# Henry Rollins - Spoken word question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250 "2002-08-10T05:16:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/1 "2002-08-10T05:16:50Z")
OK, so I saw him on Comedy Central performing his spoken word act. Other than having slightly more emphasis on story telling, what’s the difference between what he does, and stand up comedy? To me, what he does doesn’t seem much different. ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/2 "2002-08-10T05:22:04Z")
Stand up comedy is funny. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/3 "2002-08-10T05:50:30Z")
Ouch. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/4 "2002-08-10T05:59:32Z")
I’ve seen Henry Rollins be incredibly insightful and funny during his routines, although his latest Comedy Central outing had some seriously lame stretches (Couldn’t he come up with a target slightly more interesting than the Klan?). Rollins does seem to be morphing into a conventional stand-up comedian. Spoken-word is more like performance art, except you’re talking instead of chainsawing the heads off Barbie dolls while wearing a clown costume with the word “Penis” written all over it. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/5 "2002-08-10T06:43:13Z")
Who does that? Oh, and as for spoken word, I did watch some of Gray’s Anatomy on IFC and it does seem pretty different from what Rollins did…does… ---
**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/6 "2002-08-10T06:43:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qwertyasdfg \* > \*\*Stand up comedy is funny. \*\* LOL! That is hilarious! ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/7 "2002-08-10T17:28:54Z")
I didn’t think the Comedy Central show was very good. I would suggest listening to the 2 disc “Sweatbox”. Rollins spoken word at his best IMHO. Great anecdotes & observations throughout. Definitely NOT stand up comedy, where the goal is to keep your audience laughing. His latest spoken word “A Rollins in the Wry” is more along the lines of George Carlin…Without the hook. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty good, but it seems he has gotten away from the story-telling aspect. The show you speak of was somewhere in the middle I believe. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/8 "2002-08-10T18:14:27Z")
Yeah, the “Up for it” special just made me think of stand up because when he wasn’t telling jokes, he made, or in some cases tried to make, his stories and his ideas be funny. Of course, I guess stand up and spoken word can overlap, kind of like there are rap/rock songs out there, but from what little I know about spoken word, it seemed to be more stand up than spoken word, kind of like a rap/rock song that seems to be mostly rock with a little rap thrown in. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2002, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/9 "2002-08-10T20:32:56Z")
Funny, I can remember reading a parody in Musician magazine after the second (1990?) Woodstock. Describing a future Woodstock, the writer said “…and comedian Henry Garfield brought back his lovable Rollins character…”, Garfield being Rollins’ real name. Sometimes too smart for his own good, or thinks he’s just a tad smarter than he is. Still love him. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/10 "2002-08-11T01:15:16Z")
Yeah, over all, his show was pretty good. A little boaring now and then, but over all, pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2002, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/11 "2002-08-11T01:15:51Z")
Yeah, over all, his show was pretty good. A little boring now and then, but over all, pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/12 "2002-08-12T10:00:51Z")
Try **Talking From the Box**. A lot of manic, witty anecdotes, then suddenly a 90-degree turn into one of the most wrenching stories I’ve ever heard. ---
**Author:** ![webguy1000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/eb9ed0/32.png) [@webguy1000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/webguy1000)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/13 "2002-08-12T13:38:52Z")
IMO, spoken word is usually a spattering of stories, sometimes comical and other times insightful, but always true. Standup comedians typically fabricate stories using comedic techniques (call-back, et al). Also, the spoken word sessions are usually accompanied by poetry or music. It’s much more artful. I’ve listened to a lot of Rollins’s spoken word stuff and enjoyed it a lot. The ‘get in the van’ set is a must-listen for anyone who was a fan of black flag. ---
**Author:** ![TigoleBitties](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cab0a1/32.png) [@TigoleBitties](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TigoleBitties)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/14 "2002-08-12T16:11:08Z")
I have seen Henry’s spoken word a few times over the years and I kinda agree that he was best when he was first starting out. He just had more stories and more anecdotes that were both interesting and humourous. Lately though he seems to be in the cycle of hitting the most middle of the road topics and its wearing thin. I will still go and support him but I think he may need to re-anylize what he wants to talk about. I dunno, maybe his aging has something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![DuhMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9c0ed/32.png) [@DuhMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DuhMan)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2002, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/henry-rollins-spoken-word-question/123250/15 "2002-08-12T17:51:28Z")
I agree with most of the posts here. His older stuff we definitely much better. He just seemed more energetic and the stories he told we much more entertaining. He has kind of mellowed out and lost some of the spunk as the years have gone on. For example, he tells the same story on A Rollins in the Wry as he did on one of his older ones. If you listen to them back to back, the old one is told so much better. He was much more enthusiastic and close to his materail then. Now he seems somewhat removed and uninspired. I think my favorite old cd is the 2 disk set of Human Butt. Really great stories on that one.