Stand Up Comedy Thread | The Boneyard

Stand Up Comedy Thread

Deepster

Deepster

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I am a big stand up fan and felt like we needed an official thread here.

With the timing of it right now, I'll kick it off saying how disappointing Matt Rife's Netflix special was. I had heard him on podcasts talking about how it's awkward to be famous for his looks and I felt like this special was so over the top on how "controversial" he was and how he wasn't a pretty boy but how he was edgy. Not funny and totally forced and not a well crafted and tight set at all.
 
I just saw this posted so I thought this was as good a place as any to post it. Happy Thanksgiving All!

The Quotes of Steven Wright:
1 - I'd kill for a Nobel Peace Prize.
2 - Borrow money from pessimists -- they don't expect it back.
3 - Half the people you know are below average.
4 - 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5 - 82.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
6 - A conscience is what hurts when all your other parts feel so good.
7 - A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
8 - If you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain.
9 - All those who believe in psycho kinesis, raise my hand.
10 - The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
11 - I almost had a psychic girlfriend, ..... But she left me before we met.
12 - OK, so what's the speed of dark?
13 - How do you tell when you're out of invisible ink?
14 - If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.
15 - Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
16 - When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
17 - Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy.
18 - Hard work pays off in the future; laziness pays off now.
19 - I intend to live forever ... So far, so good.
20 - If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
21 - Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
22 - What happens if you get scared half to death twice?
23 - My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
24 - Why do psychics have to ask you for your name
25 - If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.
26 - A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
27 - Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
28 - The hardness of the butter is proportional to the softness of the bread.
29 - To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
30 - The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.
31 - The sooner you fall behind, the more time you'll have to catch up.
32 - The colder the x-ray table, the more of your body is required to be on it.
33 - Everyone has a photographic memory; some just don't have film.
34 - If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
35 - If your car could travel at the speed of light, would your headlights work?
 
I have a few bits. This is absolutely killer from Carlin. It's between this one and Norm McDonald's "the one country that scares me is Germany" for the my all time favorite bits. There are bad words in this piece.

 
Deepster said:
I am a big stand up fan and felt like we needed an official thread here.

With the timing of it right now, I'll kick it off saying how disappointing Matt Rife's Netflix special was. I had heard him on podcasts talking about how it's awkward to be famous for his looks and I felt like this special was so over the top on how "controversial" he was and how he wasn't a pretty boy but how he was edgy. Not funny and totally forced and not a well crafted and tight set at all.
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I like Rife and I stopped watching after 10 minutes or so. I might go back, but from the little I saw, I'd agree. His self-released stuff that you can find on YT was better.

Thanks for starting the thread. I hope I don't monopolize the thing as I'm gonna guess I watch more standup that anyone here. And it's hard not to notice that the first three replies are 30+ years old. There are a lot of new comics out there that are worth following.

The new Mark Normand special "Soup to Nuts" is solid. Normand's mannerisms in "selling" his jokes gets a bit annoying for me, but he's got great material and is not afraid to go very dark, or drop in some groaner puns. Had me laughing quite a bit. Also watched Mike Birbiglia's new one yesterday, "The Old Man and the Pool", which I enjoyed. Birbiglia is a story teller, all his specials revolve around a specific theme he keeps going back to. He doesn't tell jokes, per se, but gets laughs at the absurdities of the situations he finds himself in. Probably not everyone's cup of tea.

But for fairly recent classics I'd highly recommend, two I go back to fairly often are Jim Jefferies "Intolerant", which has the single greatest bit about having to urgently take a dump that's ever been recorded, and Doug Stanhope's "Beer Hall Putsch", which has an extended bit about watching the NFL that will probably make most cringe, but which I found to be absolutely hilarious in its juxtapositions of pink breast cancer uniforms and what Doug actually wants to do on the field.

I'd hope to take my brother & his wife to Anthony Jeselnik's show this weekend as I like him and grew up just a mile from me, but Ticketmaster essentially released all the tickets to resellers, so seats that were $40-$65 dollars were going for north of $180. I love my brother and SIL, but I have a limit.

Always interested in recos for new stuff.
 
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storrsroars said:
I like Rife and I stopped watching after 10 minutes or so. I might go back, but from the little I saw, I'd agree. His self-released stuff that you can find on YT was better.

Thanks for starting the thread. I hope I don't monopolize the thing as I'm gonna guess I watch more standup that anyone here. And it's hard not to notice that the first three replies are 30+ years old. There are a lot of new comics out there that are worth following.

The new Mark Normand special "Soup to Nuts" is solid. Normand's mannerisms in "selling" his jokes gets a bit annoying for me, but he's got great material and is not afraid to go very dark, or drop in some groaner puns. Had me laughing quite a bit. Also watched Mike Birbiglia's new one yesterday, "The Old Man and the Pool", which I enjoyed. Birbiglia is a story teller, all his specials revolve around a specific theme he keeps going back to. He doesn't tell jokes, per se, but gets laughs at the absurdities of the situations he finds himself in. Probably not everyone's cup of tea.

