Why do you think comedians are “scummy”?
I can’t imagine being upset about that, unless I actually made up a new name that no one had ever used before.
I’ve only heard one of his stand-up routines on the radio, and I have to agree with this.
The routine was about how he usually dates super-special-intelligent-women-with-weird-sexual-hangups, so, he decided to go slumming and date a slut. The routine involved him doing things like putting plastic wrap on the bed before sex so he wouldn’t catch her slut disease.
The entire set was him meanly mocking his slut girlfriend that he chose to date because he wanted to date a slut for being…a slut.
It wasn’t funny. It was just stupid.
I believe this sums up his entire act. I really don’t get it. I remember blogging about not understanding his popularity several years ago and the fact that he is still around amazes me. I think he mostly appeals to the fart humor crowd.
I was looking forward to his first HBO special, because I heard his name a lot but never seen his act. It was terrible. Unwatchable.
I put him in my special Will Farrell category. I am gobsmacked that anyone watches him.
Or it’s the fact that his jokes are so hacky, and there are tons of funnier comedians out there who don’t have to steal jokes.
This is miles away funnier than anything Dane Cook has ever said.
So, its the stolen, hacky jokes that get you upset? 
I mean, damn, if you are going to steal jokes, at least steal the good ones
Most routines in some way are just reworking of old stuff. I listen to a lot of OTR (old time radio) and it’s amazing the number of direct copies of comedies today and jokes by comic are reworkings. Usually they’re less funny to me as in the days of OTR you had to use innuendo to get your point across.
And there’s a good chance that if it was on OTR it was, stolen from Vaudeville, which means it was around for a long time
I never found Dane Cook to be anything but average, but he’s a nice looking, guy in that John Davidson/Dick Clark/Ryan Seacrest mode and that irritates people more than anything.
I suppose I should take umbrage at this, as I did stand-up professionally for around 6 years. I still consider myself one (just “on hiatus” as I do the responsible things like start a family, though I will still do the occasional corporate show or private party), and, while I’m not the most clean-cut, refined individual, I do not consider myself “scummy.”
Why do you consider us “scummy?”
Because this.
If I had to guess, it’s because a lot of stand-up comedians are generally those that aren’t musically talented, physically talented or good-looking, or theatrically talented, so they have to fall back on stand-up; it’s sort of like the old joke “If you can’t do, teach. If you can’t teach, teach PE.” They spend most of their time in seedy dives, scraping by on nickels, and are often foul-mouthed and impolite. Hell, the best known injoke in the industry is the Aristocrats. Many of the best comedians have shitty lives from where they get good material.
I dunno, I’m just guessing at a possible stereotype, especially since some folk in this thread think Cook’s disliked because he’s a prettyboy. :rolleyes: It’s a load, far as I can tell, other than the last, and that’s not exclusive to comics.
Dane Cook is no pretty boy… his face is pockmarked.
Speaking of comics who come from a shitty life; look at Christopher Titus. His comedy rocks and everything I’ve heard about him is that he’s a pretty likable guy. I’ve talked to him a few times when he was in the Atlanta area with his act; always easy to talk to.
I bought his big double CD–I think it was called “Revenge”–and he told a joke that made me write him off forever. He was fucking a girl doggy-style and happened to look down and notice that her labia looked like cow lips. Next, maybe he can whine about how good servants and first-rate caviar are hard to find. I don’t know. I won’t be listening.
Why would I call comedians, as a group, scummy?
First, again, I apologize for using a broad brush. OBVIOUSLY, there are wonderful and horrible people in all professions. There are undoubtedly some saintly standup comics, and I’m not happy that I’ve insulted them.
Second, I do NOT minimize the talent it takes to be a good (let alone great) comedian. It’s HARD to be funny. It’s HARD to get up on a stage and try to make people laugh. I sure couldn’t do it, and I admire people who can.
But… my (limited) exposure to the world of standup comedy led me to believe that a huge percentage of comedians (and an even higher percentage of the really good ones) are deeply screwed up people. More screwed up than people in general? More screwed up than people in other areas of show biz? I think so, yes. The degree of drunkenness and drug abuse was astonishing to me, as was the level of phoniness and casual cruelty.
Comedians tend to ACT as if they have some kind of fraternity… but a huge percentage of the ones I’ve met were backstabbing, jealous bastards who’d regularly trash their “friends” (You know I love Eddie, love him like a brother… but between you and me, he sucks").
I know, the plural of anecdote is not data. If your experience has been different, by all means, tell me so, and set me straight.
I feel like that would require the dude to be able to tell a joke. Most comedians are able to, you know, set up a joke, then deliver a punchline. Many are able to tell humorous stories. Dane Cook seems unable to do much besides mugging for the camera, saying dirty things and thinking they are clever, intermittently yelling, repeating the same words over and over, and being the best example known to man of a complete douchebag.
Comics are, by their very nature, more cynical and bitter (in some cases *a lot * more cynical and bitter) than most people, and as another poster pointed out here, they also much more casually pepper their conversations with obscenities. I can definitely see how those things would rub someone the wrong way.
But, a lot of the comics I hung out with back in the day actually struck me as fairly cool people. Yeah, I encountered more than a few douchebags, but that’s not unusual when you’re dealing with the entertainment industry in general. I never felt that stand-ups comics, overall, were likely to be “deeply screwed up” or clowns who are crying in the inside.
I will grant you that the kid who was popular in school, got good grades and managed to get regularly laid by cheerleaders isn’t likely to go into this profession. As I said above, comics tend to have a more cynical view of the world, and you don’t get to be an overly cynical person if everything in your life goes right. But I’ve known comedians who in their previous careers (or ongoing careers, if they’re only doing comedy part time) were successful engineers, lawyers and journalists, and many others who offstage came off as fairly typical family men. They have their personal demons like everyone else, but the stage is their way of exorcising them. That doesn’t mean they’re deeply disturbed and it certainly doesn’t mean they’re scummy. They just have a different way of getting their problems off their chest.
Now, as for comedy club owners, well that’s a different story…
Oh, thank god, because we just named our kid “BoyJimboJackieGleasonJimBoYoMamaBob” because he looks just like you. And my wife was afraid you’d find out…
But I agree – inadequate analogy. Doesn’t really address the gut feeling. How about “You write a great joke and Dane Cook steals it from you?” That’s more how it would feel.
How about you write a book, and someone else changes the characters names, gives it a different title, and then sells it as their own? And that person’s sells much better than yours, gets critical, acclaim, etc.
You worked hard on something that is yours, and someone else, who did no work, takes what you have done without permission and gets all the glory. I agree–no one should need an analogy for that.
I hate his whole stage persona, the way he talks, uses his voice, his pauses, the way he stands and gestures. It all makes me want to kick him in the face.