, Hot Soup on Friday, and Chicago next week

My upcoming shows (including Chicago next week):

Thu 3/3 - 9pm - CSL @ Kabin
Fri 3/4 - 8pm - Hot Soup @ O'Hanlon's
Sat 3/5 - 8pm - Comedy Show @ The Cove
Sun 3/6 - 9pm - Entertaining Julia @ Town Hall Pub (Chicago)
Mon 3/7 - 9pm - Hug City Presents: Free Show @ Racine Plumbing Bar & Grill (Chicago)
Tue 3/8 - 9:30pm - Chicago Underground Comedy @ Beat Kitchen (Chicago)
Wed 3/9 - 9pm - CYSK @ Timothy O'Toole's (Chicago)
Thu 3/10 - 9:30pm - Riot @ Chicago Joes (Chicago)
Thu 3/10 - 10pm - Rotten Comedy @ Oakwood Bar and Grill (Chicago)
Fri 3/11 - 10pm - Red Bar @ Ontourage (Chicago)
Sat 3/12 - 8pm - Red Bar @ Ontourage (Chicago)
Sat 3/12 - 10pm - Red Bar @ Ontourage (Chicago)
Thu 3/17 - 8pm - Mish Mosh @ Birch Coffee
Fri 3/18 - 8pm - Hot Soup @ O'Hanlon's
Sat 3/19 - 8pm - We're All Friends Here @ The Creek

Hot Soup
Friday's (3/4) Hot Soup lineup:

Neal Brennan (co-creator of Chappelle Show)
Jeffrey Joseph
Dave McDonough
Eli Olsberg
David Cope
Mark Normand

I'm hosting.

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

The Rake Bit and other jargon

Kung Fu Monkey lists jargon learned while apprenticing in LA writing rooms.

For many, many situations, there was a shorthand to help codify and communicate a problem in the script that was often tantalizingly just out of reach, just at the edge of your writer's "something's ... off" radar.

Never knew there was a name for what's called "The Rake Bit."

"The Rake Bit": Something that's funny, goes on too long so it's not funny, then goes on so long that it becomes INCREDIBLY funny.

Goes under a couple different names, but of writers my age, this seems to be the most prevalent. Based on The Simpsons ep that was a Cape Fear riff. Sideshow Bob climbs out from under a car and steps on a rake. It smacks him. He mutters. He then steps three feet away ... onto another rake. He mutters. ad-near-infinitum.

The bad of cursing and the good of being conversational

I have a joke that used to end with "turn the fuck around." I remember the day I decided to drop the fuck from it. When it worked without the fuck, it felt good. To me, it proved the joke was actually funny and didn't need the shock value laugh-add I got from cursing.

Thought about that while listening to this Saturn Scene podcast, which might be my fave interview with PFT ever.

In this two-part conversation we discuss dissecting details, Lennon vs. McCartney, a wharf full of freaks, bad behavior, good reading, and a life-changing relationship.

Here's what PFT says about cursing onstage:

Even if people are laughing at something, I know when I could have done it better. An example is when I start a new bit, when I'm working on a new thing and it's the first time I'm doing it in front of an audience, I will tend to swear more than I ever do onstage because I'm filling in the idea very conversationally and I swear occasionally in life when I'm talking to people. But it's also there's a survival instinct that kicks in from my earliest standup days that cursing gets laughs.

People will laugh at the f-word. It adds a bite to certain things. But I have always felt that it's a crutch. I know that it is. To me, any time I'm using that word onstage and people laugh at it, I think that's the only reason they're laughing. And if that word wasn't there, they wouldn't find this funny. So I have to figure out how do I get a laugh without using that word and have it be just as big a laugh or bigger than if I was swearing.

Cursing (and sex stuff too) gets laughs because it's a "naughty" thing to do. So it triggers a nervous laughter in people. Sure, they laugh when you say dick, shit, fuck, pussy, or cock. But they also laugh if tickled. Both ways are a bit third gradery. Plus, you can't do it at a clean show (or, if you're at that stage, on TV).

Anyway, the rest of the interview is worth checking out too. Lots of astrology mumbo jumbo facts along the way but the interviewer really knows PFT's career and gets him to talk seriously about comedy in an in-depth way I've never heard before.

