“Politics is Hollywood for ugly people.” — Paul Begala
Sports is Hollywood for fast people
Reagan was a football player, and actor and a politician and he was ugly in many, many ways. Not so fast by the time he was president, but he did once get to play second-fiddle to a monkey in a movie.
Ben Shapiro said his job of writing (which he is exceptionally bad at) could be replaced by AI.
Nobody doubts he could be replaced by AI.
His place in his marriage could even be replaced by AI. Maybe Dr. Shapiro could actually feel some moisture in a “Her” type situation.
Excuse me, but as someone who bombed at many an open mic over 20 years ago, I’m still a socialist.
But then, I also actually ended up doing some regional touring because bombing is a rite of passage.
The right wingers probably don’t get that.
Hear hear… I bombed at an open-mic like 10-years-ago and haven’t had an urge to go MAGA… Yet… (Shit, should I be worried?)
I think I must have bombed 10 times before the club owner said, “okay, kid. You have the beginnings of some talent. I’ll put you up as an opening act next Monday night and pay you $20.” So between having the flawed ego to be unable to cope with bombing and the arrogant idea that if a job doesn’t pay well it isn’t worth having, I am not surprised a lot of them give up on it.
I only kept going because I knew I was funny and my friends knew I was funny and I knew that I had to figure out why they did and people didn’t when I was on stage. And that takes a lot of work. You know, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps.
Haha thanks for sharing. That takes guts I don’t have man. When I said open-mic, I was just reciting a crappy political rant masqueraded as poetry at a coffee shop. Always admired comedians, and reading your other comment that rush to be on stage sure is something. Despite having been homeschooled up until university and generally quite introverted and shy of the spotlight, I never quite had a rush like coming off the stage after theater (a school partnership). The camaraderie with the cast was something special, too. Thought about combining crappy jokes I’ve had over the years and framing into an exaggerated homeschool persona, but that’s merely a dream.
Theater in high school was exactly what gave me the courage to do it, although it was still scary for a long time. Honestly, that is also something that you have to work hard at to get over. Some people I’ve talked to think you just get up on stage and start talking. I don’t know how it is now that everything is much more computerized, but in the 90s, every comedian I know had about 20 notebooks full of half-formed joke ideas and was constantly adding to that pile.
All of mine are long gone unfortunately. I’d like to look through them and see what I thought was funny 25 years go.
Also, thinking on it, the other thing that gave me the courage was that I was bullied a lot and it hardened me to people being assholes to me. And you can use someone being an asshole to you and turn it around on them if, again, you get practice at doing it. But yeah, between being in a lot of high school plays, thinking that there must be something to me being able to make people laugh, and my probably unfair but helpful “fuck these people, I’m funny god damn it” attitude were what got me through the open mic nights.
Going back to bombing, John Oliver was recently on one of the late night shows (forgive me, I can’t remember which) and talked about bombing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which is basically the comedy event of the year in the UK and that every successful British comedian has bombed there. He bombed there so badly that a guy smashed a bottle and threatened to stab him if he told another joke. And he claimed that was absolutely true. Thankfully, nobody ever tried to kill me! That would have been my last gig ever. So I don’t have the courage he has. All I got was “get off the stage, you’re not funny!”
What was crazy for me at least was the intense, heart-pounding sympathetic anxiety leading up to walking out on stage… But the moment you hit the lights and enter into character — that all vanished… Then you exit the stage, it all comes back as a pure dopamine rush lol. I’ll never forget that and can understand why so many rock stars suffer with constant ups and downs on tour that can lead to pretty intense biochemical imbalances.
Bummer you lost your notes, that sucks… Maybe you can find some old footage of those events at least?
Being bullied definitely makes one have some thicker skin. Because I was sheltered quite a bit for a while I was protected from a good bit of that; though that changed as I established relationships with local kids who went to the local public schools and got more involved in those circles. Having such an outsider view for so long has definitely given me a unique perspective, but has done little favors in terms of overcoming aversion to the spotlight. College helped me overcome this quite a bit. I tried to put myself out there, running clubs and doing presentations, etc. I found a process that worked for me in terms of preparation but don’t ever ask me to improv lol. My wife is an absolute Robin Williams genius when it comes to improvisational wit. I keep encouraging her to do comedy.
