Ok, with John Stewart hosting the Oscars it's obvious Hollywood likes comedians that "tackle the issues" Meaning comedy that focuses on social commentary, political satire and has a "message". Hollywood doesn't want their comedians to be "too wacky". This is illustrated in Jim Carrey not receiving nominations in years past and the same with Jack Black this year. It took years(and several serious films) for Robin Williams to be accepted into the Hollywood elite and that was because he "toned down" his wacky humor.

 

I've never really understood this line of thought. To me, people like John Stewart get way too much credit while a far superior comedic mind in Conan O'Brien is deemed "too wacky" for focusing too much on random comedy and not enough on political and social issues. In the same line as John Stewart, I think Dave Chapelle is overrated for the same reasons.

 

Listen, I love random humor. I love over the top humor/alternative humor. I love Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, Norm MacDonald and the like. I really don't think comedy has to have an intrinsic "message". It can just be comedy on it's own. It doesn't have to "tackle" deep social and political issues. It pains me to hear David Cross talk about Social Security in his act now. I really don't like the direction I see comedy going with more of a focus put on issues than on talent.

 

Agree? Disagree?

Some of the greatest comics ever had a social message in their comedy. Richard Pryor leaps to mind immediately. Issue-oriented comedy isn't a recent development.

 

Comic actors in serious roles tend to get jobbed by the Academy because most of them have a wall between "funny" actors and what they consider "real" actors.

I'll take a nice balance. Those who can tackle serious issues and make them funny, have my respect. People like Lewis Black can discuss war, politics, and social issues for an hour and it's hilarious. Serious topics get a lot of folks so wound up that it's refreshing to see that there are some who can talk about them, make great points, and make you laugh about it.

 

On the other end of the spectrum, I love Conan. His sense of humor reminds me of my own. I don't like to discuss religion, politics or any of that other stuff in a real serious fashion, so most of my humor revolves around life's little things that most people can relate to.

 

I guess my point is, if it's funny, I'll like it, whether it's getting across a message or not.

There's a fine line on messages in comedy. George Carlin is a good example. He walked the line pretty well until about 1994 and then fell into bitter old man Carlin where he just rants about stuff 90% of the time and forgets the funny.

 

That's why I tend not to like issue based comedians because almost all of them will start to take themselves too seriously and then the funny goes away.

Never hurts to be relevant, but never hurts to be funny either. It's a balancing act. The truth is, when someone is standing up and professing something, they automatically assume a sense of relevance, even on a small scale, and with that, they can't help but carry a little bit of social weight.

Its funny I was just thinking about this. Ill concur that there needs to be a balancing act. Im really not sure why their wouldnt be one. Jus like Strummer doesnt want comedy to get too political alot of people have an eltist view of humor getting indignant when people go to see stuff like the Scary Movie series.

 

Yknow whats fucked up though, when people dont get the message. Dave Chapelles funny. This is no secret. But Dave brigns up good points that happen to be funny. The one about girls dressing slutty not really beiung slutty BUT there dressed that way etc...Alot of times people miss the good point cause their jsu sitting there waiting for the next joke .

Q, I'd consider that a random "life observation" not a deep political or socially conscious one. Girls who dress slutty but say they aren't? When you brought up Dave Chappelle I thought you'd at least talk about one of his bits that occured, I don't know, in the past five years. "Killing Them Softly" was in 2000 and "For What's It Worth" is the one that tackles actual issues (and is funnier, though the message isn't why).

 

I'll take both. Some comics are better at one than the other and hey, that's what makes'em different. Dane Cook is random, wacky, "life observation" funny. Chappelle can do both. Chris Rock has done both but I found him funnier when he was random/wacky Chris in "Bring the Pain" rather than "let's get serious" Chris in "Never Scared." Never Scared was funny but too many times I felt like Rock was preaching and lecturing rather than telling jokes.