Here's what he says about being conversational with his material:

Being able to make it conversationally funny – it's dressed up a little bit for the stage – but I try to keep it as much like I would talk about it in life as possible. If you have a funny story that you tell, even if you're just hanging out with your friends, you're trying...It's the way you're sharing something with a friend of yours, you're not trying to impress your friend. You're coming at it from a point of view that's 'Wait until you hear this. This is what happened to me.' You're not approaching your friend like they are an audience. There's an intimacy there where you're saying, 'Hey, you're going to appreciate this.' That's the feeling that I'm trying to get to onstage always that we're all hanging out and I'm telling these stories.

I think the audience gets a different kind of connection from a conversational performance. It's more intimate. They get to leave feeling like they actually know you as a person instead of some mask that spits out jokes.

Dishes who?

I was hanging out with my four year old nephew recently. Budding comedy fan apparently – well, knock knock joke fan. "Dishes who?" "Dishes is the FBI, open the door!" He can't get enough of that one.

My fave part was his attempt to get me with a classic...

Him: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Him: Orange.
Me: Orange who?

Him: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Him: Orange.
Me: Orange who?

Him: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Him: Orange.
Me: Orange who?

Him: Knock knock.
Me: Who's there?
Him: Banana.
Me: Banana who?
Him: [Long pause. Look of confusion.]

And that was it. Meta!

George Carlin: "Fuck hope"

From the intro to his 1997 book Brain Droppings:



Excerpt:

I frankly don’t give a fuck how it all turns out in this country or anywhere else for that matter. I think the human game was up a long time ago when the high priests and traders took over, and now we’re just playing out the string. And that is of course precisely what I find so amusing! The slow circling of the drain by a once promising species and the sappy ever more desperate belief in this country that there is actually some sort of an ‘American Dream’ which has merely been misplaced.

Hot Soup on Friday

Updated Friday (2/25) lineup:
Brooke Van Poppelen
Yannis Pappas
Joe List
Dave Rosinsky
Alice Wetterlund

I'm hosting.

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

Chappelle makes fun of bootlegger

Live footage in 2006 of Dave Chappelle in his hometown of Yellow Springs, OH. He's on stage stalling while waiting for a band to come out. Someone gives him a harmonica. Then he notices a guy filming him in the crowd. Fun to watch him turn it all into laughs.



[Thx MN]

Dissecting MLK's “I Have a Dream” speech

Nancy Duarte maps out Martin Luther King Jr.,’s “I Have a Dream” speech to "illustrate the shape of rhetorical genius." Would be interesting to see this done to a great standup routine.

Related: "The chain: Barack Obama to Chris Rock to Ice Cube" was a post here that quoted Chris Rock talking about political speeches.

I got a music iPod and a comedy iPod. One is all comedy and spoken word, every speech, Kennedy, Martin Luther King, whatever...There's a lot of preachers in there, a lot of gospel stuff, a lot of stand-up. What I do, what a preacher does, what the president's doing, it's all the same -- you're picking your topic, and you're arguing your point. The president's trying to get an applause break; I'm trying to get a laugh. The preacher's trying to get an amen.

Indiana escorts

It's video week! (AKA I'm on the road and don't have much time.)

Here's a clip from an old We're All Friends Here where Dan Goodman talks about getting two escorts during a Memorial Day weekend in Indiana. Y'know, for the vets! Here's how it went down.



More vids of Dan at that show.

The difference between single-camera and multicam sitcoms

I often hear TV comedy types talking about single-camera vs. multicam sitcoms. Example: NBC's Thursday Night Ratings Hang On For Dear Life.

It would really be a terrible sign for great, single-camera sitcoms on TV on any network, NBC or otherwise. As the highest-profile smart sitcoms on TV (well, Modern Family counts too, but they certainly have no issues with ratings), they're kind of the canaries in the comedy coal mines. If they fail, NBC's new bosses are likely to take a cue from the much-more-successful CBS and put broader multicam stuff on the air instead. And frankly, that would be heartbreaking.

But to be honest, I have no idea why the number of cameras matters so much to sitcoms. In case you're also in the dark, here's the 411 on single-camera mode:

Well, the reason it's film-like is because it's closer to how they make films. I can tell the difference--can't you? SCM looks more like a movie, and to me, MCM is more like watching a play. Yes, they can switch perspective back and forth, but it's watching one scene on one set unfold in front of your eyes.