But for fairly recent classics I'd highly recommend, two I go back to fairly often are Jim Jefferies "Intolerant", which has the single greatest bit about having to urgently take a dump that's ever been recorded, and Doug Stanhope's "Beer Hall Putsch", which has an extended bit about watching the NFL that will probably make most cringe, but which I found to be absolutely hilarious in its juxtapositions of pink breast cancer uniforms and what Doug actually wants to do on the field.

I'd hope to take my brother & his wife to Anthony Jeselnik's show this weekend as I like him and grew up just a mile from me, but Ticketmaster essentially released all the tickets to resellers, so seats that were $40-$65 dollars were going for north of $180. I love my brother and SIL, but I have a limit.

Always interested in recos for new stuff.
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I have fairly low brow taste in standup. The two current guys that make me laugh consistently are Gillis and Stavros Halkias. Joe List is a funny younger guy. I like Normand on podcasts but his standup doesn't do it for me. Jefferies and Stanhope are both great. Gary Gullman always makes me laugh, the state abbreviations and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita bits always get me.

Three dudes I find absolutely unfunny: Theo Von, Bert Kreisher and Tom Segura. Especially Segura because he used to be a decent standup but now he's just unbearable.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
I have fairly low brow taste in standup. The two current guys that make me laugh consistently are Gillis and Stavros Halkias. Joe List is a funny younger guy. I like Normand on podcasts but his standup doesn't do it for me. Jefferies and Stanhope are both great. Gary Gullman always makes me laugh, the state abbreviations and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita bits always get me.

Three dudes I find absolutely unfunny: Theo Von, Bert Kreisher and Tom Segura. Especially Segura because he used to be a decent standup but now he's just unbearable.
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We're pretty much on the same page regarding tastes. I've never heard of Halkias so will have to check him out. Gillis does have that "aw shucks" persona going for him which helps his delivery. I've only seen one special of his, but will check others out.

Never got Kreisher. I don't get Von's popularity either, other than who he associates with. Segura... didn't like his last special and he's not on my A tier, but not ready to give him up yet.

Haven't seen anything new from Gulman in years. But also haven't searched for anything. I basically go by what's new on the major streaming services.

I'll add that there are a ton of minority guys I find hilarious, sometimes it's just bits, like Ronny Chiang's riffs on Amazon and napkins, other times it's whole sets. Michael Che is a brilliant standup. Alonzo Bolden is more low key, but hits the spot.

I'll assume you miss Patrice and enjoy Dave Attell
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
I have fairly low brow taste in standup. The two current guys that make me laugh consistently are Gillis and Stavros Halkias. Joe List is a funny younger guy. I like Normand on podcasts but his standup doesn't do it for me. Jefferies and Stanhope are both great. Gary Gullman always makes me laugh, the state abbreviations and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita bits always get me.

Three dudes I find absolutely unfunny: Theo Von, Bert Kreisher and Tom Segura. Especially Segura because he used to be a decent standup but now he's just unbearable.
Expand ...
Shane Gillis and Stavros are great. Normand doesn't have me cracking up a ton but I like him, he's unbelievable quick. I've seen Jefferies live a couple of times, he's really good.
 
I love Jeselnick. I’ll take it as sick and warped as you can dish it and he’s one of the best.

Not gonna lie. I also have a thing for Amy Schumer. Don’t judge me.
 
So I watched Stavros' "Lodge" set last night. Likeable, but my standard for fat jokes is the late John Pinette, followed by Louie Anderson, and Stavros' just didn't measure up there. And when he was getting into the sex stuff, I found it unbelieveable, not to mention being grossed out by the mental image. I'll see what else he's got out there, but so far wasn't doing it for me.

Watched a couple other specials this week that I enjoyed. Greg Warren's "The Salesman" delivered some great laughs. Warren, who used to work for P&G in sales, offers a lot of greenfield comedy in talking about peanut butter, including crowd work. You never knew how funny peanut butter could be. The other was a set by Mike Vecchione "The Attractives" who I think over-relies on callbacks, but his writing and most of his premises were solid. Needs a bit more experience to tighten up and edit out some things that slow down the proceedings, but the talent is definitely there. Both comics are part of the Nate Bargatze production universe (Nateland) and free on YouTube.
 
Palatine said:
I have a few bits. This is absolutely killer from Carlin. It's between this one and Norm McDonald's "the one country that scares me is Germany" for the my all time favorite bits. There are bad words in this piece.

Expand ...

Of course it's the one Carlin fans use to show he wasn't right anout everything.
 
There's a guy out there...just hysterical. Does great crowd work.

Gianmarco Soresi

Also, Jessica Kirson slays me.
 
I watched five mike birbiglia Netflix special yesterday. Not all great, but worth watching. Very different style than Jefferies, Chris Rock, etc.
 
