“The guy wrote back something like, ‘I prefer comedians like David Cross.’ It’s like, ‘Hmm, if he’s not wearing horn-rimmed glasses, I’m not into it.’”
Silly. Kinda indicative of what's lame about some alt comedy fans. They wet their pants over anyone who's a regular at UCB or mentioned at Brooklyn Vegan or on AST's top 20 list, but they ignore funnier guys that don't work the alt circle.
If I was making a list of non-alt-sceners who I think are great, I'd start with: Bill Burr, Doug Stanhope, Pat Dixon, Greg Giraldo, Brian Regan, Daniel Tosh, and Nick Griffin.
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I forget who said it, but the perfect expression of what's wrong with alt-comedy fans could be summarized as "people who laugh because getting the joke makes them smarter than people who didn't laugh."
Also heavily underrecognized: Doug Stanhope.
Cody, good addition. Added Stanhope to the list.
Is Tosh a lot funnier than Tosh.0 would have me believe? Or is it just a case of me not digging what he does?
i've seen bill burr do sets at alt shows 3 times now, and it's fucking magic every time. cause when he's introduced and starts talking the hipsters immediately judge him, like "he's not one of us." i saw him a couple weeks ago and he started off with a bit about how the idea that "being a mother is the toughest job in the world" is bullshit, and when women say that nobody corrects them because we want to fuck them, and you could hear the crowd turn on him and some people groaned. but he turned them back and killed. because the fact of the matter is a guy like burr knows how to work a room 100x better than most of those alt guys.
still, i'd rather see a show at ucb (i'm talking the la one) than any other place, because the audience is a: enthusiastic and b: not disruptive.
i think there's a distinction to be made though, between hipsters who go to alt shows and real comedy fans (many of whom are alt-leaning, e.g. your typical AST member).
i'd add to that list: eddie pepitone, todd glass, and a bunch of black comics (jb smoove, patrice oneal, sydney castillo, so many more).
Seange: "Is Tosh a lot funnier than Tosh.0 would have me believe?" A: Yes.
Pat: Good call on Patrice. Def up there with the rest I mentioned.
It's interesting you use CK's quote to start this article, then mention AST's Top 20 as the alt. comedy elite, since CK has been at the top or near the top of AST's list forever.
RIchard: Yeah, CK's got wide appeal for the most part. But when I see certain people on the AST list ranked ahead of, say, Bill Burr, it feels like something's wrong there.
The AST Top 20 is dead, by the way. The last one was in April 2009 and there aren't going to be any more.
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