If you take the West Wing, for example, one of their signature styles is to film characters having conversations while they're briskly walking through the halls of the White House. That just couldn't happen in MCM, which needs a much more open space to accommodate the different camera angles. Have you ever seen a scene in a traditional sitcom where characters walk through several halls and rooms during a single scene? If you have, you probably noted the difference in the feel, like how weird it is when a sitcom goes on location to Disney World or something. You also can't really get tight close-ups in MCM, etc. What you give up is the energy of a live studio audience, which sometimes fits nicely into a traditional sitcom. It all depends on what you're going for.

I feel wiser now. Well, less clueless at least.

Patrice O'Neal: "It's a mob dynamic"

Hitting for the cycle in SF

In baseball, they call hitting a single, double, triple, and a homer in one game "hitting for the cycle." Today I witnessed the homosexual equivalent of hitting for the cycle: a flight attendant (1B) whose route is San Francisco/NYC (2B) with a handlebar mustache (3B) and a nametag that says "Papa Bear" (HR).

Papa Bear! Y'know, I once considered putting what I'm like in the bedroom on a name tag. But I decided I didn't really want people to start calling me "Foot cramps and excuses."

In SF? Tonight (2/16), I'll be telling jokes at The Business at Dark Room at 8pm. More shows Thu-Sun too.

Start off learning how to "cook rice"

Sometimes it's dangerous to admire the best comics in the world. I mean, sure, be inspired by the greats and what they've done. But if you're doing an 8 minute set in front of 15 people, can you really take the same approach as a Carlin, Pryor, or CK? Can you go out and talk about your mom's funeral like PFT? Can you tell a long, winding rant/tale about fucking a midget like Stanhope does? Can you talk about your hospital visits like Birbigs? Can you talk about a hatefucking-the-crowd-with-magic magician you saw perform years ago like Patton Oswalt?

Sure, you can try. But it really seems like that's the sorta thing that's best saved for once you're doing rooms where people know who you are beforehand, you're getting more time, and you've spent years learning how to make things funny and interesting. Then you can start taking more chances and going for longform stuff.

Actually, I think Birbigs' evolution is especially interesting just because it's been so fast. I love Two Drink Mike. But it's what I think of as a comedy club album. It's rapid fire. It's rhythm. It's setup-punch after setup-punch. He makes fun of Busta Rhymes.

Now, I also dig his later efforts. Sleepwalk With Me was great storytelling. Personal and deep. But if a new comic asked me how to learn from Birbigs, I'd point 'em to that clubby, joke-filled record. Because that style (funny, tight, quick jokes) is the best way out of the starting gate.

I've got some bits that I love to do when I get longer sets — ones where the audience gets to know you and is on your side. But that's not reality for most of the places I perform. And doing the shows I do, I keep winding up feeling like the skill I most need to master is how to hit 'em hard and fast. It can still be personal, heartfelt stuff. But it better be the kind of jokes that slap people in the face.

And if you look at these big names, the bits we see them do now are way different than what they started with. For years, CK was doing silly, absurd jokes. Pryor didn't come out talking about setting himself on fire. It was years of jokey jokes first. You look at the greats, and it's usually the same path. There were years of learning how to write those slap-in-the-face jokes. And then, they began reaching higher.

Here's a 2002 interview with Patton Oswalt where he talks about a similar idea and breaks down what's wrong with folks who set out to be "alternative" comics. He thinks it's better to write knock knock jokes then to be an “I’m just going to go up on stage and talk about my day" comic.

All alternative comedy is are comedians that have being doing it for so long, for so long, that they were relaxed enough to start becoming personal on stage. I had been doing it for about six or seven years before I started doing places like The Largo and The Uncabaret.

I mean, ninety percent of all comedians are just boring people, and ninety percent of alternative comics are shitty comedians. You take the good ones in the ten percents between the two, and that’s where you get the good stuff.

So I’ve never differentiated between the alternative and the mainstream. There are plenty of alternative comedians, and I mean ones that sort of started off as alternative comics...that’s like saying, “I’m going to start off as a jazz improvisor.” Well, do you know how to play scales? “No. I’m going to start off by improvising.” It’s like a guy saying, “You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to start off as a four-star chef.” Well, can you cook a cup of rice? “No.” Can you cook an omelet? “No.” Well, why don’t you start off learning how to cook rice, and by the way, that takes about a year. Four star chefs take a full year learning how to cook rice and how to cook omelets. “Well, I’m not going to do that.” Well, then you’re never going to be a four-star chef.