Went and saw Normand at The Bushnell a few weeks ago. Really funny show. Did like 15 minutes where he just had the crowd shout out random topics and he riffed and came up with material on the spot. Was impressive
 
Watched "The Improv: 60 and Still Standing" this weekend. Worth the watch. They have some short live bits from returning comics who've made it big mixed in with older clips from people like Sandler, Silverman, etc.

www.netflix.com

Watch The Improv: 60 and Still Standing | Netflix Official Site

Ten top comics hit the stage to celebrate the 60th anniversary of The Improv comedy club in this special featuring archival footage of iconic performers.
www.netflix.com www.netflix.com
 
storrsroars said:
Netflix just dropped the new Ricky Gervais set, "Armageddon". If you're a Gervais fan, you know what to expect. It might be his darkest set yet. After my first watch, my initial reaction was it didn't have the same # of laughs as his last two specials, but was still quite good. He's still the master at going two steps over the edge and only taking one step back. Not for the woke.
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Watched it tonight. I’m a big fan and thought it was just what you’d expect. Topical and he delivered. I love how he thinks and that shined through.
 
Chappelle's dropping a new set on Netflix tomorrow, "The Dreamer".

 
I watched an old Richard Pryor set last night. Comics are so much more skilled at building momentum and crafting sets now. He was still great because he’s Richard Pryor but it was disjointed and didn’t have great flow. At all.
 
storrsroars said:
Old news. Did you watch the new one?
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I was reading an article about the freakout over his new special. There was a link inside the link and I didn't realize it took me to an old article. Haven't seen the new one yet.
 
storrsroars said:
Back then, if one wanted craft and flow, they'd go see Cosby. That wasn't why you went to see Pryor.

Watched the new Chappelle. The first 10-15 minutes was some of the best crafted comedy I can remember. Woke critics are all over Dave for continuing to joke about transfolk and punching down on the handicapped.

verboten words and phrases and attack. Meanwhile, Dave is playing 4-D chess.
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4-D chess is the perfect way to describe that first ten minutes. I immediately rewound it and rewatched it again. Brilliant.
 
Deepster said:
4-D chess is the perfect way to describe that first ten minutes. I immediately rewound it and rewatched it again. Brilliant.
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Saw it coming, and the last third of the act sucked.

The "I was attacked by a guy with a knife that identified as a gun" was gold.

Overall, very good. I ended up watching all his specials available to stream. His first (Killing Then Softly) in 2000 was good, but I barely recognized him. He was rail thin and his voice was unrecognizable.


 

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I watched a documentary on Gary Mule Deer on Netflix. Dude is still performing 100 sets a year at age 83. And some of the material he's still using dates back to the Tonight Show when Carson was still there, lol.

Always found him inventive, intelligent and odd, but not the kind of groundbreaking comedy that would launch a superstar career. He gets nicked for using props, but he used them in such a way that he's not seen strictly as a prop comic like CarrotTop.

Anyway, hadn't thought of the guy in years and found this doc interesting as the comics interviewed (including Steve Martin, who was Mule Deer's roomie when both first got to LA), respect the guy. And it turns out, he's a pretty cool dude.
 
storrsroars said:
I watched a documentary on Gary Mule Deer on Netflix. Dude is still performing 100 sets a year at age 83. And some of the material he's still using dates back to the Tonight Show when Carson was still there, lol.

Always found him inventive, intelligent and odd, but not the kind of groundbreaking comedy that would launch a superstar career. He gets nicked for using props, but he used them in such a way that he's not seen strictly as a prop comic like CarrotTop.

Anyway, hadn't thought of the guy in years and found this doc interesting as the comics interviewed (including Steve Martin, who was Mule Deer's roomie when both first got to LA), respect the guy. And it turns out, he's a pretty cool dude.
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what's the documentary called? I just searched for Gary Mule Deer and got nothing.
 
temery said:
what's the documentary called? I just searched for Gary Mule Deer and got nothing.
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My bad, it was Prime, not Netflix
"Show Business Is My Life, But I Can't Prove It"
 
storrsroars said:
I watched a documentary on Gary Mule Deer on Netflix. Dude is still performing 100 sets a year at age 83. And some of the material he's still using dates back to the Tonight Show when Carson was still there, lol.

Always found him inventive, intelligent and odd, but not the kind of groundbreaking comedy that would launch a superstar career. He gets nicked for using props, but he used them in such a way that he's not seen strictly as a prop comic like CarrotTop.

Anyway, hadn't thought of the guy in years and found this doc interesting as the comics interviewed (including Steve Martin, who was Mule Deer's roomie when both first got to LA), respect the guy. And it turns out, he's a pretty cool dude.
Expand ...
I remember him from a comedy game show called Make Me Laugh. That's it.
 
Aluminny69 said:
Try DRY BAR comedy on Youtube. Being a Boomer myself, I am partial to Brad Upton
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Aluminny69 said:
And Jeff Allen
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Drybar has some good stuff - even some guys who will work blue, but not in Provo (where all DryBar sets appear to be filmed). As a comic, you know you're going to be playing to a predominately white and conservative audience, so edgy doesn't really play (although even the kid with the face tattoo and the alligator story was a hit there).

Anyway, Upton and Allen are old pros and you can tell they've mastered their craft even if many of the jokes themselves might've been appropriate for Alan King on the Ed Sullivan show. Those guys do really well on cruise ships and midwest tours, and it's good to see they can still make a good living in their 60s plying their trade.
 
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