the big FAT local comedy letdown
hackneyed.
tr.v. hack*neyed, hack*ney*ing, hack*neys
1. To cause to become banal and trite through overuse.
adj.
1. Banal; trite.
the Guinness Live! Comedy Night tonight was very much of a letdown. Not so much for the lack of company, really - but more for the mediocre/pathetic state of (local) comedy that I saw, and was exposed to. So this is the best that local comedy has to offer??? Hossan Leong, Kumar, Joe Augustine... - the names were BiG. What happened??? Suffice to say that I will not be looking to the local comedy scene (cept for talkingcock.com) for inspiration or motivation anymore. It's back to the George Carlins (and perhaps the Bill Cosbys) for me.
I was considering not going down actually, having received a phonecall from the dear 42 at 7:49pm about the loong state of the queue at Long Bar ("64 bits long"). But I remember how Abraham Lincoln showed his resolve to improve himself, and overcome his stutter, and taught himself how to speak by observing other speakers whenever he could - and so I strengthened my own resolve, to be just as dedicated to my comedy - companion or no companion - and go see what stuff or tips I could pick up from these seasoned guys.
I wasn't expecting to be taught by way of negative example.
But oh well - at least the time was not totally lost on me (you still learn something from the mistakes of others - don't you?).
worst of the lot (really - he should have respected his audience so much more) was Joe Augustine - who committed the cardinal sins of having to look incessantly down at his prompts - which were placed on the floor well below at feet level - and of dying horribly. Well, at least he was kind enough to spare us all the long diatribe. He kindly wrapped up his act shortly after it became apparent that he would be bombing all the way through the rest of the night with his "jokes".
the rest of the act to the close of the show (admittedly, I failed to catch Hossan Leong's earlier spot due to the crowd) was to prove equally non-inspiring as well.
Haven't we had enough of sex jokes, racist jokes... - havent we had enough of them already??? Don't be risque for risque's sake. If you think that "risque"... automatically equals "laughs"... (let's just agree to discount those people who laugh simply because they ~want to~ - shall we?), then you're just sick - and a pathetic comedian. Same thing goes for attempting to insult the intelligence of your audience by only going for "safe" (and stupid) jokes - with predictable punchlines, stupid stereotypes ("Kumar is the evergreen 'A-qua'")... - and other such assorted hackneyed stuff. And as even Joe Augustine himself finally admitted at the end of the show - "go watch 'Whose Line Is It, Anyway?' They're so much funnier than us."
And so I rest my case now. For now. (They may as yet improve. Hopefully).
I will end this (diatribe?) with the following thought:
those who do not think incessantly about their craft will be doomed to stay in the valley of mediocrity forever. You have to ~looove~ your craft - and give it the due respect, and worship, it needs.
John Coltrane was driven. That's why they were such masters of their own arts.
If you dont understand the principals of comedy... SHIT, dont do comedy!!!
What do you think? Do you think that our local stand-up comedy scene is good enough already? Give me a few comments. (ps. Pat - let me know how my writing goes - hey?)
tr.v. hack*neyed, hack*ney*ing, hack*neys
1. To cause to become banal and trite through overuse.
adj.
1. Banal; trite.
the Guinness Live! Comedy Night tonight was very much of a letdown. Not so much for the lack of company, really - but more for the mediocre/pathetic state of (local) comedy that I saw, and was exposed to. So this is the best that local comedy has to offer??? Hossan Leong, Kumar, Joe Augustine... - the names were BiG. What happened??? Suffice to say that I will not be looking to the local comedy scene (cept for talkingcock.com) for inspiration or motivation anymore. It's back to the George Carlins (and perhaps the Bill Cosbys) for me.
I was considering not going down actually, having received a phonecall from the dear 42 at 7:49pm about the loong state of the queue at Long Bar ("64 bits long"). But I remember how Abraham Lincoln showed his resolve to improve himself, and overcome his stutter, and taught himself how to speak by observing other speakers whenever he could - and so I strengthened my own resolve, to be just as dedicated to my comedy - companion or no companion - and go see what stuff or tips I could pick up from these seasoned guys.
I wasn't expecting to be taught by way of negative example.
But oh well - at least the time was not totally lost on me (you still learn something from the mistakes of others - don't you?).
worst of the lot (really - he should have respected his audience so much more) was Joe Augustine - who committed the cardinal sins of having to look incessantly down at his prompts - which were placed on the floor well below at feet level - and of dying horribly. Well, at least he was kind enough to spare us all the long diatribe. He kindly wrapped up his act shortly after it became apparent that he would be bombing all the way through the rest of the night with his "jokes".
the rest of the act to the close of the show (admittedly, I failed to catch Hossan Leong's earlier spot due to the crowd) was to prove equally non-inspiring as well.
Haven't we had enough of sex jokes, racist jokes... - havent we had enough of them already??? Don't be risque for risque's sake. If you think that "risque"... automatically equals "laughs"... (let's just agree to discount those people who laugh simply because they ~want to~ - shall we?), then you're just sick - and a pathetic comedian. Same thing goes for attempting to insult the intelligence of your audience by only going for "safe" (and stupid) jokes - with predictable punchlines, stupid stereotypes ("Kumar is the evergreen 'A-qua'")... - and other such assorted hackneyed stuff. And as even Joe Augustine himself finally admitted at the end of the show - "go watch 'Whose Line Is It, Anyway?' They're so much funnier than us."
And so I rest my case now. For now. (They may as yet improve. Hopefully).
I will end this (diatribe?) with the following thought:
those who do not think incessantly about their craft will be doomed to stay in the valley of mediocrity forever. You have to ~looove~ your craft - and give it the due respect, and worship, it needs.
John Coltrane was driven. That's why they were such masters of their own arts.
If you dont understand the principals of comedy... SHIT, dont do comedy!!!
What do you think? Do you think that our local stand-up comedy scene is good enough already? Give me a few comments. (ps. Pat - let me know how my writing goes - hey?)
This post is not sponsored by anybody, but by your author's own precious time, special effort, and hard work.
0 HaHaas:
Give Me a HaHaa!!!
<< Home