So many guys start off going, “Well, I’m just going to be alternative, like Janeane Garofalo.” Well, Janeane Garofalo was banging away for ten years. She was a brilliant joke writer, a brilliant comedian, and then got so good that she could do it in her sleep, and started to challenge herself.

I mean, it’s the same thing with Richard Pryor. Guys watch Richard Pryor and think, “I can do that. He just goes up onstage and says ‘motherfucker.’” Not realizing he had been doing it for fifteen years. I mean, guys go up on stage thinking, “I’m just going to go up on stage and talk about my day like Janeane does.” Uhhh, no, you’re not, actually. You should actually go and write a joke first. You know what? Go and write a knock-knock joke first. Seriously, can you write a fucking knock knock joke?

I remember one time I was at Largo and a guy said, “I love seeing mainstream, headlining comedians come in here trying to be alternative, because they just sweat, sweat, sweat and say, well, it doesn’t really have to be funny! Hahaha.” And I went up after him and said, you know, that is fun to watch, but you know what’s even more fun? Watching an alternative comic out on the road. That’s hysterical. They’re on stage going, “Yeah, me and my friend Terry … you guys know Terry, right? … Huh. Well, we went to Blockbuster and Terry rented “The Wedding Planner” … I mean, if you guys knew Terry … Hell-oooo? Ok, fine, you guys are fucking idiots.” That’s my impression of an alternative comic on the road. “Uhhh, I mean, if you guys knew Terry, you would know … I mean, weren’t you guys there when we all went and played Putt-Putt? Ahhh, you guys are morons. I can’t believe that my thirty friends are not in this room in Ohio right now. This is the shittiest comedy club on the planet.”

Here’s my other impression of an alternative comic on the road: “Ok, you guys aren’t listening to me.”

[Thanks for the link, JH.]

A Sandpaper Suit giveaway: two tix to see Colin Quinn's Broadway show

Colin Quinn's Long Story Short wants to give away two tickets to one of my readers. I said sure. (Tickets normally start at $59 FYI.) If you're interested, email ColinQuinnGiveaways@gmail.com and mention "Sandpaper Suit giveaway" in the subject. The winner will be picked within four days. If you win, feel free to send me a care package with either candy or baboon hearts.

A Hot Soup and We're All Friends Here weekend

FRI (2/11): HOT SOUP
Lineup:
Dan Carroll
Mike Recine
Sagar Bhatt
Taylor Williamson

Mark's hosting. I'm doing a spot. Might have a special guest too. (Hannibal dropped in last week.)

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

SAT (2/12): WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE
8pm - Free
The Creek and the Cave
10-93 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City (map - one stop from Manhattan/Bklyn)

Lineup:
Erin Judge
Michael Che
Zachary Sims

Next week I'll be in San Francisco/Oakland. Info on shows there (and other upcoming shows too).

The perfect mix of fringe NYC shows and mainstream road shows

I saw a TV movie once about the American team that went to the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. (Note: This is probably a bullshit story but I like it.) At the time, the discus was unknown in America. So the American team went to a blacksmith, showed him a picture of a discus from Greek art, and then had him make one. He made a discus that weighed 20 lbs. The American discus thrower trained with it and could barely throw it. But when he arrived in Athens and picked up the discus to be used in the actual event, it weighed only five lbs. He could throw it easily and beat the Greek champion.

That's kinda what I feel like doing standup in NYC is like. Training with a discus that's way too heavy. It's annoying and frustrating but it also is making you better. When you get out to real crowds in other towns, you know you can rip it.

NYC is a bizarre place to do standup. You've got to fight for stage time here. Meanwhile, I did a show in Virginia last week for a room of 80 real audience where some of the comics were total newbies. What a different way to come up than starting out in NYC.

In other towns, people are enthusiastic to be at a show. They're willing to meet you halfway. In NYC, it feels like a constant progression of arms-folded audience members silently asking, "Ok, why should I pay attention to YOU?" Show after show, it's a grind — like you're constantly trying to scrape people off the floor and inflate them.

(Worth mentioning here: The shows I do on the road are more crowded so that certainly helps. It's nice to be able to drop into a town and do the best shows there and then leave. Living in another place would probably be a whole different story.)

