Let me preface this with by saying sitoms (yes, including Seinfeld and The Office) never made me laugh. I never really watched sitcoms as a kid, although I enjoyed the classic slapsticks like the Marx Brothers and Laurel and Hardy.
I’ve only been to stand-up a few times in my life. It makes me feel very uncomfortable. What I don’t get about stand-up is that it is all recycled material with the same themes; penises, potty humor, race/accents, in-laws, bosses, politics, etc. It just isn’t funny to me. There’s nothing witty or interesting or unexpected, it’s just mean or crass material delivered in the same repetitious set-up and delivery. Ricky Jervais talks with Larry David about the idiocy of going into a comedy club and observing audiences laugh at tired material they’ve all heard before (skip to 7:29)
So, people who go to comedy clubs, are you laughing because you are supposed to laugh or you because you actually find the material laugh-out-loud funny? I’m asking this seriously, because I really believe people have been totally conditioned by sitcoms to laugh at the expected moments. …
I would say you need to go see some better stand up.
And yes, I laugh hysterically, as long at it’s funny. I have seen plenty of comedians do what you say (usually long time hosts), and no, I won’t laugh at them.
You like slapstick, we like stand up. I’ve never seen a physical comedy sketch that made me do anything but cringe with embarrassment, but for you it’s actually entertaining.
Sure, everyone has their YMMV experiences. But ISTM stand-up has been going downhill. Maybe it’s part of the bigger picture – that so many people seem to think that EVERYTHING in our culture is becoming cruder, more down-classy, more vulgar.
ISTM there were better comedians in days of yore, but as they died off, the newer generations of comedians just couldn’t fill their shoes.
Red Skelton was great. Jack Benny, pretty good. Danny Kaye, not too bad. (Well, there was also Phyllis Diller. Ick.)
Then we got a generation of the likes of Rodney Dangerfield (who only had one joke-line, repeated in infinite variations ad nauseum) and Don Rickles (total puke, IMNSHO).
I never laugh at things or people that are not funny (to me), I have laughed many many times at comedy clubs, but also sit and not laugh sometimes. Jokes are not like music, you can’t laugh at the same thing over and over. (OK, I can’t)
Depending on the stand up comedian, yes. I’ve been reduced to tears in laughter. Sometimes its the bits themselves, but really, it’s 90% in the delivery.
I love slapstick, and absurdist humor too, but you see a top act comedian, and despite knowing it’s the same material they use over and over, they breathe fresh life into it everytime. And you can see them feeding off the energy in the audience too.
I grew up with Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. Watching Evening at the Improv in the late 80s/Early90s too. And the generation of comedians that were inspired by them. Too many to name, but Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg, and most recently Louis C.K. are in my all time favs.
I second enalzi who said you have to see some better stand-up comedy. It’s worth noting that “going to see stand-up comedy” is like saying “going to see music.” There are a range of styles that are going to appeal to different senses of humor. In all honesty, we are truly in a golden age of stand up right now and I vehemently disagree with the notion that there isn’t anyone doing anything new.
For what it’s worth, my favorites include a bunch of people whose acts are anything but riffing on the typical everyday themes…
[ul]
[li]Demetri Martin[/li][li]Maria Bamford[/li][li]Jim Gaffigan[/li][li]Steven Wright[/li][li]Jake Johannsen[/li][li]Zach Galifianakis[/li][li]Mitch Hedberg[/li][li]Anthody Jeselnik[/li][li]Patton Oswalt[/li][li]Mike Bergiglia[/li][li]Marc Maron[/li][li]T.J. Miller[/li][li]Chris Rock[/li][li]Bill Burr[/li][li](and of course) Louis CK[/li][/ul]
I’ve seen exactly one stand up comedian, Arj Barker, and I was expecting it to be something I’d have to endure while I waited for the Flight of the Conchords to come on. Arj was absolutely hilarious. My partner and I were both in hysterics. Fortunately tFotC were also very funny.
Same here. Some comics are good. Very good. Many are not. I don’t go to live standup often, but even watching stuff on TV, I find I don’t laugh nearly as often as the people watching with me. I guess I’m a tough crowd.
Gabriel Iglesias cracks me up - partly it’s his material, but a large part of his act is the delivery - the voices and the facial expressions especially.
Eons ago, I was lucky enough to see Red Skelton perform. He was quite old at the time, but his show was great. He never got off-color in topic or in language, but he owned the audience. You can’t replace talent with obscenities.
I’ve only been to a comedy act a couple times. Once I laughed so hard and long that I was in pain. Another time I yawned, looked repeatedly at my watch, and sucked down vodka tonics so fast I switched to doubles.
This. Crappy standup is uncomfortable to sit through, but the masters of the craft are pure pleasure to behold. My wife and I regularly watch stand-up on TV, and if we see someone we like, we make a mental note of it; if they come within a couple hundred miles of us for a live performance, we’ll go see it.
A few of our favorites we’ve managed to see live, and would happily go see again if the opportunity arose:
Jim Gaffigan
Ron White
Greg Behrendt
Lynn Koplitz
Elvira Kurt
Ralph Harris
Greg Geraldo
There are a lot of other good ones we’d like to see, but haven’t had the opportunity.
Sit-coms are no different: there are good ones and bad ones, and like stand-up comedy, much of it is subjective. I have friends that love The Office, but my wife and I just can’t stand it. She likes Frasier a lot, I think it’s OK; we both like Scrubs a lot.
As others have said, comedy is largely a matter of personal taste.
For example, I have never laughed at anything from David Letterman. Ever. He’s just not to my taste, but I’m sure that doesn’t bother him or his audience.
On the other hand, I went to see Jerry Seinfeld in a small comedy club long before he had his TV show. I turned to my date and said “He’s going to be famous.”
I have high regard for Kathleen Madigan, but her career never seemed to take off, so I guess that’s an example of something that tickles my funnybone, but not many other people’s.
We try to only see some of the better acts and yeah, when it’s fresh, funny and well-delivered we do laugh for all the right reasons. When it’s not, I stay interested but no, there’s no obligation to react for reaction’s sake.
Like this past year when I saw Lewis Black and Richard Lewis, different nights fortunately. With both those guys part of the entertainment was their style, personality, delivery. Richard was just so fookin’ stream of consciousness, just this endless energetic screwed up miasma of rambling thought. It was fascinating and although I wasn’t laughing throughout, I was enthralled.
Lewis Black had that same intensity but instead of rambling he sputtered and spurted as he physically fought to contain his frustrated outrage. Again, not always haha laughable but very entertaining.
You have to find the style of comic you like. Me, my favorite comics are Lewis Black and Russell Peters.
Now Lewis Black is a topical comic, so he rants/talks about whatever’s in the news today, often politics. Politics is such an animal that you have to laugh at it or you would just cry. And he turns bitter, hard-to-swallow things, like the fucking Iraq war, over, and makes you see the funny side of it. And then there was the duct tape fiasco, and he made that funny, too.
Russell Peters is a comic that jokes primarily about Indians and E. Asian people. He’s a Canadian comic of E. Indian descent, so he knows what he’s talking about, and he does some excellent accents. My SO and I being of Chinese and E. Indian descent, respectively, we find him very funny and amusing.
I also like Dave Atell but granted, that is some crass humor and you kind of have to reset your mind to a lower level to listen to him. Chris Rock is also pretty funny.
All humor is, after all, is a release valve to escape from real life for a bit. If I was you, I’d look at clips of these performers on youtube and see if you like any of them. if you don’t then so what? Stand up is not for you.
And I don’t watch sitcoms and I hate the laugh track.