There's something about Rock's pacing that I don't care for. He's a funny guy and I own both of those specials on DVD, but he has these idiosyncricies that start to grate on my nerves after a while (i.e. his habit of repeating the same line two or three times in a row).

 

Agreed, though, that his last special had a lot of preaching in it. He was bringing up some good points, but I guess I find him funnier when he's talking about that special kind of jerking off when nobody else is home.

 

Re: Dane Cook. I remember seein his spot on an episode of Premium Blend probably five or six years ago and really loving it. His CC special a couple years later disappointed me and sort of soured me on the guy. Because of this, I didn't go out of my way to give his Harmful If Swallowed album a listen until my brother made me last year.

 

His CC special still was hit or miss, but the guy's honed his act so much in the last couple of years. There's very few bits on either one of his albums that isn't at least amusing. And then there are many pieces that have you gasping for air.

 

Like I said earlier, if they're good at what they do, it doesn't really matter if they've got a serious message or not. I wouldn't want Dane Cook up there waxing intellectual about politics and world issues, because that's not him.

 

But it doesn't matter, because he's great at what he does. And that doesn't mean that people who like random humor don't enjoy the more "serious" humor. My brother and I both like guys like Lewis Black and George Carlin (well, not current Carlin), but stuff like Dane Cook is on the top of our favorites list, too. Hell, my brother had to pull over on his drive back to school last fall because he was laughing so much at Cook's new album he thought he was going to get in an accident. Certainly the mark of a great comedian.

This is when you know you've hit the big time.

 

Courtesy of IMDB.com:

Simpson Linked with Comedic Co-Star

 

Jessica Simpson is reportedly becoming more than just good friends with her latest co-star, comedian Dane Cook, after the two were spotted holding hands and cuddling. The couple went to see Denzel Washington's latest movie, Inside Man, on Sunday night, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where they are on location shooting Employee Of The Month. An eyewitness tells American publication Us Weekly, "They were sitting really close to each other and at one point she laid her head on his shoulder." The couple were also spotted getting cozy the week before at an Albuquerque night club celebrating the comedian's 34th birthday on March 18. A club employee says, "They were sitting next to each other all night and were in their own world. They were holding hands and laughing and hugging. At one point they snuggled up really close." Cook lives with girlfriend, Valli Girls lead singer Raquel Houghton, in Los Angeles. Houghton has dismissed the claims her boyfriend is cheating with Simpson, saying the rumors are "obviously all lies." A source close to Simpson says, "Dane's more like a goofy brother to her. She has never talked about him romantically."

Jeez. I hope they're lies because I thought Dane was smarter than THAT. Then again, I suppose most dudes can get over minor annoyances like stupidity when there's a great rack and nice legs involved. Shit, I can too.

Wasn't there a story a while back about Jessica supposedly being real intelligent? Of course, the source was her mom, but nevertheless. She certainly hasn't come off like that, and I'd imagine most of what makes Dane's act so funny wouldn't get through to her.

Dane Cook on the Insomniac Tour.

Speaking of comedy with a message, I picked up the Lewis Black standup DVD, Black On Broadway.

 

I'd advise everyone to steer clear of this shit-shingle, as it's not even comedy. It's political viewpoints being spewed out in an annoying voice.

 

 

It's like Margaret Cho with fewer lesbians in the audience.

I would think anyone buying a Lewis Black CD would be well aware of the man's viewpoints and comedy style.

 

I mean, comedy CDs aren't normally the thing you'd blind buy. At least I don't.

The political views didn't surprise me...

 

The lack of jokes, however, did. It's all schtick, and not good schtick either.

 

 

As far as "blind buy" goes, it was $5 at Wal-Mart and I thought there was an outside chance of one bit being worth it. Not from what I've seen so far though.

Have you ever heard Lewis Black before? All he does is rants, sometimes political, sometimes not. He's not a typical joke teller type of comedian.

I didn't think it was very funny, but mostly because he went on and on forever about the weather.

 

I find that he can be hilarious sometimes on the Daily Show, but the stand-up disappointed me.