# Was Jerry Seinfeld considered a great stand up? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 14, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671 "2017-08-14T20:57:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/21 "2017-08-15T01:15:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On the other hand, I’m American, and everything I’ve seen from him has just fallen flat, to me. So it’s definitely not a Britain-vs.-US thing. > > Aside: Would you like me to correct the misspelling? +1 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/22 "2017-08-15T02:02:24Z")
The pilot was indeed rejected at first (they lost their main supporter at NBC when he freaked after being led on and dumped by Elaine), but the network wanted to go ahead with it toward the end of Season 9. This created the backdrop for the two-parter “The Finale,” making the situation there especially frustrating. All of the episodes are available for free on line, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/23 "2017-08-15T02:08:35Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > All of the episodes are available for free on line, BTW. Crackle has it? Is that right? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/24 "2017-08-15T02:28:48Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I don’t know how many of the jokes came from his pre-existing stand-up act and how many were written especially for the show, but I assume there was a fair amount of material written for the show. Fred Stoller has a chapter in his book _Maybe We’ll Have You Back_ where he talks about being a staff writer for Seinfeld for a season. Most of the story lines and scripts came from various writers and then Seinfeld and David would punch them up to fit their tastes. So it would stand to reason that the jokes were written for the show since they were based on story lines from the other writers and Seinfeld probably didn’t have jokes ready to go for every story offered. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/25 "2017-08-15T02:35:54Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Crackle has it? Is that right? Don’t know about Crackle; I usually go to WatchTVLinks: \ ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/26 "2017-08-15T02:44:31Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Crackle has it? Is that right? Crackle has a handful, that rotate month to month. Hulu has the whole catalog. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/27 "2017-08-15T02:47:25Z")
> [@Trancephalic](#): > > [Yeah, it needs an “I”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm2iNNqj2fQ) Get out of this thread! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/28 "2017-08-15T03:32:24Z")
[Moderating] **terentii** , I doubt that that website has legal rights to all of the shows they’re offering. Unless you can provide evidence otherwise, I’ve removed the link. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/29 "2017-08-15T03:40:48Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Moderating] > > **terentii** , I doubt that that website has legal rights to all of the shows they’re offering. Unless you can provide evidence otherwise, I’ve removed the link. Understood. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/30 "2017-08-15T03:44:19Z")
Seinfeld is a great standup comic. Have you seen his HBO specials? He still does a few shows a year. One of Seinfeld’s best HBO specials is where he told his 80’s material for the last time. He forced himself to create an entirely new act for the 00’s. > **[I'm Telling You for the Last Time](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Telling_You_for_the_Last_Time)** > > I'm Telling You for the Last Time is a 1998 stand-up comedy special and the second starring Jerry Seinfeld. The special aired live on HBO on August 9, 1998, from the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City. It was then released as an album on cassette and CD by the same title that same year. In 1999, a VHS and DVD titled Jerry Seinfeld: I'm Telling You for the Last Time - Live on Broadway was released. > The recording was taped just a couple of months after the show Seinfeld went off the air. Entertai... ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/31 "2017-08-15T03:52:55Z")
Here is the legal place for Jerry’s act. > **[Seinfeld on the Web, Portion Controlled (Published 2011)](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/arts/television/seinfeld-starts-web-site-of-his-stand-up-routines.html)** > > Jerry Seinfeld prepares to debut his Web site, which will hold nearly every recorded comedy performance he has given, but will feature only three videos at a time, chosen by the comedian. > [@](#): > > That will change on Friday with the debut of his Web site, [JerrySeinfeld.com](http://JerrySeinfeld.com), an online home for video of nearly every recorded comedy performance given by its creator and namesake, who at 57 is hardly in his autumn years but is contemplating posterity. > > “I really thought, ‘Where’s my stuff going to be when I’m dead?’ ” Mr. Seinfeld said Tuesday in an interview. “Is it just gone for all time? Who could sift through it? I thought, I should filter this out and be the judge of what I thought was good.” ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/32 "2017-08-15T13:03:30Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I always liked Seinfeld but he was never one of the titans of stand-up, far below the real masters like Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Sam Kinison, etc. This is what I remember too; he was pretty popular and definitely successful, but wasn’t on the path to be ‘remembered forever’ like those other names. The show is what really took him from ‘successful’ to ‘household name’, and is what he’ll be remembered for down the line. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/33 "2017-08-15T14:12:41Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > In the show, the protagonist Jerry is about as successful as real-Jerry was before his sitcom. > > The difference is that in the show, the sitcom is way worse and is not picked up after the first episode. > > I do remember an episode where they all see how much Jerry is paid for a show and they are really impressed. Elaine even kind of likes him more once she realizes he earns OK cash. To be fair, as I remember, the real-life television show wasn’t successful from the start. I think the first season was weak. And the fictional Jerry lived in a fairly nice apartment in, I think, midtown Manhattan. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/34 "2017-08-15T14:18:17Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > This is what I remember too; he was pretty popular and definitely successful, but wasn’t on the path to be ‘remembered forever’ like those other names. The show is what really took him from ‘successful’ to ‘household name’, and is what he’ll be remembered for down the line. Yeah, before the sitcom he was probably on the same level as someone like, say, Jake Johansen. Who I remember seeing on Letterman frequently but I couldn’t tell you what he’s done in the last 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/35 "2017-08-15T14:24:10Z")
I think he’s funny as shit (like the good kind of shit) and his show is one of the few reruns I can bear to watch. But his brand of observational humor and his show does seem to be a bit polarizing, from what I’ve noticed, even here in the US. But back when, what was it, the Comedy Channel, used to show stand-ups regularly, his was always one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/36 "2017-08-15T15:07:54Z")
Seinfeld was the best clean comic of the 1980s. One reason he doesn’t get the credit he deserves is that he was so successful he changed the business and inspired so many copycats that his act does not seem as fresh. He wasn’t edgy or political so he is underrated by some, but his whole persona, look, and cadence set the standard as to what a stand up comic was. This was parodied in [The Stand-Ups](http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/the-stand-ups/n9386?snl=1) sketch on SNL. NBC was trying to get him to host a late night show but he insisted on doing his sitcom instead. There is an interesting documentary called Comedian about him trying out new material in clubs do get a new act and he is masterful. It is on youtube ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/37 "2017-08-15T15:48:24Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And the fictional Jerry lived in a fairly nice apartment in, I think, midtown Manhattan. Upper West Side, 81st St. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/38 "2017-08-15T16:37:35Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Seinfeld was the best clean comic of the 1980s. I always remember, well, half-remember, a quote that either he said to Jay Leno, or Jay Leno said to him, which was “If you work clean, you’ll be accepted into every club in America”. I always respected him (Jay for that matter too) for working clean. I hate Seinfeld the show, but I love him as a stand-up. Consistently gets me to laugh every time. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/39 "2017-08-15T17:13:46Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I saw Jerry Seinfeld doing standup live once. He was hilarious. Same here. I saw him before he was JERRY SEINFELD. Adam Sandler opened for him. They were both much funnier than you would imagine from what you’ve seen of them since. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2017, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671/40 "2017-08-15T17:43:17Z")
I’m an American. I watched it during its original run and I love the show. I think it’s probably the funniest sitcom that’s ever been on TV (_Curb Your Enthusiasm_ may be its equal, which makes sense). I’ve never seen his standup outside of the show, but what was on the show left me cold. I don’t think I laughed once at those bits. A lot of his standup consisted of questions that, at least to me, had obvious answers; and that killed the joke. An example would be “I was the best man at a wedding. If I was the best man, why was she marrying that other guy?” My mind would immediately leap to the answer: because that’s not what “best man” means in this context, you idiot. Maybe that’s just how my brain works, but that kind of humor falls flat for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-jerry-seinfeld-considered-a-great-stand-up/793671.md?page=3)