In other towns, there are Republicans in the room. In NYC, everyone already agrees with each other. In other towns, you can actually shock people. Here, it's almost impossible to truly push people's buttons. New Yorkers have their buttons pushed all day. They're numb to it.

Different material works. Things that are considered hacky here can get big laughs on the road. A guy can talk about his kids for 30 minutes on the road. Never see that at a show in Brooklyn. I've got a bit on 9/11 that works great in NYC but eats it on the road. As soon as they hear 9/11, you can feel the tone of the room change and a sense that they no longer feel it's safe to laugh. They shut down. Talking about drugs, rednecks, religion and other stuff can take on a different tone too.

It's fascinating. And it gets to the truth of what's really funny about your act. Not just to one group of people, but to everyone.

Last summer, Patton Oswalt hit the road with Kyle Kinane. While announcing the dates, Patton talked about Kyle finding his voice...

Kyle’s been opening for me for about two years, and during that time he’s grown in those lurching leaps forward that young comedians take when they find their voice and everything they experience then becomes a joke. The act of writing “jokes” is no longer a task separate from them being in tune with how they recognize and react to even the most mundane details of their lives...

...and then Patton praises the way Kyle books his own tours:

See, what he’s done for himself this summer is what a lot of young comedians with a lot of free time and slim prospects should be doing – he posted, online, that he was putting together a tour, and saw who invited him to use their space...

This is why Kyle’s going to be huge – he’s mixing the fringe with the mainstream. Doing those three D.I.Y., loosey-goosey alt-style places (and yes, there’s “alt” in Oklahoma – hell, one of the best shows I ever did was a punk club in Salt Lake City). Then he follows it up with a bucket of ice water called The Tempe Improv.

Comedians who only did rooms like The Largo and Uncabaret never grew any muscles or hide. Comedians who only did the road and never experimented eventually had their voices muffled behind the muscles. Kyle’s pursuing a balance here.

Getting out of NYC definitely helps you get that balance. In "In The Life of the Road Warrior with Nikki Glaser," Nikki talks about sounding "roady."

When I first moved to NYC, I was super self-conscious about sounding too "roady" in the sense that it might seem too rehearsed, but really, I try my best to be the same comic on or off the road. I try and challenge road crowds to go with me on certain, more absurd bits. On the other hand, I try to trick hip NYC crowds into embracing bits I've been perfecting for years...

They don't want to laugh at something that sounds contrived in any way. The trick is adding more "ums” and "likes” to give the illusion that you're coming up with it off the top of your head. I’m kidding, but seriously, they tend to clam up when they sense it has been done to death, as would anyone. It's good though, because it forces you to freshen up stale bits. It's a challenge...

I have learned over the years that the more liberal the town, the more groans you'll get. I remember thinking that San Francisco was going to be a place where I could spread my wings and let my darkest, weirdest material fly, but I quickly learned that was not the case.

Yeah, the absurb/weird stuff that might fly at a Brooklyn show won't get you far at a club in San Diego filled with marines. At that point, you start asking yourself: What kind of comedian do you want to be?

How do you want to handle it when a girl yells out "You're funny for a Jew"? What about when the MC brings you up by mentioning his buddy that was killed in Afghanistan by an IED? Or when a gay heckler yells "fuck you"?

Sure, strange stuff happens at NYC shows too. But it's a different kind of strange when you're on the road. And dealing with all those different elements, it feels like that's how you get good.

I'm glad to train with the heavy discus here. But it sure is nice to get outta town too. It's all about the mix.

Sandpaper Suit and Schtick or Treat get ECNY nominations

Thanks to the Elders of Zion for making this happen. Get your vote on here.

(If you're new here, the "Best of Sandpaper Suit" posts are a good place to start.)

Laker/Coppock/Lemon episode of We're All Friends Here is up

We're All Friends Here is back at The Creek on Saturday night (2/12) at 8pm. And the latest episode is up at BreakThru Radio...

We're All Friends Here | 01.18.11
00:00 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby Intro
07:38 Damien Lemon
25:05 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
26:02 Selena Coppock
36:00 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
36:40 Chris Laker
63:36 Mark Normand and Matt Ruby
64:41 Finish

You can also listen through iTunes.

When to admit a set is going poorly

Interesting comment thread going at the handling-a-poor-set post I put up last week.