Depends. Have you also been rejected from art school?
I looked at an art school and rejected it. Does that count? I’m also vegetarian…
… Oh no…
You might have a bright future in comic books with questionable moral messages.
three or four state tours are the standard punishment for fucking up an open mic.
Good on you for trying to spread joy. Respect.
I appreciate it, and I can’t speak for every comedian out there, but for a lot of us, it was less about spreading joy and more about realizing that maybe we could make some money out of a skill we have (especially if we got terrible grades in high school). And, like all skills, it requires a lot of practice and a lot of failure before you get paid for doing it unless you’re some sort of prodigy.
I mean obviously making people laugh is great and I’m glad I was able to, but when you’re on stage, it’s a high. It’s not about giving them joy as much as getting high off of their response to you.
That said, it’s also a horrible industry, at least it was on my level. Between the shitty club owners who stiff you, the long travel time, the awful motel rooms and having to deal with a bunch of asshole backstabbing comedians who steal each other’s material, it’s pretty thankless and I got out of it after about 5 years. It might be better when you’re more successful, but I don’t even blame asshole Republicans for giving up if they do have the self-esteem and patience to get past the open mic stage. Also, I was doing it in the 90s when Republicans were marginally less insane.
Don’t get me wrong, I was a feature act for some amazing headliners (Tim Cavanaugh is the nicest guy you will ever meet) but overall it’s just unpleasant.
hey now, that’s not fair. you also have to write a song explicitly endorsing child rape.
If I had a lack of moral value I’d cash in on both Christians and maga idiots.
Chalk full of money they both want to give away.
It’s a damn shame my morals wont rob people who are begging to be robbed.
Does this mean people loved my performance of “15 guitar pedals wired to create a feedback loop from hell”?
Perhaps it needed to be appreciated in another room, or I shall turn into another person in the next year or so… I fear it!
Edit autocorrect from wussy to aussy
Or, if you are promoting somewhat leftist content but wanna see those big bucks. I’m thinking of a specific aussy or kiwi who I’ve seen discussed a few times in print and videos. Black hair, long I think, facial hair. Allegations were made a few months ago that he’d perhaps done some things that he shouldn’t and that’s when he got talked about in places where I’d see them. Someone can probably put it together from this description.
Just spell it out. There’s too many to know which one.
Edit: I’ve done some searching but I get the feeling whoever it is, is not known outside NZ.
Multiple inline replies to make sure multiple people see them in their inboxes (assuming all Lemmy instances work like mine).
It was Russel Brand. Hat tip to [email protected].
But he’s not Aus / NZ…?!?
An English speaker with a non-North American accent. So I don’t have the best memory or perception of accents. It was still close enough for someone to figure out who I meant.
Wow. Dude you need to travel some.
Russel Brand?
He’s English.
Yeah but I’d believe if someone mixed him up.
He’s also not a leftist. People thought he was, but he’s actually a populist who peddles in right-wing conspiracy theories.
Indeed. He’s a real arsehole… I think he probably started off OK about a decade ago or more but descended into chucklefuckery once he could afford way more drugs in Hollywood.
I genuinely don’t know the name. I don’t follow this sort of shit. Sorry if that wasn’t clear.
Russel Brand?
That’s him! Thank you.
I think some_guy is talking about Isaac Butterfield
It was Russel Brand. Hat tip to [email protected].
Seems like he’s both long dead and not Australian or Kiwi.
Removed by mod
Neither do I. Why does that matter? Are only famous people allowed to make such criticisms?
I didn’t say it matters. I simply said I don’t know who they are. Just like you don’t.
Okay… I don’t know who you are either. You don’t know who I am. Why is this worth posting about?
How about you not worry about it. This isn’t a thing worth discussing. I’ve no idea why you even responded to my comment.
Because this is a discussion forum?
How about this, stop policing what other people say and just scroll past what you don’t like. This isn’t for you to edit.
I see. Asking someone why something matters is policing what they said and somehow I have the ability to edit your comments.
Interesting.
but is bombing at an open mic in Palestine a war crime?
