I just saw Jerry Seinfeld perform at the Johnny Mercer theater in Savannah, Georgia, last night.
As someone who grew up watching his show it was incredible just to SEE him. I’ve never been to a comedy show before so it was hard to guage how good his material was.
I think he was definitively the last nationwide comedian.
It is hard to express how excited I was to see the performance…
And yes, he did “Newman”
Anyone else go?
What does this mean?
The market is so splintered now with the internet. It used to be a push model; here are the shows you can watch. Now it is a pull model: go find something that really grabs you.
To me, he was the last big comedian to come out of that water-cooler type fame.
You could argue Charlie Sheen or Ray Ramano, but I can’t imagine what world anyone finds those two hacks as funny.
I don’t think Charlie Sheen was ever a stand-up comedian.
Dave Chappelle was nationally popular / peaked seven years after the Seinfeld finale.
How blue was Seinfeld on stage? I was pleasantly surprised when I caught one of his specials at his “Jesus Christs” and “goddamns.”
I saw him a couple years ago at the Newark Performing Arts Center. I was (and still am) a big Seinfeld fan, but was sorely disappointed in his act. Perhaps he was working through material to see what stuck, I don’t know, but it was no where near as good as some no-name comedians I’ve seen at comedy clubs over the years. His opener, however, was hilarious. It was the guy that hosted that terrible Marriage Ref show that was out at the time, Tom Pappas, I think. When he turned the mic over to Jerry, all the funny left the room. It was disappointing.
I loved the show, but I find his stand-up clips on the show unfunny
what’s the deal with that
Comedians that are currently famous “nationwide” and became so long after Seinfeld?
Dane Cook
Jim Gaffigan
Louis C.K.
I am purposely only listing those who got famous without movies and TV roles to assist their rise in popularity. I’m sure there are many others, but those are the big 3 that come to mind.
It’d interesting to see how big Seinfeld could have been without a TV show. My guess: not very. As a comedian, he is pretty average. His humor works better in sitcom form.
I saw him a few years ago and he was very very funny. What was great was after his set he opened up to the crowd to ask him anything. People just yelled a bunch of dumb jokey questions (admittedly I choked and blanked on anything) so he gave up after one or two and left the stage. Seemed like a missed opportunity.
Wasn’t Seinfeld pretty famous as a comedian before his TV show?
Plus, I think his style of comedy was fresher and less overexposed back in those days.
I think the names you listed do qualify. And Chris Rock deserves a mention: even though he’s done movies and TV, he’s arguably famous first and foremost as a stand-up comedian.
But if we don’t see as many “nationwide” comedians as we used to, I think at least part of the reason is that Johnny Carson is no longer hosting the Tonight Show.
Kevin Hart
Russell Peters
Both sell out arenas. Peters is Canadian and is even bigger internationally so I don’t know if he would meet your criteria.
Its good to hear you enjoyed him. I am not a fan of his standup but loved his show, doc and web series.
But Chris Rock is the king of modern standup. I am not sure how much he goes out but I saw him about 10yrs ago and he was on fire. Louie CK and Gaffigan like someone else mentioned are also great although I think Louise is more of a niche. Maybe not.
Same here, I was shocked to hear him say those two words! It doesn’t offend me in the slightest but still surprised me.
I found his stand up to be quite different from his sitcom (of course). To me he seemed a lot more like George Carlin than I EVER would have imagined.
And to those asking what I mean about his being the last national comedian…I was thinking of someone who approached the greatness of, say, Johnny Carson. One of the last to have broad appeal. I give no science to this entirely “felt” and not “logical” idea.
I saw him about seven years ago in Vegas. He was Hilarious. Having seen the sitcom repeats for so many years, I wondered how funny his act would be. He was hilarious with his every day observations. Re: him being “blue,” I’m pretty sure the whole act contained less than five curses, and it might have been zero. That’s what makes me think he’s so brilliant–he doesnt’ NEED to curse to be hilarious.
It means he’s bad.
He’s nationwide.
mmm
I’ve seen him live twice. The first time was, I think, early in Seinfeld’s second season, and my wife and I hadn’t even watched it at that point. We enjoyed his standup so much we started watching the show and became huge fans. (The line I best remember from that gig: “You notice how all the aspirin and painkillers nowadays are ‘extra strength’ and ‘maximum effectiveness’? It’s like the advertising guy went to the chemists and said, ‘Make it strong enough to kill me, and then back it off juuuuuuuust a little.’”)
I saw him again maybe three or four years ago. He was OK but not great.
But I’d see him again if I got the chance.
In what sense did he “do” Newman? Said the word “Newman”? Did some bit about Wayne Knight or the character? If all he did was say the word, then that sounds kinda pathetic to me, some hasbeen TV actor repeating a bit from his show that’s been off the air for a decade.
I’d like to see him myself. Partly because I liked the show, partly because Seinfeld is one of the few comics that seems to talk about the craft of being a comic, and the history of it. Before reading some of his stuff, I had no idea old-style comics created one good ten minute set and performed it pretty much the rest of their lives. There was recently an article in the NYT where he discusses working on a bit about Pop-Tarts for the last two years.
I think Louis C.K. was a nationally touring and pretty well-known comedian before Seinfeld was off the air. He has surged a lot since his latest show, though.
I assume he did the “[hello long pause]…Hello…Newman.”
It’s his most quotable line from the show and I’m sure he gets asked to do it all the time.
A friend of mine was a cocktail server at one of the big comedy clubs in NYC. She got to meet pretty much every comedian on the circuit back in the day.
I remember her telling me about Seinfeld. Unlike the other comedians, he didn’t really hang out with the others that much. He would come 15 minutes before his set, drink water, do his set, and then leave to go to another comedy club and do his set there.
Others (like John Belushi) would hang around and get drunk or coked up (she has a great story about Belushi) and leave the club loaded every night.
Seinfeld had an original presentation and style of delivery…but it kind of got old rather quickly. I think he was just recently on Letterman and tried out a bit of his new material about everyone worried about drinking enough water…and it was sort of bland and not all that funny.
My friend was single and gorgeous and she dated a few of these comedians. She later told me she wouldn’t date a comedian again if her life depended on it. She sort of described it, “They are always “on”…and if you don’t laugh at every joke and comment, you are not supportive and they try even harder to be funny 24/7. It takes it out of you after awhile. Their egos are huge and it is just too difficult to be around them all the time.”
I met a couple of the guys she dated (one went on to fairly decent success) and she was spot on. That guy was nice and well-meaning, but you could hardly get a word in edgewise and he was constantly trying out new material and trying desperately to be the center of attention non-stop. It was indeed tiring to be around him.