# Collin quin can't tell a monologue to save his life. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540 "2003-07-24T03:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/1 "2003-07-24T03:42:54Z")
Ever watch “Tough Crowd” or did you see him do the news when he was with SNL? The man cannot tell a monologue to save his life. You’d think after being in the business for a while, he’d learn to, oh, I don’t know, rehearse maybe? He pauses while talking and flubs his lines frequently. Anyway, I guess I’ll shut up now. I just hope that this belongs here and not in the pit. If a mod has to move this thread, then my apologies. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/2 "2003-07-24T03:53:30Z")
Doesn’t he read his lines on a teleprompter or something? If he does, then he shouldn’t mess up his lines as much. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/3 "2003-07-24T03:54:38Z")
God help me, but I’m endlessly entertained by Colin Quinn. No, he’s not funny, or talented, or even much fun to watch, but I can’t help pulling for him. It’s like the Special Olympics. The kids aren’t good athletes by any stretch, but you have to root for them for even trying, in the face of all their handicaps. Same with Colin: here’s a guy who’s simply not funny, at all, in any way. But he really wants to be a comedian, by gum, and he’s not going to let his total lack of talent stand in the way. You got to respect that sort of determination. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/4 "2003-07-24T03:57:46Z")
I completely agree. He was _awful_ on Weekend Update. The guy could not read a teleprompter to save his life. Every other punchline was flubbed. What was Uncle Lorne thinking? I never watched any of his other shows. How does this guy continue to get work? ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/5 "2003-07-24T04:09:43Z")
I caught CQ on NPR a few weeks ago. He was hilarious. The show was allowing him to plug _Tough Crowd_ in essence. I’ve always thought he was funny. On SNL I frequently felt like he was observing himself reading the lines along with the audience. It was charming for me. If the interview on NPR was any gauge he has no illusions of grandeur with respect to his comedic success. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/6 "2003-07-24T04:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by friedo \* > \*\*I completely agree. He was _awful_ on Weekend Update. The guy could not read a teleprompter to save his life. Every other punchline was flubbed. What was Uncle Lorne thinking? > > I never watched any of his other shows. How does this guy continue to get work? \*\* Well, his new show is on Comedy Central, so… ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/7 "2003-07-24T05:04:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MonkeyMensch \* > \*\*I caught CQ on NPR a few weeks ago. He was hilarious. The show was allowing him to plug _Tough Crowd_ in essence. I’ve always thought he was funny. > > On SNL I frequently felt like he was observing himself reading the lines along with the audience. It was charming for me. If the interview on NPR was any gauge he has no illusions of grandeur with respect to his comedic success. \*\* Watch his new show, on Comedy Central, at least once. I don’t watch it much because my wife hates it, but except for maybe once or twice, his monologue is stiff, dry, pretty much humorless, and, as I said before, he frequently flubs his line and has to start over or re-say a word he mispronounced. The rest of the show has comedians as guests that are talking, and when he talks, he’s more serious, that that part’s not too bad. But then at the end, he has to close with some sort of “joke” that’s usually not that funny. ---
**Author:** ![BlackLabel1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e5b9ba/32.png) [@BlackLabel1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackLabel1)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/8 "2003-07-24T05:25:06Z")
I’ve always kinda thought he was funny, but the thing I like about tough crowd is the other comics. Dennis Leary was on the other night and I think he’s the funniest person alive. No Cure For Cancer is the best comedy CD I own. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/9 "2003-07-24T05:37:24Z")
I know what **Miller** means, I don’t think. I’ve never liked Colin Quinn, but he’s not quite as terrible as some people have it - I think he gets hated on a lot because he followed the popular Norm MacDonald, and Norm also left SNL in acrimonious fashion (apparently fired for making too many OJ jokes). Sometimes he’s funny. On his own show, he’s better as a straight man because he never seems to be as sharp as his guests. To me, Tough Crowd isn’t a bad show, but it’s pretty derivative of Politically Incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/10 "2003-07-24T05:38:11Z")
Colin Quinn is a prime example of what I refer to as a “black hole of comedy,” meaning that not only is he not funny, but he sucks funny out of other comedians on the same show with him, making them unfunny. Oh, and **BlackLabel1** , Denis Leary is OK, but I liked the material much better the first time, when Bill Hicks did it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/13edae/32.png) [@Dewey\_Cheatem\_Undhow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Cheatem_Undhow)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/11 "2003-07-24T05:39:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BlackLabel1 \* > \*\*Dennis Leary was on the other night and I think he’s the funniest person alive. \*\* Denis Leary is a pale imitation of the late Bill Hicks. IIRC, he even pilfered some of Hicks’ material. ---
**Author:** ![Scorpio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Scorpio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scorpio)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/12 "2003-07-24T06:00:59Z")
He did say ‘funniest person ALIVE’ ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/13 "2003-07-24T13:46:19Z")
I agree. I never will understand how he keeps getting new shows. ---
**Author:** ![TVS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b782af/32.png) [@TVS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVS)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/14 "2003-07-24T13:52:35Z")
Normally, I’d say, “The dude has a speech impediment, leave him alone.” But since he’s a comedian and TV performer, he probably has it coming. His jokes are sometimes funny, but his delivery is way off. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/15 "2003-07-24T14:27:03Z")
I like Colin Quinn… I like him so much, that every time I see him perform, I really WANT him to be funny. Unfortunately, he almost never is. What keeps Quinn in business is that he’s a “comic’s comic.” That is, when a bunch of comedians get together over beers or coffee, he cracks up all the other comedians. Sadly, he has no such ability to crack up anybody else. But so many other successful comics love him that he’ll never be out of work for long. ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/16 "2003-07-24T16:35:09Z")
It’s interesting to me that comedians would settle on Quinn as the “comedian’s comedian”. I think he’s got that elusive combination of solid comedic talent and a complete lack of any professional threat to his fellow comedians. Comedians respect their fellows if they’re good, but they don’t really LIKE them. It’s hard to like a guy who is kicking your ass professionally. Quinn has gotten to the point where he can make a decent living doing comedy, but he’s not ever going to be a public favorite or a Seinfeld-esque superstar. He doesn’t represent competition, and, perhaps more importantly, he brings (relatively unknown) people along with him whenever he has the chance. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/17 "2003-07-24T18:25:47Z")
Ten years or more ago I saw a guy on “At the Improv”, or whatever the A&E show was called, who made a lot of smoking jokes who might have been Bill Hicks. I remember him as much more low-key than Leary is. **brianjedi** , and anyone else who knows who Bill Hicks is, you’re very special. And cooler than I am. What made Leary’s career, IMHO, were the MTV spots he did 10 years ago. I still laugh about them now… I think Colin Quin is funny. His lack of good diction is part of the appeal, really. So he’s not James Earl Jones. Whatever. I laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/18 "2003-07-24T18:57:26Z")
What’s with him always eating? Can’t the guy just eat a normal meal before the show, so he doesn’t have to snack all the way through? It’s annoying, and it’s disrespectful, since half the time he has to talk to his guests with his mouth half full. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/19 "2003-07-24T22:56:08Z")
I just wonder why this thread? Isn’t it pretty much common knowledge the guy sucks? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540/20 "2003-07-25T00:52:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TVS \* > \*\*Normally, I’d say, “The dude has a speech impediment, leave him alone.” > > But since he’s a comedian and TV performer, he probably has it coming. His jokes are sometimes funny, but his delivery is way off. \*\* So does Bobcat Goldthwait, but Bobcat can still tell a joke. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/collin-quin-cant-tell-a-monologue-to-save-his-life/190540.md?page=2)