Is #4 a good idea? Seems like we comics always have the urge to say, "Wow, this is a huge pile of fail!" ...but as soon as we say that, at that point it DOES become a huge pile of fail.

I chimed in there with my .02 on it which is, basically, you should avoid dwelling on things going poorly for as long as you can. You often wind up sabotaging yourself by going negative. But at some point, I do think it's worth pointing out the elephant in the room if that elephant is a roomful of people who clearly dislike the words coming out of your mouth.

Super Bowl ads

Mercedes used Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz" in its ad. They TOTALLY get her intention with that song. Y'know, Rumsfeld has a new book out...maybe he should use Dylan's "Masters of War" to promote it.



Last year it was Betty White. This year it's Roseanne Barr. I wonder which woman Snickers will decide to physically assault next year.



Oh, and Pepsi MAX got in on the beating-up-women act too. Next time you decide to beat your wife, make sure you've got a Snickers and a Pepsi MAX on hand.

Also, next year we should hire China to do the halftime show.

Hot Soup w/ Katz

Lineup for tonight (2/4):
Louis Katz
Ben Kronberg
Danny Solomon
Ilana Glazer

Hot Soup!
Every Friday at 8pm
FREE SHOW
O'Hanlon's (back room)
349 E 14th St between 1st and 2nd Ave. (map)
Produced by Matt Ruby, Mark Normand, Andy Haynes, and David Cope

(I'm outta town so won't be there. But if you're in DC area, you can catch me on Saturday night in Bethesda, MD at this show.)

The checklist I go through during shitty sets

Had the hardest bomb I've had in a while the other night. Sucked. Someone in the back even yelled out "No one's laughing!" Oh, thanks for the update.

Felt terrible. But on the subway ride home I started going over what happened and what I shoulda done differently. And I started feeling like I had done what I could do, ya know? You can't always control the outcome, but you can control the process. And I felt like my damage control steps were what they should have been.

In my defense, it wasn't exactly an ideal room. Some people up front were there for the show but in the back was a chatty birthday party of 12 or so people who were there to celebrate, not watch comedy.

And I knew it was going to be rough as soon as I got there. Host had a tough time. Then first comic did ok but he was loud and yelling and that's just not my style. Then it was my turn.

I was gonna try new stuff but beforehand I decided to go with topics I thought would be most relatable to the room. And I told my quickest jokes. If I was gonna go down, I was gonna go down firing. Nothing worse than telling long, drawn out setups as you feel the air slipping out of the room.

Still, it wasn't going well. The "No one's laughing!" came from the birthday party in the back. I responded with something like:

No one's laughing because I can't tell jokes because you guys won't stop talking. See comedy needs the audience to pay attention too. And this kinda feels like trying to have sex with someone who keeps checking their watch the whole time.

And that actually got a round of applause from the people upfront. The people who aren't talking are the ones who always seem happiest when you try to shut down the yappy members of the crowd. They're on your side because it's their best chance at a good show.

I went back to bits but it was still awkward. I switched to my A material at that point. Still struggled. When A doesn't work, not much else you can do. So I moved on to crowdwork. Didn't go anywhere either. I admitted it was going poorly and got a laugh off that. Hung on for a couple more minutes and finished up.

It still felt like shit. But at least I pulled out every tool I had in my belt. Made me realize I have a subconscious checklist I go through during shitty sets:

1. Are you telling the right jokes for this crowd? If yes and it's not working...
2. Are you telling fast jokes? If yes and it's not working...
3. Are you trying your A material? If yes and it's not working...
4. Are you addressing the situation (i.e. it's not going well) honestly? If yes and it's not working...
5. Are you trying crowdwork? If yes and it's not working...
6. Do whatever the fuck you want.

Bringing standup to the screen

In this interview, CK talks about bringing his standup to the screen on Louie.

The way that it comes out of the standup is that a lot of the ideas start as stand up ideas of what I end up filming, so I kind of make a decision, what's the funniest way to execute this? Is it going to be to just say it on stage, or is it going to be to see it as a film?

Made me think of one bit he does about how there's no masturbation equivalent for people who love food.

For sex, there's masturbation, but for food, there's nothing. You don't watch Food Network, like...[rubs his tongue as if he's jerking it off]...oh, yeah!

When I was watching the show, I felt like that bit was the seed for this scene...



...except he's going for laughs purely through visuals/editing instead of through words.