The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
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The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
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Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#2I always wondered what stew of genetics and upbringing makes someone extremely funny. Its actually a pretty rare trait for someone to be 'professional quality' funny as evidenced by going to a few open mic nights.
I think a lot of people want to be funny and the hustle is admirable, but I wonder if professional comedy is an inherent talent not something you can just read a book about.
Still you don't know if you don't try.
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#3I always wondered what stew of genetics and upbringing makes someone extremely funny. Its actually a pretty rare trait for someone to be 'professional quality' funny as evidenced by going to a few open mic nights. I think a lot of people want to be funny and the hustle is admirable, but I wonder if professional comedy is an inherent talent not something you can just read a book about. Still you don't know if you don'…
I'm married to a working comedian and know many. Everybody sucks when they start, and open mics are kind of built for people, even pros, to bomb at as they develop material.
The people who seem "effortlessly funny" often work the hardest - although often that practice is developed in childhood.
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#4I always wondered what stew of genetics and upbringing makes someone extremely funny. Its actually a pretty rare trait for someone to be 'professional quality' funny as evidenced by going to a few open mic nights. I think a lot of people want to be funny and the hustle is admirable, but I wonder if professional comedy is an inherent talent not something you can just read a book about. Still you don't know if you don'…
I’m reading Tom Sharpling’s memoir right now and he mentions noticing as a teenager that his comedic skillset was better than his peers. One thing that stuck out to me was that he’s able to string one thought to another easier than most.
I found it interesting because I hadn’t thought about comedy being about making connections in a funny way but that’s what a lot of it is, and some people are probably predisposed to make those connections with less effort.
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#5I always wondered what stew of genetics and upbringing makes someone extremely funny. Its actually a pretty rare trait for someone to be 'professional quality' funny as evidenced by going to a few open mic nights. I think a lot of people want to be funny and the hustle is admirable, but I wonder if professional comedy is an inherent talent not something you can just read a book about. Still you don't know if you don'…
I'm married to a working comedian and know many. Everybody sucks when they start, and open mics are kind of built for people, even pros, to bomb at as they develop material. The people who seem "effortlessly funny" often work the hardest - although often that practice is developed in childhood.
Exactly this. Bill Burr spent many, many years as an opener for other people way less funny than him. Dave Chappelle was in several bit parts and pilots before Half Baked. Richard Pryor was a writer for several years before even starting stand up. George Carlin in his early career is not the Carlin you may have seen, in the ~mid-70s after about a decade he completely changed his look and act. It may take a long time to hone in on an act that works.
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#6> By 2022 the last vestiges of reality dissolve. The Onion becomes the newspaper of record, only to be supplanted by an “Onion” version of The Onion, which makes the original Onion look “totally lame.”
Soothsayer!
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#7I always wondered what stew of genetics and upbringing makes someone extremely funny. Its actually a pretty rare trait for someone to be 'professional quality' funny as evidenced by going to a few open mic nights. I think a lot of people want to be funny and the hustle is admirable, but I wonder if professional comedy is an inherent talent not something you can just read a book about. Still you don't know if you don'…
From what I have seen is that all the good comedians are very good observers and think a lot about how society works and why things are the way they are. It seems the funniness comes second after that. Bad comedians try to be funny but have no depth in their jokes.
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#8> By 2022 the last vestiges of reality dissolve. The Onion becomes the newspaper of record, only to be supplanted by an “Onion” version of The Onion, which makes the original Onion look “totally lame.” Soothsayer!
There's something about this concept that seems so realistically appealing to gen z to me.
I guess to some degree this is what clickhole already is.
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#9I always wondered what stew of genetics and upbringing makes someone extremely funny. Its actually a pretty rare trait for someone to be 'professional quality' funny as evidenced by going to a few open mic nights. I think a lot of people want to be funny and the hustle is admirable, but I wonder if professional comedy is an inherent talent not something you can just read a book about. Still you don't know if you don'…
I think this can be said about a lot of professional level skills. They are hard, and most people can’t do them.
Re: The United States of Comedy: 2035 (2012)
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm married to a working comedian and know many. Everybody sucks when they start, and open mics are kind of built for people, even pros, to bomb at as they develop material. The people who seem "effortlessly funny" often work the hardest - although often that practice is developed in childhood.
Exactly this. Bill Burr spent many, many years as an opener for other people way less funny than him. Dave Chappelle was in several bit parts and pilots before Half Baked. Richard Pryor was a writer for several years before even starting stand up. George Carlin in his early career is not the Carlin you may have seen, in the ~mid-70s after about a decade he completely changed his look and act. It may take a long time…
Chappelle is an interesting example here. He was doing standup on TV and staring in a Mel Brooks movie before he turned 20. But he also wasn't an overnight success. He supposedly started standup at 14 and spent years honing his craft before most comedians even start their career.
Most comics I have heard talk about it say a person needs to do standup for 5-10 years before even naturally funny people actually become good at it. There is much more to it than just being a funny person.